Non-Human, Non-Transmission
"Jin. You were alive, big brother?"
"Thanks to you, I’m still breathing. How’ve you been?"
Though the face was familiar, Ma Jin felt a chill race over his whole body.
The tone was so flat, so even, it sounded as if they had only just parted yesterday.
Was he always this kind of man...?
The fool who dreamed of ideals.
The idiot exiled from the Jin Family.
The softhearted sucker who couldn’t say no to anyone.
That was the Jin Sojin he remembered.
He’d heard the man had gotten a little stronger, but he had never imagined someone could change this much in just a few weeks.
"What’re you doing? Kneel."
The voice, heavy with pressure, sent a shiver down his spine.
Instinct mattered.
More than anything else, instinct mattered.
Especially for a man like him, one who had survived this far by trusting that gut feeling of his over and over again whenever danger came calling.
Don’t be stupid. That doesn’t even make sense.
The bastard was just bluffing.
And I’ve brought every single man I could gather.
This time, he decided to trust reason instead of instinct.
As Ma Jin raised a hand, dozens of armed men surged forward in a rush.
Every one of them was broad-shouldered or knew a bit of martial arts, the sort of brawlers you’d expect to find in a back-alley brawl.
He took a drink and said, "When someone owes you a debt, you pay it back. When someone wrongs you, you repay it tenfold. What do you think about that?"
"I don’t know about all that, but I think we should wipe out every bastard who gets in the way. Am I right?"
Ma Jin was already puffing himself up, acting like some great figure had just taken the stage.
Look at this asshole.
Words didn’t seem likely to get through in this state.
It was time for a little mental correction.
If the kids wouldn’t listen, maybe it was because they hadn’t been beaten enough.
I’d planned on giving them the love taps from the start, but Ma Jin in particular had a talent for asking to be hit.
If that was a talent, it was still a talent.
"You’re not even asking why I betrayed you."
"I didn’t come here to hear about some petty nonsense like that."
"Petty, huh... Well, whatever. I survived by the skin of my teeth, and if I’d stayed hidden somewhere, I could’ve lived out my life in peace. So why’d you crawl back out, you idiot?"
"Where are the others? Why are you the only one here?"
"Heh-heh-heh... The others? I threw them all out. This village is too small for me to keep all the profits to myself, after all."
That was the most disgusting thing I’d heard all day.
That meant I’d have to go hunting down each one of them by hand.
And there were plenty of people waiting for me besides those bastards.
Still, since he was volunteering to take the beating for the others too, I wasn’t about to stop him.
"Satisfied with your questions? Then, big brother, I think it’s about time you left. The road to the underworld is quite a long one."
"Come at me. I don’t have time."
Why did the martial world always go on and on about righteousness and chivalry?
Because of scum like Ma Jin, of course—people who stabbed you in the back every other day.
They’d betray you for a secret manual.
They’d betray you for the title of greatest under heaven.
They’d betray you because they’d picked up a little demonic art.
They’d betray you just to make a little money.
There had to be a reason there were so many of these bastards around.
And the reason why the wicked and the traitors were everywhere was also the reason righteousness and chivalry shone all the brighter.
That was the essence of martial artists.
The old sages said, Non-human, non-transmission.
In other words, don’t teach or give anything to a bastard whose character is trash.
Because this was exactly how you got stabbed in the back.
Cheon Sojin, you were really bottom-of-the-barrel trash, weren’t you?
No talent and no eye for people, either. Incredible.
"I don’t know what kind of confidence you’re running on, but... I’ll make sure you’ve got enough money for the road, so don’t worry about that. Big brother. ...What’re you idiots standing around for? He said he wants to go to the underworld, so hurry up and take care of him."
""Yes!!""
The moment the words left his mouth, the lackeys rushed in.
"Hyahhh!!"
"Die!!"
"You arrogant bastard!!"
At the same time, dozens of men attacked from every direction, each wielding spears, swords, dao, and other weapons.
...
They were nothing more than beasts.
The instant I stood up, I moved so fast I left only a butterfly-like afterimage behind me.
There was no need for some grand finishing move or special technique.
Basic fists and footwork alone were enough to put these guys on the ground. It was child’s play.
Thwack!
Smack!
"Guhk!"
"Hah, huh! Just now!!"
"D-don’t panic!!"
"What the hell is happening!!"
They’d come at me trusting numbers, but if you couldn’t hit anything, numbers meant nothing.
This was just a one-sided beating.
Thud-thud-thud!
A massive body went flying straight into the wall.
Another bastard got slammed into the ceiling,
and another buried his face in the floor.
"Kyaaahhhhh!!"
"He’s a master! A martial arts master!!"
"Y-you idiots!! What are you doing! Keep your distance, damn it!!"
"Kraaaagh!!"
"R-run!!"
In an instant, more than a dozen of them collapsed in a bloodied heap, and the rest began to falter.
Not enough yet?
I tried to step through my footwork, but my inner energy was still far too meager.
Still, by now, the bastards were finally in a state where they could talk.
Slowly taking my seat again, I called out to Luju, who had been trembling in the corner.
"Old lady, go get me some more liquor."
"Y-yes!! I’ll go right now!"
As Luju hurried off to the back, I turned a smiling gaze on Ma Jin, whose face looked like he’d just bitten into shit.
"Smile, you bastard. Why the long face? Who pissed you off?"
"..."
Ma Jin’s gang was visibly tense, but I just laughed.
"H-how... why?"
Ma Jin looked utterly flustered.
"There’s no way you could be this strong...."
