Chapter 332

## C332. A Name Can Be Just a Coincidence

Sometimes, a single encounter can decide someone’s fate.

For example, that’s how it was for Jin Woosaeng.

When he saw Lee Yu-hwa through the half-open door, as radiant as a flower, he was completely captivated by her.

At the crucial moment, he expressed his intentions with all his heart.

If he had been the Jin Woosaeng from before seeing Yu-hwa, the marriage would have been broken, and the future of the Jin family would have been plunged into uncertainty.

In that sense, it could be said that that small house saved Jin Woosaeng.

Fate, in the end, is unpredictable.

After the wedding ceremony, Yeon Jeokha (연적하) gave Lee Yu-hwa a thousand nyang of silver as a congratulatory gift.

It was practically all the money he had left.

“Thank you, older brother.”

“I’m going to stay at the Wudang Sect (무당파) for a while. If anything happens at home, send word there.”

“Yes.”

Lee Yu-hwa silently wiped away tears from her eyes.

She had done nothing for him, but just for being relatives, she had received too much.

As Yeon Jeokha silently left his uncle’s house, someone approached him.

It was Jin Woosaeng, who was now officially his brother-in-law.

“Older brother, thank you very much.”

Although he was three years older, Jin Woosaeng called Yeon Jeokha “older brother.”

“Thank me? Nothing like that. Just live well.”

“Yes.”

“And also…”

Yeon Jeokha looked at him with a complex expression.

As a member of the Golden Guards (금의위) with the rank of Soqi (소기), he would probably spend his days running tirelessly due to the orders of his superiors.

Yeon Jeokha seemed to hesitate for a moment, leading Jin Woosaeng to look at him cautiously.

“Do you have something else to tell me?”

“It’s best if you avoid getting involved in matters related to the Yoomyung Cult (유명교).”

“The Yoomyung Cult?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Jin Woosaeng nodded quickly, accepting Yeon Jeokha’s words without hesitation.

Although Yeon Jeokha watched him closely, he didn’t feel reassured.

“‘It must be because, as a Soqi, he still doesn’t know anything about Won Sojeol’s (원소절) plan.'”

If Jin Woosaeng knew anything about Won Sojeol’s plans, he wouldn’t have accepted so easily.

After bidding farewell to Jin Woosaeng, Yeon Jeokha immediately left the village of Seokjang.

On the road, if he found an inn, he spent the night there. If there wasn’t one, he slept outdoors.

Since it was the middle of summer, some nights outdoors were even more pleasant than staying in the small, hot rooms of the inns.

Since he had given almost all his money to Lee Yu-hwa, his luggage was light.

————-

Henan Province (하남성).

In the coastal village of Sajang, by the Yinghe River (颖河), at dusk, a young man entered the village.

He was Yeon Jeokha.

With a gourd hanging from his waist and a long sword, Cheonggang Janggeom (청강 장검), his appearance was that of a typical wanderer.

Perhaps because of that, the people who saw him from the entrance of the village gave him quick and discreet glances.

“What are they looking at so much? They’re making me uncomfortable,” he muttered as he headed towards a nearby inn.

Through the open windows, he could see that the restaurant was full of customers, but he didn’t pay much attention.

After all, places where the food is good are always full of people.

When he opened the door and entered, a delicious smell and the warm atmosphere immediately enveloped him.

As he expected, the place was packed.

“Wow, what a successful business.”

Looking around, he noticed that even the innkeeper seemed radiant to see so many customers.

As he looked for an empty seat, a young waiter approached him.

Seeing that the waiter was about the same age as Sangdo, he remembered the Namyeon Inn (남연객점), where he had worked before.

“Welcome. Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“There are no free tables, but would you mind sharing?”

“No, that’s fine.”

When Yeon Jeokha nodded without problems, the waiter guided him with energy.

They approached a table where two men and a woman were already sitting.

“Excuse me, would you mind if this customer shares the table with you?”

The man, who seemed to be the oldest of the three, nodded.

