Chapter 57: Enchantress (4)
Translator: bjgoofy
-Tsurur!
“Calm down, Bin. Are you angry because of the strange man? There, there, calm down… If that mister dies, Daddy will be in big trouble. B-Bin!”
Just as Bin, filled with determination to chase after him and take a bite, was about to leap off my body toward the ground, I hastily grabbed her at the edge of my pants.
“What is going on here…?”
A cold voice flew into my ears.
As I, along with the stunned Spear Dragon, who was frozen in shock at the sight of centipede, turned our heads, the owner of that icy voice was, as expected, Nunim.
From a distance, Nunim was approaching me quickly, glaring at Spear Dragon with an expression colder than I had ever seen before.
‘C-R-A-Z-Y.’
The words naturally broke apart in my mind, one letter at a time.
I had never thought of myself as someone with a particular ideal type in my past life, but at this moment, I was certain.
My type is definitely a cold city woman.
An intelligent face with a frosty expression.
Eyes that looked at Spear Dragon as if he were a mere insect.
This was the ultimate reward, contempt.
As I engraved Nunim’s new, never-before-seen expression into my memory, she extended her arms to receive the little ones who were still waving their antennae.
It felt like feeding children to calm them down.
But even after being handed over to Nunim, the centipedes still shook their agitated antennae while glaring at Spear Dragon.
Nunim gently stroked their antennae with her fingers and asked me,
“Soryong, what exactly is going on here? Why are the centipedes so worked up? And who is that Spear Dragon?”
A situation where I had to choose between two options.
For a brief moment, I pondered the two choices.
First, I could cling to Nunim with a pitiful expression and say, ‘Nunim, that man suddenly appeared and pressured me, a young and inexperienced martial artist, into a duel. When I refused, he even emitted killing intent. Sob…’
If I did that, I would trigger Nunim’s protective instincts, and she might even comfort me with a hug.
The second option was to forgive the poor fool who had failed in his one-sided love.
Just then, I recalled something Nunim had mentioned yesterday.
That guy was from the Divine Spear Yang Family, one of the Seven Great Families like the Sichuan's Tang Family. Every three years, the children of the Seven Great Families gathered for a meeting called the Seven Families’ Gathering, a gathering that felt similar to a conglomerate heirs’ reunion in my past life.
‘Since we have to see each other every three years, there’s no need to make him an enemy. Besides, a victor should always be magnanimous.’
He had probably already come up with five names for his future children with Nunim before I even appeared. How great must his sense of loss be?
While Nunim stared at him coldly as he flailed in embarrassment, I tugged at her sleeve and said,
“Young Miss, I believe there’s been a misunderstanding. I lost my way after leaving the Heavenly Martial Pavilion, and when Spear Dragon saw me struggling, he kindly offered to guide me. We were merely traveling together.”
“The way? Spear Dragon? But then, why are the centipedes like this?”
She seemed to accept the explanation about the directions, but her expression questioned why the centipedes were still agitated.
I smiled at Nunim and replied,
“Ah, as we walked, we got along quite well in conversation. Since I owed him a favor, I thought I’d entertain him by asking him to try emitting some mild killing intent. It was just meant to be a little joke, but I guess Spear Dragon got quite startled.”
Only then did Nunim nod in understanding.
Then, in a flat, emotionless voice, she addressed Spear Dragon.
It was as if she understood that the deepest psychological wound wasn’t caused by harsh criticism but by complete indifference.
“Thank you for guiding Soryong. I will take over from here. That will be all.”
With that, she turned away from Spear Dragon and suggested that we have lunch together.
“Soryong, let’s go. Let’s have lunch and talk about your meeting with the Alliance Leader. I’m curious about what was discussed.”
“Shall we? I was just thinking about having some warm dumplings.”
Just as I was about to subtly nod at Spear Dragon and turn away, a thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t just leave like this.
“Oh, wait a moment, Young Miss.”
“What is it?”
“There’s something men need to discuss in private….”
I approached Spear Dragon, who was still standing there with a vacant expression, and gestured for him to lower his head.
Since he was taller than me, after all.
Not knowing what was going on, Spear Dragon cluelessly lowered his head in response to my signal.
I quietly whispered into his ear.
[I've saved you twice.]
His head nodded rapidly in understanding.
***
While eating dumplings with Nunim at a restaurant near the Guest Hall, I told her about receiving the Iron Chest Technique from the Alliance Leader.
Nunim's eyes widened in shock.
She glanced around, then moved closer to me. Even that didn’t seem to ease her concern, as she sent me a sound transmission with a startled expression, gripping the dumpling in her hand tightly.
[You received the secret martial arts manual of Iron Chest Technique, the unique martial art of the Fist Emperor!?]
