Surviving in a third-rate martial arts world
Vol. 1 - Ch. 11

“Dong-mun!”

I was shaking my hands when I came out of the kitchen. I noticed the familiar back of someone in front of me, so I loudly called out that person's name.

“Ah, Eun-ri noona.”

Dong-mun turned to face me with a happy smile as he briskly approached me.It appeared that the guests of the guesthouse were heavy drinkers because there was an alcohol bottle in each hand.

I looked at him, who was standing close to me, and asked.

“Are you busy now?”

“Ah, no. Almost everyone had left; just a couple of people remained.”

I see… I mumbled softly and looked around. After confirming that there was no one around, I was about to speak, but before I could, I heard the sound of ‘ah!’ come.

‘Noona, did you know?”

“What?”

“A few hours before midnight, a stabbing happened in front of the gambling hall managed by the Old Dragon Association. The customers said that there were a few people of the Evil Blood Clan there.”

“What? For real?”

I suddenly remembered what Wang Dae-geon had said a couple days ago.

What did he say? Was it about Mok Yun of the Evil Blood Clan looking for a chance to attack the Old Dragon Association?

“This has already happened 3 times now, and the Old Dragon Association won't just ignore it, right? I am worried if this would turn into a mess.”

While I was lost in thought, I heard the anxious voice of Dong-mun.

Well, as Dong-mun, who lives with his younger siblings in a thatched house on the outskirts of the village, takes care of his single mother, it was natural for him to feel scared.

This was because either he or the other siblings will have to pass through the Evil Blood Clan or Old Dragon Association area when returning home.

Naturally, the Jang-yang village was partly influenced by the Old Dragon Association and local bandits.

But this person called Seok Deung-hwi, who brought together both large and minor local groups in the Hangzhou region, established this new branch called Evil Blood Clan, expanded the influence to nearby cities and also to our village, and so the conflict began.

And although no one knew of this, this fight, which was happening for a year and a half, will eventually end in the victory of the Evil Blood Clan.

I don't know how much harm would be done to civilians in the process, but I knew that the Evil Blood clan would win this battle and take complete control of the village.

“Anyway, do you know where Mr. Wang went?”

After soothing my friend with a couple of words, I looked around and said,

“No, I haven’t seen him for a while.”

At his answer, I click my tongue.

Wang Dae-geon wasn’t the kind of person to be when he was needed the most. I think I saw him snooping around the kitchen a moment ago, but I wonder where he vanished.

“Why do you need him? Is there something you need to do?”

“…”

FYI, I wasn’t the only one who had negative feelings towards Wang Dae-geon.

Anyone who worked in this guesthouse and who still works here wouldn’t be able to like these two men, Ju Cheol-rim and Wang Dae-geon.

Many years have passed since Wang Dae-geon was placed in the guesthouse by Ju Cheol-rim; yet, Wang Dae-geon continues to harass the in-house workers in hope of stealing the gambling money of Ju Cheol-rim.

Lee Dong-mun didn't like Wang Dae-geon and had negative thoughts for him ever since the man's brother, who worked here, was fired.

I burst into laughter as I watched my fellow worker casually call Wang Dae-geon a bastard.

“Huh. I tried to tell him to boil the water and put it in a tub.”

“It is quite late to boil water. So why do it now? Did some customer ask for it?”

I was about to respond, yes.

Grumbling, I heard the sound of a door opening from somewhere, and I saw Dong-mun, who was standing stiff.

Following the gaze, I looked back. As expected, Wang Dae-geon, with sleepy eyes, was walking shakily out of the alcove next to the kitchen.

“Ahm…”

And he yawned.

“… Uh? Eun-ri?”

It appears that he did not hear our conversations.

It was obvious what happened. He must have been fooling around in the alcove that was used as a warehouse and temporary residence.

But I pretended not to notice and played it cool.

“What were you doing there?”

“Uh? Th-that…”

Wang Dae-geon thought for a while to get some excuse.

Meanwhile, it seemed like I caught the sight of Dong-mun, who was standing behind me, staring at him.

“Yah, Lee Dong-mun.”

Sparks flew oddly.

‘What are you doing without working? Bastard, get lost. Are you just fooling around during the busy hours?”

“…”

This guy has a knack for talking about someone else when he is doing the same thing.

In order to protect my friend and not wanting Wang Dae-geon’s scolds to prolong, I stepped ahead and caught Wang Dae-geon’s attention.

“You came at the right time. I was looking for you!”

“Haha, really?”

“I have a favor to ask. Dong-mun, you can go. A customer must be looking for you now.”

“Yes, noona. Hyung, see you later.”

Dong-mun gave a quick greeting, but Wang Dae-geon was indifferent.

