Chapter 19: Bundle of Good Karma
Right now, Hwang Geolgae’s feelings as he looked at Dan Mujin were truly complicated.
Many thoughts crossed his mind, but to sum it up briefly—
‘This actually worked…?’
An uncharted path no one had ever attempted.
Even he had deemed it highly improbable, and yet this brat had gone and succeeded just like that.
He had stolen the energy of the Heaven-Slaying Star and refined it into his own internal energy.
“Huh.”
The Starfall Heart Cultivation Method wasn’t showing much effect, so he had only casually suggested something theoretically possible, thinking it might help.
And yet he had actually succeeded in setting up a last line of defense against that fearsome Heaven-Slaying Star.
Even though he had seen it with his own eyes, it was still hard to believe.
‘Divine Wind Daoist… don’t tell me you had even accounted for this…?’
That man who claimed there were no coincidences in the world, only inevitability.
A daoist who had descended with the starlight. All he knew of him was the name “Sun and Moon”.
Bang! Bang!
Dan Mujin, satisfied with the internal energy he had gained, threw punches infused with qi.
That was three years’ worth of internal energy right there.
If this process was repeated ten times, that would amount to thirty years’ worth of internal energy, wouldn’t it? This was practically a miraculous encounter.
And he could roughly guess why such a large amount of internal energy had gathered.
The Starfall Heart Cultivation Method had a tendency to exponentially increase in effect depending on how much one had ‘endured’ to perform acts of good karma.
In other words—
‘This kid must really love money.’
It seemed there had been a heart-wrenching inner struggle to give up that gold ingot.
And that obsession with money had turned into a blessing in disguise, returning to him in the form of immense internal energy.
“Hrmm hrmm.”
Truly a strange kid.
He had lit up at the sight of a single copper coin, so how in the world had he managed to give up that chunk of gold?
On top of that, hadn’t he asked to pull his beggar days’ subordinates out of the mud?
Those same little beggars he himself hadn’t dared to help, fearing the strict imperial decree.
All of this he had heard through a conversation with Eun Hwaran, the Trading Lord.
Apparently, she had taken quite a liking to the boy, as her tone had been full of warmth throughout.
Perhaps because of that influence, Hwang Geolgae’s gaze toward Dan Mujin had softened somewhat without him realizing.
“You brat.”
“What?”
He was shouting the name of a technique called ‘Sweeping the Abyss’ and performing footwork he had never seen nor heard of.
“Eun Hwaran called you her little brother—what’s that about?”
For a moment, Hwang Geolgae had wondered if Eun Hwaran had a hidden brother aside from the one who ran away.
“Oh, that? One thing led to another, and we just decided to be siblings.”
As if that could be true. She was a woman who didn’t easily open her heart to others.
Even the previous Trading Lord had once expressed concern about how Eun Hwaran calculated every relationship.
It must’ve been quite endearing to see a lowly warehouse assistant thinking of the trading company’s circumstances and even looking after those from his beggar days.
“Hrmm hrmm, so you gave up gold and gained internal energy, life extension, and the Trading Lord’s trust?”
Giving up one to gain three—it was truly killing three birds with one stone.
Especially the trust of one of the Ten Great Trading Companies' Trading Lords—that was worth far more than a few gold ingots.
“But Noya, what would you have done if I had taken that lump of gold?”
Dan Mujin, now moving with enhanced physical ability and throwing strange punches he called ‘Boom Fist’, suddenly asked.
Hwang Geolgae had always preached distancing oneself from greed. But perhaps Dan Mujin had found it odd that he had let him go fetch such a hefty reward.
“What do you think? I’d beat the crap out of you to teach you what happens when a powerless guy carries a fortune in the Central Plains, then take it from you.”
A fist shot out like lightning and stopped just short of Dan Mujin’s face. With the other hand, he mimed snatching something away.
The same motion he had made when he once stole a dumpling that reeked of military rations.
“Wow, that’s just…”
Dan Mujin grimaced, swallowing his words mid-sentence.
He looked like he was staring down a wicked demon.
“Feels like you’re looking at your old man like he’s trash.”
Dan Mujin’s eyes flinched at Hwang Geolgae’s retort.
“Wait, can masters really read that kind of stuff?”
Thwack!
For his insolent remark, a flick landed squarely on his forehead.
“Aaack!”
Clutching his head, he rolled around the training ground floor.
Watching him writhe in pain, Hwang Geolgae downed his rice wine in big gulps.
“Hrmm hrmm, still a cheeky bastard.”
