Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Have a Meal With Me (1)
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"Monk...?"
"Thank you for helping me... benefactor."
Was it just my imagination, or did that voice sound like, 'I was trying to die—why'd you save me?'
"Then, I'll be off..."
I grabbed the arm of the monk, who was bidding farewell in that frail voice as he turned to leave.
"...Benefactor?"
"Monk. There's a place I know that serves the most delicious food."
"...??"
"I'll treat you, so let's go together."
The monk hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth again.
"Benefactor, I am deeply grateful for your kindness, but..."
"Monk, didn't you just thank me for helping you out?"
"...??"
"Then as repayment, share a meal with me."
First things first, I had to get some food into him.
In the end, Hoyeon followed behind the young man who had saved him, heading into the inn.
He couldn't fathom how being treated to a meal counted as repayment, but it wasn't an unreasonable request, so he went along.
"They do excellent tofu dishes here. I tried them before—really tasty."
"...Is that so?"
Halt.
For a split second, suspicion bloomed. Did he have some other motive?
Did he know Hoyeon was a Shaolin disciple and slip poison into the food?
Otherwise, there was no explaining why he'd suddenly offer a meal like this.
'...Does it matter?'
Hoyeon's will to live had reached rock bottom. Poison, energy dispersal powder—what did it matter?
Even if he faced mortal humiliation, as long as a sliver of true energy remained, he could sever his heart meridian.
He removed his bamboo hat, set it aside, and scooped up a spoonful of the plain boiled tofu soup.
Once his chopsticks started moving, the food kept flowing in.
The young man kept ordering more dishes, and though Hoyeon demurred, the young man insisted he eat until he was full—so Hoyeon never stopped bringing food to his mouth.
Clunk.
At last, Hoyeon set down his chopsticks, and the young man smiled as he asked,
"Full now?"
"...Yes, benefactor."
"Taste alright?"
"...Yes."
The young man nodded in satisfaction.
"You traveling, monk?"
"Something like that."
"Got a place lined up for tonight?"
Hoyeon eyed him with doubt. Why the sudden interest in his lodgings?
"No ill intent, don't worry. If you don't have anywhere, I was going to suggest staying here."
"...Does this inn have ties to you, benefactor?"
"Nah, none at all. I bought some food here a few days back."
What was his angle?
It was the kind of thing you saw now and then in the Jianghu. Pretend to bump into someone naturally, shower them with favors, then strike when their guard was down.
If he wanted to pin Hoyeon's feet here, it was entirely plausible.
'But why me?'
Setting aside the fact that he had zero reason to target someone who hadn't set foot in the Jianghu in twenty years.
He possessed no treasures others might covet, and he'd earned neither grudges nor debts from anyone.
Outside Shaolin, did anyone in the Jianghu even know he existed?
"You're my lifesaver. Least you can do is humor me."
"...Young hero."
The young man flinched briefly at the shift in address but soon resumed his easygoing smile.
"You're a martial artist yourself, so you get it. Over-the-top kindness in the Jianghu always breeds suspicion."
"..."
"What's on your mind? If it's just pity, then maybe from here on..."
"A full belly and a warm body make even the weightiest troubles feel a bit lighter."
Hoyeon's heart lurched. It felt like the young man had peered straight into his soul—his breath caught.
"You seemed to be going through something rough, so I stuck my nose in. Sorry if that bothered you."
"...It didn't. Still, a true denizen of the Jianghu stays wary of favors without a clear origin. You ought to watch yourself..."
Hoyeon started to offer the warning, then trailed off.
The young man was right. With his stomach full and body warmed, he suddenly had the energy to meddle in others' business.
"Glad it didn't bother you. Then it's settled—you're staying here tonight."
Seizing the pause, the young man rose and began speaking to the waiter.
From the look of the money changing hands, he'd gone ahead and booked a room on his own.
What an enigmatic young man.
"Argh, sir—if only you'd come half a shichen earlier! All the watermelons sold out!"
I'd bought the liquor first, then swung by for fruit, only to hear the watermelons were gone.
Watermelons were a rarity around here, and theirs was the only shop that stocked them, so I grabbed oriental melons instead.
Hoping they'd do, I headed toward where Eon So-young was waiting.
'Meddled where I had no business.'
I knew it the instant I touched him. That monk's body was incredibly refined.
If he'd been in decent shape, I might've tested him out somehow... but that whole 'I don't care if I die' vibe stopped me cold.
And the moment our bodies met, there was that faint presence of inner energy. Didn't know the details, but it had to be Shaolin's brand.
