Handsome and Annoying Means He’s From Jin (2)
“You…….”
Grinding teeth echoed out with a chilling sound.
Nangong Dowi glared at Chung Myung as though he wanted to devour him whole, his eyes bloodshot with fury.
How much pain had he suffered after being utterly crushed by Chung Myung in the last martial arts tournament?
It had been an undeniable, humiliating defeat. Thanks to that, Nangong Dowi’s pride, which had once made him believe himself the greatest among the younger generation, had been shattered to pieces.
But compared to everything he had endured afterward, the pain of losing was nothing at all.
Because everyone present had seen the sight of him taking a blow to his most private parts, the absurd rumor had spread all the way to Anhui, where the Nangong Family stood. The marriage proposals that had come pouring in several times a day stopped dead, and the matchmakers who had come and gone as if it were their job vanished like they had never existed.
In truth, most of the people who had proposed marriage to Nangong Dowi had not been after him at all. They had wanted their own descendants to marry into the Nangong Family and eventually take Nangong Dowi’s place as family head.
But once the rumor spread that there might be something wrong with his “that part,” everyone pulled back all at once, as if they had made a pact.
That disgrace. That humiliation.
Just remembering that miserable moment made his insides seethe as if he had swallowed a piece of red-hot charcoal.
It’s all because of that bastard!
Nangong Dowi was not ordinarily the kind of petty man who bore a grudge over losing.
But this had not been an ordinary defeat. It had been the kind of thing that crushed a man’s pride completely, shattered it to dust, and ground it through a millstone for good measure.
“Huuuf! Huuuf!”
Nangong Dowi took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.
He wanted nothing more than to rush over right now and tear that face apart, but there were too many eyes watching. No matter how angry he was, he had to maintain the dignity of the Nangong Family’s young master…….
“My, my……. If you can’t even speak, does that mean there’s really a problem? Whatever are we going to do…….”
“No, there isn’t! There’s no problem!”
Startled, Nangong Dowi shouted and looked around.
The disciples of the Nine Great Sects, who had already been curious and were listening with great interest, all reflexively glanced downward at him for a split second before lifting their eyes again. Every one of their faces was filled with pity.
Nangong Dowi’s face turned beet red.
“I-I’m perfectly fine!”
“……Really?”
“I said I am!”
“Well. I suppose…….”
Chung Myung nodded slowly, his expression overflowing with sympathy.
“Then that’s a relief. It really is a relief……. Yes, good. Very good.”
“Believe me!”
“Ah, I do. I believe you. And don’t worry too much about it. That kind of thing…… it’s not exactly something you absolutely need, right? If you’re a direct descendant of the Nangong Family, even Wudang or Shaolin would still take you in.”
“…….”
“Right?”
Chung Myung turned sharply and asked Beop Gye and Heo Do-jin-in.
As if they had been suddenly dragged into the conversation, the two of them answered on reflex.
“Eh?”
“W-well…… that is…….”
When even the great Heo Do-jin-in and Beop Gye gave such awkward, flustered replies, Nangong Dowi’s face went from red to a strange blotchy mix of red and blue.
Jo Gul leaned over and whispered to Yoon Jong.
“If Mount Hua’s a Daoist sect, would they still reject him? I mean, we can get married if we want to, but we don’t have to, right?”
“That’s just gross.”
“Ah…….”
Blue veins bulged on Nangong Dowi’s forehead.
I can hear all of you, you bastards!
Honestly, there was not a single sane person in this sect from top to bottom!
“……Mount Hua Divine Dragon. You haven’t changed at all. Not even that arrogant way of looking down on people.”
“I haven’t changed? You little punk, I’m showing you genuine concern with the utmost sincerity here!”
Baek Cheon shook his head with grave seriousness.
“Chung Myung, that is not concern.”
“Oh, really? I thought this was how you did it.”
Nangong Dowi shut his eyes tightly and took another steadying breath.
He had told himself over and over again not to get dragged around by this bastard’s tricks, and he had come all this way clinging to that thought. And yet, here he was again, in exactly the same state. Still, perhaps it was fortunate that Chung Myung hadn’t kicked him in the groin outright like before.
“Hoo.”
At last regaining a measure of calm, Nangong Dowi said with a cold face, “It is almost a relief that you haven’t changed.”
“Hm?”
“……First, I must thank you. Because of you, I have realized just how long I had been living in a well.”
At first, he had denied it. He had told himself that if he had not been taken by surprise, he would not have lost so horribly.
