Chapter 431: Back When I Was a Tavern Boy
Yeon Guksa, having transferred the crushing force from above to his comrades, leaped forward and unleashed a torrent of force.
I waited until Yeonguksa drew near, then swung the golden stone tablet I held in my right hand, shattering Yeonguksa’s force.
Unexpectedly, Yeonguksa grabbed the golden stone tablet, as if intending to contest me in an internal energy clash.
Thwack!
But the golden stone tablet had already transformed into white.
While Yeonguksa stared at the frozen stone tablet, I looked at the three people being pressed down by the force of my left palm.
They were struggling to hold out, as if bearing up a massive roof.
Unfortunately for them, I hadn’t even started yet.
I deliberately observed the martial heroes of Zhejiang as though I were evenly matched. Yeonguksa, who had been blocking the cold qi surging from the stone tablet with both hands, opened his mouth.
“…Eunpyeong Wang, do you intend to simply stand by and watch?”
White steam burst from Yeonguksa’s mouth.
Eunpyeong Wang answered.
“Yeonguksa, did I not warn you earlier?”
“You were to finish this.”
“Finish it? Absurd. If the monk over there stands up, you are all dead men. Do you know why he does not rise? He stands by and watches because the young Sect Master is gauging your abilities while toying with you.”
“Do you think the Saengsahoeju will simply let this matter pass?”
“What good is any of that if you die first? You should have seen how the Fengshuigui who charged at the monk died.”
Immediately after, Saengsagaek, having transferred the overhead force to the remaining men, closed the distance in a single step and thrust a thin longsword before my eyes.
I withdrew the force of my left palm, and the moment I grasped the tip of the thin longsword, I flicked my wrist. It snapped, not even half its length remaining, and shot straight back.
In its own way, a single lethal blow.
With my left hand, I seized Saengsagaek’s wrist and crushed it the instant I grabbed it, then pulled him in and struck his chest with Hyeonwol cold qi. After that, I looked at Heukrang and Mahu.
Saengsagaek was frozen in the motion of thrusting his sword.
Yeonguksa’s two hands were frozen pure white from the cold qi erupting from the stone tablet.
Heukrang and Mahu, meeting my gaze, split to the left and right and unleashed their qinggong.
So fleeing is the best policy after all?
Though it was a situation where I would inevitably lose track of one of them, I first took my hand off the stone tablet and then pursued Heukrang first.
Amhyang Steps. One step… two steps… three steps.
The moment the distance closed, as Heukrang turned and swung his great blade, I struck his head with a snap of my middle finger, knocking him unconscious…
Thud!
I quickly unfolded the Amhyang Steps toward Mahu, who was fleeing.
I stepped once, twice, thrice, then picked up a pebble fallen on the ground and threw it.
Shwick!
The pebble, hurtling precisely toward the back of Mahu’s head, was split by Mahu’s foot blade as he spun around mid-air, and yet…
In that span, I drastically closed the distance and blocked Mahu’s escape route with the force of the Great Hand Seal. The moment that force was cleanly split by his sword, I burrowed in and forcibly exchanged a single palm strike with Mahu.
Crack!
Mahu, having received the palm force imbued with the cold qi of Manwol, staggered and then collapsed from his standing posture, beginning to shiver uncontrollably on the ground.
Only then did Yeonguksa, who had removed the white stone tablet, look at me, so I asked nonchalantly.
“Yeonguksa, could you have escaped?”
I grabbed Mahu by the scruff of his neck and threw him where Eunpyeong Wang was.
At that moment, I heard a horse neigh and turned to look…
The black carriage moved as though choosing to flee, but soon stopped.
Gwangseung severed the carriage’s hitch, then sent the roof flying with a backhand strike. He stood atop the driver’s seat and looked down into the carriage.
The black-clad man rose and looked up at Gwangseung.
A voice flowed from the shining bald head.
“Is it the way of the martial world to watch without lending aid, then flee?”
