Chapter 46: “You Shouldn’t Make a Mess in an Inn”

Everyone was stunned by Jin Seong-un’s sudden action.

Someone spit out their noodles, and a few quick-witted individuals quietly stood up and slipped out of the inn.

The martial artists of the Four Dragons River Gang glared at Jin Seong-un, seemingly trying to gauge his martial prowess, while the one who had been slapped and sent flying just blinked in confusion.

The most surprised of all was Seo Yu-gyeom. It was rare for Jin Seong-un to act so impulsively.

Regardless, all eyes were now on him.

Yet Jin Seong-un remained calm and collected.

He squatted down and began picking up the spilled food onto a plate. Part of the plate had broken off, but its shape held together well enough for it to still serve its purpose.

After collecting all the food, he grabbed a dishcloth hanging by the kitchen and wiped the table. Then, using a rag, he thoroughly cleaned up the wine spilled on the floor.

Throughout the entire process, no one dared to interrupt him. It was an instinctive response from everyone.

Once he had finished cleaning, Jin Seong-un muttered to himself.

“……You shouldn’t make a mess in an inn.”

Then he glanced at the innkeeper and added,

“And you shouldn’t hit an elder either.”

Everyone looked bewildered.

After all, he had suddenly walked up and slapped someone, only to then start cleaning—who wouldn’t be confused?

But from Seo Yu-gyeom’s perspective, Jin Seong-un’s actions were entirely reasonable, and he couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. That’s because Jin Seong-un was a jeomsoi.

For a jeomsoi, cleaning was as natural as eating breakfast in the morning and dinner in the evening.

The martial artists of the Four Dragons River Gang exchanged glances.

Unorthodox Path martial artists disliked unexpected variables—especially the weaker they were, the more they feared them.

And it wasn’t likely that those who came to the inn to collect debts were particularly high-level martial artists.

Since they couldn’t quite assess Jin Seong-un’s martial prowess, they were exchanging intense, wordless opinions through their eyes.

‘Let’s just go back. That guy’s crazy.’

‘Nonsense! If we back down now, the name of Four Dragons River Gang will be dragged through the mud.’

‘Then you go first, brother.’

‘…….’

Roughly that sort of silent conversation passed between them. Meanwhile, Jin Seong-un finished cleaning, helped the innkeeper to his feet, and asked,

“Innkeeper, are you alright?”

“……I’m fine, I suppose.”

The innkeeper of the Deyang Inn trailed off at the end. This wasn’t the time to worry about himself.

Who were these people? They were from the Four Dragons River Gang, one of the four major Unorthodox factions in Deyang.

In Deyang, no one dared to treat them lightly—not even government officials or the wealthy.

There were even rumors that not even the Hwa-un Trading Company could do anything about the four Unorthodox factions of Deyang.

Unlike the uneasy innkeeper, Jin Seong-un remained entirely composed. If he had feared the Unorthodox Path, he wouldn’t have annihilated the Prosperity Association.

“You bastard!”

Someone suddenly shouted.

Jin Seong-un flicked the moisture off his hands and calmly looked at the man. He was a fairly large man and seemed to be the oldest among the intruders.

“What’s the problem?”

At Jin Seong-un’s response, the burly man looked dumbfounded. He pulled the sword from his waist, and the few remaining guests in the inn jumped up and ran for the door.

Clicking his tongue, Jin Seong-un watched them flee. For someone managing an inn, that was the worst outcome. He hadn’t collected their payment yet.

Turning to the innkeeper, Jin Seong-un said,

“I’ll pay for them.”

It was money he had taken from pickpockets anyway.

The innkeeper looked at Jin Seong-un. He had nothing to say. His fear of the Four Dragons River Gang overwhelmed any other concern.

At that moment, the burly man, feeling ignored, shouted,

“Do you even know who we are?”

“I heard earlier. Four Dragons River Gang, wasn’t it?”

That rude youth smothered in red soy sauce had said so while stepping on the innkeeper.

He hadn’t expected a response, so when Jin Seong-un answered, the man was at a loss for words.

So Jin Seong-un asked instead,

“Why are you beating someone who’s just trying to run a business, and spilling drinks and food on the floor?”

The Unorthodox Path martial artists all looked dumbfounded. No one had ever asked them such a question in their lives.