Sharing a table was common, except in special circumstances.

After greeting the other diners with a bow, Yeon Jeokha sat down in the empty seat.

“What would you like to order?” the waiter asked.

Quickly looking at the table, Yeon Jeokha made his decision.

Since he was sharing the table, he couldn’t order too many dishes. He saw a bowl of lamb noodle soup that looked appetizing.

“A bowl of Yang Yuk Hwe-myeon (양육회면).”

“Very well, wait a moment.”

The waiter hurried towards the kitchen.

While he waited, Yeon Jeokha drank some water and observed the dishes on the table.

It wasn’t that he was curious about the food, there was simply nothing else to look at. Perhaps that made him look pitiful, because the woman, barely over twenty, offered him a smile and said:

“It looks like there’s going to be leftover food. You can have some if you want.”

Yeon Jeokha hesitated, but the middle-aged man intervened with a smile.

“Younger brother, try some while you wait for your noodles. Just a little, don’t finish it all. Ha, ha.”

The young man, who seemed to be in his twenties, started talking to him casually, assuming that Yeon Jeokha was much younger.

“Thank you, I’ll just try a little.”

Grateful, Yeon Jeokha took a small stuffed bao (灌汤包) from a plate.

When he broke the thin layer of the bao with his chopsticks, a hot broth came out like a torrent.

The man, amused, commented:

“Younger brother, you know how to enjoy. That single bao is like eating noodles, meat, and soup all at once.”

“Oh, right.”

Yeon Jeokha replied unenthusiastically and put the bao in his mouth in one bite.

After trying one, he felt like something was missing.

He quickly served a spoonful of beef soup (우육탕) and another of spicy broth (호랄탕), drinking them with pleasure. He also took some steamed meat covered in rice flour (미분증육) from the plate to try it.

At that moment, the man in his twenties said to him casually:

“Younger brother, eat more slowly. If you keep going like this, you’ll get sick.”

Although he said it indirectly, he clearly wanted Yeon Jeokha to eat in moderation.

Feeling the hint, Yeon Jeokha changed tactics and took some steamed vegetables (청채).

When the table calmed down, the young woman in her twenties started chatting.

“By the way, where are you from?”

“From Jeongju (정주).”

“Ah, Jeongju. I’ve heard that the situation is quite agitated there lately. They say the Heaven and Earth Alliance has its headquarters there.”

With a leaf of vegetable in his mouth, Yeon Jeokha blinked in surprise.

He had called the war between the Heaven and Earth Alliance and the Yoomyung Cult “agitated.”

“The war between the Heaven and Earth Alliance and the Yoomyung Cult is over.”

“Really? Then I guess the Murim will be in chaos again.”

The young woman described peace as a prelude to more chaos, which left Yeon Jeokha perplexed.

“Why do you say the Murim will be in chaos again?”

“It’s because now the great and famous sects will get involved in the Murim conflicts again. Before, they didn’t even look in the direction of the Yoomyung Cult.”

“Ah.”

That made sense!

When Yeon Jeokha expressed his understanding, the young man in his twenties suddenly intervened.

“Younger brother, what do you think happens if a whale gets into the fight of small fish? A real storm forms.”

Yeon Jeokha was a little disconcerted by the words that contradicted everything he knew about the Murim.

The idea that the most prominent sects would provoke conflicts in the Murim seemed strange to him.

“From the point of view of those small, nameless sects, I guess it would make sense.”

After all, for them, the Seven Great Sects and the Four Great Families would be like whales impossible to face.

The woman looked at Yeon Jeokha, who blinked silently.

“What brings you here, younger brother?”

“I was just passing through.”

The expression “passing through” drew a peculiar smile on the faces of both.

It was something that wanderers used to say.

Wanderers, also known as nangin, traveled without a clear destination, doing occasional jobs when opportunities arose.

The woman asked to confirm:

“Are you a nangin?”

“Something like that.”

Yeon Jeokha nodded his head.

