Chapter 34

Chapter 34:

“This…….”

Nok Mok-pung’s face flushed red.

No matter how he looked at it, he could only think that Wei Yan-ho was deliberately provoking him.

“You turtle bastard!”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Nok Mok-pung with surprise.

“Huh? How did you know?”

Instead, Nok Mok-pung became bewildered.

“What are you talking about?”

Wei Yan-ho asked with a serious face.

“How did you know my nickname was turtle?”

“This bastard is making fun of me till the end!”

“No… I’m serious.”

Wei Yan-ho felt wronged.

Even when he told the truth, they wouldn’t believe him. What a heartless world this was. There was no point in getting more involved with such heartless people—it would only lead to trouble.

“Anyway, then.”

Wei Yan-ho tried to jump down from the wall.

“Wait, you bastard!”

At that moment, Moon Eun-ji urgently shouted.

“Why?”

“You have to help before you go!”

“I told you I don’t have that ability.”

Moon Eun-ji became exasperated.

“It’s because you find it bothersome!”

Wei Yan-ho flinched.

That woman understood him very well.

“Well, there’s a bit of that too.”

Moon Eun-ji gritted her teeth.

It wasn’t just “a bit”—it was definitely that. She was heated and angry, but just shouting wouldn’t solve anything.

Wasn’t Moon Eun-ji the one in need?

“If you help, he’ll give you a great reward!”

“Reward?”

Wei Yan-ho’s ears perked up.

“What kind of reward?”

Moon Eun-ji urgently looked at Lee Wang-ya.

Lee Wang-ya met Moon Eun-ji’s eyes with a reluctant expression. Then he looked at Wei Yan-ho’s pathetic figure, who was only turning his head while on the wall.

‘Really…….’

No matter how he looked at it, this was a person he couldn’t trust.

However, the move that had blown away the black-clothed man earlier definitely indicated that Wei Yan-ho had something.

Grasping at straws… no, calling Wei Yan-ho a straw was too generous. With the mindset of grasping even a rotten straw, Lee Wang-ya opened his mouth.

“If you help, I’ll give you a great reward.”

“What kind of reward?”

“I’ll give you a reward greater than you can imagine!”

Wei Yan-ho seemed to ponder, then shook his head.

“If I die doing that, I won’t need any reward. I’ll just go, so continue with what you were doing.”

Lee Wang-ya hung his head with a devastated expression.

To attempt negotiations with such a damned person was humiliating enough, but to be rejected on top of that.

It was a night when tears he hadn’t shed in decades might fall.

At the same time, Moon Eun-ji realized her mistake. Such methods work on ordinary people.

Wei Yan-ho was different.

She had to use methods suited to the person Wei Yan-ho was, based on what she had observed so far.

‘I was stupid!’

Realizing her mistake, Moon Eun-ji quickly revised her strategy.

“Wait!”

“What now?”

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

“…….”

“Money?”

Wei Yan-ho hesitated.

“Remember how you were skin and bones when you came here? If you leave like this, you’ll have to live eating grass roots again for a while.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded with a hardened expression. Indeed, coming from the cave to this place was no ordinary feat. In terms of survival skills, Wei Yan-ho was inferior to beggars roaming the streets.

How much suffering had he endured, sleeping rough night after night to get here?

While it was nice to see beautiful scenery instead of caves, he was done with not eating properly and getting drenched in night dew.

Skilled martial artists might travel richly, camping and hunting, but that was impossible for Wei Yan-ho. If given a choice between moving his body to hunt and fill his stomach or starving completely, Wei Yan-ho would choose the latter without hesitation.

How could a person run around catching beasts?

This was Wei Yan-ho, who would pass by ripe fruit without reaching for it because extending his arm was bothersome!

Then, Moon Eun-ji delivered the decisive blow.

“If you resolve this matter well, I won’t nag you to work from tomorrow! And you won’t have to play Go either!”

“Ugh…….”

“Think carefully. Will you go and suffer hardships, or will you endure a little inconvenience now to live comfortably for a long time?”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Moon Eun-ji with sharp eyes.

Moon Eun-ji also looked directly at Wei Yan-ho with firm eyes.

Their gazes met and an intense battle of nerves ensued.

“Meals?”

“Top quality!”

“Sleep time?”

“Full day guaranteed!”

Wei Yan-ho’s body trembled.

“F-full day guaranteed!”

For Wei Yan-ho, a full day guarantee of sleep time was too great a temptation. It sounded so sweet that saliva nearly pooled in his mouth.

“You’re not going to say that and then subtly bother me, are you?”

“No!”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Moon Yu-hwan with blazing eyes.

“Is that true?”

Moon Yu-hwan watched the situation with a strange expression, then suddenly coughed when Wei Yan-ho asked him directly.

Should he get involved in this bizarre situation?

“Ahem! Cough! I’ll guarantee it.”

Wei Yan-ho jumped down from the wall.

Along with that, Wei Yan-ho’s face was filled with a seriousness that hadn’t been there before.

Wei Yan-ho straightened his shoulders and proudly declared:

“As a gentleman, I cannot just pass by such an unjust matter!”

Lee Wang-ya’s mouth opened weakly.

“Bullshit…….”

Lee Wang-ya uttered profanity for the first time in decades.

Where on earth had such a person come from?

It wasn’t just Lee Wang-ya who was dumbfounded.

Everyone in the courtyard was looking at Wei Yan-ho with incredulous expressions. Among them, the most incredulous was undoubtedly Nok Mok-pung.

“Haha…….”

Where did that confidence come from, as if he could eliminate them all whenever he wanted?

