Episode 22: The Hornet Escape Incident
This ti, the raised voice drew the attention of all the scholars. Their faces were flushed from the alcohol.
"What on earth is going on here?"
"What do you an, Junior Sister Hwa? What have I done?"
Jong Won-bo blinked in confusion as Hua Yeo-wol pointed towards the commotion.
"What's happening over there with the guards?"
Turning his gaze to his own guard and Won Seung, Jong Won-bo, appearing intoxicated, swayed as he asked, "Guard Jeon, what's the matter?"
"This fellow bumped into out of nowhere and didn't even apologize. I was thinking of taking him outside for a talk."
"Hmm, I see."
Jong Won-bo, still swaying, spoke slyly to Hua Yeo-wol, "It seems like a matter between the two of them. Why are you getting involved, Junior Sister? Even though he's a guard, I can't interfere in personal matters."
Hua Yeo-wol was montarily at a loss for words, not expecting Jong Won-bo to respond this way.
As everyone's eyes were on Hua Yeo-wol and Jong Won-bo, Won Seung suddenly kicked Guard Jeon's shin with his right foot.
"Ouch!"
Guard Jeon instinctively released his grip on Won Seung's collar, bending over in pain from the blow to his shin. Won Seung then grabbed Guard Jeon's ears and retched.
-Puah!
The vomit, a mix of alcohol and undigested food, splattered all over Guard Jeon's face.
Guard Jeon tried to instinctively turn his face away, but Won Seung's grip was too strong, leaving him drenched in the ss.
He had eaten a lot. The vomit, containing half-digested at and vegetables, covered Guard Jeon's face.
"Ugh..."
By the ti Hua Yeo-wol and the scholars turned around, Guard Jeon was unrecognizable.
"Oh dear, what a waste of good food."
Won Seung pressed his thumbs under Guard Jeon's ears and then released him. Guard Jeon, drained of energy, collapsed to his knees.
"Oh? I'm really sorry about that."
Won Seung pretended to scratch his head, pulling out a thin needle hidden behind his ear and slipped it onto his finger while supporting Guard Jeon.
"Hey, pull yourself together. Stand up. You can't just faint from a little vomit."
In the midst of his daze, Guard Jeon felt a sharp prick on his neck. Suddenly, he couldn't breathe, and the pain made him open his mouth wide.
"Ugh, ugh."
Won Seung suddenly waved his hand in the air.
"Oh no! A hornet! Be careful!"
Guard Jeon, unable to speak, fell to his side, twitching as his neck swelled rapidly.
"What is going on here?"
Jong Won-bo jumped up and rushed over, and the guards waiting downstairs, realizing sothing was amiss, hurriedly ca up.
"This is quite sothing."
Won Seung scratched his head, hiding the thin needle behind his ear again. Hua Yeo-wol, surprised, approached and asked, "What happened?"
"I guess I drank too much Milsohwa. My stomach was churning. But then this guy suddenly grabbed my collar, so I couldn't help but vomit. Is Milsohwa really made with honey? A hornet flew in just like that."
It was a flimsy excuse.
"Ugh, ugh!"
Guard Jeon's throat was swollen, making it difficult for him to speak or breathe.
"Quickly, take him to a doctor."
At Jong Won-bo's words, the fellow guards carried Guard Jeon away.
Won Seung called after them, "I saw it. It was a really big hornet. Tell the doctor."
Jong Won-bo didn't know what trick Won Seung had pulled, but he didn't believe that a martial artist like Guard Jeon would be brought down by a hornet sting.
Glaring, he rolled up his sleeves.
"Did you harm a mber of the Jong Clan?"
At that mont, Won Seung pointed to the vomit on the ground and said, "I didn't do anything. I just vomited. Look, there's the hornet."
People looked and indeed saw a few bees buzzing around. It seed they had flown in through the open window, attracted by the blooming flowers.
"Could it really be that the honey in the Milsohwa attracted the bees?"
Hua Yeo-wol, observing the bees, was intrigued, while Jong Won-bo shouted, "Those are honeybees! Where's the hornet?"
"Of course, it stung such a great Jong Clan mber, it had to flee to save its life. It's probably ten miles away by now."
Won Seung feigned innocence, and one of the scholars who had gathered around burst into laughter, prompting the others to join in. The absurdity of Won Seung's words, combined with the alcohol-induced rrint, made them laugh uncontrollably.
"Hahaha. Junior Brother, that's hilarious. A hornet ran away? Hahaha. Oh, my stomach."
One person clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he hiccupped. With the mood like this, Jong Won-bo's face turned even redder.
"You, you!"
Jong Won-bo clenched his fists, unable to do anything. As a scholar, he couldn't engage in a physical altercation.
Just then, soone next to him placed a hand on Jong Won-bo's shoulder and said, "Let it go, Won-bo. There's no need to get involved in the affairs of subordinates."
Then, turning to Won Seung, he said, "I'm Yang Dae-hyun. You seem to be a scholar as well. Why not join us? If there's a misunderstanding, we should clear it up."
Won Seung looked at Yang Dae-hyun, whose eyes were bright and sincere. However, with Jong Won-bo glaring at him, he had no desire to join them.
"No, thank you. I just realized how weak I am with alcohol today. I might vomit again. My stomach is still churning. If I do, another hornet might co and sting Senior Brother Jong's backside."
