Chapter 95
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Jin Seolhwa's Resolve
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“Huh? Who’s this? Were you always this refined and pretty?”
Dogaang cracked a joke to lighten the awkward atmosphere, and everyone turned away slightly with a chuckle.
But Moyong Cheong and Jin Seolhwa treated Han Sojung’s transformed appearance with remarkable naturalness and cheer.
They chatted among themselves for a bit, and before long, the three of them left the room.
A short while later, Yuktong brought in the liquor trays, and the remaining four men began passing around drinks.
Dogaang and the others got straight to the point.
“Hey. Come with us.”
Dogaang emptied a cup of liquor and immediately asked Seonwoyong to join them on the trip to Mount Mingsha.
“Why should I? Not interested.”
Seonwoyong refused plainly, but Dogaang persisted, and Bangchung was just as eager.
“Can’t you just think of it as spectating? Even that alone would be worth watching.”
At Bangchung’s words, Seonwoyong turned to Dogaang instead.
“Fine for greedy old fogies like you wandering everywhere, but why are you interested in this? I’m disappointed in you.”
“Heh heh… Suddenly I’m a greedy old fogey. But hey, call it curiosity rather than greed for treasure. I’m not thinking of grabbing even one of those items for myself.”
Seonwoyong shot Bangchung a sharp look and tossed out a question.
“What I’m really curious about is that hidden greed of yours, old man. What exactly do you plan to pick up by tagging along like this?”
Bangchung was at a loss for words at Seonwoyong’s biting remark.
His status as the Chief Inspector of the Green Forest aside, there was no real reason for him to follow this group.
It had already been several months since they’d met by chance at Mount Jeolgwang.
With even the Shenzhou Merchant Group that had taken him in now gone, their connection was long over.
“What’s with that attitude? A brush of sleeves is fate, and we’ve already shared meals and emptied jars of liquor together. You’ve got your own curiosities, right?”
Dogaang’s words were directed at Seonwoyong, but the final question was for Bangchung.
“I see. I’ve been too nosy. My apologies.”
Bangchung replied with a smile wiped from his face, and Dogaang picked up on his sour mood.
“Ha ha… What’s the Chief Inspector of the world doing losing his cheeky grin? Come on, have another drink.”
But the mood didn’t improve.
Bangchung silently drained his cup and soon rose from his seat.
“If sticking around makes me look ugly, I’ll take my leave.”
Dogaang tried to stop Bangchung, but Seonwoyong didn’t hide his cold demeanor.
“I’m not leaving.”
While holding back Bangchung, Dogaang got a separate word as he followed him out.
“You stay. I have something to say.”
A moment later, Bangchung departed, and Dogaang and I Taejeong returned to the room.
“Why did you do that?”
As Dogaang sat back down and asked, Seonwoyong answered coldly.
“He’s a hunting dog. Don’t know who his master is.”
Seonwoyong had heard separately from Yuktong.
That Bangchung occasionally communicated secretly with someone somewhere through covert means.
But there was no need to explain that to Dogaang.
Even if Seonwoyong was the target, Dogaang certainly wasn’t.
Dogaang’s reaction, however, was unexpected.
“You think I wouldn’t know that? I used to head Wudang Sect’s Zhenming Pavilion.”
Joking was gone from Dogaang’s face.
I Taejeong, on the other hand, looked utterly shocked at Dogaang’s words.
Wudang Sect’s Zhenming Pavilion was a special organization among its many branches, one that gathered intelligence from across the jianghu and handled covert operations.
Aside from the sect leader and a few top leaders, no one knew its members, so even I Taejeong had only heard rumors of its existence.
“Then are you still connected to Zhenming Pavilion?”
Dogaang shook his head at Seonwoyong’s question.
“If I were, I wouldn’t have the reason or time to wander like this. It’s a pretty busy outfit.”
“Then why volunteer to crawl into that cave? You’re not interested in whatever treasures are there.”
Dogaang let out a sigh.
“Of course it’s because of this kid. And because of Wudang’s little pups who’ll show up soon.”
The kid Dogaang pointed to was, naturally, I Taejeong.
I Taejeong asked in slight surprise.
“No, what do you mean? Because of my talent? I can’t accept that.”
Dogaang bellowed.
“You little punk. You hear ‘Zhenming Pavilion’ and still play dumb? Aren’t you currently with Zhenming Pavilion?”
At Dogaang’s words, I Taejeong fell silent and lowered his head.
But Dogaang paid no more attention to him and asked Seonwoyong.
“So, you really have no interest in that cave?”
“Hmph. What good are some manual, weapon, or elixir? I’ve got plenty to do even without that junk.”
“Your business is done, so what’s left? Still something with the Great Cloud Merchant Group?”
At Dogaang’s words, Seonwoyong smiled.
