Episode 78. Only the Mad Ones Are Worthy Opponents of Mine.

The riffraff who had been outside the Narak Guesthouse posing as guests had formed a cordon. There were even some familiar faces mixed among the riffraff.

Behind me, Dongbang Yeon was glaring at the back of my head.

I stood still as if inviting them to try a surprise attack, observing the faces I hadn’t seen in a while. A futile process of confirmation continued—that guy was a subordinate of the Gambling King too, and this guy was a subordinate of the Gambling King too.

Someone asked Dongbang Yeon from among the riffraff.

“Shall we kill him?”

Dongbang Yeon answered as he passed by me.

“At the arena. Tell everyone to gather.”

“Everyone?”

Dongbang Yeon barked.

“Every last one of them, without exception!”

Dongbang Yeon turned to look at me and spoke.

“What are you doing? Let’s go.”

I stood side by side with Dongbang Yeon and headed toward the arena.

Though some went to call more people, quite a large number headed toward the arena while keeping me surrounded. In the midst of that, a group emerged from an alley, those who had been drinking outside the guesthouse stood up, and even the remnants who had been mixed in with ordinary guests here and there joined in, filling the street in an instant.

As the numbers swelled, Dongbang Yeon smiled.

“It’s too late to regret it now.”

Walking side by side with Dongbang Yeon, I spotted a familiar street vendor, cracked a few heads open to clear a path, and then pulled a silver coin from my money pouch.

“Mister, one piece of rock candy (氷糖).”

The street vendor handed me a stick of rock candy with a surprised expression. When I handed him a silver coin, the street vendor hurriedly opened his change pouch.

I spoke with the rock candy in my mouth.

“Keep the change.”

“Ah, yes.”

I sucked on the rock candy as I followed Dongbang Yeon.

“Man, how long has it been since I had rock candy.”

As sounds of slurping and popping continued from my mouth, Dongbang Yeon sighed and hurled curses.

“You stupid bastard.”

The words of a man about to die didn’t enter my ears very well.

By the time we reached the arena, ordinary spectators and gamblers unaffiliated with the Gambling King had gathered too. Pyeong Gunsa, who had appeared from somewhere, caught up and spoke to Dongbang Yeon.

“What is all this? We were supposed to fight tomorrow.”

Dongbang Yeon answered.

“Shut up.”

I also took out the rock candy and added a word to Pyeong Gunsa.

“Shut up, ordinary soldier bastard.”

Dongbang Yeon announced to those following.

“Narak Society (奈落會), kill this bastard at the arena.”

I alone answered Dongbang Yeon’s words.

“Why? So you can make your grand entrance last? You stupid motherfucker. This is what happens when any dog or cow slaps ‘King’ onto their epithet. Is this what’s trending nowadays?”

I walked past, slapping the cheek of a guy who turned around frowning in front of me.

“Move, bastard.”

The man who was slapped did a somersault in mid-air and passed out the moment he hit the ground.

Success at stealthily taking out one guy.

The moment I entered the arena entrance, the riffraff spread to the left and right, and I headed straight for the center while loosening up my body.

As I did the warm-up exercises I had named the Jianghu Calisthenics (江湖體操) and looked toward the entrance, moths disguised as humans swarmed in.

Not only in the arena, but in the stands too, ghosts crazed with gambling had gathered. Then, beacon fires (烽火) were lit in the arena as if linked in a chain, and the stage gradually grew brighter.

Fighting alone, darkness would be to my advantage.

But as the beacon fires circled the arena, it became bright as midday before anyone knew it.

This way, since I can see well, I can fight even better.

A man who stays positive no matter the situation—that is me.

A gambler in the stands asked Pyeong Gunsa.

“Pyeong Gunsa, what on earth is going on? You should explain.”

Pyeong Gunsa, who had roughly heard what happened to the subordinates, answered the gambler.

“Just watch today. This fight isn’t about money.”

“What kind of fight is this that we’re told to just watch?”

This time, I clapped my hands to draw everyone’s attention.

“Listen well, everyone. Those who know, know, and those who don’t, won’t, but the highest authority here is the Gambling King.”

Dongbang Yeon barked.

“Shut up!”

The more someone tells me to shut up, the more I talk—that’s me.

