novelraw Chapter 31 : Dog and Cat (2)
Chapter 31 : Dog and Cat (2)
Jin Sa-wol, who had come out of the branch and was returning home, watched for a moment as luggage was being moved into the empty house next door.
In front of the door, a middle-aged woman and a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties were standing side by side, holding luggage. At a glance, they looked like a mother and daughter.
They also discovered Jin Sa-wol and Hyun Jin and turned their bodies.
"Are you the people who live next door?"
The young woman asked.
Jin Sa-wol went inside the house without answering, and Hyun Jin answered instead.
"Did you move in?"
"Yes."
"Nice to meet you. My name is Woo Jeong-bong."
"My name is Son Ae-hwa."
"It's a beautiful name, Miss Son."
Son Ae-hwa smiled cutely at Hyun Jin's words. Then the middle-aged woman pulled her sleeve.
Hyun Jin went inside the house with a disappointed expression. Hyun Jin heard the middle-aged woman's words.
"He's holding a sword. They are martial artists. Never get close to them. A hunter is no different from a butcher."
"Yes."
Hyun Jin, who had closed the door while listening to the mother and daughter's conversation, knew that a neighbor he couldn't get close to had come.
Hyun Jin tried to find the back of Jin Sa-wol, who had already entered his room.
"He probably wouldn't be interested."
Hyun Jin shook his head, thinking of Jin Sa-wol. In his eyes, Jin Sa-wol was a man as wooden as a block of wood who wouldn't even give a glance even if the most beautiful woman in the world lived next door.
Jin Sa-wol, who had entered his room, came out again. Hyun Jin, who saw him, asked urgently.
"Where are you going?"
"I have something to do."
Jin Sa-wol answered briefly and then left the house.
Hyun Jin couldn't stand his curiosity and was about to follow, but his shoulder throbbed, so he went into his room.
A short while later, Hyun Jin also left the house to go to a doctor. The wound was quite deep to treat on his own.
'Damn it.'
A short while after Jin Sa-wol and Hyun Jin had left the house, the mother and daughter appeared in the yard of that house.
They looked around the yard and then disappeared again.
It was when the sun was setting that Im Woo and his wife from the tofu shop went to the house of the mother and daughter who had moved in.
The four people were gathered around a round table.
The first person to open his mouth was Im Woo.
"Let's skip the greetings and get to the point."
"Your tone is arrogant."
As Ha So-eun, the mother of the mother and daughter, spoke, Im Woo's wife, Jang Ha-jeong, twitched her eyebrows and showed killing intent. Jang Ha-jeong was the branch master of the Nanchang branch.
"Here, you must follow my orders. The arrogant one is you."
"Following the branch master's orders and that guy being arrogant have nothing to do with each other."
"Because he's my husband. I'd like you to treat him as you would me."
"Hmm..."
At the word 'husband', Ha So-eun crossed her arms and showed an expression of incomprehension. Son Ae-hwa said.
"Do you mean we should treat your husband like the branch master?"
"Of course you should. The status follows the higher person in a couple."
Jang Ha-jeong pressed the two with a few words and then looked at Im Woo.
"Speak."
Only then did Im Woo open his mouth.
"Jin Sa-wol next door is a wicked man classified as first-class among those who have fled from our Cult..."
"I know. Just get to the point."
Ha So-eun said briefly, as if she were annoyed. As she felt a chill, Im Woo wiped his forehead with his sleeve and spoke again.
"A slight problem has occurred, so we have decided to cancel everything."
"A problem?"
"There's a cohabitant, isn't there?"
As Ha So-eun and Son Ae-hwa spoke, Im Woo nodded.
Jang Ha-jeong continued.
"The cohabitant is Hyun Jin of the Wudang Sect. If an unnecessary misunderstanding or mistake occurs, there is a possibility that the Wudang Sect will intervene. For now, we will inform the main family of this fact and wait for an answer."
"If that is the branch master's will."
"We'll have to wait."
Ha So-eun and Son Ae-hwa answered at the same time and then stood up from their seats. It meant that if their business was over, they would leave.
Jang Ha-jeong did not hold them back.
As Ha So-eun went out first, Son Ae-hwa smiled and greeted them.
"Call me when the time comes."
