novelraw Chapter 163 : Beijing, Restored to Normalcy
Chapter 163 : Beijing, Restored to Normalcy
Chapter 163: Beijing, Restored to Normalcy
Investment is about boldly reaching out and embracing something when its value hits rock bottom.
There’s risk involved, yes—but when its value soars, the reward is sweeter than honey.
And the man once called Majungcheon, now known as Park Chil, was savoring that sweet fruit to the fullest.
Though it had started as part of a mission, he had been among the first to recognize Dan Mujin’s worth.
Even after his identity was exposed, Park Chil had continued to lend a helping hand to the young man, looking ahead to what the future held.
Now, at last, it seemed the moment of harvest was finally upon him.
“Unbelievable. No one’s stopping us.”
“I really… I’m really standing on Imperial soil.”
“It’s been so long... So the Sect Leader stepped up and brought this to an end himself.”
Like bumpkins freshly arrived in the capital, the beggars gawked around, their gasps of awe flowing freely.
Park Chil stood before them and raised his voice.
“With all due respect, this matter has nothing to do with the Sect Leader. The one who petitioned the Son of Heaven and obtained the imperial decree… was none other than Dan Mujin Master.”
It hadn’t even been at Dragon Head Sect Leader’s instruction. It had been Dan Mujin’s independent decision.
Park Chil, who had exchanged letters with Dan Mujin every time he needed information from the Beggar’s Gang, knew this better than anyone.
“Before we set up a branch here, there is one matter to address first.”
He pulled a letter from his robes, prompting all eyes to turn to him.
“What matter would that be?”
Asked Elder Ilhogae, a senior member of the Beggar’s Gang.
In response, Park Chil motioned toward the Beijing residents, who stared at the beggars with disdain.
“While the Beggar’s Gang was absent, some took the opportunity to relentlessly harass beggars. They mocked them openly, beat up the kids… Things that would’ve been unthinkable if a branch had been present.”
A murmur of rage spread among the beggars.
“Such wicked scum exist in this world?”
“Picking on those weaker than you, and in public, no less?”
“The honor of beggars has hit rock bottom!”
Some clenched their fists, others scanned the crowd with eyes like daggers. The Beggar’s Gang members made no effort to hide their fury at the open mockery.
“Who the hell did that?”
When one member asked, Park Chil responded as though he had been waiting for it—waving the letter in front of everyone.
“Their names are listed here.”
A list he had secured through Dan Mujin Master.
“We oughta teach them a lesson.”
“Time to show them the Beggar’s Gang is back.”
All nodded in agreement that before establishing a branch, they must first restore the Gang’s dignity and root out the contempt festering in the streets.
And then, as if moving as one body, they surged forward.
Their first stop: Jang’s Cloth Shop, notorious for viciously beating young beggars.
“Wh-who the hell are you people?!”
Panicked, old man Jang reflexively ordered his servants to grab clubs—but these weren’t ordinary beggars. These were trained martial artists of the Beggar’s Gang.
CRACK.
The servants were knocked away like leaves in the wind. The members tore down the shop’s sign and headed straight for their next target.
Their destination: the Um Baek Gang, who had colluded with the unorthodox factions to torment fellow beggars.
“Wha—why me?!”
Their crime was even graver, being beggars themselves yet preying on their own kind.
After dealing with them, the group headed to Honghwa Brothel, where beggars had been routinely insulted.
“Urgh… it’s come to this, hasn’t it.”
With over a hundred beggars blocking the entrance, Madam Il Hyehyang, the brothel’s manager, massaged her forehead with an exasperated expression.
Her eyes made it clear she wanted to protest the unfairness of it all.
“Next stop: Man Geum Trading Post.”
“Especially that damn Goat-bearded Steward—he’s first on the list!”
Deliberately stinking themselves up, the Beggar’s Gang headed for the gambling den run by Man Geum Trading Post.
As they poured in, patrons pinched their noses and turned away, and the few customers the post had regained after the rigged gambling incident all fled. The Chief Steward of the trading post shook with fury, his beard bristling.
“You damned filthy beggars! I’m already losing my mind thanks to that bastard Dan Mujin—!”
He shouted for his martial artists to throw them out—
“Chief Steward, these are beggars trained in martial arts. Please reconsider.”
No one in the martial world had the guts to clash head-on with the Beggar’s Gang, a faction on par with the Nine Sects.
“Grrrr…”
Eventually, overwhelmed by rage, the Chief Steward clutched his neck and collapsed.
With chaos erupting all across town to herald their return, the last place the Beggar’s Gang members headed was the Eunseong Trading Company.
