Red Light District's Martial God-Chapter 45

Moving under the cover of darkness, Jaseong, Gu Janghu, and Lee Rin came to a halt at the ruins of a temple in the center of Wandering Warrior Village.
The desolate temple bore the full scars of time.
Moonlight seeped over the broken statue of Buddha, weaving a gentle glow, while a chilling wind howled among the weeds.
The old bell in the dilapidated belfry hung silently, covered in rust.
"Why are we here?"
Gu Janghu asked, his face puzzled.
With his acute senses, he couldn't detect anything unusual about the place.
Unlike him, Lee Rin already understood the reason.
"Because this is the center of Wandering Warrior Village."
"What are you—"
"This spot seems most suitable for using 'Seeking Light in the Darkness', great hero."
Jaseong nodded without a word.
His gaze was already fixed on the temple roof.
"Gu Janghu, stand guard and keep watch."
Jaseong entrusted Gu Janghu with the perimeter and then lightly leapt upward with Lee Rin.
Whoosh!
The two of them landed as softly as wind atop the temple roof.
Standing side by side, they closed their eyes and began chanting the incantation for Seeking Light in the Darkness.
Saaa—
A subtle current of energy rippled from Jaseong and Lee Rin, spreading outward like fine threads, fluttering until they reached beyond a hundred jang from the temple.
Those threads moved as if alive, stretching beyond the temple and weaving farther out.
Jaseong controlled the threads delicately, sensing the energies throughout the Wandering Warrior Village, one by one.
It resembled insect antennae probing their environment.
'Learning this technique from Lee Rin was a wise decision.'
Seeking Light in the Darkness was an exceptionally useful martial art for detecting enemy presence.
Even in darkness, it could sense the faintest of energies, allowing one to locate hidden foes.
Thus, Jaseong and Lee Rin spent about two keong searching every corner within a hundred jang radius.
Regrettably, however—
"... Great hero, there are no particularly suspicious movements in the vicinity."
"I couldn't sense anything either."
"Let's move to a different location and try again."
The group headed for the northern part of Wandering Warrior Village this time.
There, homes had thinned out, and the atmosphere grew even more eerie.
"This place seems good."
Jaseong and Lee Rin again climbed atop an abandoned thatched roof, invoking Seeking Light in the Darkness once more.
But the result was the same.
There was no sign at all of any suspicious movement from Three Souls Hall.
Only the energy of drunken wanderers staggering around, or that of commoners sleeping deeply, was detected.
"Looks like Three Souls Hall won't be showing up tonight."
Lee Rin pouted as she spoke.
"... How disappointing. Let's just return."
With a low mutter, Jaseong led the party back toward Sword Guesthouse.
His face showed no emotion, but he couldn't hide his disappointment.
He had hoped to quickly finish the fifth Mandate of Heaven—'Eliminate Middle Evil'—and receive a new martial art from Heaven Evading Way.
Of course, he had not even mastered the Heaven Evading Flash Sword he'd received earlier, but getting a new technique would have made him even stronger, even faster.
But as Jaseong's group leapt from roof to roof, returning to the Sword Guesthouse amidst Wandering Warrior Village—
"Sob..."
Suddenly, a woman's weeping echoed from the darkness.
When the group turned toward the source of the sound, they spotted a middle-aged woman wandering the streets, hair disheveled.
"Sob... Miryeong... Where have you gone, my daughter..."
Anyone could tell it was the wailing of a mother whose child had been kidnapped by Three Souls Hall.
She was wandering the streets barefoot, bleeding and half out of her senses.
Seeing her state, Gu Janghu commented.
[Judging from the atmosphere, she hasn't just lost her child—it's been days already.]
Then Lee Rin spoke, her brows furrowed.
[... We can't just let those fiends of Three Souls Hall be.]
But the wailing did not come from just that middle-aged woman.
"Baekgang! Baekgang, where are you, my son?"
"Sob! This has to be the work of martial artists! Damn those wretched martial fiends!"
People who had lost their family members wandered the streets of Wandering Warrior Village in tears.
But this village was not home to martial wanderers alone.
Before the wanderers gathered here, native villagers had lived here for generations.
Those powerless folk, it seemed, had long suffered under roaming martial artists.
Listening to their sorrowful cries, Jaseong was suddenly reminded of his own past.
He, too, had once been an ordinary person, just like them.
But one day, martial artists appeared without warning in the Red Light District where he lived, and a massacre ensued.
He lost his eldest brother, his sister-in-law, and the nephew still in her womb.
It was in that burning fury, as if his mind were on fire, that he awakened the Samadhi Eyes and became an executor of Heaven's Mandate.
'... Is this why the Celestial Realm commands us to eliminate worldly evil?'
Dashing across the rooftops with the lamentation of the villagers in the background, a chill entered Jaseong's gaze.
Just as he had lost his brother and sister-in-law to the experts of the Righteous Faction and the Demonic Cult, these villagers lost their loved ones to martial artists.
