Chapter 71. Bad Friend (2)

Chengdu, Sichuan.

The central hub of Sichuan, and the city where the most people gathered to live.

In a corner of that Chengdu, there was a massive manor surrounded by high walls and a large gate.

The Jang Clan. The Sichuan Sword Clan. Or the clan called Sichuan's Number One Sword Clan.

The family that boasted the greatest power in Sichuan.

In a corner of that manor, there was a young man fanning a flame to decoct medicinal herbs.

The young man's name was Jang Sopyeong.

A young man with the surname Jang, living in the Jang Clan.

He was the youngest son of Jang Muryong, the current head of the Sichuan Sword Clan and the man called the greatest in Sichuan.

At least, that was how it was on the family register.

“Young Master. Where should I put these?”

Servants of the Sichuan Sword Clan, who had approached carrying a large load of bundles, posed a question to Jang Sopyeong.

What they had brought were medicinal herbs.

“If you put them down in that warehouse over there, I will organize them.”

“Understood, Young Master.”

The servants who put down the bundles according to Jang Sopyeong's instructions left, sharing whispers.

“You’re quite mischievous. What kind of Young Master is he?”

“Tsk. No matter how much of a bastard son he is, he must have some pride. We should at least call him Young Master to his face.”

They were whispers that were clearly audible.

The words ‘bastard son’ dug into his ears and embedded themselves in his heart, but Jang Sopyeong only flinched once before focusing on fanning again.

He had to pretend he hadn't heard.

If he stepped up to question it, he would be the one to suffer in the end.

He was the illegitimate son of the Jang Clan.

His mother, who was also his master of medicine, was an orphan.

However, she hadn't been an orphan from birth.

As he watched the flames in the brazier flicker with his fanning, a memory from the past suddenly surfaced.

The face of his mother, telling him of past events like a grandmother telling an old tale.

- Sopyeong. Your maternal grandfather was a very skilled physician. And it wasn't just your grandfather. My mother, your maternal grandmother, was also a physician who possessed both excellent character and skill.

However, that outstanding medical skill brought disaster.

- One day, your grandfather found a person wandering on the verge of death. He saved that patient by feeding him an elixir made with the secret alchemy passed down in our family. And a few days later, that man, having recovered his body, came to visit with his subordinates.

They had come seeking to obtain the elixir that Jang Sopyeong's maternal grandparents had given.

To subjugate them with force, lock them up, and work them like slaves.

- Your grandparents let me escape and then took their own lives. They said that if they made elixirs for such atrocious people, something terrible would surely happen.

As his mother said so, her face was filled with longing and pride for her parents.

After that, she wandered the Jianghu for a long time, pursued by those men. Thanks to her outstanding medical skills, Jang Sopyeong's mother was able to stay as a guest at the Sichuan Sword Clan.

- If the Sichuan Sword Clan hadn't protected me, I probably would have been caught by those men and suffered a terrible fate.

His mother formed a bond with the one who was the young master at the time and gave birth to Jang Sopyeong.

However, since the young master already had a wife, Jang Sopyeong's mother had no choice but to live as a concubine.

Was it because the acrid smoke had entered his eyes?

Tears formed in the eyes of Jang Sopyeong as he recalled his departed mother.

Noticing that the herbs had been sufficiently decocted, Jang Sopyeong quickly removed them from the brazier and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

Black ash smeared on his face, as if something had gotten on his hands while decocting the herbs.

Just then, someone's voice came from behind.

“What a sight, a grown man blubbering. And you call yourself a member of the Jang Clan.”

Jang Sopyeong flinched like a startled cat.

A familiar voice.

His shoulders hunched without him realizing it. An experience accumulated over a short life. An ingrained fear.

Jang Sopyeong carefully rose to his feet and turned around.

His half-brothers were there.

“Brother. How is that bastard a member of our clan? He's the son of a dirty concubine bitch, isn't he?”

