Chapter 349. Caught Off Guard

Seeing a man with such fierce pride covered in blood put me in a strange mood.

In truth, his opponent was Cheonak, one of the Three Disasters, and also the White-Robed Scholar’s friend, so he probably had no choice. In that sense, perhaps the White-Robed Scholar had fought fairly enough. Though his methods in a contest of external arts had been despicable, if he fought properly, he was an even more sinister bastard.

Suddenly, the White-Robed Scholar rose with his face a complete mess, looked at us from beside Cheonak, and said something unexpected.

“I won.”

“……What?”

At the White-Robed Scholar’s bizarre declaration of victory, a chill ran down my spine. Had he been beaten so much that he’d suddenly lost his mind?

I asked.

“Just looking at that beaten-up face, it seems like you already lost. How exactly did you win? I’m quite curious.”

With a brazen expression, the White-Robed Scholar explained his victory.

“As you all saw, in the middle of the fight, I blinded Cheonak with these fingers.”

The White-Robed Scholar held out two fingers.

“…….”

“The fight only dragged on because I had no internal energy. In truth, my victory was already decided.”

Cheonak looked at the White-Robed Scholar with a pathetic expression.

“Fine. Let’s say you won.”

The White-Robed Scholar muttered with a calm expression.

“You hear that? Now it’s twenty-one wins and eighty-two losses.”

Inwardly, I thought the White-Robed Scholar was impressive. It seemed Cheonak and the White-Robed Scholar really were friends close enough to be each other’s breathing hole.

Twenty-one wins and eighty-two losses?

The win-loss record he recited sounded very strange.

In any case, it was amazing that he had won twenty-one times against Cheonak. Of course, he must have counted victories from when they were young to arrive at that number.

I picked up the clothes the White-Robed Scholar had thrown aside and approached the two of them.

“……I bought you those clothes for a high price, and now they’re ruined.”

When I got close, I felt like Cheonak might hit me for no reason, so I threw the clothes instead. The white robe, which hadn’t had so much as a speck of dust on it while we were running all the way here, had already become rags, and the White-Robed Scholar gathered it up and put it on.

Truthfully, while watching the fight, I had come up with a plan to defeat Cheonak.

First, I would charge in with external arts and drain as much of his strength as possible, then the Ghost Demon would go in. From what I knew, the Ghost Demon would naturally fight doggedly in a bout like this. After that, once the Lust Demon fought in an unusually filthy manner, the final strategy was for the Sword Demon to beat Cheonak down with external arts.

But thinking it over again, a fight with internal energy suppressed was only possible when there was trust between both sides.

Like the White-Robed Scholar and Cheonak.

The moment I realized Cheonak had absolutely no reason to spare his internal energy against us, I abandoned the plan. Even if we won by taking turns like that, there would be nothing good in it for us.

Cheonak folded his arms and called me over with a jerk of his chin.

“Sect Leader, come here.”

“Mm.”

It sounded like a tiger telling me to come over so he could have a taste.

With no other choice, I scratched my cheek once, then went over and sat across from Cheonak.

Cheonak asked me.

“What is going on? It’s strange enough that you’re associating with that Baek bastard, and stranger still that you came to drink.”

Since he didn’t seem to be thinking of hitting me right away, I answered with my arms crossed too.

“Of course it’s strange. It’s not a normal thing.”

“Explain.”

“As you know, I’m not exactly a normal fellow.”

“I know that.”

“Then doesn’t that answer it? When we fought before, I already suggested we have a drink.”

“And?”

“I came today to hear your answer. I could only find this place if the White-Robed Scholar guided me, no? How would I know where you lived?”

Cheonak looked at the Four Great Evildoers and said,

“You, I can understand. But what are those hangers-on?”

I widened my eyes.

“How dare you call them hangers-on?”

“I’m asking why you came with this sort of fighting force. They’re people I’ve never met before.”

What sort of expression was that? It seemed Cheonak recognized all of the Four Great Evildoers as masters.

I introduced the Four Great Evildoers.

“Allow me to introduce them. Eldest Brother, the Sword Demon. Second Brother, Master Yukhap. The youngest, Mongrang. I’m the third. We’ve been traveling together because of one circumstance or another. We had a huge fight with the Wraiths, and before that, we killed the Number One of the Evil Path together too. At the Murim Alliance, we had several sparring matches with righteous-path masters. Back then, we also reunited with the White-Robed Scholar, who defeated the Seomun Martial Emperor, and after this and that, we shared elixirs, grilled meat, and drank together. So I asked him. Whether we could have a drink with Senior Cheon. In truth, the White-Robed Scholar didn’t want to come until the very end, but now I understand the reason. If he got beaten like this every time, even the Martial Emperor wouldn’t want to come.”

Was there anyone in the world who could summarize past events this neatly?

Me.

Only I could summarize things this way. I looked at the White-Robed Scholar, who had become a complete mess.

“To think the Martial Emperor who defeated the head of the Seomun Clan would get beaten like this. I feel sorry myself. Look at this face. Though it is somewhat refreshing.”

