Chapter 129: Outer Hall Forest
Chapter 129: Outer Hall Forest
Dang Yeoeun instinctively suppressed the urge to draw her sword and quietly studied him.
The man had a peculiar impression.
He was clearly an elder, yet his taut, ruddy skin, small build, and playful, mischievous grin gave him the air of a child.
Dang Yeoeun cupped her hands in a respectful salute once again and asked him,
"Forgive this young one's lack of experience in failing to recognize your esteemed name, Senior. If it is not too bold of me, may I inquire after your great name, Grand Senior?"
The red-faced, childlike elder grinned mischievously and replied,
"What great name! Just call me Orabeoni!"
"...Pardon?!"
When Dang Yeoeun stared at him in bewildered confusion at his demand, the elder spoke again.
"I said call me Orabeoni! Then I shall guide you to Brother Yang!"
Dang Yeoeun was instantly thrown into turmoil, utterly uncertain how to respond.
She could not even tell if he was being sincere or joking.
And even if he was sincere, how could she possibly call an elder like that her "older brother"?
It was something she simply could not bring herself to do.
In the end, Dang Yeoeun could not comply with his request and cupped her hands again, saying,
"How could an insignificant and lacking junior such as myself dare to address a Grand Senior with such impertinence. Please, I beg you, retract those words."
At that, the playfulness vanished from the elder's face.
He then began browbeating Dang Yeoeun with an expression of extreme sullenness.
"If I say it's fine, then what's so impertinent about it?! Say it, quickly! If you won't call me Orabeoni, I absolutely refuse to guide you to Brother Yang! No, I'll actively obstruct you and make sure you can never find him!"
Dang Yeoeun felt a headache blooming from sheer mortification.
He was no child — what kind of elder threw such a childish tantrum?
Yet she could not simply grant his demand, either.
Dang Yeoeun had absolutely no confidence in her ability to call an elder like him "Orabeoni."
The elder, his face now entirely petulant, shouted,
"You really won't say it, will you?! Fine! Don't say it! Let's see if you can find Brother Yang on your own!"
And with that, he launched himself upward at a terrifying speed and vanished back into the forest.
Pabak!
Dang Yeoeun stared blankly at the spot where he had disappeared.
As far as she could gauge, his speed was staggering — perhaps comparable even to Seonwoo Jin, whom she considered the finest practitioner of movement arts she knew.
In any case, once he had vanished from sight, Dang Yeoeun was able to release a sigh of relief.
"Huuu."
With her timid nature, handling such an eccentric figure was an overwhelmingly daunting task.
But it was just as she was having those thoughts and took an absent-minded step forward.
A memory suddenly surfaced in her mind — the time she had posed as a martial eccentric alongside Seonwoo Jin, playing the part with the Blue-Red Twin Swords.
Those memories of moving as she pleased and startling people...
She abruptly halted her steps.
'Back then... I felt so free and exhilarated.'
And she also recalled something Seonwoo Jin had said.
'Why do you confine yourself to the image of a wounded young girl, Lady Dang?'
His words had been right this time, too.
There were aspects of herself that even she had been unaware of.
And those, too, were undeniably parts of who she was.
A thought crossed her mind.
'Perhaps I am still keeping myself locked inside that child I once was? And that is why I am confining myself, deciding that I could never possibly do something like this?'
She then thought about the elder from moments ago.
He had seemed incredibly willful and immature, but at the very least — sullen though he may have been — he had not done her any harm.
Which meant, at the very least, he was no villain.
'If that is the case, is there truly a reason I cannot bring myself to call him Orabeoni? Simply because it feels unfamiliar and embarrassing? Am I really going to give up a chance to immediately meet Yang No-sa when time is of the essence — for a reason as trivial as that?'
No matter how she thought about it, that did not seem right.
If it had been Seonwoo Jin, he would never have hesitated.
If he had judged that there would be no harm done even if it failed, he would never have wavered for the same reasons she had.
Dang Yeoeun bit her lip firmly.
The thought of wanting to stand confidently before him — she had resolved that only half a shichen ago.
It was also deeply frustrating that she only arrived at these thoughts after the elder had vanished.
But Dang Yeoeun believed it was not yet too late.
Her senses were telling her.
He was still nearby.
Dang Yeoeun gulped and, mustering her courage, raised her voice toward the forest.
"O-Ora... beoni?"
Though it came out of her mouth, the voice was as tiny as an ant's.
She clenched her teeth and raised her voice a little louder.
"Orabeoni!"
That was when it happened.
From seemingly nowhere, he materialized like a ghost and dropped back down from the air.
Tadak!
The elder landed on the ground with his face full of mischievous laughter.
He asked Dang Yeoeun in a suggestive tone,
"What did you say just now?"
Startled for a moment by his ghostly emergence, Dang Yeoeun now smiled brightly and, in a slightly lilting, charming voice, called out to him again.
"Orabeoni?"
