Episode 32. When You Want to Set the Mood, an Axe Is Best
The reason I came back to Chunyang Noodle House was simple.
I still hadn’t eaten.
“If you boil all the pork bones for snacks, what am I supposed to make pork soup with? And you said earlier you were out of noodles. You call this running a business?”
Jang Deuksu replied,
“We’re not actually out of noodles.”
“You said you were.”
“I lied.”
“The head of the Shop Branch lies every time he opens his mouth. Give me a bowl.”
I stole one of Deuksu’s pork leg bones, dropped it in a bowl, then snatched one from in front of Shao Junpyeong and sat down across from him.
As I grabbed the bone with my hand and started eating, Deuksu asked,
“That gonna be enough? Want me to boil you some noodles?”
“Nah, let’s just eat.”
I tore off a chunk of meat, and Deuksu went back to his own. With the two of us gnawing on bones, Shao had no choice but to resume eating his as well.
Our hands were slick with pork fat.
Chewing on the bone, I asked Shao,
“Good?”
“Very.”
“This is something he only serves regulars. You’re not a regular. Why are you eating it?”
Shao suddenly seemed choked and thumped his chest.
Deuksu clicked his tongue and scolded me.
“Jaha, they say you don’t even bother a dog while it’s eating. Let the man eat in peace.”
I kept stripping meat off the bone as I answered,
“He came here to kill me. I spared him. But he says he doesn’t want to join the Hao Sect. And he’s sitting here wolfing down a rare house special at my favorite joint. Is that how the Jianghu’s code of conduct is supposed to work now?”
Just then my eyes fell on the Night-Coming Blade he’d set on the table. It’s fairly famous among Black Path weapons, and I’d been wanting a closer look.
“Let me see that blade. Hand it over.”
Shao looked startled.
“I can’t give it to you. It’s basically my life.”
“I’m not taking it. I said I wanna look.”
He tensed up like someone was about to steal his lover, then carefully pushed the blade toward me. His face said he really was handing his life over.
I wiped the grease from my hands on my clothes without a second thought, then drew the Night-Coming Blade to admire the sharp edge.
“Nice sword.”
I flicked the blade with a finger filled with inner power.
Thuuung…!
“Hard, but with good spring…”
If I’d been even a bit weaker, his sword might’ve sliced my kitchen cleaver like a dumpling skin.
I handed the Night-Coming Blade back.
“You don’t see many treasures like that.”
It was just an offhand comment, but Shao nodded.
“Correct.”
“Still lost to a kitchen knife though. Hahaha.”
I burst out laughing, and Deuksu, who’d watched the fight earlier, laughed too.
“Wahahahaha!”
Then he happened to make eye contact with Shao and flinched, cutting his laughter off.
I glared at Shao.
“Who said you could glare at my regular?”
“I wasn’t glaring. I was just looking.”
“Look nice.”
“Got it.”
We went back to gnawing on bones.
I’ve always had this habit of thinking about the relationship between a person and their weapon.
In my opinion…
If a mediocre Jianghu fighter carries too good a weapon, he’s likely to die a dog’s death.
Because some expert who covets the weapon will kill him for it.
On the other hand, if a top-tier fighter carries a piece of junk far below his level, he’s also likely to die a dog’s death.
When he meets a worthy rival, he loses because of the gap between their weapons.
Having a weapon too good for you is a problem.
Having one too poor for you is also a problem.
Life in the Jianghu is full of problems like that.
From that angle, Shao and the Night-Coming Blade were a good pair. The blade looked more like something a southern barbarian or a bandit chief would use.
After I cleaned off my bone, I asked,
“No place to go, huh?”
“…I just have some thinking to do.”
“You leave subordinates behind at the Black Cat Gang?”
“Yes.”
“You close?”
He stared at me for a moment, then answered,
“Some of them I consider brothers.”
“Oh?”
“Not sure if you know, but most of the current Black Cat Gang are people who surrendered after the previous gang leader was killed by the Great Rakshasa. I’m one of them. We had no choice. The Great Rakshasa killed most of the officers as an example. The Golden Dragon Hall was one of the few to escape heavy losses, so we didn’t get mixed with the newcomers he shoved in later.”
I said with a grave face,
“And how’d you survive?”
“I wasn’t an officer back then.”
So he really is freakishly lucky.
I’m not particularly afraid of the Twelve Spirit Generals, but the Great Rakshasa is a bit different.
He threw himself into the Jianghu decades before me and still hasn’t died—an old monster of the Black Path.
I can’t quite gauge his exact skill level because in my previous life he didn’t die by my hand, but by Poison Demon’s.
I found myself recalling what I’d heard of Poison Demon and checked over several plans in my head.
If Shao didn’t go back, odds were high the Black Cat Gang leader would come personally. Being ambushed isn’t my hobby.
Better to go see him before he came to Ilyang.
“Shao Junpyeong.”
“Yes?”
“In a bit, you’re going to guide me to the Black Cat Gang.”
His eyes went wide.
“Just the two of us?”
“Listen carefully. I’m being serious. If I go alone, I might end up killing not just the leader but every fighter in the gang. If the fight turns into a full-scale war, you’ll jump in at the right moment and at least keep your men alive. That’s the best I can do.”
If I slaughtered all his subordinates too, he definitely wouldn’t want to become my man later. Even if I raided them, the ideal would be to only kill the gang leader.
