Vanishing Like a Ghost (2)
Hubei Province, Yichang.
The moment Jin Seongun and Seo Yugyeom entered Yichang, they climbed down from their carriage and proceeded on foot.
There was no need to draw attention by riding a carriage through the town itself.
During the ride, rumors about the Great Thief had kept pouring in.
He had stolen a high-ranking official's brush in Luoyang.
He had made off with the stakes of the Zhongnan Sect.
He had even swiped the signboard of Chang'an's underworld.
And this audacious devil had even stolen the scabbard from the Martial Alliance Leader's villa on the East Lake.
There was no doubt that every one of these deeds was his doing.
Wherever something vanished, a letter bearing the words Justice was said to be left in its place.
What remained ambiguous, however, was the type of things the Great Thief stole. If he made off with priceless treasures or committed some grand act of villainy, he could be branded a Public Enemy of the Martial World — but most of the items were so trivial that no one would even have noticed their absence had he not deliberately left a note behind.
"Discoursing on justice from the Martial Alliance Leader's own villa — the man has to be insane. Don't tell me a thief will hit our inn too?"
On the surface, Seo Yugyeom's words sounded like worry. But his expression, his tone, and his whole attitude betrayed a very obvious undercurrent of anticipation.
Jin Seongun gave him an incredulous look before answering.
"What could anyone possibly steal from the inn that would warrant such a master thief? Even if he came, he'd walk off with a few wine cups at most."
"I suppose."
Seo Yugyeom's face fell.
He was an ex-assassin, after all — he'd wanted to face off against a thief. More than that, he had been itching to test the ice arts he'd cultivated after consuming the Millennium Ice Essence.
He'd dreamed of freezing a thief right there in the middle of the street — one even the Namgung Clan had failed to catch — and declaring, loud and proud, Behold! Caught by the cook of Seongun Inn!
Jin Seongun let out a long sigh.
And so the two crossed the main street of Yichang. As familiar faces greeted them one by one, it felt — unexpectedly — like returning to a hometown that wasn't theirs at all.
But something about the atmosphere was strange.
The closer they drew to Seongun Inn, the more the crowd thickened before their eyes.
"There are far more people here than in Deyang?"
"……"
An ominous feeling crept over Jin Seongun.
He had left the inn in other people's hands and been away quite a while, after all.
With the seasoned Han Seongchun and Elder Hyeon Un of Wudang holding the fort, nothing catastrophic could have happened — but the greatest lunatic of the era, Seomun Ak, was also in the mix, and that thought gnawed at him.
Soon, Seongun Inn came into view in the distance.
And the two men stopped dead in their tracks at the same instant.
"That's it, right?"
"It is, but……"
Seongun Inn had changed. It had always been the busiest inn in Yichang, but now the crowd had grown so enormous that it formed a queue stretching into the far distance.
Jin Seongun stopped a man passing by with a pack on his back and asked.
"Why is that inn so packed?"
"Ah, that's the only place in the Central Plains where you can drink the famous liquor Yanghe Daqu, friend. Otherwise you'd have to trek all the way out to some village called Deyang, and that's far too distant."
Sichuan sat at the very western edge of the Central Plains. In other words, from nearly every region except Sichuan itself — Hubei, of course, but also Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan — gourmets were flocking in, determined to get a taste of Yanghe Daqu.
People who traveled just to sample a liquor were, by and large, those with the leisure and means to do so. And they wouldn't come merely to sip and leave. They would eat, drink, lodge, and spend.
"An absolute fortune. For all I know, that inn's owner is about to become one of the richest men around."
Jin Seongun — the owner of that very inn — nodded slowly. He had certainly anticipated an effect like this to some degree, but the scale of it was a little excessive.
Seongun Inn was, at its foundation, not that large.
More than half the people standing in that line would likely never set foot inside before being turned away.
Seo Yugyeom sidled up beside Jin Seongun, who was staring blankly, and said:
"If I were a thief, that inn would be the first place I'd hit."
"……"
Jin Seongun exhaled a deep, deep sigh.
On a whim, Jin Seongun spread his perception through the surroundings before stepping into the inn.
He did his best to ignore someone shouting, "Hey! No cutting in line!"
When Jin Seongun and Seo Yugyeom walked in, Seomun Ak looked up — half in a daze — wiping his sweat as he spoke.
"Ah, could I get you a ticket number first……"
Then he recognized their faces, and a vacant expression flickered across his features.