The White-Robed Scholar glared at me.

“What?”

I glared back at the White-Robed Scholar.

“Why are you making a fuss? Men like us are bound to enjoy seeing the face of a man who got thrashed. Since I’m not the one who got hit.”

“You damned bastard.”

So the reason the White-Robed Martial Emperor’s expression had been poor when he said he had somewhere to go before was probably because he had easily foreseen what had just happened.

After hearing me, Cheonak looked at the White-Robed Scholar.

“You should be grateful I haven’t killed this damned bastard.”

I nodded and supported Cheonak.

“Indeed.”

I answered in place of the White-Robed Scholar.

“But isn’t the same true for the Martial Emperor?”

Cheonak glared at me.

“……What do you mean?”

“You know, don’t you? Only the clothes he usually wears are white. Inside, he’s an utterly black-hearted man. His personality is sinister, and he plans things thoroughly. His tendencies are persistent too. If he truly intended to kill someone, he would have prepared far more. He probably would have mobilized the subordinates and masters he could command, hired wandering warriors with money, and used all sorts of methods to launch a surprise attack. He wouldn’t come openly like this. Even if he fought, he would have watched for a long time and stepped forward at the very end.”

Cheonak looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.

“You know that Baek bastard well. You’re right.”

Cheonak looked around at the Four Great Evildoers and said,

“Come to think of it, the Divine Beggar didn’t come.”

As we talked, it seemed his anger had eased a little. It seemed Cheonak was human after all. Only then did I let out a small sigh of relief.

Cheonak looked at Eldest Brother.

“Are you the Left Envoy who clashed with the Cult Leader?”

The Sword Demon answered.

“I am.”

Naturally, the eldest brother did not use honorifics with Cheonak. Cheonak, who paid no mind whatsoever to manner of speech, looked at the Lecherous Demon this time.

“You have a rather obnoxious face.”

The Lecherous Demon replied with an uneasy expression.

“Indeed, senior.”

Cheonak said this to the Ghost Demon.

“And you’re an ugly bastard.”

The Ghost Demon answered with his head tilted askew.

“You are not exactly handsome yourself.”

“…….”

All of us looked at the Ghost Demon.

Cheonak blinked, then looked at me.

“Sect Leader, birds of a feather really do flock together. Every one of you acts as if you have two lives.”

I nodded.

“I’ll admit that. But I came to drink with the Three Calamities. Surely you didn’t think I’d bring sycophants who only know how to flatter. This is who we are.”

Only then did Cheonak let out a light, hollow laugh. It was truly fortunate that he was at least a man who knew how to laugh. In my opinion, men with personalities like Cheonak’s despise flatterers.

Cheonak quietly rose and headed toward the manor.

Was he going to disappear just like that?

Cheonak reached the entrance without a word, looked inside the manor, and spoke to someone.

“Habok, we have guests.”

Someone inside replied.

“Yes, Master.”

From the entrance where Cheonak had vanished, a man who appeared to be a servant emerged and came hurrying over in quick steps.

“Goodness, Young Master Baek, are you all right?”

“I am not all right. You’re still alive too, I see. The longest-serving servant.”

“What could possibly happen to me?”

When the White-Clad Scholar reached out a hand, Habok helped him up and supported him. Holding up the Martial Emperor, Habok said to us,

“Please come in as well, honored guests. Welcome. It’s truly good to see you. We so rarely get to see people.”

The White-Clad Scholar muttered.

“Noisy.”

“Yes, sir.”

Only then did we head toward the manor, listening to the two of them talk.

“You should know when to stop. Why did you provoke his temper again and get into a fight?”

“If not me, who would face Cheonak?”

“That is true.”

“Twenty-one wins and eighty-two losses.”

“Impressive. I see you get beaten every time, so when exactly did you manage twenty-one wins?”

When the White-Clad Scholar started limping, Habok simply put him on his back. Judging by the way he walked, Habok was also a man who had learned martial arts. As I listened to their conversation, I found myself thinking that he was indeed a servant capable of surviving even Cheonak. He was extraordinarily personable, yet his tone was not especially servile.

We entered through the gate and looked around the interior of the manor.

“……Wow.”

“What is all this?”

“Are these tools used for external arts training?”

“Looks like it.”

The surroundings had the sort of atmosphere where one might expect flowers or a pond, but the inside was entirely a training ground. All kinds of weapons were lined up, and heavy iron equipment for training external arts was neatly arranged here and there.

The moment I saw the assorted equipment, I somehow thought that my junior martial brother, the Fist King, would be overjoyed if he came here. As far as I knew, the Fist King usually trained in the mountains using equipment made by tying ropes to large logs, but Cheonak’s residence was filled from end to end with heavy steel. Since he spent all day lifting and setting down things like that, swinging them around, how could the White-Clad Scholar possibly compete with him in external arts? Getting beaten seemed only natural.

There was nothing at all to appreciate here, such as flowers, ponds, or plants, making it an even more peculiar mountain villa.

If I had to name it in my own way……

The Villa of Steel, perhaps?

