Chapter 194: Perilous Road (5)

It had been three years since Soyak had last come to Mount Song.

After her previous Roaming Pillar Journey, closed-door training had kept her from leaving Mount Hua at all.

And after being away for so long, it would be rude to walk through Shaolin’s gates and immediately expect to be fed.

So Soyak decided to take the edge off her hunger at a nearby inn first.

The area around Mount Song was not much different from the area around Mount Hua.

Wherever a renowned sect existed, the surrounding economy flourished.

More people came and went.

Even if the region initially lacked roads and bridges and was difficult to reach, that was only a matter of time.

Once enough people wanted access, the necessary infrastructure would inevitably be built.

There was too much money to be made from tolls not to expand the roads.

Where there was demand, investment in supply followed. ℯℯ𝘭.

And so, while this place was called an inn, it was in fact quite large and lavish.

Lavish enough that Soyak found herself slightly worried about the price of the food.

She had brought a fairly generous supply of silver pieces, but not enough to spend without restraint.

Food served in a place like this somehow felt almost extravagant, which bothered her a little.

“Customer? Beggar?”

Someone approached, tilting his head.

Judging by his clothes, he was a waiter here.

And judging by his height and face... he was a boy slightly younger than she was.

“Customer.”

“Ah! Welcome! Here’s the menu!”

The boy’s eyes widened, and he hurriedly handed her a stiff sheet of thick paper.

The menu even had silver foil pressed into it.

This must be one of the more successful establishments in the area.

Soyak slowly looked over the dishes.

Surprisingly, the prices were reasonable.

And the item that caught her eye most was knife-shaved noodles.

Knife-shaved noodles were a Shanxi dish.

They were not something one would normally expect to find in Henan.

Shanxi lay directly north of Henan, certainly, but Mount Song was nowhere near the border between the two provinces.

Soyak looked at the waiter.

“Is one of your cooks from Shanxi?”

“Yes! The assistant head cook is!”

That was credible enough.

“Good. One bowl of knife-shaved noodles.”

“What about dumplings...?”

“No. I can’t finish that much.”

The boy’s shoulders visibly drooped.

Soyak noticed why, but chose to ignore it.

Young waiters often waited eagerly for customers to order dumplings.

Dumplings came several to a serving, after all, which made travelers especially tempting targets.

One missing dumpling was unlikely to be noticed, and an outsider would not even know how many were supposed to come in the first place.

And Soyak plainly looked like an outsider.

She carried a bundle slung from a long, cloth-wrapped object.

Travelers dressed like that often ordered noodles and dumplings.

Noodles and dumplings could be found anywhere in the Central Plains.

“...Really?”

“Really. Go put in the order.”

Having lost his final shred of hope, the boy trudged toward the kitchen.

Soyak sighed and leaned back against the hard wooden chair.

Then she slowly looked around.

Apparently, she had chosen well.

Bowls of knife-shaved noodles were being eaten all over the inn.

Which made sense.

It was not often that people had the opportunity to try cuisine from another region.

Soyak herself had ordered it because she had never tasted it before. The people of Henan were likely no different.

Judging from the wear on the pillars and floor...

This inn had not been open long.

Half a year at most.

If so, the period when curious customers flocked to a newly opened establishment probably had not ended yet.

Which meant all kinds of people from around Mount Song would gather here.

Beggars, for example.

“...Are you Hero Cheon Soyak?”

Soyak stared at the beggar who had addressed her with a title far grander than she thought she deserved.

She had no idea when he had arrived, but he was already sitting across from her at the same table.

As naturally as if he had always been there.

“‘Hero’... seems like rather too much of a title for me.”

“Not at all. Did you not cut down Ak Jupae, the Flame-Saber Lord who fell into the Demonic Cult’s trap and succumbed to corruption, with a single stroke?”

His voice was low.

But his information was exact.

And his manner suggested that he knew everything there was to know about her.

There was no mistaking who he was.

“...Are you the Henan Branch Hall Leader?”

“Indeed. Very perceptive.”

“You weren’t exactly trying to hide it...”

Soyak sighed.

The beggar grinned.

Then, when the waiter boy approached carrying Soyak’s bowl of knife-shaved noodles, the man used an exquisite seizing-hand technique to pluck it straight from his grasp.

He set it down squarely in front of himself.

