Blood Ring
After hearing the whole truth from Namgung Cheon, Seomun Hwi returned to his room and fell into deep thought, wondering what sort of expression he ought to wear when he faced Cheongwol.
His only blood relative, the grandfather he had believed was all he had left, had in truth been the bitter enemy of his house.
It was a story hard to believe at first, and yet it did explain the strange behavior of Namgung Cheon and Dang Hyeongeuk.
And if Namgung Cheon’s words were true, there was some means by which Cheongwol could be proven, at once, to be blood of both the Namgung Clan and the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Seomun Hwi let out a short breath and shook his head.
What did it matter whether Cheongwol was the descendant of the Im Clan that had been branded a public enemy of the martial world, or the lost child of the Namgung Clan? In the end, she would belong to neither camp.
She would be the mistress of the Seomun Clan household.
He had never asked her consent, but Seomun Hwi believed with certainty that one day, she would be.
They had not crossed the final line, but it was no different from being joined in body already.
With that baseless confidence leaving his heart strangely clear, he opened the door.
The instant he did, he saw Cheongwol’s reddened eyes and her face, slightly flushed with what looked like anger.
He hurried to speak, thinking he had better offer some explanation, but it was useless.
A pillow, still carrying the lingering heat of last night, flew straight into his face.
---
“Can’t you forgive me just this once? I swear it won’t happen again.”
When Seomun Hwi hastily begged for forgiveness, Cheongwol stopped walking and shot him a sidelong glare.
“I told you, you don’t need to apologize.”
She had been feeling absurdly sensitive over something so trivial that she was embarrassed to death, and yet for some reason today he seemed determined to remain utterly clueless.
Just as Cheongwol was trying her best to shake Seomun Hwi off, Dang Hyeongeuk, who had appeared at some point, came toward them.
“So you two were here. Is your body all right?”
Only then did Seomun Hwi step away from Cheongwol and give a brief, respectful salute.
“Yes. Aside from a slight discomfort in the flow of my inner energy, there is nothing wrong.”
“As the divine doctor said, your Ren and Du meridians must have been opened. If you continue to practice the Microcosmic Orbit, you’ll adapt before long, so don’t worry too much.”
“Understood. And once again, I will never forget the grace shown to us by the clan head and the Tang family.”
A faint smile spread across Dang Hyeongeuk’s mouth.
“If we speak only of the grace received, then we may be even with one another.”
“...Pardon?”
Seomun Hwi tilted his head, trying to make sense of the words, then caught the look in Dang Hyeongeuk’s eyes and answered quickly.
“No, that is impossible...”
As the two of them exchanged words Cheongwol could not quite understand, she quietly watched Seomun Hwi. He met her gaze and raised the corners of his mouth ever so slightly.
“If that counts as grace, then I would likely never be able to repay it for the rest of my life.”
Dang Hyeongeuk had said he was grateful Seomun Hwi had become someone precious to Cheongwol, but such words were ridiculous.
If anything, how could he ever have found this happiness if he had not met Cheongwol?
Dang Hyeongeuk nodded at Seomun Hwi.
“Then I shall say no more.”
After that, he slowly shifted his gaze to Cheongwol and asked, “Would you spare me enough time to share a cup of tea?”
It was such a sudden invitation that Cheongwol could not readily answer.
From everything that had happened so far, she now knew at least that Dang Hyeongeuk and Namgung Cheon would truly not harm her.
But the problem was that they had, however dimly, begun to grasp her true identity.
“I...”
As Cheongwol kept hesitating, Dang Hyeongeuk urged her once more.
“Don’t you want to know as well? The owner of the jade ornament you brought. Why the Namgung Clan leader has treated you the way he has. And...”
He took a breath, then went on.
“The ones who destroyed your family.”
---
Cheongwol walked in silence, staring at Dang Hyeongeuk’s heels.
As she had expected, Dang Hyeongeuk already knew she was a descendant of the fallen Im Clan.
And yet why had he done nothing until now, even knowing that fact?
Who was the owner of the jade ornament, and why had he brought up Namgung Cheon’s story?
As one question after another tangled her thoughts, her steps carried her over the threshold before she realized it.
“Wait here a moment. I’ll have tea ready in no time.”
As Dang Hyeongeuk lifted the teapot, Cheongwol, who had been keeping her mouth shut, finally spoke.
“Clan Head, I’m sorry, but...”
But Dang Hyeongeuk did not yield.
“I understand how you feel, but tea would be good. This is not an easy story to bear.”
In the end, Cheongwol could only nod reluctantly and sit down, waiting for the kettle to come to a boil.
That brief moment felt endlessly long.
When steam began to rise above the teacup, Cheongwol could no longer hold herself back and blurted out, “Please tell me now who the owner of the jade ornament is. And why you’re just leaving me alone.”
Dang Hyeongeuk let out a thin sigh as if he had expected as much, then took a sip of tea.
