Chapter 13. I Escaped One Stench, Only to Find Another

Jeonhyeol, along with ‘Heoun’ and ‘Tonggyeok’, was one of Hugong’s three major body protection arts, and at present, only Jeonhyeol was possible.

The duration of Jeonhyeol was one quarter of an hour.

During that time, he could be free from an opponent’s acupoint-sealing techniques, and on the other hand, he could use the moment an opponent was relieved after succeeding in sealing his acupoints as an opportunity to counterattack.

By the way, where on earth was this stench coming from?

The foul smell was unusually nauseating. The outside was already in an uproar, and the voices of people asking and wondering were growing louder.

Hugong immediately called for Songhwa.

“Where is Songhwa?”

“Hng… hng…”

“Huh?”

Songhwa’s answer came as a strange moan.

Soon, Songhwa came in, her nose and mouth wrapped tightly in a cloth. Even though only her crescent-moon-like eyes were showing, Songhwa used her hands to cover her mouth in a double layer and spoke.

“Young master, are you alright?”

Her words came out muffled, but they were not unintelligible.

“Ahem… I’m not alright. What on earth is this smell?”

“I don’t know either. It started suddenly.”

“Huh?”

“Young master, what should I do? At this rate, my body will rot. My pretty skin won’t be affected, right?”

“That’s a big problem.”

It was just a stench; it didn’t affect the body.

Hugong went outside to check.

It was chaotic everywhere.

Everyone seemed to not know what was going on, and they all had their noses and mouths covered with cloth, except for their eyes. The air was clear, and there was no smoke or fog, just a pure stench.

He heard a loud voice from a distance and looked, and about ten people were gathered and talking. The voice that was raising its voice among them was a familiar one.

Yun’s voice.

Yun was nagging Bumong as if he would do something to him right away.

Hugong ran over in one breath.

“Brother, you’ve come out.”

Yun, who had been catching the youngest like a rat, stopped and bowed.

“What happened?”

“It seems Bumong touched the ventilation formation incorrectly while repairing the formation at the east entrance.”

“Huh?”

When he looked at Bumong, Bumong was pale and on the verge of tears.

“Eldest brother, don’t hit me. Please.”

“Explain.”

“I definitely didn’t do anything strange. I didn’t know because the east entrance is rarely used, but the defensive formation was broken. So I just repaired it, and then suddenly a stench started to waft out. Many people were with me, so I can prove that I’m not lying. Eldest brother, you have to believe me.”

His expression was the most unfair in the world.

“Hmm…”

Hugong let out a groan.

Leaving aside Bumong’s unfair expression, there was no reason for the boy to lie. And although Bumong had a dazed side, he had never lied before, and it was not in his character to do so.

Hugong searched through Beomhang’s memories.

He recalled the formation at the east entrance. But it was impossible to find an answer right away.

He also remembered that Bumong’s genius in formations was comparable to Beomhang’s, so it wouldn’t make much of a difference if he stepped in.

In that case,

“Bumong, re-examine it thoroughly and be sure to find the cause and solve it. Yun, you help Bumong too.”

“Yes, brother.”

“What are you going to do, brother?”

“I have something else to do.”

***

Hugong went outside.

A swift escape from the stench.

Songhwa and the four guards accompanied him.

– Let’s go!

He had only said that one word, but Songhwa came running as if she were flying, and the four guards approached him with the most affectionate expressions in the world. They didn’t know how fortunate they were to be the Eldest Young Master’s guards. It felt like they were being compensated for all their past hardships.

In this way, Hugong went down to the village, finished his meal at a restaurant, and leisurely strolled through the bustling streets.

He walked, observing the passersby, but there was no one who stood out.

‘There are no familiar faces.’

To be precise, there was no one who knew Beomhang.

He had come out not just because of the stench.

While he was out, he was going to find out about the situation in the martial world and the movements of the Martial Alliance after his death (?). Wasn’t the suicide of the Martial Alliance Leader a heaven-shaking event in the martial world?

Until he fell into depression, Beomhang had interacted with the children of prestigious families, so he had thought he might meet a familiar face, but he couldn’t see any.

He walked around once, but there was no gain.

It was pointless to walk around again, so he stopped by a tavern to lightly quench his thirst.

Hugong and Songhwa went up to the second floor, walked inside, and sat by the window, and the four guards sat at the next table.

“Young master, what on earth is that smell?”

“I wonder.”

“Could it be that a strange grass is growing?”

“A strange person might be inside.”

Songhwa burst out laughing.

“Where would you find such a person?”

“Wouldn’t it be a different story if an old, long-unwashed beggar was inside?”

“Well, they say the beggars of the Beggars’ Sect are so dirty. No, why on earth don’t they wash?”

“There’s no hope for the Beggars’ Sect guys.”

“Huh, you know about the Beggars’ Sect too, young master?”

Songhwa looked at him with curiosity.

The four guards at the next table also turned their heads towards Hugong in unison.

“In books.”

Hugong answered nonchalantly.

Everyone immediately agreed.

There were so many kinds of books. And the Eldest Young Master’s reading volume was beyond imagination.

Songhwa smiled faintly.

“Books are the best, after all. Young master, but I don’t think there’s a person inside.”

“That’s what I’m saying. The thought of a person is terrifying.”

The ordered tea came, and Hugong savored the tea and cast his gaze to the street outside the window.

Many people came and went, but they were all ordinary passersby. A child walking, holding his mother’s hand, three or four old men, and well-dressed young men and women.

‘Huh?’

Young men and women.

Two men and two women. They were going up to the tavern across the street. The two young men were in Beomhang’s memory.

