By Zephyria I need to get out of here. (7)
Baek Ryeo-il sharpened his senses even more and kicked off the ground. His feet, faster than the wind, swept across the grassy field. With a light leap, he generated explosive propulsion.
He had to confirm it.
The existence of someone he couldn’t define.
‘Hmm?’
Baek Ryeo-il, who was flawlessly executing light body art that had reached the level of Transcendental Flight, stopped in his tracks at a certain moment.
He narrowed his eyes and looked around.
‘The traces split here… They scattered.’
After looking around for a moment, Baek Ryeo-il’s gaze landed on a certain spot. When he brushed away the fallen leaves and dry branches covering the area, freshly disturbed, damp soil appeared.
He began to dig into the ground without hesitation. What came out of the pit was Seong Mu-yeon’s clothes.
Baek Ryeo-il grinned.
‘Smart.’
He used his head quite well.
He must have taken off his clothes to prepare for any possible tracking techniques.
But there was such a thing as Myriad-Mile Tracking Incense in the world, and if you were exposed to that scent, you could be tracked from a distance of over ten thousand miles.
Of course, he had already applied the scent to Seong Mu-yeon, but it seemed that he didn’t know and prepare for it, as no one but himself could smell it.
He also discovered traces of the escort warriors scattering in all directions, but that was a trap.
‘Too bad. I applied it to your hair, not your clothes.’
Baek Ryeo-il’s sharp gaze quietly stared at the village below the mountain. The scent was pointing to that village.
At that moment, in the beggar’s den in the village below the mountain, a feast was in full swing. A new person had entered the beggar’s den.
He was a beggar with the surname Seong, and he had been wandering around the marketplace in such a dying state that it was clear he had suffered a lot. The beggars kindly shared their food with him and gave him a place to sleep and a straw mat.
The feast was just some leftover food and a little bit of alcohol dregs, but it was a feast for the beggars.
“Hahaha! Brother Seong, you know so many interesting stories!”
“I like it, I like it!”
The beggar was, of course, Seong Mu-yeon.
“Brother, how about you join our Beggars’ Sect?”
“Don’t say such disappointing things! I’m not a real beggar! I’m going to make a lot of money soon and start a decent store and live there! I’m going to get married and have about seven children like rabbits.”
“Yes, yes. Let’s just say that.”
The beggars answered listlessly with faces that said, ‘That guy’s starting again.’
Seong Mu-yeon huffed and turned away, and a few beggars handed him some hidden rice cakes to cheer him up.
‘…Unexpectedly, this suits me?’
He had been pretending to be a beggar, but he had no intention of entering the den. But when he actually came in, the beggars were kind, warm, and generous. He had only intended to stay for a while to avoid the rain, but he was about to settle down completely.
He could understand the saying that if you have nothing, you have nothing to protect, and if you have nothing to protect, your worries disappear.
As Seong Mu-yeon was enjoying the beggars’ idleness, one beggar ran in.
“What’s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?”
“Hee, hee. The Elder is calling us to gather?”
“The Elder? Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ugh. Annoying.”
The beggars belonging to the Beggars’ Sect groaned and got up from their sprawled bodies. Only Seong Mu-yeon was sitting blankly in the den.
“Brother Seong, come with us.”
“Huh? Why me? I’m not a Disciple of the Beggars’ Sect.”
“It’s boring. Go and see what the atmosphere is like.”
Seong Mu-yeon looked at him suspiciously, and the beggar waved his dirty hand.
“Don’t look at me like that! I’m not telling you to join by force. If you like the atmosphere, you can think about it then.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Seong Mu-yeon, who was bored anyway, followed the beggars.
The Beggars’ Sect was one of the great Sects that supported the center of the Central Plains martial arts world. Since it belonged to the Ten Great Sects in this vast land, its prestige was sky-high.
Seong Mu-yeon was secretly looking forward to it.
How would the Disciples’ gathering of the Nine Great Sects be conducted?
But his expectations didn’t last long.
“…A gathering, they said.”
Only dirty beggars with grime dripping down their faces were gathered in small groups in a dirty back alley. Moreover, they didn’t even have proper seats and were squatting on the bare ground, looking like… beggars.
‘A beggar is a beggar after all.’
Seong Mu-yeon, whose interest quickly disappeared, plopped his butt down anywhere with lifeless eyes. He just wanted the gathering to end quickly so he could return to his comfortable beggar’s den, cover himself with a cozy straw mat, and take a nap.
“Ahem, has everyone gathered?”
