Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Myriad Dragon Escort Agency (2)
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"It's fine if you insult my companions."
"What?"
"But insulting me is unforgivable."
"…"
In an instant, the surroundings fell silent.
Even the thug leader was stunned by Cheongun's sudden nonsense.
No, wasn't it usually the other way around?
At Cheongun's utterly unexpected remark, the thug stared at him with a blank face.
Namhyeok clutched his bleeding mouth and took stock of the situation.
He gazed at the pork knuckle Cheongun was tearing into with gusto.
It was a large, sturdy bone chunk with thick layers of meat clinging to it.
It matched exactly the one lodged in his own teeth.
Namhyeok panicked for a moment.
His teeth shattered by something like that?
He hadn't even noticed its approach, let alone its trajectory.
Realizing Cheongun was no mere drifter sent his rage, which had surged to the top of his head, draining away.
But people each have their own way of thinking.
Unlike Namhyeok, who had instantly grasped the situation and made his judgment, Juseoljin was already seething over his broken teeth.
With all those eyes on him, backing down now would crumple his pride.
Before Namhyeok could stop him, Juseoljin shot to his feet.
"You son of a bitch!"
The words weren't even finished.
Cheongun flung the pork knuckle. It spun wildly through the air and embedded precisely into Juseoljin's brow.
"Gahk!"
Mid-sentence, with a dull thwack, the bone lodged in his forehead as he toppled backward.
Boom! Seeing Juseoljin crash down with a thunderous noise, Namhyeok's face went pale.
'What the hell did I just see?'
Clearly, sword qi had flickered around the flying pork bone.
Sword qi on a pig bone?
Was that even possible?
Namhyeok swallowed hard.
'Fuck, we picked the wrong fight.'
As his rage ebbed away, fear began to creep in to fill the void.
The martial artists around him, having grasped the situation, coughed awkwardly and averted their eyes, burying themselves in their meals.
His comrade lay collapsed beside him with no sign of stirring.
Cheongun wasn't even paying them any mind.
Just as they were sneaking glances and trying to slip away,
Whoosh.
Thud!
Before he could even leave his seat, another pork knuckle flew in and embedded itself right at Namhyeok's feet.
It sank smoothly into the stone floor.
Perfectly clean, without a single crack.
This is fucked.
Living this long, it was the first time he'd seen someone hurl a pig knuckle like a hidden weapon.
"Where you going?"
Namhyeok squeezed his eyes shut at Cheongun's voice coming from behind.
He turned his body carefully and approached Cheongun like a criminal gauging his reaction.
Cheongun, gnawing on another pork knuckle, asked,
"What's your name?"
"Namhyeok."
"Your affiliation?"
"Myriad Dragon Escort Agency."
Cheongun asked, sounding surprised.
"An escort?"
"Yes, great hero."
An escort agency was a kind of transport and security firm from ancient China.
What kind of world was this?
One where law and order were for the dogs, the land was absurdly vast, and martial arts cheats existed.
Merchant caravans had to wrestle bandits and tolls every trip, and taverns selling liquor constantly dealt with drunken martial artist troublemakers.
And so escort agencies were born—those who made their living by guaranteeing clients' safety in exchange for payment.
"Then why start trouble?"
"Please spare my life!"
"You trash-talk my companions like that and beg for mercy? Got any shame?"
"Pardon? But earlier you said insulting your companions was fine…"
"Talking back?"
"No!"
Namhyeok bowed his head first.
He'd known from the dual swords that the guy wasn't right in the head, but his actions showed he was thoroughly unhinged.
And speaking of cliques, that "companion" monk—a supposed Buddhist—devouring booze and meat in broad daylight was far from sane by any measure.
Best policy was to steer clear of madmen.
And they'd gone and poked a high-level crazy one.
As Namhyeok swallowed and peeked at Cheongun's expression,
"Myriad Dragon Escort Agency, you said?"
"Ah, yes."
Cheongun fell into thought.
Wasn't Myriad Dragon one of the Central Plains' Ten Great Escort Agencies?
More importantly, its chief was Yi Gunbaek, one of the Four Great Escorts.
"You sure?"
"…Well, precisely, I'm with the Chengdu branch of Myriad Dragon Escort Agency."
Bang Jongdae nodded.
"Young hero Cheongun, may this monk say a word?"
"What is it?"
