Chapter 50
So Yeon-Hwa turned her head toward the source of the voice. A handsome man with lily-white skin and distinctive features was smiling at her. It was quite a cheesy demeanor, but he was very handsome. To be honest, the man was superior to Baek Mu-Gun in appearance alone.
However, Yeon-Hwa wasn’t impressed by him at all. She also didn’t like the way he was looking at her for some reason.
“No, I have company, so don’t bother and go your way please.”
“Ah! You don’t have to worry about your friend. It seems like he had an urgent matter to attend to and left first.” The man shrugged and said.
Yeon-Hwa frowned. Mu-Gun obviously wouldn’t have left first. She was na?ve, but she wasn’t a fool. The man’s words were proof that he would play some tricks to prevent Mu-Gun from coming back.
“I can basically guess what’s going on, but you’re making a very big mistake right now.”
“I don’t understand what you mean. Why don’t you drink with me instead of paying attention to someone so irrelevant?” The man kept flirting with her instead of heeding her warning.
“How do I address you?”
“I’m Yang So-Chu, the young leader of Shaoxing’s Black Sword Gang.” Yang So-Chu assumed a haughty attitude and introduced himself.
The Black Sword Gang was a notorious and quite powerful sect that had been spreading its influence in the Shaoxing area. Even Hangzhou’s Byeok Sword Manor, which was said to possess the largest force within the Zhejiang Martial Alliance, couldn’t easily mess with them. Hence, it was understandable for So-Chu to put on airs.
Nevertheless, it only made him look pathetic in Yeon-Hwa’s eyes.
“Young Master Yang, I’m letting you know ahead of time, but your actions may threaten the Black Sword Gang’s existence. It’ll be for your own good to stop playing tricks now and go your way. You’d also better not mess with my friend or you’ll regret it later.”
“Hearing you say that even after learning that I’m from the Black Sword Gang makes me think you’re a person of great stature. However, I don’t know about other places, but we’re the law here in Shaoxing. No one has ever come out unscathed after going against our will. It’ll do you well not to make such a laughable threat.”
So-Chu snorted at Yeon-Hwa’s warning.
“Do you think that’s really the case?”
At that moment, along with a blast, two men were shoved through the door leading to the inn’s lavatory and were slammed into the ground. Then, through the broken door, Mu-Gun walked out while bending his fists. After he was done with his business in the lavatory, Mu-Gun tried to come out, but five men stood in his way. They also threatened to break his arms and legs if he didn’t leave the inn right away.
Of course, Mu-Gun ignored their threats. He returned their words back to them—saying that he would break all their limbs. He then entered the room and saw So-Chu standing opposite Yeon-Hwa. Since Mu-Gun had already experienced all sorts of things, he swiftly got the gist of the situation. These people were attracted by Yeon-Hwa’s beauty. Since they had some influence in this area, they decided to play some tricks.
They wanted to remove Mu-Gun from the equation so they could seduce Yeon-Hwa.
“Since we’re in Shaoxing, I suppose you’re from the Black Sword Gang?” Mu-Gun asked, recalling the notorious sect that was in control of Shaoxing.
It would’ve been hard to come off this blatantly if they weren’t from a force powerful enough.
“Ah, you’re such a nuisance. It’d be nice if you just disappeared while we were still kind enough for talks. We’ll have to beat you up now and bring you back to your senses. Get rid of that bastard immediately,” So-Chu ordered, sounding irritated. He then told Yeon-Hwa, “You're a rare beauty, so I tried to be gentle, but I guess it’s all gone to shit. I’ll do it my way from now onward.”
So-Chu reached out to Yeon-Hwa as soon as he finished speaking to subdue her and force her to drink. He used violence without hesitation even though there were a lot of people watching, showing he wasn’t worried about the consequences at all. What he said about the Black Sword Gang being the law in Shaoxing seemed to be true.
Yeon-Hwa extended her hand toward So-Chu’s, which had firmly grabbed her shoulder. She moved later than So-Chu, but she flicked his hand off to the side before he could react and grabbed him by the shoulder.
“Kuhkk! This bitch!”
So-Chu groaned from the pain, which made him feel as if his shoulder was about to break, and swung his fist.
“Hmph!”
