Chapter 122
The Hidden Dragon Unit members, including Cheon Woojin, stood before a gisaeng house.
The characters clearly written on the signboard read, Taewollu.
There was a high probability that it was a gisaeng house run by the Gu family.
Certainly, judging by the size of the hall and the number of employees, it was clear that a considerable amount of capital had been invested.
"Welcome."
A woman who had spotted Cheon Woojin's party approached with small steps and gave an eye-smile. She was a beauty that no man could easily pass by.
Her role was to induce men to order expensive alcohol. Usually, when she asked with such an eye-smile, everyone would show off and order alcohol to the point of straining their pockets.
However, the opponents were not good.
A man who had learned the Boy's Art, a pure-headed Taoist priest, a crazy guy who treated anyone weaker than himself like an insect, and even Cheon Woojin.
And the man who had learned the Boy's Art was so handsome, as if drawn, that he was on the verge of stealing the woman's soul instead.
"Why is the alcohol here so expensive? I don't have any money."
As Song Yiyeon said so, the woman kindly recommended a cheap alcohol that was not on the menu.
It was an act that completely forgot her duty, but she had a strong desire not to chase away the handsome man who had come after a long time of dealing with only old, pot-bellied men.
Song Yiyeon said thank you and ordered a bottle of the white liquor that the woman had recommended.
The woman flinched. No matter how handsome, wasn't this a bit much? Four people came and ordered one bottle of alcohol? It was a level where they couldn't even recover the cost of the basic table setting.
"Ahem, great heroes, please don't do that and at least three bottles..."
"One bottle."
"..."
At Cheon Woojin's cold and firm voice, the woman shut her mouth. She had looked at him to say something, but his gaze was so cold and scary that her mouth wouldn't open easily.
Cheon Woojin, as if driving a wedge, said to such a woman.
"One bottle."
The woman, who had forced herself to nod, went outside.
The reason the four were doing this was simple. From now on, they were going to be the most troublesome customers at this Taewollu.
If it was really a gisaeng house run by the Gu family, the family's martial artists would soon come to visit.
A long silence followed while they waited for the ordered alcohol.
Cheon Woojin and Namgung Jin were originally quiet, and Jin Yun and Song Yiyeon were awkward because they couldn't get used to a place like a gisaeng house.
But, the delay in the order was a bit much.
"Hasn't it been about a quarter of an hour?"
Namgung Jin said, looking displeased.
The man who was most optimized for being a troublesome customer and causing a ruckus was none other than Namgung Jin. It was because he was a troublesome person to many people even when it wasn't a mission like this. In short, it was like method acting.
Namgung Jin looked at Cheon Woojin.
For some reason, the two had been conversing with their eyes for a while.
Namgung Jin said with his eyes, 'Shall we start soon?'
Cheon Woojin nodded.
Every time Jin Yun and Song Yiyeon saw it, they were just amazed at how the two communicated.
Anyway, Namgung Jin, who had received Cheon Woojin's permission, got up from his seat. He kicked the door with the skill he had honed in his daily life.
At that, a waiter who was just passing by the corridor was startled and dropped the alcohol and food on the tray.
"Oh, oh, what do I do?"
The waiter didn't know what to do.
It seemed to be quite expensive alcohol. Probably to the extent that he couldn't buy it even if he offered all his salary.
Namgung Jin spat out, 'What do you mean, what do you do? Can't you see that dirty alcohol spilled on my clothes?'
At that, the waiter's face turned pale, and tears streamed down his face. And he began to talk about his family situation.
"I-I'm sorry, great hero. I've been taking care of my sick mother alone, so I couldn't sleep all night last night and came to work again... I was distracted... my legs gave out... I'll sell my house to compensate..."
All sorts of stories poured out.
Jin Yun and Song Yiyeon, who suddenly felt sorry for the waiter, criticized Namgung Jin.
"Hey, Young Master, that's not how you live."
"They say the rich are worse, and it's true!"
Namgung Jin looked at the two with a bewildered face.
Cheon Woojin, who had been watching the scene silently, let out a sigh.
"Change of plans."
Cheon Woojin, who had gotten up from his seat, took out his Crescent Moon Staff.
At that, the greatly alarmed waiter sat down on the spot. Jin Yun and Song Yiyeon quickly stood in front of the waiter.
"W-wait!"
"No matter how much it's a mission, this is a bit...!"
Even Namgung Jin looked at Cheon Woojin as if he were a madman.
Cheon Woojin was dumbfounded. How did the Hidden Dragon Unit members usually see him?
In any case, there was no need to do this. In fact, since arriving at the gisaeng house, he had been constantly spreading his ki sense wide and observing everyone coming and going.
But, a commotion had broken out on the first floor.
It seemed that a conflict had arisen between a customer and the gisaeng house over the price of alcohol.
The commotion continued for quite a while, and in the end, men who had appeared from somewhere took the customers to the forest behind the gisaeng house.
Cheon Woojin thought that they were the martial artists of the Gu family.
"Well, we'll know when we check."
Saying so, Cheon Woojin broke the window and went outside.
Namgung Jin, who had broken the door, clicked his tongue, saying that nothing was left intact when that commander moved.
Regardless, Cheon Woojin, who had immediately rushed towards the forest, soon found a group and descended.
"P-please, save me. I'll go home and get the money right away, so please just spare my life..."
"Look at this bastard's attitude change. This is why they say a club is the medicine, you son of a bitch."
