episode_0160
by fnovelpia
“… … We heard from those merchants that a village was wiped out.”
At the old man’s words, the interior of the teahouse became quiet for a moment.
“Extermination… ?”
I asked that back.
No matter how harsh the martial arts world was with dogs, cows, and swords, the fact that a village was annihilated was by no means something that could be taken lightly.
Life-and-death situations between warriors were fairly common, but the story of a large number of ordinary people who did not belong to the martial arts group dying at the village level was a really big incident.
“Okay… ”
The old man nodded and continued his explanation.
It is said that the merchant had relatives in the village that was said to have been exterminated.
When he visited the village for regular trading, what the merchant saw was a village completely stained with blood.
Seeing the villagers being brutally murdered, all the merchant could do was collect the remaining remains.
So the cart of the merchant who passed through this place was not filled with goods, but only the bodies of the villagers who had been massacred.
It is said that the villagers, who heard about the disaster from a merchant, began to be wary of outsiders, especially the wandering warriors.
“We are proud warriors of the Namgung family! How can you treat them the same way as those who committed such heinous acts! This is an insult to Namgoong!”
One of the energetic crew members shouted that with an indignant expression. However, Kangho’s more experienced senior members shook their heads.
“It may not be easy for ordinary people to tell the difference. They’re all just warriors with swords… Because only the martial arts people can do something like that. Moreover, this area is very far from Anhui, so it is not impossible to understand that you do not know the Nangong family.”
“Cluck click… ”
The old man just laughed quietly after listening to the group’s conversation.
“Do you remember exactly how many days ago it happened?”
“Han… I think it’s been about three days.”
The old man looked into space for a moment, reminisced, and then answered.
Three days ago, it was similar to the time when we had just left Agyang.
“We can’t keep going like this, so perhaps as time passes, the villagers will open the locked door again… It might take a little more time.”
The old man said that what the village people needed was time to calm down.
I suddenly had a question and asked the old man.
“You weren’t scared?”
The old man burst into laughter at that question.
“Cluck click… What in the world does an old man who has lived enough to live have to fear? I don’t think these young warriors will persecute an old man today or tomorrow. I also went to Anhui when I was young. So, I already knew that he was the Namgung family’s military officer.”
“Ah… That’s why you so willingly asked me to bring my group.”
The group drank tea quietly for a while and pondered the information they had heard from the old man.
And the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a good decision to leave town early tomorrow morning.
I don’t know what kind of crazy people are doing this, but they will probably soon be declared martial artists and chased by the martial arts alliance.
Since he touched ordinary people who did not belong to the martial arts group and wiped out an entire village, it was clear that the imperial family would not just sit idly by and watch this happen.
‘It’s best to avoid such troublesome incidents.’
After emptying his glass and putting it down, Namgoongmu got to the point with the old man.
“I… Elderly. Could you please introduce me to a guesthouse where I can stay for a day? All the places I looked for were closed, so I don’t have a place to stay right now.”
“What… I can recognize them, but they won’t be very happy.”
“But it’s okay. Because I plan to leave town early tomorrow morning.”
After hearing Namgoongmu’s words, the old man, who was stroking his chin as if he was thinking about something, soon came up with another suggestion.
“Then how about doing it like this?”
“… … ?”
“There is a separate building behind this teahouse that was used in the past. Originally, they would regularly give pocket money to the village women and have them clean, but an incident like this happened, so they couldn’t clean and a little dust had accumulated.”
As the old man said that, he pointed to the other side of the entrance to the teahouse.
“If you promise to clean the room you stay in and leave it clean when you leave in the morning, I will let you stay without charging any extra money.”
At the old man’s words, the group looked at each other.
“It might be better than staying in a place where you are not welcome and being watched… ”
“Just cleaning… It’s not hard work.”
“The cost of lodging in a guest room is considerable due to the number of people, so if you can use a separate building for free, it seems like a profitable business?”
Overall, the group had a positive view of staying overnight in a separate building.
Namgung Hwaran looked at me and asked.
“It seems like a good offer to me, but what about Minho?”
“There is no reason to refuse.”
I answered with a shrug.
“But I don’t know if all of our group will be able to fit in… Sir, how spacious is the outbuilding? Can everyone fit in?”
“Let’s see… It would be reasonably possible if three or four people were in one room.”
“It’s quite spacious for a separate tea house.”
“Cluck click… Now that I’m old, the only thing left is this tea shop, so wouldn’t it be okay to have something to brag about?”
We checked out the outbuildings under the guidance of an old man.
The outbuilding located behind Yeonhwagak seemed larger than Yeonhwagak.
