Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Contrary to his demeanor that suggested he would flee any second after having his money and jade ring stripped away, Yang Goeng sat down across from Jang Geon, who was slurping down noodles, and casually struck up a conversation.
“Brother Jang, this isn’t the time for you to be sitting around eating noodles.”
Jang Geon made no reply and simply ate his noodles. The way he sucked up a clump of noodles, filling both cheeks as he chewed, looked extraordinarily appetizing. Yang Goeng gulped down saliva for no reason and continued.
“So, Brother Jang. Still, since I have memories of dining and playing dominoes with you, I’m telling you this: you’d better leave this inn quickly.”
Jang Geon did not answer. Instead, as he chewed his noodles, he lifted the bowl and gulped down the broth as well. Only after setting the bowl down, swallowing everything in his mouth, and taking a sip of the tea sitting beside him did he give Yang Goeng a glance.
“Why?”
“…You know that fella who ran away earlier?”
“Jin Yangseok?”
Yang Goeng scratched his own chin.
“You pretended not to care, but you remember everything. Well, anyway, that guy is quite a dangerous fella.”
“A fella who was getting fleeced by a fraudster like you?”
At Jang Geon’s words, Yang Goeng let out a mild cough.
“I say, why call me a fraudster?”
“If you don’t like ‘fraudster’, I can call you a bandit.”
“Ehei. Don’t you remember what I just said? I told you I paid all my bounties to the Martial Alliance.”
“Does paying that make the victims disappear?”
Yang Goeng raised both hands and shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t they say part of the bounty goes to those people as compensation? Then that’s that. Besides, I’ve never fleeced poor commoners.”
“What are you, Hong Gildong?”
“…Who’s Hong Gildong?”
Jang Geon lifted his teacup to his lips again and answered,
“The Chief of the Hwalbindang.”
“…Hwalbindang?”
“Would you know if I told you?”
Yang Goeng grinned.
“Nope. Beats me. I lack learning, you see.”
Jang Geon stared silently at Yang Goeng before opening his mouth.
“So why is that fella dangerous?”
Yang Goeng grabbed an overturned teacup from the corner of the table, filled it with tea himself, and spoke.
“That Jin Yangseok fella is a nobody. He never learned martial arts, nor does he have much property. It’s not like he’s learned or smart either. He’s just a sucker, a total sucker.”
“And that sucker is dangerous?”
He took a sip of the poured tea.
“A sucker is just a sucker. The problem is that sucker has an older brother. And a pretty high-master brother at that.”
Listening to Yang Goeng’s words, Jang Geon let out a chuckle and picked up his chopsticks again.
“I know a bit of martial arts myself.”
“Ah, I know that too. Who back in Amju Valley didn’t know Brother Jang’s fist skills? Before seeing you draw your sword, everyone said it was surely just an ornament.”
At those words, Jang Geon lowered the hand holding his chopsticks once more.
“Then what’s the problem, you bastard? Stop beating around the bush and spill it.”
“…That sucker’s master brother is a problem, but the sect he belongs to is even more of a problem. It’s an Unorthodox Sect called the Sasang Faction.”
Jang Geon knitted his brows.
“You said there’s a branch of the Martial Alliance here? How can there be an Unorthodox Sect?”
Yang Goeng answered with a slimy grin.
“Curious?”
Jang Geon also smirked. He showed his tightly clenched left fist. Seeing the fist, Yang Goeng’s face paled slightly.
“Ah, well. I’ll tell you, so lower your fist… Of course, on the surface, they’re not an Unorthodox Sect. It’s not like they’re homeless vagrants wandering without a base. Somehow their boss and the Martial Alliance branch manager here are tied together, so as long as they keep to a reasonable boundary, they don’t touch them at all. And the sucker’s brother, Jin Cheongseok, is the top master there.”
“And you were fleecing the younger brother of such a guy?”
Yang Goeng shrugged his shoulders once more.
“I told you. Those guys have to keep within bounds too. What happened just now was a daily occurrence yesterday, and if Brother Jang hadn’t come, it would’ve happened tomorrow too.”
“The Martial Alliance sure runs smoothly.”
“It seems the locals here all think the same way. They must have accumulated lots of grievances, considering how easily they opened their mouths to an outsider like me.”
Jang Geon took his eyes off Yang Goeng and picked up his chopsticks.