They hadn’t come to stir trouble here—rather, they were hoping to catch a glimpse of the young man who had acquired the imperial decree: Dan Mujin Master.
However, Park Chil and Elder Ilhogae had one more intention.
“Excuse me, Trading Lord. Is Hwang Noya here?”
Eun Hwaran, startled by the sudden influx of beggars, glanced around blankly before replying.
“Ah, he just stepped out a moment ago.”
Realizing they had just missed him by a hair, Park Chil and Ilhogae shouted in unison—
“……That old geezer ran off again!”
And just like that, I found myself holed up in the Troubleshooter Office.
I had been training in the trading company’s martial arts yard, but my instructor had suddenly bolted and left me no choice.
“You were late—did you run into them?”
Hwang Geolgae asked as he poured a clear liquor into his teacup and took a sip.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
By “them,” he probably meant the Beggar’s Gang Elders who had greeted me with beaming faces.
They did hold quite a bit of status within the orthodox factions, but this guy sure spoke casually about them.
“They were super grateful to me.”
On my way back, I had been surrounded by Beggar’s Gang members, showering me with sincere thanks.
For all their meddling, even they couldn’t reach the imperial palace, after all.
Their gratitude and praise came one after another—and hearing it, my chest swelled with emotion.
Giving up that gold had been the right call. My heart buzzed with a warm, growing sense of fulfillment.
“Also, they begged me to bring back their Master.”
“Hmph. Not a chance.”
Hwang Geolgae scoffed and turned his head. Stubborn to the bone, this one.
Was he really trying to sever all worldly ties and ascend or something? Like a true Daoist cultivating in the mountains.
“Seriously, what a ridiculous—”
“I can hear you, you punk.”
“Ack.”
Seems what I meant to keep to myself had slipped right out of my mouth again.
Hwang Geolgae glared at me like he was about to smack me across the face.
"Anyway, those Beggar's Gang members are still camped out in front of the trading company waiting for you, Master."
"Let them wait, you brat."
Thanks to this incident, the identity I’d kept hush-hush among the higher-ups seemed to have leaked out somewhat within the Beggar’s Gang.
Of course, since Dragon Head Sect Leader was officially listed as missing, my status was only half-acknowledged at best.
Still, someday, I believed I’d officially receive my own Beggar’s Knot.
"You’ve come quite far with your Starfall Heart Cultivation Method, haven’t you? Seems that self-satisfaction of yours actually paid off."
The more you believe your actions are righteous—acts of virtue, of seon-eop—the stronger the cultivation effect of the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method.
The internal energy I had accumulated this way was now considerable, enough to be called immense.
"How much energy have you stored in your dantian?"
As I activated the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method—a technique passed down to me by some mysterious sage—a pale aura began to rise and swirl around my entire body.
"Roughly fifty years’ worth of internal energy, I’d say."
"Heh heh, feels like you’ve been guzzling spiritual elixirs or something."
Even if someone had been generously fed elixirs from a prestigious clan, they wouldn’t possess this level of internal energy at my age—Hwang Geolgae gave a dry chuckle.
Well, I had turned down a pile of gold with tears in my eyes.
Something the former me, Dan Wonjun, the ghost of greed, could’ve never even imagined.
"And yet, I’m still only at the Peak Master Level, Master. Please, this foolish disciple begs you to grant me some insight that will lead me to Transcendence."
I bent at the waist and pleaded earnestly. This was precisely why I’d driven Jo Harang out of the office just to follow this crotchety old man around.
"Insight, huh? You think that’s something I can just hand out?"
"Ugh, but there’s gotta be something better than just headbutting my way through a brick wall."
Just like how, at the start of my training, he had made me walk until I grasped the concept of internal energy.
"You fool. Insight comes… like fate, in a sudden flash. Even the smallest, throwaway remark can help you leap over a wall."
Muttering about destiny like a wandering sage, Hwang Geolgae tried to act the part of a mystic.
"Isn’t that a little too vague?"
"Insight is all about groping through the fog anyway."
He chuckled and downed another cup of liquor.
"Ugh, you’re no help at all."
Smack!
He struck the crown of my head. Even with internal energy cloaking me, the jolt rattled through my whole body.
"Say that kind of thing inside, you brat."
My master clicked his tongue with a disgusted look.
He didn’t meet me yesterday, after all. But I had already decided to stop living in fear of every little comment—I'd left that version of myself in the past.
"So basically, you’ve got no advice to give, right?"
"From Peak Mastery onward, you have to blaze your own trail. There’s only so much this old man can do for you."
He’d happily join me in any intense sword training aimed at life-or-death combat, but as far as reaching a new realm of enlightenment, he insisted I find my own way.
