As a rule, if you wanted to gain something, you had to give something up.
That had been Murin’s iron rule throughout his life.
Even when he worked as an inn attendant, if the other person was kind, he paid a little more attention to his tone in return.
He might bring them cleaner water, for instance.
But the bastards before him wanted a free spectacle without offering anything at all.
‘They must think they can feel superior while gawking at the Heavenly Kill Star and an ancient monster who’s been imprisoned for a hundred years. Not a chance.’
Murin knew the ways of the world all too well.
He couldn’t let them enjoy such an entertaining spectacle for free.
“You bastard! How dare you behave so rudely in front of Lady Seomun!”
Someone shrieked in a voice like shattering plates. It was truly painful to hear.
“I’ll break and wrench your bones and sinews until you can never walk properly again!”
‘Good grief.’
Murin squeezed his eyes shut at the all-too-familiar feeling.
When you worked as an inn attendant, you encountered all manner of people beyond imagining. Among the most unbearable were those who flaunted their strength.
But there was one kind even worse: men who flaunted their strength in front of women.
Just like now—the voice speaking down to him, its owner’s shoulders swollen with self-importance.
‘What a pain.’
Murin shook his head and looked over to see what sort of bastard it was.
The bright torches surrounding them illuminated the man’s face clearly.
“Heh, the Martial Alliance’s young talents are all half-wits this time around. What could you possibly gain from looking at one rotting living corpse and one greenhorn who doesn’t even know how to hold a blade properly?”
At that moment, Jin Mudo let out a derisive laugh and spoke.
The reason they had come here was simple.
They wanted to feel superior by comparing themselves to Jin Mudo, once called the Public Enemy of the Martial World, and Murin, the current Heavenly Kill Star.
To that end, the Martial Alliance had deliberately sent its young talents to view them.
It meant to plant the notion—So this is how mighty the Martial Alliance is―in their minds. That was why Jin Mudo spoke with such scorn.
“What?! So you’re telling me those great fellows have nowhere else to recover their pride, so they come look at you and me? Hah, pathetic!”
Murin shook his head, his face filled with disgust.
“Of all places, the Martial Alliance? Old man! I heard the Martial Alliance was supposed to build its renown by fighting villains from the Unorthodox Sects and the Demonic Path. Guess I had it wrong.”
Jin Mudo readily agreed.
“Exactly! That description fit the Martial Alliance of a hundred years ago perfectly! But the brats these days, tsk, tsk! These ones would probably piss themselves the moment they stood before an enemy! Indeed!”
“Hey, Jin Mudo! Do you think you can say anything you please?”
The fellow who had been huffing and puffing all this time stepped forward and jabbed an accusing finger at him.
Jin Mudo turned toward him, a deep sneer spreading across his face.
“Well, I was wondering who kept chirping, and it turns out to be the fool of the Hebei Peng Clan! Heh, was your name Peng Jowi? I heard plenty from your older brothers when they came here!”
“Wh-What?!”
What could provoke a man more than being humiliated in front of the woman he adored?
Sure enough, Peng Jowi’s face flushed red. He marched up to the iron bars and snorted furiously.
“You old bastard—I’ll tear you apart……! Say that again…….”
“Peng Jowi. Why disgrace yourself before a living corpse with nothing alive but his mouth?”
Unable to watch any longer, Seomun Jingwang stepped in to rebuke him, but Peng Jowi refused to back down.
“But Brother Seomun! You heard him! He called me the fool of my clan!”
“Now that I look at you, the nickname fits perfectly.”
“Wh-What?! You’d better watch your mouth!”
Murin had spoken calmly, and Peng Jowi glared at him as though his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.
“Tsk. Who would be attracted to you when you behave like that in front of the woman you like? Look at that Seomun…… Anyway, look at that woman. She looks sick of you, doesn’t she?”
At Murin’s words, Peng Jowi reflexively turned toward Seomun Eunsul.
She happened to be scowling deeply. For a moment, she looked flustered, then forced an awkward smile.
