Where Is My Disciple?
As dawn broke, Jiang Zhou's eyes opened of their own accord.
He sat up and pulled his clothes on.
Aaahh.......
"Up already, Boss?"
Yang Jeong shook himself out of bed and threw on an outer robe as well.
The moment they opened the door and stepped outside, a crisp, refreshing wind greeted them.
Hee-heeeeh.....!
As Jiang Zhou drew a deep breath of the dawn air, the whinny of a horse came ringing from the back yard.
"Quiet all night, and now this lunacy at first light. Unbelievable."
Irritated, Jiang Zhou dashed toward the back yard.
A stallion was attempting to mount a mare, and the mare was clearly having a miserable time of it.
"That's enough."
Jiang Zhou sent a flicker of killing intent toward the stallion.
The stallion whipped its head around to glare at him mid-attempt.
In the darkness of the early hour, its pale blue eyes gleamed with something unsettling.
"Oh, you want to try me?"
Out of patience now, Jiang Zhou shifted his footwork.
Thwack...!
He slapped the stallion across the cheek with his open palm, and it staggered sideways, reeling.
Hee-heeeeh......!
Wobbling, the stallion lifted its front legs with a ferocious air.
"You little........"
Jiang Zhou's footwork shot upward at once.
Whack...!
Another open-palm slap to the cheek sent the stallion tumbling to the ground.
Jiang Zhou advanced slowly.
The stallion, struggling back to its feet, flinched and shrank backward.
Snort...... snort.......
Then, as though its earlier ferocity had never existed, it bowed its head low.
"That's how it is. Whether it's a man or a horse, they only listen once you beat some sense into them."
Yang Jeong, watching from the side, flinched as well.
Hehe.......
"Boss, you don't even have to hit me. I'm perfectly obedient."
"Shut your mouth, you brat."
And so, another morning at the inn was beginning.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Having finished his breakfast, Sin Pung-gae ambled toward the Murim Alliance headquarters. With his business concluded, he intended to track down his future disciple.
Now where has that boy gotten to?
When he made his way toward the lodgings where the junior disciples stayed, he found the young martial artists hard at work training.
Sin Pung-gae lingered a moment, watching the scene with a fond expression.
Ah, to be young again.
He had once been that young himself. Back then, youth had felt like it would last forever — but when he turned his head, he was somehow already an old man.
"Doesn't seem to be here."
There were plenty of strikingly handsome junior disciples around, but the one he was searching for was nowhere among them.
Walking further in, he spotted Baek Won-young. He too was drilling his martial arts alongside the others.
Sin Pung-gae surveyed the faces of the fifty-odd young warriors gathered there.
So this must be the Crouching Dragon Society.
The Alliance Leader was apparently planning to handpick the finest junior disciples and form a powerful new organization called the Crouching Dragon Society.
As he scanned the young faces, Sin Pung-gae tilted his head.
He has to be here. I'm certain of it.
The lightness skill of that junior disciple he'd crossed paths with two days ago had been truly extraordinary. It rivaled his own — and he was counted among the very best in all the Jianghu. That was the level of master they were talking about.
A master of lightness skill that caliber could not possibly be absent from the Crouching Dragon Society.
Sin Pung-gae scrutinized the young disciples' faces until his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull.
Yet nowhere among them was the boy he meant to make his disciple.
"Off on business, Sect Leader?"
Baek Won-young approached just then and offered a respectful bow.
"Hard at work, I see."
Sin Pung-gae nodded in acknowledgment of the greeting.
"Are you here to see someone?"
"Ah......... I'm looking for a certain young disciple, but for some reason, no matter how hard I search, he's nowhere to be found."
"If you tell me his name, I'll find him for you."
If I knew his name — or his clan — would I be going through all this trouble? He had fully intended to storm straight into the boy's family compound and demand they hand him over.
"I don't know his name or even his family. All I know is that his face is unbelievably handsome — so beautiful that even if Pan An or Song Yu were reborn, they'd weep in shame beside him."
Baek Won-young fell into thought for a moment.
