Chapter 1824. Side Story – Journey Outside (5)

❀ ❀ ❀

Cheong Myeong scratched the back of his head. It was obvious, but hearing it from someone else made him feel a little strange.

Even a boy younger than him endured the brutality of all sorts of drunkards just to achieve his dream and survive in the world. So why had he stayed tied to Mount Hua? There were so many great things in the world.

Take Xi'an, for example. As far as he knew, Xi'an wasn't even that large of a city compared to the whole of the Central Plains. But if Xi'an was this impressive, how many amazing places must there be in the world?

He wanted to see them all. With his own eyes.

'Then why don't I just go?'

Why should he voluntarily return to Mount Hua, only to be scolded and nagged?

"Ah, I get it now."

"Huh?"

Even though Cheong Myeong himself hadn't reached a conclusion, the boy nodded as if he understood.

"So that's what it is."

"What is? I don't get it."

"A home."

"…Huh?"

"A home. Home. A family."

"..."

Cheong Myeong looked blankly at him, but the boy continued with a smile.

"It's annoying, sometimes even worse than strangers, it can be disappointing, sometimes unbearable to look at, and though there are good things, there are far more bad things that others don't see."

Was he a mind reader? If he wanted to make money, instead of being a waiter, he should just carry a bamboo stick with 'All-Seeing, All-Knowing' written on it.

"But no matter how suffocating it is… in the end, it's the place you always go back to. And eventually, you find yourself missing it."

"..."

"That's what a home is, or so I've heard."

The boy smiled brightly and asked.

"For you, Mount Hua is your home, right?"

"Huh? Uh… I guess so?"

"Then it makes sense."

The boy laughed out loud and added.

"I envy you. The reason I do business and want to be a merchant is that I want to build my own home and family someday. A place where I can return to, even if I bicker and fight sometimes."

Cheong Myeong stared at the boy. Against the backdrop of the dazzling Xi'an nightscape, the boy seemed to shine a little. Normally, he wouldn't have paid attention to such a small child.

"Have you decided on a name?"

"Huh?"

"For your trading company."

"Oh, that?"

The boy turned to face the brilliant lights of Xi'an and said.

"One day, I'll light up a city like that with just my stores. Like a river of stars in the night sky, Eun-…"

[Tl note: gyaahhh its really Eunha trading company aaa]

"There he is!"

"That way! Sahyung!"

"Cheong Myeong-aaaah!

"Argh, damn it! These leeches!"

Cheong Myeong shot up from his seat, quickly scanned his surroundings, and shoved his hand into his robe.

Thud!

"Huh?"

The boy caught something that had suddenly been thrown at him.

"What is this…?"

"A reward for your help! Bye then!"

Cheong Myeong turned and bolted away.

"Do, Dojang…?"

"Oh! Right!"

Then, moving even faster than before, he rushed back, jabbed his fingers into the bag the boy was holding, and pulled out a silver ingot.

"I still need money for drinks tonight."

"..."

"For real this time. Live well! Open that merchant of yours!"

Cheong Myeong dashed off into the distance.

"Do, Dojang! Wait! My name is Hwang—"

But Cheong Myeong's figure soon disappeared into the darkness.

The boy's outstretched hand, reaching out instinctively, slowly lowered.

"…..Indong [인동(忍冬)]."

[Tl note: yeahh, Hwang Indong... he really is the ancestor of Hwang Jongui and Hwang Munyak T_T]

He scratched the back of his head, disappointed.

"I wanted to tell him I'd name my merchant as 'Eunha Trading Company.'"

Letting out a deep sigh, he looked at the bag in his hands.

"Why… would he even…"

With an indifferent gesture, he opened the bag.

Then his hands started to tremble.

"O-Oh… Oh my god."

Silver. The bag was packed full of heavy silver coin. This wasn't just enough for a market stall—he could rent a whole shop in Xi'an.

"H-Holy…."

The boy—no, Hwang Indong—stared in shock at the direction where Cheong Myeong had disappeared.

It was a night where the galaxy of stars flowed in the sky, and the galaxy of people flowed on the ground.

[Tl note: Eunha means galaxy, so this is a bit of a play on words]

❀ ❀ ❀

"Ugh, seriously… If only they trained with this kind of persistence."

Did it really make sense to go through all this just to catch one person? Cheong Myeong grumbled as he massaged his sore legs. He'd spent the whole night running and hadn't even had a drink.

"I was planning to go back tomorrow. But now, I can't. You brought this on yourselves!"

He spat toward the ground in annoyance and turned east. Even in the darkness, Mount Hua's ridge stood tall in the distance.

"Hmmm… A home, huh…"

Cheong Myeong scratched his cheek.

"Well, I made them worry enough. Maybe I should head back tomorrow."

But first, he needed to drink his fill…

"There you are."

"Huh?"

Cheong Myeong snapped his head around. Had he been caught? No, these guys were yelling their heads off earlier—why were they suddenly so quiet…?

Then he frowned. The approaching figure wasn't from Mount Hua.

"Who are you?"

"....Have you already forgotten? I am Jin Seokrim!"

"Jin what?"

"The man from the tavern earlier!"

Cheong Myeong narrowed his eyes. The moon, previously hidden by clouds, now illuminated the world.

Standing before him was an annoyingly handsome man with a somewhat familiar face. [lmaoo, that annoyingly handsome man hahahaha]

"Oh, it's you. I thought you were one of my Sahyungs. But what do you want… huh?"

Cheong Myeong instinctively caught something thrown toward him. A long stick? No—a wooden sword.

"Take your stance."

"…What?"

Jin Seokrim raised his wooden sword, his expression filled with killing intent.

