“Hmm.”
Today, I ordered the Black Cat to take on requests through the intermediaries. I had some doubts about whether they were truly aiming for the best Sacheon Outcast, but seeing them seriously trailing behind me makes it seem like they’re genuinely living the outcast life.
Working alongside the Black Cat is good for me too.
The mere fact that a Peak Stage martial artist listens to my orders provides an advantage and is a unique situation.
If I can charm the Black Cat well enough, I can try out all the options I couldn’t choose due to a lack of martial arts.
The Black Cat has been obedient to my requests so far, doing errands that aren’t related to the outcasts. Things like distributing flyers, posting phrases at the Outcast Inn, or getting sorcery helpers.
Oh, thinking back, I really treated them like a lackey.
I wonder if they got angry over running errands for firewood and decided to stab me with poison needles.
The fact that I can’t completely rule that out is terrifying.
“Ta-da! Here are the requests you can take on today.”
As expected, it wasn’t an illusion. Since the incident with Tang Do-gyeong, my distance with the Black Cat has shrunk. Not in a psychological sense, but a physical one.
Just moving a little brings our shoulders to touch. Since that day, the physical space between us has lessened. I would occasionally flinch due to their beauty, but now they’re so close that I’m startled.
It’s clear that there’s favorability in the Black Cat’s gaze towards me, but why?
“Senpai?”
“Ah, let’s see here…”
[Request: Assault on Peak Expert Donkasoo Da Jeryong of the Gyeongyang Restaurant]
[Difficulty: Low]
[Risk Level: High]
[Remarks: A hulking brute using extreme yang fists. If struck by their massive, hammer-like fists wrapped in martial energy, it’s a terrifying experience as your flesh sizzles away.]
[Request: Retrieval of the missing Snow Leopard]
[Difficulty: Low]
[Risk Level: Low]
[Remarks: It pains me that I still haven’t found the cat. This is a personal request I really want to take on. It would be easy, as I know well the way of cats.]
[Request: Pressure on the Taeran Road fabric store]
[Difficulty: Low]
[Risk Level: None]
[Remarks: Simply standing in front of the fabric store and scaring people away. Do we really need such a request?]
The requests are quite ordinary.
“No, but the Snow Leopard isn’t just a cat.”
“It’s just a bigger cat, right?”
To a Peak Expert, maybe a cat and a tiger seems similar. Wait, isn’t the Snow Leopard technically a type of cat with the size of a tiger? If a cat is the size of a tiger, isn’t it just a tiger? I’m suddenly confused.
“Hmmm.”
In fact, the Snow Leopard request could be worthwhile if I can manage to subdue it. Considering it has been evading capture for quite some time, I could squeeze some extra cash on top of the request fee.
But today, it’s about Da Jeryong.
“What do you think about Da Jeryong? Do you think we can handle it?”
“Hmmm… It doesn’t seem difficult if we take him down ambush-style. I hear he commutes daily from home to the sect. The route is quite regular.”
Whatever the truth of the Tang Do-gyeong incident, one thing is for sure:
The Black Cat doesn’t seem like they’ll be leaving my side anytime soon.
They generally follow my orders, and with one thing clarified, I should be able to get the Black Cat to help me out with various tasks.
That one thing is the authority to give orders during combat.
From a general standpoint, it doesn’t make sense for an Iryu martial artist to instruct a Peak Expert on how to fight.
So now, I have to bring that authority through agreement and experience.
Da Jeryong has just reached the peak of martial ability. The only reason I remember this otherwise unremarkable martial artist in Sacheon is because of their name. To people from the Central Plains who don’t know about Gyeongyang dishes or pork cutlets, this name is perfectly ordinary.
“Can you follow my orders during combat?”
“What do you mean? I just need to take him down, right? Then an ambush should do it.”
“That’s true, but I want to effectively suppress the opponent, even if it takes a bit more effort.”
Honestly, my argument was close to absurd. It’s like trying to convince a hunter who can shoot a rabbit with a bow that it’d be better to trap it instead, to not waste arrows.
A hunter who can shoot a rabbit is bound to resist that idea…
“Alright, then what do you plan to do?”
“Eh?”
Honestly, I expected the Black Cat to resist, so I had prepared several arguments in my head, but they all flew away in an instant.
“You have a plan, right? Let’s give it a try.”
Wouldn’t they have accepted if I just asked?
That thought crossed my mind, but I shook it off. I decided to change things up, so I have to be clear about it.
Right now, I can nod along lightly, but to make them follow my orders in true emergencies, I need their trust in my commands.
And that trust comes from proven results in real situations.
At least two or three times, I needed to engrain the results of my plans in their mind.
“So…”
I explained the plan to the Black Cat.
“Wow, they look incredibly strong.”
The moment the Black Cat laid eyes on Da Jeryong, they couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. Certainly, his stature was exceptional. He was the quintessential muscle-bound brute. His thick muscles had a hefty layer of fat on top, and the thickness of his arms was greater than that of most men’s thighs. His hands looked twice the size of the average man’s.
With hands like those, he wouldn’t need a hammer for making pork cutlets.
Surprisingly, he looked benevolent, fitting for a chef—or rather, like a martial artist. He wouldn’t feel out of place at a butcher’s shop.
