****
“When are you leaving?”
Sima Geon asked, biting into a peach.
Sima Hyeon, who had been silently watching Sima Jin bustle about preparing the meal, turned his head to reply.
“The day after tomorrow.”
“Where to?”
“Wushi.”
“Isn't that pretty far north from Hangzhou?”
“It is. But unless something unexpected comes up, I should be back in about half a month.”
Sima Geon paused for a moment at Sima Hyeon's answer before cautiously opening his mouth.
“Hyeon-ah.”
“Yeah?”
“I've wanted to say this for a while now.”
“Say what?”
Sima Hyeon asked, propping his chin on his hand. Unlike the hesitant Sima Geon, Sima Hyeon seemed to already know what question was coming.
“The flag bearer work. You planning to keep doing it?”
The eyes of Cheol U and Sima Ho, who had been teasing each other, turned toward Sima Hyeon in unison. Even Sima Jin stopped what she was doing and perked up her ears.
“Well, I probably have to, don't I?”
“It's too dangerous. I came back to my family after twelve years doing that job. Not you too...”
Sima Hyeon gestured with his hand to cut off Sima Geon's words.
“I started at seventeen, and it's already been five years. Sure, there might be dangers ahead, but you can't accomplish anything by fearing things that haven't even happened. Plus, the pay's better than at other escort agencies.”
“I've got savings. That's enough for you to live on without doing flag bearer work.”
“You said you spent it all, didn't you? No? I heard you used every bit to buy that public kiln oil.”
Sima Geon's head whipped fiercely toward Cheol U.
“W-Well, that guy kept prying into everything.”
Unable to withstand Sima Geon's sharp glare, Cheol U slyly turned his head away.
“Why pick on Brother Cheol U like that? Were you planning to hide it?”
Sima Hyeon defended Cheol U and continued.
“And even if there was money left, what would I do with it?”
“Buy some fields and farmland...”
Sima Geon desperately tried to change Sima Hyeon's mind.
“You ever tried farming?”
Sima Geon's words stuck in his throat at the question.
“You don't even remember, do you? Me neither. I did some labor for wages as a kid, but it was just odd jobs.”
“Then how about business...”
“Business? That's even harder than farming. Without the knack for it, it's a sure way to go bankrupt.”
Sima Geon had no retort to the serious words.
“Of course, that's just me talking. I don't know exactly what you or Brother Cheol U have done all these years. But what's the rush? You haven't even been back long. We need to keep an eye on the youngest's treatment too. Why not take it slow and look around? If you're that worried, come work with me. It'd be great having you brothers watching my back. One look at Brother Cheol U's build, and the agency head would come running to welcome you.”
Cheol U burst into laughter at Sima Hyeon's joke.
“Screw flag bearing. If anything, make me an escort warrior.”
“I'll vote for business. I can even hook you up with a prime spot if you want.”
Sima Ho chimed in slyly.
“With what pull? Oh, the Same Heart Society? Think you can swing that?”
Sima Ho bristled at Cheol U's words and shouted.
“Hey, I’ve got that much influence, you know.”
“Yeah? From what I saw last time... Never mind.”
Seeing Sima Ho snort in anger, Cheol U turned his head away.
“Alright. I rushed it. I'll think it over slowly for now. Really think seriously about what to do. But you think it over too. I'm not telling you to quit right now, but please consider it seriously.”
As Sima Geon pleaded with a straight face, Sima Hyeon nodded solemnly.
“Got it. I'll think about it seriously, like you said.”
“That's all I ask.”
Sima Jin, who had been watching anxiously lest an argument break out, let out a sigh of relief at Sima Geon's bright smile.
***
“It's tough. Real tough.”
Cheol U shook his head, rolling a candied hawthorn from the market around in his mouth.
A man who wouldn't tire after a full day of combat was utterly exhausted, his whole body limp, after less than half a day.
“Boss, let's take a break.”
Cheol U plopped down on a chair at a dumpling shop with a look that said he couldn't move another step.
“Two plates of pork dumplings. Got any liquor?”
Cheol U shouted before the owner could even take the order.
“Sorry, but we don't serve liquor.”
The owner replied with a kindly face.
Though smiling, his eyes flickered with worry that the customer might leave. Perhaps it was Cheol U's intimidating presence.
“Fine, just the dumplings then.”
The owner hurried to the kitchen after taking the order and soon returned with steaming dumplings.
Cheol U grabbed one with his pot-lid-sized hand and took a massive bite.
“Whoa! Not bad at all.”
Surprised by the unexpected deliciousness, Cheol U devoured the dumplings like a whale gulping water.
“Definitely good. Way better than yesterday's. Especially the filling. Real tasty. Pork, right?”
Sima Geon asked, showing the filling from a bitten dumpling.
“Yes, ground pork.”
The owner, who had been making more, turned to answer.
“Hmm, so that other place uses bad meat? Same pork, but what a difference.”
“Must be some special technique. Different seasoning or something.”
“Maybe.”
