Murim Debut (2)
Sniff sniff.
“Why are you suddenly sniffing your hand like that?”
“Because it smells nice.”
Hong Yeonhwa tilted her head, then trotted over and pressed her nose right up to my hand.
“Hmm… I don’t really smell anything.”
“Well, of course you wouldn’t. It’s your scent. They say people can’t really detect their own body odor.”
“……?”
Hong Yeonhwa blinked, still looking utterly confused. But it didn’t take long for understanding to dawn on her—she let out a yelp and hopped back in place.
“S-stop that! Why would you sniff something like that?!”
She started rubbing my hand furiously with her sleeve, like she was trying to wipe away some filthy contaminant. Of course, that hand had just been nestled warmly in Hong Yeonhwa’s cleavage moments ago. It really did smell amazing….
Only after she’d scrubbed it so hard my skin was turning a little red did she press her nose to it again, insisting she needed to check if the smell was gone. Her eyes squeezed shut, nose twitching as she sniffed—that sight made my fingers twitch involuntarily.
I curled my index and middle fingers to pinch her nose… but instead, she chomped down on them.
“Aaaack!”
I yelped in surprise, but it didn’t actually hurt. She’d controlled her bite perfectly—it was more like tickling with teeth. Hong Yeonhwa flashed a smug grin and mumbled through her mangled pronunciation.
“Hmph! Did you really think this lady would just take it lying down?”
Every word brushed her wet tongue against my fingers.
…This wasn’t half bad, actually?
Of course, I couldn’t let that show, so I begged and pleaded that I wouldn’t do it again before she finally let go.
This time, she rubbed her sleeve over my hand not to erase the scent, but to wipe off her saliva. Her mood seemingly improved, she shrugged her shoulders in a little dance as she headed out of the room. I followed her out.
After that, we spent some time tidying up the house together. We might end up leaving it empty for a good while… Of course, it wasn’t some meticulous deep clean for whenever we might return—we just sorted out what to take, what to sell along the way, that sort of thing.
Finally, we paid our respects with a bow at Master’s grave before leaving our beloved home behind and descending the mountain path.
We’d slept in late, so the sun was already starting to dip toward the horizon. But both Hong Yeonhwa and I were martial artists. If we hustled, we could make it to the neighboring village before sunset.
We sold off the items we’d set aside beforehand to pad our travel funds, bid farewell to a few folks we’d been indebted to, and then hit the main road running.
Whenever my stamina flagged, I’d glance at Hong Yeonhwa’s chest—bouncing rhythmically with every step—to rally my spirits. A few rounds of that, and we barely made it to the village just as the sun was about to set, right on schedule.
***
Creak.
“Welcome!”
The moment we pushed open the inn’s door, a young waiter greeted us.
“Table for two…?”
But once his eyes met ours, his voice trailed off, and he just stared blankly at Hong Yeonhwa.
At the sight, I casually tapped the sword at my waist and nodded.
“Yeah. Two bowls of knife-cut noodles… no, make the dumplings three servings.”
“Y-yes! S-sorry about that. I just zoned out… Please, have a seat. It’ll be out soon.”
He must’ve clocked us as martial artists from the sword. The waiter bowed repeatedly in apology.
This was what, the umpteenth time today?
Back in her home village, Hong Yeonhwa had the Murim Alliance’s ironclad protection. Everyone knew she was a beauty, but they consciously kept their distance.
Things were different out here, though. Her dazzling looks drew eyes everywhere we went, forcing me to emphasize our martial artist status every time to ward off the unwanted stares.
Most common folk avoided entanglements with murim types, so no real trouble yet—but I couldn’t shake the worry that this might snowball into something bigger later.
I headed for a quiet corner seat, but Hong Yeonhwa smirked with a smug, puffed-up expression.
“Did you see that? The way they froze in awe of this lady’s majesty. Even in this weakened state, with no fame to speak of… impressive, no?”
“Huh?”
Was she seriously thinking all those dazed stares were because of her “majesty”?
I mean, if she really cut loose with her presence, sure—but just sitting there normally? Nothing stood out.
My senses weren’t the sharpest, but they were way better than any untrained commoner’s. Even to me, I couldn’t gauge Hong Yeonhwa’s current internal energy level at all.
Which made sense, given her original realm. It just meant she controlled her qi so perfectly that nothing leaked out.
