Chapter 281. There Is Nothing as Frightening as Matching One’s Words with One’s Actions.

The Black Cat Gang was an important base as well, so I couldn’t just leave it behind coldly. For the time being, I intended to stay until So Gunpyeong finished circulating his qi and regulating his breathing, so I went outside the main hall and watched the monkeys training.

While watching, I spotted the Seven Bugs, who had originally been the Ghost Demon’s servants, and was startled.

“Hey, bug bastard.”

Chilchung, the youngest of the Gold-Silver Seven Bugs, turned to look at me.

“Yes?”

“Come here.”

Chilchung walked over and stood in front of me. I examined his expression and bearing, then asked.

“Why are you here?”

Chilchung answered with a puzzled look.

“I’ve always been here.”

“You were?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you leave?”

“I’ve got nowhere to go. And Master Yukhap said he’d beat us to death if we didn’t behave, so we’ve just been behaving ourselves.”

“What about the other Gold-Silver Seven Bugs?”

When Chilchung looked back, the Gold-Silver Seven Bugs slipped out from among the monkeys in training. The Gold-Silver Seven Bugs had originally feared the Ghost Demon most, and I had beaten that very Ghost Demon into serious injury. Therefore, the man the Gold-Silver Seven Bugs feared most was me.

“How have you been all this time?”

Chilchung pondered his answer, then said this.

“We’ve been scolded by Pavilion Master So often.”

“For slacking off?”

“How did you know?”

“It’s written all over your face. All of you Gold-Silver Seven Bugs, come here.”

All seven bugs gathered and stood side by side. How should I describe this feeling? These seven were all men I had beaten to death in my past life. In particular, when I saw Ichung and Sachung, I realized why I felt uneasy.

Those two were the ones who had openly looked for trouble when they first appeared at the Black Cat Gang.

In other words, they were the sort who had a certain weakness for women.

Fortunately, even if all seven joined forces, their skill was not enough to take on So Gunpyeong and the officers of the Black Cat Gang.

“Do you want to stay here, or do you want to go to Master Yukhap in Ilyang County?”

Ilchung, who had been still, asked.

“Is Master perhaps in the middle of training?”

“That’s right.”

“Then we won’t go. Even if we were there, we wouldn’t be of any help.”

“Then you will continue staying with the Black Cat Gang.”

“Yes.”

“Ask Chief Steward Byeok to give you proper names.”

“Names?”

“I can’t keep calling you bugs forever. Are you bugs?”

“No.”

“Ilchung, you’re the eldest brother, right?”

“Yes.”

“You keep your younger brothers in line. We have more maidservants now, and if I hear news that any of you caused trouble, your younger brothers will be beaten to death. Either by me or by So Gunpyeong. Got it?”

Ilchung, understanding what I meant, looked at his younger brothers and then nodded.

“Understood.”

I looked over the men I had beaten to death in my past life. To think they had survived like this—these men were truly ones whose fate had changed.

I asked Ilchung, the eldest brother.

“How is it, being in the Black Cat Gang?”

Ilchung gave an answer I had not expected.

“It’s wonderful. The food is delicious, too.”

“You like it because the food is good?”

“Yes. Madam Son’s cooking is truly excellent. Everyone takes good care of us.”

Come to think of it, if they teased Madam Son, Master Ho Yeoncheong would beat them to death again. In many ways, the Black Cat Gang had men capable of keeping them in check.

“Good. Hearing that you’re doing well, unexpectedly, makes me feel strange too. Not now, but the Black Cat Gang used to be a black-path force. One day, a sword fight may break out without warning, so when that happens, you are to help So Gunpyeong properly. You followed Master Yukhap and experienced plenty of fights, didn’t you?”

“Understood.”

I looked over the seven of them and then said.

“From now on, if you have real names, use your real names. If you don’t, ask Chief Steward Byeok to give you names fit for human beings. Looking back, I had intended to kill you and Master Yukhap too, but perhaps fate changed, because you all ended up surviving. Each of you should find the reason your fate changed on your own.”

Ilchung asked with a curious expression.

“There’s something I want to ask.”

“What?”

“Should we call you Gang Leader from now on? Or should we call you Sect Leader?”

I nodded.

“Call me Sect Leader from now on. Call So Gunpyeong Gang Leader.”

“Understood. Thank you for your concern. Sect Leader.”

“Ah, and there is something I especially want from the seven of you.”

“Please tell us.”

I looked over the Gold-Silver Seven Bugs and said.

“From now on, treat Chief Steward Byeok as your direct superior, just as you served Master Yukhap. If he entrusts you with messenger work, then do messenger work. Pay your respects every morning, too. His martial arts are weaker than yours, but he is someone with much you can learn from. Think of him as the chief steward of the Black Cat Gang and as someone assisting the strategist of the Hao Sect. This is a special mission. Can you do it?”

Ilchung looked at me and answered.

“We will do so.”

“Every time you complete missions, great or small, I will tell Chief Steward Byeok to provide you with either a monthly salary or a bonus. As you live, each of you should find what you want to do with the money you earn from your own work. If you find a dream, you may at any time become independent as a person bound by nothing.”

