Chapter 842

The young man woke with a start and blinked.

An unfamiliar ceiling. A strange smell lingering at his nose. And before he could make sense of either, something loomed into view.

“Ugh!”

Wham!

It happened in an instant.

He sat up on instinct, collided with something hard, and fell straight back down.

What was that?

He had no idea.

Not that he cared. It hurt too damn much.

“Urrgh…”

Was this what it felt like to have your face smashed with a rock?

As the young man curled up and groaned, something big and thick flew through his vision, bleached white with pain, and slapped him across the cheek.

Smack.

“Hyukmu. Wake up.”

Smack. Smack.

“Hyukmu. Hyukmu.”

The voice reached him as though from a dream. The young man—Hyuk Mujin—realized who it belonged to.

He also realized that the hard thing he’d struck when he sat up had been that person’s face.

Taishan, you son of a bitch…

No doubt about it. That familiar voice. That inhumanly solid body.

There were plenty of monsters around Hyuk Mujin, but only one who was a monster in the purest sense of the word.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

“Hyukmu, are you all right?”

I’m not all right because of you, you bastard.

Mujin wanted to cry. He’d only blacked out for a moment after the collision, but the lunatic kept slapping him so relentlessly that he couldn’t get up.

“P-please stop…”

“Hyukmuu! Open your eyes!”

Whack!

That one landed squarely. Mujin had barely managed to open his mouth when the blow made him bite his tongue. His body went limp.

As his vision faded, his life flashed before his eyes.

Mother, Father. I’m sorry. You were right.

He should’ve just taken over the family business like a good son from the start.

By now, he could have been the heir to the Hyuk Family Textile Shop, addressed as Young Master and scattering silver nyang¹ in the streets. Instead, mouthing off to Jin Taekyung whenever he got the chance and getting punched until his nose bled had become his daily routine.

And now that bastard Taishan is going to beat me to death.

As his vision dimmed, Mujin wondered whether dying like this would count as an accident or a death in battle.

Just as he thought it was all over, he heard a voice like a bell ringing out his salvation.

“Good heavens, Young Hero Taishan! Stop right now!”

The clear voice rang out suddenly. The hand slapping his cheek stopped at once.

“Huh? Uh…”

Taishan blinked his calf-like eyes at Ju Hwaran, who had appeared out of nowhere.

“Taishan waking Hyukmu. Not doing anything bad.”

“Not Hyukmu. Hyuk. Hyuk is his surname. And what you were doing looked more like putting him to sleep than waking him.”

“That’s unfair. Taishan only wanted to help Hyukmu.”

“I’m sure you did. If Hyuk Mujin regretted his life and asked you to kill him.”

Hwaran sighed quietly and checked Mujin’s condition.

Jin Taekyung had once beaten his face until it swelled to twice its size. Now it was three times its size.

“Young Hero Hyuk. Young Hero Hyuk. Can you hear me… Are you crying?”

Realizing he was going to live, Mujin answered through streaming tears.

“No, Young Lady Ju. A real man doesn’t cry. Sniff…”

“Should I call you Young Lady Hyuk from now on, then?”

“No, I’d rather you didn’t.”

“You sound fine, at least. The physician the Tang Family sent earlier must have treated you well.”

Song Ilseom, standing beside Hwaran as usual, watched them and muttered, “We may need to call that physician back.”

“It’s all right. The ointment he left should be enough. He’ll recover soon.”

Mujin wiped at his tears. “Young Lady Ju, I’m sorry to say this, but I’m not all right.”

“Finish wiping your tears first. Now, where’s that ointment? Young Hero Taishan, did you see the jar beside the bed?”

“Taishan knows. The one in the little porcelain jar?”

“That’s right. Where is it?”

“Taishan ate it. It was pretty tasty.”

“Oh…”

“Young Lady Ju, please call the physician. I think I’m going to die.”

Hwaran tried to decide who was worse: the man who’d eaten the ointment or the man sniveling and making a fuss. Unable to settle on an answer, she opted to get more ointment.

“Captain Song, I’m sorry, but could you bring me some?”

“No need to apologize. It’s just that this falls outside my duties, so there’ll be an additional fee…”

Song Ilseom noticed Ju Hwaran fiddling with the scabbard at her waist. His face stiffened as he continued.

“…but this doesn’t seem like the time for jokes.”

“Was that a joke?”

“Probably. No, definitely.”

“You’re still here.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Song hurried out. He returned with the ointment before more than a few moments had passed, accompanied by two people who hadn’t been there earlier.

“I brought extra in case that idiot eats it again. Is this enough?”

“I heard Taishan caused more trouble while I was gone. I apologize.”

After Song Ilseom, who was judging the amount of ointment, came Sama Pyo, apologizing. Then Namho asked with an expectant look:

“Just asking, but does the Fire Dragon Pavilion have a rule for offenses like this? Dismemberment into five pieces, perhaps…”

As all three said whatever was on their minds, Hwaran reached for her scabbard again. It had become a habit.

