The Hwangbo Clan’s Beloved Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 111
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 111
It wasn’t as if Xie Baowei had been thinking from before about ‘establishing a massive alliance that would unite all of Shandong.’
He had simply come and gone here and there, and only then realized that the power of a region united as one was greater than he had thought.
For example, didn’t the Southern Dragon Alliance prevent them from even entering Qiulong Town in Qichun, Hubei Province, which wasn’t even in Anhui?
They had even mediated using the Wulin Alliance’s power without using their own strength.
Sichuan was the same – the Dang Family kept track of outsiders just walking the roads, and it was even possible for people to gather and secretly create an entire village.
What about Anhui? Looking at how Gangho was currently operating, it was clear enough.
Moreover, something he learned this time – he heard that Hui merchants (merchants from Jiangnan) openly came into Shandong to sell goods. Even when disputes occasionally arose, if they waved the flag of Jiangnan Yilian, no one dared intimidate them with force.
Sometimes their behavior was so arrogant that Bieliang Dazhu had to step in to get concessions, but even then they would receive visits from the Namgung or visits from the Southern Alliance.
Conversely, Shandong merchants couldn’t go down south.
Rather, when Hui merchants came up, they would routinely hand over goods to them at cheap prices.
Similarly, in Shanxi or Shaanxi there was Guanzhong Yilin, and in Henan there was the Wulin Alliance, making it difficult to extend their reach.
If they tried to go to Hebei, that was Imperial Court territory, so the exploitation was even worse.
It was only because Shandong was abundant in natural resources that things remained quiet – if conditions had been just a bit harsher, anything could have happened.
This person, Yan Wugang, would know this well.
“Who are you?”
“I am Xie Baowei from the Huangbo Family.”
“I am Seolmujin from the Taishan Sect.”
“…Ak Munheon.”
Yan Wugang scratched his head.
His eyes briefly turned toward Ak Munheon but he just shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t really know people’s names and such. Not interested either. What did you come to sell?”
“We came to buy.”
“What?”
“You.”
Huh. Really. What nonsensical people.
Yan Wugang scratched his head vigorously again.
Seeing that the sun had risen, it was broad daylight, and the smell of alcohol was only coming from him, yet the words being spoken were nonsense.
“Looking at the kids’ condition, you seem like small fry, so I have no intention of wasting energy. Go away.”
Yawn.
Yan Wugang yawned loudly and swayed.
Waking up in such bright daylight after so long, the light was so dazzling he couldn’t stand it.
I should sleep some more, Yan Wugang thought as he turned around.
“We are people who wish to form the Taesan Mangui, a gathering of Shandong. We came to invite you, great hero, to the council.”
Seolmujin glanced at Xie Baowei briefly before speaking to Yan Wugang.
Yan Wugang stopped turning and scratched his belly.
“Taesan Mangui? Shandong gathering? …Well, the intention is good, but I have no interest in joining. Go back.”
“Please help us. It’s about Shandong people protecting Shandong people.”
“Haha. Those Shandong people protecting Shandong people?”
At those words, Yan Wugang chuckled and nodded his head.
“Well now, that’s an interesting thing to say. I’ll pray for your success. My goodness.”
Then he waved his hand dismissively and turned around again.
“Great hero! Please lend your strength to this righteous cause!”
“I’m a person busy enough just taking care of myself.”
His footsteps quickly grew distant.
He seemed to have no interest or lingering attachment whatsoever.
Seolmujin bit his lip and looked back at Xie Baowei.
Xie Baowei shrugged and pursed his lips.
When Seolmujin shook his head as if his pride was hurt by that expression, Xie Baowei chuckled and stepped forward.
“Don’t you need money?”
The person was already gone and only an empty road remained.
The guard who had brought Yan Wugang was already sitting by the roadside picking his nose and spinning around, but at Xie Baowei’s words, he suddenly stiffened.
“Don’t you need quite a lot of it?”
“Ahem.”
A coughing sound drifted out from behind the rock.
Xie Baowei looked at Seolmujin and raised his eyebrows a couple of times.
How about that? I was right, wasn’t I? was what it meant.
Seolmujin quietly turned his head.
Xie Baowei added one more comment.