"Individual actions are forbidden."
"I know."
At Jang Ha-jeong's low voice, Son Ae-hwa smiled, winked at Im Woo, and acted coquettishly.
As she left, Im Woo trembled his shoulders slightly.
"She's pretty."
"If she's pretty, go after her."
"Are you crazy?"
Im Woo, who knew Son Ae-hwa's identity, trembled his shoulders.
Son Ae-hwa was a woman who had killed all the men she had slept with under the same blanket.
The more frightening woman was Ha So-eun. She was Son Ae-hwa's senior and teacher. She was a woman who had killed hundreds of people so far.
To them, a person's life was nothing more than a toy.
* * *
In Seonyakru, flies were occupying the tables instead of customers. Ha Mae-sang killed the flies with a fan and wiped the tables with a cloth.
Chwareureuk!
"Welcome."
Ha Mae-sang, who had quickly bowed his waist at the sound of the beaded curtain, shook his head when he saw Jin Sa-wol and prepared tea.
"A guy named Hyun Jin from the Wudang Sect has come to my house."
"Really? Wudang Sect..."
Ha Mae-sang muttered and poured tea in front of Jin Sa-wol.
"There are over thirty people in the Hyun generation of the Wudang Sect. Among them, there are seven disciples of the sect leader, and Hyun Jin is the sixth among them."
Even at Ha Mae-sang's words, Jin Sa-wol drank his tea. Ha Mae-sang frowned and asked.
Since the Hao Mun was seen as an unorthodox or riffraff by the Wudang Sect, which could be called a giant of the orthodox, they did not think well of it.
"But why is a Wudang Sect bastard in your house?"
"He said he came because of Hyung Jo-geo... but it doesn't seem to be just for that reason."
"Did you talk?"
Jin Sa-wol shook his head without answering. He had talked. But most of it was useless talk.
Ha Mae-sang sighed and comforted Jin Sa-wol.
"Being hostile to the Wudang Sect can be a big problem for your future life. So, deal with him moderately, and when he leaves, just say goodbye."
Jin Sa-wol nodded and grabbed his teacup.
"Do you know anything more?"
When Jin Sa-wol asked, Ha Mae-sang thought of Hyun Jin.
"Other than that, there's nothing particularly known. If his martial arts were strong, he would have already been well-known in the martial world."
"Hmm..."
"For now, we have to see him as one of the many disciples of the Wudang Sect. But the disciples of the Wudang Sect, whether known or unknown, do not have a large deviation in their martial arts. You must always be careful when dealing with them."
"I know that too."
"Anyway, it doesn't seem like you came because of Hyun Jin. What's the matter?"
"Food."
"Tsk! This is a tea house, not a restaurant."
Ha Mae-sang, who stood up grumbling, went into the kitchen, and a short while later, he came out with steaming rice and side dishes.
Thump! Thump!
Ha Mae-sang, who had set the table on the dining table, sat in front of the eating Jin Sa-wol again.
Jin Sa-wol, who was eating vegetables, said.
"I've decided to go to Noryeon Mountain."
"Noryeon Mountain is a dangerous place."
Only then did Ha Mae-sang realize that the purpose of Jin Sa-wol's visit was Noryeon Mountain.
"Mak Gu-dong, the fortress master of Noryeon Mountain, uses a strange saber art, so much so that he is called the Strange Blood Saber, and I suspect it might be the Soul-Killing Saber Art of the Blood Curtain. But since all those who have seen his saber art have died, there is nothing properly known."
The Blood Curtain was an unorthodox sect active in the Guangxi region and had almost never appeared in the martial world.
Since they had rarely shown themselves, there was almost no information and nothing was known.
"The Blood Curtain uses a hwandao, and it is known that there are several holes in the hwandao, so if you inject internal energy, it makes the sound of a fierce beast. But Mak Gu-dong carries a hwandao as a weapon, and it seems that when he fights, a strange sound is made."
"So he's the Strange Blood Saber."
"That's right. If he uses the Soul-Killing Saber Art of the Blood Curtain, it's better to be careful. The Soul-Killing Saber Art is a frightening saber art, so much so that it is said that if you master it, there will be no rival in the world."
Jin Sa-wol emptied his rice bowl in that short time and drank tea.
