Chapter 7 – Reverse Interview (2)

Tang Cheol-san had been recuperating for three days.

We were going around the villages near the abandoned taoist temples, continuing our inquiries.

It was all to find the hideout of Blood-Hand Rakshasa, Tak Wun-yang.

Since Tang Cheol-san needed human blood and bone marrow to master Blood Water Poisonous Claws, by checking the villages for any missing persons, we could quickly identify the vicinity of his hideout. That’s why he explained it to us.

My role would come next.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, elder. While there are a few people who go missing every year after entering the jungle, there is no pattern of people disappearing periodically or en masse. Usually, if someone goes missing, they are found soon unless it’s a special case.”

“Thank you for your words, village head.”

“It’s my honor to be able to help the head of the famous Sachuan’s Tang Family.”

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

The last village within a day’s distance from the abandoned taoist temple.

In this newly visited village, we checked for information about missing persons and then left.

Without any significant findings.

Our search was for information about mass disappearances, but while there were occasional cases of people missing in the dense jungle, there were no instances of mass disappearances, a consistent response in every village we visited.

“There’s nothing unusual in this village either?”

“It’s strange, young hero. I thought he must be nearby, considering he revealed himself after spotting the Tang Family’s warriors…”

If he had exposed himself after discovering Tang Family’s warriors, it made sense to think his base was near our abandoned house. But even after searching all the villages within a day’s distance, there was no trace of him.

Someone should have at least seen him, if not known him, but there were no traces of him.

‘Isn’t that strange?’

I too thought Tang Cheol-san’s reasoning was plausible and joined in his search, but it was odd to find no trace at all.

That’s why, while leaving the last village, I recalled what he said when he appeared.

People often inadvertently reveal information about themselves.

‘What did that bastard say again… Ah!’

Focusing on recalling the past event, his first words came to mind.

He had grabbed my neck and said, “I came to see because I heard that the Tang Family’s people had entered Haenam Island, only to find the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons’ son injured and alone.”

I quickly asked Tang Cheol-san, recalling the words spoken by him when he appeared.

“Ah! Elder, do you remember what he said when he appeared?”

“What he said when he appeared? Well, I don’t remember well, do you?”

‘Ah right, the elder was knocked out by a rock and was out of it.’

Everyone has a dark history, and it’s a secret that needs to be kept hidden.

Since he apparently didn’t remember, I shook my head and replied.

“Ah… You don’t remember? I just recalled something. He said, ‘I came to see because I heard that the Tang Family’s people had entered Haenam Island…’.”

“And then?”

Tang Cheol-san, who seemed to have never read a detective novel, was clueless.

Calming my frustration, I responded.

“Listen carefully. Didn’t he say, ‘I came to see because I heard that the Tang Family’s people had entered Haenam Island’?”

“Yes?”

“That means someone told him about the Tang Family’s people entering Haenam Island. If we check the places the Tang Family has been through, couldn’t we find the person who informed him that the Tang Family people had entered Haenam Island?

Like with a portrait sketch or by asking around, describing his appearance and asking if anyone has seen such a person.”

“Oh! That makes sense! Young hero, I thought you only knew about poisons, but you’re also quite wise in many ways. How did you figure that out? You remind me of someone from the Zhuge family.”

‘Well, frequent visits to escape room cafes and collaborative deduction games with other YouTubers tend to do that.’

And so, the inquiry resumed.

Fortunately, upon arriving at Haenam Island, the Tang Family had first headed from the port in the north to a village with herbalists, and then to the abandoned house near my location. Eventually, we were able to hear about him at the port.

“Ah! Are you talking about that man with the red hands?”

“Oh! Yes! Do you know him?”

“Yes. He comes regularly, once a month, to buy grains. He lives inside the island and says it takes him three days to get here. Each time he comes, he buys enough for a month and ten days.”

“Oh! Thank you.”

Valuable information confirmed at the rice shop owner.

It was about him buying rice once a month from the rice shop.

“Then, shall we check the villages within a three-day distance?”

I thought it might be enough to check the villages within a three-day distance from the port, as he had slipped information about where he lived, but Tang Cheol-san shook his head.

“No. After listening to my young hero and thinking it over, it doesn’t seem right to assume it’s that simple.”

“Simple?”

I felt like Tang Cheol-san was slightly dissing me.

I deducted one point from his reverse interview score.

‘A personality that can even sarcastically put down an employee? Interview -10 points.’

“So, what then?”

“He is a martial artist. It should be three days by lightness skill, not walking. If he buys grains once a month, how could he buy enough for a month and ten days? Considering the time it takes to go and come back, and his level of martial arts, it should be about a week’s distance. It’s definitely around that far.”

“Ah, indeed…”

I recalled the thrill of riding on Tang Cheol-san’s back, feeling the speed of his lightness skill.

Every step we took flew us several meters.

‘His lightness skill was indeed impressive. That’s +10 points for the interview.’

“And, it seems he likely doesn’t have any disciples.”

“Ah, I see. Indeed, he only buys enough grains for a month and ten days, right?”

“That’s right.”

Tang Cheol-san, who could extrapolate much from little teaching.

In a past life, he might have been a master at escape room cafes.

***

“This is strange.”

Ten days later, west of Haenam Island.

After visiting a village and hearing the same story as before, Tang Cheol-san, unable to understand, held his chin in thought.

Haenam Island was as big as Gyeonggi Province and Chungcheong Province combined.

Therefore, with only Tang Cheol-san and his three warriors, it was impossible to cover the whole area, which made locating the exact place crucial. However, we couldn’t find any trace of him near our identified location.

“If it’s a week’s distance, it should be only the west, right?”

