Chapter 152: Chapter 152

A crooked sign looked as if it wouldn’t be strange if it fell off right away. Cobwebs spun everywhere gave the feeling that it had not been cleaned for a long time.

The scenery, which was no different from a ruin, was enough to make one wonder if it was a place where ghosts in stories lived.

This was once the Hoyeon family, which sold Sohongju, a specialty of Dongting Lake in Yueyang, Hunan.

The faded glory of the past had already disappeared and did not exist, but because they had controlled the breweries of Yueyang for a long time, the name written on the plaque was still clearly engraved.

“The Hoyeon family…”

“Yes! This is the place!”

Geum Eun-hak replied, wiping away cold sweat.

He had already heard the story and knew.

The fact that they were pushed out in the power struggle with the Chu Gate Family, and after that, were attacked by someone and suffered a blow close to destruction.

Even though it was now a abandoned house that even people did not visit.

“Is this really the place?”

Dan Woo-hyun asked back with a sullen expression.

Even he thought about it and could not understand it at all. Not even the presence of a person could be felt inside.

A place where even beggars would not likely live.

Moreover, the cold wind blowing from the inside contained chill. It was clear that if a person stayed in such a place, they would have frozen to death.

“It, it is correct.”

At Geum Eun-hak’s reply, Dan Woo-hyun wore a displeased expression but stretched out his hand as if he had no choice. He lightly pushed the main gate, which would not be strange even if it collapsed right away.

Cre-e-e-ak!

A strange sound stimulated the ears.

A sound that scratched the ears was heard for a while, and then with a thud! the door fell down.

“…”

“…”

Dan Woo-hyun and Geum Eun-hak broke out in a cold sweat.

Even if it was a completely ruined family, they should have fixed the door a little.

“Is anyone there?”

Geum Eun-hak, who entered first, shouted.

They had come from Yueyang to the Hoyeon family. Because the distance was considerable, they had moved for a full two hours, so they had to at least meet a person of the family.

But there was no sign of anyone inside at all.

The moment he sighed because not even a sound was heard.

Dan Woo-hyun, who was behind him, turned his head.

“Who… are you?”

It was a woman who looked to have just reached her twenties.

Her long hair was disheveled as if she had not been able to groom it properly, and the clothes she was wearing were no different from rags. Her hands were red, perhaps due to the cold, making one wonder if she had caught frostbite.

Holding a worn-out basket at her waist, the gaze of the woman quietly staring at Dan Woo-hyun looked somewhat complicated.

“Who are you?”

“…I asked first.”

At Dan Woo-hyun’s question, the woman wore an absurd expression.

To enter someone else’s house without permission and instead ask the owner who they were? She even wondered if his mind had gone wrong.

“I am Dan Woo-hyun.”

“I am Hoyeon Ji. The owner of this house.”

“…So a person did live here.”

“You speak so rudely.”

Hoyeon Ji frowned.

Of course, on the outside it looked like a place where a person could not live, but if one went inside, there was a cozy space where about one person could rest.

Wasn’t that enough for living alone?

A bit irritated for no reason, she set down the basket and crossed her arms.

“Well then, will you explain?”

Looking at Hoyeon Ji, Geum Eun-hak nodded.

Even at the innermost part of the place that would not be strange to call an abandoned house, there was a small space where a person could barely lie down.

Since it was a place not even in a position to welcome guests, Dan Woo-hyun and Geum Eun-hak sat on the wooden veranda outside.

As if she had nothing appropriate to serve, the woman welcomed the two by bringing out two cups of water.

Dan Woo-hyun looked around and nodded.

This place was like a space for just one person.

Of course, although it might be an unsightly view to others, in Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes, it came across as quite unique.

Also, a smell came from all directions.

It was precisely the scent of herbs.

It was as if herbs from mountains and fields had been gathered together.

“It is a good place.”

“Would you please not be sarcastic?”

Dan Woo-hyun smirked.

He did not particularly intend to do so, but a bad impression seemed to have been firmly stamped.

“The smell of herbs is strong. Are you planning to open a clinic?”

“Originally, our family came from physicians. It is just that the ancestors loved brewing alcohol so much that the alcohol became famous.”

Hoyeon Ji shrugged her shoulders.

Although she lived alone in a place where the family had collapsed and she could rely on no one, a few books of the family still remained.

Thus, to do something in the future, she was learning acupuncture and pharmaceutics.

It was nothing more than an action for her own survival, not to regain the past fame of the Hoyeon family.

“I see. I came because of the rumors of the Hoyeon family famous for alcohol, though.”

“There are many, people like you. There are those who pester me to brew alcohol. But it is impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because I do not make alcohol.”

Because of alcohol, the family was completely ruined.

