The wine cups go back and forth.

Hiding their true feelings behind smiles, their eyes, looking at each other, are full of cunning.

"Um..."

"Don't say a word. I said sit, not that I allowed you to speak."

Baekta shuts his mouth with a sullen expression at Cheonyeong's words.

He feels himself shrinking for some reason. But doesn't he have a sin he committed?

Even if it was the Beggars' Sect, spying on others without permission was a crime.

If he didn't know, he didn't know, but since he was caught, he had nothing to say even if he had two mouths.

The wine cups were filled and emptied repeatedly.

As he got drunker, only his frustration grew. It was a battle of patience.

Although they had almost seen each other's cards, the key was who would reveal their hidden intentions first.

The wine bottles, which they had each taken one of, were empty, and the additionally ordered wine bottles were also showing their bottoms.

For a full hour, they had been drinking continuously without any conversation or side dishes.

Damn punk.

There was no drunkard like this.

He felt his head spinning, but how could that punk be so upright?

"This damn it! I'm dying of frustration."

In the end, it was Baekta who raised the white flag first in the battle of patience.

Although their cunning was similar, his personality was much more impatient than Cheonyeong's, so he couldn't stand the curiosity.

What on earth had happened at Dongting Lake last night?

Never mind the suspicious dancer or the dance boy, if Cheonyeong had killed even the boatman, it would be a serious crime.

Because a martial artist had killed a civilian.

It was a problem that the Beggars' Sect could not tolerate, and if he kept silent like this, he would surely get drunk without finding out anything.

"I've lost. Let's stop drinking."

"Shall we?"

Cheonyeong smiled brightly at Baekta's surrender and put down his cup.

"Let's ask directly."

"How much?"

"What?"

"In exchange for sitting with me, three things including two bottles of alcohol and heaven-grade information. The answer to the question has to be priced separately."

"...Is this guy for real?"

"If you don't like it, then don't."

"Kkeung."

Baekta gritted his teeth at Cheonyeong's relaxed expression.

You punk, I've lived much longer than you... no, I'm a person who has accumulated much more experience.

No matter how smart you are, handling a young beggar punk is no big deal.

"It seems we've finished the alcohol, shall we part ways now?"

Baekta shouted as Cheonyeong was about to get up from his seat.

"What do you want?"

Baekta glared, and Cheonyeong smiled and said.

"Keep it a secret."

"Keep... it a secret?"

"Don't reveal anything about me. Not to the Beggars' Sect, not to Nosanggae, with whom you exchange letters about every little thing."

"Hmm..."

Baekta ponders for a moment at Cheonyeong's condition.

"To what extent?"

"Everything related to me at Dongting Lake."

"Fine. It was my personal interest in the first place, so I'll erase even the small records I've gathered about Brother Tang."

"Good. Then ask. I'll decide whether to answer after hearing the question."

"What?"

"Aren't I the one holding the hilt of the sword anyway?"

Baekta frowned and grumbled as Cheonyeong sat up straight and looked at him.

"Damn it... let's fix that tone first."

"Tone?"

"I hear you're eighteen, but I'm five years older."

"So what?"

"What do you mean, so what? I'm older..."

"My, my, I don't see what the problem is. I've never seen martial artists divide their ranks by age."

"What?"

"Hey, Baekta."

"...?"

"Your title is branch leader, right?"

"So?"

"I'm a family head. Whether by generation or by title, I'm higher."

Baekta wore a blank expression at the sight of Cheonyeong's smirk.

F-family head?

Is that even a comparison, you punk?

A branch leader of the Dongting Lake North Branch with four knots is treated as a VIP in any decent sect.

But to place the status of a family head of a Tang Family's estate in a corner of Sicheon, whose name is not even properly known, above his own?

Even if his worldly experience was shallow...

"If you don't want to admit it, then don't. Then the conversation ends here, and I have nothing to lose."

"This..."

He's so annoying.

"If you really don't like it, you can speak informally too. I don't really care."

Still a loss.

I'm five years...

"Or, how about a friend?"

"A friend?"

"As the old saying goes, a relationship where people have similar talents and understand each other, regardless of age or status, is called a peer."

"To stand... shoulder to shoulder?"

"From what I see, you also seem to have a hidden identity, Baekta. Your abilities are also outstanding. How about it? Being friends?"

Baekta, who had been staring intently at Cheonyeong's words, sighed and shook his head.

"How did you know?"

"What?"

"The fact that I have another identity."

"Keuk, did you think I wouldn't notice that much? Think about what you've done so far."

"What I've done?"

"Even if you're a promising disciple who has reached the fourth knot at a young age, there's a limit to what you can do at the branch leader level."

"..."

"To gather that many beggars, and to mobilize the vagrant gangs and the Kyuhwa, anyone can see that you're not at the branch leader level. You'd have to be at the upper branch master level."

Baekta wore a hollow expression at Cheonyeong's words.

"The decisive factor was the heaven-grade information. If the heaven-grade information of the Beggars' Sect is key information containing the trends of the Nine Factions, one side, and the Unorthodox Faction forces of a similar scale, it's not something a mere branch leader can promise to give to an outsider. Isn't that right?"

"Hmm."

"Perhaps if my thoughts are correct... you're probably a candidate for a junior leader?"

Baekta felt as if his head had been hit with a hammer.

A genius...

Had he been paying close attention to all those details and figuring him out?

He couldn't deny it. It was something that everyone who knew already knew.

"Tch, I feel like I've been robbed. It's annoying."

Cheonyeong smiles brightly at Baekta's grumbling.

It seems the chatterbox is finally ready to talk.

