novelraw Chapter 131 : Chapter 131
Chapter 131 : Chapter 131
Chapter 131 Prince Yeomseong (9)
"It is an honor to serve such esteemed guests."
Three women who entered the room bowed deeply.
"From the left are So-hyang, Chun-wol, and I am Geum-hyang, the mistress who oversees this Maehwa Pavilion."
Each of the three women stood holding a tray, and on each tray were four bottles of the wine that Jaun had ordered.
So-hyang was a woman with an aloof charm and skin so white it seemed cold, while Chun-wol was a voluptuous woman who suited a brilliant smile.
The woman named Geum-hyang, who introduced herself last, was modestly dressed in elegant attire without even wearing powder, yet her outstanding beauty, which could not be hidden, shone through.
"Which wine should I prepare for you first?"
The woman named So-hyang spoke first.
"One bottle of cold wine for me. Please give one bottle of warm wine to this gentleman here."
At Jaun's words, the women bowed deeply again, placed the remaining bottles in a corner, and approached the table with the two bottles of wine Jaun had ordered.
The woman named So-hyang sat beside Jaun, and the woman named Chun-wol sat beside the bearded man, pouring wine into their cups. Across from the four of them, the woman named Geum-hyang knelt and took her place.
"If you had sent word in advance, we would have prepared better. It is an honor to serve such esteemed guests."
Geum-hyang, who offered words of welcome once more, bowed her head in a deep bow, and the two women who had filled the cups also rose from their seats and bowed to the two men.
Faced with such overwhelmingly courteous treatment, the bearded man, with a very tense face, bowed back, and Jaun also bowed his head deeply.
"It seems you know who we are..."
At Jaun's words, the woman named Geum-hyang nodded her head.
"I have a rough idea from the descriptions given by the children. By my guess, you, Great Hero, must be the Heartless Soul Stealer, whose fame has been growing in the Sado Alliance recently."
Jaun nodded and, raising his cup, drained it in one go.
"And the gentleman next to you must be the great star of the Green Forest, the Black Dragon Twin Axes."
The bearded man, who had been cautiously following Jaun's lead and putting the cup to his lips, was so surprised that he suddenly spat the wine forward.
"H-how did you know that?"
"Is that all? You, Black Dragon Twin Axes, are from the great desert of the Western Regions. You came to the Central Plains with great ambitions, were active in the back alleys of the Black Dragon River, and then moved your affiliation to the Green Forest. You are thirty-six years old. You currently have no lover, and as far as I know, you have had no particular contact with women before."
The bearded man's face instantly turned bright red, and as he let out a dry cough, Chun-wol, who was sitting next to him, burst out giggling.
"Ahem. S-since I harbor great ambitions, I have been too busy with public and private affairs to have the leisure to meet women, that is all."
As the bearded man was about to offer more meaningless excuses, Jaun poked him in the side to stop him and looked at Geum-hyang.
"Then, do you also know the reason why I ordered twelve bottles of Gojeong's red wine?"
"Twelve bottles of red wine means a special directive from the Sado Alliance. I can think of several things that a Great Hero like you might ask of us, but my humble abilities are insufficient to fathom what such a momentous matter could be."
As the woman named Geum-hyang answered with a slight bow of her head, Jaun turned his head to look at the women seated on his left and right.
"Is this a situation where I can speak in detail?"
"Of course. Both Hyang-i and Wol-i are children who have their names listed among the Ten Flowers of Hao Gate. Whatever is said here, they will carry to their graves."
Jaun nodded and spoke again.
"I understand that the Hao Gate has also grasped the movements of the Blood Cult to some extent. We have confirmed that the Blood Cult's ties reach the Imperial Court, and that is why we have come this far."
"Yes. We are well aware of what you have accomplished so far, Great Hero. Lord Gwang-ryong also gave special orders, so we too are continuously searching for traces of the Blood Cult."
"And while continuing our investigation yesterday, we discovered that Prince Yeomseong also has deep connections to the Blood Cult."
"Prince Yeomseong..."
"Thanks to that, the situation has become a bit more urgent. Therefore, I have two urgent requests for the Hao Gate. The first is to find a way to deliver this information to the Emperor, and the second is to find the supplier of the Blood Immortal Pills."
At Jaun's words, Geum-hyang's expression turned serious.
"...Securing a contact with the Emperor. There was indeed a reason for you to bring out twelve bottles of red wine. We are also conducting our own investigation, so I understand that the first request is absolutely necessary, but... could you tell me a little more about the second request?"
"The Imperial Court, or to be precise, Prince Yeomseong, will secretly supply a large quantity of Blood Immortal Pills to the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard for about a month. With that amount, there is a high probability they are being produced directly in Beijing. Therefore, I want to find that supplier in advance."
"To produce Blood Immortal Pills, human blood is needed, so they must be procuring large quantities of blood from somewhere."
"Yes, that is correct. So I would like you to closely observe the physicians in Beijing and monitor their movements."
After hearing Jaun's words, Geum-hyang, who had been lost in thought for a moment, shook her head from side to side.
"Forgive my presumption, but my thoughts are a little different. After hearing your words, Great Hero, it seems one of our own questions has been answered as well. It is true that in most cities, physicians' clinics are the easiest places to procure blood, but here in Beijing, there is another way."
