Chapter 40
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Snow Gale Carries Crisis
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Seo Mun-ha shook off the rain after removing his bamboo hat and stepped into the hall.
Plip. Plop.
The interior was hushed.
The occasional patter of rain provided a backdrop, and from the entrance, he could take in the entire scene inside the hall at a glance.
Such were the gazes pouring toward him.
"Hm?"
He, receiving all that attention, glanced around the deathly silent gathering.
Seo Mun-ha, who had commanded ten thousand as captain of the Iron Cavalry Unit.
Gazes more intense than this had been his daily routine, yet the varied looks still carried an undeniable weight.
Too many to count one by one.
Leaving that aside, the truth was it was a hassle—and unlike his two half-brothers, this was an unofficial position.
Seo Mun Young-ryeong and Seo Mun Jun-sang had personally greeted the guests.
Unlike those he had some familiarity with, the hall was filled with warriors he didn't recognize.
More accurately, nearly all of them—though there were a scant few he knew.
"What is it, Young Master? Why are you standing at the entrance?"
Of course, whether they made a show of recognizing him was another matter entirely. Amid the endless silence, Gu Chil poured cold water on the mood, while Seo Mun-ha scanned for an empty seat.
"Man, Yang Jeong would be so jealous. It's plain as day. He teased me endlessly for being picked for the dispatch last time, but heaven really does favor the diligent."
Chattering away, he called for someone in Seo Mun-ha's stead.
"You're a young master too. A heads-up would have been nice, haha."
"What do you need?"
A servant arrived at the summons.
"Just something to wet the throat, so bring a bottle of liquor."
After placing the order, Seo Mun-ha soothed Gu Chil's sulkiness by reminiscing about the past.
"Ghost Flash."
"Him?"
Then, like ripples spreading, whispers circled the room.
"He's young."
"Not even thirty yet."
The murmurs grew like the rain outside.
For an ordinary person, it might seem rude right to his face, but they didn't cross the line—perhaps minding their words.
"The... no, he beat the Qingcheng Five Swords."
"They say it was luck."
"Already at the Third Realm at that age?"
Warriors with ties to the Seo Mun Clan, whether distant or close.
"A genius has emerged in the Seo Mun Clan."
Comparisons to famed young experts and curiosity followed at their spirited age, though strictly speaking, Ghost Flash's fame wasn't higher than those three women before.
"Compared to the Nine Dragons..."
But people mulled over this new topic.
"Heh."
Gu Chil puffed out his chest instead.
That's what they say.
Soon, a telepathic message flowed in.
To Seo Mun-ha, who wordlessly wet his throat as instructed.
No issues.
A bit late, aren't you?
Rain makes my knees ache, slowed me down.
You're really not thirty-nine, right? Or does knee pain hit at that age?
Ha Eun-ye continued sending her qi waves.
Why sit over there?
No empty seats.
This one's empty.
Telepathic transmission was a technique somewhat detached from martial prowess levels.
A skill to send one's voice to a distant target—deep inner energy mattered, but subtlety was key for secrecy.
No need for greetings? Might be meddling...
It's meddling.
The two exchanged secret transmissions.
From her position, telepathy was more familiar to Ha Eun-ye than anyone.
Few could detect the faint qi flows along with the full context.
'...Young Master Seo Mun?'
One of them. Baek Ri-seol was among that rare few.
Not as flashy as archer garb, but his calmer demeanor stood out.
Thinking she'd misseen at first, the murmurs of others confirmed it.
"Seol-unnie?"
"...No, it's nothing."
Seo Mun Young-ryeong belonged to those oblivious to the undercurrents.
Baek Ri-seol smiled faintly, her chest inexplicably tightening.
A feeling she'd never known.
Suddenly, rumors linking the two surfaced, building on past discomfort.
'Something...'
Unlike herself, Baek Ri-seol fidgeted hesitantly.
She was never talkative, but this indefinable emotion silenced even the voice that once stirred men's hearts.