“Hahahaha. That's why I said a member of the clan, isn't it? When did I ever say he was our brother?”

“Ah!”

They mocked him amongst themselves.

Jang Sopyeong's fists began to tremble.

“Hoh. Look at this one? How dare an illegitimate son act like he's about to swing his fist at the young master.”

They surrounded Jang Sopyeong and began to assault him one-sidedly.

Jang Sopyeong couldn't even think of resisting. If he resisted, only greater violence would await.

“Tsk. For a member of the Sichuan Sword Clan to have so little spirit.”

“It seems he's cowardly because his dirty blood is mixed in. Hahaha.”

He could only endure their humiliating remarks.

If he resisted, they attacked him with the excuse that he was resisting, and if he didn't resist, they tormented him for having no spirit.

They were simply using him as an outlet for their anger.

When they made a mistake during training or in their daily lives and were severely scolded by the clan head, they would flock together like this to torment him.

Funnily enough, Jang Sopyeong was envious of even that. The fact that they could be scolded by the clan head when they made a mistake.

After venting their anger, the half-brothers departed.

Jang Sopyeong lifted his aching body and dusted off his dirt-covered clothes.

He walked towards the warehouse as if nothing had happened.

To organize the medicinal herbs the servants had left behind.

Around the time he had finished organizing all the herbs by himself over the course of half a shichen.

A visitor arrived.

“Hulhulhul. You seem busy, youngest Young Master.”

The voice of an old man.

“Ah. Elder Oh, you’ve come? I just finished my work.”

Jang Sopyeong greeted the old man with a faint smile.

“Where have you been this time?”

“Hulhulhul. I had some business. Oof. Being old, my whole body aches every time I go out for work.”

Jang Sopyeong chuckled at the old man's words as he patted his own back.

“The man called Sichuan's First Kill says he's gotten old. Others would be greatly surprised if they heard.”

Sichuan's First Kill, Jang Ik.

A master who had risen to the position of elder in the Jang Clan, the number one clan in Sichuan.

Befitting his moniker, he was a swordsman and an assassin who had killed countless people.

The sword that executed those who opposed the Sichuan Sword Clan.

Thus, some people called him by the moniker, the Dog of the Jang Clan. All those who were caught calling him that lost their lives.

Thanks to those grim rumors, people greatly feared Jang Ik, but Jang Sopyeong was not one of them.

Because in this hell-like Jang Clan, he was the only one who treated him like a human.

“If you are uncomfortable anywhere, I can administer acupuncture for you.”

“Keulkeulkeul. With the youngest Young Master's skills, it seems I'll be all better in just one day.”

After entering the room together, Jang Sopyeong began to place needles all over Jang Ik's body.

While he was in the middle of placing the needles, Jang Ik's voice, somehow more serious than usual, was heard.

“Youngest Young Master. Even if it’s hard, please endure it for just a little longer.”

At the sudden words, Jang Sopyeong's hand paused for a moment.

“It is only because the young masters are still immature. If the youngest Young Master continues to strive as you are now, a day will surely come when you are recognized. It was the same for this old man.”

Jang Ik. Although he also used the surname Jang, he was from a collateral branch.

Tears welled up in Jang Sopyeong's eyes before he knew it.

It wasn't that he was comforted by Jang Ik's words. It was just that listening to his words reminded him of his mother's last wish.

Was she frail from birth? Or was her body damaged while being chased by those wicked enemies?

After giving birth to Jang Sopyeong, his mother's health was so poor that she lived with a cough every day.

Even so, she diligently decocted medicinal herbs to be used in the Sichuan Sword Clan every day and taught Jang Sopyeong.

- Mother. I'll do it today. Please go inside and rest.

- I am fine. So listen carefully. When you decoct this herb…

Perhaps she had known that she did not have much time left.

Because every single day, she was by Jang Sopyeong's side, doing everything in her power to pass on the medical skills she had learned.