“Didn’t we say we came to buy? I understand it’s quite an expensive price.”
Soon Yan Wugang came out again.
“Well, honored guests have arrived. What are you doing, kids? Hurry up and get some alcohol and side dishes.”
He smiled broadly.
It was a kind expression.
***
Shandong Province’s Jiaozhou was located facing the sea at the eastern edge of the Central Plains.
Since ancient times, there were nearby foreign countries to trade with and abundant local resources, so there was much mutual exchange, but under the current empire, going out to sea was strictly forbidden, which actually led to flourishing smuggling.
Where the needle goes, thread follows, and sparrows cannot pass by a mill.
Naturally, pirates swarmed.
The Jiaozhou Pahosam Gate was misunderstood as a sect created by pirates due to their rough martial arts and straightforward nature, but in reality it was the opposite – they began as people who gathered to stop pirates.
Originally there were three, but over a long period, two became one.
One remained at sea.
That was the Sea Dog Camp.
“How is it? The scenery is nice, isn’t it?”
“What are you looking at that’s so good?”
“If you look deeply, there are things to be seen. That’s the sea.”
“…Won’t the boat capsize?”
“That would be good. It would sober us up too.”
Xie Baowei and his party set out by boat along the Yeonmuggang.
Even after downing several bottles of the strong liquor that sailors drink, Yan Wugang became increasingly more spirited.
The guards under his command were the same.
Calling themselves sea dogs, or seal pups, and laughing, they were rough but quite cheerful people.
Sometimes some of them became water dog pups, and such people would get beaten unconscious by their laughing comrades’ collective beating, then wake up and drink liquor again as if nothing happened.
“…I think my stomach will turn first.”
Seolmujin was weak with alcohol, perhaps because he came from a Taoist background.
After boldly following along with several drinks and falling fast asleep, he woke up and was loaded onto the boat with a dazed face when night fell.
Ak Munheon did not drink alcohol.
No matter how much the seals insisted, he glared sharply and only ate the side dishes.
The side dish of shark meat pickled in seawater was quite salty for Xie Baowei to eat, but it seemed to suit Ak Munheon’s taste well.
Xie Baowei drank all that liquor.
He wasn’t originally weak with alcohol, but after obtaining that strange incantation from the north, he would get drunk but never lose consciousness.
When he told this story to Brother Yeon-gung before, he said, “You’ll end up in a ravine like that. Drink in moderation.”
“What are you looking at?”
Three boats drifted slowly.
In the deep night, the moon’s halo concealed the flowing boats in darkness.
Standing at the bow, Yan Wugang placed one foot up on the prow, crossed his arms, and stood gazing into the darkness.
“Darkness.”
“….”
It was certainly dark.
Especially on a night like this when even the moon was hidden, front and back couldn’t be distinguished.
Even for those with keen eyesight, waterways were different.
Those on the boat chattered and steered through this darkness, but Xie Baowei and his companions had no way of knowing where they were going except for the sound of water hitting the bow.
Occasionally, even in that darkness, they would pass by small islands like giant shadows.
It was truly dense darkness.
“…Is he always like that?”
“Well… he tends to be like that before carrying out important business.”
They couldn’t even discuss work matters much.
While Xie Baowei picked at various things, Yan Wugang just drank.
Since they had to take this man along anyway, Xie Baowei simply followed.
“Soon.”
Yan Wugang spoke.
Hearing those words and looking around, the Sea Dog Camp guards who had been chattering in small voices were now silently crouched, glaring only at the darkness.
There were about thirty men.
They had gathered in small groups when night fell, and their skill levels varied.
“…Isn’t it time you told us something?”
Seolmujin quietly asked while holding his large sword in his arms.
Shh.
A sea dog right next to him immediately put his hand to his lips.
Seolmujin flinched and closed his mouth.
Everyone had such stern faces that you’d wonder if they were the same people who had been laughing and chattering just moments before.
It seemed this was no ordinary matter.
Thud.
The boat touched something.
Even someone who knew nothing about the sea could tell this was quite a large island.
Looking back, though it was hidden by several islands, the lights of the coastal military camp flickered in the distance.
It felt like they had come quite far, yet it didn’t seem that distant.
Coming to the sea, everything was unfamiliar.
