Chapter 129. Do You Have Some Kind of Illness?
I pondered for a moment where I should take the Sword Demon and the Lust Demon.
There was the Black Cat Gang, or Brother Deuksu’s restaurant.
Wherever it ended up being, I intended to treat the two of them well.
Thanks to them, dealing with Saryu Valley had been much easier. Of course, there was also the fact that I’d smashed them apart with an incomplete secret technique, but in any case, it was the Sword Demon who had killed Saryu Valley’s leader.
Truthfully, the two of them had no particular reason to help me.
And yet I had received their help, so it was only right that I serve them pork backbone…
Following the flow of my thoughts, I headed toward Chunyang Restaurant.
“It’s a shabby place, but there’s something I eat there often. Is that all right?”
The Sword Demon nodded.
“That is fine.”
“Let’s go.”
On the way to the restaurant, I did not ask the Sword Demon anything. I had no intention of asking him in the future, either. The matter between Murong Bai and the Sword Demon was something only the two of them needed to know.
However, I briefly forgot that there was a pants-shitter beside me.
“Master, how was it? That young physician seemed very composed.”
The Sword Demon replied.
“Though he was young.”
“Yes.”
“He had a calm nature and a way of thinking that delved deeply into the essence of things. Had he properly learned martial arts, he would have risen to the ranks of the strong. If you should have dealings with him next time, do not treat him carelessly.”
“Understood.”
After walking in silence for a while, the Sword Demon spoke in an even tone.
“It was a brief conversation, but I, too, learned much from that young doctor.”
The Sword Demon did not go out of his way to thank me. Those words themselves were probably his way of expressing gratitude.
I simply walked on and nodded a few times.
‘It wasn’t a bad meeting, then.’
In my mind, a Divine Physician is someone who understands the patient’s heart as well. If one cannot even understand a patient’s heart, how could one properly heal the body?
In any case, before Murong Bai was the Poison Demon, he was a man called a Divine Physician.
As I had baselessly expected, the meeting between the Sword Demon and Murong Bai did not seem to have been bad. Of course, I also thought it had been appropriate not to properly introduce that Lust Demon bastard.
There was nothing I could do about that madman, Master could do nothing about him, and Murong Bai likely had no clever solution either.
There are some problems that are difficult to solve even with the three of us together.
At present, the Lust Demon is one of them.
Even by my standards, he is an exceptionally insane bastard.
* * *
When we entered the restaurant, Jang Deuksu, who had been eating noodles alone, stopped moving his chopsticks.
“Huh?”
I looked at Brother Deuksu and grinned.
“I’m here.”
As the Sword Demon and the Lust Demon entered behind me, Jang Deuksu replied with a smile.
“Well now, you were alive. Why is it so hard to see your face?”
The moment his eyes met the Sword Demon’s, Jang Deuksu’s smile vanished cleanly, and he said to my companions,
“W-welcome.”
I sat at a table and said,
“Brother Deuksu, can we have pork backbone today?”
Jang Deuksu suddenly swept his gaze over the Sword Demon and the Lust Demon once, then answered like this.
“Even if we can’t, it feels like a day when we have to, so I’ll hurry and prepare it. Wait.”
“Good.”
Jang Deuksu smiled toward the Sword Demon and said,
“Please wait a moment.”
When the Sword Demon merely nodded, Jang Deuksu’s eyes widened, and he first fled into the kitchen.
In truth, even fellows like the Lust Demon and me would often think that the Sword Demon’s aura was truly heavy. To Brother Deuksu, who had never learned martial arts, it must have looked as though an incomparably fearsome man had come in to eat, so it was only natural that he was tense.
The Lust Demon whispered,
“Master.”
“What?”
“This is my first time coming to such a shabby shop.”
The Sword Demon looked at his disciple and replied,
“Shut up.”
“Yes.”
The Lust Demon, without meaning to, glanced at me, then hurriedly avoided my gaze. Whether he avoided it or not, I added a word as well.
“Worthless bastard.”
I looked at the empty table, then got up and personally brought over a kettle and water cups, setting them down on the table. Brother Deuksu would be busy, so I had no choice but to do it myself.
The Sword Demon and the Lust Demon silently watched me.
Perhaps the silence was awkward, because the Lust Demon picked a fight with me.
“It suits you pretty well.”
I nodded.
“I used to work as a waiter for a while.”
“……”
After sitting back down, I folded my arms and glared at the Lust Demon.
“That is who I am.”
The Sword Demon asked me,
“Is that true?”
