Chapter 348. No Liquor?

We matched our martial attire in white, and each chose an outer robe according to personal taste.

As I had expected, the Sword Demon draped a pitch-black long robe over his, while the rest chose colors that suited the white martial attire well enough.

I looked for a moment at the Four Great Villains and the White-Clad Scholar.

“Hmm.”

They had suddenly transformed into men of striking appearance. Since all of them possessed profound martial arts, they had not an ounce of excess flesh, and their atmospheres were distinctive as well. They would not have looked out of place as senior and junior brothers from some renowned orthodox sect. I was not the only one surprised. With expressions just as astonished as mine, they looked over one another’s clothing and appearance.

“……”

The Lust Demon said,

“Everyone looks completely different dressed up like this. Master, it suits you very well too.”

If I had to pick the one who had changed into the most impressive figure in my eyes, it would be the Ghost Demon.

He was an ugly man in his own way, but perhaps because his frame itself was angular and sturdy, he looked like a stern sect leader of the righteous path, or perhaps a senior brother. His expression, too, was stiff and solemn, making it seem as if an entirely different person stood there.

I was the one who had suggested buying clothes in the first place, yet I was the most astonished.

“Clothes really are important.”

The Sword Demon said,

“There was a reason White-Clad was so picky about choosing a shop.”

Because of the White-Clad Scholar’s discerning eye, we had gone in and out several times after only looking around before finally managing to have our clothes fitted. The White-Clad Scholar, dressed in white according to his own taste, looked around at us.

Only then did I regret that perhaps we should have had an outfit made for Cheonak as well. But giving him a gift out of nowhere was not the kind of relationship I wanted, so I quickly forgot about it.

I looked at the White-Clad Scholar.

“Is it far to the safe house?”

The White-Clad Scholar replied,

“At this rate, when do you think we’ll ever get there? We’ll use lightness skill.”

“Let’s do that.”

When I looked at the Four Great Villains and laughed, the Lust Demon asked,

“Why the hell are you suddenly laughing?”

This journey was certainly strange in more ways than one. Even though we were simply going to meet Cheonak, it felt like training.

“The Martial Emperor’s lightness skill is extremely fast. I figured everyone would suffer a little.”

The Lust Demon replied,

“You’re the one who’ll suffer. I’m confident in lightness skill on flat ground.”

Even the Ghost Demon, who seemed likely to struggle the most, said this.

“……I am confident over long distances too.”

The Sword Demon looked at the White-Clad Scholar and said,

“Let us all learn a thing or two in lightness skill from the Martial Emperor.”

The White-Clad Scholar looked around at us, then walked ahead with his hands clasped behind his back.

“We’ll have dinner at Baekhak Pavilion in Bongyang, so do your best to keep up.”

The White-Clad Scholar’s stride began to stretch longer and longer like pulled taffy, and before we knew it, he had unleashed the Cloud Ladder Ascension and shot forward like a gale.

It was a truly terrifying speed.

As soon as we drew in a deep breath, we shut our mouths and hurriedly chased after the White-Clad Scholar. When we caught up after running fiercely for about thirty steps, the White-Clad Scholar increased his speed once more.

The Ghost Demon let out a sigh.

“Ah, for goodness’ sake.”

I was in no position to pay attention to anyone else either, so I immediately chased after the White-Clad Scholar with the Cloud Ladder Ascension.

Had I fed him that fish for nothing?

The White-Clad Scholar’s speed was even faster than last time, so I could not utter a single joke. In any case, I had no choice but to think of this as training too and run for my life. Since every last one of us had enough pride to rank among the top ten masters of the murim, we all kept our mouths shut and chased after the White-Clad Scholar.

* * *

I did not think Cheonak would be somewhere crowded, and as expected, he was not. We used our lightness skill at full speed, ate five meals along the way, and even slept once. Since we covered such a long distance at such a high speed, I had the illusion that we were visiting another country.

We followed the White-Clad Scholar up Baegunsan.

