Chapter 242. The Way He Ate Was No Different.
I stood side by side with the villains and looked at the Sect Leader.
“Juniors. Before we part ways, may I say a word?”
Im Sobaek answered as their representative.
“Yes.”
The Beggars’ Sect Leader looked around at us and said,
“I rarely gather my juniors like this to talk, so bear with me. This time, Cheonak and his party came rushing in and fought us, but fortunately, we were not pushed back. The reason was…”
The Beggars’ Sect Leader pointed at me.
“The Hao Sect Master carried me on his back and ran away.”
“…….”
“At first, I didn’t know why he was running away, but the Hao Sect Master ran hard at quite a decent speed. Cheonak and his party had no choice but to use qinggong and chase after us. Only after Cheonak caught up did he put me down. When Cheonak, who had run quite a long distance, faced me, who had been comfortably carried all the way there, I was not pushed back for even an instant. Only then did I understand the Sect Master’s intention. Until now, I had thought I had no need to receive help from my juniors, but it seems that was arrogance to some degree. Right now, the Hao Sect Master’s skill is lacking compared to Cheonak’s, but I received plenty of help from him.”
Im Sobaek nodded.
The Beggars’ Sect Leader continued.
“It was a good experience. It taught me that shutting oneself away and only training in martial arts is not the answer to everything. From now on, if the Martial Alliance needs me, call me without hesitation. You too, Sect Master.”
I nodded slightly.
“Yes.”
The Beggars’ Sect Leader smiled and said,
“Even if you all grow stronger later, do not become arrogant. It must be tiring to listen to an old man talk for too long, so let us part here. You are all busy people. Take care on your way.”
When the Divine Beggar’s not-so-long speech ended……
The juniors cupped their fists toward the Divine Beggar all at once.
“Senior, please take care of yourself.”
As various farewells flowed out, I met the Sect Leader’s eyes and smiled.
In the midst of it all, the Divine Beggar looked around at his juniors with a relaxed expression, nodded several times, and waved his hand. Even so, when the juniors’ farewells went on for too long, the Divine Beggar suddenly left first.
As I was staring blankly at the Divine Beggar’s back, Noshin’s voice came from somewhere.
“Master.”
Only then did the Divine Beggar turn around and gaze silently at Noshin. Noshin stepped forward, bowed, and said,
“I will go and return.”
The Divine Beggar spoke curtly.
“There will be much for you to learn from the Alliance Leader. Do not disgrace the Beggars’ Sect.”
“Understood.”
“Being in the Beggars’ Sect and being in the Alliance are different. Keep yourself clean, and from now on, pay attention to your clothing too.”
Noshin’s expression suddenly twisted in utter misery.
“Yes, understood.”
The Divine Beggar looked calmly at his disciple, then nodded.
“See you again.”
After the Divine Beggar left, Noshin lowered his head to the ground as if he had been expelled from the Beggars’ Sect and could not rise for a long while.
The atmosphere had grown so heavy that no one opened their mouth.
Come to think of it, telling a beggar to keep clean and pay attention to his clothing was the equivalent of expulsion in any other sect.
Since no one was helping Noshin up, I eventually went over, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to his feet.
He was already an ugly bastard to begin with, but with tears running down his face, he looked even uglier. I had plenty I wanted to say to Noshin too, but looking at his expression, it was not the right mood for cursing.
Still, I did it anyway.
“Why the hell are you crying? Go suffer a bit in the Martial Alliance. If Brother Noshin keeps a proper eye on things from the middle, nothing will happen to the Beggars’ Sect, and nothing will happen to the Martial Alliance either. Watch both sides carefully. Got it?”
Noshin looked at me and nodded.
“Got it.”
The Beggars’ Sect Leader was someone who forgave, but the Martial Alliance Leader was not someone who forgave. I didn’t think I needed to give that much advice to someone older than me, so I simply gripped his shoulder once.
“See you again.”
Perhaps Noshin thought his appearance was disgraceful, because he patted the back of my hand before joining the Alliance members.
Im Sobaek looked at me.
“Sect Master, I am in your debt. Senior spoke lightly of it, but the fight must not have been like that.”
Im Sobaek had immediately noticed that it had not been an easy fight. Saying it had been easy would have been tremendous bluffing, so I glossed over it.
“Senior.”
“Hm?”
“No, rather than speaking to our Alliance Leader……”
I looked around at the Alliance members and raised my hand.
“Does anyone happen to have the list of public enemies?”
A man walked out and said,
“Do you mean the wanted portraits?”
The man showed me the wanted portraits he was carrying. As soon as I saw the First Sword of Donghu, I moved my finger to the left.
“The First Sword of Donghu has too large a force, and there are too few of us. Donghu is too vast. Next.”
