The waiter guided Geom Mugeuk’s party to their seats.
Following behind him, Geom Mugeuk asked,
“This is your first time in an inn this crowded, isn’t it?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable nodded. To be honest, they had only come in because they were with Geom Mugeuk. When would they ever have had reason to stand in line just to enter such a crowded inn?
The One Flower Sword Venerable said something that put the Blood Heaven Blade Demon in a good mood.
“Brother, you are not the sort of person who would stand in line even if it led into a treasure vault.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was pleased by the word brother, and pleased again that she had seen him so accurately.
Of course, Geom Mugeuk was not about to let that pass.
“If there’s a line like that, call me! I’ll stand there all night! I’ll come three days early and lay out a mat.”
The One Flower Sword Venerable laughed. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon glanced at her. It had truly been a long time since he had seen her laugh this often.
“Coming through!”
A waiter passed by them, holding a tray aloft with both hands.
His movements were so nimble it was as if he were displaying lightness skill. From every direction, people shouted for more wine, for more dishes. Even in that chaos, the waiters responded and moved with agility.
“Those people are the true heroes of this battlefield.”
Jihan, who was following behind, was observing Geom Mugeuk.
A man who saw everything and meddled in everything—that was his master. He was someone who even paid attention to a passing waiter.
Then they saw the man and woman who had cut ahead of them earlier.
Four guard warriors stood around the seats where they were sitting. It hardly seemed necessary to go that far, but the man clearly wanted to show off, and the woman enjoyed it.
Geom Mugeuk’s party was led to a table a little distance away from them.
“Now, leave the ordering to me.”
Geom Mugeuk ordered a large serving of five-spice braised pork.
“And two bottles of your best wine.”
“As you can see, there are many guests, so the food may take some time.”
“Tell them to make it delicious! We have honored guests here!”
“Yes, understood!”
Watching the waiter run off in good spirits after receiving the silver Geom Mugeuk had pressed into his hand, Jihan thought to himself.
How could they know just how honored the guests were? If they did, the owner would put it up beside the signboard. A house visited by the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and Demon Venerables. The waiting line would probably grow several times longer.
“We’re finally getting to eat it!”
“No matter how good five-spice braised pork is, it can only be so good.”
“Once you try it, you won’t be able to say that. You may even ask to come again later.”
It was Geom Mugeuk’s way of expressing his wish that the two Demon Venerables would come again later.
In the meantime, the wine came first, along with some simple side dishes to go with it.
Geom Mugeuk poured wine for the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable in turn.
“Thank you, truly.”
It was a sincere expression of gratitude. On this journey, the two of them had been following wherever he led. There must have been times when they were reluctant, and parts of it that made them uncomfortable. Yet they were showing him what true adults looked like.
The One Flower Sword Venerable, receiving the wine, also spoke sincerely.
“I am the one who should be grateful.”
For the sake of the five-spice braised pork she liked, Geom Mugeuk had brought her all the way here.
She had lived through many emotions in her life. She had known joy, and she had known sorrow. There had been moments of being moved, moments of emptiness, anger, and regret.
But among all those emotions, there was one she had never truly felt.
Fun.
Had there ever been a time in her life when she had thought, so purely, that something was fun?
“This journey is truly enjoyable.”
“I’m glad you are enjoying it.”
This time, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon poured wine for Geom Mugeuk.
“Take it.”
Drip.
As always, the clear sound of wine falling into the cup carried the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s feelings within it. For creating a moment like this.
Thank you.
After receiving the wine, Geom Mugeuk poured for Jihan and Taesu this time.
“A cup for my subordinate. And another for the gentleman thief who stole my heart.”
Taesu, who had grinned at Geom Mugeuk’s phrasing, suddenly realized that he had forgotten his own situation.
He had worried that the moment he revealed the location of the Sword Tomb and helped them pass through its mechanisms, they would get rid of him. But lately, he had not even been thinking about that.
‘Have I been possessed by something that wants me dead?’
There was nothing he could do. His opponent was someone who raised his cup high and shouted such things.
“Now, to our five-spice braised pork!”
Jihan and Taesu followed loudly.
“To the five-spice braised pork!”
Because they spoke too loudly, someone shouted from the other side.
“Who’s making all this noise?”
At a glance, it was a table full of warriors who looked thoroughly disreputable.
No sooner had the words fallen than Geom Mugeuk spoke loudly.
“My apologies! We’ll drink quietly!”
At Geom Mugeuk’s swift apology, they picked no further quarrel.
Geom Mugeuk lowered his voice and said,
“We endure everything until we eat the five-spice braised pork! Absolutely no bloodshed! Now, cheers!”
After that whispered toast, everyone emptied their first cup.
“Ah, the wine is excellent! Hurry up and come out, five-spice braised pork!”
But instead of the five-spice braised pork, something else burst forth.
An irritated voice rang out from the entrance of the inn.
