Tangmunjeon - Chapter 317



Only Noblemtl

Episode 317: The Members of Parliament

The next morning, Dang Mu-jin told his friends his guess.

“···That’s the devil’s handwriting?”

“okay.”

“Isn’t that a mistake? It’s not like there aren’t people in the world with similar handwriting.”

“No way. The devil has some unique letters. And there’s even a story about him learning medicine.”

Dang Mu-jin has never met the Demon King. He only knows a few fragmentary facts about the Demon King.

The fact that the Demonic Cult studied poison and that Mok Wan-ah was one of the subjects of the Demonic Cult’s experiments.

And comparing the time when the ghost delivered the subscription and the time when the magician disappeared as Mok Wan-ah said, it seems likely that he was killed by the ghost.

Even Mokwan-ah rarely talked about magic.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk, but rather that he didn’t seem to know much about magic. Most of the stories he occasionally told were guesses.

‘Oh, come to think of it.’

Among the stories Mokwan-ah told, there was one that I remember.

Ma-ui hated people from Nokrim Island very much and talked about it. I think he said that there was a time when they caused serious trouble.

When Dang Mu-jin showed interest in Ma-ui’s whereabouts, Nam-gung-myeong became anxious.

‘I can’t afford to dawdle around here…’

The distance between Sooksong and Namgung Se-ga takes about five to six days at the pace of an average adult.

It was a distance that was far if it was far, but close if it was close, so Namgung Myung couldn’t completely feel at ease. It felt like Namgung Jinya would appear at any moment and drag him to Namgung Se-ga.

Namgung Myung spoke in an anxious voice.

“Don’t worry about that. Let’s just find the elders and leave quickly. We didn’t come to Suksong to dig up the past of the devil.”

But Dang Mu-jin couldn’t give up his foolishness.

“That’s true. That’s true, but…”

Learning to practice poison was much more difficult than learning medicine.

Although medical techniques were spread out here and there, there were only three people that Dang Mu-jin knew who focused on poison. The Go-ui, the Ma-ui, and the people of the faraway Namman O-Dok-mun.

Since the demon and the evil spirit were dead and he had no intention of going to Namman, Dang Mujin had to achieve the goal entirely on his own.

In this situation, I didn’t want to miss even a faint clue.

‘The magician’s poison may be all that’s written in the subscription book. But there’s still a chance···.’

When Dang Mu-jin could not let go of his interest in Ma-ui, Nam-gung-myeong suddenly got up from his seat.

If the best is impossible, then the second best must be chosen.

“Then you stay here. I’ll go around the other villages of Suksong and look for the two elders.”

“Or so.”

Namgung Myeong left to find a nearby village.

*

The group dispersed one by one and inquired about the demon’s whereabouts.

“I have a question for you.”

“What?”

“That house. Do you know anything about the people who lived there before?”

“I don’t know anything.”

But even by lunchtime, Dang Mu-jin had not figured anything out.

It wasn’t because the townspeople didn’t know anything.

The villagers rejected Dang Mu-jin and his party as if they were evil spirits. Their attitude was so venomous that they couldn’t even speak to them for more than three words.

In fact, there are many people who dislike foreigners.

Even in an ordinary village, there are far more people who are reluctant to welcome outsiders than those who welcome them. This is especially true for the Dangmujin party, who carry weapons.

But this was the first time I had ever encountered a town where everyone so thoroughly rejected outsiders.

As this kind of rude treatment continued six or seven times, a feeling of sadness welled up in a corner of Dang Mu-jin’s heart.

Rather than wandering around looking for kind people, wouldn’t it be better to catch someone you don’t like and make them kind?

Of course, it wasn’t put into practice. That’s not the party’s way.

At lunchtime, when Dang Mu-jin was walking home and about to have a quick snack, Seol-hwa approached him and spoke.

“Go outside, go outside!”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“merchant!”

“Merchant? Why a merchant?”