When the man moved the wanted portrait to the back, this time a martial world public enemy called the Lone Wanderer appeared. I gestured for him to pass this one too.
“A bastard who operates covertly is hard to catch. Next.”
Next came a martial world public enemy with the moniker Feike. I gestured to pass on him as well.
“There’s too little information on Feike too.”
Next came a public enemy whose wanted portrait was relatively detailed and whose description was packed with information.
“Western Evil Wulingzi.”
It was fortunate that it was not Huashan, the Western Peak, but Western Evil. I reached out and received Western Evil Wulingzi’s wanted portrait.
“We’ll find him and deal with him on the way back, so give me an advance.”
“Pardon?”
When the Alliance member looked at the Alliance Leader, Im Sobaek called someone.
“Unit Leader Gong.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
“Hand over the advance.”
“Understood.”
A man called Unit Leader Gong walked over and, while counting out standard silver pieces from the money pouch he took from his robe, said,
“……The advance has a recovery period of one year. If, by then, it has not been recovered, where shall we collect it from?”
“Since we are the ones taking action, that will not happen, but if there is no news, collect it from the Fengyun Meng Clan.”
“Understood.”
Beside me, the Pervert looked at me in shock, but I did not bother turning my gaze. After receiving the standard silver pieces, I put them into my money pouch.
After extorting money from the Martial Alliance, I looked at the Alliance Leader.
Im Sobaek, perhaps somewhat dumbfounded as well, let out an empty laugh as he looked at me.
“You’re good at squeezing money out of people.”
“We were a bit short on travel expenses.”
“I should have paid for the stir-fried offal earlier.”
“Exactly.”
I had a staring contest with the Martial Alliance Leader, then looked around at the Alliance members.
“In any case, we will capture the public enemy known for stealing and eating peaches here in this Peach Blossom Spring. Members of the Murim Alliance.”
It was not a joke. The file actually said that was the sobriquet he had gained because such rumors had spread.
When I boldly declared that I would capture the public enemy of murim, the Alliance members all cupped their fists toward us at once.
“We leave it in your hands.”
“Very well.”
When I paid my respects to Im Sobaek, Im Sobaek cupped his fists toward us.
“Sect Leader, Sword Demon, Master Yukhap, Young Master Mong. Let us meet again.”
Im Sobaek even knew the Second’s sobriquet precisely. Only after parting ways with the Murim Alliance did we look at one another.
The Lust Demon looked at me and opened his mouth.
“No, why……”
“Shut up.”
I cut the Lust Demon off at once.
“We catch a public enemy, squeeze money out of the Murim Alliance, kill two birds with one stone—what’s not to like? If we bring in a public enemy, we build our reputation, become famous, and earn money. What’s not to like?”
The Lust Demon answered.
“No, I’m asking why you’re billing my family for it.”
The Ghost Demon clicked his tongue beside him.
“Shut up, will you? So petty……”
“Petty?”
When the Lust Demon looked at the Sword Demon, the Sword Demon spoke in a grave tone.
“If we ask the Mong family to reimburse money requested for the purpose of capturing a public enemy, they will be surprised as well. It is not a gambling debt, nor are we collecting an unpaid tab from a pleasure house. They will think their second son has finally come to his senses. Why is a young master from a wealthy family so sensitive?”
After receiving the reliable support of the Sword Demon and the Ghost Demon, I clicked my tongue at the Lust Demon.
“Tch, what a petty bastard. Let’s go.”
The Ghost Demon asked me.
“How much did you get?”
“Don’t know. They gave quite a bit. Let’s spend it all on the way. Public-enemy funds only taste right when you use them all up. Let’s spend lavishly. Should we buy a carriage?”
“They gave you that much?”
“I’ll have to combine it with my own money.”
“You said you were out of travel expenses.”
I looked at the Ghost Demon for the first time in a while and sighed.
“That was a lie. And you actually believed it. How frustrating, how stifling, you’re killing me. Learn to filter what people say. You have the face of someone who’d get scammed in an investment scheme. Why don’t you ever doubt what people say? I mean, when I talk.”
“Bullshit.”
Only then did the Ghost Demon shut his mouth. As we walked along the road, the Sword Demon asked me.
“How was Cheonak?”
“He wasn’t someone I could dare to oppose. I only survived because Senior Divine Beggar was there.”
The Sword Demon answered with a serious expression.
“To that extent?”
Since I did not think I could resolve the worries of this troubled man of the jianghu today, I simply scared him thoroughly.
“He was tremendously strong.”
While the Sword Demon sank into deep thought, the Lust Demon spoke from behind.
“We still haven’t eaten. Master, you’re hungry, aren’t you?”
“Ah, damn it.”
I stopped walking, looked at the Lust Demon, then waved my hand and changed direction.
“We should eat first. Let’s go. I found another good place.”