A man so handsome even Pan An and Song Yu would weep.......
There were plenty of good-looking young men among the disciples. But none of them matched the man the Beggars' Sect leader was hunting for.
Could it be............
The memory of the young man he'd seen at the inn surfaced in his mind. That young man had indeed been so magnificent that even Pan An or Song Yu reborn would have wept in envy.
"May I ask why you're searching for this young man?"
Kekekekeke......
At the question, Sin Pung-gae's laughter burst out before he could stop it. The mere thought of taking that arrogant little brat in as his disciple filled him with such delight that the laughter simply bubbled up.
"I intend to make him the successor of the Beggars' Sect."
Hmm.......
Baek Won-young swallowed a quiet groan.
Years ago, when he was a child, Sin Pung-gae had come to visit intending to make him the Beggars' Sect successor. His father had opposed it so fiercely that the plan had come to nothing.
"Th-there doesn't appear to be any young man here that you're looking for, Sect Leader."
"What do you mean? He told me himself he was definitely at the Murim Alliance."
Sin Pung-gae's heart sank like a stone.
Could the boy have been lying to me all along?
"It would be wise to search a while longer, just in case, Sect Leader."
"Tell me....... In all the Murim Alliance, have you ever seen a man more handsome than yourself? No — have you ever even heard of one?"
Haha.........
Baek Won-young gave a hearty laugh.
"There are easily a hundred young men in this alliance more handsome than I am."
His answer was humility itself, gracious and modest. On any ordinary day, Sin Pung-gae would have accepted such a reply with satisfaction.
But right now, it was driving him up the wall.
Hoooh..........
When he let out a long sigh, Baek Won-young asked in a careful, roundabout voice:
"Did you manage to get dinner last night?"
If he'd eaten at that inn, he must have come face to face with Song Yu's or Pan An's reincarnation.
Hmmm.......
"Now that you mention it....... it really was delicious. This old man will keep searching a while yet — and if anyone comes to mind, you run straight to me and tell me."
Having answered stiffly, Sin Pung-gae whirled his footwork around and hurried off into the distance.
He must not have managed to eat after all.......
Baek Won-young quietly watched the old man's retreating back.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"What brings the Sect Leader all the way out here?"
Baek Ha-young approached wearing a lovely smile.
"Word is you're hunting the most handsome man under heaven."
"The most handsome man under heaven is you, big brother."
To her, the most handsome man in all the world had always been her elder brother, Baek Won-young. That was why no other man ever caught her eye.
"The world is full of handsome men, and yet you'd say that about a old wreck like me?"
"Don't be absurd, big brother. I have yet to see a single man who outshines you."
Baek Won-young put on a deliberately stern face.
"Don't you dare say such things in front of other people. They'll think you're hopelessly spoiled."
Hoho.......
She laughed and nodded.
"I know. But there is no man in this world finer than you, big brother."
"You keep saying that. And listen — do not even dream of going to that inn in the forest and making a scene."
Baek Ha-young's smile vanished in an instant, her face turning to ice.
"Swindlers like that would do the world a favor by disappearing."
At her words, Baek Won-young's expression darkened gravely.
"Have you ever tasted the food there yourself? I ate it with my own mouth, and one silver tael felt like too little to pay. If you go to that place and cause trouble, I will never speak to you again."
At his severity, she bowed her head.
Not because she conceded his point, mind you.
So the food was tasty — how tasty could it possibly be, that I have to endure a lecture like this over one measly silver tael?
Baek Won-young eased his stern expression and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Will you refuse even your own brother's request?"
"Of course not. I'll do as you say, big brother."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Boss, I noticed yesterday there's a big new grave out in the forest. What's that about?"
Jiang Zhou answered offhandedly while trimming vegetables.
"A pack of lunatics raided this place in the middle of the night, so I killed them all."
"Wait — what kind of madmen would have the nerve to attack this place?"
Yang Jeong asked, startled.
He had accompanied his father on escort missions many times, so he knew exactly how strong the Boss was. By his rough estimate, only a handful of masters in all the Jianghu could stand against him.
