Chapter 30. The Hao Clan Knows Everything.

The one who viewed this fight most objectively was Jang Deuksu.

The gray qi that surged from So Gunpyeong’s blade like a whirlwind was astonishing.

But the kitchen knife of the neighborhood younger brother who had been a waiter until not long ago was even more unfathomable.

The kitchen knife that used to slice garlic to bits tore the whirlwind apart while wrapped in a bright-red sauce that looked as if blood might drip from it.

In Jang Deuksu’s eyes…….

Was it because the kitchen knife had won?

It was a truly beautiful sight.

The last thing Jang Deuksu, who had never learned martial arts, barely managed to confirm was…….

So Gunpyeong barely deflecting the kitchen knife with the bizarre Nanman blade he gripped in both hands.

At the thunderous boom that rang out at the same time, Jang Deuksu dropped the pot lid and immediately covered his ears with both hands.

From the aftermath of the impact, So Gunpyeong’s body shot away like an arrow, slammed into the ground, and rolled over and over.

“Waaah…….”

It was a sight Jang Deuksu simply could not understand.

‘Fighting looks pretty damn cool.’

If it had ended there, Jang Deuksu would not have been so surprised.

Astonishingly, So Gunpyeong was still alive.

And the sect leader, formerly a waiter, charged like a bull and was beating the now-risen So Gunpyeong without mercy.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…….

A fight between tremendous experts had suddenly fallen in rank into a brawl between neighborhood louts.

“Good grief, he’s really laying into him.”

Only then did Jang Deuksu think that something about this was going strangely.

Jang Deuksu had also developed an eye for such things now.

The reason the Black Path man, who had been so nimble, was now being beaten one-sidedly was probably because he had suffered what the people of the jianghu called internal injuries.

In the meantime, the former waiter and neighborhood younger brother mercilessly pummeled the Black Path man. Even as he beat him, he was saying something to So Gunpyeong, but Jang Deuksu could not quite hear it.

‘That bastard’s not in his right mind either. What’s he saying?’

Jang Deuksu, who without realizing it had forgotten his place, stepped forward and said,

“Good grief, Jaha. Stop hitting him. You’ll kill the man.”

In truth, he also meant to stop him because he wondered if his neighborhood junior had been seized by madness.

However, the sight of the owner of Chunyang Restaurant, which sold gukbap, stepping in to stop a fight between a former waiter and a Black Path man was not exactly normal or ordinary either.

* * *

I grabbed So Gunpyeong by the hair and lifted his head.

“You can take a beating.”

So Gunpyeong looked at me with an expression that asked what kind of nonsense I was spouting at a time like this.

I spoke while clutching his hair as though wringing it out.

“Black Path man, coming to your senses?”

When there was no answer, I slapped him across the face. Jang Deuksu came closer and said,

“Are you trying to kill him?”

I found it so funny that Jang Deuksu was worrying about an expert of the Black Cat Gang, one who would later be known by the epithet Three Hundred Gapja.

Most people who make their living day to day are like this. They are people far removed from the jianghu.

In truth, the fact that So Gunpyeong had managed to parry Yeomhwahyang like this was proof enough that he was a remarkable expert. But he had also survived because I had deliberately reduced the amount of internal energy I put into Yeomhwahyang.

“Gunpyeong, feel like surrendering now?”

So Gunpyeong looked at me and grinned.

“Surrender? Do I look that pathetic to you?”

“You look extremely pathetic.”

“How could I possibly surrender to a waiter? Hit me more, as much as you like.”

I pinched So Gunpyeong’s cheek and smiled broadly.

‘What an interesting bastard. Did he survive that long because he wasn’t servile?’

With the hand that had been pinching his cheek, I struck So Gunpyeong hard across the face.

With a thwack, So Gunpyeong’s face slammed into the ground, and only then did he faint.

“He’s got grit. I like him.”

As Jang Deuksu looked at the unconscious man, he asked me,

“You beat him to your heart’s content, and now you like him?”

“Even after being beaten to his heart’s content, he isn’t servile. Sometimes you only learn a man’s true worth after beating him senseless.”

“You’ll kill someone trying to find out that true worth. Anyway, what are we supposed to do about business now? He looks like an executive of the Black Cat Gang.”

At that, I met Jang Deuksu’s eyes and said,

“I told you. The code of conduct. All of this…….”