“It is. Did you see the construction site on the way here?”
“I did.”
“It’s an inn named after me. Jaha Inn. I’m thinking of it as Hao Clan’s headquarters. Of course, I doubt I’ll spend much time at headquarters.”
The Sword Demon replied with a surprised expression.
“You have already set foot in the martial world, so what do you mean, an inn?”
I answered without giving it much thought.
“I’m building it because it’s where my house used to be. I may be in the martial world, but I should have somewhere to return to. If I die on the road along the way, then there’s nothing to be done.”
I pointed toward the kitchen with my hand.
“That man will become the chef of Jaha Inn. He also belongs to Hao Clan.”
The Sword Demon replied,
“How many people are in Hao Clan in total?”
“I don’t know. No one will know. We don’t know now, we won’t know in the future. I intend to keep it that way.”
The Lust Demon replied,
“What a mess.”
“You could say that. But the important thing is not that we don’t know. It’s that there are always many of us.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means most of the Hao Clan members are working people like Brother Deuksu in the kitchen, so there are many of them.”
“Then it’s not a sect, is it?”
I glared at the Lust Demon and said,
“Who are you to define what a sect is, you pants-shitting bastard? What would you know?”
The Lust Demon looked at his master.
“Master, are there sects like this too?”
It seemed this bastard had recently started looking for his master whenever he was at a loss for words.
The Sword Demon nodded.
“Even the Beggars’ Sect, a gathering of beggars, is a powerful force. Do you think there is a reason Haomun cannot be a sect? If the sect leader says it is a sect, then it is a sect.”
“I see.”
A moment later, the Lust Demon asked as if he were curious.
“But the Beggars’ Sect is so large that even Master calls it powerful, so why do they keep living as beggars? I have often wondered about that.”
The Sword Demon replied simply.
“Because beggars keep appearing.”
“Mm.”
“There will always be those who have squandered all their wealth, orphans, and people who cannot work for various reasons. Families branded as traitors are the same. The Beggars’ Sect exists because beggars exist. I am not trying to rank them or speak of classes, but in any case, you can understand it as there being a similar sect above them called Haomun. It seems the sect leader intends to protect those who work……”
I nodded.
“That’s right.”
The Sword Demon said to me.
“But you will make even more enemies than the Beggars’ Sect. You will become entangled with the Black Way more often.”
“That is exactly what I want.”
The Sword Demon grinned when he heard my answer.
A moment later, the three of us looked toward the kitchen. Jang Deuksu came out carrying a large pot and ladled pork bones into bowls. Even before eating, a distinctive aroma pricked at my nose.
As Jang Deuksu divided the pork bones into bowls, he asked me.
“Du Kang wine?”
I nodded and replied.
“Sounds good. By the way, the aroma has changed a little?”
“When we ate this among ourselves, the ingredients were simple. Since I’ll be serving it at Zaha Inn, the appearance of the dish matters too, so I tried adding some seasoning. Before eating, what you see with your eyes and the aroma are important too. The taste should be similar.”
A bowl of pork bones was placed in front of me as well.
I saw the Lust Demon and the Sword Demon pick up their chopsticks and simply left them be.
“Let’s finish this off.”
I grabbed the bone part of a pork bone with my hand and tore into the meat. Brother Deuksu also sat at a table a short distance away and ate the pork bones with his hands. In an instant, I stripped off the meat and set the bone down.
Meanwhile, that bastard Lust Demon was making a damned fuss with his chopsticks.
Was it because he had to keep his hands clean so he could touch women? He always looked like a madman fully prepared to seduce a woman at any moment.
The Sword Demon set down his chopsticks, then started tearing at the pork bones with his hands before meeting my eyes.
“……”
“How is it?”
The Sword Demon pulled a bone from his mouth and replied in a stiff tone.
“……It is quite excellent.”
He said it was excellent, but his expression did not match at all. It was amusing, as if a man with no interest in eating were forcing himself to say so.
He truly was a person largely lacking emotion when it came to anything other than martial arts.
I poured Du Kang wine for myself and drank, washing down the meat in my mouth with liquor.
In that instant, drowsiness surged over me like an angry wave.
“Ah……”
The Sword Demon watched my expression and said.
“Sect Leader, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
Only then did I become certain of my condition.
It seemed that whenever something was added to the Heavenly Jade, sleepiness came crashing down on me. It had happened when I consumed spirit medicines, and it had happened without fail when I absorbed an opponent’s qi through the Absorbing Star Great Art combined with the Heavenly Jade. Since I had been harried by assassins, my condition must have worsened.
