Chapter 54: Chapter 54
So-o opened his mouth wide and raised both hands as if calming him down.
“Hey, Question Not. Bumun Inn, right? If you can’t handle the answer, don’t ask. There are customers here. Rules are rules. How am I supposed to do business otherwise?”
“Proprietor… What use is business if you’re dead? Does it look like I’m asking for fun?”
Shlk. Sa Ho-jeong produced a small hatchet from his robes and set it on the counter with a clink. So-o raised both hands and shouted.
“Someone help over here!”
…
But true to the inn’s reputation, not a single person looked this way. Everyone pretended not to hear, laughing loudly while conducting their respective deals.
Sa Ho-jeong chuckled in amusement. Meanwhile, So-o muttered with an aggrieved expression.
“Starting tomorrow, I’m doubling the seating fee for every one of these people.”
“Shut up and talk. What about the Slaughterhouse.”
“Well…”
So-o scratched the back of his head, then extended his hand with a troubled expression. Even if he died, he’d take payment before speaking. That was the inn’s rule.
“Hah. Cute bastard…”
Sa Ho-jeong pulled a silver coin bearing a face from his robes and placed it on his palm. Considering the market average, pocket change.
“Good enough.”
Refuse again and the next thing would be the hatchet blade.
“Let me see.”
So-o produced a magnifying glass with a displeased expression and examined it.
“Genuine. Buddha Head Silver, minted in the Western Regions.”
“What a piece of work.”
Once So-o pocketed the silver, Sa Ho-jeong raised his hatchet and warned with killing intent.
“Talk. If you spout nonsense again, I’ll split your skull for real.”
“Heard the Slaughterhouse was wiped out.”
“You son of a bitch! You want to die?”
Sa Ho-jeong erupted, swinging the hatchet and stopping it right at So-o’s neck. So-o, thoroughly terrified, pushed the blade away with his index finger and replied.
“No, brother. It’s true. Where was it? Wolha Village? Right, there. Went there and got completely wiped out.”
“F… fuck…”
Sa Ho-jeong ground his teeth, trembling. Wolha Village. Had the hunt failed? This was his brother Sa Do-cheol they were talking about.
“Oh, right! And the Lust Flower Tower got completely cleaned out too…”
So-o trailed off, gauging his reaction. CRACK! Sa Ho-jeong drove the hatchet into the counter. Both eyes blazing with fury.
“If this is all bullshit, I’ll burn this inn to the ground.”
“Brother. I took money. I don’t lie.”
“Fuck…”
Sa Ho-jeong yanked the hatchet free and signaled his men. They gathered their trunks and followed him outside.
So-o called after him urgently.
“Hey, brother! Just leaving? No refund on the seating fee!”
“Shut up. Before I tear that mouth off.”
“Okay.”
Today’s meeting with the Iron Horse Bandits was canceled. Sa Ho-jeong set out for Cheonsan without a second thought.
If the proprietor’s words were true…
‘I’ll tear every last one of them to pieces.’
A new vendetta had been born.
And…
Someone watched him leave with keen interest.
‘Sa Ho-jeong. Temper’s exactly as advertised.’
The man adjusted his tinted glasses with his index finger.
So-o, proprietor of the Bumun Inn.
He studied Sa Ho-jeong’s retreating figure with meaningful eyes.
Then snapped his fingers, leaving a brawny subordinate in charge of the counter, and headed upstairs.
He passed through a gambling den packed with men, then a kitchen bristling with meat cleavers.
His destination was the windowless room at the very end.
Inside, So-o casually opened a cabinet and removed his tinted glasses. Beneath them lay eyes of deep emerald, dark as a night sky.
But more surprising than that was the bizarre outfit hidden at the back of the cabinet.
A black leather robe, black gloves, and black boots.
And resting atop the clothes, a white-beaked crow mask.
“Jang I-seo… You asked what martial art Sa Do-cheol practiced. You should’ve taken that for three nyang when I offered. I wouldn’t sell it for three hundred now.”
Grin. The smile of a man who smelled profit settled on his lips.
So-o, proprietor of the Bumun Inn.
His true identity was the deputy master of the White Crow Gate, the Crow Cleaners.
The very man who had processed Sa Do-cheol’s corpse.
He examined a red mask set apart inside the cabinet with fascination, then closed the door.
Waiting for the day this mask would become worth more than an ancient golden Buddha. No, more than a treasure map.
Creeeak, click.
* * *
Two days later.
The Seventh Small Palace echoed with noisy bickering from early morning.
“Hey, Jang I-seo! Isn’t this too much? At least give me ten days off! I killed that pig bastard with a counterattack!”
Mao violently unwound the bandages wrapped around his head, face contorted.
With good reason.
The war with the Slaughterhouse had ended just two days ago, yet Jang I-seo had ordered training to resume from morning without exception.
Having finished washing up in the garden, Jang I-seo dried his wet face with a towel and spoke.
“Was that a counterattack? You just grabbed the pig by the snout and hammered it. And if the Sixth Young Master hadn’t been there… who knows how many would have died. Gives me chills just thinking about it.”
Urk. A knife to Mao’s heart. Honestly, it still frustrated him even now. If only he’d been a little stronger. That humiliation would never have happened.
Truth be told, it had been a long time since he’d genuinely wanted to get stronger.
But that was that.
“What did the Sixth Young Master even do? I was the one who saved him!”
Listening from beside them, Maeng Hwi murmured, face flushed with emotion.
