BXBX NOVEL Chapter 93. The Entire World is My Home (14)
Chapter 93. The Entire World is My Home (14)
Woo-Moon could see the Azure Dragon Admiral’s face superimposing over the face of Mr. Lonely as the bandit begged for his life.
‘How are these bandits all so rotten inside? They kill others without any hesitation, but the moment they’re in danger, they start crying for their moms.’
“You bastards really are disgusting to the core. You would have been less pitifully vile if you at least faced your death with some semblance of honor.”
Woo-Moon’s sword pierced Mr. Lonely’s back as the bandit continued to beg with every fiber of his being.
“I will not give you an easy death. You’ll still be breathing for at least fifteen more minutes, so take this time to repent for your past sins and feel the fear and pain that you forced upon those good people before their deaths.”
“Starting.”
Woo-Moon nodded at Ma-Ra’s word, and she threw out two Silver Moon Discs.
Swish!!!
The rotating discs flew in a large circle, creating a fountain of blood along their path. At the same time, Woo-Moon continued to use the Traceless Finger. It wasn’t long before all the bandits at the Lonely Bandit Fortress died.
Casting one last cold glance at the dying Mr. Lonely, Woo-Moon went outside with Ma-Ra.
At the same time, the Distinguished Swords had fully caught on to the situation from the pungent smell of blood filling the air. Woo-Moon used the Samadhi True Flame to set fire to the entire Lonely Bandit Fortress before turning to the others.
“Let’s go. We have to go find somewhere else to sleep tonight.”
“Understood, Uncle!”
Jeong-Woo felt like he wanted to bury himself in a hole. Last time, he had gone to the brothel and caused a scene. This time, he had convinced the others to come to the bandit den to spend the night and caused a scene once again.
“I’m sorry, Uncle!”
“It’s okay. I learned something today, too, so it’s fine.”
There may be kindhearted thieves here and there, but these bandits who gathered together and built dens like these? No chance.
This experience only served to engrave a new lesson into Woo-Moon’s heart, and he fell into deep contemplation as he descended down the mountain.
‘The Dao says that one can attain enlightenment and life will become blessed if one escapes the bustling cities and forgoes worldly desires to live in nature. But then, what about bastards like them? Don’t they live closer to nature than those good people who live in cities? Then why do they have even greater evil within their hearts?’
One after another, thoughts cascaded through his mind.
‘But then what does “closer to nature” mean anyway? Do people not count as a part of nature? But then, just what is a person? Is the fact that people bring about war and immorality for their gain evidence that we’ve escaped the grasp of nature? But... then, how about all the things I saw since I was young? Like when I saw a mother rat eating her own babies? Are rats not a part of nature because they also commit immoral acts? Are those even immoral acts’
The more he thought about it, the more complicated his mind became. He couldn\'t distinguish between right and wrong.
Woo-Moon became increasingly distressed as his thoughts didn’t seem to match the Dao preached by Daoists.
‘Can I still become a Sword Immortal even with these thoughts?’
Woo-Moon liked the world he lived in, where he laughed and enjoyed life with others. But still...
He mused to himself about his worries and confusion for a long time after they descended the mountain.
***
Two days later, Woo-Moon and the others arrived in Zhengzhou, Henan Province.
They had decided to rendezvous with the other Three Great Sword Families, the Namgoong and Baekri Families, and head to the Justice Coalition together.
As Woo-Moon and the Distinguished Swords entered Zhengzhou’s main gate, someone standing off to the side of the gate hurriedly ran up to them.
“P-please wait! Are you, by chance, the Young Heroes of the Iron Sword Baek Family?”
Jeong-Woo answered for the party.
“Yes, is there something you need?”
According to the man, the Namgoong and Baekri Families had hired him to guide the Baek Family to the guest house where they were staying, as they had already arrived two days ago and had been waiting for them.
The young ladies were surprised by the guide’s explanation and looked down at their dirty clothes and unkempt state. As they had been staying out in the wilderness for the past few days and hunting for each meal, their outfits weren’t quite in prime condition. Moreover, there was even a hint of an unpleasant smell wafting from them as well.
Woo-Moon realized what they were worried about as he saw the young ladies panic. He took out two taels from his robes and handed them over.
“Take this and go wash up. Okay?”