Without answering, the black-clad man drew his sword and attacked Gwangseung. Gwangseung soared into the air and unleashed a torrent of force, whereupon the black carriage was instantly smashed to pieces, scattering fragments in all directions.
In the meantime, I grabbed the unconscious Heukrang by the scruff of his neck and tossed him back to where Eunpyeong Wang was.
I approached Yeonguksa, who could neither advance nor retreat.
The stone tablet, which had been covered in silver, had already transformed back to golden hues by Yeonguksa’s internal energy.
I drew near and extended my hand.
“Hand it over.”
I received the golden stone tablet from Yeonguksa and threw it to Gwangseung. Gwangseung, who had been contending against the black-clad man’s sword with his bare hands, leaped high into the air, caught the flying stone tablet, and landed.
He looked just like Guan Yunchang wielding a golden crescent blade.
I asked Yeonguksa.
“If you boast of such cowardice and then end up fighting, will the monk spare you, or will he send you to the Buddha’s side? What do you think, State Preceptor of Yeon?”
Yeonguksa answered.
“He is, after all, a monk who shuns killing, so he would not kill me…”
He continued speaking as the sound of sword and stone tablet clashing rang out.
“You came to kill us, and yet you expect us to show you mercy? That is not fair, Yeonguksa.”
“Speak, then.”
“I intend to inject ice qi into you. Will you take a few more slaps to the face and then an acupoint seal? Or will you obediently take the acupoint seal straight away? Choose, as befits a State Preceptor.”
The surface of Yeonguksa’s face trembled.
“…I shall simply take it.”
“Oh? Then come closer.”
Yeonguksa came close enough that a mere stretch of his hand would reach me, and met my eyes. I deliberately extended my hand slowly and struck an acupoint seal on both of Yeonguksa’s shoulders. Though I had half-expected a counterattack from Yeonguksa, perhaps because of his cold, calculating nature, he simply staggered and collapsed to a sitting position.
I spoke to Yeonguksa, who had sat down.
“Yeonguksa, your internal energy is quite profound. Just how much strength have you been hiding?”
I deliberately struck another acupoint seal, injecting Hyeonwol cold qi.
Thwack!
Only then did Yeonguksa’s face contort.
I seated Mahu and Saengsagaek beside Yeonguksa, who had settled into a meditative posture. Then I slapped Heukrang, who had regained consciousness, across the face, injected him with Hyeonwol cold qi, and sat him down as well.
The four of them sat side by side, shivering uncontrollably as they tried to overcome the cold qi and regulate their breathing.
“Cold? It’s a seaside, so it’ll be even colder. Eunpyeong Wang.”
Eunpyeong Wang looked at me.
“Speak your command.”
I threw the wooden razor to Eunpyeong Wang.
“Shave all four of their heads clean. If they resist, you may strike the crown of their heads.”
“As you wish.”
Eunpyeong Wang caught the wooden razor and rose, then first begged the four of them for pardon.
“I am merely doing as ordered, so please do not resent me. Earlier, I advised you to kneel, yet it was you who ignored me.”
Mahu and Heukrang tried to say something, but perhaps because their mouths would not move properly, they mumbled words that were hard to make out.
I said to the Four Tyrants.
“If you resist, refuse to cooperate, or babble uselessly and cause King Eunpyeong to make a mistake, your scalps will be torn open. For reference, this dagger is very sharp.”
King Eunpyeong let out a sigh and approached Black Wolf.
“I doubt it means anything, but I’ll cut in order of age.”
The Mukga dagger began slicing off Black Wolf’s hair in clumps. Black Wolf let out a short cry.
“Ah……”
A thunderous boom rang out, so I turned around to see the black-clad man, who had been gripping his longsword with both hands, lose his stance, while the Mad Monk stood ramrod straight and brought his heavy monk’s staff down in a monotonous strike.
With a bang, the black-clad man’s knee touched the ground.
At this rate, he was going to be beaten to death.
