Chapter 1: Where is the Sword Saint (1)
A small tavern located in Baiyang County, Shaanxi Province.
After half a day of business, the first customer finally arrived.
“Have you been waiting long? I put in a more generous portion today.”
This customer, who had visited after a long time, was the boss of the hoodlums who ruled the back alleys.
With a shiny bald head, a massive build like a bear, and narrow, beady eyes like a parrotbill, Il-gwang had a natural knack for intimidating others with his appearance alone.
“Hey, So-mu. Clean yourself up a bit. You look decent, but your hair is a disheveled mess. A young fellow like you doesn’t know the first thing about style.”
So-mu set down the bowl of meat noodles and sat opposite him.
“Haha. I wash regularly. I would never make food to serve to customers with a dirty body.”
Il-gwang picked up his chopsticks and asked, “How is business these days?”
“Don’t even ask. Because of the war, customers have been completely cut off. I wonder what on earth will happen to the country…”
“Worrying about the country is the job of those high and mighty bastards. For guys like us, thinking of how to make a living comes first.”
So-mu folded his arms on the table, his eyes shining. “Still, shouldn’t the war end for business to go well again?”
“Before the war ends, we might meet our end first. Judging by the rumors, they say even here is no longer a safe zone.”
Everything had started from the usurpation of the throne of the Jin Dynasty.
A new emperor, rising rapidly with an unidentified military group at his back, had declared the state’s name as ‘Hui’. Neighboring countries collapsed one after another before their fierce advance. The Mongolian steppes were the first to fall, and the Song Dynasty had already lost half of its territory.
“Then what will happen to us now?”
Il-gwang, who was about to taste the noodles, suddenly struck the table with his palm.
Crash!
When he lifted his hand, the flattened corpse of a fly was revealed.
“We end up like this.”
So-mu harbored a bitter smile. To think his future was represented by a fly with burst innards.
“Does that mean the Hui Dynasty will harm us?”
Il-gwang swallowed the noodles in his mouth and snorted. “You haven’t heard the accounts of the refugees who fled here. Those bastards don’t think of us as anything more than livestock.”
“Sigh… Then we must hope our government army blocks them well.”
“Well, it will work out somehow. What would we know about how the war is turning out?”
As the atmosphere was about to grow somber, So-mu changed the topic. “By the way, how do the noodles taste today?”
“As expected, your cooking is truly the best. The way you prepare the meat is fantastic. Whenever I eat it, the texture is just perfect.”
Looking at So-mu’s attitude, he did not seem to feel any intimidation at all from the man in front of him. Unlike his ferocious appearance, Il-gwang never harmed anyone as long as the protection fee was paid on time.
“Arguably, my ingredient preparation technique is the best in Baiyang County.”
“Indeed it is. For a tiny hole-in-the-wall shop like this, I could just send my boys. But I can never forget this taste, so I end up coming myself.”
“Come whenever you like. I can make you as much noodles as you want.”
Il-gwang drank the broth straight from the bowl and held out his left palm, gesturing for So-mu to wait a moment.
After a moment, he said with a serious expression, “Let’s see. If you trim your hair a bit and let this older brother touch you up a little, you might look quite decent. How about it? Since business is bad anyway, why don’t you close up, go to Machang Pavilion, and work with me?”
So-mu snickered.
Machang Pavilion. It was a place where handsome men sold their bodies.
To women, that is.
“If the tavern goes bankrupt, I will think about it then.”
Losing interest in the conversation, Il-gwang focused on eating the remaining food. The bowl of noodles was devoured in the blink of an eye, disappearing without a trace.
Seeing this, So-mu set down something on the table. It was twenty copper coins.
Il-gwang looked at the coins with a puzzled expression. “I thought you wouldn’t be able to pay today. Since business is slow, you could have deferred it if times are tough.”
“This much is fine.”
Standing up, Il-gwang scooped up the coins. “Today, Soho Tavern is the only shop that paid in full. That’s why I like you. I want to beat up those guys who only have slick tongues.”
Looking at his receding back, an enigmatic smile appeared on So-mu’s face.
Ten copper coins remained on the table. Considering the price of the noodles was only two copper coins, Il-gwang had left behind a very generous tip.
Not long after Il-gwang disappeared, the kitchen knife began to move again.
Eight kinds of vegetables were placed on the cutting board at once. The ingredients, trimmed uniformly without an error of a hair’s breadth, were divided into hundreds of pieces in the blink of an eye.
Tatak! Tatatatak!
When he stir-fried the ingredients with duck meat on a greased iron plate, a fragrant smell filled the tavern. Just before the dish was completed, a man entered the tavern.
“Brother So! How do you always know I am coming and prepare the dish in advance?”
Wearing a snow-white Taoist robe and carrying a simple longsword engraved with a plum blossom pattern, this young Taoist looked like a martial artist through and through.
He naturally took a seat in the corner of the tavern.
“Have you not come at the same time every day? And you always order the Soho Eight-Duck Delicacy and two bottles of Bamboo Leaf Green.”
This duck dish, named after Soho Tavern, was a specialty that could only be eaten here.
The common Bamboo Leaf Green was also the cheapest among alcoholic beverages. These two were the young Taoist’s favorite combination, and they never changed.
