Chapter 475 - For You, Forgotten by Oblivion.
"...Who goes there?"
The voice of Shin Noya, asking with furrowed brows, spread in all directions.
"What...?"
What the hell is this old man saying?
At that completely unexpected remark, my mouth fell open before I knew it.
Compared to the mountain of complaints I’d had for Dang Jemun only moments before,
the single line Noya spat out had made me forget all those words.
"Noya...?"
"Hm? Is that someone you know?"
Whether aware of my bewilderment or not, Noya looked at me instead and frowned.
"Another woman, tsk tsk. Seems your habit of revealing them hasn’t changed. That, too."
Noya’s gaze drifted toward Dang Jemun’s chest.
"Ahem...."
"...Noya."
Has he really gone mad?
What is this old man doing right now?
Setting aside that he doesn’t recognize Dang Jemun,
for a man calling himself a Daoist to stare at a woman’s chest and blush.
It was an absurd situation on many levels.
"...What are you doing, Noya."
"Ahem... what do you mean?"
As if aware of his own embarrassment, he repeatedly coughed dryly and avoided my gaze.
Though his appearance was somewhat amusing, the situation was so incomprehensible that I had to speak up first.
"You don't know who that person is?"
"How am I to know such a woman?"
"No way...."
Just as I was wondering what was going on at Noya’s words,
*Hehe...*
A laugh was heard from where Dang Jemun sat in the distance.
Dang Jemun quietly laughed, covering her mouth, as if greatly amused.
"Hm?"
Shin Noya, confirming that appearance, widened his eyes as if realizing something.
Seeing that, I too was inwardly relieved.
Right, it makes no sense that he wouldn’t recognize her.
Just as I was thinking that and about to nod,
"You... could you be Jehui?"
"Huh?"
A random name popped out of Noya’s mouth.
Jehui? What Jehui?
Even at Noya’s words, Dang Jemun didn’t answer and merely smiled.
"Jemun’s younger sibling. Right? So you’re here too."
"..."
Hm.
Watching Noya speak as if delighted, I thought:
Where do I even start with this?
'...Jehui? As in, Dang Jehui?'
If the older brother is Dang Jemun, the younger sister would be Dang Jehui... I wondered if such a hastily made-up name even existed.
'No, that's not what's important.'
I had a strange thought for a moment, swept up in the situation, but that wasn't what mattered.
"Noya, what on earth are you talking about...? That's not Senior Dang Jemun?"
"Hm?"
When I pointed at Dang Jemun and asked, this time Noya made a strange expression and spat words at me.
"You are the one talking nonsense. How does that woman look anything like Dang Jemun to you?"
"Huh? Well, that's because...."
"You did this before too, what sort of nonsense are you spouting...."
At my words, Shin Noya scowled deeply and spoke again.
"Jemun has been a man from the very beginning. What filthy things are you saying...."
"..."
At Noya’s absurd words, this time I furrowed my brows and looked at Dang Jemun.
...What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Dang Jemun is a man? I looked at Dang Jemun with eyes wide in shock.
How on earth does that look like a man?
It was a physique absolutely impossible to achieve even if one were crossdressing.
Despite our continuous words, the woman presumed to be Dang Jemun merely smiled.
For some reason, that smile was full of longing.
After a brief moment, the woman rose from where she was sitting.
And then, looking at Noya, she spoke.
"It’s been a while, Brother Cheol."
Brother?
The term of address seemed somewhat different.
I made a subtle expression, but Noya’s face brightened upon hearing it.
"As expected...! So you are Jehui."
The hearty laugh made it seem as if he had decided to remember Dang Jemun.
Those words—did they mean she really wasn’t Dang Jemun? Just as I was thinking that, wondering why she had called herself Dang Jemun,
"So you really are Jehui, Jemun’s younger sist—"
"You still haven’t got a clue, I see."
"Hm?"
'Huh?'
Just as Dang Jemun slowly moved toward Shin Noya, a drastic change occurred in her body.
