13
Chapter 13: The Bongyang Guest
While Jang Ho and the thugs were being slaughtered, Gi Dae-hyo and Gi Man-ji were investigating the second-floor room of Bongyang Inn, the location presumed to be where the Suicide epidemic had first occurred. Following behind them, the inn's owner from the No family had also entered.
"Is this the room?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Were you the one who discovered them?"
"Yes. I was the first to discover Machil and Choseon hanging dead from that beam over there in this room."
The No Family Head bowed so deeply his head nearly touched the ground as he answered Gi Dae-hyo's questions.
"Hmm."
Gi Dae-hyo began examining every corner of the room, starting from the assumption that their deaths were not suicide but murder.
It was a typical inn room with nothing special about it. The seductively dyed deep red bedspread could perhaps be considered unusual, but for Gi Dae-hyo, who was well aware of Bongyang Inn's business practices, it seemed neither strange nor particularly noteworthy.
The first thing he examined was whether there was a window. If there was a window, an assassin could have entered through it.
However, no matter how he looked at all six sides of the room—front, back, left, right, top, and bottom—there was no window. In a typical house, windows were usually located on the wall opposite the entrance. But on that wall of this room, there was just a wall.
The possibility of something entering from that direction was immediately ruled out.
'Then did they enter through the door?'
Drr-rk.
Gi Dae-hyo reopened the door he had closed and examined the structure of the inn. Bongyang Inn was a typical two-story building where the first floor was open in a square (口) shape, and the second floor had corridors arranged in the character for "giant" (巨). Stairs were located in the middle of the corridor, with rooms lined up along the corridors on both sides. Looking down at the first floor from the second-floor corridor, one could see the entire interior of the inn's first floor clearly. Likewise, from the first floor, if someone moved through the second-floor corridor, it could all be confirmed.
Consequently, the possibility of an intruder entering through the door also vanished. If the culprit had entered through the door, there would have been witnesses—whether the inn's staff or guests.
The possibilities of entry from the front and rear were eliminated.
Next, the possibility of entry from the right simply disappeared as well.
This room was located at the very end of the head section of the giant (巨) character formation. The right wall of this room faced the outside. Without demolishing the wall, there was absolutely no way to enter from that direction.
Next up was the top and bottom. But entry from above or below was also impossible.
'Wasn't the top the roof?'
Unless the entire roof was removed, there was no way to enter from that direction.
The bottom was the floor.
Similarly, entry would only be possible if the entire floor were removed. Both the roof and floor were framed with wood and stone and finished with clay. A structure through which not even a drop of water could easily penetrate. This possibility was also instantly deleted.
According to the inn owner's account, since Machil and Choseon died, he had never let guests into the room nor made any repairs to it. That completely eliminated the possibility of entry from the front, back, right, top, or bottom.
The only remaining possibility was the left wall. If the Suicide epidemic was truly a murder case, the culprit must have entered this room through the left wall.
Gi Dae-hyo approached the left wall with his hands clasped behind his back. A splendid tiger-striped cloth hung down like a curtain. Though it was covered quite thickly and meticulously for soundproofing, it was still a cloth.
Swoosh—
With a wave of Gi Dae-hyo's hand, the cloth disappeared, revealing the wall arranged neatly in the pattern of the character for "river" (川).
"Hmm."
Seeing this, he was convinced his thoughts were correct. Unlike the other walls, this wall could allow free passage if only the wood were removed.
The problem was...
That this wood had never been removed.
"Look at this."
"Yes, my lord."
At Gi Dae-hyo's call, the inn owner No Family Head quickly approached and answered.
"Is there a way to remove these logs without taking apart the roof?"
"Of course not, sir. These logs are fitted into grooves carved in the ceiling beams and floor beams. Unless you remove all the beams, there's absolutely no way to pull them out."
Gi Dae-hyo already knew this fact, but he asked again for confirmation.
He examined the wall carefully once more. Between the cylindrical logs that were cleanly finished, it looked difficult even for a sheet of paper to fit through. There was also no trace at all of the logs having been removed.
'Does this mean... the series of recent suicide incidents are truly entirely due to epidemic?'
For a moment he thought that, then soon shook his head.
'It didn’t make sense. Where in the world was there a epidemic that induced suicide?'
Even if such a thing existed, if it were truly a epidemic, it should spread progressively outward centered on one region, but the Suicide epidemic victims appeared irregularly throughout various parts of Bongyang.
That meant it spread selectively among people, but he had never heard or seen such a epidemic. It was absurd.
The conclusion was that it wasn't a epidemic.
