Chapter 20
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Paid Service (1)
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“Head chef! The guest who just arrived ordered a bowl of thin noodles and a flask of baekju!”
Sweat pouring down his face as he shook the deep wok, the head chef twisted his expression into a scowl.
“Damn it. Thin noodles again? Why do these godforsaken martial artists always order the cheap stuff? Can't they splurge on something pricey for once?”
“Hehe. Aren't martial artists usually a bit strapped for cash?”
“Damn it all. I'm broke too. Me!”
The head chef grumbled irritably.
The waiter boy flashed a friendly smile and said to him,
“I'll be right back—gotta hit the outhouse!”
“No slacking off! Hurry up and get back here!”
“Yes, sir! Be quick!”
Waving to the head chef, the waiter slipped out the back of the inn—away from the guests—and headed for the privy.
“Man, my bladder's about to burst.”
Clutching his belt, the waiter ducked into a shadowy corner and loosened his pants.
It looked for all the world like he was just about to relieve himself against the wall.
“Ahh... that's better.”
Facing the wall, the waiter shuddered with relief, a relaxed look on his face.
But the wall stayed bone-dry. It had all been an act to cover for sending a sound transmission.
“Time to head back in?”
Finishing the ruse, the waiter subtly circulated his internal energy and sent a transmission to someone.
⟨Sound Transmission⟩
Target arrived. Chamun Inn. Thin noodles and baekju.
Slurping down the thin noodle broth with a hearty sound, Kang Moo-jin's expression shifted subtly.
'Would've been a shame if I'd left without this.'
A sound transmission was a technique that conveyed sound through qi, inaudible to others.
A feat only those proficient in qi could perform.
And those who advanced even further could intercept others' transmissions with a skill called eavesdropping sound.
Reading the flow of qi to snatch transmissions mid-air—a technique reserved for masters at the pinnacle of qi manipulation.
For Kang Moo-jin, who'd spent decades fighting and surviving in the Linked Qi Realm, such tricks were mere warm-ups.
“Alright.”
Finishing his meal, Kang Moo-jin rose and headed to his room on the second floor.
Seeing the spacious guest room—big enough for ten people—he tilted his head quizzically.
“Hm?”
“Hehe. We don't have many guests today, so we upgraded you to the deluxe suite for free. No extra charge, sir—don't worry!”
The waiter had appeared silently at his side, beaming with that same affable smile.
Something seemed off, but Kang Moo-jin didn't let on and simply nodded.
“Appreciate it. Fine establishment you've got here. Meal was excellent too—especially that broth. Out of this world.”
“Hehe, glad you liked it! I'll be sure to tell the head chef.”
“Do that.”
Dismissing the waiter and closing the door, Kang Moo-jin deliberately folded his windbreaker robe and tucked it under the bed.
Then he stretched out on the oversized bed—twice the size of a standard one.
True to the deluxe room, the bed was massive, but it looked small with Kang Moo-jin sprawled across it.
“Haaah...”
His belly pleasantly full and the weather just right, Kang Moo-jin started snoring the moment his head hit the pillow.
⟨Sound Transmission⟩
Target's asleep.
A black-clad figure lay flat on the roof of Chamun Inn as the transmission reached his ear.
It came from his subordinate, disguised as the waiter inside.
⟨Reply⟩
Confirmed. Execute plan in half an hour.
Pushing his internal energy to his eyes for sharper vision, the black-clad leader peered through the window at Kang Moo-jin.
'Definitely out cold.'
Torso bare, Kang Moo-jin lay spread-eagled in peaceful slumber, snoring away.
Makes sense—he'd traveled far, so fatigue must've piled up.
Even top experts tire after covering that distance with lightness skill.
Plus, he'd ingested poison.
Tap.
A subordinate approached silently, cloaked in stealth arts.
“Boss. While he's asleep, should we dust him with more poison?”
“Why bother.”
Undeterred by the leader's icy response, the subordinate pressed on.
“This guy's got a rep in Taiyuan, doesn't he?”
The leader scoffed.
“You buying those ridiculous rumors?”
The Central Plains teemed with gossipmongers, spawning absurd tales now and then.
Like bandits cleaving Namgung Clan experts in half, or some third-rate escort agency's youngest son flattening a Mount Hua lay disciple with one punch.
“He's just big and bulky. Hollow inside. Don't waste poison on trash.”
The wilder the rumors, the more underwhelming the reality.
The leader had unmasked such overhyped righteous fools dozens of times.
Kang Moo-jin was surely another weakling draped in unearned glory.
