Possessing Nothing

(2)

“Welcome!”

It was a little past noon, just around lunchtime, so the diner they had stepped into was crowded with people who had come in for a meal. Scarlett looked around the diner, her eyes shining brightly. Just as this city called Brethun was noticeably different from other cities, the interior of the diner seemed unique as well.

Sungmin and Scarlett were led to an empty table on the second floor. The waitress leading them was wearing a qipao that was revealing her thigh.

“Is this your first time visiting Brethun?” She asked, smiling.

“Ah, yes.”

“I thought so. The food here may not suit your taste. We have a lot of people from different worlds living here in this city, and so do their descendants, although they may not be of other worlds themselves.” The waitress explained, handing them a menu. Now that she mentioned it, a lot of the people sitting around them did seem to be of mixed race.

“We have a lot of martial arts masters who are originally from the Zhongyuan area come from all over as well, so we have a lot of dishes that suit their taste. I think the food will be fine for you sir, but for the lady… not so much.” The waitress said, stealing glances at Scarlett. Sungmin wasn’t a martial arts master, but like them, he was Asian. As for Scarlett, anyone would be able to tell she was a Westerner so the waitress seemed to have a wrong impression of her.

“I don’t think I’m too picky but… hmmm. I do admit it’s my first time having Zhongyuan food for the first time.” Scarlett mumbled, flipping through the menu.

The waitress smiled gently and said, “Zhongyuan food is a little strong since we use a lot of seasoning. Would you like me to recommend anything that’s not as strong?”

“Ah, yes. Yes, please.” Scarlet nodded.

Sungmin wasn’t familiar with Zhongyuan food either, so he chose his order according to what the waitress recommended.

“What are we going to do once we get to Shaolin?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to see when we get there.”

“I don’t know much about Wushu, but isn’t Shaolin the most famous among the Wushu sects?”

“That’s true, but even I don’t know much about Shaolin. I’ve only heard rumors.”

During the past few months of their journey, Sungmin had explained to Scarlett why they were going to Shaolin. Scarlett had been feeling quite proud afterwards.

“We’re bringing them the Wushu manuals, so don’t you think they’ll have something better in return for us?”

“Hmm.. I don’t think so. I heard that these arts are worthless. I do think they will give us something just to be polite, but I’m not sure what that will be.”

Nevel had been positive the two would at least be presented with the Lesser Restoration Pill, but Sungmin doubted their mission would end on such a positive note.

“There’s something more important to talk about,” Scarlet said, frowning. “This restaurant has good customer service but there are a lot of ‘blowflies’ around.”

She crossed her legs, then crossed her arms. Sungmin smiled bitterly. Unlike her good looks, Scarlett enjoyed using foul and abusive language. But he couldn’t help but agree that there were a lot of ‘blowflies’.

“I see,” he replied.

He could feel their eyes on him. Whoever was looking at them were doing their best to be discreet, but Sungmin and Scarlett could sense they were being watched. Most of the martial artists sitting around them had been stealing glances ever since the two had been led to this table on the second floor and taken a seat.

Was it because the two were foreigners?

No. That wasn’t it.

‘I have a long way to go.’

Sungmin thought to himself, clicking his tongue. He wasn’t skilled in hiding his internal qi well. If he truly reached his highest point of Peak Level, the unending cycle of flowing qi would be perfected and he would be at the Grandmaster Level. No matter how much internal cultivation and high arts techniques he had mastered, his internal qi and physical body would function in harmony perfectly and profoundly that no one would be able to sense the power of his qi he had developed so far.

For Sungmin, it was currently at a point where it would take a while for him to reach. Sungmin hadn’t reached the Level of Hiding Inner Qi, (t/n : term used in wuxia referring to the point qi masters are able to control their internal qi perfectly) let alone the reaching the level of being immune to extreme temperature and the Level of Blue Flames (t/n : term used in wuxia from a Chinese idiom referring to someone who has reached a point of perfectly controlling their qi, comparing them to fire, when extremely hot, appears in blue flames)

Thanks to the Greater and Lesser Restoration Pills, his internal cultivation had become more profound, but the Purple Cloud Divine Art that had been balancing him had not done much work. Although it was possible to summon more strength, he still lacked in balancing his inner qi. Even if he hid his inner qi and held in his vigor, he was always overflowing with energy. Therefore, the martial artists who had reached a certain level themselves couldn’t help but notice Sungmin’s presence.

