Episode 113

“Aaaaah!”

There was something at her feet.

In the dark night, barely illuminated, it had dense and strong fur.

Just a bit bigger than a fist, it had a long, hairless tail attached to its body.

Startled by the scream, its head lifted, revealing shiny black eyes.

A little friend that always lived in the old inn.

It was a rat.

Even for a woman of Jianghu, a rat at her feet was still enough to startle her.

But she wasn’t a delicately raised noblewoman; she responded boldly and decisively.

“Damn it!”

Cursing, she attempted to stomp the rat to death.

At that moment, Dam Hyun, who had been standing still, moved like the wind.

He quickly grabbed the woman’s raised knee with his hand.

Losing her balance, she nearly fell down the stairs.

Dam Hyun rushed forward, and the man who was about to react reflexively had to hastily grab his colleague.

“Ugh!”

“Ouch! Stay still!”

They nearly got entangled and fell together.

The man and woman clutched their startled hearts. Soon, anger surged.

But they couldn’t yell or curse at Dam Hyun.

Because Dam Hyun had swiftly picked up the wriggling mouse from the floor. With bare hands, gently.

“W-what are you doing right now?”

“Move aside.”

“What? But you pushed someone…!”

The man stopped the woman who was about to express her anger.

Only then did the woman close her mouth tightly.

Dam Hyun, stroking the filthy mouse, emanated a dangerous aura.

-He must be crazy. Don’t mess with him.

The man conveyed this to the woman through a whisper.

After all, a crazy person was more dangerous than a bad one.

Due to the sudden commotion, several people who were already in their rooms peeked out to check the situation.

Those who had just been scolded by Lee Jeong-hyo didn’t want to cause more trouble.

Dam Hyun, holding the mouse in both hands, went up the stairs.

In his mind, there was no longer any concern for the man and woman. His attention was solely on the trembling mouse in his hand.

“You’re quite unusual, aren’t you?”

The man and woman hadn’t noticed, but the mouse had distinctive spots on its back.

“Why were you trembling there? Couldn’t even run away.”

Dam Hyun’s fondness for animals didn’t mean he didn’t eat meat or couldn’t fight a wild beast that attacked him.

But he couldn’t just ignore the mouse trembling in the middle of the stairs, especially when people were right in front of it.

Dam Hyun climbed up the stairs and set the mouse down.

Hiding in a mouse hole or running away would have been an absurd action if the innkeeper had seen it.

“Aren’t you running away?”

But the mouse just looked up at Dam Hyun, trembling and staying put.

Dam Hyun realized that the mouse was injured.

“Were you bitten by a friend? This is…”

Bright red blood was beading on its side. There were several round wounds that looked like bite marks.

Had it been trembling like this because it was bitten by another mouse?

Reminded of his younger self in the mouse, Dam Hyun stood motionless, unable to leave it.

“Squeak, squeak.”

Finally, the mouse moved.

It seemed as if the mouse was asking Dam Hyun to follow, as it scampered a distance away and then looked back.

“Want me to follow?”

“Squeak.”

Dam Hyun, with a twisted smile, followed the mouse.

Whether it really wanted him to follow was unclear, but the mouse kept stopping and running several times.

The mouse entered a room with a door half-open.

Dam Hyun also stopped abruptly.

He knew he shouldn’t enter someone else’s room, but a piercing smell was emanating from the gap in the door.

‘Smell of blood…?’

The distinct smell of blood mingled with the stench of rainwater.

Dam Hyun cautiously pushed the open door and entered the room.

Boom—

Thunder roared, and Yi-gang appeared in the corridor Dam Hyun had passed through.

“What’s this?”

Yi-gang, who had come out to use the bathroom, witnessed Dam Hyun entering someone’s room.

Certainly, that wasn’t Dam Hyun’s room.

Yi-gang also followed Dam Hyun.

The owner of that room was none other than Lee Jeong-hyo.

Yi-gang and Dam Hyun discovering Lee Jeong-hyo’s corpse, his face mutilated, was how the event unfolded.