At that, he burst into boisterous laughter and shot up into the air like a spring.
"Kihahahahaha! Aigo, wonderful! Aigo, wonderful! To be called Orabeoni by such a pretty child! I can't even remember the last time I felt this overjoyed! Kyahahahaha!"
He shouted like that as he flew around the forest, whirling about.
Dang Yeoeun's head followed his movements, darting about in a daze.
After flitting about in every direction for a while, he soon swooped back down to land beside Dang Yeoeun like a hawk diving for its prey.
Tadak!
Then he asked,
"So, who does our little younger sister wish to meet?"
At his expression of absolute delight, as if he had just received a grand gift, Dang Yeoeun let out a soft laugh and answered,
"I wish to go to Yang Mun-heon, Yang No-sa."
"Brother Yang, you say! Understood!"
The instant he answered, he snatched Dang Yeoeun by the wrist and soared up above the forest canopy.
It was an instantaneous acceleration so sudden that she could not even perceive the moment of acceleration itself.
At that terrifying speed, the startled Dang Yeoeun could not help but let out a scream.
"Kyaaaak!"
But the elder, not even paying her reaction any mind, simply shouted in sheer delight.
"Let's go! To Brother Yang!"
He was truly an elder more brimming with energy than any child.
***
A short while later, Dang Yeoeun was lowered to the ground beneath a large tree in the middle of the forest.
Her head was spinning from the dizzying dash — she could not even remember how she had gotten there.
The diminutive, red-faced elder set her down and shouted toward the great tree in an exhilarated voice,
"Brother Yang! Brother Yang! A guest has come! She is my younger sister! Kyahahahaha!"
At those words, Dang Yeoeun immediately pulled herself together and looked toward the tree.
A moment later, two elders slowly walked out from behind the tree.
"Jeung-ga, what nonsense are you trying to spin for your elder brother today? Since when did a wretch like you have a younger sister...!"
Of the two elders, the one in blue robes following behind had been speaking with an annoyed expression, but upon seeing Dang Yeoeun's face, he halted his words with a look of astonishment.
"Huh?"
But Dang Yeoeun was not looking at him.
Her gaze was fixed on the white-haired elder in white robes who had walked out in front.
He was the very person she had been searching for.
The benefactor who, years ago, had come out beyond the Outer Hall Forest and, with nothing more than a light piece of advice offered in passing, had guided Dang Yeoeun to the peak realm. And the man known to the world as one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World — the White Crane Old Sword Yang Mun-heon, that very man.
The blue-robed elder shouted again with an annoyed expression.
"You bastard Jeung Chil! How can such a young lady be your little sister?!"
"Keu-hehehehe! Byeok-ga, let me show you proof. Little sister, try addressing me again. Call me orabeoni, go on!"
The two elders bickered and squabbled around her, but Dang Yeoeun paid no mind to their voices.
She simply knelt slowly and offered her greeting to Yang Mun-heon.
"The daughter of the Tang Family who once received your grace, Dang Yeoeun, now belatedly offers her greeting to Elder Yang No-sa."
At this, the white-haired old man Yang Mun-heon smiled warmly and answered.
"It has been a long time, child. You have grown much in the time I haven't seen you. Both in martial arts and as a person. Most admirable."
Dang Yeoeun suddenly felt a tightness in her chest.
She had thought he would not remember her, but that was not the case.
Not only had he remembered her from a single meeting, but he also acknowledged her growth with a benevolent smile as if he were looking upon his own granddaughter.
It was a warmth that Dang Yeoeun could not help but recognize—one she had never once received from her own grandfather nor her own father.
Yang Mun-heon gazed at Dang Yeoeun, whose eyes grew moist with emotion, with warm eyes, then slowly asked.
"So, what brings you to this place?"
At his question, Dang Yeoeun first calmed her heart and took a deep breath.
That he remembered her was a grateful thing, but her objective had not yet been achieved.
So from here on, she had to do well.
Dang Yeoeun carefully spoke to him.
"I am ashamed to say that I have come with a request for you, Elder."
At this, Yang Mun-heon smiled gently as if bidding her to speak quickly and waited for her words.
Looking at him, Dang Yeoeun found herself unable to speak the words she had originally prepared and had to swallow hard.
Dang Yeoeun had originally intended to ask him to prevent the strategic marriage.
Since he, as one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, was a true powerhouse within the Tang Family whom the family head Dang Jeong-hu could not control.
'So if that person were to protect me, preventing a strategic marriage would not be such a difficult task.'
The problem was that, being in the position of a retained guest within the Tang Family, it would not be easy for him to protect her against the will of the family head Dang Jeong-hu.
Since there was no gain in it for him, there would be no reason for him to go out of his way to protect her.
So Dang Yeoeun had thought of bargaining with at least the first form 'Flying Moon' of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance if necessary.
It was the secret technique of the previous generation's absolute being, her master Gwanggeom.
