Chapter 21 Toulong Jinmujon

Chapter 21: Toulong Jinmujon

“Huh? Toulong?”

At my question, the courtesan beside me quickly answered.

“How could you not know the rising hero of Guryongseong, who annihilated the Shippamyeon Gamsukbunta, rescued the daughter of the Qingzhang Chief, and slew the Jima Chieftain, Talhonsalbu, in just ten moves! My apologies are beyond words.”

They say a tiger appears when three people talk about it, but this was ridiculously exaggerated.

Gansukbunta was destroyed by Dangpali’s diarrhea poison, Qingzhaozhu was rescued through everyone’s combined efforts, and Talhunsalbu took over a thousand strikes to kill, not just ten.

‘Well, still…’

It was accomplished with me at the center, so maybe half of it is true?

“Whoops! I meant to keep it secret, but the excitement got the better of me and I let it slip. Come now. Enough of this. Let’s all have a drink.”

“This maiden shall pour you a drink.”

As I accepted the drink under the team members’ heated stares, the room’s atmosphere heated up as if nothing had happened.

After all, we’d paid dearly for this entertainment, and there wasn’t enough time to laugh and talk.

As the surroundings grew noisy again, the courtesan seated beside me looked at me with a peculiar gaze.

Then, in a voice only I could hear, she whispered.

“Tonight, I wish to accompany you, great hero.”

“…!”

“Dare I ask, is that permissible?”

Even if I’m a virgin who’s never been married, I’m not so dense I couldn’t grasp the meaning of those words.

She wasn’t inviting me to play board games all night, after all.

“Ahem, well, that…”

“Could it be… that you, the great hero, lack ‘experience’ in matters between men and women?”

Her bluntness hit me square in the gut, then drove into my side, shattering a rib.

But considering my social standing and reputation, even if she beat me to death, I couldn’t tell the truth.

“Oh, come now. What do you take me for? I’ve long since mastered the intricacies of relations between men and women.”

Well, I’d previewed it a thousand times through monitors in my past life, so it was practically half real experience.

“I see. Then, may I have the honor of serving you tonight, Great Hero? I shall serve you with all my heart.”

Whoa.

That wasn’t an actual sound.

It was the voice of the dark, twisted side buried deep within me, moved to whiten by being courted by a woman for the first time in my life.

‘Well, yeah. It was about time.’

This wasn’t the guy who got kicked around like a soccer ball in my past life.

I had a good education, I was capable, I worked for a major corporation. Plus, I owned a house with a yard.

I was the middle class of the martial arts world, with no weak points anywhere.

Thinking it was about time I had a fling with a woman, I spat out my carefully honed line.

“Well, how could I possibly refuse the request of such a beautiful young lady? Truth be told, ever since I first laid eyes on you, your lovely face has lodged itself in my heart and never left.”

In modern society, that line would be utterly ridiculous, but this was the martial arts world, ruled by Confucian Taliban forces.

Just spouting lines like that was enough to shake the hearts of countless women.

As proof, she covered her crimson face with both hands.

“Haha, young lady, you’re quite bashful.”

The atmosphere screamed she was completely hooked.

‘Finally!’

Just when I thought the moment had arrived.

Bang!

The door burst open, and an unexpected guest entered.

“Everyone, leave.”

At that single command, the courtesans scrambled to their feet and exited the room.

Rush.

It was none other than the owner of this place, the prized jewel of the Red Dragon Sect, Zhi Hualan.

Thud.

She abruptly sat down beside me and glared around the room.

“Are the warriors from the outer hall planning to stay? It seems you’ve all finished eating.”

“Well, we’re paying customers…”

Yang Gang immediately started to protest, but Yoo So-pyeong, the most perceptive among the group, quickly covered his mouth.

“Our apologies. We didn’t realize Lady Ji had business with our leader.”

“It’s fine now that you know. I won’t charge you for today’s drinks. Please go inside. Don’t you all have duty tomorrow?”

“You’re absolutely right. Well then, we’ll see you next time.”

With that, the squad members retreated like an ebbing tide.

“Oh dear, these scoundrels leaving their squad leader behind…”

Sensing something amiss, I rose to follow discreetly.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

The sound of swords being drawn echoed from all directions.

“Sit down immediately if you don’t want to be chopped to pieces.”

“Yes.”

I hadn’t done anything wrong, but somehow, the atmosphere felt like I’d committed a capital offense, and before I knew it, I was sitting back down.

Swish.

Jik Hwaran filled a cup with liquor and said.

“You seemed to enjoy yourself?”

“Huh?”

“Did you enjoy playing around with that woman?”

“No, well, it wasn’t that I enjoyed it, I just went along with the mood. Just went with the flow. What do you take me for? Don’t you know I’m not that kind of person?“

”But you and Jureung seemed to be getting along really well?“

So that courtesan’s name was Jureung.

Gotta remember that.

”Ahem, Fan… No, she said she really wanted to meet you, since you’re a rising hero.“

”Hmm, really? Did she mention anything else?”

But why is she grilling me like this all of a sudden?

“No. Nothing like that, really…”

“Are you sure?”

“If anyone heard that, they’d think I’ve lived my whole life lying. Don’t you know me? I’m Jinmujin, the very definition of honesty and sincerity.”

For reference, my childhood nickname in my past life was ‘Big Mouth’.

“Well, I’ll take your word for it.”

I almost got caught hitting on a geisha from my own agency.

“Have a drink.”

“I had quite a bit earlier…”

“Seemed like you were drinking just fine when Jureung poured it for you.”

