Moorim Pochang - Chapter 68

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 68. A Gathering of Couples (2).

Dok Go-yeop’s wife withdrew her attention from Ja-seol.
“Is that so? You’re keeping the short sword safe, I trust?”
“Yes. I have it with me.”
Kang Jo lied without missing a beat.
The short sword was currently in Yang Jung’s possession.
‘There’s something ominous about that blade, isn’t there?’
Catching the woman’s strange smile, Kang Jo pressed on quickly.
“If you wish, I can return it to you.”
Hehehehe….
“No. That blade has already left my hands. Cheong-bi.”
“……………What?”
“The short sword’s name is Cheong-bi.”
Kang Jo had no interest in learning the names of weapons.
He’d never been one to grow attached to swords or sabers.
A blade that cut cleanly and held its edge—that was all that mattered.
“Dinner is served.”
Kang Jo set the table with Dong-pa meat, vegetables, and rice.
“Before I pick up my chopsticks, I’d like to have some medicinal wine first….”
“I was thinking the same thing. Shall we have some now?”
Dok Go-yeop raised his cup first, and his wife followed suit.
Since he’d already offered, Kang Jo saw no point in refusing.
“Very well. Then let me pour just one cup for you.”
The moment those words left his lips, ice flickered across the eyes of both Dok Go-yeop and his wife.
“Are you breaking your promise?”
“It seems you are.”
A chill settled into Kang Jo’s eyes as well.
“I said I could pour just one cup.”
The woman turned her entire body to face Kang Jo directly.
“Didn’t I tell you three cups is my minimum? Have you forgotten already?”
“I made no such promise.”
A tense silence settled between Kang Jo and Dok Go-yeop’s couple.
Yeon Ja-seol, still eating, watched the scene unfold with a rigid expression.
Then Yang Jung’s voice cut through the heavy air.
“I’m back.”
The moment he stepped into the Guest Inn, the woman questioned him.
“You heard what I said, didn’t you? That three cups is my minimum.”
When both Dok Go-yeop and his wife fixed him with cold, piercing stares, Yang Jung froze.
“…………..Yes. When you came a month ago……..you did say something like that.”
Hehehehe…………!
While the woman burst into laughter, Kang Jo’s face twisted into something savage.
Yang Jung belatedly saw the ferocity awakening in Kang Jo’s eyes.
His stomach dropped, and he began backing away slowly.
‘Why……is he so angry with me?’
Kang Jo, who had been glaring at him in terror, turned his gaze to Dok Go-yeop and his wife.
“Regardless of what the lady may have said, I made no such promise.”
Frost began to settle across the woman’s smile, and a tempestuous energy began radiating from Dok Go-yeop’s entire body.
Thud-thud-thud………Clatter….clatter…
The force of it shook the dishes and pots in the kitchen, and the Guest Inn itself trembled.
At that, Kang Jo reached toward a sword lying in the corner.
Shing………
The blade flew into his hand.
“To make light of the Neung-gong Seop-mul itself.”
A chilling smile hung at the corner of the woman’s mouth.
There were few men of this caliber to be found in the Gangho.
Dok Go-yeop picked up the sword that had been leaning against the table and rose to his feet.
The Guest Inn was thick with Killing Intent.
Yeon Ja-seol didn’t know what to do and stood up, while Yang Jung simply swallowed hard.
‘The inn’s going to get smashed to pieces again.’
Dok Go-yeop moved slowly toward the kitchen where Kang Jo stood.
And his lips moved slightly.
Kang Jo watched the movement of those lips intently.
A long breath escaped him.
The moment that sigh left his lips, the Killing Intent washed away as though it had been rinsed clean.
“…Very well. Six cups, then.”
Kha-ha-ha-ha…!
As Kang Jo stepped back first, Dok Go-yeop burst into laughter.