"You talk like you’ve always taken such good care of me."
"…You’re saying it out loud now, huh?"
Oops. My inner thoughts had slipped out again.
Hwang Geolgae clenched his fist like he was about to smack me.
I leapt out of the office just before a Flick Strike could hit.
Shhk! Shhiik!
Under the moonlight, two blades sliced through the air.
Today, Beijing had been abuzz with the unexpected incursion of Beggar’s Gang members.
But now that the stars were twinkling in the late night sky, silence had returned as if none of it had ever happened.
In the quiet, words became sparse and thoughts grew deeper.
I was sparring with Jo Harang, refining my Dog-Slaying Sword Technique as I parried her storm-like broadsword strikes.
Chachak-chang!
A Transcendent-level master was helping me raise my level. I couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
But strangely, despite her assistance, I wasn’t making any noticeable progress.
"Your blade’s tip is wavering, Mujin."
"It’s not wavering."
I inspected the tip of my sword after a thrust-and-retract motion and replied.
"I didn’t mean literally. I meant your heart is wavering."
Why do all experts talk in riddles like that?
Apparently, she had sensed the unrest in my heart. Realizing today’s training was a bust, I withdrew my sword with a look of dissatisfaction.
That’s when I heard a pair of footsteps approaching as if they’d been waiting for the end of our session.
"Boss, I was gathering intel around Beijing today—did you hear what happened?"
"What happened?"
There was a hint of excitement in Ilhong’s voice.
"No matter where you go, it’s all talk about the Beggar’s Gang and you, Boss. All over Beijing."
Ilhong was as thrilled as if she were the one gaining fame.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah! Everyone’s praising you to the skies. It’s enough to wipe out the bad rep of that ‘School-Breaking Fiend’ nickname of yours."
A mere Troubleshooter had boldly petitioned the Son of Heaven.
It was clear the Beggar’s Gang was spreading the tale. Not only were they good at gathering intel, but they also excelled at spreading rumors with sheer numbers.
"I only did it to make a living, that’s all."
I answered like it was no big deal. I figured news of my visit to the Imperial Palace had reached Hwang Geolgae’s ears by now—and if I wanted to keep my head, I needed to bring some kind of gift.
"Still, most people wouldn’t give up that much money just to do what you did."
I had simply chosen to trade money for virtue, hoping to extend my life and accumulate internal energy.
It wasn’t the noble act of a chivalrous hero like in wuxia novels, but a calculated decision weighed by cost and benefit.
"You always talk like that, Boss. Like you’re trying to make yourself sound like a hypocrite."
"Well, I am a bit of one."
Even saving Ilhong had been a kind of value investment, a ploy to gain virtue points. And indeed, every time I saved her, I racked up more virtue and internal energy.
"Wait… Were you seriously thinking that way?"
Ilhong’s eyes widened as she looked at me, clearly appalled.
"Are you experiencing Inner Demons or something? Why does your mind go there every time? Saying you only do good deeds because you’ve got some ulterior motive…"
Jo Harang, who had been silently listening, nodded in agreement with Ilhong’s exasperated tone.
It looked like she wanted to say something, too.
"Let’s say someone lived their whole life doing good while hiding a wicked heart. When they die, are they a good person or a bad one?"
"…"
Ilhong’s question left me speechless. Even if someone believed themselves to be a hypocrite, if they left behind only good in the world, then…
Regardless of their intentions, the trace they left behind was undoubtedly that of a good person.
"Hmm."
Ilhong had thrown a thought-provoking question at me mid-training.
Am I truly a good person? Maybe Murong Cheongjin was—but the man called Dan Wonjun…
No, did I even still have any identity left as Dan Wonjun?
Belonging nowhere. Certain of nothing.
"You seem confused… But this is part of who you are, Boss."
That one line from Ilhong hit me straight in the heart.
Right. So what if my thoughts are a little fragmented? It all adds up to who I am.
The one thing that had always blocked my path toward Transcendence was uniting my inner self.
Maybe, just maybe, I had found the answer to that question now. Just like Hwang Geolgae said—through a single, insignificant sentence.
Yes, I was a greedy man who loved money. But I also felt my heart race when helping others and receiving their sincere gratitude.
I had always been like that since I was a kid. That gentle thrill in my chest, what could I call it?
I decided I would no longer deny it. That small light within me I had dismissed as hypocrisy—I would now fully embrace it.
"This too… is me."
Fwooooosh—
With that realization, the once-ordinary iron sword in my hand began to shimmer with a faint aura—surpassing mere Sword Qi.