Chapter 531

“You. Move.”

“No. I don’t want to.”

“…Huh?”

He clearly hadn’t expected that answer.

The giant’s eyes, each as large as a child’s fist, rolled around as he stammered.

“Y-You don’t want to?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to. I’m not moving.”

“That’s s-strange. Everyone moved until now.”

What kind of character was this?

Did he forget to put any points into intelligence, too?

He was so huge I wondered if he had a Troll among his ancestors, but he talked and acted like a kindergartner.

I scratched my chin as I watched him fidget.

There’s always a new kind of weirdo.

I thought I’d grown used to strange people after meeting so many in Murim, but I’d never met anyone quite like him. Still, settling this commotion came before satisfying my curiosity.

“Come on. Back away slowly.”

“Back away?”

“Yeah.”

I wasn’t trying to play the hero. It wasn’t as though I had some great sense of duty, either.

But we were in the middle of a main street in Henan. If the fight continued, civilians could get caught in it.

“I don’t know what happened, but let’s stop here. All right?”

I kept my voice gentle and glanced at Gung Gibang.

Quick to catch on, Gung Gibang understood what I meant and began evacuating the civilians who had been unable to escape and were still sitting on the ground.

The giant watched them go, his large eyes darting from side to side.

“That guy. Insulted me.”

A finger as thick as a stick pointed toward Hwangbo Ak, who was bent over and coughing weakly.

“He insulted you?”

“Rootless practitioner of demonic, heterodox arts. Pig as stupid as they come. What are you going to do if you glare at me?”

“Ah.”

“My lord said to think three times before fighting. So I thought three times and fought. He drew his sword first, too.”

That gave me a fair idea of what had happened. His words were short and disjointed, but they were enough.

Hwangbo Ak was the Lesser Family Head of the Hwangbo Family, which held sway over Shandong. It wasn’t hard to imagine a Murim golden spoon¹ talented enough to join the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes picking a fight with a martial artist he considered demonic and heterodox. Gung Gibang had called Hwangbo Ak a pain in the ass before, too.

So this guy’s from the unorthodox faction.

No wonder the aura coming off him had felt unusual.

Aside from some Third Rate dark-path figures, I had never met a proper martial artist who practiced demonic, heterodox arts. I had to forcibly suppress the curiosity that suddenly rose inside me.

A thought had just crossed my mind.

“Did you lay a hand on anyone else?”

“Someone else?”

“Yeah. There must have been… other people with him.”

My heart gave a small thump. Ju Hwaran’s three-syllable name hovered on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

The giant tilted his head and blinked.

“There were. Two men. One was strong, and one was weak. And…”

“And?”

“A pretty woman. A very pretty woman.”

“Damn. You’ve got a good eye.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Did you fight them, too?”

“No. I only hit that guy. The pretty woman. She was as kind as she was beautiful.”

She was safe.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief and patted the giant on the shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. Good job. What a good little boy.”

“Good job? I’m good?”

“Of course you are. So let’s make up now. Got it?”

“Hmm. Hmmmm.”

I’d almost won him over.

When I heard he was from the unorthodox faction, I’d wondered if I should just knock him down. Apparently, coaxing him like a kindergartner in the Sunshine Class would do.

Just as his eyes began rolling with the effort of thinking it over, an angry shout rang out behind me.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I turned. Hwangbo Ak had straightened up and was glaring at us, his eyes blazing.

“Blazing Flame Divine Dragon! Are my ears deceiving me? You’re taking the side of a demonic, heterodox practitioner!”

We’d never met, but apparently he knew me. Neither of us had time for introductions anyway, so that was convenient.

I calmly gestured toward Hwangbo Ak.

“You’re up. Come over here and make up with him.”

“M-Make up?”

“From what I’ve heard, he had his reasons. Let’s not cause any more trouble. Be a man, shake hands, and call it done. No hard feelings.”

Hwangbo Ak’s eyes went wide, like someone who’d picked Yasuo² and immediately been hit with an insult about his family.

“How can you do this?”

“I can do it just fine. Come over while I’m asking nicely.”

“A fellow orthodox martial artist has been harmed by a practitioner of demonic, heterodox arts. How can you take the side of that vile unorthodox whelp?”

“What does it matter whether he’s unorthodox or orthodox? We’re all one family in the Murim Alliance. Haven’t you heard the song? We are all friends. That’s right, that’s right.”

“What song are you talking about? And one family? Have you forgotten what those demonic, heterodox bastards did during the Great Faction War?”

“Forgot? I wasn’t even there. Were you in the Great Faction War? You look younger than I thought.”

“Enough nonsense. Move! This Young Master will make that bastard kneel and apologize!”

Whoosh.

A warm breeze suddenly blew over my head. It was the breath of the giant, who stood a head—no, two heads—taller than me.

“Kneel? You. Me?”

Hwangbo Ak flinched for a moment, then gritted his teeth.

“Fine. You pushed me back earlier with a despicable surprise attack, but I’ll make you regret provoking this Young Master even after death!”

