Coming Face to Face
"I'm back, hyung-nim!"
Yang Jeong strode into the inn wearing a bright, beaming face.
In his hands, however, he carried a large bundled pack.
"You're back early? What's that bundle?"
Jiang Zhou greeted him without much ceremony.
Hehe...
"Mother packed some food for me to bring back, hyung-nim."
Yang Jeong paid the question no mind and happily spread the bundle open. Inside, it was stuffed to the brim with rice cakes, meat fried in oil, fruits, and more.
"Perfect timing. I'm too lazy to cook anyway, so let's just make do with that for lunch."
At Jiang Zhou's words, Yang Jeong shot up in instant protest.
"I ran over a thousand li without a single rest because I wanted to eat hyung-nim's cooking, and this is what you tell me?"
"There's no customer around, is there? So just fill up on this. I'll cook for you at dinner."
"You eat all of this yourself, hyung-nim. What I want is your cooking."
"You little brat..."
Jiang Zhou grumbled in irritation, but Yang Jeong didn't care one bit.
"Hyung-nim, please, just cook something. I haven't been able to sleep properly because I've been craving your food."
Worn down by his pleading, Jiang Zhou grudgingly set about cooking.
Aigoo...
"Annoying brat."
Hehehe.........
"Thank you, hyung-nim. Truly, you're the only one I have."
Yang Jeong flashed a radiant smile.
While Jiang Zhou cooked, he settled onto a seat in front of the kitchen and launched into endless chatter.
"Father absolutely loves that martial arts manual. He says that whenever I leave home, I should only ever come back with a gift, so he's basically told me to just live outside permanently."
"Must be nice, you brat."
"But that's exactly my problem. Next time, won't I have to bring back something even more valuable? So I've been thinking it over, and I was wondering whether I should bring back a treasured sword or a saber next time..."
As the chatter poured out of him without pause, anger began to boil up inside Jiang Zhou. When this guy wasn't around, life was boring; when he was around, he was noisy and infuriating.
"Go check the room."
"Why the room?"
"There's a saber in there, isn't there?"
At Jiang Zhou's words, Yang Jeong sprang to his feet.
"That's right! There was already a saber."
He darted into the room, then came bounding back out with a stunned look on his face.
"Hyung-nim, the room is absolutely piled with weapons!"
That was only natural. The intruders' bodies had been buried in the ground, but every last one of their weapons had been collected.
"Some more bastards came by."
Ah.......
Yang Jeong wasn't the least bit surprised. If they wanted to die, they could die anywhere—why did they have to come looking for his hyung-nim of all people?
"So that's why there were so many weapons piled up, huh? I'll take a few with me next time I visit home."
"Before that, finish fixing the stable."
Hehe...
"I'm tired today, so I'll rest and start tomorrow."
"Don't talk nonsense. Start today."
"A peerless handsome man on horseback entered the Murim Alliance, you say? Did no one see him?"
Sin Pung-gae grabbed the warriors guarding the Alliance's front gate and pressed them for answers.
The warriors shook their heads.
"Aside from a merchant caravan leading their horses in just moments ago, we have seen no peerless handsome man, Sect Leader."
"That can't be right."
Sin Pung-gae knew about the caravan too. Shortly after leaving the Murim Alliance, he had run into the dozens of wagons himself.
"Among those merchants, there was no man who could be called a peerless handsome man."
"I know that much, fool. The man I'm looking for came alone, on horseback."
The warriors shook their heads once more.
"No such man passed through, Sect Leader."
Doubt clouded Sin Pung-gae's face. Then where had that fellow gone—shot up into the sky? Or buried into the earth?
Wait a moment. Isn't there an inn along the way?
Wheeling around in haste, he sprinted back toward the inn.
Whoooosh.........
The warriors watched him vanish into the distance, even unfolding his lightness skill, with puzzled eyes.
Reaching the edge of the forest, Sin Pung-gae hurriedly crossed the stone bridge.
"It's so delicious, hyung-nim! Your cooking truly is the finest under heaven!"
The moment he crossed the bridge, a young man's cheerful voice rang out. And the instant he vaulted over the fence, he spotted the very man he sought, sitting at a table and enjoying his meal.
