Chapter 44 – The Owner of Drunken Lotus Pavilion

Chapter 44 – The Owner of Drunken Lotus Pavilion

San-ho, who had settled in the inner part of the inn, let out an exclamation.

“Wow… How does it taste like this?”

His chopsticks showed no signs of stopping at the various dishes filling the table.

Although Mae So-hyun's skills were also excellent, the dishes her older brother made were truly magnificent. They had a taste that would not be an understatement to call the best delicacy under heaven, along with a wonderful appearance.

Especially this plump, shiny Dongpo pork!

The meat, which was soft yet chewy, melted in his mouth, making it the best Dongpo pork he had ever eaten in his life. Having it with steaming white rice made it truly the taste of heaven.

San-ho, who had quickly finished a plate of Dongpo pork with an emotional expression, called over the waiter who happened to be passing by.

“Excuse me, could I have one more plate of Dongpo pork? Um… and also fish-flavored shredded pork and Kung Pao chicken.”

“Yes, Young Hero. However, the twice-cooked pork you ordered earlier hasn't come out yet, will that be alright?”

The waiter who received the additional order asked as if worried. It was because several empty plates were already piled up beside San-ho.

“Yes, it's fine. I'm just a bit hungry today…”

At the smiling face, the waiter gasped inwardly.

‘…Just where does all this food go?’

Martial artists originally ate a lot. They said it naturally became that way when one ran and swung weapons every day. With his long life as a waiter, he was no longer surprised by a decent amount of food. However, even that had a limit, didn't it?

“Ah, never mind.”

Right? No matter how he thought about it, he had ordered too much, hadn't he?

The waiter, with a face that said he knew it, waited for San-ho's next words.

“Please give me two more bowls of white rice as well.”

“Ah…”

He had thought San-ho was going to cancel the order, but it was just because the portion was lacking… Giving up on understanding San-ho's eating capacity anymore, the waiter nodded with a dazed expression and headed to the kitchen.

***

Not long after, a vagabond sitting across the room gestured to the waiter.

“Hey, waiter! Bring a plate of Dongpo pork and a bottle of fire liquor here.”

“Yes, it won't take long…”

The waiter, who was about to answer vigorously, paused for a moment. He remembered that he had just placed today's last plate of Dongpo pork on San-ho's table.

“Ah, I'm sorry. We are out of Dongpo pork right now. How about twice-cooked pork or Peking shredded pork? The fragrant spicy eggplant is also delicious.”

He immediately recommended other dishes, but the customer's expression was not good.

“What? What kind of restaurant runs out of Dongpo pork? Was what you just carried a decoration?”

“Ah, that was the last Dongpo pork… Once we run out of Dongpo pork, it takes a long time to make it again.”

“Heh… Do you not know who I am? I am the Wolf Fang Saber, Gwang-baek. If you understand, say it again.”

Gwang-baek, a vagabond who had once made quite a name for himself, waited for the waiter's answer with a confident look.

“Yes, Lord Wolf Fang Saber Gwang-baek, today's Dongpo pork is completely sold out.”

“…?”

He surely didn't mean for him to literally say it again.

At the absurd reply, Gwang-baek scowled fiercely.

“What did you say?”

“Since today's Dongpo pork is all gone, if you don't mind, I will recommend other dishes made with pork.”

“Ha.”

Gwang-baek let out a gasp of disbelief.

By this point, he should have made and brought out even non-existent Dongpo pork, but the waiter of Drunken Lotus Pavilion, who had neither tact nor fear, just repeated the same words and tilted his head.

“How dare a mere waiter…”

As Gwang-baek raised his hand, unable to bear the feeling of being ignored, the waiter blinked and spoke.

“Great Hero, is this perhaps your first time at Drunken Lotus Pavilion?”

At the extremely peaceful voice, Gwang-baek was temporarily lost for words.

“…Ha. You fearless bastard. Whether it's my first time or not, what does that have to do with anything?”

The waiter politely stretched out his hand and pointed to a wall.

“Then, please read the user guide.”

“…?”

The gazes that had gathered due to Gwang-baek making a scene followed the waiter's hand.

Hanging there was a wooden board that read 'Drunken Lotus Pavilion User Guide'.

[Drunken Lotus Pavilion User Guide]

First. Within Drunken Lotus Pavilion, all grievances and conflicts of the martial world are forbidden.

Second. Anyone who lays a hand on a Drunken Lotus Pavilion servant will be immediately expelled, regardless of the reason.

Third. Anyone who causes a disturbance inside will be banished by the authority of the shop owner.

*If the above terms are not smoothly implemented, we will not hesitate to use force.

Gwang-baek, who was reading the contents written on the wooden board, burst into a loud laugh.

“Puhaha! The shop owner of Drunken Lotus Pavilion must have gone senile. An inn that forbids the grievances of the martial world? How on earth are bastards like you going to enforce this rule? Puhahaha!!”

For an inn in the martial world, wasn't it a common occurrence for a couple of chairs to be broken every day in fights over grievances between martial artists? If one was unlucky, the inn itself would be destroyed, and if one was even unluckier, limbs would fly.

After laughing for a long time as if it were truly hilarious, Gwang-baek frowned upon seeing the waiter standing there with an expressionless face.

“What? Are you seriously for real?”

“…If the guided contents are not observed, there is nothing we can do. We will have no choice but to make Lord Gwang-baek leave.”

“Ha! In all my life, this is the first time I have seen such a crazy inn. A mere waiter dares to kick out a martial artist? By what means?”

Gwang-baek, whose mood was thoroughly ruined, shoved the waiter in front of him with a thud. The moment the waiter, pushed by his large fist, was about to fall flat on his back.

Instead of the loud sound of a person tumbling, a low voice was heard.

