12. They say there are people who have died from not cleaning? The Twelve Divine Generals each possess varying levels of martial arts, but in any case, they are on par with the Black Cat Lord.
Jo Il-seong could not even lift his head. 'Why are the Twelve Divine Generals here...?' Upon hearing the name Baek Yu, it was only right to greet him as one would the Black Cat Lord.
Especially since Baek Yu was a formidable opponent for Jo Il-seong.
Recently, he had been entangled with the Black Cat (黑卯, Black Rabbit) of the Twelve Divine Generals, so it was natural for the most unfriendly Baek Yu to feel displeased.
Knowing this, the problem was that Jo Il-seong's rank was low, and he had never seen Baek Yu in person.
Jo Il-seong's thoughts became complicated.
"Did you come here to give me an order?" "I did."
"Please, go ahead."
"Kill yourself."
Jo Il-seong clenched his teeth and did not respond.
No matter how much of a Divine General the opponent was, who would accept such an order? Jo Il-seong spoke.
"If you say that out of the blue..."
"Just kidding."
"Hmm."
I smiled slightly and continued.
"The Twelve Divine Generals are actually a lie. I am from Il-yang-hyeon. Lu-ju, why are you so easily fooled?" Jo Il-seong's expression changed instantly as he raised his head.
"Il-yang-hyeon person?" Jo Il-seong relaxed at the mention of Il-yang-hyeon, but at the same time, anger surged within him.
I locked eyes with Jo Il-seong and said, "It seems you are a bit forgetful. Come closer and see. It's me."
Jo Il-seong approached, holding his sword, and carefully examined my face.
His ever-changing expression was truly something to behold.
At first, a feeling of 'no way' crossed his mind, followed by a swift wave of 'anger' that covered his face.
Jo Il-seong slowly drew his sword and said, "Are you that Zaha guesthouse... the brat named Jeom-soi?" I replied with a smile.
"You recognized me well. Did I ever serve you a bowl of bad noodles while passing by? How was the taste of the Gyeongdu noodles, Jo Il-seong?" Only then did a foreboding thought cross Jo Il-seong's mind.
"What about my brother?" "What about your brother?" "He went out to kill you, what happened?" I said with a stiff expression.
"He came."
"Tell me."
"He didn't come to eat noodles. He was mumbling something, but I don't remember well. Ah, I remember now. He suddenly started digging his own grave while trying to act cool. I have no idea why your brother dug his own grave at the Zaha guesthouse. If you're curious, go ask him in the afterlife. Don't ask me."
As the furious Jo Il-seong closed the distance, he thrust his sword toward my face.
It was a stable thrust, as if preparing for a counterattack.
I drew my sword and deflected Jo Il-seong's blade.
With a clang, sparks flew.
As the two swords clashed, the information of 'battle' was transmitted to each of our arms—muscle, inner strength, speed, and sword power.
Jo Il-seong was a swordsman in his late thirties who had wielded a sword for about twenty years.
He had never formally learned martial arts, so he used a practical sword technique honed through killing people.
It was a technique with clear limitations.
To my eyes, it looked like a combination of external and crude internal martial arts.
However, he had enough experience from having killed quite a few people, so his killing intent was sufficiently fierce.
But in terms of the vast martial world, I rated his swordsmanship as third-rate.
Moreover, even though I had only entered the first stage of the Golden Nine Soaring Art, my pure internal strength was much deeper than Jo Il-seong's.
My internal strength, based on the Heavenly Jade, remained in my dantian, making it fundamentally different from Jo Il-seong's.
There was no need to mention fighting skills, experience, or responses in combat.
"It would have been better to kill yourself."
I launched a counterattack with a stoic expression.
In the spacious banquet hall, our swords clashed as Jo Il-seong and I repeatedly closed and opened the distance.
With each passing moment, Jo Il-seong's expression grew darker.
He was puzzled about when I had learned such swordsmanship, and his instincts, based on 'information,' warned him to flee.
