Wang Seolha (2)
"Did I just hear you correctly?"
"Nope, you heard me just fine. I said I'd think about it, not that I'd give it back."
Wang Seolha shot back a look of sheer disbelief, but I held firm.
Seriously, what the hell do I do now?
She stood there for a while, soul apparently leaving her body, before her face suddenly flushed crimson and the arguing began in earnest. It was not a good look — she'd started this whole mess herself, and now that she was the one losing out, she wanted to fight about it.
When I let her words flow in one ear and straight out the other, she finally started drawing up her internal energy from her dantian. If words wouldn't work, was she planning to try force?
This girl is completely out of her mind.
Barely a moment ago she'd been desperately spinning excuses when she nearly got charged with treason, and now she was openly baring her hostility over a hair ornament.
I had no idea how much that ornament meant to her, but basic decency should still count for something, shouldn't it?
Plus, her apology earlier felt forced anyway — like she only did it because I told her to.
If she wanted to play it this way, I had plenty of options too. Honestly, I'd been curious to fight her anyway, so this worked out nicely.
"Then let's compromise. Beat me in a fight, and I'll give it back."
"Give it b—! Wait, really?"
Her eyes went wide as she repeated the words. Apparently, the surge of internal energy had been for show, and she hadn't actually intended to fight at all.
"One condition, though."
"Which is?"
"Two years from now. That's when I'll be old enough to join the Flag Bearer Corps, so that timing works perfectly."
"Hmph. Two years? You couldn't beat me in twenty."
"Oh yeah? Then twenty years it is."
"Wha—"
"What? You just said I couldn't beat you in twenty years. No? Then let's make it thirty—"
"I... I suppose you might be able to win."
When I shoved my chance at reclaiming the ornament all the way to thirty years out, Wang Seolha panicked and hastily backpedaled.
For a moment she almost looked cute, but I shook my head. She was the one who started all this in the first place.
"Anyway. You're feeling confident, aren't you?"
"Of course I am."
Watching her brim with confidence, I flashed a grin. Something about my smile must have unsettled her, because she shrank back a little.
"You definitely said it? That you were confident."
"...Naturally!"
Truthfully, a sliver of doubt gnawed at her, but she forced it down and answered anyway. Show weakness here, she figured, and she'd already lost.
The Young Lord's talent is far from ordinary... but I just made it into the Flag Bearer Corps. I'll grow faster than I ever have before.
That was how Wang Seolha steeled herself — right up until my next words made her mind go completely blank.
"And if I win, you become my slave."
"Th... that's..."
The instant she hesitated, my face slid straight into a look that said, What? Thought you were confident? Seeing that expression, she rushed to speak.
"That's a wonderful idea!"
Does she even know what she's saying right now? I'm telling her I'll turn her into a slave and she calls it a wonderful idea.
Wang Seolha seemed to run more on pride than on genuine confidence, but honestly, who cared.
All that matters is that I win.
And so the two of us agreed to settle it in two years' time.
Only then did Wang Seolha belatedly realize that even two years was an eternity.
"So you're telling me you must catch up to Lady Wang Seolha within two years?"
"I won't even need two. One year would do."
Moyong Hu let out a long sigh. He hadn't seen me in a while, and the first thing he learns is that I got into a fight with Wang Seolha.
"What's with the sudden sighing?"
"I believe I must tell you something about Lady Wang Seolha."
Here is what he said: Wang Seolha's mother had died of illness when she was around five, and ever since, the girl had carried a hair ornament her mother left behind. She treasured it as if it were her mother herself, and on days when the longing grew unbearable, she would sometimes even speak to it.
I suddenly found myself floundering in the heavy silence.
No way. There was a story like that behind it?
"Why didn't Seolha ever mention any of that? I'd have handed it straight back if I'd known."
"The young lady is far too proud to ever show weakness to another person."
Still, there's a time to flex your pride and a time not to.
Just as I was thinking that, Moyong Hu went on.
"That said, if you disregard your promise and go return the ornament now, disaster will follow."
"Yeah. I get the feeling you're right."
No need to guess — she'd take it as pity, decide I'd gone soft on her, and fly into a rage. This time she might genuinely draw a live blade without a shred of restraint.
Under the circumstances, it was far better to settle things fair and square, giving it everything I had.
And if I lost, I could simply hand it back on the spot. Even if I won, I could return it graciously with some line like "Your martial arts truly moved me." — and things would end on a warm note either way.
...Still, my conscience didn't sit easy. Just as I was trembling with guilt, Moyong Hu spoke up, his face having gone somewhat pale.
"By the way, we have a serious problem."
"What?"
"Lady Wang Seolha's father is Wang Yeomsu, Master of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion, is he not? And you, Young Lord, have not returned his late wife's keepsake. There is no telling what might come of it."
"Ah."
Well then. Aren't we thoroughly screwed?
