Chapter 5
Chapter 5
5.It's Not the Me You Knew.
A guy whose name I couldn't even remember approached with a nasty look, spewing bad breath.
"Don't even think about getting your germs on Chae Hyang. It makes me sick. If you actually end up rolling around with Chae Hyang, she'll have to retire from this place. You hear me? You son of a bitch, Jaha."
I tilted my head.
"What was your name again? The one with absolutely no presence? It's slipping my mind."
He was less memorable than a passing stranger, so I honestly couldn't recall his name.
"What?"
My hand flew out and struck his face, the sound echoing with a thwack—the guy stumbled backward.
Did I hit him too hard?
The unexpected impact felt strange, so I stared at my hand.
I shouldn't have any Inner energy, but the punch had a surprisingly strong kick.
Come to think of it, the feeling in my Energy Center was also peculiar. I hadn't even started my first Breath Regulation, yet my Energy Center was churning. I'd have to check that out in detail later, but for now…
As soon as the guy got up, he charged at me, spewing curses.
"You son of a bitch!"
Cursing like that as if shouting a Finishing Move while attacking just left too many openings.
I brushed aside the guy's clumsy punches as he rushed at me, then smacked him on the back of the head.
Thwack!
This time, the guy face-planted.
"What was the name of our cloth merchant's son again?"
I kicked the guy in the face as he tried to get up, sending him rolling to the side.
'Ouch, that must hurt. I should stop hitting him.'
But I could still taunt him. Perhaps humiliated by being beaten by a local Shop Assistant, the guy stubbornly refused to open his mouth.
"Humiliated? You should be humiliated if you're getting beaten by a Shop Assistant."
But what could he do…
He should be grateful he wasn't dying here at my hands.
I grabbed the guy's hair, pulled him up, and met his eyes.
"Hey."
Had my hardened gaze from the Martial World returned with me, or was it just the kind, innocent eyes of the ordinary Shop Assistant I used to be?
Eyes reflect emotions.
The moment I looked at him with the intention of crushing his face, his expression twitched.
I asked again.
"What's your name?"
"Why do you suddenly want to know my name?"
"Just answer the question."
My hand rose again, and he finally answered.
"It's Myeong-gon."
"Ah, I remember now. You son of a bitch, Myeong-gon. Why are you putting 'son of a bitch' in front of your name? Why are you doing that? Say it again."
"Jaha."
"Again."
"Jaha."
Only then did I release his hair.
"Just say the name. Don't stick any fucked-up words in front of it. Unless you want to die."
If his eyes softened after this warm beating and lecture, he wouldn't be a young man from Ilyang County.
Myeong-gon stubbornly got up, still with a venomous look in his eyes, and took a long breath.
"Haa…"
I gave Myeong-gon another chance.
"If you're upset, you should come at me again."
Myeong-gon nodded and immediately charged.
'Now that's the spirit of a young man from my hometown.'
This time, I threw a punch too.
I didn't feel much of anything.
Because I was also a young man from my hometown.
It seemed better for Myeong-gon to be knocked out than to be clumsily beaten by a Shop Assistant. That way, his feelings would be different when he woke up. He'd realize that what could have been death ended with just a knockout.
A simple dodge followed by a direct hit, with no real footwork to speak of.
Thwack!
Myeong-gon, who had charged at me, was knocked out cold as soon as he took the punch head-on.
I shook Myeong-gon for a moment and said,
"Myeong-gon?"
"…"
There was no response, but he was still breathing. I watched Myeong-gon's chest heave as he lay unconscious, then turned and walked away.
"Sleep well."
As I returned to the inn, I thought to myself.
Just because I'd returned to the past didn't mean my personality would revert to that of a Shop Assistant.
I muttered, "It's not the me you knew," as I headed back to the Purple Glow Inn.
Anyway, my Energy Center definitely felt strange.
Sensing something, I cleared the chairs and tables in the inn, pushing them to the side, and temporarily hung up a sign that read "Closed."
In times like these, not doing business was the answer.
* * *
As a Shop Assistant, I shouldn't have had any Inner energy.
But I felt a considerable amount of Inner energy dormant in my Energy Center.
Strangely, it wasn't like a soldier on the front lines, but more like Inner energy in the state of a recruit waiting at the base. It felt similar to when I'd consumed an Elixir. In the end, I had to perform Breath Regulation to accumulate the Elixir's power into Inner energy.
In any case, there was a lot of dormant power.
Why was this happening?
Back in my room at the Purple Glow Inn, I sat cross-legged and pondered this issue.
The method for checking Inner energy was relatively simple.
I just had to re-enter the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill that I had mastered.
The Golden Turtle Wandering Skill was a unique Martial arts that was hard to find anything similar to in the vast Martial World.
The name of the Martial arts itself contained the insane meaning of an iron turtle that had achieved Invulnerability to Swords and Blades wandering around as it pleased.
In the beginning, it was similar to Demonic Art, so progress was fast.
In the middle, it was similar to the Martial arts of an Orthodox Sect, so progress was slow.
