The rumor about a fox living in the Gibang reached even JHo's ear.
Immediately after he heard the rumor, he went to the Gibang.
As soon as he walked through the door, the whole Gibang became bustling with excited whispers of young women. They saw a handsome young man whose beauty can conquer the world.
However, some also noticed his violet hair and his white tail. Grasping the reason for this young fox's visit, straightaway, the gisaengs prepared the most spacious room and called the female owner.
The female told JHo that Ho-Chi was no longer working in the Gibang. Hearing this news, JHo got up to leave but was stopped by the female owner. The female owner set a table with drinks and snacks for JHo.
"Tell me what happened to Ho-Chi."
To JHo's request, the female owner's eye rims became red and trickle of tears fell. She wiped them right away and spoke in small voice.
"My apologies. Whenever I think of him, my heart aches…He never did anything bad and yet…"
So, the female owner told Ho-Chi's story from the moment he came in the Gibang until the moment he left.
After the young master left on that snowy day, Ho-Chi fell ill.
Because he was exposed to the cold air for too long, Ho-Chi could not shake away his illness.
While Ho-Chi could not get up from his sick bed, another bad news arrived to him.
For some time, the gisaengs could not hide their tears for Ho-Chi and just stood in front of Ho-Chi's room. With difficulty, one of them conveyed the bad news to Ho-Chi with tearful voice.
"The young master has passed away."
Ho-Chi who could not even move on his own for the past few days set up with disbelief.
"The young master was very sick, you see, and one day someone found him hanging from his neck…"
Ho-Chi did not cry then.
"It is not that he did not cry. Ho-Chi cannot cry. Master YMang from the Tae-Chon region took away Ho-Chi's tears."
To JHo's words, the female owner could no longer hold back her tears and cried.
After the news, Ho-Chi's body recovered but he spent most of his time in a daze.
Some cursed at Ho-Chi for not crying and for being a heartless fox, but some countered them by saying why can't they see the love buried in Ho-Chi's heart. Some cried for Ho-Chi.
And then one day, a rumor began to circulate the town.
A fox bewitched the young master, absorbed his living energy, and killed him.
The bad rumors about Ho-Chi snowballed. One by one, guests stopped their visits to the Gibang and people's bad impression of Ho-Chi worsened.
The female owner even heard that the town's people were holding nightly meeting.
Worrying for Ho-Chi's life, the female owner sent him away with few jewelries and clothes.
"Originally, I sent him to the west Cheon-Ju* where my relatives live but Ho-Chi did not arrive there, so he must be somewhere else."
*Cheon-Ju is name of the region."
After listening to the female owner, JHo sighed and drank back a liquor.
The female owner filled the empty cup and studied JHo's handsome face with a smile.
"You are Ho-Chi's sibling. I could tell right away by looking at your beautiful violet hair."
Listening to the female owner, JHo felt his heart stinging.
JHo made many nasty remarks about Ho-Chi that he was worried about Ho-Chi hating and cursing at JHo. Just thinking about it made JHo's heart ache with pain.
"Ho-Chi always lamented the fact that you only have half of the tail because of him. Ho-Chi admired your beauty and your strength and thought if he was not alive then you could have had the full tail. He always felt apologetic toward you, but he was sorry above all because he was glad he was alive."
JHo, hearing the female owner's comment, stormed out of the Gibang.
The female owner tried to refuse the beg of money JHo had given her but he was already gone.
When the female owner opened, even though the size was small, the beg pushed out many gold coins.
It poured out so many gold coins that the coins piled up to person's height.
hahahaha, yes… so this happened… Thank you for reading and hopefully I can give you a happier chapter tomorrow.