Chapter 110: Chapter 110
“Keu, it’s delicious.”
Cheon-hwi, who arrived in Xi’an, enjoyed the liquor he tasted for the first time in a while and looked around.
Perhaps it was because it was the most active city in Shaanxi.
The street looked down upon from the second floor of the inn was bustling with people, and their faces and steps were overflowing with vitality.
How long had it been since he poured his own drinks while looking down at them like that?
“May I share this table for a moment?”
A middle-aged man approached and requested to share the table.
It was an abrupt request, however.
Cheon-hwi glanced at the middle-aged man, then twisted the corners of his mouth and nodded.
“Sure.”
“Thank you.”
The middle-aged man smiled and sat down.
He really came just as said.
When Sang-yeo gave him the cloth, she said that the process was quite complicated, making it difficult to make the first deal with the Hao Sect.
Therefore, what Sang-yeo gave him was the cloth currently placed on the table.
‘She said I just had to leave it visible in any inn, but he came faster than I thought.’
It had barely been two ke since he sat at the inn.
The fact that he came so quickly when he merely placed the cloth meant that there were clearly disciples of the Hao Sect nearby as well.
And as if proving those words.
“Guest, would you like to order?”
As if waiting, the waiter approached, and the middle-aged man skillfully finished ordering.
A moment later, when the waiter left, the middle-aged man looked at the cloth placed on the table and asked.
“…May I check it?”
At that reaction, Cheon-hwi chuckled.
“Go ahead.”
Immediately, the middle-aged man picked up the cloth.
Afterwards, the middle-aged man, who scrutinized the cloth in detail here and there, quietly put it in his inner pocket.
“I have checked it.”
“Then right now…”
“How about we go after finishing the meal?”
The middle-aged man stealthily looked around.
Perhaps because it was the time between lunch and dinner, there were few guests inside the inn, but he was wary of the guests.
‘It would be like that if we suddenly came and left.’
Cheon-hwi nodded.
“Let’s do that.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
A moment later, the waiter brought the food, and soon a silent mealtime passed.
Clatter…
The middle-aged man, who hurriedly finished his meal, drank the placed tea in one gulp and stood up.
“Please follow me.”
The middle-aged man, who exited the inn, moved his steps into an alley rather than the street.
The moment they entered the alley soon after.
Sreuk…
The air, no. The atmosphere changed.
If the street they had walked on until just before was a bright and vibrant place, the current alleyway was a decadent and dreary place.
The narrow path between the tall pavilions had no sunlight, and the people they encountered once in a while were not ordinary.
Men filled with scars and carrying swords.
Those muttering while looking up at the sky with devastated faces.
And vibrantly adorned women seducing them.
It felt like a place where the people of the shadows gathered.
At that time, Cheon-hwi felt a gaze.
‘They were indeed in the same group.’
As Cheon-hwi met eyes with those glaring at him and chuckled.
“It is here.”
Just in time, the middle-aged man stopped his steps.
The place they arrived at was a quiet building.
“Please follow me.”
The middle-aged man opened an old door and went in, and Cheon-hwi followed behind him.
As they went inside, darkness welcomed them.
For some reason, not only were there no windows visible, but there wasn’t even a single oil lamp to illuminate the passageway.
Had they walked for about one dakyung like that?
Cheon-hwi, who continued following, let out a yawn and opened his mouth.
“Until when are we going to wander around in circles?”
The middle-aged man’s steps slightly faltered.
“…What are you talking about?”
“It seems you tried to hide the room in your own way, but…”
Cheon-hwi turned his head to the side.
The presence and breathing sounds felt from beside the passageway were clearly heard in his ears.
“Since I already know everything, how about we stop playing tricks that waste energy and go in quickly?”
“…”
“It’s just a waste of time.”
When the flustered middle-aged man closed his mouth.
“Hahaha.”
A sound of laughter was heard from beyond the wall.
“It seems I did something useless.”
“Exactly.”
“…”
At Cheon-hwi’s agreement, the laughter stopped.
And in its place, a voice full of laughter pierced through the wall.
“Send the guest inside.”
“Understood.”
The middle-aged man, who had been silent, turned his body.
Afterwards, he stood next to Cheon-hwi, and busily moved his hands to touch something.
Kkigigik…
A moment later, an eerie sound rang out.
At the same time, the darkness split in half with a crack, and light leaked out from between it.
Kkik…
A moment later, a bizarre room appeared.
‘This is a strange place, isn’t it?’
Cheon-hwi quickly scanned the room.
There was nothing inside the room.
In the room illuminated by red lamps, a solitarily placed table and two chairs were everything.
‘Is it a temporary residence?’
At that time, a young man sitting on the solitarily placed chair came into view.
“Nice to meet you. I am the Branch Leader of the Hao Sect’s Shaanxi Branch.”
The young man who revealed himself as the Branch Leader was ordinary.
His appearance, his aura, everything.
“Branch Leader.”
At that time, the middle-aged man approached the Branch Leader and took out the cloth from his inner pocket to give it to him.
“He was carrying this.”
The Branch Leader’s eyebrows twitched upon seeing the cloth. Soon, he let out a low voice.
“Go out.”
At the Branch Leader’s order to leave, the middle-aged man exited the room by walking backwards.
Thump!
And a moment later, the wall that had split in half merged back together, and only the Branch Leader and Cheon-hwi were left all alone inside the room.