Admirable at times, but also insufferably impudent.
As Dan Mujin got back up with a scowl and dusted off his clothes, he spoke again.
“Ugh… what, you gave me nothing. I’m still normal despite having a mad star inside me.”
Even without the influence of the Heaven-Slaying Star, maybe that kid had always been crazy. Hwang Geolgae wondered.
“And no matter how strong someone is, if they steal money from the weak, that’s just garbage, isn’t it?”
Just look at that attitude—determined to speak his mind even if it killed him.
“True. But to say things like that to someone’s face in the Central Plains, you need strength to back it up.”
If you wanted to assert something and see it through, you needed the martial power to support it.
In this world, a single strike from a master meant more than a hundred words from a weakling.
And no matter how you looked at it, that kid didn’t seem destined to die a natural death.
“That’s why I’ll pass my strength onto you.”
Hwang Geolgae stroked his long beard and spoke with a suddenly serious expression.
That rootless punching and kicking he had seen earlier, and the awkward imitation of the Eight Slashing Fists he had somehow picked up—
For the successor of the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method to be moving like that… the Divine Wind Daoist who had spared Hwang Geolgae might be sighing somewhere.
“Huh? Seriously?”
“Yes. Stop flailing about and start learning the martial art I’m about to teach you.”
The Dragon Head Sect Leader was offering to personally pass down his martial insight, and yet Dan Mujin responded with such a flat tone.
Had he been a disciple of the Beggars’ Union, he would’ve been bowing with teary eyes by now.
Did he really see him as nothing more than a drunk old man?
Hwang Geolgae let out a brief, ironic chuckle at the disparity.
“But didn’t you say before you wouldn’t teach me any techniques meant for hurting people? That they might stir murderous thoughts?”
“…I’ve changed my mind. Even you should at least learn one self-defense technique.”
He had deliberately let the boy be tested, and the boy had overcome it spectacularly.
And so, a reward was only natural.
“You brat, do you know the Small Scalpel Blade?”
Perhaps this boy had also gained his trust, following Eun Hwaran.
“You mean… the blade doctors use to cut skin?”
“Yes. Even a blade becomes a tool to save lives when held by a healer. You must use my teachings the same way.”
A Heaven-Slaying Star performing acts of chivalry to save lives—how fitting.
Even as he spoke, Hwang Geolgae let out a hollow chuckle, wondering if this was really the right thing to do.
But it was a path already chosen. Once the blade was drawn, it had to cut at least a radish.
"Yeah, well. I’ll learn it and use it for something good, I guess..."
A rare opportunity for learning.
But perhaps remembering the time he had trained in the Whirlwind Steps, Dan Mujin’s face twisted in growing anxiety.
"You’re not going to teach by beating me to death again, right...?"
For someone like the Heaven-Slaying Star who responded to murderous intent, what better training method could there be?
He had shown rapid growth, even just to survive.
"Hrmm hrmm."
Hwang Geolgae simply grinned.
That alone said plenty, and Dan Mujin’s face went pale in an instant.
"...Ah, damn it."
The guy launched into Whirlwind Steps to quickly flee the scene.
Hwang Geolgae’s smile deepened in amusement at that fierce rejection.
He struck Dan Mujin on the crown of his head with a gourd bottle as the boy turned to escape.
Thwack!
"Ow, sh*t! I said stop hitting me! What if I lose brain cells—are you going to take responsibility?!"
A crisp sound rang out. Mujin flailed on the ground like a freshly caught fish, yelling in protest.
"You already seem dumb enough, you brat."
To run away using Whirlwind Steps right in front of the person who taught it to him. How foolish.
And somehow, this sensation of hitting him... felt oddly satisfying, like smacking a dog on the hottest day of summer.
"From now on, I, your elder, shall pass down to you the Hundred-Knot Divine Fist."
He was... no, he truly was a kid who made it enjoyable to teach.
In the Central Plains, many organizations existed that collected, refined, and sold information.
Among them, the most mysterious was the Hao Sect.
If the Beggars’ Union was a righteous group founded on the philosophy of chivalrous begging, then the Hao Sect was an organic network composed of those embedded in everyday life—waiters, butchers, coachmen, and courtesans.
There was even a saying that birds overhear daytime words, and the Hao Sect overhears nighttime words.
Murim people, thinking little of them, would often relax their guard in their presence and speak carelessly.
Idle chatter during boring wagon rides, drunken ramblings in inns, whispered conversations at pillow side—
Even those kinds of stories, when pieced together and compiled, could become invaluable information to someone.
