Chapter 235
Episode 235
I was intrigued by the fresh combination.
I had no idea what kind of picture would emerge when two people with opposite tendencies clashed.
If it's Jin-sung, he would calmly brush off whatever Yang Gyo-jin said. I wonder if they can even have a conversation?
Songhwa, who checked Jin-sung's opponent following my gaze, asked.
"If it's Yang Gyo-jin, is that the Young lady we met together last time?"
"Yes. That dimwit."
Songhwa stroked his chin with a face trying to recall, then lowered his voice and asked again.
"Do you think she will use a spear in the next match as well?"
"I can't tell you that. And I don't know either."
"You're firm."
I cut him off at his attempt to subtly extract information, and Songhwa naturally changed the subject with a smiling face.
I raised the corner of my lips and glared at him. The more I saw him, the more he seemed like a clever person unlike a Taoist.
"Even if you don't do that, Jinseong disciple will do well on his own. Dojang Songhwa, I'm leaving."
"Yes. Please go in."
I should go see Gyo Jin. I wonder if she even knows the match schedule is out.
As I turned around to go find Yang Gyo-jin, Dang Gyeong-won, who was checking the group assignments with the branch family members, came into view.
He was talking with a serious face, but when he saw me, he changed his expression and greeted me.
"Dang So-hye."
"Hi. Did you see the match schedule? Your match is on the last day."
"No, it's on the first day. The Round of 16 proceeds in reverse order from Group 8."
"Really? Then I'm on the last day. I'll come to watch the match."
"Okay."
Dang Gyeong-won nodded and chuckled. Unlike when we first met, his eyes were full of goodwill, which made me laugh along.
As I exchanged eye contact and prepared to leave, Dang Gyeong-won stopped me.
"Wait a minute. Have you had your meal?"
"I ate. What is it? Are you asking me to have a meal together right now?"
"...Ahem, ahem. If you've already eaten, let's have tea together. I'll introduce you to the family members. You don't know them, do you?"
Dang Gyeong-won, who cleared his throat, pointed behind him with his chin.
Beyond his shoulder, I could see the branch family members looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.
I seemed to have seen their faces before, but I couldn't distinguish who was who at all.
Should I take this opportunity to become acquainted?
Grandfather said it wouldn't be bad to get along with them.
I fiddled with the back of my neck and nodded hesitantly.
"...Uh, should I?"
\ \ \
As I ended up joining Dang Gyeong-won's group, I felt awkward and didn't know what to say.
Seeing that I was feeling awkward, Dang Gyeong-won spoke as if telling me not to worry about it.
"Third Young Master is away. He won't be coming back, so don't worry about it."
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know either. However, it's certain that he won't want to show us his ailing appearance."
So he's hiding somewhere out of sight to save face.
Dang Gyeong-won seemed to think that I was worried about Dang Hwa-yeop, so he softened his voice as if soothing a child and opened the door for me.
"It's okay, come in. You won't run into him."
It didn't matter if I ran into Dang Hwa-yeop, but since he said it so earnestly, it was hard to deny it.
I quietly entered the Tang Clan's lodging.
Dang Bu-kyung, who was sitting in the yard and handling Hidden Weapons, raised his head and asked.
"Did you check the match schedule? Oh, you are..."
"Hello."
As I bowed while watching his reaction, he tilted his head with a surprised expression.
He had a puzzled look on his face as to why I came here.
"Uncle. We're going to have tea, would you like to join us?"
"I'm fine. You guys go ahead."
Dang Bu-kyung, who refused Dang Gyeong-won's offer, roughly shoved the Hidden Weapons he was handling into his sleeve and stood up.
It seemed like he was deliberately leaving the seat so that we could talk comfortably.
"Yes. I understand. I'll see you in the evening, Uncle."
Dang Gyeong-won, who saw Dang Bu-kyung off, sat me and the other three people in front of the table and took out the tea set.
"This is Dang Ye-won. My sister. She belongs to the Poison King Hall."
"Hi."
"This is Dang Cheon-yeong. This guy's father manages the weapons of the Iron Workshop. We're benefiting from it. He sometimes gets us good Hidden Weapons."
"They're not very good items. We don't have the chance to handle Flying Dagger made of Meteoric Iron like you do."
"Cheon-yeong-ah."
"Ah, I didn't mean to be sarcastic. I just wanted to say that if you need something that's worse than what you're using now, let me know."
I let out a hollow laugh, but seeing Dang Cheon-yeong swallowing hard while watching my expression, it didn't seem intentional.
Is that obnoxious way of speaking hereditary?
Seeing that they all have similar ways of speaking, the problem must be the Tang Clan's upbringing environment.
"This is Dang Seo-heon. He didn't make it to the Round of 16 because he had bad luck in the draw, but he's the most skilled among us."
"Oh, I've seen you before. I saw you with Deokju last time. You're in the Soul Slaughter Unit, right?"
"That's right. I belong to that group. Come to think of it, our Vice-Captain followed you. Where is the Vice-Captain?"
"Huh? Deokju is in Seongdo."
At my answer, Dang Seo-heon asked back as if I was talking nonsense.
"He's your Bodyguard?"
