Chapter 32. When Setting the Mood, an Axe Is Best.

The reason I returned to Chunyang Restaurant was simple.

I still hadn’t eaten.

“If you’re tearing into all the ingredients for gukbap, what are you going to make the gukbap with? You said you were out of noodles earlier too. Is this how you’re going to run a business?”

Jang Deuk-su answered.

“We’re not out of noodles yet.”

“You said you were earlier.”

“That was a lie.”

“The head of a sect lies every time he opens his mouth. Give me a bowl.”

I stole one of Jang Deuk-su’s pork bones and put it in the bowl, then stole one of the pork bones So Gun-pyeong was eating and sat down across from him.

When I grabbed the pork bone with my hands and began eating, Jang Deuk-su asked,

“Will that be enough? Should I boil you a bowl of noodles?”

“Forget it. Let’s just eat.”

When I tore off a piece of meat from the pork bone, Jang Deuk-su also started eating again. With the two of us gnawing on pork bones, So Gun-pyeong had no choice but to continue gnawing on his as well.

Pork grease smeared thickly over all three of our hands.

While eating the pork bone, I asked So Gun-pyeong,

“Is it good?”

“It is incredibly good.”

“This is something they only serve to regulars, and you’re not a regular. Why are you eating it?”

So Gun-pyeong suddenly seemed to choke and thumped his chest.

Jang Deuk-su clicked his tongue and scolded me.

“Jaha, they say you don’t even bother a dog while it’s eating. Let him eat in peace.”

I replied while continuing to tear off meat.

“This bastard came here to dispose of me. I’m the one who spared him. And yet he says he doesn’t want to join the Hao Sect. All while sitting here eating a regulars-only delicacy he won’t get to taste often. Is it acceptable for the principles of the jianghu to have fallen this far?”

Just then, my eyes fell on the Yarae Saber that So Gun-pyeong had placed on the table. Since it was a fairly famous blade in the Black Path, I suddenly wanted to take a look at it.

“Let me see your saber. Hand it over.”

So Gun-pyeong said with a startled expression,

“I cannot give it to you. It is the same as my life.”

“I’m not taking it. I just want to look.”

So Gun-pyeong grew tense as though his lover were being forcibly taken from him, then carefully pushed the Yarae Saber toward me. His expression was truly that of a man handing over his own life.

I casually wiped the grease from my hands on my clothes. After getting rid of the oil completely, I drew the Yarae Saber and examined its sharp blade.

“It’s a good saber.”

I lightly infused my finger with internal energy and flicked the blade.

Taaang……!

“Hard, and even resilient……”

Although So Gun-pyeong’s cultivation was far below mine, if I had let my guard down even slightly, my kitchen knife would have been sliced like a dumpling.

I returned the Yarae Saber to So Gun-pyeong and said,

“A rare treasured saber.”

At the words I’d tossed out without much thought, So Gun-pyeong nodded.

“It is.”

“But now it has become a blade inferior even to a kitchen knife. Hahaha.”

When I burst out laughing, Jang Deuk-su, who had watched the fight, also laughed loudly.

“Wahahahahaha.”

Then, the moment Jang Deuk-su met So Gun-pyeong’s eyes, he flinched in surprise and abruptly stopped laughing.

I glared at So Gun-pyeong and said,

“Who told you to glare at the owner of my regular place like that?”

“I was not glaring. I was looking.”

“Look nicely.”

“Understood.”

We went back to gnawing on the pork bones.

I have long had a habit of thinking about the relationship between weapons and people.

In my opinion……

If a martial artist of the jianghu who is not particularly skilled possesses too fine a weapon, there is a high chance he will die an unnatural death.

Because he will be killed by an expert who covets that weapon.

On the other hand, if he possesses a low-grade weapon far beneath his own skill, there is also a high chance he will die an unnatural death.

Because when he meets an equal opponent, he will lose due to the difference in weapons.

Possessing a weapon so good you cannot handle it is a problem.

Failing to obtain a weapon suited to your own skill is also a problem.

Life in the jianghu has many problems like this.

From that point of view, So Gun-pyeong and the Yarae Saber were a good match. At a glance, its appearance was the sort of weapon that the Nanman or a band of horse bandits might use.

