Chapter 115

I sat at the same table as Gu Cheong-won.
With him in front of us, Wi So-rang, Yuk Ja-heung, and I took the seats across from him.

“…….”

An awkward silence settled over us.
It was Gu Cheong-won who broke that silence.

“You haven’t even ordered yet. Sajae, Samae. Order. I’ll pay today.”
“Huh? I was going to pay…… though.”

Wi So-rang raised the ending of her sentence.
Even this little brat who knew no fear seemed to find Gu Cheong-won difficult.

“Could you let me have this, Samae? As your Senior Brother, I’d like to treat my junior siblings.”
“O……kay.”

Gu Cheong-won smiled faintly and called for a server.
Instead of a server, the tavern owner who had been waiting nearby came running over.

“May I order first?”

Everyone nodded.
Gu Cheong-won said,

“I’ll have wheat noodles.”
“…….”

Everyone was left speechless.
He said he was treating us, and the first thing he ordered was plain noodles?
What kind of nonsense was this?

Maybe he had the same thought as me.
Yuk Ja-heung frowned and said,

“The wheat noodles here aren’t good. I’ll have the Golden Sand Lotus Soup and the Heaven-and-Earth Restoration Soup. I’m craving something hot.”

Dishes that sounded expensive just from their names alone.

‘That’s Yuk Ja-heung for you.’

I had overestimated this guy too much.
He was the type who barely had any sense at all.
But Gu Cheong-won’s reaction was unexpected.

“Go ahead. My stomach just felt empty, so I was only going to fill it with noodles. You juniors should order enough.”

There was not even a trace of pretension in his tone.
I must have judged Gu Cheong-won as too petty.
Then again, would someone who runs a secret auction house really act stingy over something like this?

Wi So-rang and I each ordered one reasonable dish.
While we waited for the food, Gu Cheong-won spoke.

“This is the first time I’ve sat across from Seventh Junior Brother like this.”
“It is. It’s also the first time we’ve spoken.”
“As your senior, I should have arranged a gathering like this much earlier, but since it happened, even by chance, I suppose I should count that as fortunate. It would have been even better if all the brothers had gathered.”

I paused for a moment.
Was that said with Heuk Un-hwi in mind?
I answered calmly.

“It’s a shame for me too. If the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan had not gotten entangled with the Heaven Rebelling Society, more of us would probably be gathered than now.”
“That may be true, but what can be done? A crime is still a crime. The Heuk Clan pushed things too far.”

I tilted my head slightly.
Was he agreeing with my opinion?
This easily?

‘Hiss, this is way too different from what I expected.’

Gu Cheong-won’s personality was far more straightforward than I had expected.
So much so that it was hard to believe he was the same person who would later corner Geuk Mu-hyeok with such sinister meticulousness.

“These days, thanks to Seventh Junior Brother, the cult has become lively.”

Gu Cheong-won changed the subject.
Mentioning various happenings within the cult, he seemed to be slowly steering things toward the main point.

‘Right. This is how it would go.’

In my previous life, I had never had reason to clash directly with Gu Cheong-won.
I had been farther from the succession struggle than the distance from the Demon Cult to Hainan Island.
But this life was different.
I had become someone who drew attention. Enough for Gu Cheong-won to keep in check.

“I suppose I made a bit of a scene?”
“Not really.”

Gu Cheong-won shook his head firmly.

“It’s just that every time I blink, there’s some new development, so it’s hard to keep up. Like what happened at the Guardian Court not long ago.”
“I want to live quietly too, but it doesn’t work out that way. There’s a saying, isn’t there? The reeds wish to stay still, but the wind does not stop. That’s exactly my case.”

The reeds were me, and the wind was Geuk Mu-hyeok.
I was expressing that bastard’s constant attempts to pick a fight with me.
Gu Cheong-won took a large drink and asked,

“Do you know how reeds survive against the wind?”
“I wonder.”
“They bend. If they do not bend, they get uprooted.”

Was this a warning telling me not to resist and just stay quiet?
I answered calmly.

“What if the roots are deep enough not to be pulled out no matter how hard the wind blows?”
“If the place where its roots spread is marshland, then it would be fine. If it is loam, then it would not. What sort of ground are you standing on, Seventh Junior Brother?”

Gu Cheong-won’s gaze and mine collided in midair.
The air grew heavy.
It was then, while neither he nor I looked away.

“We have brought the dishes for the Little Demons!”

The tavern owner came up carrying the food.
The servers were with him as well.

“To commemorate these honored Little Demons visiting us, we have also brought a special liquor and tea, so please enjoy them.”

His voice was excited, perhaps because he was in such a good mood.
Gu Cheong-won finally looked away.

