Chapter 7

To think he said, ‘Come here, you’re finished now.’

Is this the sort of line that should be heard in the Bukgung Family’s training hall?

What embarrassed Warrior Seo was that he was even entangled in this crude quarrel.

Landing a clean hit on Yeon Mujin’s face wasn’t his intention. Warrior Seo first tried to calm him.

And he had this complacent thought.

‘Nah, no way. He’s not some back-alley thug; he wouldn’t throw fists with me here…’

Although he was presently escorting a young girl, the warriors of Flying Swallow Manor were all from respectable backgrounds and proud men.

They wouldn’t sully their dignity with such a lowly brawl…

‘Ah, right.’

This bastard was originally a street wanderer, wasn’t he?

Smack!

Warrior Seo felt a strong impact land on his right cheek and toppled backward.

The last thing he saw was Yeon Mujin’s face grinning broadly, blood trickling from his nose.

‘You bastard…’

Thud!

After Warrior Seo fell, Flying Swallow Manor was swept by silence.

People wondered: Was what I just saw real? Is this for real?

He hadn’t engaged in formal combat, nor fought like a proper warrior.

Like a street thug knocking someone down with bare fists while making their nose bleed? Is this really happening at the Bukgung Family’s training hall?

But it was reality.

And Yeon Mujin did not stop.

He made a certain gesture toward the crowd. He raised his right hand and with his left touched the inside of his elbow.

A classic ‘screw you’ posture.

“You’re all in on it, right? If you’re so pissed, come at me.”

“Has this guy gone crazy?!”

Men, by instinct, cannot tolerate blood, fights, or insults.

No matter how lofty their martial arts or how much they cared for honor, they couldn’t escape their instincts.

The enraged warriors all surged at Yeon Mujin at once.

The man closest swung a big punch as he charged.

Wasn’t his opponent the Sitting Zen Vagabond who’d been sitting in cultivation? If they actually grappled, he wouldn’t lose.

Whoosh!

Yeon Mujin simply dodged his punch by pulling his head back.

“You’ve got no talent.”

Yeon Mujin snapped his palm under the man’s jaw.

With a crack, the warrior collapsed.

He would have trouble chewing for a while.

The next attacker kicked at Yeon Mujin.

Yeon Mujin twisted his waist and absorbed the kick on his flank.

A body developed by the Travelling Swallow Qi Cultivation technique barely registered the impact.

“Why’s your lower body so weak?”

He added rotational force and drove his elbow into the side of the man’s thigh.

“Gaaah!”

This scream was louder than before.

This guy will have to remember this pain every time he walks.

The next one lowered his stance and charged like a bull.

He intended to grab the rampaging Yeon Mujin first. He was better than the previous two.

But only that far.

“You idiot. If you lower your head, you should watch what’s below.”

Yeon Mujin’s knee drove into his solar plexus.

He gasped and fell forward.

By now the others began to realize something was off.

How could every single person, without exception, be knocked out?

Even Jeong Yeo-gwang, the guard unit’s top martial arts warrior, couldn’t be expected to look like this.

Before long, everyone remaining was taking this brawl seriously.

And Yeon Mujin…

“Hahaha! You morons! Faster! Come at me properly!”

He was enjoying himself.

The one who’d just been knocked out by a strike to the back of the neck was a renowned fist-style master from Honam. He was no lightweight.

The one who piled up after him was a disciple of a famed swift-sword master counted among the best in Kangso. In speed he wouldn’t yield to anyone…

One, two, three, four. More people steadily fell to Yeon Mujin’s pugilism.

Yeon Mujin was fair — one strike per person. He didn’t strike anyone twice.

This unheard-of market-street brawl — no respectable warrior like them would have experienced it.

But the astounding thing was that no one even brushed Yeon Mujin’s collar, aside from the first nosebleed he took.

“Hahaha!”

Even as the fight continued, Yeon Mujin’s manic grin never ceased. It had become genuinely terrifying.

Thwack! Wham! Thud! Boom!

Fist, palm, finger, kick, elbow, knee, head, knife-hand.

Yeon Mujin employed all manner of body techniques to handle the warriors.

What was maddening was that he wasn’t using any internal qi at all.

‘This is unbelievable!’

That madman spent the last seven weeks and nights just sitting and circulating his qi!

And yet so many people are being driven back by pure bare-knuckle fighting!

Those facing Yeon Mujin, as if by agreement, didn’t use internal qi either.

That was their last shred of pride.

Even if not a single one could land a solid blow on Yeon Mujin!

And then.

Thud.

The last remaining warrior collapsed.

It was the sound of the pride of Flying Swallow Manor’s guard warriors being utterly shattered.

“Ughhhh…”

It didn’t even take Yeon Mujin 15 minutes to knock them all down. It was truly miraculous brawling skill.

Yeon Mujin clicked his tongue at them and said.

“You idiots. With skills like this, who are you even protecting?”

His words thoroughly trampled their pride, but no one could retort.

“You’re contemptible in two ways: first, your skill is garbage; second, despite that, your character is garbage too.”

Those not knocked out bit their lower lips and glared at Yeon Mujin with murderous eyes.

Truly, in their lives they’d never felt such humiliation.

“Now that’s a look I like.”

Yeon Mujin intended, with particular relish, to give those scowling at him an extra hit each.

Just as he was about to move.

