The Bait
Slowly gathering his internal energy, he opened his eyes.
Still not enough qi, huh.
He still couldn’t even bring forth Ilwol Eumyang Singong’s first blossom, the First Flower.
If he had to put it another way, maybe it had barely reached the level of a half-bloom.
He hadn’t broken through the meridians yet, and he still couldn’t condense qi in his dantian.
His body was in too poor a state. He needed more time to recover.
Once the immediate fire was put out, he’d have to focus on healing his internal wounds first.
Late. Too late.
It was about time he led those kids over and had them attack me.
-I’ll just pass along the message.
-Cheon Sojin, leave it to me.
I didn’t trust Chiri, of course.
She’d been trembling like a leaf and bowing her head in apology just a moment ago, but human nature changed depending on whether you were walking into a bathroom or out of one.
Besides, she probably believed the vagrants had a better chance than I did.
I could already picture her chirping away like a magpie, spilling everything she’d learned.
Which was exactly why I’d sent her.
When they thought they had the advantage, they’d show themselves before me.
That was the setup.
"Sir, I’ve brought the tea you requested."
The tea was steaming hot, the rich scent of green leaves rising from it in thick waves.
"Thank you."
"Oh, no, not at all, sir. Please, you don’t have to speak so formally—it’s putting me on edge. Shall I bring you another pot?"
As he spoke, the innkeeper kept bowing again and again.
I took a sip of the tea, hot steam brushing my face.
Second one.
"No, this is enough. The tea has a unique, deep flavor."
"Is that so? It did take longer than usual to steep the leaves. Since you’re such an honored guest, I suppose we put our hearts into it."
Just as the innkeeper said, they had indeed put their hearts into it.
Only—
Do you really think this kind of thing works when it’s obvious this is enemy territory?
It was so stupid it was almost admirable.
It was basically the same as saying, We’re in the same gang as the thugs in the hall.
As some ancient sage once said, if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
What that really meant, when you got down to it, was: if you understand it, don’t get cocky about it.
Poison, to put it simply, was any substance that acted upon living things and brought about death.
The first time, I could generously accept that it had been a mistake.
Maybe the cook just happened to be a master of poison arts.
But the second time?
If they were going to leak poison so blatantly into the tea, there was no way not to notice it.
"Do you happen to know how to cook?"
"It’s embarrassing to admit, but the cold noodles you had earlier were made by me."
Oh?
Passed.
That was qualification enough.
Cold noodles were the only thing this inn served.
"The head cook is going to quit soon. Why don’t you take over for him?"
"Sir? What do you mean by that…?"
The innkeeper looked up in bewilderment, but I turned away without another word and headed straight for the kitchen.
*
While the head cook was presumably off in heaven tasting his own signature tea leaves,
Crash!
With a thunderous noise, the inn’s front door was flung wide open.
Before long, a man who looked like he had a hair-trigger temper strode straight toward me.
About a dozen people followed behind him.
Only a dozen?
I could feel it without even looking—neither Chiri nor the vagrants were among them.
"You’re the one? The bastard who did this to my men?"
"…."
"Not bad. Follow me."
Look at these bastards.
As expected of vagrants, their thinking was short and stupid.
They weren’t in a position to demand anything of me, and yet they were trying some cheap little trick like this.
If I’d been the dumb original protagonist, I might’ve obediently followed them, but what was I supposed to do? That wasn’t me.
A dry laugh slipped out before I could stop it.
"You’re laughing? Looks like you got cocky after beating the trash that was here. We…."
"So you use martial arts, huh?"
"…Y-yeah. Since you know that, you’d better come along peacefully—w-why is my body…?"
The man’s face drained of blood as fear washed over him.
Even if I was just second-rate trash at the moment, with no internal energy to speak of, that didn’t mean martial arts were nothing.
Intent and comprehension operate on a completely different level.
Of course, if a real master showed up in this condition, then yes, I’d be in danger.
And if they were stalling for time, they’d almost certainly already sent word to the force behind them.
The power backing them was probably Geohon Alliance, Bangsamun, Bidomun, Heukyamun…
Even if it was Sayeolseong, the Blood Demon’s personal assassination unit, it wouldn’t matter.
There was no way they’d lift a finger for a handful of tiny vagrants like these.
I hadn’t even reached the First Flower of Ilwol Eumyang Singong yet, but in this place, there was no one who could match me.
Chiri had failed too spectacularly.
Couldn’t even handle this easy little task?
"That entertainment house in the center of the village—Baekhwaru—that’s yours, isn’t it?"
"Wha—! T-that’s… no."
So that means yes.
If you’re going to lie, at least do it with some confidence.
Still, considering they’d established themselves in Jinwan Village for years, they weren’t completely hopeless—their instincts were quick.
Swish—
Slash—
In an instant, they drew their blades.
Sure enough, their sword-drawing speed and stances were better than the guys from before.
That was about it, though…
"Y-you’re really thinking of fighting this many people? No matter how strong you are…!"