The reddish light of the oil lamp shone on the two people, and the Branch Leader opened his mouth.
“For what matter did you come?”
This is to my liking?
A smile formed on Cheon-hwi’s mouth.
Rather than annoyingly asking where he got the cloth.
He was deeply satisfied with cutting to the chase and getting straight to the point like this instead of asking what matter he came for.
Cheon-hwi sat on the chair and replied.
“The identity of the ones who occupied the inn.”
The Branch Leader nodded.
“It must be the inn that Sang-yeo manages.”
Cheon-hwi raised the corners of his mouth.
As expected of what they call an information sect.
He spoke as if he already knew what request would be made.
“Since we have not yet grasped information about them, I will only receive a down payment. If we obtain information about them later, I will separately set a price and deliver it. If we fail to obtain information, I will return the down payment.”
At the quite systematic method, Cheon-hwi asked with a satisfied expression.
“Good. How much is the down payment?”
“The down payment is one nyang of silver.”
“The down payment is quite expensive, isn’t it?”
One nyang of silver was the living cost for a family of four for a month.
However, it felt expensive for a down payment on information that wasn’t even known yet.
“By the regulations of our sect, all ungrasped information is priced at one nyang of silver.”
“Is that so? Then I will bear it.”
Along with his words, Cheon-hwi searched his sleeves.
‘It’s a good thing I brought what I received last time.’
Just in case, he took out the silver he had received from the One Heart Merchant Guild last time and gave it.
The Branch Leader scrutinized the silver very closely, then slowly nodded his head.
“I have checked it.”
After that, he put the silver in his inner pocket and asked.
“Do you need anything else?”
“Not particularly.”
“Understood. Then if I obtain the information later, I will contact you separately.”
“When should I come again?”
“Disciples of the Hao Sect are everywhere in the world, and nowhere. Whether the guest is within Shaanxi or not, I will contact you anytime, anywhere.”
That’s reliable?
At words that couldn’t be spat out with ordinary confidence, Cheon-hwi looked at the Branch Leader and smiled.
“Good.”
When the satisfied Cheon-hwi stood up from his chair.
Knock. Knock.
The Branch Leader knocked on the wall twice.
Was that a signal?
The closed wall began to open.
“Please take care on your way back.”
The middle-aged man stood in front of Cheon-hwi, who came out leaving the Branch Leader’s greeting behind.
“This time let’s just go without wandering around, shall we?”
“…Understood.”
The time Cheon-hwi came out was a very short time, not even one dakyung.
A moment later, the moment he was coming out of the door.
“Hmm?”
“Eh?”
He encountered an unexpected person.
“Why are you here?”
“Why are you at this place?”
The person he had parted ways with at the White Ghost Castle.
He ended up having an unexpected reunion with the Flying Swallow Sword Lord, Ha Woo-jin, right at this place.
* * *
One ke later, as he was sitting at the inn and drinking tea, Ha Woo-jin hurriedly sat down.
“Phew, I’m sorry for making you wait.”
Ha Woo-jin opened his mouth while catching his breath.
“By the way, for what matter did you visit the Hao Sect?”
“To obtain information.”
“Information? If it’s information, why didn’t you make a request to the Beggars’ Sect and instead to the Hao Sect…?”
“Isn’t that the same for you?”
Ha Woo-jin, who was listening, shook his head.
“Your position and mine are different.”
“Position?”
“Wasn’t there an incident between our sect and the Beggars’ Sect at the Murim Alliance recently?”
“Was there such a thing?”
As Cheon-hwi tilted his head.
“I heard from Martial Uncle that you, Cheon-hwi, were also at that incident, but…”
“Me too? What incident… Ah!”
Cheon-hwi realized while speaking.
What Ha Woo-jin meant was the incident where the Mount Hua Sect and the Beggars’ Sect joined hands at the Murim Alliance to drive out the Zhongnan Sect.
‘Tsk, I had forgotten about it for a moment.’
Cheon-hwi, the center of that incident, scratched his head and parted his lips.
“That did happen.”
Cheon-hwi acknowledged it and continued his words.
“I had a bit of business, so I requested information from the Hao Sect rather than the Beggars’ Sect.”
Cheon-hwi spoke vaguely.
It was because properly explaining the situation would be complicated and annoying.
“It seems to be related to you leaving Mount Hua now.”
“That’s true.”
“What is the matter?”
“That is hard to say.”
Cheon-hwi spoke firmly.
Ha Woo-jin looked at Cheon-hwi with a gaze wondering what on earth made Cheon-hwi come down, then shook his head.
‘Haha, Woo-jin. You also wouldn’t be able to say for what matter you came, so what are you asking?’
Ha Woo-jin controlled his mind.
Didn’t even he visit the Hao Sect for a secret reason he couldn’t bring himself to tell Cheon-hwi?
“I asked something useless.”
At that time, Ha Woo-jin half-closed his eyes.
It wasn’t to pry about these things that he had made Cheon-hwi wait.
Soon, he met eyes straight with Cheon-hwi and slowly parted his lips.
“Do you happen to have a place to go next, or an appointment, or anything?”
“No. Not particularly.”
“If so, wouldn’t you like to visit the Zhongnan Sect now?”
“The Zhongnan Sect? Why?”
To Cheon-hwi’s questioning out of wonder, Ha Woo-jin replied in an earnest tone.
“There is a person at the Zhongnan Sect I want to let you meet.”
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