“As expected, Adjutant Jang acknowledges me.”
Acknowledge my ass. Jang I-seo raked them both up and down with a withering glare.
“The Sixth Young Master didn’t do anything right either. I said help, not get beaten up together. Have some shame. No more discussion. Starting today, special training. Consider yourselves informed.”
“S-special training?! Really? I can do it!”
Hah, this bastard. Jang I-seo pressed his temples and waved dismissively.
“Go. Inside.”
“Yeah!”
And so Maeng Hwi joined Jang I-seo’s training regimen.
The war with the Slaughterhouse was over, but it had exposed shortcomings on every front.
The same held true for Jang I-seo.
‘With the Nine-Orifice Body, prolonged fights against strong opponents put me at a disadvantage. One misstep and I could be the one who dies. I need to find a clue to cure it somehow.’
The homework the Cult Leader had assigned weighed heavier on his mind. Though he still hadn’t grasped the thread of it.
As the three of them faced a new day with renewed resolve.
Rustle…
The bamboo forest swayed, announcing a visitor. A booming voice rang out.
“This humble Guardian Dragon Hall Master requests an audience with the Seventh Young Master!”
Guardian Dragon Hall Master, Ji Dae-ho.
He had come calling.
*
At the news of Ji Dae-ho’s arrival, Mao’s head whipped around. Maeng Hwi, who’d retreated to the annex, cracked the door open and peeked out.
“Entering.”
Ji Dae-ho’s announcement echoed from the entrance. The tiger of a man strode into the passage.
“Wait, hold on!”
Jang I-seo shouted belatedly, but feet were already inside.
FWISH!
With sharp rings, iron bars shot from both walls like concealed weapons.
“Hm?”
Ji Dae-ho’s eyes changed in an instant. CLANG! He brutally chopped down on an iron bar with his palm edge, bending it. The rest received the same treatment. He charged through without pause, using fists, palms, blade-hands, knees, elbows. Every tool available, relentlessly smashing everything to scrap.
The path behind him was littered with mangled wreckage.
Then he asked, imposing.
“What is this?”
He asked fast, this man. Jang I-seo worked his mouth with eyes full of regret, then sighed deeply.
Meanwhile, Mao welcomed it gleefully, as if avenged.
“Hey, Hall Master Ji! Don’t worry about it. Nothing special. You did great.”
Great, he says. Do you know how much those cost? Happy that one training tool is gone. Jang I-seo scowled fiercely. He’d need to call Jegal Gwi-ryong again soon. Build them bigger and nastier.
“I came to investigate following news of the battle in Wolha Village. However…”
Ji Dae-ho swept his sharp eyes over Jang I-seo, then Mao, then Maeng Hwi.
“I didn’t expect to find all three suspects in one place.”
“Suspects? Who? Us? Listen to this man. Why would we be suspects? We’re the victims.”
“One hundred casualties in a single incident. Not a common occurrence in our cult.”
“What are you talking about? I got hurt too. Look. See this hole in my palm? Do you know how much blood I lost…”
“I’ll take that as confirmation you were present at the scene.”
“That’s treason!”
Framing, obviously. As Mao shouted, Maeng Hwi shook his head and stepped forward.
“Hall Master, long time no see. I don’t know how the investigation is proceeding, but Mao is right. Assassins invaded in the dead of night, and he simply stopped them.”
“…Of the casualties, thirty-five appeared to have been killed by a short spear. The skill was extraordinary, and I wondered who it could be. I didn’t expect to find the Sixth Young Master here. Should I interpret this as Maeng family involvement in this matter?”
“I, I…”
As even Maeng Hwi was rendered speechless, Ji Dae-ho adopted an even graver expression. Behind him, Guardian Dragon Hall warriors filed in and lined up, looking ready to make arrests on the spot.
Mao and Maeng Hwi darted behind Jang I-seo and hid.
“Hey, Jang I-seo. What is this? Did we do something wrong?”
“A-Adjutant Jang… You don’t think word reached the Maeng family, do you? I wore a mask, but they figured it out! What do I do?!”
They hear everything, kids. Jang I-seo shook his head vigorously.
There was no way the Guardian Dragon Hall didn’t know the relationship between the Slaughterhouse and the Seventh Small Palace. This aggressive posturing meant he wanted to hear something specific.
In short, this whole performance was a card played to gain the upper hand in conversation.
Jang I-seo exhaled shallowly, then gestured for Ji Dae-ho, who was glaring only at him, to follow. He turned away.
“Come inside. Stop harassing our young masters.”
“Our” made Maeng Hwi and Mao puff up with pride. Ji Dae-ho, as if he’d been waiting, ordered his men to stand by and followed.
*
“The Seventh Small Palace has changed considerably.”
Entering the annex, Ji Dae-ho examined the red floor and thick pillars.
“Yes. Thanks to you, one training fixture is already broken. Sit.”
Jang I-seo plopped down roughly in the center of the wide space. Ji Dae-ho shrugged and sat across from him.
“Hospitality is a mess.”
“I don’t call someone who breaks in to interrogate a guest.”
“Getting straight to the point, I see.”
“I’m billing you.”
Flinch. Caught off guard by the unexpected answer, Ji Dae-ho froze briefly, then shook his head and replied.
“It was an accident.”
“Same here. What happened in Wolha Village a few days ago was also an accident. Uninvited guests came in. We stopped them. The iron bars were simply stronger.”
Hah. Ji Dae-ho narrowed his eyes, feeling thoroughly outmaneuvered.