Chapter 192: There Was No Way of Knowing.
I spent the night wide-eyed at Cheonri Guesthouse, welcoming the light that illuminates the four seas. My heart had wavered for a long time within the pitch-black night, but fortunately, the light remained unchanged.
That I often fell into qi deviation was also my heart's fault.
That sleep eluded me tonight, just like today, was likely also because of my heart. My martial arts were growing stronger by the day, but if a place like the Jianghu Ranking were to rank by heart rather than martial arts, to what extent would I place? Such a thought suddenly occurred to me. If that ranking changed often, my place would rise and fall from the bottom to the top.
Today as well, I composed a ballad and sang it toward the sun that laboriously shed its light.
There is no way of knowing. The reason I watch the morning sun with open eyes.
The difference between the one who wrings the rag and the wealthy one who wrings that person.
The difference between those who must be killed and those I do not wish to kill.
There is no way of knowing. How to live without going mad.
The sinful karma of spilling blood and the resolve not to die.
The method to grow stronger and the mind's eye that distinguishes killers.
A woman's heart and my own heart, which is even more difficult than that.
The state of mind when tearing an evildoer apart and the recklessness of giving an evildoer a chance.
The unease and anticipation contained within that recklessness.
Whether I will fall into hell or be reborn as an animal.
For the most part, there is no way of knowing.
The reason I often cannot sleep.
Is because I have not yet found the answer.
“There's still liquor….”
I suddenly lifted the liquor bottle and realized I had drunk it all through the night. Only then did I go to the railing of this floor and look down at the guard who was clearing away corpses and wringing out rags.
“Have you cleared everything?”
“I am clearing them.”
“The corpses?”
“I moved them outside and covered them with a cloth.”
The moment I met eyes with the guard, I spoke.
“What are you looking at.”
The guard hesitated for a moment before asking me.
“Does that song from earlier have a title?”
“It doesn't.”
“It is a song without a title?”
“I have not yet given it a title. You….”
“Yes.”
“Do you not wish to die?”
“Please spare my life.”
“You are the one who came with the Third Young Master to kill me. Sparing you is no easy matter. If you do not wish to do as I say, then kill yourself right there on the spot. I have saved strangers a few times, but I have never once failed to kill someone who betrayed me after coming to know them.”
The guard looked up at me for a long while before answering.
“If you spare my life, I will do as you say.”
“You know your life now rides on those words, don't you?”
“Yes.”
I pointed with my finger at the guesthouse that creaked everywhere, reeked, and was steeped in a gloomy atmosphere, and spoke.
“This is the Butcher's Cheonri Guesthouse.”
“Yes, I know.”
“The smell of blood hits you just going near the kitchen. It seems the Butcher kidnapped innocent people and cut them up with blades. Surely the blades, and likely the floors too, are all a tangled mess of blood and hair. There is no knowing how many people the Butcher killed to unleash such a stench. You will clean Cheonri Guesthouse thoroughly. If you manage only that, I will spare you.”
“…….”
“Wipe away the blood, wipe away what has congealed, clear the hair too. Clean until there is no smell of blood left in Cheonri Guesthouse. Whether it takes ten days or a hundred days, clean until the smell of blood is gone. Tables, chairs, chopsticks, utensils, cooking tools…. If something absolutely cannot be used again, throw it away. I will give you money to buy new ones then.”
“…….”
“Make this into a place where people can come and go, eat meals, drink tea, and have a cup of liquor. Clean and repair…. Can you do it?”
“I will do it.”
I nodded my head.
“A question.”
The guard cautiously asked me.
“……It is not that I refuse. I ask because I am truly curious, but why do you wish to change such a shabby guesthouse so much….”
I swept my hair back and answered roughly.
“It seems resentful spirits are clinging to this place in droves, so I cannot even sleep. Unless something special happens, I intend to train here until the Butcher's master arrives. I have plenty of time. Is there any reason why I would not want to make where I stay clean? If you run away, I will become a new Butcher. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Workers will come from Baekeungji during the day or afternoon. You will handle the corpses then, put them to work, give them money, and supervise. I will be busy training in martial arts, so you will serve as the proprietor.”
The guard let out a large breath with a bewildered expression and answered.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Die by my hand…… or clean. It is one of the two. Clean the first floor and the kitchen first until they are clean enough to invite masters of the Jianghu to eat. Do not come up to this floor for the time being. There is a very high chance I will throw a blade.”
And so I too became a wicked employer.
The previous owner had been beaten to death, the guesthouse's property wholly seized, and the one who survived the process was hired as clerk and proprietor through repeated threats and coercion.
I did not even intend to give him a monthly wage.
One might wonder if there could be such a wicked employer in the world.
That is me.
