The Heavenly Demon and the Sword Empress Go Out for a Day in the City (Part 2)
Behind the burly man's thick, gravelly voice came the whining tone of the little helper who had escorted us earlier.
"Sorry, Young Master! H-however, the ingredients truly ran out and there was nothing we could do!"
"You bastard! I heard you shouting for three portions of Bu-Do-Jang in the kitchen! How dare you cause trouble in such a place!"
"That was the last order! I swear it, Young Master... please spare me..."
A woman's voice, nasal and full of needless complaints, cut through the argument as well.
"Aigoo~ What a shame. This girl really wanted to devour a warm, fresh Bu-Do-Jang at the Hwa-Wol-Lu~"
The burly man's tone turned suddenly reckless.
"Don't worry, Young Miss. I'll find a way to handle it."
He turned back to the helper.
"The last order has already been placed, so the meal won't be ready yet. Which noble brought in the three portions of Bu-Do-Jang? Perhaps from the Gu Clan or one of the Five Great Sects?"
"I... I'm afraid that's information this humble one cannot easily share..."
"Hah! Do you truly think me beneath your notice, you insolent worm? Spit it out!"
The terrified helper finally pointed toward our side room.
"Those three are in the room over there... two women wearing veils to cover their faces and one young man. They all carry swords, so they look like warriors from the Murim, but their attire doesn't match the Gu Clan or the Five Great Sects."
"I see. As expected."
Heavy, wide strides approached our private room from the corridor.
I frowned and stood up from my seat.
"Annoying pests have stuck to us. I'll take care of them and be right back."
My words made Ye-hwa's expression flicker with a trace of worry.
"If you get angry and end up killing them, you'll regret it later, right? You won't do that, will you?"
"Look at him. He's the type who..."
Don't worry, noona. Even in broad daylight I don't kill people.
Unless absolutely necessary.
I stepped out alone. The subordinate who had been heading toward our room stopped dead in his tracks.
We faced each other with three paces between us.
He looked six or seven years older than me, shorter in height but with thicker limbs.
He wore gorgeous silk robes, and a pair of gauntlets reinforced with black iron hung at his waist.
Beside him stood a woman dressed in equally flamboyant attire.
The little helper, bowing apologetically from the side, was also visible.
I flicked my gaze at the subordinate.
"Noisy little pest."
At once the man smiled in a friendly manner.
"Greetings, Senior. I am Hwangbo Jun of the Hwangbo Clan. My father is the Heavenly Sword King, the Great Master of Mount Tai who rules the Hwangbo Clan."
As expected, he really did look like the kind of trash that came from that family.
While I stood there with a nonchalant expression, a flicker of surprise crossed his face.
For only a moment, then he began to spout nonsense without shame.
"This side is Young Miss Gongson Young-Young of the Gongson Clan."
Hwangbo Jun introduced the woman beside him.
She was about my age, perhaps just over twenty. The gown tightly cinched her waist, thrusting her chest forward and accentuating her cleavage.
It was nothing compared to noona Ye-hwa's or even to the proud bust of Seo-ryeong.
Yet she seemed convinced of her own assets, leaning slightly forward so that her deep cleavage was fully on display as she greeted me.
"Oh my, what a handsome young hero! Hello~ I'm Young-Young~ ♡"
Watching Gongson Young-Young wink at me, Hwangbo Jun's eyebrows twitched.
Gongson Young-Young glanced sideways at the man playing with her palm and curled her fox-like lips upward.
Hwangbo Jun tightened his shoulders and spoke.
"Senior, I have a small request."
"Request?"
"Today I promised Young Miss Gongson that I would treat her to Bu-Do-Jang from the Hwa-Wol-Lu. Unfortunately, the ingredients ran out. A man of my station cannot break a promise made to a woman! What shame is there in that? Fortunately, however, the Bu-Do-Jang I ordered has not yet reached the table. I must trouble you, Senior. For my reputation, please lend me that portion. I will repay you several times over with food of my own making."
I calmly refused Hwangbo Jun's blatant lie.
"There's nothing to worry about. Leave us."
At once Hwangbo Jun blinked with a face like a bloated toad.
"Hahaha... Senior? Did you not hear what I said earlier? I am Hwangbo Jun of the Hwangbo Clan, after all!"
The Hwangbo Clan, tied together with the Namgung, Jeogal, Heukbong, and Seocheon Clans as one of the Five Great Sects.
Wealthy nobles and imperial aristocrats in the Murim.
If you don't want to be targeted by the Hwangbo Clan, crawl away on your own.
That was probably the exact message Hwangbo Jun wanted to convey.
But the thought I actually had right then was entirely different.
The Hwangbo Clan was famous for its powerful Quan-Gak techniques that turned the entire body into a weapon.
For that reason, their members trained their flesh with top-tier external energy, making them tough against enemy weapons.
In other words, they had excellent physiques.
It was fortunate, then, that I needed live flesh for practicing the Honwonbaekroegong anyway.
I smiled with a lucky feeling.
"What can I say? With your family barely holding onto the bottom of the Five Great Sects, you worry about losing to the Murong or Shandong Yue Clans?"
Hwangbo Jun's face flushed red and a vein bulged on his neck.
"You insolent bastard! How dare you! How dare you insult the Great Hwangbo Clan! I'll kill you!"
Boom!
Hwangbo Jun stomped the floor so hard it cracked, then lunged straight at me with a fist.
It was the Heavenly King Fist of the Hwangbo Clan.
