Chapter 112
At the sudden voice, I turned my head.
Then I froze.
It was the beauty.
At some point, the beauty was looking directly at me through eyes covered by cloth, and he was saying just one word.
“Flower-Glutton.”
‘How did he know?’
How did he recognize me at a glance? There was no way he could have recognized me. My appearance was completely different from when we were at Yongcheok Stronghold. I had even put on a beard that covered half my face, and he still recognized me?
Could it be that the others knew it was me too? But apparently not, because everyone else was wearing expressions of surprise.
Then how…?
“Brother Dan!”
But I didn’t have long to think about it. Taking my silence as confirmation, Zhuge Ye suddenly sprang to his feet.
Zhuge Ye immediately strode over to me. He spoke to me familiarly, as though genuinely happy to see me.
“I never thought I’d see you here, Brother Dan! You left without saying anything last time, so I was terribly disappointed… Why did you leave without saying a word? Surely you could at least have said goodbye?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah… I-I didn’t want to interrupt while you were talking with your companions…”
“Even so, if Brother Dan had called for me, I would have gone. You have no idea how curious my companions were about you. And if you have time, I’d like to invite you to our family home so you can meet my older sisters and–”
Why would I meet your older sisters?
Watching Zhuge Ye dream of visiting his home and happily chatting with his six older sisters, I secretly broke out in a cold sweat.
W-Were we really this close?
“Are you really Flower-Glutton?”
Someone suddenly cut in.
It was the Tang girl, who had somehow already flown over here. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she stuck her face right in front of mine.
“Wow, now that I’m looking at you up close, you’re really ugly! But that’s weird. When I saw you briefly before, I don’t think you were this ugly… Did you get even uglier in the meantime?”
“Hi, you shouldn’t say something so rude to Brother Dan! Brother Dan, I’m sorry. Hi is still young, so… Oh, but your face really is different!”
“See! What’s going on? Are you wearing an artificial skin mask? Anyway, I heard you were incredibly impressive at Yongcheok Stronghold. I saw it too. You jumped down while carrying the squad leader! That was seriously cool. How did you do it?”
“Hi, asking something like that is rude! But seriously, how did you do it?”
“And are you really ridiculously obsessed with women? I heard you went to Yongcheok Stronghold because the bandit chief’s bride was pretty. Then why didn’t you come after me? I’m not lacking in the looks department either… Is my family a little scary?”
“Of course your family isn’t an ordinary family. You’d get poisoned just by approaching the main gate, so how could I go?”
“It isn’t that bad. Surely it’s better than the Zhuge family’s formations!”
“Miss, Young Master!”
Daoist Woonhak came running over from a distance, looking exactly like a parent rushing over to stop two troublesome adolescent children.
The parent hurriedly grabbed the two by the backs of their collars and pulled them away while apologizing.
“I’m sorry. These two are particularly talkative even among our group, so… I’ll take them away immediately.”
“What do you mean we’re talkative? It’s just that the Daoist and everyone else are unusually quiet!”
“Miss Tang, shh, shh!”
I stared at the three of them bickering.
‘Wow.’
I’ve never met someone who talks more than me before…
Was this the true power of an adolescent girl? Watching her fire words at me like a machine gun before I could even say anything left me feeling as though my very soul had been drained.
‘Did our young lady feel like this too? I’m sorry, Young Lady…’
I secretly apologized to the young lady and quickly came to my senses. Daoist Woonhak was now the one being subjected to the barrage of chatter in my place.
“H-Haha, it’s all right. It is a little surprising, but these things happen. I’m also a little surprised to meet you here. It’s good to see you again, Daoist Woonhak. Young Master Zhuge.”
“Brother Dan!”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Miss Tang. I may be fond of beautiful women, but I know the reputation of the Sichuan Tang Family. I wouldn’t recklessly set foot there.”
“Really? Then why are you speaking informally to me?”
“Because you spoke informally to me?”
I naturally threw Miss Tang’s words back at her, then looked between Daoist Woonhak, Zhuge Ye, and the rest of the people watching from a distance.
In the end, I gave an awkward smile and said,
“Shall we just join tables?”
***
“It’s nice to meet everyone. I’m Flower-Glutton, Dan Yeonjeong. You can call me whatever is comfortable.”
We moved to the second floor of the inn. Having this many people sitting together on the first floor would have attracted too much attention, and the less crowded second floor was more suitable for talking.
Only after everyone had taken their seats did I stand up and formally introduce myself. Most of them had already met me before, but at the time, we had only roughly exchanged names and had never properly introduced ourselves.
