A Hollow Thing. (1)
The thought I had planned before I barged into the annex wasn't this.
The original plan was a more polite approach. I hadn't originally intended to come in so violently.
Originally, I was going to do it properly. Fortunately, I possessed something of enough value to ensure that Nangong Bia wouldn't have to return to the Nangong family.
Information about the sword Nangong Bia used.
To be precise, it was about the sword used by the Demonic Sword Empress in her past life.
As I may have mentioned before, the treasured items possessed by prestigious families and sects not only have special effects but also carry symbolic significance.
The sword she used was the same. It was a treasured item discovered by Nangong Myeong, the absolute ruler of the Nangong in the distant past and the hero who blocked the Blood Demon, the Thunder Heaven One Sword Nangong Myeong. It was a sword called one of the Five Great Swords of the Central Plains.
Thunder Sword (雷劍), Noa (雷嫳).
Currently, it should be in the possession of the Heavenly Venerable, but he wouldn't have Noa in his hands right now.
Ironically, Wudang would currently possess Noa.
Wudang's Eccentric Sage.
As one of the representative masters of the Wudang Sect, he would have Noa in his possession.
I don't know how things came to be that way, but this was a story I heard directly from the Demonic Sword Empress in my past life.
Would the Demonic Sword Empress, who wasn't Jegal Hyeok, really lie to me about this?
I didn't think so.
This was information about lost symbolism.
Would someone like Nangong Jin, who lacked power as a family head, be able to overlook this? I expected he wouldn't.
[How do you plan to explain possessing such information?]
'Don't I have the Beggar Sect's token?'
A token related to the Beggar Sect would be helpful for this. I don't know what use this wooden token has, but recalling how surprised the Sword Empress was when she saw it during our camp, it wouldn't be a powerless item.
By mixing truth with falsehood and borrowing the Beggar Sect's name, it was a story that could be easily passed over.
[What if that Nangong bastard goes to the Beggar Sect and asks?]
I had also thought of two methods regarding this part, but now it had become a useless story.
"...What did you just say?"
Just as the sun was starting to set, I asked the Second Elder. Whether it was a serious matter, the Second Elder's expression was also somewhat stiff.
"They say the Nangong Family Head and the First Elder are having a separate conversation."
I clicked my tongue at the Second Elder's words. Just hearing it, it sounded like words carrying a bad omen.
I had returned to my quarters and was talking with Wi Seol-ah. The atmosphere wasn't particularly different from usual.
I had already sent a servant to deliver a message to the annex where Nangong Bia was staying.
It was because there was some time left after eating.
I had Wi Seol-ah sit in front of the porch and was fiddling with her hair while she giggled and ate sweet rice crackers.
"You have twin braids today?"
"My sister did it for me. It's pretty so I like it."
Wi Seol-ah's hairstyle changes every day. Because the servants style Wi Seol-ah's hair however they feel like each day.
Today must be a twin braid day.
As I was touching the smooth hair tied on both sides, Wi Seol-ah leaned her back against me and nestled into my embrace.
I naturally stroked Wi Seol-ah's cheek. Wi Seol-ah didn't particularly refuse either.
"Hm?"
As I was touching those soft cheeks, the sensation coming to my hand was quite different from before.
"Did you lose weight?"
"Huh?"
Even if her original cheeks didn't completely fill my hand, they didn't feel this empty. Wi Seol-ah's cheeks now felt noticeably thinner than before.
'Come to think of it...'
I grabbed Wi Seol-ah's arm with my hand. Looking at it that way, it was certain. She had lost weight.
Just a few months ago, she had gained weight nicely and looked cute, but now her jawline was starting to show little by little.
"...What."
Did her eating amount decrease? For that to be the case, I saw her completely fill her rice bowl for all three meals today.
She's even eating the sweet crackers I gave her deliciously right now, isn't she? Wi Seol-ah asks me at my subtle reaction.
"Young Master, what's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
...Why did she lose so much weight? Is she secretly exercising?
Just in case, I expanded my qi sense and examined Wi Seol-ah's body, but my qi wasn't contained in her body.
Nothing at all. Wi Seol-ah's body was still an empty vessel that contained nothing.
At least it didn't seem like martial arts, so was she just exercising?
Or... could it be that she's losing weight rapidly because she's in a growth period? She does seem to have grown a bit taller.
Even for me, I've grown considerably in height since this year. Of course, that's compared to last year.
'...I'm not particularly expecting though.'
Since there was the height I reached in my past life, I wasn't expecting to grow incredibly tall at this point. First of all, in Wi Seol-ah's case, while losing weight made her beauty more refined, the loss of that plumpness made her unique cuteness feel somewhat diminished.
"I need to feed you more."
"Huh...?"
"Never mind, nothing."
If she loses weight, I just need to fill her up again. As I steadied my mind with that thought, a servant approached me.
"Young Master. The Second Elder has come."
"The Second Elder?"
As soon as I heard the message, a large man approached this way. It was the Second Elder with a somewhat stiff expression.
[No matter how many times I look at that bulk, I just can't get used to it.]
'Considering you're a person of the Huashan Sect, does such a body seem strange to you?'
[What kind of dog-shit nonsense is that? Huashan is a Daoist sect, what does that muscle lump have to do with it...]
...
Does he really not know? My head was starting to ache a little, so I erased the thought from my mind.
I immediately asked the Second Elder.
"Second Elder, has something happened?"
His expression was quite poor. For a man who always goes around laughing heartily.
"Yangcheon."
"Yes."
"It seems a problem has arisen."
