Chapter 16
Chapter 16
16.
The Coercion of a Heavy Drinker (1)
Cha Seong-tae asked,
“Your house has burned down like this, where will you sleep now?”
“There are rooms all over the houses of pleasure, why do you ask?”
“Of course, I was going to suggest that you use the best rooms where the Luzhus used to stay. There were three Luzhus, weren’t there? So there are three good rooms.”
“I’ll just go into any room and sleep, so get rid of those guys first.”
Cha Seong-tae spoke threateningly to those kneeling.
“Tonight, don’t go to the Poetry Blossom House, go to the Plum Blossom Brothel. I’ll see you later.”
“Yes.”
All of them were natives who couldn’t run away because they had families in Ilyang Prefecture.
As the riffraff disappeared, thoroughly intimidated, Cha Seong-tae looked at me.
“Anything else you want to say…?”
I looked at the ashes of the Purple Glow Inn for a moment and said,
“Rebuild the Purple Glow Inn properly. I’m not joking about restoring it.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“In the process of building it, if there’s a man who excels in construction, keep an eye on him and tell me. That person is the head of the Construction Sect.”
“The Construction Sect?”
“You take charge of the Rebirth Sect of the houses of pleasure, Geum Cheolyong takes the Iron Gate, and the head of the Construction Sect will also lead the various men who build and live.”
“Rebirth Sect, Construction Sect, Iron Gate… is there more?”
“There has to be more. First, they enter the Rebirth Sect, and then manpower is moved to the Construction Sect or the Iron Gate, depending on what they want to do.”
The Low Filth Sect was basically planning to organize people so they could find work and make a living.
To make a living, you have to work.
If there is no work, the Low Filth Sect provides jobs.
This was the basic reason for creating the sect.
And my personal desire was that the Sole Gate Lord would resolve any disputes or harassment that arose in the process.
I intended to get stronger while fulfilling that personal desire and repay all the grudges from my past life.
Cha Seong-tae replied,
“Oh… that’s good. Is it like an alliance?”
I replied in a low voice,
“It’s just a union of ordinary working people.”
Cha Seong-tae smiled awkwardly with a different atmosphere than usual.
“Not bad. But if the scale gets bigger, the discipline and atmosphere will be a mess.”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if it becomes a mess.”
“It’s an organization, isn’t it?”
I was an enemy of the Murim Alliance and the Demonic Sect, which were known to have the strictest discipline in the Martial World. Of course, there was no need to create an organization following those guys.
“The organization I’m going to create just needs to stay in the Martial World for a long time. Even if it just does that, it’s meaningful enough. I’m not going to create a great empire, but the most enduring mess of a force in this messed up Martial World.”
Cha Seong-tae swallowed a curse inwardly.
‘What nonsense.’
Of course, once the foundation of the Low Filth Sect was laid, I was planning to start other things.
“Won’t Heukdo, like the Black Cat Clan, stay still?”
At Cha Seong-tae’s question, I smiled and replied,
“The organization will be such a mess that they won’t know where to start. That’s the key. Everyone just needs to do what they can and make a living. The aftermath only needs to be concentrated on the Luzhu of Low Filth Sect.”
“What about the martial organization?”
“That can only be created if there’s a man with outstanding skills. That’s for later.”
“Hmm.”
When there were enough skilled people, then I could create a Slaughter Gate.
So now I could be called the Sole Gate Lord of the Slaughter Gate.
The members below are the skilled people I know from the future, and it’s my job to recruit them.
Also, I was planning to gather those who were good at collecting information separately later and create an Ear Gate.
Like this, Life Gate, Iron Gate, Construction Sect, Slaughter Gate, Ear Gate…
I was planning to keep increasing the lower organizations haphazardly.
Then, I was planning to leave them alone as much as possible so they could continue their livelihoods. To create an organization with no plans and messed up discipline, where they only contact each other when necessary.
I was only going to make sure that no one starved to death.
I thought that no one but me could do this crazy thing in the Martial World… maybe.
When problems arise, the major forces of the Martial World will look for the Luzhu of Low Filth Sect, and that’s when I step in.
