Chapter 6
“Welcome.”
A man entered the inn.
He was a large man with a fierce face, scowling deeply.
When his eyes, framed by a large scar on his cheek, scanned the surroundings, the gazes that had been fixed on him quickly disappeared.
The innkeeper’s assistant rushed over to greet him.
Noticing the sword hanging from the man’s waist, the assistant respectfully folded his hands.
“I’d like to have a meal.”
The assistant gave an awkward smile.
“Sir, we have an unusually large number of guests today. If you’re uncomfortable with sharing a table, you might have to wait a while…”
“I’ll share.”
In a corner of the inn sat a man at a small table, drinking nothing but alcohol without any food.
Although he was the type of person who might draw attention, strangely, no one seemed to care about him.
He appeared as though he were in another place altogether, detached from the world.
“…May I sit with you?”
Gulp. Gulp.
Only after downing several drinks did the man finally nod silently.
The large man carefully pulled out a chair and sat down.
When the man reached for the bottle to refill his drink, the large man quickly grabbed it.
“Allow me to pour for you.”
Without a word, the man held out his glass to receive the drink.
As the large man poured respectfully, the man gulped it down heartily and licked his lips.
“What’s the matter?”
The large man, Ho-myung, cautiously broached the subject.
“…We lost track of Tang Ha-ryeong’s trail near Hyeokmun Mountain.”
“We lost her.”
The man’s voice was cold and devoid of any emotion, but there was a faint undercurrent of anger in the low murmur.
The dozens of lanterns lighting up the inn flickered ominously.
“N-No, that’s not it!”
Despite his large build, Ho-myung’s face turned deathly pale.
He was the leader of a bandit group that had recently gained a fearsome reputation, but his demeanour was far from that of a bold leader.
The reason Ho-myung was so deferential to this man was simple.
He was the benefactor who had elevated him from a mere bandit to the leader of the Red Forest Bandits.
This man had killed the previous leader of the Red Forest Bandits with a single strike and handed over the position to him.
Ho-myung had witnessed firsthand how dangerous this man was.
There wasn’t even a shred of defiance in his mind.
Ho-myung pleaded desperately.
“She must still be in the area. I’ll search all of Hyeokmun Mountain until I find her!”
Ho-myung’s lips quivered.
In front of a man who could snap his neck as easily as breaking a chopstick, pride meant nothing.
Clang.
The man set his glass down, and Ho-myung fell silent.
“You’re incompetent.”
The man fiddled with his glass, his gaze still fixed on Ho-myung.
“Was the information wrong?”
“N-No, it wasn’t.”
He was certain Tang Ha-ryeong had internal injuries.
After all, she had chosen to flee from the bandits rather than fight them, which was unusual for her.
She had been alone, that much was clear.
Her martial prowess, at best, was around the mid-level of the peak realm.
She hadn’t even had the chance to properly prepare her poisons or hidden weapons.
Considering she was also injured, he had expected the bandits to handle her easily.
To ensure there wouldn’t be any surprises, he had even sent No-cheol, a skilled subordinate, as reinforcement.
Even for a martial artist in the peak realm, facing the Red Forest Bandits in the mountains while injured wouldn’t be easy.
Not even an experienced master would have had an easy time in such a situation.
‘What on earth happened out there?’
If he didn’t resolve this, he would be killed.
If Tang Ha-ryeong survived and revealed the attack, the blame would fall squarely on the Red Forest Bandits.
The Tang Clan would vent their fury on the Red Forest Bandits, and possibly even the entire Murim world.
The Red Forest Bandits wouldn’t protect him.
In fact, they’d probably hand him over to the Tang Clan to appease their wrath.
There was no way they’d risk a confrontation with the Tang Clan for someone like him.
The traces left behind showed that the chase had led to Hyeokmun Mountain.
But then Tang Ha-ryeong and her pursuers had all vanished like ghosts.
Someone else must have intervened.
The problem was that there were no signs of who it might have been.
‘The worst-case scenario is that Tang Ha-ryeong survived, defeated the bandits, and reported the incident to the Murim Alliance.’
