Chapter 56: Chapter 56
Cheon-hwi, wearing a gray martial arts uniform procured by the Merchant Guild Leader instead of the Mount Hua Sect’s Taoist robe, looked up at the three-story building in front of him.
‘Is this the place?’
He gazed at the signboard that read Eunryong Jinmi and soon turned his eyes away.
‘It is.’
The building was wrapped in colorful lanterns, and a fragrant smell wafted from the wide-open door.
‘Yes, this is it.’
Cheon-hwi took a step toward the door where bright light poured out, as if drawn by the smell.
“Welcome to Eunryong Jinmi.”
The waiter standing in front of the door bowed politely and greeted him.
“What kind of seat would you like?”
At the waiter’s question, Cheon-hwi recalled the Merchant Guild Leader’s words and replied.
“The top floor.”
Cheon-hwi immediately took out silver coins.
‘Gasp! How many is this?!’
The eyes of the waiter, who received the silver coins and counted them, widened.
It was a larger number of silver coins than the price to sit on the top floor.
‘Then what’s left here is…’
The waiter gulped down his saliva.
Because of his ordinary attire, he thought he was a mere customer, but he was no ordinary customer.
His eyes sparkled with silver.
‘I hit the jackpot!’
The waiter bowed his head to Cheon-hwi with a very polite attitude and guided him.
“You can come this way. There aren’t many guests on the top floor yet today, so you can enjoy it comfortably.”
A moment later, Cheon-hwi arrived on the third floor, the top floor of Eunryong Jinmi.
Cheon-hwi, who sat at a window seat, scanned his surroundings.
‘It’s nice and quiet.’
As the waiter had said a moment ago, the third floor was quiet with almost no people.
The man and woman on the opposite side were everyone.
‘They are a unique man and woman.’
Cheon-hwi’s gaze was captivated by them for a moment.
He was indifferent to everything except martial arts, but the mismatched companionship of the man and woman drew his attention.
The first thing that caught his eye was, as expected, the man.
The man seemed to have reached the age of forty, but his sparkling red eyes were blazing like flames.
‘It must be the influence of internal energy.’
Cheon-hwi, who briefly scanned the man, naturally glanced at the woman opposite him.
‘A young lady? No, a girl?’
Despite sitting on a chair, the girl was so petite that there was a difference of a head and a half from the middle-aged man.
However, what caught his eye first more than that was the girl’s appearance.
‘She eats looking like that.’
The girl had a wide-brimmed hat pulled down low over her head.
But was it an ordinary hat?
It was not.
A black veil was densely woven and draped over the brim of the hat, completely covering the girl’s face.
The girl’s bizarre behavior of only slightly lifting the veil when eating was enough to be dumbfounding.
‘Can she swallow food doing that?’
At that time, the waiter approached.
“Is there any food you would like to eat?”
“The dish you are most confident in here and the best liquor.”
With those words, Cheon-hwi gave him silver coins.
The waiter checked the silver coins and nodded vigorously with a bright face.
“Oh my! Great Lord!”
The waiter immediately bowed and scraped.
“Then how about Qingzheng Wuchangyu? It’s the most special among the dishes our chef boasts of. And for liquor, there is Gujing Gongjiu, which is rumored to have an amazing taste…”
“Give me whatever you think is best.”
“Understood! I will tell the chef separately and prepare it as quickly as possible!”
The waiter answered Cheon-hwi’s refreshing words and then disappeared.
Meanwhile, the girl opposite Cheon-hwi swallowed her food and whispered.
“…He is a mysterious person.”
A voice like grinding iron.
It was a raspy and low voice that was hard to believe belonged to a girl.
However, it was definitely the voice the girl let out.
“Are you talking about him?”
“Yes.”
The middle-aged man calmly put down his chopsticks, seemingly surprised by the girl’s words.
Afterwards, he observed the young man who had come up the stairs.
The middle-aged man, who scanned the young man looking down out the window with his chin propped on his hand with an indifferent expression, stroked his beard once.
“Hmm.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes deepened.
As the girl said, he was a mysterious person.
The young man wore a martial arts uniform that could be seen anywhere, but his cold and cynical face exuded a unique atmosphere.