Seeing Nunim’s reaction, it seemed I had secured something truly valuable. I whispered back into her ear.
[Yes, he said we were alike… Was this a good thing?]
[Yes, of course! Although the training process is said to be painful, once mastered, Iron Chest Technique is capable of blocking blades and even qi attacks. It’s even rumored to rival Shaolin’s Vajra Indestructible Divine Technique…]
According to Nunim’s explanation, Iron Chest Technique belonged to the category of external martial arts, a technique that tempered the body's muscles and bones, strengthening them to be as hard as steel.
She said that once mastered, even swords wouldn’t be able to pierce the skin.
‘Does this mean I’ll become a bulletproof boy?’
The martial art reminded me of something from my past life.
Nunim explained that the Blood Cult often used weapons like claws or small concealed blades to wound their opponents and then suck their blood. However, when the Alliance Leader was still active, he was a nightmare for the Blood Cult.
Since they couldn’t even injure him, he was not only a difficult opponent but also an outright disaster for them, unable to drain blood to heal, and instead getting beaten into a pulp.
[Also, since this is an external martial art, Soryong, you shouldn’t have any issues learning it. The reason people can’t learn multiple martial arts is usually because they clash with their internal energy cultivation techniques. We’ll have to check, but external martial arts are generally unaffected by such conflicts. Even someone with limited talent, like you, can master it through sheer effort.]
All in all, it was a great opportunity for me.
I reminded myself not to forget the Alliance Leader’s kindness.
Then, Nunim’s voice, filled with joy, reached me.
There was a slight excitement in her tone.
[And I can help you train in this martial art! From what I’ve heard, the Fist Emperor whips his own body every morning. I can do that for you!]
[W-whipping!?]
[Yes, Soryong. You need to toughen your skin through whipping.]
So… Nunim was suggesting that she would personally whip me?
The thought of how painful it would be made me shudder, but at the same time, from an experiential standpoint, it might not be the worst idea.
After all, in my past life, my parents used to say that experiencing many things was beneficial.
'Is this what you'd call a purely academic contemplation?'
***
The next day, at dawn, Spear Dragon and Sword Phoenix came looking for us just as we were preparing to depart early in the morning.
I thought he might apologize when Blade Dragon invited us to dinner the previous evening, but he was quiet then and suddenly appeared at dawn.
He said he had come to see us off, but as we boarded the ship, Sword Phoenix discreetly sent me a sound transmission, avoiding Nunim’s gaze.
[Young Hero, thank you.]
I turned my head at the unexpected gratitude.
Seeing this, Sword Phoenix, who seemed quite familiar with Spear Dragon, smacked him on the back of the head and quietly sent me another sound transmission.
[I heard everything from this idiot. Thank you for your generosity, Young Hero.]
It seemed that last night, he had drunkenly confessed his embarrassing history to that woman, only to be scolded all night and then dragged here to apologize.
As expected, Spear Dragon’s voice transmission followed.
[I apologize, Young Hero. Thank you so much for yesterday. After talking with Sword Phoenix last night, I realized how foolish I was. Seeing your generosity yesterday, I fully understand now. I sincerely apologize once again.]
‘You’ve finally come to your senses. I’ll be keeping an eye on you from now on.’
I gave a slight nod to Spear Dragon and Sword Phoenix before boarding the Zhuge Family’s ship again.
From Wuhan, it took another ten days of travel before we reached Anqing. There, we switched to a small ferry and arrived at a place called Shitai, where we took the official road.
Then, after another three days of traveling along the official road, we finally reached our destination, Huangshan.
The scenery resembled something straight out of a famous photograph from my past life, rocky peaks with sparse trees growing between them, bathed in the beautiful hues of the evening sunset.
Gu Pae, the leader of our group, pointed towards a distant peak.
“It’s late tonight, so let’s stay at an inn in the village at the foot of the mountain. Huangshan’s terrain is treacherous, and reaching the Namgoong Family’s residence will take at least half a day.”
Huangshan was a larger mountain than I had expected, and the Namgoong Family was said to be located atop one of its many peaks.
I inwardly grumbled about why anyone would build their home at the top of a mountain as we entered the only inn in the village, a rather shabby-looking establishment.
“Innkeeper, we’d like four rooms.”
“Oh, welcome! Four rooms, you say… That must mean one for the Young Miss, one for the Young Master, and two for the rest of the men, correct? Palrang! Palrang!”
At Gu Pae’s request for rooms, the innkeeper called for someone.
Soon, a attendent with a pug nose and a mole the size of a thumb-nail came running down from the second floor.
“Yes, Master! Sniff.”
“Take these two guests to the best rooms and split the remaining warriors into two other rooms.”
“Understood, Master. Sniff. Please, follow me.”
Hearing the sniffling sound from the pug-nosed attendent made my chest feel stuffy, but I followed him upstairs regardless.