A moment later, a procession of emotions swept over his face in turn — grievance, exhaustion, anger, resentment, a small flicker of gladness, and an enormous wave of relief.
"You're back!"
Seomun Ak's eyes were truly glazed over.
His whole body reeked of liquor and food. Understandable — the inn was crammed with customers who had come running after hearing the rumors, so much so that they'd shoved the original tables aside and squeezed in several more.
Behind Seomun Ak stood Hyeon Un and Oh Jeong-san, wearing nearly identical expressions.
No matter how formidable one's martial arts, the battlefield of honest labor was a different arena altogether.
What the customers didn't know was that the people serving their drinks and food were the eldest son of the Seomun Clan, an elder of Wudang, and a Wudang secular disciple.
Seo Yugyeom's gaze turned toward the kitchen. A heat like a war front came pouring out of it.
The veteran cook Han Seongchun must have been cooking until his wrists gave out.
"Let's work first, talk later."
Rolling up his sleeves, Seo Yugyeom headed into the kitchen.
From within came Han Seongchun's cry of welcome.
The day swept past like a raging typhoon.
By its end, everyone except Jin Seongun sat slumped in their chairs with hollow eyes.
"You……"
Seomun Ak could only gape at Jin Seongun.
A wave of customers that three top masters of the martial world could barely weather together — but the moment Jin Seongun was thrown into the fray, everything changed at once.
Seomun Ak had admired Jin Seongun from the start. A man his own age, wielding staggering martial power.
But compared to the admiration born of martial prowess, the awe he felt today, watching Jin Seongun's ability as a waiter for a single day, was several times greater.
"This absolute monster of a man."
Jin Seongun scratched his head.
He had handled the most customers of anyone, but since it was the work he'd done his whole life, it hadn't been all that exhausting. If anything, a fresh surge of guilt and gratitude toward those who had kept the inn running in his absence washed over him.
"I'm sorry. I never dreamed things would get this busy."
When Jin Seongun offered the awkward apology, Hyeon Un and Oh Jeong-san waved their hands in quick denial.
They were the ones who had grandly ordered him to go settle his business in the first place — they had no intention of taking credit over something like this.
"So, was the matter resolved?"
Hyeon Un asked, looking at Seo Yugyeom.
This journey through the Jianghu had been undertaken to rein in Seo Yugyeom's bloodlust.
Seo Yugyeom nodded with a confident face.
"Resolved completely."
"Judging by how that rotten tongue of yours hasn't changed a bit, seems like you'll have to make the trip again."
Seomun Ak cleared his throat loudly beside them. He did not even want to imagine Seo Yugyeom and Jin Seongun leaving again.
Hyeon Un burst into a hearty laugh at the sight of him, then continued.
"Tell me everything. In detail."
Seo Yugyeom stared at the wine cups spread across the table for a long moment, then gathered them toward the center of the table. His palm swept over the cups.
Just as the others were watching in puzzlement—
Crackle-crack—!
Pure white frost bloomed over the wine cups, and a skin of ice formed across the surface of the liquor.
Oh Jeong-san and Seomun Ak — and even Hyeon Un — stared at Seo Yugyeom in astonishment.
"Did you learn ice arts in the past?"
"I had an encounter. Thanks to it, I've become cold-blooded — I can control my bloodlust now."
Cold-blooded was an exaggeration, but it was true that his head and chest had grown remarkably calm since mastering the ice arts. Especially throughout the entire journey back to Yichang after settling the Hwaun Merchant Group affair — not once had his bloodlust boiled up against his will.
Hyeon Un let out a rumbling laugh.
"And the Hwaun Merchant Group?"
"Still standing. Jin Seongun, you tell them the rest. I'll whip up a few simple side dishes."
As Seo Yugyeom disappeared into the kitchen, every gaze in the room turned to Jin Seongun.
He spent a moment recalling the events of Deyang in order, then began to speak.
"There was a place called Deyang Inn……"
The explanation continued in his trademark even, level tone. No emotion, no judgment — only a flat recitation of events.
And yet, as they listened, everyone's eyes grew wider and wider.
And when the story surged all the way to the death of Saryeonggeuk, Vice Alliance Leader of the Thousand Poisons Alliance—
"Wh-what did you say?! That man is dead?!"
Hyeon Un cried out, bolting upright.
The Thousand Poisons Alliance held Sichuan, and Wudang held Hubei — but the distance between them was not great, and so each had long kept a wary eye on the other.
Naturally, as an elder of Wudang, Hyeon Un knew Saryeonggeuk well. A true master, and a rare one who wielded the fast saber.