“Move, you bastards!”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward the entrance.
A man with fierce eyes stood there, looked around the interior, then began walking toward them.
Geom Mugeuk quickly turned his head back and spoke in a low voice.
“Don’t look that way! Absolutely do not make eye contact!”
Even if he told them to look, would they have bothered with something so laughable? The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable filled each other’s cups, paying no attention to the man walking toward them.
Fortunately, the place the man was heading was not where Geom Mugeuk sat.
He walked over to the man and woman who had cut in ahead of them earlier.
When the woman saw the man approaching, she was startled. Soon, her expression turned vicious. Her eyes were every bit as poisonous as the man’s fierce gaze.
“Why are you here?”
“You threw me away just to marry this cripple?”
At the man’s words, the expression of the man sitting with the woman also hardened.
The command he gave his guards was as terrifying as his wounded pride.
“What are you doing? Cut off his arms and legs and throw him out.”
The guard warriors all stepped forward at once to block him.
“How like a cowardly bastard. Planning to hide behind your men and bark?”
“It’s because you’re not worth dealing with, you dogshit bastard.”
They seemed to know each other.
The guests around them rose from their seats and went outside. Food was important, but one’s life was more important.
At the sight, Geom Mugeuk sighed. They had caused trouble from the entrance, and now they were trying to make a scene inside as well.
“Why did it have to be today of all days?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon did not miss the chance to tease Geom Mugeuk.
“When you are on the move, how could even eating a single meal be easy?”
He meant that Geom Mugeuk always dragged storms of blood in his wake.
In any case, they had to be stopped. The moment blades were drawn, everything smashed apart, and corpses appeared, business for the day would be over.
While everyone watched their confrontation tensely,
“Just a moment!”
When Geom Mugeuk stepped forward, the man who had barged in responded coldly.
“What are you?”
“As you can see, I’m a guest at the next table.”
“Then shut up and eat. Why are you butting in?”
The man’s eyes had rolled back with rage, and he saw nothing. Not the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s presence, as intense as a great saber, nor the One Flower Sword Venerable’s air that made her so difficult to approach. None of it entered his eyes right now.
“There is something I’d like to tell you quietly for a moment.”
When Geom Mugeuk approached, the man stepped back and tried to draw his sword.
But before anyone knew it, Geom Mugeuk was standing beside him, whispering in his ear. To everyone watching, it looked as though the motion in between had suddenly been omitted.
Geom Mugeuk and the man looked at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon at the same time. Anyone could tell. Geom Mugeuk was now speaking about the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
The man’s expression changed from moment to moment.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon shook his head, wondering what kind of absurd nonsense he was spouting this time.
When the whispering ended, the man who had seemed ready to overturn the entire place quietly left. He did not even look once at the woman.
When Geom Mugeuk returned to his seat, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked,
“You talked about me, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“What did you say?”
“That the person over there is a great demon who once turned the martial world into a sea of blood, and that he has broken his seclusion and emerged into the world for the first time in a very long while. I also said he tears people’s arms and legs off while they’re still alive.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked with an incredulous expression,
“He believed that?”
“He saw your impression, sir, and just believed it.”
Should he laugh at this, or get angry? The Blood Heaven Blade Demon sipped his wine and said,
“You drove him off with something else, and now you’re using me as an excuse!”
“I said this too. That because you have lived as a bachelor for so long, you tear off the family jewels first from anyone having a lovers’ quarrel! The moment he heard that, he left.”
Listening to their conversation, the One Flower Sword Venerable laughed.
Geom Mugeuk could feel the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s change—no, his effort.
When he usually visited the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and spent time with him, the man would never have played along with jokes like this. Yet today, the fact that he was answering every little thing must have been because of the One Flower Sword Venerable. Because he wanted to see her laugh like that even one more time.
‘Yes, please laugh that much.’
Just then, the man who had cut in earlier approached Geom Mugeuk.
“What did you say to that man?”
If someone drove a troublemaker away for him, he ought to thank them, but instead he asked in a quarrelsome tone.
Behind the man, the woman could be seen. She had probably said she was curious, and he had undoubtedly come over saying he would find out.
Jihan wondered whether the Young Cult Leader would deal with him pleasantly even in this situation. If it had been him, curses would have flown first. What sort of rudeness was this, after being saved from danger?
This time, Geom Mugeuk did not tell the story about tearing off arms and legs, but a different one.
“My uncle and aunt over there have been married for thirty years.”
At the unexpected lie, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable widened their eyes in surprise.
“That very seat is where my uncle proposed to her.”
At the word proposed, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s eyes trembled slightly.
“I told him they had come here to reminisce about those days and eat the five-spice braised pork they ate here back then. Then he said it reminded him of his own parents, and that he would let it go just for today.”
“That fellow said such a thing? That can’t be.”
“Doesn’t everyone have stories others know nothing about?”
