Chapter 124: Sichuan Tang Clan-2
Chapter 124: Sichuan Tang Clan-2
Dang Jeong-hu asked with a cold expression.
"You are twenty-four now, are you not? Next year, you will be twenty-five. Though it is a somewhat late age, your beauty and martial prowess are exceptional, so it is fortunate that you can still be of use to the main family. Had I known this would happen, I would have sent some useless child from a branch family to a place like the frontlines. I needlessly sent you just to maintain appearances."
Even though he spoke of his own daughter, his voice was cold and businesslike, bereft of any emotion, as if appraising an object.
He seemed to think it impossible that Lady Dang could refuse his words.
His tone suggested it was entirely a matter of course.
And indeed, as if too shocked, Lady Dang trembled faintly, unable to voice her own opinion.
Then, she managed to open her mouth.
"Ga, Gaju-nim. I..."
But her voice seemed inaudible to Dang Jeong-hu.
No, it seemed he simply did not care.
"Your marriage partner is the Hongsa Sword Gate. A renowned clan famous for swords. Moreover, the man you will marry is So-hyeop On Je-ung, recently acclaimed as the Hongsa Sword Gate's greatest prodigy, known as the Hongsa Sword Dragon. Since you happen to like swords, I thought he would be a fitting match for you. So-hyeop On is currently staying at the main house, so use this time to become acquainted with one another."
The Hongsa Sword Gate? Hongsa Sword Dragon On Je-ung?
My memory was able to instantly recall those names.
The Hongsa Sword Gate was the group that had come to the Jeonghyeopbang with the Dang Clan's martial artists last time, and as for Hongsa Sword Dragon On Je-ung, he was the very bastard who had sent his subordinate to threaten me into selling Mukrang back then.
The one who had abandoned his subordinate and fled the moment Hwa Yeong-bin hyung-nim arrived.
I had no trouble spotting his face among the assembled martial artists.
The bastard was staring at Lady Dang, a greedy smile on his face, from among the warriors clad in red martial robes.
Come to think of it, he had mentioned back then that he would soon become a member of the Tang Family, but I never imagined it would be something like this.
This entirely unwelcome connection suddenly struck me as absurdly infuriating.
It was then that Lady Dang, as if finally mustering her courage, opened her mouth and forced out her voice.
"Gaju-nim, I have never once considered marriage."
It was a voice squeezed out with desperate eyes and great difficulty.
But as that voice spread outward, the atmosphere in the great hall instantly grew as frigid as an ice cave.
All the assembled martial artists stared at Lady Dang with horrified eyes.
Gazes that seemed to ask how she could dare object to the Gaju's words; the great hall, filled with countless warriors, fell so silent that not even a single breath could be heard.
And the gaze of the Poison Rock Sovereign, Dang Jeong-hu, grew cold as well.
Having stared at Lady Dang for a moment with a look like an icy blade, he coldly opened his mouth.
"Do you think that matters?"
It was a very short question.
But under the heavy weight of its implication, Lady Dang could not meet his eyes and was forced to bow her head deeply.
Her eyes were glistening, brimming with tears.
Right now, Dang Jeong-hu was effectively saying this.
That whatever thoughts she held, whether she agreed with the marriage or opposed it, was irrelevant.
And judging by the reactions of those around her, such a mindset was utterly taken for granted within the Sichuan Dang Clan.
Dang Jeong-hu, as if angered, raised his tone slightly and asked again.
"Will you not answer?"
At that, Lady Dang, who had been trembling faintly with her head bowed, finally opened her mouth.
"...I apologize, Gaju-nim. My thoughts are not important. I will do as you wish."
At her answer, the chill pervading the great hall lifted slightly.
Everyone had been on edge, it seemed.
Dang Jeong-hu then spoke in a slightly relaxed voice.
"Return to your room and rest, then go and meet So-hyeop On."
He meant that the conversation was over and she should leave now.
It seemed Lady Dang's marriage had now become an established fact.
That was when it happened.
I took a step forward and spoke.
"I apologize, Gaju-nim. I cannot condone Lady Dang's marriage."
In that instant, everyone in the great hall froze.
Everyone was staring at me with horrified eyes.
Those gazes were sharp enough to pierce a person through.
But I turned my eyes to only one person's gaze among them. To the gaze of Lady Dang, now standing beside me.
She was looking at me, tears welling in her eyes.
Looking at her pitiful expression, I suddenly remembered Na So-jeo.
I recalled how she had been abruptly summoned to the main Na house and forced into marriage by her stepmother.
I could not stand by and let Lady Dang be married off in this way, just as Na So-jeo had been.
No, I absolutely could not condone it.
Then, Dang Jeong-hu, staring at me with terrifying eyes, slowly asked,
"You cannot condone the marriage?"