“When I visit alone, you give me nothing, but now that my juniors are here, you’re showing your sincerity.”
“Oh no, not at all. I had been looking for a chance to offer something to Third Young Lord as well. It just so happened that some fine liquor came in only a little while ago.”

As expected of a merchant, the tavern owner joked smoothly.

“Haha! So that was it.”

Gu Cheong-won loosened his money pouch.
Five gold coins came out of it.
Each gold coin was worth ten taels of silver, so it was a large sum of fifty taels.

“They say food is first enjoyed with the eyes and the nose. It is clearly fine cuisine. I will enjoy it.”

Gu Cheong-won pushed all the gold coins toward the owner.
The owner flusteredly waved his hands.

“T-Third Young Lord. There is no need to give this much…….”
“It is not only for you. Make sure the servers receive a generous share as well.”
“I-I am so deeply honored!”

The owner and the servers were moved as one.

‘He’s generous.’

He really must have a lot of money.
If he ran a secret auction house, it only made sense that he had money to spare.
I stared blankly at how overjoyed they looked.
How nice it must be to come into a windfall all of a sudden.

Gu Cheong-won looked back at me again.
Perhaps he misunderstood my expression, because he said something strange.

“You seem uncomfortable. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not some nouveau riche fool who scatters gold coins recklessly. I simply do not spare expense on a good occasion.”
“That’s not it.”
“……?”
“It’s because I’m envious.”

Maybe it had been an unexpected answer.
Gu Cheong-won was momentarily at a loss for words.
But then loud laughter burst out of him.

“Hahaha! Envious? That was an answer I never could have imagined. Hahahaha!”

Gu Cheong-won burst into laughter for quite a while.
He looked like a man with a hole in his lungs.

Watching him, Wi So-rang and Yuk Ja-heung tilted their heads.
He must have looked like a madman.
Seeing him laugh that hard over something so trivial, maybe he really was crazy.

“Let’s eat.”

The meal began with those words from Gu Cheong-won, who had laughed so much he even had to wipe the moisture from the corners of his eyes.
Even though he had gone to the trouble of ordering wheat noodles, Gu Cheong-won never picked up his chopsticks. He only kept drinking.

‘What in the world is he trying to do?’

I couldn’t get any grasp at all on what kind of person Gu Cheong-won was.
Whether that seemingly open and hearty side of him was a disguise or not, what his real self underneath was like, and what purpose he had in wanting to meet me.
I couldn’t get a handle on any of it.

“Excuse me.”
“Hm?”
“What is the reason you’ve been showing up at Blue Mirage Pavilion for several days? It’s not like there would be no taverns near Punga-heon. And it’s not as though you have so much spare time you can’t handle it.”

Gu Cheong-won smiled faintly.

“Let’s just say it’s because of my cautious nature.”
“That’s not an answer at all.”
“Meetings must always be approached carefully.”
“That’s the same thing.”

Gu Cheong-won continued in a calm gaze.

“Do you know why all conflicts in the world happen? Because they don’t know each other well. If they knew each other’s intentions, tragedies of killing and being killed wouldn’t happen.”
“You wanted to know my intentions?”
“That’s right.”
“So, are you done confirming them?”
“Sixty percent.”
“That number is strangely specific.”
“Because I like things to come out exact. Whether it be numbers or people.”

A meaningful line.
Wi So-rang and Yuk Ja-heung’s gazes moved back and forth between me and Gu Cheong-won.
When I spoke, they looked at me, and when Gu Cheong-won spoke, they looked at him.
Yuk Ja-heung spoke in a small voice that everyone could still hear.

“Samae, doesn’t the atmosphere feel strange?”
Wi So-rang summed it up simply.

“Just keep eating what you were eating.”
“Should I?”

Letting the two’s comedic routine go in one ear and out the other,
it seemed impossible to finish the day quietly.
Gu Cheong-won clearly still had business with me.

‘Though the same goes for me too.’

I hadn’t even brought up the first syllable of Defeated-Spirit Paste yet.
Whatever Gu Cheong-won’s business was, there was only one thing I had to do to get what I wanted.
Take control of the situation.
I spoke to Gu Cheong-won.

“It seems this isn’t really the place for a serious conversation.”
“So it would seem.”

Gu Cheong-won smiled with only his mouth.
He had understood that I meant we should change locations.

“Yaaawn.”

Right then, Wi So-rang had been repeatedly yawning.

“Sajeo, are you sleepy?”
“No. I’m not sleepy at all, yaaawn.”
“You’re yawning a lot for someone who isn’t sleepy. Let’s get up.”
“I want to hang out with Sajae though…….”
“We can spar again soon.”
“Then should we do that?”

