Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign Novel - Chapter 451

**Chapter 451: The lazy One Does a Good Deed (1)**

There’s a word: “Agwi” (hungry ghost).

It means a ghost who died of starvation.

Of course, you don’t see ghosts in reality, so this term “Agwi” is just people’s imagination. The idea that those who die of hunger become resentful spirits who voraciously crave food.

But today, Wei Yanho was experiencing that this term “Agwi” was not just a product of imagination.

“Foooood!”
“G-give me more here! Here!”
“Food! Fooood!”
“That’s not cooked, you idiot! Don’t touch it! I’ll cut off your hands!”

What’s so special about an Agwi?

If you obsess over food in an inhuman way, that’s an Agwi.

Wei Yanho, who, due to the side effects of the harsh training with Baek Muhan, thought he had developed an appetite comparable to anyone, but his gluttony was nothing.

Here were hordes of Agwi.

Unable to ignore the tearful pleas of Jangil (although they were actually more snot than tears), Wei Yanho finally went out to the city and headed to the market.

He gathered all the money he had (enough to make the market owner pale) and bought grains. He even got a large pot and was now cooking porridge with those grains.

He had considered simply ordering food at an inn, but following Jangil’s advice that giving greasy food to people who have been starving for a long time could kill them, he decided to go through this cumbersome process.

‘My precious money.’

In the end, they were just grains, in the end, it was just food. He thought that when buying it, but with so many mouths to feed, the cost was not insignificant.

More and more beggars kept arriving, having heard the news from somewhere.

Seeing the beggars crowding like ants gave a chilling sensation. Although Wei Yanho had amassed a fortune of a thousand gold ingots, continuing to feed so many people would break his back.

Now he understood why they said that not even the emperor could alleviate poverty.

Besides…

“Why is it taking so long! Hurry up!”
“Ouch, it burns!”
“Don’t touch the pot! I told you not to touch it! If you knock over the pot, I’ll cut off your hands!”

The beggars weren’t simply beggars.

Despite clearly knowing that Wei Yanho had spent his money to buy them food, not a single one of these beggars said “thank you.” They were only obsessed with the porridge in front of them.

‘That’s why they beg. Damn them.’

No, they’re already begging, so it’s not even an insult.

Seeming to notice Wei Yanho’s discomfort, Jangil, who had been guarding the pot tooth and nail, approached him, pushing the beggars aside.

“Thank you.”
“…So you’re the baby beggar.”
“Huh?”
“Forget it.”

At least this guy had some conscience. Among the beggars, he seemed to be the most sensible.

“They won’t see anything else. It’s been days without eating.”
“Hmm.”

Wei Yanho was magnanimous.

The Wei Yanho of the past would have shouted “Damn them!” and would have raged, but the recent Wei Yanho had become a man of great heart.

The fact that half of the money he found in the market still generously filled his bag also helped maintain his peace of mind.

“Anyway, this is a big problem. I don’t know what to do with this.”

Jangil let out a deep sigh.

“What the hell is that magistrate up to?”
“Damn him.”

Jangil twisted his face. The reason for oppressing the beggars like this was obvious.

“I don’t know how much he’s accepted in bribes, but it seems the Righteous Heavenly Alliance released some money. They don’t want to see beggars loitering in their territory.”
“Hmm.”

Wei Yanho tilted his head.

“He accepted bribes?”
“What other explanation is there?”
“Then report him to the magistrate’s office and be done with it.”
“Who can challenge the magistrate? Who would investigate if you report your own superior?”
“I can.”
“…Huh?”
“I can do it.”
“What?”

Jangil looked at Wei Yanho with an astonished expression. Now that he thought about it, this guy was the Deputy Chief Censor. Excluding the Chief Censor (currently vacant), he was second-in-command in the Censorate.

‘He looks so stupid that I forgot again.’

Although it was practically an honorary position, honorary positions vary in rank. An honorary policeman can’t do much, but an honorary magistrate has immense power.

What if this honorary position is that of the second-in-command in the Censorate, the only power group in the palace now?

‘Come to think of it, this guy… is really amazing.’

He hadn’t risen from below, but obtained the position by flattering the emperor well, but it was still amazing that he had easily secured the position of Deputy Chief Censor.

If Wei Yanho set his mind to it, overthrowing a magistrate would be a piece of cake.

But…

“Let’s forget about it.”
“Why?”
“If you intervene, exposing the magistrate’s corruption would be easy, but in the current situation, blowing up the problem wouldn’t help. To expose his corruption, we would inevitably have to investigate the dealings of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance, which would worsen relations.”
“Do we have to think that far?”
“There’s no choice. The circumstances have changed.”
“It’s tough, even for you.”

For the first time, Wei Yanho felt sorry for Jangil.

Although they were clearly the victims, due to the relationship between the Righteous Heavenly Alliance and the Righteous Martial Alliance, they couldn’t even protest properly.

“It doesn’t matter. If you live as a beggar, things worse than this happen to you often. If you don’t want injustices, don’t be a beggar.”
“You’re right.”
“What’s wrong?”

