Chapter 337. The New Villain Inn

A place where travelers could eat, sleep, drink, and rest.

That was an inn.

Some guests stayed for a single night and moved on, and it was also the sort of place one could drop by every day for cheap liquor. There was not a shred of elegance to be found, but that made it all the more comfortable. If someone asked me whether I would sleep in a high official’s guest chamber lined with silk or in an inn like this, naturally, I would sleep in the guest chamber.

Only, since such a situation had never occurred, I had now gone up to a room on the second floor and tried to sleep. It was comfortable, yes, but the bedding smelled faintly of saliva. Human nature is such that one can tolerate one’s own smell, but not another’s.

I threw the pillow away and used my arm as a pillow instead.

“…….”

As I stared at the ceiling, damp from rainwater seeping in, a thought occurred to me. This place was the Villain Inn. In other words, an inn where good people could not endure.

The Lust Demon was in the room next door.

The Ghost Demon was in the room across the hall.

And somewhere on the other side, the Sword Demon was probably lying down.

We had placed the not particularly reliable Cha Seongtae on the first floor as our guardian, then taken our rest.

Had I given Cha Seongtae the Baekjeon Sipdan Gong for a day like this?

In any case, if enemies appeared, a crackling sound would ring out from Cha Seongtae’s hands, and that would instantly wake the Four Great Villains.

To think lightning qi was such a useful martial art…….

Ice arts could not even come close.

Naturally, since I had spent the whole day getting pelted by rain while going through all that damned nonsense, sleep did not come immediately.

I thought of the man in black who had kept watching me in the rain.

‘A pitiful bastard, but one who must die…….’

In truth, there had not been many times when I sincerely wanted to kill someone.

The three Jo brothers, the Great Rakshasa, Teacher Su, the Black Lineage Fortress Lord, the owners of the gambling den and auction house?

Now that I think about it, there were quite a lot.

In truth, they were not men I fought tooth and nail to kill, but men I killed in order to resolve a situation. From the moment I believed the situation had been resolved, there were rarely times when I chased down enemies to kill them or continued unnecessary slaughter.

Because what I wanted was to solve problems, not to keep killing someone.

That was why men like the Great Rakshasa’s disciple, Dokgo Saeng of the Black Lineage Fortress, Hoyeon Cheong, the Southern Heavenly Alliance Leader, Lady Iron Toad, the Southern Ming Society Leader, the Third Young Master and Sambok, the White-Faced Young Master, and Branch Leader Hwang had survived.

When I think about it, I really did let a great many live.

Of course, it was not easy to see their faces now. They each had their own lives to live. After all, I had not spared them so I could use them as my slaves.

Perhaps if the Four Heavenly Kings had not come with the wraiths…….

Would some of them, like the men I had spared, be thinking of me somewhere? Thinking that way, it struck me anew that Jeok Inwang was still alive.

Would he return to the Demon Cult?

Or would he live a new life with his identity concealed?

Naturally, whether they were allies or enemies, I wanted them to live new lives. The moment the thought of wanting to try living a new life arises, one’s life changes, and because of that changed life, the fates of others change as well.

Just like Eldest Brother, who had kicked away the position of Left Envoy on his own.

I had killed without discrimination, and I had also spared without discrimination.

Even by that standard…….

I felt bitter, because I did not think I could give the man in black a chance. The reason for the bitterness was nothing special. By my standards, he was the most pitiful bastard of all.

A life spent waiting for the day he would be absorbed by the Cult Leader. I knew what it felt like to become a puppet dangling from the threads of evil. The identity of the man in black could be described as malice itself having gained life.

This is why I sleep poorly.

With a feeling as though I did not know whether I was sleeping or sinking into a swamp, I thought of the man in black, then fell into a shallow sleep.

In my dream, I danced with a sword all night, my entire body pierced through by threads. Since I was used to nightmares, I spent the whole night cutting away the threads clinging to my body.

...I opened my eyes to the light coming through the gap by the window.

“…….”

As I stared at the grain of the wood lit by sunlight, I could not tell whether this was Zaha Inn, Cheolli Inn, or Chunmong Inn. In any case, since I had safely spent the night here, it felt somewhat familiar.

