The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Introverted Heavenly Demon Episode 049
At the Tavern
Young Ho Bin, having noticed the same point, smiled and answered the man.
“Please don’t worry, Monk. We saw nothing at all.”
I couldn’t tell where this monk had come from, but there was no doubt he was a practicing Buddhist monk.
A monk indulging in a secret escape, drinking alcohol in a tavern while evading the eyes of Buddha.
The fact that he had removed his monastic robes and kasaya—the garments a practitioner normally wore—and disguised himself in plain clothing made it abundantly clear that he was aware he was breaking the precepts of the Buddhist Order and had no desire to reveal it.
He laughed, apparently embarrassed, and spoke cheerfully.
“Haha. Thank you for your understanding. Since we’ve met like this, it must be fate—let us exchange names. My dharma name is Hye Woon.”
“We brothers share the surname Young Ho. I am Bin, and my younger brother here is Yeon.”
“So you are the Young Ho brothers. Pleased to meet you. Tell me, what brings you to Chengdu?”
“We work at a small merchant guild doing humble tasks, and we’ve come to Chengdu for the Merchant Conference being held here.”
“Ah, so you’ve come for a purpose similar to mine. In fact, I too have come to help with work at one of the merchant guilds.”
Mentioning the Merchant Conference was a natural way to extract information related to it from people.
However, before the conversation could continue, the Shop Attendant arrived with plates of food, cutting our exchange short.
It was the sweet and sour pork and the green pepper beef strips we had ordered.
The sweet and sour pork was similar to the sweet and sour pork from my original world, while the green pepper beef strips reminded me of stir-fried peppers with beef.
They weren’t extraordinary dishes, but they were different from what I usually ate at the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, and Sichuan in particular was famous for its distinctly spicy cuisine, so I had my own expectations.
“Older brother, please eat first.”
“Ah, yes. You eat too, younger brother.”
After Young Ho Bin, who was playing the role of the older brother, took the green pepper beef strips first, I picked up my chopsticks to reach for the sweet and sour pork on the plate.
But at that very moment.
“!!”
“!?”
The monk sitting across from me, Hye Woon, was extending his chopsticks toward the sweet and sour pork.
Our eyes met in mid-air, and we both froze with our chopsticks suspended.
Absurdly, Hye Woon was not only secretly drinking alcohol behind Buddha’s back but was also coveting this worldly pork dish.
Needless to say, the Buddhist Order forbade both drinking and eating meat to its practitioners.
But that wasn’t really the point of this situation.
‘Does this fat monk have no shame? Brazenly trying to steal someone else’s food right in front of everyone?’
In that state, neither of us spoke for a long moment.
After a while, Hye Woon’s mouth slowly opened.
He wore a forced smile, clearly embarrassed, but his chopsticks remained withdrawn.
“Haha… I’ve heard the sweet and sour pork here is quite delicious. Please, enjoy it abundantly.”
“Is that so…? Monk, please enjoy it as well.”
It was shameless—reaching chopsticks toward someone else’s ordered dish so naturally—and yet…
How long must he have gone without eating his fill? How curious must he be about meat that he sneaks to places like this as a monk to secretly eat meat and drink alcohol? It was rather pitiful.
Yes.
Since I’ve already heard the request for alms, I might as well let the monk taste the meat and treat it as generously offering food as an act of charity.
“It’s nothing grand, but I would appreciate it if you could overlook the fact that I’m eating meat, benefactor.”
“I suppose so….”
But my own cultivation wasn’t particularly deep either.
Watching Hye Woon casually take the sweet and sour pork ribs we’d ordered, pop them into his mouth, and savor them made my irritation rise unbidden.
To make matters worse, Hye Woon picked up the wine bottle and poured it into his cup with a gentle splash, then slowly brought it to his lips and began drinking with deliberate appreciation.
One cup became two, two became three….
With each cup of wine he drained, Hye Woon deftly grabbed another piece of sweet and sour pork ribs, popped it into his mouth, and savored it thoroughly.
All without once offering us a sip of his wine.
I brought the sweet and sour pork ribs to my mouth just as eagerly, but watching the plate empty in an instant—more than half gone—left my heart deeply unsettled.
Moreover, the sweet and sour pork ribs at this Xiaofeng Tavern truly lived up to their reputation for exquisite flavor.
The savory richness of pork melting on the tongue, the sweet and tangy notes of the sauce….
Seeing so little of the dish remaining, my frustration only intensified.
Noticing my darkening expression, Young Ho Bin called out to the Shop Attendant in an urgent voice.
“Excuse me. Bring us another plate of sweet and sour pork ribs. I know you’re busy, but please hurry!”
“Ah… I’m terribly sorry, but we’ve just run out of ingredients. All other pork dishes are available.”
“Ah, well then. Should we order something else instead? How about twice-cooked pork?”
“No, thank you. I’m quite full.”
Hye Woon was bringing his seventh cup to his lips.
His drinking pace, which had begun so leisurely and contemplative, seemed to be accelerating steadily.
Only two pieces of sweet and sour pork ribs remained on the plate.
I quickly seized one with my chopsticks and brought it to my mouth.
One piece remained.
Since the ingredients had run out, this might well be the last piece of sweet and sour pork ribs in the entire tavern.
Hye Woon hadn’t yet finished his seventh cup.
Given his drinking pace, he wouldn’t have time to reach for a side dish for at least several more seconds.
Still chewing the sweet and sour pork ribs, I simultaneously extended my chopsticks toward the final piece.
