Episode 70

Having gone ahead to a nearby village and secured rooms at an inn, Bisea-young had thoughtfully prepared not just two rooms but even warmed the bathwater.

After freshening up with a long-overdue wash, the two ladies came downstairs looking noticeably refreshed and radiant.

It was as if washing away the grime had transformed them—their beauty now far surpassing what it had been earlier.

Even dressed in the loose clothes borrowed from the inn, they seemed to glow with a newfound brightness.

Others seated at nearby tables couldn’t help but steal glances at them, clearly captivated.

“Wow! I feel truly alive again! It’s like being reborn! Thank you both so much!” Jeongan Sojeo beamed brightly as she expressed her gratitude.

We smiled back warmly.

“I don’t mind at all. It was all thanks to this one here,” I said, nodding toward Bisea-young.

The two ladies looked at him, but he seemed indifferent, casting a bored glance toward the inn’s kitchen and grumbling.

“I ordered earlier, but the food’s still not here. How can they run a business like this?”

The Sojeos hesitated to speak to Bisea-young, whose expression had soured.

But I knew exactly why he was acting that way.

Earlier, I had caught him staring blankly at Jeongan Sojeo as she came down the stairs, smiling so brightly.

Now that she was sitting right in front of him, he couldn’t even meet her eyes and was sulking like this.

What a cute kid.

The mood grew a bit awkward, but it didn’t last long. As the food finally arrived, the Sojeos couldn’t hold back and, setting aside their pride, began devouring the dishes.

Jeongan Sojeo, still a bit self-conscious, ate more cautiously, but Jeongan An Sojeo was shoveling food into her mouth without hesitation.

“Nom! Nom! This is really delicious! You two should try it too. Nom! Nom!”

Though she urged them to eat, she ended up eating most of it herself, leaving little for the others.

Bisea-young and I exchanged blank looks, but Jeongyeon Sojeo beside her blushed shyly.

Still, she didn’t stop eating and soon became fully engrossed in the meal.

She must have been truly exhausted until now.

As I looked at them with a touch of sympathy, Bisea-young suddenly stood up quietly and went to speak with the innkeeper.

Curious, I asked him, “What are you doing?”

“Just asking the owner something.”

But when more dishes started arriving shortly after, it was clear he had ordered extra food.

“That guy!”

I was a little shocked.

He wasn’t usually so considerate, but this gentle side was unfamiliar.

Is this what real love looks like?

I felt a pang of self-reflection.

Had I ever done so much for Sojeo?

Suddenly, a face that wasn’t Sojeo’s flashed through my mind.

Whoa, that startled me.

Why did her face suddenly appear?

I quickly shook my head to erase the image.

Sorry, Sojeo.

It was only after Bisea-young quietly got up again to order more food that we finally had a chance to talk.

Now fully satisfied, the two Sojeos sighed happily and finally looked at us.

“Ah, that was so good…”

But as they raised their heads, they finally noticed the towering pile of empty plates stacked on the table.

Jeongyeon Sojeo’s face turned pale at the sight.

Even Jeongan An Sojeo, who usually didn’t seem to care about such things, looked embarrassed.

“Ah, I-I’m so sorry…”

Before they could apologize, Bisea-young poked me under the table, signaling me to say something.

I quickly blurted out, “Wow! The food here is really amazing! Sorry about that—we got so caught up in eating that we didn’t pay attention to anything else. We tend to focus entirely on good food when it’s in front of us. Haha! Please understand. Say, Sa-young, since this is a celebration of your comeback, you can afford to treat us a bit, right?”

He snorted in response.

“Are you kidding? My life’s worth more than this! Owner! Clear these away and bring us another round!”

What?!

His words made me jump in surprise.

But the Sojeos looked even more shocked than I did.

Their eyes wide, they watched us in disbelief as Bisea-young ordered more food.

“Ah, M-Master! There’s really no need to order more…”

But Bisea-young cut her off.

“We apologize to you both. We’re just big eaters, so it might seem excessive. But! We’re still hungry! Aren’t we?!”

He nudged me playfully as he said this, and I forced a smile.

“Y-Yeah. This is just a little appetizer before the main meal.”

Though honestly, I was already feeling stuffed from earlier…

But what could I do?

For my friend, I’d do anything.

The two Sojeos said nothing more, bowing their heads and whispering softly.

“…Thank you.”

“We really enjoyed it.”

Soon after, the table was piled high again with dishes, bursting with rich aromas and vibrant colors.

Looking at the feast before me, I felt like I might throw up just from the smell.