Because with each step Dang Jemun took, her body began to grow larger.
Her height increased little by little, and her frame grew broader.
"...Uh... uhhh?"
Furthermore, the bewilderment in Shin Noya’s voice grew as he watched.
Having gradually built up their bulk, Dang Jemun pulled their hair back and tied it up tight.
Pushing a bold, incomparable physique toward Shin Noya, they spoke.
"Do you understand now?"
Dang Jemun’s voice had changed, and of course, so had their manner of speaking.
'Wow.'
My mouth fell open the moment I saw it.
Dang Jemun was as tall as Shin Noya, and possessed a frame reminiscent of the warriors from the Hwangbo or Paeng families.
And how deep their voice was. It was among the lowest voices I had ever heard.
'What the hell is that.'
Where had the slender, beautiful woman I’d seen just moments ago gone?
In her place stood a hulking man intimidating enough to make anyone flinch.
As expected, I wasn’t the only one surprised; Noya looked at Dang Jemun with his mouth agape, letting out a trembling voice.
"Jemun...?"
Judging by Shin Noya’s reaction, it seemed that appearance was indeed Dang Jemun’s true form.
'...Then what the hell?'
My head grew complicated.
They had said that the feminine appearance was Dang Jemun’s younger sister.
If this was Dang Jemun’s true form...
'...Who?'
Which side is real?
Is the woman called Dang Jehui the real one?
Or is the current form of Dang Jemun the real one?
As such bizarre thoughts raced through my mind,
"You...."
Shin Noya looked at Dang Jemun without relaxing his furrowed brows.
"Were you using the Energy Body Metamorphosis Technique?"
Energy Body Metamorphosis Technique? I perked up my ears at Noya’s words.
Because it was the first time I had heard the name of that technique.
Additionally, Dang Jemun, having heard Noya’s words, smirked and nodded slightly.
"So... you have been deceiving us all this time."
"Wrong."
Dang Jemun spoke firmly at Noya’s words.
"I only deceived you."
"What...?"
At Dang Jemun’s words, Noya’s eyes widened.
His eyes were full of questions as to why he alone had been deceived.
To that, Dang Jemun replied in a composed voice.
"Because you alone were fooled. My other friends have known for a long time."
"...Huh?"
"..."
Listening in, I felt utterly mortified.
'Energy Body Metamorphosis Technique.'
From the name alone, it seemed to be a type of martial art that transformed the body, but I had never heard of a martial art that could change it so naturally.
In the first place, it wouldn’t be easy to change such a slender, womanly physique into the thick, rugged body of a man.
Perhaps if it were a martial artist who had trained in the Reverse Metamorphosis Technique to the extreme, but there was no way an expert of the Dang family like Dang Jemun would have solely trained in the Reverse Metamorphosis Technique.
'What the hell?'
While I was feeling a bit of interest in that unidentifiable ability,
"Th-then...."
At Dang Jemun’s words, Noya asked in a trembling voice.
"...What about Jehui?"
Recalling the woman’s appearance that he had believed to be Dang Jemun’s younger sister until now, he asked.
Dang Jemun smirked and said.
"I’m sorry, but I am an only child, Sin Cheol."
"Hueeegh...!!"
At Dang Jemun’s words, Shin Noya collapsed as if receiving a massive shock.
At that sight, I let out a dry cough inwardly.
Well, after all....
'He'd react like that upon learning his friend was actually a woman.'
I thought that if I suddenly heard that Jamyong was actually a woman, I’d probably react similarly.
'What’s funnier is that he’s the only one who didn’t notice.'
Everyone in the group had apparently noticed Dang Jemun was a woman; only Shin Noya hadn’t known her gender.
Even until he died.
'Furthermore.'
It must mean that the old man didn’t even know about the feelings Dang Jemun harbored for Noya.
Hearing that was absurd.
'After all that, who is he to call someone else clueless?'