As Sima Geon tilted his head while finishing his dumplings, the owner approached with a proud expression.
“I don't know where you ate before, but no place uses pork as fine as ours.”
“Pork's pork, isn't it?”
“It's not about the cut?”
Cheol U chuckled, patting his chest and limbs.
“No. It's not the cut—it's who slaughters the pig.”
“Ah, so there's a special way to butcher pigs.”
Sima Geon nodded in understanding, but the owner shook his head lightly.
“The method's the same everywhere. It's the skill of the butcher that differs.”
“I don't quite...”
Sima Geon's words trailed off.
A large pig had suddenly come charging from somewhere, turning the market into chaos.
The pig, bleeding profusely from its head, crashed into a fabric shop and collapsed. Five frantic men rushed over, struggling to tie it up.
“Pathetic. How many times is this now?”
The owner clicked his tongue at the men dragging the bound pig away with difficulty.
“You know them?”
“No. Judging by their mess, probably newbies. Wonder how long they'll last this time.”
Sima Geon and Cheol U naturally followed the owner's gaze to the men.
The men dragged the pig to a butcher shop at the edge of the market, a bit isolated.
Being a slaughterhouse too, there was hardly any shop front, and few passersby.
Cheol U, following them, looked around and said.
“Figures for a butcher shop—out of the way spot.”
The sudden voice drew all eyes in the slaughterhouse to Sima Geon and Cheol U. Suspicion and wariness filled their stares at the strangers.
“What do you want?”
A man who had been getting chewed out by an elder in the center strode over.
“Nothing in particular. We were in the market, saw the commotion with the pig, and followed it here.”
Sima Geon spoke politely enough, but the man's face twisted at "commotion."
“If you're not buying meat, leave.”
He waved them off like flies and turned away.
A chill settled on Cheol U's face.
“This...”
Sima Geon grabbed Cheol U's arm as he moved to chase the man in anger.
As Cheol U glared, Sima Geon pressed a finger to his lips and shook his head silently.
“Looks like you're about to slaughter. Mind if we watch since we're here?”
The men bristled at Sima Geon's call, but the elder, who had accurately gauged Cheol U's fierce aura and Sima Geon's restraint, held them back and asked.
“What is there to see? It ain't a pretty sight.”
“Not something you see every day either.”
“Suit yourselves.”
The elder who permitted it turned toward the pig that had caused the market uproar and been captured. It lay still, perhaps from all the blood loss.
“Why do you think the slaughter failed?”
The elder, now calm, asked.
“The chisel wasn't positioned right. Should've aimed dead center on the head.”
“The hammer missed when striking the chisel.”
“We rushed it. Hands weren't steady on the chisel or hammer.”
The men babbled their analyses of the failure.
After listening for a while, the elder nodded.
“You're all right. But it was wrong from the start.”
As the men looked baffled, the elder continued steadily.
“I told you clearly: when slaughtering cows or pigs, the top priority is ensuring the animal doesn't sense it.”
Only then did the men recall the elder's advice. But they still didn't take it seriously.
“Come on, how would those things know?”
“You telling us to communicate with them?”
“Beasts get scared the moment human hands touch them. Instinct.”
The men rejected the elder's words. They even doubted the skill of the region's top butcher.
The elder said nothing, picked up a switch, entered the pigsty, and drove out a large pig.
Guiding the pig freely with a thin switch was impressive enough to draw awe.
Out of the sty, the pig plunged its head into a trough filled with delicious feed and ate voraciously.
The elder gently stroked its head.
“See the difference from the pig you dragged in?”
“It freaked out at first, but calmed down eating like this.”
“Yeah, scarfed it down like mad.”
At their retort, the elder picked up a foot-long chisel and hammer.
“That so? What about this?”
He placed the chisel on the pig's crown.
The men swallowed hard.
They recalled how the previous pig thrashed the moment the chisel touched its head.
After much soothing and forced binding, they'd tried to slaughter it anyway—and botched it, causing the mess.
They expected the same now.
But against expectations, the pig showed no reaction to the sharp chisel on its head, focused solely on eating.
“Whoa! No way!”
“H-How is this possible?”
The men gawked at the pig and elder alternately in disbelief.
“It doesn't sense killing intent from me.”
“Huh?”
“Killing intent?”
“Nothing reacts to killing intent like beasts. Even faint killing intent feels like a threat. Like this.”
As the elder stared at the pig, it lifted its head from the trough. But when he stroked it again, it dove back in.
The men, sensing no killing intent from the elder, found the pig's reaction merely curious.
“What the hell's with that old man? No joke.”
Cheol U stared blankly at the elder, having detected the instantaneous flicker of killing intent.
“Boss, that old guy's a master, right?”
“Nah. No traces of martial arts training. But damn impressive.”
Sima Geon couldn't hide his amazement at the elder's skill either.
“Once you can expose no killing intent to the pig, you're ready.”
The elder waited long enough for the pig to enjoy its last supper before slowly raising the chisel and hammer.