Chapter 43. When Evil Thoughts Meet a Waiter

I didn’t need to nag at Chae Sung-tae, who had been beaten ten times by Samabi. After all, Samabi was the stronger man, so it was a natural outcome.

Chae Sung-tae could either take the defeat as a humiliation and awaken, or accept it as something he couldn’t help and settle for it. It was up to Chae Sung-tae to choose.

If Chae Sung-tae took the defeat as a humiliation and awakened, I was willing to help him. Until then, I had no intention of worrying about him. After all, a person must take the first step to change themselves.

As I was returning, I looked back at Mae Hwa Lou from a distance and quietly passed by the vicinity of Yongdu Iron Foundry. While the townspeople were busy with their own tasks, I turned my steps towards Heumyo Bang.

Hao Wen Zhu’s immediate task was in the underworld. It involved systematically crushing and organizing the underworld forces that were widely surrounding Ilyang County.

Because I had overused my lightness skills due to Hong Shin’s sister, I walked slowly on my way back. As I entered a quiet path, a dozen martial artists approached silently from ahead.

They all seemed to be moving in the direction I had come from, towards Ilyang County.

I looked at the group of martial artists, and as they passed by, they all turned to look at me.

After the dozen men crossed paths with me, after a few more steps, the group of martial artists stopped first. Then, I turned around.

Looking around, they were all filled with a heavy aura.

While I was staring at the group of martial artists, one of the men took something out of his pocket and checked it. I thought he was looking at a wanted poster. Sure enough, after confirming the wanted poster, the man looked up and checked my face again.

“It’s Jia Xia.”

A few men gathered around the man holding the wanted poster to confirm together. The leader of the group, whose face was unusually dark, said to his subordinates.

“Is it him?”

“It is.”

“He wasn’t seen in Ilyang County, so why is he here?”

“I don’t know.”

What kind of conversation was this?

It seemed that the people looking for me were heading towards Ilyang County, where I wasn’t.

I asked the leader of the group.

“Are you the riffraff from Heumyo Bang?”

The leader responded to my question with another question.

“Are you Jia Xia?”

Questions clashed, but there were no answers.

The atmosphere was different from that of the Twelve Generals’ subordinates. Heumyo Bang had its own unique atmosphere. Most of the men exuded the air of someone who had rotted in a gambling den for over ten days and then came out with a knife.

One of the men asked the leader.

“What should we do? We didn’t expect Jia Xia to be here.”

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Judging from the meaning of his words, it seemed they were moving to cause trouble in Ilyang County.

I felt strange.

A sinking, heavy feeling, perhaps.

In fact, after my return, the madness of my past life felt as if it had never existed. The fact that I had returned to the past felt like a somewhat enjoyable game.

The leader of the group stepped forward, observing my expression.

“I am Dugu Sheng of Heumyo Bang. It’s said that you killed Neng Zhi Shi, Wei Xian Wu, and Ouyang Shu. The owner of Heumyo Bang has offered a reward of thirty gold coins. The commissions were made by Hoso Bang and Mai Jian Sanzi. We were on our way to Ilyang County to post the wanted notice, but you can read it yourself.”

Dugu Sheng nodded to one of his subordinates, who then came to me and handed me a notice with the content written on it.

It’s not right to accept what the underworld offers.

When I didn’t take the notice, Dugu Sheng continued.

“There were rumors that you had disappeared from Ilyang County, so we’ve been searching for you. If you bravely come to Heumyo Bang and face the owner, he will pay Hoso Bang and Mai Jian Sanzi a reasonable fee and withdraw the bounty. What do you think?”

The underworld often uses the method of tormenting the people around the target to prevent them from escaping.

These men would probably enter Ilyang County, cause trouble, and then post the notice. The more confident the underworld is, the more they suggest that the target should face them and resolve the issue, as in the case of Jin Feng Jiao’s owner, who called me and then died.

I counted the number of men and replied.

“There are eleven of you. For just posting a wanted notice, it’s too many.”

Dugu Sheng replied.

“We gathered because of the rumors of your skills.”

“A reasonable excuse. I find it troublesome to meet your boss right now. I’ll come soon.”

Dugu Sheng glared at me.

“If you don’t come, we’ll go to Ilyang County.”

I scratched my chin with a calm expression.

“I said I’ll come later.”

“It’s better to go together now.”

I picked my nose with my pinky and replied.

“Dugu Sheng, why do you and your ten subordinates want to die right now? Ask for a reason.”

“What attitude is this, killing Neng Zhi Shi, Wei Xian Wu, and Ouyang Shu, and then coming to explain later? How can we accept that?”

“That’s not the point of this conversation.”

There are days when I feel strange.

Some days, I can kill recklessly without any feeling, and other days, I want to avoid killing without any particular thought. Today is one of those days.

I don’t know why.

If my actions were consistent, I wouldn’t have been called a mad demon.

I just lived day by day, following my feelings, and became a mad demon.

Perhaps it’s because I often imagined leading Heumyo Bang and clashing with Heumyo Bang.

But things don’t always go as planned.

Dugu Sheng was not afraid of death.

“Whether you kill us all and then go to Heumyo Bang, or go with us to Heumyo Bang now, it’s the same. In any case, the longer you wait, the more you’ll have to face Hoso Bang and Mai Jian Sanzi. It’s equally tiring. Jia Xia.”

At this point, I made a decision.

“Let’s go to Heumyo Bang.”

A headwind blew from within.

The feeling of not wanting to kill was gradually being suppressed, as if being heated by fire.

This inconsistency is also part of who I am.

Wearing a mask, I am the leader of Heumyo Bang, growing the underworld forces. Without the mask, I am a mad demon again.

