Chapter 9: 9

Never in his forty-five years of existence had he seen a man devour that much food.

He was certain that neither his father, who had inherited the inn, nor his grandfather, who had initially founded it, had seen such a sight.

As if he really had a hungry ghost living in his stomach, that slender young man alone demolished more than the rest of the guests combined, and he was still eating.

The first words the owner uttered to the trembling waiter, whose legs were shaking, were as follows: “Money? Did he pay up front?”

He whacked the backs of the two waiters’ heads, who were gazing at him, bewildered. And just in case anyone heard, he hissed. “What a bunch of whiners! You folks are still as dump as you were after all these fucking years…”

The junior waiter whimpered and responded in a low voice, holding the back of his head. “No, old man…! Was weird from the first moment he walked in…”

“Such an idiot! Don’t you think that’s reason enough to have him pay up front…?”

When the owner lifted his hand to smack him again, the senior waiter stepped in quickly. “That’s not what the kid meant, old man. Not only is he weird, but he’s also strange….!”

“Strange…?” The owner’s chubby cheeks wiggled nervously. “Is he a martial artist [Murim person] ?”

If he were a martial artist, he should be cautious and watchful. Murims and Inns. He couldn’t explain it, but whenever these two things combined, it was like pouring oil on a fire.

The Luoyang Inn Association dubbed this the “Inn Effect,” and warned its members to be wary of it.

Wasn’t that why his father was missing an arm?

“No. That is not the case…”

The owner scowled. “Is he the son of a high-ranking official, then?”

It was easy to distinguish the sons of high-ranking officials by their clothes and behavior, and when trouble erupted, they always brought with them even more devastation.

Hadn’t his grandpa gotten into a fight with the son of a high-ranking official, putting him into trouble at the official’s house, and eventually getting beaten up to death?

“No, it didn’t seem that way either.” The young waiter, who was familiar with the appearance of the sons of high-ranking officials who were notorious for stirring trouble in Luoyang, shook his head.

“So, what the hell do you mean…?!”

The waiter yelled as discreetly as possible as though he were having a seizure. “Because the guy is the ghost..! Didn’t I tell you…?! He is the ghost living in hell…!”

“You cowardly cretins, quit babbling nonsense….”

The two waiters gestured toward the stairs. “That’s— you’re just saying that because you didn’t witness him with your own eyes.”

The owner kept silent since he couldn’t find fault with their words. He then smacked his lips before confidently striding up the stairs. “All right, then…let’s see this hungry ghost.”

“I beg you, old man, be care…!”

“Old man…!”

They were concerned about him, but no one actually stopped him.

That’s unusual. He reasoned that even though they’d tried to be quiet while discussing, the guy sitting over there, with just his tiny back visible, couldn’t have missed their conversation.

The guy, clad in a shabby student uniform, was busily eating food with his head down, maybe unaware that he was being approached.

Had the sound of the floor creaking every time he shifted his feet ever irritated him this much?

For some reason, the owner wiped his cold sweat away with his sleeve and loosened the collar, which seemed to be tightening with each step.

“Hem, ahem!” He stopped five or six steps behind the opponent and cleared his throat, but the latter made no response.

“Old man! A little bit closer, please…!

“Be careful!”

These rotten bastards—I really should fire them after this.

Without understanding why, all his instincts were warning him not to approach any closer, but he showed his 35 years of experience and grit and continued walking.

Each step seemed like an eternity, but he eventually was able to stand right behind The young student.

But even then, the young student paid him no attention.

He gulped nervously “Hey, over there…”

His eyes widened as he cast a sidelong glance at the young student. The young student didn’t even bother with chopsticks; he just grabbed up his food with both hands and shoveled it into his mouth.

The owner, unable to say anything for a while, smeared his sweaty palms on his pants. Before he could notice, his whole body was drenched in a cold sweat.

However, he hadn’t been surviving all these years in the heart of Luoyang’s enormous city without good reason. He managed to fake some level of calm as he asked, “Hey, young master…”

But why did his voice sound like it came from a mosquito?

He was about to clear his throat when….

“…It’s not it. This is not enough. This won’t cut it. Not at all. This is not it. This is not enough…”

A chill ran through the owner’s body.

Surely, the sound of the guy devouring food resounded in the inn, and wasn’t he seeing him with his eyes shoveling food into his mouth without a break?

So, who was the source of this incessant whispering?

“…… This isn’t enough. It’s not like this……”

And if one were to listen carefully, they might detect something very non-human in this hushed utterance.

At that moment, the young student’s hands all of a sudden stopped moving.

“……!!”

Then, slowly, his head started turning toward the owner.

The owner’s pupils had already been dilated for a long time, and his legs trembled as if they were going to give out at any second.

He wanted to scream, but he had already lost control of his body.

While he was unable to do this or that, the young student gazed at him. And opened his mouth.

“I think that is enough. How much is there in total?”

“Uh, uh, uh…?”

