Dropped into Murim with an Instant-Kill Skill - Chapter 24

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 24: In the Jianghu, One Cannot Control One's Fate (13)

──────

Eun-yeong was an assassin.

Three years ago, she had received orders and come to Shinheung County.

She had not been assigned to a mission right away. Instead, she had been ordered to wait until further instructions arrived.

But the operation had fallen apart before it could even begin, and the handler who was supposed to send Eun-yeong her next orders became a cold corpse.

The higher-ups cut loose the exposed links and reorganized the group.

Eun-yeong was forgotten.

“...”

She endured in silence.

Once she had spent all the silver she had been paid for the mission, she slept rough and simply went hungry.

Until she was sent out to kill someone, the rules forbade her from doing anything that might leave a trail behind. No matter how hungry she became, she never stole or robbed anyone.

“...”

She grew thinner by the day.

Even if she drank her fill from a well, her stomach emptied again before long.

“...”

Thud.

After wandering aimlessly through the streets of Shinheung County, Eun-yeong finally collapsed.

Her body was cold. Her vision dimmed. As darkness slowly fell over the world...

“Hey! Hey, are you all right?”

The courtesan Choran suddenly burst into her life.

* * *

“That’s how it happened. There was this kid by the roadside, like a kitten caught in the rain... Ah, Young Master, try this too. It’s Cheongun Pavilion’s pride and joy, Chilled Tea-Leaf Chicken. Fried chicken soaked in a cold sauce mixed with tea leaves. It’s cool, sweet, and chewy. Here, say ah.”

“I-I can eat it myself.”

How had things ended up like this?

Yeon Sowol could only feel dazed by everything going on.

When they asked why he had come, he had simply said that he was being chased by the Shinheung Three Dogs and some Black Path martial artists.

For some reason, the courtesans had responded with tremendous enthusiasm.

“Those sons of bitches are still living like that?”

“Black Path scum, honestly.”

“It’s the same here. Whenever you think, This customer seems like a particularly awful piece of work, they always turn out to be Black Path trash.”

“Exactly. Exactly.”

A sudden Black Path condemnation contest began.

Even Yeon Sowol was stunned by one outrageous story after another.

The troublesome customers at Cheongun Pavilion were apparently the better sort.

Cheongun Pavilion itself was run by the most successful Black Path faction in Shinheung County, so other Black Path martial artists at least knew better than to cause too much trouble here.

What they did outside was another matter. It went beyond simple cruelty. Much of it was pathetic, miserable, and contemptible.

“They go to mourning houses, wave around fake promissory notes, and insist that your parents owed them money. Then they make a scene, saying that if the debt isn’t paid, they’ll take the corpse instead.”

How could anyone do that?

“They gather innocent children from the streets and take money by saying they’ll teach them martial arts. Then they don’t teach them anything. They make them run errands, do chores, and steal things before tossing them aside. If the children complain, they beat them.”

They did that to children?

“Charging outrageous interest for loans is the bare minimum.”

How textbook.

“I’ve also heard there are still people who kidnap others and secretly sell them to farms or wealthy landowners.”

How could they do that to people?

Yeon Sowol thought,

‘They really are gangsters. Complete scumbags.’

He had generally considered everyone in the Jianghu to be a gangster, but seeing Yi Yubaek and the people of Windflow Martial Academy had changed that opinion somewhat.

Of course, he still wondered why Windflow Martial Academy had so much money.

There was no way they could be that wealthy from merely teaching martial arts.

After watching them for a while, it seemed that they collected protection money from the surrounding area. That still did not make them all that different from organized crime in Yeon Sowol’s eyes.

But that was by twenty-first-century standards.

Yeon Sowol now believed it for certain.

Yi Yubaek and the people of Windflow Martial Academy had their own standards, and they hated what was plainly evil. If anything, they were good people, not bad ones.

The things he was hearing now, on the other hand, made his face twist in disgust.

These were stories about people with neither principles nor shame.

‘So this is the Black Path.’

Yeon Sowol naturally nodded along as he listened to the courtesans.

“Honestly... How can people like that exist? Do they have to suffer the same things before they understand they’re wrong?”

“It’s still gotten much better. Great Hero Yi Yubaek killed all the ones who really crossed the line.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Everyone in Shinheung County owes your father, Great Hero Yi, a debt. He isn’t called a Great Hero for nothing, you know.”

“I see. Thank you. I’ve learned something else today.”

That was when the mood turned strange.

“...?”

The five courtesans stopped speaking and stared at Yeon Sowol.

The expert named Eun-yeong appeared uninterested, looking only out the window.

“Is something wrong?”

As Yeon Sowol nervously swallowed, the courtesans suddenly cheered.

“Choran, Choran! Have you ever seen a young master who listens this well?”

“I know. Goodness, how can someone be so lovely?”

“This won’t do. Let’s bring out some food and drinks!”

“Yes, yes. We should eat while we talk.”

“I’ll go!”

“...?”