Gi Dae-hyo returned his focus to murder and examined the logs.
What if there was someone who had mastered Bone Shrinking Arts to the extreme? Couldn't they pass through this gap? He had never seen or heard of such a master, but he thought it was possible. After all, the Martial World had many extraordinary people and strange events that defied imagination.
Compared to the front, back, right, top, and bottom through which even water couldn't penetrate, this direction seemed more likely.
At the very least, couldn't water pass between these processed logs? If one could make their body flow like water, they could sufficiently infiltrate through here.
Between having no possibility and having even a slight possibility, naturally Gi Dae-hyo's deduction leaped in that direction.
"When Machil died, was there someone in the adjacent room as well? Or was it perhaps empty?"
Gi Dae-hyo asked, predicting it would have been empty. If it had been empty, the culprit who had infiltrated that side must have somehow entered this room through this wall.
However, his prediction was immediately wrong.
"Yes, there was a guest in that room too. He probably came to Bongyang Inn around the same time as Machil."
"...Who was that?"
Gi Dae-hyo didn't show disappointment and continued questioning the inn owner.
"It was Sosam from the Danri Family."
The reason the No Family Head specified "Sosam from the Danri Family" was because there were far too many people with the name Sosam. If he just said Sosam, there would be dozens in Bongyang alone.
However, if he specified Sosam of the Danri Family, there was only Mute Sam.
"Sosam of the Danri Family? Who is that? Was there someone with such a name in the family?"
Gi Dae-hyo didn't know who Sosam was. No matter how famous Sosam might be in Bongyang, the gap in their status was too great. Rather, it would be stranger if Gi Dae-hyo knew of Sosam.
So he was asking Gi Man-ji.
"Father, he is one of the family's grooms."
"A groom? Why would such a person come here at that time?"
"Probably for the same reason as Machil."
The same reason as Machil?
Ah. For carnal pleasure.
Gi Dae-hyo's gaze immediately turned to the inn owner. He promptly nodded, confirming.
"Yes, my lord. When Machil was embracing Choseon, Sosam was embracing another courtesan."
"Is that so? Then go and bring the courtesan girl here."
As soon as the No Family Head answered yes, he brought the girl.
She had been in the middle of entertaining a customer and was brought here without understanding why. While she was straightening her disheveled clothes, Gi Dae-hyo began questioning her.
"Were you in the adjacent room with a man named Sosam on the day Machil and Choseon died?"
"Yes."
"What did you do?"
She laughed hollowly as if bewildered.
"Ho ho ho. What would a courtesan and a young man do here? Of course we fu—"
"Hey! Watch your mouth!"
The No Family Head urgently cautioned the girl to be careful with her words.
"...Of course we slept."
"That's all? Did you happen to see anything entering or such through the wall between you and the room where Machil and Choseon were?"
"Well... I was too busy fu— doing the work with Sosam to pay attention to anything else."
"Ahem."
The No Family Head cleared his throat again to give her a hint. Gi Dae-hyo stopped him with a hand gesture.
"It's fine. Then was there nothing else special?"
"No. There was nothing special at all. Just like usual... Ah, there was this one thing. Sosam said he was hungry so he asked us to bring food. Usually the customers who come here do their business first and then eat, but since it was Sosam's first time, maybe because he was nervous, he ate first and then did the business."
"Hmm."
After hearing the courtesan's words, Gi Dae-hyo stroked his beard. It was his habit whenever he engaged in deep thought.
However, no matter how deeply he pondered, the simple sequence of eating didn't seem important. Though he did feel uneasy about it.
He continued questioning the girl about various things after that, but similarly failed to discover anything unusual.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Man-ji, let's go."
"Yes, Father. Then where do you plan to go now?"
"Let's go to the next location where the Suicide epidemic occurred."
The two employed their lightness skill and instantly disappeared from Bongyang Inn.
The No Family Head watching that sight, shook his head and went down to the first floor. Then the courtesan girl, who had been watching the inn owner's back, casually threw out a comment.
"Now that I think about it, there was one more special thing. That bastard Sosam's stamina was truly exceptional. Ahhh—. I've never seen such amazing Bedroom Arts in my entire life. Isn't there another man somewhere like Sosam? If it's a man like that, I'm ready to give myself to him even if he's a mute and an idiot."
She smacked her lips in regret and went back to entertaining customers. Perhaps because she recalled her time with Sosam, her body was already heating up intensely. Whichever man it was, he would surely feel paradise properly today.
Bongyang Inn quickly returned to being a place where men's lewd desires squirmed, just as it had always been.