Chapter 31

Ch. 31

King of Fist, please buy me noodles

Dark clouds filled the sky as they followed Dan Wooseong.

The rain kept starting and stopping, then poured down heavily again on a road not far from the Galaxy Merchant Group.

Dan Wooseong, who had returned after forcing a march through lightness technique training, stared blankly at a man being chased in the distance.

What kind of trouble had he caused this time to be pursued by dozens of people?

Perhaps he hadn't caused any trouble at all.

His life had always been like this, after all.

Cheol Myeongho, the Venom Fox, soaked through by the rain, made splashing sounds as he fled, then spotted Dan Wooseong.

Their eyes met just once before he sprinted through the rain.

Then dozens of men appeared with a thunderous noise, urgently chasing after Cheol Myeongho.

Dan Wooseong turned his head and stared blankly at the pursued and the pursuers. Cheol Myeongho disappeared around a corner, then sounds of crashing were heard briefly before he appeared from Dan Wooseong's side and desperately called his friend's name.

"Ah, it's been a while. It's raining heavily, isn't it?"

Cheol Myeongho, panting heavily, looked at Dan Wooseong through the rain. He looked less like a Venom Fox and more like a rain-soaked rat.

Dan Wooseong said,

"You live a busy life."

"Well, I'm always like that. Busy."

Then the men who had been chasing Cheol Myeongho arrived belatedly with a thunderous noise. They seemed to have lost him and circled back from far away. Most of the pursuers looked exhausted too. They couldn't immediately attack and were frowning while bent over at the waist.

Even in this situation, Cheol Myeongho didn't ask to be saved, just stared blankly.

Dan Wooseong spoke to Cheol Myeongho first.

"Use an umbrella."

"Ah, thanks."

Cheol Myeongho came under the umbrella, swallowed his saliva while looking at the group of pursuers, and also gauged Dan Wooseong's mood.

Cheol Myeongho spat out curses.

"Those damn bastards follow me disgustingly well."

They were people Dan Wooseong had never seen before. Their identity wouldn't be anything special. He thought they were probably guys like Cheol Myeongho from other regions. The latecomers finally arrived and lined up to examine Dan Wooseong.

One man drew his sword and said,

"Hand over that bastard. Don't get involved in unnecessary business and get hurt."

Dan Wooseong watched the gathered crowd while speaking to Cheol Myeongho.

"Has your hand healed?"

Cheol Myeongho slightly extended his bandaged hand and replied,

"No. I'm still crippled."

Somehow, his tone suggested he was fortunate to be crippled. Dan Wooseong couldn't help but laugh.

Dan Wooseong said to the gathered men,

"You don't seem to be from this area, so I'll explain with words. Wait until Cheol Myeongho's hand is properly healed before you attack. Get lost today."

One man replied,

"What bullshit is that?"

Cheol Myeongho giggled and pointed at the group of pursuers.

"Hey hey, my friend has shown mercy. Get lost while he's being nice. I've memorized all your faces, so wait for me. I'll come find you."

Dan Wooseong asked,

"What guys are they?"

"Red Harvest Alliance. I did some auction business, you know. I went to organize the books after a long time, and those bastards took them. Damn highway robbers..."

Dan Wooseong asked something important.

"Are they from the Dark Path?"

Cheol Myeongho replied,

"Then would they be from the White Path?"

Even while they conversed, the reason the Red Harvest Alliance members couldn't easily attack was simple.

They felt intimidation from Dan Wooseong's aura. In the martial world, and especially in the Dark Path within it, being massacred for swinging a sword at the wrong person was commonplace.

Still, these guys were the type who had to taste everything to know if it was shit or soybean paste. The leader of the group pushed the back of a subordinate beside him. The startled man was propelled forward and swung his sword at Dan Wooseong.

Then, with a bang, the man who received a kick flew through the air, crashed into a wall to one side, and stopped moving with a thud.

His comrades' gazes were fixed on the man, unsure if he was unconscious or dead.

Dan Wooseong said,

"Boys, I'm hungry, so if we fight now, I think I'll kill you all. Let's meet again next time. Either Cheol Myeongho will come, or I will."

At the words "let's meet again," thunderous sounds were heard as they clustered together like a mob and fled. Then two men returned, carried the man Dan Wooseong had struck, and ran away.

Dan Wooseong didn't unconditionally kill those from the Dark Path. This came from experience. Often, there were manly men even among the Dark Path. Cheol Myeongho, who had unconsciously been knocked aside during the kick, was getting rained on again as he spoke to Dan Wooseong.

"Buy me some food. I'm hungry too. Noodles are fine too. You stole and ate my noodles last time. That day, I almost didn't die from getting beaten by you, but almost died from hunger. Damn it, you should eat before getting treatment..."

He could have just asked him to buy it, but mentioning the noodles he had stolen last time left Dan Wooseong dumbfounded.

"You really are..."

"What am I?"

"Incredibly crazy."

"Nothing new. Let's go. For noodles, it's Jinpyeong Noodles."

.

.

.

Cheol Myeongho held the bowl with one hand and gulped down the broth. After setting down the bowl with a clang, Cheol Myeongho said,

"On rainy days, it's definitely Jinpyeong Noodles."

Cheol Myeongho gauged Dan Wooseong's mood, then held up two fingers toward the server.

"Here, give us two more bowls."

Dan Wooseong's noodle bowl was also cleanly emptied. The two men, who had been watching the rain briefly, began eating the newly served noodles without a word. The sound of rain mixed with slurping sounds.

After a while, both men simultaneously drank the noodle broth to the end.

