Chapter 74. The King of Duel Gambling 1

I drank my Dukang wine as I looked at the duel gamblers.

‘You shameless bastards.’

The one who hadn’t yet wagered on the outcome must have asked about my origins. Background, sect, weapons—those were all factors that could decide victory or defeat, so normally, you paid to ask about them.

I ignored the question and downed my Dukang wine. A newly arrived customer asked the waiter something, then came straight over to me.

“You’ll have to come outside.”

“I’ll come out after I finish this.”

“Drink it and get up quickly.”

I lifted the Dukang wine and poured the rest down my throat. The wine gushed out, splashing here and there. Coming to a duel gambling den for the first time in a while and guzzling down alcohol made my chest feel refreshingly open.

I wiped the liquor from my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Let’s go.”

I followed behind the bastard who had urged me to come out, then smashed the back of his head with the liquor bottle.

With a thud, he passed out.

The ones who had bet money on me all shouted at once, clapping and cheering.

After taking care of one man with ease, I went outside the inn. Since Brothel Master Heukgyeong had already brought his rabble along, quite a crowd had gathered to watch.

I asked Heukgyeong, whose face was a complete mess.

“Barehanded?”

When Heukgyeong looked left and right, a dozen or so men put their weapons down on the ground.

Heukgyeong said,

“Yeah, barehanded.”

Rolling his shoulders broadly, Heukgyeong said to his companions,

“Let’s beat him half to death.”

***

As I walked toward the center with a grin, a dozen or so men rushed at me all at once without even a declaration of the start.

I ran forward and kicked the chest of the first bastard who came at me.

With a thud, one man shot backward in a straight line, crashed into the spectators, and couldn’t get back up.

I responded without using internal energy.

I brought the edge of my hand down on someone’s crown, grabbed an arm that appeared before my eyes and twisted it, then stabbed the eyes of the opponent on my right with my index and middle fingers.

Without even having time to tell who was who, I simply attacked whatever I saw. I broke one man’s nose with my fist, then turned and struck the face of a man approaching me with a spinning kick in midair.

At that moment, the bastard I had kicked grabbed a blade lying on the ground and charged at me.

“Heh heh heh.”

They said we’d fight barehanded, and now this.

I lightly dodged the blade he thrust out, then bent his arm the wrong way.

“Gyaaaah!”

As he retreated clutching his dangling arm, the men who had been spread out in a circle narrowed their formation and rushed in all at once.

This wasn’t a fight lousy bastards could win just by using their heads.

Because I was not the same man I had once been.

I lightly avoided the punches and kicks thrown by bastards who weren’t even as good as the subordinates of the Black Cat Gang, then ended the fight by precisely breaking one arm from each of them.

There was no dust on me, but I dusted off my hands once anyway.

“Is that it?”

The waiter looked at Heukgyeong’s group, then nodded.

“Yes, it’s over.”

Ilbo the waiter came over with a table and a basket, then began paying out the winnings.

If the inn played tricks with the odds, it would go under, so the waiter distributed the money as if his life depended on it.

The gamblers also lined up in perfect order and received their payouts. Most of them received an appropriate share of the five hundred taels the inn had put up and the funds of those who had lost, but since even this much was enough to cover the day’s drinking money, everyone was pleased.

“Made some pocket money.”

“Let’s have another drink.”

Listening to the gamblers, I looked at my share remaining in the basket.

I separated off one corner with the edge of my hand and said,

“Give that to Heukgyeong.”

“Yes.”

From what was left, I took out two standard silver pieces and handed them to Ilbo.

“You worked hard too.”

Ilbo’s face brightened.

“Thank you.”

“Wrap up the rest.”

Ilbo took a wrapping cloth from his waist and swept the victory payout into it. In an instant, the bundle grew heavy. Gambling here was structured so that the victor took most of it. Since most people had bet one standard silver piece each, it was a fairly tidy sum.

Ilbo asked me with a smile,

“You must have come to earn some pocket money. There are masters like that from time to time. Where did you come from?”

“Pay if you want to ask. One silver piece.”

Ilbo gave an awkward smile and said,

“I was just asking. Thank you.”

Ilbo continued to meddle.

“With skill like that, you could even do Tujeon (鬪戰).”

“Who has the biggest Tujeon bounty right now?”

“The undefeated Dongfang Ran. But if you want to challenge him, you need to bring at least ten thousand taels before he’ll face you.”