Baffled, Yeon-Hwa sneered and swung the arm that had grabbed his shoulder to the side, dragging So-Chu’s sturdy body and throwing him to the floor of the inn. Meanwhile, Mu-Gun flicked his finger at the two men approaching him, firing one Vajra Exorcism Finger after another and piercing their knees with it. They knelt down before they could evade.
“Kuarckkkkkk!”
The two men rolled on the floor, screaming and agonizing over the pain of their kneecaps being crushed.
Mu-Gun looked in Yeon-Hwa’s direction. Considering her martial arts, there was nothing to worry about. However, she had been drinking, so their timing couldn’t be any worse. His worries soon proved useless, though. Yeon-Hwa was still sitting where she last was, and So-Chu had been slammed onto the floor in an unsightly manner.
“Kuhkk, I was taking it easy on you since I thought you were just an ordinary woman!” So-Chu jumped up and shouted. His face was flushed in anger.
Being thrown down by a woman in front of so many people made him feel ashamed. He pulled out the sword mounted on his waist and attacked Yeon-Hwa. Intoxicating her wasn’t the priority now. He couldn’t let her go after humiliating him in public. He fiercely thrust his saber toward her shoulder.
In response, Yeon-Hwa kicked the floor while still seated. Her chair scratched against the floor as she slid backward, and So-Chu’s saber cut through the empty air.
After evading So-Chu’s attack, Yeon-Hwa got up from her chair and used it as a weapon.
“You better be prepared,” Yeon-Hwa spoke coldly and rushed toward So-Chu.
So-Chu swung his saber at the woman running at him, releasing a powerful saber force toward her. Without batting an eye, Yeon-Hwa invoked the Chaotic White Flower’s Shadow Movement Art to avoid the saber force and swung the chair at So-Chu’s leg.
Along with a blunt sound, So-Chu was blown off the floor and got blasted away. Yeon-Hwa then lifted the chair up and struck it straight toward So-Chu’s abdomen. Imbued with internal energy, the attack mercilessly hit So-Chu on the floor.
“Kuhkk!” So-Chu groaned at the pain. It was as if his back had been shattered.
However, Yeon-Hwa wasn’t done just yet. She continuously hit So-Chu with the chair, causing him to feel as if every bone in his body had been shattered. Yeon-Hwa smashed the chair onto his shoulder, body, and leg without hesitation. So-Chu rolled on the floor to avoid it while uttering a cry of pain. However, she couldn’t escape Yeon-Hwa’s reach.
Yeon-Hwa imbued the chair with internal energy and inflicted agonizing pain on So-Chu while making sure not to deal any fatal damage to his bones and organs.
“La—Lady! Sto—! Please stop! It’s all my fault. I’ll never do this again. Please forgive me just once.” So-Chu begged profusely, unable to stand the pain.
Above keeping his honor or face, he had to ensure he survived first.
“This is why it would’ve been great if you had just listened to me from the beginning.” Yeon-Hwa sighed as she stopped swinging the chair.
“I was foolish. Please let things slide just this once.”
“I honestly doubt you’ll have a change of heart, but I’ll give you a chance. However, if you continue to do something as nasty as what you did to me, you will definitely receive your due punishment. Keep that in mind.”
“Of course, I’ll take that to heart.”
“Go your way then,” Yeon-Hwa’s responded.
So-Chu quickly tried to get up. However, being beaten with a chair rendered him unable to exert strength properly. He kept trying to get up only to fall down again. After a while, he finally managed to stand up, albeit barely. He then tried to leave the inn in a hurry.
“You shouldn’t leave alone. Take your fallen men with you,” Yeon-Hwa added.
So-Chu clenched his teeth and moved his subordinates out of the inn one by one since they couldn’t get up properly due to their shattered limbs. After moving his last subordinate, he left the inn without looking back.
Mu-Gun and Yeon-Hwa sat back down again.
“I think it’s better to stop drinking,” Mu-Gun said.
“Is it because of the Black Sword Gang?”
“Yeah. I’ve met a lot of people like Yang So-Chu, but they’ll never let things end like this.”
“Will he act impulsively again even after realizing what we’re capable of?”
“Most likely. People like Yang So-Chu only see what they want to see. I’m sure he thinks that he can win against us with numbers.”
“So he’s going to come back with the Black Sword Gang’s outlaws?”
“Probably.”
“I’m sorry. I got you caught up in this.”
“How is this your fault? It’s that bastard Yang So-Chu’s fault.”
“It wouldn’t have happened if not for me, though.”
