In front of him, meat had been set out in a bowl, while the Water Dragon King's bodyguard watched him eat. He hesitated, confused, and then someone told him to eat. He had hunted it and cooked it himself.
Then he realised where he was. The forest. The Water Dragon King was here, and his guard, and the pirate.
The old man said that a growing boy should be given meat. Food and wine must be consumed.
But Han was only worried about his companions and his master. Angrily he asked what had happened to the others.
Before he could get any further, the old man told him to leave it. He had sent them on to the Orthodox Murim Alliance. The boy from the Namgung clan was a little hurt. He would be fine when he woke. Even if he was not close to Changsun, he was not going to destroy a young sprout.
Hearing that, Han was relieved that his disciple was safe. But immediately afterwards the old man reminded him that he had already given his warning.
He took a piece of meat and raised it. It was not poison, so he stopped worrying. He had to admit that it was very tasty.
Then he noticed the old man watching him eat, with a sly grin, urging him on and on, as though something had been planned.
In a medical room somewhere, someone said that this was the last one. Tiny acupuncture needles were being set into a man's body, and the old man there relaxed once the work was done.
The young man lay covered in needles. The elder said that the Water Dragon King had been strangely kind, which confused the Little Beggar Dragon.
The old man said that, as a representative of the beggars, without the Water Dragon's help there would have been an energy drain and the boy would have been crippled. The doctor said that he had not only suppressed the demonic energy. The boy's meridians had been opened as well.
The beggar wondered why he had done such a thing. But the old man was writing a letter, and he went out. He said that before the news got out, the Sword King's anger had to be appeased.
Left alone, the beggar dragon remembered the moment when the young patriarch had charged fearlessly at the Water Dragon King. He had raised his foot and put energy into it, and smashed the deck before the young patriarch had even arrived. For a moment it had seemed as though his eyes turned normal. Then, in a cold voice, the old man had ordered everyone to leave. The members of the Murim Alliance had only watched while he and his subordinate carried Han away from the ship.
Coming back to the present, he was only a beggar who had been trying to help the young patriarch. He wondered what had really happened out there, and why Mr Yu had been taken.
Around the fire in the forest, three pirates sat with their hero nearby. The bodyguard offered him another piece of meat. Looking at that gentle face, Han could not believe that this was the same man he had fought, who fought like a tiger. A second before he had looked like a monster, and now he only looked like an old drunk. Han wondered how a person can feel so completely different.
The old man offered him wine and asked how old he was. Yu took a sip first. Then he answered that he was seventeen, and the old man was shocked. So skilled, and not yet twenty.
Then he asked who had taught him, and Han immediately went guarded. The old man pressed him again. Who is the teacher?
Han said that he had learned it from his brother-in-law, of the Diamond Clan in Hubei.
The Water Dragon King said that this clan is part of the military region. Their martial arts are simple and powerful, completely unlike Han's smooth, exact movements. And that strange power, the one he had used against his subordinate, was not normal energy at all. It was far purer.
Han was surprised. Even the Sword King had not noticed that.
He asked why the old man cared so much. The old man said that he was naturally curious. He had never seen strange energy like it before, and if the boy had truly learned it only from a brother-in-law, then there was no real master left in Murim.
Hearing that, Han was pleased. He knew that the six orthodox saints could never be mentioned.
Then the Water Dragon King pointed at him and said that he had to be made a disciple.
Han was shocked by the demand. The old man added that there had been a plan to settle accounts over the trouble he had caused, but if he became a disciple, he would forgive him.
Han's brain worked fast. He was supposed to be the hero who saved people. Becoming the disciple of a pirate made no sense. It was not possible.
The old man was behaving as though it had already been decided. But Han quickly asked for a minute. That irritated the Water Dragon King further, and he asked what this was supposed to mean.
Han explained that his father was a respected scholar and a former imperial advisor, so he could not become a pirate's disciple. He counted off the reasons for his refusal one by one, while the old man listened in silence.