Before Yeon Sowol could properly react, a drinking table had been prepared.

Fragrant dishes, alcohol...

“We’re paying for this, so Young Master only needs to eat.”

“Here, try this. Say ah.”

“I-I can eat it myself.”

“Oh my goodness. He’s adorable.”

Yeon Sowol could not understand why they were acting like this.

He had only listened to them and agreed with a few things.

Choran smiled.

“Some people tell entertaining stories and charge for them. But for people like us, being listened to is far more precious. It’s rare to find someone who takes our words seriously.”

Yeon Sowol had always possessed exceptional social skills and sensitivity.

On top of that, there was the power of active listening, something emphasized in a twenty-first-century education.

Yeon Sowol had been born and raised in an equal society.

He had not yet been stained by society.

He did not look down on someone simply because they were women or courtesans. He treated them carefully, listened deeply, nodded, and responded to their words.

He had done it without thinking much about it. By twenty-first-century standards, it was only the kind of behavior that made people think, What a polite kid.

But to the courtesans, every part of it shone brilliantly.

His manners and his heart were a thousand years ahead of their time.

In an instant, they came to care for the young master. They began sharing stories they had kept buried in their hearts for a long time.

“Me too. My parents couldn’t repay the debt they owed the Golden Powder Gang, so I was sold here when I was eight.”

“I actually came from some farming village. I don’t know where it was... When I was five, I was playing in the yard when some men came in and suddenly stuffed me into a sack. I cried until I passed out, and when I came to, I was here.”

“I was born here. If your mother is a courtesan, her daughter becomes one too. I miss my mother.”

“It was similar for me. My parents were slaves. I think I was seven when our master sold me to the Golden Powder Gang. This was the pleasure house they ran. Nothing special, right?”

“...”

Yeon Sowol was horrified.

Crime after crime. Grievance after grievance.

It felt completely different when he heard these things as stories about strangers, and when he heard them from the people who had endured them themselves.

Perhaps it was because he could hear the tremor in their voices and feel the emotions within.

Yeon Sowol glanced at Eun-yeong.

She still wore an indifferent expression as she picked up food from the table and ate it one bite after another.

‘It’s ridiculous for me to say this with someone that strong here, but...’

Unable to hold himself back any longer, he asked,

“This might be overstepping, but... Do any of you need help?”

Was it not terribly unfair and suffocating to be here against their will, simply because of the status they were born into, or because they had been captured and sold?

It could be rude to assume things about someone else’s situation.

Still, Yeon Sowol asked.

If there was something he could do,

if there was any way he could help,

he wanted to help.

Just as Yi Yubaek had taken up his sword.

...Though Yeon Sowol could not fight nearly as well.

Well. Even if it was something small.

“Oh?”

Choran’s eyes widened.

A gentle smile appeared on her face. When she looked back, the other courtesans were smiling too.

Only Eun-yeong picked up another meatball and ate it.

“Young Master, do you know? That’s the first time anyone has ever said that to us.”

What did she mean?

Was she saying that no one had ever offered to help them?

“We’ve heard people say they’ll help us plenty of times. They say, I’m this kind of person, so getting one girl out of here would be easy. I’ll clear up your grievance for you. But not like that. Young Master is the first person who asked what we wanted first. Who asked whether we needed help.”

“...”

“Everyone else assumes we must need help. I suppose that makes sense. We’re lowborn women, rolling around as men’s playthings. How pitiful we must look.”

Choran continued in a voice that almost sounded like a song.

She was especially beloved and respected by the other courtesans, and everyone quietly listened to her, nodding along in agreement.

“Still, sometimes I think this. The whole world is hard, only in different degrees. Unless you’re born as the beloved child of a high official and get to enjoy power and wealth.”

Farmers had their own hardships.

Laborers had theirs.

Did not everyone in this world struggle through life?

Even while hating it, did they not keep living anyway?

“But nobody walks up to a farmer or a laborer and suddenly asks, Do you need help?”

Choran smiled softly.

“Of course I hate it here too. When I was four, some man tricked me with the promise of candy, and twenty years have already passed. I don’t even remember my mother and father’s faces. But still. I know my place. If I left here now, what could I do?”

All she had learned throughout her life was how to sing, dance, write poetry, and entice men.

“Would anyone pay me to dance, sing, and entice men outside? At least here, I’m a courtesan who earns her keep. I can eat all the delicious food I want. But outside, I’d just be a fool. What else can I do? I have to carry this life and keep going, thinking that this is simply one kind of life.”

After saying that much, she briefly stuck out her red tongue.

“Of course, if some rich man appeared and said he’d save me, I’d follow him right away.”

The other courtesans, who had been listening in agreement until then, immediately protested.

“Look at her lying!”

“Right. You turned down Lord Wang even when he begged and begged you to marry him.”

“No. Lord Wang would throw me away once he got tired of me.”

“As if that would happen. Do you know how bright his face becomes whenever he sees you?”

