The man collapsed in the corner seemed to be So Baek’s father.
‘Fortunately, you’re still alive.’
But after seeing the man’s appearance, I felt sorrow at his miserable state. Uncle Dagger’s voice was heard.
[There’s nothing we can do.]Uncle Dagger swallowed hard as he looked at him. I too hurriedly approached the man and checked his pulse.
[The impure energy has already seeped into his brain. It’s an irreversible state. It seems strange experiments were conducted here.]It was just as Uncle Dagger said.
There was no reason left in the man’s eyes.
He looked as if he had already half lost his mind.
[It’s a shame he couldn’t at least say goodbye.]So Baek was crying his eyes out. He carefully shook his collapsed father.
“Father, please open your eyes, Father.”
[Even that won’t work……]It was then.
A voice flowed from the mouth of the man who had been breathing as if dead.
“Beom, So Baek…?”
It was like a miracle. An ordinary person with no martial arts had momentarily overcome the impure energy in his body and regained his senses.
I watched the scene while holding my breath.
“Father!”
“H-How… did you come here? Were you captured too?”
“No, I… I was able to come rescue you because good people helped me.”
Tears flowed from the man’s eyes. His eyes, which had already lost their function, were struggling to follow his son’s face.
“I see, you’re safe. Thank goodness, thank goodness.”
The man kept repeating that he was thankful. His hands stroked So Baek’s face.
His fingertips were trembling.
“So Baek, you must live well.”
“Father…?”
“I’m glad I could see you one last time.”
Cough, the man said that and coughed up blood.
Watching them, I felt as if I had returned to my childhood.
I hugged the dagger in my bosom tightly.
Uncle Dagger emitted warm energy, just as he had when I shivered in the cold as a child.
I relied on that warmth.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything for you.”
“No, I was really fine. I was happy to be your son.”
“……”
“I love you, Father.”
Did So Baek’s words reach him?
I couldn’t tell.
But one thing was certain, the man had a faint smile on his face when he closed his eyes.
[This is the timeline separator]I couldn’t say anything. It felt like something was about to burst from my throat.
‘Was my father like that too?’
[What do you mean?]‘Did he grieve like that man?’
I remembered the dream I had then.
The dream where my father was in a similar situation to Uncle Dagger.
‘It could have been my wish coming true in a dream.’
The face of the man facing a painful situation, my father’s face…
‘Is my father alive? Will I be able to say goodbye like So Baek did?’
It was unknowable.
So Baek stood up, wiping his tears.
He came to me and expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you, thanks to you I was able to say goodbye to my father.”
I placed my hand on So Baek’s head.
“I’m glad. Could you leave for a moment? There’s something I need to take care of.”
So Baek nodded slightly and left the basement.
Only then did I look at Maeng Rip trembling behind me.
“S-Save me. I only did what I was told. It wasn’t my will!”
I blinked my eyes slowly.
“Who ordered you?”
“Th-That’s… the Ch-Cheonma Sincheong……”
There was no value in listening to his words.
I raised my sword and cut the tendons in his ankles.
“Ugh, aaagh! S-Save me. Please save me!”
Even as Maeng Rip’s screams were heard, I felt nothing. So Baek’s father must have also begged Maeng Rip. To be saved. The fear of death is the same for everyone.
Would Maeng Rip have shown mercy in the same situation?
[Rather, it seems he tortured them horribly.]With an expressionless face, I thrust my sword into Maeng Rip’s shoulder.
“Say it again.”
“Ch-Cheonma……”
Maeng Rip’s face turned deathly pale.
“Again.”
Fear crept into his face. He looked back and forth between me and the empty air.
It was as if someone was watching him.
And then, as if he had made up his mind, he opened his mouth.
“Hyeo, Hyeol……”
It was when he was about to utter those words.
Maeng Rip began to cough up blood violently. His body trembled and the whites of his eyes showed.
He shouted as if screaming:
“Hyeolmaangbok! Hyeolse Cheonha!”
After that, Maeng Rip trembled and collapsed. He bit his own tongue and committed suicide.
[It seems he was under the influence of evil magic. Set to die if he uttered those words.]I checked Maeng Rip’s pulse.
[He’s definitely dead.]I nodded at Uncle Dagger’s words.
[This is the timeline separator]We decided to leave the rest of the Jeokryong Faction’s cleanup to the Murim Alliance. We also sent So Baek to the Nam Gung family with someone.
It was too dangerous for a boy like So Baek, who hadn’t learned any martial arts, to go to Sichuan, our current destination.
So Baek had made a strong request.
On the way to Sichuan, I thought of So Baek and his father.
And Maeng Rip as well.
I looked at my hands.
Even though I had blood on my hands repeatedly, I wasn’t greatly shocked.
[That’s how evil people are. To feel the weight of life, those guys have taken too many lives themselves.]‘That could be true.’
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. After many twists and turns, we safely arrived in Sichuan.
“It feels like it’s been a long time.”
Hearing Dang Hwa Ryeong’s words, Shin So Gyeong looked at him as if dumbfounded.
“You do have the Dang surname, right?”
“Well, I suppose so for now.”