While they were discussing, the beggar who had first spoken to them approached them.

“Thank you.”

Wei Yanho turned his head to look at the beggar.

He seemed to have given up the porridge despite his rumbling stomach.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“Anyway, not everyone can eat at once. Many are hungry, so I can wait. I won’t die in that time.”
“Ohhh?”

Wei Yanho looked at the beggar up and down, as if he was reevaluating him.

“Dongchil (Seven of the East).”
“Why do beggars have names like that?”

Jangil laughed and said:

“What’s the point of having a pretty name? If you were the seventh picked up in the east, you’re Dongchil.”
“It’s very arbitrary.”
“I was thinking of reforming that. The documents pile up and it’s hard to organize them when everyone has names like that.”

Wei Yanho laughed. What peculiar problems.

“Anyway, thanks to you we’ve put out the fire for now. You’ve saved many lives.”
“Couldn’t you beg in another town?”
“Outside the city it’s not easy to beg. Who would share the grain they earned with their sweat with a beggar? If people were that generous, there wouldn’t be those who die of hunger every winter.”
“Hmm.”

Wei Yanho nodded as if he understood.

‘Well, it’s not my problem.’

Although he understood the situation of the beggars, he had no intention of crying and distributing his fortune. For Wei Yanho, he saw perfectly capable people who didn’t work and lived by begging. If he were in their place, he would have hunted or done odd jobs to get food.

Everyone has their circumstances, so it’s not a matter of judging, but he had no intention of helping continuously.

“Little beggar, about what we talked about before.”
“Yes.”

Jangil nodded.

They had asked for information about any suspicious activity related to the strange events in the Tang Family.

“There haven’t been any suspicious visitors recently in the Tang Family. And no unusual movements have been seen in Chengdu either.”
“Really nothing? Not even related to why the Righteous Heavenly Alliance acted so suddenly?”
“I suspected it, but… no. The Righteous Heavenly Alliance has been looking at us badly for a long time. And if they wanted to evade our surveillance completely, they would have used other methods. Or they would wait until we couldn’t take it anymore and left.”
“Makes sense.”

Jangil scratched his head in frustration.

What to do then?

By now there should be at least a clue. How could something so big happen for no reason at all?

Within the Tang Family, they were already saying that this was happening due to the resentment of those they had killed in the past, that they should even call a shaman.

What nonsense. But it showed how desperate they were.

“Looks like it was in vain.”

Jangil sighed deeply and turned around. It was regrettable, but information doesn’t appear no matter how much you demand it. Today at least we fed the beggars…

“But…”

Dongchil spoke hesitantly.

“There’s something that seems strange to me.”
“W-what thing?”

Jangil swallowed.

“Anything, no matter how small, say it quickly.”
“They said that the symptoms of what’s happening now are similar to ‘Juahwipma’ (deviation disorder in martial practice), right?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s caused by the martial arts. Isn’t it something that happens when you practice a martial art incorrectly?”
“…It’s subtly different, but it could be.”

Explaining the differences in detail would be complicated. Also, he couldn’t reveal certain internal matters.

“The thing is that recently there were rumors that the Tang Family was practicing a new martial art.”
“A new martial art?”

Suddenly, Jangil’s eyes shone.

This was valuable information.

“What martial art?”
“How would I know? I only heard that the Tang Family obtained a secret manual from somewhere and was practicing it.”
“Why didn’t you mention this important information before!?”
“Because it didn’t seem useful. The rumors about practicing that martial art weren’t only circulating in the Tang Family. As far as I know, almost all the martial schools in Sichuan were practicing it.”
“Huh? Everyone shared and learned a new martial art? How is that possible?”
“You know it too, right? It caused a big stir in the martial world a while ago. The secret manual of the Sword Emperor or something?”
“…Huh?”

Jangil’s face went blank.

“Why?”
“That manual that even caused a bloodbath, some crazy guy sold it everywhere and now it’s more common than the ‘Six Harmonies’ manual they sell in bookstores. They said the Tang Family was practicing it…”
“That damn crazy guy who sold it, they should kill him and…”

When Wei Yanho was about to get angry, Jangil covered his mouth and pulled him aside.

“Won’t you let go of me? Mmpphh!”
“Ah, that. Yes, everyone practiced it. But…”

Jangil grimaced.

It was a new martial art, but it had no relation to the Demon Cult.

“Thanks for the information, anyway.”

Although it wasn’t new information. Everyone knew it.

“I mention it just in case.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Don’t ignore it, investigate a little. I know it sounds absurd, but it scares me.”
“Scared?”

Dongchil nodded silently.

“I heard that those affected by the ‘Juahwipma’ are causing a lot of chaos. If this was caused by that martial art, and if for some reason the Tang Family was the first to manifest it, won’t everyone end up the same?”
“…”

Jangil’s face paled.

“What? Why?”

Only Wei Yanho, who didn’t understand the situation, kept tilting his head confused.