Chapter 13: Ki, Do, Hyo (6)

The Tai Xu Quan forms were relatively simple.

Imbue your fist with Qi.

And that was it.

‘So it really is just about hitting really f*cking hard.’

Tai Xu, to relinquish everything is the same as possessing everything.

It is only possible to relinquish because one possesses.

Hunger can only be felt when one has known satiety.

Emptiness is substance.

Because substance can only be complete when enveloped by emptiness.

Thus, with that emptiness, Tai Xu Quan seemed to only indicate returning the opponent to nothingness.

‘By hitting them really f*cking hard, too.’

At least, that’s how it appeared to Lee Do.

He tapped his cigarette on the ashtray and took another sip of his drink. He was about to turn the page to see what each posture meant when someone tapped his hand and smirked.

“What’s this dork doing?”

The voice was clear even amidst the booming bass.

A Black man with gold cybernetic parts on his hand and a man in a leather vest and a gas mask.

The commonality was that both held drinks in their hands.

Lee Do wondered how the guy in the gas mask could drink with it on, but he simply turned his head.

He focused on the page explaining the fundamentals of Tai Xu Quan.

“Hey buddy, what’s with the stupid old book in a club?”

“Mind your business.”

At the short reply, they started snickering amongst themselves.

“Ooh, mind your business.”

“Wow. What a unique character. How the h*ll did this guy even get in here? This is better than any show I could pay for.”

“He must have serviced the guard, the crazy f*cker.”

“Pwahaha! With that pretty face, he’d be perfect for the role.”

“So, what’s the book about? Tell us. We’re getting tired of f*cking the girls here.”

The Black man pointed across the floor, flashing with vibrant colors. He wore a sleazy grin.

Lee Do was about to tell them to f*ck someone specific, but he clicked his tongue and looked back at the book.

‘Red Stream isn’t some small fry. No need to disobey Vivian.’

He turned the page. A loud “Ha!” of laughter reached his ears.

“This guy is hilarious.”

The two of them sat down on either side of Lee Do. Their thighs pressed against his, and he felt something hard, like a gun, against him from their pockets.

It was the Black man.

His dark hand wrapped around Lee Do’s shoulder.

“Hey.”

And at that moment, the back of his head was struck.

“What the f*ck…”

“Get lost.”

“…Oh.”

A woman’s voice. The Black man jumped up and left with the guy in the gas mask. Behind their disgruntled faces, a woman with a calm expression sat down next to Lee Do.

A sharp, cold impression overall, pale white skin, ring piercings on her black-lipsticked lips.

And short, black hair.

“Didn’t expect to see you here.”

It was the woman who had butted in when he bought the textbook.

His eyes narrowed for a moment as he recalled the memory, then he put a cigarette in his mouth. Then, he silently looked down at his textbook.

The woman with short, black hair broke the silence.

“…You’re aloof.”

“So?”

“Well, now that I see you, I wanted to apologize for that day. I know I was interfering.”

“Really?”

“I’m not usually that nosy.”

“Good to know.”

“…Really?”

Lee Do nodded as he sipped his drink and turned the page. He had roughly grasped the basic postures of Tai Xu Quan. They were simple, like a straight punch, but each one seemed sturdy and powerful.

Lee Do liked the fact that each move was simple yet carried great destructive power.

Similar to a straight punch but using Qi in a concentrated manner, it looked like a one-inch punch. Whether it actually used Qi and manifested in reality was another matter, of course.

And yet, the woman with the short, black hair remained.

Lee Do closed the book and glanced at her.

“Something else you want to say?”

“Do you come to clubs often?”

“Suddenly?”

“If you’re reading that kind of book here, you’re probably not here to pick up girls.”

“Do I have to tell you?”

“It’s fine if you don’t. Just thought I’d ask, since we’ve met again. No ulterior motives.”

Lee Do didn’t answer, extinguishing his cigarette in the ashtray.

Taking out another cigarette, he said, “I’m starting to get uncomfortable. Would you mind leaving?”

“…That uncomfortable?”

“I’m here for work, so please leave.”

“I’m here for work too.”

“So? …Not ‘so.’ Let’s just each do our own work. You go do yours too.”

“I am doing my work. I’m hired security.”

“Security?”

The woman with short, black hair nodded.

“What kind of security?”

“Here, at Madded Pit.”

“A guard?”

“No. Dedicated to the VIP room.”