It had obviously not been used for a long time, so there was dust piled up here and there. However, as the old man said, who regularly entrusts the maintenance to local women, it seemed like it would be in a satisfactory condition as long as it was cleaned.
“It’s better than I thought.”
“Cancer. Just know that I am not giving away a separate building to just anyone.”
The old man then disappeared somewhere, telling them to take care of their own meals.
The group decided on a room for each person to stay in and began cleaning the outbuilding.
The room where Namgung Hwaran and I would stay seemed to be fine as long as we wiped away some of the white dust.
As expected, cleaning was done by crew members who had limited time.
Scrunch~
I was held in Namgung Hwa-ran’s arms, bobbing my legs, and watched Baek Geon diligently mop the room I was staying in.
‘It would be simple if I controlled the water in the bucket with a Chosoo Dongbaekjang… ‘
Since there were people working on my behalf, I didn’t feel the need to step forward myself.
The cleaning of the outbuilding did not take long and was completed. As the sturdy warriors rolled up their sleeves, the mopping to wipe away some dust took place in an instant.
We pulled the carriage around Yeonhwagak and brought it to the side of the annex, unpacked our bags and prepared for bed.
I decided to go to sleep early in order to wake up early the next morning and leave the village.
That evening.
bang!
“… What is it?”
A loud noise that I heard in my sleep made me jump out of my seat.
As soon as I woke up to the sudden noise, my body began to feel energized.
The high physical strength ability adjusts the body condition to maintain peak condition even in situations where deep sleep is interrupted.
Almost as soon as I opened my eyes, I returned to my usual clear mind and looked around.
Next to me was Namgung Hwaran, who had just woken up while rubbing her eyes, and the room in the annex we were in was completely different from before she went to sleep.
‘Then I guess something happened outside.’
The crew members staying in the other rooms must have also woken up, and they could hear people moving around and the sound of footsteps outside the door.
“Sohyeop, Sojeo. Are you inside?”
“Woke up.”
“I will open the door for a moment.”
“Yes.”
Squeak.
After opening the door and checking the condition of Namgung Hwaran and me, Cheonpunggeomdan lowered his head and tried to close the door again.
I called him and asked what happened outside.
“A loud noise was suddenly heard from Yeonhwagak. The watchdog woke up the leaders and went to investigate the cause of the noise. If anything unusual is found, we will report it. Please go back to sleep.”
“No. I woke up completely. I’ll have to go out and see what’s going on.”
Just like the incident that happened a few days ago, seeing a loud noise suddenly in the middle of the night could mean something had happened.
If that were the case, the safest response would have been for me, who had the strongest force here, to step forward.
Even if Namgung Pae, the leader of the Cheonpung Sword Team, is a warrior who knocks on the door to the pinnacle, he is ultimately a warrior of the pinnacle. He was a level below me, who freely used martial arts and special abilities.
I thought that the object of the guard was being too outspoken, but I didn’t want to remain silent and cause unnecessary casualties in the Cheonpung Sword Team, which I had a close relationship with.
“Then I want to go out too.”
As I quickly put on my clothes and headed toward the door with my sword at my waist, Namgung Hwaran, who had completely shaken off his sleep, caught me.
“… okay. Get your clothes here.”
I gave permission because I thought it would be better for me to protect Namgung Hwaran by her side rather than leaving her here with only the members remaining.
After waiting for a while for her to get dressed, we left the room.
A crew member with a slightly troubled look followed behind us.
Squeak…
When I slightly opened the back door of Yeonhwagak, which was connected to the outbuilding, a fishy smell flowed through the air. The smell that I have smelled many times in various travel destinations is…
‘The smell of blood… ?’
This familiar smell, resembling the smell of iron, was clearly the smell of blood.
I was wondering if the team members who had arrived first and were investigating were injured, so I opened the door and went in.
“… … !”
The inside of Yeonhwagak was filled with the dizzying smell of blood.
There was a large blood stain on the front door of Yeonhwagak, which faces the back door. The half-open door seemed to be the cause of the sudden noise. I took my gaze away from there and looked inside.
In the middle of the room, a bloodied person was lying down, his entire body soaked in blood.
As he kept writhing like he was having a fit, the team members were clinging to him and fixing his limbs.
“Heo Eok… Huh… ! Let go of this! We have to hide quickly! If this continues, it will be too late… !”
“Hey, it’s safe here, so calm down! Stop struggling and explain the situation! What is all this blood?”
Looking over Namgoongmu’s shoulder as he held down the struggling man, the embroidery on his blood-soaked clothes caught my eye.
“Meng (盟)… ?”
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