“No, I merely find the smell of this place unpleasant…….”
As she spoke, Seomun Eunsul glanced at someone behind her, then immediately withdrew her gaze.
“Grrr!”
Peng Jowi might have been nicknamed the fool of the Peng Clan, but he wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t grasp the situation.
Standing behind her was a refined-looking young master, Moyong Je, the eldest young master of the Moyong Clan.
The man Seomun Eunsul admired.
“I’ll rip your mouth apart!”
The iron bars in his grip quivered with rage.
Murin watched him and began calculating.
‘He takes the bait every time he’s provoked. And judging by the expressions on the other young talents, not many of them seem to like him.’
His rough calculations were complete.
It had already been dull being alone with only Jin Mudo in Heavenly Prison. This seemed like a fine chance to use the fool and devise something out of the ordinary.
Once his calculations were settled, Murin began tormenting him in earnest.
“Oh, how frightening! Aren’t you people going to move back? Once the fool draws his blade, he might kill every bastard around here. Aren’t you scared?”
At Murin’s words, the other young talents behind Peng Jowi snickered.
“Who would stand there and let Peng Jowi’s blade hit them? It’s shitty enough being counted among the same young talents as this fool, and now I have to listen to this irritating nonsense.”
Murin asked again.
“Wait, no matter what, Hebei…… What did you call it again, old man? Hebei…….”
“I said the Peng Clan. The. Fool. Of the Hebei Peng Clan.”
Jin Mudo played along, and Murin smacked his forehead.
“Ah, I don’t know much about the martial world, so forgive me! If he’s from the Hebei Peng Clan, it seems like he’d at least be able to lop off your heads! Just look at that spirit!”
“Grrr!”
Peng Jowi’s face grew even redder, while the young talents behind him began openly jeering.
“Oh, enough! What are we saying? Great Hero Peng Seongwi or Brother Peng Jeongwi would give us hell if they heard!”
“There’s a reason people say the Hebei Peng Clan is great but bears a single stain.”
From their words, the Hebei Peng Clan truly seemed to be a prestigious clan.
But as for Peng Jowi before him……
“Wait, that’s all he is? Then even I could beat him.”
“……What did you just say? Do you want me to tear that tongue out? Hm?”
Peng Jowi’s eyes had gone completely wild.
He was already one step away from losing his mind after being humiliated in front of Seomun Eunsul, the woman he adored, and now the reckless brat before him kept running his mouth as though eager to die.
SHING―
Unable to restrain himself any longer, he tried to draw the blade at his waist.
The Hebei Peng Clan was renowned for the blade. It was also famed for producing Blade Sovereigns generation after generation.
CLANG―
Before Peng Jowi could even draw his blade fully, however, someone stopped his movement.
“Peng Jowi. That is enough. How far do you intend to drag your father’s honor through the mud?”
At Seomun Jingwang’s cold rebuke, even the brash Peng Jowi could do nothing but grit his teeth and sheath his blade.
“I’ll tear you to pieces someday. I swear it!”
Just as he started to turn away, Murin’s voice reached him.
“Why wait that long?”
Peng Jowi instantly shot him a piercing glare.
But Murin’s next words left everyone there aghast.
“The chance to take down the Heavenly Kill Star, I mean.”
“Wh-What? What did you say?”
Murin grinned.
“You heard me. If you take down the Heavenly Kill Star—if the fool of the Hebei Peng Clan takes down the Heavenly Kill Star—what’ll happen to your clan’s prestige? Even if the Heavenly Kill Star hasn’t yet risen as a dragon…….”
He looked Peng Jowi straight in the eyes and continued.
“How do you think the Martial Alliance would reward you for upholding the righteous cause of the martial world?”
“Do not listen to his nonsense, Peng Jowi.”
Seomun Jingwang tugged at his sleeve, but Peng Jowi was already blind with rage.
STEP, STEP.
He returned to the iron bars, glared at Murin, and ground his teeth.
“The Heavenly Kill Star, you say? Right. You’re not some country bumpkin who knows nothing of martial arts. You’re the Heavenly Kill Star, who cuts down and kills anyone when the madness takes you!”
