The boy was one of two students learning the Bandit King's martial arts from his old instructor.
On the roof of the Red Flower Pavilion, the tallest building in Nanchang, Number Four observed his old instructor. For most martial artists, watching from such a dizzying distance would be impossible, but it was no challenge for him.
MUNCH MUNCH...
He chewed on his food with a taciturn face. In one hand, he held atbuns wrapped in cloth that the tavern owner couple had packed for him.
When he wrote in his notebook asking if he could stay for a while since he had nowhere else to go, they readily agreed. According to them, the gold coin he gave them on the first day was enough to cover a month's worth of room and board.
"You're going out this early in the morning? We just stead these, so take them with you!"
He wasn't particularly hungry, but Number Four accepted the atbuns the couple offered him. He felt they would keep pestering him if he didn't take them.
MUNCH MUNCH...
He took out another atbun from the bundle. Baek Suryong was leaving the White Dragon Manor and making his way toward the Azure Dragon Academy, accompanied by noisy students.
"If you have anything you want to ask , you can co find anyti."
He had many questions for his old instructor, but he had no intention of paying him a visit right now. He wanted to see and judge with his own eyes rather than hear answers from the bastard's mouth. That way, he wouldn't regret whatever decision he ultimately made.
SWISH!
Seeing Baek Suryong disappear into one of the Azure Dragon Academy buildings, he jumped down the building without hesitation.
Despite his massive body, he landed on the ground soundlessly. If he decided to hide his presence, no one in this city could detect him, not even his old instructor.
Without hesitation, he made a beeline for his old instructor's house. He knew the Beggars' Gang monitored suspicious people approaching White Dragon Manor , but at their level, they wouldn't sense him even if he walked right past them.
He climbed over the wall of White Dragon Manor undetected and surveyed the training ground. Traces of martial arts training were visible everywhere, from sweat marks on the wood, to ssy footprints from movent arts training, to craters in the ground from powerful attacks.
Much of it was similar to the training ground in his mories, evoking a sudden flashback of the ti he had learned martial arts from his old instructor.
Yet, there was one key difference between the training ground in his mory and this place-the sll of blood.
After looking around the training ground for a while, Number Four headed inside. Finding his old instructor's room wasn't hard. People were bound to leave traces in their own space, and he followed those traces.
RATTLE!
The interior of Baek Suryong's room, which contained only the most essential furniture, ca into view. A bed, a table, and a chair. On the bed, a neatly folded blanket and a wooden pillow.
Though bare, the room didn't feel as desolate as he thought it would. Rather, a subtle warmth lingered in the room, perhaps because people went in and out frequently.
Number Four searched the room. A note sat on the table, its corner held down by a paperweight. It was a note from his old instructor.
If you happen to stop by here, eat before you go.
Beside the note, there was a cloth bundle. Number Four unwrapped it to discover that it was neatly filled with rice cakes and several other snacks.
Did he know that I would co here?
Number Four stared at the food for a while before wrapping it back up. The food might be poisoned. There was no telling what kind of trick his old instructor, a brilliant scher, had set up for him.
...He should know that poison doesn't work on , though.
He reached out for the cloth again, feeling perplexed. Maybe it would be better to check the food, after all. He could reach a decision far more easily if it really contained poison.
"...!" Sensing an approaching presence, he quickly looked up. Although the presence wasn't moving very quickly, it was heading straight toward him, unobstructed by beggars.
SWISH!
Number Four imdiately left Baek Suryong's room. Within the span of a single breath, he crossed the training ground and climbed over the wall.
Number Four imdiately started to hide his tracks, but suddenly, he changed his mind. There were not one, but two presences approaching. If they had co straight here without being stopped, they must be people close to his old instructor. It wouldn't hurt to see their faces up close at least once.
He walked toward the two approaching figures.
"Sniff sniff... I sll fragrant atbuns..."
A massive boy with copper-colored skin was sniffing the air. A small furry animal yawned lazily on his shoulder.
Number Four recognized the boy as a practitioner of the sa martial arts at a glance. On top of that, the child's physique was equal to or even better than his own.
Ya Suhyeok.
He strode toward Ya Suhyeok.
"Grr..." Silver Tiger growled and bristled his fur. He recognized Number Four from their previous encounter at Mount Heng. Small, sharp claws poked out from between soft toes and tore Ya Suhyeok's martial arts uniform.
Ultimately, however, he was unable to resist the tempting sll of the atbun.
"Hey hey, furball! What's wrong with you? Huh?" Ya Suhyeok's eyes went wide with surprise, but following Silver Tiger's gaze, he soon noticed the young man with a taciturn deanor in front of him.
Even by his standards, the man's build was impressive. He wasn't as big as himself or Geo Sangwoong, but he was definitely bigger than Senior Wonkang.
Ya Suhyeok whispered to Silver Tiger, "Do you know him?"
"Grr..." Silver Tiger bared his teeth, his eyes swimming with anxiety.