“Great Cloud, Great Cloud. Yeah, Great Cloud.”
As Seonwoyong chuckled and spoke, Dogaang slapped his knee and laughed.
“Kekeke… So it is Great Cloud after all. In that case, look after us from here on out.”
It was a conversation I Taejeong couldn’t make heads or tails of, but the two burst into loud laughter and clinked cups.
It was deep into the night, and candlelight still flickered in Seonwoyong’s room.
Dogaang and I Taejeong drank late before leaving, but Moyong Cheong and Jin Seolhwa, who had been playing pitch-pot with Han Sojung in her room, were given separate quarters.
“You two sisters can sleep in my room.”
This was thanks to Han Sojung stepping forward.
Lately, Seonwoyong truly couldn’t sleep.
It had been nearly a year since he sent off his wife in that Yunnan bamboo grove and ventured into the jianghu.
At first, he’d been nothing but bewildered.
The world he returned to after so long felt utterly alien to him.
But now, even his eyes could properly see the world.
Unlike sixty years ago when he’d turned his back on it, the world was turbulent.
The question Black Wolf Brigade’s leader Chaepil had hurled in grief and rage had been hard for him too.
“Do you truly believe this world is just and bright enough to preserve as is?”
Of course, he’d answered that he did, but that answer wasn’t honest.
The Ming Dynasty’s power was spent, and the world was already plunging into chaos.
Yet the problem pressing Seonwoyong right now wasn’t the world’s affairs—it was his own.
His past identity as U Cheonso had grown heavy, bothersome, and strangely unfamiliar.
He’d come to hate the moniker Nine Provinces Immortal.
A transcendent immortal who saved the world—that was the price of severing his own seven emotions and six desires.
But those seven emotions and six desires he’d believed severed long ago had revived, and Seonwoyong welcomed it, grateful and joyful.
In truth, deep inside him lately, the past U Cheonso and the present Seonwoyong were locked in fierce battle.
Even U Gyeongcheon, his son from the past—his only son—now felt like a faintly remembered figure from bygone days.
If he met him again, could he feel the hot bonds of blood?
Denial was inevitable, but what he’d done to that son as a parent wasn’t fatherly.
And what of the desires now boiling in Seonwoyong?
A young, beautiful, vibrant body inevitably brought young, fresh desires.
Meeting another woman, loving her, producing children in his image, watching them grow, and aging alongside them.
It wasn’t just that simple.
The past U Cheonso had devoted his life to the Great Cloud Bright Religion, praying for the welfare of countless beings and giving his all for it.
Of course, the result was his son U Gyeongcheon’s despair and sixty years of seclusion.
Honestly, he didn’t want to live that life again.
This second life, he wanted to be true to all his own desires.
That was when it happened.
A woman’s soft voice came from outside the door.
“May I come in?”
It was Jin Seolhwa’s voice, trembling noticeably.
“Come in.”
As Seonwoyong answered, Jin Seolhwa cautiously opened the door and entered.
“I passed by and saw the light still on, so I mustered my courage.”
Jin Seolhwa gave a slight bow and sat before Seonwoyong.
An awkward silence enveloped them for a while.
It was late at night, the era when a woman visiting a man’s room alone meant only one thing.
“I haven’t properly repaid your grace yet. Please forgive me.”
As Jin Seolhwa began like this, Seonwoyong grinned.
In truth, this was the first time the two had been alone together.
Saving her from Nodeuk’s blade had been a secret, and she hadn’t called him benefactor since then either.
“Forgive? What’s to forgive? I’ve been fully repaid by your brother the Pavilion Master, so Lady Jin, don’t trouble yourself.”
Seonwoyong replied with utmost courtesy and politeness, which instead flustered Jin Seolhwa.
“You’re not angry that I only came now, are you?”
At Jin Seolhwa’s question, Seonwoyong’s smile deepened.
“Ha ha… Do I look angry? Does my face right now?”
As Seonwoyong replied and beamed even brighter, Jin Seolhwa smiled in relief and lowered her head.
“But… really… are you truly an elder who returned to youth? Everyone says so…”
“Why? Does it matter so much? The world’s count of years, society’s reputation.”
Jin Seolhwa lifted her head straight and met Seonwoyong’s eyes as she answered.
“Sadly… I can’t free myself from those things.”
Why wouldn’t she?
It was the late Ming era, when Confucian worldviews and moral codes were the absolute standards of the world.
A middle-aged widow who’d lost her husband to illness early and kept chastity for over a decade couldn’t just do as she pleased.
“Heh, then what was the reason for opening my door yourself in the dead of night?”
As Seonwoyong asked with a mischievous look, Jin Seolhwa’s jade face flushed a brilliant pink.
Middle-aged or not, Jin Seolhwa now resembled a splendid peony blossom.
“So mischievous… Naughty.”