Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Sparring at the Banquet
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Martial Arts Amid the Banquet
Hwa-ryeon of the Moon Palace ivory stood before my eyes.
Not in her usual simple light attire, but dressed in a gorgeously embroidered white palace gown, Hwa-ryeon glanced at me with a hesitant expression.
Her lips a shade redder than usual, her eyes more intensely lined.
Could she have even put on makeup?
One step, two steps.
As Hwa-ryeon drew closer, my heart slipped from my control and pounded wildly.
-Thump thump
My heartbeat grew so fierce it felt like it might burst at any moment, filling me with anxiety.
Just as I worried my face had flushed bright red, Hwa-ryeon spoke again.
“…How do I look?”
“Uh, uh?”
The words tumbled out on their own.
Even to my own ears, my voice sounded utterly dumbfounded.
In that brief moment, had I turned into an idiot? My mind couldn’t keep up with Hwa-ryeon’s simple question.
W-what did Hwa-ryeon just say?
How do I look?
“…I can’t take my eyes off you.”
“……”
Hwa-ryeon fell silent at my hard-won reply.
From her slightly more flushed expression, I could tell she wasn’t displeased.
“Tsk tsk, aren’t you going to snap out of it?”
As I gazed endlessly at Hwa-ryeon, a displeased tongue-click entered my ears.
Snapping to my senses, I saw Master and Seol-i behind her, both changed into new clothes as well.
Only then did I realize I was blocking the path of our group.
Suppressing the urge to stare at her all day, I turned around, and the waiting maid resumed guiding us without a word.
…That maid must have seen it all, right?
My face heated up for a different reason now. I cleared my throat and settled into the seat she indicated.
Our spots were fairly close to the head seat where the clan head would sit, drawing immediate stares from the others already seated.
-Who are those people? Weren’t there no special guests invited to this banquet?
-They look like important guests. The idiots who arrived recently are stuck at the far end.
-Huh, I’m in for a real eye-opener today. Who on earth is that woman?
People whispering among themselves as they eyed us.
Their gazes held curiosity, admiration, wariness, and suspicion toward these unknowns.
And amid it all, a particularly sharp hostility.
Tracing its source, my eyes landed on three men seated close together.
Two middle-aged men who looked to be in their forties and one young man.
I racked my memory, but no faces came to mind.
Why were they directing hostility at me…?
-The clan head arrives-!
Puzzled and tilting my head, an announcement rang through the banquet hall proclaiming the clan head’s entrance.
Everyone rose from their seats, and soon the Jegal clan head appeared.
A few followed in his wake, one after another, with Jegal Geun-yeong among them—likely direct blood relatives.
As the last of the direct line entered behind the clan head, gasps of admiration rose here and there.
And a few of those irritating glances that had lingered on Hwa-ryeon shifted to the woman.
-Huh, Lady Seo-hee looks as beautiful as ever today.
Moreover, the hostility vanished the moment she appeared.
Glancing back, the eyes that had glared at me were now fixed on her.
Hmm, the woman who drew the glares of those hostile toward me… Who was she?
It sounded like Lady Seo-hee—could it be Jegal Seo-hee?
As questions piled up, the clan head at the head seat scanned the room with a bright smile and spoke.
“Thank you all for gathering! Most of you already know, but the Jade-Faced Enchantress plaguing us from Wunan has been eliminated.”
The hall grew even noisier at the news of the Jade-Faced Enchantress’s death.
Some sighed in relief that she was finally gone, others felt a cathartic satisfaction.
Naturally, no one mourned her passing.
They probably had no idea her name was Jegal Seon, or that the same blood ran through her veins.
I felt no particular pity for the bastard, but a strange bitterness lingered in my mouth.
“Thanks to that, our struggling commerce has revived, and especially our clan has regained the trust of Wunan’s Three Powers.”
-Ooh! What a relief.
-Our worries were beyond measure; now I can stretch out and sleep easy.
Smiling warmly at his delighted kin, the Jegal clan head raised a hand to point at our group.
“And these are the ones who greatly aided in rooting out the Jade-Faced Enchantress. Goon Ja-seong and his companions.”
Mentioning only my name, not Hwa-ryeon’s.
One might think it a simple courtesy to spare her from stepping forward into danger, but my instincts told me there was more to it.
And that instinct soon proved correct.
How much time passed as the banquet truly began and people ate and drank noisily?
