Episode 30. The Hao Sect Knows Everything
The person who saw this fight most objectively was Jang Deuksu.
The gray aura blasting off Shao Junpyeong’s blade like a storm wind was shocking.
But the kitchen knife in the hand of the kid who’d been a busboy until recently… that was downright incomprehensible.
The knife that used to slice garlic all day was now wrapped in a bright red “sauce” that looked like it could drip blood at any moment, and it tore the storm apart.
To Jang Deuksu’s eyes…
Maybe because the kitchen knife won?
It was honestly a beautiful sight.
For someone who had never learned martial arts, the last thing Deuksu managed to clearly see was this:
Shao Junpyeong barely managing to parry the flying kitchen knife with both hands on that weird southern saber of his.
At the same time, the explosion of sound made Deuksu drop his pot lid and clamp both hands over his ears.
The shock sent Shao’s body flying like an arrow; he crashed into the ground and tumbled and rolled.
“Woooow…”
To Deuksu, it was completely beyond understanding.
That’s one hell of a good-looking fight.
If it had ended there, he wouldn’t have been that surprised.
But shockingly, Shao Junpyeong was still alive.
And our sect master, formerly the busboy kid from the neighborhood, charged in like a bull and started beating the crap out of the just-then staggering Shao.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…
A clash between terrifying experts had suddenly dropped several tiers into a regular street brawl between neighborhood thugs.
“Well, he sure knows how to lay a beating.”
That was when Jang Deuksu finally realized things were going a bit off the rails.
He’d developed some eye for this stuff now.
That agile Black Path warrior was getting pummeled one-sidedly for a reason. Deuksu figured it was probably what the martial crowd called “internal injury.”
Meanwhile, the former busboy was beating the Black Path man senseless. He kept whaling on him and saying something, but that much Deuksu couldn’t make out.
That kid’s not right in the head either. What’s he even saying?
Losing track of his place without realizing it, Jang Deuksu stepped forward and called out,
“Hey, Jaha. That’s enough. You’ll kill him.”
Honestly, part of him was worried his hometown kid had slipped into some kind of madness, so he was trying to stop him.
But the sight of the owner of Chunyang Noodle House—who sold beef soup for a living—stepping in to break up a fight between a former busboy and a Black Path warrior… that wasn’t exactly normal either.
I grabbed Shao Junpyeong by the hair and lifted his head.
“You can really take a hit.”
Shao looked up at me with a face that said, What kind of bullshit is that right now?
I twisted his hair in my fist and asked,
“Black Path tough guy, you back with me?”
No answer. So I slapped him once across the face.
Smack!
Jang Deuksu, who’d come closer, asked,
“You gonna kill him?”
His concern for a Black Cat Gang expert—someone who’d one day be known as “Three Hundred Cycles”—was just funny to me.
People who work for a living are usually like this. They’re a world away from the Jianghu.
The fact Shao had managed to knock aside my Flame Fragrance at all meant he was a serious expert. But I’d deliberately held back the amount of internal energy I’d poured into that technique. That was why he was still alive.
“So, Junpyeong—feeling like surrender yet?”
He smirked at me.
“Surrender? Do I look that pathetic to you?”
“You look extremely pathetic.”
“How could I ever surrender to a busboy? Hit me all you like.”
I pinched his cheek and grinned.
Now this is interesting. Maybe he survived so long because he’s not the groveling type.
Then I turned that pinching hand into a full-on slap.
Thwack!
His face slammed into the floor, and only then did he finally pass out.
“He’s got guts. I like him.”
Deuksu stared down at the unconscious man and asked,
“You like him, after beating him like that?”
“He took a beating and didn’t grovel. Sometimes you only see what a man’s made of after you beat him senseless.”
“Trying to find out what he’s made of is gonna get him killed. Anyway, what about business? That guy’s clearly a Black Cat Gang officer.”
I met his eyes.
“I told you, the action code. Everything is…”
“Our sect master’s doing, yeah? If that line magically solves this, I’ll be thrilled too.”
Just then, Cha Seongtae showed up, having heard there was a fight.
“Our sect master, already beating people up in broad daylight again?”
I stared at him for a moment.
Maybe it was just because the town was small, but this guy had a weird talent for showing up right after every fight.
I asked,
“You know this guy?”
“No? Who is he? He’s got that temperamental look. Black Path, right?”
“They say he’s the Golden Dragon Hall Master of the Black Cat Gang.”
Cha muttered,
“Golden Dragon? That’s a pretty high-ranking officer. But why’d he come alone? His face looks like a dumpling skin now.”
I looked down at the unconscious man and ventured a guess.
“Probably came alone on the gang leader’s orders.”
“Why?”
“Because it’d be embarrassing for the Black Cat Gang’s face if they sent a big group to deal with a busboy.”
“Ahh.”
“And they want to test the waters. See just how spicy the guy in Ilyang is.”
Lately, Cha’s gall had grown some. He nudged Shao’s body with his foot.
“He’s still breathing. Should I kill him?”
I looked at him.
For some reason, him suggesting we kill the guy made me not want to kill him.
Fate’s a weird thing.
And offing a man who’d someday earn the moniker “Three Hundred Cycles” felt oddly unpleasant, too. Like killing some ancient spirit tortoise that had lived hundreds of years.
If he’d lived that long even in my past life, there had to be something in him worth that lifespan. Black Path men don’t live long, usually.
“Stick him in an empty room at the brothel for now.”
“Ah, you’re going to torture him and then kill him?”
I smacked Seongtae on the head for the first time in a while.
“You’re the head of the Life Branch. Why is ‘kill him’ the first thing out of your mouth?”
