Chapter 105 - Central Avenue

But Dong Bongsu merely watched, showing no intention of moving. He was far too composed for it to be a matter of the blow being too fast. He did not even blink.

One cun. The claw hammer stopped precisely a finger joint’s length from his forehead.

“Why aren’t you dodging?” the Weapon Monster asked.

Dong Bongsu looked up at him, his eyes still wide open, and replied, “There was no killing intent or desire.”

It was a general rule. Ordinary people could not kill without the will to kill, nor steal without the desire to take something.

Occasionally—very, very rarely—there were unusual people.

Only those inhuman sorts could murder or steal without such feelings. The world might call this man mad, naming him the Eight-Technique Weapon Madman or the Weapon Monster, but to Dong Bongsu, he was a perfectly normal person within the ordinary range. His tremendous strength was an exception, of course.

“That sounds as though you’re saying you could have dodged if there had been killing intent.”

“Heh heh heh. You mad bastard. You really are mad. Granted, you can only say that because you still don’t know exactly who I am, but even so, it’s impressive. Fine, fine. Let’s say you could have dodged. What were you planning to do afterward?”

“After dodging...”

“After dodging?”

“I would have killed you.”

“Ha, hahahahahaha! I knew it! You really are an amusing bastard. How could I not have waited for you? Hah, hahahaha!”

The Weapon Monster was delighted. He liked Dong Bongsu immensely.

It had gone beyond mere interest or curiosity. He had grown fond of him.

But there was something he did not know...

In truth, all that fondness stemmed from Dong Bongsu’s acting. He had merely said and done things the Weapon Monster would enjoy, while staying within the bounds of the “fake hero” persona he had chosen for himself.

Not that the Weapon Monster would ever discover that, even if he died and came back to life...

“Come on, let’s go. I’d better hurry up and show you, if only to keep you from killing me.”

He did not specify what he meant to show him, but Dong Bongsu knew. It would be the ‘new Item’ made by melting down the [Beginner’s Sword] he had entrusted to him.

The Weapon Monster got up first and walked toward the door.

Dong Bongsu watched his retreating back for a moment before slowly rising.

CRACK, CRUNCH.

A sudden sound, like bones being crushed.

Dong Bongsu halted at the strange noise. His ears quickly located its source. The wavelength was lengthening, if only slightly. That meant it was moving away from him. Which meant...

The door opened, and the Weapon Monster turned to look at him.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

“Oh, this? Just a little touch-up. The old fart told me not to go around the Alliance with my own face unless I had to.”

“Is it all right to show me?”

“Sure. If he says ‘unless I have to,’ that means I don’t have to follow the rule when there’s a good reason, doesn’t it?

“And you’re an important guest. More than enough reason for me.”

In that brief interval, the Weapon Monster’s face had changed into that of a refined-looking middle-aged man.

Only then did Dong Bongsu realize that one of the Weapon Monster’s eight talents was altering his appearance.

The Weapon Monster gave him a playful wink and stepped outside.

“But this is a secret. You understand?”

“Oh, look at you. At least pretend to be surprised. You really are a damn boring bastard. Now I feel embarrassed for telling you it’s a secret. Damn it. Hahaha.”

For all his complaints about Dong Bongsu being boring and his muttered curses, the Weapon Monster laughed heartily. That was presumably a measure of how fond he had grown of him.

Dong Bongsu simply followed him out toward the entrance, his face expressionless.

“Rotten bastards. There’s a fucking lot of them gathered here.”

Was his newly refined face truly irrelevant, after all?

His speech remained as foul and thick as dried-radish-leaf soup mixed in a bucket of dirty rags.

Following him outside, Dong Bongsu found a crowd just as large as the Weapon Monster had said. People swarmed at the end of the Guest Pavilion’s long covered corridor, making it look impossible for anyone to pass.

Presumably, it was because the Martial Harmony Gate had opened for today’s registration for the All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament.

“Well, roads don’t have to be on the ground.”

The Weapon Monster looked around, then raised his gaze to the sky. Watching him, Dong Bongsu easily guessed his intention.

“You know enough Qinggong to get onto a roof, don’t you?

“Then again, with a body that well trained, you could easily manage it with external arts alone.”

WHOOSH.

With that, the Weapon Monster soared straight onto the Guest Pavilion’s roof.

Without the slightest hesitation, Dong Bongsu kicked off the ground and leaped after him.

An Announcement to Our Fellow Martial Artists.

The Heavenly Demon Castle’s large-scale provocations over the past year have plunged Murim into misery. Thus, the Murim Alliance intends to recruit promising new heroes to repel those treacherous, lawless practitioners of the demonic path from the borderlands.