As I walked, I saw targets set up on one side, and even a large box filled with gleaming hidden weapons.

Deep down, I had assumed that, seized by madness, he would train his martial arts in some grotesque and bizarre manner, but what had been prepared here was a meticulous training environment that most sects could not even compare to. Strangely enough, I had never imagined that a man like Cheonak would train external arts this diligently, so I could not help being surprised.

Fortunately, there were at least tables and chairs, so Habok set the White-Clad Scholar down in a chair.

Habok said to us,

“Please rest for a moment. I will go inside, prepare things, and then let you know.”

From beyond the main house came the sound of water being poured. Cheonak seemed to have gone to the well to wash himself. We roughly gathered around the table and looked at the White-Clad Scholar, who sat there like a crippled wreck.

“…….”

From a short distance away, we heard Habok and Cheonak talking.

“What shall I prepare?”

“Liquor.”

“And the side dishes?”

“Slaughter a chicken.”

“Understood.”

For some reason, it seemed the drinking table would take a while to prepare, so I looked around the training ground. There were many pieces of equipment I had never seen before, and most of them looked heavy. Since I had nothing in particular to do, I walked around the training ground and lifted each iron implement once.

Were they heavy weapons, or tools for training external arts?

As I walked around the training ground, a strange thought occurred to me. Why did it look like the site of a final battle? The iron equipment around me could become hidden weapons used by Cheonak just as they were. Even if there were a large-scale assault, it had a savage atmosphere, as if hundreds of experts would be beaten to death while trying to enter the manor.

Looking at the training ground like this, I felt as though I understood the difference between Cheonak and the White-Clad Scholar. From the beginning, the White-Clad Scholar had been a man who focused on reading books or transcribing secret manuals, while Cheonak was a man who, from start to finish, had concentrated solely on martial arts like a general.

The White-Clad Scholar was essentially closer to a strategist, only with high martial strength as well.

Cheonak, in other words, was the sort who belonged in the same category as Zhang Fei or Lü Bu from the very beginning.

Habok’s voice came from inside.

“Please come in and have some tea first.”

The party and the White-Clad Scholar went in first, and I joined them late after looking around the area. It seemed there had originally been a mechanism formation installed here, and the only way to open it had been for the White-Clad Scholar to get beaten. Fortunately, the house itself was decorated like a place where people lived, so the atmosphere was entirely different from the training ground. Perhaps even this human touch was the work of a man named Habok.

While looking around Cheonak’s residence, I paused for a moment and walked toward the wall on the right. Suddenly, I felt strange, as if all five of my senses had come to a halt.

A painting of a woman hung on the wall.

“…….”

Was it a portrait? It was a detailed painting, as though the subject had been seated across from the artist and drawn carefully. I stood there motionless, staring at it for a long time.

Above all, she was beautiful.

She wore white robes and held a hand fan, and the painting was so detailed that one could almost read her physiognomy. She was a beauty whom most men would find it difficult not to like, but her expression was rather blunt. Should I call her a woman as cold as ice? If she had been able to die together with Eldest Senior Brother, her skills must have been extraordinary as well. Paintings often had markings at the bottom indicating who had painted them, but this one had no such thing.

However, as I looked at the painting, I was able to realize without difficulty that the White-Clad Scholar had painted it. Without speaking to the Four Great Evildoers or the White-Clad Scholar, I simply stood there blankly and continued to gaze at the painting.

Of course, the woman in the painting was Junior Sister Jinhyang.

It seems the White-Robed Scholar painted it, and Cheonak kept it.

I had never admired a painting in my life, yet now I found myself admiring one as if I had been ambushed. The villain known as the White-Robed Scholar seems to be a man who knows art.

“Why do you keep staring like that?”

I did not answer, gazing insatiably at the painting. The detailed history between Cheonak and the White-Robed Scholar that I had been curious about was resolved by this painting alone.

There are things to ask, and things to bury.

I felt that this painting alone was enough. The surroundings had fallen so quiet that I turned around, only to find everyone staring at me. Even Cheonak, who had changed his clothes and come out, was leaning against the wall watching me.

“…….”

The Sword Demon asked in a quiet tone.

“Why did you stare at it for so long.”

I glanced at the White-Robed Scholar, then answered in an indifferent tone.

“Because it was painted so well? She is a rare beauty.”

The Lust Demon asked.

“Do you know her?”

“I don’t. Of course not.”

I turned toward Martial Sister Jinhyang in the painting and cupped my fists in salute.

“Elder Sister Beauty, Ijaha, leader of the Haomun Sect, greets you. Today, I shall impose upon you for a cup of wine before I take my leave.”

While paying my respects to Martial Sister Jinhyang, I already felt intoxicated. To think I would let my guard down and fall victim to a painting. I spoke as I rejoined the Four Great Evils.

“It is a magnificent painting.”

I sat in an empty seat and spoke to those still staring at me.

“What are you looking at? Let’s just drink.”

At my words, the group finally turned to look at the painting all at once.

Along with us, the White-Robed Scholar and Cheonak were also gazing at the beauty in the painting.