Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Summoning Order
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A short distance from the Nine Dragons Branch Family, at the Green Wind Inn.
“How in the world can this keep happening over and over—not just once or twice!”
“Think of it all as good life experience and just work hard at it. No other way around it. No way.”
I took a sip of liquor and patted Dang Gon on the shoulder.
Maybe because it had been so long since I last drank, but this Bamboo Leaf Qing tasted fantastic. Hey, innkeeper! Another bottle over here!
To get to the end of that bet right away—I won, of course.
It would’ve been impossible to grasp every single trick like with the Shadow Phantom Step, but just memorizing the forms? That wasn’t so hard.
With my upper dantian wide open, able to memorize the entire Heavenly Demon Library, you think I couldn’t handle that one thing?
In the end, this was a bet Dang Gon could never win from the start.
Though he probably doesn’t have a clue. Heh heh heh!
「Looks like he’s ruined his life by getting tangled up with the Young Sect Leader, just like us.」
「Exactly. That’s why you’ve got to pick your spot carefully before stretching your legs out. Sheesh. Tsk tsk.」
I heard some nonsense from the lingering spirits, apparently feeling a shared sense of misery, but the liquor tasted good, so I decided to let it slide.
Man, getting some fresh air out here really hits the spot.
It’d be even better if I could just bolt from here.
There had been a bit of a scuffle when I left the manor—some of Namgung San-yeong’s warriors tried to block my path—but shaking them off wasn’t tough.
‘I’m taking this young master out for training, with Dang Gon as his escort. Any problem with that?’
Namgung San-yeong herself had appointed Dang Gon as my escort, so what were they going to do about it?
She’d soon notice things starting to go sideways.
Too late by then, though.
“Thanks to you, I got out of that manor, so how about you foot this liquor bill?”
“No thanks.”
“Then at least give me my money back!”
“Nah. I won it fair and square. Why should I?”
“I’m broke now!”
I made a pitiful face.
“Then you should’ve won.”
“Aaaargh!”
Dang Gon shot up from his seat and jabbed a finger at me.
“You said this wasn’t about the money!”
“Didn’t say anything about not thinking of my daughter, either.”
“Grrr! You said you wanted my approval!”
“Got it. And we’re done.”
“Aaaaaargh!”
He won’t listen! He won’t listen at all! Dang Gon clawed at his temples.
“Then at least stop ordering food! You’re going through the whole menu!”
For the record, the waiter had been bringing out dishes nonstop for a while now.
Our table couldn’t hold it all, so we’d pushed together three or four more.
Thanks to that, the innkeeper’s grin from this windfall wouldn’t quit.
“Been a while since I oiled the belly. First proper meal in two months, you know?”
“I’m telling you, I have no money! You cleaned me out...!”
“Oh... sorry about that?”
“Aaaaaaargh!”
Now he was hopping mad in place.
Must be dying to drink with me.
The Young Sect Leader’s old subordinates always reacted the same during drinking binges. Guess I really am popular. That’s what it means to be a sinner among men.
“Innkeeper! Bamboo Leaf Qing! Bring every last drop you’ve got!”
“Wow. Broke, huh? You sure you can swing that?”
“Not your concern! I’ll handle it! If I don’t drink, how am I supposed to stay sane through this? Be grateful I’m not punching you!”
“Oh... thanks for that.”
“Innkeeper! Innkeeper! The liquor—I said bring the liquor!”
Dang Gon declared that talking to me any more would just make him explode, then started chugging straight from the jar.
Liquor goes down. Gulp gulp gulp... Who knew our Dang Gon squad member was such a boozehound?
I chuckled and downed another glass.
The sharp tingle scratching my throat felt amazing.
Meanwhile, with my left hand, I secretly drew a tiny mark under the table.
A skull with two swords stabbed into its head.
「Young Sect Leader, that’s...!」
The spirits who recognized the mark trembled.
It was a Summoning Order.
A command to assemble for all cultists living in the Nine Dragons County area and nearby.
The skull meant an emergency order, and the number of swords indicated rank.
One for elder level, two for Young Sect Leader, three for Sect Leader.
In other words, I’d issued the summons using the Young Sect Leader’s authority.
By now, they’d probably heard that ‘Yeonunhwi’ had gone missing or died with his master, so things would be in an uproar.
To guard against any of the Nine Great Demon Sects tied to the Assembly—or those thinking of going independent now—laying traps, I added a spell limiting the summons.
Only the followers of the Adoring Demon God Fire Sect could see this mark.
The Adoring Demon God Fire Sect was the faction my master and I belonged to, the most historic in the cult, having produced the most Sect Leaders across generations. Its origins traced back to the Fire Worship Cult from the Western Regions.
It was the one place I could trust right now without question.
If the Assembly’s reach extended even here?
Then finding my master and restoring the cult would truly be a distant dream.
That’s how core the Adoring Demon God Fire Sect was to the cult—and I had absolute faith it wouldn’t waver, no matter what.
After noting the assembly location, I could finally relax and focus on my glass.
“Next time... I’ll clean you out... I will... Snore snore.”
Meanwhile, Dang Gon—who’d emptied five jars—slobbered and face-planted onto the table.
Well now?
「This ungrateful wretch is pulling a stunt to dodge the bill, Young Sect Leader! Just give the order, and I’ll dunk him in the outhouse right now!」
「The privy might cramp his style on the way home, so let me fetch ice water and douse him! Entrust it to me!!」
Obvious ploys, and the spirits were competing in pointless loyalty.
