Chapter 112

• Bi Ryu-yeon's Reminiscence

As far as I remember,
I think it was probably when I was about fifteen years old.
My body had grown quite a bit, and on that day, after a long time,
I went to a high-class tavern called the Hongaru with my master.

Suddenly, money had rolled in. My master had gone out for a walk and had caught a king tiger. It was strange. Of course, a king tiger sells for a lot of money. That's why we could afford such a luxury. After a long time, my master had come here to drink his favorite Sichuan number one liquor, the Jade Leak.

For my master, it was a luxury he was having after a long time. Our sect was quite poor, and even if I earned money from the harsh industrial labor front, it was often blown away on my master's liquor bills as soon as I earned it. He was stingy in other areas, but not sparing the liquor bill was my master's great extravagance and flaw. And that was close to a fatal blow to the sect's economic situation.

That's why a single-lineage transmission was not something to be done. Since no junior disciples came in, I had to take on all the work. Why did it have to be a single lineage? Would it hurt if it were a two-lineage, dual transmission?

Once, I had asked my master if we couldn't do a two-lineage, dual transmission, but I had given up after he had glared at me with wide eyes and had swung his fists in a frenzy, saying absolutely not. I had not expected my master to be so frenzied. I'll have to think about it a little later.

A single-lineage transmission was inconvenient in many ways. Not just because there were few disciples, but because there was only one, so there was no money coming in, and besides, if something happened, I had to take the blame all by myself. I had to take care of my master's reprimands, my master's mood, and my master's extravagance all by myself.

Ah! My unfortunate youth...!

Anyway, to get back to the point, what I found strange was whether there were still tigers left in the back mountain. And the fact that it had attacked my master was itself puzzling. It was something that had never happened before. Perhaps that king tiger was a fool from another mountain. That's why it had foolishly attacked my master...

When the king tiger had appeared, roaring, I could see my master's face full of joy even without looking. He must have shouted something like this.

"What a windfall!"

And he would have beaten it to death at once. It was the great fault of the king tiger, who had attacked without knowing its place.

The suspicion that it was a fool from another mountain was further strengthened. The fierce beasts in this vicinity, starting from our back mountain, Mount Emei, never attacked my master. They would run away in a hurry if they just smelled him from 600 meters away. If my master smelled or sensed them first, those punks could not help but become my master's meal from that time on. At that moment, their lives were converted into money. Even if they ran away from 300 meters away, they could not shake off my master. They had to run away quickly from 600 meters away to be able to live.

Originally, the king of this mountain was a white tiger with a huge build. But that punk had appeared in front of me a while ago without any fear. I was not so foolish as to just let go of the windfall in front of my eyes, and my skills were not lacking either.

On that day, I had disposed of the white tiger's bones and even a single piece of liver crumbs frugally and had turned it all into money. The satisfaction at that time...!

After the white tiger had gone to the other world like that, it seemed that the position of the king of the mountain had been left vacant. From that time on, a fierce struggle among the beasts to occupy the king's position must have begun. Besides, as the rumor had spread to other mountains, fierce beasts had gathered to occupy the king's position of this mountain, which had become a mountain without a master.

That king tiger, too, judging from its build and class (it was possible to guess enough from the skin he had brought), was clearly a punk who had been acting as a king on another mountain range. Tsk, tsk! Excessive greed had brought disaster. That's why it had blocked my master's walking path, which even the white tiger had avoided if it had just sensed his presence from 900 meters away!

Anyway, as the old saying goes, the dead tiger had left behind exchangeable skin and other valuable things, and my master, who had made an unexpected high income, had come up to this expensive Hongaru to have a good time.

The old man, saying it was unbecoming of his age, had come up to the expensive Hongaru, and the Jade Leak liquor, which was said to be the Sichuan number one liquor, would have been enough, but he had even called a courtesan to enjoy the arts. In a situation where the sect's economic situation was poor even without trying, he had spurred it on and had added acceleration, so I could not help but be dumbfounded...

Although the bundle of money that was flying away in vain was very regrettable, I had firmly decided that it could happen sometimes and had ignored it. But an unexpected problem had occurred here. I don't know why, but every courtesan who was called would glance at me once and then bow her head deeply. And then she would not look this way again. I swear I didn't do anything. I had just glanced at her once, asking where she was looking.