The Sword Demon noticed my state.
“Do you have a sleep disorder?”
“It seems so.”
“Because of your martial arts?”
I nodded.
“Probably.”
“When was the last time you slept comfortably?”
“I’ve forgotten.”
Feeling my eyes grow gritty, I finished eating the rest of the pork bones. Come to think of it, since I had taken the Woldanhwa, I thought that if I began the qi circulation of the Moon Shadow Heartless Art, I would be able to break through the realm of the Waning Moon Ice Art without much difficulty.
To be honest, the speed at which I was growing stronger was unrealistically fast.
In a way, I thought it was only natural that my body would need sleep.
As the Sword Demon ate the pork bones, he asked me.
“Do you have plans from now on?”
I poured Du Kang wine for the Sword Demon and said.
“Nothing like that. Other than the goal of becoming stronger, life is always changing in colorful ways. I drink, eat, and once this drowsiness recedes a bit one day, I intend to stir up the Black Way again. There should be many strong people there, and many bastards who get on my nerves……”
When the Lust Demon held out his cup, I handed him the Du Kang wine.
“Pour it yourself.”
The Sword Demon drank the Du Kang wine and said.
“Among the things Master Murong said, there was this.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“He told me that if one day it became too difficult, I should hand the Sword of Light over to you.”
“I do not need the Sword of Light.”
“I know.”
Only then did I understand what he meant. I looked at the Sword Demon, then nodded.
“If it becomes difficult, hand it over to me anytime.”
“What will you do if I hand it over?”
“From what I saw when you fought, Senior, it was no ordinary demonic sword. If I tried to break it, I might end up suffering at the hands of some ghost. I will find a desolate place where people do not go and bury it deep.”
Suddenly, a scene from a past life I did not even know surfaced in my mind. It was the sight of the Sword Demon wandering the wilderness, burying the Sword of Light in the ground by himself. Imagination was bound to be this absurd and free.
The Sword Demon replied.
“Do that for me.”
I was not the sort of man to comfort others easily, so I needled the Sword Demon instead.
“Senior, do not look so dejected. It does not suit you. If your strength differs so greatly depending on whether you have a sword or not, then you were never such a strong man to begin with.”
The Lust Demon cut in with a frown.
“What kind of reckless talk is that?”
I ignored the Lust Demon’s words and continued.
“You would only be a man just about capable of crossing swords with the Alliance Leader.”
The Lust Demon’s expression changed.
“Then doesn’t that mean he’s strong?”
“Shut up.”
“……”
I glared at the Sword Demon and the Lust Demon as I spoke.
“If a man enters the jianghu, then aiming to become the greatest under heaven is as natural as breathing. If you became the greatest under heaven with the Sword of Light, Senior, I do not think I would find it all that impressive. Somehow, even the title Sword Demon would feel embarrassing.”
The Sword Demon replied.
“Do you mean that?”
“I do.”
The Sword Demon nodded.
“I think so as well. Knowing that must be why I have suffered all this time.”
Only then did that Lust Demon bastard shut his mouth.
For the first time in a long while, I put my thoughts into words.
“In any case, becoming the greatest under heaven is an exceedingly difficult thing. If it is difficult whether one has the Radiant Sword or not, I hope you choose the path that holds a little more worth. After all, we are men who live bearing hardship……”
As if curious, the Sword Demon asked me.
“I will keep that in mind. But why did you not introduce my disciple to Master Murong? After speaking with him, he seemed wise beyond his years.”
I poured myself a drink and glared at the Lust Demon.
“This bastard is……”
The Lust Demon frowned and shot back.
“What?”
“Let us give up. The affairs of the world never go as one wishes. If you could not fix him, Senior, then no one else can do anything about it.”
Jang Deuksu, who had been eating pork backbone beside us, asked as though curious.
“Do you have some kind of illness?”
Shitpants was startled and glared at Jang Deuksu.
“……!”
Wondering if he had said something wrong, Jang Deuksu looked at me with wide eyes.
“……!”
To satisfy Jang Deuksu’s curiosity, I pointed at Shitpants with my finger.
“He is the Lust Demon (色魔).”
Jang Deuksu’s expression showed that he understood at once.
“Ah……”
With a deep sigh, I withdrew my finger. To think that, after returning to the past, I would end up personally giving the Left Envoy of Radiance his epithet…….
One can never predict what lies even an inch ahead in human affairs.