Light Novel: Volume 19 Episode 18
Manhwa: N/A
The beef noodle soup was delicious.
It was one of the best food Pyo-wol had ever tasted while roaming around Jianghu.
Although Pyo-wol usually ate sparingly, the beef noodle soup was so delicious that he finished the entire bowl.
Around the same time as Pyo-wol did, Qi Sun-hye also finished her beef noodle soup. A satisfied smile adorned her face as she cleaned up the noodles without leaving a single drop of soup.
“How is it? The best, right?”
“Indeed!”
Pyo-wol agreed without hesitation.
As he put down his chopsticks, he said,
“Now tell me.”
“Huh? About what?”
“You didn’t come just to eat, did you? There must be a reason you bought me food?”
“Can’t you think of it as just a kind gesture?”
“Is it purely out of kindness?”
“Ah…”
Qi Sun-hye slightly furrowed her brow.
“What do you want?”
“Actually, there’s something I want to ask of you.”
“I’m telling you in advance, I won’t let go of Gwiya.”
“As fascinating as that snake is, it’s not that important to me.”
“Then what?”
“I’m actually looking for some medicinal herbs.”
“Why tell me? You should talk to a herbalist.”
“It’s because these herbs can’t be obtained through ordinary means. It’s a medicine that controls madness, and there’s very little of it in the world. But all of it is located in one place.”
“A medicine that controls madness?”
“Yes! It’s called a Fish-shaped Herb. The leaves look just like a fish, hence the name. It’s particularly effective in controlling madness and also has excellent properties for healing damaged heart meridians.”
“So you need this herb?”
“Yes! To heal a thirteen-year-old boy, I need it.”
“And you’re asking me to get it?”
“If the opportunity arises,”
Qi Sun-hye said calmly.
“It must be in a hard-to-reach place.”
“Correct. You can’t just walk in and take something from that place using normal methods. That’s why I’m asking you. I think you can get it from there.”
“I appreciate your high opinion of me, but I see no reason why I should risk my neck for this. Didn’t you say it was located in a dangerous place?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s pretend I didn’t hear it.”
Pyo-wol got up from his seat.
Qi Sun-hye spoke urgently.
“Even though the New Moon Manor may be dangerous, I still believe you can get it.”
“Did you just say New Moon Manor?”
“Yes! New Moon Manor.”
Pyo-wol’s brow creased slightly.
The name New Moon Manor had caught him off guard.
“You’re saying that those Fish-shaped Herbs are gathered at the New Moon Manor?”
“Yes!”
“And that herb is particularly effective against madness?”
“Yes!”
His mind tingled.
It felt like pieces of a fragmented picture were coming together.
‘Buddhist scriptures and the Fish-shaped Herb. Someone at the New Moon Manor must be suffering from madness.’
It made sense now why they would go to such lengths to loot the original Buddhist scriptures in Chengdu.
It was clear that they were desperate enough to go through with the looting despite knowing full well that Pyo-wol could involved
The question was, who was the one suffering from madness?
It had to be someone of some importance, considering the difficulty of obtaining the Buddhist scriptures and gathering the Fish-shaped Herbs.
“Please, I ask of you. A warrior like you wouldn’t be taken lightly even by the New Moon Manor. I’m not forcing you, but if by chance you meet the owner of the place, could you ask them to share some of the Fish-shaped Herb?”
The Wind Saint hadn’t told her about Pyo-wol’s identity. Yet, she made this request because she noticed that the Wind Saint was wary of Pyo-wol.
If the Wind Saint was cautious around him, Pyo-wol must certainly be one of the most notable warriors under the heavens. That’s why she was asking this favor.
Qi Sun-hye was asking with pure intentions, but it could be a burden to the listener.
Pyo-wol said,
“I can’t promise anything. But if I get it, I’ll send it to you.”
“Really?”
“I can’t make promises.”
“That’s enough for me. Human plans are subject to divine intervention.”2
“You believe in heaven?”
“It’s hard to live in this world if you don’t believe in something. Don’t we need to have something to believe if we want to keep our sanity?”
Qi Sun-hye stared intently at Pyo-wol.
His eyes were not visible above his nose due to the deeply pulled-down hat, but they seemed to pierce through the hat with intensity.
“Not everyone is like you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Strong, self-confident, unshakable… Most people are shaken by life. Only a handful are as firmly centered as you are, and those people stand at the center of the world.”
“You talk like you know me well.”
“I don’t, but I feel like I do.”
Suddenly, Qi Sun-hye brought her face close to Pyo-wol’s.
They were close enough to feel each other’s breath.
Qi Sun-hye slightly lifted Pyo-wol’s hat to look at his face.
Seeing the pure white, handsome face hidden by the hat, she whispered,
“You’re Master Pyo-wol, aren’t you?”
“……”
“I must be right, seeing that you can’t say anything, I’m guessing that you don’t want to reveal your identity given that you’re wearing your hat so deeply. Is that right?”
“……”
Qi Sun-hye smiled and returned the hat she had lifted slightly to its original position.
