Chapter 211: Kongtong (2)

The Three-Knots Beggar waited with a complicated expression on his face as he kept sneaking glances at the Beggars’ Gang Chief's shabby hut every few seconds.

Before long, Five-Knots Beggar emerged and gestured for Three-Knots Beggar to come closer.

Confused, the Three-Knots Beggar walked over when he heard the Five-Knots Beggar say, "The Chief is calling for you. "Come on, let's go in."

Still not sure what was happening, the Three-Knots Beggar followed Five-Knots Beggar into the Chief's hut.

It was his first time meeting the Beggars’ Gang Chief up close, and his first impression was this:

'Wow. He is the most beggar-like person I've ever seen.'

It might've sounded like an insult at first, but since he was talking about the king of beggars, it was actually the highest praise possible.

True to Three-Knots Beggar's observation, the Chief was an old beggar with grime dripping off him. Normally, high-level masters from the Gang had a certain powerful vibe about them despite their filthy appearance.

Usually, even if high-ranking members of the Beggars’ Gang looked like beggars, they still carried an indescribable aura about them. But the Chief just seemed like an ordinary old beggar.

The Three-Knots Beggar stood there dazed for a moment before hastily paying his respects.

"Three-Knots Beggar Jong Gu of Lanzhou greets the Chief."

"Hahaha, no need for all that. We're all just beggars here. So, you're the one who brought this?"

"That's correct, Chief."

"Then you must've taken a look at that Maitreya Luminous Cult place yourself."

The Beggars’ Gang Chief muttered the words written on the tree bark as if talking to himself.

"What's better for beggars? Giving them jobs and a paycheck, or protecting them so they can keep begging? So, what do you think? You think they are right?”

When the Three-Knots Beggar hesitated, the Chief just smiled, "Hehehe. Don't worry. It's not like a frail old man like me is going to bite your head off."

Encouraged by that gentle atmosphere, the Three-Knots Beggar took a deep breath and spoke up. "To be honest, sir... I think they have a point."

The young beggar braced himself for the verbal smackdown he was sure was coming, but the Chief's answer wasn't what he expected at all.

"You are right. Hehehe. Of course! The only real way to help a beggar is to make them not a beggar anymore."

"???"

"What's with that look? It's what we've been trying to do all along with our intel business. They pay us to gather information, and we sell it for them to hear. After that, we use the money to feed our fellow beggars. How is that any different from giving people work and paying them wages?"

"Ah... Now that you mention it, that's absolutely true, Chief!"

As the Three-Knots Beggar exclaimed in surprise, the Chief smiled faintly. "But what we do is just barely enough to keep them from starving to death. To do it right, you'd have to go all-in like this Maitreya Luminous Cult. So, can you guess why we can't?"

Now that he was on the right track, the Three-Knots Beggar pondered for a moment before coming up with an answer. "It's money, isn't it? There's just not enough cash to get every beggar in the country a real job."

"Hahaha, exactly right. Which means this Maitreya Luminous Cult must have seized all the Heavenly Orchid Society’s money after they took them down. They're using that stolen cash to fund their little charity project."

"So... does that make them the good guys?" The Three-Knots Beggar asked. Like any young person, he was kind of impressed by their methods.

And like the old man he was, the Chief gave a cautious answer drawn from the wisdom of his years.

"They look good on the surface, but the real problem is what happens after Heavenly Orchid Society's money runs out. We have no idea what their long-term plan is, or if they're even doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. There could be a hidden agenda. And that's why I wanted to see you."

"???"

"I'm sending someone to Lanzhou to figure out if these people are truly doing this out of goodwill. Your job is to be their guide. Get them there safely and tell them everything you know."

With that, the Chief turned his head toward Five-Knots Beggar and gave an order.

"Go get me the Little Tiger Beggar."

"...You're giving this job to a disciple? Not one of the Elders?"

Hu-gae or little beggar, was a term referring to the Seven-Knot Beggars who ranked just below the Eight-Knot Beggars Elders and were the Chief’s personal disciple.