The mouse had either escaped through a mouse hole or disappeared.

Upon Yi-gang’s questioning, Dam Hyun eventually told the story.

The story of following the mouse he had saved to this place.

It was an absurd story, but that made it more believable. After all, it was Dam Hyun.

“With all the noise outside, if you were going to enter, at least do it quietly.”

“…”

Dam Hyun remained silent as a mouse. Well, thanks to his mercy, the mouse hadn’t died.

Yi-gang examined the dead body.

Its face had been gruesomely skinned.

Was that the cause of death? It must have been painful, yet no scream was heard.

Even the commotion Dam Hyun caused earlier was quite loud, yet no scream-like sound was heard, suggesting the victim hadn’t screamed.

“If the skin of the face is peeled off, does it kill a person, Senior Brother?”

“I-I guess. It probably wouldn’t cause instant death. Shock and fainting are possible, though.”

It seemed like a martial artist’s body. It didn’t look like he had fainted from shock, and no other obvious cause of death was visible.

The body, fallen with its back to the window, indicated that he had been standing here.

Yi-gang, who had closed the window to prevent more rainwater from coming in, quickly examined the room with surprising speed.

He rapidly absorbed, analyzed, and categorized a great deal of information.

“There’s blood on the fingertips.”

“It seems to be his own.”

Had he touched his torn-off face?

As Dam Hyun and Yi-gang casually conversed, Seo Saeng-won, frustrated, shouted.

He had been forcibly brought in by Yi-gang.

“What are you doing! Maybe we should escape through the window now…”

“Escape?”

“Yes!”

“Why would we?”

Yi-gang looked at him as if he was speaking nonsense. Seo Saeng-won unwittingly fell silent.

Thud— Bang!

Finally, those who had been knocking on the door opened it. They seemed to have the skill to unlock a locked door.

“What on earth are you doing inside… Gasp.”

“Crazy!”

The faces of the man and woman who had opened the door stiffened.

The woman, who had screamed at the sight of a mouse at her feet, now calmly drew her sword in front of the corpse.

The man also pulled out five willow leaf flying daggers from his clothing.

“Who are you guys?”

“Were you targeting us from the beginning?”

Even with their companion’s face skinned and dead, they remained composed.

Or, perhaps not entirely.

“How dare you skin a face! Are you that fiend?”

“Fiend? What nonsense.”

Yi-gang sighed. He had to explain again, just as he had to Seo Saeng-won.

Instead of trusting Dam Hyun and leaving it to him, Yi-gang spoke directly.

“You expect us to believe that…?”

“Well, he saw a mouse and held it up. It was suspicious, so he followed.”

They looked uncertain.

In the brief conversation, they had discerned that this person named Dam Hyun was no ordinary man.

Moreover, by their standards, Lee Jeong-hyo, a superior, was a man of considerable martial skill.

They thought that he wouldn’t have been killed so easily and without resistance by the despicable Dam Hyun.

“So… what now?”

The problem was the situation moving forward.

They were still holding their weapons, eyeing Yi-gang.

Yi-gang appeared to be deep in thought too.

But soon, he made a clear decision.

“Let’s call the guards. We didn’t kill this man.”

“Y-y-young master!”

Seo Saeng-won, terrified, grabbed Yi-gang’s sleeve.

He couldn’t speak because of the others’ presence but desperately shook his head.

“We witnessed a murder; we need to ask for the assistance from law enforcement.”

“B-but still…”

“If we’re innocent, it’s okay.”

Yi-gang gently pushed Seo Saeng-won away.

For some reason, Seo Saeng-won couldn’t resist and was pushed back awkwardly. Dam Hyun grabbed Seo Saeng-won’s shoulder.

However, it seemed not only Seo Saeng-won feared the guards.

The man and woman strongly opposed and raised their weapons.

“That’s not possible.”

“Absolutely not.”

Yi-gang frowned.

Currently, he didn’t have his sword. It made sense since he was on his way to relieve himself.

