Chapter 21
Chapter 21
21.
No loyalty.
Listening to the sound of rain while soaking in a hot tub was paradise.
As I closed my eyes, the torrential rain gradually subsided.
After some time, the hallway became quieter than before, and the miscellaneous noises from downstairs also faded.
“……”
My senses and experience detected an unusual atmosphere from the unnatural 'silence.'
'An ambush?'
If it was truly an ambush, I would be greeting the visitors naked and without Weaponry.
A quiet House of pleasure was abnormal from the start.
However, I didn't bother calling anyone or ordering them to bring Weaponry, and simply waited in the tub.
After killing The Jo Brothers and the Ring Sword Twin Devils, I doubted anyone would come looking for me.
It wouldn't be the Black Cat Clan. The collectors were scared out of their wits, so it was unlikely that a Black Cat Clan expert would come right away.
Then it was someone from Ilyang Prefecture.
The exceptional swordsmen from Pear Blossom Tower and Poetry Blossom House came to mind.
It's not that I'm a prophet and know this so clearly.
It was just a conclusion I came to because I knew the future and roughly knew who was in Ilyang Prefecture.
Of course, this was just a prediction, so I was still half-doubting it, but without any warning, footsteps echoed in the hallway and the bathroom door opened.
I looked at the two people entering the bathroom and said,
"Is it you?"
They were locals, so I naturally knew their faces.
Song Woo-geum from Pear Blossom Tower and Yoo Joon-goo from Poetry Blossom House.
If you added Cha Seong-tae to the mix, they were the managers and rulers of the Houses of pleasure, collectively called 'Tae-Geum-Goo' by the lower ranks.
After confirming that I was naked in the tub, Song Woo-geum and Yoo Joon-goo rushed at me with their swords drawn, without saying a word.
In that brief moment, I thought,
This is only natural in the Martial World where people kill and are killed.
I was naked and without Weaponry, but...
There was a tub.
As soon as I channeled the Qi of Blazing Chicken into my palm, I grabbed the planks I tore off the tub, wielding them in both hands like two wooden swords. At the same time, I unleashed a Qi Burst, splashing the water and shattered remains of the tub at Song Woo-geum and Yoo Joon-goo.
The shattered debris and water from the tub surged towards Song Woo-geum and Yoo Joon-goo from all directions.
Then, in my naked state, I swung the wooden swords I had torn from the tub.
Both of them were fighters on par with Cha Seong-tae.
Which meant they posed no threat to me.
However, they had the advantage of Weaponry.
When the wooden sword I swung was cut by Song Woo-geum's sword, I kicked Song Woo-geum in the stomach with my left foot.
Thwack!
Then, dodging Yoo Joon-goo's sword with a nod, I struck his hand with the wooden sword. Song Woo-geum, his face red from the blow to his stomach, rushed at me again, and Yoo Joon-goo, having dropped his sword, charged at me with his bare hands as if to resort to close combat.
I kept my distance.
To maintain that distance, I retreated, infusing the wooden sword with the Qi of Blazing Chicken and slashing indiscriminately through the air.
Each time a whooshing sound was heard, the wooden sword made of planks grazed Song Woo-geum and Yoo Joon-goo's faces.
Since it was just a wooden plank that was hard to even call a sword, I hacked at the two standing figures as if to shred them, intending to land multiple hits.
In an instant, six or seven attacks grazed their faces, upper bodies, and arms.
Each time, blood spurted out like a fountain, scattering across the bath.
I hoped their corpses would serve as a warning to the others.
I swung the planks until both of them were covered in blood and then threw the tattered planks away.
At the same time, the men who had been slashed by the planks collapsed to the floor.
Soon, the bath was filled with red blood, flowing down the slope and gathering in the drain.
Song Woo-geum and Yoo Joon-goo were dead, submerged in their own blood in the bath.
I picked up a sword that had fallen to the floor, left the bathroom naked, and walked down the hallway.
"Seong-tae..."
'Did these guys coordinate with Cha Seong-tae?'
I didn't think so.
No answer meant he was either dead or their underlings were attacking Cha Seong-tae.
As I walked around naked, having forgotten to put on clothes, a maid in the hallway screamed and then covered her mouth.
I said to the startled maid in a calm tone,
"Bring me some clothes. Anything."
"Yes."
I passed several rooms, looking around, and said,
"Where is Madam Son? Madam Son..."
From behind, the maid came running with pants she had found somewhere.
"I only found pants. At least these..."
I put on the pants the maid brought and asked,
"Haven't you seen Madam Son?"
"No."
"The perceptive ones hide."
In fact, there wasn't much Madam Son could do. But there was no need to run away completely. Perhaps Madam Son had told them that I was leisurely taking a bath, so I started looking for Madam Son first.
I smiled as I looked at the trembling maid.
"Madam Son has no loyalty. Right?"
"Ah, yes. That's right."
I put on only the pants, grabbed a sword, and quickly went down the stairs.
If Cha Seong-tae was dead, I planned to find and kill the ones who killed him. If he was still alive, I would go and help him.
It seemed that Song Woo-geum and Yoo Joon-goo had chosen to ambush.
They sent their underlings to Cha Seong-tae, who was cooperating with me, and the two of them, as leaders, came to me.