'Just...'
Was it annoyance that he forgot their promise? She pondered but couldn't articulate it.
The more she thought, the stuffier it felt.
Formal ties, clan-bound relations—she'd never harbored personal feelings...
"It's not nothing, is it? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"Yeah, I think my body's off. Right."
For a lifelong warrior, illness rather than injury was rare.
Embarrassed by her inconsistent words, she gave a wry smile.
Rumored for her cool composure, this unfamiliar sensation subtly twisted her heart.
Seeing the two exchange telepathy erased her prepared words and worries.
Seo Mun Young-ryeong had given prior notice, but she'd mulled it far longer.
They'd agreed to talk upon meeting again.
"I'll head out first. Sorry, excuse me."
Revealing her tangled emotions, she quietly slipped away.
"...Scoundrel."
Dismissing all those thoughts in one word.
Not chasing her?
Should I?
Probably. What's with the slow wit?
Not in the mood.
Listen to big sis just this once. Better than climbing a snowy peak doused in poison, right?
At the remark alluding to Dang So-so, Seo Mun-ha sighed.
'Lucky Yang Jeong's not here.'
He could roughly infer the situation.
One familiar face among them.
A woman he'd met once before glared sharply without tiring.
The very woman Yang Jeong called a madwoman.
Dang So-so, like a volcano ready to erupt anytime.
'Her, of all people.'
The moniker Sichuan Rakshasa flitted through his mind.
To think the woman he'd crossed paths with before was her. The casual naming and history wouldn't resolve by avoidance.
"Where are you off to, Young Master?"
Oblivious to the details, Gu Chil gnawed on a chicken bone, blinking innocently.
"I have questions, Ha-unnie."
"Me too."
While Dang So-so and Seo Mun Young-ryeong probed, Ha Eun-ye awkwardly lifted her lips.
'No one loses like this...'
Even voicing grievance, no perfect excuse existed.
Participating meant one foot in, but she couldn't reveal their full pact—and least of all drag her two acquaintances deeper.
"So that's why..."
Somehow, she ended up defending him more than herself. Realizing this, she swallowed a sigh and consoled herself by tallying a debt to him.
The rain eased.
Droplets pooled on the eaves fell in cascades, and a half-moon peeking through clouds softly illuminated the pair.
The elegant scene was anything but serene.
Whoosh.
Hands clashed intricately.
The neat exchange lit up the area in a tense, rather perilous display.
Thwack!
Unlike clashing energies, it looked endlessly plain.
Slow-moving claw hands.
A hand shot out like a saw blade, snatching the twisting wrist cleanly.
"Ah...!"
Her eyes widened like saucers as Baek Ri-seol bit her lower lip hard.
"I... guarded."
She muttered, deflated.
"Knew you would."
The scene differed vastly from that day.
Seo Mun-ha showed clear progress from his clumsy movements back then.
"Long time no see, Lady Baek Ri."
With newfound leisure, he gently released her seized arm.
"I trust you've been well."
Observing his courteous demeanor, she lowered her gaze slightly.
"Yes, Young Master Seo Mun seems to have been faring well too."
"...?"
Not sharp, but her flat tone suddenly brimmed with resentment.
"Ah, I mean..."
Unable to compose her feelings. Unprepared, she stumbled over words.
"Your martial arts. Unrecognizable now."
Usually the opposite, right?
Extraordinary achievements and fame couldn't come easy—grueling, bloody effort should underpin it.
"Yes. Got a bit lucky."
Seo Mun-ha took it in stride, ending the exchange.
The awkward talk and mood mirrored their stances perfectly.
Baek Ri-seol swallowed words rising to her throat, lips twitching.
She reached a deflating conclusion.
"No more to say?"
Setting aside the reversed dynamic, she opted to defuse the moment.
"And you, Lady Baek Ri?"
"Pardon?"
"I said it before: speak clearly if you have something to say, or how am I to know? I'm no fortune-teller."
