Cheon Su-rin went out to the marketplace to buy food for meals.
“Good day.”
“Welcome...... Oh, isn't it the Young Master?”
The shopkeeper's face brightened as he recognized Cheon Su-rin.
It was Hwang Byeong-su, the shopkeeper who had received his help not long ago.
“How are you feeling?”
“I'm fine. I took some medicine and slept it off, and I was right as rain the very next day. I guess if there's one thing I've got, it's a body that can take a beating.”
Seeing him laugh heartily, he truly did seem to be all right.
Cheon Su-rin smiled faintly and looked toward the back of the shop.
The interior, which had been wrecked into a complete mess, had returned to its proper state.
“Thankfully, you've reopened for business.”
“I have to. Grumbling won't change anything. Did you come because you were worried, by any chance?”
“That too, and I came to buy some pork.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Hwang Byeong-su went inside and brought down his cleaver.
As the cleaver came down from his thick forearm, a hefty slab of meat was cut in a single stroke.
‘If he'd set his mind to it, he could've butchered those Black Tiger Gang guys too.’
While he was thinking that, Hwang Byeong-su brought over the meat he had cut.
“Slaughtered just today. It's very fresh.”
“It looks delicious. How much is it?”
“Just take it. I won't accept payment.”
“Again?”
“You're my benefactor, Young Master. Every time you come, I'll just give you the meat.”
Did that mean he could feed the children meat every day?
He was tempted for a moment, but Cheon Su-rin shook his head.
“You gave it to me for free last time too. I can't shamelessly accept it for free every time.”
“Then please accept it just for today.”
“But.......”
“Actually, I'm in a pretty good mood today. If I had my way, I'd even throw a feast.”
“Has something good happened?”
“It sure has.”
Hwang Byeong-su was about to say something but glanced around a little.
As if he were about to share a secret, he moved closer to Cheon Su-rin.
“Have you by any chance heard the news?”
“What news?”
“Well, you see. They say the Black Tiger Gang has been disbanded, can you believe it?”
“Disbanded, you mean.......”
“Just what it sounds like, it's finished. It's something I only heard through rumors, though.......”
Hwang Byeong-su trailed off and glanced around again.
Now he even covered his mouth with his hand and whispered secretively in an even smaller voice.
“A merchant visited the Black Tiger Gang on some business, but no matter how much he called, there was no answer from inside.”
“.......”
“Finding it strange, he finally went in alone, and...... My word!”
The way he even added exclamations made him look somewhat like a storyteller.
He seemed to expect some reaction, but when Cheon Su-rin kept a dry expression, Hwang Byeong-su cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem— Wouldn't you know, they were all dead?”
“.......”
“Every last one of the gang members, the Boss included! There's a tall pavilion there called the Black Tiger Pavilion, and they say corpses were piled up in heaps on the top floor.”
“That's surprising.”
Contrary to his words, Cheon Su-rin was not surprised at all.
It was only natural. The one who had created that scene was none other than himself.
From Cheon Su-rin's standpoint, Hwang Byeong-su was only telling him old news.
“And that's not all. Didn't those Black Tiger Gang bastards recently threaten the shopkeepers and take their land? They say all the deeds they took back then were returned to their owners last night as well.”
Of course, the one who had done that was also Cheon Su-rin.
But he kept feigning ignorance as if it had nothing to do with him.
“That's a relief. Now you can keep doing business here.”
“It really is a relief. I almost had my shop taken too...... Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.”
“Do you know who did that to the Black Tiger Gang, by any chance?”
“Well. According to the rumors, some say a master of the orthodox sects from out of town delivered punishment, and I also hear talk of the dark path gangs waging a turf war among themselves.”
Fortunately, it seemed the arrow of suspicion was not pointing at Cheon Su-rin.
‘That's a relief.’
He did not particularly want that incident known to the outside world.
It made no sense by common sense that the son of a mere academy had wiped out an entire sect by himself.
What's more, the Black Tiger Gang had wielded considerable power in the area, so if it became known, everyone would surely suspect Cheon Su-rin's true identity.
The fact that he was the Heavenly Slaughter Star had to be hidden no matter what.
In the world, the Heavenly Slaughter Star was called the root of all evil and regarded as a being that must be eliminated.
In particular, since the worst precedent of all, the ‘Heavenly Slaughter Calamity,’ had come so recently, the orthodox sects would surely try to kill him early.
“Whoever it is, they're truly a grateful righteous soul. They brought down heaven's punishment on those vicious bastards.”
“.......”
“Still, I suspect that righteous soul might be from Clear Mirror Town.”
At those words, Cheon Su-rin's eyes widened slightly.
“Why do you think so?”
“Because all the deeds the Black Tiger Gang stole were left in front of their owners' houses. And in a single night, no less.”
“Why does that......?”
“There wasn't just one or two deeds. Placing that many at exactly the right houses in a single night means they already knew where everyone lived, doesn't it? That's hard to know unless you're a resident of Clear Mirror Town.”
He had never imagined that part would catch someone's attention.
At the time, his only thought had been to return the deeds as quickly as possible.
Hearing it now, he felt he had not been careful enough.
Then Hwang Byeong-su narrowed his eyes and looked at Cheon Su-rin suspiciously.
“Don't tell me you're the one who wiped out the Black Tiger Gang, Young Master?”
“......Me?”
“I'm joking. Even so, that'd be too much for you alone, Young Master.”
Was he really joking?
He was an unexpectedly sharp man.
Cheon Su-rin just laughed awkwardly.
“Hey, you there!”
Just then, a commotion rang out from somewhere.
When he turned his head, there stood men whose attire made it clear at a glance that they belonged to the dark path.
“Those guys are.......”
“They look like the Azure River Society bunch.”
