Chapter 31 : I Made It

Chapter 31: I Made It

“All of it, brought out?”

Seo Yu-gyeom wore a rare look of surprise.

Baek Sang gave an awkward laugh and nodded. Ever since the last duel training, it had become difficult for him to treat Seo Yu-gyeom as casually as before.

Seo Yu-gyeom poked his head out of the kitchen to confirm the man’s face. Just in case, he secretly extended his qi sense, but felt nothing unusual.

“The money?”

“I already received it.”

“Well then.”

Seo Yu-gyeom nodded and checked the remaining ingredients in the kitchen. He couldn’t make everything, but at least he could fill the table.

Soon, he gave a few instructions to Baek Seol, and the two began cooking.

The table quickly filled.

Red-braised pork, Hubei-style Mapo Tofu, stir-fried bok choy, five-spice pork, sweet-and-sour pork ribs with garlic sauce, sliced pork belly, beef noodles, and dumplings.

The man looked at the dishes with an intrigued expression.

“The fragrance and color are good.”

“He is a chef renowned for his skills in the region.”

Baek Sang spoke with a faint smile, then flinched in surprise. He felt oddly pleased at the praise for the food.

It almost felt as if he had truly become an inn’s waiter, leaving him with a strange feeling.

“Ahem, what kind of liquor shall I bring you?”

“Unnecessary. Such things only ruin the taste of food.”

“Haha, I feel the same. Please enjoy your meal.”

Baek Sang thought to himself that the man really did love food. As a Daoist, he abstained from liquor, so Baek Sang partly agreed with him.

Thus, the man began his meal, and Baek Sang returned to his original seat.

Seomun Ak still wore a displeased look about having accepted the last customer. He had hoped to enjoy a rare break since even Shin Mok had stepped out.

The man’s attitude toward tasting the food was extremely serious. With every bite he chewed and swallowed, his expression changed.

It was clear he was evaluating the food in his mind.

‘What is he doing?’

The man began a peculiar act.

He started moving the dishes he tasted.

Watching from beyond the kitchen, Seo Yu-gyeom secretly admired it. The man was separating the dishes based on who cooked them—those placed on the right of his water cup were Seo Yu-gyeom’s, and those on the left were Baek Seol’s.

Just then, two figures entered the inn.

Seomun Ak frowned at the sight of them.

It was Tang So-yeon and Seok Tae-shin. He had thought the two had already left Yichang, so seeing them return was unexpected.

‘How humiliating…’

Seomun Ak felt deeply embarrassed to be seen like this by Tang So-yeon.

Indeed, Tang So-yeon watched Seomun Ak and Baek Sang with an amused look.

After all, the sight of the children of prestigious families and sects working as inn waiters was not something one often saw.

“Only one customer here?”

Tang So-yeon spoke mockingly.

The man, still eating in silence, pointed at his table with his chopsticks and replied.

“I’m worth a hundred men, so it’s fine.”

Tang So-yeon cast a sidelong glance at him.

The man flashed a grin.

Their gazes met briefly, but Tang So-yeon quickly turned her head, seemingly displeased with the stranger striking up unnecessary conversation.

“We only came to say farewell before leaving. Two bowls of noodles, please.”

Saying this, Tang So-yeon led Seok Tae-shin to a seat. Seomun Ak sighed and headed to the kitchen.

Baek Sang tried his best to avoid making eye contact with Tang So-yeon. From experience, whenever she wore that amused expression, some sort of commotion always followed.

‘Not this time.’

This was no ordinary inn but one belonging to someone the Elder wished to take as a disciple. If another commotion broke out, it wouldn’t end with just a mild scolding.

Meanwhile, the man once again addressed Tang So-yeon.

“You look like a young lady from a noble house, yet you call the waiters here ‘young master.’ Seems they must have circumstances of their own?”

Tang So-yeon gave him a brief glance, then turned away in silence. She might have taken offense, but instead, the man let out a hearty laugh.

“A scorpion-like, sharp-tongued young miss indeed.”

At the word “scorpion,” Tang So-yeon frowned.

