Chapter 89
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Suspicious Face, Unexpected Attitude
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Uihyeon had warned him, saying that he was already drawing plenty of attention because of the incident with the Dang Family, so he shouldn’t act rashly and needed to watch his behavior.
He’d planned to brush off the advice like usual,
“That Dang Ha-kyung? The Wolf Among Snakes of Sichuan?”
“As expected of Mount Hua.”
But the moment he stepped into the rear garden the next day, those words came rushing back to him.
The piercing stares coming from all directions were enough to annoy even someone as used to attention as him.
“What the hell is with Dang Ha-kyung that everyone’s reacting like this?”
As he grumbled, Jegal Hee, who had quietly sidled up beside him, unfolded her fan to cover her mouth and spoke.
“This reaction is only natural.”
After introducing her to his fellow disciples one by one, he finally got some information on Dang Ha-kyung.
Wolf Among Snakes, Dang Ha-kyung.
Eldest daughter between the head of the Sacheon Dang Family and his first consort, a direct line of the family and a leading candidate for young lady of the house.
Three years older than him.
“You’ve sparred with her yourself, so you know she’s pretty strong. Among the younger generation of the great clans around our age, there are hardly any who surpass Dang Ha-kyung. Within the Dang Family, she’s a true peerless talent.”
“What’s this first consort business? There’s a second and third too?”
At his question, Namgung Seheon suddenly butted in.
“There are three consorts and four concubines, that head of the Dang Family. That’s why Dang Ha-kyung is... ha.”
Namgung Seheon furrowed his right brow, shaking his head with a look of utter exasperation.
Damn, I’m so jealous. In this one life, I should live like the Dang head. How did I end up as a Daoist born and raised in a marriage-prohibiting Daoist sect? Tsk...
“Jealous? You jealous? Huh?”
“Whoa, did I say that out loud?”
Namgung Seheon grabbed his shoulder, veins bulging at his temple as he laughed and shook him roughly. He widened his eyes and asked.
“It’s all over your face, isn’t it? Man, you’re so easy to read at times like this...”
Breathing out a sigh, Namgung Seheon pinched and stretched his cheek.
Jegal Hee shook her head watching the two of them, apparently satisfied with her goal of building connections in Mount Hua, and trotted away.
At that moment, he sensed a presence from behind.
It wasn’t hidden and was openly revealed, so it didn’t seem like an ambush. He didn’t draw his sword, merely resting his hand lightly on the hilt.
“Hmm, you two seem quite close.”
At the familiar voice laced with interest, Namgung Seheon and he turned their heads simultaneously.
The first thing that caught his eye was green silk. The loose-fitting green robes had wide sleeves like a changpo.
Lifting his gaze higher, he saw snake-like eyes with sharp corners, no double eyelids, and thin lips curved in a faint smile.
Her hair was half tied up in a sharp bun and half left down, unlike his own casually bound hair—clearly, considerable care and effort had gone into it.
It was Dang Ha-kyung, the owner of the name who had been constantly crossing paths with him today.
Dang Ha-kyung, stroking her chin with slender fingers, glanced at Namgung Seheon before shifting her gaze to him.
“Having connections to someone who’ll be Mount Hua’s top sword in the future isn’t bad for my first consort.”
A snicker escaped despite her efforts to hide it. She scratched her cheek, half-lowering her eyes.
“Ahaha, you sure know how to read people.”
“You’re laughing at that?”
“Of course. Future Mount Hua’s top sword, baby.”
“Damn it, how did I end up...”
Namgung Seheon muttered in lament, pressing at the corners of his eyes.
Ignoring Namgung Seheon entirely, Dang Ha-kyung still looked at him with curved eyes and smiled. That smile made her look exactly like a scheming black-hearted villain with squinted eyes.
“But I’d prefer to tie a direct bond with you rather than just the one-step connection from our match. What do you say? Truth is, I rather like you.”
“What part of me? All we did was exchange snide remarks and have a pretty intense spar.”
Special trait of guys with cryptic smiles: no idea what hooks them (related: Pang Ha-ran).
“I never exchanged snide remarks while talking with you.”
Her expression was utterly sincere. Zero intent, natural-born aggro machine. This girl’s a ‘talent freak’...!
“If you’re asking which part... the way you took the antidote pill without hesitation was quite impressive. Due to my family’s nature, even when I show goodwill, people usually react like my dear fiancé here and stay on guard. You accepting it at face value without probing was refreshingly novel.”
Namgung Seheon’s reaction back then, insisting he spit out the antidote pill, came to mind, sending a chill down his spine.
Right, he’d swallowed it without a second thought, but what if it had been poison instead...?
“But I’d advise you to at least suspect it a bit when others offer you things before taking them. My siblings alone are more than capable of pulling such tricks.”
Hearing her add that made him even more uneasy.
He’d just been a fool who let his guard down after winning and swallowed anything without suspicion, yet he’d racked up another point in the misunderstanding category.