Normally, no one dared ask Unorthodox Path martial artists why they did such things. It was simply expected of them to beat people, extort money, and cause chaos.

As the dumb silence lingered, someone finally gave an honest answer.

“Because we’re from the Unorthodox Path?”

Jin Seong-un nodded. He found the answer refreshingly candid. He rather liked that impromptu response.

“I see. Everyone’s just doing their job, then.”

Somehow, that thought felt oddly satisfying.

Jin Seong-un had briefly wondered if he’d made a mistake by intervening in this situation.

After all, he was just passing through, and the innkeeper would be staying here forever. But that answer had resolved his dilemma.

As he looked at the innkeeper being beaten by an Unorthodox Path martial artist, many people came to mind.

Innkeepers he’d worked with as a jeomsoi, cooks, merchants, fathers with children, scholars chasing their dreams of passing the civil service exam to raise their families, and farmers who drank with dirt-covered hands.

And, of course, the Unorthodox Path martial artists who tormented them for all sorts of reasons.

“Alright. Let’s both do what we’re supposed to do.”

With that, Jin Seong-un strode forward. He weaved his way right through the armed men with their drawn swords.

The Unorthodox Path thugs stared at him with dazed expressions. Even Seo Yu-gyeom was curious to see what Jin Seong-un would do next.

Eventually, Jin Seong-un reached the door and closed it. The inn dimmed slightly.

A brief silence followed.

Jin Seong-un turned to the Unorthodox Path martial artists and said,

“Then I’ll clean. You all do your work.”

With that, Jin Seong-un gave Seo Yu-gyeom a subtle signal. Seo Yu-gyeom flashed a wide grin as if to say it’s finally time and rose from his seat.

Scrape—the sound of a chair moving made the thugs flinch and turn around.

But Seo Yu-gyeom was no longer there. Their spines chilled instantly.

“W-Where did he……”

And then—

Puk. A stabbing sound echoed through the inn.

The martial artists quickly turned to where the sound had come from.

One of their comrades, who had been eating with them just an hour ago, was now gushing blood from his throat.

He stared at them with lifeless eyes before collapsing.

Thud!

His body slammed heavily against the floor. And even there, Seo Yu-gyeom was nowhere to be seen.

Only his voice echoed from the air.

“The jeomsoi cleans, the cook prepares the meals……”

The martial artists were in complete turmoil. But they couldn’t just stand there like fools. One of them shouted in panic,

“A-Attack!”

He was the oldest among them.

The Unorthodox Path martial artists soon gripped their swords tightly and lunged forward. Though they had measured their opponent before the fight, once the battle had begun, there was only one thing to do.

After all, they were men who had lived their entire lives rolling in the Unorthodox Path.

Several of the men charged at Jin Seong-un. Especially the one who had been hit first and coated in red soy sauce was rushing in, his face flushed red.

“You son of a b*tch!”

Jin Seong-un watched them with calm eyes. Their expressions were full of desperation and urgency.

But to Jin Seong-un, they weren’t all that threatening. To speak plainly, they seemed no stronger than the now-defunct Prosperity Association.

Only one thing puzzled him. Even if they were the lowest rank, how could a group of this level shake one of the Ten Great Trading Companies of the Central Plains?

While he was pondering this, the fastest among them had already closed the distance and was swinging his sword.

Jin Seong-un raised a dishcloth, pulling it taut with both hands. The Unorthodox Path martial artist sneered, assuming he meant to block a sword with a cloth.

The man swung down hard, intending to split both the rag and Jin Seong-un’s head in one go.

At the moment the sword and cloth met—

The man had an odd experience. The dishcloth, though made of cloth, felt as if it had transformed into an iron net, firmly trapping the blade.

But there was no time to be impressed.

The man tried to pull the sword free, but it was no use. While he was exerting himself, Jin Seong-un kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying.

A competent swordsman doesn’t let go of his sword. But this man was no competent swordsman. Jin Seong-un caught the sword that he had dropped.

And at that moment, Jin Seong-un’s atmosphere shifted once again.

The charging men faltered.

Jin Seong-un merely held the sword lightly. That was enough. Such was the nature of a disciple of the Sword Immortal.

After briefly observing them, Jin Seong-un stomped the ground lightly.

He closed the distance in an instant, and the men’s swords lunged toward him.