The mountain terrain was rugged, and the thick fog that had settled along the way often obscured the path, but the White-Clad Scholar walked without hesitation as if he were climbing a hill behind his house. A little while later, once we broke free of the dense sea of clouds, our field of vision suddenly opened wide, revealing a broad flatland surrounded by sheer cliffs. With those cliffs at its back, there stood a manor blended into the natural scenery.

The White-Clad Scholar did not approach the manor immediately, but steadied his breathing.

Looking around, it seemed like a safe house hidden by the rugged mountains and the fog.

The White-Clad Scholar looked around at us, then spoke toward the manor.

“……Are you home?”

I had never seen anyone announce a visit from so far away.

From the manor came Cheonak’s languid voice, as if he had only just awakened.

“What is it?”

The White-Clad Scholar looked down at the ground and, unlike himself, fumbled over his words.

“Mm, so.”

We all stared at the entrance of the manor. Cheonak walked out with his face half-covered by disheveled hair and looked around at us. Because of his hair, his eyes were not clearly visible.

The White-Clad Scholar held out a hand to introduce us.

“These are—”

Before the White-Clad Scholar could say anything, Cheonak opened his mouth.

“You’ve scraped them together and brought them well enough. Have I finally become useless to you?”

The White-Clad Scholar replied,

“What kind of bullshit is that? I brought guests.”

Because the atmosphere was strange, I immediately cut in.

“Senior Cheon, I am I Jaha, leader of the Hao Sect.”

Cheonak swept his hair back with his hand and fixed his gaze on me with eyes that, at a glance, made him look like a madman.

“So it’s you. You were hooked by that Baek bastard and came all the way here. How unlucky.”

“Unlucky?”

Cheonak smiled faintly and said,

“You’ve gathered some fairly skilled masters, but do you think a mere five of you can handle me?”

“We only came to have a drink, so save your bullshit for your friend.”

Cheonak let out a low laugh.

“What kind of madmen would come looking for me and ask to drink? Even lies have their limits.”

It drove me mad that there was no efficient way to explain that we were madmen as a group.

I sighed, then glared at the White-Clad Scholar.

“This rotten bastard, just what the hell……”

Why had he left his friend in this state? I felt my own temper rising as far as it could go.

The White-Clad Scholar looked at me.

“Did I not tell you over and over? He doesn’t believe easily.”

While Cheonak walked toward us, I sat down cross-legged on the spot.

“I don’t know anymore.”

When I sat down, the quick-witted Lust Demon hurriedly sat as well. Then the Ghost Demon and the Sword Demon slowly opened up some distance before sitting on the ground. If we wanted to express with our whole bodies that we had no intention of fighting, this was the only method I could think of.

When all of us plopped down, Cheonak, who had been walking over, looked at us.

The White-Clad Scholar said as he walked forward.

“Keep your suspicions within reason. The Sect Leader of Haomun insisted he wanted to drink, so I ended up bringing him. I couldn’t send word ahead, and I couldn’t ask you in advance, so I simply brought them. Why would I suddenly try to kill you? It’s not as if I could.”

Cheonak, who had been approaching, answered with a sly grin.

“Who could know what’s going on inside your head? These masters suddenly want to drink with me?”

The White-Clad Scholar stepped close in front of Cheonak and answered with his head tilted askew.

“If you don’t trust me, who exactly are you planning to trust?”

The moment I felt his robe flutter, Cheonak had already struck with the back of his hand, and the White-Clad Scholar, who blocked it, went flying horizontally.

Kwwaaaaang!

The White-Clad Scholar, who had barely knocked it aside with his right palm, spun in midair and landed lightly on the ground.

We did not move.

Originally, friendship between friends was strengthened through fighting. Of course, with friendship at that level, the White-Clad Scholar might get beaten to death. Still, I had a feeling that Cheonak probably wouldn’t beat the White-Clad Scholar to death. For now, we needed to show that we had not come together with the White-Clad Scholar to attack him.

I looked at the two of them and said.