Ilchung asked back with wide eyes.

“Independent?”

I nodded.

“You should become independent. You could learn painting from Chief Steward Byeok. Chief Steward Byeok might entrust an inn to one of you. If you still like martial arts training, then continuing to improve is good as well. Live while thinking for yourselves about how you want to live.”

The Gold-Silver Seven Bugs looked at one another’s faces, then answered.

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

In the past, they had been bug bastards rather than people, but in any case, I treated them as people.

External arts training was going on here and there, so I took off my long robe as well, became a monkey myself, mixed in with my subordinate monkeys, and began doing pull-ups. Today, I intended to train with my men, eat with them, hound them, and spend time spouting nonsense.

* * *

After dinner, I faced the newly arrived maidservants in the main hall.

“The reason I called you is nothing special.”

“Yes, Gang Leader.”

“Call me Sect Leader now. So Gunpyeong will be taking on the role of Black Cat Gang Leader.”

“Understood.”

“That isn’t what matters.”

I looked at the three young maidservants, then asked.

“Is there anyone among you who wants to become a female physician?”

“What does a female physician do?”

“Fundamentally, she cares for patients. Sometimes she assists a physician, and sometimes she treats patients herself. There is studying to be done, and much to learn. Above all, most of your colleagues would be women. The opposite of this place.”

“Madam Sun chose us. Is it all right for us to go become female physicians on our own?”

“If you want to, and I allow it, then it is. If I ordered her to, even Madam Sun would have to go become a female physician.”

Among the three maidservants, one young woman’s beauty was exceptionally rare, and the Black Cat Gang had far too many men. It was not a good combination, so I intended to pull her out.

“If you’re curious about anything, ask.”

“What sort of person is the physician?”

“Next.”

“If we leave, won’t there be too few hands here?”

“Next.”

“I just hope the physician isn’t frightening.”

I answered the three of them in succession.

“Murong Bai is an excellent physician. There will be much to learn from him. He is a good man as well. Whenever I visit, the female physicians’ skills have improved, so he is capable at teaching, too. If we are short-handed here, we can simply select more people. Instead, we’ll have to pick men. Murong Bai is not a frightening person. He is a busy one.”

“I want to go.”

The beautiful young woman I had my eye on raised her hand.

“Anyone else?”

“I want to go too.”

“I like it here. My home is very close, so it’s convenient to go back and forth after work. Sister Sun also takes good care of me.”

“Two will become female physicians, and one will remain?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“Understood. Do as you like. I will call the two of you when I depart, so come with me then. Rest for now.”

“Understood.”

After sending the maidservants out, I put my feet up on the table and dozed for a while. Having trained in external arts with the monkeys for nearly half a day, sleep came over me easily. A short while later, Su Junping walked out and called to me.

“Sect Leader.”

“Mm.”

“I finished circulating my qi and regulating my breathing.”

I opened only my eyes and looked at Su Junping as he sat down beside me.

“Ah, you startled me. Who are you?”

As if he had bathed and purified himself, Su Junping’s complexion looked far brighter than usual. Su Junping said,

“Impurities came out through my pores, so I washed up a bit. Sect Leader, was this really a hundred-year-old fleeceflower root?”

“Why?”

Su Junping looked at his own hands and said,

“My internal energy has increased enormously.”

“Mm… To be honest, I don’t really know. It’s not as if I watched it for a hundred years. If its effects were that good, it must have been even older.”

But even to my eyes, Su Junping’s bearing had changed completely.

“Junping, you became stronger because your body has been tempered through daily training. No matter how fine the spirit medicine, if your body had been in poor condition to begin with, it would not have had such a great effect.”

“That is true.”

“…From now on, take charge as the leader of the Black Cat Gang. I have no separate gift to give you.”

“Understood.”

Since he had been handed a responsibility, he did not show any particular joy.

“Keep an eye on Gold, Silver, and the Seven Worms. Second Worm and Fourth Worm were the type to chase women to begin with. That’s why I’m taking some of the maidservants to the Murong Medical House. Choose men to fill the shortage.”

“Understood.”

“Sect Leader, has there been no news from the Demonic Cult?”

“Not yet.”

“Mm….”

“Why?”

“There is a great merchant group called the Taiqing Merchant Guild, located between Yunshan and Qingyuan, but their conduct is no different from the underworld. I discussed it several times with the Four Divine Generals, and I wanted to ask whether it would be all right for us to smash the Taiqing Merchant Guild on our own.”

Su Junping, being a man born of the underworld, could only think of answers like smashing things.

“What have they done?”

“Sect Leader Yan Zicheng purchased a large amount of construction materials, all of them materials to be used for the shop repairs that Chief Steward Bi recommended. But after delivering half the quantity, they said the price had changed and doubled the cost of the materials. When we asked around nearby, we found out they have been stabbing people in the back like that every time. If someone protests, they check whether that person has a force or an expert backing them, then respond accordingly. It seems there are also quite a few experts inside the merchant guild.”

