Chapter 9: Chapter 9

My hometown was called Small Yi Village1. Despite its pleasant name, it remains to me a place of nightmarish memories. The place was characterized by the worst elements of a closed-off rural area, including rampant bullying and a leader, the village chief, who had the final say in everything.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the village chief was a skilled manipulator and managed to generate income for the village by collaborating with the nearby Plum Blossom Courier Agency. His misdeeds, such as forcing beautiful women from the town into becoming his mistresses and compelling villagers into personal service, were overlooked largely because of this.

A village ruled by a tyrant—that was my impression of my hometown.

To be honest, half the reason I could leave for the Plum Blossom Courier Agency was that the village chief had pulled some strings for me. His influence even reached there, so if things had gone wrong, I might have ended up as a lifelong servant. It gives me chills to think how my life could have been turned upside down just by the whims of the village chief.

Sigh

A wave of mixed feelings washed over me as I stepped back into Small Yi Village.

“Should I just destroy this place and leave?”

I could initiate a killing spree and leave with impunity. If I wore a mask and attacked late at night, targeting only the village chief’s family, there would be almost no chance of getting caught. Now would be the perfect time to settle old scores.

But I had other plans in mind, so I shook my head and walked toward the village chief’s house, my steps heavy yet resolute.

As I walked along the rural path, several young men approached me.

“Hey, isn’t that Cow Dung?”

“Wow, it’s been a while, huh? Hehe.”

“…..”

These beefy young men, about six of them, could be considered the labor force of the village. They used to bully me when I was a servant at the village chief’s house. I was an easy target for their blows and was often sent on errands. They were older and moved in a group, making it almost impossible for me to resist.

I smiled coldly.

“It’s been a while. How have you all been?”

The leader looked surprised, but then smirked.

“Wow, Cow Dung here’s gotten brave after not getting beaten for three years, huh?”

“Ha ha ha!”

“Guess we’ll have to teach him a lesson!”

I just looked at them blankly.

I didn’t have the trauma of being bullied; rather, I’d always wanted to kill them. My hands itched for my weapon, but I held back. Killing them would hardly be satisfying—they were weaker than a group of five armed bandits.

What were they thinking?

I guessed that the village chief had not informed them of my new status. Otherwise, they would’ve steered clear of me, as is normal when facing a martial artist. The village chief must have hidden the reason for my departure.

Smirking, I realized that I could now execute my initial plans without any reservations. Just as I felt relieved, one of the young men in the front threw a punch at me.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

The sound wasn’t from my body but from the guy’s arm bending in an unnatural direction. A quick double kick to his vitals caused him to vomit and fall, trembling. The others were at a loss.

“What… what?”

“What’s going on?”

Gasp!

Two guys had their heads forcibly collided with each other by me, promptly falling unconscious as their eyes rolled back. The remaining guys seemed perplexed and hesitated, stepping back. I sighed and said,

“Do you see my moves? You don’t even know what I’m doing, do you?”

They likely wouldn’t be able to respond.

I haven’t been idle for the past three years. All I had to do was practice martial arts; I had no choice but to get stronger. Even though my talent is average and I couldn’t become a top-tier master, I have skills far beyond those of ordinary people.

“This… this… bastard…”

“Hey you three. Tell me my name. I’ll spare you if you do.”

Hearing my demand, they trembled as if unable to believe the reality. They seemed to have realized that they were no match for me.

“Ughaaa!”

“If you try to run, you’re going to get hit more.”

I quickly grabbed the collar of the guy who screamed and tried to run, and threw him to the ground.

Fwoosh

The guy who fell face-first onto the ground broke his nose and one of his teeth flew out. I moved so fast that he must have realized the gap between us.

“Speak.”

“……”

The once-cruel rural gangsters now had pale faces. They exchanged glances but remained mute. It struck me as incredible that these guys, who had tormented me for nearly 50 years, didn’t even know my name.

‘Did these jerks not even know my name while I had retained memories of being tormented by them for close to 50 years?’

To these guys, “Cow Dung” was just a toy to moderately bully. Something began to boil inside of me and I grinned cruelly.

“Haha! It worked out so well. Perfect!”

“What… what are you talking about?”

“If there’s a sacrifice, one should eat it gratefully! Don’t you agree?”

I chuckled cruelly.

“Then die, you bastards!”

Thud

Fwoosh

“Kwaaak!”

A moment later, their necks were broken and their chests caved in, making it impossible for them to breathe.

Click

“Gaaak!”

“Aaah!”