This wasn’t just a little stronger. It was ridiculously stronger.
"Ma Jin. Did you sell your brain along with Baekhwaru? Use it a little."
"..."
"If I couldn’t handle people like this, do you think I’d have come here?"
"Th-that’s..."
"Let me ask again. When someone owes you a debt, you pay it back. When someone wrongs you, you repay it tenfold. What do you think?"
After hesitating for a long moment, Ma Jin finally opened his mouth.
"...Even if there’s a grudge, I think it’s best to show some mercy."
Not wrong.
My master always emphasized mercy.
But Ma Jin, do you have no shame at all?
There was no doubt he’d sold that too when he bought Baekhwaru.
While we talked, Luju brought out several bottles of liquor and set them on the table.
I took one straight up and drank deeply from the bottle.
"Mercy, huh... Sounds good! I’ll spare a few of you."
At my unexpectedly generous words, the men all clamped their mouths shut.
"Chiri!"
I called the useless girl who had been watching from outside Baekhwaru.
As expected, she came running the moment I finished speaking.
And then, as naturally as flowing water, she dropped into a dogeza.
"Y-yes... Did you call me, Sojin-nim...?"
"Chiri, this is your last chance to live."
Gulp.
Seeing how tense Chiri looked, I almost laughed.
"So where are you going to stand?"
After hesitating for a moment and looking back and forth between me and Ma Jin, Chiri clenched both fists, then scurried over and hid behind me.
"Y-you fucking bitch!"
"That shameless whore..."
"Figures for a girl from the streets."
"We’re not done yet. With this many men, they can’t possib— Gahk!!!"
The last bastard didn’t even get to finish before something buried itself in his throat.
The mouth is the root of all evil.
"Why are these chopsticks so damn sharp? Luju!! Is this how you run a business?"
"S-sorry!!"
Just as I lifted the bottle to drink more of the Yaehong, Chiri quickly stepped in and filled my cup for me.
I gestured for Ma Jin to sit and said, "Take a drink, Ma Jin."
"...Yes, big brother."
The Ma Jin who’d been acting so cocky, like some great figure, was gone. Now he was showing a thoroughly obedient face.
The liquor went down my throat, and its fragrance spread through me.
"Let’s do this the easy way. Where’s Menma?"
"Men...ma, you say?"
While I drank, the bastard was desperately thinking.
Ma Jin, don’t tell me you really are that stupid?
There are people in this world who repeat the same mistake over and over.
Ma Jin wasn’t that kind of idiot, was he?
...
I could hear the gears turning in his head.
...
Gulp, gulp.
...
Only after emptying three cups did he finally speak.
"I can help you with something small, big brother. Fortunately, I think I may be able to find that woman."
I let out a quiet sigh inside.
"Is that so? Then go fetch Menma right now."
"I-is that it?"
Ma Jin looked stunned by how easy I’d made it.
What, did you want me to put a leash on you too?
"How long will it take?"
"I-I think one day should be enough."
"Fine. I don’t like repeating myself, and you’re ruining the taste of my drink, so take your men and get lost."
"Y-yes... Understood, big brother."
Not long after, Ma Jin left Baekhwaru with all of his lackeys in tow.
Chiri, who had been refilling my cup, asked, "A-are you going to spare me too?"
"We’ll see how you behave."
Without saying anything else, I lifted my cup.
"I-I’ll do anything, so please just let me live.... B-but, Sojin-nim, do you trust those guys?"
"No."
Did I look crazy?
Why would I trust Ma Jin of all people?
"Then why did you let them go? What if they run away?"
I had poured everything I had into this village.
There was no way that bastard could run far.
If he really does run away, then I guess I’ll have to praise him for it.
Hunting down each one separately would just be a hassle.
If they came back one by one, it would only be annoying.
Even if I spared them now, they’d stab me in the back someday.
It was better to clear out the poisonous weeds in advance.
If I waited a little longer, they’d gather the poisonous weeds from the village for me on their own.
I set down my cup with a sharp clack.
"You don’t need to know."
*
"Phew...."
Locked away in a room deep inside Baekhwaru, I spent the entire day circulating Ilwol Eumyang Singong.
It was only one day, but I suppressed my emotions and devoted myself entirely to training.
Now that I knew the method, my inner energy accumulated quickly, but because the purity of Ilwol Qi mattered above all else, I let it disperse again just as fast.
Originally, Ilwol Eumyang Singong was a legacy passed from one person to another, a martial art that advanced very slowly.
It would have been nice to have a mind-heart seal from the previous inheritor, but there was no way something like that existed in this martial world.
If yesterday I had only a speck of Ilwol Qi, now a lump the size of my little finger had condensed in my dantian.
Knock knock—
"Sojin-nim, excuse me."
A woman with chestnut-brown hair, grown to her shoulders, walked in carrying a basin of warm water and a cloth.
"Sumi."
On the bed, filthy bodily waste and traces of blood had spread everywhere...
It was the waste expelled from my body as I forced open the meridians of a frame that had been nothing but trash.
Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been impossible.
But for me, it was possible.
"Thank you."
"N-no... It’s something I wanted to do."
Even though the stench of the waste would have been unbearable for most, Sumi said nothing as she quietly wiped my body clean with the cloth.
I always returned things in greater measure. Whether it was a favor or a grudge, it made no difference.
I’d have to reward her properly.
At any rate, pure Ilwol Qi was steadily stacking up in my dantian, and within a few days I could enter the first bloom.
I was growing stronger faster than expected.
And just in time, a test subject had come to me.
"You’re here?"
"Huh?"
##