Chapter 100: The Unknown Trial (3)

-Wonhui!

-Wake up! Wonhui.

"Vice commander!"

Voices rang in my head and ears. I opened my eyes to see Cho Sung-won looking at me as I sighed.

-Phew. I thought you died.

That's right.

I lost consciousness, right? I wondered if I was dead. Hearing those muffled sounds made me realize that it wasn't the case.

My head throbbed. The qi that the man had put into my head was different from what I thought.

This was a feeling I had never experienced before.

Thud! Thud!

My heart was beating quickly, and I could feel innate hot qi circulating around my body.

"What the hell happened?"

Cho Sung-won asked me, unable to understand the situation.

Almost half of the workshop around him was utterly devastated.

A broken furnace, broken floors, and a broken wall, all showed signs of a battle.

I then asked Cho Sung-won.

"When did you wake up? How long was I out?"

"Ask me one thing. I always wanted to ask those questions to you, but then you wake up and ask such things..."

"Answer what I asked. Beggar."

"Ehh. This is discrimination... well... I just woke up. As soon as I woke up, I saw you."

What discrimination?

When you discover Sima Young's true identity, let's see if you can continue to say this. I then asked Short Sword.

'How long was I out for?'

-Not long. Maybe around half an hour?

That was it. That wasn't long.

Seeing that Cho Sung-won woke up not long before me, it seemed like no one was harmed.

The Murim Alliance Leader, Martial First Sword, Baek Hyang-muk.

What on earth was he thinking by testing me like this and disappearing?

'Ah!'

Wait.

I looked back towards the forge. Thinking about it, the man had been looking around the forge. That meant that he, too, didn't know what had happened here.

'Did the man disappear then?'

No.

This was the work of someone else.

A third party must have kidnapped the man.

A few visitors stopped by here, but the craftsman would send them back. Looking at it, it felt like he had sent many away just to finish Baek Hyang-muk's sword.

'No.'

At that moment, someone came to mind.

The Fifth Blood Star's second disciple... he was the only one who saw the imitation swords.

'Baek Hye-hyang?'

Naturally, all my thoughts moved to her. But why would she kidnap him?

It was difficult to comprehend. The only suspicious part was that the tormented swords that Baek Hye-hyang possessed were similar to the imitation swords.

"Vice commander?"

I stood up.

After recovering Short Sword from the ground, I placed Iron Sword back in its sheath and then told Cho Sung-won.

"There has to be something."

"What?"

It would be better to say it like this.

"The one who did this..."

Flinch!

I stopped my words and looked towards the forge's entrance. An unexpected person had arrived.

Their face was covered with a bamboo hat... but that jawline and those lips, I could tell who it was.

Baek Hye-hyang.

What was more shocking was that Sima Young had followed behind her.

"Seems like you all had a lot of fun?"

Baek Hye-hyang asked this with a raised eyebrow.

I turned to Sima Young as I was unable to understand the situation. She seemed to be having a tough time trying to explain this.

Half an hour in the past.

Sima Young grumbled as she headed towards the guest house.

'Seriously, he doesn't get the hint. Tch.'

She thought that he would take the hint if she acted in moderation. Instead, he kept constantly doing something to deprive her of a chance.

Even so, eating this pork made her feel better.

Its unique flavor stimulated her nose and made her mouth water.

She went in to make an order, but there was a line.

"Please wait for a while until we prepare it."

After the server left, she leaned against the pillar to wait and watched the other people eat until she felt someone's gaze on her.

'...'

A few people on the first floor of the guest house were staring at her.

There were many other guests, but why were they looking at her? It wasn't like she was in her real face, either.

'... quiet.'

The upstairs was quieter than usual.

It was still early in the evening, so the guest house should be full of customers. But now it was quiet.

She wanted to draw attention, but that didn't feel right, and she realized something odd.

Sima Young went upstairs to check and saw that the floor was packed. However, all the guests talked, ate, and drank quietly.

'...?!'

She then noticed something stranger.

When she moved, not a single guest even glanced at her. This felt even more unusual until she looked at a particular person.

A young man sat alone by a window table and used their chopsticks to eat the pork.

He had a petite body, and a bamboo hat was placed on the table.

When Sima Young glanced over, the man turned his head to her.

Unlike the other people, he was staring intently at her with no intention of avoiding her gaze.

Sima Young slowly walked over as the people sitting around him moved around her.

Sima Young smiled as she approached the table and sat with the young man who was alone.

Pak!

At that moment, the hands of everyone there moved to their weapons.

The young man chewing the pork raised his hand, and everyone placed their weapons down.

The young man opened his mouth.

"It is good enough to eat."

The voice that came out of her mouth was a woman's. Sima Young's eyes lit up.

The man drank a glass of water before putting it down and said.

"You're the one under So Wonhui, right?"

"Are you that woman? Was it Baek Hye-hyang?"

Pak!

"How dare you!"

Someone stood up with a loud bang from a nearby table. The young man didn't look over at him as he said.

"Sit down."

"But..."

"I said sit down."

They had been warned and began to sit down. As he sat, the young man asked.

"How did you know?"

"That isn't a scent that a man would have."

"Scent?"

The young man sniffed his clothes and mumbled at the absurdity.

"With just this?"

"It's because I have a sensitive nose. There is no way that I couldn't smell that scent from you. It is naughty, like a woman's."

