Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Taking Over the Butcher Shop (3)
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“So, you two want to take over this place?”
The owner of the butcher shop, an elderly man recognized as the finest butcher in the area, So Hyang asked.
“That’s right.”
Sima Geon replied politely.
‘He couldn’t find anyone to hand the shop over to and was going to close up... but in just a few days, he’s like a completely different person. He looks even sicker, too.’
Sima Geon could sense that So Hyang’s life was nearing its end as he gazed at the man, who had grown dramatically frailer since their last meeting. Perhaps that was the real reason he’d decided to quit the butcher trade.
“You’re the ones who came by a few days ago saying you just wanted to watch. Ha! Looks like it seemed easier than it is. Best head back home.”
So Hyang let out a hearty laugh, but his gravelly voice carried a sharp edge.
“Not at all. How could we think that after seeing your technique?”
So Hyang’s eyes flashed at the unexpected response, so different from others.
“They say one strike, one kill. It was truly masterful, carrying the full weight of your years.”
So Hyang’s icy expression softened slightly at Sima Geon’s lavish praise.
“Ha! Gilding the lily for an old man who’s spent his life slaughtering cows and pigs. Cough! Cough!”
So Hyang burst into laughter, only to erupt into violent coughing.
“When a man devotes his life to a single craft, he can reach the realm of art. I wouldn’t know about anything else, but that trance-like strike you showed us was the most intense thing I’ve ever seen.”
So Hyang, still coughing painfully, grew serious at the repeated compliments and fixed Sima Geon with a stern gaze.
Sima Geon didn’t avert his eyes. Instead, he met them calmly.
In that unwavering stare, So Hyang sensed this man was different from the usual sycophants who spouted flattery just to win favor.
“Follow me for a moment?”
So Hyang’s demeanor shifted abruptly. The frail figure who’d seemed on the verge of collapse moments ago was gone.
Without waiting for a reply, he headed to the slaughterhouse.
Sima Geon grabbed the reluctant Cheol Woo and followed.
Upon arriving at the slaughterhouse, So Hyang herded a pig out of its pen. He handed Sima Geon a cleaver and mallet, saying,
“You wouldn’t volunteer for something you’ve never done. If you want to take over the shop, you must at least know how to slaughter. Care to show me your skills?”
“I’ve never done it before, but I’ll give it a try.”
Sima Geon first passed the cleaver and mallet to Cheol Woo, then patted the pig’s cheek and led it to the trough.
So Hyang couldn’t hide his surprise as the pig followed Sima Geon without a hint of wariness.
Sima Geon gently stroked the pig’s head as it buried its face in the feed.
“Last time, I noticed you wait until it finishes eating. It felt like consideration, letting it have a full belly on its final road.”
“Less consideration and more a trick to ease my guilt, even a little. It’s just a beast, but still a life.”
So Hyang shook his head with a wry chuckle, but Sima Geon saw it differently.
“I felt it as true consideration, not a trick.”
“Think what you will.”
As the pig neared the end of its meal, Sima Geon took the cleaver and mallet back from Cheol Woo.
So Hyang watched Sima Geon’s movements with a steely gaze.
Sima Geon positioned the cleaver on the pig’s crown, but it showed no reaction. Even as he raised the mallet high, it remained oblivious.
‘Incredible.’
So Hyang was awestruck.
A pig’s senses and instincts far surpassed a human’s, yet it reacted not at all. That meant Sima Geon had perfectly erased his own killing intent.
The strike followed.
The hefty pig collapsed into the trough, head-first, without a single squeal—just like when So Hyang did it himself.
“You’ve really never done this before?”
So Hyang gaped.
“No. I just mimicked what you did last time. What are you waiting for?”
Sima Geon turned to Cheol Woo.
Grumbling, Cheol Woo bound the pig’s legs and hoisted it onto a pillar.
So Hyang was stunned watching Cheol Woo hang it alone.
It usually took three strong men to lift a limp carcass like that. Yet Cheol Woo did it effortlessly with one hand—a pig that must’ve weighed at least two hundred jin.
‘No matter how big he is...’
So Hyang was speechless at Cheol Woo’s superhuman strength.
“Oh, right, gotta drain the blood.”
Cheol Woo, starting to turn away, slit the pig’s throat and caught the flowing blood. Then he asked So Hyang,
“But do we really have to use those tools?”
“What do you mean?”
As So Hyang asked back, Cheol Woo entered the pen and dragged out another pig.
Without masking his killing intent like Sima Geon, the pig thrashed wildly, but it couldn’t overpower Cheol Woo’s strength.
Moments later, released at the trough, it forgot its frenzy and dove into the food.
So Hyang was dumbfounded that Cheol Woo, like Sima Geon, had perfectly concealed his own killing intent.