I came outside, walked on the rain-soaked road, and then realized I wasn't wearing shoes.
In the meantime, my pants kept slipping down. I stuck the sword into the ground for a moment and roughly tied the pants so they wouldn't fall down.
"Cha Seong-tae."
I infused Inner energy into my voice and then listened carefully. I could faintly hear someone shouting from the direction of the Purple Glow Inn, but judging by the tone, it was closer to cursing.
I grabbed a sword and used Light Body Skill to head towards the Purple Glow Inn.
Cha Seong-tae, leaning against the wall of an alleyway, was bleeding from his face. In the meantime, he held a dagger to the neck of a man he was grabbing with his left hand, and held a Straight Sword in his right hand, pointing it at the men surrounding him.
Cha Seong-tae said as if chewing something,
"Did Joon-goo order you to do this? You morons..."
There were still more than ten men surrounding Cha Seong-tae. Cha Seong-tae had killed seven men while being pushed towards the deserted Purple Glow Inn, so Cha Seong-tae was surprisingly fighting a seventeen-to-one battle.
Of course, if Cha Seong-tae's direct subordinates had been there, he wouldn't have been in this situation.
He was ambushed while moving with the riffraff from Pear Blossom Tower to dispose of the Ring Sword Twin Devils' corpses, so the riffraff from Pear Blossom Tower turned on him and attacked Cha Seong-tae.
This neighborhood was definitely a mess like this.
This was Cha Seong-tae's mistake, as he should have been more careful. Cha Seong-tae usually thought he was stronger than Song Woo-geum and Yoo Joon-goo.
His subordinates and his own skills were actually like that.
However, Cha Seong-tae lacked experience in fighting so many enemies alone.
After confirming that these guys had no intention of backing down, Cha Seong-tae stabbed the man he was holding the dagger into the neck, swung his Straight Sword, and advanced.
Since he was bleeding, it seemed that the only way to survive was to quickly kill ten men in a blitzkrieg.
Cha Seong-tae attacked without regard for the opponent's limbs or face. Even as his arm was being cut, he stabbed the opponent's face with his sword, and even as he was being pushed back by a kick, he rolled on the ground and stabbed his Straight Sword into every ankle he saw.
Another scream spread out.
Cha Seong-tae, his face covered in rainwater, blood, and muddy water, stood up and shouted once for no reason.
"Come on, you bastards!"
Anyway, momentum was important in a fight between third-rate fighters. These guys weren't leaders like Song Woo-geum or Yoo Joon-goo, so this kind of momentum fight was effective against these riffraff.
At this time, a guy with no camaraderie pushed a wounded comrade towards Cha Seong-tae. At the same time, he gave an order.
"Attack all at once."
When the man who was pushed had his chest pierced by Cha Seong-tae's sword.
The remaining men rushed in with Wide Blade in their hands at the same time.
"Aish, damn it."
Cha Seong-tae wasn't stupid either. He had no choice but to step back and retreat.
He instinctively knew that he had to fight when the psychological state was reversed again.
At this time, a thud! sound was heard.
It was hard to see in the dark, but another thud! sound was heard and one man collapsed.
Then, a splat! sound was heard and one head soared into the air.
Only then did the damn Shop Assistant's voice ring in Cha Seong-tae's ears.
"Gangsaeng Sect Leader, are you alive? Wow, amazing?"
Cha Seong-tae shouted.
"Save me!"
Cha Seong-tae was so excited even though he was happy, his stomach was churning. He trailed off in a small voice.
"...You bastard."
I had no particular feelings for Song Woo-geum and Yoo Joon-goo's underlings. But since they tried to kill the Gangsaeng Sect Leader, I couldn't let them off. With the thought of culling them, I mostly cut off or stabbed a part of their bodies with one sword, killing them immediately.
When there were three or four left, Cha Seong-tae joined in, shouting like a madman.
When I sheathed my sword, Cha Seong-tae went wild like a madman possessed, personally finishing his personal revenge.
The sounds of thud thud thud! and Cha Seong-tae's curses briefly harmonized.
.
.
.
The number of corpses around the Purple Glow Inn kept increasing.
Cha Seong-tae, who had killed all the riffraff, dropped his Straight Sword, sat down on the floor, and breathed heavily.
"Huff...huff...huff...whew...ha..."
Then Cha Seong-tae looked at me up and down.
I was holding my pants with my left hand so they wouldn't fall down. I had no shoes and my upper body was bare.
Anyone could tell that I had run out while taking a bath.
Cha Seong-tae stared at me like this for a long time and then asked,
"Did you come from taking a bath?"
I nodded and looked at the sky. The heavy rain had stopped, but a drizzling rain was falling.
"I'm taking a bath several times today."
Only then did Cha Seong-tae, who had been so tense, laugh as if he was feeling empty.
"Haa..."
I held out the sword I was holding, put it on Cha Seong-tae's chin, and said,
"Seong-tae."
"Yes."
I looked down at Cha Seong-tae and asked,
"Do you still think I'm a joke? Because I'm a Shop Assistant?"
Cha Seong-tae looked at me with surprised eyes because he hadn't actually done anything wrong. But I needed to educate Cha Seong-tae a little more thoroughly.
So that what happened today wouldn't happen again.