“Was done by the Sect Leader? I’d be happy too if that settled things.”

Just then, Cha Seongtae, who had appeared after hearing that a fight had broken out, approached and asked,

“Our Sect Leader, who are you beating up again in broad daylight?”

I stared silently at Cha Seongtae for a moment.

Was it because the neighborhood was small?

This bastard kept appearing like a ghost whenever a fight ended.

I asked,

“Do you know him?”

“No? Who is he? He looks like he’s got quite the temper. Black Path, right?”

“He said he was the Golden Dragon Pavilion Master of the Black Cat Gang.”

Cha Seongtae muttered,

“Golden Dragon means he’s a fairly high-ranking executive. But why did he come alone? His face has turned into dumpling skin.”

I looked at the unconscious man and guessed,

“He must have come alone on the gang leader’s orders.”

“Why?”

“Because for the Black Cat Gang’s reputation, it would be embarrassing to send a lot of men. Since I’m a waiter.”

“Aha.”

“And they were probably testing the waters. To see just how spicy a bastard there is in Ilyang County.”

Perhaps because his gall had been swelling lately, Cha Seongtae stuck out his foot and nudged So Gunpyeong’s body.

“He’s still breathing. Shall we kill him?”

I looked at Cha Seongtae.

Now that this bastard suggested killing him, for some reason I no longer wanted to kill him.

A person’s fate is strange in that way.

And it also felt somehow unpleasant to end with my own hands a man who would come to bear the epithet Three Hundred Gapja.

It was like having to kill a spiritual turtle that had lived for hundreds of years with my own hands. If he had survived that long even in my previous life, then perhaps he had been worth that much life. After all, Black Path men usually have very short lifespans.

“Take him to an empty room in the brothel for a while.”

“Ah, you mean you’re going to torture him and then kill him, right?”

For the first time in a while, I smacked Cha Seongtae on the head.

“Why does a bastard who calls himself the Sect Leader of the Life Gate keep whining about killing people?”

Cha Seongtae rubbed his head, then answered with a dazed expression.

“Oh, so that’s what the Life Gate meant? Understood for now.”

“Drag him away. And take that bastard’s blade too.”

“Yes, sir.”

After Cha Seongtae disappeared with the unconscious So Gunpyeong and his weapon, Jang Deuksu picked up the kitchen knife that had fallen to the floor and examined it before speaking in surprise.

“Huh! Look at this.”

Jang Deuksu held out the kitchen knife and said,

“He was one hell of an expert.”

I looked at the bent kitchen knife and said,

“Not bad. I’ll buy you a new kitchen knife.”

“Forget it. I can get it fixed at the smithy. It’s not like Uncle Geum and I are strangers.”

“Suit yourself.”

Jang Deuksu spoke as if worried.

“Is Ilyang County done for now?”

“No way. The Black Cat Gang is the one that’ll be done for. Let’s each get back to our work.”

“Let’s do that.”

After parting with Jang Deuksu, I made a round of the construction site. Not wanting to bother the people working for no reason, I stared from afar at Yeon Jaseong as he oversaw the work, then headed to the Plum Blossom Pavilion.

At this point, I wondered whether I should be the one to strike the Black Cat Gang first.

Because I didn’t want to cause harm to people who had livelihoods.

Because not everyone in the Black Cat Gang was the sort of bastard who knew how to pay for his meal like So Gunpyeong.

* * *

I said to Cha Seongtae, who was watching So Gunpyeong beside the bedding,

“Wake him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cha Seongtae kicked the bedding and said,

“Get up, you son of a bitch. What, is this your master bedroom?”

So Gunpyeong, who had been unconscious, quietly opened his eyes as if waking from sleep, then started in shock and raised his upper body.

“Huk!”

So Gunpyeong looked around with eyes wide in alarm, then gulped.

‘Why am I alive?’

I asked the bastard, who still hadn’t come to his senses,

“Gunpyeong, where do they say that mad Great Rakshasa is these days?”

“I don’t know. How would I know? Even the Gang Leader probably doesn’t know, so there’s no way we would.”

As he spoke, So Gunpyeong grimaced and touched his face. His cheeks were badly swollen.

“The Black Cat Gang Leader?”

“He’s at our headquarters.”

“I’m asking what he’s been doing lately.”

“He is in training.”

“Another ranking battle?”

So Gunpyeong looked at me with an expression that said, How do you know that?

