episode_0159
by admin
Unlike Aeyang, the weather in Zhangjiajie was not very good.
It wasn’t particularly rainy or windy, but the clouds and fog were very thick, making the city look gloomy.
It feels like everything, including the fancy base running and various store decorations, has been painted gray.
It was definitely a bustling place, but the foreign atmosphere made it difficult to feel the liveliness of people.
I guess my companions felt the same way as I did, as I could see that the atmosphere was noticeably calmer than before entering the city.
“It’s a quiet area… Sangdeok and Ikyang that passed just before were not like this.”
Namgung Hwaran glanced outside the carriage and said.
Sangdeok and Ik-yang were areas that we briefly passed through after leaving Agyang.
“That’s strange… It shouldn’t have been like this… ”
Namgoongmu, who was riding a horse next to him, tilted his head.
“Has Leader Namgoongmu ever been here?”
“No. I’ve never been there in person, but the scenery here must be so famous. Although it is not as big as the Five Aks, this place is also said to have been a place where immortals once lived, so there is a constant flow of visitors.”
Namgoongmu answered calmly while leading the horse.
“Recently, I heard that it is a popular spot visited only by people in the know… So I thought the location was chosen well.”
“Is that what it was?”
“Uh, well… That’s right.”
I answered Namgung Hwaran’s question with a shocked face.
Unlike Dongdong Lake in Akyang, which Namgung Hwaran chose, this was the travel destination I chose.
In reality, it is a famous tourist destination, so I was curious about how it would be portrayed in a martial arts show set in the past.
It’s not that there were no people walking down the street, but people who appeared to be residents were clearly wary of us, outsiders.
“But the atmosphere in the village definitely doesn’t look normal.”
Namgoongmu ordered his youngest son, Baek Geon, to find out if something was going on here.
If there was an event going on at the village level, such as a funeral, it was clear that it would be better for both of us who had come to enjoy sightseeing and to move to another place.
Thump thump.
“Are you there?”
Baek Geon knocked on the closed door of the building on the street, but there was no answer from inside.
Considering the shadows fluttering by the window and the signs of popularity inside, it wasn’t like there were no people. However, even though Baek Geon knocked on the door several times, the owner of the building did not show up.
“Phew… Huh?”
Finally, as Baek Geon turned and looked around, a boy who had been looking at him with his head out from the building next door came in.
Just as Baek Geon was about to approach the boy with a bright smile on his face. A woman who appeared to be the boy’s mother came out, hugged the boy and disappeared inside the building.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
bang! Slam!
“I’m not a strange person! I have a quick question to ask! Please open the door!”
Thump thump thump.
Baek Geon ran in late and knocked on the door, but the door was already locked and there was no sign of it opening again.
Baek Geon, unable to properly carry out his mission, returned to the group with a sullen face.
In the end, the group decided to wait in place and a few members dispersed to investigate the situation.
The members who had been pushed out of time moved to do their part.
After about an hour or so, the scattered members began to return one by one.
“The villagers did not even lift their noses.”
“It seems like they are extremely wary of outsiders. I didn’t look around all the guest rooms, but even the guest rooms had their doors locked.”
“Some travelers also seemed confused because they did not know the situation.”
“Just getting close can trigger a fight… It seems like something is definitely going on.”
The reports from the returning crew members were all very similar. Namgoongmu gathered it all and came to a conclusion.
“… … I guess something happened in the village recently. Then, rather than staying here for a long time, it would be better to find a place to stay the night and move to another place early tomorrow morning. This is not the only village nearby.”
“That would be better.”
Namgung Mu, who slightly bowed his head to Namgung Hwaran and me, rode his horse and approached Namgung Pae in the lead.
That was when Namgung-pae nodded after hearing Namgung-mu’s story.
“found! haha… I found an open store!”
Baek Geon jumped out of the alley and returned to the group, shouting loudly.
“Are you saying you found a guest cup?”