I felt a smile of victory forming within me.
But then it happened.
Clack.
My chopsticks collided with something in mid-air and stopped dead.
Even at that moment, Hye Woon held his cup to his lips, his head tilted back, slowly pouring wine into his mouth.
Remarkably, without even glancing at the plate of sweet and sour pork ribs, he had extended his chopsticks.
Eyes closed, he had thrust out his chopsticks and blocked my advance.
‘This mad apostate monk…!’
I withdrew my chopsticks momentarily and looked down at Hye Woon’s chopsticks, still positioned above the plate.
Then I changed course, sweeping my chopsticks to the right in a wide arc to bypass his and reach for the sweet and sour pork ribs.
But Hye Woon’s chopsticks moved far beyond my expectations.
Clack.
His chopsticks, moving soundlessly, had already firmly blocked my path.
By then, Hye Woon’s cup had been emptied into his mouth, yet he remained with his head tilted back, eyes closed, savoring the wine.
This time I feinted left with my chopsticks, then drove straight forward in a direct thrust.
Hye Woon maintained his posture without shifting as he altered the trajectory of his chopsticks.
Tap.
My chopsticks halted in mid-air once more.
Only then did I realize another astonishing fact.
Hye Woon’s chopsticks had not merely blocked the path of mine.
Nor had he struck them aside from the flank.
With the flat edge of those slender chopsticks, he had intercepted the tip of mine with perfect precision.
That alone was enough to prevent my chopsticks from advancing any further.
And he had accomplished this while tilting his head back to drink, his eyes not even open.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down my back.
‘This man… he’s no ordinary madman.’
They say Kangho is vast, and eccentric masters are as countless as grains of sand along a river.
Why would a Buddhist monk from the Buddhist Order covet this braised fish so desperately?
How could he go to such lengths merely to eat a piece of braised fish that someone else had ordered?
Then came the sound of Hye Woon swallowing his drink—glug.
Followed by the clink of the cup being set down.
Hye Woon then slowly lowered his head and opened his eyes.
Meeting my gaze, Hye Woon smiled softly and spoke.
“It appears the young master practices martial arts.”
The light in Hye Woon’s eyes was remarkably serene and compassionate, and his voice carried a strangely reverent resonance that moved the heart.
One would never have imagined this was a monk wielding chopsticks to steal another’s braised fish.
Rather, it was the expression and voice of a venerable abbot from some renowned temple.
Save for the flushed face from drink.
“And you, Reverend, possess cultivation far from ordinary. I, Young Ho, a mere novice of Murim, am greatly astonished.”
I spoke thus, openly displaying my genuine admiration.
Hye Woon continued in his gentle voice.
“Desire can never be satisfied. The Buddha’s teachings instruct us to diminish attachment and cultivate compassion.”
“I am grateful for your wise words, Reverend.”
“Yet the young master remains unwilling to relinquish this single piece of meat?”
“…!”
Faced with Hye Woon’s utter seriousness, I found myself at a loss for words.
A Buddhist monk—and one whose cultivation appeared quite profound—was actually invoking the Buddha’s teachings to demand I surrender my braised fish!
Very well, I conceded defeat.
I had resolved to yield the braised fish in admiration of his unwavering determination, when—
“-Kraaaaa-!”
It was a faint sound from afar.
Obscured by the din filling the tavern, it was all the more difficult to discern.
Among the countless patrons seated in this sprawling establishment, it seemed only three reacted to that sound.
Young Ho Bin, Hye Woon, and I ceased our movements, straining to hear what came next.
“-Kughhhh-.”
From one direction came a succession of screams echoing through the air.
Mingled faintly within them was the sound of blades being wielded.
And distinctly perceptible—the aura of a martial artist’s inner force.
“I must beg the Tavern Master’s pardon.”
Hye Woon rose hastily from his seat and spoke to me.
“I should investigate as well.”
Hye Woon and I exchanged a meaningful glance.
Sword fights breaking out in the Kangho Murim were hardly uncommon occurrences.
Under normal circumstances, we might have simply ignored it, but this situation demanded our attention.
A conflict erupting in broad daylight here, on the eve of the Merchant Conference in question, was impossible to overlook.
Moreover, our group was actively gathering intelligence about the Merchant Conference.
Hye Woon must have been thinking along similar lines.
He turned first toward the tavern’s exit and departed, while I called out urgently as I followed him.
“Young Ho Bin…, no, Gang Leader! Please settle the bill. This monk’s meal as well!”
“Yes, ah, understood, younger brother!”
Young Ho Bin hastily summoned the Shop Attendant, and I rushed after Hye Woon toward the tavern’s entrance.
“Quickly, calculate the total.”
“Yes, then that would be one plate of stir-fried vegetables with chili, and the soup with….”

* * *
Though the streets were labyrinthine, Hye Woon navigated them as if reading the palm of his hand.
His mastery of the Lightness Technique was considerable; even his seemingly casual gait carried him forward at a pace two or three times faster than ordinary men.
To avoid falling behind, I kept my wits sharp and stayed close at his heels.
Hye Woon and I traversed several alleys, gradually moving into the sparsely populated Outer District.
Throughout our journey, the sounds of combat continued unabated.
Since moments ago, the screams had ceased, replaced only by the occasional clash of sharp weapons—suggesting a battle between masters.
The sounds grew steadily closer, and as we passed through a modest Bamboo Forest, figures began to appear in the distance across a wide Open Field.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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