Originally, there was no way that the brat from the guesthouse would blend with him like this, making it a bewildering moment.
The moment Jo Il-seong was pushed back by my internal strength, I threw my sword away like a stone without hesitation.
Whoosh! Startled, Jo Il-seong barely managed to deflect the incoming sword, and at that moment, I whipped out a whip from my waist and wrapped it around the handle of Jo Il-seong's sword.
As I infused my internal strength into the arm holding the whip, Jo Il-seong was pulled toward me like a pig heading to the slaughterhouse.
In that moment, Jo Il-seong, who chose to flee, let go of his sword and spun around, unleashing his lightness skill toward the entrance.
My whip, flying faster than his speed, wrapped around Jo Il-seong's waist as I rotated my body, shortening the length of the whip.
In an instant, as the distance closed, Jo Il-seong turned and thrust his sword.
At that moment, I used the technique of the Wood Chicken Finger to stab at his sword thrust.
Depending on the level of our internal strength, either my fingers would break, or Jo Il-seong's sword would pierce through, causing him internal injury—one of the two.
Naturally, the sound of leather tearing echoed, and Jo Il-seong staggered back, spitting out dark blood.
With an expression of disbelief, he said, "How could you...?" "Did you learn martial arts?" I infused my internal strength into the whip again and swung it.
Injured, Jo Il-seong flailed his arms in a desperate attempt to resist, but there was no effective way to block the incoming whip.
With each movement of the whip, red lines were etched onto Jo Il-seong's body.
Despite being hit, Jo Il-seong roared, "Zaha! You bastard Zaha! Wait a moment!"
I wrapped the whip around Jo Il-seong's neck and pulled him in, pouring the power of the Wood Chicken Palm onto his forehead.
Thud! Following the sound, the crack of his neck bone echoed.
As Jo Il-seong's heavy body collapsed to the ground, the entire Ihwa Tower shook.
Thud! I felt no emotion at Jo Il-seong's death.
After confirming that he had died instantly, I picked up the Black Dragon Sword.
Although Jo Il-seong's guards had rushed into the corridor, they could not easily enter.
Holding the sword and whip, I faced the door and said, "Open the door."
With a creak, the door opened, revealing martial artists holding halberds, engulfed in killing intent, waiting outside.
The reason they had not entered was simple.
According to reports, a battle had occurred between Jo Il-seong and the master of the Black Cat Lord.
It was difficult for them to determine whose side to take.
When judgment was difficult, one tended to care more about their own safety.
Even if Jo Il-seong Lu-ju seemed frightening at the moment, they all knew that the three Jo brothers had been inviting and entertaining the master of the Black Cat Lord daily.
They were not even the kind of rabble that had been trapped within the walls of the faction.
I easily read their psychology.
As I glared at a few of them, they all averted their gazes.
I declared the reason for the killing as an order from the Black Cat Lord.
"The Lord has changed his mind, and the establishment of the faction in Il-yang-hyeon has been postponed. The Jo scoundrel has been made an example, so if you recklessly demand the establishment of the faction again, know that you will all end up like him. Step aside if you don't want to die."
The crowd that had filled the corridor pressed themselves against the walls, creating a path.
Some went to the entrance to examine the corpse of Jo Il-seong.
As I walked down the corridor, I conveyed the next order.
"Report on the happenings at the Gilu to Cha Seong-tae of Meihwa Tower for the time being."
When I reached the end of the corridor and turned around, answers came crawling from various directions.
"Understood."
"The funeral should be as simple as possible. They have made enough money by rolling the poor lives in the three Gilu, so they should have enough for the afterlife fare."
The moment I turned around, someone said, "Aren't you the brat from Zaha guesthouse?" It was a clear statement, as if to inform my companions. "…!" After a moment of silence, murmurs followed.
I stood still, and the martial artists holding halberds began to lift their heads one by one, glaring at my back.
