Psycho in Ancient World
Copyright© 2026 by K.W
Chapter 13. Bongyang Inn
Bongyang Inn.
When Jang Ho and the thugs were dying one after another, Gi Dae-hyo and Gi Man-ji were investigating a second-floor room of Bongyang Inn, believed to be the place where the Suicide Plague first occurred. Following behind them, the inn owner, Noh Family, also entered the room.
“Is it this room?”
“Yes, milord.”
“You were the one who found them?”
“Yes. I was the first to discover Machil and Choseon hanging dead from the beam over there in this room.”
Noh bowed so deeply that his head nearly touched the floor as he answered Gi Dae-hyo’s questions.
“Hm.”
Gi Dae-hyo began to examine every corner of the room, operating under the assumption that the two deaths were murders rather than suicides.
It was a typical inn room with nothing particularly special. If there was anything unusual, it was the lurid bedspread dyed a deep crimson red, but Gi Dae-hyo, well aware of the nature of Bongyang Inn’s business, did not find that strange or noteworthy.
The first thing he checked was whether there were any windows. If there were, an assassin might have entered through one.
However, no matter how he examined the room—front, back, left, right, above, or below—there were no windows. In an ordinary house, a window would usually be on the wall opposite the entrance, but that wall here was nothing more than solid wall.
The possibility of something entering from that direction was dismissed at a glance.
‘Then did they come through the door?’
Drreeek.
Gi Dae-hyo reopened the door he had closed and examined the structure of the inn. Bongyang Inn was a typical two-story building. The first floor was an open layout shaped like the character 口, while the second floor had corridors arranged in a shape resembling the character 트. A staircase stood in the middle of the corridor, with rooms lined up along both sides. From the second-floor corridor, the interior of the first floor was clearly visible below. Likewise, from the first floor, anyone moving along the second-floor corridor could be seen clearly.
As a result, the possibility of an intruder entering through the door was also eliminated. If the culprit had come through the door, someone—whether a server or a guest—would have witnessed it.
The possibilities of intrusion from the front and rear were gone.
Next, the possibility from the right also vanished.
This room was located at the very end of the “head” of the 트-shaped layout. The right wall of the room faced the outside. Without tearing down the wall itself, entry from that direction was absolutely impossible.
Next were the vertical directions—above and below. But intrusion from above or below was also impossible.
Above was the roof.
Unless the entire roof was removed, entry from above could not happen.
Below was the floor.
Likewise, infiltration would only be possible if the entire floor were torn up. Both the roof and the floor were constructed with wooden and stone frameworks, finished with packed mud. Not even a drop of water could easily penetrate them. This possibility was eliminated as well.
According to the inn owner, after Machil and Choseon died, the room had never been rented out again, nor had it been repaired. With that, all possibilities of intrusion from front, back, right, above, and below were completely erased.
The only remaining possibility was the left wall. If the Suicide Plague was truly a series of murders, then the culprit must have entered this room through the left wall.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Gi Dae-hyo approached the left wall. A stylish leopard-patterned cloth hung down like a curtain. It was thick and carefully layered for soundproofing, but cloth was still cloth.
Rip—.
With a flick of Gi Dae-hyo’s hand, the cloth was torn away, revealing a wall lined with logs arranged neatly in a 川-shaped pattern.
“Hm.”
Seeing it, he became convinced that his thinking was correct. Unlike the other walls, this one looked as though passage would be possible if only the wooden logs were removed.
The problem was...
That there was no sign these logs had ever been removed.
“Take a look at this.”
“Yes, milord.”
At Gi Dae-hyo’s call, the inn owner Noh hurried over.
“Is there any way to remove these logs without dismantling the roof?”
“No, there isn’t. These logs are fitted into grooves in the ceiling beams and floor beams. Unless all the beams are removed, they can never be pulled out.”
Gi Dae-hyo already knew this, but he had asked again for confirmation.
He carefully examined the wall once more. The cylindrical logs were so tightly fitted together that it looked difficult to even slip a sheet of paper between them. There were no traces whatsoever of the wood having been removed.
‘Does this mean ... that the recent series of suicides really are entirely due to a plague?’
The thought crossed his mind, but Gi Dae-hyo soon shook his head.
That made no sense. What kind of plague in the world induces suicide?
Even if such a thing existed, a plague would normally spread gradually outward from a central area. Yet the victims of the Suicide Plague appeared irregularly throughout Bongyang.