"Yes. His saber method was certainly unusual."
Jin Seongun nodded calmly and carried on with his account.
The help of Tang Tae-san, Grand Elder of the Tang Clan. The conduct of Hwa Yeonseol, head of the merchant group. The Yanghe Daqu. The death of Chief Manager Hoyeon Baek. Even his deliberation over whether to add guest rooms to the inn.
When the explanation ended, no one could find words. They simply sat there with dazed faces, replaying the matter-of-fact tale they had just heard.
Han Seongchun was staggered by the sheer scale of it. He had known the inn's cook and waiter were masters capable of killing Sikmugaek — but this was on another level entirely.
Seomun Ak was stunned by Jin Seongun's martial might. So much so that he could barely believe the man was a warrior his own age — it verged on despair.
Oh Jeong-san felt something similar. He had toiled his whole life, yet had not even reached the latter half of the Peak Realm.
But the one most shaken of all was Hyeon Un.
First, because he knew directly of Saryeonggeuk's martial power and the Thousand Poisons Alliance's character, he understood what had happened in Deyang better than anyone else present.
But there was something else that troubled him far more……
"What did that Poison Lord fellow say to you?"
"Whether I have a lover, whether Sichuan food suits my palate, whether I've ever seen a woman with eyes beautiful as jewels…… I confess I don't quite follow his meaning."
Hyeon Un's teeth ground together. The Poison Lord's intent was so transparent it was obscene!
What did he say? A woman with eyes like jewels?
There was no doubt he was speaking of Tang Soyeon, the treasured jewel of the Tang Clan.
Have you ever seen such a shameless wretch in your life!
Hyeon Un swallowed his fury inwardly.
Whatever anyone said, Jin Seongun was the uncut gem he had discovered first. Above all, he was the one who would inherit the lineage of progression and become the Sword Immortal of the Dao.
"And so — what did you answer?"
"I told him I have no lover, that Sichuan food is delicious, and that I've never seen a woman with jewel-like eyes, so I couldn't say."
Hyeon Un's expression eased slightly.
Apparently Jin Seongun held no particular feelings toward Tang Soyeon.
Of course, the Poison Phoenix's heart matters too — but the odds of that girl setting her heart on Seongun are vanishingly slim.
Poison Phoenix was Tang Soyeon's epithet.
One of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes — the eight most prodigious rising talents of the age.
Hyeon Un had several grounds for predicting Tang Soyeon's heart.
First, as the precious jewel of the Tang Clan, she would have been raised in luxury her entire life. Ordinary credentials would hardly satisfy her.
Second, anyone — man or woman — who had mastered the extreme depths of poison arts grew cold and bitter at heart, and rarely harbored romantic feeling.
And last, the two of them had met exactly once, hadn't they?
Just as Hyeon Un thought this and nodded to himself with effort—
The door of Seongun Inn swung open with a bang.
At this late hour, it could not be a customer.
A moment later, two people strode in, laughing heartily.
"Great Hero Jin, it's been far too long! I hear you recently paid us a visit in Sichuan?"
"Seongun, my boy, so we meet again! Ah — and the White Cloud Sword is here as well? Then I take it nothing at all is happening at Wudang! Hahaha!"
The Poison Phoenix, Tang Soyeon, and the Poison Lord, Tang Tae-san.
The two people Hyeon Un least wished to see in the entire world had just arrived, in real time.
"And what, exactly, brings you here?"
There were thorns in Hyeon Un's words.
Tang Tae-san answered with a carefree chuckle.
"Word has it a brazen thief has been stirring up the whole realm of late. They say his trail leads here, to Yichang — so I've come to catch him, among other things."
"Among other things? That sounds suspiciously like you have a different purpose in mind."
When Hyeon Un demanded the answer as if seized by a convulsion, Tang Tae-san only smiled. The smile carried a quiet, unshakable confidence.
Right after the Sikmugaek incident, every master gathered at that table had coveted Jin Seongun alike. But Hyeon Un's position had been so firmly entrenched that none had dared reveal that greed.
Now it was different.
A blood alliance had been forged between the Hwaun Merchant Group, Seongun Inn, and the Sichuan Tang Clan.
And so the Grand Elder of the Tang Clan and the Elder of Wudang found themselves locked in a fierce, unexpected war of glares.
Amid the standoff, Tang Soyeon spoke up — in an unusually small, demure voice.
"By the way…… where's Seo, the young hero?"
And in that very instant, Hyeon Un's eyes flashed.