“Hmm, for you, who didn’t even give a glance to the Jade Qilin, to show interest…”
Unlike his tone that suggested he couldn’t understand it at all, a faint smile hung on the corners of the middle-aged man’s mouth.
It was probably because he was pleased to see the girl showing interest in a young man of her age for the first time in her life.
Yet, he carefully scanned the young man.
‘Hmm, his appearance is fine. However…’
The middle-aged man rolled his eyes to grasp the young man’s outward appearance and internal energy.
‘Has he not learned martial arts?’
He frowned and shook his head.
He couldn’t feel any internal energy from the young man.
‘It’s a pity. If he had learned martial arts, I would have told you to meet him somehow.’
When the middle-aged man couldn’t take his eyes off the young man out of regret.
‘What is he glaring at?’
Cheon-hwi met his eyes.
The middle-aged man, as if he hadn’t even thought their eyes would meet, was slightly flustered, then smiled awkwardly and turned his head.
“Guest, here you go.”
Just in time, the food and liquor arrived.
Cheon-hwi, who smelled the scent wafting from the dish served on a plate, immediately picked up his chopsticks and took a bite.
As if it wasn’t a dish the chef boasted of for nothing, the Qingzheng Wuchangyu had a deep flavor.
Subsequently, he poured and sipped the Gujing Gongjiu.
“Keu. This is it, this is it.”
Was it because he drank it after a long time?
Or was it because it was a famous fine liquor?
The liquor also tasted amazing.
‘As expected, meat has to be eaten with liquor.’
While continuously emptying his glass with a satisfied face, Cheon-hwi narrowed his eyes.
The moment he snatched the plate and liquor bottle placed on the table in one breath.
Crash!
The inn shook with a loud noise.
“Did you think you could escape easily?!”
Cheon-hwi, who snatched the plate and liquor bottle that almost overturned, smiled and turned his head.
‘A perfect snack has also appeared.’
The table of the man and woman who were eating opposite him was split in half.
“…What is the meaning of this?”
The middle-aged man, who put down his chopsticks, looked up at those who caused this trouble.
It was a total of four men.
All of them had fierce impressions and were glaring at the man and woman, exuding murderous glares.
Among them, the largest man rested a huge axe on his shoulder and snorted.
“Hmph, what is the meaning of this? Didn’t that bitch kill our youngest?!”
Perhaps because he imbued it with internal energy, the man’s gruff shout greatly shook the inn.
However, the man and woman did not waver.
“…You must be the rest of the Five Evils of the West Bank.”
A raspy and hoarse voice flowed out.
The veiled woman looked at the split table in front of her and indifferently raised her head.
‘Five Evils of the West Bank? I heard that the uglier they are, the more grandiose nicknames they use.’
Cheon-hwi let out a chuckle.
However, if those eating on the first or second floor, rather than him, had heard it, they would have fled in terror instead of laughing.
It was because the ‘Five Evils of the West Bank’ were notorious for their cruelty, so much so that even the government had given up on them.
The middle-aged man stood up from his seat.
“You are impudent.”
“Hmph, the impudent ones are you lot.”
At the words of the snorting man, the girl’s veil shook and her head moved.
“You guys also have no room for rehabilitation like that sex fiend.”
“What? Rehabilitation?”
The man let out a sneer.
“I will rehabilitate you, bitch.”
“Fourth Junior Brother. There is no need for long words.”
At that time, a short and skinny old man spoke in a thick voice.
“Just kill that old bastard. And…”
The old man, pointing at the girl with a bony finger, licked his lips.
“Handle that bitch carefully so she doesn’t get a single scratch.”
“Are you planning to take her again, Eldest Brother? Isn’t that too much?”
The man called fourth Junior Brother complained. However, as if he had no intention of disobeying the old man’s words, he immediately gripped his axe.
“Tch, the second one is me.”
The middle-aged man, who was watching the two exchanging silly jokes, spoke coldly.
“You harbor vain delusions.”
Before he knew it, a sword was in his hand.
“You will all die by my hands anyway.”
Just like the heavy air, the middle-aged man’s voice was profound and heavy. However, the Five Evils of the West Bank didn’t waver at all.