“Uh, uh, that belongs to this customer...”

He was a beggar.

Normally, the proper response would be to beat him and throw him out.

That was what the boy’s seniors had taught him.

But the technique with which the man had snatched away a bowl brimming with broth without spilling a single drop left the boy thoroughly intimidated.

“...Bring another bowl.”

“Yes!”

With a sigh, Soyak ordered another serving.

Few members of the Beggar Union were exceptions to the ingrained habits of beggars.

Not even the Union Leader was free of them, so why would a Branch Hall Leader be any different?

Besides, the Beggar Union always repaid more than it took.

If one of them went out of his way to incur a debt to someone like this, it was practically an announcement that he intended to repay it somehow.

“Is it good?”

“This is incredibly good. No wonder this place is famous.”

“...I see.”

Still, having the food she had been waiting for stolen right in front of her was not exactly pleasant.

Soyak sighed and began asking the questions on her mind.

“How did you know it was me?”

“We received word from Shaanxi that Hero Soyak had left Mount Hua.”

“...You keep track of my location?”

“The Beggar Union keeps track of the whereabouts of nearly every Transformation Realm master.”

The Branch Hall Leader nodded as he swallowed three thick strands of noodles at once.

Soyak shifted her chair slightly farther away in case he splashed broth on her.

Granted, the clothes she was wearing were worn and shabby...

But getting broth splattered on them still would not be pleasant.

“...Impressive.”

“Thank you! Ah, my name is Gwak Han. A pleasure to meet you.”

Gwak was not a particularly common surname.

And it was one she had heard once before, during her previous Roaming Pillar Journey.

“I feel as though I’ve heard that surname somewhere...”

“Perhaps you know my father?”

“Your father? May I ask his name?”

“Gwak Bakdeuk. Gwak as in Gwak, Bak as in Bak, and Deuk as in Deuk.”

Gwak Bakdeuk.

A Seventh Knot beggar of the Beggar Union.

And an elder.

Soyak’s eyes widened.

“...You’re that elder’s son?”

“Oh, you do know my father!”

Just then, the waiter boy returned carrying the second bowl of knife-shaved noodles.

Apparently still afraid of Gwak Han’s seizing hand, he made a wide circle around the table and approached from Soyak’s side.

“H-here are the knife-shaved noodles you ordered!”

Soyak nodded and took a spoon and chopsticks from the utensil holder.

Knife-shaved noodles were made by shaving pieces directly from a block of dough with a blade.

Because each strand varied between thicker and thinner sections, they had a distinctive texture.

The lamb broth had been packed with every spice imaginable, to the point that even its aroma promised a rich savoriness.

“In any case, welcome to Henan. Now that you’re here, I imagine we’ll have plenty of work to do!”

“I suspect that is not particularly good news for me...”

Soyak answered slowly, then took a spoonful of broth.

Sharp heat and a riot of spices surged across her tongue.

The meal did not take long.

Soyak normally ate rather slowly, but even she finished quickly this time.

Gwak Han, of course, had displayed a speed in an entirely different league and had already drained his bowl down to the last drop of broth.

“You asked earlier how I recognized you, did you not?”

“...I would prefer it if you stopped calling me ‘Hero.’”

“You are a Transformation Realm master. How could you not be one? In any case, Hero Soyak, you stand out quite a bit. If you truly wished to disguise yourself completely, you should have smeared some soot or mud on your face and the backs of your hands.”

“Ah.”

Soyak instinctively pulled her sleeves down over the backs of her hands.

It was true.

Compared to her clothing, her hair and skin were far too clean.

Considering that...

It was only natural that the sharp-eyed leader of a Beggar Union Branch Hall had recognized her.

The Beggar Union was also famous for the speed at which information traveled through its network.

And since her appearance had not changed all that much from three years ago...

They likely already had a description of her on file.

Only the news that the Flame-Saber Lord had joined the Demonic Cult, come to Mount Hua, fought a bloody battle, and died there would have needed to spread quickly.

If the Beggar Union was keeping track of every Transformation Realm master, then learning which of them had recently broken through—and which of them had died—would be vital information.

Who had killed them would be even more important.

And cases where someone marched straight through a sect’s main gate, clashed with its people, and died there were rarer still.

“You’re heading to Mount Song, aren’t you?”

“...You really are uncanny.”

“This way. I’ll guide you.”