Episode 58. You can do whatever you want.
Haengsu Jeongun Gwan’s face darkened with despair.
It was difficult to estimate how much the reward would be, since five heroes of Obongsanchae had been killed.
The poisonous man, Hwang Yeo-myeong, shouted at Jeong Woon-gwan, who was standing there blankly.
“Let go, kid!”
“Ah, yes, yes, that’s right. Oh my! How much trouble have you had, heroes?”
Time, which had stopped along with Jeongun Gwan’s fuss, began to flow again.
He captured the five loyal Luoyang vassals and drove out the Hwayang Shangfang.
Even though Shin Ui-dae Daeju Pungcheon-do Yang Mu-gi prayed for the release of the Luoyang Five Hexes by bowing and bowing (touching the floor with the hands and tapping the ground with the head three times), it was no use.
Before leaving, Haengsu Jeongun-gwan gave Poongyeoncho a whopping 500 nyang as an apology. In other words, he paid 100 nyang for each dead thief.
The owner of the house, Pungyeoncho, entrusted the management and surveillance of the Luoyang Five Affairs to the poisonous man, Huang Yaoming. In fact, there was no one who could do the job better than Huang Yaoming, who had poison in his nickname.
As a result, the choice of Poongyeoncho was right.
Huang Yaoming made Luoyang Wuxia drink as much water as he could from the mountain spirits, and then had him acupunctured before forcing him into his quarters. It was a ruthless but most thorough treatment.
There was a brief discussion among the bandits about whether or not they could keep the Luoyang Five Knights, but it soon died down. The bandits of O Bong San Chae did not dare to go against Yeon Jeok Ha’s wishes.
The thieves of O Bong San Chae were more in awe of Yeon Jeok Ha, whom they lived with, than of Gun Ja Geom, whom they had never seen before. Some even said that even Gun Ja Geom was no match for Yeon Jeok Ha.
At sunset.
Poongyeoncho went to the highest peak of Mt. Obongsan to find Yeonjeokha.
He was sitting cross-legged at the top of a mountain. The sight was so vain that Poongyeoncho couldn’t approach him and had to just watch him for a long time.
Yeonjeokha opened her eyes after a long time and turned her head.
“Brother, I think I’ve gotten older. I think I now understand what futility is. Today, I’m practicing the Nine Thousand-Year-Old Jing Sutra better than before.”
Poongyeoncho was speechless for a moment at the sight of Yeonjeokha’s lonely expression.
He sat down next to Yeonjeokha and watched the setting sun together.
“The person who named me ‘Red Sunset [赤霞]’ is my father. Maybe that’s why I think of him when I see a sunset. But the funny thing is, I can’t remember his face.”
“It could be like that if I saw it when I was too young.”
“But what brings you here? Did you come to call me to come over for dinner?”
“That too… … .”
Poongyeoncho trailed off.
I came to ask how long I would keep Luoyang Five Gorges, but I was so sorry that I couldn’t open my mouth.
The two were silent for a while.
Then, as if a memory suddenly occurred to him, Poongyeoncho asked.
“There’s a girl with the surname Yeon from Waryongjang. Her swordsmanship is familiar to me… … . She’s related to my younger brother, right?”
Yeonjeokha answered with an indifferent expression.
“She’s my half-sister.”
“Oh, I see.”
Only then did Poongyeoncho understand why Yeonjeokha was so angry.
“Yeon-ah, the Nokrim thing. If you do something bad, you get cursed at, and if you do something good, you get cursed at. Do you know what I mean? It means you can do whatever you want.”
“Phehhehheh!”
Yeonjeokha laughed, shaking her shoulders.
That’s right.
People would call him a hero in front of others, but when they turned around, they would call him a thief. Whether it was the Sam-ak-san-chae or the O-bong-san-chae of Ha-tang-jin, who were known for their wickedness, they would all be cursed at anyway.
That evening.
He dragged the five loyal Luoyang warriors into the front yard.
And he sat down on the bed and looked down at the Luoyang Five Gorges crouching on the ground.
“Hey, kids. Where did you come from to crawl in here? Isn’t this green forest funny?”
