Tale of the Silver Dragon - Episode 53
Chapter 14. What Happened in Beijing
The group led by Jehwa, having set out from Taiyuan in Shanxi, began heading toward Liaoning at a rapid pace.
Along the way, they happened to briefly stop by the capital, Beijing.
"So incredibly magnificent~"
While sightseeing at the Forbidden City in Beijing, Iseolhye muttered blankly.
"What's with you, like some country bumpkin?"
Sawollin said, looking at Iseolhye like that.
"It is magnificent."
"That's true, but it's not to the point where you should be staring blankly like that."
Sawollin had grown up seeing quite a lot of such magnificent buildings ever since she was young.
The Cult Leader's Palace of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, while not as grand as the Forbidden City, was tremendously magnificent.
Right now, Iseolhye was the only one marveling at the Forbidden City here.
As mentioned above, Sawollin was somewhat accustomed to magnificent buildings, and Jehwa was not someone who would normally pay attention to such things.
And Hong Yuhwa, being a demon, was none other than a princess of the Yeomak Demon Kingdom in the Demon Realm.
She was someone who lived in an immense castle that couldn't even be compared to the Forbidden City.
To compare the two would be rude in itself.
Just as Iseolhye was about to voice her dissatisfaction at their reactions...
"Out of the way! Out of the way!"
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Along with the sound of a horse running, a sudden piercing female voice was heard.
"What?"
At that voice, Jehwa turned his head with an annoyed expression.
There, a girl on horseback was charging toward the spot where Jehwa's group was.
"Waaaah! Get out of the way there!"
The girl on the horse shouted with a panicked expression, and Jehwa said,
"Do we have to move?"
"No way."
At Jehwa's nonchalant question, Hong Yuhwa shrugged and shook her head.
"Move!"
"The hell do you mean, 'no way'?!"
Sawollin and Iseolhye, who had dodged aside earlier, yelled in anger.
"Hmph!"
Hearing them, Hong Yuhwa snorted lightly and waved her hand.
Fwooooosh!
A sudden gust of wind sent the girl flying.
"Kyaa!"
Watching the screaming girl, Jehwa muttered blankly,
"Oh, she flew!"
"You get the horse."
After telling Jehwa that, Hong Yuhwa leaped through the air and caught the girl in her arms. Jehwa, meanwhile, watched the horse still running madly, tilted his head, then smiled brightly and instantly dashed to climb onto the horse's back. And he pulled the reins.
Hiiiiiiing!
The horse stopped due to Jehwa's overwhelming strength, and Hong Yuhwa, holding the girl, lightly landed on the ground.
"Uuugh... Huh?"
The girl, who had squeezed her eyes shut and braced for pain, realized in that moment she was in someone's embrace and gently opened her eyes.
"Huh?"
And seeing Hong Yuhwa holding her, her eyes went wide.
"What's with this reckless brat?"
Hong Yuhwa spoke with a sullen face, sighing deeply as she looked at the girl.
But she was hardly one to talk.
A moment later, Hong Yuhwa gently placed the girl down on the ground.
"What kind of horse do you drive that madly? Do you want to die?"
"I-I'm sorry...."
The girl, intimidated by Hong Yuhwa's momentum, mumbled an answer to her when....
Hiiiiiiing!
The horse went wild again, rampaging to throw Jehwa off its back.
"Ahahahaha!"
Regardless of the horse's rampage, Jehwa simply smiled innocently, finding something amusing.
That muscular horse looked like quite a fine steed.
Watching Jehwa innocently enjoying the horse's rampage, Hong Yuhwa tapped her own head with a finger and said a word.
"Noisy."
At that sound, the horse flinched and immediately stopped its rampage.
"Huh, what? It's already over? How boring, buck a little more."
Seeing the horse suddenly stop moving, Jehwa frowned and tried hitting it with his fist and pulling the reins, but the horse merely trembled all over.
"Did you do this?"
"It was noisy, so I made it shut up."
If they were not high-level intelligent beings close to demons, ordinary creatures would often lose their will to fight just from a demon's demonic energy. In other words, the horse Jehwa was riding had also been intimidated by Hong Yuhwa's aura.
At Hong Yuhwa's words, Jehwa made a bored expression and got down from the horse.
"Your Highness!"
Then, a voice was heard from somewhere.
Everyone's gaze turned in the direction of the voice.
There, ten warriors dressed in imperial yellow clothes began running toward where Jehwa was.
"Jinyiwei?"
Sawollin made a bewildered expression seeing them and looked at the girl.
"Could it be... the princess of this country?"
"Ehehehe!"
At Sawollin's words, the girl—the princess of the Ming Dynasty—laughed awkwardly.
"Thank you for saving the Princess."
The tallest-looking middle-aged man among the ten Jinyiwei came forward and greeted them on behalf of the group.
"What kind of princess is such a tomboy?"
As if you're one to talk.
Anyway, Hong Yuhwa was uncommonly using honorifics with a human.
In truth, she was thinking to herself, 'Why do I have to use honorifics with a human!' but she knew all too well that failing to do so would cause quite a troublesome affair.
