Chapter 108: Chapter 108
Swish…
The moment the beaded curtain shook and made a clear sound.
“…….”
The inn was enveloped in an absolute silence, as if cold water had been poured over it.
A group entered through the beaded curtain.
It was because the appearances of the seven people were quite unique.
The first to enter were two women whose beauty was enough to make one’s eyes snap open.
And following behind them were a cute young girl and a stubborn-looking old man.
Finally, three young men followed.
The group, whose purpose for gathering was completely unknown, looked around the surroundings and wore satisfied smiles.
“We have run for four days and the horses are exhausted, so if lodging is possible, we will stay here for the night.”
When the young man, Sim Wi Jin, spoke.
“We can finally rest a bit.”
“Sounds good.”
“That is good.”
“Haha, it has been a long time since we will lie on a bed instead of the hard ground.”
“Wow!”
As if they had been waiting, the group chimed in one by one.
And the only young man who did not answer, Cheon-hwi, stared intently around the inside of the inn with an intrigued gaze.
‘Oho.’
The atmosphere of the inn was bizarre.
Before they entered, the inn had been bustling with noise, but as soon as the group appeared, it was enveloped in silence.
Of course, he could have thought it was a temporary reaction to customers entering, but.
The gazes that were seen for a fleeting moment.
Those gazes that quickly disappeared were clearly filled with wariness or hostility.
‘…I should observe for now.’
When he chuckled as he watched the customers hurriedly turn their heads away when their eyes met.
“Welcome!”
A middle-aged man who seemed to be the innkeeper approached while rubbing his hands together closely like a fly.
“Aigo, guests. Have you come to have a meal?”
“Is lodging perhaps available as well?”
When Sim Wi Jin stepped forward and asked.
“Aigo, it is. It certainly is!”
The innkeeper’s expression brightened.
He scanned Sim Wi Jin and the group with eyes full of anticipation and carefully asked.
“By any chance, how many rooms do you need…….”
“How many do you have?”
“There are four left right now. My lord.”
Sim Wi Jin subtly glanced at Princess Sohui.
Upon seeing her nod up and down, he asked the innkeeper.
“How much is it for all of them?”
“You mean all of them?”
The innkeeper’s eyes widened.
“T-twelve copper coins.”
“Here it is. You may keep the change, Innkeeper.”
Along with his words, Sim Wi Jin handed over a pouch.
The corners of the innkeeper’s mouth stretched wide as he carefully opened the pouch.
“Aigo! Great man! I will guide you to a seat immediately!”
With an energetic appearance, he naturally guided the group to an empty seat.
“I will prepare a generous meal.”
After the excited innkeeper left.
“Until when do we have to travel?”
The Divine Physician grumbled as he sat in his seat.
It was the fourth day since they left the Mount Hua Sect.
The group had rushed endlessly by carriage, but they had not even reached Shaanxi Province, let alone Xi’an in the center of Shaanxi.
Sim Wi Jin calmly replied.
“It will take at least two months.”
“At least two months?”
The Divine Physician furrowed his brows.
“Does it take that long?”
“Because of the distance, it takes time.”
“Tch.”
When the Divine Physician clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and sharply turned his head, Princess Sohui approached and spoke.
“I will make it so that we can arrive faster. Wi Jin, it’s possible, right?”
Sim Wi Jin was slightly flustered, but he immediately replied to Princess Sohui’s cold gaze.
“It is possible.”
“Tsk, even if you do that, it will only reduce the time by a few days.”
The Divine Physician pouted heavily.
He did not like the situation.
Going to Qinghai Province itself.
Following that, he shook his head as if he was fed up and clicked his tongue with a ‘Tsk.’
He did not have good memories of the Imperial Family.
In the past, the Divine Physician had treated the previous Emperor’s illness, and the Imperial Family, enamored by his medical skills, had tried to hold onto him by any means when he tried to leave.
Because they used all sorts of methods, the Divine Physician had to waste four years in vain.
If the previous Emperor had not let him go, he might have been imprisoned in the Imperial Family forever.
Clicking his tongue, he looked at Cheon-hwi.
“Why did you suddenly say we are going to Qinghai Province…….”
“Then you didn’t have to follow.”
Cheon-hwi smirked.
“It’s not too late, so do you want to return to the Mount Hua Sect even now?”
“……Are you speaking genuinely?”
“Yes.”
“What about the treatment?”
“That is none of my business.”