"Did you really think you could just walk away after humiliating me like that? It was a mistake to go easy on you just because you're young. Today, I'll teach you a proper lesson."

Cheong Myeong stiffened.

"Oh, so you want to fight?"

"Draw your sword."

"I mean, it's not like I was planning to refuse, but… are you sure? I heard you have an important sparring match? Tournament? Something like that coming up."

"Enough with the chatter. Draw your sword. You won't escape this time."

Jin Seokrim ground his teeth. If he beat up a young disciple of Mount Hua, the elders of his sect would surely scold him, but that was nothing compared to the shame of leaving this humiliation unanswered.

If he let this brat go, he would become the laughingstock of Zhongnan.

"This is your last chance! Draw your sword!"

"Oh, well, if you insist… But."

Cheong Myeong grinned.

"Don't regret it."

"You little—!"

Jin Seokrim charged at Cheong Myeong with all his might.

❀ ❀ ❀

"Where is he?"

"I heard a scream from over there!"

"Sahyung! No matter what, he's just a kid… What are you planning to do!"

Yang Gwanjeong and the other disciples of Zhongnan, who had been searching Xi'an for the enraged Jin Seokrim, rushed into the bushes, following the loud cries.

They had to stop him before he crippled the boy.

"Sahyung! Stop.... huh?"

But the scene that unfolded before them was not what they had expected.

"Sa-Sahyung?"

"Why is he—?!"

"What… happened here?"

Jin Seokrim was sprawled out under the night sky, lying flat like a fallen tree. The disciples gasped and ran toward him.

"Good heavens, he's a mess. Was he ambushed?"

The faces of the Zhongnan disciples turned pale. Jin Seokrim wasn't fatally injured, but he was clearly beaten to a pulp.

No way… It couldn't have been that kid.

"Yang Sahyung, over here."

"What is it?"

"Jin Sahyung's arm…"

Yang Gwanjeong's face went white. Jin Seokrim's arm, still clutching his wooden sword, was visibly broken and dangling loosely.

"If… if that's the case, then the tournament…"

What was there to say? He was out.

'What the hell happened here…?'

No matter how hard he tried to make sense of it, Yang Gwanjeong couldn't understand. How did Jin Seokrim end up like this?

Then, at that moment—

"Ughhh…"

"Sahyung! Are you conscious? Sahyung!"

A groan escaped from Jin Seokrim's lips, as if he were on the verge of death.

"What happened?"

"F-five…"

"What? Five? Were you ambushed by five people? Was it Mount Hua's disciples?!"

"He said it… five times…"

"…What?"

"Then… why… six times…"

[Tl note: NOOO, HAHAHAHAHA. This is CM's habit of hitting people's heads 6 times, but mentioning 'head' 5 times T_T. That means this is indeed a habit from his first life, it's not Jong Pal/Wang Cho's (the beggar) fault for hitting CM's head at the beginning of the chapter lmaoooo]

Jin Seokrim's head slumped to the ground. Yang Gwanjeong, speechless, looked at his fallen sahyung, who had passed out again mid-sentence.

"Yang Sahyung, what should we do?"

"Ugh…"

Yang Gwanjeong rubbed his face in frustration.

"First… first, carry sahyung back."

"Yes!"

The disciples hoisted Jin Seokrim onto their backs and hurried toward Zhongnan. Left alone, Yang Gwanjeong bit his lip and glanced at the spot where Jin Seokrim had collapsed.

'That's…'

His eyes landed on a wooden sword lying on the ground. Not the one Jin Seokrim had been holding, but another, discarded from the start.

Yang Gwanjeong's expression twisted.

'No way. It can't be.'

There's no way. Absolutely not.

Absolutely…

❀ ❀ ❀

Two days later, after drinking himself into a stupor, Cheong Myeong staggered back to Mount Hua on his own.

Upon hearing about the incident in Xian, Cheong Mun became utterly furious and confined Cheong Myeong to the Repentance Hall—for over a month.

Then, after an official complaint from Zhongnan, Cheong Myeong's confinement was extended by another month.

By the time he was finally released two months later, Cheong Myeong suffered from an unusual side effect—he would completely lose his composure at the mere mention of the word 'Zhongnan'. [tl note: source of CM hate lmao]

For some, it was a tragic tale.

For others, it was a rather trivial one.

❀ ❀ ❀

"Why?"

"....."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Baek Cheon frowned, visibly annoyed as he stared at Cheong Myeong. The guy had been eyeing him up and down for a while now.

"No, it's just…"

"Just what?"

"I thought you were unpleasant from the first time I saw you."

"…Huh?"

"And now I'm wondering why."

Baek Cheon's face contorted. This lunatic seemed even crazier than usual today.

But Cheong Myeong, oblivious to Baek Cheon's irritation, tilted his head with a serious expression.

"Where did I first see you again?"

"The tavern, idiot! You were already wasted back then! And you were just a kid!"

"Right?"

"Yeah!"

"And you were drinking with your Sahyungs?"

"Are you losing your memory already? Why do you keep asking? It wasn't even that long ago!"

Cheong Myeong tilted his head.

"No, I know, I know… I'm sure that's right. But something feels off. Like it happened a really long time ago. It's like I almost remember, but I don't."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

After much contemplation, Cheong Myeong finally smiled brightly.

"Eh, whatever. I guess you just have an annoyingly unlucky face."

"..."

"Hahaha. It's really that simple."

"Please, just leave me alone… Please…"

Baek Cheon could only feel bitter. What kind of sin had he committed in his past life to end up as Sasuk of this lunatic?

[Tl note: finally! i finished it in a day haha. what is a chapter a day huh]