At that time, I would go crazy like I used to be a public enemy of the Murim.
I think it’s good to have one man in this ruthless Martial World who goes crazy when someone touches the weak.
That’s all I wanted.
Anyway, given my crazy personality, it was only a matter of time before I became a public enemy of the Murim again.
Therefore, the Low Filth Sect and I were planning to grow in sync.
Cha Seong-tae, whose expression had changed from usual, suddenly called me by my first name.
“Jaha, can I say something, hyung?”
“Go ahead.”
Cha Seong-tae said with a strange expression.
“I apologize for what happened before. I was very wrong about you. Actually, I thought there might be a master behind you all this time, but it doesn’t seem like it. You just changed.”
“…what, is that it?”
Cha Seong-tae nodded and asked.
“That’s it. What’s the name of the alliance we’re going to belong to?”
“Low Filth Sect.”
The Low Filth Sect was the first group I created. Of course, it wasn’t a sect that Cha Seong-tae could know about at this time.
Cha Seong-tae bowed slightly and said in a small voice.
“Low Filth Sect. From now on, should I call you Luzhu?”
Cha Seong-tae’s tone had changed. I nodded and replied.
“Do as you please.”
Cha Seong-tae cautiously asked.
“But why did you spare me? I don’t know why.”
“I was thinking of tormenting you a bit.”
Cha Seong-tae seemed to understand my words right away.
“I see. It’s better than dying. I understand.”
That’s right.
That’s life.
I looked at the ashes of the Purple Glow Inn once and then stood up.
“Let’s go.”
Cha Seong-tae, who had quickly sorted out his thoughts, replied in a different tone.
“Let’s go, Luzhu.”
* * *
I was either wandering around the empty space of the Purple Glow Inn like an unemployed local youth, or I was holed up alone in an empty room in the house of pleasure, clinging to the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill.
I had to accumulate even a handful more of Inner energy.
Because I had experienced in my past life that that handful of Inner energy could save my life.
I didn’t just train Inner energy.
I also steadily refined my Palm Technique and Finger Technique.
However, using my legs was difficult. The joints in my waist, legs, and knees were stiff because of my days as a Shop Assistant.
Therefore, I holed up in various places in the house of pleasure and devoted eighty percent of my time to the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill and twenty percent to external martial arts training, immersing myself in training.
In the meantime, Cha Seong-tae handled all the external affairs.
It’s not like I deeply trust Cha Seong-tae.
It’s not like Cha Seong-tae likes me very much either.
But the two of us just got along okay, and time passed.
Cha Seong-tae was introduced to a young architect who had recently started to make a name for himself and commissioned him to work on the Purple Glow Inn, and until they came to inspect it, Jo Sam-pyeong’s riffraff and the men who had nothing to do joined forces to build the outer walls of the Purple Glow Inn.
When another twenty days or so had passed in the blink of an eye.
I learned from Cha Seong-tae’s report that the Black Cat Clan had come looking for me. On the one hand, I thought that the guys who should have come had come.
“Who came?”
“…They’re the guys who used to come to be entertained, and they went to the Pear Blossom Tower last night and heard roughly what happened recently. They’re the guys who used to be entertained by The Jo Brothers.”
“How many are there?”
“There are two of them. I’ve guided them to the Plum Blossom Brothel for now. How should we prepare?”
“I have to meet them.”
Cha Seong-tae asked with a troubled expression.
“Are you going to fight?”
“Well, wouldn’t they first say things like pay tribute, or we’ll turn a blind eye to killing the Luzhu, or come into the Black Cat Clan and give a proper greeting?”
“What will you do if they say that? It seems difficult for us to fight the Black Cat Clan right now.”
“It’s difficult for you guys, not me.”
“Are you telling us all to die?”
“First, they’ll try to kill me, but I won’t die. Where is the Plum Blossom Brothel?”
“It’s on the third floor. Still, it’s better to send them back with kind words…”
“I’ll decide after meeting them. And can kind words be exchanged? I beat all three brothers to death.”
“That’s true. Still, they’re guys who love money, so what they really want might just be money.”
“Ah, are they those kinds of guys?”
