Alright, first we need to talk about something.
The Blood Jade Plaque I got from Tang Do-gyeong is one of those precious items that can be considered top-notch.
Black Cat borrowed a precious item made from the whiskers of the Millennium Beast right after the gambling ended.
Well, if we’re talking about selling them at an auction, the prices for the Blood Jade Plaque and the Millennium Beast’s whiskers would be about the same, but if you ask anyone who’s played in the Martial World which one they’d choose, it would be a no-brainer: Blood Jade Plaque, 100 out of 100.
If the whiskers are just valuables, the Blood Jade Plaque is a treasure you can actually use.
“Oh my, Senior, have you caught a cold?”
As always, I tried to have noodles for breakfast, but the strange Black Cat clung to me.
“Oh dear, you look absolutely worn out.”
“…What do you want?”
“I have the skill to massage, so how about you let me give it a try?”
As Black Cat lightly grabbed my shoulder, wow! Just her delicate fingers touching me sent tingles through my shoulder. Besides that, her pressing technique that stimulated my blood made my tight shoulders loosen instantly.
“Ughhhh~”
It was the kind of massage that would make any average guy sound like they just walked into a sauna. In fact, if an expert has the will, they’re normally good at massages too. Since they’re well-versed in the flow of qi and pressure points, it’s only natural they’d excel. A massage from a delicate, beautiful expert? Is this paradise or what…
“Girl, I’ve been thinking about something all night.”
“Ugh, what is it?”
“I’ve decided that in any case, profits from our gambling will be split, so I should have a 20% stake in the items we won yesterday, right?”
Black Cat’s grip on my shoulder tightened. As she pressed down harder on the acupressure points, the real tightness in my shoulder dissolved swiftly, almost like the fatigue from my past life was flying away.
I felt like I was melting away.
“So~ how about we consider that 20% as my share of the whiskers? Since there are four items, and I can’t cut any, isn’t it only fair that I keep one?”
What’s this, is that how it’s going to be?
What does she think I am? There’s no way she’d be serious about claiming ownership of those whiskers. While Miss Yeo Il-ye or Tang Do-gyeong might, Black Cat is my ally, and we’re supposed to work on requests together in the future.
We teamed up to take down Tang Do-gyeong. Claiming ownership of a companion’s item, in this situation, feels very unhuman…
Should I get another massage before responding?
As I didn’t answer, the pressure in her hands increased gradually. The gentle touch started to feel more like torture.
It was then I remembered Black Cat was a powerful expert who could easily wreck my shoulders if she wanted.
“Hey, hey, I’ll give it back! I wasn’t even thinking of taking it!”
“Thanks, Senior.”
Black Cat stopped, which was becoming torture, and immediately sat down.
She seemed in a good mood, suddenly cheerful, as if she’d secured ownership and now could pick up dumplings with joyful chopstick skills.
“What about Miss Yeo Il-ye’s sword?”
“I wasn’t planning to take that either!”
“Wow, so it was all a setup just to snag Tang Do-gyeong!”
I glared at her.
“Setup? That’s a very dangerous word! That was merely a fair one-on-one duel! Huh? If you go around spreading that nonsense, I’ll seriously lose my cool!”
“Hmph~”
Watching Black Cat hum while grabbing dumplings made me sigh.
“Listen up, I’m serious. If you pull something like this again, our contract is off.”
“I’m sorry, Senior. I promise it won’t happen again.”
Well, that should be enough. Though she caused a mess, it wasn’t on purpose, so this seems fair. If she ignores my intentions again, I won’t just laugh it off next time.
Saying we’re allies, I need to teach her everything, which feels a lot like training a newbie. That’s just how it is with newcomers; no matter how promising they are, they have one or two mishaps along the way.
Anyway, my reputation took a bit of a hit from yesterday’s incident.
The anonymity of the Sacheon Outcast isn’t invincible.
When operating as [Sacheon Outcast Ho Cheon-an], my Fame Value remains unchanged while I undertake [Sacheon Outcast’s Request]. In other words, even if I wipe out a sect while fulfilling the request, my Fame wouldn’t drop.
Of course, there’s a prerequisite.
You must only act in ways that maintain your [Anonymity].
That’s why Sacheon Outcasts only accept those who wield swords and Dao. Of course, those who are trained in something like unarmed combat could also work, but they still need to carry swords or Dao weapons.
Performing sorcery is one way to walk that fine line of maintaining anonymity, but the fact that I won via gambling against Tang Do-gyeong cannot be hidden under this cover.
To put it in gaming terms, I snatched a top-notch item from Tang Do-gyeong yesterday during gambling, so my reputation as a gambler must have risen accordingly.
“Hm.”
A suspicious red-glowing quartz. Wrapped in cloth, the handle is none other than the Blood Jade Plaque. Was it the Poisoned Lin Orchid or something? Either way, it’s a special scale of that Poisoned Lin Orchid, throwing it makes it automatically fly towards the target and burrow into their skin, turning their blood into poison upon impact.
