Murim in my Hometown - Chapter 56

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈

Chapter 56: Tracking Scent

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An old man stood at the center of the stage. He straightened his back and slowly swept his gaze over the spectators crowding the first floor of the inn.

After raising his head to meet the eyes of the martial artists gathered along the second and third-floor railings, he spoke.

“Fellow members of the martial world! It is good to meet you! I am Ha Eulsan, the chairman hosting this Martial Combat Tournament.”

His voice was remarkably vigorous for an old man.

The crowd stirred loudly when the tournament’s leader appeared.

I had worked for many gangs and factions, but I had rarely met their leaders directly. Everything was usually handled by the executives beneath them.

The Martial Combat Tournament was no different. Eloquent, quick-witted staff had busily welcomed the guests.

No matter the organization, when its leader appeared in person, it meant something had gone wrong.

Ha Eulsan had climbed onto the stage himself to announce that the tournament was being suspended.

“The Blood History Gang, sponsor of this Martial Combat Tournament, was attacked by murderers two shichen ago. The Blood History Gang Leader is also my biological younger sibling. Thus, today’s tournament must stop here, and we must look forward to another day.”

Fierce protests and grumbles burst from the crowd.

“What kind of nonsense is that? We have to see it through to the finals!”

“How much have we lost already? At least give us a chance to win it back!”

“What kind of way is this to handle things...”

Ha Eulsan stared each of them down as though committing their faces to memory. The dissatisfied spectators flinched and looked away.

His voice echoed through the now-silent inn.

“I will choose an appropriate day soon and resume the tournament. So let us end things here today, and all of you should return home. Anyone who causes trouble will meet with me separately later.”

Ha Eulsan flicked his sleeves and descended from the stage. His subordinates, having received their orders, moved swiftly.

“Come on, get out! Out! I said get out!”

They began driving out the spectators as if dealing with unwanted guests, and the inn descended into utter chaos.

To avoid getting swept up in the crowd, I stood quietly in front of the kitchen until I caught a familiar staff member passing by.

“Is the tournament really going to stop like this?”

The staff member scratched their head with an awkward expression.

“It can’t be helped. It was the chairman’s decision.”

“What about the one tael of silver I paid as an entry fee?”

“Please show me your participant plaque.”

When I took out the wooden pass, the staff member opened a ledger.

“You are the great hero Blue Saber. Normally, entry fees are nonrefundable under any circumstances, but we will make a special exception this time. Since you earned one victory, we will add four taels of silver as compensation and pay you five taels. Please come this way.”

The payment was handled in a room beneath the stairs. As they handed me the silver, the staff member asked in a suggestive tone.

“Would you perhaps be interested in making a little more money?”

“What money?”

“The chairman is gathering wandering fighters to support the Blood History Gang. The compensation will be generous...”

“No.”

I turned away after refusing outright.

I had no intention of serving as a swordsman in someone else’s war. Besides, the enemy was undoubtedly Black Night Gang forces led by Bok Hagyu.

Rather than helping the Blood History Gang, I ought to have been cheering for it to be successfully taken over and for the stolen Internal Energy Method to be recovered.

When I went up to the third floor, Tang Hyeseo and Bihyeon were getting ready to leave as well.

“That was you earlier, wasn’t it? The masked saber fighter?”

“You saw?”

“You looked much better than when you fought the bandits last time. You must have trained a lot.”

“...Is that so?”

Tang Hyeseo’s high praise left me with mixed feelings. I had won, but I had not used the Heavenly Steel Saber Method.

It had been a meaningful victory achieved by cutting off the opponent’s flow with the fundamentals of saber technique, without any flashy forms.

It would probably have looked plain even to most martial artists, let alone the spectators. It was rather strange that Tang Hyeseo had recognized it.

Come to think of it, Tang Hyeseo had used a sword rather than hidden weapons when dealing with the bandits before.

Bihyeon looked beyond the chaotic railing and asked, “Great Hero Jeong, is the Blood History Gang here in Baekgye County?”

“No. It is about two shichen away by horseback, in a village.”

“Do you happen to know who ambushed them?”

“Probably the Black Night Gang. The two do not get along.”

Tang Hyeseo tilted her head.

“The Black Night Gang? Those Black Path people in Seochon?”