Although he wasn’t a professional nangin, he had done that kind of work several times, and he couldn’t deny it entirely.

Instead of explaining that he was a co-owner of the Namyeon inn and that he was on his way to Mount Wudang to learn mystical arts and sorcery, he preferred to accept the title of wanderer.

Hearing that, the woman showed interest.

“Where did you learn martial arts?”

“In my family.”

Then, a man in his thirties who had been eating silently looked at Yeon Jeokha sideways.

“Do you come from a family of swordsmen? It’s impressive. Could you tell me where you’re from?”

“From the Waryong Manor, in Luoyang.”

“Hmm, that sounds familiar.”

The man in his thirties, Zhang Yuan, made a thoughtful sound.

The other two, Ilsuhan and Baek Okjo, the woman of the group, also tilted their heads, thoughtful.

Yeon Jeokha muttered to himself:

“I was quite well-known in Luoyang. I guess they didn’t know.”

Zhang Yuan excused himself:

“We’re all from Namjik Province, so we don’t know much about Henan.”

“Oh, I see. By the way, do you know the Namgung Family?”

“How could we not? In Namjik, there’s no one who hasn’t heard of the Namgung Family.”

“He, he.”

Yeon Jeokha smiled, feeling inexplicably pleased to hear that.

“Do you know the Namgung Family, younger brother?”

“Of course. They’re one of the Four Great Families of the Murim.”

Zhang Yuan laughed lightly and returned to focusing on his food. Just then, the waiter brought the dish of cold noodles with raw meat that Yeon Jeokha had ordered.

When Yeon Jeokha had finished eating half of his dish, Ilsuhan spoke as if he had been waiting for the moment.

“Younger brother, since it’s fate, why don’t we introduce ourselves? I’m Ilsuhan, the second brother. This is the youngest, Baek Okjo, and he’s our older brother, Zhang Yuan, also known as Jang Wian. In Namjik, they call us the Three Heroes of Qingzhou.”

“I’m Yeon Jeokha.”

Hearing his name, Baek Okjo almost spit out her food.

“Hey, how disgusting! Why are you laughing, younger sister?”

“It’s just that lately there have been too many people named Yeon Jeokha.”

Ilsuhan nodded. It was true; they had met five people with that name since they left Namjik for Henan.

“Names can be repeated. Younger brother, did you have another name before?”

“Dubi?”

Yeon Jeokha stared at the three. Until he was six years old, his stepmother and stepbrothers called him “Dubi,” which meant “stupid.”

When he said “Dubi” with his innocent face, the Three Heroes of Qingzhou burst into laughter.

“Being called ‘Dubi’… The name Yeon Jeokha suits you much better!”

Baek Okjo smiled broadly and said:

“Younger brother, you should keep using Yeon Jeokha. ‘Dubi’ doesn’t suit you at all.”

“Yes, ‘Dubi’ doesn’t go with you. ‘Jeokha’ sounds much better. Who gave you that absurd name?”

“My stepmother.”

“Your stepmother?”

The mention of the stepmother wiped the smiles off their faces. An uncomfortable silence filled the air.

“What a wicked woman.”

“Totally.”

Baek Okjo, who was now looking at Yeon Jeokha with compassion, asked:

“Younger brother, do you have any work now?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Perfect. Then work with us, right, older brother?”

Baek Okjo directed her gaze at Zhang Yuan. He, after thinking for a moment, nodded seriously.

“Make sure you take good care of him so he doesn’t get hurt.”

Zhang Yuan was worried about Yeon Jeokha, who seemed fragile.

Yeon Jeokha, who was almost out of money, didn’t refuse the offer.

“What’s the work about?”

“We’re helping So Jiwoong, the head of the Gunwon escort, for three days.”

Three days didn’t seem like much. Besides, the Three Heroes of Qingzhou had been good to him.

Despite being strangers, they had invited him to their table, shared food, and even criticized his stepmother.

No one who spoke ill of his stepmother had seemed like a bad person to him.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”