Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Clang!! This Isn't the Tang Family of Sichuan! (2)
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At the bonfire's flickering glow, Seo Ha-yeon, Zhuge Ji-yeon, and Snow Python stared blankly into the flames.
'What do we do now.'
Wei the Great Hero had shared his information with me before vanishing leisurely into a sea of peach blossoms.
As if he'd teleported away.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered how that guy could possibly be from the Beggars' Sect.
'But he's Wei the Great Hero.'
Not like the hypocritical righteous faction that judges solely by appearances.
The true paragon of righteousness who sees and judges a person's inner self.
So I didn't scold him much.
He'd merely offered a bit of advice.
'Wei the Great Hero, if you want to gather information more smoothly, it might be best to wander around in a more realistic disguise.'
'Ah, my apologies. Due to my bloodline, I unwittingly cause peach blossoms to bloom around me...'
Having reached the realm where peach blossoms bloomed unconsciously, Wei the Great Hero seemed incapable of beggar cosplay. What a pity.
"...Even so, Master, how could you tell the Beggars' Sect Leader to dress properly like a beggar?"
Zhuge Ji-yeon muttered while chewing on some jerky.
"Me?"
[She has no self-awareness, it seems, Ji-yeon.]
"Looks that way."
As if connected by some link, Zhuge Ji-yeon and Snow Python shook their heads in unison.
Why did they treat me like this?
"No... what did this lady do so wrong? I merely gave a little education to a rogue from the righteous faction."
I jutted out my lower lip and said as much, prompting Zhuge Ji-yeon to stare at me in disbelief.
"Master... the righteous faction doesn't usually teach manners by beating someone half to death, exuding killing intent, or stepping on their fainted body."
"......"
I couldn't refute it.
As I sat there silently, Snow Python spoke up next.
[You placed a log there for her to sit beside you, so why must you sit on the Tang mat instead... Please, I beg you, young lady.]
"......"
"Ugh... Ah, Father......"
Tang So-so, the Tang Family girl, groaned and mumbled in her sleep beneath me.
"Master, is stepping on righteous faction girls and sitting on them really a hobby of yours?"
I had turned every girl I'd encountered into a mat...
"W-Well, I didn't sit on Hwa-ryeon!"
"Right... But the one and only disciple you have—didn't you knock her out at your first meeting, sit on her, press down with a wooden sword, place your foot on her dantian, and threaten to crush her lungs?"
"......"
Her voice carried a sharp edge.
Zhuge Ji-yeon seemed genuinely upset.
I sneaked a glance at her, then finally hung my head.
"...Sorry."
"......"
Zhuge Ji-yeon said nothing, simply popping another piece of jerky into her mouth.
"Want another one, Master?"
"...Yeah."
"......"
An awkward silence passed.
We shook off the mood and organized the Tang Family's situation based on the information from Wei the Great Hero.
"So... according to Wei the Great Hero, Blood Ghosts have spread across Sichuan, right?"
"That's right."
Blood Ghosts.
I knew about them.
They'd burst out at that inn we saw before.
Though they were just worthless Evil Alliance riffraff.
The Evil Alliance was said to have collapsed.
And at its center was the Blood Cult.
'But I heard the Blood Demon was definitely exterminated.'
The Righteous-Evil War had escalated into the Righteous-Demonic War.
In the end, the righteous faction allied with the Demonic Cult to eliminate the Blood Demon.
Had they failed to properly clean up the Blood Ghosts in the process?
"......"
I glanced at Zhuge Ji-yeon, who flinched before speaking.
"Remnants of the Blood Cult keep popping up."
"Hmm...?"
"Even though the Demonic Cult and the Murim Alliance formed a temporary alliance, rumors quickly spread that the Demonic Cult would betray them once the common enemy—the Blood Demon—was gone..."
"So they rushed to wrap things up, and the aftermath wasn't handled properly... Right?"
"Exactly."
After that, the Heavenly Demon vanished.
Remaining absent to this day...
'If this happened over a hundred years ago.'
And if the Heavenly Demon still lived, he would have reached an unimaginable realm by now.
Zhuge Ji-yeon said the Alliance Leader from that era was long dead.
"The history books from that time are riddled with erased sections and parts filled in later."
Zhuge Ji-yeon gazed at me with serious blue eyes.
"My Zhuge Family calls that part the 'Dead History.'"
"Dead History?"
"History of the dead... Strange history that yields no words or evidence."
All the living witnesses had vanished like lies.
That kind of history.
Even if we asked spirit beasts.
The ones from that Dead History era were all in hibernation.
"No way to know even if we want to."
[......]
Snow Python averted her gaze.