“Then stop blabbering and scram to those locals.”
“…That’s a bit troublesome, though.”
Wondering what this guy meant, Jang Geon turned back to look at the table where Yang Goeng had been sitting earlier and understood the situation. The people who had been laughing and gambling with Yang Goeng until recently were now glaring at him and Jang Geon as if ready to kill. It was likely due to provoking Jin Yangseok and using cheating tricks.
Furthermore, several villagers had grown frightened and were sneaking out of the inn. As Jang Geon watched them while chewing his remaining noodles, the innkeeper approached with a rigid face and spoke.
“Guest.”
Jang Geon looked up at the innkeeper. Looking closely, the innkeeper’s face was not only rigid, but even trembling.
“I shall refund your noodle money and lodging fee. So please leave my inn.”
Seeing that, Yang Goeng spoke with a grin as if it couldn’t be helped.
“Well, given the situation, let’s leave. Before those Sasang Faction guys arrive. If they come, it’ll be hard for either me or Brother Jang to remain safe.”
However, even while listening to both of them speak, Jang Geon leisurely scooped up all the remaining noodles, lifted the bowl, and drank the soup. Emptying the noodle bowl down to the bottom as he swallowed, he set down the empty bowl, let out a light burp, and said succinctly:
“I think I’ll be just fine.”
“…Is Brother Jang some top master from the Imperial Army? They say there are twenty of those Sasang Faction guys, what are you planning to do?”
“If you wanted to run, you shouldn’t have grabbed me and blabbered; you should have scrambled right away. It’s already too late.”
Just as Yang Goeng and the innkeeper showed bewildered expressions at those words, a low, thick voice resounded from beyond the doorway curtain.
“Indeed. It is already too late to run.”
It felt as if the blood drained right out of the innkeeper and Yang Goeng. At the same time, the owner of that voice stepped inside the inn. The rough-looking man was quite heavy, causing the wooden floor of the inn to creak noisily under his weight.
Stepping into the inn, the rough man glanced past the terrified innkeeper and Yang Goeng to land his gaze on Jang Geon. After quietly observing Jang Geon drinking tea with a calm composure, he turned around and asked,
“Is it those guys?”
“Y-Yeah. That’s right, Brother. Those guys used cheating tricks to fleece my money, and when I protested, they smashed my nose like this. Please beat them to a pulp!”
“…Your money?”
Appearing behind the man, Jin Yangseok showed an ‘oops’ expression and quickly added,
“W-Well, they were fleecing people’s money. My money… that is to say, was just part of it.”
The rough man looked at Jin Yangseok, who had a bandage around his nose and was stuttering, with contempt before returning his gaze to Yang Goeng and Jang Geon.
“Everyone get out.”
Jang Geon knew those words were not directed at him. All the people remaining in the inn rushed out in a hurry. The innkeeper followed them, paused beside the man, and spoke cautiously.
“W-Well, it hasn’t been long since I bought new tables…”
The man merely glared at the innkeeper with sharp eyes, and startled by that look, the innkeeper quickly ran past the bead curtain.
Wearing an anxious expression, Yang Goeng slyly stood up intending to slip out among the fleeing crowd.
“Sit down. Unless you want to die first.”
Hearing Jang Geon’s dry voice, he naturally sat back down, raised his teacup, and answered,
“Hmm? What are you talking about, Brother Jang? I’m sitting right here?”
Locking eyes with the man, Jang Geon didn’t answer that and merely let out a chuckle. Just then, as all the patrons left the inn, seven or eight sinister-looking men rushed inside from the outside. They formed a semicircle, surrounding Jang Geon and Yang Goeng sitting in the corner of the inn.
The man who had been glaring at Jang Geon until then walked over slowly and spoke.
“Pleased to meet you, friends. My name is Jin Cheongseok. Shamefully, I act as the fixer in this town. Though it’s a peaceful place, so there wasn’t much to do and I was just idling about.”
He came to a stop before the table where Jang Geon and Yang Goeng sat.
“However, it seems a matter I must solve has arisen here today.”
Jang Geon did not answer. He merely watched Jin Cheongseok with sunken eyes before raising his teacup and drinking. Seeing that, Jin Cheongseok twitched his eyebrows, whereupon Yang Goeng, reading the room, leapt up, cupped his hands in a martial salute, and spoke.
