The reason the Crazy Demon and I tried to kill each other was because our wills didn’t align.

It wasn’t just me.

Even the Poison Demon from my past life had tried to kill the Crazy Demon but failed.

So there was really no need to prepare poison for tonight’s meeting.

At any rate, I prepared a banquet in the main hall of Black Cat Pavilion to entertain Master Yukhap and his attendants, who had not yet become the Crazy Demon.

The food was prepared directly by the executives of Black Cat Pavilion.

This was because Lady Son and the serving maids had been sent in advance to Ilyang County to prevent them from being harassed by the Seven Silver Bugs.

As soon as the sun set, I sat alone in the main hall with the doors of Black Cat Pavilion wide open, waiting for Master Yukhap, the Crazy Demon from my past life.

Should I kill him or not?

Honestly, right now, I had no particular thought.

I stabbed the Flash Dagger into the table and dozed off...

After a while, I heard the murmuring voices of the Seven Silver Bugs.

The bugs entered Black Cat Pavilion chatting among themselves as if it were their own villa and sat down at the table.

"Is that guy the Haomun Leader?"

"Yes."

"Haomun Leader, we’re here. The Master hasn’t arrived yet."

"He’s dozing."

The seven bugs sat noisily at the table.

Only then did I open my eyes and gaze at the young faces of those I had killed with my own hands in my past life.

From the First Bug to the Seventh Bug...

As I stared, memories slowly returned.

The expressions and words of these guys when they died came back to me. Watching the ones I had beaten to death one by one in the past gather around like this...

It felt as if I had invited ghosts to a banquet.

Without introducing myself, I asked the bugs.

"Where is Master Yukhap?"

"He'll be here soon. By the way, Haomun Leader, you're quite young."

I nodded slightly at the bugs’ words without responding and glanced at the Flash Dagger still stabbed into the table.

"……."

For a moment, the thought of slaughtering all seven bugs before Master Yukhap arrived crossed my mind.

After all, Master Yukhap and I were not of the same mind. Mostly because Master Yukhap looked at other people like they were insects.

That hadn’t changed even when I was the Crazy Demon.

In fact, the Crazy Demon even treated the Poison Demon like a bug.

Outwardly, he was sloppy, but his pride was enormous — that was the Crazy Demon.

As I stared at the Flash Dagger, one of the bugs also turned his gaze toward the dagger.

"What’s that? There’s a knife stuck there. Are you picking a fight?"

The bugs all laughed at once.

"Looks like he doesn’t know what kind of person our Master is yet."

I glanced around at the bugs, then closed my eyes again.

"Bugs, wake me up when Master Yukhap arrives."

"……."

While I kept my eyes closed, the bugs noisily chatted among themselves.

"Shouldn’t we at least get some water? What a crappy host."

With my eyes still closed, I spoke toward the inside of the main hall.

"Bring water."

"Yes, Pavilion Lord."

While my eyes remained closed, I could feel the First Bug glaring at me. Among the bugs, he had the strongest murderous aura. But there was no need to care since these guys couldn't do anything without Master Yukhap’s orders.

Tonight, the ones serving the banquet were all men — Cha Seong-tae, Ho Yeoncheong, So-gunpyeong, and the Black Cat Pavilion executives.

As the men brought water pitchers, the bugs again made a racket.

"Why aren’t there any maids?"

"Just a bunch of stinking men everywhere. Disgusting."

"Pavilion Lord, there are no women here? Did you hide them? I told you we should've come yesterday."

I ignored the bugs’ chatter with my eyes closed until I heard So-gunpyeong’s voice.

"Pavilion Lord, would you like some water?"

I finally opened my eyes and nodded. While So-gunpyeong poured me water, I looked over the bugs waiting.

Now, all of them had rotten expressions.

I stared at the bugs and said,

"When Master Yukhap arrives, you lot better shut up. You’re noisy."

Shortly after, the sound of clothes fluttering came from outside, and Master Yukhap appeared as if he had flown over the wall, bursting into laughter as soon as he entered the main hall.

"Haomun Leader... Nice to meet you. I’m Yukhap."