Seeing the man who had always berated me for being clueless acting like that was absurd on many levels.
After Shin Noya had remained in shock for a long while, Dang Jemun, watching him, seemed to relax her body, and her physique began to revert.
The muscles that looked about to burst her clothes shrank.
She returned to the peerless beauty from before.
'...It’s amazing no matter how many times I see it.'
How can someone change so drastically?
As I looked at her with interest,
"You!"
Shin Noya suddenly shouted at Dang Jemun.
"All this time... then! You mean to say you’ve been deceiving me!"
Watching Shin Noya shout as if wronged, Dang Jemun bit her lip slightly.
"...I’m sorry...."
As her body changed, her manner of speech had returned as well.
"I had my reasons too...."
"And to think you’re still looking at me in that form...! You damn bastard...!!"
"Huh?"
Just as Dang Jemun was about to spit out words like an excuse, I too tilted my head at Shin Noya’s words.
Because the feeling of what he was saying was somehow different.
"Are you saying you’ll mock me even in death...!?"
"Sin Cheol... what do you mean...?"
When Dang Jemun looked at Shin Noya as if to ask what he meant,
Noya pointed his finger at Dang Jemun and shouted.
"You made up a nonexistent Jehui, pretending to be your younger sister to bewitch me...! And now I find out it was all a joke after death...! You wicked wretch!"
"..."
"..."
Ah.
So that's what this is about.
I realized while looking at Noya with a disgusted expression.
That man wasn’t even entertaining the thought that Dang Jemun was a woman.
No, even I had thought the female and male forms were so distinctly different that it would be understandable not to notice....
'Even so.'
Isn't that a bit too much?
As if I wasn’t the only one thinking that, Dang Jemun too pressed her fine fingers to her brow.
"...Hmm...."
From her murmur, I could tell she was worrying about how to handle this situation. Dang Jemun also seemed to have not expected Shin Noya to be in such a state.
Whether he knew it or not, Shin Noya just huffed and spat words at Dang Jemun.
"You wretched bastard...! Why the hell did you have to be so pretty. And your chest is just so...."
"...Sin Cheol."
"What!"
"Just drop dea... no, please step outside."
"What is this bastard saying...."
*Snap.*
The moment Dang Jemun spoke and lightly snapped her fingers,
*Huaaaak—!*
Suddenly, a translucent green membrane formed at Dang Jemun’s feet and gradually expanded in volume.
That membrane instantly grew in size and,
"What...!?"
pushing Shin Noya, who was in front, away, it expanded the space.
The amazing thing was that only Shin Noya was pushed out; Dang Jemun and I remained as we were.
*Bang bang—!*
As if frustrated by this, Shin Noya pounded the membrane with his fists and shouted something, but only the shape of his mouth could be seen; no sound came through.
'...An energy barrier? Something like that?'
It felt similar, but this was yet another unknown power.
"Sigh...."
I turned my head at the sigh.
There, Dang Jemun was heaving sighs as if exhausted.
"That foolish man... how can he remain so unchanged."
She spat out those words with thoroughly defeated eyes.
Watching that, I cautiously spoke.
"...Um... Senior?"
"Junior, please do not become a man like that."
"...Ah, yes."
I tried to say something, but her expression was so murderous that I had to clamp my mouth shut.
I should ask something else for now.
"...Just now, how did you do that?"
"What do you mean?"
"That. How you changed your gender...."
*Screech—!*
"Ah, you don't have to show me."
I spoke urgently, and Dang Jemun stopped changing her body and returned to normal.
"You are indeed a woman, right?"
"Yes."
I was relieved by the nonchalant answer. Thank goodness. If the male form had been the real one, I think I would have been quite shocked.
"Then why... why that form specifically?"
When I asked with a question in mind, Dang Jemun spoke as if it were no big deal.
"Because the family head cannot be a woman."
"...!"
The moment I heard Dang Jemun’s words, I nodded.
