Chapter 2
It had been quite some time since I left Mount Hwa. At first, I’d intended to race straight back to Baek-ga in Jiangxi. But only now, for the first time, did it truly hit me that I had returned to the distant past.
“Haa... haa... what a piece of trash this body is.”
It felt like my lungs were going to tear open and burst out of my chest. I slowly steadied my breathing. The very fact that I had to consciously control my breath like this felt foreign.
I should have rolled the time back just enough. How did I wind up sending myself back to such a worthless, empty state?
Right now, I was little more than a third-rate martial artist. My internal energy was meager, and my body’s training was no different from that of a novice just stepping into the jianghu. Yes. Until now, I had turned back time countless times, but never before to a point earlier than the Hyeon-gyeong realm.
The reason was simple enough: the power to turn back time had itself been something I obtained at the Hyeon-gyeong realm, and I had always feared that if I regressed to a level lower than that, I would no longer be able to use it. And it had turned out exactly as I feared.
“I can’t run anymore!”
I flopped onto the road, sprawled flat on my back. For a moment I closed my eyes, then opened them again. The sky was dyed a clear, piercing blue. Birds were singing softly somewhere nearby. It was peaceful. And unfamiliar. There had never been a peaceful stretch like this among the times I had turned back to defeat Tiger Mask.
It would have been nice to have the luxury of an idle nap.
Snap!
By reflex, I flicked my fingers. Nothing happened. I didn’t get a second chance now. That was exactly why I couldn’t afford to be lazy in this life. I slowly pushed myself up.
This time, I would kill him. I would not let him take anything from me again.
“I need to get back fast. I’m almost there.”
I started running again. Once more, my breath slammed into my lungs like it wanted to rip them apart. But I didn’t stop. Before long, Jiangxi came into view. The guard at the gate was the first person I saw when I arrived.
He looked at me with a somewhat suspicious expression, but let me in without any trouble. I drew in a deep breath.
“Hmm. A familiar smell.”
Jiangxi was just as I remembered it. It was good to see, and strangely wistful. So this was what it felt like to come home. I decided to head straight back to the clan residence.
Grrr...
I was about to return when hunger hit me. A man can’t work on an empty stomach, and besides, I looked like a complete wreck right now. I needed a bath and a change of clothes too.
“Then should I eat first?”
I hurried my steps toward Jungseong Inn. It had been a long time since I’d been here, but my body still remembered the way, and my feet moved on their own.
“Welco—oh?”
The innkeeper greeted me in a bright voice, then faltered strangely as he turned and saw what I looked like.
“Do you have a seat?”
“Guest, I’m sorry, but there are no seats left in the inn right now. Could you come again another time?”
The innkeeper’s voice was polite. But I could hear the irritation in his face. Maybe he thought I was some penniless rogue about to eat and run.
“Haa... I really need to shake this look off soon.”
“Please come back another time!”
“Give me a room. Bring a proper meal, and prepare clothes I can change into, along with a bath.”
“No, I already told you there are no seats left, guest.”
Clink.
I tossed a silver coin to the innkeeper. He snatched it up in a flash, then stared at it with wide eyes. After that, he bent at the waist and looked up at me.
“This way, please, guest.”
“Didn’t you say there were no rooms?”
“We have a private room set aside.”
“More importantly, bring the food first.”
“There is a seat upstairs. I’ll guide you.”
The innkeeper led me up to the second floor. I followed him while glancing around.
Something felt a little off. Unlike the lively atmosphere I remembered from this inn, everything felt dim and quiet.
“Your food is ready, guest.”
I sensed the strangeness, but there were more immediate matters to handle. I hadn’t eaten in days, and the table was loaded with food. I began to eat slowly. It tasted especially good after such a long time without a proper meal, and eating food from my home turf made my chest feel oddly full, almost to the point of aching.
“Ah. I’m stuffed.”
I didn’t leave a single dish untouched. To anyone looking in, they might have believed I was a real beggar rather than someone merely dressed like one. Now that I’d filled my stomach, all that remained was to wash up and head back to the clan.
Thwack!
The moment I stood up, I heard the sound of a blow from downstairs. In the Central Plains, hearing that kind of noise in an inn wasn’t anything unusual. Common enough, really. Drunken men starting trouble, picking fights over nothing.
My gaze naturally drifted down to the first floor. There were ten men down there in all. Five men in white martial robes were seated at a table, while five men in blue martial robes stood in front of it. The one who’d been struck was one of the men in white.
“You bastards. I told you not to stand out. Did I or did I not? Just live quietly, like you’re not even here, you damn fools.”
“……”
“What, you’re not even answering?”
Thwack!
“……”
“Still nothing?”
Thwack!
The man in blue kept punching the man in white without pause. Yet none of the men in white moved. They simply sat there and took the beating. They had their lips clamped tight and their fists balled hard, and even so, they didn’t answer the one-sided violence.
“Oh, come on! Please, enough! At this rate you’re going to kill somebody.”
Unable to watch any longer, the innkeeper cheerfully stepped between them. But the man in blue started hitting him instead. At that, the men in white all rose at once.
“What? You want to try something? Yeah? Go on, then. Try it.”
The man in blue leaned in close to one of the white-robed men and kept bumping his forehead into him, taunting him.
“That’s why you get treated like trash, you worthless bastards. A bunch of half-witted curs from a clan with no strength at all. Heh, heh, heh... what a hilarious little group you are.”
“Hahahahaha.”
When the man in blue finished speaking, the men standing behind him burst into laughter together.
“So remember this. When you see our Jin Sword Sect, don’t lift your heads. Keep them down, got it?”
Drip, drip.
Right as the blue-robed man was stirring up trouble, wine began to pour down over his head.
“What the hell is this? Who did that?!”
