The Flower on the Cliff
The world spun in dizzying circles.
How many times had it turned?
After tumbling across the floor, a metallic tang of blood filled Eun Hyeongyeom’s mouth.
Eun Hyeongyeom laughed.
It was the face of a man who had expected exactly this.
But Dan Seoyeon was genuinely shocked. She quickly wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth with her sleeve.
The sight was what finally stopped Dan Hyunwoo’s fist.
A sigh mixed with boiling frustration slipped from between his lips.
“Explain what the hell happened.”
“What happened? After you ran away from home, Seoyeon really cried every single day. In my own way, I kept my promise and came to comfort her every day. And… I never told you this, but I used to like Seoyeon.”
“So I left the fish with the cat and walked out the door.”
“No! I liked her, but I never planned to confess! She’s… beautiful and smart… To me, she was like a flower on a cliff. I never even dared to dream of reaching for her.”
“Stop circling around and get to the point. How did the flower on the cliff end up choosing a bastard like you?”
Supported by Dan Seoyeon, Eun Hyeongyeom pushed himself up. Since the punch had been thrown without inner force, only his cheek was slightly swollen. He scratched his head vigorously.
But why was this guy’s face turning red? Before Eun Hyeongyeom could speak, Dan Seoyeon answered for him.
“After you left, Brother, this man comforted me for over ten years. Whenever something happened at the Dan family home, he was the first to come running to help. All because of one request you made.”
It seemed his silk-soft heart hadn’t changed at all.
Dan Seoyeon continued.
“That heart moved me. I thought, could there really be another person like him in this world? I realized I couldn’t let go of someone so steadfast and unchanging.”
“You’re saying you chose this guy? Not that he chose you?”
“When you keep looking at him, that face of his is secretly kind of cute.”
Dan Seoyeon remained calm, as if she had expected her brother to punch her husband at least once.
Her brother, who had cherished her so fiercely.
Even if she had married the greatest man in the world, he probably wouldn’t have approved.
But that was exactly why she loved her brother.
In the end, Dan Hyunwoo had no choice but to lower his fist.
“I can accept everything else, but I absolutely cannot accept that his face is cute.”
“He’s a good man.”
“I know.”
Dan Hyunwoo placed a hand on Eun Hyeongyeom’s shoulder.
“Sorry for hitting you.”
“It’s more surprising that it ended with just one hit. I was expecting at least three or four more.”
“If I hit you three or four times, Seoyeon would stop saying your face is cute.”
“Hahaha. Anyway, it’s good to have you back.”
Eun Hyeongyeom rubbed his cheek and laughed cheerfully.
It came back to him.
The fact that this guy had always known how to laugh like that.
Strangely, when he laughed, that ugly face of his somehow looked handsome.
While Dan Seoyeon went to fetch cold water to soothe her husband’s cheek, Eun Hyeongyeom picked up the steaming teacup that had been poured for him.
He had just taken a sip when—
‘Uh… Why is that person here?!’
Jeon Akgwan, the former boss of the Guryong Sect, was striding toward them.
His massive frame, deeply furrowed brows, and eyes gleaming with murderous intent. Normally he would have sent one of his black path subordinates, so the fact that he had come to the Dan family home in person was no small matter.
Eun Hyeongyeom naturally dropped into a deep, flowing bow as if water were streaming down a riverbed.
“Great One! Please, just a little more time. My monthly salary will arrive soon, so if you could just take that and… please be patient… please spare my life… Great One!”
“Uh… No, that’s not…”
Jeon Akgwan looked extremely awkward.
He had only come to ask what they wanted for dinner, yet here was this perfectly natural, water-like bow! Dan Hyunwoo had a similar thought.
‘A water-like bow indeed.’
It was far too natural.
This guy must have been protecting the Dan family home with that exact bow all this time.
At that moment, Yu Sucheon emerged from the kitchen.
“You were supposed to ask quickly and come back! What are you doing over there!”
“Well, it’s just that…”
Eun Hyeongyeom’s gaze turned toward Yu Sucheon.
The man once considered the greatest expert in Hangzhou had appeared here.
This was a much bigger problem than he had imagined.