'Heavenly secrets must not be revealed, was it.'
It felt like some enormous evil lurked hidden.
What truth was this fake murim world hiding from me?
"......"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just."
-Twitch
I was just startled by the girl beneath me twitching a little.
"Ugh......"
Tang So-so opened her eyes and groaned in pain.
'Where am I......'
A warm space.
At the same time, something felt lightly pressing on her stomach, so she opened her eyes.
"Sleep well?"
"...!!!"
A demon in the form of a girl with red eyes and hair was sitting atop So-so.
Her heart plummeted in an instant.
'My body... feels strange.'
It was just sore from the beating.
But startled by the demon's utterly Blood Ghost-like appearance, So-so harbored darker thoughts.
"Eek......"
"Huh...?"
Her vision blurred with tears.
For in So-so's mind, she believed...
"Ugh... Y-You should have just killed me...!!! I can't forgive you!! I can't forgive yoooouuuu!!!"
She had already become a Blood Ghost.
Scary.
Hate it.
She was a proud member of the Tang Family—how could she suffer such humiliation?
Witnessing So-so's tantrum, veins bulged on Seo Ha-yeon's neck.
"Ha...?"
"M-Master, no! Absolutely not! Just stay calm! I'll explain everything...!!"
Zhuge Ji-yeon hurriedly hugged and restrained Seo Ha-yeon to calm her.
Hearing Zhuge Ji-yeon's voice, So-so screeched in a raspy voice.
"Heavenly Calculating Strategic Phoenix...!! How, how did this young lady end up tangled with such Evil Alliance trash!?"
She'd heard the Heavenly Calculating Strategic Phoenix had earned that moniker recently.
How could she commit such an act?
Blinded by betrayal, So-so raged.
Seo Ha-yeon barely suppressed her rising killing intent and fury at being called Evil Alliance trash.
Caught between them, Zhuge Ji-yeon wanted to cry.
'Please... just shut uuuup...!!!'
She'd thought the world's biggest fool was her brother.
Why was this murim den filled only with idiots?
After barely calming both So-so and me, Zhuge Ji-yeon explained everything.
What had happened so far.
And what they'd heard from the Beggars' Sect Leader.
It didn't take long to confirm it was true.
"...I'm sorry."
Tang So-so kept bowing her head to me.
I sighed at her and waved it off.
"It's fine, young lady."
"How can I apologize for the rudeness I committed against the great hero..."
"Great hero...?"
Even though I'd told her to call me young lady, she insisted on great hero.
I stared at her sharply, and she yelped "Eek!" while scrambling back.
"I'm sorryyy... Y-Young lady."
"...Tch."
I clicked my tongue, unfurled my iron fan, and sighed.
"I'll let it slide once."
"Ugh... Thank you."
"No second time."
"Eek......"
Zhuge Ji-yeon formally introduced Tang So-so to me.
Hidden Fragrance Poison Phoenix.
The flower of the Tang Family, a once-in-a-generation genius on par with herself.
At the age of eighteen, same as Zhuge Ji-yeon, she had already reached the Thousand Poisons Immunity realm.
The unparalleled genius of the Tang Family.
But the sight before me now was...
"Ah, Hidden Fragrance Poison Phoenix, don't be too upset."
"...It was scary, so scary."
The Tang Family's unparalleled genius, wrapping herself up tightly while saying it was scary.
'This is fun.'
I chuckled and handed the Hidden Fragrance Poison Phoenix a particularly spicy piece of jerky.
"Have that one. Must have been tough getting here."
"Ah... Thank you."
She bowed and popped the spicy jerky into her mouth.
[Isn't that the spicy one?]
"Yeah, it is."
I nodded at Snow Python's question.
The Tang Family loved spicy food—it was common knowledge, nay, truth in this world.
I didn't like spicy, so I reached for a mild one.
"Kehk?!"
"...?"
A coughing fit erupted beside me.
"Sp-Spiccy...! Ack! Kehk! Cough! Hack...!! Cough!!"
"What the."
Tang So-so was tearing up from the spiciness.
I tilted my head, and Zhuge Ji-yeon panicked, shoving water at So-so.
"M-Master!! How could you give something spicy to a Tang Family member?!"
"Oh, that's not allowed?"
"Of course not! They've trained with so much poison their tongues are sensitive to spice! They're weak to pain!"
No way.
Normally, you'd build tolerance, right?
That's how it works.
[Snow Python.]
[What's wrong?]
[...Today, my world crumbled.]
[Young lady, the world you knew crumbled long ago.]
[Ugh......]
Today—no, perhaps yesterday—my world had crumbled.