A Man Falls for a Man (2)
One horse would have been no cause for concern, but there was also a guest's mare tied up in the back yard.
Uneasy, Jiang Zhou asked his customer.
"By any chance, is the horse you brought with you a mare?"
Baek Won-young, who had been savoring his meal, looked up with a puzzled expression.
"She is indeed a mare. But may I ask what the matter is?"
Jiang Zhou shot up and bolted for the back yard.
Only then did Yang Jeong realize how serious the situation had become.
"B-Brother...!"
The moment both of them went charging into the back yard, Baek Won-young rose from his seat as well.
What on earth could be the matter...?
Baek Won-young was left speechless.
The very first thing that greeted him upon reaching the back yard was two horses mating.
And one of those two horses was the very one he had brought along.
Ah.........
He stared at the scene, utterly dumbfounded.
"You were supposed to tie his reins to a tree...!"
Jiang Zhou roared in fury.
"I'm sorry, Brother! I thought the beast had completely run out of strength... Apparently he'd saved just enough for this little performance."
Yang Jeong stood there in flustered panic, at a complete loss for what to do.
His own horse, forcing himself upon a guest's mare?
If this guest drew his sword right now and cut his horse down on the spot, there was not a word he could say in defense.
This is the sort of moment where you run.........
Yang Jeong shifted his weight, preparing to flee on his lightness skill.
But before he could take a single step, Jiang Zhou's hand shot out and seized him by the nape.
Crack... WHAM!
Jiang Zhou grabbed the back of Yang Jeong's neck and slammed him into the ground.
Then he began stomping on him, over and over.
WHAM! WHAM!..........WHAM.......!
"Gwahk..! Gahk..! Guwaaah...!"
"Brother! I'll—I'll die! Please stop hitting me!"
Yang Jeong clutched at the hem of Jiang Zhou's trousers and wailed.
"Better you should just die, you little wretch...!"
Baek Won-young watched the scene in a daze.
Then, some thought seemed to strike him, and suddenly he burst out laughing.
HAHAHAHA.....................!
Never in his life had he experienced anything so amusing and yet so astonishing.
First, the shabby-looking inn had taken him aback; then it was the inn's young owner, handsome with deep, clear eyes.
The third shock was failing to detect the innkeeper's presence entirely, and the fourth was his cooking.
And the fifth shock had been the young man himself—so strikingly handsome that even the legendary beauties Pan An and Song Yu would have wept in defeat.
Now came the sixth surprise: a stallion mounting a mare.
He had lost count of how many times this one inn had astonished him in so short a span.
There was no doubt in his mind—his father had sent him to deliver the mare for precisely this pairing.
When the sound of laughter reached his ears, Jiang Zhou bowed his head in mortification.
Most likely the guest found it all so absurd that he had no choice but to laugh.
"I apologize, honored guest."
Even at a glance, the mare was large and sleek-coated, unmistakably bred from noble bloodlines.
And that witless stallion of his was violating her at this very moment. There was nothing to be said for it.
"Not at all. Please think nothing of it."
Baek Won-young shook his head with a smile still playing on his lips.
But Jiang Zhou's mood remained sour.
"I don't know how I could possibly make amends. If you are angry, you are welcome to cut his throat where he stands."
"No, if anything, I should be thanking you."
Baek Won-young bowed deeply in return.
His father had a keen eye not only for judging men but for judging horses as well.
For a man like that to have coveted this stallion's seed, the beast was surely a magnificent steed, however unimpressive its outward appearance.
What a broad-minded man he is.
Considerably relieved, Jiang Zhou spoke up.
"Thank you. I will not be charging you for today's meal."
The moment those words left his mouth, Yang Jeong—who had been twitching on the ground—slyly began picking himself up.
Hehehe......
"I'm very sorry, honored guest."
HAHAHA.............!
Baek Won-young burst into laughter once more.
What a delightful pair of brothers.
Contrary to his sister's account, the young owner of this inn was no swindler at all.
The cooking was worth far more than a single silver tael, and the man himself was upright yet refreshingly unpretentious.
"Then I shall eat my fill, free of charge."