"A problem?"
I slightly adjusted my posture at the Second Elder's words. If the Second Elder was saying that much, it meant something had happened.
As I changed my gaze, the Second Elder opened his mouth with a sigh.
"They say the Nangong Family Head and the First Elder are having a separate conversation."
"...What does that suddenly mean?"
It was a remark that came out too abruptly. The First Elder and Nangong Jin? What kind of unheard-of combination was this.
"Where did you hear such a thing?"
"Ahem, this old man also has eyes and ears."
"People normally have eyes and ears... I understand, so please put down your fist, I was just joking."
I quickly corrected my words as he immediately looked ready to flick me on the head when I tried to joke around.
"...Do you know how bad of a situation this is?"
"However bad it is, how bad could it be..."
I just let out a scoff.
Seeing the Second Elder looking this urgent, it seemed like there might be a problem, but.
Recalling what the First Elder wanted, I didn't think things would go in the direction that old man desired.
'Does he desire the family head position that much?'
From my perspective, that was even more curious. What was so desirable about a hollow position. Did the seat my father sits in and the seat I would sit in look that lofty?
I'm not sure about the First Elder, but that isn't a throne. Does it look like my father is clinging to the position so desperately? From what I can see, he wants to step down more than anyone, but can't.
If the First Elder has a problem, it's that he's blinded by position and desire and fails to notice a very simple fact.
If the Second Elder could figure this out, there's no way my father wouldn't know. Knowing, he's neither stopping the First Elder's actions nor bothering to bring it up.
Could it be that the First Elder doesn't have any expectation about this reason?
'...That human is also excessively devoted anyway.'
I acknowledge the effort of the First Elder who lived his whole life for the Gu family.
But the belief he sought was wrong, and the position and meaning he wanted to obtain were distorted.
Knowing what kind of ending the First Elder met in his past life, I could only see this as futile thrashing.
'Snake-like old man.'
A conversation between those two.
Only after hearing the information could I clearly understand the slightly ambiguous part.
The reason Nangong Jin came all the way to the Gu family to have a conversation and tried to take Nangong Bia back.
It seemed the First Elder was involved in that purpose.
'No wonder he was so quiet.'
After selling out Gu Jeol-yeop last time, he hadn't shown any movement, so I was paying less attention...
It seemed he hadn't been doing nothing.
"It feels like I got hit in the back of the head."
"Did something happen?"
"I went through all the trouble of having a big fight with the Nangong elders and even brought about an engagement, but it seems the Family Head has a different mind, that's the problem."
"...I actually wanted to ask about that. How on earth did you do it?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the engagement with the Nangong family."
It wasn't just any other place, but the Nangong main family. It should be a haughty place that doesn't associate with just anyone. I didn't understand why they could have an engagement not with a collateral line, but with the Family Head's direct blood relative.
Not to mention I have a history of a broken engagement, and most of the rumors about me known to the world are bad ones. There was no way the Nangong family would have easily accepted this.
At my question, the Second Elder made a contemplating expression for a moment, then said to me.
"If you know, you'll get hurt."
The Second Elder's expression was grinning. That was definitely an expression teasing me, but I didn't want to ask any further. Somehow, it felt like it wasn't a normal method.
"Anyway, if things turn out this way, we'll have to use some measure."
"What measure are you talking about..."
"Ahem! How do you know how things will turn out that you're so calm!"
"No, then what are you going to do. It's not like you're going to negotiate with the Nangong Family Head, and you're not going to fight with the Nangong elders again, are you?"
...
"Huh?"
'Huh?'... Why the admiration...?
...
As if my anxiety wasn't false, the Second Elder immediately rose to his feet.
"Yangcheon, that's quite a brilliant idea for you. I'll be back shortly."
"Ah, where are you going. Second Elder, wait, wait a moment and calm down. Where are you suddenly going in the middle of the night, let's first slowly and rationally... No, I said don't go!"
I tried to urgently grab him, but the Second Elder left behind a spark and disappeared from before my eyes in an instant.
I tried to grab him even by putting my internal qi on the line, but it was already after his presence had disappeared.
"Th...This crazy old man...!"
To think that even after reaching the state of realization, I couldn't easily grab even one Second Elder.
"He's not really going to the Nangong main family, right?"
No way, he wouldn't really have that kind of crazy action force.
Even if he really went, what could he do there?
'...I hate that I'm breaking out in a cold sweat thinking this.'
Because that crazy old man really seemed like he would do it.
What kind of backing does he have that he can act like that consistently.
...
Ah.
I let out a deep sigh and finally stood up. It seemed about time, and I realized that staying still would be a bad idea.
As I moved, Wi Seol-ah, who had been leaning against me and lightly dozing, rubbed her eyes and asked.
"Young Master, are you going out?"
"It seems I have to."
"Should I come with you?"
"How do you know where I'm going that you'll come with me?"
"Anywhere is fine..."
I messed up Wi Seol-ah's hair with my hand as she spoke while trying to hold back a yawn.
"Go get some sleep somewhere before Hongwa comes looking for you. I'll be back soon."
"Mm..."
She answered in her half-asleep state, then unable to overcome her drowsiness, she flopped down onto the porch.
From what I could see, she'd probably get dragged off by Hongwa like that.
After seeing that much, I suppressed my annoyance and moved my steps.
In the meantime, Sin Noya spat out words at me.
[...It seems there's not a single sane person among the Gu family men.]
'I agree. Except for me, they're all just...'
[Stop with the useless talk and just go.]
'...'
I sheepishly clamped my mouth shut.