“There was a place like that?”
“They're nothing compared to the Black Tiger Gang, so you probably wouldn't have heard of them. They're the guys who squeeze money out of the shopkeepers under the name of protection fees.”
They certainly looked weaker than the Black Tiger Gang.
So-ho had at least been about second-rate, but these men did not seem to reach even third-rate.
“They hadn't been seen at all lately because the Black Tiger Gang was active, but it seems they came to grab whatever they could as soon as they heard the rumor that it was finished.”
“.......”
“With the tiger gone, the wolf packs come flocking.”
Originally, various dark path forces existed in Clear Mirror Town.
It was just that ever since the Black Tiger Gang had moved in recently, the others had been living quietly, holding their breath.
The world of the dark path was no different from the wild.
When the powerful occupied an area rich with prey, those below them were pushed out to the fringes.
The area around Clear Mirror Lake was the richest hunting ground in the ecosystem called Clear Mirror Town.
It had originally been occupied by the Black Tiger Gang, but now it was as good as land without a master.
Naturally, how could the dark path forces leave such a place alone?
The rumor could not have been circulating for long, yet those who had already caught the scent seemed to be getting to work.
“Still, they're gentlemen compared to the Black Tiger Gang. They take less money and don't run riot as badly.”
“Have you gotten used to it?”
“That's how the murim is these days. If you want to get by, you have no choice but to live by it, do you?”
Hwang Byeong-su smiled sorrowfully.
Those words laid bare how the merchants of Clear Mirror Town had lived until now.
‘It's the world I made.’
To be precise, it was the world his past self had made.
Jeok Geon-ho had probably not intended it, but as a result, the murim had become a place where the dark path ran rampant.
Cheon Su-rin felt responsible for that, too.
He now thought of his past life as a part of himself as well.
Since he had brought down the Black Tiger Gang with Jeok Geon-ho's martial arts, it was only right that he shoulder that man's guilt along with it.
“Young Master?”
“I'll be back in a moment.”
Hwang Byeong-su realized that Cheon Su-rin was about to step into the dark path's business again.
“There's no need to go that far. You just slip them a few coins and it's over.”
He said it out of concern for Cheon Su-rin.
Of course, his chivalry deserved praise, but if he meddled in the dark path's business at every turn like this, Cheon Su-rin could be in danger.
If he were marked by several dark path groups, Cheon Su-rin would not escape unharmed either.
The Azure River Society was the sort that would leave if given a reasonable sum of money, so there was no need for Cheon Su-rin to step in.
“Even a road of ten thousand li will take you to your destination someday if you walk it one step at a time.”
“......?”
“I don't have the power to change the murim right now, but if I change what's in front of me one thing at a time, won't the murim return to how it was someday?”
Hwang Byeong-su stared at him blankly.
Cheon Su-rin gave a bright smile, then walked off with a serious expression.
“One tael of silver a month is a big discount. Didn't those Black Tiger Gang guys take more than double that?”
“Th-that's right.”
“Don't worry. From today on, our Azure River Society will protect this shop again.”
The Chairman of the Azure River Society, Ha Mok-ryeong, smiled as he tucked the silver into his robe.
Just as he was about to move on to his next target, his eyes met those of Cheon Su-rin, who was watching him, and he stopped.
“What are you?”
“.......”
“You don't look like a merchant. Do you want to join the Azure River Society, by any chance?”
Ha Mok-ryeong asked, glancing at the sword at his waist.
Instead of answering, Cheon Su-rin gripped his sword.
“That money. Give it back to its owner.”
“......?”
“Even three days of business can barely earn one tael of silver. Do you feel no guilt at all after taking money like that?”
Ha Mok-ryeong let out a scoffing laugh.
“Taking? This is a protection fee.”
“Who's protecting whom?”
“This shop is now protected under the name of the Azure River Society. So others can't treat it carelessly.”
“You're saying the dark path is protecting a shop from the dark path?”
“Something like that. It's a kind of business, too.”
It sounded plausible, but Cheon Su-rin knew it was a hollow pretext.
“Then why did you do nothing when the Black Tiger Gang was running wild?”
“What.......”
“You couldn't protect that shop from the Black Tiger Gang, so by your own logic, shouldn't you be the one paying the owner back?”
When the Black Tiger Gang had run riot, the Azure River Society had not stepped forward.
They had taken protection fees and still failed to fulfill their responsibility.
At Cheon Su-rin's words, Ha Mok-ryeong could not refute him and only ground his teeth with a twisted face.
His face flushed red, he shouted.
“Shut that brat's trap!”
His subordinates raised their weapons all at once.
Just as Cheon Su-rin was about to draw his sword as well, he noticed something and stopped.
From behind, a man was swiftly closing in on the dark path thugs.
At the same time, the bamboo pole he held struck the hands of the armed thugs with precision.
“Kh—!”
At the heavy impact, the thugs grimaced and dropped their weapons.
“Who the hell are you?!”
At the sudden, uninvited guest, Ha Mok-ryeong tried to draw his sword as well.
But the bamboo pole was faster, jabbing deep into his stomach.
Ha Mok-ryeong caught his breath and stumbled backward.
“I finally come back to Clear Mirror Town after a long while, and there are flies buzzing around the market first thing in the morning.”
The man, who looked rather shabby, rested the bamboo pole on his shoulder as he spoke.
He looked to be middle-aged, with a scruffy beard, and a bundle hung from the bamboo pole.
Cheon Su-rin's eyes widened slightly when he spotted him.
“Father.”
When he called out to the man as if glad, a playful smile spread across the man's lips as well.
“I'm back, son.”
The Principal of the Heavenly Way Martial Arts Academy, Cheon Hyeong-do, had returned.