“What? Is it strange that I know?”

“It can’t help but be strange.”

“Our Hao Sect knows everything except what it doesn’t know.”

Even in the midst of being out of it, So Gunpyeong frowned because he didn’t understand what I had just said.

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

After saying it, I felt a little proud.

The truth was, I knew because I had returned to the past, but from now on, I intended to treat the information and knowledge I possessed as things I knew because I belonged to the Hao Sect.

If so, the greatest intelligence organization in the jianghu would also become the Hao Sect.

Of course, it was because of my regression, but still.

Cha Seongtae also glared at So Gunpyeong and repeated my words.

“Our Hao Sect knows nothing it does not know.”

I corrected Cha Seongtae.

“That’s not it. What we don’t know, we don’t know.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“What matters is the ability to find out even what we don’t know in no time.”

“That is correct.”

Cha Seongtae abruptly started berating So Gunpyeong.

“Got it? We are people who find out even what we don’t know. In the end, that means there’s nothing the Hao Sect doesn’t know. The strongest intelligence organization—that is the Hao Sect.”

However, So Gunpyeong still had no idea what kind of organization the Hao Sect was. So Gunpyeong looked at me and said,

“So you weren’t an ordinary man after all. To think you were a lackey of a force called the Hao Sect.”

“Lackey?”

“I heard you used to be a waiter.”

Cha Seongtae smacked So Gunpyeong across the head. With a thwack, So Gunpyeong sprawled back over the bedding, and Cha Seongtae said,

“Where does this rude son of a bitch get off calling the Sect Leader a waiter? Have you lost your mind?”

Cha Seongtae looked at me and continued,

“Sect Leader, this bastard has some talent for asking to be beaten too.”

I suddenly looked at Cha Seongtae and briefly worried that this bastard might become a sycophant later.

When So Gunpyeong suddenly sprang up with an angry expression, Cha Seongtae, startled, stepped backward.

“Ah, you scared me.”

Perhaps So Gunpyeong’s body was naturally sturdy, because his toughness was no ordinary thing. In truth, So Gunpyeong was not a man Cha Seongtae could handle on his own. But Seongtae, who had a high chance of becoming a sycophant in the future, was not the sort to be intimidated when I was beside him.

“What are you going to do if you glare? Do you want to die right here?”

I said to Cha Seongtae,

“You step outside for a moment.”

Cha Seongtae answered respectfully.

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

So Gunpyeong looked me up and down anew and said,

“You’re the Hao Sect Leader? I heard you were a waiter.”

I stared at So Gunpyeong for a long while before saying,

“Gunpyeong, enough nonsense. Do you have any thought of coming under me?”

I asked the question without expecting a positive answer right away.

So Gunpyeong answered immediately.

“None. How could a wolf cub ever……”

Sensing that the words to follow would be, lower himself beneath a dog, I cut him off at once.

“Shut up. Before I tear that mouth open.”

“……”

From So Gunpyeong’s perspective, the Hao Sect was some pathetic organization he had never even heard of, so it was only natural. I glared at So Gunpyeong without saying a word for a moment, then asked a flat question, devoid of emotion.

“Judging by your physiognomy, you look like you’ve got a fairly long life ahead of you. Shall I kill you here?”

I slowly approached So Gunpyeong.

So Gunpyeong couldn’t open his mouth. Because if he asked me to kill him, it felt as though I really would do it on the spot.

I grinned and said,

“Don’t act tough. Answer properly. If you ask me to kill you, I’ll kill you right away. A wolf cub what? Were you, by any chance, about to say how could you lower yourself beneath a dog? Where did that line come from, and who made it up? Maybe I should find them and kill them.”

I had the feeling that those words would linger in my mind more than expected.

For what reason, I had no idea.

I know one secret method for taking a guy like this under my command.

It is both incredibly effective and historically proven.

The standard method for bringing an unruly fellow to heel was brilliantly demonstrated by Master Zhuge Liang when he captured Meng Huo.

The so-called Seven Releases and Seven Captures (七縱七擒).

You beat him up, let him go, and then beat him up again.

My conclusion is that So Gunpyeong has only been beaten by me once so far.

I blurted out the thought that had flashed through my mind.

“……This is why men need to read the Three Kingdoms.”

“…….”

So Gunpyeong, utterly unable to understand the context of the conversation, looked at me with fear in his eyes for the first time.