Episode 59
“That’s surprising. “I thought you would definitely lead me to Giru (妓樓).”
“What’s the point of going to Giru? “It’s not like I can get her courtesan to sit next to her.”
“Well, it’s probably not something worth talking about in front of other people.”
“To talk about the dull past, you can talk about it with men in a quiet room over drinks. “Let’s go in.”
Damun guided me to a base near the entertainment district.
He said it was the most sophisticated and luxurious place he knew of, but the atmosphere was indeed different from a typical base running place.
Damun and I rented an entire room on the second floor.
As we sat across from each other across the table, the clerk brought out the dishes and drinks we ordered one by one.
“Aside from the alcohol, why did you order so much food? “I don’t think it’s a quantity that the two of us can handle.”
“You don’t have to worry. “Because you can eat it all.”
“······Have you heard anything?”
“I usually eat a lot.”
We filled each other’s glasses with alcohol, then raised our glasses and clinked them together.
After clearing his throat once, Damun began to tell the story in a relaxed tone.
“As you may know, I am from the Sima family in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.”
“I understand that you are the legitimate son and only son of the Sima family.”
“Just like you said. “Because there was no one else to consider as a successor, he was designated as the next head of the family at the age of ten and received a strict education.”
“It must have been difficult.”
“It wasn’t particularly difficult. When I think about it now, it was an extremely oppressive life, but at the time, it was just fun. People around me praised me and said I was a genius who only comes along once in a hundred years. “I thought so myself.”
Young Hanryang calmly calls himself a genius.
Strangely enough, it didn’t look arrogant or funny.
Is it because he knows that in the not-too-distant future he will be called by the nickname of Qiunlong?
“At that time, I thought I was a great person.”
“······.”
“I think I had a fulfilling day every day. I felt it was rewarding in its own way. Martial arts, Jinbeop, etiquette, learning, taboo calligraphy and painting. In addition, I learned various techniques. In some areas, I have achieved achievements that surpass even my teachers.
“······.”
“But that great achievement led my father astray.”
Damwoon sighed deeply and filled his empty glass with alcohol.
“Father, the head of the family judged me as a talented person who could revive the Sima family. “He was trying to achieve the rebirth of his family, which he was unable to achieve in his own generation, through me.”
“······.”
“That’s why you put so much effort and effort into my education. “He even took on a debt to send me to study at Zhuge Dynasty.”
I nodded silently and listened to Damun’s story.
I had no intention of interrupting the story with unnecessary additions.
I guess he would never reveal his past again, except now that he was in the mood.
“It was good up to that point. In the past, I promised myself that when I grow up, I will live up to my father’s expectations and work hard to revive the family. But it turns out that the matriarch did not do anything one by one. “I guess he thought that no matter how talented the next head of the family was, there wasn’t much he could do with his own strength.”
“······.”
“He received kickbacks from a group of black thieves and became their backer, had a hand in running a gambling house and selling drugs, divided the nearby martial arts factions and started a fight, and secretly gathered orphans and taught them to form a group of killers.”
“······.”
“I was greatly shocked, as I firmly believed that Sima Family was a martial arts warrior with a dignified path. But in the end, I closed my eyes and ears and pretended not to notice it. “I told myself that it was not a problem I could handle.”
“······.”
“But the matriarch seems to have not been satisfied with just that, so she pushed for one more thing. “He was trying to gain a powerful friendly force by marrying me to the daughter of the Kwonmun family.”
“······.”
“But I already had a child born in the womb. There was a superior who helped the Simase family when it was having a difficult time due to financial difficulties, and the wife of the superior was pregnant around the same time as my mother. “Did you say it was a promise made at that time, pledging friendship between us?”
“······.”
“I’ve built up quite a bit of a relationship with her since I was a little girl. As we got older, our relationship naturally developed into a romantic relationship. She was a beautiful and virtuous woman who was too much for me. But it seems the matriarch didn’t think so. “He said he went to Sang-Sang Joo and asked for her engagement to be broken off without even discussing it with me.”
“······.”
“Of course, the head of the sangang was furious and refused it. “It must have felt absurd to belatedly declare isolation whenever we were trying to solve the financial crisis.”
“······.”
“What do you think happened next?”
“Did the head of the family go to the head of the top and threaten him?”
“Scare me? It would be better if that were the case. “You ordered a secretly raised group of assassins to assassinate the merchants.”
“······!”
“The upper division that lost its head was unable to withstand Simase Family’s persistent harassment and eventually disintegrated. “The interests held by the top were completely absorbed into Sega.”
“Huh… … .”
“I realized this when I saw the woman I loved sobbing while holding my father’s body. That I was just a doll. “Things that I ignored, saying they were unavoidable, eventually came back like a wheel and were suffocating me.”