Everything about him screamed don't get involved... but somehow, I couldn't just walk away.
I'd saved his life, after all. Ended up sticking my nose in anyway.
'What's his name? Why the monk robes? Is he even a real monk?'
I wanted to ask a million questions, but somehow, it felt impossible.
Show too much interest, and he'd probably get spooked and bolt. Playing it casual was my limit.
I slipped the waiter extra coin, told him to fetch a change of clothes and wash the ones he was wearing.
Might even stick around another day till they dried.
Back home, Eon So-young was reading a book.
"Husband."
"Sorry—got everything else, but they were out of watermelons... picked up oriental melons instead. That okay?"
"Of course."
With a natural gesture, she handed the melon to a maidservant, then quietly pulled out some jerky and started eating right there.
Couldn't risk staining the book, so the one she'd casually covered read Elementary Learning.
"Already teaching the baby?"
"Didn't you say to show the child in my womb only the finest things?"
Oh, right—I'd said that. I'd fed her a few bits of folk prenatal wisdom I'd picked up.
<Madam, shall I bring in the melon?>
"Oh, yes—bring it on."
The maidservant bowed low and carefully set the melon down.
Eon So-young picked one up, popped it in my mouth, then took one for herself.
"I-I'll take my leave!"
The maidservant, who'd witnessed the whole natural exchange up close, stammered in a fluster before bolting out.
"So-young, you enjoy flaunting it like this?"
"Naturally. That's why I let the maidservants know in the first place."
Eon So-young was utterly shameless. Refreshingly so, in a way.
Even pregnant, she couldn't boast to a soul—had to hide away.
Her own child had to be hidden, too.
Small wonder she got a thrill from laying it all bare to the maidservants.
"Huu..."
My mouth, mid-fruit, slowly shifted to licking my fingers.
Lick.
"Ng... I said eat the fruit. No fingers."
"Then feed me something else... So-young's pussy..."
At my random remark, Eon So-young glanced around in panic.
She paced the room, checking for any sign the maidservants might've overheard.
"Psh, no way they heard. Unless they had their ears pressed to the door."
"Husband, the sun's barely down—tone it down a bit..."
I saw it differently. They already knew we were screwing—what's a little noise?
"The maidservants know anyway. So what if they hear a moan or two?"
No one else would barge in without knocking like Mong-a.
Eon So-young's face went beet red, but she didn't exactly fight my hands as I started undressing her.
"If you don't want the maidservants catching on, you can just hold back those moans, right, So-young?"
Eon So-young had no comeback.
A-hyeon's breath caught in her throat.
'It's... really true...!'
She'd heard the rumors—that her revered Lady Madam had fallen head over heels for some young man.
She'd thought it had to be a mistake, but so many people vouched for it.
[If it makes Madam happy, then we should accept it.]
Even her own mother had said as much, so A-hyeon saw her mother's order to slice the melon neatly as her chance.
A shot to verify if the gossip held water—and if so, what kind of man he was.
'How could Lady Madam... do something like that...!'
From the open-minded vantage of a martial clan, even more so than most families, A-hyeon would've congratulated Eon So-young for taking a lover.
Limited to someone her age, the kind where no one could mistake it for anything else.
But a young man who seemed a better match for her daughter, Namgung Hye?
It couldn't possibly be pure affection...
'Miss...?'
Thinking of Namgung Hye sparked something in A-hyeon's mind.
A nudge to dig deeper into her memories.
A-hyeon let her thoughts drift back, and bit by bit, she realized this wasn't the first time she'd seen that man.
'Where? Where did I see him?'
Not in the peaceful days after Eon So-young and Namgung Hye's belated return—had to be sooner. The answer came quickly.
'That man! The one from Emei Mountain!'
The guy who'd vanished without a trace after they descended—now right by Madam's side?
Timeline lines up perfectly with when Madam got pregnant?
"...Daughter. Daughter? Lost in space? What's wrong, dear?"
"M-Mother...?"
Snapping out of it, she found her mother beaming at her face-to-face.
"You sliced it—why're you just standing there like an idiot?"
Staring at that face, A-hyeon thought,
Her mother wouldn't do. No one else would.
The people around Eon So-young only cared that she was happy—be it with a young man or a block of wood.
Hell, they were calling him 'Lord Husband' and treating him like royalty.
'I have to tell Miss. Once she knows what's going on with Madam, she'll do something.'
A-hyeon could only trust Namgung Hye.
If anyone—having met the man together, and maybe crossed paths again later—would snap to action upon learning the truth, it was her.