Dang Yeoeun had thought that with that, it could serve as a key for Yang Mun-heon, one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, to take a step further into the realm of the absolute.
'My master also said that it is now our responsibility no matter to whom we pass it on.'
So Dang Yeoeun had judged that passing on just one form to White Crane Old Sword Yang Moon-heon, who was renowned as a sage, would be quite acceptable.
And Yang Mun-heon, being a martial artist, could never ignore such an offer.
But in this moment, facing him, Dang Yeoeun felt a slightly different impulse.
An impulse to form a relationship with Yang Mun-heon that was not one of mere transaction...
Dang Yeoeun suddenly let out the words to him.
It was the honest feeling within her heart.
"I... no longer wish to live swept along by the hands of others. I want to shape my own life by my own will. Elder, might you possibly be able to help me?"
It was a reckless request.
Promising no compensation, without even telling him what the matter was, merely asking for help.
But somehow, Dang Yeoeun wanted to say it that way.
Because she wanted to believe in a person's heart, not a transaction.
Then an answer came bursting out from an unexpected place first.
"What?! Who dares to push around my little sister's life?! Which bastard is it?! Don't you worry, little sister! This orabeoni will help you!"
The one shouting with an enraged face was the red-faced, diminutive old man who had brought Dang Yeoeun.
It was not Yang Mun-heon, but he who had first answered Dang Yeoeun's heart.
But as he spoke, the blue-robed old man addressed him with a look of utter disbelief.
"You're going to help her without even knowing what the matter is? Seeing the Tang Family's daughter talk about her own life, it's clearly a matter that pits her against the family head Dang. You want to get yourself kicked out of here over that? Weren't you the one who caused trouble outside and was hiding away here?"
Hearing those words, Dang Yeoeun's expression darkened.
His words were a precise observation.
Both the fact that she had to oppose the family head Dang, and that it would bring harm to them.
At that, the red-faced, diminutive old man began to rage furiously, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Hmph! Dang Gaju this, Dang Gaju that?! Do you think I, Hong Hae-ah Jeung Chil, would be afraid of some young punk like him?! I don't need this! If I have to leave here, I'll leave! Caused trouble?! Hmph! How long ago was that story?! Little sister, don't you worry! This orabeoni will help you escape this rotten Tang Family!"
Hong Hae-ah Jeung Chil.
A glint of interest appeared in Dang Yeoeun's eyes upon hearing that name.
She had definitely heard that name before.
He was clearly a transcendent peak master who had once shaken the martial world with his incredible movement techniques, hidden weapons, and fist and foot arts.
And he was also a man who had caused countless people trouble with his even more incredible mischievousness.
She had heard that he had suddenly vanished from the martial world one day, but even Dang Yeoeun had not known that he was here in the Outer Hall Forest.
At this, the blue-robed old man let out a sigh and spoke.
"You fool, are you saying that because you don't know how the daughter of the Tang Family will have to live if she runs away from the Tang Family? She'll have to live in hiding, pursued by the Tang Family her whole life—do you think that is for her sake? Even if you can personally protect her while you're alive, what do you plan to do after you're dead? Do you intend to make that child die at the hands of her own family?!"
His words were once again far too accurate.
At those words precisely pointing out reality, Dang Yeoeun could only bite her lip firmly.
Hong Hae-ah Jeung Chil, who had worn a slightly abashed expression at his words, raised his voice and shouted once more.
"Then I just won't die! I just have to not die and keep protecting her, isn't that right?!"
It was as the blue-robed old man let out an exasperated sigh at his obstinance.
White Crane Old Sword Yang Moon-heon abruptly opened his mouth.
"Would it suffice if I became your adoptive maternal grandfather?"
At those words, Dang Yeoeun, startled, quickly raised her head to look at him and asked.
"Pardon? What did you just...?"
Then Yang Mun-heon smiled warmly and spoke again.
"I am asking if it would help you live your life by your own will if I became your grandfather and you became my granddaughter."
Dang Yeoeun's eyes shook fiercely at his words, as if caught in a storm.
She simply could not believe it.
Even though she had promised nothing in return, he willingly extended his hand to her.
And with an excessively generous proposal she had never even imagined...
Dang Yeoeun, her eyes suddenly growing hot, nodded and answered.
"Yes, yes. It is more than enough. And thank you. Truly, thank you, Elder."
At that moment, Hong Hae-ah Jeung Chil, who had been watching the scene blankly, suddenly shouted in protest.
"No! To serve Yang hyung as grandfather! Then what about me?! Hmph! Yang hyung! Then take me as a grandson too! Grandpa Yang!"
As Jeung Chil shouted furiously and the other old man let out another deep sigh, Dang Yeoeun quietly bowed to Yang Mun-heon and spoke.
"Grandfather, your granddaughter Yeo Eun offers her greeting."
Yang Mun-heon simply watched her bow with warm eyes.