“Even so, I’d only be a concubine!”

“Still, isn’t life as a concubine better than life as a courtesan?”

“What do you know about it? Have you ever lived as a concubine?”

“No. But wouldn’t it be better?”

“Ah, forget it.”

Choran gently stroked Eun-yeong’s hair.

Eun-yeong swayed under her hand while taking a proper bite of Chilled Tea-Leaf Chicken and chewing it carefully.

“I told you, didn’t I? When I retire, I’m going to live with Eun-yeong. We’ll build one cozy little house.”

Yeon Sowol looked at them.

Something difficult to explain surged up and struck his heart.

Their lives and thoughts were so different from those of the twenty-first century.

Then someone approached the door.

“Ahem. Um... Is Eun-yeong here?”

It was the voice of an older man.

Choran’s eyebrows shot up.

“This old man, honestly...!”

As she rose with a scowl, the other courtesans tried to calm her down.

“Choran, take it easy. Easy.”

“Don’t start screaming too much, all right?”

“Yes, Choran. They bow to you now because you’re so popular, but you never know when that could change.”

Choran barely listened to their concerns and headed for the door.

A moment later, shouting came from outside.

“No! No! Absolutely not! Eun-yeong isn’t working! How many times do I have to tell you? I’ve been raising Eun-yeong with money from my own wages since the beginning! Just try making her work. No, just try bringing it up! Then the pavilion master dies, and I die too. Understand? I’ll get revenge on the bastard who brought me here by promising me candy!”

The older man’s voice turned flustered, then faded away into the distance.

Soon, Choran returned.

She gave Yeon Sowol an awkward smile.

Then Eun-yeong, who had been quiet the entire time, suddenly said,

“I can do it, though.”

“What?”

“The work you do.”

“Are you crazy?”

“It’s your job. I like it.”

Smack!

Choran slapped Eun-yeong across the back hard enough to make the paper windows tremble.

“Say that one more time, and I’ll make you go hungry.”

“Ugh...”

Eun-yeong pouted and turned her head away.

Yeon Sowol noticed a small smile at the corner of her lips.

“Honestly, this girl.”

Choran glared at Eun-yeong, then turned her eyes to Yeon Sowol.

“Anyway, thanks to Young Master, I feel a little better today. I got to say everything I wanted to say. Hmm. I want to repay you somehow...”

Choran thought for a while, then suddenly exclaimed.

“Ah! This would be good. Tell Great Hero Yi Yubaek this. On the eighth day of the fourth month, the Governor-General of Liangguang will offer prayers at Gukeun Temple and take a boat trip on the Jipseong River. They’re gathering a huge amount of corvée labor. Ten thousand river lanterns, ten thousand sky lanterns, and a grand display of iron flowers. It sounds like they’re planning a spectacular celebration. Since it’s the visit of the Governor-General who oversees both Guangdong and Guangxi, the Shinheung County Magistrate is trembling in fear, and even the Guangdong Provincial Administrator is putting great effort into it.”

Yeon Sowol imagined it.

The Jipseong River on a dark night.

River lanterns floating over the water. Sky lanterns rising into the air. Iron flowers, molten metal flung like fireworks.

There was little entertainment in this world.

His heart raced.

He wanted to see it badly.

“That means they’re going to impose a very strict travel ban on the people. They say anyone entering the area will receive severe punishment. Especially this time, an explicit order will be given that martial artists must never approach. Tell Great Hero Yi Yubaek in advance.”

Yeon Sowol became gloomy.

‘How can they be this filthy and petty...’

Only the high-ranking people got to see something that good?

And the common people had to do all the preparation?

There would have been an uproar in the twenty-first century, but this was a class-based society.

“Yes. I understand. I’ll make sure to tell him.”

Even as he answered, Yeon Sowol felt puzzled.

‘But why tell Father about this...? Is it simply a warning to be careful?’

Choran added when she saw him tilt his head.

“Ah, and I heard that Seo Muryang, the leader of the Golden Powder Gang, is secretly colluding with Heavenly Road Mountain. Great Hero Yi might already know, of course. But in Shinheung County, the only person crazy enough to do something like that now would be Seo Muryang, the number one figure of the Black Path... Anyway, tell him that too.”

“...Yes.”

Yeon Sowol felt the blood drain from his face a little.

Secretly colluding with Heavenly Road Mountain.

“Hmm. What else could there be? Thinking about it, I haven’t given Young Master anything directly. Everything has been for Great Hero Yi Yubaek. Is there nothing we can give our young master?”

Choran fell into thought.

The other courtesans began thinking as well.

Yeon Sowol felt a little flustered by how determined they suddenly seemed to give him things.

As he wondered whether he should stop them...

“There is.”

Eun-yeong, who had not joined the conversation and had only been eating beside them, suddenly spoke.

“There is?”

“Yeah.”

“What is it?”

“Martial arts.”

“Huh?”

Choran tilted her head as Eun-yeong pointed at Yeon Sowol.