Isomin opened her mouth carefully.
“Well, how about you just let us go? We already sent all the Hwayangsangbang back, right?”
“They paid five hundred nyang as compensation. You pay your money too. Then I will let you go.”
“So, are you asking us to give you money right now?”
Not only Isomin, but also the Luoyang Five Knights glared at him.
The new masters of the Jeongpa who went on a journey to the Gangho are caught by the Nokrim and are forced to pay compensation? If that happens, I will have to give up my dream of becoming a swordsman in this life.
The second son, Oh Joong-san, jumped up.
“What nonsense! I have never heard of such a thing in the world!”
The first one, Hwang Dong-yeop, spoke as if he was begging.
“Brother, please don’t do that. To be honest, we came to the world of martial arts against our family’s wishes. As a result, we don’t have much money. If you tell us to give up everything we have, we will do so. Anything more is impossible. No, it’s impossible.”
Yeonjeokha, who had been listening, sneered.
“Huh! Don’t worry. We’ll get it from your house. We just need the money. It doesn’t matter whose pocket it came from.”
“Wow! That’s the kind of thing where you’d jump into a pit of fire carrying a torch. I’m just a member of a so-so sect, but this young lady here is the daughter of the Uicheon sect lord. You’ve probably heard of the Uicheon sect, right? If this gets to Gunjageom’s ears, you two won’t be safe either.”
“Yeah, it’s okay. I’m not scared of the swords of a gentleman or a small person. If you have to, you can run away. But before you run away, I’ll cut off your heads.”
“Even so, it seems like Obongsanchae will be safe!”
“We should move to another area. There isn’t only Mt. Obong in the world, right?”
It was a somewhat far-fetched statement, but Hwang Dong-yeop could not refute it.
There was something more important than that.
The fact that they will kill themselves before they escape.
The other Luoyang Five Knights must have thought the same thing, because their expressions became serious. They realized belatedly that ‘they might die before they can be rescued by their family.’
Yeonjeokha said with a big smile.
“Okay, now tell me how much your worth is. You first.”
Yeonjeokha’s hand reached out to Hwang Dongyeop.
“Ha! Our Palseonmun is not rich. To be honest, even five hundred nyang of silver is too much.”
“Okay. Five hundred nyang. Next.”
The second person to be named was the great disciple of the Great Yeonmun, Oh Jung-san, who called for ‘three hundred nyang’.
The lover accepted it coolly.
“Next person.”
Son Sang-geuk of Chilyangmun, who had been observing the situation, spoke in a crawling voice.
“… … Two hundred nyang?”
Then, this time too, Yeonjeok nodded readily.
When it was her turn, Isomin grimaced as if she was going to cry.
“Look, if they find out I’m being held, they’ll be in real trouble. So just let them go.”
“How much?”
When Yeonjeok-ha started talking nonsense, Isomin let out a sigh as if the ground was falling apart.
“Ha! Okay. Do whatever you want. I’ll take 100 nyang.”
It’s an amount of money that was carelessly thrown out in a fit of anger.
For a moment, Luoyang Ohyeop’s gaze turned to Yeonjeokha’s mouth.
The disciple of the Palseonmun was worth 500 nyang, but the daughter of the Uicheonmunju was worth 100 nyang.
Will that thief just let it slide this time too?
Or should I ask for a larger amount?
“Okay, one hundred nyang.”
It’s a face that looks indifferent.
Then Hwang Dong-yeop intervened as if he felt wronged.
“Brother! Didn’t I say that five hundred nyang is too much for me? Please lower the price a little.”
“How much do you want?”
Hwang Dong-yeop, who had been thinking about it for a while, answered.
“Me too, a hundred nyang?”
“Okay, then.”
There was no bargaining over the agreed amount.
Only then did Luoyang Wuxia realize that the bandit’s intention was not money.
So what is it?
For a moment, Hwang Dong-yeop grabbed my neck with a startled expression on his face.
Could it be that the compensation is just an excuse?
Maybe they could kill themselves and run away before the Luoyang Five Knights’ family invaded.