Of course, it was something that happened when she was young, and at that time she did not know what was what at all, but she now knew that the reason her parents passed away and the family became like this, making it impossible to rise again, was all because of alcohol.

Therefore, just looking at alcohol made her feel uneasy.

“It seems you do not know how to make it.”

“Yes, yes, it is useless to provoke me like that. I will absolutely not make it.”

Hoyeon Ji smirked.

How many people did he think had come looking for this place?

To the point that wealthy merchants or even high officials who remembered the alcohol they drank in the past had sent people.

But she was not tempted by money and refused them all.

She knew that if she touched alcohol again, it would be irreversible.

“Since those hands brew the alcohol, cut them off. Since that tongue tastes the alcohol, pull it out.”

A man’s voice came to mind vividly.

Although it was her childhood, she remembered that scene clearly.

The faces of her parents who screamed and suffered in pain.

The man who wore a mask but was somehow familiar.

That scene still remained in her mind and remained as her terror.

Hoyeon Ji’s complexion turned pale in an instant.

“They said the alcohol of the Hoyeon family was the best in the Central Plains.”

“It was so in the past. Now the Chu Gate Family is the best.”

She brushed it off lightly in a tone that showed she did not care at all. However, when she brought up the story of the Chu Gate Family, it was felt that her voice trembled slightly.

“I see.”

Dan Woo-hyun also nodded. Then he slightly stood up and approached a corner that was hard to see.

There, several broken alcohol jars were visible, and as if they had broken recently, alcohol pooled between the fragments was visible.

The moment Hoyeon Ji was startled, Dan Woo-hyun casually reached out and drank it.

“It is less than I thought, but it is quite decent. But it is true that the Chu Gate Family’s alcohol is more delicious.”

“Ugh…!”

Hoyeon Ji scowled.

It was not made to receive such an evaluation. It was merely made to offer at least a cup of alcohol to the grave in time for the anniversary of her parents’ death.

Since she knew the taste was not the same as the past, she had broken it.

‘It was not made to be compared with the Chu Gate Family…’

Still, as if her pride was hurt, Hoyeon Ji turned her head away.

“But it looks to have potential.”

Step, step.

Dan Woo-hyun approached slowly as if tightening her heart and stood right in front of her.

Crouching down to match his height with hers as she sat, he stared intently into Hoyeon Ji’s eyes.

The moment she saw the faint smile hanging on his mouth, Hoyeon Ji felt as if she would be sucked into his pupils.

“What… what is it?”

“Brew the alcohol.”

“What… what did you say? I no longer…”

“If you do so, I will grant your wish.”

“…Wish?”

Had she ever said such a thing?

Unless he was a god, how could he read a person’s mind?

Dumbfounded, she burst into a hollow laugh.

“Heh, do you even know what my wish is to say that?”

“Yes.”

“…”

At his figure answering with a confident expression, Hoyeon Ji’s face stiffened.

Strength went into her hands which were neatly placed on her lap.

“What is it?”

“I will destroy the Chu Gate Family.”

“Ugh…!”

“I will erase the fear planted inside you.”

Dry saliva swallowed on its own.

‘This person…’

At first she thought he was simply an immature young master of a wealthy house, but it was not that. Because he spoke the words of destroying the Chu Gate Family without any hesitation at all.

Those who could do so were definitely only martial artists.

“The Chu Gate Family is a place connected with the Myriad Gold Merchant Group. Furthermore, the martial artists guarding that place are all first-class. Do you speak like this knowing that if they make up their minds, they can destroy a small or medium sect overnight?”

It was not that she had not thought of revenge.

It was that she could not think of revenge.

The power the Chu Gate Family possessed was too great. Even if she earned money and gathered rogue mercenaries, before the Chu Gate Family, it was no different from a candle before the wind.

It would blow out if blown.

Even though it would be so, this man was full of confidence.

“Leave everything to me.”

“…”

“If you can do so, I will grant your wish.”

The sound of swallowing dry saliva was heard.

Not only Hoyeon Ji, but even Geum Eun-hak who was watching from the side.

Looking at the confidence felt in the words uttered by the person named Dan Woo-hyun, and the strong power gathered in his gaze, it seemed all of this was by no means a lie.

Moreover, she felt shivers at the words that he would grant her wish. Because those words felt like they were also directed at him, Geum Eun-hak.

He wanted to become the best merchant guild in the Central Plains.

Dan Woo-hyun said he would make that happen.

If he followed him!

Looking at a situation similar to a while ago, Geum Eun-hak trembled.

Hoyeon Ji, who had been silent for a while, glared sharply at Dan Woo-hyun.

“Can you really do it?”

“There is nothing I cannot do.”

That single remark stirred Hoyeon Ji’s heart.

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