Cheon-hwi spoke as if it was not a big deal.
“What I am in charge of is the escort.”
“But you also know the true purpose of this journey, do you not?”
“Whether it is the true purpose or whatever. I only need to follow the Sect Leader’s orders.”
“…….”
The Divine Physician, at a loss for words, grabbed his forehead.
“Haa. What can I say to you.”
Even after the Divine Physician spoke, he thought, ‘Oops.’
If it was the Cheon-hwi he had seen so far, he was a guy who would genuinely not say a single word.
“No, I was just saying it.”
When he hurriedly changed his words.
“Smack, that is a bit of a pity.”
Cheon-hwi smacked his lips as if it was a shame.
The Divine Physician’s brow narrowed.
Although it was an expected answer, hearing it directly did not make him feel good at all.
“You bastard, you do not have a heart that respects the elderly until the very end.”
“I have respected you enough with this.”
“You terrible bastard.”
When the Divine Physician pouted his lips after seeing Cheon-hwi not backing down a single step.
“Um, guests…….”
The cook who came out of the kitchen approached hesitantly and bowed his head deeply.
“I-I am sorry. It seems it will take some time because there is a large amount of food.”
“Haha, it is fine.”
“Please take your time.”
When Sim Wi Jin and Jeok-geom spoke softly, the cook placed down the tray in his hands.
“Instead, I brought Longjing tea. Please drink this while you wait.”
With an apologetic expression, the cook placed the teapot and teacups on the table.
“Hahaha, it is fine.”
“Longjing tea, it has been a while.”
When everyone tried to grab the teapot.
“I will drink first.”
Before them, Cheon-hwi reached out and brought the teapot over.
And then he poured the tea and sipped it.
“They used quite an expensive one.”
“Is that so? Then I too…….”
“Give me a cup as well.”
“I also want a cup…….”
“I will pour it later.”
Cheon-hwi shook off the group’s hands trying to take the teapot and raised his head.
“Isn’t this too sloppy?”
“Yes?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Martial Uncle?”
“What are you talking about?”
The group was flustered by Cheon-hwi’s sudden words.
However, Cheon-hwi ignored their words, poured tea into a teacup again, and handed it to the cook who was standing in bewilderment.
“How about a cup?”
“A-aigoya. How could I drink a guest’s tea?”
The cook waved his hands and refused.
“It is fine, so drink.”
“No, no matter what…….”
Cheon-hwi, who was staring at the cook continuously refusing, smirked.
“Why? Did you not prepare an antidote?”
“Yes?”
For a moment, the cook’s eyes shook.
However, it disappeared in a fleeting moment, and the cook smiled awkwardly and spoke.
“Guest. What do you mean by an antidote…….”
A red light erupted from Cheon-hwi’s index finger, which had been raised at some point.
At that moment.
Whoosh!
The cook swiftly tilted his head back at an unbelievable speed and dodged the red light.
“It’s an assassin!”
“Don’t tell me this inn!”
The group belatedly grasped the situation.
Jeok-geom and Seol Ran drew their swords, and Sim Wi Jin and So-ryeong jumped up to protect Princess Sohui and the Divine Physician.
The cook, who barely dodged the red light, heavily contorted his face and spoke.
“Since when did you notice?”
“From the beginning.”
The cook laughed drearily.
“Your bluff is incredible.”
“Isn’t it because you are sloppy?”
“Sloppy?”
“You were preparing from the moment we entered, right? Even now you cannot hide your killing intent like that……. Phew.”
Cheon-hwi, who was looking at the surroundings, shook his head back and forth and let out a sneer.
“Moreover, those hands.”
“Hands?”
“What cook in the world has hands that are so pure white, fine, and without a single scar?”
“……!”
The cook’s pupils shook.
“To notice that in such a short moment…….”
“Ah right, and…….”
Cheon-hwi tapped his neck.
“The human skin mask is protruding out.”
“What!”
When the cook hurriedly touched his neck.
“He actually fell for it.”
“……!”
“If you were going to do it, you should have done it properly.”
The cook bit his lips.
However, that was only for a moment; he let out a dreary laugh and twisted the corners of his mouth.
“……Hmph, stupid fool. Are you saying you drank it even knowing it was a trap?”
The cook spoke confidently.
Even if he had noticed the trap laid out in advance, the moment he was caught in it, it was immediately over.
‘Now that he’s poisoned by the Red-Crowned Crane Poison mixed in the tea, he will die soon……. Huh?’