Glancing at the food with a helpless look, I set down my chopsticks and said to the ladies, eyes wide.

“If you’re full, you’re welcome to go rest first.”

Bisea-young quickly chimed in.

“Y-Yes! You should rest well to recover, so you can keep going tomorrow! Please, go ahead and rest!”

But Jeongan An Sojeo smiled brightly and replied.

“Oh no, no matter what, we can’t leave before you two finish eating. That wouldn’t be polite…”

Their warm-heartedness was melting us inside, but Jeongyeon Sojeo quickly interrupted.

“That’s true, it’s not polite, but as you said earlier, the most important thing is for us to recover quickly and save Sa-jeo, right? So please forgive us—we’ll get up first!”

Her words brightened our expressions, and we hurriedly responded.

“Of course! You should rest comfortably, Sojeo!”

“Don’t feel bad at all! We’re used to eating slowly and endlessly anyway, haha!”

As Jeongyeon Sojeo led the still-puzzled Jeongan An Sojeo upstairs to their rooms, we finally let out a deep sigh.

Looking at the steaming feast before us, I said, “Honestly, just smelling this makes me want to throw up. How are we going to finish all this?”

Bisea-young replied, “Since I paid for it, you have to eat it.”

What?!

Hearing that, I stared at him in disbelief, as if he were trash.

He avoided my gaze and muttered softly.

“…Sorry.”

Love really is a tough and rugged road.

Even just being beside a friend can be this hard.

No wonder it’s so difficult to confess my feelings to Sojeo, even if I lived twice over.

---

The next morning, the two Sojeos looked almost fully recovered.

Not completely back to normal, but their condition was close enough to ours—who had suffered indigestion overnight—that running together felt easier.

At this pace, we could reach Cheongseongsan in just one more day.

That evening, we booked another inn nearby.

Though it would have saved time to sleep outdoors, our bodies were in no shape for it.

Especially with our heavy, aching stomachs.

If only I could get to the latrine, I felt like I could empty my insides completely.

But I couldn’t bring myself to tell the Sojeos that we needed to rest again because of overeating the day before.

So I racked my brain and said, “We’ll reach Cheongseongsan tomorrow, so today we should rest well and look presentable. For that reason, it’s best to stay at an inn again. Since Sa-young treated us yesterday, I’ll cover today’s expenses. Though I don’t have as much money as Sa-young, so it’ll be a modest meal. Sorry about that, haha!”

The Sojeos just nodded apologetically, while Bisea-young gave me a thumbs-up when they weren’t looking.

Once at the inn, while the Sojeos bathed, we finally managed to empty our stomachs completely.

After just one day, we felt lighter again.

Then, ordering a much simpler meal than before, we finally had a proper conversation.

It was then that we revealed our affiliations.

At first, we hadn’t mentioned the Martial Alliance, wary of their reaction.

But from what we’d observed, they didn’t seem to hold the Martial Alliance in high regard either.

Having spent time together, we felt we could trust them enough to share our names and affiliations honestly.

Upon hearing this, the Sojeos looked surprised.

“You’re both members of the Biryongdae?”

“Yes, part of the Thirteen Biryong.”

“Wow! This is the first time I’ve met Biryongdae members. So you came all the way here chasing the Blood Sect? That’s amazing!”

“No, not really. The Biryongdae is just a militia that fights the Blood Sect. We’re not particularly special.”

“But it’s amazing that you risk your lives like a militia!”

At that moment, Jeongyeon Sojeo suddenly looked thoughtful and asked with surprise…

“Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard the names Sun Woo-jin and Bi Sa-young from the Biryongdae! Are you two perhaps the legendary heroes—Sun Woo-jin, the Black Dragon of Bicheon, and Bi Sa-young, the Gale Wind of Biseong?”

At her words, we exchanged awkward glances before answering.

“We’ve been flattered with such nicknames, but heroes? Far from it.”

Yet, Miss Jeong-yeon covered her mouth in genuine surprise.

“No way!”

Miss Jeong-an, looking curious as if hearing the names for the first time, asked her, “Why? Are they famous people?”

Jeong-yeon’s eyes sparkled with rare excitement as she replied, “Of course! Not long ago, when Heuksangbang, one of the Eight Powers of Guizhou, tried to seize the Youngdan of Saengsa-gwe and kidnapped their children to threaten them, these three stood up against them and rescued both the children and the Youngdan. That incident led to the downfall of Heuksangbang.”

“Really?! Wow!”

They knew more details than we expected.

Listening to them talk about us like this right in front of us was almost embarrassing.

And the way they said it made it sound like we were the ones who brought down Heuksangbang.

