Chapter 254

“Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, Jin Taekyung, wins!”

At the judge’s shout, tens of thousands of spectators rose to their feet as one.

As Jin Taekyung came down from the dueling platform beneath a storm of cheers and applause, the eyes of the man watching him were sunk deep in thought.

What a strange fellow.

The Dog-Beating Staff Technique was the Beggars’ Sect’s greatest secret art, one that could only be taught to someone who had become the Successor Beggar.

Despite its comical name, its power and the subtlety of its forms ranked among the top ten martial arts in the world.

And yet Jin Taekyung had countered it far too easily without using any particularly notable martial art.

He had shattered a bamboo staff infused with internal energy using his bare fist, and even after taking the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms head-on, all he did was frown.

He had even seemed to deliberately take attacks he could have avoided. No, that had undoubtedly been his intention.

Why?

At first, Jongni Chu wondered if Taekyung was some kind of oddball who enjoyed pain, but judging by the agonized faces he made each time, apparently not.

Besides, what kind of lunatic would take the Dog-Beating Staff Technique head-on just to raise his Toughness?

Whatever the reason, he’s interesting.

Jongni Chu still could not forget the surprise he had felt when he first saw Jin Taekyung.

His Muscles and Bones seemed to have been bestowed by heaven itself. If there was such a thing as the Heavenly Martial Physique, surely this was it.

A Disciple of the Fire King… I’ll have to watch him closely.

With that final thought, Jongni Chu, the Always-Victorious Sword, turned away and blended into the cheering crowd.

Several pairs of eyes followed him.

A merchant with a generous belly, a hunched old man, a Third Rate martial artist and a wandering martial artist dressed in cheap martial-arts uniforms…

All of them had ordinary faces one might see anywhere.

Yet whenever their lips moved, Sound Transmission passed between them—a technique only Peak masters could use.

—Your orders, Pavilion Master.

—Two and Three will follow him. But stay at least a hundred zhang¹ away.

—We may lose track of him.

—I know. But this is our best option.

—…Understood.

—Four and Five, keep an eye on Jin Taekyung and Cheongpung. If he approaches again, report it immediately.

—Yes, sir.

—Then I wish you all good martial fortune.

The brief conversation ended without another reply. The ordinary-looking figures continued walking as though nothing had happened and disappeared into the crowd.

Meanwhile, a middle-aged beggar sitting by the roadside continued bowing to the people who tossed him a few coins. Only after some time had passed did he rise to his feet.

The transformation began in a deserted alley.

Crack. Sssrk.

His hunched shoulders straightened, and his twisted spine grew perfectly erect. Then his facial muscles began to quiver as though invisible hands were kneading them.

Before he had taken ten steps, the middle-aged beggar had become a genial-looking old man.

Tap. Tap.

A wooden prosthetic leg made of ebony, hard as steel, struck the stone pavement.

Jongni Chu, the Always-Victorious Sword.

The old man, Song Ho, the Thousand-Faced Fox, repeated the name in his mind.

Before he was the Pavilion Master of the Hidden Shadow Pavilion, he was also an intelligence operative and a master of disguise.

He never forgot a face he had seen even once, and the smallest habit or the structure of a person’s bones was enough for him to recognize them. Even disguise techniques could not deceive his eyes.

But there was one exception.

Jongni Chu.

I’ve definitely crossed paths with that bastard before.

But when? And where?

Song Ho was deep in thought, recalling Jongni Chu’s face, when a stab of pain from his leg brought him to a halt.

It’s starting again. It’s been getting worse lately.

It was a very old injury.

Decades ago, when he was still young, he had taken part in the final battle against the Demonic Cult and lost one of his legs.

After countless twists and turns, he had barely survived. But the memory of that day remained branded deep into his mind.

So did the voice of one man, deep and dark as a bottomless abyss.

Thousand-Faced Fox Song Ho. You’re quite large for a fox. Shall I start by tearing off a leg?

Song Ho shuddered all over, endured the pain, and started walking again.

That past was long gone. Not even its dregs remained. He had to focus instead on the far more tangible present.

Jongni Chu… who are you? And what are you plotting?

He had already finished making every possible preparation. Even so, the unease lingering in his chest kept shaking him.

Am I getting old? Or has the peace simply lasted too long?

A quiet sigh escaped the old man’s lips.

I closed my eyes.

In the darkness, I pictured one person: a boyish face that always wore a bright smile and an unremarkable build.

But the moment he drew his sword, everything changed.

Whoosh!

I could see it without seeing. I could hear it without hearing.

Violet Sword Energy shot forth, leaving no opening in any of the thirty-six directions.

It was as swift as a ray of light and as gentle as drifting flower petals. As I watched that beautiful sight, I thought,

The Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist, the Flame Divine Palm, or…

Several other martial arts flashed through my mind before disappearing again.

Cheongpung was an opponent I would have to face with everything I had. In the end, there was only one answer.

After a brief moment of thought, I reached for the cool shaft of my spear.

Creak.

“Captain. Captain.”

The voice boring into my ear shattered my thoughts. Cheongpung and the illusory Sword Energy he had conjured vanished as if washed away.

When I lifted my eyelids, I saw Hyuk Mujin poking his head through the crack in the door.

“Hehe. I’m here.”

I stared at him for a moment before speaking.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to keep you company in case you were lonely.”

“Keep me company?”

“Yes. Isn’t that thoughtful of me?”

“Thoughtful?”

I let out a deep sigh and pulled a leg off the chair.

“Get down on your stomach, you despicable bastard.”

“W-Why are you doing this?”

“Did Cheongpung send you to interrupt my training?”