After thinking about it carefully, I think that’s right.
In fact, taking Luoyang Wuxia hostage was tantamount to giving up on Wu Bong San Chae.
This is because the family of the Luoyang Five Knights, who valued honor, would not have willingly paid money to settle the matter.
At that moment, Yeonjeokha turned his gaze to Yeonseonju.
“This is the last one. How much is yours?”
“Haa! Me too, 100 nyang.”
At that moment, Yeonjeokha shook her head.
“That won’t do. You stabbed me with a knife, so you should pay more than that.”
“Uh, how much do you want?”
The speaker’s voice trembled.
I thought he was a tough guy with great martial arts skills but no greed for money, but that wasn’t the case?
The situation at Waryongjang is much worse than it looks from the outside. That is why his mother lives with the ledger by her side all day. If Waryongjang makes one mistake, it will fall into the abyss. Knowing that, Yeon Seon-ju was burning inside.
‘If I had known this would happen, I would have just stayed home… … .’
But it was already spilled milk.
“A thousand nyang of silver.”
“Crazy! No! I absolutely cannot afford that kind of money! The astronomical observatory costs a hundred nyang, so why should I pay a thousand nyang?”
The speaker shouted without realizing it.
Unlike the pale-faced speaker, Hwang Dong-yeop’s face was slightly flushed. This was because he thought, ‘Maybe he really wants money.’
“I told you. This is the price you paid for stabbing me. If you can’t pay, you’ll have to live in Obongsanchae. Since you seem to be old enough to get married, I can introduce you to a good thief.”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about! So-Hyeong-Je. No, So-Hyeop! Please don’t do that. Waryongjang doesn’t have that kind of money.”
“Then you will have to set up a wedding room with him.”
Along with the words, Yeonjeokha pointed to Hwang Yeomyeong.
Then Huang Yeomyeong opened his mouth wide and shouted.
“Me? Thank you, brother!”
The speaker looked between the two thieves with surprised eyes.
Looking at the young thief’s cold face, it seems like it’s not a joke.
The thought that I might be humiliated here made my eyes dizzy.
Lee So-min spoke to the speaker who was holding back tears.
“Don’t worry too much, Yeon-mae. I’ll ask the astronomical observatory for some flexibility. It’ll be fine.”
The speaker couldn’t believe what was happening.
At first, there was an optimistic atmosphere that the Luoyang Five Swordsmen would come to punish the Five Fangs. However, everything changed with one word: “Then I will cut off your heads and run away.”
Now everyone is trying to somehow pay the compensation and escape from this hellish place. Perhaps the real revenge will come after that.
In the end, the current situation is that ‘we have to somehow get a thousand nyang of silver.’
When I thought about my mother receiving this shocking news, I wanted to bite my tongue and commit suicide. However, I couldn’t do that for the sake of my family that I would leave behind.
Tears fell from the orator’s eyes as he lowered his head.
After being sent back to his lodgings for a while, Luoyang Wuxia spent the whole night writing letters home.
Their desperation later produced heartbreaking letters that tore at the hearts of their families.
On the other hand, the danger of the Oh Bong-sip-geol, who could do anything, was also emphasized.
Here is a passage from Hwang Dong-yeop’s letter:
[If we provoke them rashly, we will be the first to be killed. The Five Bongsipgeol are even more evil than that. A gentleman’s revenge is not too late even after ten years, so please send compensation first. Please.]
As soon as the sun rose, he entrusted the delivery of a letter from the Luoyang Five Knights to five quick-footed bandits.
***
Luoyang.
Around dusk, a swordsman in his mid-thirties entered the castle with a tired look on his face.
It was the weapon of the Hwayangsangbang Shinui Daeju.
As soon as he came down from Mt. Obong, he asked for the understanding of Jeongungwan Haengsu and left Sangdan. It was to deliver the dishonorable news to the family of the Luoyang Five Knights.
He was so tired that his breath smelled like blood, but he couldn’t rest and headed towards Uicheonmun. His heart felt heavy as he thought about meeting the gatekeeper, Gunjageom.
Wuxia,
