Chapter 9 - Hunger

In his forty-five years of life, he had never once seen someone eat such an enormous amount of food.

He was certain that neither his father who had passed down the inn to him, nor his grandfather who had first opened it, had ever witnessed such a sight.

As if he truly had a hungry ghost in his stomach, that slender young man had already consumed more than what an entire group of diners would eat, and he was still eating.

The first words the innkeeper said to the trembling waiter were:

"The money? You got payment in advance, right?"

He smacked the backs of the heads of the two waiters who were looking at him with bewildered eyes.

Then, in a low voice for fear someone might hear, he bellowed:

"You damn idiots...! You picked today of all days to try to run this inn into the ground...!"

The junior waiter, clutching the back of his head, whimpered in an equally low voice:

"No, master...! This fellow, he was strange from the moment he came in...!"

"You crazy fool...! Then all the more reason you should have gotten payment in advance...?!"

As the innkeeper raised his hand again, the senior waiter hurriedly intervened.

"Master, that's not what this one means. Not just strange, there's something bizarre about that fellow...!"

"Bizarre...?"

The innkeeper's thick cheeks quivered.

"Is he a martial artist?"

If he was a martial artist, it was right to be careful, very careful.

Martial artists and inns.

For some unknown reason.

When these two elements combined, it tended to have the effect of pouring oil on a fire.

This was what the Luoyang Innkeepers Association called the 'Inn Effect' and strongly cautioned its members about.

Wasn't this why his father was missing one arm?

"No, it's not that...!"

The innkeeper frowned.

"Then, is he the child of some high official or noble?"

While children of high officials and nobles were easy to identify by their clothes and behavior, when trouble occurred, they brought even greater disaster.

Hadn't his grandfather passed away from infection after being beaten with a rod at the government office due to a dispute with a noble's child?

"No, doesn't seem like that either."

The junior waiter, who knew by sight all the notorious troublemaking children of officials in Luoyang, shook his head.

"Then what are you saying...?!"

The waiter cried out in a low voice, as if having a fit:

"He's a hungry ghost, I tell you...! Didn't I say so...?! One of those hungry ghosts that live in hell...!"

"You cowardly little..."

The two waiters waved their hands.

"Oh, master, you say that because you haven't seen...!"

At this point, the innkeeper couldn't just keep scolding them.

Clicking his tongue, he strode up the remaining stairs.

"I'll go see for myself."

"Oh, master, be careful...!"

"Master...!"

Though they worried, no one tried to stop him.

'Come to think of it, it is strange.'

Although they had been trying to be quiet among themselves, there was no way that fellow showing only his small back couldn't have heard their conversation.

The fellow in shabby scholar's clothes seemed unaware of his approach, just busy burying his head in his food.

Had the creaking floorboards ever been this irritating with each step?

The innkeeper wiped away cold sweat with his sleeve and tugged at his collar which seemed to be tightening.

"A-ahem!"

He stopped five or six steps away and cleared his throat, but the other showed no reaction at all.

"Master...! You need to get a bit closer...!"

"Be careful...!"

'These damn fools acting like it's not their business.'

For some reason, he didn't want to step any closer, but he called upon his 35 years of experience and grit.

Each step felt like an eternity, but finally, he managed to stand right behind the scholar.

And even then, the scholar paid him no attention.

He swallowed hard.

"Ex-excuse me..."

His eyes widened as he glanced sideways at the scholar.

The scholar wasn't even using chopsticks, just shoveling food into his mouth with both hands.

The innkeeper, momentarily speechless, wiped his sweat-soaked palms on his pants.

His entire body was now drenched in cold sweat.

But what did it mean to do business in the middle of this vast Luoyang?

He had built up this inn despite seeing what happened to his grandfather and father.

"Excuse me, young sir..."

But why did his voice sound like a mosquito's buzz?

He tried to clear his throat.

But then...

"...This isn't it. This isn't enough. This isn't what I need. This isn't it. This isn't enough..."

A chill ran through the innkeeper's entire body.

Clearly, the inn was filled with the sounds of this fellow voraciously devouring food, and he was watching with his own eyes as food was being continuously stuffed into his mouth.

Then who was making those endless whispers?

"...This isn't enough. This isn't what I need..."

And when listening carefully to those whispers, there was something fundamentally different from a human voice...

Just then, the scholar's hand stopped with a snap.

"...!!"

And the scholar's head slowly began to turn toward the innkeeper.

The innkeeper's pupils had long since dilated, and his legs were shaking as if about to collapse.

He wanted to scream, but his body had already left his control.

While he could neither move forward nor back, the scholar looked at him.

And his mouth opened.

"I've eaten enough. How much is the total?"

"Uh, uh, uh...?"