Seolhwa seemed to want to say something more, but she couldn’t explain it properly because there were difficult words mixed in.

Instead, Seolhwa expressed her meaning through gestures and body movements. She spread her arms to depict something large, then turned her back as if carrying a child.

That’s understandable. He’s a peddler. A peddler is someone from outside the village, so he might have something to say. Dang Mu-jin nodded to Seol-hwa to express his gratitude, and then ran straight out of the village.

Before long, a peddler appeared.

Dang Mu-jin was about to approach the peddler right away, but instead of approaching him, he waited. He thought that the villagers might try to silence the peddler.

Instead, Dang Mu-jin followed the peddler carefully.

And when the peddler had gone quite far from the village, Dangmujin approached him. The peddler looked quite old.

“···Sir. Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Ugh!”

When Dang Mu-jin spoke to him, the peddler was startled and startled. It seemed that he had not sensed the approaching figure.

The peddler seemed even more surprised when he saw the sword tied to Dang Mu-jin’s waist, but his expression softened as if he was relieved when he saw Dang Mu-jin’s face.

It’s a bit of a strange situation to feel at ease when meeting someone for the first time.

“···Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”

“Yeah. You don’t look like you’re going to swing a sword all of a sudden. Where did you come from?”

“I followed you from that village.”

The peddler’s reaction to hearing the story was subtle. He seemed like he would shut his mouth at any moment.

Dang Mu-jin hurriedly picked up whatever came to mind.

“I have trained in martial arts, but I have also trained in medicine, so I do not harm people recklessly. Besides, I arrived in that village yesterday…”

After hearing the story up to that point, the peddler’s expression relaxed a little again.

“Yes. I was wondering, but your accent isn’t from this area. Are you from the western region? Sichuan? Or Guizhou?”

“I came from the city of Sacheon. I guess you have wide feet.”

“I’m not a peddler who travels along a set route, so I’ve been to pretty much every place I can go… No, this isn’t the time to be talking about this. You didn’t leave anything valuable in the village, did you? Run away quickly.”

“yes?”

When Dang Mu-jin asked again, the merchant frowned.

“I couldn’t believe it. It seems you don’t know what kind of village that is.”

“I knew the atmosphere was strange. It didn’t seem like a normal town, did it?”

“A bandit group. That is, a village intertwined with the Nokrimdo. Haven’t you ever heard of Jamsanchae?”

Of course, I had never heard of it. Dang Mu-jin had never clashed with Nokrim Island, and Nokrim Island had never posed a threat to Dang Mu-jin and his party.

I had heard of some of the famous wild vegetables, but Jamsanchae was not among them. It seems that they were just a few of the notorious wild vegetables in the area.

The merchant clicked his tongue without knowing what Dang Mujin was thinking.

“You really don’t know. That village is under the influence of the Jamsanchae guys. Half of the villagers are Jamsanchae’s Nokrimdo, and the other half are the author who is in cahoots with them.”

Dang Mu-jin now understood why the people had been strangely vicious and why they had found the group uncomfortable.

It must have been nerve-wracking to have five armed men come into the village and stay there.

“I’ve heard of it for the first time. If they are so famous, how come they haven’t been subjugated? I heard that the Namgung Sega is not far away.”

“There’s a rumor that the Nokrim Island has connections to the government. They must be bribing high-ranking officials with a lot of money… Anyway, you spent the night without knowing anything.”

“I was lucky.”

“If possible, give up the luggage you left behind in the village. A mere object may not be more precious than life.”

As the peddler spoke, he rummaged through his luggage, took out six or seven coins and a handful of dried grains, and handed them to Dang Mu-jin.

“···If you walk diligently to the east, you should be able to arrive at the village by tomorrow evening. Eat sparingly on your way. And with that coin, you should be able to solve one or two meals in the village.”

The peddler’s hands were full of regret, perhaps because he felt sorry for the money. It is obvious what kind of pocket the peddler has.

