Chapter 21 – So Cold

Soaking in a hot tub while listening to the sound of rain is like heaven.

The sound of the heavy rain outside dies down when I close my eyes.

After some time, the hallway grows quieter than before, and the noise from downstairs subsides.

“…….”

According to my five senses and experience, I sense something is amiss in the unusual ‘silence.’

‘Is it an ambush?’

If it is, I think I might have to attack the attackers unarmed and naked.

It is unusual for the pavilion to be so quiet in the first place.

However, I wait in the bathtub without ordering anyone to bring in a weapon.

I wonder if anyone wants to pay me a visit after the death of the Cho Brothers and the Twin Ghosts of the Ringed Blade.

It won’t be the Black Rabbit Union. Their underlings are scared, so there’s no way a master would be on their way to find me right now.

If not them, then it must be someone from the Ilyang Prefecture.

I recall the second-in-commands who have skills in fighting in the Plum Blossom Pavilion and the Pear Blossom Pavilion.

I’m not a prophet, so I can’t know for sure.

But a conclusion can be made since I know what kind of people are in the Ilyang Prefecture from my experiences in the future.

This is all just speculation, so I am still dubious, but I hear the sound of footsteps in the hallway, and the door of the bath busts open.

I look at the two intruders and say.

“Is it you guys?”

Of course, I know these faces well since they’re from around here.

Song U-geum of the Pear Blossom Pavilion and Yoo Jun-gu of the Plum Blossom Pavilion.

Alongside Cha Sung-tae, these three are the pavilion supervisors, and managers called the ‘Tae Geum Gu’ by their subordinates.

Upon confirming I am still unclothed in the bathtub, Song U-geum and Yoo Jun-gu rush in with swords without saying a word.

At the moment, I think.

It’s only natural to keep killing in Kangho.

I’m currently naked and unarmed..….

But there’s a bathtub.

I gather the Fire Chicken Energy in my hand, rip a board out of the bathtub with two hands, and wield them like wooden swords. At the same time, the pressure of the energy explodes, causing water and the broken bathtub remnants to explode at Song U-geum and Yoo Jun-gu.

The wreckage and water of the bathtub flood toward Song Wu-geum and Yoo Jun-gu from all directions.

Then I swing the wooden sword ripped out of the bathtub while still naked.

They are just as skilled as Cha Sung-tae.

Which means they are not even a threat.

However, they have weapons.

When Song U-geum’s sword cut the wooden sword I wielded, I hit his abdomen with my left foot.

Bang!

Swinging my head to avoid Yoo Jun-gu’s sword, I strike his hand with the wooden sword. Having been kicked in the stomach, Song U-geum rushes at me with a red face, and Yoo Jun-gu also attacks me as if he’ll fight with his fists after letting go of his sword.

I keep my distance.

As I step back to maintain distance, I inject the Fire Chicken Energy into my temporary wooden sword and swing it indiscriminately.

The wooden sword makes a loud sound as I slash against Song U-geum and Yoo Jun-gu’s faces.

The wooden board is too broad to be called a sword, so I slash at both men wildly.

In an instant, six or seven attacks leave gashes on their faces, upper bodies, and arms. Each attack leaves blood splattering all around the bath area.

I hope their corpse will serve as a warning to others.

I swing the board until the two are left as bloodied corpses and throw the remaining pieces away.

At the same time, the two dead bastards collapse from their standing position onto the floor.

Red blood stains the room as trails of it make their way into the drainage pipes and the sewers below.

Song U-geum and Yoo Jun-gu die in a bath of their own blood.

I pick up a blade that fell on the floor and walk out of the bath into the hall naked.

“Sung-tae…….”

‘Did these guys plot this with Sung-tae?’

It occurs to me that he might not have been in on the plot.

He’s either dead or being beaten up by these bastards’ underlings.

I walk down the hall without remembering to dress, and my state of nakedness causes one of the women walking in the hallway to scream and cover her mouth.

I speak calmly to the startled maiden

“Bring me some clothes. Fast.”

“Yes.”

I look around as I pass through several rooms and say.

“Where is Miss Son? Miss Son….”

From behind me, the maiden returns with some pants she found in her hands.

“I only found pants. Please wear this first…”

I put on the pants that she brings and asks.

“Did you see Miss Son?”

“No.”

“Did she notice early and went to hide?”

There was nothing Miss Son could do, but she didn’t have to run away. Maybe Miss Son told them I was taking a leisure bath, so I would find her first.

Looking at the shaking maiden, I smile.

“Miss Son is such a cold person. Isn’t she?”

“Ah, yeah, that’s right.”