The man in blue looked up and saw me. Of course he would have, since I was the one who’d splashed wine over his head.
“You? You’re the one who poured wine on me?”
“Ah. Sorry. Your mouth sounded like a trash bin, so I thought I was emptying it.”
“You little shit, do you even know who I am, acting all high and mighty like that?”
“Who are you?”
I slowly walked down to the first floor.
“Who are you?”
“Me? I’m Jin Yangbaek, the third son of the Jin Sword Sect!”
“Jin Yangbaek...?”
“Yeah, you bastard. From here on out, you’re goi—”
Pow!
I threw my fist as fast as I possibly could. My knuckles struck Jin Yangbaek squarely on the jaw. He didn’t even have time to react before he toppled backward like a felled tree.
“Ah. Sorry. Were you in the middle of talking? The thing is, I’ve never had much patience for filth.”
I am Baek Mugeuk, the greatest man in the world. Things like knowing exactly where to hit a person to make them pass out, or where to hit them to kill them, had once been as easy to me as breathing.
No. They still were.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Jin Yangbaek stared blankly for a moment, then struggled to his feet. He immediately grabbed me by the collar. I tilted my head to the side.
Weird. He should’ve gone out cold in one hit.
Under normal circumstances, the bastard should have been foaming at the mouth on the floor. But instead he’d gotten back up and seized me by the neck. It was the result of not accounting for my current condition.
“Your arms are shorter than I expected. And weaker too...”
“What the hell are you blabbing about, you bastard?”
Jin Yangbaek looked like he was really losing it. Veins bulged at his temples as he raised his fist. But I was faster. I lifted my own fist and slammed it into his jaw once again.
Crack!
A harsher sound burst out from his jaw than before. This time, it was certain. His jaw had definitely been broken.
Even when one’s realm falls and the body grows weak, there are laws that never change. If one strike doesn’t break it, hit it twice. If two don’t work, hit it three times.
“Young master!”
Jin Yangbaek collapsed to the floor, frothing at the mouth. He probably wouldn’t be able to live a normal life for a while. If he ever wanted to chew food again, he’d need years to recover. That much was obvious.
“You really are desperate to die, aren’t you!”
Shing.
Four martial artists from the Jin Sword Sect drew their swords and began to surround me. They were radiating ugly, murderous intent.
“How dull. So dull. I mean, knocking the lot of you over would be no trouble at all. But here’s the thing.”
I adjusted the cords of my robe and smiled faintly.
“Shouldn’t you be tending to your young master first? Leave him like that and he won’t be able to chew a single grain of rice.”
All at once, the Jin Sword Sect men’s gazes shifted to Jin Yangbaek. He had rolled his eyes back and started groaning.
“Take care of the young master! Move him to a physician!”
Once they realized Jin Yangbaek’s condition was severe, they rushed to help him and tried to move him out at once. But I had no intention of letting them go so easily.
“Who said you could leave?”
“What?”
“I haven’t allowed it. Where do you think you’re going?”
I loosened my shoulders and calmly blocked their path.
At that, impatience finally spread across their faces.
That meant the advantage was mine now.
“You bastard, will you move already?”
“Senior brother! Are you going to stand by and watch that insolence?”
Several of the martial artists were already about to draw their swords, their energy rising sharply, when—
“Enough. The young master’s safety comes first!”
The one who seemed to be the eldest among the Jin family martial artists cupped his fists and lowered his head toward me.
“We failed to recognize a master. May we take the young master with us?”
“Hmm... what should I do...”
“We beg you.”
“Fine. Go on then.”
“Thank you. We won’t forget this kindness.”
From the look in his eyes, the man was full of rage. But what could he do? Their young master was a complete mess.
They hurriedly hoisted Jin Yangbaek onto their shoulders and turned to leave the inn.
“Wait!”
“Didn’t you say we could go?”
“Going’s fine. But shouldn’t you settle your tab before you leave?”
Grit.
The Jin family martial artists clenched their jaws so tightly the grinding sound was audible to everyone in the room.
He took out three silver coins and placed them on the table. Then he turned around.
“The Jin family will not forget this.”
“Why do you keep saying you won’t forget things? What if you’re already getting forgetful at your age?”
“......Let’s go.”
When I spoke as though I were sincerely worried for them, the Jin family martial artists left the shop with gritted teeth.
Before long, silence settled over the inn.
The men in white, who had been standing there awkwardly, approached me. I ignored them and went straight to the innkeeper instead.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, I’m fine. This isn’t even a day or two’s worth of trouble.”
“……”
From the innkeeper’s attitude, it seemed this sort of thing had been happening for quite some time. I helped him to his feet and turned around. Then the men in white martial robes cupped their fists toward me.
“I don’t know who you are, benefactor, but thank you for helping us.”
“……”
“If I’m not being rude, may I ask your name?”
“……”
“Your martial skill is extraordinary. Could you perhaps be... from the Beggars’ Sect?”
Grit.
I clenched my teeth hard. Then I slowly walked up to the white-robed man.
Thud!
The moment I stood in front of him, I slammed a fist into his stomach.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”
“You bastards. You really don’t recognize me?”
“What...?”
The five men in white exchanged confused looks with one another. They truly didn’t seem to recognize me. Seeing their reaction only made my jaw tighten harder.
Grind.
“Just what sect are you from, anyway!”
They were disciples of the Baek Clan. In other words, my juniors. And what was this nonsense about the Beggars’ Sect? These days, people had no sense of the basics. A beating was the only thing that would teach them.
“You can’t even recognize your senior brother’s face? Is that supposed to make sense?!”
I didn’t hesitate. I sprang into motion. At that very instant, the expressions of the men before me twisted, and screams began to spill through Jungseong Inn.