Chapter 14: I Made a Connection

The ‘Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu’ was one of the most treasured possessions of the Beggar’s Gang.

The ‘Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu’ was truly the culmination of the Beggar’s Gang’s beggars, steeped in the blood and sweat of the beggars who had gathered information from all over the Jianghu and the beggars of the main sect who had compiled and organized it into a book.

Because it was created by the combined efforts of all the beggars of the gang, the Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu was open to all beggars of the gang.

As long as they were of the Third-Knot or higher.

Sharing the sect's treasure with all its members, it was truly worthy of being called the Beggar’s Gang.

Needless to say, not just anyone was listed in this Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu.

It went through a process of carefully selecting those who were important in the Jianghu Murim.

Usually, it was common sense that the importance of a person in the Jianghu depended on the level of their martial arts.

Therefore, the people listed in the Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu were mostly those with high-level martial arts.

But at the same time, the importance of a person was not solely determined by the level of their martial arts in the Jianghu Murim.

The person's influence, fame, background, and wealth also became measures for judging their importance.

Thanks to this, that fellow named Namgung Tan, who was grinning in front of me, could also be recorded in the Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu.

Even though he was only at the Peak realm.

Why, need I say more?

It was because he was the eldest son of the Namgung Clan, one of the Five Great Clans that dominated the Jianghu Murim.

It was an undeserved honor for him.

But one must know that a shadow follows every glory.

Behind the glory of being listed in the Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu, there was the shadow of his secrets being thoroughly exposed to the beggars of the gang.

For reference, during my Myeong-gae days, I had memorized all the vast contents of the Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu.

That's right.

I knew all the secrets about Namgung Tan.

Not only the secrets he had now, but also the secrets he would have in the future.

You shouldn't have messed with me.

***

“Young Master Myeong of the Dancheon Clan is very handsome. This young lady's eyes have been opened.”

The woman who had asked to share the table with me said with a smile.

Although it was a common courtesy in the Jianghu, compliments about my appearance were still unfamiliar.

It was thanks to the power of the Vermilion Fruit.

“The young mistress is also beautiful.”

“Hohoho, thank you.”

I returned a similar compliment.

The woman's appearance was truly beautiful, so my words could be sincere.

It was a truly harmonious atmosphere.

That was, until that human, Namgung Tan, interfered.

“Right. You've become quite slick in the time I haven't seen you. The Dancheon Clan's treatment of bastards must not be bad. It's quite different from our Namgung.”

If he had ended his words there, I would have at least considered extenuating circumstances.

“Ah, is it because the clan has no roots?”

The words he added with a smirk were clearly crossing the line.

‘This bastard?’

That Namgung Tan fellow was now acting up without even knowing that this place was the tiger's mouth.

If you don't know, you have to learn by being beaten.

That was the law of the Jianghu Murim.

A sense of mission arose in me that I had to provide him with a true education today.

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

Namgung Tan's gaze, who was attacking me without a second thought, flickered to the woman sitting next to him.

I could guess the reason why he was so aggressive towards me, with whom he was only casually acquainted.

It was probably because of jealousy.

“Young Master Myeong, I'm sorry. He's not usually like this……”

The woman who had requested to share the table apologized to me politely.

Then, she looked at Namgung Tan with a stern gaze and scolded him.

“Young Master Tan. Please apologize to this gentleman.”

Perhaps taking the woman's attitude as a sign of her favor towards me, Namgung Tan's face turned red and he became angry.

“You want me to apologize to that bastard? Even if it's Lady Yeon's request, I don't think I can do that!”

At his answer, the woman's face turned pale.

I knew the woman's identity now.

The woman Namgung Tan called Lady Yeon was Yeon Se-hwa.

She was the eldest daughter of the Yeon Clan and, like Yang Su-rin, had a reputation as one of the 'Five Beauties of Anhui'.

She was also the woman who would be engaged to Namgung Tan in the not-too-distant future.