*

“Well? My dear?”
Dok Go-yeop offered his wife a smile of triumph.
“There’s simply no one like you.”
His wife smiled back at him with a seductive warmth.
The Guest Inn, which had been thick with Killing Intent, regained its tranquility in an instant, as if none of it had ever happened.
Yang Jung was bewildered—and far beyond merely surprised—that Kang Jo, who seemed absolutely immovable, had stepped back.
‘Elder Brother isn’t like that. He speaks his mind freely even in front of Master.’
Slipping quietly into the kitchen, he whispered into Kang Jo’s ear.
“Why…did you back down, Elder Brother?”
The moment he asked, a chilling wave of Killing Intent shot toward him from somewhere.
Yang Jung jumped and turned his gaze toward the source of that Intent.
Dok Go-yeop stood there, his eyes glinting with a cold light.
‘What’s this? What’s going on? I’m dying to know.’
Yang Jung swallowed his questions and quietly slipped back out of the kitchen.
Kang Jo drew six cups of Medicinal Wine from the wine jar buried in the ground and poured it into a bottle.
Then he brought it to the table.
“About six cups should come out.”
“If only you’d brought out the Medicinal Wine earlier, there would have been no need for faces to redden, would there?”
Dok Go-yeop rebuked Kang Jo in a composed voice.
A weary sigh.
‘Just bear it. Bear it.’
Kang Jo exhaled and withdrew.
Thereupon, Dok Go-yeop picked up the bottle and poured wine into his wife’s cup.
“Drink. This is the Secret of Rejuvenation that you’ve been waiting for so eagerly.”
“Thank you.”
Yeon Ja-seol watched silently as they drank.
‘The wine I drank earlier…’
Only then did everything become clear to her.
Yet Ja-seol did not speak rashly.

*

A clearing of the throat sounded from the darkness.
The sound of someone clearing their throat echoed from the shadows.
“Welcome, please come in.”
Kang Jo went out to greet them, and Yang Jung bowed as well.
“Welcome, Alliance Leader.”
Crossing the Stone Bridge came Baek Moon-do and a beautiful middle-aged woman.
The woman was exceptionally lovely, though her bearing was somewhat dignified, befitting her years.
“Ja-seol greets the Alliance Leader and his wife.”
Yeon Ja-seol rose in surprise, quickly clasped her hands, and bowed deeply.
“I heard from Won-yeong that you were wounded. Are you well?”
“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”
Heh-heh-heh…
“No, no. It is a blessing beyond measure that you’ve recovered so well.”
Baek Moon-do’s satisfied smile faltered.
The Qi flowing from Yeon Ja-seol’s entire body was different from before.
‘That bastard gave his disciple Medicinal Wine.’
Grasping the situation at once, he turned to Dok Go-yeop and his wife as if oblivious to it all.
“I should pay my respects to Gwak So-jeol.”
“Welcome, Alliance Leader.”
Baek Moon-do exchanged greetings with Dok Go-yeop’s wife.
Then Baek Moon-do’s wife bowed respectfully toward Dok Go-yeop.
“I offer my greetings to the Patriarch.”
“Welcome. It has truly been a long time.”
Dok Go-yeop had seen Baek Moon-do’s wife face-to-face about twenty years ago.
And since then, they had never had occasion to meet again.
Dok Go-yeop and Baek Moon-do had not even exchanged greetings with each other.
Four people sat facing one another.
“So this is…that Guest Inn you and Won-young spoke of?”
Baek Moon-do’s wife settled into her seat and looked around the inn.
It was a shabby place, lacking even proper walls.
Yet the food here was said to be unparalleled under heaven.
Baek Moon-do showed off a bit, perhaps because his wife was present.
“Bring out all the dishes this inn has to offer.”
“We only have Dong-pa Meat.”
Kang Jo answered his bluster with an even tone.
Hehehehe…
Dok Go-yeop laughed, and Baek Moon-do’s face reddened.
“Then…bring the Dong-pa Meat.”
Taking the order, Kang Jo scooped the Dong-pa Meat into a large bowl.
Yang Jung, too, seemed uneasy standing idle and offered to help.
“Let me serve it, brother.”
As he set the Dong-pa Meat and rice on the table, Baek Moon-do’s wife studied his face quietly.
‘So this is the man who won Ha-young’s heart. Truly a handsome man.’
She found Yang Jung quite pleasing.
From what she’d heard, he came from another family and his Martial Art was exceptionally strong.
Her son, Won-young, had a deep nature.
Seeing that such a son was quite taken with him, it seemed the man’s character was quite sound.
Her gaze shifted to Dok Go-yeop’s wife.
‘Even with age, one can be so beautiful.’
Feeling the gaze, Dok Go-yeop’s wife offered a soft smile.
“Word of the Alliance Leader’s wife’s beauty has even reached our sect.”
“You flatter me too much.”
Baek Moon-do’s wife well knew it was mere courtesy.
Yet she was not displeased.
“Do try it, my dear.”
At Baek Moon-do’s urging, she picked up her chopsticks and tasted the Dong-pa Meat.
“My goodness……”
An exclamation spilled from her lips unbidden.
The moment she bit into the Dong-pa Meat, the juices flowed within, and the tender, succulent flesh melted softly as it slid down her throat.
After tasting the Dong-pa Meat alongside his wife, Baek Moon-do reached for the wine bottle on the table.
But the instant his hand moved, Dok Go-yeop snatched the bottle away.
“That’s ours.”
“Petty over a single bottle of wine……”
As he rebuked Dok Go-yeop, a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.
However poor their relations, he was not the sort to be stingy over a bottle of wine.
Ahem…
He cleared his throat and turned toward Kang Jo.
“Bring out that Medicinal Wine I promised before.”
Kang Jo wordlessly drew wine from the Wine Jar and brought it to the table.
It was the two cups of wine promised before.
“The Secret of Rejuvenation, my dear,” Baek Moon-do said.
He slid one cup of wine toward his wife.
“But I’m not a good drinker.”
Not knowing what kind of wine it was, she pushed the cup back across the table toward him.
As the cup returned, Baek Moon-do felt his heart sink.
How could she refuse such a wine?
This was the very wine that even a fortune in gold could not procure.
“Please, just try one cup.”
When he offered the cup again, she had no choice but to pick it up.
“Madam, perhaps we should drink as well.”
Dok Go-yeop lifted the wine bottle and filled the lady’s cup, then emptied what remained in his own with a sharp gesture.
Since they had already drunk two cups each, only one cup’s worth of wine remained.
When Baek Moon-do and Dok Go-yeop raised their cups, their wives followed suit.
Ahhhh…
“Splendid.”