“……Is he going to die like that?”
At last, when the longsword went tumbling across the ground, the black-clad man stretched both hands upward. Toward the black-clad man blocking barehanded, the Mad Monk brought the golden staff straight down, monotonously.
It looked as though he were punishing a man of the martial world.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Only when the black-clad man spewed blood from his mouth did the staff finally stop.
The Mad Monk roughly grabbed the black-clad man by the hair and sent him flying this way. I welcomed the black-clad man as he came flying through the air, landed, and rolled across the ground until he arrived.
“Who are you? You have quite the nimble talent for flying over here. Not bad.”
King Eunpyeong glanced at him and answered.
“Song Gyeong, the second-in-command of the Life-and-Death Society, its vice leader.”
The vicious-looking vice leader looked at me, then vomited blood from his mouth again.
“Filthy, tsk…… The vice leader? Are you on good terms with the society leader?”
“He is the man the society leader trusts most.”
“Perfect.”
King Eunpyeong, who was now cutting off Maho’s hair, asked me.
“What do you mean, perfect?”
I looked at King Eunpyeong.
“I mean the sea fishing is going well. Cut it cleanly. Make them shine so brightly they can be seen from far away.”
As if he had soon lost interest, the Mad Monk walked over to the shore and once again admired the surging waves. He looked as though he were trying to remember for a long time a sea he would not be able to see for a while.
I lifted the vice leader and set him down at the end of the line, then went out of my way to strike him once more with the Waning Moon Finger. After that, I walked around the area and picked up a suitably sized round stone and a long stone.
I sat opposite the martial artists who were turning bald by the moment.
Using the round stone and the long stone as a wooden fish, I struck them several times.
Tak, tak, tak, tak, tak……
Watching them like this, I truly thought they were martial artists. Even as their hair was being cut away by the moment, perhaps because what mattered more was not worsening their internal injuries, they kept their minds focused solely on their breathing.
I recited their epithets one by one.
“State Preceptor Yeon, Maho, Life-and-Death Guest, Black Wolf, Vice Leader. Bald-head aspirants, the shaven-heads of Zhejiang.”
“……”
“Martial artists who can’t come to their senses even as their hair flies away in the wind, because they’re afraid their inner force will scatter or that they’ll fall into qi deviation. Will the leader of the Life-and-Death Society come first to save you? Or will King Geumsan come first to save King Eunpyeong? What will become of their fates? Will six baldies increase to eight baldies? Or will the society leader or King Geumsan bring another master along, forming the Zhejiang Bald Alliance? Amitabha.”
I struck the wooden fish—no, the stone fish.
Tak, tak, tak, tak, tak……
While I was striking the stone fish, King Eunpyeong asked me.
“Shall I shave them completely clean? Or make a mess of them like mine?”
“Cleanly. So shiny it dazzles the eyes.”
“Understood.”
“Become beacons so the Life-and-Death Society’s subordinates spying from afar can find you quickly. They’ll return, eyes dazzled, and report to the society leader in as grave a voice as possible. Society Leader, they have all become bald…… What? The vice leader? The vice leader has become bald as well. Reporting so honestly and then getting beaten to death is the trap of life and the life of a martial artist. No, is it?”
“……”
“You stupid bastards. When you appeared with your subordinates in tow, or even when you got out of your carriages, you were overflowing with killing intent and momentum. You never imagined your fate would turn out like this. You’ve become helpless baldies who can do nothing. No different from the head of an octopus caught by a fisherman and flopping limply.”
Was the Mukga dagger simply too sharp?
Before I knew it, even State Preceptor Yeon had converted to baldness, and the hair of the vice leader, who had joined late, had all been cut away as well.
King Eunpyeong, who had gone to the trouble of shaving his comrades’ heads clean, looked at me.
I said to King Eunpyeong.
“You worked hard. Shave your own hair yourself. They say a monk cannot shave his own head, but you are a martial artist, so you can.”
