“Well, you see, Gi-mun Hyang-ju.”
I was wondering why you seemed upset. It seems you found out about the incident involving the courtesan, Mae-hyang.
“What on earth! Why did you accept such a thing from her?!”
While asking, Gi-mun Hyang-ju seemed incredulous, letting out a hollow laugh.
Why did I accept it? Well, I’m a guy, after all.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding here.”
“Are you suggesting I’m mistaken?”
Nope.
In fact, a few months ago, I only received the lower part, and this time I took the upper part too. Even if there are gender restrictions, guys tend to go crazy over set items, you know.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell Gi-mun Hyang-ju, who looked distressed.
“While it’s true I took it, I didn’t actually accept it.”
“What nonsense is that?!”
“Once I was forced to shove it in my arms and ran off, and another time, I found it in my bundle. But I never accepted it.”
I got pickpocketed. It was a forced gift in the newb mail from Gi-ru. I didn’t accept it willingly.
I explained the situation.
“Forced acceptance, you say? Then where is the item?”
“Uh… I didn’t know what to do with it, so it’s deep in my drawer…”
I didn’t mean anything by that. Achievements are achievements. It’s proper to store them, even if I don’t use them.
“…Sigh.”
“Haha.”
I couldn’t help but awkwardly laugh, as she hit the nail on the head.
“Do you know what Mae-hyang has been saying these days? She says your heart already belongs to her, and that you only seek her when you come to Gi-ru. What strange nonsense she’s spreading!”
Why are you so angry?
“I think you’re under a big misconception.”
“What do you think will happen if you give her room?”
“Room? I clearly refused!”
“If the other party doesn’t think so, then you’ve given her room. There are already three women who think only of you. What do you intend to do? A man must be clear about his beginnings and ends, or women will cry.”
Since it was awkward to return the item I was forced to accept, I kept quiet, and I guess that gave room for interpretation.
“Also, saying you shouldn’t visit Gi-ru is off. When working as a man, you can’t help but enter Gi-ru, but you must always be wary of your youthful passions while frequenting Gi-ru.”
Thankfully, even though she was angry, her tone was scolding. Perhaps she had been waiting for the chance to lecture me.
“Are you listening?!”
“Yes, yes! I’m listening!”
‘It’s nice that Gi-mun Hyang-ju is worried, but I can’t handle being scolded this much.’
The other hyang-jus are watching, you know. I have to think of something clever.
“Why are you smiling?”
Gi-mun Hyang-ju furrowed her beautiful brows at the corners of my lifted smiling lips.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh; it’s just been so long since I’ve heard such a worried lecture.”
I quickly adjusted the corner of my mouth and looked at Gi-mun Hyang-ju.
Of course, my smile faded, but I wouldn’t forget to gaze at her with a hint of nostalgia and longing.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I was once scolded by my mother for being a troublemaker, telling me not to make the girls cry. She said a true man should indulge a woman’s every whim.”
Thinking of my deceased mother made me feel that way.
I intentionally turned my head. Though I missed my mother, I didn’t want to show a sad face as a grandson. So I subtly hinted at it.
‘It’s just that I couldn’t cut ties properly because my late mother told me not to make girls cry. I won’t do it again.’
Mentioning Hyang-a, who is Gi-mun Hyang-ju’s disciple, would be cowardly, but since Gi-mun Hyang-ju brought it up first…
“….”
Gi-mun Hyang-ju’s eyes twitched for a moment. Shock. Sympathy. Compassion. A small affection toward someone like me, who is a generation younger. If I had noticed, it was time to move on quickly.
“Being in front of Gi-mun Hyang-ju makes me feel like I’ve returned to my childhood, which brought me an inexplicable sense of nostalgia I couldn’t suppress. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not trying to blame you… Hoo.”
“How could I not know? I can return it tomorrow.”
“Then that’s fine. Take my wine.”
Gi-mun Hyang-ju, with the grace of comforting her grandson who lost his mother at a young age, handed me a bottle of wine.
—–
“Thank you for waiting so long, everyone. Let’s depart.”
As soon as we got on the carriage after the meeting, I cheerfully greeted the waiting guards and coachman.
“Oh! I see we have an unfamiliar fellow passenger!”