It was a White-Haired Silver Needle tea he normally treasured, but for some reason today it only left bitterness behind on his tongue.
“You don’t want to hear about the Namgung Clan leader?”
At the unexpected question, Cheongwol looked faintly flustered.
“I do want to hear it... but it’s not the most important thing right now.”
With a bitter smile, Dang Hyeongeuk set down his cup.
“It is important. More than anything else.”
“...”
As though mirroring his mood, his fingers tapped lightly against the tabletop.
“The Namgung Clan leader returned the jade ornament to you, did he not? Take it out.”
Cheongwol thought for a moment about what to do, but not for long.
“Here it is.”
When she took out the transparent, green, flower-shaped jade ornament and set it down, Dang Hyeongeuk was flooded with emotions too tangled to name.
“First, I believe I owe you words I never had the chance to say.”
“Yes?”
“I never dreamed I would see this again. Whatever the reason you brought it here, I am truly grateful.”
At Dang Hyeongeuk’s sincere thanks, Cheongwol studied his face carefully.
“Now that I think about it, I heard you crafted it yourself. Is that true?”
Dang Hyeongeuk recalled the nights he had spent awake until dawn, hands moving needle by needle in tears of sorrow.
“It is.”
At that, for some reason, Cheongwol’s face began to drain of color.
“Could it be... could it be that...”
Her voice shook violently, and her eyes, lost and unfocused, stared into empty space.
“The owner of this jade ornament is... still...”
“She passed away. More than twenty years ago.”
Cheongwol shut her eyes tight.
From what So Gayul had told her, this jade ornament had been no different from a keepsake left behind by her mother.
And yet it had actually been something the head of the Sichuan Tang Clan had personally crafted and given as a gift.
What was more, the time when its owner had died matched the time when her grandfather had carried her out of the Central Plains.
In other words, the original owner had likely been killed on the spot by her fleeing grandfather, and the ornament had been taken from her as well.
The Im Clan, falsely accused as a public enemy of the martial world and unjustly wiped out.
She had sworn revenge to console the spirits of such a family.
But there was something else Cheongwol had failed to consider.
...To someone else, we must have looked no different from enemies.
They said revenge creates a blood ring.
Only now did Cheongwol understand the true meaning of those words.
She had wanted to sever that ring with her own hands, but in truth she too was only caught in the tangle, flailing helplessly.
Just as her grandfather had never been able to let revenge go until the end, Dang Hyeongeuk would likely be no different.
Then what was she supposed to do now?
When Cheongwol could not free herself from the shock, Dang Hyeongeuk’s face hardened further.
“Do not be like that. There is not the slightest thing you have done wrong.”
A child who lost her mother before she could even speak, and who grew up in the hands of her enemy.
How could he possibly apologize enough to the child from whom he had failed to protect the things she ought to have had?
Dang Hyeongeuk’s deep sigh filled the space between them.
“I will ask only one thing. Can you tell me how you came by this jade ornament?”
He had made the enemy’s child learn the demonic art known as the Sunflower Manual, then given her the jade ornament and sent her back out into the world. He did not even need to hear the answer to understand his intent.
Im Yuguang.
The revenge he had sought had, across the span of more than twenty years, finally been fulfilled through Cheongwol and Namgung Cheon’s reunion.
The demonic art Namgung Cheon had wished to erase had become part of Cheongwol herself, and the person Cheongwol had believed to be kin would soon become her sworn enemy.
Faced with that horrific reality, Dang Hyeongeuk could not easily open his mouth.
The silence hung heavy until Cheongwol was the one to break it first.
“Actually... Grandfather never intended to tell me this jade ornament existed.”
The words that came out of Cheongwol’s mouth were so unexpected that Dang Hyeongeuk’s eyes widened.
“It may be hard to believe, but... he did not want me to seek revenge. He only told me just before he breathed his last.”
As she recalled her grandfather’s final moments, a surge of emotion rose in Cheongwol’s chest.
He himself had never been able to let go, and yet his voice still echoed vividly in her ears, telling her to forget revenge and simply try living an ordinary life.
Perhaps he had said that because he feared she would end up in a situation like this.
Not a vengeful ghost who had to repay a grudge, but someone forced to bear the grudge of others.
The sorrow of her own situation having been turned upside down in an instant.
The regret that she had ignored her grandfather’s words and brought this whole mess upon herself.
As those two emotions mixed and churned within her, a single, fierce sense of wrongness suddenly reared its head.
Her grandfather had never given her that jade ornament, not even as he closed his eyes.
He had wanted her to forget revenge and live a normal life; why would he give her an enemy’s keepsake?
Then who had told her it was a memento from her mother and given it to her?
...Master.
The elder she had trusted and relied on after her grandfather, the only other blood relative she had ever known.
So Gayul’s face flashed through Cheongwol’s mind.
---