Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Stone Family Manor's Youngest Daughter (4)
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“Y-Yes?”
“That story……”
In the midst of the warm atmosphere, Sogang and Yang Hui-gun were thrown into confusion by the sudden words.
Seok Geum-yeong, Ha Jin, and the Stone Family Manor warriors were just as flustered.
What the Heavenly Demon had just said was bringing up Ha Jin's earlier words again, and more importantly, those words carried a sharp edge in the current situation.
“Gunryong. What do you mean by that?”
Yang Hui-gun asked curiously, and the Heavenly Demon revealed what he had noticed so far.
“Didn't you sense anything strange while protecting Geum-yeong, even if only for a short time?”
“Something strange?”
Yang Hui-gun, whose experience was lacking compared to his skill and thus not yet seasoned, tilted his head.
“Yes. The sense of incongruity I felt from the Stone Family Manor group.”
“Sense of incongruity!”
At the words 'sense of incongruity,' Sogang raised his voice in surprise.
Unlike Yang Hui-gun, Sogang had some intuition and had picked up on the odd atmosphere from the Stone Family Manor people.
“W-What do you mean by that?”
Ha Jin tried to calm him down in surprise at the Heavenly Demon's repeated remarks.
But he couldn't stop the Heavenly Demon.
“It's strange.”
“Pardon?”
“Every time Geum-yeong was in danger, you were nowhere to be found.”
“……!!”
Ha Jin straightened up in shock, as if struck right in the vitals.
Sogang and Yang Hui-gun mulled over the Heavenly Demon's words and found they made sense.
“Come to think of it…… When we first met, Ha Jin the hero wasn't by Miss Geum-yeong's side either, but guarding the entrance to the Palwang Inn alone.”
“That's because I finished my meal first and stepped out alone to give the other warriors a chance!”
Ha Jin denied it vehemently, raising his voice, but there was another instance.
“It was the same when the waterway bandits invaded. Didn't you leave Miss Geum-yeong's side to rescue Jeong Sam the rookie?”
Sogang's memory was quite sharp.
Pointing that out put Ha Jin on the defensive.
“That was also with the young lady's permission, just to save a comrade. Is that wrong? It's just coincidence that I happened to step away a couple of times…… The Stone Family Manor's guards were protecting the young lady by her side.”
Ha Jin shrugged as if there was no issue at all.
“That's the problem.”
In that instant, the Heavenly Demon's eyes sharpened.
“What?”
“Every time you stepped away, Ha Jin, the guards approached Seok Geum-yeong. Yes, nothing strange on the surface.”
“……!!”
As the Heavenly Demon drew closer to the truth, Ha Jin and now even Geum Ja-chu and the other guards began to tremble.
“I first felt the incongruity inside the inn. No matter how much it was for protection, for all the guards to freeze up in tension the moment I entered is odd. Like kids caught doing something naughty.”
The Heavenly Demon was right.
Ha Jin's attempts to keep the Heavenly Demon out, combined with the guards' movements to chase him away.
That's where the Heavenly Demon had first sensed something off.
“It was the same just now when the waterway bandits invaded. The moment Ha Jin left to save the rookie, they slithered right up to Geum-yeong's side like they'd been waiting. Their intentions were obvious.”
In truth, he had drawn the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword not just because of the ambushing bandits, but because he sensed suspicious movements from the guards.
And one more thing.
“And the waterway bandits are suspicious too.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“How would they know exactly when and how an entry realm master like Ha Jin would step away, to boldly ambush right behind Geum-yeong? Hmm? As if someone was signaling them.”
This observation from the Heavenly Demon was the most damning.
“……!!”
No one from the Stone Family Manor, Ha Jin included, could refute it, and an awkward silence followed.
“Gunryong…… Is what you say true?”
In the midst of everyone failing to respond properly, Seok Geum-yeong's sorrowful voice echoed across the deck.
'Looking back, it was strange from the start.'
They had insisted on visiting her maternal family before it was even time, bringing along not just Ha Jin and the rookie Jeong Sam, but even Geum Ja-chu of the Blood King Twin Fists, a guard she kept at arm's length due to his rough personality. Something about it didn't sit right.
It was right then.
“Heh heh heh heh. I knew you were bothersome, but your instincts are sharp.”
Surprisingly, Geum Ja-chu—the one who had feared and avoided the Heavenly Demon most—revealed his true colors first.
The moment Geum Ja-chu showed his hand,
Smooth, swish!
All the silent guards gripped their weapons and rose from their seats.
Even the supposed rookie Jeong Sam stood up, his face more stern and resolute than ever.
“Young lady. Forgive me.”
Even more shocking was Ha Jin, who was said to have a loyal disposition and shared a family-like bond with Seok Geum-yeong for seven years.
Ha Jin also rose, drawing his signature ornate weapon, the golden spade.
“I can't believe it.”
Seok Geum-yeong covered her mouth upon realizing even Ha Jin was targeting her.
Tears streamed silently from her eyes.
Her sharp intuition had picked up on the subtle tension among the guards.
But she trusted Ha Jin so much that she believed he would handle it.
She never dreamed he was the leader of the beasts.
“Gunryong, was it? Sharp one. You're right about everything. Our purpose in coming out was to eliminate the young lady. We even roped in the Palwang Inn, and we hired the Yangtze Waterway Gang bandits. It was all our plan.”
Ha Jin bowed his head, unable to look at the crying Seok Geum-yeong, and confessed the truth.
“So that's how it was.”
The Heavenly Demon showed no surprise at this sudden turn, as if he had expected it.