His gaze was laden with multiple meanings.
Who do you think you are, and by what right do you dare say such a thing?
He had stood behind her the entire time, yet paid her no more mind than if she were invisible, but now he was focusing solely on me.
His momentum alone seemed enough to tear me to shreds.
I boldly met his gaze head-on and opened my mouth.
"I am Seonwoo Jin of the Guizhou Seonwoo Clan, currently serving as the Vice Squad Leader of Lady Dang's unit in the Flying Dragon Thirteen Squads. And also..."
I abruptly turned my head and looked at Lady Dang.
Her pretty eyes were brimming with tears.
She was staring at me with a gaze mixed with astonishment and desperation.
I gave her a warm smile and continued.
"Yeo Eun here and I are promised to each other for the future."
In that instant, it was as if a typhoon had swept through the great hall.
It was an atmosphere as if a powerful explosion had erupted and plunged everyone into chaos, only the sound was missing.
Killing intent far more intense than before poured down on me from every direction.
I suddenly recalled a memory from the main Na house.
Back then, too, I had told Na So-jeo, half-jokingly, half-seriously, that I would pretend to be her fiancé.
Though she had flatly refused me at that time.
But this time, it didn't seem like that would happen.
Because Lady Dang was looking at me with eyes full of intense emotion and astonishment.
A tear streamed down her cheek.
I looked at her with affectionate eyes and slowly reached out my hand to wipe away her tear.
And I sent a telepathic message.
[Yeo Eun, you must become strong. Don't forget that the only one who can change your fate is yourself.]
Upon hearing my transmission, a strange light flickered in her eyes.
And I could see a trace of strength returning to that gaze.
In contrast, the atmosphere in the great hall had become as cold as a midwinter field.
Especially when I affectionately wiped away her tear, people now stared at me with a degree of horror that could not be surpassed.
Dang Jeong-hu shot to his feet.
Erupting with the heavy momentum of a transcendent peak master, he pressed down on me and roared.
"Insolence! Does a mere clan like the Guizhou Seonwoo Clan dare to covet a daughter of our Sichuan Dang Clan?! Do you find our Tang Family laughable?!"
It was an immense presence.
A crushing pressure as if the killing intent alone would flatten me.
But even within that pressure, I took a step forward instead. And I physically shielded Lady Dang with my body.
At that, he looked at me with slightly surprised, twitching eyes.
The momentum of Dang Jeong-hu, the head of the Sichuan Dang Clan, one of the Five Great Families of the world, was certainly formidable.
But for me, who had personally met the Seductive Ghost Son Eun-sang, the Slaughter Blood Demon Jeon Mu-gwang, the Heavenly Robe Sword Saint Hae Un-baek, and who had even withstood the full force of my master, the previous generation's absolute being, the Broad Hero Sword Ghost Jeong Myeong-gwang, it was not so astonishing.
I spoke while solidly enduring his pressure.
"How could I dare use the name of the Seonwoo Clan to belittle the Sichuan Dang Clan? The very Sichuan Dang Clan counted foremost among the world's Five Great Families."
In truth, not many counted the Sichuan Dang Clan as the foremost of the world's Five Great Families.
But precisely because of that, it felt as though the hostility directed at me from those around for saying such a thing diminished slightly.
Smiling inwardly, I raised a finger and pointed to one side.
"However, I merely pride myself on being far better suited as Yeo Eun's marriage partner than someone like him."
In the direction my finger pointed, he stood there.
It was Hongsa Sword Dragon On Je-ung, glaring at me with a killing intent as if he would murder me at any moment, his eyes stained with anger and jealousy.
Everyone's eyes now turned toward him.
Then Dang Jeong-hu, who had glanced at him briefly, asked me,
"Are you saying you consider yourself better than So-hyeop On of the Hongsa Sword Gate, a prestigious sword family, who has even earned the epithet Hongsa Sword Dragon?"
At his question, I exulted inwardly.
'It worked!'
Obstructing the Dang Clan's affairs within the Sichuan Dang Clan itself, meaning opposing the will of the Poison Rock Sovereign Dang Jeong-hu, was a near impossibility.
Both politically and martially.
But even so, if there was any possibility at all to stop this marriage, I had thought it lay solely in a direct comparison with that bastard On Je-ung.
Therefore, the moment a question comparing me to him came from Dang Jeong-hu's mouth, a possibility opened up for me.
I smirked and spoke as if looking down on On Je-ung.
"Hongsa Sword Dragon, you say? He's Hongsa—nothing but a brag—the Dragon part seems utterly worthless."
At that, On Je-ung, who had been barely holding back, finally erupted in fury.
"You arrogant bastard!"
Shu-haak!
His red sword lunged at me, sinuous and alive like a viper.