"Myriad Dragon is counted among the Ten Great Escort Agencies, but this Chengdu branch has a notorious reputation."
"Is that so?"
"It's rumored they scam with fake land deeds, hire thugs, collude with merchant caravans, and fleece civilians."
Oh, straight-up like hired goons?
Scum of the earth.
Real estate fraud to boot?
Suddenly, memories surfaced of before his possession—getting hit with a deposit scam and ending up homeless.
That shock had been on par with arriving in this world.
Cheongun grinned and called out to Namhyeok.
"Hey, trash."
"Y-yes."
"Spare you?"
"Please spare me!"
Namhyeok answered swiftly.
Cheongun nodded as he watched him.
"If I do, you'll scamper off and whine to your buddies, right?"
"Pardon?"
"Vowing revenge for the broken teeth, dragging in every last one. Escorts are vicious about protecting their own."
"Gr-great hero!"
"Then you'll comb the area like rats hunting me down?"
"No, absolutely not."
"Good. Go."
"…Pardon?"
As Namhyeok blinked in confusion, Cheongun shooed him away.
"Get going."
"…"
Namhyeok was dumbfounded.
He'd just been listing all the reasons why Cheongun should kill him, mouth parched with fear.
And now, go?
What if he actually went back and fetched his comrades as described?
But looking at Cheongun, he seemed to want exactly that.
'…That confident, huh?'
Among warriors, there was a type obsessed with justification.
No matter how willful their lives, they wouldn't move without proper pretext.
So he was sending him back.
To lure out any hint of retaliation, then use it as cause to strike.
"Scram."
"Th-thank you, great hero!"
As Namhyeok bolted from his seat,
"Haha, hold up a moment."
Bang Jongdae, gripping his 108 prayer beads, halted him.
"Don't you still have business with this monk?"
"Pardon?"
"What was that you said earlier? The monk's gone mad, gorging on booze and meat in broad daylight—enough to make Buddha weep?"
"Ah, no, that was…"
Namhyeok panicked.
Why was this monk suddenly flipping out?
"Not booze—it's grain water."
"Pardon?"
"And do you know this?"
"…?"
Bang Jongdae asked.
At the same time, he tightly wrapped the beads around his fist and subtly lowered his stance.
"Buddha never forbade meat-eating."
"What do you… Agh!"
Smack!
Bang Jongdae's fist slammed precisely into Namhyeok's face.
Namhyeok survived.
He got smashed by some crazy monk out of nowhere, face turned to mush, but he lived.
He dragged the unconscious Juseoljin back to the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency's Chengdu branch.
And quickly investigated those damn two's identities.
Not hard.
They were pretty famous.
"Mad Heaven Swordless!"
Mad Heaven Swordless Cheongun.
This year's Dangaji Conference champion, and direct disciple of the Sword Sovereign.
And that was just the start.
Bloodline Pavilion and Darkwood Sect had both been swept away by him alone.
No ordinary heavyweight.
Namhyeok thought to himself:
If he'd pushed it there, he'd be dead.
And the other surprise was the monk beside the boy.
The sole disciple of Justice Alliance Leader Geum Myeongju?
Essentially a monster backed by both Shaolin Temple and the Justice Alliance.
'That crazy monk…?'
Hard to believe, but cross-verifying the info multiple times confirmed it was real.
The moment he realized, Namhyeok immediately shelved any revenge.
He'd planned to rally the escorts and chew those bastards up, but now the estimate was impossible.
"We really just leaving them be?"
"Yeah. Don't give a damn. No interest."
"But that guy broke Nam-hyung's teeth…"
"Forget it. Losing a few teeth cheap for challenging a superior."
If it were him in Cheongun's place, he'd have ripped off an arm and leg at least.
That was when.
"Intruders!"
The booming shout snapped him alert.
Namhyeok rushed straight to the agency's central training ground.
It was packed as if every escort had gathered.
All swords drawn, encircling someone.
Namhyeok shoved through to the center.
There stood two men.
A youth with dual swords at his waist and a fishing rod slung over his shoulder.
A bald monk grinning with prayer beads wrapped around his fists like brass knuckles.
Cheongun and Bang Jongdae.
"Gr-great hero? What brings you here?"
Cheongun answered Namhyeok's question.
"I broke your teeth."
"Pardon?"
Cheongun said with a distant look.
"Now come take revenge."
"…"
"It was summer."
"…"