「Shameless people.」

‘Suspicious.’

The person lying dead and the man and woman threatening with weapons were equally suspicious.

Yi-gang spoke calmly.

“They say there’s no good person who fears the guards.”

“Let’s not make a big deal out of this.”

“Then move away from the door? Let’s go back and get some sleep.”

“That might be difficult. Follow us somewhere.”

The man and woman spoke as if threatening.

If they were going to be like that, Yi-gang had nothing more to say.

“It seems you didn’t bring a sword. It’d be better to follow us obediently…”

“Senior Brother.”

Just as Yi-gang interrupted the woman and called for Dam Hyun.

Dam Hyun, who was behind, kicked a sword that was rolling on the ground. Yi-gang caught the sword without even shifting his gaze.

It was the sword used by the deceased Lee Jeong-hyo.

The fluid movements of Dam Hyun and Yi-gang made the man and woman swallow nervously, realizing they were not easy opponents.

“So, you are skilled after all.”

“This is your own doing.”

The man swung his hand, and one of the flying daggers flew through the air, cutting it.

The target of the blade was not Yi-gang.

It hit precisely the candle of the lantern that was dimly illuminating the room.

Suddenly, darkness engulfed the room.

With the window closed, nothing could be seen.

In the darkness, only those trained to adapt their eyes quickly could avoid being startled.

The man immediately threw the remaining four flying daggers at Yi-gang.

“Ha.”

Yi-gang’s laughter was heard in the darkness.

The flying blades missed Yi-gang and instead struck the stone wall behind him. Sparks briefly flew.

Yi-gang, who had been far away just moments ago, was already crossing the middle of the room.

“Huuk!”

Extinguishing the lantern was a big mistake by the man.

Yi-gang’s senses were much sharper than those of an expert of the same level. Avoiding such a level of hidden weapon techniques was easy for him.

Moreover, whose soul resided in his ring?

It was the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon, the half-human, half-yokai who fought and won against masters even with her eyes closed.

In four years, Yi-gang had learned much from her.

「You still can’t completely fight with your eyes closed.」

‘I don’t really want to go that far.’

It was faint, but not completely dark.

The dim moonlight shining through the gaps in the shuttered windows indicated that the man was right in front of him.

Swoosh!

He dodged two more flying blades by tilting his head. The sound of them cutting the air passed close to his ears.

Yi-gang swung his sword without drawing it.

Whack!

“Cough!”

The man, struck in the jaw, flew against the wall and crashed loudly. The commotion was now undeniable.

Meanwhile, the woman beside the man was deciding what to do…

In that brief moment, she decided to flee.

“Damn, what a mess!”

Since Yi-gang was near the door, she decided to jump out the window. Being beaten up here or caught by the guards, both were the worst options.

She started running towards the window.

Suddenly, two flames appeared in front of her. They were none other than Dam Hyun’s glowing eyes.

“Mo-move!”

“Tsk.”

Seeing through the darkness was a skill Yu Su-rin had acquired when she was about ten years old.

Dam Hyun didn’t even need to chant a spell to use this technique.

Eyes blazing like a yokai’s, Dam Hyun swiftly reached out his hand.

The woman, who was belatedly trying to swing her sword, had her wrist easily caught.

He used Wisteria Hand to control her arm.

Then, with a swift twist of his hand, the woman spun in the air and easily face-planted onto the floor.

Bang!

Dam Hyun and Yi-gang had no trouble subduing them.

Just then, the door of the room burst open.

“What on earth is all this commotion at this hour… Aaaaack!”

The burly innkeeper, holding a lantern, was horrified.

There were six people in the not-so-large room.

Moreover, two of them were writhing like speared frogs, subdued, and one lay dead with his face skinned.

The innkeeper, once a martial artist, gripped the torch like a sword and shouted like thunder.

“Call the guards right away…!”

“Please do.”

“What?”

“I said, call them.”

Yi-gang’s calm demeanor made the innkeeper nod unwittingly.

