“Ah, that was refreshing.”

Jeok Cheon-kang, who had said he was just going for a quick piss, returned after a full shichen had passed. Feeling a bit suspicious, I narrowed my eyes.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Did you really just go for a quick piss?”

“Do I need to let you smell it to believe me?”

“It took you a whole shichen. Could it be.”

“This old man has quite the vigor.”

Just how much vigor do you need to piss for fifteen minutes? At that point, it’s not pissing, it’s a fire hose.² As I stared at him with a dumbfounded expression, Jeok Cheon-kang’s eyes shot up.

“What, you got a problem?”

“Of course not.”

A problem? Considering the help I had received from him today, bowing a hundred times wouldn’t be enough.

And also…

I scattered the thought that suddenly came to mind. The sacred object of the Scorching Fire Sect, the disciple of the Fire King. I tried my best to ignore the voices that had been murmuring nonstop since a while ago.

A disciple, what nonsense.

It was an issue I had never once considered until now. In the first place, why would he accept as his new disciple a man he had only known for a day, who had also killed the disciple he had cherished like a son?

Even if that disciple was the biggest fucking bastard in the world.

While I was having such thoughts, Jin Wi-gyeong approached and offered a deeply polite fist-clasp salute to Jeok Cheon-kang.

“This junior martial artist, Jin Wi-gyeong, pays his respects to the great hero, the Fire King Jeok Cheon-kang, whose august name is renowned throughout the world.”

“The Jin Family?”

Jeok Cheon-kang scanned Jin Wi-gyeong up and down and nodded as if he had grasped the situation.

“Then you must be this brat’s father.”

“Pardon?”

“You should educate your son properly. The young punk is already getting hot-headed and causing trouble all over the place. And his way of speaking has no manners whatsoever.”

Jin Wi-gyeong replied with the darkest expression I had ever seen on him.

“…He is my younger brother.”

“Hmm?”

“I am Tae-kyung’s older brother.”

Jeok Cheon-kang’s face turned serious.

“Don’t joke with me. I understand the desire to look young, but you’ll be punished by the heavens if you’re too greedy.”

“It is the truth. I am the Lesser Family Head of the Taiyuan Jin Family, Jin Wi-gyeong.”

“…How old are you, if I may ask?”

“Since the year has turned, I am thirty-six this year.”

Jeok Cheon-kang muttered with a look of disbelief.

“You look like you’re forty-six.”

His face is a bit, well, quite, very weathered for his age. Even I had mistaken him for my father at first. At least his hair was full, but there seemed to be no solution for a face that had taken the fastball of time at 160 km/h. At Jin Wi-gyeong’s grief-stricken expression, Jeok Cheon-kang tried to console him.

“It’s fine. A man is defined by his ability. You have a pretty wife and cute kids, so that’s all that matters. Haha.”

“I am still single.”

“…At thirty-six?”

In modern times, it’s an age to start thinking about marriage, but in the martial world where early marriage (早婚)³ is common, thirty-six is an age where one could even have grandchildren. The single man Jin Wi-gyeong replied curtly. The silence this time was a bit long. The Fire King, who had been frowning and then un-frowing, his nostrils flaring, let out a deep sigh.

“Damn it, I’m craving a drink.”

I snickered. On a festive day like today, there couldn’t be a banquet without alcohol; it was everywhere you looked.

“Should I pour you a glass?”

At my words, Jeok Cheon-kang’s eyes widened.

“Well, I’ve never seen such an impertinent brat. Are you joking with this old man right now?”

“Pardon?”

“Bring it by the jug.”

Atmosphere is like an ember; once it goes out, it’s hard to reignite. But even after the uninvited guests from the Zhongnan Sect had thrown cold water on it, the ember had not died. No, it burned even more fiercely due to the presence of the Fire King.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Drink! Let’s drink!”

“To think I’d get to see the Fire King in person in my lifetime.”

“If the Fire King gets flustered, it’s Woo-Hwa-Wang, Jwa-Hwa-Wang!”⁴

“…”

I don’t know who that was, but that bastard almost extinguished the ember.

At my glance, Hyeok Mujin, who had been on standby, stealthily left his spot to identify the mood-killer. In the meantime, Jeok Cheon-kang was receiving greetings from countless people.

“Great Hero Jeok! It is the honor of a lifetime to meet you like this!”

“In the future, if you could please visit our sect…”

“Please bestow upon us your teachings!”