Again, Cheol Myeongho was slower. Cheol Myeongho, who wiped his mouth with his sleeve, said with a strange expression,

"Do you have a Beggars Clan branch established in your stomach? It's my first time seeing someone eat better than me. A guy who used to nibble... anyway, you've changed. Hey, people shouldn't change so urgently. You should live according to natural order."

Cheol Myeongho looked at the server and held up two fingers again.

"Here, give us two more bowls."

Only after the two men cleanly emptied three bowls did they watch the rain again. The rain poured as persistently as the Venom Fox's personality. After watching the pouring rain with Dan Wooseong for a long time, Cheol Myeongho asked,

"Are the Twin Treasure Brothers doing well?"

"They're doing well."

"What are they doing there?"

"Training."

"They must have gotten strong. Their food expenses must be enormous. They're not humans, they're food ghosts. Food ghosts..."

"I have a lot of money."

"Ah, I forgot about that. Right. I contributed to that too. I gave it all to you in one go."

When Cheol Myeongho grinned, Dan Wooseong asked,

"So, are you a beggar now?"

"Not exactly, but buy me some noodles."

Cheol Myeongho scratched his forehead with one finger and asked,

"By the way, how do you learn proper martial arts? The techniques I learned seem so crude. They don't work well."

"Why martial arts?"

"What do you mean why? I was wondering if I could face Red Harvest if I learned martial arts. Red Harvest has so many subordinates. I'm confident in one-on-one fights. You saw earlier. Those guys swarm in groups when there's a fight. They're not even beggars. I'm too busy running away."

Dan Wooseong asked,

"Should I teach you?"

Cheol Myeongho replied with a slightly surprised expression,

"Well... I'd be grateful if you taught me."

Dan Wooseong deliberately looked into Cheol Myeongho's eyes and said,

"Will you do as I teach you?"

Cheol Myeongho answered thoughtlessly,

"Ah, of course."

"Are you sure?"

"Ah, don't you know my personality? I'm Venom Fox, Cheol Myeongho. Why is Great Young Master acting like this all of a sudden?"

Dan Wooseong pointed to the floor beside the table and said,

"Try bowing once."

Cheol Myeongho replied with an annoyed expression,

"Ah, this bastard is embarrassing me. In a noodle shop... tsk."

Cheol Myeongho immediately stood up, went beside the table, bowed once, then got up as if nothing had happened and sat back down.

Cheol Myeongho threatened,

"Anyway, just try not teaching me. I'll go shit in front of the Galaxy Merchant Group's main gate."

Dan Wooseong picked up the Heavy Umbrella leaning against the table with his right hand and slowly demonstrated an incredibly simple downward strike motion.

In the second demonstration, as if telling him to remember the height when raising the arm holding the umbrella, he pointed to the position and angle of the elbow.

Then he struck downward again.

As if telling him to remember the arm position when the motion ended, he pointed to several places with his finger.

When Dan Wooseong set the umbrella back up, Cheol Myeongho shouted,

"That's it? I even bowed once! I'm going to go shit right now!"

Dan Wooseong smacked Cheol Myeongho's head hard enough to make a thud and said,

"Shut up, you bastard. Pick up the umbrella. With one hand."

When Cheol Myeongho picked up the Heavy Umbrella with his good hand, his expression immediately contorted.

"Why is this so heavy?"

Cheol Myeongho's arm was trembling.

Dan Wooseong said something truly frightening,

"I can't give it to you since it was a gift. Borrow it, repeat the motion I just did exactly one hundred thousand times, then bring it back. As quickly as possible. If you're going to dawdle, give up on martial arts."

Cheol Myeongho asked politely,

"Great Young Master, how many times?"

"One hundred thousand times."

"Not one thousand, not ten thousand, but one hundred thousand times?"

Dan Wooseong replied in a pathetic tone,

"Why is Venom Fox's tongue so long? If you can't do it, put down the umbrella and get lost, you cripple."

Cheol Myeongho put down the umbrella and asked,

"Are you serious?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Dan Wooseong grabbed Cheol Myeongho by the collar.

"Hey..."

"What."

"Do you think you can kill people by learning a few childish hand and foot gestures? Does one hundred thousand times seem like a lot? If you had swung that umbrella one hundred thousand times, you could have beaten at least half of those idiots to death with just a wooden sword. What did you do earlier? You were running around like a rain-soaked rat. Myeongho, don't live miserably, just die, you bastard."

"...I don't want to die though."

When Cheol Myeongho answered, Dan Wooseong released his collar.

The two men glared at each other like before.

Dan Wooseong said,

"Are you a rat or a Venom Fox? Know your place and live. Don't just flap your mouth."

Cheol Myeongho couldn't reply at all and turned his head to look at the pouring rain.

Without realizing it, both his eyes had reddened. Cheol Myeongho kept his head turned and silently watched the rain until his bloodshot eyes returned to normal.

During this time, Dan Wooseong also said nothing.

After a while, the rain that had been pouring so heavily began to gradually stop, and light drizzle scattered in the wind to the point where umbrellas weren't necessary.

Confirming that the rain had stopped, Cheol Myeongho turned his head and said to Dan Wooseong,

"Let me borrow the umbrella."

Dan Wooseong pointed to the umbrella with his chin as if telling him to take it. Then Cheol Myeongho grabbed the Heavy Umbrella and left the noodle shop. Dan Wooseong couldn't tell where he was going as he faced the wind and drizzle.

When Dan Wooseong got up and approached to pay for the noodles, the server carefully asked,

"Young Master, should I include your friend's bill in the calculation..."

Dan Wooseong, who handed over the money, looked at the server and nodded slightly.

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