At that, Jiang Zhou smiled as well.
"Please do."
HAHAHAHA............!
Laughter spilled from Baek Won-young's lips the whole way back to the Murim Alliance.
What an entertaining pair of brothers.
His experience at the inn was so joyful and amusing that mirth simply bubbled up of its own accord.
Pleasantly tipsy, he led the mare through the gates of the Murim Alliance.
"And where have you been off to?"
At the gruff voice approaching from the opposite direction, Baek Won-young bowed with the utmost courtesy.
"Sect Leader. It is an honor to see you."
Sin Pung-gae returned the greeting with a smile.
"You look to be in very high spirits."
"Yes. I had a few drinks at an inn."
"Could it be... the inn that sits about halfway between the village and the Murim Alliance?"
He asked, though half-suspecting the answer already.
"Yes. The cooking was so exquisite that I ate far past the point of good sense."
"Ah... I see. Well, run along inside, then."
The moment he heard Baek Won-young's answer, Sin Pung-gae hurried off without another word.
"One moment, if you please, Sect Leader."
Baek Won-young drew a coin purse from his robe.
"If you happen to be heading to that inn, please take some silver with you."
He pulled out five silver taels and offered them.
Kkolkolkol..........
But Sin Pung-gae made no move to accept them.
Beggar he may be, but he had no intention of accepting charity from one of the pillars of the martial world.
Baek Won-young was the finest prodigy of his generation, destined to lead today's rising talents and safeguard the martial world of tomorrow.
Besides, not once in his life had Sin Pung-gae ever paid for a meal.
"Have you ever in your life seen a beggar buy his food with silver? Put that away."
"As you say."
Baek Won-young tucked the silver back into his purse.
"I shall return shortly."
Sin Pung-gae hurried out of the Murim Alliance, while Baek Won-young led the mare toward the main hall.
The moment he arrived before the hall, his father pushed open the door and came out.
"I have returned, Father."
"Did you get the seed?"
The instant Baek Mun-do laid eyes on his son, that was the first thing he asked.
"Yes. By good fortune, it was done properly."
"Excellent. So, you've now seen the inn for yourself—what did you think?"
Baek Won-young relayed his impressions exactly as he had experienced them.
"The cooking was finer than anything I have tasted at any inn, and the brothers who run it were honest, cheerful men of good character."
At his answer, Baek Mun-do nodded.
His son had inherited his own discerning eye for judging people.
"What sort of liquor did you drink?"
"Strong spirits, nothing more."
"A pity. You should have had the medicinal liquor............."
Baek Won-young looked up at his father in bewilderment.
At that, Baek Mun-do's face softened into a hazy smile.
"There is such a thing to be had there. Visit that inn often."
Even without his father's instruction, he had already resolved to return again and again.
Outstanding as the cooking was, what had truly won him over was the inn's young owner himself.
"Understood, Father."
"Next time you go to the inn, bring another mare with you."
Whoooosh...........
Sin Pung-gae flew along, employing even his lightness skill.
Yet when he finally reached the edge of the forest, he found himself strangely hesitant to step inside.
I should never have made such a loud boast back then.
But this was the inn that both the Alliance Leader and the realm's foremost prodigy had praised until their throats ran dry.
If a beggar could not bring himself to taste the cooking of such an establishment, he had no business calling himself a beggar at all.
In the end, a dish will be set before this old man after all.
Sin Pung-gae crossed the Stone Bridge and stepped through the crumbling fence.
"What brings you here?"
But before he could even clear the wall, a frosty voice rang out.
Kkolkolkol..........
Sin Pung-gae forced out a hearty laugh.
It was not laughter born of good cheer—it was laughter meant to paper over the awkwardness.
"Have you been keeping well?"
"We saw each other this very morning. What is this nonsense?"
Jiang Zhou brushed aside the greeting with a voice cold as ice.
Undeterred, Sin Pung-gae attempted to slip surreptitiously past the fence.
"They say the seas turn to mulberry fields and mulberry fields to seas, do they not?"
"That proverb was never meant for occasions like this. And you are never to come over that fence again."
Ehehehe........