I nodded and replied,

"Nice to meet you, Yukgap-seonsaeng. Come in."

"It’s Yukhap, not Yukgap."

Master Yukhap sat down across from me at the long table.

I stared quietly at the much younger Master Yukhap than when he became the Crazy Demon.

Still, I felt a slight sense of familiarity.

The Crazy Demon was also in a younger state, looking like he was in his early thirties.

Back when I was the Crazy Demon, we were evenly matched. I wondered how we would compare now. Anyway, if during the meal it became clear he was weaker than me, I planned to kill him along with the Seven Silver Bugs right here.

But Master Yukhap’s skill was as hard to gauge now as it had been then. He was the type who could thoroughly conceal his aura.

I asked Master Yukhap,

"Would you like to eat? I’ve prepared several things."

Master Yukhap replied,

"You prepared food? Pavilion Lord, are you sure it’s not poisoned?"

"There’s no poison. It’s not my style. I don't kill strangers with poison."

Master Yukhap chuckled and said,

"Then let’s eat. Make sure my attendants get food too."

"Let’s do that."

Soon after, the executives brought the dishes and placed them on the table. Since the executives had made them however they pleased, the taste couldn’t be guaranteed.

When the bugs each pulled out silver needles to check for poison, Master Yukhap said,

"Just eat."

"Yes, Master."

The bugs obediently put away their needles and started eating noisily, smacking their lips.

Just like before, these insect bastards’ role was always to make the opponent uncomfortable, annoy them, and provoke them.

If I reacted to the bugs’ behavior in any way, Master Yukhap would use it to study my personality.

Master Yukhap asked,

"Why aren’t you eating?"

Watching the insects, I answered,

"Lost my appetite. Help yourself."

At the dining table, Master Yukhap took out a short bamboo pipe and began smoking Manguchou.

The bugs kept waving away the Manguchou smoke with their hands as they ate.

It was a pitiful sight, almost like watching slaves.

I got to the main point with Master Yukhap.

"Anyway, are you here to talk business, Yukgap-seonsaeng?"

"I told you, it’s Yukhap, not Yukgap."

"Anyway, what business brings you here on our first meeting?"

Master Yukhap exhaled smoke and said,

"I hear you have a lot of money?"

"I have just enough to get by."

"Just enough to get by? If you stay that humble, it gets annoying, you know. According to what I heard from the servants, you completely swallowed up the Sword-Breaking Society’s assets, and even killed the Great Rakshasa, right? Killed Master Su too. They say all the black faction’s funds in the area flowed straight to you. Is that true?"

"It’s true."

"You became a rich man at a young age. Congratulations."

"You're too kind."

"Namcheonryeon has ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) been unusually quiet these days too. Is that your doing?"

"I wouldn’t know."

Master Yukhap laughed and said,

"I have a phenomenal business plan. Want to hear it?"

I raised my hand to cut him off.

"Before that, just one thing, Master..."

"Speak."

"Are you very interested in money?"

"Very."

"Then why didn’t you just kill the ones I killed and take their wealth yourself? Why are you coveting someone else’s property?"

Master Yukhap grinned as he replied,

"What kind of bullshit is that? You’re hardly in a position to say that to me. I was on good terms with Master Su too. I didn’t have the ability to bring down the Sword-Breaking Society myself."

I had no idea what the hell this bastard was rambling about.

But he had always been like this, so I let it slide.

Besides, every time he talked about his ‘phenomenal business plans,’ they always turned out to be childish nonsense. There was nothing to expect.

Master Yukhap said,

"You have a decent number of troops, right? With Haomun’s forces, me, and my servants, we can hit the Bank of Ten Thousand Gold. If we succeed, I plan to retire from Jianghu. With your manpower and my strategy, the Bank of Ten Thousand Gold could be cleaned out overnight. What do you say?"

I nodded.

"The Bank of Ten Thousand Gold holds a lot of my money, so that would be pointless. If anything happens to it, I’ll have to step in to protect my funds. Let’s hear your next plan."

"Ah, is that so?"