Since the called courtesan was bowing her head deeply and twisting her body, there was no way the work would go well. So how could there be any excitement! So my master had no choice but to call another courtesan instead of the courtesan who had fallen into a state of inoperability. But this time too, she had glanced at me once and then had bowed her head deeply. It was rare to have been so embarrassed. The woman's face seemed to have turned red for some reason, did she have a fever?

'What's with that woman? How unpleasant?'

To look at me once without any reason and then to ignore me, her manners were quite poor. My master had no choice but to call another courtesan instead of that courtesan. But this time too, the same thing had happened.

After this had been repeated seven or eight times, my master had also given up on the courtesans. He had rented a private room to have a good time, but it had all been ruined. And then, he was sitting blankly and sipping his liquor, and he had burst into a fiery order at me, who was setting up a side dish table in front of the luxurious liquor table that had been set up after a long time, thinking, 'When will I have such a luxury again?'. It was rare to have been so wronged.

"You punk! Ryu-yeon!"

"Yes, nyam... Master, nyam..."

I asked, chewing on the beef and mutton I was eating. My master, whose mood had been soaring to the sky until just a moment ago, had suddenly changed his mood and was glaring at me with angry eyes. I had to know the reason...

"You punk! The young ladies are all running away because of you! How are you going to take responsibility?"

Ttaak!

'Hmm! It was a very emotional blow!'

Having been hit many times, I immediately grasped the difference. This was a very emotional blow. My feelings were hurt. So I opened my mouth and said the right thing.

"Does a minor have to take responsibility for that too?"

Since I had nothing to be ashamed of for saying the right thing, I expressed my opinion with dignity. At that, my master immediately glared at me and clenched his fists. Hmm... I, the young one, endured it.

"From now on, grow your bangs and hide those two eyes! Do you understand?"

"Why?"

There was no way I could cover this handsome face without any reason. At that, at first, my master also seemed to be thinking of something to say.

"If your master tells you to do it, just do it without talking back, why are you so full of complaints? Your eyes can have a bad influence on women, so cover them from now on. Didn't you see it too? The courtesan young ladies were avoiding you and running away after seeing you."

I thought it was because of my old master, but was it because of the young and fresh me? Hearing it, it seemed to be so. Then wasn't it a big problem? I also became a little serious.

"So?"

I took an attitude of listening to my master's words after a long time. My master also looked at my commendable attitude and said to me with a serious face.

"It's all because of those eyes of yours. I also didn't think that the effect of the Thunder Spirit Divine Skill and the Spirit Thread Heart Secret would appear in your eyes like that. From now on, all the women will run away if they just see your eyes, so grow your bangs and cover them."

"Yes! Master!"

I don't know if it was a delusion that I felt a little deceived for some reason, but anyway, after that, I grew my hair and covered my eyes. Since I had already passed the stage of relying on my eyesight, the narrowed field of vision was not a hindrance at all. Besides, the thickness of a single strand of hair could not be a particular hindrance. Rather, my other senses, except for my eyesight, had developed remarkably.

After that, occasionally, as rare as beans sprouting in a drought, I would go up to a tavern with my master, or even if women met me, they would not avoid my face. It was a very fortunate thing. And from that day on, I had been growing my bangs.

Since there was nothing to think about but a terrible past if I were to reminisce any more, Bi Ryu-yeon quickly pulled his mind out of the lake of reminiscence. And when he looked up, he saw the figure of Jeon Ok-gi, who was still standing in a half-crouching state. Perhaps because his appearance looked pitiful, Bi Ryu-yeon said a word.

"What are you doing, not attacking quickly?"

Bi Ryu-yeon said, as if it were pathetic.

"If your opponent is looking away, you should have taken that opportunity and rushed in, right? I made a gap by putting my mind elsewhere like this, didn't you see all those many gaps?"

It was Bi Ryu-yeon's merciless rebuke. Of course, Bi Ryu-yeon's gap had also clearly come into Jeon Ok-gi's eyes. His gaze (although it was not clearly visible because it was covered by his hair) was looking elsewhere, so his state was strange for some reason. But he had not rushed in. There was no such thing as the pride of a prestigious family that could not attack a worthless punk first.