“R-right.”

Yanling County might be close to Kaifeng, but it wasn’t a big city.

The innkeeper kicked the errand boy in the buttocks to wake him up and sent him to the law enforcement office.

Grumbling, the errand boy, who got up, only rushed through the rain after seeing the pale face of the innkeeper.

However, the guards at the law enforcement office, woken up in the middle of the night, were annoyed with the errand boy. Passing the responsibility around, the only one who came with the errand boy to the inn was a junior officer, barely dressed in his official uniform.

After seeing the face-skinned corpse, the young officer hurriedly ran through the rain to call his superiors.

Meanwhile, Yi-gang and his companions astonishingly left a message to be woken up if needed and went to their room.

Since there were no windows to escape from in that room, the innkeeper, though uneasy, nodded.

It was more comforting to keep them in the room than to keep looking at the face.

Of course, the arriving head of the guards and the guards themselves didn’t think that way.

“What? They’re sleeping? Those who might be suspects dare to be so insolent!”

In a city like Kaifeng, it might be different, but in such a county, the head of the guards was almost like a king to the common people.

“Bring them awake right now! If they’re suspicious, I’ll lock them up.”

“I-I’ll bring them immediately. I did try to stop them… yes.”

Of course, someone like Seo Saeng-won, who wasn’t as composed as Yi-gang or Dam Hyun, groveled before the head of the guards.

Now, even though his face was disguised with a beard, his identity would be quickly revealed if he was imprisoned.

Yi-gang and Dam Hyun came out yawning.

The head of the guards glared at Yi-gang with suspicious eyes.

The man and woman, who had been interrogated earlier, also glared at Yi-gang.

However, the head of the guards didn’t shout or intimidate Yi-gang.

“…From the Azure Forest, a martial artist.”

“Yes, my senior brother is the same.”

Once Yi-gang and Dam Hyun’s identities as disciples of the Azure Forest, a major sect, were revealed, the head of the guards’ demeanor somewhat diminished.

“Oh!”

“A-Azure Forest…”

On the other hand, the reaction of the man and woman was more intense. For those in Jianghu, the Azure Forest was a place of high renown and mystery.

The fact that they were easily overpowered by these two youthful-looking individuals suddenly made sense.

“Cough, for disciples trained under such Taoists to be involved in this disgraceful incident…”

“It happened unavoidably.”

“No matter what, the law is strict. Do you have any proof of identity? Like a family plaque or a travel permit?”

Many martial artists didn’t carry a family plaque, and a travel permit, similar to a travel authorization certificate, was even less common.

The head of the guards was surely aware of this and asked anyway. That was what frightened Seo Saeng-won.

‘Those scoundrels will surely make unreasonable demands.’

Although the name of the Azure Forest was renowned, it wasn’t enough to make the head of the guards tremble in fear.

However, Yi-gang surprisingly pulled out a family plaque with a casual attitude.

The head of the guards reluctantly took the plaque.

“Your name?”

“Baek Yi-gang, from Shaanxi Province.”

“What’s this, the plaque is…”

The head of the guards examined the plaque and frowned.

Usually, the family plaques of commoners were made of wood, with the quality of wood slightly indicating their status.

But this plaque was white and glossy, very smooth.

Even the head of the guards, who had been around for a long time, had rarely seen such a type of plaque.

It was made from a carved cow’s horn, used only by those who passed imperial examinations or were offspring of prestigious families. In short, it was a plaque of a high-ranking person.

“Baek… from Shaanxi Province… Could it be from Xi’an?”

“How did you know I’m from Xi’an?”

The head of the guards scanned Yi-gang from head to toe once more.

Now that it was dawn and brighter, he could clearly see Yi-gang’s appearance.

Despite wearing ordinary clothes, his inherent dignity was unmistakable; he exuded elegance.

“T-then, could it possibly be…?”

“Possibly what?”

“T-the Baek Noble Clan!”

A bead of cold sweat rolled down the head of the guard’s forehead.