Chapter 6: Even If Dragged into a Tiger’s Den
What the hell is going on here?
A strange woman’s voice was demanding an explanation.
Then the old man waved his hand as if trying to brush it off like it was nothing.
“Just a kid I picked up on the street. Don’t worry about it.”
“More like a kid you kidnapped on the street! Say it right!”
I immediately corrected the old man’s nonsense.
The old man turned to look at me with a scowl etched between his brows.
Smack!
A flick to the forehead flew in and hit me.
It hurt so bad that my mouth gaped open and I couldn’t speak for a moment.
Just a finger and my skull was shaking.
“Shit, that hurts!”
“Shut up already.”
The old man pressed a pressure point again to shut me up.
But in my eyes, I could see a blazing red energy secretly disrupting the point pressing.
“This is my desperate struggle for freedom and survival. I can never stop!”
I twisted my body like a worm on his shoulder and shouted.
“If you don’t shut up, I’ll kill you right now.”
“……”
What kind of society lets people say they’ll kill a kid so confidently?
I was too dumbfounded to speak for a moment.
Definitely not because I was scared.
“Old man, are you seriously saying you’ll kill a child? What are you talking about since earlier?”
Then a woman spoke up in my defense with a voice like rolling jade beads.
She seemed to be the first person I’d seen in this world with a proper sense of reason.
I forced my stiff neck to move and looked toward the owner of the voice.
And before I knew it, admiration slipped out.
‘Wow.’
Her face was as kind as her heart.
Fair skin like white jade and elegant features.
A tall nose and plump lips completed her beauty.
And look at that silk robe embroidered with golden threads, shining like a black pearl.
I could sense considerable wealth.
After constantly seeing only grimy Central Plains folks, seeing such a well-dressed beauty opened my eyes.
“Old man, what’s this person’s name?”
I tapped the old man’s shoulder with my chin and asked.
“……She’s Trading Lord Eun Hwaran. She took over the company from that brat Eunjincheong and runs it now. But didn’t I tell you to shut up?”
The old man glared at me disapprovingly.
But perhaps because it was in front of Trading Lord Eun Hwaran, he didn’t sprinkle any lethal techniques.
“I’m Dan Mujin, nice to meet you, pretty noona.”
To inherit such a manor and business at a young age—impressive.
I needed to befriend her.
I gave a friendly greeting to this blue-blooded lady.
“Uh, okay.”
She seemed uncomfortable with the informal greeting typical of a child.
Must’ve caught her off guard.
Understandable.
But if we keep seeing each other, maybe we’ll become close like siblings…
“Wait a minute, did you say Mujin? You’re that kid?”
But then she repeated my name and asked with a surprised look.
That kid?
Her tone made it sound like she already knew about me.
I scratched my cheek, wondering what was going on, and then I spotted a familiar face among the people preparing for the journey.
“Oh! Those disgraceful adults from before!”
At my pointing finger, two third-class escorts flinched like they had hiccups.
Only then did I realize where I was.
As the sun dipped low and the full moon rose in the night sky.
Old man Hwang sat listening to the chirping insects and gazed up at the star-studded sky.
As darkness fell, the constellations showed their presence.
Even the Seven Star Lords (칠원성군) were especially bright tonight.
And among the 108 evil stars where the world’s chaos had been sealed—
The Heaven-Slaying Star, which had been burning ominously, had lost its light and turned murky.
“……Then what the hell is this brat?”
His mind was a tangled mess.
To clear it a bit, old man Hwang grabbed another bottle of Shaoxing wine he’d snuck from the warehouse.
“Khrrr.”
He’d been thinking so long that over ten empty bottles lay scattered around him.
The jerky next to him suggested he’d spent the whole day drinking.
“A real guzzler, huh.”
The tied-up beggar kid muttered beside him with a disgusted look.
Truly, a fearless little punk.
Pop—
With a flushed face, old man Hwang opened another bottle.
A fruity scent gently tickled his nose.
Normally, one or two bottles would do it.
But this must’ve been the second-longest bout of contemplation in his life.
For the record, the first was when he abandoned his sect and left to join the Daoists.
On his way to Beijing, old man Hwang slowly pulled out the knotted belt he had hidden at his waist.
