Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Jade-Faced Yin Devil
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“H-How was it?”
Siwoo asked in a tense voice as I emerged from the building again.
I pondered for a moment what to say, but in the end, I could only shrug and reply that nothing had happened.
At that, Siwoo’s face took on an “I knew it” expression as he turned to the two little girls.
“See? Nothing was there.”
“A-Ah, but that’s not true...? Someone really went inside!”
Soso muttered in a trembling voice, even forgetting to eat her dangho noodles.
Her eyes began to well up as Siwoo and Seoyeon stared at her accusingly.
She seemed upset that her words had been dismissed as lies.
I hurried to soothe her before she burst into loud sobs.
“It was a dark night, after all, so maybe you just mistook something heading somewhere else...”
But I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Suddenly, I sensed a presence behind my back—from the alley where no one had been.
“What...?”
No one had been there just moments ago...?
My surprise was short-lived. I immediately scooped up the two little girls under my arms and ducked behind the corner.
“W-Why are you...?”
“Shh.”
I signaled Siwoo, who had followed me on instinct, to stay quiet, and kept my eyes fixed on the eerie alley.
Soon enough, someone emerged from the alley.
“See! I was right—mmph!”
I quickly clamped my hand over Soso’s mouth as she shouted and pulled back behind the corner.
The someone flinched at Soso’s cry and approached the source of the sound—our hiding spot.
-Thud, thud
“......”
“......”
The footsteps drew closer.
Siwoo, I, and the two little girls held our breath, not daring to move.
After a while, the someone paused, seemed to think for a moment, then turned and began walking away.
“Phew...”
Siwoo let out a sigh of relief as the footsteps receded.
I released my hand from Soso’s mouth and turned to Siwoo.
“I’ll tail that guy, so you take Soso home and head back to the branch with Seoyeon.”
“I-I want to go with you too...!”
“Yes, got it.”
Siwoo nodded, blocking Seoyeon who was throwing a tantrum about wanting to come along.
And so, I parted ways with the kids and pursued the mysterious figure.
*
“…Found you.”
Fortunately, it didn’t take long to spot the person who had left the alley.
I hadn’t gotten a good look from behind the corner earlier, but up close, he was just an ordinary-looking man you could see anywhere.
Yet, even aside from that, something felt off.
How should I put it? His presence was strangely faint.
It felt like if I lost sight of him for even a moment, he’d slip away entirely.
A man who had appeared out of nowhere in an empty alley, as if dropped from the sky or risen from the ground.
I didn’t know his connection to the Jade-Faced Yin Devil, but there was no denying he was suspicious.
I suppressed my presence as much as possible and continued shadowing him.
After walking for a bit like that, the man entered a lavish tavern of considerable size.
The sun was still far from setting, yet he was already going in for a drink?
I followed casually, as if it were nothing, and soon spotted him seated alone right in front of the stage at the back of the tavern.
I sat at an empty table a short distance away, ordered a simple bottle of rice wine, and kept watch on him.
The bottle on my table went untouched as I stared only at the stage.
I was inwardly puzzled by his behavior when, right on cue, a female musician carrying a zither began ascending the stage.
-Hey...! It’s been ages since Yeryeong last performed.
-The place has been in chaos because of that lecher for a while. I was worried she might leave Hangan, but thank goodness.
Yeryeong, huh? Must be the musician’s name.
The woman, dressed in ornate robes with subtle makeup, was quite a striking beauty.
Come to think of it, everyone in the tavern was men.
Surely they hadn’t all come just to see her?
She was beautiful, but was it worth this much fuss?
That thought faded as the female musician began plucking the zither.
-Ding~ ring~
It was a sweet melody.
Even I, who knows nothing about music, could tell there was something extraordinary in her playing.
The patrons, who had been murmuring among themselves, now closed their eyes or nodded along, lost in the sound.
But the man I was tailing was different.
“Heh, heh heh...!”
He glared at the woman on stage with bloodshot whites in his eyes.
His eerie chuckle pierced through the zither’s notes and drilled into my ears.
I, too, had been gradually succumbing to the melody like the others, but I snapped to attention and refocused on the man.
And so, in the tavern where everyone was entranced by the music, a chain of stares began: the mysterious man glaring at the woman, and me glaring at the mysterious man.
