The Heavenly Demon Came to Visit (5)
The moment Baek Hwaryeong spoke, the man from the Black Cloud Faction—whatever his name was—raised a single eyebrow. It was the look of someone who couldn’t believe his own ears. The expression of a man genuinely astonished that anyone would dare provoke him.
“Are you talking to me right now?”
“Not only to you, but among all the whelps from that dog-like sect, you do seem to be the largest one here.”
“You bitch! Do you even know who I am?!”
“Then do you know who this seat is?”
As if echoing her emotions, a wave of qi poured out from Baek Hwaryeong and crushed the warriors who had drawn their weapons. There was no concept of good or evil in that pressure. Only the pure intent to dispose of the annoying bastards in front of her. One by one, the men pinned beneath her qi dropped to their knees.
“Why do you not answer? Did this seat not ask if you knew who I am?”
No reply came from the warriors. It would be more accurate to say they couldn’t reply. Their faces had gone deathly pale, as though even drawing breath was a struggle. How could they possibly move their lips?
“What insolent fools.”
Baek Hwaryeong’s voice rang clearly through the restaurant, which had fallen into absolute silence.
“Ara.”
I called out to her as she rose to deliver the finishing blow. She tilted her head.
“Are you perhaps trying to stop me?”
“That’s right.”
I know exactly what you’re about to do. There’s something in front of you that displeases you, so you intend to sweep it away. In the style of the Divine Cult, no less. I saw the killing intent in your eyes, so don’t even think about denying it.
“Hoh. I never imagined you would be the one to hold me back. Have you grown soft with age?”
“Idiot. You’re so focused on one thing that you can’t see anything else. Look around you.”
It wasn’t only those foolish warriors who were being crushed by Baek Hwaryeong’s qi. Every single person in the restaurant had been affected. The hands that had been cheerfully moving chopsticks in a warm atmosphere had frozen mid-motion. Eyes that had been looking at companions across the table were now fixed on us. The server carrying dishes back and forth stood rooted to the spot. Even the chef, who should have been working in the kitchen, had poked his head out to stare.
“If you finish things here the way you normally do, what do you think will happen?”
Go ahead and take their lives in the Divine Cult’s usual fashion. It’s painfully obvious what the atmosphere in this place would turn into. I have no desire to eat beside corpses.
Having understood my meaning, Baek Hwaryeong nodded obediently.
“I see. Then I shall handle this with moderation.”
As Baek Hwaryeong rose from her seat and approached, the man at the very front of the group—still pinned by her qi—hurriedly bowed his head.
“We’re sorry! We failed to recognize a supreme expert and—”
His excuse never reached its conclusion. Baek Hwaryeong’s hand moved faster. She lightly tapped the man’s chin, and his body crumpled to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
The movement had been so swift that the other warriors still causing a commotion didn’t even seem to understand what had just happened.
“Get lost. Unless you wish to end up like him.”
“Yes ma’am!”
When it came to fleeing, there were no enemies or allies. The entire group that had been stirring up trouble forgot their previous conflict and fled the restaurant as a single panicked mass, leaving only the fainted warrior behind.
In the now deathly silent restaurant, Baek Hwaryeong returned to her seat with leisurely steps and flashed a bright smile.
“Is this acceptable?”
“Yes. Well done.”
This was a sufficiently restrained response.
These people had clearly been viewing Baek Hwaryeong as some kind of lovable fool rather than the Heavenly Demon. After all, she had boldly offered me tofu skin only to be rejected and then moped about it. She had looked around the city with the wide-eyed wonder of someone visiting for the first time. She had even frozen like a statue after tasting high-quality yubu for the first time.
…Well. When I thought about everything she had shown them so far, I could understand why they might see her that way.
The strange sense of acceptance left me with nothing to say to the viewers. I shook off the thought and turned my gaze back to the yubu, only to find that the plates had been completely emptied.
“Huh?”
What was this? The dishes had been piled high with food before the commotion started. How had they turned into empty plates in the blink of an eye?
When I looked up in bewilderment, I found Baru and Baek Hwaryeong both puffing out their cheeks like squirrels, frantically chewing. The moment our eyes met, they looked away like puppies who knew they had done something wrong.
I sat there frozen for a moment before setting down my chopsticks and letting out an audible sigh.
“Just what exactly are you two doing?”
It was so absurd I was genuinely at a loss. They weren’t starving beggars who had gone days without food. Did this make any sense? Both of you hold rather high positions, don’t you? One is a divine spirit who guards an entire mountain, and the other is literally called a god of the Divine Cult. Yet here you are, throwing away all dignity and authority to do something even a five-year-old child wouldn’t.
When I pulled out my pipe and put it in my mouth, Baek Hwaryeong—who had finished swallowing first—shouted as if making an excuse.
“Listen! By the time I finished dealing with those imbeciles, this fox had already devoured most of it! So I simply hurried to secure my own share!”
“Was that matter so important that it made you forget all the etiquette you’ve learned?”
“Yes! When there’s food like this in front of me, who cares about etiquette!”