“Keep covering yourself like this in the future.”
“……”
“Otherwise, other women might not leave you alone.”
“How about you?”
“Who knows.”
Qi Sun-hye chuckled softly.
* * *
“Huam!”
“The sunlight is so warm it makes me sleepy.”
The warriors guarding the main gate of Shaoyang yawned as if their mouths would tear.
There was still a long line of people lined up at the gate, waiting for their turn to enter, but not all of them were allowed to enter.
To enter a walled city like Shaoyang, one’s identity had to be clear. The warriors would only let those with a confirmed identity enter Shaoyang, or those who could slip a silver coin into their pockets.
There were many trying to get in, but the warriors inspecting were sluggish.
The warriors had no reason to be in a hurry.
If they couldn’t let them in today, they could just let them in tomorrow.
Those in a real hurry would discreetly slip them a silver coin. It wouldn’t be too late to let them through then.
However, this kind of behavior had to be done discreetly.
If they did such a thing to high-ranking officials or martial experts of the Jianghu, they wouldn’t live to tell the tale.
Just then, a bizarre figure wearing a dark red robe came into the warriors’ view.
He had long hair and a beard that covered his chest.
All that could be seen of the figure’s face were his pair of chilling eyes and a nose.
“Gulp!”
Upon seeing the stranger, the warriors couldn’t help but swallow their dry saliva.
They could feel an eerie energy coming from the stranger.
These warriors were used to seeing more people than anyone else. Naturally, their senses were on high alert.
They instinctively recognized that the person was far from ordinary.
One of the warriors asked their leader.
“What should we do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do we just let him pass?”
“Just make it quick and let him through.”
“Without taking a penny?”
“You want to risk your life for a few coins?”
“Well, not really…”
“Just give him a reasonable frisk and let him through.”
“Understood.”
The warrior answered as if he had no other choice.
Finally, the stranger approached them closely.
For a moment, all the warriors at the front gate froze. The stranger was already intimidating from a distance, but up close, they couldn’t even breathe.
Despite the warriors being right before him, the stranger did not even glance at them.
His eyes were fixed on the plaque high up on the city gate.
“Shao… yang!”
His voice was as dry as his appearance.
The stranger continued to walk towards the city gate with large strides.
“Wait…!”
“Stop.”
The warriors attempted to perform a perfunctory inspection by blocking the stranger’s path.
Thump!
At that moment, the heads of the warriors who had blocked the stranger burst open like smashed pumpkins.
The warriors’ eyes widened in shock.
The scene of their comrades’ heads exploding right before their eyes was surreal.
“AHH!”
“It’s a murder!”
“Run away!”
Screams erupted from the people in line.
It was a murder right before their eyes.
Having witnessed such a gruesome sight where people’s heads exploded, the bystanders were disoriented.
Even in the Jianghu, where murder was common, witnessing such a horrific death was not an everyday occurrence.
The warriors were equally frozen.
“My God…”
“How could this…?”
They didn’t know what to do in the face of their comrades’ deaths.
Normally, they would have rushed in for revenge. They would have done so under usual circumstances, but the gap was too vast. How could they dare to attack?
The stranger spoke,
“Anyone else wants to block my path?”
“……”
“I’ve memorized all your faces. If today’s incident causes any trouble, I will find and kill not only you but your entire families.”
The warriors couldn’t say a word to the stranger’s threat; they just shivered in fear.
They believed that given the stranger’s shocking show of force, he could easily carry out his threat.
The warriors clamped their mouths shut.
Even the leader responsible for them stealthily turned his head to avoid the stranger’s gaze.
The stranger then turned from the warriors and walked toward the city gate.
The warriors hastily opened the gate to allow the stranger inside.
“Huff!”
“Crazy…”
It was only after the stranger had disappeared that the warriors exhaled a sigh of relief.
They didn’t even dare to think about revenge or making a big deal out of the incident.
Their comrade’s death was unfortunate, but they were just grateful that it hadn’t been them.
Their leader barked at them.
“You assholes! What are you doing not cleaning up the corpses? You’re going to leave them lying there?”
“Yes!”
“Clean it up now!”
The warriors replied and began to pick up the remains of their comrades. But it wasn’t easy to pick up corpses with its head blown off.
Even the sight of a stranger’s dismembered body could induce nausea, let alone that of a comrade they had just been laughing and talking with moments ago.
“Bleagh!”
“Damn it!”
The warriors collecting the body gagged.
Some sat down right there and began to sob.
The leader understood his subordinates.
To ordinary citizens, they might seem like grim reapers, but in front of such a martial expert, they were no different than rabbits caught in front of a tiger.
“Damn it!”
The leader gritted his teeth.
That didn’t mean he felt any better about losing his subordinates.
He had no idea how to convey this tragedy to the families of the warriors who had lost their lives.
Looking toward the city gate where the stranger had vanished, the leader muttered,
“What was that monster? What on earth is his purpose for coming here?”
A thick scent of blood seemed to be already wafting from within the city.
LUNACAVE
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