*

Kang Jo and Yang Jung watched the scene unfold with incredulous eyes.
‘Even at a drinking table, schemes run rampant.’
‘That’s terribly underhanded.’
Yeon Ja-seol felt equally bewildered.
‘The Alliance Leader has been outmaneuvered.’
Yet she could not bring herself to speak the truth aloud.
To reveal it would risk swordplay breaking out on the spot.
Hahahaha………
Kekeke……..
As Baek Moon-do laughed with genuine pleasure, Dok Go-yeop joined in with a chuckle.
Hohoho…..
Dok Go-yeop’s wife smiled too, and Baek Moon-do’s wife added a graceful smile of her own.
With a smile on her face, Baek Moon-do’s wife worked her chopsticks busily.
The wine meant nothing to her.
She only wanted to eat the Dong-pa Meat that melted away on her tongue.
“Even rice tastes different here, madam.”
At his words, she placed a spoonful of white rice into her mouth.
Indeed, the rice at this Guest Inn tasted quite different from any other.
Rich and subtly sweet, it was good enough to eat on its own.
‘I wish I had come earlier.’
Her husband had felt the same, and even her son and daughter had urged her to visit this place.
But she had always found it troublesome to venture beyond the Murim Alliance.
Whenever she stepped outside its gates, her guards would trail behind her in procession.
‘Will there ever come a day when I can wander the Gangho with my husband, as carefree as the sect leader and his wife?’
As she indulged this envy, Dok Go-yeop rose to his feet.
“I must take my leave. Perhaps we shall meet again next time.”
Baek Moon-do’s wife quickly stood and gave a respectful bow.
It seemed odd that he was leaving so soon, when they had barely exchanged more than a few words.
“Yes, I do hope we meet again.”
“Shall we depart as well, madam? I’ve left more than enough to cover the Medicinal Wine.”
Baek Moon-do withdrew a purse from his garments and placed it on the table in full.
Throughout the meal, he had made a considerable effort not to look Gwak So-jeol’s way.
It would have been improper to let his eyes stray to another woman while his wife sat at his side.
Kang Jo cared far more about their promise than the price of wine.
“Next time you wish to drink the Medicinal Wine, you’ll have to take my head.”
At that chilling statement, both Baek Moon-do and Dok Go-yeop could not help but start.
‘Perhaps I’ve pressed too hard.’
‘I would have liked them to drink a time or two more.’
Hoho……..
“A promise is a promise, after all.”
Dok Go-yeop’s wife rose with an alluring smile.
By contrast, Baek Moon-do’s wife had no idea what was being said.
But she did not bother to ask.
The food at this Guest Inn was simply too delicious.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————