Chapter 302

The sticky wind unique to the seaside blew, ruffling the man’s hair.

The man, whose skin was whiter than the sand of the beach spread before him and whose lips were as red as the sun in the sky, was none other than Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol narrowed his eyes and gazed at the azure sea.

It had taken a full five months to get from Runan to Haemun. Even Pyo Wol had not expected it to take so long.

It was all because he had stayed too long on Mount Tianjung.

At first, he had planned to stay for ten days at most. But as he recuperated and organized his enlightenments one by one, his stay grew longer and longer.

The time he spent there amounted to a full four months.

Even Pyo Wol had not known he would spend so long in the desolate mountains.

When his jerky ran out, Pyo Wol hunted beasts to sate his hunger. Then, when he grew tired of even meat, he began to seek out and drink the honey of venomous bees.

Of course, the venomous bees were not about to give up their honey meekly. They attacked Pyo Wol to protect their hive. But for Pyo Wol, even that became a part of his training.

Pyo Wol refined his insights by unleashing them on the venomous bees. Lost in his training without a sense of time, four months had passed in a flash.

Pyo Wol himself couldn’t believe how absurd it was when he later realized this fact.

It took a month to get from Mount Tianjung to Haemun, and so, after a total of five months, he was finally looking at the sea.

He thought he would be deeply moved upon seeing the sea, but now that he was seeing it with his own eyes, his heart was not greatly stirred.

The four months on Mount Tianjung had brought about a great change in his mind and body. He had become more solid and had gained confidence in himself.

Pyo Wol stood still for a long time, gazing at the blue sea.

As if he had become a stone statue, he did not move a muscle, only stirring again after a full half-shichen had passed.

Pyo Wol led his horse toward the port.

The port was quite bustling.

“Move it, move it.”

“We have to move all the goods to the Sea Dragon Clan’s warehouse by today.”

Workers of the Crimson Sword Society raced down the main road, pushing carts.

Normally, when moving such a large amount of cargo, one would load it onto a carriage or a large cart and move slowly. But the workers of the Crimson Sword Society loaded the goods onto small carts and ran barefoot.

The speed at which they ran, pulling the carts, seemed even faster than a horse.

They tirelessly shuttled between the port and the warehouse without a moment’s rest. From the bare upper bodies of the shirtless men, beads of sweat poured down like rain.

“Out of the way! Get out of the way.”

One of the workers shouted at Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol moved to the side of the road with his horse. A cart laden with goods brushed past him.

Had he been even a little late in moving, they would have collided.

It wasn’t just Pyo Wol.

Such scenes were playing out all over the streets.

“Coming through.”

“Move aside!”

The workers continuously shouted as they raced through the streets.

The pedestrians on the street looked on at the workers with nonchalant expressions.

Although it was dangerous, not a single person had actually collided with them.

It was an everyday scene for them.

That was why they were not surprised even when the workers ran right past them.

The workers of the Crimson Sword Society had never once caused an accident while moving goods.

Pyo Wol, holding the horse’s reins, moved to the side of the road. As he walked, he soon arrived at a place lined with inns and brothels.

“Oh my!”

“What do we do?”

“Hey, Orabeoni!”

The courtesans who saw Pyo Wol’s face went into a frenzy.

No matter how strong-willed the seaside courtesans were, they could not remain composed after seeing a face like Pyo Wol’s.

The courtesans gestured for him to enter their respective brothels, but Pyo Wol ignored them and headed for a nearby inn. At this, many of the courtesans let out sighs.

“No, why?”

“I’ll treat you well.”

The courtesans looked ready to leave their brothels at any moment and run to the inn Pyo Wol was heading for.

“Hey, you wenches! Aren’t you going to work?”

“What are you doing?”

That is, if the stewards managing the brothels hadn’t started shouting.

At the stewards’ roars, the courtesans had no choice but to shrink back and return to their posts.

