Yeo Hwa
Chapter 18. Yeo Hwa.
Impossible..........
This simply could not be happening.
Setting everything else aside, he had prided himself on at least surpassing his brother in lightness skill.
But that had been nothing more than his own delusion.
Barely half a shijin had passed since he fled with all his strength before he was caught by the scruff of his neck.
Thwack..! Thwack..! Thwack...!
Fists and feet rained down on him mercilessly across his whole body.
Yet his heart ached far worse than his body did.
"I figured you were too much of a nuisance to bother with, and it turns out this brat actually thought he could escape........."
Not a single word reached Yang Jeong's ears.
Only the phrase *too much of a nuisance* pierced his ear like a dagger.
Waaah...! Waaah.......!
He broke down into loud, anguished sobbing.
The only things he had over his brother were his face and his lightness skill.
And now the only thing left was his face.
When Yang Jeong burst into tears, Jiang Zhou was taken aback.
Huh? What's wrong with this guy?
Normally the brat would be hehe-ing and laughing within moments no matter how hard he was beaten.
"Are you.........hurt somewhere?"
Yang Jeong, still wailing, lifted his tear-streaked face.
"It's not that, Brother. I just felt so pathetic about myself that the tears came out."
"What's so pathetic about you?"
Waaah...! Waaah...!
"The only thing I've got going for me is......my face, isn't it."
At that answer, Jiang Zhou quietly looked down at him, and his eyes turned fierce.
"You spoiled little punk. If someone like you counts as a failure, then everyone else in this world ought to just drop dead. Looks like you need another beating."
Thwack.....! Thwack.....! Thwack.....!
Jiang Zhou stomped all over Yang Jeong's body without mercy.
When the pain became unbearable, Yang Jeong clung to Jiang Zhou's trouser leg and wouldn't let go.
"Aigoo, Brother! Your little brother is dying! Please stop hitting me! Brother............!"
*
"Eat more."
Jiang Zhou pushed the Dongpo Pork toward Yang Jeong.
"Thank you, Brother."
Yang Jeong's shoulders sagged as he ate.
"You're plenty fast already. So there's no need to be this crushed."
"...............Yes, sir."
His voice carried no strength at all.
It bothered Jiang Zhou, and he wanted to do something more for his brother.
"If there's anything you want to eat, just say the word. I'll grant whatever you ask."
At that, Yang Jeong lifted his face, black and blue with bruises.
He had been beaten so badly that his face was barely recognizable, his hair matted and wild like a weed patch.
On top of that, having been dragged there like a dog, his clothes were torn and hanging off him in rags.
"I want to......drink."
"Alcohol? Fine. I'll bring you some."
"That's.........not it, Brother. I want the wine aged with yeongcho and gongcheongseok oil."
Jiang Zhou, who had been looking at him with a touch of sympathy, saw his gaze change in an instant.
"Why, this little........."
The moment Jiang Zhou's eyes turned fierce, Yang Jeong began sniffling back tears again.
Sob..hic...
Good grief........
Letting out a long sigh, Jiang Zhou went into the kitchen and pulled out the hidden wine jar.
Then he ladled out two cups of wine.
When Jiang Zhou set the cup down in front of him, Yang Jeong cautiously reached out and picked it up.
"Thank you, Brother."
"Drink that and get your spirits back."
"Yes, sir."
A faint smile played on Yang Jeong's lips as he emptied the cup.
In truth, his bitter despair had lasted only a moment.
Come to think of it, his brother had spent a full thirteen years honing his martial arts under their master, while he himself had managed barely two.
There's no way two years could beat thirteen.
No — the fact that he'd come close to his brother's level in a mere two years was something to be enormously proud of.
Good is good, so I'll just forget about it. Someday there'll be a day when I surpass Brother.
After drinking, strength he didn't even know he had seemed to well up inside him.
But for the time being, he would have to play very, very sick.
"Brother. My body isn't well, so I think I should rest in my room."
Jiang Zhou granted it without hesitation.