But in the end, he had no choice but to admit it.
The exploits of Mount Hua Divine Dragon Chung Myung had reached even Anhui without pause.
“Today is not the day, but one day, there will be a chance for me to show you just how sharp my sword has become.”
Nangong Dowi declared with eyes ice-cold and steady.
“I will definitely defeat you and repay this humiliation. Remember this well. I am Nangong Dowi of the Nangong Family. The man who will make you taste defeat.”
“…….”
Chung Myung, who had been staring blankly at Nangong Dowi, tilted his head, then turned to look at Baek Cheon.
That strange look made Baek Cheon ask with a sour expression, “……What?”
“I’m asking because I’m seriously curious.”
“……About what?”
“Are you absolutely sure your father has nothing to do with the Nangong Family? Or maybe your mother’s maiden name is Nangong or something?”
“Neither!”
“……Weird. That bastard really does seem like a Jin. I mean, only a Jin could be this obnoxious. He just made me remember Jin Geum-ryong’s face too.”
How could I ever forget that, you lunatic?
He looks exactly like me!
Already dealing with two people wasn’t enough; now Chung Myung was lumping Jin Geum-ryong in with them and cursing him too, making Jin Dongryong tremble all over. Chung Myung, of course, paid him no mind whatsoever.
“At this rate, now I’m curious just how obnoxious Jin Eun-ryong must be.”
“M-my second brother isn’t like that!”
“So you know your older brother’s obnoxious, huh? Haha.”
“…….”
Chung Myung snorted.
His mannerisms were unquestionably exactly like some Jin bastard’s…… but the aura rolling off Nangong Dowi had grown noticeably stronger than before.
Considering the time that had passed since the tournament, he must have spent the entire period training with neither rest nor sleep. Nangong Dowi spoke again with grave determination.
“Remember it. I will return the humiliation to you in full.”
“Yeah, yeah. Come find me when you have time. Bring a physician with you, though.”
Nangong Dowi glared silently at Chung Myung for a while, then turned on his heel and walked away. Watching his back recede, Chung Myung grinned.
Jo Gul asked, sounding puzzled, “……Why are you smiling like that?”
“Hm?”
“You’d normally be yelling your head off, saying some rude bastard like that needs his skull split.”
“He’s cute.”
“……C-cute?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t he look exactly like Dongryong? Back in the day, Dongryong used to act just like that, and then his head…….”
“D-don’t say it.”
Remembering a dark history that would never, ever be forgotten, Baek Cheon’s face flushed red and he hurriedly cut Chung Myung off.
Chung Myung laughed aloud.
Nangong Dowi’s obnoxious attitude was at least cute enough to tolerate. More importantly, the fact that he had become so much stronger than he had been in the past pleased him quite a bit.
At the very least, it meant the man was not just a loudmouth.
“Looks like he trained hard.”
“He’d better have. He’s got someone to beat.”
“This is why you’ve got to stomp on promising seedlings before you raise them.”
Chung Myung cackled.
Whatever the cause of the bond, watching those who had once been like baby chicks grow up was genuinely entertaining.
I suddenly want to see Song Baek.
The disciples of the closed Southern Edge Sect were probably grinding themselves to the bone in training by now as well.
Just thinking of the name Southern Edge still made his teeth grind and his blood boil, but the disciples of Southern Edge—people like Yi Song-baek and Jin Geum-ryong—didn’t really stir any personal hatred in him. It wasn’t their fault, after all.
The obnoxious face of Jin Geum-ryong and the steadfast face of Yi Song-baek surfaced in turn. There would probably come a day when the two of them reopened their gates and appeared before him again.
But Chung Myung, who had been savoring the pleasing sight of the chicks growing up, soon shuddered and shook his head.
“No, not Geum-ryong. I don’t really want to see that guy. He’s annoying.”
“……Still my brother, though.”
“That just makes him more annoying.”
“……What a bastard.”
Baek Cheon let out a sigh.
Come to think of it, every younger generation disciple who met Chung Myung ended up being influenced by him in one way or another.
Mount Hua was the obvious one, of course, but even Hye Yeon of Shaolin had almost become a Mount Hua disciple by now, and Nangong Dowi of the Nangong Family was training with such obsession that he had forgotten sleep and food just to defeat Chung Myung.
Jin Geum-ryong and Yi Song-baek were no different.
Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung and quietly lifted the corners of his mouth.
Strange.
It really drove home just how much Chung Myung was changing the Central Plains. Setting that thought aside for the moment, Baek Cheon asked, “So what are you going to do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Looks like they’re not planning to include us. Didn’t you hear? We were tied up.”