Once we were assigned our respective rooms, the attendent rubbed his hands together and asked,
“Sniff. What would you like for dinner, guests?”
"What's good here?"
“Our master makes the best dumplings with venison (deer meat). We also serve bone broth stew made from deer bones, as well as stir-fried wild greens, those are our restaurant’s specialties. Of course, we also have our house-made Huangjiu (yellow liquor), which is quite delicious. It’s infused with medicinal herbs gathered from Huangshan.”
“And since you’ve come to Huangshan, you must try Huangshan Stewed Pigeon. It’s a dish made with pigeon and yam from Huangshan, it’s the best!”
Venison, huh? That meant someone must have been hunting around here.
As I listened, Gu Pae ordered a few dishes.
With the orders placed, just as we were about to return to our rooms, the attendent, who had been heading downstairs, suddenly turned back as if he had remembered something.
“Oh! How long will the guests be staying, and what would you like for breakfast tomorrow?”
“We’re climbing Huangshan at dawn tomorrow, so please prepare an early breakfast for us. We’ll only be staying for tonight.”
Gu Pae answered nonchalantly.
But at that moment, the attendent’s expression turned to shock, and he blurted out,
“Y-You’re climbing Huangshan!?”
His startled reaction made me, Nunim, Gu Pae, and even the Zhuge Family warrior accompanying us, all tilted our heads in confusion.
“What’s the matter?”
“You… you’re not heading to the Namgoong Family, are you?”
“That’s exactly where we’re going. Why do you ask? Has something happened at the Namgoong Family?”
We had heard rumors that something had happened, but when Gu Pae feigned ignorance and asked, the attendent glanced around hesitantly with a troubled expression.
He clearly wanted to say something but found it difficult to do so.
Sensing this, Gu Pae casually pulled out three iron coins from his pocket and placed them in the attendent’s hand.
-Clink.
“…Actually, for the past couple of months, people climbing Huangshan have been disappearing without a trace.”
As expected of an inn attendent, the pug-nosed man’s loose lips were quick to open, even for a small sum.
The attendent swiftly accepted the iron coins Gu Pae had handed him, then gathered us around and began explaining in a hushed tone.
“Did a tiger appear or something?”
“No, sir. They disappeared, but they were found again.”
“Then it’s nothing serious, is it?”
Gu Pae’s expression seemed to say that people must have simply lost their way and that there was no need to make such a fuss over it.
The attendent shook his head and continued.
“Sniff. No, sir, listen carefully. The people who disappeared had gone up Huangshan either to gather firewood or to collect medicinal herbs, only to suddenly vanish. They were later found in bushes or caves by search parties, or they wandered down the mountain on their own after three or four days, looking dazed.”
“That’s certainly strange, but what does that have to do with the Namgoong Family?”
At Gu Pae’s question, the attendent glanced around once more before answering.
“Sniff. But here’s the thing, those who were found or who came down on their own all started behaving strangely. For the first day or two after waking up, they would just stare blankly and repeatedly mutter the word fairy.”
“Fairy?”
“Yes. They eventually return to their senses after a day or two, but when asked about their experiences later, they all say that they met a beautiful fairy, much like the Young Miss accompanying you, and that they spent the night with her in the mountains… Sniff.”
‘Was this guy a YouTuber in his past life or something?’
“Alright, but what does this have to do with the Namgoong Family?”
Gu Pae seemed to share my thoughts, as he frowned and pressed the attendent for answers.
The attendent nodded in understanding and continued.
“Well, sir, we couldn’t just ignore people behaving like lunatics, could we?
So, the villagers took them to a physician, and the diagnosis was that they had lost an excessive amount of yang energy all at once….”
“Yang energy?”
‘Yang energy? That means… surely…’
“Yes. Sniff.”
“But here’s where it gets shocking. One of the men who regained his senses claimed that the person he spent the night with was none other than a Young Miss of the Namgoong Family…. But, you see, the people in this village all make their living thanks to the Namgoong Family, so they couldn’t just let someone go around making such claims, could they?
They immediately dragged him to the Namgoong Family to report it. The Namgoong Family then conducted an investigation, gathering the other victims and questioning them. And guess what?
Every single one of them insisted that the woman they spent the night with was indeed a Young Miss of the Namgoong Family!”
“What!? So you're saying that the Young Miss of the Namgoong Family has been roaming the mountains, stealing men’s yang energy?”
“Yes. As a result, she has been confined within her family home, and those who were taken in for questioning have yet to return.”
So, the story was that the noble family’s Young Miss had been enjoying one-night stands.
And after getting caught by her father, she was locked up at home.
I had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to meet anyone for a while, her back and legs were probably not in the best condition after the punishment she must have received.
*****
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