It won’t twist 180 degrees like a heat-seeking missile to target the opponent, but it’ll fly toward them even if just launched carelessly, and it’s quite fast—if it hits, an expert at the peak level is practically done for.
While it sounds great in theory, in practice, it’s practically useless against those at the peak expert level. An expert of hidden weapons would take down any top-tier foe with just a stone.
For an average person defending against an expert, it’s a rare treasure; however, as one’s skill increases, it becomes a useless beginner item. It’s basically a weapon that high-ranking officials and nobles would go crazy for.
Even if I have it, it wouldn’t be a bad thing. If I can learn a new technique, I should be able to catch even those barely at the top level without much trouble.
But it’s not an item that’s ownerless; it’s got an owner, so possessing it would be tricky.
“Uh, um, hey Outcast!”
While I was mulling over what to do with the Blood Jade Plaque, Bu-rin approached me. He wore a face full of humble smiles, which seemed like he had been scolded by the higher-ups of Hwang Gold Clan.
He carried a quite hefty pouch in his hands.
“Here you go. I made sure to tell the Taegyeong Sect about it, and I got the proper payment for the request, and as an apology for this whole mess, I won’t be collecting any intermediary fees this time.”
“Again?”
“Again? What do you mean? I’ll listen carefully.”
“From now on, make sure to filter out unqualified requesters properly, gather all the background information when taking requests, mitigate risks, ensure post-treatment is clear, and inform of service fees, don’t you think?”
Bu-rin’s lips trembled.
“Of course! I’ll definitely do that! So next time a request comes in, please, please do ask me again!”
This incident caused by Tang Do-gyeong must have worked against Bu-rin. Since the chaos erupted right at his front door, it’s only natural for Hwang Gold Clan to have conducted an inquiry afterward, so Bu-rin’s standing must have taken a hit because of it.
I mean, just imagine three peak experts clashing in front of your house—it’s dizzying. And to think it all started over Bu-rin being stingy about the request payment? The Family Head of Hwang Gold Clan must be incredibly forgiving. If it were me, I don’t know what I might have done to Bu-rin by now.
“Make sure you behave! We can always pull the cart whenever we want!”
“Of course, I’ll keep that in mind. Hahahaha!”
With a pale complexion, Bu-rin unconditionally surrendered while trying to maintain a facade, laughing boisterously as he exited with the pouch.
If intermediaries have even half a brain, they can guess what kind of position Bu-rin is in right now, so I’m sure they’ll handle things wisely.
“Ah~ My appetite is really kicking in. I’ll have one more serving of Five-Spice Pork!”
Was I secretly judging Bu-rin? Black Cat’s chopstick skills seemed to become even more lively. The way she ordered more food looked like she could eat even more, so I stood up and headed toward Yu Sa-yeon.
“Good day, Innkeeper.”
“You… sigh.”
As soon as Yu Sa-yeon saw my face, she sighed heavily. She seemed to be eyeing my head with a raised forehead, obviously fuming, but I, having my own share of guilt, could only offer a sheepish smile.
“Ho Cheon-an, while I can understand any friction with the intermediaries, I was also just looking for a chance to assert some discipline. But what’s with the ruckus in front of Hwang Gold Clan? What about the sorcery performance? And this flyer is going around the whole Sacheon!”
“So what if it’s going around?”
“It’s claiming that the Outcasts are dabbling in sorcery! What on earth did you show them that’s causing this uproar?”
“Is that really the important thing right now? First of all…”
“Seriously, every time a man stands in front of a woman, his brain seems to get replaced by his…”
I was starting to bend to Yu Sa-yeon’s intensity, but… there are things that should be said and things that shouldn’t be.
Am I really the kind of guy who would let loose and think, “Hey babe, we should just smash those guys with one kick!”?
“Honestly, no matter how much you say otherwise, if I look at what you’ve done…”
“What’s wrong? What?! You messed around with a simple medium-level request at Gyeongsu Market! And you ended up without payment, right?! Isn’t this all just a showoff trying to impress Black Cat?”
This is ridiculous.
I couldn’t help but turn toward Black Cat. She was already shivering with laughter, as if she had been quietly listening to our conversation for a while.
“Oh my, Senior, was that the reason? I’m so sorry if it’s too devastating~”
With that, she flipped her hair and it looked so charming, making me even more annoyed.
“Hey! There are things you can say and things you can’t!”
“Then think back on your actions before trying to play innocent! You ridiculous show-off!”
“Ugh…”
That’s when it happened.
A commotion arose at the entrance of the Outcast Inn.
“Is that Tang Do-gyeong?!”
“It’s Fighting Dog Tang Do-gyeong!”
“Ah.”
The urgent thing I wanted to tell Yu Sa-yeon arrived first. Tang Do-gyeong got here before I did.
