Ch. 25 Murim Psychopath Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Same Seed, Planted in Different Soil

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The group departed from Bongyang and walked without resting even for a moment.

Only in the evening were they able to arrive at Huainan.

Huainan was a place famous for having been chosen as the capital by Yuan Shu during the late Eastern Han, and true to its name, it was a city located immediately south of the Huai River.

The Namgung Family lay several dozen ri south of this place. If they walked diligently for just one more full day, they would likely reach it.

In other words, they had to stay one night in Huainan….

After arriving in Huainan, the group had considerable difficulty securing an inn. This was because most inns had no vacant rooms.

Just like Tang Wu and the members of the Danri Family, countless martial artists were gathering in Hefei to head toward the Namgung Family. Naturally, the inns of Huainan along the way were bound to be crowded.

The group barely managed to find an inn where all of them could stay. It was not an outstanding establishment, but it was more than sufficient for relieving travel fatigue, so they immediately scattered to their respective rooms. After all, if they were to walk all day tomorrow, they needed to rest deeply whenever they could.

However.

Among them, there was one person who alone remained outside the inn. Of course, it was Dong Bong-su.

Gi Dae-hyo no longer considered him a member of the Danri Family, so he did not take any special measures, but inwardly, he hoped that until they arrived at the Namgung Family, Dong Bong-su would take charge of Yeoro. If such a precious horse like a Blood-Sweating Horse were left alone in the inn’s outer stable yard, there was no telling what might happen.

Regardless of such thoughts, Dong Bong-su, without being told by anyone, stayed together with Yeoro in the stable yard on his own.

For someone else, resting inside the inn would have been better, but for Dong Bong-su, living in the stable yard was actually more comfortable. Being alone outside was far preferable to being mixed in among many servants.

He could quietly engage in contemplation, and he could also practice the Inventory Divine Art or learn skills. He was a person who never wasted even a single moment of time. If he did not need to sleep, he would never have slept.

Even now, sitting in a corner of the stable yard, he was not idle.

Dong Bong-su tied Yeoro to the stable’s hitching post and was cultivating the Inventory Divine Art.

Perhaps because of his steady training so far, he had now become quite proficient at the Two-Item In-and-Out. Next, it was time to practice taking out and putting back three grains of sand simultaneously.

Just as Dong Bong-su was about to begin that practice—

Hihihihiing, prrrr-.

When the long, black uninvited guest bathed in moonlight cast a shadow inside the stable yard, Yeoro let out a low whinny. At this late hour, someone had come to find him at the stable. Unlike the Danri Family’s stables, the inn’s stable yard had no door, so the moment someone appeared at the entrance, it was immediately noticeable.

The instant he confirmed the presence of the shadow, the clarity in Dong Bong-su’s eyes sank in an instant and turned turbid.

Who was it that had said the eyes were the mirror of the heart? If the person who had spoken those words had met Dong Bong-su, they would have wanted to retract them, or else grind their own tongue to pieces with their teeth.

Dong Bong-su could freely adjust his gaze however he wished. He could become a dullard or a genius, a passionate person or a listless one, or even a demon or an angel. With his gaze alone, he could become anyone.

To him, eyes were not the mirror of the heart, but reflective glass with an image playing upon it. The other party would think they were seeing Dong Bong-su’s heart reflected like a mirror, but in truth, they were only seeing what they themselves wished to see. No matter how closely they looked, it was useless. In fact, the closer they got, the narrower their field of vision became, and the more confused they grew.

Meanwhile, Dong Bong-su could hide himself behind the glass and observe the other party to his heart’s content. By doing so, he gained the ability to toy with the other person at will, who became like a clown inside a glass case.

When Dong Bong-su’s eyes had perfectly returned to Sosam’s eyes, the shadow completely covered his vision.

He waited until the presence drew near, then slowly raised his head to confirm the face of the person who had appeared.

The visitor was a woman wearing a face veil, with a body that seemed ready to flutter away. The person who appeared before him at this late hour was none other than Tang Hwa, the granddaughter of Tang Wu.

“Grandfather, honestly. I don’t know what’s so special about someone like this that he has me bring him at this hour.”

“….”

Tang Hwa was grumbling without even knowing the reason, but Dong Bong-su understood that what was meant to come had come.

“Follow me.”

Regardless of her unpleasant tone, the words themselves were polite. She had clearly been told by Tang Wu not to treat him carelessly.

Following her words, Dong Bong-su slowly rose from his seat. When the two left the stable yard, one member of the Black Five Division who had come with her stepped inside the stable yard in Dong Bong-su’s place. Yeoro could not be left alone.

After that, Dong Bong-su entered the inn as Tang Hwa led the way. She brought him to the largest and finest room in the inn. Most likely, Tang Wu was staying in that room.