And a few years ago.

After passing on all her medical knowledge to Jang Sopyeong, his mother, whose energy was depleted and who spent her days in bed, left him with these words.

- Haa. Somehow, somehow, you must endure here. If you leave Chengdu, those men will surely come to kill you. Cough. So, somehow, somehow, you must endure here.

Even then, the young Jang Sopyeong, who had been subjected to all sorts of contempt for being an illegitimate son, naturally shook his head in fear.

Then, his mother added these words.

- Don’t worry, Sopyeong. It may be difficult now, but your father told me. He said he is watching for now because he lacks justification, but if you just get your skills recognized, he will accept you as a member of the family, not as a bastard son.

His mother, who said so, fumbled around the bedside with her gaunt, trembling hands, then took out several books and handed them to him.

They were the secret martial arts manuals of the Jang Clan.

- These are the manuals your father gave me.

Jang Sopyeong, who recalled the memory of that day, wiped away his tears again and forced a smile.

“I am fine, Elder.”

Saying so, Jang Sopyeong once again placed a needle into Jang Ik's body.

And that night.

Jang Sopyeong secretly slipped out of the clan grounds.

It wasn't an attempt to run away from the clan.

A sword hung at his side.

Arriving at a river on the outskirts of Chengdu, he drew the sword and began to perform a sword dance.

The manuals his mother had given him.

Every night, he practiced the sword like this, recalling his mother's last wish.

To one day catch up to his half-brothers and be recognized by his father.

And so, Jang Sopyeong's years flowed by.

During the day, he managed medicinal herbs or administered acupuncture to the people of the Sichuan Sword Clan who came to him.

Then, he would occasionally be insulted or assaulted by his half-brothers who came to vent their anger.

One day, while he was spending his nights secretly slipping out of the clan to practice the sword at the river.

Thud. Thud.

With the sound of presence, a young man came to the river.

Jang Sopyeong, who sensed the presence belatedly, sheathed his sword and turned his head to look at the young man.

Then, the young man performed a clasped fist greeting towards Jang Sopyeong and offered a greeting.

“I am a person who uses the surname Jin and the name Yuseong. I am sorry for interrupting your training.”

Jang Sopyeong also returned the clasped fist greeting and observed the young man.

“I, I am Sopyeong of the Jang Clan.”

He was a young man who looked to be of the same age or a year or two younger.

Just as Jang Sopyeong was observing the young man, Jin Yuseong was also observing Jang Sopyeong.

Jin Yuseong got a strange feeling.

Jang Sopyeong.

It was indeed the name of the Poison Immortal that Jin Yuseong knew.

His appearance was similar, but it felt bizarre.

The face of that eccentric and self-centered Poison Immortal, filled with the emotion of distrust.

The face of this young man, who hesitated and looked around timidly even to utter a single word.

Their faces were similar, yet they were not alike at all.

While Jin Yuseong was recalling the Poison Immortal's appearance.

Jang Sopyeong, who was hesitating and looking around, was the first to speak.

“D-do you have business at the river?”

Jin Yuseong shook his head.

“I came looking for you.”

“F-for me?”

Jang Sopyeong was startled and whipped his head around, surveying the surroundings. Then he asked carefully.

“B-by any chance, has a r-rumor spread in C-Chengdu that I’m t-training here?”

“I came at the request of an acquaintance.”

Jin Yuseong. The reason he came looking for the man who would become the Poison Immortal in the future wasn't simply because he needed a countermeasure against assassins.

Rather, it was because of a request—no, a lament—from the Poison Immortal, who had been a bad friend in his past life.

Thanks to the Poison Immortal's lament, Jin Yuseong also knew the rough details of his past.

In other words, Jin Yuseong had come to repay the grace he had received from the Poison Immortal.

Slap!!

As the first step to repaying that grace, he first slapped Jang Sopyeong across the cheek.

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