“I am behind Yan Zicheng. Why did the Taiqing Merchant Guild act like that?”

“They say they mentioned you, Sect Leader, but the guild did not budge.”

“Why?”

Su Junping looked at me.

“Perhaps your reputation is still lacking, Sect Leader.”

“You’re joking, right? How am I supposed to raise my reputation any higher than this?”

“About half of that was a joke. The Baili Clan is backing the Taiqing Merchant Guild.”

“Ah, so they weren’t underworld after all?”

“Yes.”

“The orthodox faction, when mad for money, produces lunatics every bit as crazy as the underworld. Ah, the Baili Clan has that Xinnan Four Dragons, doesn’t it? They must think their reputation stands shoulder to shoulder with mine, or they look down on me because I was belatedly added as the Sixth Dragon.”

Su Junping blinked and asked,

“What is that?”

“Ah, there is such a thing.”

“Four Dragons, Six Dragons—how childish.”

“Why are you giving me shit? The Alliance Leader gave me that title.”

“Then we should move on.”

“But with the Baili Clan behind them, you were going to attack the Taiqing Merchant Guild with the Four Divine Generals?”

“Yes. Since our younger brother Yan Zicheng suffered an outrage, we thought we would raise hell for him.”

“Heh heh….”

It seemed the time had now come for my subordinates to raise hell.

“This sort of raising hell is actually welcome.”

“It is.”

“But first, let us settle it with a letter. Tell them to hand over all the materials at the price they promised. And in my name, tell the leader of the Taiqing Merchant Guild to come running to Yiyang County. It does not matter if he doesn’t come. We have to notify him first, at least. And make sure to include that they should not act up just because they trust in the Baili Clan.”

“Is it a letter declaring war?”

“In any case, send a letter that provokes them, harasses them, and even mocks them. I will decide after seeing how they respond. The richer a fellow is, the stranger his way of doing business becomes.”

“Understood.”

“Come to think of it, is this the reason money has only been going out lately and none has been coming in?”

“Yes. For now, our funds are still ample, but at this rate, we may end up throwing ourselves into the Beggars’ Sect. I think money will begin coming in only when the inns and teahouses we marked out in various places start running smoothly.”

“All of this happened because I have not been raising enough goddamn hell.”

“That is true.”

“How strange. If I want to survive, I have no choice but to keep striking the underworld from now on. I realize anew that stabilizing the livelihood of the common people was also connected to my own purse.”

Su Junping said,

“Once the cell network is up and running later, there won’t be any problem with income.”

If I went out into the jianghu, I got entangled in the jianghu’s affairs; if I returned to Haomun, I got entangled in internal affairs. Whether I went outside or not, incidents and accidents of the jianghu were always swirling around me.

“Anyway, back to the main point.”

“Yes.”

I looked at So Gunpyeong.

“It may be because of the elixir I gave you, but in any case, you’ve grown stronger. Congratulations are in order.”

“It’s thanks to you, Sect Master. But every time I see you, you seem to have grown even stronger, which I find truly strange. You seem to be running around busily, so is there a reason you keep getting stronger?”

“I can’t exactly recommend the way I get stronger.”

“Why not?”

I let out a long sigh.

“Because I’m risking my life. From what I remember, I nearly died two or three times. Especially with Senior Cheonak, I thought for sure we’d end up in mutual destruction, but thankfully that didn’t happen.”

“How did you survive against Cheonak?”

I spoke to So Gunpyeong as if giving him earnest advice.

“You have to talk well. Don’t forget it either. When you’re outmatched in martial arts, you must always fight with words. You’ve been on the receiving end, so you know.”

“I do. How do you train that?”

I grabbed So Gunpyeong by the shoulder.

“Badgering is the foundation. Try it first on someone who doesn’t listen. With the mindset that you’ll badger them until their ears bleed. After that, you read your opponent’s state of mind and apply variations. Look for openings, then use your special technique. It’s the same as an exchange of attacks and defenses in martial arts. The Black Cat Gang has many subordinates too, so you should hone it as well.”

“Understood.”

“If you can subdue someone with words, your martial arts will improve too.”

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

“It’s true. The Cult Leader, Cheonak, and the Beggars’ Sect Leader all had their own distinctive way with words. Cheonak wasn’t eloquent, but his manner of speech was scarier than anyone’s. Do you know why?”

“I don’t.”

“Because he was someone who always kept the words he spoke. There’s nothing as frightening as consistency between word and deed. You should have your own consistency between word and deed too. You’ll be leading the Black Cat Gang now.”

I met So Gunpyeong’s eyes, then grinned.

“Now you’re So Gunpyeong, Leader of the Black Cat Gang.”

So Gunpyeong gave a faint laugh as well.

“I suppose that’s how it turned out.”

I remembered badgering So Gunpyeong in front of Chunyang Restaurant, and laughter slipped out.

“Are you thinking about when we fought in front of that restaurant?”

“That’s right.”

As if So Gunpyeong had been thinking of the same thing, he laughed with his shoulders shaking.