“What?”
Chung Myung’s head snapped toward where the sect leaders had gathered.
“They’re leaving us out?”
When he shouted, a flash of anger rose in Namgong Hwang’s face.
“How dare a mere disciple speak before the heads of the various sects…….”
“Looks that way.”
“…….”
Namgong Hwang shut his mouth and looked at Beop Gye in disbelief.
However much he might be the head of the Nangong Family, one of the Five Great Families, he could not simply dismiss Shaolin’s second-in-command, Beop Gye. And yet Beop Gye was actually speaking with that low-ranking third-generation disciple over there. Because of that, Namgong Hwang, who had bristled in outrage, only looked ridiculous.
What in the…….
It was certainly enough to make Namgong Hwang flustered, but Beop Gye had his own reasons.
He had already seen Chung Myung and Beop Jeong speaking together on several occasions. He could not begin to guess the reason, but in any case, Beop Jeong clearly treated Chung Myung as a martial artist worthy of respect.
How could he, a mere Shaolin elder, ignore someone whom the abbot himself respected?
“Haa…… They’re leaving us out?”
As Chung Myung bared his teeth and growled, the Five Swords slowly shuffled closer. Hyun Jong was also just about ready to shout.
But then—
“Well, if that’s how it is, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Hm?”
Unexpectedly, Chung Myung just snorted and turned away, striding off. He began rummaging through the bundle he had set down behind him.
Baek Cheon watched him with a bewildered face.
“What are you pulling out…… a, a mat?”
A mat, sweets, rice crackers, and…… jerky?
Hey…… you really brought all that?
Then even a pure white gourd bottle came out of the bundle, and Baek Cheon squeezed his eyes shut.
That lunatic even brought liquor.
And he came here to a war.
Whish!
The mat unfolded smoothly in peaceful fashion. Chung Myung casually sat on it and began laying out the snacks he had brought, as though he had come to enjoy flowers in the spring.
“W-what are you doing?”
“They told us to watch.”
“…….”
“Then we should watch properly.”
“…….”
“Why are you looking at me like that? They told us all to watch. I’m just being obedient for once. What’s the problem?”
“……W-well, there isn’t one, but…….”
Could they really do this? Was it truly all right to do this?
Baek Cheon looked pleadingly at Hyun Jong, his eyes begging for help. Hyun Jong smiled gently and said to the other sect leaders, “Heh heh. I am sorry. Our child has no manners whatsoever.”
“…….”
“Then we shall support you from the rear.”
“……We appreciate it.”
After the conversation ended, Hyun Jong slowly walked over to where Chung Myung was sitting. He took a seat and asked, “You did bring tea, did you not?”
“Hehe. I told them to prepare it in advance, of course. Hey! Bring the tea set over!”
Almost at once, tea sets began appearing from somewhere and were placed before Hyun Jong. As though they had been waiting for the signal, Hyun Young and Hyun Sang also quietly came over and settled onto the mat.
“Hmm. Well, there’s nothing particular we need to do.”
“I suppose they’ll manage on their own. Honestly, us joining in would be a bit much.”
“Yes, yes. That’s true enough.”
Once even the elders had taken their seats, Chung Myung shouted loudly, “Everybody, get out what you brought and sit down! The view’s great, the wind’s nice—just watch the show!”
Namgong Hwang, who had been staring blankly at the sight, twisted his face into a gruesome expression.
Those damned bastards……!
This was clearly a situation where they had rejected Mount Hua and pushed them aside.
And yet those bastards had turned around and turned it into this—Mount Hua sitting behind them, lounging and watching, while the others had to fight as if performing for them like trained monkeys.
What kind of humiliation is this supposed to be?
They had ended up caught in their own trap. But then again, he could hardly object without losing even more face. Mount Hua had merely stepped back, exactly as they had been told to do.
Whether Mount Hua stood in the rear with folded arms, kept a tight guard, or even set out snacks and drank themselves silly, no one could interfere. They were members of the Heavenly Alliance, not the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Families.
“Ahem.”
Namgong Hwang coughed awkwardly several times, his expression sour.
“Then let us discuss how we shall proceed with the assault.”
“Mm.”
“……Yes, let us.”
While the leaders of each faction leaned together and discussed matters seriously, voices continued to ring out boisterously behind them all the while.
Those damned Mount Hua bastards.
One way or another, whenever that lot got involved, nothing ever proceeded properly.