“Family Head, considering his martial arts are similar to the great Family Head, Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, should we search more towards the west, near the coast?”

“No. Even so, he wouldn’t have used all his power just to buy rice. It must be around here.”

If it’s a week’s distance from the port, east and south are the sea, north is the port.

That leaves only the west.

So, it was almost certain, but there were no missing persons here either.

As we were all pondering at the entrance of the village, the village head ran out to us breathlessly.

“Huff huff! Oh, you’re still here! Elder!”

“Hmm? Why so hurried? Did you remember something?”

Tang Cheol-san asked, and the village head nodded.

“Go, go check out the Lei clan village. Huff huff… I had forgotten, but I remember hearing that something strange happened in a Lei clan village on the coast…”

“Strange incident? Lei clan?”

It could be related to what we were looking for.

Tang Cheol-san looked at me, his expression asking what the Lei clan was.

As Tang Cheol-san didn’t seem to know much about Haenam, I explained it to him step by step.

“In Haenam, besides the Han people, there are two clans living here, called the Li tribe and the Lei clan. The Li clan is not friendly towards the Han, but the Lei clan, while each village has its own characteristics, is generally friendly towards the Han people.”

The Li and Lei clans, minority clans living in Haenam.

Unlike the Li tribe, which does not even allow entrance to their village, the Lei clan is a minority group that is quite friendly towards the Han people, often offering food to visitors. I also had a good impression of the Lei clan as they had helped me when I got lost in the jungle while hunting snakes.

“Is that so? Then we should visit there. Thank you, village head. By the way, do you know where this village is, where the strange incident occurred?”

“Yes, it’s a day’s journey to the northwest from here.”

“Thank you!”

After riding on Tang Cheol-san’s back for half a day, we made our way through the jungle and reached the coast. When we moved a bit along the coastline, we saw it.

Smoke rising in the distance.

Roofs sprouting like mushrooms between the mountains and jungle forests near the coast caught our eyes.

“It seems that’s the place!”

“If you go to the village entrance, the Lei people will welcome you as guests.”

“Got it. We need to find the entrance.”

Below the mountain ridge, after a brief search along the coast, we found what seemed to be the entrance to the village, a wooden fence gate, and as we approached, people started coming out.

People wearing black clothes embroidered with red threads.

Men and women both, regardless, wore short skirts, with fluttering metal decorations on their chests and black high socks – these were the Lei people.

“What brings the Han people to a Lei village?”

Among the crowd, an elderly man appeared with a couple of village youths. He seemed to be the village head or chieftain.

“Ah, I am Tang Cheol-san, the head of the Tang Family from Sichuan. The reason we have come here is…”

As Tang Cheol-san started talking with the Lei chieftain, I observed the people who had appeared at the village entrance.

Something had felt off from the moment we arrived.

The village atmosphere felt extremely gloomy.

How to put it? Was there a lack of vitality in the village?

There were almost no sounds of children playing or women’s voices, and even the chirping of birds felt eerily quiet.

Moreover, Haenam being a hot place, people generally lack energy during the day, but the appearance of the Lei people at the village entrance seemed uniformly odd.

More than half of them had a vacant look in their eyes, and they seemed to be extremely lethargic.

‘What’s this? They all look like they’ve been drugged.’

They seemed intoxicated, as if under the influence of some drug.

While I was sensing the strangeness, the chieftain’s firm voice reached us.

“There have been no disappearances, and there’s nothing unusual in our village. Now, please leave.”

“But, considering the number of houses, there are too few people… And what about the strange disease?”

“It’s none of the Han people’s concern!”

Normally when guests visit a Lei village, women flock to the entrance to welcome them and lead them into the village, but this was an unusual situation.

Looking towards where the voice was coming from, Tang Cheol-san seemed to be giving me a look that suggested my description of them being friendly was a bit off.

‘Well, I did say it varies case by case…’

And then, at that moment.

-Thud.

A sound of something collapsing, and one of the villagers watching us fell to the ground.

‘A child?’

As one person collapsed, the crowd parted.

Within the parted crowd, a collapsed young girl was revealed, gasping for breath. The rapid rise and fall of her chest was clearly visible.

Upon seeing this, the village head ran frantically towards her, scooping her into his arms and crying out.

“Kuhuhuk. Mae, Maejin-ah! Oh, this can’t be! You’re the only kin I have left, how can you too fall victim to this strange disease!”

The old man was embracing the child, weeping bitterly.

Tang Cheol-san quickly approached the old man and offered his help, saying that he knew medical skills.

“Elder, I have learned medical skills, let me take a look at the child.”

“Medicine? You mean you’ve learned the medicine of the Central Plains?”

“Yes. I’m not a doctor per se, but I am knowledgeable in medical texts and skills, so let me examine the child.”

The mood of the village, which was about to expel us, reversed with Tang Cheol-san’s offer of medical assistance.

From unwelcome guests, we had become akin to messengers of a god of medicine.

“Please, I beg you! Save our Maejin! A strange illness is spreading through the village, killing children and leaving even the robust adults weak and suffering! We tried to invite doctors from the Han people, but none would come this far!”

“Understood. Let’s take the child to a house first.”

“Ah, alright! What are you all doing? Escort the doctor and his companions to my house, quickly!”

It seemed that, regardless of the era, a god of medicine was always treated with great respect.

And with Tang Cheol-san’s mention of his medical skills, the image of Sichuan Tang Family was being viewed in a new light.

A family known for cultivating martial skills through poison, now appearing as a beacon of medicine.

‘A god of medicine does deserve high scores, after all.’

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – 에르훗]

[Translator – Roshi]