Since there was nowhere in particular to go, we headed back to the famous stir-fried offal place that even the Murim Alliance Leader had visited. After putting three rather terrifying villains into the stir-fried offal restaurant, I looked around the area.
I checked by habit for a moment to see whether these villains had brought along any useless hangers-on, or whether the remnants of the Scholar were watching me, then entered the restaurant.
When I appeared again, the owner said with a surprised expression.
“You’ve come again.”
I nodded and said.
“Business here will probably go very well from now on. The man who came earlier was the Murim Alliance Leader. Word will spread everywhere. Give us a large stir-fried offal, liquor, and three bowls of rice.”
“Ah, yes.”
The owner went back into the kitchen with a dazed expression.
Before the stir-fried offal came out, we passed around the wanted portrait. I was inwardly flustered because the three of them were looking over the public enemy’s wanted portrait with such perfect naturalness.
‘This is too natural.’
It was absurd to see the public enemies of murim from my previous life analyzing the wanted portrait of a public enemy of murim in this life.
The owner, who had brought the liquor first, glanced at the wanted portrait and said to us.
“Goodness, you must be from the Murim Alliance. Thank you for your hard work.”
I exchanged glances with the villains.
“……”
I tapped the wanted portrait for no reason with my finger and asked.
“……He’s a vicious bastard. Have you ever seen him?”
“Mm, this is my first time seeing him. If I do happen to see him, I’ll contact the Murim Alliance immediately.”
“Please do.”
I looked at the owner with a solemn expression. After having such a weighty conversation, I felt as if I had become a member of the Murim Alliance myself.
For a while, the four of us quietly waited for the stir-fried offal with our arms crossed.
“……”
In truth, this was the moment when I should have said something embarrassingly sentimental, like thanking them for coming all the way here. But men like us were not the sort to tolerate such cringeworthy words, so I simply omitted it.
“……”
The silence grew long, but since I did not particularly feel like speaking, I remained silent. I glanced at the wanted portrait for no reason, then merely nodded.
Only then did I think of something to say, so I spoke to the Sword Demon.
“Senior, I obtained a sword manual. I’ll bring it to you later. I don’t have it on me right now.”
“I see.”
As expected, there was nothing for us to be particularly grateful about. It was a secret manual hard to obtain, but since I had obtained it, we would simply give and receive it. Only after the stir-fried offal arrived a little later did everyone’s mouths open.
“Oh, it’s here.”
“Wow, that smell.”
“There is quite a lot.”
“Let’s eat.”
After ordering stir-fried offal three times in a single day, I felt as if all sorts of offal were mixing together inside my stomach, so I drank liquor first. Since I was already full, I sipped my drink and watched the expressions of the villains as they ate.
Come to think of it, today I had……
watched the greatest master of the righteous path and the Murim Alliance Leader eat.
And now I was watching the villains of my previous life eat as well.
They were all men who ate their meals heartily and well.
The act of eating and living was not so different, and the expressions of admiration and the little exclamations before delicious food were no different between the righteous path and villains.
The Sword Demon asked me.
“You’re not eating?”
I nodded.
“I ate a lot earlier, so you eat plenty, Senior. You probably haven’t had stir-fried offal before. How is it?”
The Sword Demon tilted his head and asked me.
“How did you know? This is my first time eating it.”
I said with an impassive expression.
“Eldest Brother wouldn’t have gone around eating things like this. What a bumpkin.”
“Hahahaha!”
The Lust Demon suddenly burst out laughing, then hurriedly stopped.
“……My apologies.”
The Sword Demon looked at his disciple and said,
“Eat plenty.”
“Yes.”
While we were busily eating the stir-fried innards, the proprietor came out from the kitchen and placed a sealed bottle of Du Kang wine on the table.
“This one is on me today.”
I applauded the proprietor and replied,
“Ah, we’ll drink it well. A fine liquor indeed.”
The proprietor smiled and dipped his head slightly.
“Please enjoy.”
I tore off the seal on the Du Kang wine, then poured some into my cup. I turned my head for a moment to confirm that the proprietor wasn’t looking this way, then exchanged a glance with the Ghost Demon. At that, the Ghost Demon naturally took a silver needle from his robes while chewing on the stir-fried innards.
I dipped the silver needle I received from the Ghost Demon into the liquor, then nodded.
“Clear.”
Only then did I return the silver needle and pour each of the villains a cup of Du Kang wine. The four of us met one another’s eyes without any particular meaning, then nodded once.
The Lust Demon pointed at the stir-fried innards with his chopsticks.
“Wow, they stir-fried this well. The rice is vanishing.”
While the villains continued their meal, I slowly savored the aroma of the Du Kang wine, then tossed it into my mouth.
The chopsticks in my hand moved toward the stir-fried innards of their own accord.