Since she was a person who was often embroiled in gossip due to meeting the wastrel Namgung Tan, she was a person who had been mentioned several times in the Beggar’s Gang, so I remembered her.

“I am sorry. I implore the young hero to calm his anger.”

“Lady Yeon! How could you do this?”

I wanted to watch that Namgung Tan fellow's antics a little longer, but for the sake of the woman who had shown me courtesy, I decided to step in at this point.

“Brother Namgung.”

“Who is your brother! You bastard!”

That bastard.

Bastard.

At this rate, I was going to hear the word bastard more from his mouth than I had heard in the clan.

Looking at it from the perspective of knowing his secret, it seemed that the old sage's saying that the one who farted gets angry was not wrong.

“Seeing as you keep talking about bastards, Brother Namgung must really like bastards.”

“What?”

Namgung Tan looked at me as if asking what I was talking about.

“So did Brother Namgung make a bastard himself?”

As my words flowed in a strange direction, the sly smile on Namgung Tan's face instantly disappeared.

“……What are you talking about?”

You fool.

It's already too late.

“The child's name was, let's see……. Right, it was Baek Jang-sam, wasn't it?”

Namgung Tan couldn't close his agape mouth.

“Hey, you should have at least given the child the Namgung surname. Didn't the Dancheon Clan at least give me the name Dancheon?”

I returned what I received.

“Ah, is it because the clan has no roots?”

A refreshing smile, empowered by the Vermilion Fruit, was a bonus.

During his hot-blooded youth, when Namgung Tan was about my age, he had committed an act that a direct descendant of a prestigious clan should not have.

He had used his power as the clan's eldest son to impregnate a maid of the Namgung Clan.

Fearing that it would tarnish the reputation of the eldest son, the Namgung Clan had thoroughly concealed it.

But where in the world was there a perfect secret?

It was all recorded in the Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu.

It wasn't that rare for the eldest son of a clan to fall for a maid.

It was one of the truths of the world that one learned while living as a beggar of the gang.

But that didn't mean it could be an excuse.

Especially, not to Yeon Se-hwa, who was promised in marriage to Namgung Tan.

Yeon Se-hwa's eyes became triangular.

“Young Master Tan, could you explain what this means?”

Instead of facing her interrogation head-on, Namgung Tan shifted his direction to attacking me.

Sreung.

“You brat! Do you have any proof!”

Namgung Tan's sword tip, which he shouted out, was pointed at me.

“If you have slandered me without proof, your neck will not remain intact!”

He said sternly, but it was truly pathetic.

“Does Brother Namgung have proof that I am a bastard?”

I asked Namgung Tan back.

Namgung Tan was momentarily a mute who had eaten honey.

Truth doesn't really need proof, my friend.

***

I was confident that I could win with words no matter what conversation followed after this, but the conversation could not continue.

“Yiik!”

Namgung Tan, unable to contain his anger, had attacked me.

“Kyaaak!”

A few women who had been glancing at us, sensing the hostile atmosphere, screamed.

Unlike the surrounding screams, I sat calmly and just watched his sword being shot towards me.

It was partly because my body was impervious to swords and blades, so I was not afraid of his sword that didn't even carry sword qi.

Chaeng!

It was because I had noticed that there was someone who would block that sword for me.

“That's enough.”

The man who blocked Namgung Tan's sword said politely.

He had closed the distance and blocked Namgung Tan's sword in an instant, so I knew that his martial arts were not ordinary.

“Who are you!”

Perhaps sensing the man's extraordinariness, Namgung Tan did not hastily attack again.

“A passing wanderer.”

From the one who introduced himself as a wanderer, I felt the dignity of a prestigious clan; the ways of the world were truly unknowable.

My gaze turned to the man's face.

I knew who this person was.

Perhaps because I had stopped by Dengfeng County where the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was being held, I felt a strange emotion as I saw with my own eyes the people who would make a great name for themselves in the future.

“Brother Namgung.”

I wanted to punish Namgung Tan a little more, but I decided to tidy up the situation.

