Chapter 35. Hegemonic Tiger Gang (1)

Whoooosh!

I watched Nam Geon swing his sword and then opened my mouth.

“Your posture has collapsed. I won’t count careless swings, so swing it properly.”

If he were to swing recklessly without minding his posture, a thousand times, or even ten thousand, wouldn't be enough.

Back when I was crazy about training, I had actually swung my sword ten thousand times a day.

I felt like I wanted to train like that again as soon as this pathetically weak body was strengthened.

If I were to raise a disciple, I intended to make him do the same.

Of course. If one intended to become strong, that much effort was only natural, wasn't it?

After watching Nam Geon’s training for a while longer.

“Hmm.”

Once Nam Geon seemed to have completely mastered the posture, I drew my own sword.

I couldn't just waste time watching his training.

Whoooosh!

Using the sound that came every time Nam Geon swung his sword as a rhythm, I too swung my sword.

***

By evening, we arrived at the next village.

Since we trained and traveled concurrently, our travel speed didn't slow down much.

The same went for the Mighty Sword Art I taught Nam Geon. It was a sword art where one steadily took a step forward with each swing.

In the first place, there was no need to teach him movements like stepping back or dodging sideways.

Rather, he needed a technique that added the force of moving forward to crush the enemy in front of him.

In any case, there were no trashy bastards like evil sects or lechers in the newly arrived village.

After dinner and a bath.

Today, as always, I passed on the mnemonic of the Jade Cloud Divine Art to Nam Geon.

And finally, after five days, Nam Geon succeeded in memorizing the entire mnemonic of the Jade Cloud Divine Art.

It meant that it took him five full days to memorize a mnemonic of just twenty characters, or about fifty characters including my explanation.

However, he still couldn't practice the Jade Cloud Divine Art.

“This place here is called the Qimen acupoint.”

He had memorized the mnemonic, but he still hadn't memorized the sequence of acupoints to pass through during qi circulation.

Since he didn't know how to read, I was teaching him by pressing on his body with my hands.

After teaching Nam Geon the acupoints of the Jade Cloud Divine Art to some extent, I too sat in a cross-legged position and began to circulate my qi.

I wasn't practicing the Revolving Cloud Divine Art or the Jade Cloud Divine Art.

The Great Swallow Nest Building Divine Art.

The Danmok Clan’s family martial art, which I found in the Steel Sinew Sect Leader’s quarters.

In fact, I had been consistently reading the secret manual and trying to practice it since leaving Shaoyang, but I had not yet properly learned it.

As it was the secret art of the Danmok Clan, which was considered a prestigious family, it was much more profound and complex than the Jade Cloud Divine Art or the Revolving Cloud Divine Art that I had originally learned.

“Ssssup.”

I took a deep breath, drawing the energy deep into my lungs.

I guided the energy according to the sequence of the divine art and recalled the mnemonic written in the book.

A single swallow comes and goes in the sky.

Carrying a branch larger than its own body.

Fetching muddy water all over its body.

…….

It endlessly comes and goes in the sky.

Though it has no mate and no children,

The nest on the tree only grows larger.

…….

Unlike the Jade Cloud Divine Art, which was only about twenty characters long, this mnemonic was easily over a hundred characters.

Was it because it was a divine art of the righteous faction, full of empty flair?

The mnemonic sounded like it was grasping at clouds, and it was written more like a poem than an internal energy mnemonic.

Was it because I couldn't empathize with the poem, or was my interpretation too profound and wrong?

Today, as always, the flow of qi was blocked during my qi circulation.

In frustration, I clenched my teeth, and it felt as if blood was about to surge up my throat.

Anger flared.

How on earth did those bastards from the Danmok Clan learn this?

No. Even Cha Hui, the leader of the Steel Sinew Sect, had succeeded in learning this divine art.

Was it because my talent was even less than Cha Hui’s that I couldn’t learn it?

Suddenly, I remembered what had happened during the day.

I can’t understand it because my talent is lacking.

Perhaps this too was just an inferiority complex.

My mind became much more at ease.

Why did a swallow with no family keep building an unnecessarily large nest?

That was what was written in the mnemonic of the Great Swallow Nest Building Divine Art.

It was written that only after building a huge nest did it find a mate and have chicks.

And that again, with its mate, it caught insects until its wings and beak were worn out to raise its chicks.

And that the chicks raised in such a huge nest one day grew into swallows as large as a great roc.

The content was strangely repulsive every time I recalled it.

It sounded like a message to lure women with a big house, have children, and raise those children into successful individuals.

For some reason, I didn't like the content about settling down in one place and living in splendor.

I didn't try to force myself to empathize. I just pondered.

If I were that swallow, why would I have to build a huge nest?

To embrace more people.

Yes. Things like a mate or chicks are just metaphors.

To create a vessel to embrace more people, to help more people, it moved busily until its feathers and beak were worn out.

Like, a chivalrous hero.

Of course, I am not a chivalrous hero.

I had no such lofty sense of mission.

It was just that I couldn't stand the absurd world, the trash that tormented innocent people just because they had learned a single martial art.

However, I could imagine the figure of a chivalrous hero.

A chivalrous hero who had done his best until his limbs were worn out, to help more people.

The sight of him, covered in scars, watching the people he had helped live happily, without boasting of his achievements.

That was the image of a true great hero.

So it was.

The Great Swallow was not the chick that had grown up.

The swallow that had built the huge nest and raised the children was the Great Swallow.

I didn't know if this interpretation was correct.

But, it didn't matter.

Yes. It was enough to just go my own way.

“Ssssuuup. Huuuu.”