Thinking I should get some sleep, I went outside the guesthouse. If I slept here and smelled blood, there was a risk I would unleash the Mad Demon Art the moment I opened my eyes.
I looked at the signboard of Cheonri Guesthouse before leaping onto the roof and lying flat on an even spot.
If I slept here, the hot sunlight when the sun reached its zenith would wake me. Before sleeping, I spoke to the guard in a voice infused with internal energy.
“If you die by my hand…… you become a man who died because he couldn't clean.”
* * *
When I had slept deeply for about two shichen, the Lust Demon's voice was heard.
I scowled the moment I opened my eyes. Having slept using my arm as a pillow on the roof, my eyes stung as if struck by the radiance of the sun and moon pouring from the heavens.
‘Damn it all…….’
I rose like a jobless local idler and looked down at the guesthouse below.
The Lust Demon was looking up at me with a pathetic expression.
The Lust Demon, having brought workers, asked me.
“Why are you sleeping there?”
I answered while still half-asleep.
“Shut up. Ah, I'm thirsty.”
I dropped down from the roof and looked at the workers. They did not look like ordinary laborers but like those trained in martial arts, so I had no choice but to ask the Lust Demon.
“Where did you bring them from?”
The Lust Demon answered.
“From home.”
It meant they were workers belonging to the Pungunmongga. The Lust Demon spoke to the workers.
“Help out. There will be broken places on this floor. Move the corpses too.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
He was the second son of the Pungunmongga who was, come to think of it, quite the shithead.
I took out my money pouch and spoke.
“If they are from your family, how much should I pay…….”
The Lust Demon answered.
“Forget it. Since I beat them to death, I should clear the corpses.”
Come to think of it, aside from the Butcher, they were men who had died by the Lust Demon's hand.
“Let's go in for now.”
The Lust Demon entered the guesthouse, and the moment he discovered the Third Young Master's subordinate, his expression twisted.
“Did you keep him alive? What is he?”
“The one who flew into a corner and fainted. I hired him as a clerk.”
“Ah…….”
While conversing with the Lust Demon, Master Yukhap entered through the guesthouse entrance and spoke.
“I searched for quite a while.”
“How did you find this place?”
Master Yukhap spoke briefly.
“The corpses outside.”
Master Yukhap pinched his nose and spoke.
“This was not a place for business. What a bloody stench.”
The Lust Demon suddenly clapped his hands and drew the attention of those he had brought from the Pungunmongga.
“……Attention.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“That one holding the rag is the former guard of the Demonic Cult's Third Young Master, so if he tries to escape or acts strangely, you may kill him.”
“Understood.”
The Lust Demon fanned himself with his hand and spoke to me.
“……Let's go out and eat. It is impossible here.”
Wondering if it was necessary, I suggested.
“Shall I make you some noodles?”
The Lust Demon shook his head.
“I think I'd vomit eating noodles made by you. You can't cook.”
“Why do you think that?”
“You just look like you can't.”
“Let's go.”
I rose with the Lust Demon and the Ghost Demon and headed toward the main street of Baekeungji. While looking here and there and searching for a restaurant, I discovered people gathered and looking at something.
Going there, a martial artist wearing clothes with the character for “Alliance” written largely on the back was pasting several placards and what seemed to be sketches of their appearances on the wall.
I stood with the Lust Demon and the Ghost Demon, and when the people receded somewhat, I approached closely and checked the Martial Alliance's placards.
What in the world should I call this feeling?
The Martial Alliance's list of public enemies and their sketches were posted side by side. Of course, the timing was different from what I had seen in my previous life, and the list was different too. There were even experts on the list of public enemies whom I did not know.
While scanning the list of public enemies and the sketches—ten in total—stuck there, I spoke to the Lust Demon.
“The bounties on these are quite high.”
The Lust Demon answered.
“They are public enemies of Murim, so of course they are high. They must be tremendously skilled.”
Master Yukhap pointed at one person and spoke.
“Wow, so that person made the list of public enemies.”
“Who?”
Looking closely, there was a sketch with “Dongho Ilgeom” written on it. Of course, Dongho Ilgeom had also been a high-ranking public enemy on the list in my previous life, and was a member of the Five Great Peaks. His alias was utterly ordinary, but because “Ilgeom” meant the foremost sword of the vast Dongho, the people of the Jianghu regarded this man as the Foremost Sword of the Demonic Path.
Cheonak had no sketch at all.
The Lone Walker and Bigaek had drawings of their clothing instead of their appearances.
On the other hand, the list of ten public enemies announced this time did not include the Evil Emperor or the Butcher, and naturally, there were no aliases like Mad Demon, Lust Demon, Ghost Demon, or Poison Demon either.