Finally....... finally, I've found him.
His chest swelled so full that even breathing felt difficult.
But his joy did not last long.
"What brings you here again?"
The moment Jiang Zhou stepped in front of him, a wind swept through the inn yard.
Whoooosh............
By the time Sin Pung-gae cleared the fence, Yang Jeong was already fleeing deep into the inner grounds.
But not this time. I will not let him slip away.
Skirting past Jiang Zhou, who blocked his path, Sin Pung-gae gave chase.
Fwish..
The instant Yang Jeong shifted his footwork to dart sideways, Jiang Zhou's face appeared directly in front of him.
Ugh...!
Startled out of his wits, Sin Pung-gae yanked his steps to an abrupt halt.
"So you too............have quite the lightness skill, I see."
Shock faded into something colder, and he faced Jiang Zhou with narrowed, heavy eyes.
Come to think of it, of course it was so. That fellow called this man 'hyung-nim' just now, so they must surely be brothers—and brothers would both be masters of the same lightness skill...
Jiang Zhou said nothing at all.
So Sin Pung-gae asked instead.
"From what family do you hail?"
"I have no family."
"Then which great master taught you and your brother?"
"Why should I answer that?"
The truth was, Jiang Zhou didn't know his master's name either. What would be the point of answering a question he had no answer for?
Sin Pung-gae glared at Jiang Zhou with fearsome eyes. But Jiang Zhou's gaze did not waver in the slightest.
What unshakable nerve this young man has. One should never make an enemy of a man like this.
Ahem...
Clearing his throat, Sin Pung-gae turned his head aside and retreated with studied ease.
"I shall take my leave for today."
"Don't come back again."
"Whether I come or go is this old man's own affair."
He strode away unhurriedly and crossed the stone bridge. Now that he knew where the boy was, there was no need to rush.
"Hyung-nim. Is he gone?"
The moment Sin Pung-gae vanished, Yang Jeong poked his head out, warily scanning the surroundings.
Tsk..
"Pathetic."
"How am I pathetic, hyung-nim?"
Yang Jeong protested with an aggrieved look on his face, and Jiang Zhou raised his voice.
"You've done nothing wrong, so why are you running? You pathetic fool!"
"Well...... it's because that Beggars' Sect leader is trying to make me his successor, isn't it?"
His voice shrank to a sheepish mumble as he answered.
"Then say it to his face. Tell him you'd rather die than be the Beggars' Sect successor."
"Do you know how relentless that old man is, hyung-nim?"
"That's exactly why you say it to his face, you brat. If I catch you fleeing from that old man one more time, you'll die by my hand."
Yang Jeong hung his head low.
"Understood, hyung-nim. In exchange, you'll have to take my side."
"I'm always on your side."
Hehehe.........
The dejected boy's face bloomed into a wide grin at once. Who knew that flat, matter-of-fact reply could be so moving?
"Thank you, hyung-nim."
He forced down the heat rising in his eyes.
Sniff..
Back at the Murim Alliance, Sin Pung-gae went straight to the Alliance Leader.
"Let's go, Alliance Leader."
Hehe.....
"Out of nowhere? Where exactly are we going, Sect Leader?"
When Baek Mun-do replied with leisurely calm, Sin Pung-gae exploded.
"The inn right up ahead, the inn! Haven't you sung its praises until your mouth ran dry, saying how delicious the cooking was? So today, this old man shall taste that food for himself."
"Then why not simply go and eat there?"
The Beggars' Sect Leader had never once put down money for a meal. He simply walked in, begged his food, and walked out.
But it was never truly free. Sometimes he would give the inn's potboys or the owner an acupuncture treatment; other times he would drop a word to the beggars to look after the place before leaving. That was how the Beggars' Sect Leader paid for his meals.
Whew......
"The inn's owner is no pushover, I tell you."
Sin Pung-gae let out a long, deep sigh.
Hahahaha........
Baek Mun-do burst out laughing. Truly, the young owner of that inn was not a man to be taken lightly. It was precisely why a priceless martial arts manual had ended up paying for a round of drinks.
"Do you have some other intention toward the inn's owner?"
"The one I have my eye on is not that fellow but his younger brother. I mean to make that brother the Beggars' Sect successor."