It had started after the Chief Escort she’d trusted like family nearly let the Zhongnan Sect take the Yongbong Escort Bureau, and after everything she’d endured in Nanman.

Hold it together, Hwaran. Just a little longer.

She wanted to draw her sword and go on a mad rampage. Instead, she took a deep breath, gathered the last of her patience, and answered them in turn.

“That’s plenty of ointment. Young Hero Sama, don’t leave in the first place. Taishan would probably cause some other trouble even with you here, but at least he wouldn’t eat the ointment or knock Hyuk Mujin unconscious again. And Old Master Namho.”

“Yes?”

“If you want to deal with Taishan so badly, do it yourself. We’re at the Sichuan Tang Clan. See if you can find some poison.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“What? Does anyone else have something to say?”

Her icy voice made everyone in the room shut their mouths and shake their heads.

Even Taishan, one of the most oblivious men alive, and Mujin, who had been moaning in pain, fell silent. They traded glances with the others.

Young Lady Ju has changed a lot. She’s had a hard time lately, but I didn’t think it was this bad. That man’s supposed to be her escort. Doesn’t he know anything?

Why is that unorthodox bastard staring at me? Does he want a real fight this time?

Good heavens. I thought I’d gained a sweet little granddaughter in my old age. How did she turn out like this? Then again, dismemberment was a bit much. I should look for poison, as she suggested.

Taishan wants more ointment. It was a nice little treat.

These damn people don’t care that I’m hurt at all. And what does she mean, the Sichuan Tang Clan? What the hell happened?

Not a single thought got through to anyone else, but everyone except Hwaran reached the same unspoken agreement: they would keep their mouths shut until she calmed down.

It wasn’t until Ju Hwaran’s stiff face softened that Hyuk Mujin, who’d been furtively checking the others’ expressions while applying ointment himself, was able to hear what had happened.

“What? It’s been two days?”

Hwaran nodded. “Exactly two days.”

“Then this really is…”

“As I told you, we’re at the Sichuan Tang Clan. More precisely, in the Medical Hall of its Outer Court.”

Mujin could only blink.

He’d closed his eyes for what felt like a short, deep sleep. Now two days had passed, and he’d woken in the Sichuan Tang Clan’s Medical Hall.

“What on earth happened?”

“Young Hero Hyuk, you don’t remember?”

“No. I only remember what the Captain and the Huang tribe member were saying at the river landing. After that, there was a flash before my eyes.”

Song Ilseom, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, muttered, “You remember it exactly.”

“What? That’s it?”

“Yes. None of us got a clear look at what happened.”

Sama Pyo nodded without thinking, then added, “The punch was unbelievably fast. I’ve never seen one like it. Something blurred, there was a sound like a drum bursting, and you fell. That was all.”

“Lord is wrong. That’s not all. Taishan saw everything. From start to finish.”

Taishan cut in, shuddering.

“Pavilion Master beat Hyukmu. Beat him a lot. Beat the fucking hell out of him.”

“……”

“Hyukmu was already down. Pavilion Master stomped on him. Stomped and stomped, like mincing meat. Ah, Taishan wants meat.”

“……”

“Oh, Pavilion Master tried to stomp on his pepper too, but people stopped him. Taishan helped stop him. No one should do that. Ah, Taishan wants Sichuan-style five-spice pork with lots of pepper.”

From a corner of the Medical Hall, where he sat puffing on his long-stemmed tobacco pipe, Namho groaned.

“Fuck’s sake. I told you we should dismember him into five pieces.”

“Taishan doesn’t know what that means. Namho know?”

“Of course I do. You tie bastards like a certain someone to oxen or horses, then pull their arms and legs right off—”

“Oh! Taishan gets the leg meat!”

Crack.

Namho snapped his pipe and charged at Taishan with a roar like a wild beast. Sama Pyo caught him and held him back as he struggled.

Hwaran sighed. “Anyway, that’s what happened. That part of you is safe, so you don’t need to check it now.”

Mujin had seized on the commotion to make a frantic check of his most important parts. He answered weakly, “That’s a relief. Where’s the Captain?”

“With Great Hero Jeok.”

“What? For the whole two days?”

“Yes. They seem to have a lot to talk about. I don’t know exactly what.”

“But they were together not long ago. What could take two days to talk about?”

“They haven’t told us, so we can only guess. I heard the Divine Physician is making a pill for the Pavilion Master. Perhaps it isn’t just talk. They may be preparing to help him recover.”

Hwaran’s guess sounded reasonable enough. Mujin nodded.

“True. It’s not as if he’s come back from some faraway land. How much could they possibly have to talk about? Don’t you all agree?”

When you come back from a faraway land, you have plenty to talk about.

Especially when all sorts of unimaginable things have been happening there.

After I’d told Jeok Cheongang my endless story, he stayed silent for a long while. Then he summed up his thoughts in a single, short, blunt remark.

“We’re fucked.”