Chapter 90

“I heard you’ve been living a busy life.”
“……No, everyone is busy. I’m sure Fang Sojourner was the same way.”
“You’re still as stiff as ever.”
Even for me, who cherishes past relationships, it was not easy to soothe the woman’s sulking.
In my previous life, I had no connection to women.
In this life, I couldn’t afford to look at her.
“When I heard that that boy had so many deeds that he was called the Thunder Sword Saint, I doubted my ears.”
“I suppose it’s fate.”
“You still talk like an old man.”
Hmmm.
As I coughed, Pang Hyang whipped his head around and shouted pointedly.
“You two!”
“…….”
“If you don’t go away, I’m going to rip you apart.”
At the sound of her growl, the pretense of popularity quickly vanished. Like it was never there in the first place.
She turned her head again, and I caught a whiff of her calm, long hair, and her sweet scent. What the hell.
As if drawn by the scent, my gaze was drawn to Fang Xiang, and in my vague memory, I recalled the girl I had seen. Her tomboyish figure was nowhere to be seen, her eyes calm and deep, her long black hair flowing gracefully in the breeze.
The calluses and small scars on her outstretched palms could not hide the beauty of the woman before him, as if the time she had endured in the cultivation of the Hebei Feng Clan, or even the Ho Tao Clan, was not just time well spent.
“…….”
The only women I’d ever known were Mrs. Baek in the South Palace, my mother, my occasional rivalries, and my nanny.
In my previous life, I would occasionally bring back women as spoils of war from victories, but I stayed away. Being close to a woman was a luxury I considered a luxury.
I can’t even keep myself healthy.
“I came to see you.”
“You mean …… me?”
“Yes, you’re amazing. At the same age, you’re powerful enough to be called a sword saint, and you’ve made so many connections while traveling around the world at the height of your cultivation.”
“It’s not that great.”
“I’ll be the one to judge whether it’s great or not.”
Saying that, Pang Hyang stuck out her face. The smell of incense, which I couldn’t smell even though I was living with men every day, came to me angrily. I involuntarily pulled my head back because of the close proximity.
“Tell me a story.”
“What, about what?”
“How you’ve been doing since the sword meeting.”
“Nothing much…….”
Fang Xiang’s eyes gradually turned into axe eyes as he watched me twitch. Seeing his eyes light up, I impatiently waved my hand and opened my mouth.
“Oh, okay, I’ll tell you, but I can’t guarantee it’ll be fun.”
“Come on!”
High in the sky, the pale moonlight illuminated the peaceful lakeshore. Her eyes glowed, as if caught in the glow of the moonlight on the lake.
Maybe it was the anticipation of my story.
Or for some other reason, I don’t know.
I was so happy to see her, and before I knew it, I was recounting my life, the short seven years of my life.
It didn’t matter if I had ever told anyone my life like this before, I just opened my mouth and let the words flow.
It was new.
And mysterious.
It felt like that.
We talked for a while, and then I let her go, regretting that the night was getting long.
“We’ll have to find time for another time!”
“If you get a chance.”
Strolling back along the lakeshore once more, I felt a familiar presence, someone I could now recognize by her steps and breath.
“A man and a woman, seven generations apart. What is it?”
“What. Don’t think I’m so hard-hearted.”
“No two children smell the same.”
“What are you talking about?”
No one smells the same.
“You must prepare to meet Bapil now.”
Bapil.
That was far from me.
“Xiangyi is Pang’s son. If your eyes weren’t slits, you’d know, but he’s already showing quite a bit of interest in the child, and he’s very good at martial arts, far better than others his age, both as a woman and as a man.”
What am I supposed to do?
I had never thought of my own family.
My uncle-in-law, reading my expression, appeared in frustration. He held a bottle in each hand.
“Why. You’re going to live your whole life without a family.”
The part of my heart that I had thought was a luxury was now a burden, and the uncle threw the bottle at me. As I stared at the bottle I caught, I was speechless.
For some reason, the words stuck with me like nails in my chest. I had never thought of it, never dreamed of it.
“The House you speak of, the place you will one day reach, you would sacrifice yourself for it, just to take it.”
I was dumbfounded. There was no way to answer a question I had never even considered.
So I chose to evade.
Gulp, gulp.
I gulped down the drink I’d started, thinking it was just to quench my thirst. Despite the heat in my stomach, I drank endlessly, and I heard him click his tongue.
“Asshole.”
“…….”
“Everything you do will be based on a sense of responsibility, a sense of duty, and even a sense of sacrifice, but how can it be done alone?”
I glanced back at my aunt.
“I chose to be courageous, so I chose to approach the nanny, even if the path was long and difficult.”
Yumimi and the matron began to walk together. The path would be thorny. Back in Anhui, the old man stood proudly by his nanny’s side, no matter what anyone said.
It was his way of showing love, and he believed it was the way to be happy.
“You said so, and I did not deceive myself. I am not asking you to look at the incense right now. I am not asking you to choose. Just.”
My aunt said this would be my chance. He said that I should lay aside the heavy burden I was carrying like a lead ball in my heart and look at my own happiness.
“You should also look for a way to make yourself happy. Do you think the family and its people will be happy after your sacrifice?”
One by one, the men stepped forward.
“That’s right, Grand Duke. If the Grand Duke is not happy, as the Sword King said, how can we discuss happiness among ourselves?”
The first was Black Ho.
“……I’ve rung many a lady since I was born. If you need me, please call me.”
Donghui followed, stepping out,
“They say that everything should be treated with sincerity. Grand Duke!”
Kang Woo-moon jumped out of nowhere and patted my chest.
“……The Sword King is right. Don’t ever think that the Grand Duke’s sacrifice will make us happy. If that’s what you think and you’re willing to burn your own body, then I won’t follow you.”
The elder was Nangong Yue. The Master had spoken.
Everyone looked at me, concern in their expressions and eyes.
I see.
I thought I was protecting everyone.
Then I glanced back at the place where I had stayed with Pang Hyang, who had suddenly flown by.
A new relationship, a companionship, a bond of togetherness.
A lover who goes through thorny paths together, and the love that follows.
Suddenly, I came to save my mother,
who had come to rescue my mother, who had faced the white light and embodied the Emperor’s Sword.
Maybe.
Namgung Mubai had no animosity toward Baekwang.
It suddenly occurred to me that it might have been the responsibility of a husband who wanted to protect his family.
Only now do I realize it. His heart was in the back of his mind.
Otherwise, he would not have traveled such a long distance so quickly.
But.
“By the way.”
“What is it?”
The uncle looked at me with a serious response.
“What are you all doing here?”
I wondered how long they had been watching me here.
As they gazed into my wide-eyed stare, they humbled themselves, and one by one, they coughed in vain.
“Even Master is here.”
“Stop. ……Here, Sword King Dai Hao said there’s something good to see.”
Boom!
Before I could turn around, the old man was already running off into the distance.
I slashed at him, just like that!
The tip of my sword hovered like a thunderbolt.
* * *
The Fengyun Circle.
A conclave of heroes and heroines, a conspiracy to fulfill their will.
When it was announced that it would be held, people from all over the country expressed their willingness to participate.
The first to voice their opinions were the Sachendang family and Mo Yongse. Apparently, Namgunghyuk and Namgunggal had done their job well.
After the Sixth and Seventh Generations, Hwang Bo-sega, Hebei Ping-sega, Sacheon Tang-ga, and Mo Yong-sega joined in. All that remained was the Jegalese.
“It won’t be easy for the Jie family. Zhuge Lianghu, he’s very demanding. It won’t be easy to talk to him.”
But Ho Tae Do Pangak was right.
“Jegalsega has been the first to say he’d like to participate.”
“……?”
Ten Elder Namgung-ho and Nine Elder Namgung-soo were helping me organize the matters related to the Fengyun Branch, and Namgung-ho turned to Pangak.
“Wu Nai, Elder Ten has sent a letter to…… saying that the madman in Qingcheng has moved his ass, and that he won’t be able to leave without going to see him.”
“…….”
Ho Tao’s bewilderment was brief. As he talked about how this was nothing new or unheard of in the midst of the Six Great Houses’ struggle for control, he looked at me and said that he had a good eye.
“I’ll finally be able to put my worries to rest. I’ll be able to write something new, something new. ”
That’s what he said. I vaguely remembered. I was already overwhelmed by the way Hotae looked at me as if I were his son-in-law.
Anyway.
Not only the Six Great Houses, but also the Beihai Ice Palace participated, and the rumors of the existence of the Aguidan and the Aguidan Leader have prompted many of the great houses and marksmen to show their willingness. They said they would take care of the monetary part and offered to help.
The sequence of events was upbeat. Everyone was excited, saying that it was the first time the political factions had ever been so united.
Even the Qingsheng Sect of the old Pilebang joined in. Out of the twenty-four sect members, three had gathered here.
“Master Kwang Seung-ja hasn’t said anything.”
“He’s traveled a long way, so it might still be a while. Let’s wait.”
Kwang Seung-ja, himself, expressed that he would go.
“I’ll have to go to persuade him. Oh, Saxin.”
He patted his back, which didn’t hurt, and looked at me.
“Son of a bitch. He doesn’t even bat an eye. ”
He flicks his sleeve to indicate that he’s going to Shaolin.
He hasn’t announced his intention to join yet,
and considered the elder statesman of the sect.
Hye Yeon of Shaolin.
Otherwise known as the Divine Monk Hui Yeon.