“But boss...”
“Enough. We got paid well for this job, but we're not swimming in cash. No poison for nobodies like him.”
“Understood, boss.”
The subordinate nodded and fell silent.
Truth be told, he too thought the tales around Kang Moo-jin were overblown.
“Time to move.”
Watching Kang Moo-jin sleep belly-up, the leader signaled his waiting men.
Black-clad figures on nearby rooftops rose in unison.
Krunch!
Five crashed through windows and doors, smashing into Kang Moo-jin's room.
“Kill him before he wakes!”
At the leader's shout from outside, five blades plunged into the bed.
Stab—thunk!
“...?!”
The assassins' eyes widened in shock as their blades sank deep.
“He's gone! No sensation of hitting flesh!”
“Damn it! Where the hell did he go? He was right there!”
Their blades met only wood, not man.
“Took you long enough.”
“...!”
The assassins' eyes bulged at Kang Moo-jin, casually leaning by the shattered window.
“H-How?! W-We poisoned you!”
Horror etched their faces.
The poison in his thin noodles came from the Five Poisons Sect—rivaling Sichuan Tang in venom lore—at great cost.
Rotting Corpse Blood Poison: paralyzes the mind on contact, turning victims into living corpses.
And he was fine after that?!
They'd watched him slurp every drop.
“No way. Did the Five Poisons Sect scam us with fake poison?!”
“Boss, no chance. It killed that wandering hero a few days ago.”
“Right. Then what the hell is this guy?!”
“I-I don't...”
Kang Moo-jin smirked at the panicking assassins.
“Oh? That was Rotting Corpse Blood Poison? Thanks. Made the broth divine—a real delicacy.”
Smacking his lips like he'd truly savored it, he left them slack-jawed.
A drop turns men to vegetables... and it's a delicacy?
Psycho?
“Got more? Sprinkle some on my next meal.”
As their faces twisted in disbelief, the leader drew a dagger from his belt.
“What are you idiots doing!? Attack!”
Daggers flew, followed by dozens of poisoned needles, darts, flying knives, and steel hawk feathers at Kang Moo-jin.
Whizz-whirr!
They peppered his sturdy torso.
“He didn't dodge. He's faking it—the poison's got him... what?!”
The leader's triumphant grin faded to horror.
Kang Moo-jin stood unscathed, looking bored!
“Knew it'd be like this, so I stripped first.”
“I-Impossible!”
Staring at his chiseled, muscle-bound torso, the assassins gaped.
Not some mythical Diamond Indestructible state. How'd he shrug off all those hidden weapons?!
“Gah! Damn Black Market scum! Warn us if the mark's a monster like this!”
Some no-name escort brat, they said.
That wasn't human—that was a beast!
Crack! Snap! Crunch!
Bone-shattering sounds rang out.
The leader whipped around, face draining of color.
“...!”
In that split-second glance away, all four subordinates lay dead—jaws twisted backward.
“Just you left. Care to chat?”
“Shit...!”
As the monster—no, Kang Moo-jin—closed in step by step, the leader reached into his bosom again.
“Save it. Nothing works.”
“This... this'll be different, you freak!”
The leader produced a Heaven-Shaking Thunder.
A palm-sized explosive—"thunder that shakes the heavens"—packed with gunpowder, banned in the Central Plains as a military weapon.
“Heh. Die with me!”
“Wait—!”
No chance to react—the assassin hurled it at his own feet.
BOOM!
A deafening roar and crimson blaze engulfed the room in cataclysmic explosion.
The blast's fury collapsed not just the room but the entire inn, hurling debris everywhere and scorching the surroundings to wasteland.
A battlefield ruin.
Amid the carnage—shattered pillars, debris, and the bomber himself—Kang Moo-jin emerged unscathed.
“Crazy bastards.”
Not a scratch, not even a singe. He furrowed his brow.
'Heaven-Shaking Thunder, huh.'
Using banned weapons marked them as no ordinary lunatics.
“Phew... saved my clothes at least.”
In the instant before detonation, he'd shielded his hidden windbreaker robe with full power.
And gone further—casting needless protective arts to preserve even his pants.
He knew the blast couldn't harm him, but his wardrobe? Worth the qi.
'Now for the real issue.'
Stroking his chin at the ruined inn, Kang Moo-jin pondered.
Leave fast? Or take it slow?
The former wrapped this secret escort quick; the latter meant more clashes with these mystery killers.
Decision made, his eyes hardened.
'Time to end it for good.'