In my previous life too, a list of ten had been announced in this manner…….
Some were caught or killed by experts of the Righteous Path.
It seemed the list of ten public enemies was announced again in such a fashion.
In any case, gazing at the list of public enemies from the days before I had truly begun my activities in the Jianghu, together with the Lust Demon and the Ghost Demon, made me feel truly strange.
From a short distance away, the voices of Martial Alliance members were heard.
“……Even if you only provide accurate information on the public enemies' locations, a reward will be given, so brothers of the Jianghu, please be sure to check. Please verify the placards. It is the Alliance Lord's order. You may copy down the list and sketches to pass around to others.”
As Martial Alliance members wandered about shouting in loud voices here and there, one man approached me and spoke.
“Gate Lord, it has been a long time.”
* * *
A man I was seeing for the first time immediately cupped his fists in greeting. I hurriedly returned the greeting and asked.
“Who…….”
The man grinned as he spoke.
“I am Danhyeoksan of the Seven Sword Corps. Ah, Young Master Mong is here as well.”
Danhyeoksan cupped his fists toward the Lust Demon as well. The Lust Demon returned the greeting while answering.
“A pleasure, Swordsman Dan.”
Danhyeoksan smiled at me, who still wore a bewildered expression.
“Gate Lord, have you forgotten the Seven Sword Corps? We attacked the Namak Alliance together with the Alliance Lord, the Gate Lord, and Young Master Mong. I was there as well.”
Only then did I open my eyes wide and look at Danhyeoksan.
“Ah, so you were. You have worked hard.”
Danhyeoksan suddenly flicked his fingers and spoke in a voice lightly infused with internal energy.
“Assemble!”
The Martial Alliance members who had been scattered here and there suddenly gathered toward us. And yet, the moment they all saw me, they were smiling here and there.
“Ah! Is it not Gate Lord?”
The martial artists of the Martial Alliance surrounded me and cupped their fists. The Lust Demon, having fought alongside all of them, was recognizing them with uncanny ease.
In truth, I had never exchanged such friendly conversation with the members of the Martial Alliance, so my words kept getting stuck. I suddenly felt my throat go parched.
Come to think of it, when I had been trapped in the Martial Alliance's Net of Heaven and Earth in my previous life…….
The thought occurred to me that among them, there were those who had been crippled or killed by my hand. I had no way of knowing right now. Because I was young, and these were their young days as well.
As I kept my mouth shut unlike usual…….
The Lust Demon grabbed my shoulder and spoke.
“What is it? Did you commit a crime? You get quiet when you meet Martial Alliance members.”
At the Lust Demon's words, the Alliance members burst into laughter as a group.
“Hahaha…….”
“Gate Lord, have you committed a crime?”
I looked around at the Martial Alliance members with an awkward smile.
“……I have not yet beaten any Righteous Path martial artist to death.”
The Lust Demon hurriedly clamped my mouth shut and spoke to the Alliance members while laughing excessively.
“Hahaha. The Hao Gate Lord has beaten and captured many from the Dark Path and the unorthodox outskirts. As you all know, he also beat a very wicked one to death nearby not long ago. You have all heard of the Butcher.”
“Oh, we have heard.”
“He died by the Hao Gate Lord's hand. A pity he was not on the list.”
I suddenly had nothing to say and looked at Master Yukhap. This one too had nothing to say and stood there as silent as a mute.
I barely came to my senses and spoke to the Martial Alliance members.
“……You must be busy on official duty, so liquor would be difficult, but if it is all right, I will treat you to a meal or some tea.”
When I suggested this, a brief silence fell.
“…….”
I had no way of knowing what kind of atmosphere this was. The Alliance members looked at Danhyeoksan, and Danhyeoksan spoke to me.
“Gate Lord, then may we impose on you for a meal?”
Danhyeoksan seemed to be the senior. When Danhyeoksan said he would eat, the other Alliance members' expressions brightened rapidly.
In truth, I had nothing but money, so treating them to food or liquor was not a difficult matter.
It was merely that I had never done such a thing before, so I was flustered.
I spoke to the Martial Alliance members.
“I was just on my way to eat, so let us go together. I am curious about the Alliance Lord's well-being, and let us talk about the Namak Alliance as well. If a problem arises from neglect during duty, you may use my name to get past it once.”
Danhyeoksan answered with a smile.
“Ah, very well. If we use the Gate Lord's name, the Alliance Lord will surely forgive us.”
I suddenly found myself leading the Lust Demon, the Ghost Demon, and the Martial Alliance members out to find a restaurant.
What in the world should I call this feeling? The voices of the Martial Alliance members laughing and chatting nearby sounded like the beating of a drum against my chest.
Just how does life flow onward.
There was no way of knowing.