Just as he had expected, when the door was opened and they entered the room, Tang Wu was seated in the center of the room with a cold expression.

“You’ve come? Bring him closer.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

Following Tang Hwa, Dong Bong-su walked right up to Tang Wu.

Tang Wu silently looked Dong Bong-su up and down with sharp eyes, then raised his hand, pointed to the bed placed in one corner of the room, and spoke.

“Get up onto that bed and sit in meditation.”

Without much hesitation, Dong Bong-su did as Tang Wu instructed, climbed onto the bed, and sat down in a proper seated posture.

He did not know what Tang Wu intended to do, but he judged that obeying as told was the best course. Although Tang Wu’s eyes were cold, within them burned a certain yearning. And that yearning, without any need for deliberation, was for ‘something’ that would benefit him.

Once Dong Bong-su had taken the desired posture, Tang Wu rose from his seat and stepped closer to the bed.

After sweeping Dong Bong-su’s body once with piercing eyes, Tang Wu soon began kneading and pressing various parts of his body.

Would even an archaeologist handling ancient relics be this cautious? Tang Wu’s touch as he examined Dong Bong-su’s body was so careful that it was difficult to put into words.

After a long while.

It seemed he had sufficiently confirmed Dong Bong-su’s physical condition, as he stopped touching his body. Then, from within his robe, he took out a small wooden case intricately inlaid with gold leaf depicting a dragon and a phoenix entwined as they soared. Even at a glance, it looked like an extremely precious item.

“Dragon–Phoenix Gold Needles!”

What was that? Judging by Tang Hwa’s cry of shock, it did not seem to be merely a valuable object.

“Grandfather, just what are you trying to do? Don’t tell me—?”

Whether Tang Hwa was startled or not, Tang Wu paid her no mind and spoke to Dong Bong-su.

“I am about to perform a great method upon you.”

A great method.

Dong Bong-su thought that this must be that ‘beneficial something.’

Tang Wu continued speaking.

“It will be extremely painful. Perhaps to the point where you may think death would be preferable. However, if you endure it, you will be able to regain your speech, and moreover! You will be able to return to your original self, the you as you were at birth. Well? Will you do it?”

Dong Bong-su could not understand what Tang Wu meant by ‘original, as you were at birth.’ All he knew was that this was the reason Tang Wu had chosen him.

The interesting fact here was that Tang Wu had given him a choice. The difference between himself, a mere Horse Stable Hireling, and Tang Wu was as vast as the gap between the sun and a firefly.

Even so, the fact that Tang Wu did not ‘order’ him, but instead allowed him to ‘choose,’ meant that the pain accompanying the execution of this great method would be beyond imagination.

It was the moment of choice. Dong Bong-su thought.

Was there really any need to agonize over it?

No. An opportunity had come. Opportunities had to be seized when they arrived.

The penalty? Pain severe enough to make one wish for death?

So what? Pain severe enough to make one wish for death ultimately meant not dying. If he did not die, that was all that mattered. If he did not die, he would only become stronger.

Was there any room for choice?

None. To retreat here would be to waste time. The more time one wasted, the closer one drew to death in this jungle-like world of Murim. There was no reason to look back over such trifling pain.

‘Advance. Move forward.’

Dong Bong-su slowly, but firmly, nodded his head.

Seeing that, Tang Wu curled his lips into a grin. A satisfied smile. That single, slight nod from Dong Bong-su had made Tang Wu of the Soul-Chasing Poison Hand smile, and had given him conviction.

“Have you ever heard this saying?” Tang Wu asked.

“An orange becomes something else when it crosses the river.”

Dong Bong-su understood immediately.

The meaning was simple.

The same seed, planted in different soil, produced entirely different fruit.

Tang Wu continued, deliberately spelling it out.

“An orange that grows south of the river is sweet. But take that same tree north, plant it in harsher land, and it becomes bitter and twisted. Not because the seed was flawed—but because the land was.”

Tang Hwa stiffened.

“G-Grandfather—!”

She understood what he was implying before he ever said it out loud.

Dong Bong-su did as well.

Tang Wu wasn’t talking about fruit.

He was talking about him.

Dong Bong-su had been born into poor soil. A mute. A stable hand. A nobody. Not because he lacked potential—but because the place he grew up in never allowed it to bloom.

Tang Wu wasn’t offering to teach him.

He was offering to replant him.

So this isn’t about taking me as a disciple, Dong Bong-su realized.

It’s something far bigger.

If the land he came from was the Danri Family—

Then the land Tang Wu was offering was the Tang Clan.

And finally, Tang Wu asked the question that made everything clear.

“Do you wish to take the Tang Clan’s surname?”

In other words—

Do you want to abandon who you are now… and be reborn as one of us?