“Bluffing.”
“Rush him all at once.”
At the old man’s command, two men simultaneously gripped a deformed sword and an axe in their hands.
“Die!”
Speaking with ferocious glares, they simultaneously swung the axe wildly.
The girl also flinched at that threatening momentum.
Crunch!
The wooden floor cracked, and screams were heard from below.
“Kyaaak!”
“W-what’s going on!”
When the inn fell into chaos.
“That looks like martial arts from the Sun Palace? No, is it a little different? Was the Sun Palace fiercer than that?”
When Cheon-hwi was sipping his glass and enjoying the fight happening in front of him.
“You are a pitiful bastard.”
A shadow was cast over him.
When he raised his head, a sturdy bald man was standing there. He had a large blade resting on his shoulder and was looking down.
“Tsk tsk, blame your luck for coming here to eat of all times.”
At that moment, Cheon-hwi blocked his nose with his index finger.
“Ugh!”
The bad breath wafting from the bald man’s mouth was disgustingly terrible.
“How dare you, when your elder is speaking…”
“Can you shut up because you stink?”
The bald man’s face turned beet red.
“This bastard!”
The moment the man, whose head had also turned bright red, lifted high and heavily swung his large blade with iron rings clattering on its back.
Thwack!
With a dull thud, red blood burst out from the bald man’s seven orifices.
“S-Second Brother!”
“Second Brother!”
As soon as the shouts of the Five Evils of the West Bank, who were exchanging blows with the middle-aged man, ended, the man’s body slowly collapsed forward.
He had an expression of not knowing what situation had just occurred, but his life was already cut off.
Thud!
The man with a massive physique collapsed with a loud thud.
“S-Second Brother!”
“What is this?”
“How on earth?”
The Five Evils of the West Bank, no, the Three Evils of the West Bank who were now left with only three, stood frozen at the sudden turn of events and stared at Cheon-hwi.
“You take your eyes off in this situation.”
The moment the Three Evils of the West Bank panicked at those words.
Whooosh!
A gust of wind blew, and a streak of blue light cleaved the Three Evils of the West Bank in half.
“Keok!”
Along with brief groans, the three men collapsed.
The four men called the Five Evils of the West Bank had lost their lives in an instant.
“You are…”
Danmok Jin-gang, the middle-aged man who had cut them down, paused as he was about to speak.
“…!”
The young man who had been tipping his glass just a moment ago suddenly disappeared.
As if it had been an illusion.
When Danmok Jin-gang was bewildered.
“He left a while ago.”
The girl spoke quietly.
“Did you already know he was a master?”
“No.”
Danmok Jin-gang looked at her with surprised eyes at the girl’s firm reply.
She was born with an outstanding sense of ki. Any person in the world could be figured out in front of her.
Even if they were the patriarch of the Eight Great Clans.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. I couldn’t feel anything until he moved.”
The girl continued to stare at the empty table.
It was something hard for her to believe as well.
She thought that nothing in the world could escape her sense of ki.
But the young man from just now…
‘It felt like he wasn’t there even though he was.’
His presence had been very faint.
To the extent of momentarily forgetting that he existed in this space.
For her, who felt and saw the energy of her surroundings every day, it was a truly mysterious sensation.
‘But when he showed his martial arts…’
When she recalled that moment, her skin prickled, and her heartbeat quickened.
She saw it.
A massive presence, no, the Five Evils of the West Bank.
‘His presence swallowed the world.’
The girl’s veil trembled finely.
Her eyes, hidden behind the veil, turned away from the table and looked outside.
Above the sky cast with moonlight, the young man who swallowed the world briefly sparkled like starlight and disappeared.
“Who on earth is he…”
Meanwhile, Cheon-hwi, who returned to the inn, drove out all of his drunkenness at once.
‘It just ruined the taste of the liquor.’
Thinking of the food and liquor he couldn’t finish and left behind, he lay down on his bed.
‘But it’s strange.’
Did random thoughts come to mind because his drunkenness was gone?
He tilted his head as he recalled the bizarre yin energy leaking from the girl who looked at him when he killed the Five Evils of the West Bank.
“How is she still alive with that body?”
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