She spoke with such confidence that I didn’t even feel like questioning her further. I suppose to someone who had never known modern cuisine, this must have felt like the heavens and earth had been flipped. Even I had been ridiculously happy when I returned from the martial world and ate chicken for the first time.
I stopped pressing Baek Hwaryeong and turned to Baru. Her face flushed bright red. She was so flustered that her fox ears, which she usually kept hidden, had popped out on top of her head.
“And what about you?”
Judging by her expression, she seemed to understand that she had done wrong. After chewing for a while and swallowing, Baru remained silent for a long time before finally speaking carefully.
“That is…”
“Hm?”
“At first, I didn’t intend to eat everything. I only wanted to soothe my bored palate.”
“And then?”
“I kept putting them in my mouth one by one with the chopsticks, and they were so addictive that I simply couldn’t stop.”
“So you’re saying you completely surrendered to your appetite?”
When I asked that, Baru gave a tiny, careful nod.
“Baru. Is that really acceptable behavior for a mountain deity?”
“…”
Baru’s face grew even redder as she maintained her silence. I stopped pressing her because it looked like her face might actually explode if I continued. Well. It’s possible to lose one’s reason in front of delicious food. Besides, we could just order more.
When I raised my hand, the server approached our table before I could even call out. Her face was completely stiff. It was obvious she was thinking that if she displeased us in any way, something terrible might happen. There was no need to be that tense—we had no intention of causing harm to this establishment. How could I possibly harm a place that served such delicious food?
Just as we finished placing our additional order, I sensed a group approaching from outside. Seeing the idiot from the Black Cloud Faction who had fled earlier at the very front of the group, their purpose was painfully obvious.
Baek Hwaryeong seemed to have noticed their presence as well. Her gaze had turned toward the door.
“Min-ga. In any case, as long as no problems occur inside the restaurant, it should be fine, yes?”
“That’s true.”
“I shall return shortly.”
“I’ll come with you. Let’s take care of it before the food arrives.”
If we wasted too much time, that fox spirit who had gone mad for yubu might empty the plates again. After asking Baru to guard our seats, we stepped outside. A large group of warriors was approaching from the distance.
“They’ve brought quite a lot with them.”
“Indeed.”
“There isn’t even a single one who has reached the Transcendence Realm. Where does all that confidence come from?”
“Those who live on a Buddha’s palm believe that palm is the entire world.”
Just who are these people?
Jeong-hyeong, leader of the Black Cloud Faction, thought this as he watched his subordinates collapse to the ground like puppets every time they were lightly tapped. These were not weak men. They were skilled enough to be recognized no matter which faction they joined. The reason the Black Cloud Faction had gained its reputation in Hangzhou’s market was precisely because of the high level of its members.
Yet those same warriors were collapsing as easily as flowers withering in a drought. Without even being able to touch their opponents. From attacks so insignificant they could barely be called martial techniques. With a mere tap.
Jeong-hyeong couldn’t even begin to gauge the level of the two people who were knocking down his subordinates. Although he prided himself on standing at the threshold of the Transcendence Realm, the only word that came to mind as he watched the two of them move was the same one a child obsessed with heroic tales might think of.
Strong.
Far too strong.
So strong that he couldn’t even begin to estimate just how strong they were. If the protagonists of the myths that circulated in the streets actually existed, wouldn’t it be these two?
“Leader Jeong! This is the moment for you to step forward! Show those who don’t know their place the true meaning of power!”
When one of his subordinates shouted that, the others all chimed in together.
“That’s right! Leader Jeong!”
“It’s time for you to act!”
“Show them your Black Cloud Single Strike!”
What nonsense are you all spouting?
How am I supposed to fight monsters like these?!
No matter how many times—hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands—I face them, I wouldn’t even be able to scratch them! How am I supposed to win against demons like these?!
Jeong-hyeong wanted to run away. That’s right. He would use his subordinates as bait and flee. While those two were busy sweeping them aside, he could run with everything he had. That way, he might at least preserve his life.
But escape was not permitted. The heavens themselves stood before him.
“Go ahead and try.”
“…Pardon?”
“I told you to show me that Black Cloud Single Strike or whatever it’s called.”
The woman who looked as delicate as a flower on a cliffside urged him to attack in a haughty tone that didn’t match her appearance. Realizing he couldn’t run from the heavens above, Jeong-hyeong swallowed hard with a stiff face and clenched his fist. He felt like his head would fly off if he didn’t.
Since it had come to this, he would give it one try. After all, this woman was still human. If he attacked with all his strength, an opening was bound to appear.
Jeong-hyeong circulated his qi. A fist carrying the single-minded intent to pierce through the dark clouds that covered the sky shot toward the woman before him. Perhaps because of his desperate will to survive, he was certain he had just performed the finest strike of his entire life.
However, the clouds looming before him were far too high and thick for him to pierce.
The woman caught his fist far too easily, tilted her head, then released it again.
“I believe I told you to show me your secret technique?”
…Ha.
Was that not even considered a secret technique?
The moment the martial art he had devoted his entire life to refining was denied, Jeong-hyeong lost all motivation.