“Why did you feed those beggars?”
It was the question that continued to torment him.
What benefit could there be in helping those powerless kids?
“I didn’t feed them. We supported each other.”
Seriously, there hadn’t been anyone like him among the beggars in Beijing.
Everyone was caught in a vicious cycle of exploiting each other under the pretense of punishing evil and promoting good.
If only there had been a single branch of the Beggars’ Union to instill some code of ethics.
“You were the strongest among them. If you’d collected tribute like the other bosses, you wouldn’t have even needed to beg.”
To that question, the boy named Dan Mujin snorted and replied.
“I might rob some nouveau riche, but those scrawny kids? I’m not a beast, old man.”
“……Hmph.”
He claimed he was different from those heartless merchants, a man with compassion.
Old man Hwang was dumbfounded as he listened.
Could those words really come from the Heaven-Slaying Star?
After hearing that answer, Hwang Noya fell into a long silence.
The only sound was the faint brushing of his white beard.
“O Primordial Heavenly Lord. What should this old man do?”
He knew there would be no answer, but still looked up at the night sky.
Evil must be eradicated.
Especially a fearsome murderer in human disguise.
But this child… what was he?
He hadn’t committed a single crime.
Instead of building a career of murder, he’d done good by helping homeless beggar children.
Was exterminating a boy like that truly the path to saving the world?
“Sigh, I need to clear my head…”
He habitually grabbed the neck of the wine bottle.
As his contemplation dragged on, Dan Mujin sighed deeply and muttered beside him.
“Damn it, just give me a drink too.”
“……Are you insane?”
“Insane or not, I don’t even know if I’ll live or die right now. I need something to calm my nerves.”
Said he wanted to soothe his troubled heart with alcohol since life never gave him a break.
It seemed he’d figured out what the old man was agonizing over.
“Why don’t you at least try begging for your life?”
“I already know it won’t work. Your kind brands people as the Heaven-Slaying Star and executes them without even letting them explain.”
Dan Mujin murmured that he had learned that lesson the hard way on some cliff.
“……”
Is that so?
A brand that offered no opportunity, not even once.
If just once, someone who transcended worldly bonds had tried to guide him to the right path—would things have been different?
Old man Hwang silently looked up.
Tonight, the seven stars were wrapped in blazing light.
And the mysterious energy settled in his own Dantian.
Was this a coincidence?
Or an inevitable result of karma?
“If not booze, at least give me some of that jerky. They say even a ghost who died eating well has a pretty face.”
Whatever he had gone through, the half-resigned kid acted like he was leaving it to fate.
The cool night air seeped into his chest.
After his long inner struggle, Hwang Noya lowered his gaze.
“You will live.”
“……Huh.”
Then our eyes met—mine and Dan Mujin’s, as he awkwardly reached for the wine.
Realizing he’d been caught, he quickly withdrew his hand.
Somehow, the ropes that had tightly bound him were already halfway undone.
“Hem-hem, you could’ve told me sooner if that was the case.”
“……You brat, when did you loosen the rope?”
“It’s just a cheap trick I know from my unimpressive line of work.”
He waved his hand dismissively and crawled back into the bindings.
“Scoff.”
What kind of brat even knows how to untie ropes?
Just what was he?
A hollow laugh slipped through Hwang Noya’s lips.
He was already starting to regret his decision.
It seemed I wouldn’t die right away after all.
The old man’s expression was like that of a nursery director who tried to scold a kid but softened up and put down the rod.
“Whew, guess I’m safe for now.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
Earlier, he’d been asking all sorts of questions about the little kids—must’ve had a change of heart.
All I’d done was feed a few lackeys to manage territory and grow our numbers, and that ended up saving my life.
Life’s funny like that.
“I have business to attend to, so I’ll be staying with this company for a while.”
Old man Hwang spoke with his hands behind his back, eyes fixed on the stars.
So, I was finally getting released from this old man’s kidnapping drama?
“So you should prepare to stay here as well.”
Shit, guess not.
The road to freedom was still long.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I haven’t completely let my guard down.”
As if reading my thoughts, Hwang Noya chuckled and added.