“That’s right. Let’s head down too.”

We slowly descended the stairs and joined the tail end of the crowd flowing out like the receding tide.

The spectators poured out of the inn like vomit, gathered in twos and threes, and scattered into the nighttime streets.

They disappeared into open taverns and restaurants, talking about the martial artists they had watched earlier and seeking to prolong their lingering excitement.

The unexpected Martial Combat Tournament ended in an equally unexpected way.

Tang Hyeseo, Bihyeon, and I headed for the inn.

“Well, that ended rather awkwardly.”

Bihyeon looked back regretfully at Silver Brilliance Tower. Tang Hyeseo stretched lazily and looked up at the night sky.

“It was still pretty fun. We watched people living their lives, and we made money too.”

Was slashing at each other and spraying blood really watching people live their lives?

Tang Hyeseo might hold high status in the Tang Clan, but she did not seem to have been raised as some sheltered young lady. Like any member of the Tang Clan, she had probably seen all kinds of harsh things from a young age.

Then again, whether man or woman, no martial artist would turn down the chance to watch a fight.

“You placed bets too?”

“I bet ten taels of silver every time a masked fighter came out, and I collected on both bets.”

“...You bet on me?”

“There was a masked sword fighter too. Both of you won. Masked fighters really are the highlight of a Martial Combat Tournament.”

I had been worried before entering the tournament, but the result was not bad.

It was unfortunate that I had failed to obtain a spirit herb, but I had lightly exchanged blows with a saber fighter and earned four taels of silver.

Where had Do Hoengil found a spirit herb to replenish his internal energy? When Do Hoengil returned next spring, I would have to find out somehow.

As we neared the inn, the streets became sparse. Only then did I sense something lurking nearby.

When I looked back, a yellow dog stood with its tongue hanging out at the entrance to an alley some distance away.

It had no leash, but its belly had some flesh on it, so it did not seem to be starving.

The Yellow Dog wagged its tail gently and stared straight at me with kind eyes.

Anyone unaware of the situation would have mistaken it for a dog I raised, judging by how intently it watched me.

But I had definitely never seen it before.

After watching the dog for a moment, I entered the inn.

* * *

After sleeping for about two shichen, we boarded the carriage early in the morning and left Baekgye County.

Perhaps because the Martial Combat Tournament had fallen apart midway through, the atmosphere in the streets was unsettled.

Once we left the city, wide-open fields stretched before us.

Previously, grain ripening beneath the summer sun had swayed like waves in the wind.

Now, after the harvest, the only things left in the fields were gathered piles of rice straw and heaps of manure.

Worried that another group of bandits might latch onto us like last time, I kept watch around the main road.

No ominous clouds of dust rose anywhere in the quiet, peaceful morning scenery.

Before long, the sun had fully risen above the eastern mountains. I relaxed and closed my eyes as sunlight streamed through the open rear door.

Beside me, Tang Hyeseo ate my jerky and grumbled as though talking to herself.

“I scattered so many bank drafts and spread the scent, but those bastards still haven’t shown their faces...”

It seemed she was not happy about returning empty-handed.

Where had the carrier pigeon that the Sichuan Black Market Merchant connected to the Iron Armguard reportedly sent toward the vicinity of Seochon gone? If another Black Market Merchant had received it, they were surely one of the Black Market Merchants in Baekgye County.

If someone suddenly ordered rare Inner-Power Dispersing Poison, they would eventually poke their head out, whether to sell it or find out who was asking.

If the message had not arrived yet, or if they were testing the waters, it would take some time.

“Will you come to the Black Market again in ten days?”

Tang Hyeseo nodded with a firm expression.

“I have to. This time, I should bring several Tang Clan members.”

Tang Clan members...

With the coordinated attacks and hidden weapon techniques they had displayed against the bandits, turning the Black Market into a bloodbath would be easy. Of course, I would not be there.

The carriage rocked monotonously as it continued toward Seochon, where my home was.

As I watched the distant scenery, I grew curious about what had happened the night before.

What had become of the Blood History Gang?

If Bok Hagyu had attacked them at night, things would be settled by now.

The Blood History Gang had lost quite a few members when they were ambushed on their way to attack the Black Night Gang before.

Their strength must have weakened, so perhaps the Black Night Gang had swallowed them without much difficulty.