He wondered who the beggar among beggars was who was loitering in front, but it seemed that he was the Elder of the Beggars’ Sect in this area.
“Elder! Why did you suddenly summon us?”
“What meeting are we having in this situation where it’s hard to fill our stomachs even if we beg all day?”
“I, I have a stomach ache, can I go first?”
Someone said, clutching his stomach, but had to endure the Elder’s scolding gaze.
“I know you were surprised by the sudden call, but please sit down for a moment, it won’t be long.”
The Elder cleared his throat and continued solemnly.
“We have received a special request today.”
At those words, the beggars’ eyes changed. Their loose attitude disappeared, and they all sharply watched the Elder.
Seong Mu-yeon, who had become a sack of barley placed there, rolled his eyes at the suddenly changed atmosphere.
“A special request, does that mean it’s a request from the Nine Sects?”
“That’s right.”
“What’s the content?”
“It’s to find someone.”
The Beggars’ Sect was basically made up of beggars. And beggars are everywhere. So the Beggars’ Sect was also a place where information gathered from eavesdropping while begging. It could be said to be a kind of Naxver search system in the martial arts world.
“A person? Who is it?”
At one beggar’s question, the Elder frowned.
“That is… a man who is a little less than six feet tall, with white skin, slender, and looks like a woman…”
“No, that’s not it!”
A large hand that popped out with an annoyed shout pushed the Elder aside and came forward.
“Gasp.”
Seong Mu-yeon gasped.
Broad shoulders, a lot of hair tied in one bundle, charcoal-black eyebrows. And… fiercely raised eyes.
It was none other than Baek Ryeo-il.
Seong Mu-yeon hurriedly bent down and hid behind the backs of the beggars.
“I said not slender! His arms and legs are long and straight! I said his waist is supple, who said he looks like a woman? He’s skinny and doesn’t look manly, but anyway, he’s a manly guy, that’s what I’m saying!”
‘…What is he talking about?’
Seong Mu-yeon was dumbfounded. The beggars were also scratching the back of their heads and looking at each other, as if they didn’t understand Baek Ryeo-il’s words.
“And his skin is smooth like porcelain! His jaw is sharp! His nose is nicely upright! And he has two nostrils!”
“…Are there people with three nostrils?”
“Shut up! Anyway! His lips are plump cherry-colored!”
“……”
‘Is he describing me right now?’
Seong Mu-yeon thought that he would rather stick his nose in a dish of water than listen to such nonsense. He secretly raised his eyes and searched for a way out. The surroundings were full of beggars. Since they were all sitting on the ground, it seemed difficult to get out of this place unnoticed.
“If anyone has seen such a person recently, come out immediately!”
Baek Ryeo-il’s shout rang loudly in his eardrums.
“Someone who hasn’t been in this village for long!”
Seong Mu-yeon, who had barely succeeded in moving behind the back of a large beggar, crawled diligently.
“Someone who is good at talking smoothly!”
He almost stepped on another beggar’s hand with his knee. The beggar found Seong Mu-yeon crawling on the ground and spoke to him.
“Brother Seong, where are you going? Do you need to go to the bathroom?”
“Oh, uh, yeah…”
The beggar shrugged nonchalantly and turned back to Baek Ryeo-il.
“Someone with a pale face like a sick person! Has any beggar seen such a person!”
The beggar who had spoken suddenly turned his head and stared at Seong Mu-yeon. Then he began to mutter.
“…Someone who appeared recently, good at talking smoothly.”
Seong Mu-yeon hurriedly waved his hand. Please shut up!
The beggar’s eyes, which had been muttering absentmindedly, widened.
“Pale patient! Ugh!”
Seong Mu-yeon blocked his mouth like a comb, but it was already too late.
He saw it. The sight of the waves of beggars parting on both sides.
Baek Ryeo-il was standing at the end of that path.
Baek Ryeo-il’s lips drew a long arc.
“Oh ho… so you were there.”
“Eek!”
Seong Mu-yeon ran away at once. He stepped on and jumped over the beggars and quickly left that place.
‘That ghostly bastard! How did he know!’
He was sure that he would chase after either Il-gwang or the Black Shadow Unit! It seemed that his prediction was wrong.
Turning the corner, a crowded market street unfolded.
He quickly squeezed into the crowd.
“What! It’s a beggar!”
“Get out of here, you stink!”
‘I don’t stink! It’s just dirt!’
There was no time to feel wronged. Fruits were spilled and people fell at Seong Mu-yeon’s rough steps, causing a commotion.
The already noisy marketplace became even noisier thanks to him.