It was because something much more important than bickering with a fellow like that had just come up.

“Fighting with the up-and-coming prodigy of another clan on the way to the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, Father would be very pleased.”

“Ugh.”

Namgung Tan flinched.

The fact that he was seriously afraid of the Namgung Clan Head was also information I already knew.

It was because the Namgung Clan Head was a fair and strict person, to the point where I couldn't understand why he had such a scoundrel for a son.

Geudeuk.

Namgung Tan's teeth were roughly ground.

“You brat. Just you wait. I will never forget what happened today.”

He threw a line that the boss of a black-way gang would say and left the tavern.

Yeon Se-hwa, who had been watching, glanced at me and stood up.

Teop.

“Wait a moment.”

I stopped her.

I already knew that her married life had been terribly unhappy.

I extended a final kindness to her who had been kind to me.

“Settle it before it's too late. That fellow, he doesn't have the capacity to make you happy.”

I whispered softly so that only she could hear.

Yeon Se-hwa, who had been looking at me with a strange gaze, nodded her head slightly, almost imperceptibly, and followed Namgung Tan.

I didn't hold her back any longer and sat down.

It was because making a connection with this man who had blocked Namgung Tan's sword was much more important.

“Thank you.”

I greeted him, who was still keeping his seat.

“Don't mention it.”

I already knew his simple character.

The face of him I had seen in passing during my days as a member of the Secret Pavilion overlapped.

“There's quite a bit of food, would you like to sit down?”

“I won't refuse.”

I shared a table with him, and for about a quarter of an hour, we focused on eating without any conversation.

“Kya.”

“Keu.”

We also didn't forget to share the Jiannanchun.

Good things are twice as delicious when shared.

I took him in with my eyes.

“I am Dancheon Myeong, the second son of the Dancheon Clan.”

“I am Lee Chun-baek. As I said, a passing wanderer.”

Wanderer Lee Chun-baek.

In the future, he would be an absolute master called the King of Wanderers.

He had obtained the title of King despite his background as a wanderer, so one could guess how outstanding his martial arts were.

I remembered his face, he would later distinguish himself in the Great War of Righteousness and Evil.

This much was probably known to the public, but I knew a little more about his hidden identity.

King of Wanderers, Lee Chun-baek.

His true identity was the successor of a mysterious sect that was passed down to a single person.

If I could form a connection with him, it would be beneficial to me in many ways.

For reference, Lee Chun-baek, the 'successor of a mysterious sect', which was considered the pinnacle of miraculous encounters, was one of my top targets for my low-point buying strategy.

They say even dog poop can be used as medicine, so shouldn't I be grateful to Namgung Tan?

“Why did you interfere? There would be nothing good from being at odds with the Namgung Clan.”

I asked Lee Chun-baek.

I knew that there were many chivalrous people in the Jianghu.

Wanderer Lee Chun-baek had also gained a reputation as a chivalrous man in his youth, so I was not unaware of his character.

But the situation just now was not one where the black-way or the heretics were harassing innocent commoners, so it could be said that it was a little ambiguous for a third party to interfere.

Nevertheless, Lee Chun-baek interfered without hesitation, so my curiosity was piqued.

“I unintentionally overheard a little of your conversation. I'm sorry.”

“It's alright.”

It wasn't a problem for him to be sorry about.

It was our fault for being loud.

Lee Chun-baek, who had been hesitating for a moment, opened his mouth.

“……I am also a bastard. That was just it. I didn't like that fellow from the Namgung Clan.”

I looked at Lee Chun-baek with surprised eyes.

The fact that he was from a bastard background was information that even Myeong-gae had not known.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Thank you.”

I poured him Jiannanchun.

I had thought that I had to form a relationship with him for my strategy.

But after meeting him in person, my thoughts changed a lot.

Clink.

“Kya.”

“Keu.”

We admired the taste of Jiannanchun and smiled at each other.

I felt that I could become a truly good friend with him.

That was the feeling I got.