“Doesn’t get you off the hook.”
“......”
“Sleeping?”
“Snore...”
“He’s really out.”
I let out a hollow laugh and waved over a waiter.
“You called, sir? What can I get you this time?”
I’d called for the waiter, but the innkeeper showed up.
Must be eager for this big spender.
“Looks like the inn’s packed right now. How many guests you got?”
“Pardon? We’d have to count precisely, but as the largest in Nine Dragons County, I’d say around three hundred, give or take.”
He answered my odd question politely, without missing a beat.
“If you rang the golden bell for them, they’d love—”
“Hahaha! Dozed off a bit, and now the liquor’s all gone. Young master, let’s share another round. Feels like we can talk deep now!”
“??”
The innkeeper gawked at Dang Gon, who’d bolted upright mid-nap. He looked shocked.
“Five-Spice Pork. That’s my favorite. One more, please. Can you make it faster than the rest?”
“Of course, sir! Right away!”
Nothing beats financial therapy for fun.
Once the innkeeper left, I saw Dang Gon plop back down, sullen.
“World’s a scary place, right? Turn your eyes for a second, and they’ll take your nose.”
“You really doing this?”
“Yeah. I am.”
“...Hah! Damn it. I really picked the wrong guy to mess with.”
With no way to vent his frustration, Dang Gon had to down more Bamboo Leaf Qing.
Heh.
I smirked lightly and snatched the bottle.
Flying Floss Palm’s Golden Claw Hand.
A technique Dang Gon had taught me today, naturally.
“Hey. What’s the fun in solo drinking? Let’s share.”
Pour pour.
Dang Gon eyed the Bamboo Leaf Qing filling his empty glass—or rather, my hand.
“...Already adapting it?”
“The qi flow from Crimson Lotus Divine Palm’s Rotating Strike White Mountain chains into Hundred Strikes Unity, which twists into Chasing Soul Water’s Mane Spring, right? Got the idea from there. Everything connects.”
I mixed in the proper hand motions, and his face was a sight.
“...The Tang Clan’s martial arts look fragmented at first glance, but they’re like parts for a machine—dozens, hundreds of combinations possible. Comes from handling so many weapons.”
“Wild Wind Dance amps those combos up faster and more explosively, like lubricant? Helped me see the flows clearer.”
Probably no faction in the Central Plains uses as many tools as the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Hidden weapons get tossed once and gone. So movements get big, and reloading creates gaps between moves.
In a battlefield where life and death flip in an instant, those gaps are fatal.
That’s why the Sichuan Tang Clan researched ways to compensate.
Modular ultimate techniques were one result.
Tang Clan martial arts all have short stances. And they can always chain into others depending on the situation.
With their expertise in mechanisms beyond hidden weapons and poisons, they approached martial arts the same way.
That lets Tang Clan arts combine in endless ways, and flawed parts can be swapped anytime.
Swapped stances get refined later or scrapped.
Wild Wind Dance was the ultimate form of all those combos.
Faster, fiercer.
One Strike, Certain Kill.
Pour every ounce of the user’s power into a split second to end it.
If it fails?
What else? You just stand there like an idiot and get hit.
A fatal flaw.
But its one-strike power was so immense, they seemed to overlook it despite knowing.
To me, though, it had potential.
I figured I could patch that flaw somehow.
If I trained it with a fix in mind, it’d be great.
And.
Just like the Tang Clan’s modular arts, maybe I could apply it to the fragmented Heavenly Demon Armory Sword?
Wild Wind Dance was one thing, but it was time to start on the Heavenly Demon Armory Sword too.
“Impressive. Already seeing that far.”
“My teacher’s just that good.”
“If you’re gonna hype me up like that, handle the bill?”
Dang Gon grumbled but couldn’t hide his pleased smirk as he downed his glass.
Pour pour.
I refilled his empty one.
“Yeah, no can do. When else am I gonna ride the world’s Fierce Wind Knight?”
“Rich folks always want more!”
Clink.
This time, we toasted lightly and drank together.
“Where’d you even develop eyes like that?”
“Prepped and reviewed the textbook properly.”
“...Hiding it, huh. Bet you’ve got some secret master we don’t know.”
I just smiled silently.
“Damn it! Fine, I get it. Won’t pry.”
“First real talk with a Tang squad member, and I keep thinking we’ll get close?”
“If you’re wrong, you’re ruined.”
“Then join up under me. Won’t even give your drinking buddy a bed?”
“Hah, really! The world’s Fierce Wind Knight gets this treatment. Jeez.”
Talking about my master could go on forever.
Three days and nights wouldn’t cover it.
His looks, speech, warmth, smile, habits.
To me—a weed in a shadowy alley, ready to be trampled anytime—he shone dazzling and bright.
Everything I wanted to learn and emulate was in him.
“But one thing I’m pretty sure of.”
“What?”
“The master who taught you.”
Oh? From probing to straight-up certain?
Curious what he’d say, I watched.
“Must be a really good person.”
For a moment, my breath caught.
“...How’d you know?”
“Because you can smile like that.”
“......”
Fragments of emotion swirled in my head.
After that, Dang Gon kept chuckling and tilting his glass.
I picked at some snacks, chewing over his words again and again.