Chapter 45: Clash (1)
Chui and Oh Ja-woon went into a tavern.
Since this was the territory of the Hegemon Society, even the Taoists of Wudang and Mount Hua hesitated to enter.
Boldly, Chui took a seat on the first floor of the tavern, not far from the manor of the Hegemon Society.
It was also a location that could be seen immediately upon drawing back the entrance screen and stepping inside.
Watching Chui sitting before the table with a calm expression, Oh Ja-woon let out an exclamation.
“The foot of the candlestick is dark. Even if they say it is dark right under the lamp, it is difficult to show such audacity.”
In fact, Chui did not cover his face or hide himself, but walked proudly along the main road in broad daylight.
Furthermore, it was in an area not far from the main gate of the Hegemon Society.
Perhaps because of that? The people passing by showed no reaction even as they went past Chui.
Before long, a waiter came to take their order.
Oh Ja-woon asked.
“What is delicious here?”
“We only sell one thing in our tavern. I will bring that out.”
The waiter’s words were blunt, but Oh Ja-woon did not bother to point it out.
It was because he had been unable to eat properly for days, to the point where his belly was clinging to his spine.
Before long, the food came out.
A vegetable stir-fry made by frying withered greens in lard.
And somyeon noodles steeped in a vegetable broth.
On top of the clear soup from which white steam rose, grease floated around.
Oh Ja-woon picked up his chopsticks.
Slurp—
He took a large chopstick-full of the somyeon soaked in broth and stuffed it into his mouth.
Chew, chew, chew—
It was insanely delicious.
Although it was not seasoned much and was just a soup eaten for its hot taste, in any case, it was a dish he was eating for the first time in a very long time.
Oh Ja-woon also picked up the vegetable stir-fry with his chopsticks.
In his heart, he wanted to break the chopsticks, throw them away, grab a large handful with his hand, and chew it down, but this was the minimum amount of humanity left in Oh Ja-woon.
Various vegetables and wild greens stir-fried in lard were chewed in his mouth.
Boar odor. A thick, greasy pork smell.
If it had been in the past, he would have frowned, complaining that the off-odor had not been neutralized, but at this moment, it felt sweeter to Oh Ja-woon than any seasoning.
The salty saltiness seeped into his entire body, between his flesh and internal organs.
In the blink of an eye, Oh Ja-woon finished the somyeon, the vegetable broth, and the vegetable stir-fry.
It was a speed as fast as a crab hiding its eyes in a south wind.
Around that time.
“Here is the dish…… Oh?”
The waiter came out with another dish and was startled.
This was because Oh Ja-woon had already eaten all the food.
“……!”
Looking at the dish the waiter brought out, Oh Ja-woon swallowed his saliva before he knew it.
It was pork hind leg meat cut into large cubes, marinated deeply in a strange-tasting soy sauce, and then steamed whole.
It was the only dish of this tavern, with no particular name.
And next to it, a large brass bowl was placed.
Inside this large brass bowl, which was dented here and there, a cloudy wine with a greenish tint was filled to the brim.
Oh Ja-woon looked at the waiter and asked.
“What is the name of this liquor?”
“It is Ant Green Liquor. It is a liquor brewed with millet.”
The waiter placed the brass bowl containing the cloudy wine onto the charcoal fire of the brazier beside them.
Before long, the liquor boiled, making a bubbling sound.
As a sticky foam rose from the center of the bowl, floating particles resembling ants spread to the edges of the brass bowl.
Meanwhile, Chui skewered plums on a stick, roasted them over the charcoal fire, and brought them to his mouth to chew.
Oh Ja-woon drank a bowl of the warmed liquor.
“Whew—this is too bland to taste like liquor. It seems even more so because it is warmed.”
“If you drink it cold, you will get an upset stomach from the toxins. Warm it up before drinking.”
At Chui’s words, Oh Ja-woon nodded.
Before long, he ate the steamed pork like a glutton.
The blackly reduced pork cubes also quickly vanished into Oh Ja-woon’s stomach.
During this time, Chui was only chewing on the plums without touching the food.
Oh Ja-woon asked Chui.
“Do you like plums?”
“I ate them often when I was young.”
“Mmm. Warmed liquor and eating plums indeed bring to mind an old historical anecdote.”
Boiling Wine to Discuss Heroes.
The old story where Liu Bei and Cao Cao warmed wine with plums as snacks and discussed the heroes of the world.
It was also an anecdote that Oh Ja-woon used to like when he was a Plum Blossom Swordsman of the Mount Hua Sect.
He asked Chui.
“How many heroes do you think there are in this world?”
“I do not know. I have no interest.”
“In my opinion, there are three.”
Oh Ja-woon drank a bowl of the bubbling Ant Green Liquor in gulps and then spoke.
“Me. You. And the master who raised you.”
“…….”
Hearing those words, Chui laughed.
Oh Ja-woon frowned.
“Why are you laughing? I am serious.”
He thought Chui laughed because he called himself a hero.
However, that was not the reason Chui laughed.
“Then exclude the last one. Let us say there are two.”
“Hmm? Does that mean your master is not a hero? It seems you did not have a very good relationship with your master. Well, I am the same way.”
“It is not that. It is because they overlap.”
“?”
Oh Ja-woon could not understand a single thing Chui was saying.
At the moment he was about to express his various curiosities to Chui.
The sound of gossipers talking at the next table carried over.
“Did you hear that news? About the burned Fuchai Pavilion.”