"Gansu is in the west, so this should be the Beggar Chaser problem, but that guy is busy with Sichuan’s things, isn’t he?

Currently, there were four Elders in the Beggars’ Gang, and they each handled major matters by dividing the Central Plains into east, west, south, and north.

Western affairs were mainly handled by Elder Beggar Chaser, while northern affairs were mainly handled by Elder Sober Beggar.

"Besides, it's about time my student learned how to read people. The fool still thinks being Chief is just about being the best fighter."

The Five-Knots Beggar left the hut to summon Little Tiger Beggar.

***

Meanwhile, things were happening all over the place in Gansu Province.

Following Il-mok's orders, warriors from the White Tiger Corps and Red Tiger Corps left Lanzhou with several courtesans and headed to another county in Gansu Province.

"Have you heard of the Way?"

There, they engaged in missionary work utilizing a honey trap for two or three days.

Once they'd gathered enough people, they held a gathering and demonstrated their martial prowess to those who attended.

They did this by eliminating the Unorthodox Faction scums who had been committing evil deeds in each county.

They were repeating what Il-mok and his companions had done in Gulang County.

And to make it easier, they first started in counties where the Divie Cult's branch offices were located, then branched out to other places.

As the Unorthodox Factions gangs were being swept away one by one...

Back in Lanzhou, at the former estate of the Heavenly Orchid Society, the plaque bearing the Society’s identity was gone, replaced by one reading [Maitreya Luminous Cult].

Deeper inside, the construction crew of ex-beggars, led by the master carpenter Deok Gwang, was still hard at work.

And two huge buildings near the entrance were packed with people.

One building had a sign that said [School], and classes were running inside it pretty much all day.

"The characters we'll learn today are from 'Black Heaven, Yellow Earth. The Universe is Desolate, and the Heaven is Limitless.’ First, let's start with the character for 'Heaven.'"

From the front of the class, Won Sul recited the lesson and painted a huge character on a sheet of paper on the wall, and all the students repeated after him.

However, the students weren't writing on paper.

With no telling how many people they'd end up teaching, buying paper for everyone's education would be an enormous waste of money.

Instead, everyone had a small sandbox in front of them and was tracing the characters with a stick.

Meanwhile, across the courtyard, in the building with the [Clinic] sign, Seo Jae-pil was busy seeing patients.

The estate that had once been a symbol of terror was now bursting with life.

That night.

"Young Master. I really feel like I'm going to die at this rate."

Won Sul looked like he had spent his day in life-and-death duels rather than teaching students and begged Il-mok for mercy.

And Seo Jae-pil was there beside him.

"Is it the same for you, Physician Seo?"

"The number of visitors is overwhelming. The line of those waiting never shortens, so I have no time to conduct my interviews and research, Young Master."

When Physician Seo answered gloomily, Won Sul chimed in.

"It's the same for my team! We can just about manage the reading classes, but we have absolutely no time actually to develop the new religion's doctrine or write sermons!"

Il-mok crossed his arms and pondered for a moment.

If the one before them were his Eldest Brother or his Master, they would’ve shouted "For the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!" and ground themselves out of pure fanaticism.

But Il-mok liked to think of himself as a reasonable person. He didn't believe in solving problems just by running his people into the ground.

Well, to be fair, he was fine with that for a quick sprint. But this was a marathon, not a sprint, and he couldn't afford to burn everyone out.

Like he always did, Il-mok dug his memories of modern Earth for an answer, and pretty soon, he had one.

"Hmm. First, for the Clinic, I'll have some of the literate women from the red-light district sent over."

The idea he'd hit on was basically creating nurses.

"Physician Seo, teach those courtesans basic medical care. You'll lose a bit of time at first, but once you've taught them, they'll be able to handle the easy cases for you."

It was a solution that killed two birds with one stone.

'I remember hearing that some of those women only stay in that line of work because they don't see any other way out.'

He wouldn’t force them to become nurses, but he was sure some would jump at the chance for a new career.

It was a chance for them to start over.

And he'd make sure to pay them a decent salary, of course.

Hearing all this, Won Sul saw his opening and yelled, "In that case, send some of those women our way, too, Young Master!"

