Chapter 12
Chapter 12
12.
"I heard someone died because they didn't clean?"
The Twelve Divine Generals each have varying levels of Martial arts, but they are all on par with the Black Cat Clan Leader.
Jo Ilseom couldn't even lift his head.
'Why are the Twelve Divine Generals here...?'
Upon hearing the name Baek-yu, he should have greeted him as he would the Black Cat Clan Leader. In particular, the expert Baek-yu was a truly difficult opponent for Jo Ilseom. Recently, he had been cozying up to the Black Cat (Black Rabbit) of the Twelve Divine Generals, so Baek-yu, who was on the worst terms with him, could naturally be displeased. Knowing this situation, the problem was that Jo Ilseom's rank was too low, and he had never seen Baek-yu in person.
Jo Ilseom's thoughts became complicated.
"...Did you come because you have something to command?"
"I do."
"Please, say anything."
"Commit suicide."
Jo Ilseom gritted his teeth and didn't answer. No matter how high the opponent's status as one of the Twelve Divine Generals was, who would accept such an order?
Jo Ilseom said,
"If you say something like that out of the blue..."
"Just kidding."
"Hmm."
I chuckled and continued,
"The Twelve Divine Generals is actually a lie. I'm from Ilyang Prefecture. Luzhu, why are you so easily fooled?"
Jo Ilseom's expression, which had been lowered, instantly changed.
"From Ilyang Prefecture?"
Jo Ilseom's tension eased at the words "from Ilyang Prefecture," and at the same time, feelings of anger surged.
I stared intently into Jo Ilseom's eyes and said,
"Seems a bit hazy, doesn't it? Come closer and take a look. It's me."
Jo Ilseom approached with his sword in hand, carefully examining my face.
His ever-changing expression was quite a sight to behold. At first, there was a feeling of 'no way,' followed by 'anger' that quickly covered his face.
Jo Ilseom slowly drew his sword and said,
"You... are you perhaps that Purple Glow Inn... Shop Assistant bastard?"
I replied with a smile,
"You recognize me. Did you happen to have a bowl of tasteless Chicken Head Noodles while passing by? How was the taste of the Chicken Head Noodles, Lord Jo Ilseom?"
Only then did an ominous thought cross Jo Ilseom's mind.
"Where is my brother?"
"What about your brother?"
"He went out to kill you. What happened to him?"
I said with a stiff expression,
"He came."
"Tell me."
"He didn't come to eat noodles. He was spouting nonsense, but I don't remember it well. Ah, I remember now. He suddenly started digging his own grave while trying to set a mood. I have no idea why your brother came to the Purple Glow Inn and dug his own grave. If you're curious, go to the afterlife and ask your brother. Don't ask me."
As the enraged Jo Ilseom closed the distance, he swung his sword at my face. It was a stable thrust that seemed prepared for a counterattack.
I drew my sword and deflected Jo Ilseom's sword.
Clang— Sparks flew with the sound.
As the two swords collided, information about the 'fight' was transmitted to each of their arms.
Muscles and Inner energy, speed and the strength of the sword.
Jo Ilseom was a swordsman in his late thirties who had wielded a sword for about twenty years.
Because he had never formally learned Martial arts, he used a practical form of swordsmanship learned by directly killing people.
It was a swordsmanship with clear limitations. In my eyes, it looked like a swordsmanship that combined external skills and crude Inner energy. However, because he had experience killing quite a few people, his murderous intent was sufficiently fierce.
However, my assessment was that it was a third-rate swordsmanship in terms of the vast Martial World.
Moreover, even though I had only entered the Wooden Chicken stage, the first stage of the Golden Turtle Roaming Skill, my pure Inner energy was much deeper than Jo Ilseom's. From the beginning, Inner energy based on Celestial Jade resided in my Energy Center, so it was fundamentally different from Jo Ilseom's. Not to mention fighting skills, experience, and handling of offense and defense.
"It would have been better to commit suicide."
I launched a counterattack with a blunt expression.
In the fairly large banquet hall, the two swords collided as Jo Ilseom and I repeatedly closed and widened the distance.
Jo Ilseom's expression darkened with each passing moment.
