ESGW 14🔐

Chapter 14 …

On the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

To figure out their methods, he needed to borrow money—but that thought alone made him sigh.

With this body, there was no way they would ever lend him money.

This was why he wanted to grow up as quickly as possible.

A child’s body came with too many limitations.

As he was agonizing over what to do, he bumped into someone, and his tanghulu fell to the ground.

He stared blankly at the fallen tanghulu when a man’s voice came from above.

“Ah—sorry about that. I wasn’t paying attention.”

When he raised his head, he saw a tall, handsome man with a blue headband tied across his forehead, smiling down at him.

“It’s alright. I was careless too.”
“What? Hahaha.”

The man laughed heartily and handed him a coin.

“Here. Go buy yourself the biggest and tastiest one again.”

As he looked at the offered coin, his gaze drifted instead to the sword in the man’s other hand.

A sword engraved with the characters Changcheon (蒼天).

He ignored the coin and stared intently at the sword. The man chuckled.

“Interested in the sword?”
“It says Changcheon.”
“Oh, this? It represents my clan.”
“Which clan?”
“Hm?”

Seeing the boy genuinely clueless, the man smirked.

“Well, well. I must’ve been arrogant, thinking everyone in the world knows my clan.”
“Is it a clan people can recognize just from the word Changcheon?”
“If you’re a martial artist, yes. Changcheon refers to the Namgung Clan.”
“Oh! Namgung Clan! I know them!”
“Do you? Hahaha! Glad to hear it.”
“The Namgung Clan is in Anhui Province. What brings you here?”
“Oh! You even know where our clan resides. I’m honored. As for why I’m here—it’s for martial training.”
“Martial training?”
“Yes. When members of the Namgung Clan come of age, we must travel all across the Central Plains for our martial journey. Well, it’s less about martial training and more about gaining real experience in the jianghu.”

His presence radiated a pleasant, righteous energy.

This person was genuinely upright.

For the first time since Taecheon, Jeok Wigang felt delighted to meet someone he genuinely liked.

“Brother, you’re a good person.”
“What? Brother?”
“Did I get it wrong?”
“Hahahaha! What’s this? I suddenly have a younger brother. Fine! If all under heaven are brothers, why not? Call me brother.”

“What’s your name, brother?”
“My name is Namgung Baek. And my younger brother’s name?”
“I’m Kang Wi.”

He gave a false name.

“So you’re Brother Kang. Pleased to meet you. Here—take this coin and buy yourself a new tanghulu to replace the one I dropped.”
“Thank you.”

He accepted the coin, and Namgung Baek rose with a smile.

“Take care then. If fate allows, we’ll meet again.”
“Yes.”

Namgung Baek waved and walked off.

Jeok Wigang found himself intrigued by him.

It was the first time since Taecheon that someone had so captured his interest.

He quietly followed from behind, observing him. Namgung Baek’s behavior was odd.

He seemed to be watching something.

Following his line of sight, Jeok Wigang saw the local branch of Baekgeummun.

No way…

Was he observing Baekgeummun?

Jeok Wigang continued following him, nibbling on his newly bought tanghulu.

After watching the branch for a long time, Namgung Baek suddenly moved in another direction.

Jeok Wigang followed and found they were heading toward a clothing shop.

Namgung Baek entered and soon reappeared in different clothes.

Not only had he changed outfits, but he had also wrapped his sword tightly in cloth and slung it over his back.

Then he walked toward Baekgeummun.

Jeok Wigang quickly recited the invisibility incantation and followed him inside, unseen.

Inside was a dim, heavy atmosphere. Burly, tattooed men stood with arms crossed, glaring at Namgung Baek.

“What brings you here? Judging by your eyes, you aren’t here to borrow money.”

Namgung Baek pulled out a loan certificate.

“This loan certificate is invalid.”
“Haha. Showing up out of nowhere and saying that—what nonsense is this?”
“It says here the interest is five pun per month. And on compound interest at that! Does this seem reasonable to you?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? Five pun a month isn’t even that high.”
“That’s eighty pun a year! The Great Ming Law prohibits annual interest rates above thirty pun!”
“Oh boy. Look at this—he’s a judge now. If you don’t like it, go report it to the authorities.”
“I already have. They said they couldn’t touch you since you’re martial artists.”
“So you came fully prepared.”
“Destroy this loan certificate, return all the money you’ve taken, and swear to never do such a thing again. Then I’ll let this go.”
“Ohh, scary.”