Baek Yo nodded firmly, slightly blushing, while the other Distinguished Swords looked at the young ladies with envious gazes. Taking the taels, she took the other ladies to wash off the grime quickly.
“Now, let’s go ahead, then!”
Although Woo-Moon wanted to let everyone wash if possible, the important thing was that they had to preserve what little money they had left.
Thus, the group followed the man to the largest and most luxurious inn in Zhongzhou, where the Baekri and Namgoong Families were staying in two of the most expensive villas that were available there. The guide entered first, then promptly emerged with a smile on his face and a fat pouch that sounded like it was full of silver. Soon after, the members of the Baekri Family came out as well.
“I hope your travels were uneventful, swordsmen of the Iron Sword Baek Family. My name is Baeri Yeong-Woon.”
Befitting his family’s reputation for being beautiful, Baekri Yeong-Woon was extremely attractive. Woo-Moon cupped his fist in response to his greeting.
“It’s good to meet you. My name is Song Woo-Moon of the Iron Sword Baek Family, and these are the Ten Distinguished Swords. I’m glad to be able to greet the members of the Baekri Family. The reputation of your sharp blades is well known.”
At that moment, a gorgeous but cold-looking beauty who looked to be around twenty, standing behind Baekri Yeong-Woon, suddenly frowned.
“What’s this smell? It’s quite... pungent.”
Then, the other younger generation talents of the Baekri Family also held onto their noses or made faces as they nodded in agreement.
The Distinguished Swords with Woo-Moon blushed, knowing that the smell was coming from them. The splendid—and clean—attire of those standing before them only served to exaggerate their own filth.
While the members of the Baekri Family wore clothes whiter than snow and had flawless appearances, the clothes of the Distinguished Swords were not only dirty from their journey thus far but also were torn here and there.
At that moment, an attendant of the Sangwoong Inn came running over and spoke to Woo-Moon.
“Fortunately, there is a single villa left. Should we reserve it for you and the other guests?”
However, Woo-Moon had no money at the moment.
“Unfortunately, we don’t need our own villa. Actually, to be frank, this inn itself is too expensive, so we’ll be leaving to stay at another inn.”
The beauty of the Baekri Family, who had scrunched her nose and said that something smelled, opened her eyes wide at Woo-Moon’s answer.
“The villas here aren’t that expensive. It’s not even half the price of the luxury inns in Wuhan, where our family resides. At the very least, you have to live up to your title as one of the Three Great Sword Families, so don’t go somewhere else and stay in the villas here.”
The other Distinguished Swords looked embarrassed. Who among them wouldn’t want to stay here? However, they had no other choice as they had no money.
Woo-Moon shook his head.
“We cannot, as we’re a bit short on funds.”
\'Ahh!\'
The Distinguished Swords all inwardly screamed, not expecting Woo-Moon to speak so bluntly. While they secretly panicked, Baekri Yeong-Woon looked as if Woo-Moon’s words were beyond his comprehension.
“You mean... you’re short on funds?”
At this moment, every single Distinguished Sword was so embarrassed that they wanted to find a rathole to hide themselves in. However, Woo-Moon stood confidently, without even the slightest hint of shame.
The beauty of the Baekri Family frowned once more.
“How laughable would others find it if they found out that one of the Three Great Sword Families was staying in a shabby inn? Something that ridiculous would make you, and therefore us, lose face. Please just stay in one of the villas here. It’s not even that expensive for a single night.”
A villa in an inn of this caliber would cost at least fifty taels a night. Although it wasn’t a small amount for ordinary people, from the perspective of this beauty of the Baekri Family, Baekri Hye-Min, it was essentially pocket change.
“Hoho. Well, I don’t think that the prestige and reputation of a family would change based on where one stays,” Woo-Moon retorted.
Baekri Hye-Min frowned in response.
“No. People will definitely laugh at us or look down on our families. They would call the Three Great Sword Families penniless beggars who can’t afford anything and are forced to stay just anywhere. As fellow members of the Three Great Sword Families, this matter is directly related to the prestige of our family. Thus, please stay here in a villa.”
With Baekri Hye-Min’s way of thinking, she could never understand what Woo-Moon meant about not having enough funds.