I stomped on the heads of the guys who were unconscious, killing them instantly. It took only a few breaths to end the lives of about six people.

“Hahaha!!”

After taking my revenge stored for half a century, a bit of emptiness and extreme exhilaration surged within me. My hands were shaking in excitement.

I did it!

I killed all those bastards!

‘Revenge is hollow? Bullshit! Those who haven’t tried don’t get to speak!’

I clenched my teeth tightly.

Blood is boiling all over my body. I want to tear apart and kill all those who oppressed and tormented the past me, scattering their organs on the ground. Even after decades, memories of being dragged into a corner and beaten senselessly, of being stripped and hung upside down to be hit like a dog, were vivid.

Revenge must be taken!

I swore to make that truth the creed of my life going forward.

Calming down my excitement slightly, I walked toward the village chief’s house.

After walking about five ‘li’ on a mountain trail, a large private residence that didn’t fit the small village came into view. I noticed that there was hardly any sign of human activity, and it was clear that most of the villagers were out.

*Squeak*

Upon opening the front door and walking in, I saw Mrs. Seo, the village chief’s concubine. She was fetching water and when she saw me, her face turned into a look of surprise. Before she could scream, I quickly approached her and struck her pressure point.

“….Uh… uh…”

Unable to speak, she struggled and attempted to flee. However, I caught her arm, gently subdued her, and sat her down at the front door. Then I spoke coldly.

“You could also be considered a victim of the village chief, so I don’t want to harm you. Just don’t interfere with what I’m doing. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee your son’s life.”

She had a three-year-old son, who was born after she became the chief’s concubine, and was a child that was taken care of by his lawful wife and a man named Geum Man-jae.

“……!!”

“Understand? Nod if you do. I’ll release your pressure point, so don’t scream.”

Mrs. Seo nodded, and I released her pressure point. She coughed a few times and then looked at me with fearful eyes.

“Baek-woong, what kind of terrifying deed are you committing? I heard you joined the martial world, but invading like this is unacceptable.”

I replied indifferently, “You hold no grudge against me. You neither helped nor harmed me when I was rotting away as a servant in this house. Stay quiet and you and your son will be unharmed.”

“What… What are you planning to do? Surely you’re not planning to…”

I gave her a cold smile as her voice trembled.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill him. I just have some business to settle in this village. Stay out of it.”

“……”

“Where is the village chief?”

“…He went to another village to collect tenant rent.”

She seemed to understand the situation. Knowing that getting involved would only harm her, she decided to quickly remove herself from it.

“When will he be back?”

“In about an hour… around sunset.”

Perfect timing. I nodded my head and asked, “Where are the village chief’s wife and Geum Man-jae?”

“In the inner quarters… And Geum Man-jae is leading a life of eating and sleeping in the study dormitory.”

“Eating and sleeping my ass… Around this time, he’s probably messing around with a woman at the Red Tower (a euphemism for adult entertainment establishments).”

It was certain. During the time I worked as a servant, Geum Man-jae sent me to the Red Tower with food and entertainment money. At that time, he was having a good time rolling around with a woman, giving off an obnoxious and disgusting smell.

“……”

Although I sneered coldly, Mrs. Seo’s expression didn’t change much. She probably knew about Geum Man-jae’s degenerate ways, too. I felt a slight bitterness looking at her.

Mrs. Seo was once a poor gisaeng but was sold to become the village chief’s concubine. She was known to be a very beautiful and pure woman, but as she’s been tainted by the world, things have naturally changed.

Even now, Mrs. Seo looked incredibly young and beautiful for someone in her early-to-mid-30s. She was not a woman who suited the hairy, pot-bellied village chief. No longer having anything to say, I spoke.

“I’m going to acupoint lock you now and tend to my own affairs. Even if you hear noises outside, don’t think about coming out. Then you won’t come to harm.”

Thud

I pressed Mrs. Seo’s acupoint to immobilize her and left her in the room. She looked scared but seemed determined to listen to me.

I walked towards the chief’s wife in the inner quarters. She was leisurely sitting, doing some needlework, but showed a flustered expression upon seeing me. Then she yelled, “You little shit! How dare you barge into this house!”

“Quiet. Not unless you want to die.”

“What…”

Whizz

“……”

I threw the short sword I had concealed and lodged it into a wooden pillar next to her face. She shut her mouth, realizing that I clearly came with lethal intent. She looked around nervously but seemed to intuit that if she screamed, she would be killed.

“What… what do you want? If it’s money, I’ll give you as much as you want…”

“Shut up. I didn’t come all this way to talk with a wretched woman like you.”

