Chapter 137

“Are you awake?”

A familiar face abruptly opened the annex door and barged in.

I had just finished circulating my qi, so I unfolded my legs from the lotus position and spoke.

“You came in without even waiting for an answer?”

“Come on, Captain. You and I aren’t that distant.”

“What kind of relationship do you and I have?”

“Comrades in arms who don’t share blood but can fight back-to-back? A lord-and-vassal relationship tightly bound by affection and trust?”

“Affection? Hmm. You’re determined to get beaten half to death first thing in the morning.”

“One hit, then. Surely it won’t kill me.”

He was getting more shameless by the day. I let out a quiet laugh and shook my head.

“Enough. What brings you here so early?”

“Obviously… Wait, what’s with that guy? Did he sleep here?”

Hyuk Mujin stared incredulously at Cheongpung, who lay sprawled in the corner.

“Why would he sleep here when the annex has several rooms?”

“Leave him alone. It happens. I came back from the privy and found him asleep.”

Long story short, my attempt to uncover Cheongpung’s identity had ended in complete failure.

The moment he got out of the hot spring, he had fallen asleep from exhaustion. I couldn’t bring myself to wake him, so I slept, too.

“Even so, Captain. How could you let a strange man you met yesterday sleep in your room?”

“…That sounded a little strange.”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m saying you should be more careful.”

“Careful? Anyone listening to you would think he was an assassin.”

“Can you say for certain he isn’t?”

“What?”

“You’re a good man in many ways, Captain, but I think you take the Murim too lightly. It’s a place tangled in complicated gratitude and grudges. Let your guard down, and you could really end up dead.”

“What an unlucky thing to say. Want me to send you there?”

“Seriously! I’m not joking.”

Mujin thumped his chest in frustration, then watched the sleeping Cheongpung with wary eyes.

“Isn’t he a little strange? He seems remarkably skilled for someone so young, yet he wanders around looking like a beggar. And he isn’t even a Disciple of the Beggars’ Sect.”

“Maybe that’s just the way he’s wired.”

“What if all of that is just a disguise meant to lower people’s guard? If he were a trained assassin, it would be entirely possible.”

“An assassin? Who would even want to target me?”

“Why wouldn’t anyone?”

“You know I’m not such a bastard that I make people hold grudges against me everywhere I go.”

“…Just counting yesterday, I think at least five people now have a grudge against you.”

Come to think of it, he had a point.

Still, suspecting Cheongpung of being an assassin was an overreaction.

I spoke to Mujin, who was still shooting Cheongpung suspicious glances.

“This guy isn’t one. If he were an assassin, would I still be alive?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“And what assassin? Aside from those Five Gates of Shanxi bastards, who could possibly have a reason to hold a grudge against me?”

“Did the Head Elder try to kill you because of some personal grudge? What about the martial artists of our family who died in the last war?”

“That… is true.”

Mujin shook his head.

“I’m only telling you to be careful. Gratitude and grudges in the Murim run deep and stay hidden, so no one knows when or where something might happen.”

“Hmm.”

“Flies swarm around appetizing food. The more famous the name Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi becomes, the more trouble you’ll have to deal with. There are even people who show up out of nowhere and challenge you to a life-and-death duel.”

The world was a big place, and there were plenty of lunatics in it. I was surprised to hear something I’d never heard of, but I was also impressed by Mujin.

This guy is saying something genuinely useful for once.

“You know quite a lot. What a good boy.”

“Ahem. It’s nothing worth making a fuss over. I’ve just seen a lot of things.”

As expected of a local. People in the Murim around my age had apparently seen assassins killing people and all kinds of other things.

“Does that sort of thing happen all the time in the Murim? You know, you go out to the market and see martial artists picking fights with each other?”

“What?”

Mujin blinked.

“What are you talking about? This is Taiyuan. The public order is excellent.”

“Oh. So not often, but sometimes?”

“Sometimes? I lived in Taiyuan for nearly twenty years before entering the Jin Family of Taiyuan, and I never once saw martial artists fighting each other.”

“…What?”

“The Shanxi Provincial Office, where the City Lord resides, is half a shichen west of here, and the Jin Family of Taiyuan is one shichen east. Starting a sword fight for no reason would only make your life miserable. Even the lowest wandering martial artists pretend to be Great Heroes of honor and justice in Taiyuan. You didn’t know that?”