Whether he knew of the courtesans’ plight or not, Pyo Wol arrived at the inn.

Fortunately, since so many trading companies and people from the Outer Regions came and went, the inn had a stable hand to look after horses.

After entrusting his horse to the stable hand, Pyo Wol entered the restaurant on the first floor of the inn.

Perhaps because it was almost evening, there were not many empty seats in the restaurant.

It seemed that if he delayed any longer, even the remaining seats would be gone.

Pyo Wol sat down in an empty seat without hesitation.

Not long after he sat down, all the seats were filled.

A moment later, a waiter approached and said.

“You were lucky, customer!”

“Is it always this full?”

“Not always, but when a big ship comes in, all the inns in Haemun fill up. Today, a trade ship from the Outer Regions came in, and on top of that, a merchant ship from the Sea Dragon Clan also docked. Both ships are so large and carry so many people that all the inns on the street will be at full capacity.”

“So, are there any rooms left?”

“Only the annex is left now.”

“All the other rooms are taken?”

“Yes! They were all taken, starting from the cheapest ones, and only the most expensive annex is left.”

This inn had two annexes.

“How much is it to stay in the annex?”

“One Silver Tael per day.”

“A Silver Tael?”

One Silver Tael was enough to cover a family of four’s living expenses for half a month.

It was too much of a waste to spend on just one night’s stay. But right now, he had no choice. If he hesitated here, the remaining annex would surely be taken.

Above all, Pyo Wol’s pockets were quite full. He was not at a level where he would feel regret over spending a few Silver Taels.

Pyo Wol handed five Silver Taels to the waiter.

“I’ll stay for five days for now.”

“Understood.”

“And bring me some food for a light meal.”

“Any alcohol?”

“No alcohol.”

“Understood.”

Pyo Wol paid the waiter for the food and the errand in advance. The waiter, overjoyed, ran to the kitchen.

While waiting for his food, Pyo Wol looked around the inn. Every table was packed with people.

Half of them appeared to be from the Central Plains, but the other half seemed to be from the Outer Regions. The languages being spoken were proof of that. More than half of them were chattering in a language Pyo Wol could not understand.

Yet, it didn’t feel strange because the atmosphere of this place was so open.

It wasn’t just this inn, but the city of Haemun itself. Scenes that would have felt out of place in other cities were naturally woven into the daily life here.

Pyo Wol thought it was a curious sight.

Thud!

It was then.

Someone approached and stood in front of the table where Pyo Wol was sitting.

When Pyo Wol raised his head, an old man with a face full of a yellow beard and a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, who appeared to be his granddaughter, were looking down at him.

As their eyes met Pyo Wol’s, the old man spoke in awkward Han Chinese.

“Could we possibly share this table? We arrived late and there are no seats left.”

“Please,” the woman also said in awkward Han Chinese.

Pyo Wol looked at them for a moment before saying, “Sit.”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you.”

The two expressed their gratitude to Pyo Wol and sat down.

As they took their seats, the waiter rushed over.

The two, like Pyo Wol, rented the one remaining annex.

Only then did the old man let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew! We almost had to sleep on the street.”

“That’s why I told you we should hurry.”

“Who knew we would be this late? Still, it’s a relief we found a room.”

Despite the woman’s nagging, the old man smiled, seemingly in a good mood.

After smiling for a moment, the old man realized his mistake.

“Ah! You gave us a seat, but my introduction is late. I am Tarha, from the Western Regions.”

“Tarha?”

“It’s probably not easy to pronounce. This is my maternal granddaughter, Yul Ayeon. Her father is from the Central Plains, so she was named in that style. What is your name?”

“Pyo Wol!”

“I see!”

“You came from the Western Regions?”

“That’s right!”

“Are you also here on business?”

“Business? No. We came to collect a debt.”

“A debt?”

“That’s all you need to know. It doesn’t seem right to go into details upon our first meeting.”