"Then send us courtesans too, Young Master!"

It was a demand that could have been taken the wrong way.

"No."

But Il-mok wasn't shutting him down for the reason you'd think.

"There aren't that many literate women in the red-light district to begin with. There won't be enough to send to the school. Besides, they're not the only ones who need a job. Hire some of the old folks who can't do heavy lifting, or disabled people who can read."

Once again, Il-mok had decided to subcontract the subcontracted work.

While Won Sul was grinning with joy at being able to offload teaching the Thousand Character Classic, Il-mok slapped him with another idea.

"You know, I heard there are still a few beggars left who were too disabled to work construction. Hire them as teachers, too."

His plan was to find a job for every last beggar and put an end to the problem for good.

Won Sul asked with a worried expression after hearing that.

“But Young Master, they are still beggars in the end. How could beggars know how to read?”

"That's not a problem."

For a moment, Won Sul wore an impressed expression as if thinking, 'As expected of the Eighth Young Master, he's already thought of a solution!'

"You and your team can just teach them how to read first."

"......"

Won Sul's impressed look froze solid on his face.

"Hmm. Now that I think about it, it won't just be your problem. Once other counties are settled, we'll need to conduct educational volunteer work later. Draw up a plan to train more instructors for when we expand."

Just when he'd gotten rid of one job, a bigger one popped up to take its place.

"Alright, you two can leave now."

And with their "problems" solved, Il-mok kicked them out.

The second they were out the door, Il-mok let out a massive yawn and a stretch.

"Haaaaah."

It was already well past sunset. He'd been practicing his sword forms all afternoon and was feeling that nice, sleepy ache.

He was ready to crash on his bed when an uninvited guest arrived.

"Young Master. This is Kang Yul, Third Squad Leader of the White Tiger Corps. I've returned from completing my mission."

"If there's nothing special, you can just go back and rest."

"There's one unusual matter, so I'll report it before returning."

Hearing Kang Yul's voice from beyond the door, Il-mok let out a sigh internally.

"Come in."

Kang Yul entered and bowed.

"Was there some problem in Dingxi County?"

"There was no particular problem eliminating the local gang that was tormenting the common people there. But the day after we finished, some people claiming to be Taoist priests from the Kongtong Sect came looking for us."

"...The Kongtong Sect?"

Il-mok looked completely baffled.

He hadn't expected to hear that name in a million years. The sect had been totally wiped out centuries ago.

"You're telling me the Kongtong Sect is back from the dead?"

"I can't say for certain, but they claimed to be Taoist priests from the Kongtong Sect and tried to ‘help’ the people of Dingxi County."

Il-mok fell into thought after hearing that.

'Of all the times for the Kongtong Sect to pop up.'

Mount Kongtong, where the Kongtong Sect was located, was geographically quite close to Lanzhou. Close by the standard of the vast Central Plains, of course.

That meant that even if they were just poking around in one county for now, run-ins were going to become more common after this.

Bumping into them wasn't a huge problem. The real problem was that they are from the Orthodox Faction, and a famous one at that.

Even after suffering annihilation, their descendants spread throughout the Central Plains and founded new sects, some of which became part of the Nine Sects and One Gang.

And the biggest problem was that the ones who had annihilated the Kongtong Sect were none other than the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that Il-mok belonged to.

'If we're not careful, all the branch headquarters in Gansu Province could get wiped out.'

In the worst-case scenario, the sects founded by the descendants of the Kongtong Sect could even form a coalition and attack them.

Of course, this was just considering the worst-case scenario. In the best case, they might not even be the Kongtong Sect to begin with.

After all, the real sect was long gone.

'...Too many variables. I'm just guessing without good intel.'

He sighed, realizing that just sitting here thinking wasn't going to solve anything.

'So much for a quiet life.'

He considered ordering others to do it, but everyone was already swamped thanks to his chain of delegation.

Moreover, given the nature of the matter, he felt uneasy about entrusting it to someone else.

"Looks like I'll have to visit Dingxi County and Mount Kongtong myself."