Chapter 183

A hulking man reminiscent of a Minotaur glared at me with enormous, bulging eyes.

“Brother over there, do you need something?”

He was telling me to pretend I hadn’t seen anything and move along.

It was no different from something a third-rate thug in a movie might say, but according to Qi Sense, this hulking man was neither a third-rate thug nor some inept wandering martial artist.

System

Level: 95 — Chulwoo

He’s as skilled as he looks.

In Murim terms, he was a Peak master. In modern terms, he was at least an A-rank Hunter.

If a guy like that were a thug, forget the police—the people’s cane. Even the people’s sledgehammer wouldn’t be enough.

Where did this guy come from?

For a moment, the epithets I’d just heard—Huashan’s Lone Crane and the Three Plum Blossom Elites—flashed through my mind, but that was as far as it went.

No matter how I looked at him, he seemed more like the Majang-dong¹ Knifeman or Seocho-dong Twin Axes than a crane or a plum blossom. Those sorts of nicknames suited him much better.

When I merely stared without answering, the hulking man—Chulwoo—frowned.

“Didn’t you hear me? Are you deaf? Or mute?”

Before I could say anything, Hyuk Mujin jumped in.

“What an outrageous fellow. How dare you speak so rudely to our Young Master?”

“And pretending not to hear someone is polite?”

“Ahem!”

“What are you ahem-ing about? How important do you think you are, refusing to answer when someone speaks to you?”

“You insolent bastard! Do you need a beating to come to your senses?”

I stopped Hyuk Mujin as he reached for his sword scabbard.

“That’s enough.”

“Please don’t stop me. Someone like him needs to be taught a harsh lesson!”

“He’s stronger than you.”

“Ah. I don’t think this is my place to step in.”

“…”

“…”

Chulwoo opened his mouth with an incredulous expression.

“Is he your subordinate?”

“For now.”

“You must have a hard time.”

“Every day is a battle against my own patience.”

After looking our group up and down, Chulwoo clicked his tongue.

“You look like martial artists, so you’d be better off going on your way. This man wronged me badly.”

Chulwoo grabbed this man by the collar and lifted him. He was so strong that the heavyset middle-aged man shot straight into the air.

“Eeeek! H-Help me!”

Above the terrified middle-aged man’s head floated the Level window I had detected earlier with Qi Sense.

System

Level: 60 — Woo Hwangtae

That was a name that made me crave hangover soup.²

It also sounded vaguely familiar.

Woo Hwangtae, Woo Hwangtae… Where have I heard that before?

While I was thinking, Chulwoo shook Woo Hwangtae violently by the collar.

“What do you mean, help you? Don’t drag innocent people into this. Just take a few hits and get it over with.”

“G-Great Hero, please don’t do this. Let’s resolve it through conversation. Conversation.”

“Conversation?”

“Y-Yes! Conversation!”

“Conversation sounds good. Then let’s go somewhere without any people around and have a nice, intimate chat.”

He clearly meant to have a physical conversation.

Woo Hwangtae, who was being dragged away against his will, screamed,

“I-I was invited here by the Jin Family of Taiyuan! I’m supposed to have a private audience with the Lesser Family Head!”

“So was I. And I’m a simple, crude man by nature, so I don’t particularly care whether you’re meeting the Lesser Family Head or the Family Head.”

“Eeeeeek!”

This wouldn’t do. Someone was going to die before I remembered his name.

I had no desire to get dragged into an unnecessary dispute, but simply walking past didn’t sit right with me either.

From the sound of it, he’s a fairly important guest.

The fact that he was supposed to meet privately with Jin Wikyung bothered me, as did Chulwoo’s casual disparagement of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

I smacked my lips and stepped forward.

“Excuse me.”

“All that fat and you still have to make people’s lives difficult… Did you call me?”

“Yes.”

“What do you want?”

“It’s nothing important.”

Chulwoo paused, and I continued.

“It’s a good day. Wouldn’t it be better to talk things out?”

“You want me to stop?”

“I’m sorry for sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, but wouldn’t it look bad for the Jin Family of Taiyuan if its guests started fighting on a day like this?”

“Listen, Young Hero.”

Chulwoo rubbed his neck with an annoyed expression. At the same time, he dropped what little politeness remained in his speech.

“This is personal. If you get involved, you’ll only make trouble for yourself.”

“I’m already tired of this. What can you do?”

“You’re getting awfully informal.”

“Yep. Right back at you.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty.”

“Twenty? Ha. Still green. Nice and green.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-five, you young bastard.”

