Chapter 144
Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Fists for Her Honor
Moyong Hui had felt deeply uneasy ever since returning to the Murim Alliance.
Or, to be precise, ever since the day she arrived back in Zhengzhou.
The gatherings with old connections who had come to visit her were the root of all the trouble.
"Hui-ah, are you saying I'm in the wrong right now?"
Namgung Chan, whom she had considered a close friend, had stormed out in a fit of jealousy...
"Sister? I was just asking about Mok So-hyeop's martial prowess. Can't you give me even a little hint?"
His younger sister, Namgung Sua, had shown interest in Mok Jimyeong.
In the end, Moyong Hui had brushed it off vaguely, claiming it was a secret, and hastily ended the meeting.
'I thought that would be the end of it.'
She figured she and Namgung Chan would reconcile soon enough, and that Namgung Sua's interest in Mok Jimyeong would fade quickly.
But things unfolded differently from her expectations.
The rumors started circulating in the Murim Alliance first.
Cheon Woojin, who had returned to the Alliance ahead of her, was the one who brought them to her attention.
"You absolutely can't tell my lord that it was me who said this."
With that ominous preface, the rumors he shared were all deeply uncomfortable.
Things like: she'd fallen for some kid from a no-name family just because of his looks and hooked up with Sword Phoenix; or that this unskilled nobody had pulled strings with Sword Phoenix to get into the Murim Alliance.
For the record, speculation pointed to Sword Dragon Namgung Chan as the source.
Of course, Cheon Woojin had enough sense and propriety not to relay the rumor that "Sword Phoenix had been defiled by some random scum"...
But even that reached Sword Phoenix's ears soon enough.
Cheon Woojin wasn't her only source of information.
"That's the rumor going around. How can they use the word 'defiled' when talking about a beautiful romance between a man and a woman? Honestly..."
Those were the words from Namgung Sua, who had come to visit her.
"By the way, sister Hui-ah, want to grab dinner together? Oh, if Mok So-hyeop hasn't eaten yet, we can invite him too."
Moyong Hui couldn't just stand by and watch Namgung Sua grow closer to Mok Jimyeong in the midst of all this.
'I can't let more bad rumors pile up here.'
Someday—though she might try to block it—someday.
Mok Jimyeong would probably end up with Namgung Sua.
His cultivated martial arts suggested as much, and so did the interest she showed.
But not now.
At this moment, when vicious rumors about Mok Jimyeong were rampant, the best support she could offer was to prevent any unseemly incidents from occurring in the first place.
"Sorry, Sua. Gaga's been really busy lately, so it might be tough."
Of course, it would be a lie to say there was no jealousy at all.
But her concern for Mok Jimyeong was genuine.
Time passed like that, and on the day she officially returned to the Murim Alliance.
Moyong Hui tried to untangle the knotted threads one by one.
The first knot she chose was Namgung Chan, presumed to be the source of the rumors.
But...
"Don't act like you know me."
Namgung Chan, whose heart had wandered, was endlessly cold, and what came back to her—wanting reconciliation—was insult.
"Tch, filthy thing without any loyalty..."
It felt like a boulder crashing onto her head.
Namgung Chan's reaction, from someone she considered a close acquaintance, filled Moyong Hui with profound betrayal, but she couldn't confide in anyone.
"By the way, Hui-ah. You came back to work after so long—everything okay? Especially with that Namgung Chan jerk."
She especially had to keep it secret from Mok Jimyeong.
She didn't even know what reaction he might have if he learned the truth.
"Mm, nothing much."
"How was Gaga's first day? It was his first day on the job, right?"
She had to show an even brighter face instead.
Even amid that, Namgung Sua kept suggesting they meet up, and Moyong Hui's heart grew heavier day by day.
The only peace for her was the time spent with Mok Jimyeong.
A few days later, word came that Namgung Chan had transferred to the White Tiger Unit.
Just as she was fretting over whether something might happen between Namgung Chan and Mok Jimyeong, Namgung Sua came by.
"Sister Hui-ah, how about today? My brother joined the White Tiger Unit too, so why don't the four of us—Mok So-hyeop included—have dinner together?"
It was the proposal she'd been dodging all this time, but she couldn't put it off again.
If she let today pass, reconciliation with Namgung Chan would likely be impossible forever.
'I need to at least clear up Brother Chan's ill feelings toward Gaga.'
Given Mok Jimyeong's personality, he might have already forgotten all about Namgung Chan, but still—no need to make more enemies.
Especially not someone certain to become the head of the Namgung family someday.
