The drinking lasted all night and I managed to escape the county the moment the sun rose.
There were a lot of drunk people, but Moyong Baek and I were fine because he hadn’t had a drink for a while.
When something like this happens…
Do they have to really drink so much?
Is what I think.
“You shouldn’t think like that.”
Leader Hwang looks at me.
“Think about what?”
“We are in the county now and I am Guardian Hwang here. Because I did something undeniable. I will admit it.”
“Yes.”
“I am also the leader of the Great Raven Clan.”
Seeing his nod, I come to the conclusion,
“But you are the prisoner of the Low-Down Sect.”
“Hmm.”
“The guardian of this place is the prisoner of the Low-Down Sect.”
Only then did he realize the reality of the situation.
“That is me.”
“And do not forget.”
“Yes.”
I was about to ask Moyong Baek to have breakfast somewhere close by but I stopped and turned. Leader Hwang and Moyong Baek too turned after me.
“….”
A man is approaching with a smile from the road we just came from and says,
“… I barely caught up. Where are you going?”
I look at the swordsman who came.
I couldn’t tell if this person was an ally or not. All I could see was that he was well dressed. And I felt wary right away despite not showing it. As soon as I saw him, I felt feelings close to hatred towards him.
Looking closer, he was tall with good looks and spoke while holding his hands.
“Great Raven Clan Leader, Low-Down Sect Leader. I couldn’t greet you because I was mixed amongst so many people. But I am called Yeop Ya-hyung.”
Moyong Baek and Leader Hwang turn to me so I ask,
“What is this about?”
Yeop Ya-hyung pulls something out of his sleeve and shows us.
“Do you know who this is?”
I look at the painting shown.
“It is tattooed Red Ghost.”
Yeop Ya-hyung reads what was there.
“The man with 20 gold coins hanging on his head is indeed him. If we cut the head of his and take it to the county, you will be paid the gold. You drank a lot last night, did you get paid though?”
I speak in a dry voice.
“We didn’t kill for money, so there is no need for it. Anything else?”
Obviously, the people of the county were trying to punish the bandits on their own and it was questionable why this man was asking for this.
I check the sword of Yeop Ya-hyung. It wasn’t a sword which one can attain that easily.
Yeop Ya-hyung says,
“I have a question, so I tried to ask while accompanying you when you were about to leave. Please excuse me.”
I nod my head.
“Ask away.”
“How did Leader Hwang get hailed as the man who killed Red Ghost when he didn’t have the skills to deal with…”
I answer right away.
“Because I was tired of dealing with them, I asked Leader Hwang to kill him. Got your answer?”
“Ah, I see.”
Yeop Ya-hyung laughs at the answer and says,
“My curiosity has been resolved. Then, have a nice trip back.”
I touch my nose and turn around to face the guy.
“Warrior Yeop, which place do you belong to?”
He smiles as he says,
“I apologize. My master wouldn’t be happy with me revealing it.”
While he turns around to leave, taking a couple steps back, I stare at his back and ask,
“Where is the place then?”
When I ask the same question in a different manner, he stops and I ask again,
“Where is it?”
Yeop Ya-hyung turns back and he is still smiling.
“Sect Leader, people forgive me for not answering you.”
I nod and say,
“You came after me at this time to find out who killed the bandit head. To go back without saying anything about you… I am asking one last time, which clan?”
Only then did his face harden.
“…”
I look at him and think of letting him go.
“Warrior Yeop.”
“Yes.”
“Red Ghost learned martial arts properly. It wasn’t martial arts a bandit would train in. Then he too must have a master right?”
“How would I know that?”
I smile as I say,
“I killed Red Ghost, that should be enough answer.”
I deliberately decide to speak out as if telling him to not bother. And his face changed as he left.
As he walks away, Moyong Baek asks,
“Sect Leader, shouldn’t we catch him?”
I shake my head.
“I don’t know who his master is, but when they come, things will be a mess. From the start, I thought there would be only bandits there, but it seems like there are a lot more different kinds of people around. Let’s walk now.”
I walk around the path with the two and Leader Hwang asks,
“What is with the bounty picture?”
“It was to lure us into the wilderness and spray poison. Or something which cannot be cured.”
If this county was like this till now…
Yeop Ya-hyung’s master is a wicked man who has good control.
I couldn’t tell right away if they were on orthodox side or unorthodox side. This is due to the fact that once a person reaches a certain skill level, they go past the cultivation side they chose, and the martial arts learned afterwards can be so diverse.
As I was walking I ask Leader Hwang,
“Leader Hwang, can you list the experts around here?”
“Both from the orthodox and unorthodox?”
I nod. Since he is the head of the Great Raven Clan he should know something about this. And he begins to speak of those he knew without much difficulty. The people of both sides. There were people I knew and those I didn’t either.
And after he begins to mention those who I presumed to be stronger.