With a calm mind, I tried to operate the Great Swallow Nest Building Divine Art again.

Doing one's best and being tormented by impatience were two different things.

Slowly but steadily. Even if the feathers and beak were damaged, without giving up.

A minute internal injury occurred in the process of the energy traveling through the acupoints, but I was barely able to create one very small nest.

While observing my interior, I realized an important fact.

There were two nests.

A very small nest that I had just built. And a nest that was larger than that one but somewhat shabby.

It was the nest I had originally been building. The nest was built with the Revolving Cloud Divine Art and the Jade Cloud Divine Art.

With the heart of the Great Swallow, I pulled out the branches of the shabby nest one by one and moved them to the new nest.

Was it because the energy of the nests was different?

Every time I carried a branch and moved it to the small nest, my beak and wings were injured.

It didn't matter.

Carefully, calmly, but steadily.

I wasn't sure about carefully and calmly, but at least I was confident in my steadiness.

As the originally shabby but large nest gradually shrank, the newly built nest grew in size.

Was I slowly getting used to it? At some point, the instances of my beak and feathers being damaged decreased.

At some point, nothing else came to mind.

I was just engrossed in the task of moving branches.

When I came to my senses, there was only one nest left before my eyes.

Looking at the nest that had grown much larger, I took a deep breath.

“Sssssup.”

Then, a huge amount of energy rushed towards the nest.

It was incomparable to when I had operated the Revolving Cloud Divine Art or the Jade Cloud Divine Art.

So, was it now time to fill the nest?

No. This was not enough.

Yes. I had only just taken the first step.

From now on, I had to build a much larger nest.

So that I could kill many more trashy people.

As the world would become a better place to live in as much as I cleaned up the trash.

Pat.

As I pushed my eyelids open, a bright light pierced my eyes.

“Oh? Big Brother woke up.”

In front of the door, Nam Geon, for some reason drenched in sweat, greeted me.

“Where are you going?”

“I-I’m not going out. I-I came in.”

When I gave him a puzzled look, Nam Geon added.

“Bi-big brother slept in. Sitting up, at that. I-I ate breakfast and c-came back from training. I-I’m hungry again, so I came back in.”

It seemed the sun was already high in the sky.

It was a strange feeling.

“Alright. Then let’s eat and leave immediately.”

Despite having stayed up all night without a wink of sleep, my body felt as light as a feather.

***

After several days of concurrent training and travel.

We arrived at our destination, Dongin.

“W-what do we do now, Big Brother?”

Nam Geon asked as we entered the village.

“First, let’s find out about the Hegemonic Tiger Gang.”

“A-are they bad guys too?”

I nodded.

“They are the ones who buy courtesans from slave traders.”

“B-buying and selling people is b-bad.”

“Yes. The slave traders are all trash too. We need to kill them too, and find the Black Market.”

“Black Market?”

He tilted his head, as if hearing about the Black Market for the first time.

“There is such a thing.”

Since he would find out soon enough anyway, there seemed to be no need to explain it at length right now.

We walked through the marketplace and entered a decent-looking inn.

There seemed to be no waiter, as the owner alone was manning the place.

We rented a room and ordered a meal.

“Take a nap after the meal.”

“D-do I not have to train more, Big Brother?”

“It’s okay for today. There will be a fight at night anyway.”

We had been repeating our training continuously on the way here. It seemed better to rest a little to be able to clean up the trashy bastards well.

While I was talking with Nam Geon, the owner came to our table with the food.

Nam Geon, uncharacteristically, picked at his food for a few bites and then made a sad face.

“Hing. It’s not tasty. I-I want to eat the food a-ajumma made.”

Out of curiosity, while eating my usual unseasoned boiled meat, I took a bite of his food.

As he said, the taste was quite poor.

“Just eat. You need to fill your stomach.”

While Nam Geon was uncharacteristically picking at his food, I heard a small conversation from the kitchen.

“Father. We can't do business like this. Don’t those people over there also say it’s not tasty?”

“Then is there any other way? The Hegemonic Tiger Gang is taking double the protection money, and we have to make a living, don’t we?”

“But if we reduce the ingredients in the dishes, even the customers we have will all leave, Father.”

“So you’re saying we should take a loss every time we sell?”

A dispute between father and son.

I had no intention of interfering in other people’s family matters and wanted to let it go, but there was a particularly bothersome word.

“What do you mean the Hegemonic Tiger Gang has increased the protection money?”

“Heek.”

As I suddenly interjected in their conversation, I heard the startled voices of the owner and his son.

I asked them again.

“I have no intention of telling on you to those trashy bastards. I am just curious about the situation.”

At my question, the owner cautiously came out of the kitchen. He had a somewhat anxious look on his face.

Despite his age, with a full head of white hair, the owner asked like a frightened child.

“A-are you really not going to tell them?”

“Didn't I also call them trash? So, please speak comfortably.”

Only then, seeming a little relieved, the owner opened his mouth.

“Ahem. It’s just as you heard. About a month ago, those bastards suddenly doubled the protection money. Because of that, I couldn't afford to pay the waiter I had, so he ended up quitting.”

“Do you know the reason?”

“I don't know the details. I only overheard a bit of what the Hegemonic Tiger Gang guys were talking about. Th-they seemed to be collecting money to buy some item.”

“An item, you say?”

“Yes. According to them, they were bragging that once they get that item, they'll be able to expand into other regions.”

What on earth was that item they were trying to buy?

For a moment, I was curious, but it seemed there was no need to continue my deduction.

“Then could you please tell me exactly where that Hegemonic Tiger Gang is located?”

After all, I would find out tonight when I killed them.

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