Eun Hyeongyeom rushed over in a single stride and offered Yu Sucheon the same perfectly natural, water-like bow.
“Blood-Killing Demon Sword, what brings you here? If you could just wait a little longer… I will definitely prepare the money, so please be patient…”
“Hiiik!”
“If you could withdraw for today, I would be truly grateful…”
“Huk! What are you doing! Get up right now!”
Yu Sucheon froze like ice.
Dan Hyunwoo approached Eun Hyeongyeom.
“Hyeongyeom, stand up.”
“Stand up?! Hey, you bow too! Hurry!”
“You want me to bow to a servant?”
“Servant?! What kind of dangerous talk is that! Don’t you know who these people are? Stop talking nonsense and bow right now!”
Eun Hyeongyeom trembled violently, cold sweat pouring down his face.
He shot Dan Hyunwoo a frantic look that screamed, ‘You clueless idiot!’
Yet Jeon Akgwan and Yu Sucheon were shaking twice as hard as he was.
Things had finally calmed down, and now this guy was prostrating himself and bowing. Did he want to see another bloodbath today? Was he an assassin? Even an assassin probably wouldn’t say something so cruel in front of Dan Hyunwoo.
Gulp!
They swallowed dryly.
Yu Sucheon shot Jeon Akgwan a look that asked, ‘What the hell did you do to this guy before?’ Jeon Akgwan answered with his eyes, ‘J-just… a little?’
Dan Hyunwoo spoke to Jeon Akgwan, who was frozen in a half-crouched position as if about to wet himself.
“Lunch will be beggar’s chicken and mapo tofu.”
“I will prepare it immediately!”
Jeon Akgwan fled to the kitchen as if escaping this terrifying situation.
Yu Sucheon hurriedly followed after him.
At that moment, Dan Seoyeon returned with a cloth soaked in cold water.
She was startled to see Eun Hyeongyeom still prostrated on the floor.
“Brother, no matter how angry you are, making my husband kneel like this is too much.”
“It wasn’t me. He saw Jeon Akgwan and Yu Sucheon coming to ask what we wanted for dinner and naturally offered them that bow all on his own.”
“Dinner? You should have asked what my husband wanted to eat after working so hard.”
“I told them beggar’s chicken and mapo tofu. Those used to be his favorites.”
“These days he prefers fish-fragrant shredded pork. Go tell them that, and help my husband up, please.”
Dan Seoyeon headed toward the kitchen.
Dan Hyunwoo had no choice but to help Eun Hyeongyeom to his feet.
With a dazed expression, Eun Hyeongyeom brushed the dirt from his clothes and widened his eyes.
If it had only been Dan Hyunwoo treating them like servants, he would have thought his friend had gone mad. But if even Dan Seoyeon was acting this way…
“The greatest expert in Hangzhou and the boss of the Guryong Sect are really just servants? And those people know how to make fish-fragrant shredded pork?”
“Does it suit your taste?”
At Jeon Akgwan’s question, Eun Hyeongyeom flinched.
It was delicious.
The fish-fragrant shredded pork that his mother-in-law had overturned the table for twice before making on the third try was comparable to anything served at a decent inn.
If the person who made it hadn’t been Jeon Akgwan, he would have enjoyed it even more.
“Please have some water as well.”
The moment Yu Sucheon set down the water cup, Eun Hyeongyeom flinched again.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
As a mere second-rate martial artist, even making eye contact with Yu Sucheon was difficult. Yet that same Yu Sucheon was staring straight at his face.
Please stop looking at me.
“Why are you sweating so much?”
Yu Sucheon placed a cloth beside him.
You were this kind of person? Now the cold sweat was really pouring.
Please spare me. I beg you.
He had heard the story from Dan Hyunwoo.
The entire process of how the debt had been cleared and the Dan family home reclaimed.
Even so, he wanted to stop his mother-in-law from flipping the table.
Every time the table hit the floor, he felt ten years of his life being shaved away.
Mother-in-law, you weren’t this kind of person before.
“We will take our leave now.”
After Jeon Akgwan spoke, both he and Yu Sucheon withdrew.
Only then did Eun Hyeongyeom’s pale face return to normal.
The home he had returned to after so long had changed far too much.