Lee Do silently exhaled cigarette smoke and looked around.

Then he fell into thought. He checked the message Vivian had sent while he was flipping through the book.

-[Q134.2e]
I looked into his SNS, and he’s definitely in the VIP room now.
The Red Stream money source, Rix Hallow.
It doesn’t have to be him, though. If you hear anything strange in the club, let me know.
Anything related to Red Stream will probably come up.

As he folded his phone, the woman with short, black hair leaned in and asked, “What? A flip phone? Are you a Revenant?”

“No.”

“Then why a flip phone?”

“It’s pretty.”

“What the…”

His answers had been strangely indifferent and nonsensical from the start. Her brow furrowed.

It was at the entrance. A rough bang reached his ears.

Both Lee Do and the woman turned their heads.

The entrance was near the bar, so the sound was clearer than the booming 808 bass and the loud rap.

It was the sound of a woman sobbing. And a guard yelling, “Catch her!”

The woman with the short, black hair slowly stood up. She beckoned to a nearby guard, who hurried over. She asked him what was going on.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Some crazy b*tch.”

“Crazy b*tch?”

“She’s high on something or something, barged in screaming about revenge on Mr. Rix. She broke through the line, so the guards caught her on the stairs.”

“…Revenge? Are you sure there’s no problem?”

“Yes.”

“Sht, sht…!”

At that moment, a woman with a ripped skirt stumbled in, panting.

She tripped and fell, then quickly looked around. No one paid her much attention. They were all absorbed in the aggressive verses, the booming bass, and the enthusiastic shouts.

The only ones who showed interest were the guards.

And the woman with short, black hair.

She glanced at Lee Do and then followed the guard towards the woman.

“…Get, get away! You disgusting bastards! Get your hands off me!”

The guard grabbed the fallen woman’s hair and pulled her up.

“Don’t grab her so hard. What are you doing?”

“Ah, sorry.”

At the woman’s rebuke, the guard released the woman’s hair. She crouched down and faced the woman.

“What’s going on?”

“Get, get away! You filthy b@stard!”

“I’m the one who told him to let go of your hair. If you’re uncooperative, we have no choice but to consider you a trespasser.”

“…Okay, okay. Let me see Rix, that Rix guy.”

“Rix? VIP? Why him?”

“Ugh…”

Then the woman started crying.

“…That b@stard, that b@stard. He killed my brother. He killed my whole family…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nonsense, Maria. Get her out of here.”

“No, no! That b@stard. Please, please listen to me. That b@stard, with drugs, sob, he got my whole family hooked on drugs…”

“Drugs?”

“He forced, forcibly injected us, used us as mules, and gave us drugs every time we ran a job. For years…”

Then, without hearing the rest of the woman’s story, the woman with short, black hair turned around. The woman called Maria.

At least that’s what Lee Do and the great Daehyup, with their extremely sharp hearing, heard.

She glanced once at Lee Do, who was smoking at the bar. She spoke to the guard.

“Escort her outside.”

“Yes.”

“No, no! Rix, that Rix guy…!”

“Quiet her down. She’s disturbing the other guests.”

“Mmm! Mmm!”

The guard, a hulking figure, lifted the woman as if she were a princess and forcibly carried her up the stairs. Guards were already waiting at the entrance and coming down the stairs. Even without Maria and the guard’s intervention, the woman would have been caught and thrown out.

Maria returned to Lee Do without looking back.

“Sorry about the interruption. There was a bit of a commotion.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing much, just a small incident, happens all the time in clubs.”

“Rix? I think I heard that name.”

“Yeah, the club’s VIP supposedly killed her family or something. A typical unwanted guest.”

“Unwanted guest? It could be true. She said he injected her family with drugs. There’s no smoke without fire.”

At that moment, Maria looked at Lee Do’s unexpectedly serious face and chuckled.

Lee Do took a drag of his cigarette and asked, “Why are you laughing?”

“You’re cuter than you look. Being Unjacked and all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Is this your first time at a club?”

“So?”

“You seem young, yet everything about you is unusual. You’re surprisingly innocent, you like analog cigarettes and martial arts… I really was being nosy back then, wasn’t I?”

Maria sat down next to Lee Do again.

Lee Do tapped his cigarette on the ashtray and asked again, “I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“You’re strangely attractive.”

“Don’t you feel any guilt?”

“…Guilt?”

“Every time you see bastards like that.”

“Suddenly? What are you talking about?”