“It’s not like you’re monitoring the customers or anything…”

Wait, how does this kid know what happened here?

“How did you know that? You didn’t…?!

”What what what what?!“

Now I finally understood why he was acting this way.

”You were in the next room because you wanted to hear my heroic tale, weren’t you?!“

”Huh?“

”Aha, you got it! You squeezed in because you wanted to hear the details.”

“…As expected, your intuition is legendary, senior.”

“You brat! If you wanted to hear it, you should’ve just said so. You could’ve come during the day.”

“……”

“So, what happened was, I pulled out my qi and sliced open the main gate, and the Ten Demon Clan kids were like, ‘Oh my god!’ and…”

And so, he rambled on about his exploits all night.

***

“Ugh… Moo-ul…”

Opening my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling.

‘Where am I… Who am I…?’

After a moment of self-realization, I roughly recalled yesterday’s events and immediately got up.

‘All because of that old hag, Jeokhwa. I ran all night.’

It was all because that red-haired woman egged me on.

Thanks to her, my head felt like it was splitting, but I got free booze out of it. What can you do?

I guess I’ll forgive her this once.

“Ahhh! That feels refreshing.”

After washing my face at the well, I saw Myohyang glaring at me from under the eaves.

“You say you’re hurt, yet you’re out drinking all night. What on earth are you doing?”

“I didn’t want to drink, but the kids insisted on having a drink…”

“Even so, you should drink in moderation. What if you come home completely wasted like that!”

“Hey! A man has to socialize in this world…”

“Shut up! Just shut your mouth and eat your rice!”

“Yes.”

After the storm of nagging ended, just as I sat at the table scooping up the spicy soup and rice.

Squeak.

Yongmasan entered the house, his gleaming head proudly on display.

“Hey! Long time no see?”

Nod.

She greeted him warmly, but he merely gave a slight nod and sat down.

“Please sit here, Yong Warrior. This morning’s meal is a spicy soup and seasoned vegetables. It’s my first time making it, so I’m not sure how it tastes.”

“If it’s food made by you, I could eat mud patties and still find them delicious.”

This little bastard.

For a moment, I wanted to unleash Extreme Fury and turn this piece of trash into a pile of dust, but I suppressed my murderous intent with all my might.

I couldn’t afford to lose a sucker who paid me two taels a month over something like this.

Midway through the meal, Yongmasan opened his mouth.

“By the way, you’ve become the talk of Chang’an.”

“Huh?”

“They’re talking about you. Rumors of the Twin Dragons have spread like wildfire throughout the city.”

So that’s what he was talking about. He was referring to my fame.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Well, I suppose you could call it a needle in a haystack? It was fame destined to spread eventually.”

“. ..In the marketplace, bets are being placed on who will win the duel between you and the Blue Dragon Sword.“

”Well, obviously I’ll win that one… Huh? But who’s dueling who?“

”You and Brother Dan.“

”Why?“

”Why suddenly play dumb? Didn’t you bring Brother Dan into the mission on the condition that you’d duel him?”

“How did you know that?”

“Brother Dan told me while we crossed the Gongdong Mountains. He also asked me to spread the word widely once we reached Guryongseong.”

“So?”

“So what? I spread the rumor as requested by a comrade-in-arms I fought alongside, even if only briefly. Thanks to that, Captain Jin’s reputation soared. Buy me a drink later.”

“You bastard! Who gave you the right to spread rumors?!”

In that instant, I unconsciously struck Yongmasan’s jaw.

***

Whispering.

‘They’re not comedians, so why all this whispering?’

The usual gate guards.

The murmurs of the procession trying to enter Guryongseong grew louder.

Of course, I understood to some extent.

In the martial world, where content is as scarce as smartphones, renowned righteous faction martial artists are treated like heroes. Conversely, evil faction martial artists are treated like villains.

‘If you’re just top-tier, you could easily take down Captain America or three or four of them.’

The problem was.

Murmur, murmur.

Because Bald Yongmasan spread rumors about his duel with Danun, a massive crowd had gathered.

Yusopyeong said with an awkward expression.

“What should we do? It seems everyone’s here just to watch the squad leader.”

“Exactly. We should start the task, but if it really doesn’t work out, we should retreat first, right?” “

Yang Gang, who held the golden position in the Seventeenth Division, earned another beating today.

”What the hell is this because of the squad leader?!“

And so the work began.

Before long, even more people started gathering.

But surprisingly, no real commotion broke out.

”Next!”

The crowd just watched me from afar; they didn’t do anything.

Thanks to that, I could work in an environment almost identical to usual.

“Next! Hmm? Isn’t this the constable? How long have you been gone that you’re already back? Did something happen?”

“Happened? Nothing at all. I just heard ‘our’ Hero Jin had suffered a great misfortune, so I hurried over to see him.”

“Our leader? He’s over there. Go see him.”

A merchant passed through the Yanggang and approached me, handing over a bundle about the size of a convenience store kid’s head.

“Hehe, Jin the Great Hero. Here, this…”

“What is this?”

“It’s Korean ginseng, procured from a thousand li away. Out of my usual respect for you, I prepared this small token.”

“Whoa! This doesn’t look like it cost a few pennies…”

“Oh! It’s not much! Don’t worry and just take it. Soak it in liquor, then take it out in a year or two, and it’ll revive even the dead…”

Just as the merchant was about to hand me the wooden box.

“Trying to bribe a proud warrior of Nine Dragons Fortress? Seems you don’t fear its laws.”

An unwelcome voice cut in.

“Is that so, Jinmujin?”

It was Danun.