The pale-faced scholar wiped the sauce around his mouth with his sleeve and asked again.

"You're the innkeeper, aren't you?"

The innkeeper answered reflexively.

"Y-yes, I am."

The scholar nodded and stood up.

Though his clothes were filthy with spilled food and sauce, he didn't seem to care at all.

Calmly taking out his money pouch, he asked again.

"How much, I asked?"

Shortly after the scholar left, the waiters carried the fainted innkeeper through Luoyang's night streets, searching for a doctor.

They say no one tried to stop the innkeeper when he woke up the next day and spent his fortune holding a large exorcism ritual.

***

"Strange, how strange."

The scholar, Yuan Zhaoxian, repeated the word 'strange' as he left the inn.

He had tried eating at the inn to test his limits, but no matter how much he ate, satiety never came.

Moreover, after eating such a large amount, he should at least feel sick.

Yet everything he put in just went down as if there was no limit.

It felt as if the food passing through his throat simply disappeared somewhere.

He felt a certain conviction deep in his heart.

No matter how much of 'this kind of thing' he ate, his hunger would never disappear.

He shook his head.

Then what should he eat?

Just then, his nose pointed somewhere.

'A smell...'

It was an incredibly fragrant smell unlike anything he had encountered before.

Such a 'delicious' fragrance.

A smell that stimulated his hunger.

'What is this smell...?'

Regardless of his questioning, he was drawn by instinct.

His footsteps headed toward the dark back alleys of Luoyang.

And his figure soon disappeared into the darkness.

***

Luoyang, an ancient city with a long history.

Though it had been caught in the flames of war countless times through various dynasties, it still stood firmly as a representative metropolis of the Central Plains.

Befitting a metropolis boasting a population of millions, it also contained enormous entertainment districts.

Despite the late hour, brilliant oil lamps colored the streets in various hues, making one forget it was night in Luoyang.

However, where there is bright light, there must be equally deep darkness.

Behind those beautiful entertainment districts lay an equally ugly and twisted order.

Among those many orders, one could point to the underworld boss known as the Golden Leech.

And now, in these dirty and damp back alleys, that Golden Leech's order was functioning steadily.

"Strip him and shake him down completely."

"Yes, big brother!"

Whether unfortunate or reaping what he sowed, a middle-aged man who had gambled away his fortune tried to put up slight resistance.

"This bastard...?!"

"Beat him up!"

Naturally, what came back was a severe fist massage from the thugs.

Shortly after, the middle-aged man was little different from minced meat, except that he was still breathing.

"Found it, big brother!"

Finally, one of the thugs who found a wooden piece in the middle-aged man's undergarments held it up.

It was an identity tablet.

Taking his identity tablet, which contained all his information including address and family details, meant they were going to take everything from him.

His small shop, his wife, his children.

"Ah... please..."

Despair deeply shadowed the face of the middle-aged man who resembled minced meat.

In contrast, cruel smiles deepened on the faces of the thugs.

Those in desperate situations fell for the rigged gambling day after day without realizing it, and they increased their wealth by disposing of such foolish people who were deceived.

That was one aspect of the underlying order known as the Golden Leech.

"Did you think you could walk the streets of Luoyang unscathed after trying to cheat the master out of his money?"

Of course, none of these thugs, including the one called big brother, were direct subordinates of the Golden Leech, nor had they ever seen his face.

They belonged to just one of the many groups to whom the Golden Leech outsourced work, but.

As long as they carried the name of that order, they were kings in these back alleys.

"Please, sirs..."

That's when it happened.

"A whistle?"

It was a whistle with a strange melody.

It was mournful yet desperate, seemed cheerful yet despairing.

If one had to describe it, one might say it was tinged with madness.

"Who the hell is it?!"

The thug who had been gleefully holding the middle-aged man's identity tablet shouted in a booming voice.

Usually, his companions would have enjoyed how his booming voice intimidated others, but.

For some reason, now his shout seemed weaker than that thin whistle.

The thug threw down the identity tablet and drew his weapon.

"Which bastard is it?! Come out right now?!"

Then the others also frantically drew their weapons and shouted in all directions.

"Want to die?!"

"Who's playing games?!"

"You son of a...!"

That's when the one called big brother barked in a low voice.

"...All of you shut up!"

The other thugs closed their mouths at his voice, which had maintained some composure.

"Shut up and stay still...!"

Anxiety flashed in his eyes.

It wasn't that his brothers were overreacting.

Even he had almost joined in shouting, unable to bear the whistle sound.

Whoever it was, just shaking people's spirits with a whistle was already an extreme danger signal.

He bowed with his fists clasped, as respectfully as possible, toward all directions.

"I don't know which respected master you might be, but do you have business with us?"

And just as his words ended, as if by magic, the whistling stopped.