But when you fight the Black Path, who can predict exactly how it’ll end?
Flustered, Shao asked,
“When are we leaving?”
“I’ll swing by the forge and pick out a weapon that’s good for setting the mood. As soon as I’m back, we go. You wait here.”
Deuksu asked,
“A weapon that’s good for setting the mood? What’s that supposed to be?”
I got to my feet and answered shortly,
“An axe.”
Deuksu realized someone’s head would soon be split by that axe.
“Sect master, you’re here.”
When I stepped into Dragon-Head Forge, Geum Cheolyong came out to greet me.
“Here about Madman?”
“No.”
“Then there’s another fight coming.”
I answered honestly,
“The Black Cat Gang sent an assassin. I’m going to send one too.”
“An assassin? Who?”
I jabbed my thumb at my own chest.
“Me. How’s Madman coming along, by the way? Not rushing you, just curious.”
Cheolyong crossed his arms.
“The vice master said he’d go south this time, all the way to the Hundred Yue Black Market. Sometimes getting good steel is harder than making a fine sword or saber. I expect some good news.”
The Hundred Yue Black Market is run by the Yue tribes—very closed people.
To the Central Plains Jianghu, they neither sell nor buy.
If the vice master’s gone there, that means he’s Yue himself.
“Anyway, if you’re going as an assassin, what kind of weapon do you need?”
“Give me a big axe suited for an assassin. The bigger and heavier the better.”
“First I’ve heard of an assassin using an axe.”
“The more skilled the assassin, the less picky he is about weapons. The useless ones are the ones poking around with chopstick-sized toys.”
“I see. That reminds me, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask your opinion on.”
“Go ahead.”
“What if the Hao Sect ran its own black market? Sounds more profitable than a forge. We’ve had fewer and fewer commissions lately.”
“Don’t.”
“Understood.”
He gave up quickly, but couldn’t help asking why.
“Any particular reason?”
“You’re a man who hesitates even to make a treasured weapon that’ll kill Jianghu people. How would you run a black market where every coin is earned over corpses? You’d have to clean up bodies while you make money. Think you can stomach that?”
“What if our Hao Sect gets stronger later?”
“Still no.”
Even the Hao Sect has lines it shouldn’t cross. If we want to live long, quietly, and steadily, we have to keep to them.
Cheolyong grinned.
“Got it.”
“Better to ask Yeon Jaseong at the Construction Branch if he needs any help. There’s a lot of forge work in construction—tools, rigs, fittings, materials.”
The Hao Sect’s little sub-groups can all help one another—as long as the prices are fair and transparent.
His face lit up.
“Why didn’t I think of that? All right. Someone get the sect master a big axe.”
While I waited, he asked,
“So how you planning to take on the Black Cat Gang? Taking Seongtae and the other blades with you? However I look at it, we’re way outmatched.”
“I’m going alone. And I might be back late.”
He stared at me for a moment, then said,
“Just don’t die. If anything happens to you, at least everyone in Cheolyong Gate will storm the Black Cat Gang.”
“I’m not gonna die. I’ll just take the sentiment.”
I don’t know how to make weapons, and he doesn’t know martial arts.
We nodded to each other a few times in silent understanding. Then someone brought out a fearsome axe with a dragon-head handle.
It looked magnificent, though the joint made me a bit uneasy.
I’ll have to go easy with it.
Still, at a glance, it looked like something Xu Huang or Li Kui from Water Margin would have hefted. I liked it immediately.
“Shao Junpyeong. Lead the way.”
He jumped to his feet in Chunyang Noodle House.
“We’re really going, just the two of us?”
“You want it to be three?”
Slinging the massive axe over my shoulder, I said my goodbyes to Deuksu.
“Deuksu-hyung, if I’m late coming back, tell Seongtae something for me.”
He answered with a worried look.
“Tell him what?”
I thought a moment, then said,
“Tell him to stop slacking and finish those reports properly. Can’t promise when I’ll be back.”
I had a rough plan for how to deal with the Black Cat Gang—but that didn’t come with a precise return date.
I’d know when I got there and started swinging.
Deuksu said,
“Isn’t this a bit rushed?”
“Ambushes are supposed to be rushed.”
And if I didn’t go to them, Ilyang wouldn’t be safe.
After parting from him, I walked quickly with Shao, then pointed toward the construction site where the new Zaha Inn was rising.
“That’s gonna be the Hao Sect’s headquarters.”
Shao replied absently, then froze when he took a good look at the place.
Why is it so big?
I’d gone three or four steps ahead before I realized he wasn’t following.
“What’re you doing? You’re the guide.”
“Sorry. Just… the sect master is richer than I thought. Didn’t take you for that type…”
“Me?”
“Who else?”
“Junpyeong, do I look like a nice guy to you?”
“Pardon?”
I pointed at the under-construction inn.
“That’s being built with your guys’ slush fund.”
“Huh?”
“Your money. The Black Cat Gang’s money, the gang’s secret funds, the Golden Phoenix Hall’s secret funds, money shaved off others, money squeezed out of the weak by the Golden Phoenix Hall. Ah, and the brothel owners’ money too. All that is what’s being turned into that. You just stick with me and watch. See how I shake the Black Path down to the last coin. Let’s go.”
I strode off at a brisk pace, and Shao hurried to catch up.