“This won’t do. You. I kill.”

The giant’s eyes went cold.

Fwoosh—whoosh!

A piercing sound tore into my ears.

Hwangbo Ak shot forward like a ray of light, his body twisting fiercely. His leg whipped out, sheathed in visible internal energy.

A kicking technique?

For generations, the Hwangbo Family had produced masters of punches and kicks. This had to be one of the secret martial arts that had made them the rulers of Shandong.

But…

“You! I kill!”

He’d picked the wrong opponent.

The giant’s martial prowess was certainly no less than Hwangbo Ak’s. He might even have been a move or two ahead.

A massive two-section staff, well suited to his frame, had appeared in his hands.

Whoosh!

Fast and powerful.

The staff swept forward as if crushing the space in its path. I could feel the giant’s tremendous strength and speed behind it.

I watched until the last possible moment, then quietly extended both arms.

Boom!

A deafening crash sent a wave of qi surging outward. Materials, dust, and dirt scattered across the street were driven beyond a three-zhang³ radius. People gasped.

In the middle of it all, two pairs of eyes trembled.

How?

The question was plain in the giant’s eyes and Hwangbo Ak’s. They stared in shock at the staff and leg caught in my hands.

One movement had stopped both attacks—and the fight.

“Th-This…”

“Strong! You, strong!”

I met their wavering gazes and spoke slowly.

“Now, let’s make up.”

Ah. I’d forgotten to add something.

“Unless you want me to beat you to death.”

“…!”

“…!”

Kind words could get you far. Kind words and a fist could get you farther.

The giant stared at me blankly for a moment before stammering, “I-I will make up. I’m good.”

“Yeah, you’re good. Now, who wants to be a bad little boy?”

My gaze turned to Hwangbo Ak. He pressed his lips together.

“Blazing Flame Divine Dragon, are you really planning to—”

“Oh! More information just came in! Every bad little boy I’ve met so far got beaten nearly to death by me and turned good!”

“…Come to think of it, I suppose I was at fault too.”

“Good. Then we’re settled.”

Only then did I release the two-section staff and the ankle I’d been gripping.

The giant kept stealing bewildered glances at me. Hwangbo Ak trembled with humiliation, but he didn’t dare resume the fight. He only glared at me with anger and fear in his eyes, his lips moving soundlessly.

“Blazing Flame Divine Dragon. Can you still call yourself orthodox after this?”

“Wow. That’s exactly what I was about to ask you.”

“I see. You must be acting this way because you don’t know who this Young Master is…”

“Hwangbo Ak. Twenty-nine years old. Lesser Family Head of the Hwangbo Family. Sobriquet: Shandong Fist Dragon.”

“…!”

“Oh, and you recently had a wet dream.”

“I did not!”

“Then forget I said it.”

Hwangbo Ak’s clenched fist trembled.

“You know who I am, and you still humiliate me like this?”

“A fucking idiot has no gender, age, or orthodox or unorthodox faction. That’s my view, and you’re proving it right.”

If I’d left him to fight, the giant would have beaten the soul out of him. I’d stepped in before things got worse, and now I had to listen to this nonsense.

So why am I not angry?

After a moment, I realized why.

He was an even bigger idiot than I’d expected. And he was too insignificant to get worked up over.

An insect.

That was all Hwangbo Ak was to me. An ant that would die if I flicked it with a finger. A mosquito that a careless wave of my hand would leave half-dead.

I’d spent so long among giants that I’d become one myself. I felt like Gulliver arriving in Lilliput.

Hwangbo Ak was no exception. Even his status as the Hwangbo Family’s Lesser Family Head and one of the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes meant little to me.

Just a Lilliputian who’s a little bigger than the others.

That was how Gulliver—how I—saw him. Maybe some of it showed in my eyes.

Hwangbo Ak’s face darkened with rage.

“Y-You…”

“Want some advice?”

“What?”

“Know where you stand before you pick a fight.”

“You bastard!”

He shouted, but I didn’t blink. He needed to carve my next words into his bones.

“The Roaring Fury Swordsman. The Taeeul Merciless Sword. You’ve heard those names plenty, haven’t you? Though maybe not so much lately. They’re both busy recovering.”

“…!”

“If you don’t want the Shandong Fist Dragon added to that list, don’t try anything funny. That’s your first and last warning.”

Whoosh.

I focused my aura on him alone. Hwangbo Ak sucked in a breath.

He must have heard what had happened to the Zhongnan Sect Leader’s two Senior Brothers. And now he’d been reminded that Murim ran on two things: a just cause and the law of strength.

Tap.

I patted his trembling shoulder and smiled.

“You look like you’re having a hard time. I’ll explain things to the others, so go home.”

“B-But…”

“Go.”

All Hwangbo Ak could do was grit his teeth and leave.

When his back, looking unusually small, had receded into the distance, a voice reached my ears.

“Sir Jin!”

I hadn’t heard it in a long time, which made it all the more welcome.