But it is even more meaningful because he gave the money while feeling so sorry.

Dang Mu-jin received the coins with his left hand, took out a few silver coins with his right hand, and slipped them into the peddler’s backpack. Then he spoke with a calm demeanor.

“You have done me a great favor. Anyway, I have something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know the councilman who used to live in that town?”

“Congressman Jang? We dealt with each other occasionally. I understand he left town a while ago…”

“Wasn’t there anyone who stayed there much earlier than him?”

The peddler searched his memory for a while before speaking.

“···Yes. But it was a really long time ago.”

“How long has it been?”

“It must have been almost twenty years since the first Jamsanchae took over and was attacked. I remember the councilman had a daughter.”

“Wasn’t that daughter’s name Yeo-hye?”

“I don’t even remember the name. It was so long ago.”

The peddler’s answer left me uncertain. But it was something I couldn’t ask anyone else.

Dang Mu-jin asked about the magic.

“By any chance, wasn’t there a young congressman in that house?”

“A congressman… There was a worker there, not a congressman. Ah! Now I remember.”

“What did you remember?”

“That handyman was quite clever and honest, so Assemblyman Shim tried to marry my only daughter to him. He wanted to make him his son-in-law and give him the position of assemblyman. But he must have died in the chaos.”

However, contrary to the merchant’s thoughts, the demon did not die, but fled west and settled in the Demonic Cult.

‘So that’s what happened.’

At this point, I almost let it go, but no matter how much I thought about it, the situation was a bit strange. Wasn’t the Demonic Cult a place of refuge for those who had committed sins in the Central Plains and fled?

And in the story I heard from the merchant, there was no part where the magician committed a crime.

‘It is said that Jamsanchae did something and Ma-ui ran away to the west after committing a crime.’

But the peddler seems to know nothing, and Dang Mujin has no clue. It’s not like he can figure it out by racking his brain alone.

Dang Mu-jin was about to thank the peddler and send him on his way, but stopped. There was one more piece of information he had to find out.

“Have you seen the other two councilmen come into town? They are both about sixty years old, and have been together for less than a month.”

“I don’t know. I only visit that town once every two months. You can make a lot of money, but I feel uncomfortable doing business with the Nokrimdo.”

“Is that so?”

The peddler seemed unaware of Rep. Yang and Rep. Yeom.

But the peddler said earlier that a man named Assemblyman Jang used to stay in that village but left a while ago.

It is not common for a member of the National Assembly to leave the village, so the member of the National Assembly that he encountered on his way to Namgung Se-ga must have been Assemblyman Jang.

Naturally, this was the town where Reps. Yang and Yeom stayed to fill Rep. Jang’s vacancy.

So where did Rep. Yang and Rep. Yeom disappear to? The party secretary felt a sense of suffocation, as if a rock had been placed on his chest.

When Dang Mu-jin turned around and started to head back to the village, the peddler was startled.

“You want to go back to the village? I strongly advise you not to do that.”

“That’s because I left something valuable behind.”

The peddler spoke stammeringly.

“I, I… I can’t help you that far. I clearly told you not to.”

It was more like a story to the peddler himself rather than to the party leader.

A story about how, even if by some chance an unknown young man dies from the Nokrimdo, it is not his fault.

At first glance, it may seem cowardly, but it was the greatest courtesy a good and ordinary person could show to a stranger. In fact, the peddler had done nothing wrong at all.

It would not have been easy for the peddler to simply tell the story of the green forests of Jamsanchae living in that village.

“I know. Even if there is a problem, I will never bring up your story.”

Dang Mu-jin answered.

However, the peddler hesitated for a while as if that alone was not enough to put down his burden, then shook his head and walked away.

A heavy sense of regret gripped the peddler’s ankles, and his steps became as slow as a turtle’s.

Dang Mu-jin looked at the back of the peddler and then headed towards the village.