After cleanly finishing off the pork bone, I asked So Gun-pyeong,

“Looks like you have nowhere to go?”

“……I have something to think about for a while.”

“Do you still have subordinates left in the Black Cat Gang?”

“I do.”

“Were you on good terms?”

After staring blankly at me for a moment, So Gun-pyeong answered,

“I think of some of them as brothers.”

“Oh.”

“I do not know if you are aware, but most of those in the Black Cat Gang now are men who surrendered after the previous gang leader was killed by the Great Rakshasa. I am the same. We had no choice. The Great Rakshasa killed most of the executives as an example. At least the Golden Dragon Pavilion did not suffer much damage, so they were not mixed in with the men the Great Rakshasa pushed in later.”

I replied with a serious expression.

“How did you survive?”

“At the time, I was not an executive.”

I thought this fellow truly had extraordinary luck.

Even now, matches against the Twelve Divine Generals did not frighten me much, but the Great Rakshasa was a little different. He was an old veteran of the jianghu who had thrown himself into it decades before me and had survived until now.

The reason I found it difficult to gauge his skill precisely was that, in my previous life, the Great Rakshasa had not died by my hand, but by the Poison Demon’s.

For a moment, I recalled the story I had once heard about the Poison Demon, then checked over various plans.

If So Gun-pyeong did not return like this, there was a high chance the Black Cat Gang Leader would appear in person. Being ambushed is not a hobby of mine. I concluded that before the Black Cat Gang Leader came to Ilyang County, it would be better for me to go meet him first.

“So Gun-pyeong.”

“Speak.”

“In a little while, guide me to the Black Cat Gang.”

So Gun-pyeong’s eyes widened.

“Are you saying the two of us should go?”

“Listen carefully. I’m being serious. If I go alone, I might end up killing not only the gang leader but all the warriors of the Black Cat Gang as well. If the fight grows into an all-out battle, you step in at the right moment and make sure that at least your subordinates don’t die. This is the best I can do.”

If I killed all of So Gun-pyeong’s subordinates as well, it was obvious he would not become my subordinate. Even if I stormed the place, the best course was to kill only the Black Cat Gang Leader as far as possible.

But how could anyone accurately predict the outcome of a fight against the Black Path?

In the midst of his bewilderment, So Gunpyeong asked a question.

“When are you leaving?”

“I’m going to stop by the forge and pick up a weapon that’s good for setting the mood. Once I’m back, we leave at once. You wait here.”

Jang Deuksu asked.

“A weapon good for setting the mood? What’s that?”

I sprang to my feet and answered briefly.

“An axe.”

Jang Deuksu soon came to understand that someone’s head was about to be split open by an axe.

* * *

“Sect Leader, you’ve come.”

When I appeared at Yongdu Ironworks, Geum Cheolyong came out to greet me.

“Have you come because of Gwangin?”

“No.”

“Then it seems you have another fight on your hands.”

I answered Geum Cheolyong honestly.

“The Black Rabbit Gang sent an assassin. I’m thinking of sending one as well.”

“An assassin? Who?”

I pointed at my chest with my thumb.

“Me. How is Gwangin coming along? I’m not rushing you, just curious.”

Geum Cheolyong folded his arms and said,

“The Deputy Gang Leader said that this time he would head south and even look around the Baiyue Black Market (百越黑市). In truth, obtaining good iron can sometimes be harder than making a treasured sword or saber. There should be good news.”

The Baiyue Black Market was run by the Yue, an ethnic minority, and was therefore closed off.

In other words, they were people who neither sold goods to nor bought goods from martial artists of the Central Plains. If the Deputy Gang Leader had gone to such a place, it meant he, too, was of Yue origin.

“In any case, if you’re planning to go as an assassin, what sort of weapon do you need?”

“Please give me one great axe (大斧). The bigger and heavier, the better.”

“This is the first I’ve ever heard of an assassin using an axe.”

“The more skilled an assassin is, the less he’s bound by his weapon. Only the half-baked ones fight by fiddling around with things like chopsticks.”

“I see. Sect Leader, something just occurred to me, so I’d like to ask your opinion.”

“Go ahead.”

“What if Hao Sect were to run a black market as well? It seems like it would make more money than the ironworks. Work has been drying up lately, you see.”

“Don’t do it.”