That said, there was the minor issue of having deceived both Namgung Sua and Mok Jimyeong up until now...
"Sure. Let's go to the White Tiger Unit together after we're done."
She couldn't keep using Mok Jimyeong as an excuse to lie forever, so Moyong Hui accepted Namgung Sua's invitation.
But as time dragged on, the unease in her heart was unavoidable.
'...What do I even say to Gaga?'
Now that the moment to meet Mok Jimyeong had arrived, her chest pounded.
No matter that it had all been for his sake— the fact remained that she had deceived him.
Yet time's flow is something no human can halt.
Finally, the moment she had dreaded arrived.
"Huh? Lady Namgung?"
"Mok So-hyeop, long time no see."
"Yes, it's been a while."
Listening to their conversation, regrets began to surface.
'I should have met Brother Chan separately. I should have explained the situation to Gaga.'
Her head grew heavy like a sinner, and it was hard to even look at their faces.
The sin she had committed began to spill from Namgung Sua's lips.
"Mok So-hyeop must be so busy these days. I suggested meeting up with Sister Hui-ah several times, but she kept turning me down, so..."
Her heart grew heavier.
What reaction would Mok Jimyeong show?
Would he be baffled? Feel betrayed?
But his response was more than enough to move her.
"My apologies, Lady Namgung. I've been too swamped lately since I haven't been here long."
Even though he didn't know the situation, even though he'd never once been busy.
Mok Jimyeong naturally covered for her.
'Gaga...'
Tears nearly welled up.
But someone interrupted that touching moment.
"Namgung Sua, what are you doing here!"
Only upon hearing Namgung Chan's voice did Moyong Hui remember what she'd forgotten.
Ah, right.
This was why she'd come.
She'd barely scaled one mountain when another appeared.
And this mountain wasn't warmly protecting her like the last one.
"Don't you remember me telling you not to hang around that filthy bitch last time!"
Namgung Chan's dislike for Mok Jimyeong stemmed from her, and if Mok Jimyeong suffered backlash later, it would be because of her too.
Thus, this was a problem she had to resolve herself.
'It's okay, Moyong Hui. You can do this.'
Her heart felt weighted with a boulder, but she steeled herself.
And just as she resolved to let go,
Thud-!
Thud-!
My fist met Namgung Chan's smug face, sending a satisfying sound echoing through the training grounds.
The guy, caught off guard by the sudden attack, flew back without any reaction.
There he went, soaring through the air.
But before he could hit the ground, I charged again.
I grabbed his falling face with my hand,
Thwack-!
And slammed his head straight into the dirt.
"Gahk!"
A warm liquid seeped onto the palm that had struck his face.
Not spit—blood, obviously.
To wash away the sticky feeling—and with my bloodied hand—I seized his hair and forcibly yanked his body upright.
"Hey, what did you just call Hui-ah?"
No answer.
I looked at his face. His once-arrogant eyes were now glassy, probably from the shock of his head hitting the ground.
On top of that, he'd taken internal damage too; blood poured steadily from the mouth that had been insulting Moyong Hui moments ago.
But I had no intention of stopping there.
Insults directed at me? I could laugh them off.
Even charging at me without knowing his place—I could tolerate that to a degree.
It wasn't because I was magnanimous.
I just had other priorities that mattered more.
Things like the prestige of being a righteous faction's promising talent, or the Murim Alliance's nameplate.
But...
'None of that could possibly be more important than Hui-ah.'
So I wouldn't hold back.
"Gaga!!"
"...!"
I saw Moyong Hui staring at me, her eyes filled with worry and uncertainty.
Beside her stood Namgung Sua, mouth agape and eyes wide.
The Namgung Chan I'd just laid out was her blood kin.
This would make it hard to connect with Namgung Sua now.
But that didn't matter either.
Moyong Hui, who was already my woman, mattered more than Namgung Sua, whom I'd only thought of casually seducing.
"You crazy bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing!"
Someone shouted and rushed over to stop me.
A quick glance revealed a familiar face.
'This competition's squad leader.'
Whether to enforce the squad leader's order not to fight, or to rescue Namgung Chan, I didn't care.
What mattered was that I had no intention of stopping yet,
"Let go right now!"
And he was charging with his sword drawn, intent on prying me off by force.
'It's been a while since something like this.'
I, Mok Jimyeong.
The man who once faced the entire world alone.
In the past, to uphold my will, I'd turned the whole world against me.
"Fuck 'em."
And today, I was doing it again.