"It'll be dark soon, so rest today and start building the stable tomorrow."
"Not just today — I think I'll need to rest for several more days........"
"You want to die?"
"Ah......no, Brother. I'll work hard starting tomorrow."
Having finished his meal, Yang Jeong shuffled off toward his room, groaning with every step.
Just then, Sin Pung-gae was crossing the Stone Bridge.
Jiang Zhou sprang to his feet and strode out to block his path.
"Why have you come again?"
The quick-witted Yang Jeong startled at the voice and hurriedly slipped into his room.
Sin Pung-gae did catch sight of him disappearing inside.
But he was so disheveled, and his face so badly swollen and bruised, that he couldn't quite make out who it was.
"I came to beg a bowl of food."
"Didn't I tell you there's nothing here to hand out to beggars?"
Sin Pung-gae cast a sly glance at the empty dishes on the table.
They've been cleaned out completely, I see.
If there had been even leftovers, he would have asked for those, but not a single grain of rice or scrap of meat remained.
"Know this, young one — this old man will never leave until you feed him."
When Sin Pung-gae dug in his heels, Jiang Zhou gave a cold laugh.
"Stay here all night or sleep here, do as you please. I have absolutely no intention of giving alms."
*
Jiang Zhou carried the empty dishes to the stream.
When he returned from washing up, Sin Pung-gae was sitting in a log chair.
Entering the kitchen, Jiang Zhou didn't spare him so much as a glance.
The insufferable old codger.
Sin Pung-gae was so nettled he hardly knew what to do with himself.
But outwardly, he never let a hint of it show.
"Do you know which place in the rivers and lakes is the most chivalrous? We beggars of the Beggars' Sect may own nothing, but in our hearts, we are all heroes."
He leaned on his crutch and offered the words like an olive branch.
But Jiang Zhou answered coldly.
"Hearts of heroes, you say? The way I see it, the beggars of the Beggars' Sect are no different from bandits."
Sin Pung-gae flared with fury.
Who on earth dared insult the Beggars' Sect?
The Beggars' Sect had never yielded to injustice and had pursued only righteousness.
This was no longer a matter of whether he would get fed or not.
"You.......! Who do you think you are, to look down on the Beggars' Sect like this......?"
His booming voice shook the shabby inn.
But Jiang Zhou remained perfectly calm.
"When I was young, I too lost my home and wandered the roads. To fill my hungry belly, I did odd jobs at inns and ran errands for merchants. In return for lending a hand, I was given rice cakes or a bowl of rice. And then beggars would swarm in and snatch the food right out of a child's hands. Truly an act worthy of a sect that never bends to injustice, wouldn't you say?"
The words were a scathing cry of fury.
Sin Pung-gae's eyes wavered violently, thrown off balance.
Of course, even among the beggars of the Beggars' Sect there must be some wicked ones — that would be true anywhere.
"The beggars......were they truly of our Sect?"
A groan of a voice, strained and suppressed, escaped his lips.
"What does it matter whether they were Beggars' Sect or not? The fact that they were beggars doesn't change."
Ugh........
It seems I'm not getting any food here after all.
However thick a beggar's skin might be, no one could stoop to begging after hearing talk like that.
"For that.........I am sorry."
Sin Pung-gae dragged his unwilling feet across the Stone Bridge and left.
Slam..!
The moment he was gone, Yang Jeong flung open his door and popped out.
"Is he gone? Brother?"
"Yes, he's gone."
He glanced nervously around beyond the forest, then sidled up close to Jiang Zhou.
"By the way, Brother......did you really lose your home and wander as a child? How did that come to be?"
He knew very little about Jiang Zhou, the man he served as elder brother.
All he knew was that his martial arts were overwhelmingly profound and his cooking superb.
Ah........well, he had learned one more thing — that his calligraphy was masterful and that he painted well, too.
Back when he was suffering near death under their master, his brother had once painted an ink wash painting.
His mountains and trees were superb, but the verse inscribed in the corner was true master-level calligraphy.
