Chapter 119
"What should we do with the demon?"
"It would be dangerous to transport the demon by carriage. This situation won't last long anyway, so let's imprison him in the underground prison of the branch office for now, and when people return, we'll escort him to the main alliance."
"But we need his testimony."
"Or I could send a message to the main alliance now asking them to send people to escort him."
"Hmm…"
It certainly seemed safer than having Seomun Da-yeon take Gwak Hwan with her now. Moreover, if they were to take Gwak Hwan, they would have to rely entirely on Wei Yan-ho for his suppression, and it felt burdensome to continuously demand such things from an outsider.
"Then I'll ask you to do that."
"Yes. And here's travel money for your journey to Luoyang."
Seomun Da-yeon respectfully received the money pouch that Gongson Hyeong offered and bowed deeply.
"Thank you for your consideration."
"I've also put in a temporary identification card guaranteed by the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance. With just that, you shouldn't have any difficulties getting to Luoyang."
Seomun Da-yeon climbed into the carriage.
"Well then, take care."
"Yes. Please travel safely."
"Let's depart!"
Seomun Da-yeon shouted into the carriage and slowly drove it out of the branch office.
Watching this scene, Gongson Hyeong clicked his tongue.
"What a peculiar sight indeed."
Gongson Hyeong shook his head and went inside to write a letter to send to the main alliance.
The carriage proceeded toward Luoyang without any particular problems.
For Wei Yan-ho, who hadn't had any major complaints even when riding in a cart, the carriage was incredibly comfortable. Thanks to the careful modifications he had made, he felt like he was traveling while lying on a bed.
"Ah, if only the carriage roof could open, it would be perfect."
Travel should involve feeling the wind to be truly enjoyable, but being inside the carriage meant he couldn't feel the breeze, which was disappointing. Still, he had no intention of climbing onto the roof and abandoning his cozy modified bed.
"Is it far?"
"No."
"You could go a bit faster, you know?"
"I'll try."
Seomun Da-yeon flicked the reins to urge the horses forward.
"What am I even doing…"
The Secret Smoke Pavilion's First Unit was an organization that handled information for the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance. However, since the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance relied on the Beggar's Sect for most of their information, what the Secret Pavilion actually did was closer to dealing with those the Beggar's Sect couldn't handle openly.
If the Beggar's Sect's beggars gathered information from visible places, the Secret Smoke Pavilion collected information from hidden places.
For this, each member had to be intelligent, naturally possess high martial skills, and have the patience to endure hardships.
The fact that Seomun Da-yeon was assigned to the Secret Smoke Pavilion, specifically the First Unit, despite having graduated from the Latent Dragon Military Academy not long ago, was proof of what a talented woman she was.
But now, that talented woman was frantically busy driving horses and managing horse feed.
"…This is a waste of human resources."
She knew the world didn't always operate rationally, but no matter how she thought about it, this situation was the epitome of irrationality.
What was even sadder was that the sun was setting before they had even reached a village.
Someone familiar with the roads would have properly distributed the journey to find places to rest, but such distribution was impossible for her – someone who knew how to drive a carriage but had never once traveled by carriage.
"The sun's setting."
The setting sun over there.
And the carriage is still climbing the mountain.
These two facts led to only one conclusion.
"Wei young hero."
"Yes?"
"It looks like we'll have to camp out."
"Camp out?"
"Yes. We've entered mountain roads, and the village seems too far away. It could be dangerous to travel in the dark and have an accident, so I think we should stop the carriage somewhere suitable and sleep."
"Can't be helped, I suppose."
"Thank you for understanding."
"Don't mention it."
Seomun Da-yeon didn't delay and found a suitable place to stop the carriage. She untied the horses, connected long ropes so they could graze, took out the water containers from the back of the carriage, and prepared water for the horses to drink before finally being able to stretch her back.
"…I didn't know being a coach involved so much work."
As they say, you don't know until you experience it – she thought driving a carriage was just about driving, but managing the horses as well was quite difficult.
"Wei young hero, what should we do about meals?"
"Let's just eat dried rations."
"Should I not light a fire?"
"I'm fine with that."
Depending on how you heard it, it could sound like "don't make unnecessary work and just rest comfortably now," but to her, who had formed her own judgment about Wei Yan-ho, it sounded completely different.
'He's saying he won't get out of the carriage even if it kills him.'
When camping out, there was one problem that couldn't be ignored.
Sleeping arrangements.
Normally, even when traveling by carriage, you can't sleep in the carriage, so sleeping arrangements must be made separately.
But hadn't Wei Yan-ho made a bed inside the carriage? Then the question remained: who would use that bed? Since men and women should be separate, they couldn't both sleep inside, so inevitably one person would have to sleep outside…
"…By any chance, about sleeping arrangements?"
"I'll just sleep here. Please rest comfortably."
Look at that!
That, that! He's thinking ahead and acting like this!
How can a person be so infuriatingly sly?
"Um… Wei young hero."
"Yes?"
"I drove the carriage a lot today, got covered in a lot of dust, and my back hurts a lot from the bumpy, hard floor…"
"Oh dear, then you should rest quickly. I won't make you work anymore, so please sleep soon."
