Chapter 562
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 562
Chapter Title: From Now On, You Are the Master of the Black Mask Pavilion
Gui Hwi said nothing.
He too downed a cup of sword-south brew.
Then he popped a piece of pork into his mouth and simply waited in silence.
"Old man. Are you happy?"
Ha Mu-baek's sudden question.
"Well... I don't know. Honestly, I can't say for sure whether I am or not. But there's one thing I can say. At least right now, in this moment, I am happy. Good liquor and tasty food. Though who knows about tomorrow. Thanks to you."
He was referring to the killing of Un Se-hyeok.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
"That's the kind of talk you'd hear from Shaolin monks or Wudang Taoists."
"All rivers lead to the sea, don't they? Keep walking the path, and eventually, we'll all meet at the same place."
Chorrruk.
The bamboo leaf liquor bottle ran dry.
Just after filling his cup to the brim.
They had emptied a whole bottle before they knew it.
Ha Mu-baek stared blankly at the final cup.
He could just order another bottle, but somehow, he didn't want to.
He wanted to savor this mood and make this last cup his finale.
"Happiness..."
Ha Mu-baek murmured softly.
He had received an unexpected topic from Gui Hwi.
And suddenly, he grew curious.
Is Master happy?
What about Seol-lan?
His thoughts expanded to those around him.
"Happiness isn't some grand thing, really. It comes from the little moments. Small Traveler's Inn... The name of this place might just be telling the true story of happiness. You've surely had your happy times too. You just didn't notice them."
Gui Hwi tilted the bottle again.
He felt the lightened weight and made a regretful face.
"This next cup will be my last, I suppose."
The food he ordered was nearly gone too.
His belly was full enough; it had been a proper meal.
"Good."
Saying that, he filled his final cup, tossed it back, and stood.
"It's a shame, but a bit of regret like this makes the next time something to look forward to. I'll head up first."
As Gui Hwi turned toward the guest rooms, Gong Hae-bin scurried over to guide him.
Ha Mu-baek was left alone again at the table.
With that final cup of bamboo leaf liquor sitting untouched.
Ha Mu-baek reflected on his life up to now.
When had he truly been happy?
Had he let those moments pass by unnoticed?
As he pondered.
Gwan Po's mind was a mess.
He still couldn't make sense of what had happened today.
Especially the words from that man named Ha Mu-baek.
On the way to the Crimson Blossom Tower.
He had reapplied the seal for now.
Even though Ha Mu-baek said he could heal it, Gwan Po couldn't fully trust him.
His vision clouded over again, but it was clearly different from before.
Gwan Po trudged his way to the Crimson Blossom Tower.
Sa Hoon had returned first.
He had hidden at a distance and watched everything that went down at the Cloud Mist Martial Hall.
He hadn't caught the quieter conversations, so he didn't know every detail, but he knew one thing for sure.
The Plum Scent Gate was utterly screwed.
And they were in the same boat.
"Brother. You're back."
Gwan Po stared silently at Sa Hoon, who greeted him.
"Did you tell the boss everything?"
"Huh?"
Sa Hoon blinked at the abrupt question.
"You were there, weren't you? What, playing dumb now?"
Gwan Po had sensed Sa Hoon's presence from the start.
Anyone at peak realm or higher who was there probably knew he was lurking.
Sa Hoon gave an awkward smile.
"Lucky me. No one gave a damn about a nobody like me, so I survived."
True enough.
Sa Hoon's presence was like that of any commoner.
In such an intense, rapidly shifting battle, no one had the attention to spare on him.
"Guess you didn't say anything."
Sa Hoon nodded faintly at Gwan Po's words.
He hadn't been back long anyway.
No one in the Black Mask Pavilion even knew he'd been secretly watching the fight.
"Let's go."
Gwan Po led the way to Seon Gyu's room.
Sa Hoon watched his back, already guessing what came next.
'He's changed.'
In an instant, his aura had shifted completely.
The pleasure-den king Gwan Po, enslaved to vice, was gone.
At Seon Gyu's door.
Gwan Po stopped short.