“You thought the Heaven-Slaying Star would be left to roam free without any countermeasures? I’ll be watching you for a while.”
A life under surveillance, and all for sins I didn’t even commit in the past.
“No, I’m perfectly sane, I’m telling you.”
I chewed on the jerky he left behind and insisted I was innocent.
“Sane...? Are you saying you haven’t felt that thing sleeping inside your body?”
Then, with a serious look, Hwang Noya pointed near the Baihui point on my head.
Once again, at the mention of it, that ever-familiar crimson mist only visible to me began to seep through my skin.
“…What exactly is in there?”
Why was this guy acting so scary?
Was there something else in me besides this blood-red fog?
I shuddered and felt over my body, but all I felt was soft skin.
“You really don’t know, do you? Haven’t you been getting angrier lately, or noticed your tone becoming harsher?”
“How did you know?”
Uncanny.
I slapped my knee and admitted it was true.
Sure, I’d always been a bit rough around the edges, but I was never the kind to act tough in front of someone threatening to kill me.
“You’ve been slowly eroded without even knowing it—by the evil star inside you.”
Looks like that old man really did see something within me.
Like being soaked by drizzle, my personality had started to shift—and that creeped me out.
“So, I’ll teach you a way to suppress it.”
At least he was willing to teach me how to suppress it, so maybe he wasn’t a bad person after all.
Despite the violence, groping, and kidnapping charges.
“Then does this make us like master and disciple?”
“No, more like a killer and the one to be killed.”
“……”
Cold. Real cold.
He was obviously trying to keep his distance, not trusting that the Heaven-Slaying Star within me could be controlled.
Anyway, it looked like I’d be stuck here for a while under this old man’s care.
Still, it might be better than the freezing streets.
I looked around at the vast estate and the towering ancient buildings and asked,
“Do you at least provide meals and lodging?”
“This old man sleeps on stone floors. What meals and lodging are you talking about?”
Seriously, how could someone with such strong martial arts live like a beggar?
I looked at the eccentric old man with disbelief.
“Well, I’ll give Trading Lord Eun Hwaran a heads-up… Try to earn your keep somehow.”
Hwang Noya grumbled that a brat who got to live and learn how to suppress a killing heart was still asking for too much.
“Oh, Guanxi!”
I shouted with a bright face.
So I finally get to use the famed Central Plains human network called guanxi?
I never knew how precious a job could be.
Everything in this era was harsh and brutal.
“Thank you, Master.”
I clumsily mimicked the clasped-hands greeting often used by martial artists on the street.
“…That’s not the clasped-hands greeting, you brat. That’s a mourning salute.”
Apparently, I’d reversed my fists and ended up offering condolences.
Well, as long as the meaning gets across.
I shrugged.
Eun Hwaran, sipping Longjing tea, raised her brows slightly at the sudden appearance of a ghost-like guest.
“Give that kid a job.”
She was having tea with General Manager Jin and discussing how to revive the struggling silkworm business when suddenly a job request came in.
There was only one person in the company who could speak to her so casually.
Ah, now that she thought about it, there was one more cheeky kid who had recently called her “noona.”
“…Hwang Noya, a job?”
She asked, calming her surprise with another sip of tea.
“Isn’t there a spot open in a few days for warehouse assistants? Just have him do chores, feed him, and give him a bed.”
By “that kid,” he clearly meant the beggar child he’d dragged in saying he would kill.
“But Noya, pre-assigning positions is a problem. The Eunseong test must be conducted fairly, as per my late father’s agreement…”
“Then let him take the test fair and square.”
She had worried he might lash out if refused, but to her surprise, Hwang Noya easily accepted, saying, “Can’t have the other candidates feeling cheated.”
Still, the Eunseong exam was notoriously difficult—even adults struggled with it.
“Can that child even pass? Even grown-ups have trouble.”
“See for yourself.”
Hwang Noya smiled as if there was no need to worry.
A few days later, on the day of the test.
At the martial training grounds where they were selecting warehouse assistants, Trading Lord Eun Hwaran witnessed something amazing.
“Uwooo!”
“Goodness, that tiny thing…!”
“He’s strong as an ox!”
The cheeky kid who had called her noona was lifting no fewer than six heavy sacks of rice.