“Ah, well, it wasn’t us who took down Heuksangbang—that was Senior Son Eun-sang of Yeoryeong Saekma,” I quickly clarified.

“That’s right. It’s all just rumors. Honestly, we were just breaking into empty houses and running away the whole time, haha!”

Jeong-yeon smiled warmly and asked, “Then what about Sun Woo-jin killing Heuksal-pyo Dong Paek-gyeong, Heuksangbang’s top master? Or Bi Sa-young unveiling the Susangbi technique? And above all, stepping up on your own to save Saengsa-gwe and their children—is that all just hearsay too?”

“Uh, well, that part’s true, but it was mostly luck that made it possible…”

“Yeah, I did use something like that technique, but it’s really nothing special…”

As we stammered out our excuses, Jeong-an beamed and said, “You two are truly amazing! So there really are genuine heroes in the martial world beyond just Brother Hwa!”

“Genuine heroes,” I thought, wanting to sink into the ground from embarrassment.

Bi Sa-young suddenly blurted out, changing the subject, “C-Can you tell me about this Brother Hwa? I’m really curious about who he is!”

He’s the kind of guy who gets painfully embarrassed by compliments, so he must have been desperately trying to steer the conversation.

The two of them chuckled softly and began explaining about Hwa Yeong-bin, the Scarlet Divine Sword.

Jeong-an started first, her dreamy, almost girlish eyes clasping her hands together as she spoke.

“He’s the most incredible hero in the world! He’s saved countless disciples of the Ami Sect from lustful villains. Many women confessed their feelings to him, but he never accepted any of them, saying he already has a lifelong beloved in his heart.”

It hadn’t occurred to me before, but the Ami Sect, being a women’s sect, was naturally a prime target for many evildoers if they lacked strength.

So after the Bloodline War, the Ami Sect disciples’ lives must have become quite difficult.

It seemed that the Scarlet Divine Sword Hwa Yeong-bin had devoted himself wholeheartedly to protecting the Ami Sect all this time.

The more I heard, the more he seemed like someone out of a legend rather than a man of flesh and blood.

Watching Jeong-an speak about Hwa Yeong-bin with such dreamy eyes, Bi Sa-young looked on with a bitter expression—which, though I shouldn’t say it, was kind of amusing.

If it were just the two of them, I thought, they could tease Lee Bak-sam-il endlessly—but with the others around, it felt a bit disappointing.

Just then, a middle-aged man covered head to toe in dust cautiously approached us.

“Excuse me… Are you martial artists by any chance?”

We looked at him with surprise.

It was rare for an ordinary civilian to approach us like this.

To common folk, martial artists were terrifying beings—like wild beasts whose true intentions and capabilities were unknown.

So it was almost unheard of for non-martial artists to speak first to martial artists.

I answered first.

“Yes, we are. May I ask why?”

The man’s cautious expression twisted instantly, and he suddenly dropped to his knees.

Tears streaming down, he began pleading with us.

“Oh, heroes! Please, save my daughter!”

Caught off guard, we had no choice but to calm him down and seat him at the table.

He explained his story in a jumble.

His daughter, who had been sleeping at home the night before, had suddenly disappeared.

Apart from her disappearance, there was no sign of struggle or anything unusual in her room.

“My daughter was known as a beauty even in the nearby villages. But she was so modest she rarely left the house! There’s no way she left on her own!”

He had hurriedly searched around and even gone to the authorities, but to no avail.

He said he was just returning from the Gwakgeommun, the most respected sect in the area.

Jeong-yeon asked him, “What did the Gwakgeommun say?”

“They said… that similar cases happened in other villages last month and the month before. They’ve done their best to investigate but couldn’t find her. Sob Sang-ah!”

Jeong-yeon exchanged a heavy look with Jeong-an before gently comforting him.

“We’re in a hurry to head to Cheongseongpa right now, so we can’t help immediately. But we’ll arrive there by tomorrow and will definitely inform them about this.”

Though he didn’t seem fully convinced, he thanked us and begged us to tell Cheongseongpa before leaving the inn.

After he left, Jeong-an looked at Jeong-yeon and said, “Miss Jeong, this is…”

Jeong-yeon nodded gravely. “Yes, it seems so.”

We asked what they meant.

She explained that the current situation was almost identical to when she and Miss Jeong-in of the Ami Sword Peak investigated the women’s disappearances before.

Hearing this, Bi Sa-young frowned.

“So… that means the reach of the Jeonghyeopbang—or rather, the Blood Sect—extends all the way here.”

Both ladies nodded solemnly.