The reconciliation was to take place within the Dang family, but we decided to unpack at an inn first. We were heading to the inn when it happened.
I could feel people’s piercing gazes.
‘Since this is Sichuan, they must know Dang Hwa Ryeong.’
Most of the gazes were negative.
It was unavoidable to feel sad, even though Dang Hwa Ryeong had acted like a ruffian to survive.
That’s when it happened.
A boy appeared and spoke to Dang Hwa Ryeong.
“Elder brother?”
I looked at Dang Hwa Ryeong.
He was staring at the boy with a cold face.
‘It’s Dang Hwa Ryeong’s younger brother.’
And beside him was a man with a strong build.
I could easily tell that they were people from the Five Great Families.
‘All dressed in luxurious clothes.’
They didn’t hide their aura, carrying weapons like swords and sabers.
“Oh, you came just in time. I thought you wouldn’t come to the reconciliation.”
The man next to the boy stepped forward.
‘What about that guy?’
[He’s like a good-for-nothing.]‘Uncle Dagger, it seems no one has a positive view.’
[That’s a misunderstanding. We just haven’t met any good ones yet.]Looking at them anew, I could tell that I had now entered the real beginning of Cheonma Jijeon.
‘Ji Cheon Wu must be nearby too!’
Ji Cheon Wu will get into an argument with these people at the reconciliation of the Five Great Families.
‘To be precise, it’s now.’
I looked around. He should be appearing.
According to Cheonma Jijeon, this guy should be Paeng Jong Heon.
‘That guy is a villain too.’
Paeng Jong Heon misjudges Ji Cheon Wu, who is wearing shabby clothes, and acts rudely.
‘He called Ji Cheon Wu a pretty-faced beggar, right?’
He picks a fight with Ji Cheon Wu for no reason and gets beaten.
Because of that incident, Paeng Jong Heon harbors ill feelings.
But something was strange. The person who should be around here was nowhere to be seen.
‘Is this changing too?’
Just as I was thinking that, Paeng Jong Heon suddenly asked Dang Hwa Ryeong:
“It seems you had a very peaceful journey, your face is glowing.”
“Well, should I say thanks for your concern?”
Paeng Jong Heon’s gaze turned to me and Shin So Gyeong. He narrowed his eyes as if measuring us.
“Are these two young ladies from the martial arts world?”
This time too, it was Shin So Gyeong who answered.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Paeng Jong Heon shrugged his shoulders.
“Seems like you’re from a small martial arts school.”
“……”
“I am Paeng Jong Heon. The second young master of the Paeng family of Hebei.”
I recalled what kind of person Paeng Jong Heon was in the original work.
‘He was quite suspicious and vile.’
He would constantly pick fights with Ji Cheon Wu over every little thing.
‘But from Ji Cheon Wu’s perspective, he was just a minor villain.’
He even liked to divide people into ‘classes’. There was an episode where he treated Ji Cheon Wu carelessly when he thought he was ordinary, but was shocked when he found out he was the second young master of the demon cult.
‘His relationship with Dang Hwa Ryeong isn’t good either.’
Originally, Paeng Jong Heon and Dang Hwa Ryeong were childhood friends.
But Paeng Jong Heon was very vile. As soon as he learned that Dang Hwa Ryeong had become an outcast in the Dang family, he said he wasn’t his friend anymore.
It was a memorable scene in Cheonma Jijeon.
Dang Hwa Ryeong believed Paeng Jong Heon to be his friend.
But at this moment when Dang Hwa Ryeong had become nothing,
Paeng Jong Heon was looking at Dang Hwa Ryeong with unfamiliar eyes that he had never known before.
“It’s a pity, Hwa Ryeong. But what can we do? Our situations are different now.”
Beside such a Paeng Jong Heon was his younger brother, Dang Pung.
“People need to be on the same level to associate. We used to get along before… but we can’t anymore.”
When he was going through his toughest time, Paeng Jong Heon betrayed him.
Strangely, Dang Hwa Ryeong didn’t seem to mind.
He just realized now.
That those so-called friends could stab you in the back at any time.
Uncle Dagger exclaimed in admiration.
[What an incredibly trashy person.]‘That’s true.’
[A righteous faction without righteousness and chivalry is no righteous faction at all!]I agreed with Uncle Dagger’s words.
__________
Men In The Royal Harem All Yearn For Her (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The men (young empress, young empress dowager, crown prince) in the harem all yearn to become her consort.
Synopsis:
The female protagonist is a wildly popular heartthrob with a natural halo.
The male protagonist is a crazily obsessed and self-abasing loyal dog.
Qiu Shu, the top scholar’s daughter, is pure, elegant and incomparably enchanting, captivating countless admirers.
Being favored by the eldest prince, the most handsome man in the capital, and becoming his wife in a single move is truly the pride of a poor student.
However, what they don’t know is that the seemingly bright and splendid female protagonist lives in a battlefield of jealousy every day.
The cute and adorable young empress is unusually attached to her.
The gentlemanly and upright young empress dowager has an ambiguous relationship with her.
Even her aloof and proud eldest prince is actually a gloomy and petty jealous husband.
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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