I grinned.

“I see.”

In the past, Dongfang Ran was an opponent I could not even dream of facing.

He was also the man called the King of Duel Gambling. Even if I combined part of the funds given to me by the Muak Sect Leader with the money I had just earned from the inn’s duel, it still would not reach ten thousand taels.

It was true that I had come to settle my past, but I had not come here to waste years the way the other gamblers did.

If I gathered ten thousand taels and met the King of Duel Gambling, my schedule would come to a clean end.

I slung the bundle of money over my shoulder and headed for the next gambling den.

***

In front of a wall, the people doing weapon gambling were seated in a line. Like madmen, all of them were sharpening their weapons on whetstones.

The world was full of lunatics like this.

This place, to put it simply, was where those who gambled by clashing weapons and winning if they broke the other’s weapon waited.

At the entrance were the lousy ones, and at the center of the arched wall was the bastard who possessed the sharpest weapon.

Holding the bundle full of money, I crossed through the center and looked at the white-haired gambler. When I saw him in my previous life, even his eyebrows had been white, but now his eyebrows were not entirely white yet. As before, he wore an ivory necklace on his chest, something said to be hard to obtain.

Qiu Zongyue, the leader of the weapon gamblers, looked at me and said,

“Here to challenge me?”

I replied briefly to Qiu Zongyue, whom I was seeing for the first time in a long while.

“Yes.”

“My match fee is a bit expensive. How much did you bring? Put it down and let me see.”

I placed the bundle on the plank. Qiu Zongyue looked inside the bundle, then lifted it slightly with his hand.

Gu Jongak was still expressionless, now as he had always been.

“Shall we make it an exact one-to-one wager?”

“Let’s do that.”

I took out my money pouch, then added gold and silver coins into the bundle as well. At that, Gu Jongak’s eyes wavered slightly.

“Aren’t you overdoing it?”

When I brought out a sum rarely seen these days, the other weapon gamblers all turned to look at us at once.

I answered simply.

“If you’re scared, step aside. Let me sit in the prime seat for once. To think the king of weapon gambling would be frightened by this much.”

Gu Jongak raised his head and glared at me.

“I can’t for the life of me tell where you’re from. You don’t seem to be from the White Path or a great clan.”

Gu Jongak looked around and said,

“If anyone here knows this bastard, I’ll give you one gold coin.”

Everyone answered in one voice.

“We don’t know him.”

I said to Gu Jongak,

“There’s no one here who knows me.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s my first time here.”

Gu Jongak crossed his arms and stared at me.

“Do you know how this works?”

“Explain it.”

“One attack, one defense. If a weapon breaks before that, victory and defeat are decided. If it’s a draw, we proceed again. You can raise the stakes midway. If you injure your opponent, the gamblers here will gather and each put a blade in you. You agree?”

“I agree.”

Gu Jongak pointed to the place where weapons were set down.

“Put your weapon down first.”

“I can’t do that. Let’s compete while holding them. It’s true that this is my first time here, but did you think I wouldn’t look into things? Trying to pull some half-baked scam on me? Old man, just because I’ve been speaking politely, do I look like an idiot to you?”

Gu Jongak smiled.

When a gambler smiles, it often means his composure has crumbled.

Gu Jongak said,

“Young man, if we compete while holding our weapons, internal injuries are inevitable. I was trying to protect you. Isn’t your life more important than weapons or money?”

I drew Heukmyoa and extended it in a middle guard.

“Old man, enough nonsense. Let’s settle this. I’ll yield the first attack.”

The defender stops with his weapon extended, and the attacker swings his weapon. If no result is decided, they switch roles.

It seemed like a battle of weapons, but in truth, a contest of internal energy was mixed into it as well.

The reason Gu Jongak had remained the king of weapon gambling was partly because the sword he possessed was hard and sharp, but in truth, it was because his internal energy was solid that he had held his reign for so long. In other words, the old man who had never lost in weapon gambling by the time I left this martial gambling hall was Gu Jongak.

Gu Jongak let out a short sigh, then walked to the wall and looked over the weapons he had gathered. Naturally, the bastard would choose his weapon after gauging his opponent, all to protect the blade, but this time he drew the sword on the far right without hesitation.

Gu Jongak said,

“I’ll face you with the Hyeoncheon Sword (玄天劍). If the sword goes flying, innocent people might get hurt, so hold on tight. Are you ready?”

