WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈
Chapter 53: Daughter of the Tang Clan
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Tang Hyeseo appeared at Pungcheon Inn about an hour later with her guard, Bihyeon.
Unlike before, she wore a dark blue martial outfit and concealed her face beneath a bamboo rain hat.
Dressed like that, she looked like a somewhat small martial artist, or an ordinary martial heroine.
When she sat across from me and removed the hat, the atmosphere suddenly brightened.
Perhaps because she was wearing such a plain dark blue martial outfit, her splendid features stood out even more.
Gusam's eyes widened when he came over to take our order.
“Tsk, tsk. Your eyes are going to fall out.”
Even when I clicked my tongue and stared at Gusam in disapproval, Gusam could not come to his senses.
Gusam should count himself lucky.
If a grown man had stared so openly at the daughter of the Tang Clan, hidden weapons would probably have lodged in both his eyes, leaving him blind for the rest of his life.
Most beautiful women were gentle enough in a fight, but the Tang Clan was an exception.
Tang Hyeseo was the scariest, no, the second most dangerous woman in Seochon.
I might be better with a saber, but when it came to killing people, Tang Hyeseo was probably a step above me.
With a single flick of her sleeve, poison-coated hidden weapons could fly out and lodge in someone's forehead. She could also secretly poison the tea I was drinking.
“How did a peerless beauty like you end up with a great hero like...”
“Shut up and take the order.”
“What is this place good at?”
At Tang Hyeseo's question, Gusam eagerly began rattling off an answer with a foolish grin on his face.
“We can make everything from simple noodles and dumplings to special dishes. Our innkeeper is from Chengdu in Sichuan, so they're especially skilled at Sichuan cuisine...”
“Oh? They're from Sichuan? Interesting. Then bring us twice-cooked pork and shredded pork with green peppers first. That's fine, right? I'm paying.”
“Let's do that.”
If someone else was paying, I would have been grateful even for cold rice soaked in tea.
Gusam promptly disappeared into the kitchen. After looking over the quiet inn, Tang Hyeseo studied my face.
“Things seem to be going well for you lately. You look positively radiant.”
It sounded like a polite blessing, but it was true.
I had met Do Hoengil, learned the Latter Eighteen Forms of the Heavenly Steel Saber Method, acquired an Internal Energy Method, and eaten a spirit herb.
For a martial artist, there was nothing more exciting or joyful than growing stronger than they had been yesterday. Things really were going well.
“I'm doing reasonably well. Did things work out as you intended too, Miss?”
I had thought it was over once she caught the traitor Tang Dohun and returned to Sichuan.
Sichuan was far from Seochon, and there were no sects connected to the Tang Clan around here.
Honestly, I had not expected to see her again.
Tang Hyeseo let out a weary sigh, as though just thinking about it gave her a headache.
“The main clan was turned upside down while rooting out traitors. They stormed every Black Market in Sichuan, dragging people off and beating them for answers. Several people died or were injured... Anyway, Chengdu is still in turmoil.”
Judging by her expression, it seemed they had not recovered the missing Iron Armguard even after all that.
She could not have come all the way to Seochon with her aunt simply to escape the chaos. What business did she have here?
I was curious, but I did not ask.
The deputy hall master of the Detoxification Hall had betrayed the Tang Clan, stolen their secret Iron Armguard, and sold it. Knowing that alone already put me in enough danger.
Tang Hyeseo rested her elbows on the table and suddenly leaned forward.
“I heard there is a Black Market here too. Have you ever been there?”
A fragrant scent washed over me, and her face came close enough that I could make out the small mole beneath her eye.
My face was reflected faintly in Tang Hyeseo's clear eyes. I was making an idiotic expression I had never seen before. It was unfamiliar, but not unpleasant.
My mouth went dry, and for some reason, my chest stirred strangely.
The moment I remembered who the woman sitting across from me was, the expression on my face and the feelings in my heart, which had floated up as though they had lost all weight, both sank to the bottom.
Of all the people who had gotten this close to Tang Hyeseo apart from her family, how many had survived?
If she had caught me off guard so I could not deny it, she had succeeded.
I straightened after jerking back in surprise and swallowed with an awkward expression.
“...I've only been there once. I thought I might be able to get a Pigskin Vest or Chainmail.”
I added that to hide the fact that I had gone to buy spirit herbs. Tang Hyeseo leaned back in her chair and tilted her head.
“A Pigskin Vest? Chainmail? Do you wear things like that? Were you in the military?”
“Have you ever worn a Pigskin Vest?”
“No.”
“A well-made one is quite useful. It can stop one or two strikes. It's much easier and cleaner to get a Pigskin Vest than to find a companion loyal enough to take a blade for me.”
Tang Hyeseo looked as if she did not understand.
“Why not kill them before they can strike you?”
That was possible for a member of the Tang Clan. Hidden weapons were faster than blades and could reach farther.
“Can you accompany me to the Black Market?”
“Are you hiring me?”
Tang Hyeseo nodded.
“Let's keep this between the three of us. Don't tell the Hao clan.”
