#94: The Scent Of People (4) — The Patriarch of Sichuan

Waaah!

With a roaring cheer, the first bout ended.

When the referee called the winner’s name, the cheering grew louder. The loser gave a bitter bow and stepped down.

It was a clean and fine fight. No overheating, no blood, and each showed enough skill to make it a model duel.

The victor left the stage in high spirits, and the next pair stepped up.

Watching the arena, Mun Jung quietly chewed over Jin-hyeon’s words.

“Make me unable to live or die?”

“If I were the kind of bastard who deserved death.”

“And how will you judge that?”

For a Branch Leader it was a moment where drawing a blade would not be strange, yet Mun Jung didn’t flare. Only his tone shifted.

Jin-hyeon found him exceptional. If he were not, he wouldn’t be dangerous.

“You said you cannot be sure at a glance whether a man has manners and worth.”

“…”

“That is true. Yet there are exceptions.”

“Exceptions.”

“Scent.”

“An interesting claim.”

“Most times you can read a man’s words and record to judge if he deserves killing. When that is murky, only instinct remains.”

Jin-hyeon lifted a finger and tapped his nose.

“Those I may kill have a smell. A rot you cannot quite put into words.”

Mun Jung furrowed his brow.

“You would kill or spare by intuition?”

He had served high in the Heavenly Will Alliance’s adjudication arm, so he would be prickly at that.

Jin-hyeon did not waver.

“The mere fact you are weighing whether to kill a man or not is not normal to begin with.”

“Do you think yourself a judge?”

“I do not care to shoulder a judge’s headaches and procedures. What matters is always myself.”

“…”

“So what scent do you think you give off?”

The tone and the content both were rough.

More surprising was Moon Jung’s attitude. He never commented on Jin-hyeon’s way of speaking. It seemed he simply did not consider such things important in the first place.

“The one who smells decides my scent. What matters is that your words are dangerous.”

“Perhaps.”

“You said a man is proven by word and deed. Even setting action aside, your language alone is perilous. As Sichuan’s Branch Leader I cannot ignore it.”

“You and I are no different.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are no longer an adjudicator, yet you speak as if you could punish me for dangerous words alone.”

“…”

“I like that, yes.”

Those words of liking were likely the worst thing Mun Jung heard today.

Jin-hyeon was sure of it, and it was true. Mun Jung’s face set as he spoke.

“So.”

“…”

“What scent do I have?”

Jin-hyeon’s face went serious.

“I cannot tell.”

“?”

“You’re someone who watched a Deputy Branch Chief take bribes. You could not have missed it. No one that blind becomes Branch Leader.”

“…”

“The Sichuan Branch Leader’s power is immense, even if the Eight Martial Houses deny it. That is because it was granted by the Heavenly Will Alliance.”

“…”

“Power is responsibility. To bear it, a ruler must have the capacity. He is even granted perks near to privilege, to act rightly.”

“…”

“So even if the Heavenly Will Alliance is rotten, it does not seat the incapable. As Branch Leader you have eyes and ears. With that authority, if you wished, you could make the corrupt taste hell.”

Jin-hyeon looked at him.

His face had grown calm again, devoid of expression. His unwavering eyes were vague and unreadable.

“You did not give up your rights. You just proved that you forgot your duty by not using your authority.”

“…”

“Viewed that way you should reek. Yet I am not sure. There is a stench, yet it is hard to call it only stench.”

Mun Jung’s mouth lifted again.

“So you’re uncertain.”

“That’s right, I cannot be certain.”

“Then your instinct is not so…”

“But perhaps there is no need to sort scents?”

“What?”

“Your deeds show you condoned corruption. Many suffered for it. That alone is reason enough to crack your skull, is it not?”

“!”

“Why? Had there been a reason to condone it? It doesn’t matter. It is still a fact that you are lacking.”

Jin-hyeon spoke with a flat face.

“That is why it is so hard to hold a position of responsibility. Everything falls on me. I would be grateful if you could understand, but I still have to take responsibility, and the fault remains.”

“…”

Well, I cannot even keep my own house in order. How could I possibly do well in public office?”

Mun Jung’s gaze deepened.

“Do you truly think that?”

“I do not know which part you mean, yet none of my words were insincere.”

“…”

“So. Did you get what you wanted from calling me over?”

A faint smile passed over his face.

“More than enough.”

“Good.”

“Set aside all else.There is one thing I truly want to know. You have just spoken extremely dangerous words in front of the Sichuan Branch Leader of the Heavenly Will Alliance. For that manner of speaking alone, I could find any number of pretexts to throw you into a cell.”