The pale-faced student asked once again, wiping the spices from around his mouth and cheeks with his sleeve. “Aren’t you the owner of the inn?”

The owner responded reflexively. “Ah, that’s right.”

The young student nodded and got to his feet. The spilled food and spices had stained his clothing, but he didn’t seem to mind.

He calmly pulled out a money bag and asked once again. “How much?”

Shortly after the young student left, the waiters carried the fainting owner on their backs and hurried through the streets of Luoyang at night, searching for a shaman.

When the owner awoke the following day, it was said that no one was able to stop him from giving away all his little fortune. As he decided to conduct a massive exorcism on himself.

 

* * *

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“That’s strange, very strange.” Sohyeon Yeon, who had left the inn, couldn’t stop uttering the word “strange“

As a test, he’d attempted to eat to the limit in the inn, but no matter how much he’d eaten, he never felt full.

Besides, if one ate the amount he had eaten, they would undoubtedly have to vomit. Wasn’t there a limit to how much a human could eat?

But in his situation, it looked like the food that had passed down his throat had disappeared someplace.

Somehow, deep down in his heart, he felt certain. No matter how much he ate this food, the hunger would never go away.

Soohyeon Yeon shook his head, wondering what he was supposed to eat, when his nose was suddenly drawn toward somewhere.

This smell…

He had never smelled such a strong, fragrant smell before.

It was such a delicious smell that it piqued his hunger even more.

What is this smell.…?

Regardless of the question, he followed his instinct.

His steps headed towards the dark alleys of Luoyang.

And his body vanished into the darkness.

 

***

 

Luoyang was a big city with a long history dating back to ancient times.

Although the city had been through multiple dynasties and had been caught up in the fires of war several times, it remained firmly in its place as a huge city representing the central plains.

As a large city boasting a population of several million, it naturally had a huge adult entertainment district. The glittering oil lanterns that colored the streets made it easy to forget it was night.

Where there was bright light, however, there was thick darkness.

On the other side of that beautiful entertainment area, there was an ugly and distorted order.

One of those countless orders was the one that had been established by the so-called underworld’s leader, the golden leech. Even in this dirty and damp back alley, that order was working steadily.

“Take off his clothes and shake them off.”

“Aye, aye, big brother!”

Whether it was misfortune or reaping what he’d sown, a middle-aged man who had squandered all his fortune in gambling tried to resist. “You jerk?”

“Shut up!”

Of course, what he got back were the savage fists of burly men smashing his face.

After a while, the middle-aged man’s face looked nothing so much as a heap of minced meat, except that he was still breathing.

“I found it, big brother!” Eventually, the burly guy who had been searching the middle-aged man’s clothes found a piece of wood in the underwear and lifted it.

It was an identifying tag, sometimes known as an identification card.

Taking away his ID card, which had all of his family’s information, including his address, meant that they would take everything from him.

His humble shop, his wife, and his children.

“Ah.. please, I beg you……”

The middle-aged man’s face, which looked like it had been minced, was covered with a heavy layer of despair.

In contrast, the grim smiles grew thicker on the faces of the hulking men.

People in dire straits like this man often lost all their money gambling without realizing they had been duped. Getting rid of such dupes was an easy way for these muscle men to increase their wealth.

This was one side of the golden leech’s order.

“Did you really think you could steal the old man’s money and walk around the streets of Luoyang?”

Of course, none of the burly men here, including Big Brother, had seen his face, let alone his direct subordinates.

Their gang was only one of several that the golden leech outsourced to.

But with the name of the golden leech on their backs, they were kings, at least in this back alley.

“Oh, please, elders… “

At that moment… “Whistle?” A very eerie whistle sound began to ring in their ears.

If it was a sorrowful sound—no, it was desperate—it was merrily, cheerfully, pleasingly.

It was a sound filled with insanity.

“Who the fuck are you?!” The muscular man, who was holding the identity tag of the middle-aged man and entertaining himself, shouted.

Usually, his colleagues would have been delighted to hear him use his strong voice to overpower the opponent.

For some reason, his shout sounded much weaker than the tiny whistle.

The brawny man tossed aside the identity tag and drew out his weapon.

“What a b*tch! Can’t you man up a little and bring your a$$ over here?!”

Then the others uncontrollably brandished their weapons and shouted everywhere.

“You wanna die?!”

“Are you fucking with us? Don’t you know who we are?”

“You little b*tch?!”

At that time, the man they called Big Brother hissed. “Everyone shut up!”

This was when the man they all called Big Brother hissed. “Everyone hush!”

To his calm voice, the brawny men closed their mouths at last.

“Shut up and stay still……!” His eyes gleamed with anxiety.

It wasn’t that his young brothers were overreacting. Even he couldn’t bear the sound of the whistle for a moment, almost shouting with them.

He didn’t know who it was, but shaking their hearts with the sound of a whistle was a tremendous danger alert.

He bolstered his confidence and asked with the utmost respect. “I don’t know whose side you are on, but do you have business with us?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the whistling stopped.

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