VIP Reunion and the Living Jiangshi's Fate
After receiving all sorts of guidance about advancing to the main Yongbong Tournament draw...
I headed toward the upper seats where Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Ojin were sitting. Well, I got stopped right at the entrance, but still.
"Halt. Ordinary spectators can't enter here."
"I'm here to meet my companions inside. Could you pass along that Jin Sochan has arrived for Paeng Gajuu-nim?"
"To the Poison King...?"
The warrior eyed me up and down with a bewildered look. Judging by his aura and uniform, he seemed like a low-ranking Murim Alliance martial artist. A single low-rank guard... wasn't the security a bit too lax? But thinking it over, the people inside didn't need protecting from anyone. They were all renowned figures in the martial world, so the guards were probably just there to turn away clueless spectators. Anyway, maybe the silk uniform Paeng Ojin gave me made him think I was someone important. It wasn't long before the warrior nodded.
"Please wait a moment..."
"No need for that! He's my guest—let him in!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
The warrior jumped at Paeng Ojin's booming voice, snapping to attention and stepping aside. He looked all nervous, like he'd done something wrong... but I knew better now. It wasn't anger or displeasure—just the guy's naturally thunderous voice making everything sound intimidating.
I gave a light nod to reassure him and stepped inside, drawing every eye in the place. They all looked incredibly formidable at a glance, making me freeze for a second, but then I spotted that familiar pink hair among them, and the tension melted away.
"Geudaeyeo!"
Hong Yeonhwa came dashing over in a frenzy of excitement, skidding to a stop in front of me with sparkling eyes.
"I watched it all, you know! You were so cool, you know!"
She started animatedly gesturing and explaining exactly what parts were the coolest, pulling out all the stops. It was such a heartwarming sight, I could've watched forever.
But one thing bugged me.
"...Geudaeyeo? You listening?"
"Huh? Yeah. Hold still a sec."
"Eung?"
Not sure what was up, but she obediently stayed put as I gently cupped her face and tilted it upward. Feeling her soft cheeks push against my fingers, I wiped the corner of her mouth with my thumb.
"What'd you get all over your face? You're not a kid."
"Brrm... Bee... Th-that..."
Every time I swiped her mouth, Hong Yeonhwa let out these weird little noises for no reason. Finally, I turned her head this way and that to check for any missed spots before letting go.
And then it hit me. Oh crap.
Publicly, Paeng Soso and I weren't engaged yet, right? Was it okay for Hong Yeonhwa to see me doing that?
As if reading my mind, Paeng Ojin sent a transmission.
—Don't worry. We haven't announced your engagement to Soso yet. We'll handle that with the family elders later, so until then, as long as you're not too over the top, it's fine. Oh, and I introduced both of you as Soso's friends, so play along.
Ah, so that meant no need to watch out for the maids' stares back at the estate? Wait, no—threesomes were still too much...
Anyway, relieved it was okay, I cupped my fists toward the female experts watching us with keen interest.
"I saw you all doting on Yeonhwa from the arena. Thank you. I hope she didn't cause you any trouble?"
"No worries, young hero. Watching her was actually quite relaxing."
A refined matron chuckled softly. The plum blossom pattern on her sleeve marked her as from Hwasan.
Another woman in monk's robes with long hair smiled warmly, backing her up. "Cheonghwa Jin-in is right. If anything, we gained more from it and just gave back what was left."
"I'm just grateful for your kind words."
I exchanged brief greetings with the others and sat next to Paeng Ojin with Hong Yeonhwa. Of course, the moment I sat, she zipped off into the crowd of women, claiming she needed to finish her yakgwa.
"You're here."
"Yes. Soso's in Group 23, so she'll be up later."
"That's far off."
Paeng Ojin sighed deeply, looking bored. "I get the symbolic importance and that it's necessary, but it's still a hassle. Ah, that last match was impressive, though. Looks like you're stronger in real fights."
"Something like that."
Thanks to Muryeong Singong's nature, I couldn't go all-out against close ones, but still.
"Good to hear. Means I can train you even harder from now on."
...Father-in-law?
"Your face says otherwise. Others would pay a fortune for a single lesson from me."
"True, but..."
Training was still grueling. And I wasn't just training under Paeng Ojin—I had Hong Yeonhwa too. Exaggerating a bit, but I might need to get strong just to survive. Shivering at the thought, I changed the subject.
"Anyway, Father—er, Paeng Gajuu-nim, I have one question."
"Shoot."
"What happened with Eon Ju-won?"
"Hah, that punk."
Paeng Ojin grinned ferociously. "Thanks to how nicely you packaged him, we made him pay properly."
First off, Eon Ju-won's crimes were no joke. Serial murder was bad enough, but corpse violation was standard, and some victims were even turned into unlicensed jiangshi. Every charge was a heavy crime, with ironclad evidence, so even the Eon family couldn't weasel out.
They framed it as Eon Ju-won's personal deviance, stressing Jinju Eonga’s eternal loyalty to the throne by personally executing an excessively harsh punishment. Paeng Soso had predicted this much, expecting him to be made an example as a jiangshi... but one thing she hadn't foreseen.
The broken engagement with Paeng Soso? Because Jinju Eonga knew about Eon Ju-won's tastes. In other words, they'd covered it up. Feeling the heat, the Eon family didn't just cut him loose—they pushed aggressively for punishment.
The result?
"He became a living jiangshi."
"...Pardon? Jiangshi are made from corpses, aren't they? How does that work alive?"
"First I'd heard of it too. Called a saenggangsi..."
According to Paeng Ojin, Eonga direct descendants were tempered from childhood with drugs and spells, building massive resilience. That's how they developed arts granting jiangshi-like tough skin and superhuman strength.
With that resilience, they could be drugged alive without dying, have their souls suppressed, talismans hijacked—and still live on. Feeling all desires and pain, but obeying orders like puppets. That's what they threw onto the Guangdong frontlines.
Eon Ju-won's end.
"Not perfect, of course. Lasts maybe ten years before they croak naturally. Then just a regular jiangshi."
"I see... But is that something the righteous factions do?"
Sounded more like Blood Cult stuff.
"That's exactly why the righteous are harsher. His crimes were that vile. Later interrogations revealed he killed far more innocents."
Even wiping out whole mountain bandit villages.
Makes sense. It was old news now, but even a big merchant group like Fengyu had been massacred by a single peak expert, Cheok An Geum Gwi. Eon Ju-won was first-rate himself, but his two jiangshi guards were peak-level—he could've done it anytime.
It really drove home how this world let individuals surpass groups in power. Even fearless martial masters needed to instill real terror, hence the extreme punishments.
...I'd just wanted to lighten the mood, but it got scary fast.
Shifting to idle chat, it wasn't long before Paeng Soso's group's matches started. Paeng Ojin had been sulky the whole time, bored out of his mind, but he lit up, focusing intently.
It was overwhelming. Paeng Soso dominated the arena with the signature bouncy, elastic movements of Five Tigers Gate Severing Saber Art, smashing foes with her innate divine strength and sword qi. Like me, a peak amid first-rates was a wolf among sheep.
Unlike me, though, her group had another wolf... but early peak at best. A few aggressive pushes, and she crushed it.
A match showing the gap in realms. Paeng Ojin laughed heartily, pounding my back—it hurt more than expected...
Anyway, no issues. Both Paeng Soso and I advanced to the Yongbong Tournament main draw.