Of all things, he had compared her to a venomous creature.

Just in case, she probed his qi, but naturally, she felt nothing unusual.

The man chuckled again.

“It’s a compliment, so don’t be offended. In a harsh world like this, a bit of temper helps one survive.”

“Enough, eat your food.”

Seok Tae-shin spoke in a threatening tone. Watching this, Seomun Ak secretly lamented—it should have been his role to intervene.

The man laughed heartily and turned back.

“Fearsome young ones indeed.”

With that, he resumed eating.

He then divided all the dishes precisely at the center of the table, separating them left and right.

With a satisfied nod, he pointed to the dishes on the left.

“Seems there are two chefs here. Who made these dishes?”

Baek Sang glanced toward the kitchen. He couldn’t tell who had cooked which dish.

From inside, his younger sibling Baek Seol looked at him with a worried expression. Clearly, the left-side dishes were hers.

“What do you mean by this?”

“Look here. The red-braised pork on the right is truly well made.”

The man poked the dish with his chopsticks. The unique, bouncy texture was beautifully preserved.

“But the dishes on the left are all poor. The bok choy is undercooked and jarring, while the sweet-and-sour ribs are overcooked and tough.”

The man’s words were all correct.

Though Baek Seol showed talent in cooking, it was her first time handling such a large order at once, so mistakes were inevitable.

“I paid for this meal. How dare you serve dishes made by someone unqualified to cook?”

The man spoke with blatant reproach.

Suddenly, Tang So-yeon and Seok Tae-shin looked on as if enjoying an entertaining show.

Seomun Ak quietly slipped away with a cough. At the very least, he did not want to be seen handling a troublesome customer in front of Tang So-yeon.

Baek Sang hesitated, unsure what to say. He admitted Baek Seol was an inexperienced cook, so an apology seemed necessary.

Yet he was also a young martial artist. To bow his head before his peers, the prodigies, watching from nearby, felt shameful.

While he struggled with the decision, the man’s words grew harsher.

“Enough. Bring out the cook who made this garbage. I’d like to see their face.”

Tang So-yeon and Seok Tae-shin exchanged amused glances. The situation was growing interesting.

Faced with the man’s harsh demand, Baek Sang made his decision.

He bowed his head.

“My apologies. For the dishes you find unsatisfactory, we will not take any payment.”

It was a unilateral decision.

He wasn’t sure if Jin Seong-un would approve when he returned. If needed, Baek Sang was prepared to cover the cost himself.

At least it was better than causing unnecessary trouble in the inn.

Since it was a fairly generous concession, he thought the man would leave it at that.

But contrary to his expectations, the man’s face grew even more sinister.

“No. This isn’t about money. Didn’t I say? Cook as if your life depends on it.”

With that, the man pulled a short kitchen knife from his robe.

Seeing it, Baek Sang frowned. Clearly, this man wasn’t normal.

‘Should I drive him out?’

If it had been yesterday, he would have done so without hesitation.

But today, he had been deeply impressed by how Jin Seong-un handled a troublesome customer—with soft words that subdued the man like the principle of yielding overcoming strength.

He thought, no wonder the Elder was so taken with him.

Compared to that, if he used force to throw this man out, he would feel utterly defeated before Jin Seong-un.

Though Jin Seong-un might soon become his martial uncle, he was still a peer—and Baek Sang’s pride was stung.

So instead, Baek Sang chose the harder path.

He would try to soothe and subdue the man with the same yielding strength of Taiji that Jin Seong-un had shown.

“I fully understand your displeasure. How might I…?”

At that moment—

From the kitchen, Seo Yu-gyeom’s urgent voice rang out.

“Get down!”

Baek Sang instinctively leaned his head back.

A faint blur slashed past the space where his face had been.

It was a kitchen knife.

A thin line of blood appeared across the bridge of his nose. Had he been a moment slower, he would have been blinded.

“That lunatic!”

Seomun Ak, who had been watching from afar, cursed. Tang So-yeon and Seok Tae-shin also shot to their feet.

Baek Sang blinked blankly for a moment.