Doubt about when I had learned such swordsmanship and an instinct based on 'information' were warning him to run away quickly. It was a perplexing moment because there was no possibility that the Shop Assistant of the inn would be able to match him in this way.
The moment Jo Ilseom was pushed back by my Inner energy and created distance, I threw the sword I was holding like a stone without any regrets.
Whoosh!
Startled, Jo Ilseom barely managed to deflect the fiercely flying sword, and I threw the whip I had pulled from my waist, wrapping it around the handle of Jo Ilseom's sword.
As I injected the power of the Wooden Chicken into the arm holding the whip, Jo Ilseom was dragged in like a pig coming to the slaughterhouse.
At that moment, Jo Ilseom, who had chosen to flee, released his sword and spun his body, using lightness skill towards the entrance.
My whip, which flew again, was faster than his speed.
I wrapped the whip around Jo Ilseom's waist and pulled him in, rotating my body to shorten the length of the whip.
As the distance closed in an instant, Jo Ilseom, who had turned around, unleashed both palms.
At this time, I stabbed his palms with the Wooden Chicken Finger technique.
Depending on the level of Inner energy, either my fingers would break, or Jo Ilseom's palm force would pierce through, causing him internal injuries.
As expected, the sound of skin piercing instantly erupted, and Jo Ilseom staggered backward, vomiting black blood.
He said with an expression of disbelief,
"How could you have such..."
"Learned Martial arts?"
I infused the power of the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill into the whip again and swung it. Jo Ilseom, who had suffered internal injuries, resisted by wildly waving his hands, but there was no effective way to block the flying whip.
With each movement of the whip, red lines were etched on Jo Ilseom's body.
Jo Ilseom shouted while being hit,
"Jaha! You fucking Jaha! Just a moment!"
I wrapped the whip around Jo Ilseom's neck, pulled him in, and poured the Wooden Chicken Palm Power into his forehead.
Thwack! The sound was followed by the sound of a neck bone breaking.
As Jo Ilseom's heavy body collapsed to the floor, the entire Pear Blossom Tower shook once.
Thud!
I felt no particular emotion at Jo Ilseom's death.
After confirming that Jo Ilseom was instantly dead, I picked up the Black Dragon Sword. Jo Ilseom's guards were crowded in the hallway, but they couldn't easily enter.
Holding the sword and whip, I said to the door,
"Open the door."
As the door opened with a creak, warriors wielding Wide Blades were waiting, engulfed in murderous intent.
The reason they hadn't entered was simple.
According to the report, Jo Ilseom and an expert from the Black Cat Clan were fighting.
Even for them, it was difficult to know whose side to take.
When it's difficult to judge, they tend to care more about their own safety.
Even though Jo Ilseom Luzhu seemed scary right now, they knew very well that all three of the scary Jo Brothers had been inviting and entertaining experts from the Black Cat Clan every day.
They were also just a local gang, not even those confined within the boundaries of a faction yet.
I could easily read their psychology.
When I glared at a few of them, they all avoided my gaze.
I stated that the reason for the murder was an order from the Black Cat Clan.
"The Clan Leader has changed his mind and decided to postpone the establishment of a faction in Ilyang Prefecture. The Cho Family bastard was made an example of, so if anyone rashly demands the establishment of a faction again, they will all end up like that. Get out of the way. If you don't want to die."
The people who had been filling the hallway stuck to the left and right walls, opening a path.
Some went to the entrance to examine the corpse of Jo Ilseom.
Walking down the hallway, I delivered the next order.
"Report what happens in the House of pleasure to Cha Seong-tae of the Plum Blossom Brothel for the time being."
When I turned around at the end of the hallway, answers crawled out from here and there.
"Yes, sir."
"Hold the funeral as simply as possible. You've been shamelessly earning money by exploiting pitiful lives in three Houses of pleasure, so there should be enough money for the afterlife."
The moment I turned around, someone said this,
"Aren't you the Purple Glow Inn Shop Assistant?"
It was a clear statement, as if to be heard by his colleagues.
"...!"
Silence was followed by murmuring.
I stopped, and the warriors wielding Wide Blades raised their heads one by one, glaring at my back.