“If we can slaughter perfectly without tools, why bother with metal?”
Cheol Woo grinned.
Sima Geon, realizing what he was about to do, slapped his forehead and shook his head, but So Hyang just looked baffled.
“Looks like it’s eaten enough. Time to go. I’ll at least wish you a good death.”
Cheol Woo murmured softly, then swung his fist.
Bam!
With a thunderous impact, the pig slumped head-first into the trough.
The result matched Sima Geon’s mallet strike. The difference? Sima Geon’s cleaver had pierced the skull cleanly for an instant kill, while Cheol Woo’s punch shattered the skull entirely.
So Hyang’s face stiffened.
“You’re no ordinary folk. Martial artists?”
“We were, once.”
Sima Geon didn’t bother denying it.
“Why would martial artists want to do this?”
“We want to live ordinary lives.”
“Ordinary... With your skills, you could find other work easily.”
“We tried all sorts, but it’s not that simple. We never learned much besides fighting, growing up.”
So Hyang alternated glances between the bitterly smiling Sima Geon and Cheol Woo, who hummed cheerfully while hanging his freshly killed pig. He intuitively felt their lives had been far from smooth, laden with heavy stories.
“Shame we don’t have more time.”
At So Hyang’s gentle tone, Sima Geon beamed and bowed his head.
“Teach us well. You won’t be disappointed.”
The knife danced like it was performing a graceful waltz, moving along the grain without the slightest hesitation.
With each flourish of Sima Geon’s blade, the butchered cow separated perfectly into bone and meat.
Not a single mistake despite the swift, relentless cuts—he seemed to know the beast’s anatomy inside out.
“Ha ha ha! Unbelievable!”
A hollow laugh escaped So Hyang as he watched Sima Geon, leaning heavily on his cane.
The skills he’d honed over fifty years and thousands of animals had been mastered in mere days. Sima Geon’s flawless motions already surpassed his own.
“You said you’ve eaten knife for years, but you pick it up fast. Nothing left to teach.”
Despite his illness preventing proper instruction, So Hyang felt a mix of pride and emptiness at having his lifetime techniques stolen in just three days.
“Thanks to your guidance. My gratitude.”
Sima Geon, having fully disassembled the cow, set down the knife and bowed.
“I’m the grateful one. I knew it was foolish, but I hoped the shop I devoted my life to would keep its reputation. Otherwise, better it vanished entirely. That’s why I wasted time searching for the right successor. All failures.”
Struggling even to hold his cane, So Hyang swayed. Sima Geon quickly supported him to a bench.
Grinning through the age spots blanketing his face, So Hyang grasped Sima Geon’s hand.
“Thanks to you, this old man’s wish is fulfilled. Now I can close my eyes in peace. Truly grateful.”
“Not at all. I was lost about what to do back home. Thanks to you, I can settle properly. The thanks are mine.”
Sima Geon expressed his sincere gratitude to So Hyang for passing on his skills so generously.
As the two exchanged thanks, Cheol Woo returned from butchering a pig into pieces, tossing his knife aside.
“Damn, it’s just meat. Chop it up and sell it—why bother separating it all fancy?”
Cheol Woo plopped down beside Sima Geon and chugged his liquor.
“Boss, do I really have to learn this?”
Before Sima Geon could respond, So Hyang snapped irritably,
“Don’t give that one a knife. Just odd jobs. Though his slaughtering with fists is decent enough.”
Unlike the diligent Sima Geon, Cheol Woo had been half-hearted from the start, grating on So Hyang. Still, he acknowledged those fists that felled pigs and cows alike.
“Old man finally said something right. Let’s do it your way, boss. Always thought knives ain’t for me.”
Sima Geon resisted smacking the grinning, liquor-offering Cheol Woo and gruffly raised his cup.
“Do as you like.”
“Heh heh! Thanks, boss.”
Cheol Woo, looking reborn, quickly refilled Sima Geon’s cup. Glancing at the labored-breathing So Hyang, he said,
“Old man, have a drink.”
“What nonsense!”
Sima Geon startled and tried to stop him, but Cheol Woo brushed him off with a smirk.
“Even on the way out, one drink won’t hurt.”
“Ha! That guy.”
So Hyang chuckled weakly at Cheol Woo’s absurdity, tossed his cane aside, and straightened his hunched back.
“Fine. Even if it kills me right now, I can’t refuse on a day like this. Pour.”
So Hyang held out his cup. As Cheol Woo filled it, he downed it without hesitation.
The burning trail down his throat still felt damn good, even on death’s door.
“Another.”
So Hyang smashed the empty cup on the ground and bellowed boldly.
That was So Hyang’s final feast—the greatest butcher and notorious drunkard of So Hyang.