Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 98 - The Campsite

Chapter 98 – The Campsite

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Ju-seong and Chun-mong were strolling leisurely along the road, savoring the moment. The two looked as content as a pair of dogs out for a walk on a sunny day.

“What a wonderful place to live.”

Huguang Province. Also called Jingzhou, this place was as abundant and warm as Sichuan.

The two were also walking through endless green paddies and fields.

Here and there, farmers sheltered from the sun under wide bamboo hats, their curved backs visible.

Even as they worked hard, when they straightened their backs, their sun-tanned faces showed no trace of worry.

“No wonder Master Zhuge said he who controls this land of Jingzhou controls all under heaven.”

“What? Master Zhuge? Why is Zhuge Liang Kongming your senior, Brother?”

“He lived and died in this jianghu before me, so he’s my senior. Got a problem with that?”

“No. You’re right, Brother. By the way, the Zhuge Family didn’t settle here for nothing, did they? It’s all to seize the world. Those clever folks…”

Long ago, Zhuge Liang had said that whoever controlled the land of Jingzhou would command all under heaven.

His descendants must have followed their ancestor’s will and laid their family’s foundation here.

Now they had become the great Zhuge Family, wielding enormous influence in jianghu.

Ju-seong nodded seriously at Chun-mong’s explanation, expressing admiration.

“So there was such deep meaning behind it. No wonder they’re called the Divine Scholars of Zhuge. Securing good land as a family foundation… I, who have no land, still have far to go.”

“What, are you planning to start a family too, Brother?”

Ju-seong suddenly stopped and looked up at the clear sky.

“Who knows… How about you? Doesn’t it feel pitiful to wander without roots? Don’t you want to meet a beautiful woman, start a family, and watch your descendants flourish?”

Chun-mong chuckled and asked.

“Do you like beautiful women, Brother?”

Ju-seong tilted his head and asked back.

“Is there any man who’d reject a beautiful woman?”

In Ju-seong’s mind, a sickly woman in white palace robes kept drifting into view.

Chun-mong answered indifferently.

“Does beauty put food on the table? I like women with strong martial arts.”

“Hmm… A woman who can take care of herself is attractive. But in a few years, you’ll have few rivals. Can’t you just protect the woman yourself?”

Chun-mong replied with a slightly bitter look in his eyes.

“That’s not it. It’s about the bloodline. I’d have to meet a woman with strong martial arts to have children with excellent senses.”

“…”

Ju-seong looked at Chun-mong with slightly surprised eyes. It was true that meetings between men and women weren’t just about love, but…

‘He’s only fifteen or so… he’s already thinking about such things?’

Even Ju-seong himself would toss and turn at night with embarrassing fantasies.

But Chun-mong, younger still, was already thinking about improving his bloodline like a stable master selecting a fine stallion.

It somehow felt like glimpsing a dark side he hadn’t seen in their brief time together.

Ju-seong wrapped an arm around Chun-mong’s shoulders and said.

“Now I see you’re mature beyond your years. Still, if you’re a man, you can’t hate washing in the water. Looking at those ridges over there, I have a feeling there’s a lake on the other side. Let’s go check.”

“Jingzhou does have a lot of lakes. Are you going for a swim? What if that archer bastard comes after us again?”

Ju-seong smirked and nodded.

“Let’s get cozy together by the lakeshore.”

* * *

At the quiet, small lakeside at night, a small campfire flickered.

Ju-seong was blowing on a nicely grilled freshwater fish to cool it before stuffing it into his mouth repeatedly.

“Hey, Chun-mong. This is incredible. The meat is sweet.”

Chun-mong wasn’t going to lose; he ate busily and nodded his head.

“They don’t call Jingzhou the Land of Fish and Rice for nothing. Not only is there lots of rice, but the lakes are plentiful, so the fish are plump.”

“Add a cup of liquor to that, and this is paradise. Who knew there’d be such good liquor on the pirates’ ship.”

“That’s the truth. Here, have another cup, Brother!”

“Aye, little brother!”

The moon floating over the lake was as plump and full as the fish they were eating… a full moon.

Splash.

Ju-seong silently watched the white moon on the tranquil lake ripple ever so slightly out of shape, then turned to look at the thick woods and called out.

“Who’s there? Come out!”

With a rustling sound, a cheerful-looking middle-aged man emerged, scratching the back of his head.

“Just a traveler passing through, haha… I was drawn by the smell of fish and before I knew it, I’d walked all the way here.”

Ju-seong looked the middle-aged man up and down with a cool expression and asked.

“You’re not a bandit trying to rob travelers, are you?”

At the middle-aged man’s waist hung a gently curved willow-leaf saber. He smiled warmly and waved both hands.

“Oh dear, don’t say such dangerous things. I was about to leave, having noticed you were martial artists. We of this tribe are rather sensitive, aren’t we?”

“Our tribe?”

“In two characters, we are martial artists; in three, we are jianghu people; and in four, we are simply lunatics.”

Ju-seong chuckled and shifted over slightly.

“You’ve got a nice tongue. Have a seat. I caught plenty of fish, so eat some. The night air is chilly; warm up too.”

“Oh my… How can I thank you?”

Ju-seong skewered a fish and set it over the campfire as he spoke.

“They say the four seas are all brothers. I read a lot of adventure stories as a kid, and I like the idea of jianghu’s code.”

The middle-aged man had cheeks that rounded when he smiled and fine wrinkles at his eye corners… truly a face befitting a “good person.”

People who lived life smiling a lot ended up with faces like that as they aged.

It was a face that easily won people’s favor.

Not that he thought living without smiling was bad.

‘Smiling only when you should is also manly.’

Ju-seong poked the campfire with a stick and handed the cooked fish to the man.