“Gugu!”
“I brought back a runaway pigeon.”
The reason Gugu came along was nothing special.
If it’s awkward to come directly or send someone, just return it through your carrier pigeon.
Gi-mun Hyang-ju. I bet she had prepared to retrieve it no matter what.
“Haha! Let’s get going!”
Feeling the carriage rocking, I patted Gugu.
“Gugu, you rascal. Show your face more often. Do I really need to take you from Gi-mun Hyang-ju? Is your home only when you’re sleeping? Huh?”
Even if Gugu has been trained to communicate with Gi-mun, seriously, isn’t it a bit much when all the wives are there?
“Gugu, gugu!”
“Are you pretending to be busy? You’ve put on some weight.”
“Gugu? Gugu-good!”
“You call that growth? Seems more like you just lived comfortably and got fat.”
Is evolution imminent? Gugu really seems to have gotten a bit bigger.
“Haha. Looks like you understand me.”
One of the guards from the Man Geum Battlefield spoke to me in wonder.
“Of course. …Er?!!!”
What’s that?
It was already too late to realize something was wrong.
In an instant, gravity vanished. My lower half felt like it disappeared in a flash. No way. This familiar feeling…
“Gugu?!”
“Watch out!”
“Kang Yoon-ho!”
“Argh!”
It felt like the carriage flipped over.
—–
“Kang Yoon-ho! Are you okay?!”
“Ugh. I’m fine. What happened?”
Why did the carriage suddenly overturn? I grabbed the guard’s hand to rise and asked the coachman while rubbing my sore bottom.
“The axle of the carriage wheel broke suddenly.”
As I turned my gaze in the direction the flustered coachman pointed, I saw a wheel that had been ejected from the carriage rolling like a bomb looking for a target.
“I’m sure I checked it a few days ago. How on earth…”
“Can it be repaired immediately?”
“The axle connecting the carriage and wheels is broken, so we need to go to the mansion to get repair materials.”
This is troublesome. It’s not like anyone got seriously hurt, but the issue is that it’s too late at night.
“How long will it take to walk in the middle of the night? What have you been doing with the carriage upkeep?”
“I’m so sorry!”
One guard raised his voice, but all the coachman could do was bow his head.
“Let’s not place too much blame on what’s already happened. The horses seem to be okay, but they’ve fallen out of balance.”
“Once we reach the bustling area at that intersection over there, we should be fine.”
At the end of the dark road, bright lights could be seen in the distance.
“It’s a bit of a distance. One guard should stay here, and the three of us will head to Yungi Inn. Hopefully, we’ll find a solution there.”
“I’m so sorry. Truly sorry!”
“It’s fine. Let’s go.”
I was witnessing the third challenge that seemed impossible turn into a success.
Thanks to the influence of alcohol, I could brush off this level of mishap with a laugh.
—–
The moon seemed to vanish, hiding its face, and the chill of the wind brushed against my collar. Even though it was the capital of Hubei Province, the night was no exception in casting a shroud of darkness.
The bright district in the distance gleamed, but the light seemed so far that it felt like a lighthouse, making it hard to distinguish what lay beneath my feet.
“Gugu. Guu-guu.”
That eerie bird call was sending chills down my spine for no reason.
Wait a minute.
“Gugu! Don’t make strange noises on this dark road. You’re ruining the atmosphere.”
“Gugud!”
Is this little brat laughing? It was completely intentional.
“The night road is darker than I thought. Please be careful where you step.”
The guards warned me, looking concerned.
“My night vision is fine. Don’t stress too much, coachman.”
“I’m really sorry again!”
The coachman seemed desperate to take responsibility for the incident, as he held the lantern high and went ahead of us.
“Gugu. Gugu-gugugugu!”
After a while of walking, suddenly, Gugu flapped its wings.
“Gugu, I’m telling you to be quiet.”
“Gugu-good!”
“Seriously! Now you’re pecking me? Hey!!!”
Gugu continued to peck at me as if it refused to listen. They say animals aren’t worth raising. After all I’ve fed and housed it, it’s now pecking at me for speaking a word.
“Gugu! Gugu-gugugugu!”