An old man, seated at the desk, smirked.

“And what if we don’t? What will you do to us?”
“In the name of justice, I will punish you.”
“Justice? Good grief. Are there still fools out there shouting about justice these days? Right?”
“Right indeed. Hahaha!”
“Listen here, young hero. You’re new to the jianghu and full of spirit. As your senior, I’ll be generous and give you a chance. Just walk away quietly.”
“If I ignore wrongdoing when I see it, I won’t be able to face the heavens! This is your last warning. Destroy the loan and vow never to do this again.”
“Idiot.”

The old man shook his head.

“A brat like this won’t listen. Get rid of him.”
“Yes!”

The brutes lunged, but Namgung Baek swiftly dodged and counterattacked.

Thud! Thud!

The men were knocked back by his punches.

But they didn’t look particularly injured.

They simply dusted off their clothes and stood back up.

Namgung Baek frowned.

He had clearly infused inner power in his strikes.

They shouldn’t be able to get back up so easily.

He increased his inner power and struck again—but still, they rose without issue.

Right then, the old man spoke.

“You think you’re the first of your type we’ve run into? These kids are trained exactly for people like you. They’ve mastered Gangchegong. Normal blows won’t affect them.”

The old man smiled wickedly.

“And on top of that, you can’t even use your inner strength properly. All the worse for you.”
“What?”

Drip—

A metallic smell flowed from Namgung Baek’s nose.

He wiped it.

“Blood…?”
“What is this…?”
“Idiot. You didn’t even realize you were poisoned with Inner Power-Dissolving Poison. This is why rookies are hopeless.”

With blood dripping from his nose, Namgung Baek staggered as the brutes’ fists rained down.

PUNCH! PUNCH! PUNCH!

In seconds, his face was covered in blood.

“Enough.”

At the old man’s command, the barrage stopped.

He slowly approached and crouched in front of the battered Namgung Baek.

“Tsk tsk. In the jianghu, you don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. Didn’t your master teach you even that?”
“I don’t know about that. I was taught to never overlook injustice.”
“Is that so?”

The old man stood up.

“Crawl through my legs and I’ll let you live. How about it? Not a bad deal, if you ask me. Better than dying like a dog, right?”

Namgung Baek regretted everything.

He’d been too complacent.

Raised in privilege, he knew nothing of the real world.

People always feared him, so he assumed everyone was like that.

But they feared the name Namgung, not him.

Once the name was hidden, he was pitifully weak.

Pathetic.

But he could not bow.

He was a direct descendant of the Great Namgung Clan.

He would rather die than yield.

He apologized inwardly to his family.

He had shamed their name.

“I’d rather die than listen to you.”

The old man smirked.

“Still not thinking clearly, are you? Your life depends on me. Fine—go to sleep. It’ll be your last peaceful rest.”

WHACK!

The brute slammed a heavy blow to the back of Namgung Baek’s head.

Thud.

As the unconscious Namgung Baek lay limp, the old man sneered.

“I’ll make sure you beg for your life before I’m done with you.”

Grinning like he’d found a new toy, the old man nodded.

One of the brutes bent down to hoist Namgung Baek up—

“Don’t touch him.”

The sudden young voice made everyone turn their heads.

“What’s that?”
“A brat wearing a demon mask… he probably thinks he’s some kind of fiend.”
“Ugh. What a day. All the decent customers stay away, and trash keeps walking in.”

The old man grumbled—but then an idea sparked in his eyes.

“No, wait. We need a kid around that size, don’t we?”
“Oh! You’re right.”
“This isn’t unlucky. It’s lucky. He walked right in. What are you waiting for? Grab him before he runs.”
“Yes, sir!”

The brutes charged at the masked Jeok Wigang.

The old man didn’t bother watching—he was certain they would catch him easily.

THUD!
SLAM!
CRASH!

Hearing strange, heavy impacts followed by collapsing bodies, the old man turned.

The brutes were on the ground—unmoving.

And Jeok Wigang stood completely unharmed.

“What the—? So you’ve learned some martial arts?”

The old man didn’t worry.

The brutes would get up soon.

They always did.

But no matter how long he waited, none stood.

“What are you all doing? Get up!”