Then he asked whether a beating would change his mind and make him obedient. That terrifying aura crashed down on Han, and he went stiff.
The old man continued that being a pirate naturally requires talent, and that this boy's birth was exactly that. Shaken, Han could not see a way out.
The old man rolled up his sleeves and said that the boy was thinking too much. He would beat the thoughts out of him. Soon the grunts and the sound of slaps began echoing through the forest.
A few hours later, the fire had gone out. Bruised, Han was kneeling in front of the old man. He was asked whether he had decided.
Still stubborn, he asked for a little more time. But when the beating was about to start again, it came out of his mouth that he would become a disciple. He thought to himself that if nothing else worked, then fine.
He did not want to waste time, so he requested that it be temporary, because he had to reach Hwang Deok-sang and the Orthodox Murim Alliance. He needed information about the second creature, and about Hwang Deok-sang. It was necessary to reach the Alliance as soon as he could.
Despite the loss of sight in one eye, the old man said himself that it would be better if nobody knew the boy had become his disciple. If it got out, he would stay a frog crossing a small river for the rest of his life.
Han said that he still had a great deal to learn. That river had to be turned into a sea, and then into the whole world.
That answer impressed even the old man. Still, he warned that if it turned out to be a lie, he would erase him and everyone associated with him.
Then he called his subordinate and gave the order. Tell the pirates that Yu Han is the new young master of the river. But keep it a secret. The warning came with a hard stare: if the news leaked, the punishment would be severe.
After some time Han set out in a small boat. The pirates shook hands, laughing with relief, while Han was saying in his mind that this humiliation had been part of his careful planning, and now the river pirates were basically his ponies. As soon as he had the mystical creature in hand, he would run from that old man.
The Water Dragon King was drinking peacefully on a rock. He enjoyed the quiet, and it did not last long.
Suddenly someone shouted that the Water Demon was a bastard. Changsun was furious. He threatened him. He had heard that the Water Dragon King had left his son injured and unconscious.
The old man asked who he was talking about. Then he realised that the people from Changsun's ship were talking about the young man. He said that he had only found that out afterwards. He added that he had heard something else too — that the pirate had opened his son's meridians.
The Water Dragon King was surprised, and then irritated, that Changsun was angry instead of grateful.
Changsun demanded that Han be handed over, and swore that if a single hair on that boy's head was crooked, the river would run with blood enough to make an ocean.
The pirate thought that Changsun must be the boy's master. The old man said that such a bond could exist between them. But that automatic reaction convinced the Water Dragon King that Changsun was not the boy's master at all. Because the boy already had one.
He wondered what he would do if he could not hand him back.
Hearing all this, the patriarch gathered his power and charged the pirate, cursing as he came. He swung his sword, and only the clothes were cut. The Water Dragon King shouted that the man really was a swordsman. Jumping onto a broken piece of boat out in the river, he said that if that strike had hit, he would have died.
Then he angrily asked whether there had truly been an attempt to kill him. The patriarch said irritably that he had not come here to play, and that he would send him home with that ugly head of his.
The pirate king became genuinely furious at the insult, gathered his power, and challenged him to a one-on-one fight.
As the two beasts were about to collide, the Water Dragon King's servant came in carrying a hunted boar and stopped them, telling them to look at what was going on here.
The old man suddenly asked what these two were doing, and told them to stop. He had left a long time ago, and would be at his destination by now.
The pirate jumped back to the ground and said that he was telling the truth. The patriarch knew that this man, pirate or not, does not usually lie. He lowered his sword and thanked him for saving his son.
The old man muttered that he could have said so first.
Then the pirate called his subordinate over. He tossed him an old bottle of wine, and the patriarch caught it cleanly before he was offered a drink, in an attempt to smooth the atmosphere. The old man accepted it, thinking that as long as Han was safe, everything was fine.