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 smashed apart 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 every time, apparently not.

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

Regardless, he’s interesting.

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

His Muscles and Bones were seemingly 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 keep a close eye on him.

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

And there were eyes following his back.

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…

They all had ordinary faces one could see anywhere.

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

—Pavilion Master, your orders.

—Two and Three will follow him. Keep watch from a hundred zhang away.

—We might lose track of him.

—I know. But this is the 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, and no answer came back. The ordinary-looking faces continued walking casually until they disappeared into the crowd.

Meanwhile, a middle-aged beggar who had been sitting on the street begging for alms continued bowing low as people tossed him small change. After a while, he got to his feet.

The transformation began in a deserted alley.

Crack. Sssrk.

His hunched shoulders straightened, and his twisted spine became perfectly erect. Then his facial muscles began to quiver as if kneaded by invisible hands.

Before he had walked 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 he could identify a person by the smallest habits or the structure of their bones. Even if someone used disguise arts, they could not escape his eyes.

But there was one exception: Jongni Chu.

I’ve definitely crossed paths with that bastard before.

But when? And where?

Song Ho had been sunk deep in thought as he recalled Jongni Chu’s face when pain shot through his leg and brought him to a halt.

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

It was a truly old injury.

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

He had barely survived after countless twists and turns, but the memory of that day was etched deep in his mind like a brand.

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

Thousand-Faced Fox Song Ho. You’re quite a large fox, aren’t you? Shall I start by tearing off a leg?

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

It was a past that no longer left even a trace. He needed to focus on the present, whose substance was far more tangible.

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 peace 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 ordinary frame.

But the moment he drew his sword, everything changed.

Whoosh!

Even if it could not be seen, I could see it. Even if it could not be heard, I could hear it.

Violet Sword Energy shot out, flawlessly covering all thirty-six directions.

It was as fast as a ray of light and as soft 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 into my mind before disappearing again.

Cheongpung was an opponent I had to face with everything I had. In the end, there was only one answer. It was just as I gripped the cool shaft of my spear after a brief moment of thought.

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.”

“Company?”

“Yes. Isn’t that thoughtful of me?”

“Thoughtful?”

With a deep sigh, I pulled off one of the chair legs.

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

“W-Why are you doing this?”

“Did Cheongpung send you to interfere with 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. Are you talking 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 bewilderment. In the past, he would have quickly covered his head, but after flinching for an instant, he thrust out his chest.

“What are you doing?”

“Since we’re on the subject, 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?”¹

“I don’t really know what the four mandatory insurances or workers’ comp are. But if you keep doing this, I’m just going to quit everything and take over the textile shop.”

After thinking it over, I nodded.

“Go ahead, then.”

“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 fixed him with a hard stare, Mujin’s voice shrank even further.

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

“The 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 be my opponent in the final, and barring some massive upset, Cheongpung’s victory was certain.

Mujin shrugged at my words.

“I know. I just stopped by.”

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

That was what I said, but a corner of my heart felt strangely warm. Come to think of it, that Mujin had gone through a lot while following me around.

Maybe his occasional deranged behavior was because my repeated smashes to the back of his head had destroyed too many of his brain cells.

Now that I think about it, I feel bad.

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

“Young Hero 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 here and there. Cheongpung isn’t well known, so most people only know him as a disciple of Huashan, though.”

He had a point. The Zaha Divine Technique was distinctive enough that anyone could make that much of an educated guess.

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

“Isn’t that 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 the spear resting beside me, White Flame, and got to my feet.

Cheongpung is the one who’ll be advancing anyway. That fact won’t change.

This was an obvious battle 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 nyang on you! Turn this around!”

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

Amid the blazing torches and the boisterous laughter, Jongni Chu was climbing onto the dueling platform when he suddenly stopped.

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

There were no fewer than three Supreme Peak masters known as the Ten Kings. He could also see the heads of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families, as well as Song Ho, the Thousand-Faced Fox, quietly watching from the very back with a glint in his eyes.

“Jongni Chu, the Always-Victorious Sword. Stand in the designated position.”

His pause had lasted only a moment. At the judge’s words, Jongni Chu climbed onto the dueling platform with dragging footsteps 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 clogged with dirt that its design could not even be made out, and the blade was covered in reddish rust.

A martial artist normally cherished their weapon like their own life, but Jongni Chu’s sword looked as though it had never received so much as a cleaning since the day it had been made.

“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 excitedly waving at the crowd, held out his own sword.

“Want to borrow mine? No, would you like to use it?”

“No. You should use that.”

“I’m fine, though…”

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

“It doesn’t matter. We’re friends.”

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

“I appreciate the thought. Mine is good enough.”

“But we’re friends…”

“Listen.”

Sssrk.

The rust-red blade pointed at Cheongpung.

The torchlight flickering in Jongni Chu’s eyes had replaced the playfulness that had been there only moments before.

“I’ve never had a friend like you.”