In other words, the commoners weren’t feeling any of that murim intimidation from her either. That’s why the kid had just blanked out like an idiot.
Interpreting it her way, though, Hong Yeonhwa shook her head with a look of helpless exasperation.
“And it’s like this now? Imagine this lady at her peak. I guarantee it surpasses whatever you’re picturing.”
Her ensuing bragging was all about how her Heavenly Demon Ruling Aura could pin even super peak experts in place.
The stories were more gripping than expected, but what really warmed my heart was Hong Yeonhwa’s excited leg-kicking on her chair as she reminisced.
Then a sudden curiosity hit me.
“Hey, speaking of… how much have you recovered so far, anyway?”
“Hm?”
Her innocent tilt of the head screamed why ask that now? She cocked her head side to side, gauging, then spoke.
“In terms of raw internal energy volume, I’ve clawed my way up to the bare minimum for first-rate. Of course, for this lady, that’s enough to beat down most peak experts with confidence.”
“Whoa… impressive. At that level, we don’t need to skulk around anymore.”
“Skulk? Why bother? There’s no one gunning for this lady here, and the public order’s pretty good, right?”
Public order good? Well, this was Hebei, under the direct influence of the Paeng family—one of the Five Great Clans. Sure, there were unorthodox sects around, but they kept low profiles and stayed cautious, so yeah, relatively safe.
Still, no room for complacency. Plenty of murim folk drew blades at the slightest provocation.
Worst case, we could run into some rogue peak expert like Cheok An Geum Gwi wandering solo.
But to Hong Yeonhwa—who’d survived a world where the court had collapsed and the powerful ran rampant—this must’ve felt plenty peaceful. Her eyes softened as she glanced around.
I spoke to her in a firm tone.
“It’s fine for now. But your looks are too eye-catching.”
“Eh?”
“You’re too pretty.”
She flailed her arms like someone who’d heard something utterly mortifying.
“W-what’s that supposed to mean?! Are you teasing this lady again…?”
“That’s exactly the problem. Sure, security’s decent here, but someone as gorgeous as you, Yeonhwa? Trouble finds a way even where it shouldn’t. Remember that waiter? He wasn’t awed by majesty or presence—he just froze because an impossibly beautiful woman was right there.”
“W-what…? No way!”
“Think about it. Every weird reaction on the road? All from guys, right?”
“T-that can’t be… Then this lady’s majesty…?”
“Talking about your majesty like that was pretty cute, though.”
“Eek…!”
Hong Yeonhwa plopped her ample chest on the table, hiding her flushed face as she stomped her feet.
After a good long tantrum, she finally calmed with some deep breaths.
“Hoo… So that’s why you asked how much I’d recovered.”
“Yeah. At your level, no need to cover your face or anything. This is righteous faction turf, after all—unorthodox scum will think twice.”
“Hmm… From this lady’s experience, even the righteous aren’t always trustworthy, but…”
“Not everyone’s pure, sure. But they won’t pull overt crap, so don’t sweat it too much.”
“If you say so, then I suppose it is.”
Right on cue, our knife-cut noodles and dumplings arrived. Whatever happened to that flustered demeanor? Her eyes sparkled at the heaping pile of dumplings.
She cut them neatly in half, blew on them cutely… but devoured them at an uncute speed. She polished off three-quarters solo before we finished the meal.
We rented a room at the inn. Not too small, not too big—just the right awkward size. The bed was barely wide enough for two people pressed right up against each other.
After what happened with Hong Yeonhwa just yesterday, I felt a bit tense. Excited, too.
I kept stealing glances at her, but she just perched on the bed’s edge, patting her belly contentedly.
…Not the mood tonight, huh?
Made sense. Yesterday was our first night—back-to-back might be pushing it. Her lips were definitely still a bit swollen from this morning.
Lost in those thoughts, I realized Hong Yeonhwa was staring right at me.
“This should be fine here. You. On the way today, it seemed like you couldn’t properly use that martial art you showed me before.”
“Oh… you mean Martial Spirit Divine Art? I tried, but it just wouldn’t click.”
No matter how hard I willed it internally, my qi wouldn’t shift like it had against Cheok An Geum Gwi.
She eyed my sheepish head-scratching and spoke in a serious tone.
“The man who’ll be this lady’s husband must have the proper caliber. From now on, this lady will help train your martial arts with full effort.”
Sounds great to me—but how exactly?