It was a fairly quick and sharp sword strike, wreathed in a red sword qi.
At this, exclamations came from the people around.
"So fast!"
"Sword qi at that age!"
"As expected of the Hongsa Sword Dragon!"
But I sneered and moved my feet lightly.
Then, my form, unfolding the Bi Sect's Cheonpung Step, began to flutter like flower petals scattered in the wind.
Shaaak!
My softly drifting figure was lightly evading his viper-like sword strikes.
What's more, even in the midst of it, I asked Dang Jeong-hu with an utterly relaxed expression.
"Gaju-nim, may I be permitted to display my humble sword skills before the head of the Tang Family?"
At this, the corner of Dang Jeong-hu's mouth, who had been watching with now slightly interested eyes, curled up slightly.
On Je-ung, who had dared to draw his sword rashly in the great hall of the Dang Clan, versus me, lightly dodging that sword and politely asking permission to draw mine.
There was no need to state who had the upper hand.
He answered shortly.
"Permission granted."
In that moment, my Mukrang revealed its blade to the world.
Over the white blade, a deep violet sword qi boiled and blazed fiercely.
Seonwoo Thirteen Swords, First Move.
Divine Eagle Flight.
A giant violet wing composed of sword blades enveloped On Je-ung's entire front.
Shu-haaak!
"Wha, what?!"
Startled, On Je-ung gritted his teeth and unleashed his sword strikes again. Perhaps because his pride wouldn't let him retreat, it was a strike executed with what seemed like desperate force.
Over ten red sand-snakes shot toward the wing of light like beams of radiance.
But his sword strikes did not reach me.
Because the wing of light that had been shooting forward flapped as if alive, deflecting his sword strikes away.
On Je-ung's eyes widened massively in shock.
"!"
The surrounding people also burst into exclamations.
"Tha, that's impossible!"
"Good heavens!"
The next moment, my Mukrang, having withdrawn its sword qi cleanly, had already placed its blade against On Je-ung's throat.
It was an overwhelming victory.
On Je-ung stared at my sword touching his neck with a devastated look.
"Thi, this can't be..."
And then, his pupils, which had suddenly looked at Mukrang, expanded drastically in an instant.
It seemed he had only just now remembered that we were prior acquaintances.
I gave him a gentle smile and slowly sheathed my sword again.
Then, looking at Dang Jeong-hu, I spoke.
"Do you still see this man as a dragon? I do not."
On Je-ung was now glaring at me through gritted teeth, his eyes full of hatred.
But even he could no longer act rashly.
At that, Dang Jeong-hu chuckled and said,
"Impressive. For one so young, your skills are remarkably striking. However!"
He emanated a frost-like aura at me once again and spoke.
"Becoming a son-in-law of the Dang Clan is not possible through individual skill alone. On Je-ung, he is the successor of the Hongsa Sword Gate. In other words, him becoming our matrilocal son-in-law means the Hongsa Sword Gate becomes one family with us. Do you think your skill holds enough value to compare with the entire Hongsa Sword Gate?"
At his question, many martial artists around nodded their heads.
It meant they all agreed with Dang Jeong-hu's words.
I abruptly realized that this statement was the core of the matter.
And I could understand why the Tang Family Head was suddenly pushing forward such a marriage.
Judging by the situation at the Jeonghyeopbang last time, the Dang Clan was probably still engaged in a territorial dispute with the Qingcheng Sect even now.
Since both were orthodox factions representing Sichuan Province, they would be in a position where they couldn't recklessly fight each other openly.
'So, what the Dang Clan needs right now is a pawn that can fight a proxy war over territory without dirtying their own name. Like the Hongsa Sword Gate.'
And to completely subjugate them, a means like a marriage of bloodlines must have been necessary.
That was probably why their thoughts had urgently extended to even Lady Dang, who was on the frontlines.
I was convinced.
This assessment of the situation was definitely accurate.
But as I understood the situation up to that point, the matter began to feel more and more hopeless.
'If that's what they're after, there's practically nothing about me for them to find appealing, is there?'
That was the case.
If that was the kind of match they were looking for, then no matter how high my martial prowess was, I could never compete with On Je-ung.
Of course, the Guizhou Seonwoo Clan was also one of the Guizhou Eight Families.
But for the Dang Clan, who needed a fighting dog to wage a gang war for them right now in Sichuan Province, a background like the Seonwoo Clan, located in Guizhou Province, would be utterly useless.
All the more so since I was not the successor of the Seonwoo Clan like On Je-ung, so taking me as a matrilocal son-in-law didn't signify the submission of the Seonwoo Clan.
'Damn.'
It was troubling.
When I glanced beside me, On Je-ung, whose face had been smeared with fury and shame, had now regained his composure and was smirking bitterly at me.