I growled menacingly, “If you make a wrong move, today will be the last day for your family.”

“……”

I also immobilized her by pressing her acupoint and put her in a room. Then, I quickly subdued the servants roaming around and shoved them into rooms. They would be able to move in about an hour or two due to my internal energy used in the strong acupoint locks.

Then, I calmly sat down in the main room, leaning against the wall.

A moment later,

The person I had been waiting for finally arrived.

The village chief looked around his deserted home, puzzled, and then walked toward the main room. As he opened the door, he saw me sitting there, a spear by my side.

“……!!”

“Ah, Village Chief. Long time no see.”

The village chief momentarily displayed an expression as if he were about to faint, but soon regained his composure and stood in his place.

Then he spoke.

“So you’ve returned after all…”

“What do you mean ‘returned’? You were expecting this, weren’t you?”

The village chief sealed his lips, casting anxious glances around the room.

I glared at him before saying, “First, have a seat. We have matters to discuss.”

“Alright…”

The village chief hesitantly took a seat. Yet, true to his position as the leader of this wretched family and the tyrant of this village, he remained composed. I leisurely observed him before breaking the silence.

“You sent me out into the world, knowing I harbored a grudge against this village and family. If you have anything to say, say it now.”

“…Yes, you’re right. I’ve known since three years ago that you would eventually do something like this.”

The village chief paused to let out a sigh as if to quell his emotions.

“You’ve truly become an elite martial artist from Azure Dragon Martial Hall. I heard there was some commotion in the lower village; was that your doing?”

“Who knows? That’s news to me.”

“……”

I laughed sardonically.

“The moment I set foot in this house, I wanted to annihilate everyone, down to the last chicken. Especially you, Village Chief—I wanted to tear you limb from limb.”

“Ugh…”

“…But I decided to at least have a conversation with you. Why? Because I was curious why you’d let me out into the world, knowing full well I’d seek revenge today.”

That’s right.

I was incredibly curious why he sent me out into the world, knowing I’d come back for vengeance. The Village Chief isn’t a fool; he must have known something like this would happen someday. Yet, he sent me off to Azure Dragon Martial Hall with money, and that was incomprehensible.

“You have my gratitude for not committing murder in our household.”

“Enough talk. What were you thinking?”

“I trusted you.”

Puzzled, I looked at him, and he continued in a shaky voice.

“I’m sorry for all the suffering our family has caused you. But I’ve always felt guilty towards your parents, and I intended to set you free when the time was right. Making you live like a servant was to prepare you for independence.”

I gritted my teeth and laughed. The veins in my arm holding the spear twitched.

“Heh… That’s a nicer illusion than a dream. You made me a servant shoveling manure next to the barn, and that’s supposed to help how?”

“……”

“You even tried to kick me out of Azure Dragon Martial Hall, dancing around the issue.”

“That… That’s because…”

I spoke firmly.

“You never thought I’d make it in Azure Dragon Martial Hall from the start. You assumed it would be enough if I became a wanderer somewhere. You never thought I’d come back and hit you this hard, did you?”

The Village Chief hesitated for a moment before finally bowing his head and kneeling.

“I’m sorry! I was selfish and didn’t think to treat you any better!”

“Hmm…”

“Please spare me. Please…”

The Village Chief seemed to have gambled everything, laying his cards out openly. As I had expected, I felt rage from the bottom of my heart. I had the urge to smash his head in with my spear right then and there.

However, I resisted. Killing the Chief here would make me no different from him.

I barely managed to contain my urge to kill and spoke.

“Heh heh… If you hadn’t taken me in, I would have probably died of starvation or become a beggar, wandering as an orphan (孤兒). You did give me a life, even sent me to Azure Dragon Martial Hall, so I guess that’s your favor.”

The village chief looked up at me with anxious eyes. I smiled wickedly and said, “However, I must be compensated for the physical and emotional damage I’ve suffered so far.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Give me five hundred silver coins.”

“Gasp…!!”

The village chief’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Five hundred silver coins!

With that much money, it would be more than half of the village chief’s total assets. Even if the village chief is prosperous, there is a limit to his wealth, as he’s still just the leader of a small rural village. He pleaded.

“Ple…please… If my assets are taken away now, the whole village will starve. I’ve been increasing the village’s business while making payments little by little to the Plum Blossom Currency Exchange…”

“Quit yapping. I’m talking about your slush fund.”

The village chief wore an expression as if struck by lightning.

“What?”