So what do you need? What do you want me to do? In response to such questions of Wang Dae-geon, I answered by telling him what I had informed Dong-mun.

“What? Who wants to bathe in the middle of the night?”

“Hmm…”

Just one thing.

“Eun-young wants to have a bath.”

“Eun-young?”

If a guest had made a request, he might have asked which room, and it would end up as Ja-hyun getting the flame for it, so I said Eun-young.

Even though the two never met personally, I knew Wang Dae-geon wouldn’t like Ja-hyun, saying that feeding a sick man without getting paid would be meaningless.

If he found out that he had to work for Ja-hyun, he would make excuses to not grant my request.

“Yes. She seemed to have played in mud with Chu-sam today, and she seems like a mess.”

Wang Dae-geon had no interest in Eun-young and never even greeted her in person.

‘Ah.’

“Then let me take this as a favor.”

“Yes, yes. For the sake of Eun-ri and Eun-young, of course I will use my strength. I will prepare plenty of water for you to use, so don’t worry.”

“….”

On the way back to the kitchen, I thought of Eun-young, who by now would be playing alone at home.

I am sorry. Eun-young. Unnie just used you as an excuse.

Next time, I will head to the market and get a sweet for you, so forgive me.

It had been long since the sun set and the moon rose.

It was a romantic summer night, but I couldn’t feel any such thing when standing under the moonlight.

The reason was simple.

Because Ja-hyun vanished.

It was when I finished my work and stood in front of the room on the 2nd floor to call Ja-hyun to follow me.

I knocked on the door numerous times, but he never answered. Finally, I opened the door because I could take no more. I saw nothing but an empty room.

I was confused and wandered around the guesthouse looking for him.

But I don’t know where he could have vanished; Ja-hyun was nowhere to be found in the guesthouse.

Just in case, I went to the front door and looked at the night street, which was dyed red because of the night fun, but nothing happened.

‘Just where could he go at this time?’

I returned to the guest house in fear.

Where did he go? Had he gone to the river? He couldn’t have left the village, right? Eh, no way.

My mind was noisy with various random thoughts.

I turned my attention to the last place I hadn’t looked.

The backyard of the guesthouse, accessible through the back door. Right there.

I wondered if Ja-hyun, who had never stepped out of the guesthouse before, would know about the existence of this small back door next to the kitchen. Other than that, there was nothing in particular to point to.

Since there was no way I could run out onto the streets to find him at night, I turned to the kitchen, thinking that I had to do something.

In order to not attract the attention of Wang Dae-geon, who for some reason hadn’t followed Ju Cheol-rim to the gambling house or the bar and stayed in the guesthouse, I walked quietly and passed through the alcove next to the kitchen.

I opened the door and went out into the backyard.

I looked around, but my eyes couldn’t find him, I couldn’t find his shadow in the yard illuminated by the pale moon.

‘I am losing it.’

It felt like the insides were being torn apart.

I wiped the sweat dripping down the chin with the back of my hand and trudged towards the warehouse with the intention of looking around a bit more.

That was back then. I heard what sounded like the faint sound of running water from somewhere.

At first, I thought it was a hallucination.

It was only after the cool sound of falling water echoed several more times in complete silence that I realized that the sound wasn’t a hallucination.

From then on, it was all smooth sailing.

I ran to the bathhouse in the corner of the yard.

I looked inside through the sparse wooden slats, and sure enough, I saw someone sitting in the bathtub.

The round back of the head facing away looked familiar.

Ja-hyun. It was surely Ja-hyun.

“Yah, you…!”

I rushed inside.

Without even thinking about the simple fact that this was a bathhouse and that a person was taking a bath inside.

“…”

The scene I soon witnessed left me speechless for a moment.

Although I had cleaned Ja-hyun’s wet body when he was unconscious, I swear this was the first time seeing him fully naked.

Also, as soon as I burst through the wooden door, Ja-hyun stood up.

There was no light inside, but thanks to the moonlight streaming in through the cracks, I could see his naked body, covered in old and new scars, with my own two eyes.

Honestly, his upper body wasn’t a problem. But lower…

“Ahem… hmm…”

I quickly raised my gaze, which almost moved down.

I was flustered and kept making exclamations of no meaning, but Ja-hyun, who was actually involved, didn’t seem to care.

His indifferent attitude as if he wasn’t the person in the picture made me come to my senses.

It was because I felt like I was agitated by myself.

“Ugh… sorry.”

Coming to my senses, I apologized.

“Really sorry. I didn’t mean to look at you on purpose, the…

“…”

“Ah, do you want to wash yourself more? I will be out for…”

I turned around and left the shed with a stiffer gait than before.

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