He had loved that painting so much he wanted to keep it, but his brother had thrown it into the fire and burned it.
Jiang Zhou shot back a reply as if it were nothing at all.
"What do you need that for?"
"Because I'm your little brother, I naturally ought to know at least your past."
"It's all ancient history. Don't worry about it."
"Still, tell me, Brother."
"Too much bother."
*
Having finished cleaning up, Jiang Zhou was about to head to his room when he stopped mid-step.
An eerie wind was somehow blowing in from deep within the forest.
Ssssss........
When Jiang Zhou stretched out his hand, the Ink Sword, resting in a corner of the kitchen, flew into his palm.
The instant the sword met his hand, a black figure emerged from the depths of the estate grounds.
The black figure walked with unshakable composure, as if strolling through its own front courtyard.
When Jiang Zhou made out the figure's face in the darkness, he was considerably surprised.
The figure was a petite woman with long hair and black script covering her entire face.
The black tattoos crossing her face made it impossible to guess her age.
And at her waist hung the Willow Leaf Sabers.
"What brings you here?"
Jiang Zhou asked in a courteous voice.
At that, the woman bared her white teeth in a smile.
"Could I get a meal?"
But that smile was bone-chillingly sinister.
"One bowl of noodles, one silver tael."
The woman walked calmly to the table and sat down.
Seated, she drew out five silver taels and placed them on the table.
"Pour me a drink as well."
"Just a moment, please."
Jiang Zhou stoked the fire in the stove and began pulling noodles.
Tap.....! Tap.......!
At the sound of the woman's voice, Yang Jeong came out of his room too.
"Do we have a guest this late at night?"
He poked around the kitchen and cautiously studied the woman.
Gasp...
The moment he saw the woman's face covered in tattoos, a wheeze burst from Yang Jeong's lips.
How was that a woman's face?
She looked less like a person than like a demon crawling out of a nightmare.
"I......my body isn't well, so I'll be going to my room to rest first, Brother."
Petrified, Yang Jeong scurried into his room and shut the door.
Jiang Zhou didn't so much as care whether the man went to his room or not.
"Pork Noodles."
When he set the Pork Noodles and wine on the table, the woman picked up her chopsticks.
Parting her lips blackened with tattoos, she brought a mouthful of noodles in.
Slurp..
Tasting it, she looked up at Jiang Zhou's face with faintly widened eyes.
"You really are a master of the culinary arts. And a very skilled one at that."
"What do you mean by that?"
Jiang Zhou asked in the same polite voice he used with any customer.
"I thought you were the Alliance Chief's hidden disciple."
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."
Hehe......
The woman smiled, showing her white teeth.
Then she immediately picked up more noodles and put them in her mouth.
"You killed my men. And then Yumrado met his end at your hands as well. Ah......he was already dead, so I suppose he didn't technically die."
Only then did Jiang Zhou guess at who this woman was.
She was most likely one of the Blood Cult members the Alliance Chief and that handsome man had spoken of.
But he couldn't at all understand her claim that Yumrado had already been dead.
"So you've come for revenge?"
Instead of answering, the woman filled her cup and drained it in one gulp.
Ahh......
"Your cooking is superb, but your wine is wretched. Who taught you your martial arts?"
"My grandfather."
Hehe........
"The rivers and lakes truly are full of strange and remarkable souls."
Her laughter stopped, and she locked eyes with Jiang Zhou.
"Will you keep interfering with what I do?"
"I had no intention of interfering. It's only that they crossed my fence first and tried to kill me."
"Is that so? Then don't interfere with my business again."
"That depends on how you all behave."
With an icy smile, the woman moved her chopsticks and swept the remaining noodles into her mouth.
Slurp...
"Delicious, as I thought. It's a terrible shame to kill a cook this skilled."
Having finished her meal, the woman rose to her feet.
"There's plenty of wine left, so I'll only take one silver tael."
"I'll come back and drink the rest next time. My name is Yeo Hwa. Remember it well. I may yet come for your head."