“Understood.”

Geum Cheolyong gave up quickly. Still, he seemed curious about the reason.

“Is there a reason you say not to?”

“You’re someone who even hesitates to make a treasured saber. How would you run a black market, which requires doing business with martial artists? A black market is something entangled with the martial world, so you’d have to make money while clearing away corpses. Could you endure that?”

“What if our Hao Sect becomes stronger later on?”

“Still no.”

Even in Hao Sect’s domain, there are lines that must not be crossed. If one wants to survive long, thin, and for a very long time, it is right to keep to those lines.

Geum Cheolyong grinned and said,

“Understood.”

“It would be better to ask Yeon Jaseong of the Construction Sect if there’s anything you can help with. The ironworks’ skills should be useful for the tools, equipment, and materials needed in construction.”

From the start, the small organizations of Hao Sect could help one another. Provided, of course, that the commission fees were appropriate and transparent.

Geum Cheolyong’s face brightened all over.

“Why didn’t I think of that? Very well. Bring our Sect Leader a great axe at once.”

While I waited for the great axe, Geum Cheolyong asked,

“But how do you intend to deal with the Black Rabbit Gang? Are you thinking of gathering Seongtae and the other swordsmen to go with you? No matter how I think about it, our fighting strength seems far too inferior.”

“I’m going alone. And I may be a little late returning.”

Geum Cheolyong stared at me silently for a moment, then said,

“Just don’t die. If anything happens to you, Sect Leader, at the very least, every last member of our Cheolyong Sect will storm into the Black Rabbit Gang.”

“There’s no chance I’ll die, so I’ll accept the sentiment.”

Just as I did not know how to make weapons, Geum Cheolyong knew nothing about martial arts.

When we looked at each other and nodded a few times, a menacing axe with a dragon-head handle arrived. Its appearance was truly splendid, but the joint looked slightly unstable.

‘I’ll have to use it in moderation.’

In any case, its outward appearance was terrifying enough that Xu Huang or Li Kui of Water Margin might have used it, so I liked it very much.

.

.

.

“So Gunpyeong, lead the way.”

So Gunpyeong, who had been waiting at Chunyang Restaurant, sprang up in surprise.

“Are the two of us really going?”

“Then we’ll go as two. Were you expecting three?”

With the large axe resting on my shoulder, I bade farewell to Jang Deuksu.

“Brother Deuksu, if I’m late coming back, tell Seongtae for me.”

Jang Deuksu answered with a worried expression.

“Tell him what?”

After thinking for a moment, I said this.

“Tell him not to fool around and to write the report thoroughly. I can’t guarantee when I’ll be back.”

I had a rough plan for how to deal with the Black Rabbit Gang. But that rough plan did not clearly tell me when I would return.

I would only know once I went there and clashed with them.

Jang Deuksu said,

“Aren’t you leaving too hastily?”

“A surprise attack is supposed to be hasty.”

And Ilyang County would be safe only if I attacked them first.

After parting from Jang Deuksu, I moved at a brisk pace with So Gunpyeong, then pointed at the Zaha Inn, where construction was in full swing, and said,

“That is the Zaha Inn, which will later become Hao Sect’s headquarters.”

So Gunpyeong answered without much thought, but after checking the construction site, he unconsciously came to a stop.

‘No, why is it so big?’

After taking three or four steps, I called to So Gunpyeong, who was not following.

“What are you doing? I told you to guide me.”

“My apologies. By the way, Sect Leader, you were an incredibly wealthy man. I didn’t take you for one…”

“Me?”

“Who else is here?”

“Gunpyeong, do I look like a good man to you?”

“What do you mean?”

I pointed at the Zaha Inn under construction and told him.

“I’m building that with your secret funds.”

“What?”

“I said it’s your money. The Black Rabbit Gang’s money, the Black Rabbit Gang’s secret funds, the Golden Phoenix Pavilion Master’s secret funds, money gathered by robbing others, money the Golden Phoenix Pavilion Master squeezed out by tormenting the weak. Ah, there’s also the money from the brothel owners. At any rate, that money is ultimately being used like that. You just follow me around and watch. Watch how I strip the black path bare. Let’s go.”

When I set off again at a hurried pace, So Gunpyeong hastily followed close behind.