In response to Namgoongmu’s question, Baekgeon took a breath and shook his head.
“Seup… Phew… no. There was an open tea house, not a guesthouse. There was an old man who seemed to be the owner, and he said that if he brought his group to be his guests, he would tell them why people lock their doors.”
“Hmm… ”
Since I had already decided to leave the village, there was no reason to go to the tea shop and ask about the situation.
However, it was true that the time we arrived at the village was a bit odd, so we had to stay here for about a day.
“The old man must be a villager who lives here, so if you ask him, wouldn’t you be able to find a guest who will open the door for you?”
“That is also correct. Then, let’s go to that teahouse first.”
In response to the opinion I brought up, the group headed to the teahouse that Baek Geon had discovered.
“This is the place.”
Baek Geon, who soon finished giving the tour, pointed to a building.
The tea house with the name Yeonhwagak (蓮花閣) on the entrance was a place where traces of time could be seen at first glance.
There weren’t any customers inside through the open door, but it was quite large for a tea house and seemed to be similar in size to an ordinary single-story tea house.
The group entered Yeonhwagak with Baek Geon leading the way.
“I’m here. Elderly man!”
“Cluck click… I really came back.”
At the sound of Baek Geon’s voice calling for the owner, a stooped white-haired old man appeared from the back of the store, holding a cane.
The old man patted his bent back and looked around at the group.
“Okay… There are more people in the group than expected.”
“Uh… Is that a problem?”
“Cluck click… No way. The more guests, the better. Everyone, please take your seats.”
We sat down inside the teahouse as instructed by the old man.
“I… ”
“Tea will be provided according to the number of people.”
Baek Geon sat down and tried to talk to the old man, but the old man quickly disappeared into the kitchen with an uncharacteristic whooshing sound.
“Hmm… You are a very correct person… ”
Baek Geon lowered his hand in an awkward motion and said.
‘Surely he didn’t hit his back with a cane?’
I tilted my head.
After a while, the old man came out of the kitchen carrying a teapot and a tray with glasses on it.
Several members who saw this stood up and said,
“Senior, we can move it ourselves.”
“Uh-huh! The owner is such a mess, but he has to ask customers to do the work to use it. Please sit back and wait. The tea has time to brew, so it will be ready to drink when everything is ready.”
The old man flatly refused help and went back and forth to the kitchen several times to serve tea to every table.
While the old man was going back and forth in the kitchen, the group who tested the tea for poison confirmed that there was no problem and raised their glasses.
“Hmm… ”
Surprisingly, the taste of the tea was not bad.
It did not seem to be as high-quality tea leaves as the Gunsan silver needles I tasted at Mangyeo Gaekjan, but the clear and fragrant taste showed that the leaves were carefully brewed.
I felt that the atmosphere of the group, which had been somewhat tense due to the strange behavior of the villagers, was relaxing.
Namgungmu looked at the old man’s notice and handed him a purse containing a slightly heavier amount than the price of the tea.
“Elderly. You said you would tell our youngest member why the villagers lock their doors, right? Now can you tell me why?”
“Hmm… Where should I start explaining? Oh, right. The work started with the merchants who visited this place a few days ago.”
The old man assessed the weight of the clinking bag that Namgungmu had given him, and only then did he open his mouth.
“Are you a merchant?”
“That’s right… When they first came into town, I thought they were just there to sell things. But that wasn’t it.”
The old man continued speaking with a serious face.
“… … The luggage they were carrying in the carriage was not an item. It was a human corpse.”
“Corporate… Do you mean… ?”
The group began to get nervous again at the sudden appearance of a bloody word.
“Okay… The merchants quickly left the village, but I was able to hear about the situation through the villager who spoke with them.”
“What was the reason you left with the body in the carriage? What does that have to do with the village people?”
After hearing Namgoongmu’s question and remaining silent for a moment, the old man looked at me with pitch-black eyes and answered.
“… … We heard from those merchants that a village was wiped out.”
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