Her looks screamed shady black-hearted villain, but talking to her revealed an unexpectedly bold and straightforward personality.
No wonder she’d earned the moniker Wolf Among Snakes in the snake-infested Sacheon Dang Family.
His gut told him she might be the one sane member of the Sacheon Dang Family in [Sword God Returns] who actually helps the protagonist.
“Then keep being friendly with my fiancé from now on. I’m jealous, so don’t get too close.”
Dang Ha-kyung laughed heartily and extended her hand. As he stood and lightly clasped it, Namgung Seheon growled in disgust from the side.
“Please stop with the ‘my fiancé’ and ‘first consort’ crap already?”
“Are you getting jealous already, or worried? No need to fret. No matter how many more consorts or concubines I take, first consort will still be you, Seheon.”
She sure wasn’t saying she wouldn’t take any.
The moment Dang Ha-kyung walked away, her mismatched looks and personality leaving him with cognitive dissonance, Namgung Seheon slammed his fist into the ground and fumed.
“See? If I marry that woman and get stuck in the Dang inner quarters, I’ll definitely die of frustration. I’ll end up as one of her three wives and four concubines, withering away like a neglected houseplant!”
“No other marriage prospects?”
“Yeah. My sister picked this one herself. Why would she send her one and only little brother as a son-in-law into a house crawling with snake-like creeps?”
That settled it. Namgung Seheon’s sister wanted him out of the Namgung Family.
Sending him as a son-in-law to a place full of consorts and concubines didn’t scream affection for her brother.
The reason was probably, as expected, to remove a potential rival in the succession struggle and solidify her own position.
“You’ve got it good. No headaches over stuff like this.”
Namgung Seheon flopped down flat. Turning his upper body toward him and plopping back onto the grass, he asked nonchalantly.
“But you keep calling yourself the first consort, so don’t you actually like her?”
“Ha, is there a better match than my own family? It’s just them parading me, a direct Namgung line, as first consort to strengthen their position in the succession fight. Where’s love in a political marriage?”
“But she said she’d let us keep hanging out even after marriage.”
“Yeah, right. If you come to Sacheon during your future Jianghu wanderings and drop by the Dang Family, she’ll call letting you glimpse my face for a moment ‘keeping in touch.’”
Namgung Seheon, who’d been responding to every point, ground his teeth.
“I wasn’t even expecting you to get mad on my behalf, but why are you defending that woman?”
“Couldn’t bear to see an innocent soul’s pure heart trampled...?”
“What bullshit is that.”
His pitch-black eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“We’re getting married anyway. How am I supposed to badmouth your fiancée to your face?”
“You crazy? I’m never doing that marriage, dead or alive.”
Namgung Seheon shook his head vehemently, as if denying it would make his resolve real.
“Isn’t it a done deal?”
“Ha, I said the engagement is a done deal, not the marriage.”
Sweeping back his bangs with a rough hand, he sneered.
“For now, I’ll resist as much as I can, and if they try to force it, I’ll grab some money and elope before they drag me to the Dang Family—join Mount Hua as a secular disciple. Live out my days holed up there.”
He flashed a bright, refreshing smile at him.
“Why Mount Hua of all places?”
“Why? Because you’re there.”
The tips of Namgung Seheon’s ears flushed bright red. At words that sounded like a confession at first listen, his mind raced.
No way, does this mean...!
“You weak-kneed punk, you’re trying to leech off me, the future Mount Hua Sect Leader and top sword, for protection?”
At least he felt embarrassed declaring he’d mooch off a friend. Good to know he had a minimal conscience.
“Yeah, interpret it however you want...”
Namgung Seheon muttered in a deflated voice, then added after a slight pause.
“But no matter how I think about it, you’re no Sect Leader material.”
Smack—his palm slammed down right next to Namgung Seheon’s face. Propping himself up with his hands, he leaned his upper body toward the guy’s face, locked eyes, and spat out each word deliberately.
“See you at the Mount Hua Sect Leader inauguration in about forty years, punk. I’ll make sure you engrave it in your eyes who becomes Sect Leader.”
“Oh, planning to keep seeing my face that long? Didn’t know you took our friendship this seriously.”
Namgung Seheon smirked mischievously, habitually half-closing his right eye.
Four years old—no, eleven years since their first meeting when this pretty-faced kid had snapped at him for stealing attention without realizing it—and he was still beautiful.
“Guess I really do hate you after all. Seeing you smile makes my stomach churn.”
Now his delicate features had sharpened into a more masculine face. Staring blankly down at him, he mumbled what Biyeon had said yesterday, and the smile on the guy’s face twisted awkwardly.
“That’s too bad. I get queasy too, every time you smile at that Wudang beanpole.”
“Yeah? Mutual hate then—should we call it quits?”
“You nuts? Why would we break off!”
Fuming, Namgung Seheon shot up, grabbed his collar, and shook him roughly, demanding he take it back.
Yeah, no way this guy likes me. What lunatic grabs the collar of someone they like and shakes them like this.