It was a far simpler reason than I had thought.
Of course in this era, and even in that era, given the position and prejudice a female family head faced, it was understandable.
However.
'For a martial artist of that level, gender shouldn’t matter.'
I didn't know the extent of Dang Jemun's realm or power, but from Shin Noya's atmosphere and feeling, it wouldn't be a stretch to compare him to the Three Lords.
If Dang Jemun was not so different, it didn't seem like she should be worrying about the position of family head over something as trivial as gender....
At that moment, as if she had noticed my meaning from my expression, Dang Jemun added a bit of explanation.
"At first, that was the intention..."
Dang Jemun’s expression as she spoke was full of an indescribable longing.
"As I teased that man, I lost the right time to tell him."
"...Huh?"
"Besides... since all the other companions had already caught on, I thought he might figure it out on his own someday...."
*Clang—!*
One of the teacups below split in half with a sharp sound.
I saw Dang Jemun clenching her fist and trembling.
"I didn't think he'd still be like this after death."
"..."
Shin Noya was proving to be incredible in many ways.
*Thud thud—!*
Whether he knew it was himself being discussed or not, Shin Noya was diligently pounding the barrier outside, but it still didn't have a single crack.
"Sigh... really...."
Dang Jemun, who had maintained her dignity, broke that mask and continued to sigh.
It was certainly amazing.
That such a feminine body and appearance could transform into such a robust man.
When my gaze was about to be drawn to Dang Jemun’s chest without realizing it,
"Junior."
"Y-yes!"
I flinched and answered at Dang Jemun's call.
My gaze control had been trained by Nangong Bia, yet I ended up like this after letting my guard down for a moment.
I gulped dryly.
I can't keep doing this.
I couldn't end up the same as that lecherous old man from Mount Hua.
I barely managed my gaze and looked only into Dang Jemun’s eyes.
They were a pale green far more brilliant than the eyes Dokbi had possessed before losing both.
What that meant was,
'Proof of being invulnerable to ten thousand poisons.'
That was what I had heard... but honestly, I didn't really know.
It was a state the Dokbi of a previous life had reached. Dang Jemun had likely done the same.
As I looked into her eyes, Dang Jemun slowly continued speaking.
"Have you spoken much with that fool?"
Before I knew it, her form of address had changed from Sin Cheol to "fool."
"Yes, I've spoken with him quite a bit."
I suppose that would be true, since I had spoken with him a lot before Shin Noya disappeared.
Though, in truth, I hadn't heard much about Noya himself.
As I was recalling this, Dang Jemun looked at me and asked.
"Was there no talk of me?"
"Ah, yes. There wasn't much talk of Senior... ah."
As I recalled talk about Dang Jemun, a figure Shin Noya had occasionally mentioned came to mind.
Perhaps that was why. I blurted it out without thinking.
"I had heard talk of the Murong family's young lady."
"Ha."
The moment she heard that, Dang Jemun's expression grew cold.
Seeing that, I inwardly nodded.
I think I'm screwed.
This feels like something I shouldn't have brought up.
As expected. Dang Jemun looked at me with cold eyes and spoke.
"So he did talk about the Murong young lady."
Desperately trying to smooth things over, I quickly added.
"No... th-that she was taken by the Noecheon Ilgeom, only that...."
"Taken? You mean Nangong Ming took her?"
The moment she heard my words, Dang Jemun’s eyes widened slightly, and not long after, she let out a hollow laugh.
"So you still think of it that way."
"Huh?"
"This is rather fortunate."
Dang Jemun smiled, the corners of her eyes curving gently.
Seeing that, I couldn't help but feel something chilling.
"I was going to tell you this too, but..."
Because the smile was brimming with a coldness unbefitting of laughter.
"Now I'll never tell you."
*Chuckle.*
Leaving Dang Jemun laughing quietly behind, from the space in the rear,
*bang bang—!*
only the sounds of Sin Cheol pounding in anger outside the barrier echoed.