Good grief. I was surprised twice.

Once by the boomer attitude of a twenty-five-year-old, and again by the fact that his face belonged to a man in his mid-twenties.

Even if he had been fed protein supplements instead of breast milk as a baby, he shouldn’t have ended up like this. I asked with considerable astonishment,

“Twenty-five? Is your name Benjamin³ or something? You’re living your life backward all by yourself.”

Benjamin Chulwoo glared at me.

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

“It’s not bullshit. It’s a fact. Looking that old must have made life tough.”

“Old? Shut up! Everyone around me says I look young!”

“Everyone around you? Number one, your mother. Number two, your father. Number three, your grandmother. Pick one of the three. Oh, let’s make number four your youngest aunt.”

“You beardless little brat…”

“Pull down your pants. I want to see whether you’ve got hair on your dick.”

“You little—!”

“Woof, woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!”

Chulwoo released Woo Hwangtae’s collar. Trembling as he looked back and forth between earth and sky, he drew a deep breath.

“You… Hoo. Hoooo.”

“Are you angry, Benjamin³?”

“Shut that damn mouth!”

He seemed to have completely lost his temper.

I didn’t mean to take it this far.

I had merely returned each insult as it came, and somehow this was where we had ended up.

Snorting like a frenzied Minotaur, Chulwoo finally managed to force the words out. With great difficulty. Tremendous difficulty.

“Y-You bastard, what the hell are you?”

“What kind of bastard do you think I am?”

“A bastard who’s gone mad wanting to die.”

Crack.

Bones shifted with an ugly crunch inside his fist, which was as thick as a shovel handle.

Chulwoo ground his teeth and glared at me.

“Do you even know what it means to interfere in someone else’s personal gratitude and grudges in Murim?”

“I already apologized for sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong. But if guests start throwing punches, what does that make the people who invited them? You ought to consider our family’s position too.”

“Our family?”

“Yeah. Our family.”

“Are you perhaps a member of the Jin Family of Taiyuan?”

“I’m no household parasite, if that’s what you mean.”

“Make one more wordplay joke, and I’ll put you in bed for three years.”

“Watch your mouth—unless you want your family observing three years of mourning.⁴”

Chulwoo smiled thinly. It wasn’t a smile born of amusement. It was the kind of smile that appeared on its own when someone’s anger had reached the top of his head.

“My Senior Brother warned me over and over… but I can’t let you off. Time for you to take a few hits.”

Boom!

Before he could finish speaking, an enormous roar rang out, and the ground shattered.

The two-meter-tall⁵ giant launched himself like a cannonball. The time it took him to reach the tip of my nose was no more than an instant.

“It’s going to hurt.”

Whoosh!

With a chilling voice, the air scattered.

No—it was crushed.

It was nothing more than a simple punch, with no form or martial principle added to it. The force contained in that fist exploded with enough momentum to shatter a thousand-geun⁶ boulder.

But…

It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t hit me.

Bang! B-bang!

I bent backward as if lying down. The fist tore through the air a handspan above me, compressed air exploding from its tip. A tree about ten feet away went flying as if caught in a typhoon.

Wow. This guy was serious.

I had to marvel at the sheer power.

If an ordinary First Rate master had taken that blow, it would not have ended with mere pain. Once Chulwoo lost his temper, he seemed unable to see anything else.

“Hey, hey. Take it easy. Take it easy.”

“You rat-like bastard!”

Whoosh! Whoooosh!

One punch, two punches, three. Each time I easily dodged another blow, my suspicion hardened into certainty.

I think I can win.

Even a thousand-geun⁶ boulder had to be hit before it could be shattered.

No matter how powerful an attack was, it meant nothing if it failed to connect.

Moreover, Chulwoo had only just entered the Peak realm and couldn’t even project Fist Energy. If our martial insight was comparable, I had an overwhelming advantage.

Because I possessed a special power no one else had.

Stats.

Whoooosh! Bang!

After yet another wild swing, Chulwoo exploded in frustration.

“What the hell!”

“You’re too worked up. Take a deep breath and relax. Then you might manage to touch a single hair on my head.”

Meanwhile, I had completely regained my composure. Hyuk Mujin and Cheongpung were watching from the sidelines as if none of this concerned them, while Woo Hwangtae stared at our exchange with his mouth hanging open.

Given how things were going, Chulwoo also seemed considerably flustered.

“What the hell are you?”

“A member of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

“There’s no way someone like you could be in this backwater… Wait.”