Had I not heard his name beforehand, I would have mistaken it for the Tian Wang Quan—its execution was that crude.
The inner energy in the fist was decent, but the lower body was weak, causing his balance to waver and his timing to be off.
The biggest problem was that it was so slow it would make a yawn escape.
From what I had seen with my eyes, his martial skill was at the very beginning of the Peak stage.
Not a bad level by Murim standards.
But among the warriors of the Five Great Sects who ate royal delicacies and received top-tier tutoring from childhood, reaching Peak just into their late twenties as direct disciples of the clan head was nothing to boast about.
Moreover, those with abundant internal energy but sloppy forms like him were no match even for seasoned First-Class warriors in real combat.
No wonder his talent was mediocre and he had been relegated to the family's leftovers.
That's why he had come to Luoyang, sold the family name, and seduced women to live comfortably.
While I was lost in thought, Hwangbo Jun's fist closed in to within a palm's width of my face.
Snick—
I seized his wrist with the fingers of my palm and stopped the punch dead.
Then I drew lightning qi from my dantian.
Chi-chi-chi-chi—
Purple lightning surged through his wrist straight into his body.
"Aaaargh?!"
The man let out a ridiculous scream and began to tremble violently.
This was the Lightning Cop Striking Technique of the Honwonbaekroegong.
A non-lethal art meant to teach manners to shameless bastards who have no regard for heaven and earth.
"Ugh... you... using strange sorcery..."
Oh? Even at Peak level he can withstand this much?
I could have raised the output.
Chi-chi-chi-chi-chi—
"Aaaaargh?!?!"
The smell of sizzling meat spread through the air.
While Gongson Young-Young and the helper could only hop in place, unable to stop me, I gradually increased the output of the lightning and practiced its control.
Martial arts cannot be perfected by knowledge alone.
For deep skills like the Honwonbaekroegong, it was even more so.
Therefore, to wield the Honwonbaekroegong at pre-regression level, steady practice was needed until the skill became natural in the body.
Before long, Seo-ryeong and Ye-hwa had also put on their veil hats and come out to watch me.
"Huh, so it really doesn't kill. It's interesting how versatile it is. The more I see of Mu-hwi's martial arts, the more fascinating they become."
"Will it really not kill suddenly? I hope you don't end up having to dispose of the bodies... Well, it's not like anyone else. Since you attacked Young Hero first, he can die if he wants."
A short while later, I released Hwangbo Jun's wrist. His eyes rolled back and he fainted.
The pain of nerves burning from lightning was different from ordinary beating—it hurt on another level.
I had never expected a man who had lived his whole life without a single hardship to endure for long.
"Uuuuh..."
Hwangbo Jun writhed on the floor until his body relaxed, then, as if relieved, he relieved himself right there.
Shiiiii—
Truly, just like expected.
Thanks to the increased sensitivity, however, I had gained quite a bit of feel for controlling lightning.
I turned my head toward Gongson Young-Young, who was still trembling.
"Hey, Young Miss Gongson."
"Y-yes? Why, why are you looking at me like that, Great Hero..."
"Since the guy is in this state because of your sake, show some loyalty. Carry him to the doctor right now."
"W-what? Carry him? That thing?"
Gongson Young-Young spoke about Hwangbo Jun as if he were filthier than garbage.
I understood. The pungent smell of urine soaking through her clothes. No one would want to carry something like that.
But that was none of my business.
"If you don't want to, I'll turn you into the same mess."
Zuzu—
I held up one finger near Gongson Young-Young's face and summoned lightning.
The terrified woman moved at lightning speed.
"Y-yes! I'll do it!"
As a woman of a respectable clan—not quite at the level of the Five Great Sects but still well-regarded—Gongson Young-Young's martial skill was not bad.
She lifted the far larger, unconscious Hwangbo Jun effortlessly and dashed down the stairs.
Even unconscious, he had rubbed against her chest, so the guy would probably thank me later.
I entered the private room with Seo-ryeong and Ye-hwa.
Seo-ryeong immediately went to the window, smiled happily, and pointed outside with her finger.
"Look, look. There are those fools over there."
I and Ye-hwa sharpened our eyesight and hearing to focus on the scene.
A rare sight in broad daylight: a slender woman carrying a burly man who was also unconscious and had wet himself.
Of course, passersby on the street stared with burning eyes.
Gongson Young-Young, who had been walking with her head down from shame, suddenly screamed.
"Kyahaaa!"
She spun wildly, trying to shake off the unconscious Hwangbo Jun on her back.
In doing so, the man groped her breasts madly while calling for his mother.
"M-mother..."
"Stop! Let go, you idiot!"
Finally, Gongson Young-Young managed to throw Hwangbo Jun off.
But as she did, the front of her clothes tore off.
Tear!
Two massive objects resembling thick cloth bundles fell to the floor.
Seeing Gongson Young-Young's exposed chest, which had suddenly shrunk dramatically compared to the clothing, I immediately understood its purpose.
Ah, so that's the peach...
"Gyaaaaaah!"
Gongson Young-Young, losing her rationality along with the peaches, screamed in fury.
She kicked Hwangbo Jun's head with all her strength, covered her breasts, and used full-power gungong to flee.
Watching the scene, Seo-ryeong burst out laughing openly.
"Ahahaha!"
Ye-hwa covered her mouth and shook with laughter until she finally burst out as well.
"Puff... puff... puhf... ahaha!"
I even dropped the cold, cruel slave-master persona for a moment and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha hahaha hahaha!"