What the hell was this guy talking about?

After a brief silence, I spoke.

“You said you’d seen a lot of things, didn’t you?”

“What? Oh, that?”

“Yes, that.”

“Of course I read about that in books.”

“…Books?”

“Yes. There was a bookstore run by an old man in front of my house. For one nyang in iron coins, you could read for half a shichen. That’s where I nurtured my dreams.”

Mujin gazed out the window with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

“The Shop Assistant Becomes a Sword God, You Must Hurt to Become a Martial Artist, The Son of Murim Walks Three and a Half Times Around the Nine Provinces and Eight Wastes, and so on… They were really interesting.”

“Oh, so you decided to become a martial artist after reading those books.”

“Of course. I even bought and kept a few of them when the bookstore went under. Would you like to borrow them?”

“No, I’m good. Anyway, Mujin.”

“Yes?”

“Do you really want to get beaten to death?”

I was an idiot for being impressed.

This wuxia-novel otaku bastard was confusing fiction with reality. I grabbed Mujin by the lapels.

“Do you think novels and reality are the same? Huh? Didn’t any of the novels you read have someone getting beaten to death for running his mouth?”

“W-wait! Wait! I’ve never personally witnessed anything like that, but the Murim is more than capable of—”

“Right. Next otaku.”

Smack!

Honghwa Inn stood in the heart of Taiyuan. Even in Taiyuan, known as Shanxi’s prime real estate, it was famous for its prime location.

It was only natural for the area in front of Honghwa Inn to be crowded with people, but today the crowd was unusually large.

“Oh dear, what’s all this?”

“There’s a carriage and soldiers… Hey, Mr. Yang, have you heard anything? Is a war breaking out?”

“I haven’t heard nothin’.”

Amid the murmuring, a luxurious, enormous carriage drawn by six fine horses came to a stop.

Then at least a hundred soldiers stood in neat ranks at the entrance to Honghwa Inn. An official dressed in his robes shouted loudly,

“Receive the royal command of His Highness Prince Shangshan!”

“Receive the royal command!”

The short phrase royal command carried tremendous weight. On top of that, the thunderous cry of a hundred elite soldiers caused hushed voices to spill out from every direction.

“Did you hear that?”

“Do you think my ears are decorations? I heard them say royal command.”

“Any idea what this is about?”

“I heard the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi is staying at Honghwa Inn. Isn’t it probably because of him? Everyone knows the young Prince likes martial arts.”

“I know that much, but I’m saying this because His Highness has never made such a commotion before.”

“Well, the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi has become awfully famous lately. Not long ago, he even wiped out those Red Wind Band bastards in place of the government troops, so he’s certainly performed a great service.”

“Do you think His Highness plans to grant him an official post… Ah, they’re coming out! They’re coming!”

At someone’s shout, countless eyes turned toward the entrance of the inn.

The doors stood wide open. As the people summoned by the Prince appeared beneath the glaring sunlight, a wave of excitement spread through the onlookers.

“Oh! Is that the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“There’s more than one of them.”

“They’re wearing swords, so I suppose the others are young prodigies, too.”

“Then which one is the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“Can’t you tell at a glance? The tallest and most handsome one in the middle. That’s Young Hero Jin Taekyung, the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi.”

“My, my. They’re all handsome men and beautiful women, aren’t they?”

As the people whispered, five figures emerged, each one worthy of being called a dragon or phoenix.

Among them, Jin Taekyung’s presence stood out like a crane among chickens. At the very moment admiring gazes poured toward him as he stood tall in the center—

“Ugh!”

Thud!

“…?”

“…?”

One of the young prodigies suddenly crumpled to the ground.

Not only the onlookers but even the soldiers standing at attention stared at the fallen prodigy as though they had no idea what was going on.

“Ahem. Ahem!”

At the official’s pointed cough, the fallen man’s face turned bright red.

The young prodigy who had fallen flat on his face got back up on legs trembling like a newborn calf. The official unfurled a red silk scroll.

“Ahem. Young prodigies of Murim, receive this royal command! I, the younger brother of the sacred Son of Heaven…”

“Eek!”

Thud!

This time, the one who collapsed was a woman.