Still topless, I quickly descend the stairs with the blade in my hand.

If Cha Sung-tae is dead, I will find all the people who killed Cha Sung-tae and kill them. If he’s still alive, then I’ll go help him.

Song U-geum and Yoo Jun-gu must have chosen to make an ambush.

They sent their underlings to Cha Sung-tae, who was working for me, and those two came at me because they were the captains.

I only realize that I am not wearing shoes as I walk down the wet road

Meanwhile, the pants also keep slipping off. I stop and place the knife on the ground to adjust the pants to prevent it from dropping.

“Cha Sung-tae.”

I mutter his name as I use my inner cultivation to listen to the air. Faintly, I hear the sounds of someone shouting curses from the direction of the Zaha Inn.

With a blade in my hand, I utilize my movement skills and dash toward the Zaha Inn.

Cha Sung-tae finds himself cornered against an alley wall, and blood runs down his face. The dagger in his left hand was being held against a man’s neck, and his right hand held a sword used to keep the people cornering him at bay.

Cha Sung-tae speaks as if he is chewing something in his mouth.

“Did Jun-gu send you? You morons…”

More than ten people are surrounding Cha Sung-tae. While looking like he had been run over by a bull, Cha Sung-tae had still managed to kill seven of his pursuers while running towards the Zaha Inn. Surprisingly, he is still alive despite being outnumbered one to seventeen.

Naturally, Cha Sung-tae wouldn’t be suffering like this if his underlings had also been present.

Since he was ambushed while disposing of the bodies of the Twin Ghosts of the Ringed Blade with the Pear Blossom Pavilion scum, they decided to turn their backs on him and join in the attack.

That’s how much of a mess this town is.

This is Cha Sung-tae’s mistake because he should have been careful enough. Cha Sung-tae always thought he was stronger than Song U-geum and Yoo Jun-gu.

Their underlings and their fighting skills were all so-so.

However, Cha Sung-tae lacks experience dealing with so many enemies alone.

Sensing these guys have no intention of stepping down, Cha Sung-tae stabs the dagger into the neck of the man he was holding, swings the sword, and moves forward.

He is bleeding, so he has no chance of surviving unless all ten people are killed.

Cha Sung-tae attacks his enemies’ limbs and faces at random. While his arm is cut, he stabs the dagger in the opponent’s face, and when he flies back after being kicked, he rolls on the ground and swings the sword at every ankle he can see.

A scream is heard again.

Cha Sung-tae stands up with a face covered with rain, blood, and mud and yells loudly.

“Bring it on, you bastards!”

In any case, attitude is essential in fighting lowlifes. These guys are not leaders such as Song U-geum or Yoo Jun-gu, so the momentum in this fight is critical.

At this time, a man with no sense of comradeship pushes his injured colleague toward Cha Sung-tae and barks out an order.

“Knock him out in one go.”

When Cha Sung-tae’s knife pierces the heart of the man pushed towards him, the rest of the group rushes in simultaneously with long swords in hand.

“Shit.”

Cha Sung-tae is not a fool either. He backtracks and retreats.

He steels himself to fight when the situation reverses itself yet again.

Then, he hears a puk! sound.

He can’t see well in the dark, but with another puk! sound, one of the men sinks to the floor.

Then he heard a pu-ak! sound, and a human head shoots into the air.

Only then did Cha Sung-tae hear the damn errand boy’s voice.

“Rebirth Union Leader, you’re alive? Wow, that’s amazing.”

Cha Sung-tae roars.

“Save me!”

Cha Sung-tae is very excited to see him, yet a whisper trails at the end of his sentence.

“…you bastard.”

I feel nothing for Song U-geum and Yoo Jun-gu’s underlings. But I can’t watch them trying to kill the Rebirth Union Leader. With the idea of taking them out quickly, I cut or stab parts of their body with my blade and kill them immediately.

When only three or four people are left, Cha Sung-tae joins in, shouting like a madman.

When I pull out the sword, Cha Sung-tae runs like a madman and enacts his own revenge.

With the sound of blows and Cha Sung-tae’s swears, we finish them off together.

The body count around the Zaha Inn is constantly increasing.

Cha Sung-tae, who finishes off all of the scum, collapses and drops the sword on the floor, heaving loudly.

“Gasp… Gasp..…Gasp…… Haa…… Haa…….”

Then Cha Sung-tae looks up at me.

I hold my pants in my left hand to keep them from dropping. I am also barefoot and topless.

Anyone could tell that I had just run out of the bath.

Cha Sung-tae looks at me like this for a while and asks.

“Did you take a bath?”

I nod and look up at the sky. The heavy rain is slowing down, but it is still drizzling.