Offended by the Baekri Family’s attitude, Woo-Moon responded in a curt and vehement tone, “I don’t want to engage in unnecessary luxury.”
Baekri Yeong-Woon frowned at Woo-Moon’s words, reacting particularly negatively at the word “luxury,” and opened her mouth to say something, but someone else interrupted her.
“Young Hero Song!”
It was Namgoong Sung and his younger family members, who had darted over as soon as they had heard that Woo-Moon was here. After all, there was no way that the best among the Namgoong Family’s younger generation, Namgoong Sung, wouldn’t be a part of their retinue for something like this.
“Young Hero Namgoong, it’s been a while.”
Namgoong Sung, who had grown very fond of Woo-Moon after Woo-Moon saved his life, couldn\'t hold back his joy and was laughing brightly... until, eventually, he sensed the strange mood.
‘What’s going on?’
The way that the Baekri Family members were looking at the Baek Family members was strangely cold.
He stepped back for a moment, and then .
Understanding what had happened, he sent a voice transmission to Woo-Moon.
—Young Hero, what do you think about just staying in a villa? If you don’t have enough money, I can pay for you! How could I not do at least that much for someone who saved my life?
However, Woo-Moon just answered directly without bothering to send a voice transmission.
“Oh, would you really? I’m so grateful to hear that you’d lend us some money. However, it would be ridiculous to borrow money just to stay in a villa. We’ll just rent suitable rooms in this inn and stay for a night instead.”
Woo-Moon continued to refuse to stay in the villa until the very end.
Finally catching up with the situation after hearing Woo-Moon’s words, Baekri Hye-Min snorted coldly and returned inside.
“Well, we’re quite tired, we’ll go ahead and get some rest. Since your two families seem quite close to one another, why not keep each other company?” Baekri Yeong-Woon said, particularly emphasizing the word “precious,” before following Baekri Hye-Min inside.[1]
As he was about to enter his room, Baekri Hye-Mon stopped him.
“Orabeoni, are you going to let this go?”[2]
“Let what go?”
“That man named Song Woo-Moon. He’s so cocky! He dares to act like that just because he’s gained some fame these days! And he’s not even from the Baek Family! To think that some filth from whatever Song family dares to act like that...”
The rumors about Woo-Moon—that he had defeated Baek Heon-Won, faced the Three Peak Monsters alone, and won against Baek Hye-Ryeong—had already spread throughout the world. Thus, even Baekri Yeong-Woon and Baekri Hye-Min had heard about his deeds.
However, their doubts were reasonable. After all, objectively speaking, those deeds were so absurd that they were difficult to believe. Someone of the same age had defeated Baek Hye-Ryeong of all people, the strongest member of the Iron Sword Baek Family apart from the Palm Martial Emperor himself? As if!
“Well, if he’s earned a fake reputation, all we have to do is test it. I have something in mind.”
“Really? What is it, Orabeoni? Tell me.”
“Just wait a while. “You’ll find out naturally.”
***
While the young men were taking turns washing in the inn’s washrooms, the ladies of the Distinguished Swords arrived. They had arrived wearing new clothes—as it turned out, they had purchased the clothes by selling the jewelry they had on them.
They entered the inn with refreshed expressions, but their faces hardened immediately after hearing what had happened to the others. While they were angry with the people of the Baekri Family, who had dared to disrespect the Baek Family and Woo-Moon, they also felt a little resentful toward Woo-Moon for giving away all of their money and making them suffer such humiliation.
Thus, after finishing their meals with a slightly darker mood than their usual bustle, they each went to their respective rooms.
Not long after, however, Woo-Moon was disturbed by someone knocking on his door. The Baekri Family was calling for him to discuss something important.
“What do they want now? Mmm... Well, whatever. Ma-Ra!”
Ma-Ra suddenly appeared. She had been next to Woo-Moon all this time, yet not a single member of either the Baekri or Namgoong Families had noticed her presence. It was testament to how advanced her stealth arts were.
“Yes?”
“When I go down, come with me out in the open, okay?”
1. The word “precious” here is actually ?? (敦篤) and means cordial relations, holding the other in high esteem, etc. However, it’s a homonym for ?? (?毒), which is a Middle Korean + Sino-Korean hybrid word that means “money grubber.” ☜
2. Formal version of Oppa. ☜