‘He wasn’t even visible.’

He might have been careless, but this was beyond reason.

For Baek Sang was already a First Rate Martial Artist.

There was only one meaning to this situation.

The opponent was a master so great that not even Seo Yu-gyeom could detect him.

Tang So-yeon drew a dagger, and Seok Tae-shin unsheathed his sword. Seomun Ak, the fist user, gathered scarlet qi around his knuckles.

Baek Seol and Seo Yu-gyeom also stepped out from the kitchen. Unfortunately, neither Baek Sang nor Baek Seol had yet retrieved the Taiji Sword they had lost.

The atmosphere grew grim.

Though surrounded by the prodigies, the man remained relaxed.

His gaze shifted past Baek Sang’s shoulder, toward Seo Yu-gyeom and Baek Seol.

“Which of you two made this trash of a dish?”

Baek Seol’s lips trembled.

But before she could answer, Seo Yu-gyeom stepped forward.

“I made it.”

The man looked Seo Yu-gyeom up and down. A strange glint flashed in his eyes.

“Are you a chef or a martial artist? How is it your skill surpasses even those brats of the Tang Clan and the Wudang Sect?”

Everyone but Seo Yu-gyeom flinched in shock. None had expected the man to know their identities.

Seo Yu-gyeom, however, stayed calm. He had already suspected who the man was. During his days as an assassin for Deathshroud, he had come across all sorts of information.

“And you, senior—are you a chef or a martial artist?”

“You speak as if you know me.”

“You’re none other than the Food Butcher, are you not?”

At the name Food Butcher, the prodigies stiffened. His infamy was so widespread that even young martial artists who had just begun wandering the jianghu knew of him.

“F-Food Butcher?”

Even the bold Seomun Ak subtly backed away. Seok Tae-shin faltered, and Tang So-yeon and the Baek siblings also froze.

Such was the weight of a name listed among Murim’s most wanted criminals. He was not someone who could be pressured with the backing of a noble clan or great sect.

Rather, he was a demonic figure whom even the Five Great Clans and the Nine Sects would hesitate to face.

The Food Butcher chuckled, then suddenly pointed his knife at Seo Yu-gyeom.

“So it wasn’t you. That girl made the dish.”

The blade slowly shifted toward Baek Seol.

She flinched violently.

Baek Sang instinctively moved to shield her.

“How dare those unqualified have the audacity to cook and serve food?”

The Food Butcher was infamous for killing chefs. Strangely, he spared the skilled ones and butchered the unskilled in horrific ways.

Seo Yu-gyeom knew the reason.

“Senior, get a hold of yourself. How long will you keep venting your spite over being expelled from the Imperial Kitchen?”

The Imperial Kitchen—that was the emperor’s own palace kitchen.

The highest honor every chef in the world dreamed of. And at its pinnacle once stood the Food Butcher.

The Food Butcher’s brow twitched at Seo Yu-gyeom’s words.

“What do you know of it?”

“I happen to know enough. That you were once of the Imperial Kitchen, and that you were cast out after being bested by another chef.”

The prodigies looked at him in astonishment. To think such horrific deeds stemmed from something so petty.

But they did not know the full truth.

“Do you know what happens to a chef expelled from the Imperial Kitchen?”

“Their limbs’ meridians are severed. So that one who once cooked for the emperor can never again cook for the common rabble. A cruel practice indeed.”

The absurd reasoning was that an emperor’s food could not be the same as that of the lowly.

As Seo Yu-gyeom said, the Food Butcher had been maimed and cast out, leaving him crippled. The resentment and humiliation drove him nearly mad, sleepless for years.

Worse, the chef who replaced him was truly terrible.

“He wasn’t a chef. He was a schemer. Through dirty tricks, he won the emperor’s favor. All I did was cook earnestly. And this—this was the result.”

The Food Butcher rolled up his sleeve, revealing deep scars across his joints, the marks of when his meridians had been cut.

“So I learned martial arts. Luckily, I had talent. I trained so that one day, I could kill him.”

“Did you?”