At Sin Pung-gae's answer, Baek Mun-do pictured the younger brother—the one he could never quite remember was called Samryong or Yang Jeong. His face had been covered in bruises, but it was undeniably handsome enough to be called the finest under heaven.
"Let's hurry, Alliance Leader."
Baek Mun-do held back his urging.
"Why not wait a little longer and go at dinnertime?"
Sin Pung-gae's heart was impatient. But with the Alliance Leader putting his foot down like this, there was nothing he could do.
"..................Very well."
To think he would dare deceive the Cult Leader....
He had never imagined anyone in this world would dare slap the Demonic Cult Leader on the back. He was so furious, and so dumbfounded, that a hollow laugh nearly escaped his lips.
As he entered the village, the passing women stole glances at his face. Among them were even middle-aged women shooting him coy, smiling looks.
"Who's that handsome middle-aged man now?"
"Could he be young master Samryong's father?"
"Right. Could well be."
The women's whispered chatter burrowed relentlessly into the Cult Leader's ears.
Haah......
Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable.
A sigh spilled from his mouth of its own accord. The Samryong these women spoke of was without a doubt the inn owner's younger brother.
Past the edge of the village, he walked slowly, lost in thought.
How should I deal with these people?
If it were purely up to his temper, he would lop off their heads with a single stroke. But beheading them over something like this was difficult to justify. Above all, the inn's owner possessed such towering presence and gall that, deep down, he coveted the man.
If only that fellow had strength to match his bearing, I'd take him as a son-in-law on the spot.
Before he knew it, absorbed in his stray thoughts, he had arrived at the edge of the forest. The Cult Leader crossed the stone bridge, keeping his cold expression unchanged.
The moment he cleared the fence, the inn owner's face came into view.
"Welcome, honored guest."
The fellow greeted him with perfect composure. Showing nothing on his own face either, the Cult Leader took a seat at the table.
Clang...! Clang...!
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the sound of hammering rang out from somewhere far off, and he asked what it was about first.
"What is that noise?"
"My brother is fixing the stable. What will you have to eat?"
At Jiang Zhou's question, the Cult Leader shot him a frigid glare.
Neigh.........!
Then, this time, the sound of a horse crying out drifted over.
"That brat........ please wait just a moment."
The instant he heard the horse's cries, Jiang Zhou headed for the backyard. The Cult Leader sat quietly, waiting for him to return.
Thwack..!
"You want to die, you beast?"
From the backyard came the sound of something being struck and a voice cold as ice, and the horse's cries fell silent at once. The Cult Leader waited in silence until the inn owner returned.
"My apologies, honored guest. What will you have?"
The returned Jiang Zhou bowed at the waist. The Cult Leader spoke in a frozen voice. At long last, the moment to have words with this man had arrived.
"Before that—do you have nothing to apologize to me for?"
Jiang Zhou looked back at him with a bewildered face.
"Have I done something wrong?"
In an instant, fury flared hot in the Cult Leader's chest.
"You served me a fake medicinal liquor, did you not?"
But Jiang Zhou remained perfectly calm.
"If liquor steeped with medicinal herbs counts as medicinal liquor, then that liquor was, without question, medicinal liquor."
Hmm...
The Cult Leader, who had been ready to spew his rage, was forced to swallow it back down. Listening to it now, the man wasn't wrong. But this fellow surely knew exactly what he had meant as well.
"And so you, you insolent—"
"Hyung-nim! Feed me, please. I'm starving to death here. Oh? A guest has arrived."
Just as he tried to speak again, Yang Jeong barged rudely into the conversation.
Hmm...
The Cult Leader forcibly held down his rage, which threatened to burst forth. But he was so angry that a faint killing intent leaked out nonetheless.
"Oh?"
Startled, Yang Jeong hastily backed away.
For the sake of the Cult Leader's dignity, I mustn't behave this way before mere youngsters.
Realizing his own slip, he quickly retracted his killing intent and turned his gaze to Jiang Zhou. But Jiang Zhou's face was utterly unbothered.
Hoh.......
The churning fury in his chest vanished without a trace. And just then, a most unwelcome voice rang out.
"Is this the Demonic Cult's front yard or what?"