In the end, it pursued the Indestructible Body of Buddhism, making it extremely difficult.
Therefore, conquering the final stage, which could be called the final chapter, was as extremely difficult as achieving Buddhist enlightenment.
Soon, the Inner energy that had been gently churning began to stir, flowing out as Genuine Qi and moving through my meridians.
There were two main paths for Genuine Qi to travel. The first was the Governing Vessel, which started at the anus, climbed up the spine, scaled the crown of the head, and arrived at the lips. The second was the Conception Vessel, which started at the lips, passed through the chest, abdomen, and navel, stimulated the lower body, and returned to the anus.
Just as there were different ways to climb a mountain, each sect had its own method for conquering these paths.
This was why each sect's Inner Energy Cultivation Method was different.
The common point was that it was difficult to stop a Microcosmic Orbit once it had started, regardless of the sect's Inner Energy Cultivation Method. It was like forcibly stopping food from going down the esophagus, which was a perfect recipe for Juhwa-ibma.
Fortunately, our inn had few customers to begin with, and we had a "Closed" sign up, so no one would be coming.
If food wasn't digested properly, it would only cause indigestion, but if the flow of Genuine Qi went wrong, it could damage the body to the point of ruin—something I had experienced before.
Before I could even figure out the mystery of the Inner energy in my Energy Center, I opened my eyes, having completed the first stage of the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill, the Wooden Chicken, in a truly flawless manner.
I didn't know how much time had passed, but I was a monkey who meditated without eating or relieving myself—that was also me.
The feeling was very strange and bizarre. But as soon as I realized there were no side effects, a pleasant shiver ran down my spine.
I summarized the situation as follows:
First, my Inner energy had increased rapidly due to the Celestial Jade before I fell off the cliff.
Second, while my Inner energy was increasing, I clearly felt my Energy Center being forcibly divided into yin and yang.
Third, I was then sent back to the past by an unidentified man.
Fourth, because I had returned to the past, the soul of the Celestial Jade that had been attached to my body had either passed on or, if it was still alive at this point, had returned to its original body as it should.
Fifth, however, the unidentified Spiritual Power contained within the Celestial Jade had returned with me.
…That was my conclusion.
From the start, the Cult Leader probably hadn't been trying to eat the Celestial Jade to steal someone else's 'soul.' Martial World people only created things like that to become stronger in Martial arts.
So, the final conclusion was?
I had consumed the Celestial Jade with the side effect of the soul neatly removed.
Even though I had returned to the past.
Just as I had returned with my memories intact, the Spiritual Power residing in the Celestial Jade had also returned with me.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to break through to the first stage of the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill so quickly.
Of course, not all my questions had been answered.
Because I had a baseless feeling that it wasn't just simple Inner energy.
The man's words suddenly came to mind.
"It will be the best choice and the greatest gift I can give you."
In that case…
The best choice was regression.
The greatest gift was the Celestial Jade.
Only by interpreting it this way did everything fit together clearly. However, there was still a task to be solved in the future.
For some reason, about half of the latent power wasn't reacting to the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill at all.
I rested my chin on my hand and pondered.
'Why isn't half of it reacting?'
After much thought, I came to a simple conclusion.
Since this was clearly the power left behind by the Celestial Jade, the power that could be called 'potential' would also be divided into yin and yang.
Originally, the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill was a Martial arts that purely utilized extreme yang Inner energy. It was only natural that it couldn't smoothly utilize Inner energy that could be defined as extreme yin.
In that case, I would have to acquire a Divine Art that could utilize extreme yin Inner energy in the future.
It seemed like an appealing task remained.
I was in a state where a foundation had been laid to use both extreme yang and extreme yin Martial arts simultaneously. Since I wasn't the type to dwell on things for long, I ended my contemplation at this point.
In any case, I couldn't help but feel elated. It was as if I had forgotten that I had been crazy before. It seemed that people could only feel satisfied once the conditions were met.
"Hehehe…"
In truth, Inner energy wasn't everything in Martial arts.
Technique, psychological warfare, innate talent, fighting instinct, and luck all combined to determine the outcome of battles between top experts.
But Inner energy was important from beginning to end. I had returned with that, albeit as potential, in sufficient quantity. A value that couldn't be converted into human world money was dormant in my body.
Just breaking through to the first stage of the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill meant that I had no rivals in my hometown.
Honestly, I felt full even without eating, but in reality, I was very hungry.
Grumble…
I couldn't starve to death.
Moreover, I needed to eat well to thoroughly beat up those guys at the Plum Blossom Brothel.
* * *
I poured the side dishes from a large pot into the kitchen, added cold rice and seasoning, and mixed it all together vigorously.
After mixing it this way and that, a bibimbap was complete.
It looked similar to dog food, but the taste was decent.
I always solved my meals this way because I didn't want to throw away the side dishes.
The bibimbap made with leftover side dishes from the inn after a long time was truly a delicacy.
As I savored the taste of memories, I occasionally chuckled.