Up until now, Master Yukhap hadn’t even taken a sip of water, just staring at the bugs who were diligently eating.

If there was poison in the food, the bugs would be the ones to die first.

Maybe that’s why?

While Master Yukhap and I chatted, the bugs kept sweating buckets as they ate. They would probably keep stuffing their mouths until Master Yukhap told them to stop.

At the right moment, Master Yukhap, watching the bugs who had eaten a fair amount of everything, said,

"Enough. Stop eating."

"Yes, sir."

The seven bugs simultaneously put down their chopsticks and sat quietly.

Master Yukhap asked the First Bug,

"No poison?"

"No, sir."

"The taste?"

"It’s terrible."

Only then did Master Yukhap turn to me with a smirk.

"They say the food tastes like shit."

"I expected as much."

"Why?"

"If you want good food, go to a restaurant. Don’t come to me. We’re men who are satisfied just filling our stomachs."

Master Yukhap laughed and asked,

"You’re an interesting young man. Want to work under me? I’ll let you command all my servants. You’re young, but you have a natural aura. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say your energy is like a dragon’s or a tiger’s. You’re born different from these useless servants who just waste food."

"Born different?"

"Exactly."

"I used to be a jomsoi. What’s there to be proud of?"

"You were a tavern boy and became the leader of a force like this? What the hell happened to you? I heard you didn’t even have a master."

I replied truthfully.

"I fell off a cliff. Got lucky, you could say."

"Ah..."

"In Jianghu, getting lucky after falling off a cliff is how it usually goes. I’m just another example."

I glanced over at the bugs.

"If you lot don’t want to live like idiots, try jumping off a scenic cliff somewhere. If you’re lucky, you might turn out like me."

The bugs snorted and sneered at me.

"Oh, really?"

"Our Haomun Leader is amazing. Survived falling off a cliff and everything."

"Hehe, if we get a chance, maybe we’ll try it too."

"Actually, how about you tell us exactly which cliff you fell off of? That’d be faster."

I chuckled as I listened to the Seven Silver Bugs sneering.
That was always their role anyway.
Of course, in my past life, they all ended up getting beaten to death by me.

Picking my nose right in front of the ones who just ate, I said,

"Master Yukgap, don’t you have another business proposal? Strangely, I still can’t get a sense of your true strength. If anything, not being able to gauge it means you’re quite strong, right? Instead of hitting the Bank of Ten Thousand Gold, how about going after a black faction bigger than the Sword-Breaking Society?"

Master Yukhap showed interest and replied,

"For example?"

"For example... the Black Path Alliance."

The moment I said it, I realized I made a mistake.

Master Yukhap answered with a puzzled look,

"Is there even a group called the Black Path Alliance in Jianghu?"

The bugs answered instead.

"There isn’t."

Master Yukhap asked me,

"Did you mean the Heavenly Alliance?"

I nodded roughly. Somewhere along the way, the name must have changed.
Sometimes I confuse the past and present of Jianghu, thinking back to my Crazy Demon days.
Now it’s the Heavenly Alliance, but back then it would have been called the Black Path Alliance.

Master Yukhap laughed and said,

"Even the Martial Alliance doesn’t mess with them. How are you and I supposed to take them on? Keep your crazy talk to yourself."

Even though we hadn’t gotten along in our past lives, since it had been a long time, I decided to be honest with him.

"Master Yukgap... I’m not saying we should attack them right now. I’m talking about having big ambitions. Build up strength, make money, deal with the Heavenly Alliance, stand against the Demonic Cult.
When a man steps into Jianghu, personal martial strength is important, but so is building an organization.
What’s the point of wandering around with a bunch of bugs and bullying the weak?"

Master Yukhap asked back,

"Bullying the weak?"

"I heard that you deliberately avoid places where strong people gather. Always steering clear of Martial Alliance territory. Never approaching areas where famous masters are.
You just skulk around back alleys in Jianghu and ambush people in the dark.
Am I wrong?"

The bugs turned to look at Master Yukhap with startled faces.
Even to me, the expression on the Crazy Demon’s face was unusually distorted.