“Around here is the White Face Scholar who is famous, and there is the Demon Fairy who is famous. And not exactly here but around there is the Wandering Cold Man which isn’t even a clan yet just a reputation a single person got…”
“Wait.”
“Yes.”
I stop and turn to him.
“Yuxiang Valley Master, Demon Fairy and White Face Scholar are friends?”
“Yes.”
“You know that? What more do you know about them?”
“Nothing more”
“I see.”
I looked at the two of them as I yawned. All three of us stayed up all night so even they were feeling sleepy now. Furthermore, since Leader Hwang had gone past the limits of his stamina yesterday, it wouldn’t be strange for the guy to pass out.
I watch the path Yeop Ya-hyung left in. I don’t tell the two, but somehow I have the feeling that the guy would come back with his colleagues.
I can’t help it, so I decide to speak.
“… I think there will be a group to chase us. Just a hunch.”
“Uh?”
“Let’s head to the Black Rabbit Union first. Leader Hwang cannot fight now with his condition and Moyong lacks skills of combat so there is a higher chance of us being wounded.”
I hand a slip to Moyong Baek
“Get a horse or carriage on the way and run to Black Rabbit Union.”
Moyong Baek asks,
“Wouldn’t it be better to wait together and be in a group of three if someone is going to come to attack?”
I thought of sending them first because they were my priority, so I decided to scare them.
“The situation isn’t like that. If there is a warrior, a master to that man, he would be skilled like me. While I fight with them, the two of you can be outnumbered or even worse, hurt, so return. That is my order.”
Moyong Baek and Leader Hwang look at each other.
“…”
Since they won’t move, I command them.
“Moyong, if you, a subordinate of Black Rabbit Union, goes and brings me an envoy or support it would help. I can manage to drag the fight till then. You two are my signal flares. You get what I mean? Go now.”
Realizing what they had to do, the two nod.
“We will move quickly.”
Leader Hwang says it like he felt bad,
“Please be safe.”
I wave my hand to shoo them away and walk slowly. Yeop Ya-hyung would think I killed Red Ghost so the target would be me.
Be it any side of the clan he is, if someone touches their men, they will come for revenge.
There is no reason for me to run to them, so I sit down in an inn and sit to take a break. The server asks me,
“What do you want?”
“Noodles?”
“No. What do you want?”
“Dumplings?”
“Nope. What do you want?”
I looked inside the inn and wasn’t shocked since there are always unfriendly shops everywhere. It is true that I prefer being treated right but since I am a server I knew. But this guy, I didn’t like him and nor do I like how he acted. I didn’t even think about drinking since I already sipped alcohol.
The food was bad, and I took out my dagger and placed it on the table.
After putting both legs on the empty chair, I closed my eyes, and the server came back with an annoying voice.
“No, what do you want? Guest. Gues…”
He mumbles but seeing the dagger out he goes back.
“Rest comfortably.”
I closed my eyes and dream with reality mingled around.
Moyong Baek and Leader Hwang carrying the burden of human flares on their shoulders ran for Black Rabbit Union by shouting for motivation. On the other side were men with huge swords cursing me.
All of a sudden, those who seemed to be the Five Evils passed by one by one. The Five Evils dancing and training martial arts while wearing weapons around with black strings tied to them. In the dream, I looked at the rope to see people acting as puppets.
Of course, it must be the Heavenly Evil which belonged to the Three Disasters.
Since I have never seen them, the face of Heavenly Evil couldn’t be revealed in a dream, but the person was playing around with the Five Evils like puppets.
I opened my eyes because it felt closer to a nightmare.
I closed my eyes but before I knew it the sun was in the middle of the sky, and I began to feel thirsty and hungry.
When I look at the server he runs to me.
“… you called?”
I take out a money slip and hand it to him.
“I am sorry.”
“Yes.”
“Bring me alcohol and dry snacks. Bring food too. And the inn too, I will rent it for a day. Things like furniture might break so just buy them and if you want to live, go somewhere else.”
“Ah, yes. I will take good care of myself and the owner, but do you have to fight in the inn? It is nice we can make money but..”
I look at the server then. His thin limbs are like a squid’s and look dirty.
“Fighting in the inn makes me happy.”
“… I have nothing to say. Alright.”
“There is no name, what is the name?”
“Spring Dream Guest House.”
“I had a wild dream, so it is because of Spring Dream huh.”
After a while the server went in and brought out the things I ordered.
Dumplings and noodles were missing.
After rummaging around this time there was vegetable soup, rice, and fish all placed on the table and I ask,
“What is all this?”
“Ah, it has been a while since the owner saw that much money so he is doing this to thank you.”
I roll my sleeves up and smell the food.
After that, I pour the alcohol into the empty cup and pick up chopsticks. I touch the food and dip it into the alcohol cup. If the food I touched with the chopsticks is poisoned, then bubbles will appear in alcohol. There was no problem.
And I eat only after seeing that everyone is done.