“Peng Jowi!”
The other young talents realized the situation was turning grave and hurried to stop him, but they were already too late.
Moreover, though Peng Jowi was called the fool of the Hebei Peng Clan, he was still a descendant of one of the Seven Great Clans that formed the Martial Alliance’s seven pillars.
That meant no one else could interfere with his decision.
“Brother Seomun. I wish to request a Martial Duel Writ.”
Though Seomun Jingwang belonged to a different cohort, he was a member of the Disciplinary Court, which oversaw duels among the juniors, and thus possessed the authority to issue such writs.
Once a Martial Duel Writ was issued, its bearer could duel anyone.
Peng Jowi ground his teeth and spoke in a low voice.
“Hey. Do you agree to a Life-or-Death Duel?”
“Jowi! A Life-or-Death Duel?! Why use even the blade of the Hebei Peng Clan on a greenhorn like that?”
“A few punches will suffice!”
At the mention of a Life-or-Death Duel, the complexions of those around him changed completely as they tried to dissuade him.
A Life-or-Death Duel against a bastard who would be bedridden and unable to move for months after a few punches or kicks!
Yet Peng Jowi’s expression did not change in the slightest as he glared at Murin.
His eyes said he would kill him at any cost.
Meeting that gaze, Murin slowly smiled.
“Life or death. That’s what you mean, right? Fine. I accept.”
“Jowi!”
The young talents clicked their tongues bitterly. Seomun Jingwang furrowed his brow, then nodded.
The matter had already been decided between the two men. No one possessed the authority to call off the duel.
Unless the Alliance Leader himself came.
This was a martial duel conducted in the names of their clans. Who would dare intervene rashly?
“Very well. Peng Jowi, I will issue the Martial Duel Writ. Cheon Murin, do you agree?”
“As many times as you ask.”
“The date will be…….”
“But I have one condition.”
Just as Seomun Jingwang was about to set the date, Murin abruptly spoke.
Seomun Jingwang narrowed his eyes.
“A condition?”
“I’m staking my life, so if I win, I ought to get something too.”
“Hah! He thinks he’s going to win!”
“He’s insane!”
Disbelieving laughter erupted from the young talents here and there.
Even if he was the Heavenly Kill Star, a bastard who did not even know martial arts claimed he would defeat a direct-line disciple of the Hebei Peng Clan!
Then again, only someone that mad would have provoked Peng Jowi in the first place.
“If I win, let me cook and eat whatever I want every day. A cooking stove, firewood—the whole lot.”
“……What?”
The condition was so baffling that Seomun Jingwang repeated the question without realizing it.
“Exactly what I said. I’m sick to death of eating nothing but those damn, tasteless Fasting Pills.”
Seomun Jingwang studied Murin in silence. That much did not violate the rules of Heavenly Prison.
“Fine. I can grant you that much.”
At that moment, Peng Jowi stepped forward and spoke.
“Of course, I don’t know if you’ll live long enough to eat any of it.”
Murin calmly nodded as he watched Peng Jowi’s eyes gleam icy blue.
Seomun Jingwang looked between the two of them for a moment, then spoke.
“Then the date will be…….”
“One month from now. There are still enough Fasting Pills to last about a month, you see. Heh heh.”
Jin Mudo answered this time.
Murin glanced sidelong at him, then nodded.
One month.
It seemed Jin Mudo had read his mind.
Seomun Jingwang spoke as though he understood as well.
“Very well. The duel will take place one month from now. I will obtain permission from the Disciplinary Court and notify you again.”
After enjoying an entertaining spectacle for once, they left Heavenly Prison.
When silence once more descended over the surroundings, Jin Mudo spoke.
“You cunning bastard.”
“Old man, you’ve got plenty of work ahead of you now.”
The smile on Murin’s lips deepened.
“If we want something tasty to eat.”
What was he planning?
Jin Mudo snickered as he looked at him.
He did not feel all that bad about it.