“Martial Emperor, you’re not going to get beaten to death, are you?”

Cheonak looked at me.

“Martial Emperor?”

“A while ago, the White-Clad Scholar defeated Seomun Martial Emperor. He inherited the title of Martial Emperor too.”

Cheonak asked the White-Clad Scholar.

“This frail bastard is the Martial Emperor?”

The White-Clad Scholar answered in a cold tone.

“I am the Martial Emperor.”

“What an impressive nickname. You arrogant bastard.”

The Lust Demon looked at me and asked.

“He really isn’t going to get beaten to death, is he?”

For a moment, killing intent flickered across the White-Clad Scholar’s face, and he glared at the Lust Demon. Only then did I realize anew that the man called the White-Clad Scholar had pride that pierced the heavens.

The White-Clad Scholar said to Cheonak.

“Shall we eat some dust for the first time in a while?”

Cheonak laughed with an absurd expression.

“Did the great Martial Emperor swallow some elixir for the first time in ages?”

I was flustered too, so I looked at the Sword Demon. Then our eldest brother shook his head as if telling me not to intervene.

“……Let’s watch.”

At that moment, the White-Clad Scholar moved first and planted a kick into Cheonak’s chest as he stood still. The thud was loud, but Cheonak only staggered back a little. As soon as we heard that sound, we looked at one another’s faces.

“Hmm.”

Soon, Cheonak and the White-Clad Scholar charged at each other at the same time and clashed. Palm techniques and kicking techniques mixed together, and, astonishingly, even headbutts appeared.

In the midst of their fairly fierce clash, the White-Clad Scholar was occasionally beaten painfully here and there. It was a truly strange fight. The ground was not being gouged out, and the blows landed on each other’s bodies far too often.

Though it was mostly the White-Clad Scholar who got beaten…….

At times, Cheonak also staggered after being hit by kicks, and he even got poked in the eye by the White-Clad Scholar’s outstretched finger.

In other words, to summarize, it was a fight without internal energy.

As the fight dragged on, the White-Clad Scholar went flying and rolling all over the place. Their techniques were about equal in refinement, but Cheonak’s external arts neutralized those techniques as if crushing them with sheer force. Even when the number of hits they landed was similar, the one who kept flying and rolling was the White-Clad Scholar. Now that I looked, if they fought only with external arts, the White-Clad Scholar was at a far greater disadvantage.

To break through that, the White-Clad Scholar employed petty and sinister methods from beginning to end. But that also seemed to be provoking Cheonak’s temper.

From a certain point onward, Cheonak’s one-sided beating continued.

No matter that there was no internal energy involved, there was no way he could block the attacks of a supreme master of the martial world without feeling any pain. He was being beaten into an absolute mess, yet the White-Clad Scholar stubbornly charged in again.

I realized that the two of them had been fighting like this since long ago.

They had only grown bigger.

Traces that they had met from the age of seven or eight and often fought this way could be seen everywhere. If one grabbed the other by the collar, he immediately struck it away with a knife-hand; if one tried a sweeping kick to break the other’s balance, the other lifted his foot to block. They knew each other’s methods far too well.

If one used a palm technique, the other neutralized it with a grappling technique.

They even used those grappling techniques against each other to twist one another’s arms, and at one point, the White-Clad Scholar mercilessly bit into Cheonak’s shoulder.

We opened our mouths at the same time.

“Wow…… what the hell.”

Even while his shoulder was being bitten, Cheonak snapped his shoulder to tear the White-Clad Scholar’s face away, then showed us a headbutt, punches, kicks, and even grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the ground. In the middle of it all, the moment the White-Clad Scholar’s back touched the ground, he kicked off with one foot, rose upside down, seized Cheonak by the collar, and threw him with a bizarre body technique.

As the White-Clad Scholar rushed in…….

Cheonak, who had planted one hand on the ground and sprung up, struck the White-Clad Scholar’s face this time with a spinning kick. With a thud, the White-Clad Scholar went flying again.