Since the decorated expression that had been worn like a mask had disappeared.

"Should I call you Cheonyeong?"

His tone had also changed.

It was friendly, as if addressing a long-time acquaintance, and his tone was soft.

It wasn't a strange thing.

Just as there are people who feel like strangers even after meeting for a long time, there are also people who feel like friends even after meeting for the first time.

"That's not bad. Then shall I call you Baekta? If you have a real name, that's fine too."

"A real name?"

"Yes. Everyone will call you Baekta, but it's okay for me to call you by your real name, right?"

"Hmm."

Baekta, who had been pondering for a moment at Cheonyeong's words, smirked and said.

"Jang Myeongseon."

"Huh?"

"That's my real name. Before I received a new name."

Cheonyeong's eyes widened at Baekta's words.

W-wait a minute... Jang, who?

Jang Myeongseon?

Then you're that Drunken Immortal?

"What's wrong? Are you cold? Why are you suddenly trembling?"

Cold, it's because I'm surprised.

He was so surprised that he couldn't hide his expression at all.

"You're lying."

"Huh?"

"You're that Jang Myeongseon?"

"I am Jang Myeongseon... but what's that Jang Myeongseon?"

Baekta tilted his head with one eye narrowed as Cheonyeong shot up and trembled.

The Drunken Immortal, Jang Myeongseon.

Who was he?

A peerless master produced by the Beggars' Sect. One of the ten who had shone the Orthodox Faction by achieving the great success of the Dragon's Roar Twelve Hands and the Drunken Eight Immortals Footwork...

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

"Twenty-three..."

Cheonyeong's age this year was eighteen. The age when he had met the Drunken Immortal was thirty-two, fourteen years from now.

That's right. This punk is the Drunken Immortal.

"Heo!"

Cheonyeong sat down like a deflated balloon in bewilderment.

To meet a great man in his youth. What kind of fate was this?

He had never expected this.

The Drunken Immortal at that time was not a chatterbox like now, nor was he a weakling who would get drunk after a few bottles of alcohol.

He was a completely different person, so he had never thought they were the same person.

And now he remembered.

The commission of the Gongson family.

On the day of the death of the young family head, Gongson Seung, the Drunken Immortal was definitely at Dongting Lake.

And from that time, he had been chasing the Jingagu.

How much had he suffered because of his damn persistent pursuit?

He was incomparably persistent.

A whopping fourteen years.

He had finally met him and had fought in the name of Sagyo.

It was a victory of only half a chi.

He had mobilized all his abilities, and if he hadn't had his hidden weapons... it was a fight he could never have won.

"Hey, Cheonyeong? What's wrong, all of a sudden? You looked like you wouldn't bleed a single drop even if you were pricked with a needle."

Although Baekta asked with a frown, he couldn't bring himself to speak.

Why would he?

Because you are that Jang Myeongseon. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"The world is truly..."

Cheonyeong poured the wine bottle into his mouth to calm his excitement.

Although there was not much alcohol left, his stomach finally felt at ease.

But wait a minute. What happens now?

Baekta, no, the future Drunken Immortal.

He became friends with a great man who would sway the Beggars' Sect?

...That's a good thing. It means he's a punk with a lot to gain from in the future.

"Myeongseon."

"Ugh?"

His tone softened.

As he opened his eyes thinly, put his chin on his clasped hands, and looked at him, Baekta flinched and moved his body back.

"I, I really like you."

"...All of a sudden?"

"From the first time I saw you."

Baekta's eyes narrow at the sight of Cheonyeong's bright smile.

What is this?

This sudden change in emotion?

Until just a moment ago, he had been treating him as if he wouldn't even deal with him, as if he were annoying, as if he were something.

Is he suffering from something like bipolar disorder?

"Just accept it. That's how I feel."

"...Surely?"

"Ugh-ugh, don't do that. Don't think strange things in your head."

Baekta moves away a little as Cheonyeong whines with a smiling eye.

Anyone can see that you're making them think strange things! You!

"Keu-heum! For now, step back a little. It's burdensome."

"Why? I like you. Just looking at your face like this. We're friends now, right? A great! Very! A really close friend. Right?"

So-called value investing.

Because he's a punk who will become a powerful person who will sway not only the Beggars' Sect but also the Orthodox Faction in the future.

"Hah, there's no one more suspicious. You're a really unpredictable punk."

"Keuk keuk, whatever you say, I like you. Ah, what was I going to ask you earlier? Ask me anything. I'll tell you only the truth with all my heart."

Cheonyeong looks at him with a gentle gaze.

"Uh, uh... so... what I was going to ask..."

Because of that Cheonyeong, Baekta is instead flustered and can't ask.

"The identity of that dancer is an assassin. The dance boy punk is the same."

"Huh?"

"You were curious, right?"

"...Ah, yeah."

"The boatman is probably alive. I let him escape before I killed the assassin couple."

"Ah!"

"Let's see, what else would my friend Myeongseon be curious about... ah! That's right. I taught Chief Nam a way to hide and use his hidden funds. It will probably be hard for you to find it."

"Huh?"

"I'd like to tell you in detail, but, hmm... I made a promise. Give up on that. But other things are fine. Ask me anything."

Baekta was just dumbfounded.

Why is this punk like this?

He's spitting out things he wasn't even asked... does he have some other ulterior motive?

"You're worried right now that I might have some other ulterior motive, right? There's nothing like that, so don't worry. We're close friends."

Baekta began to be afraid of Cheonyeong, who seemed to be reading his inner thoughts.

And he moved a little further back.

(End of Chapter)