Chapter 427: Long Time No See (2)
About three days had passed.
By and by, we had left the mountains and forests behind, and villages with people were gradually coming into view.
It was about time a sense of relief settled in everyone’s hearts.
Since our purpose was transport, it had been a journey where we constantly maintained our guard in preparation for potential ambushes.
Now that we had arrived in the region where Dangmun’s influence extended, there would be no issues with the transport.
These were people who hadn’t had a day to relax their expressions, yet now everyone wore looks of relief.
They exchanged pointless banter.
Claiming they were conserving their strength, they even held sparring matches that they normally wouldn’t with one another.
As expected, watching a fight was fun; there was quite a thrill to spectating.
Every time I saw this, I could tell the journey was nearing its end.
However.
Unlike the ease everyone felt,
the problem was that I, on the contrary, harbored an even more complicated state of mind.
*Creak.*
I tried circulating my internal energy through my body.
The internal energy escaping from my dantian passed through various parts of my body.
‘Tsk.’
I had been steadily examining my body’s condition, but there was no real progress.
This was a problem that arose after hatching the Red Water Snake from the demon stone.
The internal energy that had leaked out then was gradually recovering, but the speed was far too slow.
It wasn’t only me who had realized this; Paejon was the same.
When it began to interfere with my training, I got an earful, him asking what kind of mess I was getting into at my age.
‘Damn it.’
Getting scolded at this age.
The sense of shame was no joke.
*Hsss…*
As if it knew I was in a bad mood, the snake poked its head out from my sleeve and observed me.
“What are you looking at? My plans are all ruined because of you. What are you going to do about it?”
*Hsss…*
As if it understood, the creature licked my finger with its tongue as though apologizing.
Watching that, I let out sigh after sigh.
‘Good grief, what a headache.’
Here I was, taking out my anger on a demonic beast—I was quite a sight. Since I had hatched it of my own will in the first place, it was rather strange to blame only the creature.
I pressed my throbbing forehead and looked outside the window frame.
The carriage was still running, and the scenery changed without cease.
Watching that, I thought about what lay ahead.
Before long, we would arrive at Dangmun.
When that happened.
‘First, I’ll go eat the White Horse Stone.’
Originally, after arriving at Dangmun and unpacking, I had to follow Jamryong to see Wudang Guaixian,
and after that, I had to follow Pae Ucheol to visit the Pae Family as well.
The plan had been to finish all of this first and then obtain the White Horse Stone, but
now I had to make the White Horse Stone my top priority.
‘My body’s condition is no joke.’
More than a physical problem, my internal state was the issue.
The fact that the energy that had dropped all at once wasn’t recovering was one thing.
Because of this, there were major issues with using Tuapacheonmu and martial arts.
‘Ngh…’
On top of that, I couldn’t even sort out the instability that had arisen upon reaching the Hwagyeong amidst the rapidly changing situation.
For now, the priority was to eat the White Horse Stone and fill my body with energy.
*Hsss.*
The Red Water Snake flicked its tongue repeatedly and stared at me.
“What, punk?”
This snake had nothing better to do when it came out than this.
*Sha?*
Tilting its head while looking at me, or flicking its tongue.
I guess this was its daily routine.
“This is actually better.”
Better than one that would growl and whine about being hungry,
or an old man chattering noisily all the time; at least this one just stared.
If it were the type to suck out my energy just because it was hungry, I would have thrown it away immediately.
At least this one didn’t deplete my energy.
It merely coveted demonic beast meat occasionally.
‘Strange fellow.’
It didn’t eat regular food at all; it only ate demonic beast meat.
Demonic beasts would normally eat anything in sight without discrimination, so I didn’t know why this one was so picky.
‘I suppose I should consider this a good thing.’
It would be troublesome if it ate demon stones, so it was better that it ate meat instead.
Since demonic beast meat was what came out while hunting demon stones anyway.
And it didn’t whine about being hungry.
One day it was all droopy, and I wondered why; turns out it was hungry.
Since it didn’t ask for food, I didn’t even know it was hungry.
‘It’s not like I’ve ever raised a demonic beast before.’
I hadn’t even raised an ordinary beast, let alone a demonic one, so this was something I hadn’t known.
“Couldn’t you tell me because you were watching my mood?”
*Hsss…*
Its appearance of hanging its head low as if intimidated was quite bothersome.
It reminded me of how I couldn’t ask for food even when I was hungry.
‘…Annoying.’
Every time that happened, irritation suddenly surged up.
Because it looked so similar to my past self, it put me in a very foul mood.
“Speak up next time. I’ll feed you while I’m at it anyway.”
*Sha.*
I wasn’t going out to find food for it; I was just feeding it while eating the demon stones.
It wasn’t my intention to raise it.
I nodded my head while thinking that.
The creature, perhaps in a good mood, began flicking its tongue even faster.
Looking at that, I made a face of disgust and waved my arm.
“Ah, come on! You’re getting saliva on me!”
When I shouted sharply, the creature was startled and slipped back into my sleeve.
Is this brat really a demonic beast? Why is it so timid?
As I was wiping the saliva off my hand, a voice came from above the carriage.
“Oh! Looks like we’re almost there!”
It was the voice of Baekryeongeom, who had been lying on top of my carriage.
I didn’t know why she would abandon a comfortable carriage to do that on the roof, but at that voice, I poked my head out the window.
Then, I could see something in the distance.
Looking at it, I slightly furrowed my brow.
“Seriously… it was ridiculously long.”
Had it been spring when we first set out?
Now that it was time to arrive, it was already summer.
A coincidence?
I think it had been summer when I came a few years ago, too.
It happened to be the exact same season.