Thus, though made up of the lower classes, the Hao Sect had amassed great wealth as a collective.
However, recently, the Hao Sect suffered a major upheaval.
A rebellion aimed at replacing the sect leader.
As a result, the Hao Sect lost its Sect Leader, Hong Gakjan, who had truly cherished his subordinates.
Someone had lost a precious father.
"Black Diagnosis Bird..."
A voice that had yet to undergo puberty.
A young boy snarled as he readjusted the human-skin mask that had slipped during the recent scuffle.
In the corner of an alley, Ilhong quietly muttered the name of his enemy.
They said not to trust anyone in this world. Who would’ve thought someone he considered family would stab him in the back?
Thanks to that, Ilhong was now forced to hide among beggars.
Helplessly watching from the outside as the Hao Sect, now in the enemy’s hands, grew increasingly corrupt.
To make matters worse, even this beggar force he had sought refuge in was now on the verge of collapse.
He was truly driven into a corner.
"Ochil-hyung, any news about the boss?"
"Yeah, they said no one’s seen him around the Beijing streets."
Ochil answered while patching a torn elbow with a piece of cloth.
Had he fallen into the earth, or ascended to the sky?
With a face like that, some news should’ve surfaced by now.
"He was a good boss... if only that perverted old man hadn’t shown up..."
He had seemed like a shabby old man, but turned out to be an incredible master.
At least top-tier. Having seen countless high-level martial artists through the Hao Sect, Ilhong could tell the vast difference as soon as he saw that mysterious movement technique.
Still, with the boss gone, they had no way to fight back against Um Baek’s gang. So Ilhong had risked his life and charged in with Ochil.
"But well, this is where we ended up."
They had screamed ‘perverted old man’ during the fight, so maybe he’d been captured and subjected to some strange torment somewhere.
Of all things, he had the misfortune of getting caught by a man from the male-loving faction. Ilhong clasped his hands in a quick mourning gesture toward the direction Mujin had disappeared.
"Hey, the boss isn’t dead, okay?"
Ochil spoke in disbelief at the gesture.
"Sure, maybe he’s just lost his pure heart."
They said Murim warriors who lived to that age had often suffered from inner demons at least once, which is why so many of them went mad.
I absolutely must not end up like that.
Ilhong made that vow silently to himself.
"Ilhong-hyung, Ochil-hyung, we’re in big trouble."
"What, did we run out of food at home?"
"Not even a single coin left now."
But they weren’t in any position to worry about others. Things here, too, had become bleak since Dan Mujin vanished.
Perhaps the phrase ‘a candle flickering in the wind’ best described their situation.
"Hyungs, what do we do?"
"Ugh, if we go out to beg on the main road, Um Baek’s gang will probably start something again."
After Mujin disappeared, Um Baek’s gang had initially watched cautiously. But lately, convinced he was truly gone, they had resumed provoking them in earnest.
Thanks to that, the young beggars had been losing territory bit by bit like retreating soldiers.
Now, they were backed into a dead-end alley. At this rate, they might end up starving to death without even being able to beg like before.
"I’m hungry, hyung..."
Unlike before, there wasn’t even a single piece of meat in the Galjeotang.
The pot was filled only with foul-smelling vegetables. You couldn’t even call it Galjeotang anymore—just grass soup, really.
Growl. The kids clutched their empty bellies and spoke in weak voices.
Something had to be done. Being the oldest, Ochil and Ilhong came to the same conclusion.
"Ilhong, let’s try something. Anything."
"Yeah. We have to."
If you want something, you have to fight for it.
Sitting still and begging for mercy only brings ridicule in return.
If you want to live, you must do anything and everything, no matter how desperate.
That was Dan Mujin’s teaching.
So now was the time to put that teaching into action—even if it meant getting beaten up in the process.
Ilhong and Ochil clenched their fists and stood up.
The gang of young beggars who had once struck fear into the market vendors—
The Mujin Gang without Mujin was ready to move once again.
And as always, they mumbled those mysterious words their boss would mutter whenever something big was about to happen.
"Let’s go, Juvenile Offenders."
I had started from the very bottom with nothing, but thanks to the good karma I had accumulated, I had gathered a fair amount of internal energy, and it had already been a few weeks since I began training in martial arts as well.
And that was more than enough time to shatter the confidence I had in my supposed four years’ worth of internal energy that had made me arrogantly look down on the world.
"What does it really mean to be strong...?"
I murmured as I looked up at the clear blue sky.