“It’s fine. This is an everyday occurrence in murim, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“You sound like you have a lot of experience in murim.”
“Must I live through it to know? I know a bit about murim here and there. Let’s just clean up and go.”
They couldn’t keep drinking since they didn’t know how So-Chu would react. Hence, they cleaned up their drinking session and went back to the guest room. There was only one bed in the guest room, which meant one of them had to sleep on the floor.
“You use the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Mu-Gun yielded the bed to Yeon-Hwa.
“No, I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Women shouldn’t sleep in cold places. Don’t talk nonsense and sleep on the bed.”
Mu-Gun’s firm attitude left Yeon-Hwa no choice but to use the bed. At the same time, Mu-Gun lay the bedding he had brought in advance on one side of the floor.
“Go to sleep first.”
“What about you?”
“One of us should stay awake just in case the Black Sword Gang comes.”
“You gave up the bed to me, so I’ll be on night watch first. Don’t try to object unless you want to turn me into a person without any conscience.”
Upon hearing Yeon-Hwa’s remarks, Mu-Gun shrugged and lay down.
“I’ll be resting first, then. Wake me up after two hours. I’ll switch with you.”
“Got it.”
Mu-Gun fell asleep as soon as he lay down. Yeon-Hwa felt grumpy at the sight of Mu-Gun being indifferent and immediately falling asleep despite being in the same room with her. They had become friends by being drinking buddies, but it should still be natural for a man and a woman to feel awkward while sleeping in the same room.
Yeon-Hwa’s face flushed and her heart pounded for no reason just by being in the same room as Mu-Gun. However, Mu-Gun didn’t show any similar behavior. It seemed like he didn’t think of her as a woman at all.
“Ahh, I should stop thinking about weird things and just circulate my qi.”
Yeon-Hwa shook her head to get rid of her thoughts and proceeded to circulate her qi while sitting on the bed. Even as she circulated her qi, she made sure to pay attention to any movements outside.
* * *
So-Chu returned to the Black Sword Gang, still unable to control his anger after being severely beaten at the inn. He had never been so humiliated in his entire life. He was beaten with a chair in front of everyone, and he even begged to be forgiven for his sins. So-Chu couldn’t just let it end like this.
The problem was that the skills of the two fuckers at the inn weren’t average. He felt uneasy about simply pushing them back with numbers. He required a more detailed plan.
So-Chu remembered Noh Gun-Seong, the Meteor Saber. Although currently one of the freeloaders at the Black Sword Gang, Gun-Seong was a wandering talented Peak Realm martial artist who contributed greatly to the Black Sword Gang. He extremely enjoyed debauchery and even caused problems several times in murim because of it.
If So-Chu informed Gun-Seong of Yeon-Hwa’s beauty, he would surely take aggressive steps to get her. So-Chu immediately looked for Gun-Seong.
“Why are you looking for me at this hour, Young Leader?” Gun-Seong asked.
“I’m here to inform you of a piece of valuable information, Master Noh.”
“Valuable information?”
“A woman of great beauty is staying at the Shaoxing Inn. I saw her with my own eyes. She’s on a different level from the beauties I have seen so far.”
“Why are you telling me that?”
“To be honest, I approached the woman and was rejected.”
“Given your personality, I don’t think you would’ve just quietly left, Young Leader.”
“It’s embarrassing to admit this but the woman’s martial arts is so great that I was the one who got beaten.”
“Are you asking me to take revenge for you?”
“It’s a win-win situation. I’d get my revenge, and you’d get to hug a woman of rare beauty for the first time in a long time, Master Noh.”
“Hmm, if you were beaten, I don’t think she’s just an average woman. Won’t it be useless even if I step forward?”
“They’re just a man and a woman in their early twenties at best. Compared to Master Noh, they’re nobodies. We can also bring along our members.”
“Understood. I can’t refuse now that you’ve gone through the trouble of asking me for help, Young Leader. Instead, you should be responsible for the aftermath.”
“You don’t have to worry about the aftermath. Don’t you know that no one can mess with the Black Sword Gang in Shaoxing?”
After Gun-Seong complied with So-Chu’s request, So-Chu went ahead and convened fifty Black Sword Gang members that he could arbitrarily order around. Then, along with Gun-Seong, they headed toward the Shaoxing Inn where Mu-Gun and Yeon-Hwa were staying.
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