“Gasp! You were training?”

“Then do you see people sitting cross-legged and falling asleep?”

Mujin glanced around nervously before speaking hesitantly.

“I heard that when you were young, you tried to practice Horse Stance while sitting in a chair.”

“That wasn’t me… Wait. Did you just talk back to me?”

“What? Am I not even allowed to talk back?”

What the hell? Had this guy gone crazy?

I stared at Hyuk Mujin in disbelief. In the past, he would have thrown his hands over his head at once. Now he merely flinched before puffing out his chest.

“What are you doing?”

“Now that the subject has come up, I believe I’ve made no small contribution while serving you, Captain.”

“So?”

“Treat me accordingly.”

“What kind of treatment? The four mandatory insurances? Workers’ comp if you get hurt from now on?”²

“I don’t know what the four mandatory insurances or workers’ comp are, but if you keep treating me like this, I’ll quit and take over the textile shop.”

I thought it over, then nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“Pardon?”

“Good work. No—thank you for your hard work, Mr. Mujin. May your textile shop prosper from here on out.”

“Wait. Wait a moment.”

“Oh, right. I don’t know about the other locations, but prepare to close the main branch in Shanxi Province.”

Grab!

Hyuk Mujin wrapped his arms around my calf and spoke with an imploring look in his eyes.

“I misspoke.”

“Did you?”

“Yes. Please hit me once on the back of the head.”

“Didn’t you ask me to treat you accordingly?”

“No. I’ve become a man who can’t live even a day without your blows.”

“…”

Had he gone insane?

I shook my head and lightly tapped him on the forehead.

“Enough nonsense. Get to the point. Why are you here?”

“The thing is, I really did come to keep you company.”

“What?”

When I glared at him, Mujin’s voice grew even smaller.

“I thought you might be feeling pressured since the final is tomorrow…”

“My opponent hasn’t even been decided yet. Don’t you know today is the last day of the semifinals?”

The sun was beginning to set, so Jongni Chu and Cheongpung’s duel would start soon.

The winner would face me in the final, and barring some enormous upset, Cheongpung was certain to win.

Mujin shrugged at my words.

“I know. I stopped by anyway.”

“What a silly guy. Use this time to train, you idiot.”

That was what I said, but something stirred warmly in a corner of my heart. Come to think of it, Mujin had been through a lot while following me around.

Maybe his occasional deranged behavior was because I had destroyed too many of his brain cells by smacking him in the back of the head.

Now that I think about it, I feel bad.

I was resolving to treat him better from now on when Mujin asked,

“Cheongpung will win, right?”

“Of course he will… Wait. How do you know that?”

“Even if no one else does, I need to know. With that ridiculous epithet, Invincible Divine Sword, his name being Kang Pung, and the fact that he used the Zaha Divine Technique in his last duel, how could I not?”

“You’re smarter than I thought.”

“Rumors have been spreading too. Cheongpung isn’t particularly famous, so most people have only figured out that he’s a disciple of Huashan.”

He had a point. The Zaha Divine Technique was distinctive enough for people to deduce that much.

“So Cheongpung is definitely going to win, right?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“It has to be certain. Absolutely!”

What was with that greedy look in his eyes?

The moment I nodded uneasily—

“Waaaaah!”

A roar echoed from not far away.

I picked up White Flame, the spear resting beside me, and rose to my feet.

Cheongpung will advance anyway. That won’t change.

This was clearly a fight between an egg and a rock.

But watching how the egg collided with the rock, and how the rock shattered the egg, would be a great help in the final duel.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you getting up?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Life-Sustaining Sword!”

“I bet one silver nyang³ on you! Pull off the upset!”

“Hahaha! You bet on the Life-Sustaining Sword instead of the Invincible Divine Sword? There’s no bigger sucker!”

Jongni Chu was climbing onto the dueling platform amid blazing torches and peals of boisterous laughter when he suddenly stopped.

It was because of the gazes looking down at him from the seats of honor.

No fewer than three of the Supreme Peak masters known as the Ten Kings were present. He could also see the leaders of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families, as well as Song Ho, the Thousand-Faced Fox, watching quietly from the very back with gleaming eyes.

“Jongni Chu, the Always-Victorious Sword. Take your designated position.”

His pause lasted only an instant. At the judge’s words, Jongni Chu trudged onto the dueling platform and drew his sword without hesitation.

Ssshing!

The sudden action made the surrounding crowd fall silent for an instant, but quiet snickers soon broke out.

The hilt was so caked with dirt that its pattern could not be made out, while the blade was covered in reddish rust.

Martial artists ordinarily cherished their weapons as they did their own lives, but Jongni Chu’s sword looked as though it had never been cleaned once since the day it was forged.

“What the hell is that?”

“I thought something serious was happening. Gave me quite a start.”

“That’s why they call him the Life-Sustaining Sword. What did you expect?”

Ignoring the laughter behind him, Jongni Chu scrutinized the rusty blade and clicked his tongue.

“I can’t use this for now.”

Just then, Cheongpung, who had been enthusiastically waving to the crowd, held out his own sword.

“Want to borrow mine? Ah, would you care to use mine?”

“No. You should use that.”

“I’m fine, though…”

“You’re fine? Then what will you use?”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re friends.”

Cheongpung nodded vigorously, and Jongni Chu let out a genial laugh.

“I appreciate the thought. Mine will be enough.”

“But we’re friends…”

“Listen.”

Sssrk.

The rust-red blade pointed at Cheongpung.

The playfulness in Jongni Chu’s eyes had vanished. Now only torchlight flickered within them.

“I’ve never had a friend like you.”