Only then did I remember that this place was the Villain Inn.

Yesterday, after getting pelted by so much rain.

After watching blood gush up like a fierce downpour.

After spending the day with the murderous intent of wraiths poured all over my body, it felt strangely wondrous that, in the morning, perfectly beautiful sunlight was still pushing its way through the cracks.

Was it beautiful only to me?

For now, I got up, washed my face like a cat, then went down to the first floor and looked at Cha Seongtae, who was dozing off.

“…….”

Cha Seongtae was dozing in a chair, his neck bent downward as though it had snapped. Was this bastard a guardian, or had he become a wanderer traveling the jianghu? I approached behind Cha Seongtae with Cat Footwork, brought both hands together, then roused the Baekjeon Sipdan Gong.

Crackleeeee!

“Aaaagh!”

As soon as Cha Seongtae got up with a clatter, he took a stance and spouted nonsense.

“What? Is this a dream?”

I met Cha Seongtae’s eyes, then answered.

“Go upstairs and sleep.”

“Understood.”

I let out a sigh of relief and quietly watched Cha Seongtae go upstairs. To have the guts to sleep so soundly even with the Demon Cult’s forces nearby……. He was unqualified as a guardian, but not bad as a man of the jianghu.

Since when had I started seeing only people’s good points like this?

I could not know.

I went outside and admired the unusual morning scenery.

The busy street looked as though a typhoon had passed through along with wind and rain. Broken wood floated in pooled rainwater, and broken weapons, corpses, and trash were mixed together, making it no different from hell.

What kind of person could possibly live in a place like this?

It seemed obvious that everyone had fled like refugees.

Since there was no food to eat in particular, and nothing to do…….

I picked up the broom placed beside the inn’s door and began cleaning. My guess was that even if I cleaned until sunset, it would be difficult to clear this entire street.

Still, someone had to clean it up.

It was not shit I had taken. However, I was also guilty of blowing up the latrine. First, I cleaned the area in front of the inn where I was staying.

I pushed the pooled rainwater into the sewer, gathered wood and trash in one place, and collected the nearby corpses in a broad empty lot as well.

It took more than one shichen just to clean up the front of the Villain Inn.

While cleaning, my hungry stomach growled, and seeing trash that would not disappear no matter how much I cleared it away made me think of the old days for the first time in a while.

Something boiled and bubbled inside me.

There are times when my temper flares while cleaning, and this was one of them.

My temper had flared, but…….

I deliberately used martial arts to focus on cleaning with even more tenacity. I kicked corpses with my feet to gather them in the empty lot, burned miscellaneous trash with Yeomgye on the spot, and completely crushed the pooled muddy water with Jingak to flatten it out.

I cleared the shop next door, the teahouse across the street, and cleared, burned, and annihilated all visible trash.

Even though I had been cleaning alone while going berserk all morning, not a single person appeared.

Could I have already fallen into cleaning hell?

Only then did I see the Four Great Villains, freshly woken from sleep, sitting in a circle in front of the Akgak Inn and staring at me.

Gwima asked me.

“What are you doing? Since morning.”

“Cleaning.”

“Why are you cleaning?”

“Because no one else is doing it.”

As I looked at the Four Great Villains, this thought crossed my mind.

They say someone who has cleaned before does it well, but those three are people who have never cleaned once in their entire lives. That is also precisely why they are among the Four Great Villains. Just how rotten must their temperaments be to have never cleaned even once since they were born?

Just from the expressions of the three, a palpable atmosphere that clearly said they should never be made to clean wafted from them.

“…….”

I gathered the surrounding corpses back into the empty lot, brought firewood from the ownerless shops, threw it in, and lit a fire.

At times like this, cremation was inevitably the better option.

I watched the burning flames for a moment and surveyed the shops across the empty lot. I had worked hard, but trash was still piled up in amounts I couldn’t handle.

Was this what it felt like to look upon rice paddies hit by a typhoon?

Only then could I understand, to some degree, the hearts of farmers.

