Chapter 78
Chapter 78
Yeon-ryang, who had drawn his sword, exuded a completely different aura than before.
The playfulness had vanished from his face, replaced by the countenance of a ruthless swordsman.
A heavy killing intent made my legs tremble. As I frantically reached into my sleeve, Yeon-ryang spoke coolly.
"If you're thinking of using poison inside the inn, I'd advise against it, Miss. Come this way."
I swallowed hard and followed Yeon-ryang.
He lightly jumped from the second floor of the inn and beckoned me with his hand. I vaulted over the railing and stood beside him.
Jeomsoi, who had been sitting blankly in the empty inn, was startled and fell backward on his backside.
"Sorry, friend. We'll take care of our business outside, so don't worry."
Yeon-ryang apologized to Jeomsoi and walked towards the entrance of the inn.
"Yes, yes. Great hero...!"
Jeomsoi, belatedly nodding his head vigorously, covered his mouth and hiccuped.
He seemed frightened by Yeon-ryang's casually dangling sword.
"Miss, we're going to move away from the inn. See that hill across the way?"
"Yes."
"Don't lose me, and follow."
Yeon-ryang glanced at me, lowered his body, and darted off like an arrow.
I hurriedly moved my feet to chase after Yeon-ryang.
My joints creaked all over my body from lying on the bed for so long, but there was no time to complain.
I gritted my teeth and ran to avoid losing him.
At the same time, I felt the ronin approaching, hunting me down.
They didn't even bother to conceal their presence, as if baring their fangs to hunt me down.
I took a deep breath and wiped the cold sweat from my hands onto my jacket.
I had grabbed Yeon-ryang on a whim, but I wasn't sure.
Could Yeon-ryang handle four of them alone?
If those devilish ronin attacked, wouldn't Yeon-ryang be defeated too?
Despite my worries, Yeon-ryang seemed more than relaxed.
As soon as he landed on the hill, Yeon-ryang naturally hid me behind his back, twirled his sword, and exclaimed in admiration.
"Wow, Miss. Four of them came running just to catch one Miss? Is your skill that great, or are those guys just trash?"Yeon-ryang chuckled as if he had seen it all, and one of the wandering samurai's faces turned red."
"Who are you!"
"Who am I? I'm the guy who's going to cut off your heads."
"Boy, you don't seem to know who we are. We're the great heroes known as the Mad Demon Four Swords in this area. Don't interfere with our brothers' business."
"What? Is that your title? Dogs? Even a neighborhood thug wouldn't come up with a name like that. Did you make it up yourselves? How corny."
"You dare! You insolent brat! I'll show you what's what!"
...Wow. This is real Gyeokjangjigye.
I was genuinely impressed.
To make someone flip out with just a few words, his skill at irritating people was truly an art.
One of the ronin, grabbing the collar of the panting group to stop them, glared at me.
"So, you've made a new companion? You're a resourceful woman."
He was wearing an eyepatch over one eye. He was definitely the man Ju-ryeong had scratched a few days ago.
I wanted to retort in kind, but my body froze like a mouse in front of a predator.
The fear I had felt when he approached me seemed to resurface vividly.
As my face turned pale, Ju-ryeong, perched on my shoulder, tugged at my hair as if to snap me out of it.
"Kee!"
"Yeah."I moved my trembling hand and took out a non-contact device."
These were the ones chasing me. I couldn't just stand there dumbly and leave everything to Yeon-ryang.
As my wavering gaze calmed down, the ronin with the eyepatch raised one corner of his mouth.
"It's no use resisting. Woman. You're going to die even if it's not by our hands. Do you think there won't be anyone else who wants to hunt a target worth a thousand silver?"
At his words, Yeon-ryang's eyes widened.
"Wow, Miss. Your bounty is a thousand silver? I didn't know you were worth that much."
I instinctively cringed at his admiring voice.
I was suddenly afraid that Yeon-ryang might change his mind now that he knew the amount.
The wandering man seemed to have the same thought, as he made a proposal to Yeon-ryang.
"I don't know why you're helping that woman, but how about handing her over to us? We'll give you half of the reward."
I anxiously bit my lip and looked at Yeon-ryang.
What if Yeon-ryang changed his mind? Could I escape?
Perhaps sensing my uneasy gaze, Yeon-ryang turned around and wiggled his fingers as if to reassure me.
Looking back at the wanderer, he chuckled and replied.
"That's quite a tempting offer, but I've already agreed to receive a reward."
"...What a fool.The wanderer clicked his tongue and drew his sword.
I was relieved. At least he didn't seem to be planning to hand me over to the ronin right now.
I didn't know what he would do after dealing with the wanderer, though.
I moved the Sangongdok inside my sleeve to an easier-to-reach position.
If Yeon-ryang showed any suspicious signs, I was planning to scatter the powder and run away.
Unless he had immunity to poison, the poison from the mountain should work.
Next, I applied paralyzing poison to the non-contact. If I could slow down the ronin's movements, it would be of some help.
Yeon-ryang, noticing what I was doing, whispered softly.
"I'll draw their attention. But please avoid aiming for the top of my head, Miss. Poison is scary."
Then, he soared into the air.
"Hiyah!At the loud shout, the four warriors charged towards Yeon-ryang. I also hurriedly threw the non-contact.