"They seemed to be planning an attack on the Murim Alliance. When they tried to kill me too, I had no choice but to kill every last one of them."
"Those idiots have the worst luck imaginable. Of all the people they could run into before even reaching the Alliance — they walk into you."
Hah.......
Jiang Zhou even let out a sigh.
"Looks like they picked a bad spot to set up their raid."
Everywhere else was grassland or farmland — this was the only stretch of forest around. It stood to reason that anyone attacking the Murim Alliance would have to pass through these woods.
"So, Boss — why not just close the inn and come with me to the escort agency instead? I'll serve you for the rest of my life. I've got a cousin who's a real beauty, and if you married her—"
Yang Jeong kept chattering on and on at the table until Jiang Zhou, who had been trimming the vegetables, stopped mid-motion and glared at him.
"Enough racket. Go build the stable."
"How am I supposed to build a stable by myself, Boss?"
"There's a half-collapsed one on the inside of the compound, isn't there?"
"You know what, I'll just ride around the forest instead."
In the end, Jiang Zhou stormed out of the kitchen.
Whiiiiish............
The instant he did, the sharp-eyed Yang Jeong bolted, footwork already in motion.
His form shot past the compound in the blink of an eye and cleared the fence.
Whiiiiish.............
Jiang Zhou wasn't about to let him go this time.
Yang Jeong's footwork carried him over the fence and vanished into the forest.
Once out of the trees, he cut across the open grassland.
Whiiiiish.............
Racing through the grass, he looked like nothing so much as an arrow loosed from a bow.
Glancing back over his shoulder as he fled, Yang Jeong saw his master closing the distance behind him at a terrifying speed.
Oh no.......
Startled, he let his body drift lightly upward.
Tap....
The moment his toes touched a blade of grass, Yang Jeong's form streaked away like a beam of light.
Jiang Zhou stepped onto the grass in his wake and gave chase.
"Just try getting caught. You're as good as dead where you stand."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Anyone home?"
Ak Hwan, visiting the inn after a long absence, looked around. But the place was completely deserted.
I couldn't forget the taste of the Pork Noodles, so I came all this way — and the owner's out.
He sat in a chair for a while, waiting, but no one appeared.
"I suppose I'll have to come back this evening."
He rose and climbed over the broken-down fence — and there was the Beggars' Sect leader, crossing the Stone Bridge toward him.
"An honor to meet you, Sect Leader."
Ak Hwan politely pressed his hands together and bowed at the waist.
Sin Pung-gae glanced at the long spear tucked at his side and gave a nod.
"Ah, you're one of the Ak Clan's own."
"Yes, sir. My name is Ak Hwan."
"I see. Have you eaten here?"
"The owner is away, so I was on my way back out."
Hooo.......
Sin Pung-gae let out a sigh.
No matter how coldly a door was shut in your face, if you came back day after day and clung on, the other side would inevitably surrender. He knew that better than anyone — he'd lived as a beggar from childhood.
As a boy, there was a house that had thrown him out at the door. He went back every single day, and in the end, they gave him food.
"First time I've ever seen a brat as stubborn as you. Don't come back here again."
That was what the owner had said as he handed over the rice.
But with the inn's owner away, there was no one to pester relentlessly just now.
"Is the food here really as delicious as they say?"
Ak Hwan answered the Sect Leader's question.
"It was the finest Pork Noodles I have ever tasted. If the price weren't so steep, I would dine here every single day, Sect Leader."
Gulp..
"It's....... that good?"
Sin Pung-gae asked, swallowing hard.
"Yes. The pork was chewy yet tender, and the noodles were so springy they seemed almost alive. And the broth — rich and deep, yet clean on the palate."
"You have quite a gift for description, don't you? Ak Hwan, was it?"
"Yes. Second son of the Shandong Ak Clan."
Hmmm.......
Sin Pung-gae looked Ak Hwan over from head to toe.
There's a quiet strength radiating off him — this one is a remarkable prodigy too. But as a successor? Too short, and too ugly. What a pity. What a shame.