Seo Yu-gyeom carefully drew him out. For the truth was simple: they could not possibly face the Food Butcher as they were.

He silently prayed that Baek Un-geom, Shin Mok, or Jin Seong-un would return soon.

The Food Butcher shook his head. Seo Yu-gyeom pressed further, sounding genuinely curious.

“Why not?”

“He was already dead.”

“That’s how it always goes.”

Seo Yu-gyeom nodded knowingly. No doubt the man who replaced him had also been expelled, and unlike the Food Butcher, failed to endure his crippling and died.

“Then isn’t it over? Your target of vengeance is gone. Why do you keep killing innocent chefs?”

“Because when I see the unworthy strut about, I’m reminded of him.”

The prodigies looked at him as if he were mad. And Seo Yu-gyeom agreed. He was mad.

“No, senior, let’s be honest.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s because of the martial arts you cultivated. You were just a lifelong cook—what extraordinary talent could you have to suddenly become a Peak-level Master? You practiced arts you should never have touched, and now look at you.”

The Food Butcher fell silent, glaring.

The prodigies looked anew at Seo Yu-gyeom. Clearly, he was no ordinary cook but someone with hidden depths.

Seo Yu-gyeom met the Food Butcher’s eyes and pressed on.

“I understand your rage. But it’s misdirected. Not at the innocent chefs. If anything, you should have pointed your blade at the emperor himself.”

“S-Seo Yu-gyeom!”

Baek Sang cried out in shock. To speak so recklessly of the emperor was incredibly dangerous.

But Seo Yu-gyeom spoke as if it were nothing.

“Of course, you didn’t dare. The emperor’s guards would have cut you down in an instant. Hounded by the Murim Alliance as you are, you wouldn’t even dream of entering the palace.”

“Silence!”

Killing intent surged from the Food Butcher.

At once, the prodigies, save Seo Yu-gyeom, stumbled back two steps.

Facing such pressure, they finally grasped that the man before them was truly one of Murim’s most wanted.

‘This madman…’

Seok Tae-shin, being the weakest, felt his breath choke and terror seep in.

“Senior. As both martial artist and chef, allow me to say this. I speak at the risk of my life, out of genuine pity, so heed me well.”

As Seo Yu-gyeom spoke, he casually shifted to the side.

Seok Tae-shin suddenly felt the suffocating pressure ease. Seo Yu-gyeom had absorbed some of the Food Butcher’s killing intent.

Then, Seo Yu-gyeom drew the Heaven-Slaying Dagger and pointed it at the man. The Food Butcher chuckled, waiting to hear his words—ready to rip him apart if he spoke nonsense.

Seo Yu-gyeom continued.

“To put it simply, senior—you’re just a crippled fool.”

The Food Butcher blinked, feeling his face flush red. Seo Yu-gyeom went on unruffled.

“Think. Maybe that contemptible chef’s cooking suited the emperor’s taste better. On what basis do you claim your cooking was superior?”

“Silence! My cooking was clearly—”

“You be silent! You just can’t accept that you were the loser. Sure, people often blame others for their own failures. That much I can understand.”

“But to learn twisted martial arts, lose half your mind, and then go around butchering innocents—while pretending it’s for some grand reason? Do you really think anyone will pity you? You kill only the weak, yet act as if you’re so wronged and righteous…”

Seo Yu-gyeom cut himself off.

For the Food Butcher’s murderous aura suddenly calmed, and he wore a sly grin.

“You have quite the cunning mind for your age.”

The Food Butcher praised him.

Seo Yu-gyeom had been deliberately provoking him, trying to shake his composure. As an assassin, manipulating the enemy was second nature—yet here, it failed.

The reason was simple.

Had he been alone, Seo Yu-gyeom would have kept his act and waited for an opening.

But with the other prodigies present, he unconsciously tried to protect them, dividing his focus.

And a liar betrayed by anxiety can fool no one.

Awkwardly, Seo Yu-gyeom scratched his neck with the Heaven-Slaying Dagger and muttered his grim thought.

“…Well, I’m screwed.”