The unexpected accident made the official’s breathing turn ragged for a moment. But he was the bearer of a royal command. He couldn’t let something so trivial throw him off.

The official composed himself and took another breath.

“I-I…”

“Gasp!”

Thud!

“The command I bestow upon you…”

“Eek!”

Thud!

This time, even the official couldn’t escape the disaster. Perhaps he had bitten his tongue, because a crunch came from his mouth, followed by blood streaming down his lips.

The crowd fell silent, though for a different reason than before.

As the official stood there in despair, one man strode confidently up to him and whispered,

“Do we really have to do this outside? Why don’t we just do it inside?”

The official considered Taekyung’s words for a moment before answering.

“Let’sh do that.”

“…Just nod. You’re getting blood on your clothes.”

The official spoke with a grave expression.

“How on earth did this happen?”

Everyone was watching me for a response. In the end, I had no choice but to explain the situation as briefly and clearly as possible.

“The kids aren’t feeling well.”

“Not feeling well? What do you mean?”

“They’re the fresh young pillars of Murim, aren’t they? They trained so hard to become stronger that they wore themselves down. That’s why they keep collapsing.”

“Is that really what happened?”

“…”

“…”

It was quiet enough to hear a mouse breathe. I turned slightly and asked,

“He’s asking whether that’s true. Did you not hear him?”

The four young prodigies of the Five Gates of Shanxi jolted as though they had seen a ghost.

“O-oh, no. We heard him. We were just thinking of an answer…”

“Th-that’s right. I thought someone else would answer…”

“What is there to think about? Just tell him the truth. Isn’t that right? Hahaha.”

Of course, if they told the truth, they would get some private one-on-one time with me. The law was far away, and fists were close at hand.

If the four of them wanted to keep living peacefully in Shanxi Murim, they had no choice but to stay on the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s good side. They forced the corners of their mouths upward.

“Well, that’s what happened.”

The official looked dubious as he asked another question.

“But why is one person missing? As I understand it, there should be six of you, including Young Hero Jin.”

“Ah, you mean the Young Bureau Head of the Seongun Escort Bureau.”

“That must be him. His name was…”

“Jintae. Woo Jintae.”

“That’s right. Why hasn’t he come out?”

Because that one is in no condition to look human.

If I had known from the start that the Five Gates of Shanxi’s young prodigies had been invited to this luncheon with me, I wouldn’t have beaten him quite so badly.

Well, what’s done is done.

All I could do was clean up the mess as best I could.

I shook my head with the most sympathetic expression I could manage.

“Last night, he was injured in a minor altercation and still hasn’t regained consciousness.”

“An altercation? Are you saying he got into a fistfight?”

“Something like that. In any case, his face is in such a state that he simply can’t appear in front of people.”

“Good heavens. What kind of fiend would do that to a guest invited by His Highness?”

“…”

This felt really strange. With the culprit standing right in front of him, the official muttered something about treason, then lamented.

“This is a serious matter. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that he can’t attend the invitation. How furious will His Highness be when he learns of this?”

“Could I perhaps explain things to him properly?”

“Young Master, you don’t understand. Once His Highness takes offense, no one can stop him. The surrounding area will be turned into a wasteland for the time being.”

“Turned into a wasteland? What do you mean by that?”

“What else could I mean? First, they’ll arrest and severely punish the man who injured the Young Bureau Head of the Seongun Escort Bureau. Then, citing the terrible state of public order, dozens of officials will be forced to resign. I’ll probably be one of them.”

“…”

Why would they take it that far?

The official, who looked like he was about to be laid off in the prime of his life, added the finishing touch with a tragic expression.

“I have more than ten family members to feed… Sigh. I can only blame the heavens.”

He has a big family, too.

I was squirming in my seat and desperately racking my brain when—

“Yaaawn.”

A carefree yawn, completely at odds with the mood.

My eyes lit up when I saw someone coming downstairs with a long stretch.

“Hey, how about this?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“If we bring along an even more impressive young prodigy, there won’t be a problem. Right?”

“I can’t be certain, but that’s probably true. His Highness wouldn’t complain if you found someone even more outstanding.”

Perfect.

With a triumphant smile, I waved at Cheongpung.

He was a young prodigy who was no less than a Peak master.

“Have you ever seen a member of the imperial family?”