Chapter 51. Twin Swords of the Wind and Clouds (26)
Woo-Moon raised his aura while approaching the boy, putting tremendous pressure on him.
“Huh? Ah... ahh!!”
“All I can do in that case is to cripple both of your arms so you can never pickpocket again.”
The pickpocket’s eyes filled with fear at Woo-Moon’s vicious words. However, that fear only lasted momentarily as a spiteful venom quickly drove that fear away.
“If you’re going to be like that, then just kill me! It’s better for me just to die than to become a cripple and burden my little sister! Kill me! All of you martial artist bastards are the same! You piece of shit!”
There was no longer any fear in the boy's eyes, just hate and rage. On the other hand, cold sweat flowed down his body as he trembled.
Seeing this, Woo-Moon relaxed his frosty expression and smiled lightly.
“What a funny little brat. Let’s go to your home then. I’ll think what to do with you in the meantime.”
Although there was a heavy atmosphere for a moment, Dok-Du, Ryeok-Gwi, and the other children weren’t bothered in the slightest by Woo-Moon’s reaction. As far as they were concerned, punishing a pickpocket like this was only natural. Woo-Moon’s actions weren’t excessive.
If a pickpocket was caught and there was no one important behind them, they would be punished on the spot, and in many cases they were simply beaten to death.
Woo-Moon just smiled and turned around, and the pickpocket finally fell to his knees as his legs gave in.
“Huff...huff... huff...”
The boy was out of breath even though he hadn’t done anything physical. Only now did he realize that the fear Woo-Moon’s pressure brought had made him stop breathing at some point.
No matter how brazen he was, he was still a child. Just the fact that he had been able to withstand Woo-Moon’s pressure for so long without buckling was amazing.
“What are you doing, just sitting there? Didn’t you want to say goodbye to your sister? Hurry up and take us there!”
When the pickpocket heard the word “sister,” the boy jumped up with an unwavering gaze.
“Please follow me!”
Where the boy and his younger sister lived was clearly the shabbiest possible area, even within the orphan village.
As they passed a corner, they could finally see something that only vaguely looked like a house. It wasn’t even made of wooden planks, but rather scraps, and the floor was nothing more than the dirty ground.
‘You mean you’ve been sleeping in a place like this?’
“Gun-Ha, Gun-Ha!”
"Oppa?"
A voice came from inside the “house,” welcoming the pickpocket, and a moment later, a short and weak-looking girl jumped out to meet her brother. Her face was so dark that it was difficult to tell if she was very tanned or just extremely dirty.
“Huh?”
Thud!
Shocked to see her brother being held captive, the girl took a step back and dropped the book in her hand on the ground.
Seeing the book, Woo-Moon’s eyes lit up.
Surprisingly, it was The Book of Odes, one of the Five Classics only read by scholars.[1]
Woo-Moon thought back to his childhood. Before falling in love with the landscape painting, he had also studied the Four Books and Five Classics.
‘For these children, that book must have been nearly impossible to get.’
Woo-Moon felt a little guilty for having shocked the girl to the point that she had dropped such a valuable possession. He walked over and picked up the fallen book, wiping it absent-mindedly on the new clothes that his mother had bought him before handing it back to the little girl.
“This must be precious to you, so you should treasure it.”
The weak-looking girl bowed in thanks as she took the book. She then gathered her courage and forced herself to look up at Woo-Moon.
“W-why did you capture my brother? Please let him go... It’s all my fault, I’m the one who’s unable to work and I’m a burden for him.”
The little girl had lived a difficult life with her older brother from a young age and was looked down upon and ignored by those around her. This had led her to be very timid and shy, and she struggled to look straight at the man in front of her, whom she was seeing for the first time.
Seeing her beg, the pickpocket’s expression turned ugly.
“Hurry up and give my sister the money! I told you that if you do that, I’ll follow you right away!”
The little girl was taken aback.
“What is he saying?”
Woo-Moon explained to her that he was looking for guards and was taking the boy as he had taken a liking to him. She looked relieved hearing his explanation, but that relieved look was soon replaced by determination.
“T-then... I-I know it may be shameless for me to ask, but please take me, too! Even though I may be young and weak, I’ll still do my best. I can at least do cleaning or laundry!”
The pickpocket looked touched for a moment by his sister’s words...and then he remembered what lay in wait for his sister if he were to disappear.
He had thought that ten taels of silver would be a great gift for his sister, but now, he quickly realized that he had been too quick to judge. That only applied to children who had parents to protect them. It was different for orphans like them.
Forget about what she’d do in the future, it wasn’t even certain that she’d live to see the next morning.
For a young girl like his sister to live alone in the orphan neighborhood, and with such a large sum of money to boot.... Even though they were both children, his presence at least accounted for something. If he was no longer there, things would change for the worse, and his sister would become the target of many dangers.
Although there were many people in the world who would pity and sympathize with an orphan girl who lived a difficult life, there were also the kinds of people who would target her even more viciously due to her situation and try to do all manner of horrendous things to her.
The boy knelt on the spot and bowed to Woo-Moon.
“Please don’t separate us! My younger sister is a really kind and intelligent child! I beg you, bring her with you as well! Please!”
“Huh? Why are you making this sound as if I’m forcing you apart? Is it really such a bad thing for you that I’m taking you with me? If so, you don’t have to come with me. I won’t take you to the government office either; you can just go.”
The girl understood the situation better than her brother, and she immediately turned pale. The boy had to process Woo-Moon’s words for some moments before he also paled and started begging again, with even more desperation.
“N-no, that’s not it! It’s just because I misunderstood you at first. P-please, I beg you to allow my sister and me to serve you!”
Although the pickpocket hadn’t known Woo-Moon for a long time, from what he had seen of the man from the moment he had been captured, he felt as though Woo-Moon wasn’t an evil person. No, if anything, Woo-Moon felt like one of the rare good men in the world.
These children didn’t even know how to read, much less how to fight properly, yet Woo-Moon was willing to take them in as guards and give them a place to sleep and food to eat. Moreover, he even said he was willing to teach them martial arts and pay them proper wages.
On top of it all, their families were compensated with even more money.
Could this sort of fortune ever come to those born orphans?
“Yeah, that’s more like it. You know, I’m not doing this because I expect you to worship me or anything, but I don’t think anyone in this world likes to be cursed while they’re doing good deeds. Alright. As long as you remember this well, boy. Now come on, let’s go. Both of you.”
At Woo-Moon’s words, everyone was delighted—the pickpocket, his sister, the other children, and even Ryeok-Gwi and Dok-Du. In particular, Ryeok-Gwi’s eyes even turned red, as if his heart was much softer than his appearance suggested.
“Dok-Du! We’re taking this little girl with us. Make sure she arrives safely at the residence. If you try anything weird, you’re dead meat.”
“Understood!”
“You have to pack your belongings, right? That uncle there will take good care of you so you can follow him to the Baek Family later. We’re going to head over first.”
“The Iron Sword Baek Family...”
Realizing that her hopes had come true, the girl bowed happily.
“Thank you. Thank you so much!”
“Ryeok-Gwi! Let's go!"
Satisfied, Woo-Moon returned to the Baek Family.
***
When he got back home, it was already evening.
The girl, who arrived later in the evening after the others, was allowed to move into a small building within his parents’ residence, while the rest of the children had to stay with the Dok-Ryeok-Rat Trio.
‘You demon! You dog bastard! You force us to live like this while you’re alone in that giant house!’
Their sleeping quarters had become so cramped that they all had to sleep shoulder to shoulder. It was only natural for the three of them, who used to live the high life, to be crying for their mom.
On the contrary, the children looked ecstatic as they lay down and fell asleep.
It was their first time sleeping in such a cozy place and having such soft blankets to cover themselves. Moreover, living in a house with a proper roof and sturdy walls was nothing short of the finest luxury they had ever experienced.
In the meantime, Dae-Woong and Jin-Jin were quite concerned when they saw the children that Woo-Moon had brought.
“Is this really okay, Woo-Moon? It will take a lot of time for those children to be able to act as guards. Besides, you’re going to be responsible for all of their...”
That was what it meant to be a part of the gangho.
The greater the variation in strength within a group, the more pressure would be put on the person with the strongest martial skills. There were often cases of martial artists losing to opponents that they would normally defeat, because they were forced to protect others while fighting.
That was the key reason why Jin-Jin was concerned by Woo-Moon’s decisions.
“Mother, it’s okay. I understand what you’re concerned about. Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.”
Because her grown son had stated he would take care of it himself, Jin-Jin accepted it and didn’t argue further.
“Okay. Oh, I noticed that you also brought a girl with you. I’ll be taking care of her.”
