Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Young Hero Kang...! (2)
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Alright, let's sort this out.
Namgung Hye knows that I'm my master's disciple. She didn't know who my master was back then, but the Sword Saint must have told her.
In other words, from Namgung Hye's perspective, it's the situation where "her mother was tricked by an evil lecher and gave him both her body and heart."
The problem comes after that. I have no idea what Namgung Hye is thinking.
I, Eon So-young, and Namgung Hye had gathered in Eon So-young's room. Mother knew the situation too and had come, but I'd asked her via sound transmission to wait outside.
Even though warm steam was rising from the tea the maids had brought in, my shoulders were trembling with chills.
Clink.
Namgung Hye, her eyes bloodshot, picked up her teacup.
It was obvious she'd been bawling her eyes out, but seeing her try to hide her trembling gaze and pretend to be calm as she drank her tea made my heart pound.
"Now... please explain."
I hadn't coordinated a single word with Eon So-young. It was more accurate to say I hadn't even dared to try.
No matter how I tried to spin it, someone was bound to end up getting blamed in the end.
I'd decided that, at the very least, I'd tell the absolute truth about what happened on Mount Ami.
"As you probably know, I hadn't learned any martial arts at the time, and after becoming Master's disciple..."
"I used you as bait to violate Lady Namgung..."
"...And as a result, well, this happened."
I didn't mention the existence of the other women. Things were already dangerous enough as it was; there was a real chance the Namgung family could issue a kill order on me.
The moment I finished my explanation, Namgung Hye's sharp gaze turned toward Eon So-young's belly.
The belly containing my child. I was truly sorry to both the baby and Eon So-young, but at this moment, more than anything, I wanted to hide that belly.
"You violated my mother instead of me."
"Y-yes... Young Lady Namgung, but I'm not saying that makes it justified in any way..."
"Why?"
"Pardon...?"
"Why did you violate my mother instead of me?"
Namgung Hye looked deeply wronged.
I could guess why. In the end, it painted the picture of her mother being defiled while she herself survived unscathed.
"Did you think I'd thank you if you said it was for my sake?"
"..."
"Did you think I'd really say it was fortunate and thank you if, for my sake, my mother abandoned the purity she'd guarded her entire life?"
"I... Young Lady Namgung."
But this needed to be made crystal clear.
"There seems to be some misunderstanding."
"...What do you mean?"
"I said I used you as bait to violate the Lady, not that I violated her for your sake."
"...?"
Namgung Hye wore an expression of utter confusion.
"What I'm saying is that I violated her because I liked Lady Namgung. That I found her more attractive than you, Young Lady Namgung."
I could see Eon So-young's neck flush slightly. Honestly, I was embarrassed saying this in front of someone else too—just bear with me a little.
"There was a beautiful woman, and I had the chance to take her. I'm just a shameless scoundrel who didn't pass up that opportunity and grabbed it. It's not like you were..."
"So, you love my mother?"
"Yes."
Immediate answer.
To Namgung Hye's sudden question, my response came out with admirable speed, impressing even myself.
But that answer didn't convince Namgung Hye in the slightest.
"A woman more than twenty years older than you?"
No, you're hurting Eon So-young's feelings. Can't you see her face darken? Huh?
Namgung Hye kept hammering away, whether she noticed Eon So-young's expression or not.
"I don't know much about men, but I've heard that men prefer younger women."
"Generally, yes."
"So Young Hero Kang is the exception, then. But tell me this: my mother will lose her beauty far sooner than you."
"..."
"You love her because she's pretty and attractive? What then, when she's no longer beautiful? Does that mean you'll abandon her?"
Eon So-young was starting to get drawn into Namgung Hye's questions.
It was only natural.
Time waits for no one, and Eon So-young had been born over twenty years before me.
She might never have brought it up with me, but it was surely a concern she'd thought about herself, so now she was waiting for my answer.
"I'll keep her beautiful forever."
"How?"
"Marrow cleansing and bone transformation."
I answered with utmost conviction.
With an attitude like it was the simplest thing in the world, Namgung Hye and Eon So-young seemed to rack their brains for a moment, trying to recall what that meant.
"Marrow cleansing and bone transformation?!"
A belated cry of shock echoed through the room.
Marrow cleansing and bone transformation—the realm of transcendent mastery, where the body is remade and physical age is fixed, rejecting senescence.
In the world, it was known that only the twelve absolute experts—the Three Venerables, Five Transcendents, and Four Tyrants—had achieved it.
There might be some hidden masters, but those were the only names known to the world.
"How can you say something so absurd...!"
Eon So-young was nodding as if it made sense, while Namgung Hye glared at me like I was some outrageous con artist.
"I'd believe it if you said you'd achieve it yourself. But how could you do it to someone else...!"
"So-young."
Namgung Hye stared in disbelief as I called Eon So-young by name so openly, but she swallowed hard when Eon So-young nodded.
'I've got a rough idea of Namgung Hye's stance now.'
I could tell from her attitude. What mattered to her wasn't punishing me.
