Chapter 625

People have something called an aura.

Some people’s auras are so faint and hazy they can barely be felt. Others are powerful and rough as waves, overwhelming anyone who faces them.

The Beast Miao King, Yayul Cheok, belonged to the latter sort.

Whoosh.

Yayul Cheok slowly rose to his feet, like a mountain beginning to move.

Though he was well over eighty, the muscles covering his body were as solid as armor. He walked without hesitation, his half-gray beard billowing like a lion’s mane.

Thud. Thud.

Everyone could see him now as he came down the vine-covered steps, trampling them beneath his bare feet.

Yayul Mok and his guards immediately dismounted and dropped to one knee. It was their way of showing respect to the lord of the Nanman Beast Palace.

“Greetings, Palace Lord.”

The Beast Miao King stared intently at Yayul Mok.

“You ran off again without a word.”

“There was a fire in the northeastern pasture. I happened to be nearby…”

“Did you put it out?”

“Yes.”

“And the culprit?”

The question was clearly for Yayul Mok, but the Beast Miao King was looking at me.

I met the fierce light in his tiger-like eyes and stepped forward.

“‘Culprit’ would be putting it a bit strongly. There was a little mistake.”

“It has been a long time since I’ve seen Han Chinese. Are you the culprit who started the fire?”

Before I could answer, he went on in a growling voice.

“Think carefully before you answer. Nanman’s laws are not merciful.”

I thought for a moment. “What’s the punishment for something like this?”

“That depends on the damage. In serious cases, the offender is fed to wild beasts. Or thrown into a pit full of venomous beasts.”

“What about minor cases?”

“Hanged from a vine.”

“That’s minor?”

“Of course. The body remains intact.”

“Ah.”

I nodded, stepped casually aside, and introduced someone.

“Ta-da. He’s the culprit, actually.”

An ordinary person might have panicked, but a Hidden Shadow Pavilion agent with fifty years of experience was made of sterner stuff. Namho spoke calmly.

“Are you fucking insane?”

“I’m not wrong, am I?”

“You fucking bastard…”

Namho was about to launch into a full stream of abuse when the Beast Miao King cut in, his voice rough.

“So you mean to abandon your companion to save your own skin.”

“Hmm. I think you’ve misunderstood. I never said I was abandoning him.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“I’m just getting the facts—no, setting the record straight. We haven’t known each other long, but he’s a good man. And there’s the Murim Alliance’s reputation to consider.”

I had brought up the Murim Alliance deliberately. He could have let the matter drop there, but the fierce light in his eyes did not dim.

“Once you enter Nanman, you follow Nanman’s laws. What if one of you must take responsibility?”

“If you insist…”

I scratched the back of my head.

“Wouldn’t we have to stop that somehow?”

At that moment—

Whoom!

The air around us vanished.

Before the short, heavy sound of air splitting could even be heard, a single punch shot toward me. It carried enough force to resemble a battering ram, and I crossed both arms in front of myself.

Boom!

A deafening roar rang out as though the sky itself had split open, and the shock wave from the collision swept in every direction.

The tremendous force drove me back a full ten feet.¹ I sighed.

“Will that do?”

The Beast Miao King asked, his eyes emitting a glacial light.

“What do you mean?”

“Our first greeting.”

“What?”

“Before coming to Nanman, someone told me something. The Beast Miao King may look ignorant and reckless, but he’s actually warmhearted and loves playing pranks. So take him in stride and get along with him.”

“……!”

“……!”

The Fire Dragon Pavilion members’ reaction—standing there with their mouths hanging open—was nothing compared to what came next.

Yayul Mok, the Young Palace Lord, and his guards stared at me in shock before reaching for their weapons at lightning speed.

But before they could act, the Beast Miao King, whose lips had been twitching at my words, burst into laughter.

“Ha ha ha ha! Old Master Jeok hasn’t changed a bit.”

I rubbed my stinging forearms. “He’s as hale as ever.”

“I heard he’d taken a Disciple, but I didn’t expect to meet you so soon.”

He looked me over with fresh interest, then grinned.

“Good to meet you. This old man is Yayul Cheok.”

With anyone else, things might have been different. But before he was lord of the Nanman Beast Palace, he was someone Jeok Cheongang knew.

I clasped my hands respectfully toward the Beast Miao King.

“Jin Taekyung, nineteenth successor of the Fire Gate Clan, pays his respects to Great Hero Yayul Cheok, the Beast Miao King.”

“Good! Ha ha ha!”

He laughed again, rough and hearty, then spoke with unmistakable warmth.

“We have much to discuss. Follow me.”

Everyone stared after him as he strode away, then turned to me. Their faces all asked the same question.

I shrugged. “He’s pretty close with my master.”

As expected, life was all about school ties, regional ties, and blood ties.

The Beast Miao King looked happy. No, he definitely was happy.

Jeok Cheongang had told me he was usually cheerful, but as he sat in the Nanman Beast Palace’s main hall telling old stories, he looked like an oversized child.