Jin Seong-un moved leisurely, deflecting one blade after another, and when he spotted an opening, he pierced through.

Each time, one man died. Jin Seong-un was confident he could kill them all in a single stroke. Yet he chose this method of fighting.

The reason was simple. If he had killed them all with a single strike, it would have been a grotesque scene. For an innkeeper who wasn’t a martial artist, it would have been too much to witness.

Jin Seong-un’s sword killed the men rather neatly. With each thrust, a small hole was pierced in a vital point, and they died instantly.

Thanks to that, not much blood was spilled. Surprisingly, not a single wall, table, or chair in the inn was damaged during the fight.

Around the same time, those who had intended to face Seo Yu-gyeom were in a similar situation.

The difference was—they still hadn’t even seen Seo Yu-gyeom.

They only turned their heads when a short scream rang out, only to find their comrade already dead. The low-ranking members of the Four Dragons River Gang had no way of detecting the movements of a Deathshroud elite assassin.

The fight didn’t last long.

In fact, it could barely be called a fight at all.

Jin Seong-un threw the bloodstained sword onto the floor.

As he looked at the bodies, he realized something. That he had harbored quite a bit of pent-up anger from his time living as a jeomsoi.

The Seong-un Inn in Yichang had been relatively peaceful. The Prosperity Association had been completely eradicated, and the Merchants’ Association led by Oh Jeong-san had taken its place.

That’s why it had been a long time since he’d seen Unorthodox Path thugs causing havoc in an inn. Given the mention of debt, these were likely loan sharks who used the Flame King Loans.

They were among the most vile in the Unorthodox Path. Flame King Loans—usury that slowly and cruelly erodes a person’s spirit.

Blaming the borrower for taking the loan doesn’t work here.

“How did you end up using the Flame King Loans?”

At Jin Seong-un’s question, the innkeeper hesitated before replying.

“It wasn’t me. It was my son. They lured him into a gambling den, pulled some dirty tricks, and saddled him with debt at the critical moment.”

The innkeeper’s tone had changed. It was only natural after witnessing what had just occurred.

What he described was a textbook tactic of the Flame King Loan thugs. Most likely, the gambling den was operated by Unorthodox Path martial artists as well.

It hadn’t been a loan—it had been a trap.

“Where is your son?”

“……They beat him so badly he can barely walk now.”

They bait people like fish and trap them in debt. If the family has any money, it's even more effective.

They threaten, coerce, coax, and lure—then go back to threats, gradually extracting money like pulling threads from a spider’s web.

There is no escape. They operate with cold, calculated precision. The innkeeper would be giving them money until he was worn down to nothing.

Now Jin Seong-un understood why the innkeeper had been working alone.

Jin Seong-un nodded as if he understood. Then, turning to Seo Yu-gyeom—who was struggling to suppress his murderous intent and regulate his breathing—he said,

“Brother Seo, I think I’ll need to visit the Four Dragons River Gang.”

It was both a declaration and a question.

The reason Jin Seong-un wanted to go to the Four Dragons River Gang was personal. He couldn’t pressure Seo Yu-gyeom into joining him.

Seo Yu-gyeom exhaled deeply. It was as if his murderous intent came out with his breath.

“Then I’ll go too. This actually works out well.”

According to the pickpocket, the Four Dragons River Gang was one of the four major Unorthodox factions in Deyang. They were inevitably tied to the affairs of the Hwa-un Trading Company.

He wasn’t ready to return to the Trading Company yet. It wasn’t just a place from his childhood—it was where his misfortune had begun, and also where the source of his murderous intent lay.

Still, he needed to know what was happening there.

Seo Yu-gyeom tucked the Heaven-Slaying Dagger into his robes and replied to Jin Seong-un, who was waiting for an answer.

“Since they’ve got money, I bet they’re eating pretty well, right?”

“Most likely.”

“Good. Let’s have our meal there, then.”

Nodding, Jin Seong-un pulled a wallet from his robe and placed it on the empty table. It would be more than enough to cover the cost of the meal.

He turned to the innkeeper, who still wore a confused expression.

“One day should be enough.”

The innkeeper didn’t understand what he meant by that.

Regardless, Jin Seong-un opened the inn’s door and stepped outside. The light that poured in through the open door shone starkly on the last moments of the Unorthodox Path thugs.

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