-Clap clap!
The dancers in the center of the hall retreated like the tide at the sound of the clan head clapping.
Even the faint tinkling of strings that had filled the room faded, leaving an air of hush.
The clan head, who had been surveying the crowd watching him, turned his gaze to me.
“Young hero. I heard the Jade-Faced Enchantress was a sorcerer—a rather skilled one at that?”
He dismissed the dancers, drew everyone’s attention, then singled me out.
Naturally, all eyes focused on me.
Sensing something about to begin, I answered softly.
“…Yes, she was.”
“I heard she used bizarre sorcery to create dozens of clones that swarmed you, even transformed into a tiger. And you blocked her with your formidable martial arts?”
“…That’s right.”
His words oddly praised my martial prowess.
By now, I had a rough idea of what the clan head wanted.
“I’ve only heard tales of those skills, and they’ve piqued my curiosity. How about a spar with one of our clan’s guests to liven up the banquet?”
A strange excitement and buzz rippled through the hall at the clan head’s suggestion.
They say nothing beats watching a fight for entertainment.
Soon, expectant gazes poured onto me.
“Young hero Goon…”
Only my companions, led by Hwa-ryeon, looked at me with concern, while the others pressured me with looks that said, “What are you waiting for?”
Especially those three who’d been hostile—they twitched as if itching to crush me right then.
What grudge did they have against me?
“Very well. It seems some are eager to test me anyway.”
Lips twisting at the sight, I accepted the clan head’s proposal and stepped into the center of the hall.
“Now then, who among our guests will step forward?”
At the clan head’s satisfied words, the three rose simultaneously.
Confirming their faces, the clan head’s smile faded slightly as he narrowed his eyes.
“…Heavenly Sky Fist, Black Wind Saber, One Flash Spear? An odd combination.”
His sharpened gaze shifted sideways, landing on a middle-aged woman.
Likely the clan head’s wife, she didn’t change expression under her husband’s suspicious look.
Staring silently at his wife for a moment, the clan head soon burst into carefree laughter.
“One opponent, but three challengers. What say you, young hero? Shall you choose yourself?”
Shrugging at the clan head’s words, I replied.
“I don’t mind fighting all three. Or they can come at me together, for that matter.”
My response wrapped the room in an odd silence.
The three who stood looked properly offended, faces twisting viciously, while others wore expressions of disbelief.
-All three at once? Even if he took down the Jade-Faced Enchantress, isn’t that too arrogant?
-Tsk tsk tsk. These young punks these days.
Amid the disapproving tongue-clicks, my companions’ reactions were amusing.
Seol-i’s eyes sparkled in anticipation of the impending spar, while Master gaped wide-eyed with a “What’s gotten into him?” look.
Hwa-ryeon showed no change in expression, as usual.
My bold step forward was to leave a strong impression on the Jegal clansmen here, however slight.
Some among them would likely attend the clan meeting the head mentioned.
Showing them my strength to tilt their thoughts toward cooperating with us—my own little effort.
Of course, I wouldn’t deny that those three constantly grating on my nerves with their hostility played a part.
“……”
Hwa-ryeon, as if reading my intentions, glared at me with fierce eyes.
Averting my gaze from that fatally beautiful, made-up face, I pretended otherwise, and she let out a small sigh.
If even that worried expression looked pretty, was I just too smitten?
Chuckling inwardly at the thought, I turned to find the three challengers glaring at me like killers.
What? Upset?
That’s what you get for picking fights with a stranger.
I had no intention of showing courtesy to the discourteous. Jutting my chin provocatively, their auras grew even fiercer.
And the clan head’s jolly laughter echoed through the hall.
“Hahaha-! Youth is full of spirit indeed. He’s willing—so what say you three?”
“…Teaching a junior the fears of the jianghu is the duty of a senior.”
The eldest-looking of the three spoke for them. All intended to fight me.
Pride prevented them from ganging up, so they’d take turns.
And the first stepped forward against me.
“My name is Gwak Rang. The eastern swordsmen of the jianghu call me the Black Wind Saber Guest. I’ll straighten out your twisted head.”
The rugged-bearded middle-aged man drew his saber, revealing a pitch-black blade.
Black Wind Saber Guest—surely not because the sword was black?
Hoping it wasn’t that lame, I drew my own sword.
Thus, the banquet spar began.