I thought they were fighting roughly, but that was not the case. There was only no internal energy; they were both doing their utmost.

Before I knew it, the White-Clad Scholar, now covered in blood, stood up while brushing off the dust. Even the white clothes I had bought him were in tatters. I couldn’t decide whether I should stop this fight or not. Just when it seemed they would clash again, the White-Clad Scholar, after being hit dozens of times, flew far away, and this time rose slowly.

Looking at him like this, he was also one hell of a stubborn bastard.

The White-Clad Scholar moved his head this way and that, then took off his upper garment. I thought he would only remove his long robe, but when he even took off his martial attire entirely, his bare skin was revealed. I had expected it, but the White-Clad Scholar’s body was densely engraved with long whip scars like tattoos. They looked like red roads marked on a map.

The two of them clashed again.

The White-Clad Scholar, losing in external arts, now displayed the absolute depths of filthiness. He grabbed Cheonak’s hair and got punched in the face; he grabbed his trouser leg and was lifted by Cheonak and slammed into the ground. After beating the White-Clad Scholar soundly for a long while as if turning him into pulp, Cheonak said in a low voice.

“……Stop.”

The White-Clad Scholar immediately answered with a curse.

“What, you son of a bitch?”

As soon as he cursed, the White-Clad Scholar was beaten even more. In the end, after rolling three or four zhang across the ground, the White-Clad Scholar lay sprawled face-down, then pushed against the ground with both hands and stood up.

Thick, sticky blood mixed with dirt dripped from his nose and mouth. In truth, by this point, I had been thinking of stopping the White-Clad Scholar, but the moment I saw that bastard’s expression, the words vanished from my mouth.

“…….”

Absurdly, this thought occurred to me.

Perhaps he hadn’t been reluctant to guide us. Perhaps the White-Clad Scholar simply had not wanted to meet Cheonak. In this fight, all sorts of emotions we could not know were tangled together with blood, earth, and dust.

At that moment, something occurred to me, and I clutched my forehead.

‘Ah, damn it…….’

In the end, the White-Clad Scholar charged at Cheonak again, took a few more meaningless punches, spun upside down through the air, crashed into the ground, then received Cheonak’s straight punch squarely with his forehead and passed out.

As the White-Clad Scholar lay sprawled on the ground…….

Cheonak, who sat down beside him, folded his arms and looked at us.

“What did you lot come here for?”

Everyone looked at me, unable to find anything to say. I looked at the unconscious White-Clad Scholar and Cheonak, then simply answered according to my own temper.

“We came to have a damn drink. Why?”

Since Cheonak was glaring at me, I promptly opened my mouth again.

“Why? Want to go a round?”

Cheonak, who had been looking at me, suddenly began to laugh, his shoulders shaking. What the hell was so funny? After laughing for some time, Cheonak slapped the unconscious White-Robed Scholar across the cheek.

Slap!

It looked like he was checking whether the man was dead or alive. Soon the White-Robed Scholar opened his eyes and wordlessly gazed up at the sky.

Since he had already been beaten to a pulp, Cheonak didn’t lay another hand on the White-Robed Scholar.

I looked at the two of them and reached my own conclusion.

Was I the strange one, or was my imagination simply peculiar? Looking at them like this, I felt I understood what a love-hate relationship was.

So, to sum it up…….

It seemed the White-Robed Scholar had also liked Junior Sister Jinhyang.

But why had he left her to perish alongside them?

I didn’t know that much either.

However, without factoring in such emotions, there was no explaining why they were fighting like this. Strangely enough, once I imagined up to this point, I could more or less infer what came next. So, the one who had wanted to kill Heukseon and the Eldest Senior Brother first was not the White-Robed Scholar.

The one trying to kill the two villains…….

If it had been Junior Sister Jinhyang from the beginning, then to some extent this tangled thread of complicated emotions unraveled. The expression of the White-Robed Scholar, who had been fighting as if possessed by spite, had told me a great deal.

I looked at Cheonak and asked.

“Got any booze?”