While he soothed softly, she clutched her collar tight.
"Let's move elsewhere first."
Seo Mun-ha seized her again and led the way.
Without real resistance, she followed meekly, and they changed venues.
In a compound teeming with warriors, it was much the same anywhere.
Too many eyes and ears.
Servants bustling inside, horse whinnies as people emerged outdoors.
Eyes upon them, they minimized steps for secrecy—though not a true tryst, it tied two great clans.
"Which one's real?"
"Which?"
Seo Mun-ha glanced at Baek Ri-seol, who had posed the question.
Averting eyes subtly—her face burned from unfamiliar sensations.
Embarrassed by this uncharacteristic self.
Anyone who knew her well would faint in shock.
Composed outwardly, unflappable.
"I don't know well myself."
Baek Ri-seol recalled the rumors swirling around him.
Fragmentary, but his skills were genuine.
Having clashed hands, she knew this time it was no fluke—pure skill.
Martial arts were hard even digging one well, so the rumors baffled her more.
"Hm..."
Easy to deny. Tempting to fool her rare youthful freshness.
"I don't know what answer you seek, but I'm just me."
Yet Seo Mun-ha replied quite sincerely to her probing his identity.
'If they're deeply tied to the imperial family, what then?'
It stemmed from Ha Eun-ye's prior question.
Unaware of his past life, she'd likened it to the Official-Military Non-Aggression Principle to stress the stakes—but it pierced his core identity.
If the cult linked to the throne, what would he do?
The Yi Mok-yeom of old would obey orders, siding with cult and crown.
'Seo Mun-ha would oppose.'
Not long since wrestling that neither-nor dilemma.
"People aren't that simple, are they? Even vile demonic heretics can be good family or friends to someone."
Seo Mun-ha quite liked his current life.
"Better you judge as you see than my packaging. To you."
Seo Mun-ha and the Seo Mun Clan.
With ties big and small, his present environment and life weren't bad.
Forced to choose, no need to hesitate.
"Has Young Master Seo Mun reached the Fourth... no, Deathly Realm?"
"Not yet."
Realizing that, he was here.
Purely his will, no one else's.
"I have a question for you too."
"A question?"
"What was our promise from back then?"
Baek Ri-seol's regaining calm flushed again.
"...I don't know."
"Pardon?"
Despite his stunned query, she clamped her mouth shut.
He said speak to know, but how to voice that childish vow?
Too embarrassing.
If he remembered, talk would shift—but no need to dredge her shame.
Unlike half a year ago, she didn't want to unearth it.
"I asked since I don't remember either."
Besides, she could honor the outcome without details. Their vow to escape clan shadows.
How fitting a son-in-law for Ghost Flash, rising daily in fame?
"You truly don't remember?"
"True."
Having sorted her thoughts substantially, Baek Ri-seol nodded.
To her, the marriage itself wasn't paramount.
"If you've someone else in mind, no worries about breaking the engagement."
Yet his words stirred odd ripples.
"No such person."
Baek Ri-seol drew a firm line, serious.
"You told me not to heed rumors, yet you can't follow your own advice."
The Hebei Peng Clan case was infamous.
For Seo Mun-ha, uninterested in marriage now, it soured a perfect excuse—two alike yet unalike in circumstances.
"Don't tell me Young Master Seo Mun has a lover?"
"Lover?"
"Lady Ha, Lady Dang—both beauties of talent and looks. Come to think, Young Master Seo Mun's a man too..."
At the compound's edge stood Baek Ri-seol and Seo Mun-ha.
Chiding like interrogating another, while he suddenly gazed at distant hills.
"Young Master Seo Mun?"
Precisely, a half-collapsed wall.
Flutter!
Suddenly, an elderly figure crash-landed before them, tumbling pitifully.
"Cough!"
Not alone.
"He... help..."
Terror-stricken, the elder was covered in blood.
emotions settled instantly as the pair sprang into action, Baek Ri-seol transforming from maiden to full warrior.