Ya Suhyeok tilted his head in confusion. He sensed no hostility or killing intent from the young man. As for martial arts? Honestly, the man didn't look very strong. There didn't seem to be anything special about him except for the mouth-watering sll wafting from the cloth bundle he held in one hand.
"What an enviable yet strange hyung. Strolling around eating atbuns early in the morning..." he muttered, even as he raised his guard and stroked the tense Silver Tiger's back.
This little guy wouldn't be nervous for no reason.
Ya Suhyeok waited for a while, but the taciturn hyung showed no reaction to his remark. Still, he felt neither killing intent nor fighting spirit from him.
He tensed all the muscles in his body and closely observed the opponent. Since neither of them were stopping, the distance between them gradually decreased.
Is he just passing by?
There was no indication that the man was suddenly trying to pick a fight. He didn't make any preparatory movents, and there were no signs suggesting that he was about to attack.
Of course, Ya Suhyeok had no way of knowing that he was facing a peerless master who practiced the sa martial arts as him. The gap between them was so vast that, unless Number Four intentionally revealed it, Ya Suhyeok would never catch on to his skill.
In any case, Ya Suhyeok continued on his way to White Dragon Manor, hoping to walk past the man without incident. He felt a bit uneasy, but there was no reason to run away or avoid the man. He would only look strange if he went out of his way to go around him.
SWISH!
Unfortunately, Number Four, whom he thought would just pass by, held out his hand and obstructed him.
Ya Suhyeok's face fell. All the muscles in his body twitched. "What do you want?" he barked.
People often picked fights with him just because they recognized him as Baek Suryong's student. He judged that this was one of those tis.
"Looks like you've worked out quite a bit. If you attack trusting in that, you might get hurt. Don't regret it later... hmm?" Ya Suhyeok continued warning the man, but blinked when Number Four held out a atbun. "...Are you giving this to ? To eat?"
Number Four nodded.
For a mont, Ya Suhyeok stared at Number Four as if he was crazy. Ultimately, however, he was unable to resist the tempting sll of the atbun. He took it and eagerly sank his teeth into it. "I'm not usually, munch munch, the type to accept food from strangers, munch, but breakfast was really shitty today."
In a flash, a atbun the size of a child's fist vanished into Ya Suhyeok's belly.
His eyes widened in surprise. "Wow! This is yummy! Which shop did you get this from?"
Number Four silently held out another atbun, which Ya Suhyeok also snatched and devoured. Strangely, the idea that the buns might be poisoned didn't seem to occur to the kid at all.
He took out a third atbun.
"Another one for ? Thanks, kind Hyung-nim!" Ya Suhyeok grinned and happily accepted the food.
"......" Number Four was perplexed. It was already the third bun, so why wasn't this boy the least bit suspicious? Or had he already achieved poison immunity? He carefully examined the boy's body to check his mastery of the Eighteen Strikes of the Viridian Forest.
"Nyaa! Nyaan!" Silver Tiger smacked Ya Suhyeok's head with his front paws, chastising his pathetic willingness to accept food from an enemy.
"Why are you hitting all of a sudden? You want a atbun too?"
"Nyaaa! Nyaa!" Silver Tiger waved his front paws wildly, as if to say, 'That's not it,' when he suddenly felt sothing strange and tilted his head.
The opponent was a monster who had almost killed Baek Suryong, but despite being a spirit beast with an acute qi sense, he detected no killing intent from Number Four.
"Nyan...?"
Number Four stared blankly at Silver Tiger, then shook his head slightly, indicating that he ant the child no harm and that he preferred to keep their eting a secret.
During this ti, Ya Suhyeok scarfed down three more atbuns. Grinning, he clasped his hands together in appreciation. "Thanks for the free atbuns! Let's get to know each other! I'm Ya Suhyeok."
Instead of answering, Number Four handed Ya Suhyeok the entire bundle of atbuns. There weren't many left anyway.
"Are you saying I can have them all?"
Number Four responded by turning around and walking away.
So distance away, Number Four watched Ya Suhyeok grapple with Silver Tiger, then turned around. Since he had already explored the White Dragon Manor, he decided to continue his investigation at the Azure Dragon Academy.
Ya Suhyeok shouted from behind, "Thanks a ton, Hyung-nim!" but no answer ca back.
"Geez, what a strange hyung." He tilted his head curiously, his hand automatically grabbing a atbun and shoving it into his mouth. "His body looked pretty well built. Should I ask him to arm wrestle the next ti we et?"
With that thought, he tossed the last atbun into his mouth and chewed as he resud his journey to the White Dragon Manor. He didn't have much ti to retrieve the textbooks he'd forgotten before his next class.
"Nyaa! Nyaa!" Silver Tiger smacked Ya Suhyeok's head wildly with his small front paws, as if to ask if he knew he had just survived a near-death experience.
WHACK WHACK WHACK!
The paws looked like smooshy cotton buds, but surprisingly, he was quite strong.
Ya Suhyeok winced in pain. "Aaargh! Seriously, this furball! Why do you keep picking a fight? Do you want to go at it, huh?"
"NYAAA!"
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