It felt like looking at the aftermath of a natural disaster that simply could not be restored alone, and strength drained from my legs.

I sank down to the ground for a moment and sighed with the heart of a farmer whose crop had been ruined.

‘Ah, you bastards…….’

As I was watching the burning flames with a hollow heart, someone approached and called out to me.

“Gate Lord, it has been a while.”

“Oh, Deungnyang.”

When I looked, Deungnyang of the Muk family was standing there shouldering a huge bundle. I felt like I understood why village dogs liked their masters so much and were so happy. Because their master would soon feed them. Truthfully, I was also simply glad that Deungnyang had appeared so suddenly.

Deungnyang looked around and spoke.

“Gate Lord, I came in a hurry after receiving word, so I was unable to prepare a meal. Have you eaten?”

“Ah, I have not yet.”

Deungnyang nodded and then slightly bowed his head toward the Four Great Villains in front of the Akgak Inn.

“It is a complete mess. It seems everyone has left?”

“As you can see.”

“Very well. I will go around, inspect and gather edible ingredients, and then cook for you directly at the inn. Please wait a moment.”

I was worried about Deungnyang.

“There might be Demonic Cult forces nearby, though?”

Deungnyang answered with a smile.

“I possess at least that much caution. Please do not worry.”

Deungnyang suddenly seemed admirable to me. To think he was a murim expert who could prepare a meal while wandering a battlefield…….

Deungnyang spoke to me.

“Other friends will arrive soon as well. I will start by preparing the meal.”

“Thank you.”

Who could the other friends be? After Deungnyang disappeared somewhere, I threw in firewood a few more times, stopped, and looked toward the middle of the road. Peasants who had not formed ranks were swarming in; some held farming tools in their hands, while others shouldered sacks of rice.

The moment I saw the force composed of peasants, I couldn’t help but stand up.

“…….”

It was also because I had just been looking at the ruined place and feeling the heart of a farmer whose crop was ruined. The peasant force stopped, and a man walked out from the center.

He was a man with a sunburned red face, and the moment I saw that face, I could easily tell that he was a man who worked the fields every single day.

Most martial artists did not have that kind of face, skin, or wrinkles.

The man who approached grinned and spoke.

“Gate Lord, I have come from the Hangga Sanghoe, which supplies rice to Yeounbyeok, the Unhyang Gate Lord.”

Yeounbyeok was the head of the Muk family.

I thought the man before me was the head of the Nongga family. I greeted him with proper courtesy.

“Association Lord.”

The head of the Nongga looked around the surroundings and then spoke to me.

“Have you been cleaning? You are burning corpses as well. We have many hands, so we shall help.”

My mouth wouldn’t open easily, so I just nodded. The head of the Nongga looked back at the peasant force and gestured without a word. Then the force dispersed, put down their farming tools and rice sacks, and began cleaning with movements as practiced as mine.

Was it because I had been cleaning all morning?

Or was it because I had witnessed the joining of the Nongga and the Muk family?

Strangely, strength drained from my legs, and I sank down to the ground.

Then the head of the Nongga sat beside me and spoke to me in a comfortable tone.

“Gate Lord, you have suffered greatly. I heard news of a big fight at Dongho and regretted being unable to help.”

I looked at the head of the Nongga; he seemed quite a bit older than me, so I answered respectfully.

“Yes, what brings you here?”

The head of the Nongga looked at me.

“The main branch of our association is near the Murim Alliance. It is slightly embarrassing to say so to the Murim Alliance, but that is because the public order is best there. However, I too received contact from an unexpected figure…….”

I listened to the family head’s words and then looked at him with my arms crossed. The head of the Nongga spat out these words as he looked at me.

“The White-Robed Scholar requested support from the entire scholar faction. It is not something that happens often. Moreover, the target of support was said to be the Hao Gate Lord. That is why I could rush here at once.”

As I listened to the story, my mood was rather strange.

“…….”

Perhaps the head of the Nongga was equally bewildered; he snorted with laughter a few times and muttered.

“To think the White-Robed Scholar would help someone…… you live long enough, you see everything.”

I met eyes with the head of the Nongga and then nodded.

“Indeed.”