Mad Chicken (3)
A tremendous gust swept through the interior of Seongun Inn.
It was nothing more than the whirlwind kicked up by a single woman striding across the middle of the establishment.
Elder Byeok of the Beggars' Sect.
That woman, better known by her alias the Mad Chicken, charged at Jin Seongun with both palms thrust forward.
Her hands were drenched in a deep crimson, ferociously violent energy.
Jin Seongun held his breath for an instant and swung his hands to meet her, knocking one of her wrists upward while catching the other in a firm grip.
KRA-KOOOOOOM—!
The energy she had unleashed scattered into empty air with a deafening crack of displaced atmosphere.
Startled, Jin Seongun immediately glanced up at the ceiling.
Astonishingly, her massive surge of power had dissipated perfectly without so much as cracking the inn.
Which meant her control over her own energy was nothing short of extraordinary.
That nearly flew as a Blood Demon Palm.
Jin Seongun felt a chill run down his spine.
The Martial Gods had warned him time and again: use the Blood Demon's martial arts carelessly, and he might unexpectedly find himself with a great many more enemies.
For Jin Seongun, who wanted nothing more than to run his inn in peace, that was the last outcome he desired.
He lightly released her wrists and took a step back. It seemed he would need to air the place out for quite a while even after she left.
"What is this about?"
Jin Seongun asked in an even, unbothered tone.
At the sight of him, her eyes glinted dangerously and the corner of her mouth curled into a wide grin.
"You really are no ordinary waiter, are you?"
"I asked what you want."
Their gazes crossed in the air between them.
She had come merely to verify Sama Hui's tip, which had been intriguing enough—but now that they'd actually exchanged a few blows, the man turned out to be genuinely suspicious.
He was absolutely no mere waiter.
He wasn't an ordinary member of the martial world, either.
For someone who looked barely past twenty, he possessed martial prowess so overwhelming that comparing him to the young prodigies the world called the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes would have been almost embarrassing.
If it's this one, he could well have pulled it off.
Elder Byeok nodded as she recalled the Great Thief's recent trail of thefts. Her suspicion was slowly hardening into certainty.
That was when it happened.
Startled by the thunderous clamor, Baek Seol, Baek Sang, Tang Soyeon, and Seo Yugyeom hurried into the inn.
The moment they did, all but Seo Yugyeom spotted Elder Byeok and their faces went rigid.
"E-Elder Byeok!"
Tang Soyeon, who rarely lost her composure, actually stumbled over her words. Baek Sang and Baek Seol were struck completely speechless.
All three knew Elder Byeok's face well.
As rising stars of the Nine Sects and Five Noble Clans, they occasionally visited the Martial Alliance—and there, Elder Byeok's notoriety was legendary.
With scarcely any base remaining in the Beggars' Sect, Elder Byeok spent most of her time at the Alliance, and most of the trouble she caused happened there as well.
"Elder, what on earth is the meaning of this?"
Baek Sang stepped forward a full two paces as he asked.
Tang Soyeon and Baek Seol marveled at the sight. The stench in here was considerable enough to wear anyone down. So this was the patience of a Taoist who trained without fail—it really was built different.
The appearance of the three only deepened Elder Byeok's interest. Renowned rising stars of the martial world gathered in an inn like this was hardly an everyday sight.
Then her gaze drifted to Seo Yugyeom.
"And what's that one supposed to be?"
Elder Byeok let out a dry, incredulous laugh.
Sama Hui had reported that the inn's waiter and cook were no ordinary men. But seeing them with her own eyes—wasn't this a bit much?
Two martial artists far surpassing the rising stars of any great clan, working as a waiter and a cook in the same inn.
Having taken Seo Yugyeom's measure as well, Elder Byeok soon declared in a voice brimming with conviction:
"I'm going to have to search this inn."
As an elder of the Beggars' Sect and an elder stateswoman of the orthodox martial world, this was not something she could let slide.
How could anyone leave such suspicious characters unexamined, without a shred of doubt?
They really might be the rumored Great Thief. Or perhaps spies of the Demonic Cult—or worse, monsters secretly raised by the Unorthodox factions.
Every possibility that surfaced in her mind was deeply suspicious, so Elder Byeok acted without hesitation.
"Get in here."
She called out toward the outside.
At once, a swarm of ragged, grimy beggars poured into the inn.
Jin Seongun felt a violent wave of dizziness and pressed a hand to his forehead.
Meanwhile, Elder Byeok's gaze turned to Sama Hui, who was still lingering outside.
"You too. Inside."
"...Ah. Yes."
Sama Hui shuffled in reluctantly.
He did his best to manage his expression, but for a man of his fastidious nature, an inn crammed wall to wall with beggars was nothing short of torture.
Elder Byeok cackled and addressed her underlings.
"This inn reeks of something shady, so turn it over top to bottom. They might be the thief from the rumors—or they might be something even more dangerous. Find out how many pairs of undergarments each of them owns, and leave nothing out."
The nodding beggars were just about to move when—
"Do you have a warrant?"
Jin Seongun spoke in a low voice.
It was a very quiet remark, yet strangely it carried the power to stop every beggar filling the inn at once.
Elder Byeok's eyebrow twitched at the sight.
"When a report comes in, investigating is the principle."
"Did that report come from the Sama Clan?"
Jin Seongun's gaze settled on Sama Hui.
Sama Hui was staring back at him with his characteristic arrogant eyes.
Just as Jin Seongun was suppressing an internal sigh, a thread of voice transmission reached his ear.
— That Sama bastard. Should I just kill him?
It was Seo Yugyeom.
Jin Seongun's head began to throb.