“By the way, did that hoodlum visit again? If he keeps bothering you, I can teach him a lesson.”
“You must have run into him. Do not hate him too much.”
“Business is bad because of the war, yet you are even extorted. Are you not aggrieved?”
So-mu said, setting down the Soho Eight-Duck Delicacy and two bottles of Bamboo Leaf Green on the table.
“In the history of the Central Plains, there has never been an era without hoodlums. If he is gone, another character will take his place, but would he be a better person? Still, that Il-gwang is a man of much affection, so I cannot hate him.”
Before he finished speaking, the Taoist was already gulping down the Bamboo Leaf Green straight from the bottle.
“Keuh! The taste of alcohol is even better today.”
“It is good for me since sales go up, but I do not know if a Taoist is allowed to drink this much.”
A flush rose on the face of the Taoist, who emptied a bottle in an instant.
“Hehe. If my senior brothers find out, they will not leave me alone. But it does not matter anymore.”
Before he knew it, So-mu was resting his chin on his hand in the kitchen, looking at the Taoist with an amused expression.
“Usually, the reason for drinking alcohol is to feel good. But it seems Brother Cheong-hae drinks to forget his suffering.”
The young Taoist, called Cheong-hae, nodded with a bitter smile. “That’s right. It hurts enough to die.”
“It looks so. What on earth makes it so hard for you?”
Cheong-hae hesitated, drank the Bamboo Leaf Green once more, and said in a low voice, “Sigh… I was excommunicated from the sect.”
Cheong-hae’s expression was incredibly serious.
Staring at him, So-mu eventually grabbed a jar from the kitchen and approached.
“I do not know the details, but that must be why you were pouring alcohol down your throat like this every day. Since I am not a martial artist, I cannot give you advice, but I can keep you company in drinking.”
Thud!
A jar of Bamboo Leaf Green was set on the table. At that, Cheong-hae blinked his eyes repeatedly in embarrassment.
“Brother So. I do not have the money to pay for all this. And what about business?”
“There are no customers anyway, so I am going to end today’s business here. And this is on me. If you beat me in drinking, I will not even charge you for the food.”
“No taking back your words later.”
So-mu, who scooped up a bowl of alcohol with a gourd, was already gulping it down.
Emptying it all at once, he scooped up another bowl and handed it to Cheong-hae.
“Keuh! Good. Now I think we’ve drunk about the same. Right, in the martial world, they call that excommunication? Anyway, you suffered that? Why on earth?”
Cheong-hae emptied the gourd in an instant as if he could not lose. Then he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. His face turned red in an instant as the alcohol rushed up.
“Phew. There was a misunderstanding. I just went because I was curious about what Mount Hua’s Plum Sword Pond was like, and I had no intention of stealing martial arts.”
Although he did not hear the details, So-mu seemed to guess the situation.
“Since you are in the same sect, what does it matter if you see a bit? Still, they are too harsh.”
“The problem is that what I saw was the training of the Plum Blossom Sword Guards. It turned out that I, the youngest in generation, stole a look at the high-grade martial arts that even first-generation disciples are forbidden to read.”
“If it is the Plum Blossom Sword Guards, I also heard of them vaguely while working in the tavern. Are they the best geniuses of the Mount Hua Sect?”
“That’s right. That day, I was beaten half to death by the Plum Blossom Sword Guards…”
Cheong-hae stopped speaking, his eyes turning red.
He had almost been in a situation where his martial arts would be completely abolished. If his master had not begged the sect leader, it would have surely turned out that way. Fortunately, he was able to remain as an outer disciple, but returning to a formal disciple was close to impossible.
“Even so, it seems Brother Cheong-hae still cannot let go of his lingering attachment to the Mount Hua Sect.”
“Of course. My goal was to become a Plum Blossom Sword Guard, roam the Jianghu, and finally become the world’s best expert. Is this not the dream of all martial artists? Like the Sword Saint… But now, all those opportunities have flown away.”
Before Cheong-hae even finished speaking, So-mu was drinking the Bamboo Leaf Green again.
“Keuuuh! Good. When the heart is suffering, there is only this alcohol to comfort you. …I cannot understand why martial artists long for the world’s best. What is good about it once you reach that position? And what is the next goal?”
Receiving the bowl, Cheong-hae fell into thought for a moment. An appropriate answer did not come to mind.
After contemplating for a moment, he began to drink the bowl with a deep breath. His eyes were already half-unfocused.
“Keuuuuuh! I do not know either. Hic! I will think about it when the time comes… Hic!”
Cheong-hae staggered, his focus wavering. He had already exceeded his drinking capacity long ago.
“Then what do you plan to do from now on?”
“I will leave…”
“Where to?”
An answer could not be heard. His head was slowly collapsing toward the table. He had reached his limit.
So-mu stared at Cheong-hae, who had fallen fast asleep with his head on the table.
His eyes were very different from a moment ago. His eyes, quiet and deep like a lake, looked like an abyss.
After a moment, a voice full of regret gently echoed inside the tavern.
“He is a friend with much greed, but not a bad heart. That is why you do not suit the martial world. Rather, it might be a relief that you were excommunicated from the Mount Hua Sect. And tell me… have you never thought that the man called the Sword Saint is regretting his past days?”