If it became known that he had orchestrated the attack on Tang Ha-ryeong…
It could lead to a disaster where all of the orthodox sects turned against him.
“So, some unforeseen factor must have interfered.”
“P-Please, just kill me!”
Ho-myung’s voice echoed through the bustling inn.
Despite the noise and commotion, it was impossible for such a loud plea to go unheard.
Yet no one in the inn paid them any attention.
Not even a glance of curiosity or concern, just people laughing, drinking, and chatting as if nothing had happened.
Ho-myung trembled.
He couldn’t even begin to fathom the level of skill required to pull off such an illusion.
“You haven’t even completed your task, and now you wish for an easy death?”
The man clicked his tongue in disapproval.
With a snap of his fingers, Ho-myung began gasping for air.
“Huff, huff!”
As his breathing grew more laboured, Ho-myung’s hands flew to his neck, as if choking himself.
The man poured another drink and swirled his glass lightly.
“They may call her a phoenix in the orthodox sects, but at best, she’s just a little bird who uses poison and hidden weapons.”
“Keheh… Keheh!”
Anyone who saw Ho-myung, gasping for breath while strangling himself, would have been horrified.
The man lightly rebuked him.
“You couldn’t even catch a bird that can barely fly. How could you fail at something so simple?”
“Sa… Save… me!”
Liquid flowed from Ho-myung’s eyes, nose, and mouth.
His eyes rolled back as he gasped for air, and just as he was about to collapse, his hands suddenly dropped from his throat.
Ho-myung collapsed to the ground, clutching his swollen red neck.
The moment he confirmed his neck was still intact, he prostrated himself on the floor.
The man no longer spared Ho-myung a glance.
He simply refilled his glass and gave an order.
“Find Tang Ha-ryeong. If she’s alive, kill her. If she’s dead, bring me her body.”
“…I will do it without fail!”
The man filled the empty glass to the brim.
As he lifted the cup, the liquid inside gradually turned a deep red.
“Drink.”
With trembling hands, Ho-myung took the glass and carefully poured the liquid into his mouth.
Guhk!
As soon as he swallowed, the veins in his face and across his body bulged grotesquely.
It was excruciating, like his entire body was being torn apart, but Ho-myung clamped his mouth shut, stifling his groans.
“Hah, hah.”
Ho-myung staggered but barely managed to remain standing on both legs.
His face had turned pale, as if he might collapse at any moment.
Yet, the cold determination in his eyes was sharper than ever.
“I will succeed.”
“You’d better.”
The man whispered quietly.
“The martial world has been too peaceful for too long.”
Tang Ha-ryeong’s death would once again set the martial world ablaze.
Blood would flood the martial world, and for that, she had to die.
**
Lee Seon groaned as he clutched his throbbing head.
“My head… feels like it’s about to split.”
Had he ever drunk this much before?
Even when the old man had occasionally forced him to drink as a companion, it hadn’t been this bad.
Competing to see who wouldn’t back down and continuing to drink had left his stomach completely ruined.
At the beginning, Tang Ha-ryeong had been drinking without a problem, but she had long since passed out.
She lay sprawled on the floor, her robes dishevelled and her chest partially exposed.
“Do people drink this much after their rebirth?”
Perhaps her body had gained a higher tolerance for alcohol during the process of restructuring itself.
“Ugh, the smell of alcohol…”
Lee Seon lifted her up.
At that moment, Tang Ha-ryeong reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Up close… you look pretty decent.”
Her breath, sweet and warm, brushed against his cheek, and she gave him a mischievous smile.
“Ugh.”
And then, her head slumped.
The soft sensation of her body pressing against his made Lee Seon close his eyes.
Alcohol is truly terrifying.
It makes people do things they would never do sober.
Shaking off Tang Ha-ryeong’s grip, he gently laid her down on the floor.
He threw a blanket over her and finally managed to catch his breath when—
Click, click.
The sharp sound of wooden pieces clattering echoed loudly.
One of the traps around the dwelling had been triggered.
“This is…”
Lee Seon stared at the trembling marker.
Someone was approaching the house.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Comment