Since I was living alone, I had a feeling that it would be difficult to live sanely in this life as well.
But that was also fine.
I was very used to this loneliness because I had been crazy before.
More importantly, my enemies who would face me in the future would be driven completely insane.
While eating the bibimbap, I vaguely recalled the powerhouses of the era.
Compared directly to the Martial artists of the Central Plains, my origins were humble. Even when I had learned Martial arts to some extent, running away during spars was a daily occurrence—that's how many experts there were in the Martial World.
Because of that, my skills in lightness footwork for survival developed faster than my Martial arts.
Thinking of them made me clench my jaw as I chewed my food.
After eating the bibimbap, I took out the liquor that was supposed to be sold to customers and drank it as I pleased.
"Burp… Ah, that's good."
Overspending was always thrilling.
It was a decent dinner in its own way.
I filled a gourd with liquor, held it in my hand, stuck a sickle that I had been using to cut grass around the inn into my back, and left the inn.
Since my belly was full, I was confident that I could beat to death all the men in Ilyang County if they came at me at once.
I was going to a place where jokes were mistaken for truth and say something that would surely sound like a joke.
I kept drinking as I walked towards the Plum Blossom Brothel.
* * *
The man guarding the entrance of the Plum Blossom Brothel widened his eyes as soon as he saw my face.
"Hey, you crazy bastard. What brings you here? Don't cause trouble and get lost."
"Is that how you talk to a customer?"
"You crazy bastard."
A hand flew at me without warning.
I grabbed the man's hand with my left hand and then smashed the gourd into his face.
Thwack!
I then grabbed his collar and slammed him to the ground. I kicked the face of the guy who was trying to get up, knocking him unconscious, and looked at the Plum Blossom Brothel.
"This customer service is terrible. Are they crazy for real?"
It was still noisy with people drinking and shouting, so no one seemed to care about the commotion at the entrance.
Laughter erupted from here and there.
"Why is everyone so happy? Why am I always left out?"
Since the gatekeeper was unconscious, I opened the door with my own hands and entered. There was something I had always wanted to say here, so I shouted loudly.
"Open the gates!"
You bastards!
* * *
The expressions of the Plum Blossom Brothel employees who were attending to customers immediately hardened at the appearance of the drunken Purple Glow Inn Shop Assistant.
"Isn't that the guy from the Purple Glow Inn?"
"What's he doing here?"
I replied to the murmurs from here and there.
"What do you mean, 'what's he doing here?' Isn't this a place to drink? Did I come to the wrong place?"
"Hahaha."
A guy named Cha Seong-tae, who was watching me from the second-floor railing, laughed loudly.
"That's right. It's a place to drink."
His subordinates asked.
"Shall we kick him out?"
Cha Seong-tae, who had been smirking, waved his hand at me.
"No. Let him come up. By the way, who hit him? Why are his eyes like that?"
"I didn't hit him."
Cha Seong-tae, who was known as the most sly person in Ilyang County, looked at me and grinned.
"We can't turn away a customer. Come on up."
Although he was sly, when a fight broke out, there weren't many people in the southern region of Ilyang County who could beat Cha Seong-tae, except for The Jo Brothers. The only ones who were similar to Cha Seong-tae were two other middle managers who were in charge of other brothels.
To be exact, I had been beaten by Cha Seong-tae's subordinates. Because of that, I had been thinking of tormenting Cha Seong-tae, who hadn't properly managed his underlings, for a long time. But he hadn't done anything too terrible until I completely left Ilyang County, so there was no reason to kill him.
As I climbed the stairs, Cha Seong-tae said from the second floor.
"Our Purple Glow Inn Shop Assistant, prepare a lavish table for him. When else would he ever come to a place like this? Everyone, serve him with all your heart. A customer is a customer."
"Yes, sir."
As I went up to the second floor, an escort attached himself to me.
"This way."
I followed him down the hallway and was led to an empty room.
It was a room with a strange structure.
There was a liquor table in the center, and the floor around it was hollowed out so that people could put their feet in. It was a private room where about six people could sit around and drink, and there was even enough space for the Performing Girl who played music to sit comfortably.
The young employee who was guiding me asked almost casually.
"What kind of liquor would you like?"
"How would I know? Just bring out the most expensive stuff."
The employee suddenly stared at me for a moment, then changed his tone and asked.
"But why are you speaking so casually…"
I sat down in the seat of honor and replied.
"Sorry for speaking casually. You son of a bitch, hurry up and bring the liquor."
The employee glared at me with a murderous look that seemed like he wanted to kill me right away.
'Is this guy crazy?'
But since he knew why the Shop Assistant had been accepted as a customer, he closed the door without saying a word and left.
I liked that kind of look.
A look mixed with anger, hatred, killing intent, and bloodlust.
When you got down to it, it wasn't a big deal.
If you got hit enough, your eyes would become desperate and you would beg for your life.
I waited for the liquor with my arms crossed, then touched my eyes again.
'I'm getting angry all of a sudden.'