"Another way?"
"...The war in the northern border region. Recently, the subjugation of nomads led by the Embroidered Uniform Guard has increased sharply. Subjugations that used to happen once or twice a year, at most, have recently been occurring every month."
"Subjugation of forces from beyond the borders..."
"Dozens, even hundreds of people are dying every day. In all of Beijing, there is no better place to procure blood than there."
As the conversation between Geum-hyang and Jaun continued, the bearded man, who had been continuously enjoying the wine and side dishes, stopped his hand the moment he heard those words.
Having quietly set down his cup, the bearded man's expression was stiff and hardened.
"I apologize for making you recall unpleasant memories, Hero Jang. However, I felt it was right to tell you now, rather than waste time investigating other places."
The bearded man scratched his head and, with a bitter expression, downed the wine in front of him.
"It was a long time ago, and the incident with the Frenzied Wind Sand is different from what is happening now, so you need not worry about it."
Jaun, who was deep in thought, opened his mouth.
"Could we go to that battlefield ourselves? The first request seems like it will take some time, so I think it would be fine to go and come back in the meantime."
At Jaun's words, the bearded man whipped his head around.
"...Little Brother, are you saying you'll lend a hand in subjugating the foreign forces?"
"Of course not. What I want is the opposite."
Geum-hyang, who had been chewing on her lips as she listened to Jaun, slowly nodded her head.
"...You mean to say you wish to join the side of the nomad warriors. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard is hell-bent on procuring blood, it must mean they are involved with the Blood Cult."
"That's right. If we observe them from the opposite side, we should be able to distinguish them more clearly."
"...As it happens, the right person is beside you. I will prepare things so you can move immediately."
Geum-hyang gave a meaningful smile and glanced at the person next to the bearded man.
***
"Are you really going with us?"
"Yes. There were many opinions in the Hao Gate's internal meeting that this is a good opportunity. We can also gather information on the Embroidered Uniform Guard related to the Blood Cult."
"There is a high chance that something dangerous will happen."
"Hoho. You do not seem to know much about the life of a Hao Gate member. We are people who have survived by doing dirtier, more dangerous, and more difficult things than anyone else."
At Chun-wol's words, the bearded man standing beside her cleared his throat with a couple of dry coughs.
They were short words, but they held much meaning.
In a way, Chun-wol's words could be said to express the destiny of all people of the Murim.
For those who lived by staking their lives on a single sword, the word 'danger' was a part of life.
"Besides, if we don't go with you, how do you plan to join the nomads? If the two of you go alone, you will never achieve what you want."
"Did you say you were of nomad origin, Miss Chun-wol?"
"Yes. I lived on horseback until I was ten. I ran away because I wanted to live in the Central Plains, but it is fortunate that they still recognize me as family. You just have to trust and follow me."
Chun-wol grinned and mounted the prepared horse. So-hyang also mounted her horse naturally, but Jaun and the bearded man, who were not used to horses, took quite a long time to get their posture right.
"The battlefield is just a two-day ride from here. We need to go a little to the outskirts to cross over to the nomad settlement, so it will take another day or two. In the meantime, you must learn how to ride a horse. To a nomad, a horse is an essential tool."
"I will try to adapt as quickly as possible. Ah, and I didn't think we would be leaving so soon, so I couldn't contact the manor..."
"Don't worry about that. We will take care of it."
The two women gestured something to the martial artists standing in the distance and then started to ride forward.
***
Jaun and the bearded man adapted to the horses much faster than the two women had expected. Although they had a good teacher in Chun-wol, it was fundamentally because both of them had an excellent sense of balance.
After about two days had passed, by the time they reached the northernmost tip of the Central Plains, they could ride their horses so naturally that no one would find it strange.
"Since you Great Heroes have adapted so well, it seems we'll save quite a bit of time. Once we pass that gate, it will be the grasslands, so just a little more effort."
The four of them, who had purchased and donned wind-proof cloaks that could cover their entire bodies in the last village they visited, rode toward the gate.
The northern border region had frequent subjugation operations that made it resemble a battlefield, so there was no great difficulty in exiting the gate.
Hiding among the government soldiers and martial artists who were being sent to the battlefield at all hours, the four of them passed through the gate without any particular restraint and were able to enter the grasslands, avoiding the disputed areas by following a path prepared by the Hao Gate.
The four of them galloped endlessly across the vast grasslands that stretched out before their eyes.
After passing through the gate that separated the Central Plains from the north, they rode their horses for two days, traveling as long as the sun was up.
As they rode across the vast grasslands, it was difficult to even feel the passage of time.
After riding for a long time through the warm sunlight and cool breeze, dark traces of fatigue accumulated under the party's eyes, and a fine layer of dust settled on their wind-proof cloaks.
Just as the bearded man was on the verge of exhaustion, a thick plume of black smoke could be seen rising in the middle of the grasslands far away.
Chun-wol, who had been narrowing her eyes to examine the smoke, turned her head with a bright expression.
"You have all worked hard. We have finally arrived. I will get to taste some proper mare's milk wine after a long time."
Chun-wol's face, with her makeup removed and covered in dust, was full of life. For a moment, Jaun thought that she looked so well-suited to the grasslands.
Following the brightly-faced Chun-wol, the party spurred their horses one last time toward the place where the black smoke was rising.