The martial artist who had said so spat on his palm and picked up a club. He then kicked the man to make him fall and raised the club high.
The man hurriedly protected his head and cowered. No matter how much it was a club roughly carved from a tree, if a martial artist swung it with determination, killing a few people was no big deal.
The man was so scared at the thought that he could really die. How long had he trembled like that?
Why isn't anything happening?
The man stealthily moved his arm and opened his eyes.
"Wh-what?"
The martial artist holding the club was frozen. As if he had become a stone statue.
Just as he couldn't grasp the situation.
A voice as cold as ice was heard from behind the martial artist.
"Think carefully. Even if I kill you, there are still many martial artists in that gisaeng house. If you won't talk, I have no intention of wasting any more time."
It was Cheon Woojin's voice.
Cheon Woojin was asking the martial artist where he was from.
The martial artist, far from turning his body to attack, couldn't even breathe properly. It was because an indescribable, huge energy was crushing his entire body.
Cheon Woojin was not a man whose words and actions were different.
As the martial artist did not open his mouth right away, the Crescent Moon Staff was swung.
Thwack-!
The martial artist's head cracked open.
However, it didn't completely explode like usual.
Cheon Woojin deliberately left the martial artist alive and dragged him away.
He entered the entrance of the gisaeng house just as he had at first. The only difference was that a martial artist was being dragged by his hand.
As Cheon Woojin appeared, the first floor instantly became quiet.
Regardless, Cheon Woojin casually threw the martial artist he had been dragging into the middle of the first floor.
A dining table fell over, and all sorts of alcohol and food fell to the floor. The blood that the martial artist had shed covered it thickly.
A moment of silence.
And the screams that followed.
"Kyaak-!"
Customers and gisaengs alike were busy running away.
Soon, as everyone on the first floor disappeared, only then did martial artists crawl out from the second floor and the back door of the gisaeng house.
The sword scars engraved on their faces, their black martial uniforms, their rough gazes, and the faint smell of alcohol.
They were unmistakably martial artists of the Unorthodox Path.
Soon, the man who seemed to be their leader asked.
"Who are you?"
"A customer."
"...A madman. Get him."
As the man's order fell, the martial artists who had surrounded them all rushed in. But Cheon Woojin did not move a single step from his spot.
There was no need to.
Three men who had fallen from the sky took up positions around Cheon Woojin.
Two sword blades and one saber blade were swung towards the Unorthodox Path martial artists.
Chwaak-!
The three martial artists who had been rushing at the forefront had their necks fly off and died on the spot.
"How about the one who kills the most becomes the deputy commander?"
Song Yiyeon proposed.
Jin Yun and Namgung Jin also agreed with those words.
Of course, since it was not Cheon Woojin's proposal, it was not a particularly influential statement. Nevertheless, the three moved quickly, as if the deputy commander position were really at stake.
From some point on, the deputy commander position had become a kind of battle cry for them, a way of saying, "Let's do our best this time too."
There was no need for Cheon Woojin to step in.
Against martial artists who were just guarding a gisaeng house, the swords of the Little Sword Dragon and the Plum Blossom Swordsman, and the saber of the White Flower Saber, were too sharp and fast.
Although it was a fight between dozens and three, it was not a level where they could gain an advantage with numbers in the first place.
And so, as Cheon Woojin was watching the three's fight, his gaze suddenly met with the woman he had first met.
The woman flinched greatly. It was because she had a record of having somewhat coercively told him to order at least three bottles of alcohol.
Cheon Woojin beckoned to the woman with his finger.
Soon, the frightened woman approached, trembling.
"Give me three bottles."
"Yes?"
"The alcohol I ordered earlier. I'll just have three bottles. I think everyone will be thirsty after the fight."
An even greater fear was cast over the woman's face.
Although Cheon Woojin had just done it for the Hidden Dragon Unit members, in the woman's eyes, he looked like a madman who was calmly ordering alcohol in a situation like this.
But she couldn't just not move. Even to her, who knew nothing of fighting, the outcome was already decided.
By the time the woman had hurriedly run to the kitchen and brought three bottles of alcohol, the fight was over.
"Who cut down the most?"
Song Yiyeon asked as he shook the blood off his saber.
At that, Jin Yun and Namgung Jin answered at the same time.
"Me."
"I think it was me."
As their opinions differed, they all looked at Cheon Woojin.
It was because Cheon Woojin would have seen exactly who had cut down how many even in this chaotic battle.
Cheon Woojin shrugged.
"The three of you cut down exactly seventeen each."
At that, everyone smacked their lips as if disappointed.
A draw. It was a boring result for having run around so hard.
Just as they were about to wet their throats with the alcohol the woman had brought.
Cheon Woojin said in a nonchalant tone.
"There's one person over there by the door, pretending to be dead."
In an instant, the three who had been wetting their throats put down their alcohol bottles at the same time.
If everyone had cut down seventeen, then the one who cut down that one person would be the first place.
The man who was pretending to be dead also had eyes and ears.
He didn't know where they had come from, but he had noticed that they were competing for something and that he was the final key.
In a word, it meant he was on the verge of dying.
The man who had shot up ran out the door like a madman. He wondered if he had ever run so fast in his life.
Song Yiyeon and Jin Yun pretended to chase after him and then stopped appropriately. Namgung Jin didn't even chase in the first place.
In fact, they had deliberately let him live.
"Then shall we chase him?"
If their prediction was correct, the guy would run away to the Gu family.
(End of Chapter)