“Hahah… A blowfly, huh?”

Scarlett’s muttering hadn’t exactly been in an undertone, so her comment was loud for everyone around them to hear. A man who had been sitting next to the window slowly got up to his feet. He was wearing navy blue robes and squinted over at Sungmin and Scarlett.

“The young lady has such a foul mouth despite her good looks… Actually, no. Is that what makes you appear more attractive?”

“Oh my, just listen to you talk, boy. Did you smear butter in your throat?” Scarlett muttered, and chuckled in disbelief. Sungmin was nervous that she may have gone too far, and the man’s face hardened.

“I see.. a beautiful flower has its thorns…”

“You crazy son of a b****. Did you learn to have a conversation by reading novels?” Scarlett burst out laughing before the man could finish mumbling his sentence. The man’s face reddened. He stomped over to Scarlett, fuming. Seeing this, Sungmin sighed and pushed his chair back.

.

“Enough,” another voice spoke up before Sungmin could even react.

The man stopped in his tracks.

“Young Master Bi Chung-Hak. Unless your eyes are a pair of knotholes that you can’t see past the end of your nose, it would be good for you to sort your murderous intentions, sit down and finish your meal like a good boy.”

The man speaking was drinking tea at the window seat on the other side. Bi Chung-Hak stopped in his tracks and made a face.

“If you know my name, you are also probably aware of what people call me by.”

“This is why nicknames aren’t good for you. Yours is just a byname people started calling you by, but it’s always the worthless things who think they are something and go around making a big deal out of it.”

“Worth..worthless? Excuse me?”

“I said you were worthless. Bi Chung-Hak with the “elegant white blade”. Or what – is there something else that’s got your back other than your byname and worthless skills? Perhaps your household of “Bi”, which I hear is a quite influential bloodline in this part of the city?” The man remarked in a drawling tone.

Bi Chung-Hak’s eyes turned cold. He spoke up, stroking the sword that was fastened to his waist.

“Your insults have crossed a line. Will you be able to take responsibility for your own actions?”

“Young Master Bi Chung-Hak. Please heed my words, for they are for you. If you want to talk about ‘taking responsibility’ for your actions, shave off your hair, go to the temple at Mount Song, and plead with them to take you in as their disciple. Later, become a disciple of Shaolin and spend 50 years doing meditations, staring at a wall. Even if you may be a good-for-nothing, you will have the skills to have the right to talk about such things if you train yourself by meditating with the techniques of Shaolin.” The man said, chuckling.

Clearly, the words were meant to tease him, and Bi Chung-Hak made a face.

Unable to take it any longer, he went for his sword.

“Don’t pull out your sword on me.” The man said, and Bi Chung-Hak froze. It wasn’t just because the man spoke up. The man had profound strength in his voice that made Bi Chung-Hak freeze.

“You will regret it if you take out your sword on me. Neither your worthless skills nor your not-so-brilliant nickname can save you. Same with your family name.”

“Who… who are you?”

Sweat fell from Bi Chung-Hak’s forehead. The strength in the man’s words and tone exceeded his by a long shot. The man chuckled softly.

“How slow you are. Judging from your actions, you really can’t look beyond the end of your nose, can you?”

“I asked you who you are!”

“Namgoong HeeWon,” the man answered.

At his reply, Bi Chang-Hak became white with shock. He wasn’t the only one who was terrified; everyone else on the second floor who had been listening in on their conversation with interest looked appalled. Sungmin was shocked as well.

Any martial artist with the surname ‘Namgoong’ was part of the affluent bloodline of ‘Namgoong’. Of course, not all Namgoongs were successors of the Namgoong bloodline or qigong masters, but almost all martial artists training in wushu knew of Namgoong Heewon

Of course Sungmin knew of Namgoong Heewon as well.

Namgoong Heewon, the Sword Dragon.

Even before Sungmin’s death in his previous life, Nomgoong Heewon’s name was known all over for being the most competent bloodline of his family name. He also happened to be the only son of Namgoong Baek, the head of the Namgoong household who was also known as the High Sword Master.