"…"
Seomun Da-yeon looked up at the darkened sky.
Still, she was a woman.
When a person is with a young woman, couldn't they show a little consideration?
If she had gone through all this trouble driving the carriage up until now, they could at least let her sleep comfortably.
'Ugh! May you get boils on your back!'
What good does it do to just look decent?
His insides are rotten, his insides!
Seomun Da-yeon trembled as she moved into the mountains. She had to gather tree branches and light a fire before it got any colder. She'd obviously have to lay down some grass and sleep rough, and if she couldn't even light a fire, the cold might make her mouth go crooked.
After diligently gathering tree branches and lighting a fire with flint, quite some time had already passed.
Seomun Da-yeon sat by the fire and chewed dried rations.
"So hard."
The wind was cold too.
Feeling the chill creeping in, she moved closer to the fire and glared at the carriage with resentful eyes.
Thinking of Wei Yan-ho rolling around alone on the bed inside that warm carriage made her sick with anger.
Of course, she hadn't harbored ill feelings toward Wei Yan-ho from the beginning. But she was confident that anyone who spent just three days with Wei Yan-ho would lose all good feelings.
"At least Wei San-ho was somewhat of a gentleman."
Her eyes became slightly dreamy as she thought of Wei San-ho.
Though his heavy atmosphere made him difficult to approach, Wei San-ho was an object of admiration for countless women.
His handsome face, exceptional martial skills, and that passion for endlessly pursuing his sword.
Moreover, the occasional consideration he showed was enough to melt any woman's heart.
"…But why is he like this?"
Though they were blood brothers, why were they so different?
If his face wasn't as good as Wei San-ho's, at least his personality should be better.
They were born in the same place, received the same education, and grew up together – she couldn't understand how they became such different brothers.
"Really!"
She was about to voice more complaints when she closed her mouth and turned her head.
She could sense human presence from afar.
'At this time of night?'
Isn't it said that "good people don't come, and those who come are not good"? If someone wandering the mountains at night came looking for the fire, she had to be cautious.
Seomun Da-yeon quietly spoke.
"Young hero."
But there was no answer.
"Young hero!"
"Mmm?"
A half-asleep voice could be heard.
'He fell asleep already.'
He slept the entire time riding in the carriage, and now he was sleeping again – just how much sleep would satisfy him?
"Someone's coming. Be careful."
"Yes."
A brief answer came, sounding annoyed.
Her insides were burning, but what was the point of saying anything?
She secretly turned her Narrow Peak Sword handle toward the near side.
Before long, three men appeared before her.
"Excuse us."
One of the men stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting.
"We're not suspicious people, so please don't be too wary. We were wandering the mountains on business when we saw the fire and came here. If it's not too much trouble, could we rest here briefly? We underestimated the mountain night, and our body temperature keeps dropping – we thought we'd be in real trouble if this continued."
Seomun Da-yeon looked at the men's faces illuminated by the fire, then stood up and returned the greeting.
"I'd like to share the fire, but being a woman, I'm reluctant to spend the night together with you. Please don't think ill of me, and I recommend you hurry down the mountain."
"Please, we beg you. We're chasing horse thieves. We're certainly not a wicked bunch. I am Jwa Yang from the Bogeun Gate in Jeongju."
"Bogeun Gate – you mean of Wudang?"
The man smiled slightly.
"Embarrassingly, we continue a branch lineage of Wudang."
"Ah, you're from a legitimate sect. I've heard of Bogeun Gate's reputation."
Bogeun Gate was indeed a sect she had heard of before. But given her characteristic of dealing with information, she had just heard of it frequently. If they were trying to deceive her, they would have used the name of a more plausible sect, or the name of a sect from this area.
"How is Elder Hyeong doing?"
The man smiled broadly.
"There's no one with the surname Hyeong in our sect."
With the final confirmation complete, she smiled.
"I apologize. Please come this way."
The men each cupped their hands in greeting and came to the fire to warm themselves.
"Miss, how did you come to be sleeping rough in such a place on such a night? Are you also chasing horse thieves?"
"No. I was traveling when night fell in the mountains."
"Oh my. Mountain nights are inherently dangerous. You should be more careful next time."
They all seemed prepared, as they began taking dried rations and jerky from their packs.
"But you said horse thieves?"
"Well…"
Jwa Yang hesitated as if troubled.
"Actually, we can't really call them horse thieves, but it's embarrassing to mention it in front of a lady…"
"I'm also a woman of the martial world. May I hear what it's about?"
"It's not a serious matter. It's just… well, a certain sex demon has shown himself again and is currently fleeing…"
"You said sex demon?"
That certainly made sense. It would indeed be embarrassing to mention the term "sex demon" in front of a woman.
"Yes. You may not have heard, but the notorious Flower-Obsessed Scholar Seo Ju-ak has appeared again."
That was the moment.
CRASH!
The carriage door opened so violently it seemed about to fall off, and Wei Yan-ho stuck his head out with demonic fire in both eyes.
"…Who did you say?"