Chapter 106
In the Central Plains, there were three famed beauties.
The first was Wi Seoryeon, the Ice Flower Blood Heaven.
Wi Seoryeon—called one of the Changpae Saryong alongside the Namgung Clan’s Namgung Jeok-myeong, the Hwasan Sect’s Bang Woo, the Kunlun Sect’s Yi Ho-yeon—was the official successor of the Ice Palace.
Perhaps because people said her delicate martial prowess was hidden behind her breathtaking beauty, Wi Seoryeon herself was said to look at anyone praising her looks as if they were insects.
The second was Jegal Ihwa of the Jegal Clan.
Even her frown bewitched those who saw it. Jegal Ihwa was a beauty who could be compared to Seosi of the State of Yue without shame, and as a joke, she was even called the Jegal Clan’s Seosi.
She resembled her grandfather, Jegal Hyeonmun, in being learned and quiet in temperament, but perhaps because her disposition was so sensitive, she did not enjoy going out.
This was a fact guaranteed by Unhui, one of the Jegal Clan’s bodyguards, so there was not a shred of falsehood in it.
The last was the one everyone knew—Hangryong Gate’s Gate Master, Yoo Yoo, the greatest beauty of the era.
In beauty, the Hangryong Gate Master was considered the best of the three. However, she was even more famous as a cold-blooded person who showed no mercy with her hands.
She was a woman with a mysterious, dreamlike air, like the moon hanging in broad daylight, yet depending on the moment, she could also look like a naïve young girl, so it was said that anyone who met the Hangryong Gate Master for the first time felt intense confusion.
The Jianghu bundled these three together and called them the Three Beauties Under Heaven.
But today, here and now, Unhui—the Jegal Clan’s bodyguard—realized that the title “Three Beauties Under Heaven” was thoroughly wrong.
It’s wrong. Yes, of course it is.
There were not three beauties under heaven.
There were four.
Unhui carefully examined the face of Namgung Soyo—a late-arriving guest to the Jegal Clan in these unsettled times, the illegitimate daughter of Sword King Namgung Je, and the younger sister under the hand of Namgung Jeok-myeong, the Cheonggeom Ilseom.
Indeed, she was a tremendous beauty with no exaggeration in the rumors that had reached even the clan.
A pale face, a high, straight nose bridge. Thin red lips, and even her slightly raised cheeks carried a soft peach-pink tint.
Unlike her siblings, who were born with natural martial bones, she looked frail enough to be blown away helplessly when the spring wind blew—
…Is she?
In Unhui’s eyes, Namgung Soyo’s body—though she stood between Namgung Hui-myeong and an unknown martial artist—did not look noticeably small. Instead, it formed a strangely stable balance.
Her shoulders and chest also seemed solid enough, though it was hard to see clearly beneath hair fine as silk—
“Cough, cough!”
“…Hey, Soyo. You seem to be coughing a lot today. Are you okay?”
“Yes. I think the wind was a little cold on the way here.”
“Tch. You’re weak as always.”
With an annoyed mutter, Namgung Hui-myeong took off the outer garment he was wearing and draped it over Namgung Soyo’s shoulders. The sight looked completely natural between the siblings.
So the rumor that her body is weak must be true. I’ll need to keep an eye on her for a while.
Namgung Soyo was one of the few women among those who came at the Jegal Clan’s request for aid, and the only one who was not a martial artist.
Considering that special circumstance, Unhui—one of only three female bodyguards in the Jegal Clan—was assigned to Namgung Soyo.
In times like these, she wondered what use an ordinary woman could possibly be, but—
“Oh my, isn’t that Unhui?”
A suddenly sweet voice, so cloying it made her ears itch, called Unhui.
When she turned her head, she saw a slender, tall beauty and a huge-built man.
These people were—
They said they were the disciple and escort of that old physician the Sogaju-nim had brought with such difficulty, didn’t they? Let’s see, the names were…
Unhui gave a short nod.
“Good morning, Danghong-nim. Beomjung-nim as well.”
The slender beauty, Danghong, looked into Unhui’s eyes with a strangely suggestive smile.
“Yeah. Have you eaten? But did something happen in the clan? I’ve been looking around since yesterday, and the security’s extremely tight.”
“Ah. It’s probably because of the Cheonma—”
Gasp. Startled at her own tongue slipping, Unhui clamped her mouth shut.
Whew. I almost made a mistake.
That the Cheonma Divine Cult was entangled in this incident was a major secret that absolutely could not leak outside—
“…….”
…Huh.
“Right, Unhui. The reason security is tight must be because of the Cheonma Divine Cult. But how was it discovered that the ones who kidnapped the Jegal Clan’s Second Young Lady were the Cheonma Divine Cult?”
A strange scent drifted over and made her mind go blank.
She could not think of anything. Unhui simply moved her mouth however it went.