“What are you doing?!”

A booming shout was hurled at Yeon Mujin.

The Head of the Guards, Jeong Yeo-gwang, strode over, huffing.

He couldn’t help but be shocked as he looked over the chaotic hall.

There were men foaming at the mouth, men unable to breathe properly, men with lumps the size of fists on their heads… it was quite a sight.

Jeong Yeo-gwang glared at Yeon Mujin.

“What on earth is this?”

Anger surged up to his very head.

“No matter how wild you are, surely you didn’t pick fights with senior warriors?”

This time it couldn’t be let slide. Jeong Yeo-gwang intended to make a serious issue of it.

But Yeon Mujin, who ought to have been bowing, held his head high and glared at him.

“On the contrary, I’m the one who wants to ask: What is this?”

“Huh?”

Jeong Yeo-gwang blinked, flustered.

Is there any madman this audacious?

“How on earth did you train your subordinates to let things come to this?”

“What impudence is this!”

Yeon Mujin pointed to the unconscious Warrior Yang.

“That man tried to ambush me.”

“What?”

“While I was circulating my qi, he tried to attack me from behind. How do you explain that?”

Jeong Yeo-gwang looked around the fallen warriors as if to ask whether this was true.

Each avoided his gaze and only emitted plaintive groans.

From their behavior it seemed true. If it were false, they would have loudly protested.

“You excluded me—appointed as family guard to the Bukgung Guard—from escort duty, bullied and ostracized me with turf, and now even ambushed a warrior while he was circulating his qi? Is Flying Swallow Manor really this cowardly in its conduct?”

“No, the ambush—well, that is…”

“You arranged all of this, Jeong Yeo-gwang, didn’t you?”

Jeong Yeo-gwang jumped in astonishment.

“No way! What crazy talk is that!”

“Didn’t you say it yourself? That full authority over the Flying Swallow Manor guard was entrusted to you. Now you intend to deny it?”

“……”

Jeong Yeo-gwang had nothing to say.

He had thought him a dumb wanderer, but his skill at intimidating people with words was remarkable.

“I can no longer tolerate Flying Swallow Manor’s treatment. I have been appointed by the Bukgung Family Lord. I’ll report this to the main hall at once…”

“No!”

Jeong Yeo-gwang shouted.

If he reported to the main hall and the problem grew, it would inevitably reach the sixth young master’s ears.

If word reached the sixth young master that Flying Swallow Manor had management problems, he wouldn’t leave it be.

No, even if the sixth young master did, Lady Wang Ga-hwa would not leave him alone.

“Absolutely not!”

Yeon Mujin narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

“You say no?”

“That’s right! Absolutely not.”

“Who are you to say that?”

“Uh…”

A cold sweat trickled down Jeong Yeo-gwang’s spine.

His mind began spinning rapidly.

“If it’s known that problems arose the moment you were appointed to the guard, your position would be precarious. Who would welcome a guard that has trouble with his comrades? You might even be dismissed from the Bukgung Guard post!”

Surely you don’t hope for that, do you?

Jeong Yeo-gwang looked at Yeon Mujin with that expression.

And Yeon Mujin smiled refreshingly and…

“What are you gonna do about it?”

“What?”

“I’m originally a man with nothing to lose. Dismissed? I’ll just return to the streets. Forgot? I was originally a street wanderer.”

Yeon Mujin added a word.

“Why don’t we grab each other’s collars and fight like dogs in a mud pit? Let’s see who ends up more stuck in the muck.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang met his eyes and realized.

This guy is for real.

He’s truly insane.

Isn’t it said that a man with nothing to lose is the most terrifying in the world?

He sent a telepathic message toward Yeon Mujin.

– What do you want? If it’s something I can grant, I’ll do anything.

In the end it was a fight Jeong Yeo-gwang had no choice but to yield.

Yeon Mujin, with that familiar sly smile, approached Jeong and whispered in his ear.

From his experience, this worked better than a telepathic message.

“There are two things you must grant.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang was taken aback when he heard Yeon Mujin’s first request.

Being with this man was a constant stream of bewilderment and absurdity.

“What did you say?”

The dedicated mess hall of Flying Swallow Manor’s guard unit.

All the subordinate warriors sat gathered there.

It looked like any other time, but there was one difference.

“Ugh…”

Groans and moans erupted here and there.

Some clutched their jaws, some their chests, others held a limb and whimpered like kicked dogs.

They were the warriors who had been beaten like dogs by Yeon Mujin today.

Yeon Mujin’s fists were different from the others’.

In an ordinary fight, they should have been able to shake off a punch or two and get up.

They were trained warriors; their recuperative ability was stronger than most.

But the places struck by Yeon Mujin didn’t ease in pain no matter how much time passed.

It hurt so persistently they could have cried from it.

That was the first uncanny thing they experienced.

And being hit bare-fisted like third-rate street thugs was the second oddity.

They had never seen such low-grade fighting. For some, the pain engraved in their hearts was greater than that in their bodies.

And the final, third, peculiarity of the day.

Dishes from the kitchen were laid out on the table by the attendants.

The savory smell of oil and the aroma of warm food teased the warriors’ noses.

But they were puzzled.

“What is this…”

Because the food set out was unfamiliar fare they had never eaten before.

“Ugh, I’m hungry.”

And Yeon Mujin appeared.