Chapter 51
Anhui City was more crowded than usual.
There were bold martial artists who had come to declare their participation in the Wulin Alliance Martial Arts Tournament, spectators who had come to appraise these martial artists, merchants and gamblers targeting those spectators, and even well-known sects and clans stopping by on their way to Hanan City to witness with their own eyes the famous “Nangong Chumyeong’s Iron Mask.” With so many people bustling about as if a grand banquet had been held, it was hardly surprising that the city was packed.
Every inn and guesthouse near the Nangong family’s estate was already full.
Even with just a little attention, one could easily hear the topic that kept Anhui City abuzz: the Wulin Alliance Martial Arts Tournament and the Nangong family.
Street vendors would mention, dozens of times a day, the exaggerated feats of Cheonggeom Ilsum Nangong Jeokmyeong, drawing crowds and money in the process.
Jin Cheongak observed this scene with a bored expression.
Leaning his chin on his hand, blinking slowly, he seemed on the verge of dozing off. His motionless posture made one even doubt whether he was alive.
Amid all the noise and clamor, only the table where he sat remained curiously secluded.
Yet no one in the inn paid any attention to Jin Cheongak. Neither guests nor shopkeepers glanced at him, not even surreptitiously. It was as if he had never existed.
Then, suddenly, a stunning beauty in a blue silk robe appeared before him.
The men in the inn gazed at her as if entranced. Some even tried to stand and approach her.
Her long hair fluttering in the wind looked like silk, her skin was as white as jade, and her orderly forehead highlighted her beauty to a breathtaking degree.
The scent from the woman spread quickly.
It enveloped the entire upper floor of the inn. One by one, those lost in the thick fragrance gradually turned their heads again.
“Hey, why did you suddenly stand up?”
“…Huh? I wonder. Why did I get up? Am I possessed by a ghost in broad daylight?”
At that moment, when the attention of the crowd drifted away again, the beautiful woman in blue and the burly man standing beside her knelt before Jin Cheongak.
“We pay our respects to our lord.”
“We pay our respects to our lord.”
Only then did Jin Cheongak turn his gaze from the street to the inside of the inn.
When he lightly nodded, the two took seats across from him.
“This medicine is slightly bitter. Please be careful.”
The woman spoke as she pulled a small vial from her sleeve.
Jin Cheongak swallowed the contents in one gulp, rolling his tongue a few times inside his mouth before showing a subtle expression.
“I can’t taste anything on my tongue. Did you bring the correct one?”
“Of course, my lord. This is a potent medicine that can dissolve both the yang and, depending on the amount, the yin. Please be cautious of any side effects today.”
A medicine capable of dissolving yin definitely existed in the world.
However, most such medicines would also dissolve the internal organs, making them impractical.
The yin that coexisted with Jin Cheongak had survived after tasting nearly a dozen different poisons and medicines. Truly tiresome…
“The medicine should taste bitter to be effective. This stuff can dissolve yin, you say? I’ll need to drink at least as much as a river’s worth.”
“Even Hua Tuo would have wept at this master’s creation. Trust me, my lord.”
At that moment, the broad-shouldered man sitting beside the beauty laughed heartily.
“Hmph. It’s obvious. Danghong, you probably got tricked by a slick-tongued charlatan after poking around here and there. How much did you pay for this one?”
“Oh my, such ugly jealousy, Beomjung. Do you think anyone else would make a beauty pay for this besides you?”
“Rubbish. Only a fool would give something based on looks alone! Both the one selling this watery excuse for medicine and you buying it are fools.”
Jin Cheongak, watching the two bicker leisurely, remarked casually, passing by:
“The antidote from Hongyu I tasted recently was bitter beyond words.”
Beomjung and Danghong’s eyes widened in shock.
“Hongyu? You don’t mean… the Hongyu said to have used Salmaki?”
“My lord! To think you would take such a terrible poison into your precious body!”
Bang! Danghong slammed the table, his eyes reddening as he bit his lips.
“Yeoril, that vicious woman, couldn’t satisfy herself with injuring my lord’s yin, and now Hongyu…”
“Don’t make a fuss. It wasn’t me who suffered from Hongyu—it was that Yeoril.”
At that moment, the food they had ordered arrived, temporarily quieting their commotion. After the shopkeeper went back downstairs, Danghong muttered in a confused voice, exhaling roughly.
“Thank heavens… so tasting the antidote means…”
Suddenly, he grabbed his long hair and screamed.
“Ah! This won’t do, my lord! How could that cruel woman…! I, your loyal Danghong, must purify you…!”
“Calm yourself, you mad Danghong. If you open that filthy mouth toward my lord, I’ll personally cut it off.”
While Danghong and Beomjung bickered again, Jin Cheongak simply stared into the black interior of the vial with an unreadable expression.
He nudged the vial with his fingertip and muttered to himself:
“There’s always commotion whenever I meet them. Maybe I should call others next time.”
“…”
“…”
The two fell silent, watching each other.
“So, is that all for today?” Jin Cheongak asked.
Beomjung responded quickly:
“It seems the Jin family has located our lord.”
“‘Seems’? Quite a curious choice of words.”
“I’m certain.”
Danghong chimed in:
“I also believe so, my lord. Even though he pretends otherwise, Beomjung has been ostracized by the Jin family recently.”
“Ostracized?”
Heh. Beomjung coughed loudly, puffing his chest out with a strangely proud expression.
“It seems… only I, Beomjung, receive the overwhelming trust and favor of our lord…”
“The problem lies elsewhere, not with the Jin family,” Danghong cut him off with a glare, continuing seriously:
“According to the spy’s report, Choi Ryang has also found our lord.”
Choi Ryang.
The first prince of the Cheonma Cult and the closest to the minor sect leader.
He was the one who, more than anyone, wished for Jin Cheongak’s downfall and had indirectly caused his current plight. Danghong clenched his teeth.
‘If Choi Ryang hadn’t sent our lord to Gwangbyeok, there would have been no need for such suffering…’
But by sheer misfortune, just as their lord was caught in an inconvenient place, the problem arose.
Choi Ryang would never let such an opportunity pass. He would surely try to chew, tear, and destroy our lord in any way possible.
A countermeasure had to be devised.
‘…Yeoril, killing her would be the best solution.’
Disguised as a Nangong family’s concubine, the timing was bad. The Cheonma Cult currently had no intention of moving in the Central Plains, so they couldn’t act recklessly.
Moreover, Jin Cheongak himself was relaxed…
Danghong, lost in these thoughts, suddenly recoiled in shock at the scene unfolding before him, colliding noisily with Beomjung.
“Huahk!”
A crazy woman was hanging upside down from the inn’s roof, observing them!
Wearing an elegant jade-green palace robe, her expression full of distrust for the world, and her beauty enough to stir Danghong’s fighting spirit—
A woman with all these qualities was rare indeed. She must be… a ghost!
“Wangshin! Hanging upside down here in broad daylight…!”
“Calm yourself, foolish Danghong. That’s not Wangshin—it’s Yeoril.”