"Sama Clan or otherwise, like I said—when a report comes in, investigating is the principle."
"And if I refuse?"
Jin Seongun stared straight at Elder Byeok.
This inn was, after all, his life and his livelihood. He had no intention of letting anyone barge in and rummage through it as they pleased.
"Refuse? I hadn't considered that."
"I refuse. You can consider it now."
"Haha..."
Elder Byeok let out a hollow laugh.
In the Martial Alliance—no, in all the world—few people had ever looked her this squarely in the eye.
"Elder, this is unjust!"
"Master Baek Sang is right. How can you search someone's inn without any warrant or..."
Elder Byeok's dry laugh deepened.
Even the young whelps who would normally tremble at a mere glance from her were stepping up to defend this inn.
That makes it all the more interesting.
Elder Byeok resolved to examine the inn today, no matter what.
Then her words continued.
"Fine. So you refuse the search. You're right—I can't just tear someone's shop apart without cause."
Tang Soyeon, Baek Sang, and Baek Seol—yes, even the beggars of the Beggars' Sect—turned to look at her in apparent surprise.
Soon Elder Byeok flashed a sly grin and went on.
"So instead, I'll notify the Martial Alliance and conduct an official investigation. You know the Alliance holds delegated authority from the government. Once a proper investigation begins, it won't be finished in a day. It'll take a good several days—maybe months—and during that time, you and that cook of yours won't be able to move so much as a finger, trapped inside this inn."
Jin Seongun pressed hard at his temples.
He rarely let himself get irritated, but the beggar before him truly had a gift for grinding on a person's nerves.
"Then what if I consent to a search right now?"
"One shichen. I swear we'll strip this place clean and be done within it."
Jin Seongun figured it was better to get the nuisance over with quickly.
The whole business about thieves and spies was fantasy in the first place.
There was, however, one matter he had to settle before agreeing.
"And if you find nothing? What then?"
"I'll apologize."
The answer came without a beat of hesitation.
Jin Seongun's eyes narrowed.
"I am a merchant."
The meaning was clear: don't think you'll wriggle out with words alone.
Elder Byeok laughed as if he were being amusing.
"Hahaha, what merchant are you supposed to be? You look more like a martial artist than anyone else in this inn."
"If you wrong an innocent man and cause him harm, you ought to compensate him. At the very least, if you're a martial artist of the orthodox path."
"You dare lecture me about the orthodox path?"
"I'm lecturing you about principle."
Their gazes collided head-on.
Though Elder Byeok was gradually flaring her pressure outward, Jin Seongun simply regarded her with a dry, impassive face.
Soon her words continued.
"Looks to me like you haven't even opened for business yet. What harm have you suffered, exactly?"
"The stench is so severe that I'll need to air the place out all day today. I can't open for business."
"..."
Elder Byeok blinked.
The other beggars were no different.
Sama Hui doubted his own ears for a moment, and Baek Seol clapped a hand over her mouth.
Elder Byeok had never in her life heard such slander to her face. Of course, neither had most beggars of the Beggars' Sect.
Beggars they may have been, but they were still one limb of the orthodox Nine Sects. Who would dare come out and tell one to her face that she reeked?
"Stench?"
"Yes."
"Beggars are supposed to stink."
"The world is full of streams, so why exactly should a beggar have to smell bad?"
"..."
She fell silent.
Come to think of it, the man had a point.
She spent a moment fishing for a rebuttal but couldn't come up with anything suitable. She cast her nearby beggars a look begging for help, but they were all in much the same state.
Jin Seongun pressed on.
"An establishment that sells food must be clean. That is an unspoken covenant between the guests and the keeper. Naturally, one cannot sell food while reeking like this. And so—"
"..."
"Compensating me for at least one day's earnings would be the proper thing to do."
Seo Yugyeom, listening quietly to the exchange, was floored.
So the man could actually string together a speech that long.
And his logic was airtight, too.
— Is he a genius or what?
Jin Seongun did his best to ignore the voice transmission.
Elder Byeok appeared to deliberate for a while, then finally spoke.
"How much?"
Jin Seongun raised five fingers.
"Five taels of silver? Business is that good?"
"Fifty taels."
"...F-fifty? Don't you lie to me. You dare mock an elder of the Beggars' Sect!"
"Ask the Wuhan Bank Yichang Branch, and you'll find I'm not lying."
"..."
Jin Seongun nodded calmly.
Elder Byeok's deliberation grew deeper.
She was a beggar by nature.
Nay, a woman who strove with all her might to remain one.
There were times she wanted to bathe, and she sternly resisted the urge.
She never once spent money buying food.
On the contrary, whenever coins found their way into her pocket, she tended to fling them into the nearest Beggars' Sect branch before moving on.
In a word: she did not have fifty taels of silver. If she went demanding it from the Sect Leader, she'd be beaten half to death.
Elder Byeok's gaze naturally slid toward Sama Hui.
Sama Hui cleared his throat and sent a voice transmission.
— I'll cover it.
As expected of the Sama Clan.
Her confidence returned.
"Very well. That fellow there will pay."
Every eye in the room turned to Sama Hui.
And so his attempt at a discreet voice transmission came to nothing.
It now looked exactly as though Sama Hui had harbored some personal grudge and brought Elder Byeok along because of it.
Which was, in fact, precisely the truth.
Sama Hui cleared his throat again and again.
"Well, then..."
Jin Seongun nodded without further ceremony.
It meant: search to your heart's content.
Truthfully, even on a day packed with guests from open to close, the inn cleared only about thirty-five taels of silver.
He was being offered a day of rest plus fifteen taels on top—there was no reason to refuse.