This kind-hearted girl prioritized her mother's happiness above all, even in the face of her mother's affair.
If my presence made her unhappy, she was gearing up to cut me down.
"Really...? You really think that's possible?"
"Of course."
"No way...!"
With Namgung Hye's skills, she couldn't tell even by checking Eon So-young's pulse. More precisely, she had no way to gauge how much progress had been made compared to before.
She couldn't sense inner energy beyond her own level in the first place, having no benchmark for it. The same went for me.
I could only roughly estimate that she'd reached upper peak realm compared to before we met.
"You know who my master is. Is it so strange that his martial arts have the effect of enhancing someone else's inner energy?"
At my implication that my master's arts were lewd techniques, Namgung Hye blushed.
"...Isn't it through dual cultivation of yin and yang?"
"You know that's a foolish question. Do you think you can become one of those absolute experts by crudely stealing someone else's inner energy?"
"...No."
Namgung Hye conceded. If that were possible, all the seats of absolute power would be taken by demonic arts practitioners of energy absorption techniques.
This blocked the path of her doubting me over the age gap with Eon So-young, at least.
I couldn't guarantee it was absolutely possible, but now neither could she claim it was absolutely impossible.
As Namgung Hye floundered, unsure what to say, I stood and slowly approached her.
"Wh-what are you... Huh?"
Thud.
I dropped to my knees.
"Young Lady Namgung, I need your help."
"Why are you doing this? What right do you have...?"
"Please protect So-young. I have to leave this place again soon."
"..."
"I'll come back someday and take her with me, but who knows when someone else from the Namgung family might show up and make things hard for her."
Once a hole is punched, there's no guarantee it won't be punched again.
Eon So-young was convinced all her maids were trustworthy, but in the end, hadn't A-hyeon leaked the news outside?
Even if it was a decision made out of concern for Eon So-young and Namgung Hye, I couldn't trust them anymore.
"So-young has already retired anyway, hasn't she? It's unlikely anyone outside the Namgung family would come looking for her."
"..."
"Please make sure no one who comes looking for So-young gets through. I beg you."
I bowed my head. Namgung Hye wasn't just any first-rate expert. She was direct lineage of the Namgung family, able to call in reinforcements anytime.
Her mere tolerance wouldn't suffice. I needed to pull her fully to my side.
"You mean... even my brothers and sisters...?"
"...Yes, please cover for us."
Namgung Hye gaped in disbelief. She probably wanted to curse me out, even if she held back.
If my mother's lover asked me to deceive my own siblings, I'd be furious too.
But I blurted it out because I thought it might just work with her. Namgung Hye cared for Eon So-young that much.
For Eon So-young's happiness, she might endure her own heartache and deceive others.
"I can't trust you."
"..."
"It's far more logical to think this is some nefarious scheme where you're using my mother rather than that you truly love her and got her pregnant."
"I understand."
Today, I was seeing more expressions from Namgung Hye than in the entire past month combined.
She looked puzzled, like she understood but questioning why.
"I'm a rogue who values a woman's looks over her inner qualities. Even if I say I love So-young, the only way I can prove it is by embracing her."
"..."
"But I can't very well do that in front of you, Young Lady Namgung, so for me..."
"...Do it."
"All I can ask is that you believe me... Pardon?"
What did she just say?
"Prove it. Right here in front of me."
As Eon So-young paled, Namgung Hye said it firmly, her own face flushed beet red.
"Show me how much you love my mother. Embrace her right in front of me."
Uh, so you're saying I should fuck her right in front of you?
[So-young, are you really going to do this?]
[...I don't think Hye-ah will accept it otherwise...?]
Namgung Hye was being utterly unreasonable. She even tried to call in the maids as witnesses to prove we'd spent sleepless nights together, but I refused that too.
<If the witnesses you're calling are the ones who've been hiding news of my mother all this time, then I refuse.>
Unfortunately, A-hyeon—the one person Namgung Hye might trust—was working in the kitchen with Mother and hadn't witnessed anything.
If she'd been interested, she could've poked around and confirmed the signs, but she said she stayed away because it was "dirty."
'Useless girl anyway.'
Worse than Mong-a! If you're going to leak info, at least do it properly!
In the end, we hesitantly sat on the bed, subjected to Namgung Hye's glaring stare.
Maybe because she's her daughter, but it was the spitting image of Eon So-young's angry face last time.
The one who'd exuded immovable guardian king vibes back then was now trembling beside me like a frightened rabbit.
"What's wrong? Can't do it? Mother, this kind of man is..."
No, do you even realize what you're saying right now?
You're telling me to show you your own mother's pussy! You get that, right? Or not?
I get it! You threw this out knowing I couldn't actually do it, didn't you?
"Eek!"
Meanwhile, perhaps steeling herself at Namgung Hye's taunts, Eon So-young yanked down my pants.
My cock, already half-erect from the bizarre excitement of being exposed, sprang out impressively.
'Fuck, it's all or nothing now.'
I likewise stripped off Eon So-young's bedclothes and revved up my hips.
No backing out now. All I could do was show her clearly!