Therefore, Namgoong Heewon had it all, not only with outstanding skills but also born into an affluent family that had his back.

“Mmmm… hmmm.” Bi mumbled. Bi’s bloodline was also known to have great influence in the area, but they were nothing compared to the Namgoong household.

Bi took a step back, frowning as if something tasted bad in his mouth.

“Consider it a relief this city is ruled by Shaolin. What are you doing? Go sit down and eat.” Namgoong advised and Bi obeyed. Sungmin stared at Bi and over to Namgoong. Once their eyes met, Namgoong smiled at Sungmin and stood up from his seat.

“Why is he coming over here?” Scarlett muttered.

Namgoong approached their table and greeted the two with a bow.

“I do hope you don’t think I’m simply butting into other people’s matters. It would be a pity for the workers here to have to deal with a bunch of dead bodies.”

“Dead bodies? What are you talking about?” Sungmin asked.

Namgoong burst out laughing.

“Would you not be a couple of corpses now if that good-for-nothing young Master had dealt with you?”

“I wasn’t thinking of doing anything.”

“Oh, please. I don’t know who you are trying to fool when you happened to be holding a violent temper when he tried to approach you just now.”

Sungmin licked his lips guiltily at Namgoong’s words. He had had no intentions of killing Bi, but it was true he was considering putting Bi in some sort of danger if he caused any trouble.

“Would you mind if I joined you?”

“Weren’t you done with your meal?”

“I can eat more if I wanted to.”

“Do you want to eat with us, or talk to us?” This was from Scarlett. Scarlett didn’t seem to give the slightest attention to the fact that he was of the Namgoong bloodline. In a way, she being extremely rude, but Namgoong didn’t seem to mind.

“I simply want to converse with you.” He replied.

“Have a seat, then. And pay for your own meal.”

“Haha!” Namgoong Hee-Won burst out laughing and pulled out a chair to sit next to Sungmin. Sungmin coughed nervously as Heewon continued to stare at him without breaking his glance. He could tell that it was he, not Scarlett, who had caught Namgoong’s attention.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“I’m just amazed. It’s not that you have reached the Transcendent Level (t/n : the level where one’s qi circulates endlessly) and it’s not that you are an old man that transformed back to a child. Then that just means you’re as old as you look… unless you have mastered the Appearance Fooling spell. I’m curious, so let me ask : how old are you?”

“I’m eighteen.”

“I see. Just a little away from reaching the Transcendent Level…! Haha! Amazing, you are. I have met many, many skillful individuals and I thought I was quite talented myself!” Namgoong Heewon muttered. He squinted his eyes at Sungmin.

“Let me ask you something, just in case.”

“What’s that?”

“Would your byname happen to be ‘Son of a Heavenly Demon’? (t/n : in prior translations, it was translated as ‘Small Pegasus’, but looking at the original script in Korean and comments in previous translations, Wijihoyeon was called a ‘son’ or ‘small’ demon spirit)

Sungmin almost spat out his tea in surprise. He had not expected to hear that nickname here out of all places, and certainly not from Namgoong himself. Sungmin looked at Namgoong with an appalled look on his face.

“’Son of a Heavenly Demon?’”

.

“Wijihoyeon, the ‘son of the Heavenly Demon’. A little monster who don’t even fit the terms in age, but has outstanding skills in the martial arts. But, judging from your reaction, that doesn’t seem to be you.”

It was the first time Sungmin had heard of Wijihoyeon from someone else. But judging from the time period, it did seem to be around the time Wijihoyeon had settled and started spreading rumors. Of course, this Wijihoyeon was living his previous life, before the two had met.

“Also, there’s also talk going around that Wijihoyeon could be a female.”

“…A female?”

“There’s also talk she may have cross-dressed. Some say ‘he’ is just a female.”

This was the only thing that was different from what Sungmin remembered from his previous life. The Wijihyeon from his previous life was never suspected to be a female. The Wijihoyeon in the present probably didn’t seem to be stubborn on having the appearance of a man.

“Ah, anyways. I don’t think you are the ‘son of a Heavenly Demon’…”

Namgoong Heewon trailed off and looked at Sungmin’s face closely.

“Then who are you?”