Ha Eulsan had led reinforcements to save his younger sibling, but I did not know how much help they would be.

If the Black Night Gang was determined to leave no future trouble behind, the owner of Silver Brilliance Tower might change before long.

If they recovered the Internal Energy Method, who would learn it and provide true qi guidance to Jeok Chuyeong?

Bok Hagyu would probably do it, but it would not be easy to learn merely by reading a book.

Still, the Black Night Gang had plenty of money, so they could easily buy a few spirit herbs.

Damn it...

I crossed my arms and leaned back to get some sleep when something moved deep in the forest.

I narrowed my eyes and stared carefully.

It was the Yellow Dog.

“Is something there?”

“A dog is following us.”

“A dog?”

“It is too far away to be certain, but... I think it is the one I saw near the inn after leaving the tournament yesterday.”

Tang Hyeseo moved beside me and stared intently where I pointed.

Strangely, the Yellow Dog avoided the wide main road and traveled only through the grass or across the fields.

Unless someone looked closely, they would not even realize it was following us.

After watching the Yellow Dog’s movements for a while, Tang Hyeseo stared at me.

“Did anything happen when you went out alone last night?”

“Nothing happened...”

The drunkard I encountered in the alley on my way to the herbal shop.

When they collapsed while vomiting, a faint cloud of dust had risen.

“Dust?”

Tang Hyeseo narrowed her eyes. She suddenly buried her face against my chest and began sniffing me.

“What are you doing?”

I panicked and pushed at her shoulder, but she ignored me and clung to me.

“Hold still. This is important.”

After remaining like that for a moment, she took several bamboo tubes from her bundle. She dipped a brush into the white powder inside and spread it evenly over my clothes.

Various spots across my upper body turned blue.

Tang Hyeseo’s large, clear eyes gleamed with strange delight.

“I knew it. They would not just sit back and do nothing.”

“...What is it?”

“Tracking Scent Powder.”

“Tracking Scent Powder? The stuff used for tracking techniques?”

It was a vicious scented powder said to remain for at least fifteen days once applied to a target’s body.

I had only heard about it. I had never actually seen or experienced it.

“The scent is too faint for people to detect, but dogs are different. Their sense of smell is incredibly sensitive, so they can even follow the path of a scent lingering in the air.”

This was troublesome.

I could not return to Seochon with Tracking Scent Powder on me.

We stopped the carriage. While resting outside, I took out some jerky and called to the Yellow Dog.

The Yellow Dog remained hidden in the forest over a hundred jang away without budging. Even when I lit a fire with a fire starter and grilled the jerky to spread its scent, it did not move.

“It is useless. It must have been trained from a young age. Normally, it would not approach this closely, but perhaps the Tracking Scent Powder is of poor quality, or its training is incomplete.”

“Then we should kill it.”

Tang Hyeseo shook her head.

“There is no point. There is no guarantee that it is the only tracking dog.”

“...Can’t we remove the Tracking Scent Powder?”

“We can. We just need to mix a strong fragrance into a fragrance solvent and spray it over you. No matter how exceptional a dog’s nose is, it will be helpless once the scents are mixed together.”

“Can you do that now?”

“Not now. We need to keep that thing following us so those people will come.”

Left with no choice, we continued toward Seochon with the Yellow Dog trailing us from afar.

By the time the sun had fully set and dusk fell, the carriage stopped in the alley before Simhyang Pavilion. The person who stopped it was one of Bok Hagyu’s trusted subordinates.

“Did you come looking for me?”

“Yes.”

“Was it truly Squad Leader Bok who attacked the Blood History Gang?”

The subordinate straightened proudly and smiled.

“We took over the Blood History Gang last night. Squad Leader Bok wishes to see you regarding the matter we agreed upon earlier.”

“Understood. Tell him to meet me at the Wandering Swordsman Inn tomorrow evening.”

The carriage proceeded directly into Simhyang Pavilion. Until the Tracking Scent Powder was dealt with, I decided to stay in the annex as well.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

Tang Hyeseo seated me in one corner of the rear garden, which was filled entirely with Tang Clan members, then went inside.

Her steps were light, and she seemed strangely excited.

That made me feel even more uneasy.

Sure enough, something troublesome happened, something I never wanted to encounter under any circumstances.