"...Huh?"
Only then did I realize that I came here without even telling Deokju that I was going.
I'm sorry. Deokju. I'm so used to being alone that I didn't think about it...
As I rolled my eyes in embarrassment, Dang Seo-heon leaned his body and chuckled.
"You're something else. A direct descendant walking around without a Bodyguard?"
"She must be more comfortable that way. Dang Cho-hui is like that too."
"She doesn't even go outside the Iron Workshop in the first place. And..."
Contrary to my expectations that it would be awkward, the tea time with the branch family members was quite nice.
Everyone showed goodwill in their own way, and it was obvious that they were trying to avoid talking about my birth mother, as Dang Gyeong-won had told them in advance.
It was also fun to talk about Poison.
"Neurotoxin is better. You have to kill them on the spot to avoid any trouble later."
"Then it's over just like that. If you want them to know how scary Poison is, you should use Dragon Blood Poison. You have to keep them alive so they'll beg for an antidote. But I won't give them the antidote."
"Dang So-hye. What do you think? Is there a need to leave any aftermath? Isn't it better to kill them right away?"
"Uh... I don't know."
Do you really have to kill them? It doesn't seem like you guys have ever killed anyone.
Although they were somewhat extreme, they didn't seem like bad guys.
Seeing that the atmosphere wasn't bad, Dang Gyeong-won also relaxed and rested his chin with a smirk.
I exchanged glances with Dang Gyeong-won and sipped my tea with a giggle.
If it feels like this, it wouldn't be bad to hang out with the family Martial Artist sometimes.
\ \ \
Two days passed in an instant.
It felt like I had taken a short break, but I was sitting in the stadium stands with Grandfather again.
The first match of the Round of 16 was a Martial Arts competition between a secular disciple of Emei and a Shaolin disciple.
"Disqualification if you go outside the Martial Arts Stage...! Don't break it! I said don't break it!"
As expected of those from the merciful Buddhist sect, the two of them only crushed the Martial Arts Stage instead of people, and were dragged out of the stadium after being disqualified together.
Wow, they turned the Blue Steel Stone into powder. They're strong too.
I smacked my lips and watched the Alliance officials reinstall the Martial Arts Stage.
Seeing them bring Blue Steel Stone and lay it on the floor in the blink of an eye, it seemed like they had prepared for the Martial Arts Stage to be destroyed.
Despite the unexpected situation delaying the next match, the audience did not decrease.
Rather, the crowd was gradually increasing.
"When does the Sword Dragon match start? It's not over already, is it?"
"It hasn't started yet."
It seemed that the rumor that he had won an overwhelming victory in the previous match had spread, and everyone had come to watch.
"Now, we will begin the Group 7 match. Wudang's Jin-sung, Yang Clan's Yang Gyo-jin. Please come up to the Martial Arts Stage!"
At the referee's shout, Yang Gyo-jin, who had climbed onto the Martial Arts Stage, waved at Jin-sung.
"Oh. It's Sword Dragon. Hello."
"We meet again."
Jin-sung, who cupped his fist in salute, replied bluntly.
Yang Gyo-jin, who narrowed her eyes, tilted her head while gauging Jin-sung's Martial Prowess, then drew her sword and suddenly dug into his side.
Grandfather muttered as if he was amazed.
"That child steps like she's using a spear even when she's using a sword. It's unique."
"She learned the sword on her own. I guess that's why."
"Hoo. It's neat for someone who learned on their own."
Jin-sung, who was not flustered and quickly created distance, deflected Yang Gyo-jin's sword in a circle.
Yang Gyo-jin, who hesitated at the blow that gently but firmly brushed off her sword, blinked her eyes blankly and shouted cheerfully.
"Now I get it. So-hye said that the Taoist was Sword Dragon?"
"...Did Dang Sojeo talk about me?"
I was intrigued by the look in Jin-sung's eyes as he calmly asked back.
"Yeah. I spent a lot of time with her trying to figure out how to break your sword. I was always curious, but I'm meeting you like this."
Yang Gyo-jin, who answered, gripped her sword again with an excited face.
"It's a shame. I wish you were my hundredth opponent."
"Pardon?"
"Um, or I could just pretend that all my previous Martial Arts competitions didn't happen. Then Sword Dragon would be my hundredth opponent."
"I don't know what you mean."
So Dang Hwa-yeop was so terrible that she didn't even want to consider him as a Martial Arts opponent. She's erasing him from the list altogether.
Jin-sung had a puzzled look at Yang Gyo-jin's sudden words, but he didn't show it and waited for her.
"Yeah. That's a good idea. I'll make Sword Dragon my last opponent in the Martial Arts competition."
"If you've made a decision, can we start again?"
"Yeah. I see now that I've crossed swords with you. I'm not confident that I can beat you yet? Maybe in three years."
"..."
"But I'm confident that I can land one hit. No. Two hits."
Yang Gyo-jin, who changed her gaze, wrapped Strong Energy around the blade.
A faint tension flashed across Jin-sung's face at the storm-like Inner Force.
Yang Gyo-jin smiled brightly and shouted.
"So I'll go first! Let's have a proper fight."