‘The Second Young Master of the Yeomhwa Pavilion, Jang Ye, and the Third Young Master of the Seomun Family, Seomun Heon.’

They were not close friends with Beomhang, but they were acquaintances.

The two women were not in his memory.

It wasn’t necessary for them to be all familiar figures. Two were enough. He was just trying to get a general idea of the situation in the martial world, so Jang Ye and Seomun Heon were suitable conversation partners.

Looking at the tavern, the four of them also took a seat by the window on the second floor.

They were so busy paying attention to each other that they didn’t realize they were being watched from across the street.

‘I should give them time to have a private conversation. This old man won’t be so tactless as to interrupt right away. Hehe…’

They were in the prime of their youth. They would be happy just looking at each other.

Hugong planned to talk to them after about half a quarter of an hour and savored a sip of tea.

It was then.

“Get the owner out here right now!”

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed through the tavern.

The one who shouted was a middle-aged swordsman sitting by the window two tables away.

He was a man with a square jaw and sharp eyes, sitting alone by the window near the entrance on the second floor. He had been looking outside from time to time as if waiting for someone, but he had suddenly shouted.

The tavern owner rushed out.

“Sir, what is the matter?”

“Are you the owner!”

“Yes, I am.”

“You must have been trying to kill me!”

“Pardon?”

“What’s the reason for putting a mosquito in the soup!”

“Sir, putting a mosquito? How could we have intentionally put a mosquito in?”

“If it wasn’t intentional? You’re not trying to tease me, are you? You hid it so deep at the bottom that I didn’t find it until I had eaten it all!”

“We try to be careful, but it seems we missed it. I’m sorry, I’ll give you a bottle of wine for free, and I won’t charge you.”

The owner bowed deeply.

“This is ridiculous. This is not a matter that can be resolved by just drinking wine and not paying. This noble body has eaten a lot of soup that a mosquito has been thoroughly boiled in!”

“Th-then what would you like me to do?”

“You have to compensate me.”

“How much.”

“I’m reluctant, but I’ll let it go for ten silver taels.”

“Pardon?”

The owner’s eyes grew as wide as lanterns.

Ten silver taels was a huge sum of money, equivalent to a month’s sales for an ordinary tavern, so the owner’s face soon became tearful.

‘The martial world is still the same.’

Hugong inwardly clicked his tongue.

There are always guys who make ridiculous demands everywhere.

“S-sir… ten taels is…”

“You must be surprised because it’s too little.”

Sreung~

The swordsman drew the sword he had been leaning against the chair next to him and held it to the owner’s neck.

“How about this? I think you’ll change your mind.”

The tavern owner trembled in fear.

At that moment, the four guards looked at him as if asking for permission, and Hugong shook his head.

There were not just one or two guys like that.

It was tiring to kill them one by one.

He didn’t want to cause any trouble right now.

“Songhwa.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Go and pay the money for him.”

“Yes, young master.”

Songhwa understood that her master wanted to handle it quietly.

Today was his first outing after losing and regaining his memory, and it was also his first outing in several years. She clasped her hands and approached the middle-aged swordsman as politely as possible.

The swordsman tilted his head.

“Who are you?”

“Hello.”

“Hello…?”

The swordsman asked back, bewildered.

A beautiful young girl had suddenly appeared and greeted him kindly, so it was a natural reaction.

“Yes, hello, but… who are you?”

“You must have been upset because you ate the mosquito soup.”

“So?”

“You seem to be heartbroken, so my young master told me to give you ten silver taels instead.”

The swordsman looked Songhwa up and down, then glanced at Hugong.

‘Oho!’

The maid is pretty.

And the young master, though well-dressed, had a delicate body and a beautiful face.

He had four guards with him, but they didn’t look like much. If they had any skill, there would be no reason to offer money.

“That’s not bad.”

Songhwa took out the silver taels from her bosom and placed them on the table.

“Hehehe…”

The swordsman laughed and shook his head.

“Come to think of it, ten taels is far from enough. I think about thirty taels would be comforting.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any more on me right now, can’t you make an exception?”

“Hehe, I don’t think so.”

At that sight, Hugong was so dumbfounded that he let out a chuckle.

There was no reason to give him a second chance.

He looked at the guards.

He gave a slight nod and called for Songhwa.

“Songhwa, let’s go.”

The one who answered was the swordsman.

“Hey, pretty boy. Where do you think you’re going? No one leaves without my permission.”

The swordsman was smiling, but his eyes had already turned fierce.

But it wasn’t just the swordsman who had changed.

Hugong crossed his arms and nodded at Songhwa.

That much of an expression was enough.

Songhwa, who had received permission, had her aura change in an instant.

She immediately directed a cold energy towards the swordsman.

“Cut it out. Do you really want to die?”

“What? This bitch!”

The swordsman’s pupils widened.

In an instant, he swung the sword he had been holding down upwards, slashing from Songhwa’s thigh to her shoulder. It was incredibly fast. But the sword cut through empty space without any resistance.

Songhwa had already moved back.

“?”

The swordsman tilted his head.

The distance between them was close.

He had launched a sword strike in a situation where they were almost touching, but he hadn’t expected the opponent to evade over a zhang away.

In the meantime, Songhwa’s aura had changed 180 degrees.

Her eyes shone, and a cold energy emanated from her entire body.

The cold energy was so intense that it filled the spacious tavern, and the other two customers in the tavern were startled and ran away, and the owner and the tavern keeper trembled like people who had been stranded in the mountains in the middle of winter.

The shy girl who had been saying ‘hello’ just a moment ago was nowhere to be seen. One corner of the swordsman’s mouth went up.

“What a strange bitch. Why did you act like a cripple when you’ve learned martial arts?”

He thrust his sword.