"Zaha guesthouse brat? Is it true?" "Absolutely. It's just that my outfit has changed. I know well because I've seen you often."
It seemed someone recognized me.
I twisted my neck left and right and turned around.
Now everyone was looking at my face and eyes.
I smiled at them.
"That's right. What will you do? Now that I've said I'm Jeom-soi, do you suddenly feel brave? If you're going to die, step forward."
Naturally, no one stepped forward.
"Anyone who wants to follow me to the afterlife and lick Jo Il-seong's feet, come out. I'll kill you. If you say you followed me to obey like a dog in the afterlife, the Jo scoundrels will treat you like a pet. You bastards. Anyone?"
There were more than thirty people lined up in the corridor.
Yet, despite that, no one had the courage to step forward.
I asked again, unguarded.
"You lost dogs are tucking your tails."
If they had the courage to take revenge, they would not have been living off the Gilu in the first place.
Someone asked, "Why did you suddenly kill Lu-ju?" "Why?" I had no need to explain to them.
"Why don't you ask Jo Il-seong? Anyone curious can come find me anytime. I'm not going anywhere."
I turned around, but no one moved.
Even if they tried to ambush me from behind, they were no match for the Jo brothers.
When I returned, Cha Seong-tae was gasping as if he had seen a ghost.
"Huh? What about Jo Il-seong?" "He ascended."
"You're lying!" Drunk, Cha Seong-tae jumped up and started running toward Ihwa Tower.
This was astonishing news for him.
As I sat back down and ate the now cold side dishes while drinking my seventh cup of alcohol, Cha Seong-tae arrived, panting, shaking his head.
"It's a mess. It's a mess. Jo Il-seong is dead! Jo Il-seong!" "Are you drunk?" "Ah, running suddenly made the alcohol hit me hard."
Cha Seong-tae sat down and continued, "But no one else died, right? How did only Jo Il-seong die?" I pointed at Cha Seong-tae with my finger.
"Manage the three Gilu properly."
"There are some who seem like they won't listen, but I'll take care of it. Leave that much to me."
There were two more men of the same rank as Cha Seong-tae, but he always thought he was stronger than them.
In an instant, Meihwa Lu-ju and Ihwa Lu-ju were dead, and now only the youngest, who supplied courtesans, Shihwa Lu-ju, remained.
Cha Seong-tae asked, "What will you do now?" "I need to kill the human traffickers."
"I'll let you know right away."
Until then, I had planned to train, but I didn't need to tell Cha Seong-tae that.
Whether I trained at Zaha guesthouse or temporarily left to enter a quiet mountain, what I needed now was not training in swordsmanship or weaponry, but rather the internal martial arts method that would allow me to draw upon the forces waiting in my dantian.
I thought I would observe the situation in Il-yang-hyeon quietly for a few days before deciding whether to choose a brief retreat or continue my training here.
Looking at the chaotic table, I said, "You clean this up."
Cha Seong-tae opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it.
It was obvious that if he said no, he would be hit immediately.
Instead, Cha Seong-tae, who came up with a good idea, cautiously said, "I'll send some friends known for cleaning. They are among the top three in cleaning in Il-yang-hyeon. They will also remove the weeds stuck to the wall and dust off the place. What is this mess on the floor? The kitchen is a disaster too, right? No wonder business has been bad. I'll send them right away, so please wait."
"Have you heard about the person who died from not cleaning?" "Was there such a story?" "It's a ghost story that only comes down in Il-yang-hyeon."
"I had no idea there was such a ghost story. I absolutely don't know. For now, I'll clean the table."
"How about just staying at Meihwa Tower? The bed is more comfortable than here, and there are guards..."
I entered the inner room without responding and sat cross-legged.
Cha Seong-tae sighed and began to look for a rag. 'Damn it.
You want me to clean for Cha Seong-tae? Huh.' Cha Seong-tae had no choice but to start cleaning.