Recalling that, I let out a short laugh.
Back then, my body had at best been third-rate, but within a few years it had reached the Hwagyeong, and my reputation spread across the Central Plains had changed considerably.
Should I say I was filled with new emotions?
‘That’s not it.’
I was merely acutely aware that time had passed.
I leaned my body heavily against the back of the chair and regulated my breathing.
Finally, after finishing the journey of several months,
I arrived at the county where the Sichuan Dangmun was located.
******************
I remembered when I had come to Sichuan to find the secret vault of the Geumcheon Family.
It had been a time of many incidents, so forgetting would have been strange.
In addition to discovering Wi Seol-a hiding in the carriage when we set out.
It was then that I had first met Namgung Bia in this life.
How surprised I had been when I saw Namgung Bia’s face.
Inwardly, I had been shocked, wondering what that crazy woman was doing here.
In a way, hadn’t that been when many things began to change?
It had also been when my relationship with Wi Seol-a began to change in earnest.
And it had been when my relationship with Namgung Bia changed in a completely different direction.
The flow that had been changing little by little had begun to shift greatly.
That time must indeed have been when I set foot on Sichuan soil.
*Groan.*
A massive gate opened.
It was a gate that looked twice the size of an ordinary person. Compared to the Gu Family’s gate, it was considerably large.
The gate of our house was a size where even Iljang-ro or Father had to lower their heads to pass through.
As the gate opened, inside there were densely packed people lined up in a row.
“We congratulate the Patriarch on his return.”
—Congratulations!
The moment the Poison King appeared, cheers erupted instantly.
…Wow.
Seeing all the retainers come out, clapping and cheering repeatedly. What was this, I wondered….
‘What kind of spectacle is this?’
Roughly, that was all I could think.
Even the people who should be busy working had all come out; what was the point of this?
Seeing the reactions of the Poison King and Dang Soyeol, it seemed like a natural thing, but.
This was natural…?
‘Maybe I’m not used to it because Father always keeps things modest.’
Seeing that neither Moyong Hui-a’s nor Namgung Bia’s expressions changed much either, it seemed most other great families welcomed people like this.
*Crack.*
As I walked, I heard a strange sound.
It was the sound of Dang Deok clenching his fist violently.
After confirming it, I immediately sent a telepathic message.
‘Relax your hand.’
Upon hearing my order, Dang Deok trembled and unclenched his hand.
Since this was the den of his enemies, such a reaction was natural, but it was none of my business.
If he was caught making trouble, it would be a problem, so I had to keep him in line.
‘Maybe I should have told him to wait outside if I’d known this would happen.’
We were already here anyway; what could be done?
Turning my gaze away from Dang Deok and looking to the front again, several white-haired elders had come out to face the Poison King.
‘They must be the Elders.’
They seemed to be the Elders of Dangmun after all.
“We congratulate the Patriarch on his return.”
The Poison King nodded lightly at the Elders’ greeting.
Watching that, I could tell one thing.
‘It seems the Poison King’s power is strong.’
I could tell that the Patriarchal standing the Poison King held was quite outstanding.
Because in great families, if the Council of Elders held power, the attitude of the Elders or the Patriarch wouldn’t be like that.
For example, the Namgung Family tended to have strong Elders.
‘To be precise, it is the power of the Heavenly Venerable that is strong.’
The Absolute One is not the Patriarch.
The Namgung Clan was the place where the problems arising from that were most severe.
‘Since it is Dangmun, that process might be a bit milder, but…’
It wasn’t a place that focused its influence entirely on commerce like the Moyong Clan.
But Dangmun was no less influential.
The martial family of iron.
Dangmun was the one supplying the highest quality ironware across the entire Central Plains.
Because of this, everyone knew that Dangmun’s influence was not merely martial might.
Setting that aside for now.
‘I want to go inside quickly.’
First, I wanted to unpack my things and rest a bit.
I was somewhat exhausted both mentally and physically, so I needed to rest comfortably at least on the day of arrival.
Just when I was wondering when that welcoming ceremony would end.
“This is ridiculously long. When is it going to end?”
At someone’s muttered words, the group in the back flinched and looked that way.
There was someone who spoke aloud the exact same words as my inner thoughts.
She really said that? I thought she had incredible guts, and indeed.
It was Baekryeongeom.
‘That woman is definitely crazy.’
To actually say that in this atmosphere.
Even I couldn’t do such a thing.
“I’m starving to death. Ugh….”
“Auntie, please….”
As Baekryeongeom let out repeated sighs, I could see Moyong Hui-a beside her trying to stop her with flushed ears.
Honestly, it was a bit refreshing.
While Moyong Hui-a was continuously trying to stop Baekryeongeom, I looked at the Poison King.
It seemed about time for the conversation to end.
Then, when someone from the Elder faction added a word, the Poison King’s shoulder flinched slightly.
It seemed some important words had been exchanged.
*Swish.*
When the Poison King raised one hand, the cheering that had been bursting around us instantly quieted down.
If he could end it like that, he should have done so from the start.
I looked at him with dissatisfaction, and the Poison King turned his head this way and spoke.
“The journey here must have been arduous; you have worked hard.”
The atmosphere of his words, spoken with his hands clasped behind his back as if welcoming us, was somewhat heavy.
“I have already prepared rooms for our guests, so please rest well today, and how about we meet at the banquet when the sun sets?”
A banquet.
It wasn’t something I was very interested in.
If he was saying it that officially, he meant that missing it was not an option.
Unlike the grand welcoming ceremony, the ending was rather anticlimactic.
The Poison King asked for our understanding and disappeared somewhere with the Elders,
and the remaining party members headed to their assigned quarters under the guidance of the retainers.