“Ha-haha. It seems there was some misunderstanding between us. Glad to meet you. I am Yang Goeng. I arrived in this town a few days ago, and even in that short time, I’ve heard more than once or twice that Brother Jin is overflowing with chivalry, so I truly wished to meet you. A chivalrous hero in these times? And to actually meet like this, isn’t this fate itself? Ah, and this over here is Brother Jang, Senior Jang Geon, who hasn’t been in town for long…”
However, Yang Goeng’s words were cut off by Jin Cheongseok’s right index finger suddenly pointing at him. Flustered by that sudden pointing, Yang Goeng froze as Jin Cheongseok opened his mouth.
“Fraudster.”
“H-Huh? Fr-Fraudster?”
That index finger moved straight across, pointing at Jang Geon this time.
“Ruffian.”
Lowering his hand, Jin Cheongseok placed both hands on his hips and spoke arrogantly.
“Suddenly appearing in this peaceful town to prey on poor commoners, and answering my younger brother’s protest, who couldn’t stand by and watch, with fistfights. You are no ordinary scoundrels. As one who follows chivalry, I cannot simply stand by and watch this. I must arrest you all and drag you to the Martial Alliance branch. I hope you will not resist, for resisting will only cause you harm.”
At the authoritative words and confident attitude that sealed their guilt as if he were a judge, Yang Goeng contorted his brows in disbelief and merely gaped. The men surrounding the two pulled out thick wooden clubs from their waists as Jin Cheongseok finished speaking.
Seeing that, Yang Goeng’s face turned sallow. He unconsciously muttered under his breath, ‘Fuck…’
“At least you don’t instantly talk about beating us to death.”
At the sudden words from the quiet Jang Geon, the men closing the encirclement hesitated. They involuntarily looked at Jin Cheongseok to read his reaction. Disliking that sight, Jin Cheongseok crumpled his brow fiercely and glared at Jang Geon.
“How could one murder someone in an inn in broad daylight?”
“Is it okay to swarm in like this and oppress people, then?”
Jin Cheongseok took another step closer to the table where Jang Geon sat.
“It is to arrest ruffians disturbing the town, so all martial brethren will understand the situation.”
“Where are there any martial brethren here besides your group of thugs? You have a bloated ego.”
At Jang Geon’s sarcasm, Jin Cheongseok stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“You bastard really want to die, talking back at every word. If you don’t know your place, I might rip that mouth of yours open before handing you over to the Martial Alliance.”
Jang Geon smirked even at those menacing words.
“So you won’t let us leave intact?”
“After doing that shit to my brother’s face, you shouldn’t think of walking out of my town with intact limbs. I’ll make you a cripple in the arms or legs at least. Well, if you dislike that, I’ll let it slide in exchange for the thing between your legs.”
Finding the last part of Jin Cheongseok’s words funny, the surrounding thugs snorted and chuckled. One guy even laughed while tapping his thigh with his club. Seeing that, Yang Goeng involuntarily brought his hands together and shrank his legs.
And Jang Geon, looking at those thugs, Jin Cheongseok, and the smirking Jin Yangseok as if they were all pathetic, spoke.
“In Wuxia novels, usually in situations like this, if someone stays calm, wouldn’t people be careful thinking ‘Does this bastard have something up his sleeve?’ Don’t you worry if he might be an Imperial Army soldier or a wandering hidden master?”
Hearing Jang Geon’s words, Jin Cheongseok’s expression froze completely.
“What? Imperial Army? You’re an Imperial Army soldier?”
Jang Geon answered with a blank expression:
“No. Not really.”
“…What, you crazy bastard? Are you playing around? Impersonating the Imperial Army because you want to die, “
In that instant, sitting in his chair, Jang Geon bounded up without any preparatory movement, pushed off the table with his hand, vaulted over, and planted a kick square in Jin Cheongseok’s face.
The force of that single kick was so powerful that the burly, massive Jin Cheongseok was sent flying all the way to the inn’s entrance. Lying there, his eyes were blank and unfocused, and his front teeth, upper and lower alike, were completely shattered, bleeding nastily. The thugs inside the inn and Yang Goeng stared with dumbfounded expressions, back and forth between the fallen Jin Cheongseok and Jang Geon.
Landing cleanly on the spot from the kick’s recoil, Jang Geon met their gazes with slanted eyes and said,
“Are there no masters other than the Imperial Army?”