“The Gambling King is the owner of the Narak Guesthouse. I’m fighting the entire Narak Society, including the Gambling King. If I die, you can all keep being toyed with by the Gambling King. If I win, everything the Gambling King owns becomes mine.”

When I revealed the Gambling King’s identity here, Dongbang Yeon’s face had turned bright red.

I pointed at Dongbang Yeon.

“That bastard is also the Gambling King’s subordinate. How can a king be someone else’s subordinate? If we fought by skill alone, he should have died long ago… What a long lifeline.”

I pointed at the Gambling King’s subordinates, who numbered well over a hundred, and spoke.

“I’ll give you one chance to live. Those who are scared, go up to the stands. None?”

I withdrew my finger and scratched the bridge of my nose.

“If there aren’t any, so be it.”

Truthfully, I wouldn’t end up killing them all. If they were a cult (敎), an alliance (盟), or a high-ranking underworld organization, I really would fight until all of them were dead. But a group gathered around gambling as its focal point couldn’t possibly be that ruthless.

For men weaker than me to fight to the end prepared to die, they would have to be mad for religion, mad for pride, or mad for the underworld.

Therefore, only the mad ones are worthy opponents of mine.

Since the moths were as numerous as scattering plum blossom petals, I suddenly drew Heukmyoa and slowly unfolded the Plum Blossom Sword Technique I had obtained beneath the plum tree.

Since it wasn’t yet a sword technique completed with clear, detailed forms, I moved as my will intended.

I suddenly realized that the mindset I had when thinking of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique was light and pleasant, so it didn’t suit an occasion like this.

I had attained yet another realization.

I concluded that I shouldn’t use the noble Plum Blossom Sword Technique to kill gamblers. There wasn’t any particular basis for it.

Dongbang Yeon’s voice rang out.

“Kill him.”

When I suddenly turned my head, the moths were swarming like ants. I looked at the approaching men, then sheathed Heukmyoa again and welcomed them bare-handed (赤手空拳).

Bare-handed (赤手空拳) originally means bare hands and bare fists, a metaphor for having nothing, but in my case, it was different.

I wrapped my left hand with the Flame Wrap to make it a Red Hand (赤手), and lightly clenched my right fist to make it an Empty Fist (空拳).

My family had been poor since I was young, but.

The man who succeeds with bare hands (赤手空拳)—that is me.

I calmed my mind and began striking the enemies with the combat sense of a fighting cock.

The essence of the fighting cock is simple, yet profound.

If I had to explain, it’s like beating the hell out of everyone with refined skill.

I dodged sabers and swords, whips and spears alike. If an enemy’s shoulder showed, I struck an acupoint; if their eyes showed, I jabbed them with my fingers.

I ducked my head, and if someone’s foot came into view, I stomped on it.

Crack!

“Guaaack!”

Attacks that seemed impossible to counter, I shoved aside with palm wind as if by brute force. Leaping high, I stepped on people’s shoulders, even their heads, then kicked away the face of one wearing a shocked expression before landing.

Even so, it was hectic.

I had to duck my head constantly, pull both shoulders back to dodge a blade, pour out palm wind toward the front with twin palms, and send the one coming from behind flying with a spinning kick.

These were men with little experience fighting as a group.

‘Pathetic bastards.’

Moreover, since the experts weren’t stepping forward, the ones who had rushed in first were rolling around on the floor far too dramatically, having taken nothing more than a kick or a punch. Still, the screams they let out were convincingly desperate.

“Guehhhk…….”

“Kuehhk!”

One man took a blow to the abdomen, clutched his stomach, and made a face like he was about to faint while kneeling.

He hadn’t actually fainted yet, but his determination to faint soon was palpable. When I lightly nudged his head, he rolled his eyes back and promptly performed a fainting act, collapsing to the side.

A sigh slipped out.

What could I even call this atmosphere?

The riffraff were fighting half-heartedly because they valued their own lives.

It was also because I was moving around without swinging a blade, merely hitting them roughly one at a time.

The enlightenment I had beneath the plum blossom tree had become a tacit understanding in this strange situation. The riffraff, realizing I wasn’t slaughtering them ruthlessly, slowly caught on to the mood and fought in a messy tangle before sprawling across the floor.

They were truly impressive in their own way.