A line worthy of some protagonist in a novel.
Except now, my face was swollen and bruised black and blue—hardly heroic.
In other words, I looked pathetic.
"Someday, I’m going to land a punch right on that old man’s face."
I clenched my fist and made that vow.
I would return the humiliation and rage I had endured. If I paid it back during training, it wouldn’t be unfilial—it would be a proper counterattack.
But for that, I would need more internal energy.
Right now, even with just fifty seconds of performing footwork, my internal energy would plunge into the red.
Hwang Noya had said it was the limit of a ‘three-year level’.
Tsk.
After all the effort I put in to gather my cultivation, he scoffed at it being merely worth three years?
I needed more internal energy. And for that, I had to accumulate more good karma.
As luck would have it, an opportunity to build such karma had presented itself.
Those little orphans who had been trailing behind me.
If I saved them, gave them shelter and food—what could be more karmically righteous than that? They were practically living karma shuttles.
"Ugh."
I rubbed my swollen cheek, finished my qi accumulation, and sprang to my feet.
My body looked like it had developed some decent muscle.
Frustratingly, Hwang Noya’s training method was undeniably effective. In struggling to survive, my body had instinctively absorbed his movements, and I learned fast.
Perhaps thanks to that, Hwang Noya had recently approved a solo outing for me, the Heaven-Slaying Star himself.
After the previous incident earned me some recognition and I had built up decent martial power, he had said I wouldn’t get beaten up too badly out there and had granted permission.
"Guess I’ll go see the kids now?"
Fortunately, I had a shiny silver coin in my pouch.
This was travel money given to me by Eun Hwaran, with whom I had now risen to the level of sworn siblings, not just some ordinary ‘guanxi’.
I had tried to refuse, saying, "Boss, this isn’t appropriate," but she told me you don’t say that to your noona and simply slipped it into my hand.
Thankfully, with some Anti-demonic internal energy built up, and since it was more of a strong suggestion, it seemed there wasn’t much room for the Heaven-Slaying Star to act up.
So I just took it.
"Total win."
On top of that, she couldn’t stand seeing her precious little brother dressed like a warehouse assistant, so she even got me a set of decent quality cotton clothes.
She seemed like the type to keep doing that kind of thing, and looking back now, maybe refusing that gold bar had been the right move after all.
"The kids are gonna be shocked when they see me."
There’s a saying—returning in silk. Meaning coming back in splendor, and here it would surely be a symbol of success.
Though I was wearing cotton, so let’s just call it returning in silver.
"Heh heh."
Just as I was thinking about how surprised Ilhong and Ochil would be, I strutted out of the trading company’s front gate—
And spotted two familiar faces.
"Well, well?"
"You’re that bull-like brat, aren’t you?"
The two escorts who had beaten me up in the marketplace on a request from the Goat-bearded Merchant.
Weren’t they called Yangjo and Yangwi?
"Uncles, why did you treat me like that back then?"
I narrowed my eyes and asked.
Back then, I was just a no-name beggar brat, but now I was known as a disciple of Hwang Noya and even the guy who saved the sericulture industry.
The two escorts cleared their throats and quickly avoided my gaze.
"Ahem."
"Well, you see, the merchants were all complaining and asking us to do something..."
That couldn’t have been the only reason. There was also the Goat-bearded Merchant’s story.
When I stared at them silently, the two finally scratched their necks and bowed their heads first.
"...Yeah, sorry about that."
They said they had also been penalized and put on probation because of it.
Well, I did build up some resentment from the merchants by scamming them.
I could afford to be generous. After all, I was the one who ultimately beat them up and won that day.
"So, where are you headed? Doesn’t look like you’re on warehouse assistant duty."
"I’m going to pick up the little brats from my gang. Got permission from the Trading Lord."
No one else was going to look after those kids but me.
That’s just how it is with orphans. And our gang was the weakest even among orphans.
But at my words, the two escorts exchanged troubled looks.
"In that case, you’d better hurry."
"...Why?"
I asked with a puzzled expression. Something was up.
"Overheard from a merchant in the marketplace—those kids got wrecked by Um Baek’s gang."
"And that pretty one... Ilhong, was it? They said he got taken away by some creepy martial artist."
Listening to that, I felt like my sense of reason had just fled.
"What the hell..."
Someone was trying to smash apart my bundle of good karma.
Note:
Guanxi (关系 / 關係) is a Chinese word that literally means "relationship" or "connection", but it has a much deeper and culturally significant meaning in Chinese society and business.