"A disciple of a prestigious family does not attack another's weakness. They always fight head-on, fair and square."

"You're just saying empty words... I've come to my senses now, so attack quickly. What have you been doing, not attacking until now! Wasting time, tsk, tsk! It was the last chance to move..."

It was a tone that was dissatisfied that he had not attacked him, who had revealed a gap.

'There's a limit to turning the tables! How dare a disciple of a nameless sect...'

It was Jeon Ok-gi, who was inwardly absurd.

But as Bi Ryu-yeon had said, his footsteps could not be moved a single step from where he was standing.

Flash!

With a sharp sharp energy, a stream of blood flowed from the bridge of his nose. He also did not know what had happened. With a 'ting' sound, a creepy feeling was transmitted to the bridge of his nose, and soon, a stream of red blood gushed out, drenching his face and whole body.

Hong Ran stood up from the judges' seat. She also could not see what had happened. Her eyes were filled with astonishment.

"No way! Could it be that he has already reached the realm of injuring a person with a flicked sound?"

But she soon shook her head. There was no particular power in the first sound wave that had gone 'ting'.

Injuring a person with a flicked sound!

There was no way she would not recognize the highest-level technique of sound arts, which literally injured a person by flicking a sound wave. Then what had happened? That question was immediately solved by Bi Ryu-yeon's one word. But it was also a word that created a new question.

"Oh, oh! The string has broken!"

Although it was a word he had said with a sorry smile, scratching the back of his head, Jeon Ok-gi could not believe his words. Could a broken string fly in such a clean semicircle, even with a creepy sharp energy? Besides, that string had already been retrieved into Bi Ryu-yeon's hand, as if nothing had happened. As if nothing had happened from the beginning... It was clearly intentional.

'If the end of that string had been aimed at my neck, could I have avoided it?'

Goosebumps rose on Jeon Ok-gi's back. Blood was gushing out from the cut bridge of his nose as if from a spring. Soon, the color drained rapidly from his face, and he became pale like a corpse.

Kung!

The sound of his own heart dropping resounded in his ears as loudly as thunder.

"Huk! Then what did I do yesterday!"

Jeon Ok-gi's complexion instantly turned as pale as a corpse. The events that had happened in the tavern yesterday had flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

If this was a nightmare, he wanted to wake up quickly. But the nightmare was not over yet. No, it was more accurate to say that it was just beginning. Bi Ryu-yeon asked Jeon Ok-gi, who was standing blankly as if he had lost his mind.

"Do you know about shock therapy?"

"Wh..., what is that?"

"So, to explain it simply, it's a kind of treatment method that aims to improve a specific symptom by applying a slight shock to the human body!"

The concentration of the smile on Bi Ryu-yeon's lips became thicker and thicker. It was proof that a very dangerous thing would happen soon.

"What symptom?"

Jeon Ok-gi still had not grasped what Bi Ryu-yeon was saying. As expected, there was no medicine for a fool, he was still as dull as ever. Since he was not even thinking of stopping the bleeding, blood was still flowing from the bridge of his nose.

"It's almost a panacea! It has various effects on various symptoms. Especially for an overconfident patient with a prestigious family superiority complex like you."

"Shut up! You're impudent! You punk!"

Although Jeon Ok-gi shouted, it was not Bi Ryu-yeon who would stop in the middle. In fact, more than half of Jeon Ok-gi's fighting spirit was now lost.

"Huhu! It works very well for this kind of incurable disease! Shall we say it's almost the only existing treatment for that kind of symptom?"

Jeon Ok-gi's face had turned red like iron heated in a furnace. On top of that, blood was also flowing, so it looked even grotesque.

"The effect is..."

Before he could finish his words, Bi Ryu-yeon's body moved like lightning. His movements were so dazzlingly fast that there was no time to prepare.

"See for yourself!"

As soon as the words ended, Bi Ryu-yeon's ink zither flew in. Now, Bi Ryu-yeon also seemed to have given up on playing the zither, and there was not even a sign of playing. It seemed he was determined to swing the ink zither.