Damun emptied the alcohol in his glass in one go.
Drops of alcohol flowed down my uvula.
He said with a face that revealed guilt and pain.
“I couldn’t bring myself to face her. “How can the child of a murderer shamelessly stick his head in front of the victim’s family?”
“So, have you decided to leave the family?”
“exactly. He visited his father, declared disownment, and fled to Hangzhou, hiding his name and identity. “Now, as you can see, I am living as a pillar, wandering around the entertainment district.”
After finishing his long story, Damun fiddled with his glass with a complicated expression.
At first glance, it seemed like I was relieved, perhaps because I was telling all the stories I had buried in my heart.
I pray for the awkward silence to pass.
I took my gaze away from Damun and quietly picked up the chopsticks.
While listening to the story, he diligently shoved the cold food into his mouth and threw it away.
“In my personal opinion, I think it was a good decision to disown the family and leave the family.”
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“······.”
“However, I can only evaluate his subsequent actions as pathetic.”
“I think so too.”
“What happened to the lover who broke up?”
“Belatedly, I became concerned and found out that he fell in love with a Taoist monk who happened to be passing by on the street and became a disciple of the Shaman sect.”
“It’s a blessing in disguise. “At least her Lord Samasega will not hold her hostage and urge her return to her clan.”
“You’re telling a scary story. I also regret it sometimes. “I should have cared about her safety first, but I couldn’t because I was only thinking about my own feelings.”
I swallowed what was in my mouth and took a drink.
Damun just watched me and didn’t even touch the chopsticks.
“What do you plan to do next?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think Sima Se-ju will easily give up the small alliance.”
“I didn’t tell you. “I will think about it slowly.”
“If you plan to continue your life of wandering around the red-light district like you have been doing, then you should come with me.”
“It would be dangerous to go with me. There is no way my father will just sit back and watch. In the worst case, they might send a group of assassins to kill the entire group to break my will.”
“It doesn’t really matter. I have the confidence to defeat it. “My colleagues are all talented people.”
“You seem overconfident.”
“Actually, I was going to break up without any regrets after I got rid of Reporter Cheon’s scandal, but I changed my mind.”
I set the glass down with a loud thud on the table.
He made eye contact with Damun, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression, and spoke in a powerful voice.
“Come under me. “I will treat you without any regrets.”
“······?”
“I’m not joking.”
“I’m sorry, Chief, but I have no intention of getting involved in martial arts affairs.”
“How long do you plan to just avoid it?”
“Having me as your subordinate means turning the Simase family into your enemy.”
“In that case, all we have to do is erase Sima Shiga from the world.”
“······!”
“Why do you think you can’t do it?”
I stretched out my chopsticks and lowered the liquor bottle from top to bottom.
The bottle burst open and the contents poured out.
Damun looked at it with a blank expression and muttered.
“Test (劍絲)······?”
“Among the warriors who have registered with Sima Family, are there any skilled fighters who are ranked among the world’s 100 greatest masters?”
“No.”
“In that case, someone like Simase is no match for me.”
“What you mean is that the executioner is a skilled person who ranks among the top 100 great masters?”
Damwoon let out a laugh.
There was a little bit of life in the face that had been dying.
I nodded calmly and played with my chopsticks again.
“Think carefully. This is an opportunity that will never come again. “This is a recommendation from the future greatest person in the world.”
“What can I gain by becoming the executioner’s subordinate?”
“Wealth, fame, power. And the map of the true law left by reporter Cheon.”
“······!”
“Don’t you want to break free from Sima Ga’s shadow?”
“I will say this.”
“I will help you.”
“That’s a sweet offer.”
Damwoon ran his hand across the neatly cut cross section of the liquor bottle.
The fingertips split and blood seeped out.
“Why do you do this to someone like me?”
“I saw the value of small cooperatives very highly. What other reason do you need?”
“Thank you, but I am not as great of a person as you think.”
“I make the decision.”
“······Give me time to think.”
“Of course.”
I called the clerk to clean up the broken bottle and ordered a new drink.
When I handed him the silver coin, the clerk’s face, who had been organizing the liquor bottles, brightened up with a sullen expression.
Damwoon, who belatedly picked up the chopsticks, shoved some vegetables into his mouth and asked.
“Are you sure you won’t regret it?”
“It’s not something big enough to make me regret it.”
“The power of the Sima family is greater than what the executioner thinks.”
“I am a greater person than you think.”
“First of all, I will help you attack Gija Cheon’s secret location.”
“Well thought out. “We’ll be leaving in two days, so get ready in the meantime.”
“Two days? “Isn’t time too tight?”
“There is no reason to waste time. “There’s not much to prepare.”
“That’s true.”
“Then I understand that you have accepted it.”
martial arts,