‘I knew Hyunwoo’s martial arts were incredible. But the greatest expert in Hangzhou becoming a servant who makes fish-fragrant shredded pork and serves it… I can’t get used to this. I just hope no other life-shortening person appears… This alone is already too much to handle.’
The Forbidden City’s secret organization, the Mumyeongdae.
They numbered only a few dozen.
Yet their martial prowess was the strongest in the Central Plains.
The intelligence unit that supported them also boasted the greatest information network in the Central Plains.
There was no place their reach did not extend.
They had even managed to locate the residence of the Blood Night Heavenly Demon, Ma Heukpung, who had died at Dan Hyunwoo’s hands.
Jeong Je-ho, a warrior belonging to the intelligence unit, had been tasked with monitoring the movements of the Heavenly Demon Cult after the Heavenly Demon’s death.
After completing his mission and returning to the imperial palace for the first time in a long while, his senior in the intelligence unit, Jin Mun-su, spoke to him.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“After the Blood Night Heavenly Demon died, the Heavenly Demon Cult went quiet, so the mission ended earlier than expected. But Senior, the atmosphere in the intelligence unit feels strange compared to when I left… Did something happen?”
“Ah… That? The commander of the Mumyeongdae retired not long ago.”
“I received the letter, but… it was still a huge shock that the commander left. He saved my life several times.”
“Yeah… It was a shock for me too. And now, not only the commander but even the Fairy has retired. That’s why the mood is so chaotic.”
Jeong Je-ho’s eyes widened.
The Fairy was the greatest physician in the Mumyeongdae.
No—in fact, as far as he knew, she was undoubtedly the greatest physician in the entire martial world.
So much so that some within the Mumyeongdae even compared her medical skills to those of the imperial physicians.
Following the commander, even someone like the Fairy had left the Mumyeongdae.
Although the Mumyeongdae’s missions had become far less dangerous than before, the difference in casualties during operations with or without the Fairy would be enormous.
A sigh escaped Jeong Je-ho’s lips.
“Hoo… No wonder the atmosphere is chaotic. First the commander, now the Fairy… At this rate, won’t the Mumyeongdae be disbanded?”
“Are you serious?”
“It was a joke.”
That could never happen.
The Mumyeongdae was the Emperor’s personal military force.
Unless the Emperor himself ordered its dissolution.
There were still many places in the Central Plains that needed the Mumyeongdae.
Although Commander Dan Hyunwoo had resolved all the major crises that shook the world, there were still regions where hellish screams never ceased.
That was why it had been a joke.
“Well, it’s true that there aren’t as many high-difficulty missions as before. Even though the commander left, the vice-commander remains. And even if the Fairy is gone, her disciples are still here…”
The Mumyeongdae would continue to operate.
Because Commander Dan Hyunwoo had not created an organization that would collapse so easily.
The commander’s touch remained in every corner of the Mumyeongdae.
And he had not raised his subordinates weakly.
They would stand firm until the current Emperor passed away.
“It’s fortunate that the disciples weren’t influenced by the Fairy. They’re all perfectly normal people…”
Jin Mun-su, who agreed, added.
“Actually, that’s why… in a way, some people are rather relieved.”
“Relieved? Ah… She was called the Fairy, but she also had the dual nature of the Mad Woman… Once you see that side of her, you can never forget it for the rest of your life.”
“Shh! Don’t mention the name Mad Woman.”
Jin Mun-su gave Jeong Je-ho a warning look.
Of course, he understood what the man wanted to say.
He understood it very well.
Better than anyone.
What she looked like when she became the Mad Woman.
Jeong Je-ho said,
“I’m sorry. I still can’t forget that appearance of hers… By the way, where did the Fairy say she was retiring to? The imperial family must be very interested in her every move. She isn’t an ordinary person. Both her medical skills and her martial arts are exceptional.”
“It seems the commander called for her. Hard to believe, but…”
“The commander? That’s even harder to believe?”
Jin Mun-su nodded.
But there was a reason he thought so.
“The Fairy’s expression when she received the letter was different from usual. After the commander left the Mumyeongdae, she had been depressed every day. Yet the moment she received that letter, she smiled all day long. The only time she ever smiled was when the commander sent her a letter.”