Pyo Wol nodded at Tarha’s words.

They were nothing more than a passing connection, anyway.

There was no need to know each other’s detailed circumstances. Pyo Wol had only asked as a matter of courtesy, not to actually learn about his situation.

A brief silence fell among the three. It was Yul Ayeon who broke the awkward atmosphere.

“Young Hero Pyo, do you know this place, Haemun, well?”

“No, this is my first time too.”

“Then you must not know the geography here well?”

“That’s right!”

“Then where would be a good place to go to get information about this place?”

“Information?”

“Yes! It seems we’ll have to stay here for a while. I thought it would be good to know a little about the local situation.”

“For information, the Hao Clan would be the most accurate and fastest.”

“Hao Clan?”

Yul Ayeon’s eyes widened.

“It’s an organization formed by the poor. There’s no place like the Hao Clan for collecting vast amounts of information. But if you simply want to get information about a single region, it would be best to seek out the local hegemon and request their cooperation.”

“Request cooperation? How?”

“You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.”

“Is that so?”

Yul Ayeon blinked her large eyes.

Perhaps because her features were so large and distinct, her expressions seemed quite varied.

Yul Ayeon exchanged whispers with Tarha.

Since they were speaking in a language of the Western Regions, Pyo Wol could not understand their words. But he could roughly guess their meaning.

‘They must be discussing whether my words are reliable.’

It didn’t matter whether they believed his words or not.

Pyo Wol had spoken the truth, and it was up to them to accept it.

Just then, the waiter brought their food.

The conversation naturally broke off, and they each focused on their meal.

Even while eating, Pyo Wol observed them.

Tarha looked like an ordinary merchant on the outside. It was because he was wearing the same attire as the merchants from the Outer Regions he had seen here. But he was definitely not a merchant.

His fists, with calluses protruding like nails, proved that fact.

He was a martial artist who had trained in the fist.

A very special kind of fist, at that.

Not only were the calluses embedded like nails, but the color of his hands was also different from the rest of his skin.

The faint reddish hue seemed anything but ordinary.

It was the same for Yul Ayeon.

Her blue eyes were full of a sharp glint, and her slender, well-proportioned body seemed overflowing with elasticity. A body and elasticity like that could never be achieved unless one had trained in martial arts.

Martial arts did not exist only in the Jianghu.

There were martial artists who trained in martial arts in the Outer Regions as well.

They were just called by a different name.

Pyo Wol thought the grandfather and granddaughter before him were one of them.

Seeing Yul Ayeon reminded him of Eom So-so.

Her eyes also had a hint of blue. The only difference was that Yul Ayeon’s eyes were much bluer. It was as if blue gems were embedded in her pupils.

It seemed like there would be a commotion if Yul Ayeon went outside. In fact, even now, many people in the restaurant were stealing glances at her.

Her exotic beauty had captivated people’s hearts. But the aura of Tarha, who was with her, seemed formidable, so they didn’t dare to approach her recklessly.

It was then.

Crash!

Suddenly, with a loud noise, the inn’s door flew wide open. And a group of people entered the inn.

“Gasp!”

“That person is…”

The customers in the inn were terrified upon seeing the uninvited guests who had barged in.

A dozen or so able-bodied men entered the inn. But all of them had red headbands tied around their heads.

One could tell at a glance that they belonged to the Crimson Sword Society. But their aura was distinctly different from that of the ordinary workers.

The aura of the man at the forefront, in particular, was exceptional.

A massive build reminiscent of a whale, fierce eyes like a tiger’s, and thick lips like a catfish’s made his impression very strong.

People recognized his identity at once.

“It’s Yu Cheol-gwang of the Crimson Sword Society.”

“Why did Yu Cheol-gwang come here?”

“Don’t tell me?”

People’s gazes naturally gathered on Pyo Wol.

As if to prove their predictions, Yu Cheol-gwang walked straight toward Pyo Wol.