-Ring~ ding ding
Unaware of the intense gaze upon her, the musician named Yeryeong continued her serene performance.
The sorrowful, poignant melody built to a dramatic climax.
-Ring!
And finally, the end arrived.
The tavern fell into brief silence before erupting in applause.
The female musician bowed with a faint smile and descended the stage, at which point the man immediately rose from his seat.
I glanced away briefly, confirmed he was heading behind the stage after her, then slowly stood and followed.
But soon, someone blocked my path.
“Guests aren’t allowed back here.”
It was clearly a tavern guard, the type who tosses out troublemakers.
But he’d let the guy ahead pass—why stop me?
I stared at the guard in disbelief, but his glare was unnerving.
Like the look you’d give a criminal?
“You weren’t trying to follow Yeryeong, were you?”
“N-No, that’s not...”
“Please leave.”
Not even telling me to go back to my seat—just leave?
I was flabbergasted, but with the situation urgent, I tried explaining first.
“Hey, I have business with another guest who just went in ahead...”
“...Do you think I’m an idiot? No other guests have come this way.”
“...Huh?”
What was he talking about?
He definitely came this way?
I was about to insist I’d seen him go that way when the guard cut me off.
“Keep this up, and I’ll call the constables.”
Constables.
The word hit me like a brick—I realized the guard suspected me of being the Jade-Faced Yin Devil.
If I forced my way through here, I’d be pinned as the lecher for sure.
With no choice, I meekly exited the tavern.
I gazed blankly at the sky, which had begun reddening as dusk approached.
To think the trail would end so absurdly.
“...What now?”
I couldn’t just go back like this.
But sneaking into the tavern and getting caught would seal my fate as the lecher.
After hesitating, I decided to return to the alley and wait.
I still didn’t know the man’s identity, but if he really was the Jade-Faced Yin Devil and Yeryeong was his next target, he’d surely drag her back to the alley.
*
I returned to the alley and hid, waiting for the man to reappear.
One hourglass, two.
Night had fully fallen, the alley lit only by faint moonlight.
After a long wait, I finally sensed someone approaching.
Two shadows drawing near from afar.
I focused my qi on my eyes to enhance my vision, and sure enough, I saw the face of Yeryeong, the zither player from the tavern.
The problem was the man.
The ordinary-looking guy was gone, replaced by some peerless handsome devil gripping her slender waist.
I instinctively knew he was the Jade-Faced Yin Devil.
As they drew closer, their figures became clearer.
“Heh heh heh... You’re quite the handful under that pretty face.”
The stunningly handsome man flashed a grotesque smile unfit for his jade-like eyes, sliding his hand up from her waist to knead her breast roughly.
“Hnng...”
But the musician only staggered along, letting out strange moans without resisting.
No—couldn’t resist?
I saw her dazed eyes, staring blankly into space as if drugged.
If I left her like this, she’d be dragged off by the lecher and ruined.
Of course, I had no intention of letting that happen.
Confirming the Jade-Faced Yin Devil dragging Yeryeong into the alley, I followed silently, minimizing my footsteps.
Thankfully, the lecher, focused entirely on groping her breast, didn’t notice me tailing him.
The Jade-Faced Yin Devil kept going deeper into the alley until he reached the dead-end wall.
Now, where’s the hidden secret door?
I watched his every move without even blinking, and soon witnessed something unbelievable.
To cut to the chase: there was no secret door in this alley.
The Jade-Faced Yin Devil simply walked toward the wall... and passed straight through it, vanishing.
W-What the hell...!?
Doubting my eyes for a moment, I slowly approached the dead-end wall.
He definitely... went through this wall, right?
Even seeing it myself, I couldn’t believe it.
How could a person pass through a wall?
“...Come to think of it, I never checked this wall.”
I’d tapped the side walls thoroughly, but it hadn’t occurred to me to touch this dead end.
I cautiously extended my hand toward the wall.
My fingers touched the wall.
But without any sensation of contact, they sank right into it.
“...!”
Startled, I pulled back, then tentatively reached out again.
My hand slid into the wall without resistance.
I didn’t know what trick this was, but this dead-end wall was clearly some kind of illusion.
The lecher and musician had to be on the other side.
With a short sigh, I steeled myself and stepped through the wall.