"Ahh... Ohh... Th-there..."
A woman's faint moans leaked from inside.
His senses, dulled from reapplying the seal, hadn't adjusted yet; he only realized the situation upon reaching the door.
Gwan Po's face twisted.
"Hoo."
He let out a sigh.
Now he was certain Sa Hoon hadn't said a word to Seon Gyu.
In this situation, even Sa Hoon couldn't have entered.
Sa Hoon had heard the faint sounds too; he bowed his head.
Gwan Po shook his head and stepped back.
"We'll wait a bit."
Saying that, he turned and left.
The spacious reception area just past the Crimson Blossom Tower's front gate.
Gwan Po plopped down in a chair there.
Sa Hoon hesitated, then sat gingerly.
"Thanks for everything up till now."
Gwan Po's greeting hit him then.
Sa Hoon closed his eyes.
His hunch had been right.
'The Black Mask Pavilion is done for.'
Without Gwan Po, it wasn't even a proper underworld group anymore. Just a ragtag bunch of third-rate rogues.
"Especially for handling my family's and master's funerals... I'll never forget that."
Seon Gyu had decided to hold the funerals and treat Gwan Po's injuries.
To Gwan Po, it was a massive debt of gratitude.
Now, though, he couldn't fathom why Seon Gyu had made that call.
Not with his temperament all this time.
And today of all days.
His own brother had gone off for a decisive battle to avenge him, yet Seon Gyu was holed up with a courtesan doing that.
Even Sa Hoon hadn't imagined Seon Gyu would stoop so low.
In a way, today had been a do-or-die fight for the Black Mask Pavilion's survival.
That's why Sa Hoon had hidden and watched.
It might've been risking his life.
Spying on peak experts' clashes.
Yet his boss was here with a whore.
From the voice he'd overheard, it was definitely Nak Hwa.
After blowing the customer Jang Un had lined up last time and not even holding her hand since, looks like she'd finally given in today.
Pent-up frustration had him going at it like a beast, oblivious to the context.
'Sticking with him this long was feat enough.'
Sa Hoon admitted it.
Seon Gyu had completely lost that eerie instinct he occasionally showed, and his caliber couldn't contain Gwan Po anymore.
A moment later.
Nak Hwa emerged from Seon Gyu's room, face flushed, hurrying to her own.
Her satisfied expression lingered.
"Let's go."
Gwan Po rose and headed to Seon Gyu's room.
The sticky, heated air still hung thick.
"Boss. It's me. Coming in."
Gwan Po entered, Sa Hoon behind him.
"How'd it go?"
Seon Gyu asked with eager eyes.
But disappointment crashed over his face moments later.
"Sorry. It failed."
"What..."
"Some absurd expert showed up... and killed the Plum Scent Gate Leader's master."
Sa Hoon chimed in cautiously.
"How do you know that?"
Seon Gyu's question.
"I hid and watched, boss."
Seon Gyu's face hardened gravely.
A monster who slew the Plum Scent Gate Leader's master was on the Cloud Mist Martial Hall's side.
"What about that bitch?"
"Seems she's that expert's subordinate."
At Gwan Po's answer, Seon Gyu's face twisted further.
Things had gone straight to hell.
"Th-that little slut's a disciple of the Dorim Sect."
Sa Hoon added.
Seon Gyu's face crumpled beyond repair.
He knew what the Dorim Sect was.
"Fuck..."
A low curse slipped from his lips.
Seon Gyu bolted up from the bed and paced the room.
Gwan Po and Sa Hoon watched silently.
Sa Hoon held back what else he wanted to say.
He knew exactly how Seon Gyu would react.
If Gwan Po said he was leaving, Seon Gyu wouldn't let him go easily.
Better to let Seon Gyu abandon Gwan Po than drag through the filth.
Given Seon Gyu's narrow vessel, he'd ditch him in this mess for sure.
Guiding it that way was Sa Hoon's minimal repayment to Gwan Po, who'd quietly helped him all along.
Finally, Seon Gyu stopped.
"Sa Hoon. If that bitch reports this to the Dorim Sect, what happens?"