It was literally a sea of people. The name of the Fire King, Jeok Cheon-kang, was no different from a living legend. Furthermore, due to his whereabouts being unknown for decades, most people had accepted his death as a public fact. But the Fire King, who was thought to be dead, had appeared. Not in the Central Plains, not on Mount Hua, but here in the Taiyuan Jin Family in Shanxi.

It was bound to cause an uproar.

I wonder if it would be like this if the legendary singer known as the King of Pop came back to life. But despite the support of his local Shanxi fans, Michael Cheon-gang⁵ had a rather sour look on his face. Jin Wi-gyeong must have sensed it too, as he sent a sound transmission.

—My youngest.

The only people who could carry on a lengthy conversation with the eccentric Jeok Cheon-kang were me and Cheong Pung, but since Cheong Pung was a loose cannon, I had no choice but to act as the messenger.

“Is something bothering you?”

“Look at this old man’s state. If you were me, would you not be bothered?”

Jeok Cheon-kang glared at the wine jug placed beside him. A considerable amount of time had passed, yet it was barely empty. It wasn’t that he disliked alcohol; he just hadn’t had a chance to drink it.

“Damn it all. It’s so hard to get a single drink.”

There were people brazenly asking him to take them as disciples, and sect masters and merchants who wanted to host him as a guest of honor. There was even a heavily pregnant woman who asked if she could touch his nose. She wanted to receive the Fire King’s energy to give birth to a great figure, or so she said.

‘Is he some kind of a Dol hareubang[1]?’

Even for an onlooker, it was enough to make one chuckle, so one could only imagine how the person himself felt. In fact, it was amazing that Jeok Cheon-kang had endured this much, given his personality.

“Then shall we move to the place we prepared beforehand? It’s quiet there.”

“Ugh. It’s fine.”

“But you said you were uncomfortable.”

“Ah, if I said it’s fine, it’s fine. Why are you so talkative?”

I tilted my head at the sight of Jeok Cheon-kang, who was grumbling yet refusing to leave his seat to the very end.

What’s this?

I had only known him for a short time, but I had a rough grasp of his personality. It was obvious he disliked noisy places and was bothered by people’s attention. He had that kind of personality, which was why he had lived his entire life on Mount Hua.

Then why?

I carefully observed Jeok Cheon-kang’s appearance. In front of him, the owner of a merchant guild, someone who was a big shot in Shanxi, was bowing and scraping.

“Aigo! Great Hero Jeok Cheon-kang! I have long heard of your fame that makes the world tremble. When I was young, how much I…”

“Get to the point.”

“As I have long admired you, Great Hero, from the bottom of my heart, I have prepared a humble token of my sincerity.”

“A humble token of sincerity?”

“Yes. It is an item I acquired recently, but it seems it has a separate owner.”

The merchant took out a small wooden box from his bosom and opened the lid. A ring embedded with a transparent jade revealed itself.

“It is a Poison-Avoiding Ring.”

“Quite a precious item. It must have been difficult to obtain.”

The merchant waved his hands exaggeratedly.

“I have been graced with the sight of Great Hero Jeok’s esteemed face, so what does the price matter! It only costs about a thousand silver nyang. Hehe.”

A single ring like that for a thousand silver nyang. It was one of the most expensive gifts the Jin Family had received so far. But Jeok Cheon-kang nodded his head with an unimpressed face.

“Well, since you’re giving it, I’ll accept it gratefully. Where are you from and who are you?”

“I am in charge of the Yangcheon Merchant Guild…”

“The Yangcheon Merchant Guild? Yangcheon is adjacent to Hebei, I see.”

His words were cut off before he could even state his name, but the merchant bowed his head as if overwhelmed with gratitude.

“Yes. I am trying to open a trade route with the Peng Family of Hebei, but it is not easy.”

This was the merchant’s main point. The reason he had come to see Jeok Cheon-kang, offering a humble token of sincerity that was by no means humble. In short, it was a request for help in his trade with the Peng Family of Hebei.

“The Peng Family, you say. Who is the current family head?”

“It is the great hero, Peng Cheol-yeong of the Iron Blood Saber.”

“A name I’ve never heard before. Is he the child of the Thunderclap Saber King?”

“Yes, yes. The Thunderclap Saber King has stepped down from the front lines and has passed on the position of family head.”

“This old man had a drink with the Thunderclap Saber King in my younger days. I understand.”

That was the end of the story. The merchant smiled from ear to ear, placed the wooden box down, and disappeared. Under the wooden box was a bundle of bank notes that hadn’t been there before.

I took advantage of the merchant’s departure to whisper.

“You know the Thunderclap Saber King too?”