“I know. I am suddenly starting to regret it.”

“Who are you relying on to act like this?”

At that moment, Jin-hyeon’s eyes blazed.

An overwhelming presence that even startled Mun Jung, a majesty hard to put into words, filled that gaze.

“Is there anyone you truly trust besides yourself?”

“…”

“I do. Yet when pressed to the very end, the only one I can trust is myself.”

“…”

“At least I will not hang my hopes on what cannot be trusted, like the disgraced Red Sword Sect Master or Mighty Tiger’s Lee Ho-gon.”

Mun Jung studied his face, then nodded.

“The overconfident always meet the wall of reality. Then they learn that their confidence was conceit and arrogance.”

“I worry about that too.”

Jin-hyeon rose.

“Our conversation seems to be over. This has been more entertaining than I expected.

“When shall we meet again?”

“Is your face so handsome that I need to come see it twice?”

Mun Jung answered with good humor.

“You and I do not look half bad. Back in the day more than a few chased after me. You seem no less.”

“If you are confident you will not end up miserable the next time we meet, we can meet as early as tonight.”

“To think I have to weigh even that before meeting you. You are quite a demanding friend.”

Jin-hyeon snorted a laugh and turned.

Then, eyes on the arena, Mun Jung tossed out a question.

“Black Tiger’s Wi Chang-gun, it was you wasn’t it?”

“?!”

“This dawn I received troubling reports. The Abundant Prosperity Guild Master, the Divine Spear House Master, and the Black Bamboo Fort’s Second Fort Master who came with his nephew are missing.”

“…”

“Not just the heads. Their sons and their men vanished as if they evaporated. Only the Fort Master’s one son remains.”

Jin-hyeon shot him a look. He saw only the back of his head, yet could guess his expression.

As expected, Mun Jung wore a faint smile.

“I cannot shake the notion that you had a hand in the heads of the Eight Houses evaporating.”

He was definitely not an ordinary person.

Jin-hyeon realized that aside from nature or temper, his ability outstripped expectation.

Simply having many eyes and ears does not make it easy to predict things to that extent. Just look at the heads of the Eight Martial Houses he met. Right up until the moment they died, they believed their opponent was beneath them.

In that sense, Mun Jung’s eyes and turn of mind were keen. He could set aside the bias of age when needed.

Even a world-edge sword becomes a butcher’s knife in the wrong hand. Mun Jung knew how to wield the blade rightly.

Jin-hyeon shrugged.

“Thanks for seeing me as such a formidable person. My own people think me an incorrigible thug.”

“You may be a thug. There is little more frightening than a thug’s blade.”

“Thanks for the praise.”

“In truth, you are strong, are you not?”

“…”

“You are clearly of lower realm than I, yet you carry a strange pressure. Your depth of internal energy is hard to gauge. You seem to have a special art, but I cannot place it.”

“You want to brand it Demonic Arts and throw me in a cell?”

“If needed, it’s a good pretext. I will keep it in mind.”

“We have talked too long. I will go.”

“Avoiding me now? Afraid your inside will show?”

“I am sparing you. Lest it become dull.”

With that, Jin-hyeon left the terrace.

As he watched the arena, someone approached Mun Jung.

“Is your talk done?”

“Heh, it is.”

An elderly man glanced at Jin-hyeon’s back as he passed below.

“He is no ordinary youth.”

Mun Jung knit his brow.

“I thought so too, yet he defied my expectations. Full of confidence and rude. The privilege of being young perhaps, yet I doubt it can be corrected.”

“Oh. He was impudent to Branch Leader Mun himself. That will not do. If you wish, I will call my disciples to correct him.”

“Hahaha. There is no need, Sect Master. I plan to correct him thoroughly before long. Thank you for the concern.”

“Think nothing of it. As fellow men of the Murim, this is no trouble at all.”

“That is reassuring. Ah, the second bout is about to end. Anyone catch your eye?”

For a while Mun Jung chatted amiably with the sect master from Shaanxi.

Now and then his eyes flashed with a lethal light. It was not clear whom it targeted, but it was not friendly.

“Back already. It’s not even over.”

“The stink was thick. I couldn’t bear to stay. I just took a look and left.”

Han Cheol-sang’s eyes lit.

“Was it someone who called you?”

Han Cheol-sang’s read was no ordinary thing.

Such sense and eye are a power beyond martial arts. In the Kangho they are vital to survival.