Then Geom Mugeuk changed the subject.
“I heard at the entrance. The two of you are getting married, yes? Congratulations. The two of you truly look good together.”
More than the congratulations on their marriage, the words that they looked good together softened the man’s expression.
“One day, after the years have passed, the two of you will surely return here as well, won’t you? Ah, I envy you.”
When someone spoke like that, what more fault could he find? Besides, Geom Mugeuk had driven off that fellow earlier.
The man returned to his seat, and Geom Mugeuk sat back down.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked as if arguing,
“Do I look like the kind of person who would propose in a noisy place like this?”
The One Flower Sword Venerable answered in his stead.
“You also looked like a demon who tears off arms and legs.”
Geom Mugeuk laughed loudly, as if he found it amusing.
But the pleasant mood lasted only a moment. Another scuffle broke out in the inn with a crash and a clatter.
Those disreputable warriors who had shouted earlier had gotten into a fight with the guests at the next table.
Without turning around, Geom Mugeuk covered his face and sighed.
“Ah! I’ve eaten Jongyu Seontae and Seondo Yeonggwa, yet eating five-spice braised pork is this difficult?”
Geom Mugeuk shot up from his seat and ran toward the place where the fight had broken out.
Since Geom Mugeuk had gone to stop it, there was no way the fight would properly begin.
The men trying to draw their swords frowned. No matter how hard they tried to pull them out, the blades would not come free, as though they were wedged tightly in their scabbards. One man who had already drawn his sword sheathed it against his own will.
“What the hell is this!”
“What trick did you pull?”
Amid the uproar, Geom Mugeuk said one thing to this person, another to that person.
He went back and forth diligently, saying something to each of them.
Watching the scene, the One Flower Sword Venerable said,
“He looks as though he is going back and forth between the Martial Alliance and the Unorthodox Alliance, mediating a ceasefire in the Great War of Orthodox and Unorthodox.”
“He would not work that hard even to mediate the Great War of Orthodox and Unorthodox. What is he doing, fussing over people who would turn to dust and vanish if I blew on them?”
“It is his terrifying obsession with making us eat five-spice braised pork.”
The two of them laughed together. With only a slight exaggeration, they had laughed more on this journey than they had in their entire lives.
Fortunately, the Great War of Orthodox and Unorthodox stopped just before breaking out. Whatever Geom Mugeuk said to them, they reconciled, roared with laughter, and shared drinks.
Geom Mugeuk returned after helping the waiter clean up the food and broken wine bottles spilled beneath the table.
“I asked the waiter whether fights like this usually happen.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said this is his seventh year as a waiter, but he has never seen a day with this many incidents.”
“I told you it’s because of you!”
“Is it truly because of me? Or because of a terrifying demon?”
Geom Mugeuk and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon each insisted it was the other’s fault.
In the meantime, other guests sat down at the next table. As soon as they took their seats, they brought up a certain topic.
“Have you heard the rumor? They say the person with the treasure map to the Sword Tomb is passing through Jiangxi on his way to Zhejiang.”
“I heard Hunan has been thrown into chaos because of that treasure map.”
“People from all over the Central Plains are gathering. Now Jiangxi is about to be thrown into chaos too.”
Hearing their conversation, Jihan was startled. He had definitely applied the Soul-Pursuing Incense properly to Manak Sanin’s corpse. That corpse should be moving toward Shaanxi.
Yet the rumor was not following Shaanxi, but them.
“What is going on?”
At Jihan’s question, Geom Mugeuk answered,
“It seems someone wants the entire martial world to move because of this treasure map.”
Jihan recalled the man in the bamboo hat who had come to find him. The man who had made him apply the Soul-Pursuing Incense to the treasure map. He thought it might be him.
Taesu was also shocked. He had merely snatched the treasure map, but ever since then, the matter had been growing larger and larger.
Meanwhile, the waiter brought the food.
“It’s finally here! Even if a war breaks out right now, we have to eat this!”
At last, the five-spice braised pork was set on the table.
The freshly boiled meat had been sliced neatly and was sending up wisps of steam, with finely chopped scallions scattered over it. The five aromas of star anise, cinnamon, fennel, clove, and Sichuan pepper mingled with the rich scent of the meat, stimulating the appetite.
“Now, you two should eat first.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon yielded the first chopstick to the One Flower Sword Venerable.
“You eat first.”
Just as the One Flower Sword Venerable lifted her chopsticks,
The surroundings began to grow quiet.
A chilling aura spreading from the inn’s entrance had begun to fill the inside of the inn.
From that aura alone, one could tell he was an extraordinary master.
Soon after came a cold sentence, heavy with internal energy. Words more unpleasant to hear than a declaration that he would kill everyone flowed out.
“Everyone, put down your chopsticks!”
Looking at the steam rising from the five-spice braised pork, Geom Mugeuk sighed.
“Ah! You’re supposed to eat it before it gets cold.”