“Hoo……”
King Eunpyeong let out a sigh and shaved the rest of his own hair clean as well.
After taking back the Mukga dagger, I said.
“Sit.”
While King Eunpyeong sat in line with the others and looked at me, I swept my gaze over these bastards’ expressions and eyes, then said.
“Life-and-Death Guest, what are you so wronged about? You still can’t let go of your killing intent. Your skills weren’t even anything special, and it seems your mental cultivation is dead last too. Just how cruelly did you treat the people around you to still have eyes like that? You stupid bastard. If you’ve recovered, try attacking me again.”
As soon as I finished speaking, perhaps because his qi and blood twisted, the Life-and-Death Guest vomited black blood.
Blegh!
I clicked my tongue.
“Looks like attacking again is out of the question. Regulate your breathing. You pathetic bastard. A man who learned an assassin’s martial arts has so little composure. Since we’re on the subject, I’ll tell you: I am the number one assassin of the present martial world. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. I’m also the one who dismantled the assassin organization Ilwido River-Crossing. I’m the one who learned martial arts from the previous generation’s greatest assassin. Life-and-Death Guest, don’t go around calling yourself an assassin. You embarrass me. For reference, bald assassins are extremely rare. It’s troublesome on nights when the moon is bright. Why? Because they gleam.”
“……”
“State Preceptor Yeon.”
“Speak.”
“Your inner force is truly impressive, isn’t it? You’ve cultivated an inner force of the extreme yang type.”
I stood up, approached State Preceptor Yeon, and struck him with the Crescent Moon Finger. State Preceptor Yeon’s entire body trembled, and at last he vomited black blood from his mouth. If I had landed the Full Moon Finger, he would have frozen to death on the spot.
I returned to my place and sat upright as I said.
“From now on, I’ll teach you what cold and hunger are. Let’s see who wins. For reference, I’ll use a campfire, and when the time comes, I’ll eat with the monk as well. You are famous and also remarkable masters of Zhejiang, so just regulate your breathing.”
“……”
“Only then will you come to understand, even a little, how the weak feel.”
When I struck the stone fish several more times, as if it were only natural, Maho and Black Wolf each spat out a mouthful of blood.
I fixed a steady glare on King Eunpyeong, who had yet to vomit blood. Then King Eunpyeong hurriedly lowered his head and said.
“Sect Leader, I will not resist. Please show mercy. I will continue to cooperate.”
I put the stone fish down, then applauded King Eunpyeong.
“Impressive. You weren’t called a king for nothing. King Eunpyeong.”
“Speak.”
“Let’s have something to eat.”
“I will prepare it at once.”
I watched King Eunpyeong rise, then gestured with my hand.
“From the look of you, you’ll run off while pretending to prepare the meal.”
“Surely not.”
“That won’t work. I can’t trust you. You’ve been lying low all this time to recover your internal energy, haven’t you? Come here.”
“If you use ice arts, preparing the meal will be somewhat……”
“Hand.”
The moment I snatched King Eunpyeong’s wrist, I injected ice arts into him. As soon as I felt him faintly resisting with his internal energy, I switched to thunder qi and roasted him thoroughly. When a scream burst from King Eunpyeong’s mouth, I sent in another strand of cold energy and kindly escorted it all the way to his dantian.
King Eunpyeong looked at me with a deathly pale face, so I jerked my chin and said,
“Get lost. Bring food. Prepare the monk’s portion especially clean and proper.”
King Eunpyeong looked at Sapae and the vice leader, then asked me,
“What about theirs……”
“They can starve.”
“Understood.”
I tapped the stone table again and looked at the jianghu men who were circulating their qi and regulating their breathing.
“I still have about half a day’s worth of things left to say to you. Listen well. Here goes. It’s a mix of nagging, things you don’t want to hear, admonitions, and a long speech.”
“……”
“So, back when I was a waiter……”
The jianghu men, who had been focusing on circulating their qi and regulating their breathing, all closed their eyes at once.