It was quite tempting. I was not a Hao clan member, so I had no obligation to report it.
I needed to acquire spirit herbs before I ran out of my remaining five pills anyway. If I could earn money and visit the Black Market's herb shops as well, there was no reason to refuse.
The one thing that bothered me was Tang Hyeseo's purpose.
“What business do you have at the Black Market?”
“It has been confirmed that one of the Black Market Merchants in Sichuan sent a carrier pigeon somewhere around here. They killed themselves before they could be captured, so we do not know the exact recipient, only that it was somewhere in this area. It's probably another Black Market Merchant in the same Black Market. I need to take a look.”
“Does your aunt know you're going to the Black Market?”
Tang Hyeseo's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
“...I'm disappointed.”
I did not know what she had expected, but I was sorry to disappoint her.
Still, if her aunt found it unpleasant that a mere wandering martial artist like me was hanging around her niece, I might end up drinking poisoned tea someday.
Tang Hyeseo, who had been born and raised in a nest of vipers, might not fear the Tang Clan, but I had seen and heard too much by now. I knew how little Tang Clan members valued human lives.
“I told her I would be looking around, so it'll be fine. My aunt doesn't care much about what I do anyway. If you're all right with it, let's leave right after we eat.”
“Let's leave early tomorrow morning.”
Tang Hyeseo tilted her head.
“Why? Is the Black Market far away?”
“Last time, I took a carriage in the morning and arrived at sunset.”
“That is quite far.”
“Even so, it's the closest city to Seochon.”
Tang Hyeseo narrowed her eyes and looked out the window. After briefly watching the busy streets at midday, she spoke.
“It can't compare to Chengdu, but this town is quite respectable too. I heard it wasn't like this in the past?”
“Until ten years ago, it was a poor country village with around twenty households. There wasn't even an official road then, so people mostly traveled along mountain paths.”
“Hmm. Is it really possible for a place to change this much in ten years...”
Tang Hyeseo fell into thought with a puzzled expression.
“Your food is ready.”
Gusam, still excited, brought out the dishes.
“It looks decent enough.”
“Hehe. It tastes even better. Enjoy!”
Tang Hyeseo picked up her chopsticks with a face full of anticipation.
After taking a bite of the twice-cooked pork, she blinked in confusion. When she tasted the shredded pork with green peppers too, her head tilted slightly to one side.
“This is truly strange.”
“Does it not taste good?”
“It tastes good... but it isn't Sichuan cuisine. It's Sichuan-style cuisine.”
Still, it seemed to suit her tastes, as Tang Hyeseo continued eating without putting down her chopsticks.
I began my meal as well.
Whether I was wandering as a martial artist or had returned to my hometown, I usually ate alone whenever possible.
Then and now, most of the people who happened to share a table with me were martial artists with weapons at their waists.
Martial artists were hopeless sorts who would draw their blades even in the middle of a meal if things went wrong, so I could not let down my guard for even a moment.
Whenever someone was within striking distance, my senses were always on edge as I watched their movements.
If I wanted to relax and enjoy a meal, it was more comfortable to be alone.
Yet as Tang Hyeseo and I sat across from each other and ate, I felt at ease even though I was not alone for the first time in a long while.
“What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?”
Tang Hyeseo wiped sauce from the corner of her mouth with her hand and tilted her head.
It seemed I had been openly staring at the daughter of the Tang Clan without realizing it.
“No.”
As I picked up a piece of meat with my chopsticks, I glanced at Bihyeon, who was sitting elsewhere.
Bihyeon was eating as well while talking to Gusam. Bihyeon was not looking our way at all.
* * *
When I had gone to the Black Market with Do Hoengil before, we had borrowed a Hao clan carriage.
The official road was still in poor condition, but unlike then, we were riding in the Tang Clan's large carriage, so my backside did not hurt.
The scenery outside the window and the wind blowing in made me keenly aware that the season had changed.
Winter would come soon. Where had that elder, with no relatives at all, gone? Surely they were not spending winter alone at the ruined Cheongsan Sect...
After we traveled for a long time, a shabby inn came into view in the distance, its flag fluttering at the foot of a mountain.
“There is an inn in a place like this?”
“That is a Black Inn.”
Tang Hyeseo's eyes immediately sparkled.
“Those lunatics who hunt martial artists?”
“You know what a Black Inn is?”
“What martial artist doesn't know? I heard about them until I was sick of it, even before entering the martial world.”
Most people fled in terror when they encountered a venomous snake in the mountains. Snake catchers who made their living capturing and selling them sought out venomous snakes instead.
To Tang Clan members, who were human vipers themselves, Black Inns were like snake catchers.
The poisons and hidden weapons possessed by the Tang Clan were traded secretly at exorbitant prices in the Black Market. Since they brought in huge sums, Black Inn keepers had no reason to refuse them.
If a Tang Clan member went missing or fell victim to a Black Inn, the pursuit-and-execution squad would pursue the Black Inn's perpetrators to the end.