“Heuk-il.” [TL/N: Heuk-il is a Korean term meaning “Black Sun” often refers to a powerful martial artist or assassin, with a fearsome reputation.]

“Yes!”

The black-clothed man standing behind Nok Mok-pung immediately responded.

“How long must I endure such absurdity?”

“My apologies! I’ll handle it immediately.”

“Don’t kill him.”

Heuk-il looked up at Nok Mok-pung with puzzled eyes. Given Nok Mok-pung’s personality, it seemed strange that he would spare such a person. But Heuk-il’s curiosity was quickly resolved. Cruel anger was rising in Nok Mok-pung’s eyes.

“I’ll tear him apart with my own hands.”

“Yes!”

Heuk-il rose from his position and slowly approached Wei Yan-ho.

“You little turtle bastard got bold.”

Wei Yan-ho corrected him.

“I told you it’s turtle, not little turtle.”

“Heh heh, interesting guy. Let’s see how long you’ll be interesting.”

Heuk-il raised both hands.

Then Wei Yan-ho raised his hand to stop Heuk-il.

“Wait.”

“……What?”

Wei Yan-ho looked back at Moon Eun-ji.

“Hey!”

“Yes?”

“What happened to the sword that was stuck in my bundle?”

Moon Eun-ji answered with a dumbfounded expression.

“That? I put it away in a corner of the room.”

“Really?”

Wei Yan-ho smacked his lips.

Then he casually spoke to Heuk-il.

“Excuse me.”

“What?”

“I need to use a sword, so could you wait here for a moment? I think I need to go to the room.”

“You crazy bastard.”

Wei Yan-ho’s cheek swelled up.

“Hey! You look old enough, but when a young man says he’s going to get a sword, you’re upset about it!”

“Shut up!”

Wei Yan-ho kept grumbling.

“Five years ago it wasn’t like this, but in the meantime, why has the world become so heartless.”

Wei Yan-ho looked around.

Something suitable to use as a weapon……

“Hmm…….”

Wei Yan-ho slowly walked back and picked up a broom leaning against the wall.

“What are you doing?”

Wei Yan-ho was irritated.

“What do you think I’m doing! I have to go get a sword but you won’t let me, so I have to use something like this.”

“……Are you mocking me!”

“Why are you getting angry instead? Then let me go get the sword!”

Unable to endure any longer, Heuk-il glared at Wei Yan-ho with an angry face and raised both hands.

“I won’t kill you! But I’ll make you feel pain that will make you think death is better.”

“Okay.”

“Even if you cry and beg later…….”

“I got it, so can we start now? I came out from sleeping and I’m a bit drowsy.”

Heuk-il felt like he could understand what it meant for smoke to rise from one’s ears. This bastard was nodding off with sleepy eyes right now, yet his mouth wouldn’t stop running.

It was as if only his mouth was moving independently.

“Kaaaah! You little turtle bastard!”

Heuk-il rushed at Wei Yan-ho without warning.

“I told you it’s turtle.”

Heuk-il’s right hand flew swiftly toward Wei Yan-ho’s face.

Thwack!

At the same time, Heuk-il clutched his head and stepped back.

‘What, what?’

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue looking at Heuk-il.

“It’s because it’s me that it ended with just that. If you had encountered our swindler, mister, you would have been a corpse today! You can’t rush in so honestly like that. First, you need to read your opponent’s…….”

Heuk-il rushed at Wei Yan-ho again.

Thwack! Thwack!

Then he clutched his head again and stepped back.

Wei Yan-ho looked at Heuk-il with pitying eyes.

“I’m kindly explaining to you!”

But Heuk-il could no longer respond to Wei Yan-ho’s words.

Cold sweat began flowing down his back. He realized that the young man before him wasn’t just a fool with only his mouth alive.

‘A master!’

If what had struck his head just now had been a sword instead of that broom, Heuk-il would probably have died with his head split open.

Moreover, Heuk-il couldn’t even see how Wei Yan-ho wielded the broom. It was at a speed beyond his imagination.

“How exactly!”

Wei Yan-ho sighed.

“That’s what I’m trying to explain. I’m kindly telling you, but you don’t listen when I’m talking and now you’re asking.”

Tension appeared on Heuk-il’s face.

Heuk-il reached into his bosom and drew out a dagger with a black gleam.

It was a dagger he considered his secret weapon.

Though the blade was only seven inches long, it was coated with the poison of the Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Snake that he had obtained with difficulty.

It was a terrible poison that would kill you before you could take seven steps, even from a mere scratch.

‘A master! But…….’

Considering his young age, it was unbelievable, but the young man before him was definitely stronger than Heuk-il.

Heuk-il cleanly acknowledged that fact.

What he considered his strength was that he had no useless pride. There was no need to be prideful just because a child was stronger than him. In actual combat, the strong don’t always win.

Combat was a world where it’s not the strong who win, but the winner who becomes strong.

The young man was certainly strong, but considering his age, he definitely wouldn’t have much experience in actual combat.

Just one scratch and he would win.

“Oh? Poison?”

Regardless, Wei Yan-ho casually moved his mouth.

“Using poison underhanded?”

“You can blame me all you want after you’re dead.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled.

“But that won’t work on me.”

“Are you saying you’re immune to all poisons?”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head.

“It’s not like I ate boiled ginseng root, so there’s no way poison wouldn’t work on me.”

“Heh heh, you know well.”

“Can I ask what that poison is?”

“I’ll tell you. It’s Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Snake.”

The faces of those who heard the words Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Snake hardened.

“Vicious…….”

From the surrounding reactions alone, one could guess how extremely poisonous the Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Snake was.

But Wei Yan-ho was calm.