I was lost in old thoughts for a moment.
“Money…”
I also knew something about the martial artists of the Black Cat Clan who frequented Ilyang Prefecture during this period.
The person in charge wouldn’t have suddenly changed, unlike the future I knew.
Especially at the words that they were guys who loved money, the faces of several people came to mind from my memory.
* * *
Cha Seong-tae bowed and said.
“Then please talk.”
When I entered the Plum Blossom Brothel and sat down in an empty seat, the two men slowly examined me as if dissecting me and then introduced themselves.
“I am Jeonpung, belonging to the Geumbong Pavilion of the Black Cat Clan.”
“I am Han Gook of the Geumbong Pavilion.”
Jeonpung and Han Gook introduced themselves in an overbearing tone.
They were guys who didn’t even care about The Jo Brothers, so it was perhaps a natural tone.
They were indeed the Tax Collectors of the Black Cat Clan that I knew.
Tax Collector sounds like a fancy position, but in reality, they were just collectors who went around extorting money, so they weren’t guys with great skills.
It was nice to meet them in person after a long time, but I had to close my mouth a bit because my killing intent immediately rose.
The reason why my killing intent was rising was simple.
The Purple Glow Inn was originally burned down by these guys’ successors or colleagues.
Now I just met them earlier than in my past life, and they were in charge of tax collection.
Jeonpung continued to speak.
“I heard that you recently killed the Cho Family guys recklessly. Is that true?”
I glared at the two men and replied.
“It’s true.”
“Why? Explain in detail.”
When I received the question to explain in detail, the desire to explain in detail disappeared completely.
“They tried to kill me, and then they died. My skills were better, so I couldn’t just die.”
As I continued to glare, Jeonpung and Han Gook thought that the atmosphere was a bit strange.
I continued to speak to the two men in an even more rigid tone.
“And you guys aren’t judges, so why would I have to explain in detail? Are you perhaps relatives of the Cho Family guys? I don’t think so.”
Jeonpung and Han Gook looked at each other’s faces.
A sense of absurdity created silence.
“……”
Then I looked at the two men.
“What? Say something.”
If Jeonpung and Han Gook attacked me right now, I was going to kill them in this place.
A long silence fell.
These two guys were the ones who collected tribute in Ilyang Prefecture.
They had accumulated quite a bit of wealth just from the money they embezzled, and they had generously completed their tribute to the Black Cat Clan, so they were guys who were promoted to middle management in the outer hall. That meant that they were not guys who were promoted by pure force, but guys who were promoted by the administrative work of the sect.
In a word, they were monkeys crazy about money.
Jeonpung opened his mouth.
“They were the ones who received permission from us to establish a faction, and you killed them.”
I replied in a nonchalant tone.
“So.”
“If a report goes up to the Black Cat Clan like this, it will be difficult for you to survive. It’s like you’ve interfered with the work of the Black Cat Clan. Do you want us to go back and report it as it is?”
These guys seem to have nothing but money in their heads. Even in this situation, they had an attitude that if I gave them a bribe, they would say good things to the higher-ups.
“I understand what you mean. I should give you some bribes. First, let’s have a drink. Madam Son?”
Madam Son opened the door to the Plum Blossom Brothel and stared at me blankly.
“……”
“Bring out that crappy Dukang Wine. And bring some snacks on your own.”
Madam Son nodded and went out again.
The crappy Dukang Wine, of course, meant Third Grade Dukang Wine.
Anyway, these guys weren’t going to pay for the drinks. So it was a waste to treat them with First-rate Dukang Wine.
When the woman who seemed to be in charge of hospitality went out without saying a word, Jeonpung asked as if curious.
“Is that woman mute?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why doesn’t she speak?”
“I once told her that if she messed with her mouth, I would tear it apart, and after that, she’s been keeping her mouth shut like that.”
“……”
I glared at the two men and pointed to my mouth with my finger.
“In the Martial World, whether it’s a man or a woman, there’s a need to be good with their mouths. Don’t you think so?”
The two men avoided my gaze for a moment. The two men, who were trying to extort money by any means, had no choice but to revise their strategy.