Of course, there was one person here who wouldn't care even if they knew that.
"That brat is the princess?"
"How rude!"
"What's rude about it?"
Watching Jehwa openly and brazenly pointing his finger at the girl, one of the Jinyiwei shouted in anger.
But Jehwa merely made an annoyed expression.
"Every now and then, weaklings always spout nonsense about being rude."
"Urk! I am a Jinyiwei of the Imperial Palace!"
Jinyiwei of the Imperial Palace were not to be casually disregarded even by martial artists. Their skill was at least at the level of a first-rate warrior.
But from Jehwa's perspective, they were merely frail humans who could be easily killed with a wave of a hand.
"Just call the weak weak!"
When Jehwa snorted and spoke, the Jinyiwei's faces contorted mercilessly.
"Stop."
In the end, the princess Ju Yuye, unable to watch anymore, calmed the Jinyiwei down.
"Young Hero, I am the princess of this country. If you act recklessly, you could cause a great incident."
"So what? Is being a princess everything?"
Jehwa, who could more or less be said to have almost no concept of life, acted recklessly even before the princess.
Indeed, Jehwa was someone who would act recklessly even before the Emperor.
At Jehwa's words, Ju Yuye made an awkward expression.
"Urk, this fellow really!"
"This kid grew up only in the mountains, so he doesn't know anything. Please forgive him with a magnanimous heart."
Hong Yuhwa hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
"If he is someone who lived in the mountains, it is understandable. Everyone, please calm down."
"B-But, Your Highness."
The Jinyiwei made bewildered expressions at Ju Yuye's words, but they did not dare refuse her.
-You are quite different from the Princess.
Then, Heukhwa's voice was heard by Hong Yuhwa's ear, and at those words, her face contorted mercilessly.
"Shut up."
Everyone's gaze turned to Hong Yuhwa, who suddenly barked at the empty air.
"What are you doing?"
When Jehwa asked with a somewhat dumbfounded expression, Hong Yuhwa laughed awkwardly and said,
"A-ah, no, it's nothing."
Having said that, Hong Yuhwa ground her teeth inwardly.
'Karbarkern... Just you wait until later.'
Karbarkern meant black flame, and it was Heukhwa's true name.
***
Having parted with the princess's group, Jehwa's group decided to stay at the Golden Tower, the most famous inn in Beijing.
The group led by Jehwa ended up renting an entire building to stay in.
"If we go a little further, we'll be in Liaoning."
"Yeah, there's not much left."
Hong Yuhwa nodded at Sawollin's words.
"But why are you going to Gaizhou? There shouldn't be anyone living there?"
Hong Yuhwa smirked, looking at Sawollin who asked cautiously.
"Why, are you scared?"
"S-scared, as if!"
Sawollin shouted back at Hong Yuhwa's words.
"It's just, I'm a bit puzzled, that's all."
At those words, Hong Yuhwa, who had been silent, let out a deep sigh.
"The guy who killed all the humans in Gaizhou, Liaoning, and the guy who annihilated the Chu clan are in the same group."
"Wait, what do you mean, the guy who killed all the people in Gaizhou?"
"The one who killed all the people in Gaizhou wasn't a group, but a single person."
At those words, Sawollin and Iseolhye made expressions of shock.
"I-is that even possible?"
"Just look at me or Jehwa. We have that kind of power, don't we?"
"N-no! That's not it. How can a human do such a crazy thing? Are you saying they have no hesitation at all about killing people?"
"Those guys are people who wouldn't even blink an eye at killing everyone in this Central Plains martial world."
Hong Yuhwa frowned at Sawollin's words and spoke.
"...."
When Sawollin and Iseolhye made vacant expressions, Hong Yuhwa opened her mouth again with a sullen face.
"Killing those guys is the reason I came here."
Sawollin and Iseolhye vaguely knew well that Hong Yuhwa was not a person from the Central Plains.
"Come to think of it, you said you weren't from the Central Plains? Then... then...."
As Sawollin trailed off, Hong Yuhwa smiled and said,
"That's right. Jehwa isn't from this world either."
"B-but that kid has lived in a village since he was five? All those people died by the Blood Cult, so he came out to take revenge."
"That was the reason he wanted to take revenge on the Blood Cult? That kid, really... He doesn't seem like it, but he's too kind, both in the past and now."
Watching Hong Yuhwa click her tongue and mutter, Sawollin spoke.
"Somehow... it seems like you know Jehwa's past from before he was five?"
"Aaah, it's complicated to explain. And you wouldn't believe me anyway."
"But you said Jehwa definitely wasn't a master of Reverting to Youth."
Hong Yuhwa smirked, looking at Iseolhye who muttered blankly.
"Of course not. That kid's age is probably indeed eighteen."
'But that other guy's age is definitely not eighteen.'
Swallowing the latter words, she stared blankly at the night sky.
'Come to think of it, Jehwa back then really is different from Jehwa now.'
That was why she had met him again and fallen for him.
Hong Yuhwa smirked.