Yet despair was not the only thing here.
Whissh! Whissh!
Amid the sobbing, the sound of a sword slicing through air echoed.
Jaseong looked toward the source and saw, in the meager confines of a ramshackle wooden fence, a young boy practicing swordsmanship.
The boy looked to be around ten at most.
He was drenched in sweat, struggling to wield a sword taller than himself.
Sitting behind him was a little sister, maybe six or seven, watching her oppa's sword practice with sparkling eyes.
Seeing this, Lee Rin said,
[His posture is atrocious, but he's certainly earnest. After so many kidnappings in the area, perhaps he's desperate to protect his little sister...]
Then Gu Janghu chimed in.
[Even if his form is a mess, that boy has a rudimentary dantian. Given this is Wandering Warrior Village, he must be a descendant of a family destroyed long ago.]
Jaseong, too, couldn't take his eyes off the boy.
Watching him brought to mind his own youth, wandering the streets as a junior guard.
'He may not have talent, but that look in his eyes—that's worth something.'
Jaseong fixed the boy's figure in his mind as he dashed on across the rooftops.
Yet surprisingly, the next morning, Jaseong would encounter the boy again.
* * *
The next morning.
Jaseong's party gathered for breakfast.
As they descended the creaking stairs to the first floor of Sword Guesthouse, the tavern was already bustling.
Wanderers were drinking heavily and making a ruckus, with errand boys weaving hurriedly between the tables, carrying trays.
"There are people drinking already in the morning. Impressive."
"They're wanderers after all."
Jaseong scanned the room.
The Scarlet Scythe Lady and Thousand Daggers Lecher, who had stirred up trouble yesterday, were nowhere to be seen.
Nor was the unusual old White-haired Blade Elder.
'... Where have they all gone?'
Just then, an unexpected sight drew Jaseong's attention.
A small boy, tiny for his age, hefted a tray piled with enough food for ten, serving plates with a dexterity that bordered on the miraculous.
The moment Jaseong saw the boy, his gaze sharpened.
'So that kid I saw yesterday was the errand boy for this guesthouse.'
Lee Rin recognized him too.
"Hm? Isn't that the child who was practicing swordsmanship alone last night?"
"Looks that way."
"Wow, but how does such a small child manage to carry so much food?"
What's more, the boy was bold for his age.
A moment later, the boy approached Jaseong's table to deliver their order.
Then, he spoke up confidently.
"You're new to Wandering Warrior Village, aren't you, great heroes?"
"?"
"If you're curious about anything here, I can fill you in."
Smiling cheekily, the errand boy whispered to Jaseong's group.
Seeing him, Lee Rin smiled softly.
She found the efforts of a ten-year-old working so hard to survive adorable and praiseworthy.
Jaseong, however, simply stared at the boy.
'That spark in his eye yesterday... He's young, but shrewd. He might be useful as an informant.'
In fact, Jaseong had already considered enlisting an errand boy from this very guesthouse.
When the Hao Sect went to a new town with no contacts, it was best to bribe an errand boy at the busiest inn to gather information.
So without hesitation, Jaseong fished a few pieces of silver out of his sleeve and pressed them into the boy's palm.
His eyes widened at the sight.
"Whoa! Th-this is silver...? What could you possibly need to know for that much...?"
"Nothing for now. But when I do, I'll come find you."
"... You're giving me that much with nothing to ask?"
"Want to give it back?"
"Th-thank you! May blessings fill your path, honored guests!"
He bowed ninety degrees in gratitude before scampering off.
"Sword training by night, errand boy by day... What a hardworking child,"
Lee Rin said with a smile.
Gu Janghu watched him as well, a strange look passing through his eyes.
At that moment, the innkeeper came over and, as if reading their curiosity, shared the boy's story.
"That lad's name is Cheon Woong. Lost his parents to disease at an early age, so now he lives with his eldest big sister, who's just past her teens, and a little sister about six or seven. His oldest sister recently fell ill. So the boy works tirelessly to feed his sisters."
"Poor child..."
A deep sympathy flickered in Lee Rin's eyes as she looked down at the sweet in her hand.
Jaseong regarded Cheon Woong too, his gaze growing heavy.
He knew what it was like to be young and working as a junior guard, when even a single coin could make your heart race.
—Big bro! Sister-in-law! The caravan leader gave us a fat bonus today!
Once again, memories from his childhood surfaced, not unlike the night before.
He'd lived hand-to-mouth as a junior guard, but there'd been small happinesses to smile about.
'... This Wandering Warrior Village sure makes me nostalgic.'
As Jaseong mused to himself, taking a bite of noodles—
* * *
Bang!
The door to the guesthouse burst open, and a gang of wanderers strode in.
Jaseong turned toward the entrance.
'There they are.'
Standing there were the group led by the Scarlet Scythe Lady and Thousand Daggers Lecher—those almost at odds with Jaseong's party yesterday.