"Purple Glow Inn Shop Assistant? Is it true?"
"It's definitely him. His clothes have changed, but I know him well because I've seen him often."
It seems someone recognized me.
I turned my neck from side to side and turned around. Now everyone was looking at my face and eyes.
I smiled at them.
"That's right. What are you going to do about it? You suddenly have courage because I'm a Shop Assistant? Anyone who wants to die, come forward."
Of course, no one came forward.
"Anyone who wants to follow me to the afterlife and lick Jo Ilseom's feet, come out. I'll kill you. If you say you came to serve like a dog even in the afterlife, the Cho Family bastards will love you like dogs. You sons of bitches. No one?"
There were more than thirty people lined up in the hallway. Nevertheless, no one stepped forward with courage.
If they were the kind of people who had the courage to take revenge, they wouldn't have been attached to the House of pleasure to make a living in the first place.
Someone asked,
"Why did you suddenly kill Luzhu?"
"Why?"
I don't need to make excuses to them.
"Why don't you ask Jo Ilseom about the reason? Anyone who's curious can come and find me anytime. I'm not going anywhere."
I turned around, but no one moved.
Even if they ambushed me aiming for my back, there was no way the attacks of those who were worse than even the Jo Brothers would work.
* * *
When I returned, Cha Seong-tae, with surprised eyes, hiccuped as if he had met a ghost.
"Hic? What about Jo Ilseom?"
"He ascended to heaven."
"Liar!"
Cha Seong-tae, who was drunk, jumped up and started running straight to the Pear Blossom Tower.
It was surprising news for Cha Seong-tae.
When I sat back down and ate the cold snacks while drinking my seventh cup of alcohol, Cha Seong-tae arrived, panting and shaking his head.
"It's a mess. It's a mess. Jo Ilseom is dead! Jo Ilseom!"
"Are you drunk?"
"Ah, suddenly running made the alcohol hit me hard."
Cha Seong-tae sat down and continued,
"No, but I heard no one else died? How did you only kill Jo Ilseom?"
I pointed at Cha Seong-tae with my finger and said,
"Manage the three Houses of pleasure properly."
"There are some guys who don't seem like they'll listen, but anyway, I understand. Please leave that much to me."
There were two more men on par with Cha Seong-tae, but Cha Seong-tae always thought he was stronger than these guys. In an instant, the Plum Blossom Brothel Luzhu and the Pear Blossom Tower Luzhu died, and now only the youngest, the Poetry Blossom House Luzhu, who was in charge of supplying the courtesans, remained.
Cha Seong-tae asked,
"What are you going to do now?"
"I have to kill the human traffickers too."
"I'll let you know right away."
Until then, I was naturally planning to train, but there was no need to tell Cha Seong-tae that. I could train at the Purple Glow Inn, or I could leave for a while and go to a quiet mountain.
What I needed now was not Weaponry training such as swordsmanship, but only Inner Energy cultivation methods that could draw on the forces waiting in the Energy Center.
I was thinking of quietly observing the state of Ilyang Prefecture for a few days before deciding whether to choose a temporary seclusion or continue training here.
I looked at the chaotic table and said,
"You clean this up and leave."
Cha Seong-tae closed his mouth, about to say something. It was obvious that he would get hit right away if he said he didn't want to.
Instead, Cha Seong-tae, who had come up with a good idea, said cautiously,
"I'll send some friends who are famous for cleaning. They're among the top three cleaners in Ilyang Prefecture. They'll also remove the grass stuck to the wall and dust. What is this floor? The kitchen is a mess too, right? That's why business wasn't good. I'll send them right away, so please wait."
"Have you heard the story of someone who died because they didn't clean?"
"Was there such a story?"
"It's a ghost story that's only passed down in Ilyang Prefecture."
"Was there such a ghost story? I definitely don't know. First, I'll clean up the table and leave. Why don't you just stay at the Plum Blossom Brothel? The sleeping arrangements are more comfortable and there are guards..."
I didn't answer and went into the small room and sat cross-legged.
Cha Seong-tae sighed and looked around for a rag.
'You fucking bastard. You're making this Cha Seong-tae clean? Huh.'
Cha Seong-tae had no choice but to mop.