"The Plum Scent Gate vanishes in a blink. Even as a Huashan branch."
Back then.
Seon Gyu had eyed Gwan Ha-kyeong with lust, and she'd been furious.
If that reached the Dorim Sect.
Not just the Plum Scent Gate, but the Black Mask Pavilion would turn to dust.
"Let alone us..."
Seon Gyu nodded, as if resolved.
"Gwan Po."
His voice heavy.
"You fought that bitch today, right?"
"Yes."
That bitch meaning Gwan Ha-kyeong.
Even knowing she was Dorim Sect, his foul mouth hadn't changed.
"When we first met, you said if I helped with your family and master's funerals, you'd hand over all the remaining clan wealth and serve as my little brother for life to repay the debt. Remember?"
Gwan Po nodded.
"I'll tell you how to repay it all. From now on, you are the Master of the Black Mask Pavilion."
Gwan Po flinched.
Sa Hoon dipped his head slightly.
To hide the "I knew it" look from Seon Gyu.
Without the Dorim Sect angle, Seon Gyu never would've made this choice.
"Boss...?"
Seon Gyu shook his head at Gwan Po's call.
"This settles all debts between us, so no need to call me boss anymore. And Sa Hoon."
"Yes, boss."
"Meet the Tower Madam and retrieve the funds. I'm leaving Sangnam immediately."
'I', not 'we'.
"Boss. What about me?"
To Sa Hoon's question.
"Obviously, you come with me. The others are Black Mask Pavilion; they can stay here with the new master. You and I are done with the Black Mask Pavilion."
Gwan Po stared blankly at Seon Gyu.
He'd known his petty nature and narrow mind, but seeing it firsthand hit different.
Basically telling him to take the throne and die by Dorim's hand.
Had he wasted his years repaying this man?
Risked the seal coming undone to capture that girl for him?
Helplessness washed over him like a tidal wave.
As Sa Hoon turned to see the Tower Madam, his eyes met Gwan Po's.
Sa Hoon winked and left the room.
Seon Gyu hurriedly packed his things.
Ignoring Gwan Po entirely now.
He stuffed his satchel full, then said to Gwan Po.
"This is the master's room now. Yours."
Who knew.
Without Seon Gyu's investment, could the Black Mask Pavilion even stay here?
They'd made the Crimson Blossom Tower their base partly to protect it, but mostly because Seon Gyu had sunk in about thirty percent of its total funds.
Of course, that money came from the Dae Ryeok Guan Clan assets.
What remained after the funerals.
The Crimson Blossom Tower Madam faced a bolt-from-the-blue fiasco.
The Black Mask Pavilion suddenly demanding their investment back.
Who pulls that now?
She tried sending Sa Hoon packing, saying they had no such funds, but Seon Gyu showed up and threw a tantrum.
Left with no choice, she scraped it together in two days.
Seon Gyu snatched it and vanished without a backward glance.
The Tower Madam's gaze turned to the remaining Black Mask members.
The tower was fully hers now.
No reason to keep them around.
And so, the Black Mask Pavilion left the Crimson Blossom Tower and headed back to Gwan Po's old pleasure den.
The pleasure den stood sealed shut.
Not a soul in sight.
"Tch. That bastard Seon Gyu. Never thought he'd be such a sneaky prick, grabbing the cash and bolting alone..."
Someone grumbled bitterly.
Thanks to him, they'd been booted from their cushy brothel stay to this vice-reeking hovel.
And not a few had gotten hurt chasing ambitions at the Cloud Mist Martial Hall.
Gwan Po surveyed the Black Mask members.
"I'm leaving too."
His curt words stunned them.
If even Gwan Po left.
What were they supposed to do?
"Wh-what do you mean, Pavilion Master...!"
"Whoever's got the guts, step up as master and make it work."
Gwan Po ignored them and walked out of the pleasure den.
They should've grabbed him, but none dared.
They knew how brutally strong he was; no one made a move.
"Hoo."
Gwan Po sighed deeply.
Emptiness from his wasted years flooded in.
Gwan Po trudged onward.