“Captain.”
The party waited silently.
Even after reaching their destination, the party did not disembark from the boat.
Though no one explained, the tension in the air was taut.
Soon, several shadows came rolling down the steep back side of the island.
At first, because of their size, he thought orangutans had come down.
Though he had never seen one.
“The scouts are.”
“All eliminated.”
Those who came down were guards with their bodies painted black.
From their speech, they seemed to be sea dogs who had been sent to infiltrate in advance.
When they joined as well, the boat slowly circled the island again.
Soon, they reached land.
“Disembark.”
Following Yan Wugang’s words, the three people got off.
When it came to stepping into the black sea, they couldn’t easily drop down.
Still, when they stretched out their feet, the cold seawater instantly soaked their trouser hems completely.
Though winter had ended and spring was coming, there was still a chill in the air at such dawn hours.
Still, before long their feet touched the bottom. Even in the cold, it was reassuring.
“…What are you doing?”
Only three had disembarked.
Seolmujin asked in surprise, but Yan Wugang silently gestured toward the back.
The two boats that had been following left one empty boat behind and divided among the remaining two boats.
“Do you trust me?”
“I want to trust you.”
Xie Baowei answered firmly.
At that answer, Yan Wugang chuckled.
How much. What.
My name? My reputation?
However, there is no falsehood in what I have said.
He has simply lived for the preservation of his own body.
There is no grand cause.
“What do you mean you trust?”
“Your life.”
“I am merely a blood-crazed demon, a vengeful ghost mad for revenge.”
“That blood is the enemy’s blood, and that revenge was the resentment of all the people of Jiaozhu.”
Yan Wugang. And Haekulyeong.
That name, which was the main branch of Pahosam Gate and has now become a branch, is the light and hope of the people of Jiaozhu.
Wrong.
“I desire neither silk blankets nor golden wine and delicacies.”
“What I promise is not such things.”
“Then what is it?”
“Food, clothing, weapons, and people to sustain this life of yours.”
Rather than light, it is darkness; rather than hope, it is despair.
The pirates rampaging in Shandong cannot be stopped with just thirty or so men.
Therefore, they, Haekulyeong.
Live for revenge.
Yan Wugang chuckled.
“I like it.”
And then he began to depart with his subordinates.
“Kill everyone who comes to this place.”
Leave none behind. Well then, think it over.
Leaving only those words, he disappeared.
Only one empty boat remained forlornly beside them.
The three men stood there blankly watching them leave, then as the cold air struck, they crossed the sea and climbed onto land.
Seolmujin bit his lips and spoke.
“Senior Xie, Senior Ak. Something seems suspicious. I’ve heard rumors that the Haekulyeong guards are the biggest players in the gambling houses throughout Jiaozhu… With talk going around that they’ve colluded with pirates, perhaps we trusted them too much…”
He spoke as if he was troubled.
There had been all sorts of talk on the way here.
Xie Baowei patted his shoulder gently, tap, tap.
Seolmujin closed his mouth tightly and just fidgeted with his sword.
They had been standing like that for a while, listening only to the sound of water lapping in the darkness, when.
Screech!
An ear-splitting sound was heard, and the lights beyond the hill at the island’s entrance began to flicker.
Soon, sounds like “Over there. Chase them” began to be heard nearby.
And shortly after.
Several members of Haekulyeong who had just left began running over the hill that Xie Baowei was watching, carrying large box-like objects on their backs. Some had two or three arrows stuck in their arms or shoulders.
Their number was easily over ten, but several more collapsed with thuds while running.
So it was impossible to know how many were injured.
“…Let’s help.”
Xie Baowei, Ak Munheon, and Seolmujin hardened their faces and ran up the hill.
Since the distance was short, they could quickly send several of the running Haekulyeong members to the back and deflect the flying arrows.
With Yan Wugang’s words in mind, the three men gripped their respective weapons tightly and ran forward.
Then they stopped abruptly.
It was upon seeing the clothes of the enemies who came over the hill with torchlight.
“…That. …Senior Xie.”
Seolmujin looked back at Xie Baowei in confusion.
Xie Baowei nodded to confirm.
Uh. Yes, that’s right.
“Imperial troops.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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