He, who had been glaring at Cheon-hwi, was bewildered.
The poison should have already spread throughout his entire body and it was time for him to die, but the opponent showed no change in expression.
“H-how can you be fine even after drinking Red-Crowned Crane Poison…….”
“Ah! Was this Red-Crowned Crane Poison?”
“Red-Crowned Crane Poison?!”
“What in the!”
The group, who had been guarding all directions while listening to the conversation, took their hands off the teacups in fright.
Red-Crowned Crane Poison was a deadly poison famous for killing its victim before they could even take three or four breaths the moment they were poisoned.
And yet that Red-Crowned Crane Poison was inside the tea they were about to drink!
“No wonder it was a bit bitter.”
Cheon-hwi, who was speaking, stretched out his index finger.
In an instant, a blackish-green liquid formed in beads at the tip of his index finger and dropped downwards.
Sizzle!
A small hole formed on the wooden floorboard and pitch-black smoke rose up.
“To expel the Red-Crowned Crane Poison…….!”
The cook’s body trembled violently.
“Could it be Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity…….?!”
“Not quite to that extent right now.”
Cheon-hwi twisted the corner of his mouth.
“It’s probably around the level of a Thousand Poisons Immunity?”
“This guy!”
Thinking he was being made fun of, the cook shouted furiously.
“Everyone, kill these bastards!”
At that moment, the customers who had disappeared in the middle of eating poured out from all directions.
Crack!
Cheon-hwi executed the Divine Movement Hundred Transformations to evade them, narrowed the distance with the cook in front of him, and then threw a punch.
“Hup!”
The waiter, swallowing a hollow breath, did not avoid the punch and overlapped his two palms.
Soon, the punch and the palms collided.
Bang!
The sound of air exploding was heard.
“Huh? You haven’t fallen yet?”
Cheon-hwi praised the waiter who only barely stepped back despite facing the Flying Form Fist head-on.
“You are quite good?”
“……Grind! This bastard!”
Shouting, he brought his hands to his face and roughly started tearing his skin off.
Riiiip!
“Taking off the human skin mask now……. You should just put it back on, right?”
Cheon-hwi stared at the man tightly holding the human skin mask in his hand with a pitiful gaze.
Wow, life in this world must have been exhausting.
Feelings of pity welled up.
The face of the man that had been hidden under the human skin mask was decent if looking at the facial features one by one, but they were all completely disjointed from each other.
“Are you making fun of me right now!”
The man, glaring at Cheon-hwi with bloodshot eyes, forcefully threw the human skin mask away.
“Ah.”
Cheon-hwi inadvertently sighed.
“I think it would be good to keep it, so you shouldn’t throw it away and take it back, right?”
“This guy until the very end!”
The man furiously charged forward.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
After Cheon-hwi dodged the man’s hands extending sharply with nods of his head.
Swoosh!
He immediately thrust the Flying Form Fist.
Smack!
The Flying Form Fist lodged into the man’s mouth, bursting his lips and shattering his teeth.
“Oops.”
Surprised, Cheon-hwi withdrew his fist.
“Was I a bit too harsh?”
He scratched his head in apology.
The man was in such a wretched state that one could say he could not be any more hideous than this.
“Y-you terrible bashtard.”
The man, whose pronunciation leaked due to his broken teeth, put both hands into his sleeves and then whipped them out.
At that moment, along with a flashing light, two sharp daggers suddenly shot out and captured Cheon-hwi’s line of sight all at once.
“Your mental fortitude is good.”
Cheon-hwi avoided the daggers with a tilt of his head.
After that, he grabbed the man’s neck.
“Who is behind……. Huh?”
Right when he tried to meet eyes with the man.
Trickle…
Dark crimson blood flowed out from the man’s mouth and dripped onto his wrist.
‘Suicide?’
He could not feel a pulse in his hand.
Cheon-hwi frowned and peered into the dead man with his mouth open.
There was a small pill in his molar.
“Tch.”
Cheon-hwi, who was looking down at the man who committed suicide by biting the poison pill, threw him to the ground.
“It seems the leader of these guys is quite a capable fellow.”
The man was not an assassin.
However, to choose suicide just from failing a mission meant that he was afraid of the one who gave the order.
Cheon-hwi looked around.
Jeok-geom and Seol Ran were easily dealing with those charging at them.
‘There is no need to worry about those two.’