They said the Tang Clan had captured and killed dozens of Black Inn keepers so far. Even then, they had not managed to root them out completely.
“They are organized in separate cells, so they're difficult to track. What kind of trap does that inn have?”
“If you pull the iron lever beside the counter, the floor splits open on both sides.”
“How deep is the trap?”
“About five jang.”
“And yet you got out unharmed?”
“I tend to be cautious.”
The more than ten bandits who had fallen into that trap and the man guarding the Black Inn were probably still rotting away meaninglessly even now.
Or perhaps the Black Inn had collected the bodies and dug a new trap.
Tang Hyeseo could not take her eyes off the Black Inn outside the window.
I thought she might suggest going in, and I was considering how to stop her, but fortunately, she was not that reckless.
As I watched the Black Inn recede into the distance, it unsettled me anew that something like that existed near my hometown.
Maybe I should have just set it on fire back then.
Once the Black Inn disappeared from view, my unpleasant feelings gradually faded too. Anything became more bearable once it was out of sight.
The days certainly grew dark sooner than in summer. By the time we reached Baekgye County where the Black Market was located, it was already night.
Before getting out of the carriage, Tang Hyeseo took out something else and completely covered her face, as though the bamboo rain hat was not enough.
“How do I look?”
When Tang Hyeseo raised her head, her face was covered by a mask of a young man with a short beard.
It was finely made enough that it would probably fool anyone at night.
“What in the world is that?”
“If an unfamiliar beauty appears at the Black Market, everyone will be surprised. What choice do I have?”
Tang Hyeseo acted calmly, as though she had used it more than once.
We rented rooms at the Hao clan inn where I had stayed before, then entered the Black Market.
I wondered how she would find the shops without a letter of introduction, but Tang Hyeseo had a wooden pass accepted throughout the Black Market.
She had apparently identified the shops in advance as well, because she found her way around without getting lost.
When I learned what she was looking for, I was more surprised than the herb seller.
“You are looking for poison? What kind do you need? There are many kinds. Paralysis Powder, Life-Ending Poison...”
“Do you have Inner-Power Dispersing Poison?”
Tang Hyeseo asked in a voice forced as low and deep as possible.
It sounded like she was trying to imitate a man's voice, but somehow it made her sound like a eunuch.
“Pardon?”
The herb seller quickly looked over me, Tang Hyeseo, and Bihyeon with a suspicious expression, as though weighing us up.
“Even in a Black Market, we do not have such a rare item.”
Though Tang Hyeseo should have known better than anyone, she pretended otherwise.
“Is Inner-Power Dispersing Poison that rare? I heard it has no poisonous effect at all on those without inner energy.”
“That is why few people make it, and few people seek it. Among Inner-Power Dispersing Poisons, Immortal-Extinguishing Poison and Gentleman-Dissolving Powder are about the only useful ones, but both are among the Eight Great Poisons of the Sichuan Tang Clan. They rarely leak outside the clan, their recipes are strictly secret, and if Tang Clan bastards catch you buying or selling them, everyone gets slaughtered...”
“So you cannot get it?”
“It will probably be difficult...”
At Tang Hyeseo's gesture, Bihyeon handed over a bank draft.
It was worth ten taels of silver.
The herb seller's face gleamed with greed upon seeing the amount.
“Consider it a down payment. I don't care how much it costs, so acquire Immortal-Extinguishing Poison or Gentleman-Dissolving Powder.”
“Where should we contact you?”
“We will return in about ten days.”
Tang Hyeseo ordered the same Inner-Power-Dispersing Poison from other Black Market Merchants as well.
A Tang Clan member was looking for Inner-Power-Dispersing Poison made by the Tang Clan in the Black Market. I had a rough idea of what was happening.
It seemed Tang Dohun had sold not only the Iron Armguard, but Inner-Power Dispersing Poison as well.
If the Black Market Merchant in Sichuan had distributed Inner-Power-Dispersing Poison, then the merchant handling it here would be the person who had received the carrier pigeon.
I did not ask anything and accompanied them in silence.
If there was something I needed to know, Tang Hyeseo would tell me. If she did not, there would be a reason for it.
After roaming around the Black Market, visiting five Black Market Merchants, and spending one bank draft at each, we returned to the inn.
All that remained was to wait for a Black Market Merchant to take the bait.
“I'll be back shortly.”
Leaving Tang Hyeseo and Bihyeon at the inn, I went outside alone.
I intended to find the herb shop I had visited before. I only had eighty taels of silver in my pouch, but perhaps I could buy one or two low-grade spirit herbs.
As I left an alley, I ran into a thoroughly drunk man. He wore shabby clothes and did not even have a weapon at his waist.
The stench of alcohol was overwhelming, as though he had drunk himself senseless.
I gripped my long saber with my left hand and stepped to one side.
“Urgh!”
The drunkard retched and collapsed in front of me. When he hit the ground with a thud, a faint dust-like cloud rose up.
Perhaps he had done manual labor during the day, because his clothes were completely covered in dirt.
I waved the dust away with my hand, then turned and headed for the herb shop.
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