“They said the Murim Alliance tipped us off in advance…”
“What kind of tip?”
“Since the Chief Steward, Mo Yong-sanghwi, was threatened, it seemed they were aiming for Jegal Hyeonmun-nim… so they warned us to be especially careful…”
“Mo Yong-sanghwi? Hmm. That sounds like the Murim Alliance raid the First Young Master mentioned. But what does the Murim Alliance’s Chief Steward have to do with the Jegal Clan’s Gaju?”
“Mo Yong-sanghwi is Jegal Hyeonmun-nim’s most cherished top disciple… so if something happened to him, Hyeonmun-nim would surely step in, so… uh…”
As Unhui’s eyes began to regain clarity, Danghong brought a white sachet to Unhui’s nose. As Unhui’s face grew hazy again, Beomjung clicked his tongue.
“If you’re going to do it, sorcery would be easy. What a hassle.”
“What? Quit talking like an idiot, Beomjung. Is your head so hard you don’t know who Jegal Hyeonmun is? In a place like this, the moment we use even a little trick, our identities will be exposed. You don’t want to cause trouble for our lord, do you?”
“Danghong. You dare talk about causing trouble in front of me?”
“Shut up, Beomjung. We infiltrated because of Choi I-ryang, so don’t make noise for no reason. I’ll kick your shin for real.”
The two men were yammering on in front of Unhui, but strangely, she could not process the meaning.
At that moment, an old man approached from behind Unhui. He was the old physician the Jegal Clan’s Sogaju had supposedly brought with great difficulty—one whose fame was renowned throughout the Jianghu.
“Tsk, tsk. You grown brats are fighting even here… Danghong, did you ask whether the medicinal ingredients this old man offered the First Young Master had any effect?”
Danghong answered with a snort.
“Hah! Effect, my ass… I just asked by voice transmission, and he said even after taking it, the gu inside his body is still exactly the same.”
“You have to wait eight days. Are you certain eight days have passed since he took the medicine?”
“He took it before going to Hangryong Gate, so of course!”
What on earth were they talking about with her standing right here?
First Young Master, medicinal ingredients, Hangryong Gate… none of it fit the Jegal Clan, but because Unhui’s mind had turned foggy again, she could not think any deeper.
The physician sighed and shook his head.
“As expected. Hm… Salmak’s gu has no answer, whether in the past or now. If even those medicinal ingredients don’t work, there’s nothing to be done.”
Danghong flared her eyes and shouted.
“You old bastard… what do you mean there’s nothing to be done? You made us wait two whole years, and all you gave us was some grass that doesn’t do a damn thing—ugh!”
The physician chopped the back of Danghong’s neck with the edge of his hand.
“You insolent brat! Do you know Salmak’s gu? Their gu is the poison of poisons, raised like a precious treasure in Hellblood! Do you even know what the greatest contributor was that let a mere assassin organization ravage the Nine Great Sects and One League and turn the Murim into a wasteland… tsk, tsk.”
Beside Danghong, who was irritably rubbing the back of her neck, Beomjung answered.
“If you mean the greatest contributors, wouldn’t that be the First Evil and the Three Calamities?”
“Not wrong, but Salmak had things even worse than that. Things no physician or sorcerer from anywhere on the continent could ever resolve… Hongyu and Geumjamgo! Two vicious monsters with no answer!”
Beomjung’s eyes turned cold as he stroked his jaw.
“Geumjamgo… I vaguely suspected it, but… it seems the gu parasitizing our lord’s body isn’t an ordinary gu.”
“Of course! At this point, the only option is to kneel to that woman—whatever her name was, Yeo Il—and beg. Tsk, tsk. The First Young Master is truly unlucky… of all things, to swallow Geumjamgo….”
Waving his hand, the physician turned away and walked off.
Danghong and Beomjung also followed behind him, bickering in small bursts. Unhui stared blankly at the three of them from behind, and only came to her senses after some time had passed.
“Huh? What was I doing here… Ah.”
She had come to attend the Namgung Clan’s young lady.
But something was strange. The figure of Namgung Soyo, who had been passing ahead of her just moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.
What is this. Did I actually doze off while standing?
No matter how much work there was, to the point of dozing off while standing—
Then.
[Unhui.]
A deep, heavy voice pierced Unhui’s mind.
[Bring Namgung Je’s daughter.]
…This voice.
Jegal Hyeonmun-nim!
Unhui’s whole body shuddered. With a face snapping to attention, she shouted,
“Yes! Y-yes! Understood!”
So startled that she stupidly answered out loud.
J-Jegal Hyeonmun-nim personally sent me a voice transmission? He even knew my name!
What business could he have with the Namgung Clan’s frail daughter?
How could an ordinary person know Jegal Hyeonmun-nim’s intent? Unhui hurriedly moved her legs and ran off to find Namgung Soyo.