Rubbing his head, he answered with a dazed look,
“Oh, that’s what Life Branch is supposed to mean? Got it.”
“Drag him. And bring his sword.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once Cha hauled off the unconscious Shao and his weapon, Jang Deuksu picked the kitchen knife up off the ground, looked it over, and blurted,
“Whoa, look at this.”
He held the knife out for me to see.
“He was a serious master.”
The knife was bent.
“Not bad. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“Forget it. I’ll take it to the ironworks. It’s not like Old Man Geum and I are strangers.”
“Do as you want.”
Deuksu frowned in worry.
“Isn’t this how Ilyang ends up destroyed?”
“Hardly. It’s the Black Cat Gang that’s going to get destroyed. Let’s all just get back to work.”
“Let’s.”
After parting ways with him, I took a look around the construction site. Not wanting to bother the workers, I watched Yeon Jaseong overseeing from a distance, then headed back to Plum Blossom House.
At that point, I was actually wondering if I shouldn’t just march on the Black Cat Gang first.
I didn’t want to drag people with normal jobs into this.
Not everyone in the gang was someone like Shao who at least knew how to pay for his meal.
I looked at Cha Seongtae, who was standing watch by the bed.
“Wake him up.”
“Yes, sect master.”
Cha kicked the bedding and yelled,
“Get up, you bastard. You think this is your bedroom?”
Shao Junpyeong, who’d been knocked out, opened his eyes slowly like he was waking from a nap—then jerked up in shock.
“Gah!”
He looked around in a panic, eyes wide, then swallowed.
Why am I still alive?
I asked the still-dazed man,
“Junpyeong, where’s that lunatic Great Rakshasa hanging around these days?”
“No idea. How would I know? The gang leader probably doesn’t even know. Why would we?”
As he spoke, Shao winced and touched his face. His cheeks were badly swollen.
“Where’s the Black Cat Gang’s leader?”
“At the main headquarters.”
“I asked what he’s doing these days.”
“Training.”
“Another ranking battle?”
His expression said, How the hell do you know that?
“What? Me knowing that is weird?”
“Of course it’s weird.”
“Our Hao Sect knows everything—except what it doesn’t.”
Shao frowned. Even in his foggy state, that sentence made no sense.
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
Saying it out loud, I felt a bit smug.
In truth, I knew it because I’d come back in time. But from now on, I planned to chalk all my knowledge and information up to being part of the Hao Sect.
That way, the greatest intelligence network in the Jianghu would also be the Hao Sect.
Sure, technically it was because I’d time-traveled… but still.
Cha Seongtae, glaring at Shao, echoed my words.
“Our Hao Sect doesn’t have anything it doesn’t know.”
I corrected him.
“That’s not true. There are things we don’t know.”
“Oh, really?”
“What matters is that we’re good at finding out the things we don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
Then, out of nowhere, Seongtae started bullying Shao again.
“You get that? We’re the kind of people who find out what we don’t know. Which means in the end, there’s nothing the Hao Sect doesn’t know. The supreme intelligence network—that’s us.”
But Shao still had no idea what the Hao Sect actually was.
Staring at me, he said,
“So you weren’t just some normal guy. Turns out you’re a minion from a group called the Hao Sect.”
“Minion?”
“They said you used to be a busboy.”
Cha smacked him on the head again. Thump! Shao sprawled back onto the bedding, and Cha said,
“Where do you get off calling our sect master a busboy, huh? You out of your damn mind?”
Then he looked at me.
“Sect master, this bastard’s got a talent for asking to get hit.”
I stared at Cha for a moment, wondering if he wasn’t destined to become a sycophant in the future.
Shao jerked upright again, furious, and Cha flinched back.
“Whoa! Scared me.”
Junpyeong’s body really was tough. His endurance was no joke. Honestly, he wasn’t someone Cha could handle alone. But since I was there, future-sycophant Cha wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.
“What are you glaring at? You want to die right here?”
I told Cha,
“Go wait outside.”
“Yes, sect master.”
Once he left, Shao gave me a slow once-over.
“So you’re the Hao Sect master? I heard you were a busboy.”
I stared at him for a long moment, then said,
“Junpyeong, cut the crap. You want to come under me?”
I didn’t expect a yes right away. I just tossed the question out.
He answered immediately.
“No. How could a wolf…”
I cut him off before he could say, bow to a dog.
“Shut it. Before I rip that mouth of yours open.”
“…”
From his perspective, it was natural. The Hao Sect was some unheard-of group that sounded like a joke.
I glared at him for a bit without saying anything, then asked in a flat voice,
“Judging by your face, you’ve got a long life ahead of you. Want me to end it here?”
I slowly walked toward him.
He didn’t dare answer. It felt like saying “yes” would get him killed on the spot.
I grinned.
“Don’t get brave. Answer properly. Tell me to kill you, and I’ll do it right away. ‘How could a wolf bow to a dog,’ was that it? Who came up with that line, anyway? Maybe I should track them down and kill them.”
For some reason, that phrase stuck with me.
I didn’t know why, but it did.
In any case, I knew a tried-and-true way to bring someone like him under my banner.
A method that was both highly effective and historically proven.
When you want to recruit someone stubborn, there’s a classic example left to us by Mister Zhuge Liang, when he subdued Meng Huo.
The so-called Seven Captures and Seven Releases.
Beat him, let him go. Beat him again, let him go again.
By my count, Shao Junpyeong had only been beaten once so far.
The idea crossed my mind and slipped out of my mouth as-is.
“…This is why men should read Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”
“…”
Shao had completely lost the thread of the conversation. For the first time, he was looking at me with genuine fear in his eyes.