His gaze fixed on Princess Sohui.
As the only one who had not learned martial arts, she was being protected by Sim Wi Jin.
And in front of her, So-ryeong was completely toying with the people charging at them.
‘It is the same on this side as well.’
Watching the inn’s situation head towards its end even without him stepping in, Cheon-hwi slowly moved his head.
“You should come out now, shouldn’t you?”
Cheon-hwi asked while looking at the empty air, but there was no answer in return.
“You’re being annoying.”
In a flash, an eerie light shot out from Cheon-hwi’s waist and slashed the empty air.
“……Keuk!”
At the same time, a masked man with his eyes wide open revealed himself from the empty air.
Cheon-hwi immediately raised his index finger.
Flash!
Instantly, a red flash sparked and struck a few spots on the waiter’s body.
Thud!
The waiter, whose Paralysis Acupoint was subdued by the finger wind, collapsed forward powerlessly.
Following that, Cheon-hwi swiftly tapped the man’s Mute Acupoint and then opened his mouth.
“Hm? This person doesn’t have one?”
After confirming that there was no poison pill and closing the man’s mouth, Cheon-hwi took off the man’s mask.
The man’s face inside the mask was plain.
Cheon-hwi, who was looking at a young man that could easily be seen on any street corner, asked.
“Where did you come from?”
“…….”
“Do you not want to answer?”
“…….”
“Oh my. You are a tight-lipped person.”
Cheon-hwi kept a smile on his face as he looked at the man who was blinking his eyes while looking at him.
“I should move locations for now.”
Cheon-hwi, who was watching the commotion of those fighting noisily, lightly kicked off the ground.
At that moment, the man’s eyes shot wide open.
‘……!’
Just one step.
He had only taken a single footstep, yet the scenery had completely changed.
‘A, a room?’
Just as he, astonished, let his mouth hang wide open.
“Then, let’s talk again.”
Cheon-hwi sat on a chair inside the empty room and placed the man on the floor.
Looking at the man who collapsed with a thud sound, Cheon-hwi met his eyes and asked.
“Where did you come from?”
The exact same question as before.
And as expected, there was no answer again.
“Let’s see how long you can keep your mouth shut.”
Cheon-hwi raised his index finger and fired a finger wind towards the lying man’s abdomen.
Puck!
In an instant, the man’s abdomen rippled.
“……!”
At the same time, his face contorted.
“You’re enduring this?”
Cheon-hwi looked at the man with surprised eyes.
What he had just executed was a technique used for torture in the Heavenly Demon Cult, injecting internal energy into the Sea of Qi Acupoint to forcibly twist the muscles of the entire body.
Most people would scream their lungs out as if filled with spite the moment they were subjected to this.
“This is the first time I’ve seen someone not even let out a moan.”
A smile spread across Cheon-hwi’s lips.
“Are you a properly trained assassin? Then I’ll use a stronger torture method…….”
As he was recalling the various methods he had seen in the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Rustle…
At that time, the man in agony looked up while profusely shedding tears and a runny nose.
“Hm? If it hurts that much, you should answer……”
Cheon-hwi, who was looking strangely at him not answering despite being in such pain, belatedly realized his mistake with an ‘Ah.’
“Ah! That’s right. I tapped his Mute Acupoint just before. No wonder he endured it.”
‘I knew it,’ Cheon-hwi smirked and undid the man’s Mute Acupoint.
At that moment, the man started to flail wildly.
“D-Daehyeop! This lowly one is a good-natured person completely unrelated to the attackers. I just came here by chance…….”
Words poured out of the man’s mouth like a flowing river.
“P-please spare me. My fox-like wife and rabbit-like children are waiting for me at home.”
Thinking that Cheon-hwi might kill him or tap his Mute Acupoint again, he was desperately appealing that he was completely unrelated to the attackers.
However, the opponent was not good.
Cheon-hwi looked down at the man desperately shouting on his knees and opened his mouth.
“How can I believe those words?”
“T-that is…….”
“For a person who is unrelated, your stealth arts and lightness arts are quite outstanding.”
The man’s body trembled violently.
Because Cheon-hwi’s gaze looking at him contained not even a single trace of emotion.
‘D-damn it! Branch Leader, it cannot be helped! No matter if it’s an order, I have to live first, don’t I?’
The man, feeling his life threatened, tightly shut both his eyes as if saying ‘to hell with it’ and shouted.
“I am a disciple of the Hao Sect!”
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