Chulwoo stared intently at me, then suddenly narrowed his eyes.

“Are you the Heaven Shaking Sword?”

“I’m somewhat related to him. As far as I know, we came out of the same womb.”

“Then… are you the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

I grinned.

“Bingo.”

He might not have known what bingo meant, but he understood that it meant yes and clenched his fist.

“I knew you had some skill.”

“Try hitting me at least once before saying that. You said it would hurt, but this just feels refreshing.”

“I’ll admit it. You may not be a dragon, but you could at least qualify as an imugi.⁷”

“Good grief, that’s a harsh assessment.”

“Your mouth has reached the realm of transcendence.”

“It’s all psychological warfare. Take a look at yourself. Your eyes are rolled back, and you keep swinging at thin air.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I simply had no desire to use my sect’s martial arts against a nameless small fry like you.”

“Which sect is that? The Dodong Sect?”

“You don’t need to know.”

He spat out a wad of phlegm and muttered,

“Damn it, the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi. That takes the fun out of it.”

Same for me.

He was obviously a disciple of a fairly well-known sect, but if we fought until one of us fell, both of us would have to deal with the backlash.

“I’m holding back because of my eldest brother.”

“I’ll let you off because of my Senior Brother.”

We spoke at nearly the same time and glared at each other.

“Oh? Look at this bastard.”

“Bastard? You little brat, how dare you speak to an adult that way!”

“Adult, my ass. Do you even know how old I am, calling yourself an adult?”

“What else is someone who’s barely twenty supposed to be but a child?”

“That’s not what I meant…!”

If I added my age in Murim to my age in the modern world, I was practically fifty. But there was no chance of getting that across to him.

I swallowed the words that were about to burst out.

“Forget it. What’s the point of talking to a guy like you? Anyway, in Murim, the strong are the adults.”

“What? Are you saying I’m weaker than you?”

“Obviously. Didn’t you feel the difference between us just now?”

“You son of a bitch! I could chew you up and still not feel satisfied!”

“Try hitting me, if you can.”

“You think I can’t?”

Just as Chulwoo raised his fist with a heavy snort, someone’s voice abruptly cut in.

“It would be best if you both stopped now.”

Wipeng descended with an elusive movement technique and swept us with a chilly gaze.

His eyes passed over Cheongpung, Hyuk Mujin, and Woo Hwangtae, who was a complete mess after being dragged around, before finally shooting toward Chulwoo and me like arrows.

“Defeated Flower Fist. Third Young Master.”

“No, Great Hero Wipeng. It’s not like that. The circumstances…”

“That’s right. I was merely…”

His voice, colder than the bitter winds and snow of the north, froze our next words solid.

“Are you both determined to bring utter shame upon your respective schools?”

Chulwoo and I quietly shut our mouths.

“How long has Defeated Flower Fist been gone?”

“Dunno. Feels like it’s been more than half an hour.”

“Why isn’t he back?”

“Maybe he’s blocked up.”

“A Daoist from Huashan?”

“Why would that matter? If he’s a Daoist from Huashan, does that mean his shit should come out smoothly too?”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Just as the theory that Chulwoo was constipated was all but confirmed, the people who spotted a party of riders coming down the hill burst into cheers.

Among them was a face no martial artist in Shanxi Province could possibly fail to recognize.

“It’s the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi!”

“The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi! He’s coming with the Defeated Flower Fist!”

“Wooaaah!”

The appearance of two young and outstanding men sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The two young prodigies whom everyone believed would become future leaders of Murim walked side by side, waving their hands.

Every time they did, cheers erupted from all directions, along with hands reaching out to touch even their clothing.

“The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi!”

“The Defeated Flower Fist!”

“Well now, they look pretty close. Were they acquainted?”

“Does that matter? Real talent recognizes real talent. There’s nothing strange about them forming a deep friendship in such a short time.”

“Now that you mention it, that makes sense. They look great together.”

While everyone watched them with warm smiles, the beaming Jin Taekyung and Chulwoo exchanged words in voices so low they were barely audible.

“I let you off earlier. You know that, right? You couldn’t even touch me.”

“Bullshit. I didn’t use even half my strength.”

“I didn’t use even a third.”

“I misspoke. I didn’t use even one-tenth.”

“My mistake too. Truth is, I didn’t use even one percent.”

“Now that I think about it, neither did I.”

“Is this guy completely insane?”

“Who are you to say that?”

Amid the thunderous cheers, a fierce exchange unfolded—one only Peak masters could hear.