The non-contact, flying in a thin line, curved and grazed the arm of the wanderer with the eyepatch and the leg of the wanderer with the axe.
"That rat bastard...!"The wanderer, clutching his leg, cursed and charged towards me."
He was moving so fast that there was no time to retrieve the non-contact.
Just as I was about to panic and launch the attack, the wanderer who had raised his axe above his head collapsed like a scarecrow.
Yeon-ryang was standing behind the fallen warrior.
Yeon-ryang, lightly flicking off the blood from his sword, winked at me.
"One."
"Wang Pal! You, you son of a bitch...!"The wanderer who had shouted charged and swung his sword at Yeon-ryang's back."
Just as I was about to shout for him to look behind him, Yeon-ryang moved behind the wanderer in the blink of an eye and slashed his waist.
"Kuaaaaack!"
"Two."
"Uwaaack!"
"Three."
A strange sense of relief bloomed at Yeon-ryang's voice counting the numbers.
The wanderer who had been toying with me like a rat in a trap was being cut down in one stroke.
He was much stronger than I had thought.
Soon, the surroundings fell silent.
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I looked ahead and saw Yeon-ryang pointing his sword at the throat of the wandering warrior with the eyepatch.
The wanderer was groaning and clutching his arm. The paralyzing poison seemed to be spreading.
"I thought I had caught my prey, but it turns out I was the prey.The wanderer smiled bitterly and mocked himself. Yeon-ryang scratched his head.
"Do we really have to see blood? Mister, aren't you thinking of just turning back at this point?"
"My brothers are here. Where am I supposed to go back to?"The wandering warrior, coughing and spitting out a lump of blood, gripped his sword again."
Yeon-ryang nodded as if he understood.
"I see you refuse. I have no personal grudge against you."
"Likewise."The wanderer, replying in a cracked voice, glared at Yeon-ryang." Yeon-ryang clicked his tongue and said to me.
"Miss, close your eyes."
At Yeon-ryang's forceful voice, I closed my eyes without realizing it.
A deathly scream and the sound of something rolling away were heard.
Just as I was about to open my eyes in surprise, Yeon-ryang, who had already approached, covered my face with his large palm.
"Don't look. I'll clean it up."
"But..."
"It's not good for a child to see such gruesome things. Hey, furball. Cover your master's eyes."
Yeon-ryang, stopping me, brought Ju-ryeong to my face. The soft fur touched my eyes, and the world went dark.
As my sight was blocked, all my senses focused on my ears. I could hear the sound of something dragging across the dirt floor.
He seemed to be cleaning up the corpses of the wanderers.
"Ju-ryeong. Come down."
"Kee-ee."
"It's okay, come down. There's something I need to find."
I removed Ju-ryeong and rummaged through my sleeve, taking out a small porcelain bottle.
I had hoped I wouldn't have to use the Hwagolsan, but if I had to, there was no need to hesitate.
I tried not to be conscious of the blood-reddened floor as I approached Yeon-ryang.
"Here, this."
"What is it?"Hwagolsan." We shouldn't leave any loose ends. I'll pour it."
"...Miss. You're truly a daughter of the Tang Clan? You have a ruthless side."
Yeon-ryang wore an intrigued expression. I retorted brusquely.
"Not anymore."
"Haha, you'll want to go back home after just three days of roughing it. Well, having a place to return to is the charm of running away."
"I didn't run away. I was kicked out."
"...Huh?"
"I was excommunicated. So, I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about my family."
Yeon-ryang looked flustered at my listless reply.
"Oh, oh dear. I'm sorry, Miss. I didn't know that was the story."
He scratched his head and glanced at me. I waved my hand as if to say it was okay and opened the lid of the porcelain bottle.
I had no idea how much to pour to dissolve the bodies.
"How much should I pour?"
"I don't know either. I've only heard of Hwagolsan, but this is the first time I've actually seen it."
"It's my first time using it too."
We exchanged awkward glances and stared at the porcelain bottle, which was only about two finger-widths in size.
"Let's just pour some for now."
"Okay.Carefully tilting the bottle, I dropped the flower mountain onto the corpses.
The moment the black liquid touched the blood, the corpses emitted white smoke and melted away instantly.
There was a reason why Dang Juhee had given it to me.
I was admiring the effects of the potent poison and about to continue the cleanup when I was struck by a thought.
"Miss. This one isn't melting as much."
There wasn't enough.
"Did I pour too much at the beginning? What should we do? Should we burn it?"
"No. Let's bury it. Burning it will be more noticeable. We'd need a lot of firewood, and there would be a lot of smoke."
Yeon-ryang shook his head and began poking the ground with his scabbard. He seemed to be looking for a place where the soil was soft.
He quickly dug a hole a foot deep and dragged the half-melted corpse over to throw it in.
It wasn't a pleasant sight, and my brow furrowed involuntarily, but I didn't want to look away.
I stared intently at the end of the wanderer.
"Unexpected. Miss. I thought you wouldn't be able to stand such gruesome things."
"I thought so too."
But I had to engrave it clearly in my mind.
What the Rivers and Lakes / Jianghu was like.
What the grudges of the Rivers and Lakes / Jianghu were like.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be him but me who would be half-melted and thrown into a pit.
Yeon-ryang, understanding my feelings, didn't say anything else.
He quietly covered the pit and cleaned up.