Maybe because of White-haired Blade Elder's warning, they didn't react much even when they saw Jaseong's group.
They simply sat down and ordered food and drinks.
"Bring out several bottles of white liquor and twenty bowls of noodles."
But for some reason, as soon as they appeared, Cheon Woong hurried into the kitchen to hide.
As if a mouse had seen a cat.
Unfortunately, one of the wanderers noticed him with a sharp glint in his eye.
His lips curled salaciously.
"Thousand Daggers Lecher sir, there's Cheon Woong. Heh heh."
"Hey, Cheon Woong! When you see your elders, you should greet them, not run off like a wild colt!"
With no choice, Cheon Woong trudged forward, looking like a calf being led to slaughter.
Watching the boy, Thousand Daggers Lecher asked,
"Cheon Woong. Has your sister still not gotten well?"
He smiled with oily malice, his gaze glinting with lust, just as Hyang-I had described him—a notorious lecher.
"Do you know why your sister won't get better? It's because she lacks yang energy. You're too young to understand, but..."
"......"
"So have your sister stop being stubborn and bring her over to me at last. I heard she's barely surviving on thin gruel—how will she ever recover?"
"She doesn't eat gruel."
"What?"
"Yesterday she had meat porridge. With money I earned working here."
Cheon Woong muttered, head bowed and body trembling, but he refused to be cowed.
Thousand Daggers Lecher let out a crooked snicker at this.
"Boys, looks like Cheon Woong's doing well for himself. Which one of you said he was living off gruel?"
Though the man joked, his subordinates tensed.
"S-sorry! I'll make sure he's back to eating gruel in no time, sir!"
One of the wanderers shouted, and suddenly snatched at Cheon Woong's back pocket.
Swish!
The wanderer's golden-nailed hand deftly filched Cheon Woong's coin pouch.
A moment later, the money the boy had so desperately earned was in the brute's possession.
"P-please, give it back! My family will starve without it!"
Panicked, Cheon Woong pleaded, reaching out his hand.
But the wanderer just kicked him hard.
With a strangled gasp, Cheon Woong was thrown against the wall.
"Now you'll be eating thin gruel again, huh, Cheon Woong?"
"Grrrk..."
"Go tell your sister: stop making her little brother suffer, and just come to me already. At your age, shouldn't you be out playing? Not working as an errand boy—don't you pity your sister?"
"Please, give it back...!"
"How dare you glare at Thousand Daggers Lecher?"
Smack!
A thick hand slapped Cheon Woong's face, sending his frail body flying like a ragdoll.
Blood welled on his flushed cheek.
But, amazingly, Cheon Woong gritted his teeth and stood up again.
His eyes burning with rage, he lunged at the wanderer to snatch his money back.
"Give it back, you wretched scum!"
"What...? Wretched scum? This brat's crazy!"
Of course, the boy's struggle was in vain.
No matter how he fought, he couldn't even land a punch on the thug.
He only received more blows and ridicule.
'Those damned bastards...!'
The innkeeper couldn't bear to watch and looked away.
With the White-haired Blade Elder gone, there was no one left to stop Thousand Daggers Lecher.
But at that moment—
Swish!
A wine cup, packed with internal power, flew at the thug.
It struck him squarely on the temple.
"Kghak?!"
The wanderer who'd struck Cheon Woong screamed and collapsed.
It was a method similar to what White-haired Blade Elder had demonstrated yesterday.
Except, this time, the wanderer's cheekbone was nearly crushed to powder.
Such terrifying internal power had been packed into that cup.
Thousand Daggers Lecher squinted, glancing at the direction from which the cup had come.
'That guy...?'
There stood Jaseong, his eyes cold as memory of the previous night flashed through them.
He remembered the suffering of people caused by the greed of martial artists.
The way their tears had reminded him of his own powerless past.
And in that moment, he fully understood why the Celestial Realm's mandate to him was to 'eliminate the evil in the world'.
As the Celestial Realm was disturbed by the greed of the martial world, so too on earth, and so he must sweep away that sickening greed.
"If Three Souls Hall is the Middle Evil, you lot are no more than Little Evil."
Jaseong muttered darkly.
And instantly, a heavy murderous aura filled the tavern.
Sensing it, Thousand Daggers Lecher and Scarlet Scythe Lady quickly drew their weapons.
"... So you're going to break the rules of the Sword Guesthouse?"
"I backed off yesterday because of the White-haired Blade Elder—now you've had it."
At their gesture, thirty of their followers rose as one.
Their eyes burned with savagery, hands all going to their weapons.
But Jaseong didn't even blink.
Shiiiing—
His sword—the last gift from his late brother and sister-in-law—slid coldly from its scabbard.
Taking up the starting posture for the Heaven Evading Way's fifth art, the Heaven Evading Flash Sword, he declared icily,
"Today, you will beg for your lives—until you're begging for death instead."