With that, he pulled out a money pouch from his pocket, rummaged through it, and took out one silver coin.
"Give this to Guard Jeon. I feel bad for the unpleasant experience, so I should compensate him sohow."
Jong Won-bo gritted his teeth as he stared at the silver coin. The Jong Clan was a wealthy family in Xiangyang, and a single silver coin was nothing to them.
"Are you... really trying to insult ? Offering just one silver coin to the Jong Clan?"
"What are you talking about? Just one? This is a lot of money for right now. If I give this away, I might go hungry from tomorrow."
Won Seung shook his nearly empty money pouch, looking at the silver coin in his palm with genuine reluctance.
Yang Dae-hyun laughed heartily and said, "For soone with a lot of money, spending a few silver coins is nothing. But for soone with little, giving away a silver coin is not sothing just anyone can do. Junior Brother, you have a good sense of propriety."
"If you don't want it, should I just put it back?"
At Won Seung's words, Jong Won-bo quickly snatched the silver coin.
"I'll gladly pass it on."
"Hmm..."
Won Seung smacked his lips as if it were a pity and staggered up to the third floor.
The next day.
Won Seung left the Cloud Flower Pavilion early in the morning. With his money running low, he could only stay at the expensive pavilion until today. He needed to quickly check on the situation at the Clear Water Sect.
Feeling the pressure of money, he set out early, his heart heavy.
'This is too miserable.'
He didn't even have the money to buy poison ingredients, so he resorted to catching hornets, venomous snakes, and centipedes to extract poison.
He might look like a young master from a noble family, but in reality, he had only two silver coins and a few copper coins, practically a beggar.
Lanting his situation, Won Seung headed south towards the Clear Water Sect in Xiangyang.
Soon, he arrived at the wide plaza in front of the Clear Water Sect's main gate, surrounded by teahouses, taverns, and inns.
Won Seung sat at an outdoor table, ordered so noodles, and began to recall his mories.
-Clear Water Sect. Sect Leader Hua Cheon-baek. About a hundred mbers of the Clear Water Sect. A branch sect of the Sword Pact Sect, one of the Four Great Sword Sects, overseeing the southern part of Xiangyang... The assassination target is Hua Cheon-gang. The second of the three Hwa brothers and a top expert....
The assassination target, Hua Cheon-gang, is the younger brother of Hua Cheon-baek and is considered one of the top 100 masters in the Central Plains. Sect Leader Hua Cheon-baek is also noted to be a master of comparable skill. Moreover, the third brother, Hua Cheon-woon, is no slouch either.
'Hua Cheon-baek, Hua Cheon-gang, Hua Cheon-woon.... The three brothers are either among the top 100 masters or comparable to them. This is truly a first-class mission. No, only a special-grade assassin could handle this.'
His head throbbed. No matter how he looked at it, the mission seed impossible with his current skills.
As Won Seung pondered how to approach the assassination, soone sat across from him and spoke.
"If you stare like that, people might suspect you have ulterior motives."
The man, appearing to be in his late twenties, wore brown clothes and had a solid build. His face exuded a rugged masculinity.
"What are you thinking, observing the Clear Water Sect?"
"Thinking? There's nothing like that. I'm just watching the many people passing by."
The man in brown clothes was montarily taken aback by Won Seung's casual tone. Then he raised his hand to call the waiter.
"One bowl of noodles, please."
Won Seung's gaze fell on the long saber resting against the table. Just looking at it was intimidating.
Of course, Won Seung felt no threat at all. If the man tried anything funny, he planned to poison the noodles.
"Haven't you heard that you should watch your mouth in Murim?"
The man didn't show any hostility. It seed he was genuinely offering advice out of concern for Won Seung.
However, Won Seung, currently bitter about his dire situation, took it the wrong way.
"Yeah, I've heard. There's soone in front of right now who's running his mouth. Why are you acting so familiar?"
"What? Acting familiar?"
"I don't have money. I'm barely covering the cost of my noodles. Don't expect a free lunch."
"Ugh!"
The man choked on his tea, coughing as he tried to drink it after hearing Won Seung's words.
"Do I look like soone who would stick you with the bill?"
"As long as you're not, it's fine."
"I'm curious why Junior Brother was watching ."
Won Seung had seen the man handing a red na tag to a gate guard earlier. The man had noticed Won Seung's keen observation and approached him.
Won Seung glanced around and said, "I was just looking around and noticed you. The red na tag stood out. Is it a challenge? I was surprised to see soone challenging the Clear Water Sect. That's all. Is that sothing to pick a fight over?"
Just then, the noodles arrived.
Won Seung picked up his chopsticks, twirled the noodles, and slurped them down.
The man's noodles arrived shortly after.
"A challenge... It could certainly be."
The man slurped his noodles down in an instant and stood up. Won Seung hadn't even finished half of his.
"Be careful with your words. They say a thousand calamities co from the mouth."
Leaving behind words that were either a warning or advice, the man disappeared.
'What a strange guy. Picking a fight just because I looked at him.'
Won Seung continued eating his noodles slowly, savoring each bite.
A short while later, five martial artists erged from the Clear Water Sect in a hurry. The sword-wielding martial artists scanned the surroundings like hawks and asked sothing of the gate guard.
The gate guard pointed in the direction where Won Seung was sitting.
The martial artists approached in a group. The leader asked Won Seung, "Where did your companion go?"
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