“Let’s go.”
The Black Cat nodded and stepped out onto the street. This was, after all, a request to diminish Da Jeryong’s reputation. So naturally, there had to be witnesses.
If they lose in an official fight against an outcast, it would severely damage their reputation. But is getting onto the official arena that easy? The reason there are so many requests for martial match passes is that one pass rarely grants you a chance to fight.
It’s common for disturbances to lead to many spectators, and those who can’t endure the attention will usually concede a martial match.
This isn’t something that could be accomplished in a day or two.
Thus, we have these ambush requests. They’re assessed considering the Sacheon people’s penchant for surprise attacks, but no matter the case, some tarnishing of reputation is unavoidable.
Da Jeryong flinched when the Black Cat suddenly blocked his path.
“Da Jeryong, I challenge you to a duel.”
“Declined.”
Da Jeryong coldly turned them down. Judging by how stiffly he stared, he seemed to have a suspicion of the Black Cat’s identity. Among the Sacheon Outcasts, there’s only one woman—if he heard the rumors about the woman outcast who faced off against Miss Yeo Il-ye, then he’d know he had no chance.
“I will only show my martial arts in a formal arena. If you wish to duel me, send in an official martial match pass.”
To be honest, Da Jeryong had no reason to make the first move. But why would he issue such a moderate challenge instead of going for a sudden attack?
It’s because he had confidence in being able to take the initiative.
The Black Cat gazed at Da Jeryong’s head, which shone under the blazing summer sun.
“So, no hair, huh?”
“…What?”
“If you’re a martial artist, you shouldn’t shy away from a challenge. What does it matter if your head resembles the sun? Your heart isn’t burning.”
Most practitioners of fiery martial arts end up losing their hair due to the heat in their bodies… Heat is the enemy of hair roots.
The Black Cat dealt the final blow to the flinching Da Jeryong.
“Ah! Using the Sun Fist! You said you wouldn’t duel, but you still attacked first! How cowardly!”
“I’ll kill you!”
Enraged, Da Jeryong charged like a beast unleashed, fists engulfed in flames, unleashing a flurry of attacks on the Black Cat, causing me to leap onto a roof.
Sacheon has a subtropical climate.
As expected of a subtropical region, sudden downpours frequently occur, and it’s known for its abundant average annual rainfall. Hence, many homes feature large water collection barrels to gather rainwater.
Since fetching water from a well is heavy labor, having barrels installed allows for easy access to rainwater.
Of course, the best places for heavy and large barrels to fit are on the ground floor, but it’s not uncommon for second floors to feature barrel tanks installed in ceilings to collect water dripping from the above.
The point where I had ambushed was precisely where one of those barrels was located.
As summer had just begun and the rainy season kicked in, the large barrel was filled to the brim.
“Here I come!”
Kaboom!!
The giant barrel, big enough to fit several adults, toppled and unleashed torrents of water like a waterfall.
“Bwahahaha!”
The water bomb splashed directly onto Da Jeryong’s head, who was totally losing his rationality as he charged at the Black Cat.
For a brief moment, steam rose as the water made contact, but it was merely a flicker, and in no time, Da Jeryong was drenched from head to toe!
“Gah! Grr! These bastards!”
Da Jeryong clenched his fists in frustration, but unlike before, there were no flames erupting now.
In martial arts, it is often said that the human body is a microcosm, which is not mere Chinese exaggeration. Depending on how you manipulate your inner strength in various ways, the results can be endless.
The same goes for Yang energy and Yin energy. When Yang energy, which has heating properties, circulates through the body, it gradually grows hotter, and when Qi undergoes a peak state, it can transform into flames.
If the elite can control their Qi properly, then one who has reached the peak can control the release of energy.
If a martial artist wields weapons, they can infuse Qi into their weapons, and if they’re adept at using their fists, they can leave a martial aura or infuse internal energy into their strikes.
“What…!”
In Da Jeryong’s surprised fist, only a small flame that hardly deserved the title flickered. Even as steam poured off his arms, he wouldn’t be able to emit any substantial martial energy until all of the water evaporated.
When using fiery martial arts, inner strength transformations tend to emerge starting from the shoulders. Ultimately, the flame energy concentrates in the fist.
So, the heat that should have been flowing from the shoulders through the arms to the fists largely got absorbed by his waterlogged body and clothing, leaving only the tiniest flicker of flame behind.
If Da Jeryong had already mastered his release to perfection at the peak level, perhaps such dramatic effects might not have occurred. However, he just recently reached that pinnacle, and in terms of martial energy, he was still leaking from his shoulders like a novice.
“Ah-ha!”
What is the true advantage of fiery martial arts? It lies in its defense. If you wield a weapon, that’s one thing, but when faced with an unarmed opponent, even just blocking or grabbing with those hot fists can cause burns.
For such a massive build, those two fists are definitely Da Jeryong’s strength. Desperately crossing his fists, he attempted to defend against the Black Cat’s swift attacks, but the heat that barely flickered like a dying campfire couldn’t even touch the Black Cat.
With an onslaught infused with my inner power, Da Jeryong was sent flying.
Boom!
Da Jeryong collapsed and didn’t rise again.
Today’s request had come to an end.