Without even giving him a chance to declare his surrender, Bi Ryu-yeon's ink zither mercilessly crushed his mouth. It would be more accurate to say that it was stuck. From that huge impact, all of Jeon Ok-gi's teeth were broken and went out with blood. In an instant, he had been reduced to a state where he could not eat anything but porridge for a while. That's why the ancient sages repeatedly emphasized that one should be careful of the three-inch tongue, which was the root of all evil. Usually, it would have ended at this point, but not this time.

Peok! Peok!

With an extreme pain that struck his left cheek, Jeon Ok-gi's body was thrown to the right and then thrown to the left again. This time, because an extreme pain had struck his right cheek.

Taak!

Bi Ryu-yeon's ink zither once again swept past his legs like the wind, and with a pain as if his calf were breaking, his body was lifted into the air, parallel to the ground. As if waiting, Bi Ryu-yeon's ink zither was set up vertically from top to bottom.

Peook!

Jeon Ok-gi was lifted more than 3 meters into the air with a pain as if his waist were breaking, and then fell. Bi Ryu-yeon coolly smashed the body of Jeon Ok-gi, who was rising and falling, with his ink zither.

Ppaak!

A loud sound rang out on the duel stage.

Have you ever seen a stone skipping on the surface of a lake? Jeon Ok-gi's appearance now was just like that. Jeon Ok-gi's body, which had bounced off the floor of the duel stage three times as if it were the surface of a lake, seemed to still have some strength left, and it flew out of the ring and got stuck with a loud crash. And then he fell down, foaming at the mouth. Since the strength had been adjusted appropriately(?), he did not die. The emergency personnel rushed to Jeon Ok-gi, who was foaming at the mouth with red foam, with his limbs stretched out like an octopus. They were the people of the medical exhibition who had been on standby in case of an emergency.

It was a clear victory for Bi Ryu-yeon for anyone to see. In the end, Jeon Ok-gi had to taste a terrible defeat without being able to move a single step from where he was standing.

Even the judge was dazed for a while at this situation, as if he had lost his mind, and after a long time, as if he had come to his senses, he raised the flag and declared Bi Ryu-yeon's victory.

"Bi Ryu-yeon! Victory!"

Everyone who was watching from the spectator seats could not help but gape at this sudden situation. In the end, even the Eight-Armed Divine Sword, Jeon Ok-gi, whom they had believed in, had become a sacrifice under Bi Ryu-yeon's striking zither.

"Uahahaha! It's refreshing, so refreshing! Well done! Very well done! It feels like a 10-year-old indigestion has gone down all at once today!"

The person who was bursting into laughter and was repeatedly praising him was none other than Hyo-ryong, whose stomach had been turned upside down because of Jeon Ok-gi last night. In front of them, a liquor table was fully set up. It was a drinking party that Hyo-ryong was buying as a reward for having made a 10-year-old indigestion go down.

This drinking party was a place that was being held to commemorate the fact that Bi Ryu-yeon had made a mess of a punk who had no skills at all but whose self-esteem was a high ground whose peak could not be seen, and whose vanity was a valley whose bottom could not be seen.

"It's a natural result! It's impossible for me to lose to such a trivial punk."

Bi Ryu-yeon said, holding his neck stiffly. In his left hand was a chicken foot, and in his right hand was a pig's trotter. They were the things he had been tearing at as a side dish.

"Oh! As expected, I alone am honored in heaven and on earth!"

Jang Hong clapped his hands and was happy like a child. It seemed that he had had a lot to drink. Seeing him agree with Bi Ryu-yeon's words like that, which was unlike his usual self...

"Whew! The number one handsome man in the universe!"

The one who was whistling long and shouting from the side was Hyo-ryong. It was Hyo-ryong, who was rather encouraging him instead of stopping him. He had also drunk beyond his limit now and was at the stage where the liquor was drinking the person. Could these punks be called true friends?

Hyo-ryong ordered two more bottles of liquor, saying that they should drink even if their pockets were emptied today. Everyone clapped and welcomed it. It was not Bi Ryu-yeon to refuse a free drinking party.

"Wahahahaha!"

Laughter once again burst out among the three. Thus, the night deepened in the midst of the three's merrymaking.