*

When Dang Mu-jin returned to the village, he found villagers wandering around the houses, wielding crude swords and clubs. There were a little over ten of them.

Although they were quite far away, Dangmujin could clearly hear their conversation.

“So there’s only that girl in the house right now?”

“okay.”

“flaw.”

The man with the hair on the back of his hand let out a short laugh. Just by looking at the bulge in the middle of his pants, you could quickly tell what he was thinking.

Dang Mu-jin frowned.

‘When there are five of them, he doesn’t approach, but when he thinks Seolhwa is left alone, he waits for his chance.’

I wasn’t really worried. Seolhwa is also a true master of the new martial arts world.

Even if a bunch of those bums rush at me at the same time, I could knock out all of them in the time it takes to have a cup of tea.

The men were chatting among themselves, unaware that the party leader was watching them from behind.

“This is my first time with Saekmokin. Is there anything else I can do?”

“I heard it before, but a man with yellow hair has yellow eyes. It was a man’s story, though.”

“Really? The same goes for women. I should take some with me as a souvenir.”

“What are you going to use it for?”

The men burst into laughter.

Hoo- Dang Mu-jin approached them and let out a deep sigh.

The men who heard that sound looked back. The men spoke in lowered voices.

“Oh, shit. One came back?”

“It’s one. It doesn’t matter.”

Two men approached Dang Mu-jin, laughing. Both were larger than Dang Mu-jin, and each had a sword on their waist. They seemed to be confident in their skills.

They spoke to him with a pretended friendly expression, perhaps thinking that Dang Mu-jin had not heard the story.

“Well, I heard that the congressman who used to live in that house asked where he went.”

“Yes.”

Dang Mu-jin and the two men walked toward each other. Dang Mu-jin didn’t pay much attention to their conversation. Instead, he watched them closely as they brought their hands close to their waists.

As the three men came within five steps, the men grabbed their sword hilts and spoke.

“I heard someone I know knows about that congressman. Do you need an introduction?”

Instead of answering, Dang Mu-jin swung his sword.

Third-rate? Second-rate? There was no need to guess the exact level. The two men could not even draw their swords, but their necks fell off and blood gushed out.

It was only after two headless corpses fell to the ground that those watching from behind realized what had happened.

“Fuck, he’s a master!”

“If we all rush in together, we can win! Kill him!”

However, unlike the story, not a single person rushed to Dang Mu-jin. That was because he was saying it in hopes that someone else would fight for him instead of himself. Loyalty in Nokrim Island is a shallow thing.

If it had been any other martial artist, then dispersing might have been a pretty good choice.

But it wasn’t a very good choice in front of the party leaders.

Dang Mu-jin spoke while putting away his sword.

“The one who runs away dies first.”

The green forests of Jamsanchae ignored Dangmujin’s story and ran. In their experience, at a time like this, the only thing they could trust was their own two feet.

And just as Dang Mu-jin said, the first person to run away paid the price for ignoring the story.

Four flying wheels flew in the air chaotically. Those who had run away first died one after another. They didn’t even know what was killing them.

Those who had been running ahead began to fall to their deaths.

At first, people’s legs stopped in fear, but some people with quick minds made a decision. They immediately turned around and started running towards Dangmujin.

I didn’t mean to attack Dang Mu-jin. I just realized that if I got too far away from Dang Mu-jin, I would die.

People who ran away to survive are now coming back to survive. If before it was the fast ones who died first, now it is the slow ones who die first.

Finally, only one person survived and arrived in front of Dangmujin.

I came half-way, my legs shaking with fear.

The party leader spoke.

“A while ago, two councilmen came into town, didn’t they?”

Coincidentally, the person standing in front of Dangmujin right now was the one who had treated Dangmujin coldly in the morning.

But now, he had no choice but to nod.

“Yes, yes···.”

“Guide me.”

The surviving man got up from his seat and started walking on trembling legs.