“I know there’s a safe somewhere in this house made of silver (銀).”

“Th- That’s not true.”

Swoosh!

My spear moved at a tremendous speed, stopping just before the village chief’s nose. Another inch, and it would’ve split his forehead open, exposing his brain. While Eightfold Thunder Spirit Technique wasn’t particularly suited for me, it was a first-rate spear technique, and my skills had reached a respectable level.

“Do you really want to die?”

“Wh- What should I do then?”

“Well…”

I chuckled.

‘This is something I heard from your son Geum Man-jae.’

In the past, when I worked in this house as a servant, I heard Geum Man-jae talk about it when he was drunk. His father, the village chief, had a safe filled with silver that exceeded 500 taels of silver in total. I had wanted to take that and run away, but only the village chief knew its location, so I had left empty-handed.

Moments later, the village head started to fidget and moved towards the wall in his room. To my surprise, with a soft click, a door in the wall opened.

‘He even installed a secret mechanism in his room. Truly a man of wealth.’

The village chief entered the narrow passage and returned carrying a chest full of silver.

“Open it.”

*Creak*

My eyes squinted as I was momentarily blinded by the light. The village chief’s safe was filled with ingots of pure silver! Not just silver coins, but silver ingots! I had a hunch that the value far exceeded 500 taels of silver.

The village chief handed me the safe.

“Is… is it over now?”

“Yes. Now leave and never return to this village.”

“Thank you…”

“Of course, if you report this to the authorities, not a single member of your family will survive.”

“I understand.”

I turned to walk away, then added, “Don’t feel too wronged. It’s better for me to have this money than for it to go to your son.”

“Ugh… Please, have some mercy…”

“Didn’t you know that Geum Man-jae is not studying at the academy but fooling around in the red-light district? He’s just going to squander your assets.”

“……”

Though I mocked the village chief by revealing the truth about Geum Man-jae, surprisingly, he only wore a forlorn expression. I sensed that he already knew about his son’s corruption.

‘Wait, what? Wasn’t he under the impression that his son was studying hard?’

I ventured to ask, “Did you already know about this?”

The village chief answered in a voice like a scrape from the bottom, “Of course… How could I not know? I’m close friends with the head of the Plum Blossom Currency Exchange and even acquainted with the guild in the neighboring village. I’m the one who knows my son’s worthlessness the best.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

“Then why send him to study, wasting money on expensive tutors? Do you think he could even pass the civil service exam?”

He couldn’t. Not even in a thousand years.

Back when I was Geum Man-jae’s errand boy, I never once saw him open a book to study. He couldn’t even become a low-level government official, let alone a higher-ranking one.

The village chief bit his lips; his eyes were slightly bloodshot.

“You don’t understand… No matter what others say, a parent always hopes their child will come through in the end. Even if he’s strayed off the path now, he’ll eventually come back. I believe in my son.”

“……”

I couldn’t understand.

I lost my parents at a young age, and in my previous life, I neither married nor had children. I couldn’t quite grasp this parental sentiment that the village chief spoke of. However, something within me stirred slightly.

*Whoosh*

I took one of the ten silver ingots from the safe and threw it back at the village head. When he frantically caught it, I clicked my tongue.

“Hmph… I’ll leave a little. Live a decent life from now on.”

I left the scene without looking back.

Even though I say this, I doubt that guy will live virtuously. But it’s worth a try saying it.

‘Where should I go now?’

I’m not too keen on returning to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall right away. Although the chance that the village chief would report me is low and I’ve gotten everything I wanted, it still feels awkward knowing I’ve committed a dubious act.

‘He might report me to the authorities and hire a martial arts master, but in that case, I’ll utterly annihilate his family by any means.’

Although I feel like I’ve acted somewhat impulsively, there’s no use thinking about what’s already happened.

I’ll just do better from now on.

From now on, I want to wander around the world doing what I want to do before I return.

Then, an idea popped into my head.

“Ah, that’s right! The Millennium Snow Ginseng!”

It was something I had forgotten about while I was focused on training.

I’ve got the silver ingots from the village chief and have sufficiently built up my martial arts, so now all I need to do is find the Millennium Snow Ginseng in Huangshan2 and eat it!

Well then, shall we go look for the elixir in Huangshan?

The village’s name is derived from 小乙 (xiǎo = small, yǐ = second Heavenly Stem in the traditional Chinese calendar and symbolizes things that are secondary or lesser in nature.[↩]

Huangshan is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. It’s famous for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly-shaped granite peaks, and ancient, gnarled trees.[↩]