Her questioning gaze, fixed on Lee Do’s eyes, gradually morphed into a sneer.

Maria’s eyes crinkled as she let out a chuckle. Her face, which seemed incapable of smiling, looked surprisingly natural when she laughed. Rather, it was the kind of smile that subtly emerged precisely because she rarely smiled.

Lee Do silently exhaled a stream of smoke.

As if more interested in a completely different topic, Maria asked, “Why did you get into that kind of genre? Martial arts and Eastern stuff.”

“Where’s the entrance to the VIP room?”

“…Huh?”

“Where’s the entrance?”

“Suddenly?”

Maria closed her mouth. He had steered the conversation to a completely different topic, just like she had. She stared at Lee Do for a moment, then pointed across the floor, specifically to where several guards were gathered.

“It’s over there, but you can’t go in.”

“Only VIPs can enter?”

“It’s the VIP room, of course.”

VIP.

Lee Do nodded. He put the book back in his bag. The zipping sound reached her ears. He slung the bag over his shoulder.

“What? Are you leaving?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Wait.”

She stopped Lee Do as he stood up.

“I think I’ll be here for a few days, so come by again. I’m really into martial arts, more than you think, so let’s chat.”

“Okay.”

Lee Do started to walk away. Still sitting at the bar, Maria watched him leave and finally noticed the staff attached to his stand. It was the same stand as before. He seemed seriously devoted to martial arts, which made Maria even more intrigued.

Even as he walked in the opposite direction of the club’s entrance.

“…?”

Just as she began to wonder where he was going, Lee Do headed towards a table near the VIP room. It was where the Black man and the guy with the gas mask were sitting with some women.

“…So I’m telling you, I had this epic fight in the alley.”

“Against Scavengers?”

“Yeah. Eight against one, and I put a hole in every single one of their heads in 30 seconds. They were totally f*cked.”

“Come on, that’s a bit much, isn’t it? How can you win eight against one? In 30 seconds, no less. Sounds like a stroke patient’s dream.”

“No, look, I’m telling you it’s true. I can even prove…”

Their conversation abruptly stopped as Lee Do approached.

“What the f*ck?”

The gas mask obscured the man’s vision, so he didn’t seem to notice Lee Do much.

“That dork from before…”

Lee Do suddenly reached into the Black man’s pocket.

Where his pistol was.

The Black man flinched, his face contorting, but his expression worsened even further as his gun was swiftly drawn. Lee Do had pulled it out with remarkable skill.

The others at the table hadn’t even registered what was happening.

The guy in the gas mask was about to reach for his weapon, but Lee Do spoke first.

“Just borrowing this, a**hole.”

As if it were his own, he put the gun in his pocket and turned around. He left the table without another word.

“What, what the f*ck was that…”

They were too stunned to react.

Lee Do walked through the club again.

Walking with a bag and a staff strapped to his back, weaving through the grinding bodies, was borderline rude. But no one noticed in this current state. They were that high and intoxicated.

With each step, the thumping bass vibrated through his feet and into his heart.

Screeching, artificial scratches echoed in the music. A harsh, rough voice spat out lyrics like a machine gun from the massive speakers, making it impossible not to feel disoriented.

And in this chaos, only three people, free from disorientation, watched Lee Do: Maria, the Black man, and the gas mask guy.

Lee Do reached the entrance to the VIP room.

Leading further underground.

“Sir, you can’t enter…”

BANG!

At the sound, the guard knelt down.

It wasn’t a particularly significant sound.

Lee Do looked around and raised the pistol again.

BANG!
BANG!

It was just the 808 bass.

The brutal, ripping frequency, the kick, the snare. The gunshot was easily drowned out by the ferocious, scream-like lyrics. Even pained screams and groans were swallowed by someone’s roar.

So Lee Do pulled the trigger again.

BANG!
BANG!
BANG!

Looking down at the guards who had fallen and were clutching their legs, he put a cigarette in his mouth. He looked around once more, then entered the VIP room.

Smoke billowed out.

“……”

It was a place where the dazzling lights were relatively subdued.

The first to see the flashing muzzle flash under the dozen or so colored lights was Maria, and the second were wide-eyed faces.

The Black man, the gas mask guy.

“…Sht, sht.”

The two of them fled the club as if running for their lives. Maria didn’t.

“…Ah, f*ck.”

She slowly got off her chair. Her choice was to immediately contact the guards stationed inside the club.