“I have not heard. Did something happen again?”
“It is nothing major. They say the courtesans of Fuchai Pavilion are all returning to their hometowns. Saying there is no longer a place to work.”
“Heh—my. Then where are we going to play from now on?”
“Indeed. This is all because some wicked bastard burned down Fuchai Pavilion. What a bad guy under heaven.”
The two men were grumbling as if they were disappointed that they could no longer play because Fuchai Pavilion had burned down.
Oh Ja-woon muttered softly upon hearing those words.
“Originally, righteousness is not about fighting the evil strong for the sake of the virtuous weak. It is about fighting the learned and greedy strong for the sake of the ignorant and greedy weak. That is why righteous chivalrists are rare in the world.”
Chui silently nodded.
He recalled the days when he followed Oh Ja-woon before returning.
At that time, even while fleeing to evade the pursuit team of the Martial Alliance, Oh Ja-woon did not forget righteousness and chivalry.
He saved merchants who were having their money extorted by ruffians, pulled out a woman who had fallen into the water, and saved orthodox warriors who were about to die at the hands of heterodox warriors.
Yet, Oh Ja-woon had rarely received any reward.
No, in most cases, he had to receive enmity in return for his grace.
The merchants he saved from the ruffians informed the government office out of greed for the bounty on Oh Ja-woon’s head, the woman who fell into the water accused Oh Ja-woon of being a lecher, and the orthodox warriors who defeated the heterodox warriors conversely tried to kill Oh Ja-woon.
Nevertheless, when Oh Ja-woon encountered someone in hardship and difficulty, he never just passed by and persistently lent a helping hand.
‘They say that easing another person’s hardships is called benevolence, and saving someone in difficulty is called courage.’
Just as the words he spoke last night.
Meanwhile, the gossipers at the next table continued to chatter.
“It is a pity Fuchai Pavilion burned down, but still, one thing was quite gratifying.”
“What is that?”
“Ah, that thing. That.”
“Ah, that~”
The two men giggled and struck their own crotches with their fists.
“You mean the fact that Young Master Do of the Hegemon Society became half-crippled?”
“Hahaha—now we should call him a eunuch instead of a young master. That lecher who pawed at the beauties of Fuchai Pavilion all by himself. Seeing his greasy face gone from Fan Tower makes me feel so refreshed.”
“Speaking of which, that Young Master Do was a really useless bastard.”
“Right. Because of that guy, the maidens of Chu River County could not even walk outside, so that says it all.”
“He would kidnap and rape any woman who caught his eye, and even bring his escort warriors to gang up on them……”
“If he only raped them, that would be a relief. He even sold them off to distant places. I heard he even sold some maidens to the water bandits across the Yangtze River.”
“What a terrible thing. I mean, what about the hearts of the parents who sent their daughters outside and were waiting without a second thought? One day, the daughter who went out for a walk disappeared forever, and it turned out she was sold to the water bandits of the Yangtze River thousands of miles away to become a plaything? They would die of heartbreak.”
“A good death, a good death.”
“Hey, man. Who died? He became a eunuch with all his limbs crippled. He is not dead.”
“Sigh. It would be better to die. Rather than keeping one’s life like that……”
Then, voices agreeing with the gossipers’ conversation came from the surroundings as well.
The drunkards at the next table and the gossipers on the upper floor each added a word.
“I came here to drink today to celebrate that lecher becoming a eunuch! Because that eunuch bastard touched my wife!”
“Do Jwa-yoon, that dog in heat, touched my daughter too!”
“He even touched my granddaughter! That young child!”
Shouts erupted one after another among the drunkards inside the tavern.
That was how much Do Jwa-yoon’s lecherous acts had crossed the line.
Right at that moment.
…Boom!
A booming sound erupted, silencing the mouths of everyone in the tavern.
Thud, thud, thud—
The paulownia wood door was torn like paper, and a giant man entered the tavern.
Would it look like this if Zhang Yide of Changban Slope returned to life?
He was a warrior who stood nearly eight feet tall with a wide build.
His eyes were as large and bulging as brass bells, his eyebrows were so thick they connected to his sideburns, and the beard growing under his chin was long enough to reach his navel.
On his back, he was seen carrying a giant saber as large as his own body.
“Which bastards were wagging their tongues just now?”
The giant man asked the drunkards in the tavern.
The drunkards who were cursing Do Jwa-yoon just a moment ago crouched down as if dead, digging their noses into the tables.
Then.
“It is you, is it not?”
The man stretched out a hand as large as a pot lid and grabbed the head of the gossiper who had been talking with the loudest voice.
And.
…Crunch! Crack!
He crushed the head caught in his grip as if bursting a gourd.
At that terrible disaster, the atmosphere of the tavern froze even colder.
Before long, the man spoke.
“Listen, you insects. This seat is called Do Mak-saeng, the Leader of the Hegemon Society.”
As soon as his words ended, dozens of warriors of the Hegemon Society, carrying long swords at their waists, rushed into the tavern.
The entire tavern was surrounded by the Hegemon Society.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The frozen atmosphere had now turned completely into that of an execution ground.
The drunkards who had been cursing the Hegemon Society just a moment ago did not even dare to ask for their lives and were just trembling.
And soon, the mouth of Do Mak-saeng, the Hegemon Society Leader, opened.
“Come out.”
His murderous gaze swept across the entire tavern.
“I came here knowing you were all in here.”
It was, indeed, the precursor to a bloody disaster.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost