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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: 52
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“Good heavens. Oh, my, my. Oh…!”
Seop Mugwang looked at Seolhwa, then looked again, and again.
He still couldn't believe it.
Jeoljeong, you say? At only thirteen, a Jeoljeong master?
“Good heavens! Oh!”
“Seolhwa…”
Namgung Cheongun’s eyes welled up.
Before he could shed tears again, Seolhwa preempted him.
“I was lucky. It was possible thanks to Grandfather opening all my meridians. Though Grandfather overexerted himself a bit because of it.”
“Right. That’s right.”
Namgung Cheongun nodded.
While he was happy his daughter had become a Jeoljeong master, he was worried about his father’s health.
“But he said there wouldn’t be any major problems, so he’ll be fine.”
“Right. That’s a relief. A relief.”
Namgung Cheongun embraced Seolhwa.
It was always a warm embrace, no matter when she was held.
Seop Mugwang watched the father and daughter, continuously muttering, “Good heavens!”
“Oh, right, we have a guest.”
“A guest?”
“From Hwasanpa.”
“Ah.”
Seolhwa recalled Yu Kang, whom she had encountered a few days prior.
From the moment she met him in the mountains of Hefei, she had expected Hwasanpa to visit Namgung.
No, in fact, she had known even before that.
It was Seolhwa herself who had arranged for the rumors about her to spread to Hwasanpa.
‘Looks like the Heugunbang Leader followed my instructions well.’
In the pouch she had last given to the Heugunbang Leader, she had written advice to spread rumors.
This was to divert Hwasanpa and Shaolin Temple’s attention from Heugunbang to herself and to induce Hwasanpa to seek out Namgung.
Hwasanpa being guests at Namgung now was the result. The only problem was.
‘I hadn’t calculated on being under an Amsi.’
She had to prepare for Hwasanpa’s visit, but she hadn’t finished her preparations.
‘What should I do? Should I meet them first?’
“I told them to wait five days to meet you, just in case. But if you don’t wish to meet them…”
“Five days?”
“Yes. Five days. Didn’t I say it would take at least five days?”
Seolhwa’s eyes sparkled.
She had said it would take five days, but Seolhwa had emerged from the training cave in three days. So, she had come out two days earlier than the time told to Hwasanpa, hadn’t she?
‘Two days is enough.’
Seolhwa asked Seop Mugwang.
“Who knows that I’ve come out of the training cave?”
“Naturally, only I and your father know. And my subordinates.”
Though unseen, several Bipunggeomdae members were nearby.
Seolhwa, who had reached the Jeoljeong realm, could already sense their presence.
If before she knew them by their presence and senses, now she could detect those who concealed themselves through their aura.
‘Two people.’
“Could you possibly keep my emergence a secret?”
Seop Mugwang’s eyebrow twitched askew.
“Why should I?”
“I have somewhere to go for a moment.”
He slightly opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.
After staring at her with a furrowed brow for a moment, he abruptly turned his head and replied gruffly.
“Fine. Do that then.”
“I’m going to look for something that can replace the Daehwandan.”
“…?”
Seop Mugwang turned back to her.
His still-askew eyebrow twitched.
“What?”
“The Daehwandan I took from the Heugunbang belonged to Hwasanpa. Hwasanpa knows I took the Daehwandan, and they’ve come to find it.”
“Why are you telling me all this? I’m not interested.”
“As you know, I ate the Daehwandan, so I need something to replace it. So…”
“I said I’m not interested! I’ll keep your emergence a secret, so…!”
“You’d be upset, wouldn’t you?”
Seop Mugwang froze stiff.
His askew eyebrows lowered.
“What did you say?”
“You’d be upset with me, wouldn’t you?”
“…”
He seemed a little angry.
Though he didn’t show it, Seop Mugwang was indeed upset. Not just a little, but a lot.
He felt foolish for confidently saying he could trust the child when asked if he could, and he felt betrayed that the child he thought he had grown a little close to had openly deceived him.
“Upset? What nonsense.”
He was truly very upset.
He had given her his trust, given her a sword, and even told her about good restaurants.
“Alright. You don’t have time, so go on. Hurry.”
Seolhwa, who had been gazing intently at him, brought her hands together neatly and slowly bowed.
“I’m sorry. For deceiving you and leaving like that. I’m also sorry for making you take sleeping medicine.”
When she straightened up again, Seop Mugwang was frozen in surprise.
“I wanted to apologize.”
“…What…”
Perhaps embarrassed by the sincere apology, Seop Mugwang abruptly turned his head away.
“…I told you I wasn’t upset. Do you think my understanding is so minuscule as to be upset by something like that?”
His words, muttered as he rubbed his nose, were barely audible.
Seop Mugwang waved his hand, his head still turned away.
“You’re busy, so go on. Just be sure to return in two days.”
At any rate, it seemed his anger had subsided.
“Yes. I’ll be back.”
Seolhwa took Namgung Cheongun’s hand.
“Let’s go, Father.”
The two figures soon vanished from the path to the training cave.
Seop Mugwang, looking at where the two had disappeared, secretly allowed the corners of his mouth to curl up in a grin.
* * *
Clink, clink.
Only the sound of a teacup being picked up, sipped, and set down again echoed in the silence.
Namgung Cheonghae directly faced the person seated before him.
“Good tea.”
“Of course, how could I offer cheap tea leaves to such a distinguished guest?”
Nohun chuckled and set down his teacup.
“Indeed. I heard that this Young Master’s son spoke ill to our child.”
“I apologize once again for his rudeness.”
Namgung Cheonghae’s posture as he performed the Pokwon was upright.
Nohun thought it was truly the uprightness befitting a Namgung young master.
“Did you seek me out to offer that apology?”
It was a question asked, knowing the answer was no.
It was also the signal for the start of their serious conversation.
Namgung Cheonghae smiled faintly and met his gaze directly.
“I heard a very interesting rumor.”
“What is it?”
“They say the child who was once the Soruju of Hwaoru stole a Daehwandan from a Heukdo faction and fled to Namgung.”
On the day Nohun and his party arrived at Namgung, Namgung Cheonghae had ordered his subordinates from the Shaanxi branch family to investigate the reason for Hwasanpa’s movement.
And the news that arrived during today’s family meeting was precisely this.
“Perhaps, have you not heard of it?”
Nohun’s expression was unmoving.
However, the brief silence, the slight change in his breathing during that silence, spoke volumes about his feelings.
“…That is truly a strange rumor. Are you saying a Heukdo faction possessed a Shaolin Temple artifact?”
“And that Heukdo faction is in Shaanxi.”
“What does that imply?”
“I believe that is the reason why someone of Maehwasingeom’s standing has come all the way to Namgung.”
At his sharp observation, Nohun’s eyes grew cold.
Nohun stifled a sigh.
‘He’s no ordinary man.’
Not only did he possess keen insight to accurately grasp the situation from just a rumor, but the process of creating this meeting was also meticulously planned.
To buy time while they figured out the real reason for their visit to Namgung, they proposed a spar between the children, and when his son lost and grew angry, Namgung Cheonghae used Yu Kang to arrange this meeting, as if he had been waiting for it.
From the very first proposal of dinner, it was as if a chain of events inevitably led to this moment.
Such people are frightening for one reason.
‘They are the kind who do not move without certainty.’
That meant that, although he appeared to be asking, his opponent was already certain.
‘The rumor that the eldest is skilled in martial arts and the second is intelligent was true.’
Agreeing to Namgung Cheonghae’s dinner invitation out of impatience was a mistake. He had given them an excuse.
Since things had come to this, he must give up what he must and gain what he can.
Having finished his calculations, Nohun slowly opened his eyes, which he had kept tightly shut.
His gaze held a keenness entirely different from before he closed them.
“You’re right.”
“…!”
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll be direct. Do you know the whereabouts of the Daehwandan?”
“I do not.”
“The child who returned to Namgung, whom you celebrate, took it. She is your nephew, isn’t she, Young Master?”
“I have not heard any mention of the Daehwandan. Given its significance, it wouldn’t be easy to hide, yet there’s no mention of it, which makes me doubt if the child truly possesses it.”
“Hmm…”
Meaning, he knows nothing at all.
Nohun stroked his chin in disappointment.
“May I ask why the Daehwandan is so necessary for you?”
“I cannot tell you that.”
“Then, must it necessarily be the Daehwandan?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if it were something comparable to the Daehwandan?”
Nohun’s eyes sharpened.
“Do you have such a thing?”
“We might be able to acquire it. This is Namgung, after all.”
“What does Young Master Namgung desire?”
“…!”
Namgung Cheonghae’s expression brightened.
Granting each other’s desires. Isn’t that what cooperation is?
“I desire an exchange between Hwasanpa and Namgung.”
“An exchange, you say.”
It was precisely as he had expected.
The Sega had always desired exchange with the sects.
‘It’s not something I can’t grant.’
What the Sega desired was merely the ‘appearance’ of exchange between a sect and a Sega, not actual, necessary exchange.
They could accommodate them appropriately, and then, as time passed, it would naturally fade away.
Nohun nodded.
“Very well. Is that all?”
“One thing is missing.”
Missing?
Namgung Cheonghae’s smile deepened.
“Through whom the exchange takes place is the most important part, wouldn’t you agree?”