“…Hey, you should know when to stop.”

San-ho, who supported the falling waiter with one hand, said as he helped him stand upright.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I've been listening to you for a while now… If you're going to talk about being a martial artist, you should at least feel ashamed as one. Do you really have to oppress someone who hasn't even learned martial arts?”

San-ho frowned.

It was this difficult to survive as a weakling in the martial world. San-ho, who had been in the position of the weak no different from a waiter until not long ago, continued speaking.

“Stop causing any more of a scene and just cut it out.”

“Ha, look at this arrogant bastard. Do you have some backer you trust?”

“Well… Do I really need to have something to fall back on?”

I don't think I need one. San-ho, scanning Gwang-baek from head to toe, muttered softly.

‘There are problematic customers everywhere. Sigh…’

At that moment, Gwang-baek roughly grabbed the collar of the waiter, who was stealthily trying to escape.

“Where is this rat-like bastard running off to?”

“Ugh…!!”

“I told you to stop.”

San-ho tried to stop him, but he held on so tightly that the arm grabbing the collar would not budge at all.

In the end, he lightly infused internal energy into his hand and grabbed Gwang-baek's forearm once more.

Crack.

“…?”

San-ho tilted his head at the strange sound heard at the same time. What was that? What broke?

“…Ugh, aaagh!!”

It was not difficult to find the source of the sound. This was because Gwang-baek, whose forearm was bent at a bizarre angle, was screaming in pain. It looked as if he now had two elbows instead of one.

At that sight, San-ho's mouth fell wide open.

“W-What…? Why did it turn out like that?”

“Ugh! How dare this crazy bastard…!!!”

Gwang-baek, whose arm had broken in an instant, could not hide his panic and yelled furiously.

“No, it's just that I couldn't control it…”

However, San-ho was equally flustered.

Were human bones really this easy to break?

The energy absorbed from the Borrowing Flowers to Offer to Buddha had suddenly increased San-ho's cultivation. Thus, San-ho, who had not yet adapted to his increased internal energy, momentarily failed to control his strength.

Gwang-baek huffed with a thoroughly flushed face.

“Do you think you will be safe after doing this!”

“No, wait a minute. Don't come any closer.”

In a brief instant, countless thoughts crossed San-ho's mind.

‘…Where should I grab? If I grab the wrong place, won't he burst like a spider bursting?’

At the gruesome scene that instantly came to mind, San-ho furrowed his brows.

Right now, San-ho had no proper reason to fight seriously with his opponent. Of course, he was displeased by the unreasonable opponent, but he couldn't kill a person for just that reason, could he?

However, if he made a wrong attack here, he would end up facing a state like the burst spiders he had seen countless times during his foraging training.

“Eeek! This guy and that guy, both of you have gone crazy as a pair!”

However, there was no way Gwang-baek could know that this was for his own sake.

Gwang-baek, whose pride had already been severely cracked, let out a furious roar and suddenly drew the saber at his waist.

…Seriously?

A disturbance starting from Dongpo pork is ending in murder?

Dumbfounded by Gwang-baek's reckless mindset, San-ho's mouth fell wide open.

It wasn't just him.

Everyone in the room was watching the scene with shocked faces. Sword fights in Jianghu inns were quite common, but they had never heard of or seen a scene like this.

To anyone looking, it was Gwang-baek oppressing a young child who was not even half his size or age.

But what was the reality?

It was hard to believe the fact that he had broken that heavy arm as easily as a twig, but the person in question was showing a bizarre reaction.

“Ah, I said you'll die if you do that!”

When San-ho shouted at the approaching Gwang-baek, questions arose in the faces of the people simultaneously.

‘…Just what kind of guy is he?’

Gwang-baek swung his saber heavily, carrying a ferocious killing intent.

Shhhk!

The sharp saber rushed in with the momentum to slice off both the waiter's and San-ho's necks at once.

But at that moment.

San-ho, coating his leg in protective qi, kicked Gwang-baek's arm. He intended to disarm the weapon from his hand first.

However, there was something San-ho had failed to anticipate.

One was the fact that he was still having difficulty controlling his strength, and the other was the fact that Gwang-baek's grip strength was extraordinary. Thus, instead of losing his saber, Gwang-baek flew away along with it while still holding it.

Thud!

With a dull thud, Gwang-baek's body instantly vanished from sight.

Boom!!

And crashed straight into the wall of Drunken Lotus Pavilion.

Crack. Cra-aaack—

Along with the saber full of killing intent that Gwang-baek had swung.

“…………”

Rumble—

As the inn's wall, cracked like a spiderweb, collapsed, the well-tended garden behind it came into view.

‘That… shouldn't be visible from the inside, right?’

At the accident that happened in an instant, San-ho froze blankly.

Standing in the scattering cloud of dust, San-ho felt his vision grow hazy.

Is traveling the Jianghu originally always like this?

The world isn't doing this only to me, right?

One truly cannot know what lies even a single step ahead in human life. Just like me, who destroyed a restaurant while eating…

As San-ho sighed in dismay and stared at the spot,

Gwang-baek walked out from among the pile of collapsed wall with bloodshot eyes.

“This is driving me crazy…”

San-ho slapped his forehead and let out a sigh mixed with annoyance. Crazy bastards really don't know moderation.

“You!!!”

With a flushed face, Gwang-baek raised his saber once more and struck down as if to split San-ho in half.

It was at that moment.

Tap!

Along with a light friction sound that did not fit the situation, his arm froze in midair. Someone had blocked his saber.

What blocked the heavy saber was a mere paper fan. The one holding the fan spoke in a low voice.

“…Stop.”

It was an energy as calm as a lake, yet everyone present could tell.

That they must not displease that person right now.

In an instant, the air froze chillingly.