"A young man of learning, too, I see. I fear I misspoke this morning, so I trust a generous soul like yourself will understand."
"There is nothing to understand. So kindly turn around and go home."
Having received this icy refusal, Jiang Zhou turned his head and shouted toward the back.
"What are you doing in there? Get out here already...?"
From inside the room came a voice of suffering.
"Brother.........I think my leg is broken. I can't.........I simply can't move."
"Don't you dare play the martyr, you little...! Because of you I'm out four whole silver taels!"
"It's true..........Aigoo........it hurts so..."
So this inn is run by brothers.
Judging by the voices drifting from inside, there was no doubt about it—the inn was run by a pair of siblings.
Sin Pung-gae adopted a placid tone and offered his counsel.
"Brothers are a man's companions through life. You ought to get along and show each other some affection."
"Spare me the lecture and get out."
"Just one bowl of rice, as charity. That is all I ask."
"There is nothing in this world I hate more than a beggar. I would sooner dump my rice in the gutter than hand a single bowl to one."
By this point, even Sin Pung-gae's temper was beginning to fray.
"What an utterly insolent young whelp. Do you have any idea who I am?"
Jiang Zhou remained perfectly composed.
"Elder, or perhaps Chief, of the Beggars' Sect—would that be it?"
However ignorant he might be of the wider martial world, he knew the Murim Alliance and the Beggars' Sect well enough.
Hm?
"You know who I am, and yet you turn me away from your door.......?"
Enraged, Sin Pung-gae raised his voice until it boomed across the yard.
"Your ears aren't stopped up, so there's no need to shout."
"Why, you.................."
Jiang Zhou was so infuriatingly unshakable that Sin Pung-gae found himself unable to simply spew his rage unchecked.
"Even a beggar with silver in his purse is a customer. Go on, then—receive your customer."
In the end, the old man was loudly declaring—quite unlike any beggar—that he would pay for his meal.
Of course, Sin Pung-gae carried no coin purse of any kind.
His plan was to eat his fill and simply vanish afterward.
But Jiang Zhou was not a man even the Chief of the Beggars' Sect could afford to take lightly.
"One bowl of noodles costs one silver tael. Payment in advance."
Sin Pung-gae trembled from head to toe, glaring daggers into Jiang Zhou's face.
Here was a counterattack he had never seen coming.
And one silver tael for a single bowl of noodles, no less?
Only now did he understand why Baek Won-young had tried to press five taels into his hands.
"Is there gold dust mixed into your cooking, then........?"
"Whether I put gold dust or gravel in my food is none of your concern. Now get out."
Hehehe......
A hollow, incredulous laugh escaped Sin Pung-gae's lips.
Not once since becoming Chief of the Beggars' Sect had he ever been turned away from a door like this.
At any inn in the land, he could count on at least a free bowl of rice and a cup of wine.
"Your name was.........Jiang Zhou, was it?"
Sin Pung-gae regarded him now with eyes gone calm and a voice to match.
"That's right."
"Today I shall withdraw. But when I come again, know that I will not back down an inch."
"Don't go making promises about the future."
Kkolkolkol.........
"We shall see about that, young man."
Sin Pung-gae threw back his head and roared with laughter.
Then he wheeled about and vanished into the darkness.
The moment he was gone, the door creaked open and Yang Jeong poked his head out, glancing warily about.
"Brother. Is he gone?"
Jiang Zhou shot him a look brimming with irritation.
Yang Jeong blathered on anyway, even jabbing a finger for emphasis.
"Brother, that old man is the exact same one we ran into yesterday. He told me to join the Beggars' Sect as his disciple, if you can believe it! You'd better watch out too, Brother. One wrong step and you might end up a beggar yourself."
"Then why didn't you just join him?"
"Brother, is that really what you have to say right now? Short of losing my mind, how am I supposed to live off begging?"
"Fine, fine. Now go do the dishes."
Yang Jeong, who had been chattering away so merrily, abruptly pulled a face on the verge of tears and kneaded his shoulder.
"I think you hit me in the wrong spot, Brother.........I can't move it."
"Want me to break it properly this time?"
"N-no, Brother! Going right now!"