In Ilyang County, I am Hao Wen Zhu, but the further I get from Ilyang County, the less I think normally.

When evil thoughts and the waiter Jia Xia merge, a mad demon is born.

It’s a sad thing.

Although my past life’s evil deeds were considerable, I don’t know how to bear the evil deeds of this life.

I suddenly thought of an unknown man, who I believe is imprisoned in the celestial prison. I suspect that the room next to his will be mine.

I am such a sinful person.

Most of the actions I take to protect the weak involve killing people.

I understand why the martial alliance hated me so much in my past life.

I arrived at the lower reaches of Chilong River with the Heumyo Bang group and boarded a boat. Looking at the rippling waters of Chilong River and waving at Ilyang County, which was getting smaller in the distance, I said,

“Take care. My hometown, I’m leaving to make money. I’ll come back successfully. When I come back successfully, welcome me warmly. That’s how Jia Xia boarded the boat and left.”

As I kept waving and making dog sounds towards my hometown, the Heumyo Bang group looked at me with frowns. Their thoughts echoed in my mind.

‘Is he crazy?’

I looked at each of the Heumyo Bang subordinates with a calm expression and said,

“You all look really bad. I wonder if you do bad things because you look bad, or if you look bad because you do bad things. The world is unpredictable.”

“...”

No one responded to my words, but I continued.

“However, I know a handsome guy who does bad things, so it seems that looks and actions aren’t strongly related. Even considering that, I wonder why you all look so unlucky. Maybe it’s because you’ve rotted in a gambling den. Thinking about it, you probably didn’t look this bad when you were young. Maybe the bad things you see every day have affected your faces. Things like slave auctions.”

One of the men, who had been listening with a suppressed temper, said to me,

“Can’t you shut up?”

I examined his face and replied,

“Why do you have no eyebrows? You have a rat-like face. Your eyes are dull. Your skin looks like a battlefield. When you open your mouth, the stench reaches me. Why are you with Heumyo Bang? If you want to eat, work. What do you think when you see a slave auction?”

The man replied,

“I think I should earn money to buy a slave.”

The Heumyo Bang subordinates burst into laughter.

“Hahaha.”

I suddenly looked at Dugu Sheng’s expression. Dugu Sheng had not smiled the whole time.

“Dugu Sheng, why aren’t you laughing?”

In response to my question, Dugu Sheng scolded his subordinates.

“Shut up. I’ll kill you crazy bastards before I do. You’re dealing with the boss, and you’re mocking the guest? I’ll cut off the arms of anyone who opens their mouth before we arrive.”

Dugu Sheng’s threat made all the subordinates shut their mouths.

Dugu Sheng said to me,

“Keep talking. Your voice is pleasant.”

I nodded and asked Dugu Sheng,

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-five.”

“Married?”

Dugu Sheng sighed.

“What marriage? I live in the underworld.”

It was a response implying that, since he didn’t know when he would die, why ask about marriage?

This guy was also not normal.

Sure enough, Dugu Sheng suddenly lost his temper and started cursing at me.

“How old are you? Why are you asking about marriage? You’re a lunatic. Why did you kill those three? Why did you make people so tired by killing them? Are you that good at fighting? You’re a lunatic. Do you have the skills to kill all these idiots and me? I understand. But why did you kill people recklessly to face the entire Heumyo Bang alone? You lunatic. Do you know how many people are in Heumyo Bang?”

I replied briefly.

“How many?”

“I don’t know, you young bastard. Over five hundred.”

A man next to Dugu Sheng suddenly interjected.

“Over six hundred.”

Dugu Sheng then punched the man’s head repeatedly without saying a word. After the man’s face was covered in blood, Dugu Sheng said,

“Listen when I speak. I told you to shut up, didn’t I?”

Suddenly, Dugu Sheng grabbed the bloodied man by the collar and threw him into the Chilong River. A splash was heard, and the man shouted,

“Boss! Save me. I can swim...”

Dugu Sheng roared,

“If you can’t swim, die. You bastard.”

I watched the man flailing in the river with the Heumyo Bang group.

The river looked deep.

I looked at the man in the water with pity.

“The fish need to eat too. What a cruel underworld. If I save him, it will be troublesome for me.”

Dugu Sheng asked his subordinates,

“Is there anyone else who wants to talk?”

In response to Dugu Sheng’s question, I replied for him.

“Is there?”

I looked at the rippling Chilong River and sighed deeply.

“Ah, I should have led Heumyo Bang and made a grand attack. Or, I could have teamed up with a large temple and aimed for a win-win. In the end, things turned out like this. Human affairs are unpredictable.”

At this moment, Dugu Sheng took out a small container, which seemed to contain either Wang You Cao (Forget-Worry Grass) or Huan Jue Cao (Hallucination Grass), and skillfully lit it, taking a puff.

The white smoke from Dugu Sheng’s mouth drifted aimlessly over the rippling waters of the Chilong River. After a few deep puffs, Dugu Sheng asked me,

“So, Jia Xia, are you going to let us live?”

Dugu Sheng took another deep puff while waiting for my answer. His question, tone, and actions were completely mismatched, as if he had expected this from the beginning.

Dugu Sheng repeated,

“I’m asking. Are you going to let us live?”

I shook my head and looked at the rippling river. I tried to erase my evil thoughts to suppress my madness.

A person must take the first step to change themselves. I didn’t want to live like the mad demon of my past life, so I replied,

“I’ll let one of you live. I promise. You decide among yourselves.”

It means to kill each other.

Will this work?

As soon as I finished speaking, everyone, including Dugu Sheng, grabbed their knives to kill each other.

This is what the underworld is like.