Instead, he asked what puzzled him.
“But one thing I haven't figured out: you were supposed to kill Geum-yeong, so why did you keep leaving her side? It would've been simplest to do it yourself.”
That was what intrigued the Heavenly Demon.
It was also why he hadn't acted from the start.
If Ha Jin was the ringleader, couldn't he have just called Geum-yeong aside and handled it easily?
That's why the Heavenly Demon had followed them all the way onto the boat, wondering if he was misjudging Ha Jin.
“I don't know how it'll sound, but…… I couldn't bring myself to kill her with my own hands. So I asked them to handle it out of my sight while I stepped away.”
Ha Jin revealed the truth in a tone of despair.
The circumstances were as follows.
Someone in the Stone Family Manor had bribed Ha Jin and the guards to eliminate the promising heir, Seok Geum-yeong.
Ha Jin had wanted to refuse, but he received an offer he couldn't reject, and in the end, he chose to look the other way under the agreement that he wouldn't participate directly, just step aside.
“You scum!”
Yang Hui-gun, who had stayed quiet to grasp the situation, finally rose to charge at Ha Jin and the guards.
Stagger!
Incredibly, Yang Hui-gun's body swayed.
And moreover,
“I-I can't control my body!”
Yang Hui-gun looked around in shock, facing for the first time since reaching the entry realm a situation where his body wouldn't obey him.
“Heh heh heh, do you know what you drank?”
There was a reason Geum Ja-chu, who had been terrified of the Heavenly Demon's group, now stepped forward so boldly.
“You said it was Thousand Day Fragrance…… Don't tell me?! It was poison?!”
Yang Hui-gun could hardly believe it.
If it was poison, he surely would have smelled it and spat it out.
Thousand Day Fragrance was an exquisitely aromatic fine liquor, far from poison, so he had drunk it carefree.
“It is Thousand Day Fragrance. But its other name is Thousand Day Drunk. One sip and you're drunk for a thousand days—the alcohol itself! Uhahahahaha!”
Geum Ja-chu pointed and laughed at Yang Hui-gun as his body swayed drunkenly.
As he said, Thousand Day Fragrance's other name was Thousand Day Drunk. Despite its sweet allure, its deep, lingering aroma hid a vicious potency; an ordinary person would pass out after one cup.
Yet the Heavenly Demon's group had downed bottle after bottle without collapsing—that was impressive.
In fact, Sogang was growing sleepier, stumbling about.
“Impossible! Then the banquet itself……”
Overcome with betrayal, Seok Geum-yeong glared at Ha Jin with fire in her eyes.
The one who proposed the riverside banquet and prepared the Thousand Day Fragrance in advance was, of course, Ha Jin.
“Forgive me.”
Ha Jin couldn't add more, finding it painful even to meet Seok Geum-yeong's gaze.
“Young lady, don't be too hard on Captain Ha Jin. Do you know why a master like him, who's reached the entry realm, relies on the Stone Family Manor? Heh heh heh. Well, his only daughter has an incurable illness. Just keeping her breathing requires mountains of precious elixirs and herbs. To afford that gold, like it or not, the Stone Family Manor is his only option.”
“Hey, you!”
No matter how good-natured, anyone gets sensitive about family.
Seeing Ha Jin bristle with rage, Geum Ja-chu backed down with a fake cough.
“Ahem, anyway, that's the situation, so try to understand, young lady. No matter how much he cares for you, his own daughter comes first, right?”
Geum Ja-chu was the type who couldn't serve anyone above him.
How frustrating must it have been for him to serve the young, martial arts-less Seok Geum-yeong?
Having mocked her thoroughly,
“Oh right. You pierced my hand with your chopsticks, didn't you?”
Geum Ja-chu approached, waving his hand still wrapped in cloth bandages.
'No matter how strong you are, you've downed nearly two bottles of Thousand Day Fragrance. You won't put up a fight.'
Geum Ja-chu dreamed of revenge on the Heavenly Demon and had even counted how much he drank.
Surprisingly, the Heavenly Demon had more than two bottles—enough to be lethal—so he had no worries.
“I'll do the same to you!”
Awakening his murderous instincts pent up since joining the Stone Family Manor, Geum Ja-chu snatched a heated iron skewer from the deck fire.
He moved to approach the Heavenly Demon directly.
But right then,
“Hui-gun. Having experienced the jianghu even briefly, what do you think? This is the heartless world of martial arts.”
Far from fearing Geum Ja-chu's vengeful approach, the Heavenly Demon remained utterly calm.
Instead, he gave valuable advice to Yang Hui-gun, who was drowning in regret.
“I'm sorry. I have no face left.”
“Everyone's like that at first. Besides, this is technically your first real outing into the martial world, isn't it?”
The Heavenly Demon smiled.
In truth, he had known everything from the beginning.
Even so, he drank the Thousand Day Fragrance himself and offered it to Yang Hui-gun because he wanted him to learn firsthand just how ruthless the jianghu was.
'You don't truly internalize it unless you experience it with your body.'
Now, Yang Hui-gun had finally awakened to it.
In the jianghu martial world, you couldn't trust anyone and had to stay vigilant.
With that lesson imparted, what remained was,
Swish!
The Heavenly Demon rose steadily, not staggering or swaying in the slightest, straight-backed as ever.
“Worse than river weeds, you lot. Did you think Thousand Day Fragrance would change anything?”
Sneer!
The Heavenly Demon flashed a cruel smile.
Now was the time to sweep them all away, pretending to be drunk on Thousand Day Fragrance after hearing everything.