Perhaps finding the sight of his men rolling around absurd, Dongfang Yan suddenly roared.

“All of you, get lost.”

Lined up where Dongfang Yan stood were the top-ranking experts who had been active in the martial gambling den all this time.

Although only thirty or forty people were rolling on the ground, expressions of bewilderment that their turn had already come were visible everywhere.

Moreover, I knew most of them.

I knew how they fought and what personalities they had. The important thing was that among them were men who deserved to be beaten to death.

When I suddenly drew Heukmyoa and charged, absurdly enough, several of them began to flee. I looked at the fleeing men and chased after Emian Gui, who in his past life had committed assault and rape.

I made my resolve clear: I would beat just one man to death.

The terrified men instantly cleared a path, and a chase unfolded between the fleeing Emian Gui and me.

Emian Gui shoved people aside and screamed at the top of his lungs. It was a cry asking why they were just standing there, but his crimes were severe enough that even his comrades frowned; no one answered him.

I soared into the air, stepped on someone’s shoulder to move, and swung Heukmyoa at the back of Emian Gui, who had fled near the entrance.

I knocked aside the saw-toothed blade that Emian Gui turned around with using Heukmyoa.

With my left hand, I instantly struck the Jianjing acupoint on Emian Gui. Then I sent his head flying with a single swing of Heukmyoa and turned around.

Listening to the sound of the headless Emian Gui crashing to the ground behind me, I looked around the arena.

“……There were more guys I needed to kill. Hey, get out of the way there. You, I said move, you bastard.”

As I looked around holding the bloodstained Heukmyoa, the riffraff, unlike before, bunched together and moved this way and that like a school of fish avoiding a predator.

When I suddenly charged again like a madman, screams erupted from the group.

They were even more terrified because they didn’t know why I was picking people out to kill. And it wasn’t a situation where I could bother explaining the reason.

I spotted Yixiao Zi, who had often killed fellow gamblers for trivial reasons. This time, without even realizing it, I pointed my finger at him.

“Hey, you there, the small-eyed guy. Come here.”

Yixiao Zi widened his small eyes to the maximum and began using lightness arts toward the nearby spectator seats. I ran and picked up a Liuye Feidao lying on the ground, vaulted obliquely into the air, and hurled the Liuye Feidao with fierce momentum as if throwing a hand axe. In that instant, the Liuye Feidao, glowing red from the flames, streaked out and pierced through Yixiao Zi’s back before embedding itself in the wall.

Only after a crunching sound burst out did Yixiao Zi belatedly collapse to the floor.

Only then did Dongfang Yan, realizing all his subordinates were worthless rabble, fly through the air with twin swords drawn.

Only then did I swing Heukmyoa without pause over a dozen times. Finally, each time weapons clashed, sparks danced in the air. Then, Ping Junshi’s folding fan pressed in toward my waist.

As I knocked aside Dongfang Yan’s twin swords and stepped back, this time palm force surged from behind.

I stomped the ground as if it were my mortal enemy and soared high into the air.

The comrades of Emian Gui and Yixiao Zi had joined in.

When I shot straight up, Dongfang Yan, Ping Junshi, and the two who had ambushed me crept over to my landing spot holding their weapons and waited.

I clicked my tongue at the sight of them.

Did I look like a joke?

In midair, I grabbed Heukmyoa with both hands, curled my body, and spun like a top engulfed in a whirlwind. Both hands were generating Yeomhwahyang to infuse into Heukmyoa. Blades of flame shot out in all directions, pouring down like a Mantian Huayu.

The ones who had joined the ambush late were already perforated with red holes all over their bodies and perished.

Dongfang Yan and Ping Junshi frantically deflected the blade qi pouring down like hidden weapons.

This was an attack technique I had improvised when I was rampaging in a frenzy of madness, but in reality, it was just a rabid rampage, so I had never given it a special name. After throwing a mad fit, keeping quiet is the best way to set the mood.

I touched the ground with my left knee and left hand, dropped down with the Heukmyoa in my right hand extended horizontally, and slowly raised my head.

I stood up and slowly sheathed Heukmyoa as if about to say something, then without uttering a word, performed a quick draw and sent Ping Junshi’s head flying with my blade qi while blood flowed all over his body.

Thwack!

Ping Junshi’s head soared high into the air.