We left the tavern.
Gu Cheong-won glanced at Yuk Ja-heung and Wi So-rang, then said to me,

“I should share one more drink with Seventh Junior Brother.”

Before I could even say fine, Yuk Ja-heung craned his neck this way.

“Where are you going?”
“Fifth Junior Brother should head back. It seems the alcohol is getting to you.”

Gu Cheong-won said gently.
It was an indirect way of saying there was something he wanted to discuss with only me.
But Yuk Ja-heung was not the sort to understand that.

“I’m perfectly fine. I’m not drunk at all.”
“No. Fifth Sahyung, you’re really drunk. Third Sahyung and I will drink together, so you should go back and rest.”
“Wh-why are you acting like this?”

I slung an arm around Yuk Ja-heung’s shoulders.
Then I moved only my lips.

‘Just leave while I’m still saying it nicely.’

Yuk Ja-heung blinked, then slowly held his head.

“Oof, I-I suddenly feel dizzy. I should go home and rest.”

Yes, that’s how you should be.

“Sajae, see you again!”

I parted ways with the two of them.
Yuk Ja-heung looked reluctant because he wanted to stay with us longer, but he had no choice and climbed into the carriage.

The place Gu Cheong-won and I headed to was a nearby pavilion.
We each took a sip from the gourds we had brought from the tavern.
He spoke.

“On a night like this, doesn’t liquor taste deeper?”
“Well, I suppose so.”

Suddenly, Gu Cheong-won looked at the far night sky and recited something.

“The moon is pale and the wind is clear, so I raise this cup.
In the distant sky, the starlight flickers.
The way it blooms and fades in an instant, it is just like life.”

I tilted my head and asked,

“What was that?”
“A verse I just composed.”

Goosebumps instantly rose on my arms.
Not because the content was good enough to be chilling, but because the act of suddenly composing and reciting a verse clashed so much with my sensibilities.

‘He really is strange.’

“……You’re full of refinement.”
“I just like to play, eat, and drink. The word refinement was surely made by some fellow who likes to fool around the way I do. It’s too grand.”
“That may be true.”

Gu Cheong-won took a sip of liquor and said,

“I don’t know if you guessed it, but Great Sahyung sent me here.”

Of course I had guessed.
It was just that his manner was ambiguous, so I had not clearly known what he wanted.

‘It is still before the two of them part ways, after all.’

Right now was the point when Gu Cheong-won was still hiding his claws and fangs.
Gu Cheong-won treated Geuk Mu-hyeok with utmost respect as the Great Senior Brother, and Geuk Mu-hyeok treated such a Gu Cheong-won as a valued junior brother.
At least on the surface.

“Great Sahyung told me to make your body into one that can never practice martial arts again.”
“Will you follow that order?”
“That depends on you, Sajae.”

At that moment, Gu Cheong-won released killing intent as sharp as an awl.

‘Hup.’

Without realizing it, I clenched my molars hard.
Gu Cheong-won’s killing intent was different from that of other masters whose killing intent filled the surroundings.
It targeted only a single point, my dantian.
Perhaps because of that, even though he was not at the Extreme Demonic Realm, it carried as much destructive force as a master of the Extreme Demonic Realm releasing killing intent.
The Dark-Shadow Gu Clan, with hidden weapon arts and concealment arts that had reached divine skill.
Their worship of absolute efficiency was reflected even in the form of their killing intent.

“Declare it clearly. That you will not involve yourself in the succession struggle.”

Gu Cheong-won was serious.
If I did not give him the answer he wanted right now, he would try to destroy my dantian without hesitation.

‘Could I avoid it?’

The odds were half and half.
But there was no need to rely on fifty-percent odds.
If I failed to get the result I wanted, then forget the Defeated-Spirit Paste, this life itself would be ruined.
So I deliberately pulled the corners of my mouth up as far as they would go.

“How ridiculous. I was never part of the succession struggle from the very beginning.”
“As long as you continue making moves that plant false hopes in many people, then you are in the succession struggle.”

Gu Cheong-won replied coldly.

“So if I do not give a clear answer, you’ll destroy my dantian?”
“Exactly.”
“For whose sake?”
“……What do you mean?”
“It doesn’t seem like you’re simply following orders. I was wondering if perhaps you’re using Great Sahyung as a shield so you can clear away, in advance, a stone that might get in your way, Third Sahyung.”

Gu Cheong-won’s face stiffened.

“……Seventh Junior Brother has insight. Enough for Great Senior Brother to be concerned about.”

A chilling gaze.
As the killing intent thickened even further, I spoke without shrinking back.

“Third Sahyung, how about we make a deal?”