“Ooh, hot!”

The man made a fuss as he bit into the fish.

“Good?”

“Very good. The meat is sweet.”

“They call it the Land of Fish and Rice.”

“Haha, you’re right. Where the fish are fat and the rice stalks bow.”

The man answered cheerfully and flashed his characteristic smile.

Ju-seong stared at him and then asked.

“Are you a Night Guest?”

“…”

The man held up an index finger as if asking Ju-seong to wait a moment.

He chewed and swallowed all the fish, grabbed the liquor bottle Ju-seong and Chun-mong had been sharing, chugged it down, then set it down with a satisfied sigh.

“Ahhh… You’ve even prepared liquor. Such principled young brothers. So, what did you say, young friend? Night Guest?”

Somehow his speech had changed. The polite informal speech had become condescending, though someone inattentive wouldn’t have noticed due to his charm.

He showed his even teeth in a refreshing smile and said.

“Night Guest? You’re asking if I’m a nighttime burglar? I don’t steal.”

Ju-seong turned his gaze to the campfire and tossed in more firewood.

“I like your smile.”

“Haha, thanks. With this face of mine, people always think I’m a great person. But I’m a man with a temper too!”

The perfect embodiment of charm… even his modest denial was flawless.

Ju-seong stared straight into the man’s eyes and asked again.

“You only smile like that before you kill someone, don’t you?”

The man’s eyes curved like crescent moons, his cheeks puffed roundly, and he smiled as if painted.

When he was young, it would have made women’s hearts flutter. But the women who saw that smile probably never saw the next day’s sunrise.

“How do you stand living in all that blood stench?”

“What nonsense. I wash every day. My nose is very sensitive. To my nose, you’re the filthy one.”

At the man’s words, Ju-seong grinned.

His canines reflected the firelight and glowed yellow.

“Ah, is your nose sensitive? Then why did you happily eat the poison?”

The man’s smile stiffened slightly.

He chuckled and reached for his willow-leaf saber’s handle… but his inner power wouldn’t obey, and his pupils started wavering.

Ju-seong chuckled and pushed something small as a pinky nail out of his mouth with his tongue.

Chun-mong also spat out a round pill as if on cue.

The kid spat into the campfire to clear the bitter taste, and said.

“Ugh… When you said you’d give me Poison-Repelling Pearls, I thought you were giving me some legendary treasure. Turns out ‘Poison-Repelling Pearl’ was the name of an antidote you made yourself?”

“It’s our Master’s secret recipe? Are you saying the antidote our Master devised doesn’t deserve to be called ‘Poison-Repelling Pearl’?”

“It’s a truly excellent antidote, Brother. We could call it a Dragon Pearl.”

“Actually, the name was mine… And kid, do you think real Poison-Repelling Pearls exist?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

A Poison-Repelling Pearl is said to be a miraculous bead that purifies all poison just by holding it in one’s mouth.

As with all legendary treasures said to exist in the martial world, legend says its efficacy never diminishes with use.

A companion item would be the Night-Shining Pearl.

“To neutralize poison, you’d need to constantly emit corresponding energy. Look… the antidote we held the whole time has shrunk. If something never wears out and can be passed down to your children and grandchildren forever… it would have to create infinite energy endlessly, right?”

“True.”

“If such a thing existed, you’d just cut open your belly, shove it in place of your dantian, and become the greatest under heaven, yeah? Isn’t that right, Night Guest sir? Sir?”

Ju-seong waved his hand in front of the now-rigidly-frozen Night Guest’s face.

“Looks like the paralysis worked nicely. You can still hear me, I’m sure. You’re wondering how you got poisoned, aren’t you? All frustrated and furious?”

Ju-seong suddenly sprang to his feet and smacked the back of the Night Guest’s head, barking at him.

“I know your type. Guys who are confident in their skills. Swaggering in openly, eating the fish someone else caught, warming up by the fire on a chilly night, stealing their liquor. Taking it easy. You bastard. What are we to you? Were we that easy?”

Chun-mong nodded beside him and chimed in.

“I really didn’t expect him to steal the liquor too.”

“Me neither. That was bamboo leaf wine, bastard. The booze probably sped up the poison by half.”

“Geez, mister. Should’ve laid off the liquor.”

Chun-mong kept piling on annoyingly.

-Shring.

Ju-seong snatched the willow-leaf saber from the saber wielder’s waist.

“Let me explain. I poisoned the fish skewers and the campfire. The two have to combine in the body to take effect… so you couldn’t smell it.”

He pressed the blade to the man’s neck and slowly pushed.

He didn’t draw the blade… just pressed gently… yet the skin split instantly and blood beaded.

In the pitch-black night, the Night Guest’s eyes… living up to his name or not… shook desperately.

Ju-seong watched the direction the man’s eyes rolled and said.

“Ah, the one in the lake? What, hoping he’ll save you?”

The moment Ju-seong finished speaking, he yanked one hand sharply.

-Splashhhh!

The water’s surface churned violently, and with a scream, a severed leg rolled onto the lakeshore.

“Gyaaaaaah…!”

Then a man tangled in Heavenly Silkworm Silk and drenched in blood was dragged out.

“Whew… This is getting tough right after leaving Sichuan.”

Ju-seong plopped down in front of the campfire.

“Forget-Sorrow Arrow is probably watching from that ridge over there. He must’ve realized things went wrong and cut out right away…”

“He’s a dangerous one, Brother.”

Ju-seong nodded at Chun-mong’s words.

“I guarantee he won’t show himself again until we leave Huguang territory. Soon there’ll be plenty of travelers and crowded lands.”

Wuhan, the center of Yangtze logistics… bigger even than Chongqing… was drawing near.