When I hurriedly tried to catch Gugu, the traitor flew away.
“Should I really pour water on that brat next time…？…Hmm?!”
What is it?
“Is something wrong?”
“Over there by the wall. Did you see something?”
In the direction we had come from, I thought I spotted something by the wall.
“Are you talking about the direction where the pigeon flew off? I don’t see anything.”
“Kang Yoon-ho. Sometimes shadows can play tricks on us at night.”
At night, could it have been just an illusion? I observed the wall carefully with the two of them, but I couldn’t find anything within the shadows.
“I’ll go shine the lantern there.”
“No, there’s no need….”
Was it because of the huge mistake I made?
Before I could stop him, the eager coachman headed toward the wall I pointed to.
And that was it.
“Who knows? I’ll just check… Glurk?!!!”
That was the coachman’s last moment.
“Coachman!!!”
“What kind of fool are you?!”
“…….”
I wasn’t mistaken. It was something I couldn’t see because it was concealed in shadows.
A man dressed in jet-black attire, already having cut off the life of the coachman, pushed the corpse aside, looking at us.
“I am the warrior of Man Geum Battlefield, Ma Il-do! You must have heard of the nickname, the Ma Il-sword!”
“…….”
No answer came.
The dagger in the black-clad man’s hand dripped with the blood that had just flowed from someone’s body.
“Since we are on the way with a distinguished guest from Man Geum Battlefield, if you retreat now, we can consider it a small misunderstanding!”
A person just died, and he speaks of a small misunderstanding?
This is the end of the road, and he’s introducing himself with a knife? Isn’t this instead a huge mistake? Even though I should speak up, I remained silent.
No matter how you look at it, he’s ready to kill.
“It’s dangerous. Stay back and stay close to me… Tsk!”
Just as the guard tried to caution me, the black-clad man lunged forward in a split second.
“Back!”
I appreciate the concern, but…
The guards hurriedly created distance from me to protect me.
I once heard something from someone who will become the most famous assassin in the Central Plains. No, please, let it not be that. I think about it, but no matter how much I think, it’s definitely happening.
Sohee once said that when an assassin reveals their identity openly…
“Cough!”
It meant that they were confident in their current situation.
—–
“Someone save me, heeeeee!!”
DONG HONG CHA!!!
I sprint at full speed. With the activation of my Luong Cheon Bloodline! The escape technique, Shadowless Body Technique, that no one in the Central Plains can follow is unfolding from my toes.
“Quickly, run, run! Cough!”
Damn it. Damn it.
Hearing the breath of a person who was just joking with me go out is absolutely not a pleasant experience.
First, I’ll scream loud enough for everyone to hear.
“I’m dying heeeeee!!”
I can hear the wind slicing behind me.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
I instinctively leaped, twisting my body. The black-clad man passed by me, aiming for my sides. Just how much damage are they trying to inflict?
I am trained in Shadowless Thief, Heavenly Killing Star, and from the Tang Family. But the attacks were more than just continuous.
I dodged better than I thought, but a presence that was once far away had grown nearer.
‘This is bad.’
Even with high-grade techniques, there’s no way to escape from someone with crowd control techniques.
At this rate, I’ll be slashed from behind. In the end, I decided to turn around for a moment and engage in a battle of wits.
“…….”
The dagger, stained with the blood of two people, glinted softly in the dim moonlight.
‘Find a way to survive.’
Should I kick off the wall? No, at the moment I leap, my foot will be severed. It’s impossible to charge head-on. Is there any way to confuse the enemy?
“Thief!!!”
Someone, please come out. Even though it’s a deep night, someone should react.
The black-clad man charges at me. With speed that can’t be overlooked. Can I dodge it? Can I block it?
I have to make a choice. It’s dead of night. No one’s in response to my cries for help.
KA-KANG!
No, there was one person.
A heavy sword crossed with the assassin’s dagger. In an instant, the assassin distanced himself.
“Who…?”
“Why did Gugu keep calling for me?”
“Eh?”
I turned my gaze to the voice that sounded so familiar. The man holding the heavy sword had black hair.
Wait a minute.
The one running the inn at the intersection…
“It looks like my brother has quite a few enemies.”
“Older Brother Cheol!”
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