There would be many difficulties for her male son if he had to take care of a little girl, and it would only lead to gossip if those outside of the family were to catch sight of it.
“I was actually thinking of bringing this up with you, but I didn’t really know how. Thank you, Mother.”
“Sometimes, I think it was better when you were a fool. I don’t like how formal ‘Mother’ sounds,” Jin-Jin said, shaking her head.
She then went outside and called for the little girl sitting in the yard. She brought the girl with her to take a warm bath and have a good conversation.
After talking for a while, Jin-Jin was finally able to draw out the girl’s name—Seol Gun-Ha.
Possibly because she was a little wistful over having two sons but no daughters, although they had only met for a short time, Jin-Jin was already head over heels with Gun-Ha’s adorableness.
She even liked how shy and easily embarrassed Gun-Ha was, and she was also very appreciative of how thoughtful, studious, and knowledgeable about etiquette the girl was despite being an orphan and poor. Moreover, once the girl washed herself properly, Jin-Jin could see that her face had well-defined features, her skin was rosy, and she was in fact quite pretty.
However, even though Gun-Ha had begun to open up to Jin-Jin, she was really shy and quiet. It seemed that it would take some more time for them to converse properly.
Before it got too dark, Woo-Moon departed from the Baek Family again and headed toward the inn where Si-Hyeon and Mu-Jae stayed.
Si-Hyeon greeted Woo-Moon warmly. From her words, it seemed that Baek Sang-Woon had stopped by to see them before he left.
“I plan on practicing martial arts here while establishing a merchant guild, senior brother.”
“A merchant guild?”
“Yes. Because that was our family’s business, I plan to start the Leebi Merchant Guild once again here in Hefei. Of course, I already received permission from Grandfather.”
Si-Hyeon’s eyes, which had lost their shine long before their journey, seemed to have come back to life. It was clear that she had a newfound dream for the future.
‘Good. This is how a leader should be.’
“I understand, junior sister. I will help you as much as I can.”
“You will? Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“If you want to reestablish the Merchant Guild, you’ll need money first, right?”
After Woo-Moon’s question, Si-Hyeon pulled out a small box in her sleeve and opened it. Within the box was a small bead.
“Oh, what’s this?”
“This is a Luminous Night Pearl. It’s an extremely expensive item. Will you come with me later to help me handle it?”
The Luminous Night Pearl was an item that could stir voracious greed. To be frank, it would be difficult for Mu-Jae and Si-Hyeon to handle its sale with their level of strength in such an unfamiliar place like Hefei.
“Understood, junior sister. I’ll come with you then.”
“Thank you again, senior brother.”
“What are you thanking me for? Considering I’m doing it for you, this doesn’t mean much.”
Si-Hyeon’s face turned slightly red. However, Woo-Moon failed to notice that. He stood up.
“Then, I’ll head out now. It’s quite late.”
“Yes. Please return safely, senior brother.”
Woo-Moon returned home and had a good sleep. The next day, early in the morning, he headed to where his new “guards” were sleeping, intent on having them start training.
However, seeing the way they all slept together with such happy expressions on their faces weakened his resolve.
‘Should I let them take it easy, at least for today? Oh well, they can just start tomorrow and work harder.’
With that in mind, Woo-Moon closed the door and turned around as the children slept soundly, completely oblivious to the hardships that lay ahead.
On the other hand, there were three people in the quarters who had terrible nightmares and sometimes screamed in their sleep.
“Agh!!!!”
“SONG WOO-MOOOOOOON!”
***
The next day, Woo-Moon, who had been practicing his martial arts in his room for a while as he had nothing else to do, left the Iron Sword Baek Estate and walked around looking for talented people to become guards.
The Dok-Ryeok-Rat Trio could only become servants. Woo-Moon had no intention of using as personal guards people who had thrived in the nightlife and committed evil deeds. Thus, he still needed two people to fill all ten guard spots.
However, he was left empty-handed today as well.
Finally, in the evening, Woo-Moon returned to the estate.
However, this time, there was something strange about the atmosphere.
“A-ahem. Have you arrived, Woo-Moon?” Dae-Woong greeted, trying to avoid Woo-Moon’s gaze somehow.
“Wait, wait a moment. Father. What is going on? Why does it look like one of your eyes is swollen?”
1. The Five Classics are five books that are considered the earliest canon of Confucianism. Along with the Four Books, they comprised the basis of the imperial examination system starting in the Han dynasty. ☜