I glared at Gu Jongak while gripping Heukmyoa with one hand.

“I’m ready.”

Gu Jongak clicked his tongue.

“Speaking so rudely… damn bastard.”

I grinned. In weapon gambling, the moment was important too. It was common for weapons to clash when conversation disrupted one’s breathing. I knew every rule of this place, so I would not be fooled.

Gu Jongak looked at Heukmyoa while holding the Hyeoncheon Sword.

I had infused Heukmyoa with Wood Element qi. Naturally, there was no visible phenomenon like qi gathering on the blade.

Gu Jongak glanced at me once, then swung the Hyeoncheon Sword and struck the middle of Heukmyoa. Seeing that Gu Jongak was craftily trying to hit the back of my blade, I twisted my wrist.

With a clang, Gu Jongak’s Hyeoncheon Sword bounced away.

Gu Jongak said with a complicated expression,

“Hm, now it’s your attack.”

This time, Gu Jongak extended the Hyeoncheon Sword in a middle guard, then, as though out of long habit, toyed with the ivory pendant hanging from his necklace.

Out of excessive caution, I reminded Gu Jongak of the gambling rules once more.

“Old man, if you injure your opponent, the people here put a blade in you.”

“I know.”

“I’m telling you to be careful.”

“What are you—”

When Gu Jongak answered in bewilderment, I swung Heukmyoa. The energy I was infusing had shifted from Wood Element to Flame Element. When Gu Jongak bent his wrist, I bent mine as well.

Clang!

The instant the Hyeoncheon Sword’s blade broke…!

Gu Jongak flicked the ivory pendant he had been toying with in his left hand using a finger-flicking technique. The ivory, severing the necklace, shot swiftly toward my throat.

I sent the ivory flying with a similar technique, the Wood-Element Flicking Finger Art, then thrust Heukmyoa straight forward and drove it into Gu Jongak’s chest.

“Gghk!”

With a wet sound, Heukmyoa came back out, bearing blood. I had not deliberately stabbed Heukmyoa in deeply.

I looked at Gu Jongak, who was clutching his chest with a pallid face.

“You dare launch a surprise attack on me? You damned old bastard.”

Gu Jongak opened his mouth.

“Spa……”

I grabbed Gu Jongak’s face with my hand and threw him onto the center of the floor. With a thud, Gu Jongak rolled across the ground.

As I took gold ingots from the gambling funds box Gu Jongak kept, I said,

“What are you all doing? You sons of bitches, if someone injures his opponent, putting a blade in him is the rule of this place. Who launched a surprise attack first? If you’ve got eyes, you all saw it.”

I tossed the gold ingots one by one into the bundle and looked at the weapon gamblers who had been watching. Perhaps they had all feared Gu Jongak until now, because they simply stood there observing the situation.

I kept picking out gold ingots with a sly grin.

“Worthless bastards, every last one of you……”

Gu Jongak, who was still breathing, asked those around him for help. He called someone’s name, tried to bargain, and kept saying he would divide up his wealth. I hummed as I put the gold ingots into the bundle.

“Wouldn’t it have been so much better if you’d just settled the match fair and square?”

At that moment, a weapon gambler seated at the very end stood up holding his blade and drove it into Gu Jongak’s twitching leg. A scream and curses burst out at the same time.

As I moved the money, I watched the weapon gamblers enforce their rules.

“Aren’t rules made to be followed?”

The weapon gamblers rose with their respective weapons and each thrust all kinds of arms once into the body of the man who had long reigned as the king of weapon gambling.

Thuk, thuk, thuk, thuk, thuk, thuk, thuk……

Now Gu Jongak’s screams could no longer be heard.

I stuffed all of Gu Jongak’s gold ingots into the bundle, then stood up. After clapping my hands together a few times, I bade farewell to the small fry.

“I had a good time. You gambling-addicted bastards.”

As I stepped over Gu Jongak’s corpse and moved on, a few people glared at me, wrapped in killing intent. Reacting at once, I turned around and opened my mouth.

“You want to die?”

In an instant, the killing intent vanished, and everyone returned to their places. I started walking again too.

“That’s right. That’s how good little gamblers should behave. You stupid bastards……”

In any case, the gambling funds needed to challenge the king of martial duel gambling had been secured like this.