Around the coming Rain Water solar term (one of the twenty-four solar terms, falling on the fifteenth day after the Beginning of Spring), we will accept applications at the foot of Mount Clear Dawn in Zhengzhou for a sparring tournament to select the young heroes (aged thirty or under) who will lead the next generation. We encourage all rising young talents to participate.

Hyeoncheon, Fifteenth Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance.

“Senior Sister, you really can see the whole Murim Alliance from the roof.”

At Ha Seonhyang’s words, Hwa Yeji tucked the Murim Tablet she had taken out back into her robes. Just as Seonhyang said, from the Guest Pavilion’s roof, the Alliance’s grounds spread out before her eyes as though within arm’s reach.

Compared to the view below, it was an entirely new world. With registration for the All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament now open, the way from the Guest Pavilion to Central Avenue was already packed with people. Down below, she had been unable to see anything at all.

Central Avenue.

It had always been the busiest road within the Murim Alliance.

Buildings responsible for the Alliance’s external affairs lined both sides: the Guest Pavilion, Demon-Subduing Hall, Evil-Conquering Hall, Hall of Myriad Martial Arts, and more. Anyone heading to the inner compound had to take this road, as did anyone leaving the Alliance. In short, it was the most crucial artery of traffic within the grounds.

Even so, this was likely the busiest it had been since the Martial Harmony Gate first opened.

“Wow! It’s practically a marketplace down there. I suppose that’s because it’s the first day?”

Ha Seonhyang spoke with her mouth agape. As she said, the vast expanse of Central Avenue was so tightly packed that there was no room to set down a foot or even squeeze in a head.

The crowds around the six buildings flanking the Martial Harmony Gate were especially dense, packed three or four deep, if not more. Despite the early spring season, the throng kicked up such pale clouds of dust that it was difficult even to make out people’s movements.

All six buildings were presumably serving as temporary registration offices for the All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament. The people crammed together there as though they were being pressed into jerky were undoubtedly waiting to register.

“Shaolin, Wudang, the Beggar Sect... the Murong Clan, the Hebei Peng Clan... Zhejiang’s Black Dragon Sect, Jiangxi’s Huangfu Clan, Hainan’s Hainan Sword School... Hm!? Those are Japanese clothes... Oh!? Those people look like they’re from Cheonggu... Wow. Senior Sister, so many people have come. But didn’t the Murim Tablet only invite people from the Central Plains? They’ve come from all sorts of places.”

Monks, Taoist priests, beggars, and merchants in fine clothes were only the beginning. People wearing odd shoes split far apart at the toes, people with their hair tied in topknots—people from every region had gathered. Calling the Murim Alliance a gathering of everyone under heaven hardly seemed an exaggeration.

“You’re right. People have gathered like clouds. But there seem to be fewer than I expected.”

Hwa Yeji tilted her head slightly.

There was no denying that an enormous crowd had assembled, but it still felt smaller than she had anticipated, even allowing for the early hour.

It had been a very long time since the last sparring tournament. That its host was the Murim Alliance, the leading power in Murim today, meant an extraordinary opportunity had opened here. Moreover, this was the very first day of registration.

“You call that a small crowd?”

Ha Seonhyang’s phoenix-shaped eyes went round. The way she even poked out her tongue was rather endearing.

“Yes. It’s probably because of that ghost incident in Zhengzhou last night. It doesn’t seem to have had much effect, though. Most of the martial artists who intend to register seem to be here already. There are probably just far fewer spectators.”

“Oh? That rumor about a ghost appearing? Ah! I see!”

“Yes. It’s an absurd rumor, but ordinary people might take something like that as real, and find it frightening.”

“Wow. Then if all the spectators had come too, it would have been packed so tight there’d barely be room to breathe!”

“Probably.”

Even as she answered Ha Seonhyang, Hwa Yeji kept swiftly scanning her surroundings.

‘Hasn’t he arrived yet?’

Surely he intended to enter the All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament? He couldn’t possibly be over thirty, could he? What if he had never come to Zhengzhou at all?

‘Jong... Ji... hang...’

She had not forgotten him for a single moment since their encounter. The powerful impression he had left on her continued to shake her heart. What was this strange fluttering in her chest? She longed for him to appear here so she could find out. That was why she was worrying about the possibility that he might not come at all.

“Oh!? Senior Sister, isn’t that the man from back then? His name was...”

Ha Seonhyang suddenly cried out, pointing far off toward the inner compound.

Intent on finding Jong Jihang, Hwa Yeji ignored her cry and continued watching the area around the registration offices. Only guests from the Nine Great Sects or Four Great Noble Clans, or senior members of the Murim Alliance, went in and out of the inner compound anyway. There was no chance that an unknown wanderer like Jong Jihang would emerge from there...

“Jong... Jong... What was it again?”

Hm? Jong...?

“Jong Jihang!?”