The young man frowned.

"You are funny."

Even though the voice carried a subtle killing intent, Sima Young didn't feel slightly scared. Instead, she continued to say what she wanted to.

"Do you think the smell of blood can be covered with that?"

"Yes. I was trying to kill some time."

With those words, the man grabbed the skin from below his ear and tore it off. The real face below it was revealed.

It was Baek Hye-hyang.

"I don't think that mask did much to help you."

"What can I do after being caught with it on? And I have an extra. But I don't hate handsome men like you... but I hate the look in your eyes."

Pat!

As soon as those words were said, Baek Hye-hyang's blade attacked Sima Young.

It was so quick that it would be missed by the naked eye. But to everyone's surprise, Sima Young managed to grab it.

Baek Hye-hyang's eyes shone at this. Even those sitting at the tables around her had become shocked.

"You stopped it?"

Baek Hye-hyang smiled. Her eyes tinged with joy.

"Can I not stop it?"

Baek Hye-hyang turned to Sima Young's hand and frowned.

"There are a lot of calluses on the palms, but... your hands are pretty,"

Pat!

Baek Hye-hyang reached for Sima Young's face. The moment she was about to reach it, Sima Young kicked the table away.

Part of the wooden table cracked and flew toward Baek Hye-hyang's chin.

Bang!

The wooden pieces were shattered and fell to the ground. At the same time, Sima Young gathered strong energy in her right hand that had held Baek Hye-hyang's blade, causing it to bounce back.

Papak!

In an instant, their hands began to collide. It was a clash between a hand that wanted to reach her face and hers that was blocking it.

The confrontation between both hands ended with Baek Hye-hyang's victory.

Half of a torn-up face mask was in Baek Hye-hyang's hands. Sima Young took off the remaining parts on her own.

"Ha!"

Baek Hye-hyang snorted.

She looked at her with a distorted expression. The eyes of the men who watched the woman who had taken off the face mask also looked shocked.

"She wore one too."

"You should have taken care of your own mask too."

At Baek Hye-hyang's words, Sima Young boldly replied.

"Own?"

"Your note of caution applied to yourself as well."

At those words, Baek Hye-hyang's eyes narrowed.

"You are similar to me. I need to be cautious."

"That makes sense."

"Looks like I have to take the lives of two people. Few people have walked in front of me and could use their mouths like this and live."

"I must be one of the few."

"Why?"

"You are aiming for the Blood Demon Sword? Do you have the confidence to subdue me in front of the castle of the Murim Alliance?"

Baek Hye-hyang's expression had become strange after hearing Sima Young's words.

It was more an expression of interest rather than an unpleasant or offended one.

"Are you proud of those skills?"

"It's enough to make a fuss."

"Would you like to try? Will you die before making the mess, or will the mess you make trouble me?"

"That would be a fun thing too. But if that was the case, you would have chosen to attack me right then, right?"

Sima Young smiled brightly with her eyes shining.

Seeing this, Baek Hye-hyang made a strange expression and licked her upper lip with her tongue.

It was a strange look that made Sima Young frown.

"You have a charm."

"... you seem to be interested in that side too."

"Well."

It wasn't an answer but sounded like an affirmation. This made Sima Young shudder.

"I have no interest, though."

Baek Hye-hyang smiled and sat down as she poured a drink into her glass.

"Interesting. Right. What did you want to say?"

"..."

"You can pretend to not know. Isn't there a reason you risked it all and approached me?"

At Baek Hye-hyang's words, Sima Young thought to herself.

This woman was a lot tougher than she thought.

But soon, the truth came out.

"There is information that the vice commander wishes to convey."

This made Baek Hye-hyang's eyes focus

"So Wonhui."

I frowned at what Sima Young told me.

She said she brought her here by chance after seeing her at the inn while she had pork, and a couple things had happened between them?

Baek Hye-hyang then said.

"I heard you had something to say?"

Even as she asked me this question, her gaze swept through the broken forge.

"Right."

"Have you changed your mind?"

She bit her lips with her tongue, asking seductively, but I shook my head

"... it isn't like that."

"Then why did you ask to see me? You couldn't have wanted to be caught like this, right?"

"I am asking a straightforward question. Have you heard of the Blood Demon Sword being transferred to Wudang in five days?"

Baek Hye-hyang frowned at my question.

Looking at her reaction, it seemed like she did hear about it.

As expected of Zhuge Won-myung and his plan. I wasn't the only one he was suspicious of. He had a lot of suspects and wanted to take them down in one swoop.

"Do you trust the information?"

"Around five out of 10."

"Five?"

"After listening to you, that's gone down to one."

At her words, I almost smiled.

I didn't even mention anything about a trap, and yet she was able to guess that the information was unreliable.

Baek Hye-hyang looked at me and smiled

"You wanted to let me know about that?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because my lady's side and yours are the same body."

"I see. I like that."

It was a burdensome thing to be watched with that greedy look.

Maintaining eye contact became tough. Baek Hye-hyang then turned her head to see the broken place and asked.

"Who did you have such an intense conversation with?"

I replied quickly as if I had waited for her question.

"Martial First Sword."

Hearing this made her expression change

"... you clashed with the Alliance Leader?"

I looked at Baek Hye-hyang and said.

"Thanks to a certain someone."