Ha Mae-sang spoke again.
"In the Black Curtain Fortress, besides the fortress master, there are three guys you have to be careful of. Cha Shim, Jang Wi, and Heo Dong. All three are guys with first-class level martial arts. I heard that the subjugation team that went before also suffered quite a bit from these guys."
"What kind of guys are they?"
"Cha Shim is from the White Sword Sect, and Jang Wi and Heo Dong seem to be from the military. They say that the spear art mainly used in the military is their specialty. Their archery is also outstanding."
Jin Sa-wol thought that they had annoying specialties.
"The story that guys who came out of the military and had nothing to do became bandits is common. One more piece of bad news is that the bandits from the small bandit fortresses around Noryeon Mountain seem to be gathering. Perhaps because their reputation has risen due to their victory over the subjugation team, the bandits are also banding together."
"I thought they would scatter, but are they banding together even more tightly?"
"No matter how much they band together, if the subjugation team continues to attack without rest, they will eventually scatter. Right now, they are banding together even more tightly because they have overcome a great ordeal. It's better not to go now. The timing is not good. They will be able to block any decent subjugation team several times."
Although he heard Ha Mae-sang's story, Jin Sa-wol's expression showed no particular change.
It didn't matter even if the number of bandits was large.
In the end, the target to be killed was the fortress master. The fortress master was not several, but one, and if the fortress master died, they would all scatter.
The Green Forest was such a place.
"It seems the Nanchang branch is gathering wanderers, but it won't be easy even if skilled guys come."
Jin Sa-wol nodded, then drank all the tea remaining in his teacup and stood up.
To Jin Sa-wol, who had placed ten nyang of silver on the table as payment for the information, Ha Mae-sang asked.
"When you return from Noryeon Mountain, how about meeting the branch master? I'll arrange a place for you."
"If I return alive?"
"That's right. You have to be alive to meet. It seems the branch master is very slightly interested in you."
Ha Mae-sang made a small space with his index finger and thumb and smiled.
"Slightly."
"This much."
"Alright."
Jin Sa-wol answered and then left the tea house and headed for a tavern. He was thinking of buying food and going back because of Hyun Jin.
If there was no food, he would have to listen to his grumbling for a long time.
* * *
A wide plain spread out in the valley where mountains and mountains intersected.
In front of the basin, a high wooden fence was neatly arranged in a long line, forming a wall.
Beyond the wooden fence, there was a spacious training ground, and dozens of houses were spread wide like wings to the left and right.
Black Curtain Fortress.
The Black Curtain Fortress in Noryeon Mountain looked like a large village deep in the mountains.
The two-story wooden building where the fortress master resided was nearly ten times larger in scale than the other houses.
Half of the first floor was a warehouse for storing goods, and the remaining space was a main hall for banquets. On the second floor, there were a dozen or so bedrooms, which were used as residences by the fortress master and the leaders.
One afternoon.
Mak Gu-dong, the fortress master of the Black Curtain Fortress, was sitting at the head of the spacious main hall.
Mak Gu-dong, with a large build and a sturdy physique, appeared to be in his late thirties.
He was wearing a brown long robe, and next to the chair he was sitting on, a semicircular hwandao was hanging.
In front of him, five men in black, with their bamboo hats pressed down deeply, were standing, and their faces were also covered with cloth, so only their eyes were visible.
And on their waists, a hwandao similar to Mak Gu-dong's sword was hanging.
"We are grateful for the fortress master's grace. The sect master told me to convey his constant gratitude."
"Just words?"
"The sect master is making a spirit pill to send to the fortress master. It might be completed and on its way by now."
Mak Gu-dong smiled at the answer of the man in the bamboo hat. The spirit pill was a secret medicine that enhanced internal energy, and it was what he wanted the most.
"I have already experienced the spirit pill that my master sends, so I know it well. Isn't it because its effect is so good that I am so loyal to my master? Hahahaha!"
Mak Gu-dong laughed out loud and then picked up the wine cup on the table.
Just then, a man in black, with his bamboo hat pressed down, opened the door of the main hall and came in. He approached Mak Gu-dong, then stopped and cupped his fist.
"We have loaded all the luggage."
(End of Chapter)