As his title suggested, he was also a Transcendent Realm master belonging to the Ten Kings, just like Jeok Cheon-kang. Jeok Cheon-kang took a sip of his drink and replied.

“I told you, didn’t I? We had a drink.”

Wow.

He talked about the Thunderclap Saber King as if he were a neighborhood friend. It was at times like these that I was reminded of just how incredible Jeok Cheon-kang was. As I stood there with my mouth agape in admiration, Jeok Cheon-kang preened.

“I smashed that punk’s nose in years ago.”

“…Pardon?”

“The Sword Saint and I were having a drink, and he just jumped in without a word and started a fight. We had a bout and I taught him a lesson.”

Wait, what is this about?

“W-Weren’t you friends?”

“Me? With that punk?”

Jeok Cheon-kang frowned.

“What’s the point of associating with an ignorant fool like that? We haven’t seen each other since.”

“Later on, some strange rumors even started to circulate. That this old man and the Peng Family punk had fought for over a hundred exchanges and then retreated, acknowledging each other. It must have been a trick pulled by those Hebei Peng Family bastards.”

At those words, I and the people around me were dumbfounded. The story with the Thunderclap Saber King was absurd enough, but if that were the case, the request from the merchant he had just received would also come to nothing.

“T-Then won’t the Yangcheon Merchant Guild be unable to trade with the Peng Family of Hebei? It will only be counterproductive if they use your name, Great Hero Jeok.”

Jeok Cheon-kang blinked his eyes.

“The Yangcheon Merchant Guild? What is that?”

“…?”

“Aaah, that punk from before? Why should I care about that?”

“No, you said you would help him trade with the Peng Family of Hebei.”

“He asked to meet, so I met him. It’s also true that I had a drink with the Thunderclap Saber King. Is there a single lie in what this old man said?”

I don’t know about lies, but it certainly seems like you don’t have a shred of conscience. I even felt a sense of respect for his shamelessness.

Fire King, are you human?

There wasn’t just one or two victims. It was clear that those who had believed Jeok Cheon-kang’s empty promises and offered their ‘humble tokens of sincerity’ would soon realize it was all a scam and beat the ground in regret.

At this point, this is mass fraud.

But there would be no victims. Because there would be no hero who would come looking for the Fire King Jeok Cheon-kang, asking for what they had given him back.

“Please be sure to visit our sect in the near future…”

“Hmm, I’ll drop by sometime.”

He means he’ll drop by when he’s dead and wandering the nine heavens.

“This is my small token of sincerity…”

“I’ll accept it gratefully.”

No, you’re just accepting it.

As I watched the various treasures, elixirs, and bank notes pile up like a mountain, I realized something.

So this is why he stayed.

It was clear this was his grand plan to make a huge haul in his old age. Finally, after dealing with dozens of suckers,⁸ Jeok Cheon-kang opened his mouth.

“Hmm, quite a bit has gathered. Is there no more?”

Jin Wi-gyeong replied with a weary face.

“No, sir. It seems everyone who was likely to come has come.”

“A pity. I could have wrung out more.”

Look at the old man’s greed.

Jeok Cheon-kang, who had been staring at the spoils he had earned by drinking alcohol instead of sweating, stretched widely.

“Aigoo, that was tiring.”

“Why are you looking at me with those eyes?”

I subtly averted my gaze from Jeok Cheon-kang’s ring-like eyes.

“It’s nothing. I’m just full of respect.”

“To this old man, it doesn’t look like that at all.”

“I’m serious. There’s nothing wrong with having a lot of wealth, is there?”

“Is that so?”

Jeok Cheon-kang snickered and tossed out a remark casually.

“Then you take it.”

“Pardon?”

“I said I’m giving it all to you.”

“That… all of it?”

“To this old man, these things are utterly useless, but to you, it’s different. I don’t care if you scatter it on the streets, so take it.”

What is this situation?

I stared at Jeok Cheon-kang with a bewildered expression.

Why all of a sudden?

I had already received great help from him. I couldn’t help but wonder about the intention behind his excessive kindness towards me and the Taiyuan Jin Family. Could it really be what I was thinking?

I swallowed dryly and opened my mouth.

“Great Hero Jeok, could it be…”

At that moment, Jeok Cheon-kang, who had risen from his seat, said with a drunken face.

“Aigoo, I’m drunk. I’m going to go in and rest, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As I watched Jeok Cheon-kang’s back staggering away, I turned my gaze to the wine jug. The moon was reflected in the jug, which was not even half-empty.