Chapter 5: Enticement

He slowly gathered his energy and opened his eyes.

‘Is my inner strength still insufficient?’

He couldn’t even bring forth the first bloom of the Ilwol Eumyang Divine Art.

If he had to describe it, it was at best only about half-completed.

The three meridians hadn’t been opened, and he still hadn’t concentrated his energy in the lower dantian.

His physical condition was far from ideal.

He needed more time to recover.

Once the immediate danger was handled, he would have to focus on healing his internal injuries first.

‘It’s getting late.’

The situation was approaching where he needed to lead the others and attack.

All I need to do is send the message.

Trust me, Sojin-nim.

Naturally, Chiri did not trust him.

Until just now, she had been shaking with fear, making pitiful expressions, and apologizing.

But the human heart changes, just like when entering and exiting the restroom.

Moreover, she probably thought that the ruffians had a higher chance of victory than he did.

He could clearly imagine her chirping like a magpie, spilling all the information she had gathered.

That was exactly why he had sent her.

When the ruffians thought they had the advantage, they would reveal themselves.

It was all part of the plan.

“Master, the tea you requested has arrived.”

The strong aroma of green tea filled the air, the tea steaming with heat.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing. Master, please, lower your tone. I feel so overwhelmed. Should I bring more tea?”

Jomsoi said, bending her waist as she spoke.

He took a sip of the hot tea.

‘This is the second one.’

“No, this is enough now. The tea has a nice, strong taste.”

“Really? It took a little longer to brew the tea leaves than usual. Since you’re a distinguished guest, I made sure to put extra care into it.”

Indeed, as Jomsoi said,

The tea was prepared with great care.

However,

‘Knowing this is enemy territory, do you think this will work?’

It was so foolish that it made him click his tongue.

‘It’s like saying “they’re in cahoots with the gang in the hall.”‘

As the ancient sage said, “Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be in danger,”

That saying was meant to teach humility when you were aware of your own situation.

Poison, in simple terms, refers to a substance that acts on living creatures and causes death.

The first time, he might have given the benefit of the doubt, thinking the chef might have accidentally added something wrong.

Maybe the chef was a master of poison arts, he thought.

But not the second time.

If someone is so blatantly putting poison in the tea, it would be impossible not to notice.

“Do you happen to know how to cook?”

“Although it’s embarrassing, the noodles you ate earlier were made by me.”

Really?

He passed the test.

He was more than qualified at this point.

The inn was all about the noodles.

“The head chef is about to quit soon, why not give it a try?”

“Master? What do you mean by that…?”

With a confused expression, Jeomsoi raised her head, but without another word, she headed to the kitchen.

As the head chef would soon taste his special tea leaves and pass away to heaven,

Bang!

With a loud crash, the inn’s door swung wide open.

A man with a rather tough-looking demeanor marched towards me.

Behind him were roughly a dozen people.

Only a dozen came?

Even without looking, I could feel it. Neither Chiri nor the bandits were present.

“Is it you? The one who made my subordinates like this?”

“Impressive, come with me.”

‘Look at these idiots.’

As expected, being bandits, their thinking was shallow.

They were in no position to demand anything from me. How foolish to try this kind of trick.

If they were the usual idiot main character, they might be scared and follow, but I’m not that kind of person.

I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.

“You’re laughing? You must think you’re all that for knocking down the rabble here, but we…”

“Are you trying to show off your martial arts?”

“…Y-yeah. If you understand, just follow me quietly…”

Why… why is my body like this…?

The man was scared and sweating profusely.

Although I didn’t have the internal energy to deal with this small fry right now, that wasn’t all there was to martial arts.

Mindset and enlightenment were entirely different matters.

Of course, in this state, encountering a real master would be dangerous.

I must have been stalling to ask for help from behind-the-scenes forces.

The powers behind them could be groups like the Black Lotus, the Death Door, the Flying Knife Sect, or the Black Night Gate…

Even if it was the Blood Moon’s assassination squad, it wouldn’t matter.

There was nothing they could do for these puny bandits.

Slowly, I got up from my seat.

There is an unwritten rule in the inn that when a large-scale fight breaks out, there will be no fatalities.

However, this only applies during mealtimes.

Traditional martial arts are a mysterious thing.

Without a word, I reached for the sword at my waist.

The Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art is the highest level martial art, passing through three stages.

It begins with the balance of the sun and moon, the yin and yang, where strength and gentleness come into harmony.

The first stage, “One Flower,” is about fully awakening the natural flow.

The second stage, “Ten Flowers,” connects heaven, earth, and humanity with the essence of energy…

Bang!

“These bastards? You still don’t get it?”

“Ugh…”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Every time one of them falls, it adds ten more.”

“Understood!!!”

Where was I?

Ah, right,

In the “Ten Flowers” stage, one enters the mysteries of heaven, earth, and the spiritual essence of energy and mind.

In the “Hundred Flowers” stage, one reaches the realm of the heart and mind, where one can even surpass the Heart Sword or the Vajra Body.

In other words, reaching the “Hundred Flowers” stage signifies the completion of one’s martial arts.

‘You want me to bloom the Hundred Flowers again? Are you out of your mind?’

The most important thing when breaking through the walls is enlightenment, and thankfully, that’s something I don’t need to worry about.

I have enough enlightenment.

Finally, beyond the “Hundred Flowers,” one reaches the “Heavenly Flower” stage, but that’s something I don’t need to concern myself with.

It is likely an unattainable realm for humans.

*Gulp* *Gulp*

I rolled the bottle of liquor in my hand on the ground.

“The service here is a mess.”

*Clink*

The bottle rolled and came to a stop after hitting something.

There, a woman was trembling and lying flat on the ground.

Her clothes were in disarray, and she clearly wasn’t in a proper posture.

Chiri was one of the few who knew how to apologize properly.

“When I asked for some Nü’er Hong (female red), they brought me cheap rice wine. Is this your way of doing things?”

How dare they mess with the alcohol…

Where is the code of the martial world?

“I asked for a replacement, but now you’re getting angry? Tell me.”

“Ah, no… absolutely not… Master…”

The woman couldn’t raise her head and was trembling.

*Gulp* *Gulp*

Anyway, the people at Baekhwaru were all subordinates of the bandits.

I had planned to destroy them from the start, but…

Still, after drinking some alcohol, maybe I would only hit one of them lightly, just out of good humor.

So, why punish them like this?

‘I need a cigarette.’

I reached to my chest, but as expected, there were no cigarettes.

It’s fortunate that I have alcohol.

I poured the last remaining Nü’er Hong into my glass and drank it down.

*Gulp* *Gulp*

BANG!

The man who forcefully pushed open the door was, unfortunately, not one of the bandits.

It seemed like the right time had come.

As long as I’m here, they have no choice but to come.

In a situation that had repeated many times, Luju squeezed his eyes shut and screamed.

“Mr. Jang, stop!”

“Luju, don’t worry! Who do you think I am?”

Who am I? An extra.

Without missing a beat,

As I drank the Nü’er Hong, the man swung his sword fiercely.

“How dare you ignore me? Die!!”

The blade never reached me, though.

Thwack!

“Ah, aaaargh!!!!!!”

Two chopsticks had pierced through both of his hands, which were holding the sword.

The taste of alcohol really changes depending on the mood.

I sent the Moonlight Energy towards him and struck his head, causing him to immediately faint.

I had lost count of how many times this had happened, but he would surely wake up soon.

And then, he would be back to circling around with these idiots.

“Huff…”

All I wanted was to find one person, yet they wouldn’t leave me alone.

“Did you send the support request?”

“Huh? Oh, no… how could I do such a thing…”

I can’t understand why people tell such easily caught lies.

“What about the two who slipped out the back door earlier?”

“Th-That…”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

In the blink of an eye, the woman’s face turned as pale as a sheet of paper, and her body shook violently.

Luju, trembling like a leaf, stammered.

“That… th-that, sir…”

“Did you really not send it? Then send it now.”

At that moment,

BANG!

The man who forcefully pushed open the door was the one I had been desperately searching for—Majin.

Behind him, armed personnel followed him into Baekhwaru.

I never thought I would want to see your face.

‘Nice to see you, Majin.’

The man, sitting at the table, widened his eyes when he saw me.

“Hyung. Are you alive?”

“Thanks to you. How have you been?”

Majin felt a chilling sensation all over his body.

His tone was as calm as if we had parted yesterday.

“What are you doing? Kneel.”