“I remember the day I first met Old Master Jeok. He took one look at me and hit me with a Flame Divine Palm.”

“……According to the Old Master—no, according to my master—he didn’t actually let it fly. He said he only almost did.”

“No, he definitely hit me. It knocked the breath out of me and scared the shit out of me.”

The Sect Leaders and Family Heads of the great factions I’d met so far generally maintained some dignity. The Beast Miao King walked around in nothing but tiger-skin pants and didn’t give a damn about dignity.

As proof, he showed me the mark of the Flame Divine Palm stamped into his side and added casually,

“Quite a first meeting. I shit blood twice, went back to see him, and he poured me a drink to disinfect the wound. What a hearty man.”

“…Ah. Right.”

I wondered whether hearty meant what I thought it did. But if the man who’d been hit was fine with it, what could I say?

Besides, criticizing Jeok Cheongang would be like spitting in my own face.

“I regretted not seeing Old Master Jeok after the Great Faction War ended. Meeting his Disciple like this is a pleasure. Do you drink?”

“Of course I do, but I can’t right now.”

“Why not?”

“Something’s more urgent than a drink.”

If the world had been at peace, I would gladly have made a night of it. I would have toasted the Beast Miao King, shouted, “Yayul Cheok’s favorite—random games!” and gotten all the people of other ethnicities completely wasted on drinking games.

But not now.

“This time, I didn’t come as my master’s Disciple. I came as the Pavilion Master of the Murim Alliance.”

The smile on the Beast Miao King’s lips faded a little.

“Because of Dark Heaven?”

“So you know about them.”

“I received a messenger eagle concerning it. Since we’re tens of thousands of li² from the Central Plains, the message arrived late. But it’s not as though I know nothing about the situation in the Central Plains.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, when did you receive it?”

“Let me think. More than a month ago now, I believe.”

Considering the distance between Henan and Nanman, as well as the timing, the letter must have been sent before the formation of the Murim Alliance, an event called the Mount Song Resolution.

As many sects as possible had needed to attend the Mount Song Resolution, and Chief of the Hidden Shadow Pavilion Thousand-Faced Fox was not the kind of person who would send a letter without taking even that into account.

Which meant…

“The Nanman Beast Palace refused to join the alliance.”

There had been time to send a reply, or to bring some of the people of Nanman to Mount Song. But the fact that the Nanman Beast Palace had sent no response to the Murim Alliance could only be interpreted as a polite refusal.

The Beast Miao King remained silent for a moment before abruptly opening his mouth.

“It was not an outright refusal. We simply haven’t reached a decision.”

“But surely, Palace Lord, that decision is yours to—”

He raised a hand, cutting me off. Stroking his mane-like beard, he spoke again.

“Old Master Jeok’s Disciple. No, Jin Taekyung, was it?”

“Yes.”

“I have a question for those you brought with you. Do you know who I am?”

The group hesitated. Hyuk Mujin was the first to meet his gaze, and he swallowed hard before answering.

“You’re Great Hero Yayul Cheok, the Beast Miao King. A Supreme Peak master and one of the Ten Kings.”

“Correct. The woman beside you. Yes, you.”

Ju Hwaran answered at once. “As everyone knows, you’re the Palace Lord of the Nanman Beast Palace.”

“That is also correct. But it is not the answer I want. This time, you beside her—tell me.”

Before anyone could stop him, Taishan blinked his enormous eyes.

“Taishan. Hungry.”

You bastard, Taishan. You answering-machine bastard. You fucking bastard…

The answer was so far from anything I’d expected that even the Beast Miao King looked taken aback.

“Who is he?”

I thought for a moment, then answered honestly. “I’m not really sure anymore.”

“What a strange fellow. Then let the old man beside him answer.”

Namho, who had been firing a rapid stream of profanity at Taishan in a low voice, opened his mouth.

“You are the Great Chieftain who leads the Miao people.”

“Yes.”

The Beast Miao King nodded.

“I am the Great Chieftain who represents countless Miao people. I gathered them under one banner and became the Palace Lord of the Nanman Beast Palace with the support of the other tribal chiefs. Mok, do you know how many tribes exist in our land?”

Yayul Mok, who had been standing quietly at attention, answered.

“If we include all of Nanman, there are thirty-two tribes, including four great tribes such as the Miao people.”

“Yes. That is the Nanman Beast Palace.”

I understood what the Beast Miao King was getting at. So did everyone else in the hall.

Except Taishan, of course.

“Are you saying…”

“Before I am Palace Lord, I am the Great Chieftain of the Miao people. And the Palace Lord of the Nanman Beast Palace is not a king.”

He couldn’t make every decision alone.

The Nanman Beast Palace was certainly like a separate kingdom, cut off from the Central Plains. But that kingdom was made up of an alliance of large and small tribes.

Why tell us so openly, though?

Are the other tribes opposed, while the Beast Miao King himself is considering agreeing to join the alliance?

I was about to ask when a quiet voice came from beyond the firmly shut doors of the main hall.

“Palace Lord, may I speak with you for a moment?”