Panic. Panic everywhere.
They didn’t need to worry about me.
The guy was awfully meddlesome.
I rose slowly to my feet.
There’s an unspoken rule in inns: when one man faces many, no one dies.
But that only applies during mealtime.
Orthodox martial arts are such a strange thing.
Without a word, I reached for the sword at my waist.
*
*
Ilwol Eumyang Singong was a supreme martial art that passed through three grand stages.
It began with martial understanding rooted in the perfect harmony of sun and moon, yin and yang, strength and softness balanced evenly against each other.
At the First Flower, one fully awakened the natural flow of one’s being.
At the Tenth Flower, one entered the mysteries of heaven, earth, and humanity, as well as essence, energy, and spirit….
Smack!
"You bastards? What the hell are you doing? Stand properly!"
"Khh…."
"S-sorry."
"Every time one of you goes down, I’ll add ten more laps."
"Understood!!!"
Where had I been?
Right.
At the Tenth Flower, one entered the mysteries of heaven, earth, humanity, and the subtle principles of essence, energy, and spirit.
At the Hundredth Flower, one reached the realm of heart, intent, and the Six Harmonies—a level capable of surpassing even the heart sword and diamond body. In other words, reaching the Hundredth Flower meant the divine art had been brought to great perfection.
And you want me to bloom a hundred flowers all over again? Are you out of your mind?
Still, the most important thing when crossing a wall was comprehension, and that wasn’t something I needed to worry about.
I had enough understanding.
Finally, once you surpassed the Hundredth Flower, you reached the Heavenly Flower realm. That part didn’t matter.
It was probably a realm no human could ever reach.
Glug-glug.
I rolled the wine bottle in my hand across the floor.
"Your hospitality here is a complete mess."
Roll, roll—thunk.
The bottle kept rolling until it struck something and stopped.
There, a woman was trembling violently as she lay flat on the floor.
She wasn’t even dressed properly. Her clothes were still on, but her posture was a disaster.
Chiri had always been good at apologizing, at least.
"I asked for Yeohahong, and you gave me cheap cloudy liquor instead. Is that how things are done here?"
How dare they play games with alcohol….
Where, exactly, had the way of the martial world gone?
"I told you to bring a different drink, and instead you’re getting angry? Is that what you’re saying? Speak."
"N-no… absolutely not, sir…."
The woman couldn’t even lift her head and was shaking all over.
Glug-glug.
Anyway, all the brutes in Baekhwaru were the vagrants’ underlings.
I’d been planning to smash them all from the beginning, but…
Still, after drinking something pleasant, maybe I’d only hit one of the ten times I felt like hitting someone.
So why were they asking to be beaten?
I could really use a cigarette.
I reached into my chest, but of course there was no cigarette there.
"…."
At least there was alcohol.
I lifted the last of the Yeohahong and filled my cup to the brim, then drank it down.
Glug-glug.
Kwaaaang!
The one who burst through the door with such force wasn’t the vagrants, unfortunately.
It felt like it was about time they came.
As long as I was here, they had no choice but to show up.
Again and again, the situation repeated itself, and Rouge shut her eyes tight and screamed.
"S-Stop, Manager Jang!!"
"Don’t worry, Miss Rouge! Do you even know who I am?"
Who else would he be? A side character.
As if nothing were happening, I took another swallow of Yeohahong, and the man swung his blade fiercely.
"You brat, how dare you ignore me? Die!!"
But the blade never came close to touching me.
Thud!
"G-GRRAAAAHH!!!!"
Two chopsticks had pierced straight through the hands gripping his sword.
As expected, alcohol tasted different depending on the mood.
After launching an Ilwolki strike that smashed into the man’s head, he collapsed unconscious on the spot.
It was a situation I’d already seen too many times to count, but he’d probably be up again soon enough.
And then he’d be running around the area with these guys like the rest of them.
"Haa…."
I just wanted to find one person, and they wouldn’t even let me sit quietly.
"You really did send for backup?"
"W-What? No, no… how could I do such a thing…."
I couldn’t understand why people told lies so easy to expose.
"What were those two who slipped out the back door a little while ago?"
"T-that’s…."
Her eyes widened in panic.
The woman’s face went as white as paper in an instant, and her body began shaking violently.
Rouge trembled like a sapling in a gale as she stammered out the words.
"T-that… sir…."
"You really didn’t send them? Then send them now."
At that moment,
Kwaaaang!
The man who burst in, shoving the door aside with brutal force, was the very one I’d been searching for so desperately: Majin.
Behind him, armed men followed as they entered Baekhwaru with him.
I hadn’t expected to be looking forward to seeing your face.
Nice to meet you, Majin.
When he saw me seated at the table, his eyes went wide.
"B-Brother, you’re alive?"
"Thanks to you, yeah. How’ve you been?"
Majin felt a chill run through his entire body.
My tone was so calm it was almost like greeting someone I’d parted with yesterday.
"What are you doing? Kneel."
##