Starting with Daoist Woonhak, everyone introduced themselves one after another.
When it was the beauty’s turn, he said only one thing.
“…Leeyeon.”
‘Leeyeon?’
It was, as expected, a name I’d never heard before.
…But why did it feel so familiar?
Was there something about this beauty that made people mistake him for someone else? Or had I somehow been bewitched without realizing it?
Still, at least I’d learned his name. Just as I was quietly satisfied with that, the Tang girl shouted,
“I’m Tang Hi of the Sichuan Tang Family! And this here is Sister Ju Jae-hwa, the second-generation disciple of the Mount Emei Sect. Don’t take it personally that she can’t speak for herself. Sister never talks to men.”
“I’ve been wondering about this for a while. Does the Mount Emei Sect really have such a rule?”
“Of course not. The senior nuns there talk comfortably with male sect leaders too. It’s probably just Sister’s personal conviction.”
“Conviction?”
Zhuge Ye tilted his head in confusion at Tang Hi’s words, but I merely nodded. I’d already heard about it when I went to Mount Emei.
I nodded toward Miss Ju. Surprisingly, Miss Ju seemed to remember me as well, giving me a slight nod in return.
‘It’s kind of nice when a beauty returns my greeting.’
I smiled, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction, when the monk stood up and introduced himself.
“Amitabha. Benefactor Dan, it is an honor to meet you. I-I am Xu Jae, a first-generation disciple of the Shaolin Sect. I am still greatly lacking, but I ask for your guidance…”
‘First-generation disciple?’
He was that young, yet already a first-generation disciple?
Perhaps sensing my surprise, Tang Hi excitedly added,
“He may talk like that, but you have no idea how amazing Monk Xu Jae is. He’s none other than the personal disciple of Master Hyeryun, the abbot of the Arhat Hall! He’s a talent destined to become one of the future Eighteen Arhats, the strongest figures of the Shaolin Sect!”
“Y-Yes, yes, yes…?!”
At Tang Hi’s words, Monk Xu Jae’s face turned deathly pale. He hurriedly waved his hands and continued,
“N-No! No, that’s not it! I was fortunate enough to become my master’s disciple, but I’m not that great at all. In fact, I think I only cause trouble… D-Daoist Woonhak is much more impressive! Isn’t he a disciple of the Wudang Seven Heroes, renowned throughout the martial world?”
“Haha, but surely that’s not comparable to being the abbot of the Arhat Hall?”
“Exactly. How could that compare to being a future Eighteen Arhat? And as Master Hyeryun’s personal disciple, you’ll surely become one of the top three experts of the Shaolin Sect someday. Isn’t that right?”
“No, no, no! That’s really not true…!”
At Tang Hi’s teasing, Monk Xu Jae waved his hands several times before eventually looking like he was about to cry.
Seeing the monk like that, suppressed giggles could be heard from here and there. Tang Hi and Daoist Woonhak were laughing too, so apparently they had deliberately exaggerated things because they enjoyed teasing the monk.
‘He’s still amazing, though.’
Master Hyeryun was a well-known figure in the martial world, and being that man’s personal disciple meant he couldn’t possibly be weak.
I smiled brightly and joined in.
“I’ll be looking forward to receiving your guidance someday too, Future Eighteen Arhat.”
“No, I’m not!”
Everyone burst out laughing at Monk Xu Jae’s cry. The atmosphere became warm and friendly.
For a while, we continued with trivial conversation. Mostly, they asked me things they were curious about, and I answered. Of course, whenever they asked something troublesome, I smoothly dodged the question.
But I knew… Even amid this cheerful conversation, we were all actually hiding our true purposes and feeling each other out.
Eventually, Zhuge Ye cautiously opened the conversation.
“But Brother Dan, what brings you here? They say if you meet by coincidence three times, it’s fate. At this point, isn’t this fate?”
“We’ve only met twice so far. I just run toward wherever I hear there’s a beautiful woman. In fact, I saw a beautiful woman just yesterday. Though I sent her far away this time.”
“Sent her far away? Where?”
“Who knows? I’d like to know where she went myself. But anyway…”
I brought up the main subject as well.
“So what brings all of you here?”
“…”
As expected, they couldn’t answer right away.
Even Tang Hi, who had been chattering excitedly just moments ago, quietly shut her mouth and watched the others, gauging their reactions.
As their eyes passed back and forth among one another, I alone remained relaxed and muttered,
“Hmm. Your reactions make it seem too coincidental for you to have followed me, but you clearly have something to do if you’re not simply traveling.”
I said,
“You came here to hunt down the Demonic Cult, didn’t you?”
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