After that, I trained with Moyong Hu at the practice grounds. If Wang Yeomsu came at me with murder in his eyes, I needed to be strong enough that at least my body wouldn't be torn apart in a single blow.
Training not to win the duel, but to survive Wang Yeomsu. What on earth was I even doing with my life?
If I returned the ornament now, Wang Seolha would eat me alive. If I waited two years to return it, Wang Yeomsu would eat me alive first.
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
Could it be... that this was all a scheme between father and daughter to kill me? After all, Wang Seolha was the one who'd been caught peeping at me and dropped the ornament as she fled.
"Hu."
"Young Lord, you must focus more."
"I want to focus. But look at the situation I'm in — it makes no sense!"
As I swung my sword between heavy sighs, Moyong Hu nodded with evident understanding.
"Mm. There is a chance Wang Yeomsu might turn this into a political matter."
That, in fact, was the real problem.
Getting caught? As Young Lord, he wouldn't outright kill me. But once politics got involved, things grew tangled.
Say, for instance, a rumor spread that I had tormented his daughter, Wang Seolha, and stolen her mother's keepsake purely to checkmate Wang Yeomsu, a man who disliked me.
My reputation would crater so deep it'd be a sheer cliff face.
And if Wang Yeomsu then moved to take the Young Lord's seat from me, propping up Wang Seolha in my place? Everything would go straight to hell.
Ordinarily, questions of legitimacy would mean Wang Seolha never had a prayer of becoming Clan Mother. But Wang Inho was different — cousin once, twice, even four times removed, if someone had talent and real strength, he was more than willing to elevate them as Young Lord.
At which point, my blissful martial-arts life would be over.
Two weeks passed with all this weighing on me, yet nothing happened.
Just to be safe, I had Nari quietly canvass the maids for any rumors circulating among the servants, and I went to probe Wang Inho and Cheok Hwaryeon directly — but neither gave the slightest hint of knowing anything.
I even crossed paths with Wang Yeomsu once, and all he said was something like, "Is your training going well?"
At that point, the most likely explanation was that Wang Seolha had simply lied about losing it on the road, out of sheer pride.
So after one more week, I could finally pour myself back into training.
Sparred with Moyong Hu proved unexpectedly rewarding — he shared not only martial knowledge but stories of the Central Plains murim as well. Thanks to him, I could finally fill the gap in information that had nagged at me ever since my reincarnation.
"Mm! Your growth grows more dazzling by the day, Young Lord. This Moyong Hu feels as though his eyes might be blinded."
"Well, I'm growing, sure, but there's a problem, isn't there?"
"Pardon? Whatever do you mean?"
What's wrong with you? You're stronger than I ever was in my past life.
I kept it short so he'd understand.
"Internal energy."
"...Ah."
Moyong Hu made a strangled noise. He'd been so blinded by admiration that he'd failed to judge what was actually going on. What good did mastering a brilliant martial art do, after all, if internal energy couldn't back it up?
I had, of course, kept up my breathing cultivation, but because I practiced a unique method of my own — the Reverse Sense Divine Art — rather than the Wang Clan's mental technique, the benefits came up short. The Reverse Sense Divine Art was superb at maximizing the power of Reverse Sense, but as a means of building internal energy, it was merely mediocre.
Which was why I still hadn't managed to break out of Third Rate. Moyong Hu belatedly realized the same thing, and his face looked like a man clubbed across the back of the head.
After staring blankly into space for a while, he suddenly asked me to wait a moment and dashed off somewhere at a run.
About half an hour later, he came sprinting back from the distance.
"Where did you run off to?"
At my question, Moyong Hu dropped to one knee and presented me with a small wooden chest. When I tilted my head, wondering what it could be, he explained.
"Something I secretly stole when I left the Moyong Clan."
Why hand stolen goods from your own family to me? Thinking he was about to ask me to dispose of them for him, I frowned.
Catching that look, Moyong Hu waved his hands frantically to ward off the misunderstanding and hurried on.
"Just look inside!"
"What is it?"
Moyong Hu opened the chest and pushed it toward me, practically shoving it in my face. I peered inside and could not contain my joy.
The Great Restoration Pill!
Leaving aside its sheer size, the energy radiating from it seemed to sneer at the lesser Restoration Pills of the world.
"You're giving this to me?"
Moyong Hu answered in a voice of magnificent self-assurance, as if the question were absurd.
"It is an offering to my Lord, of course. How could it possibly be too much?"
Hu-ya... You know I really do love you, right?
The moment I reached for the Great Restoration Pill, Moyong Hu hurriedly added a warning.
"You must first settle into breathing cultivation. Swallowing a Great Restoration Pill carelessly could send you into Qi Deviation. Moreover, this particular pill is somewhat special — for a full day after taking it, you will need to keep your energy under strict control."
A Great Restoration Pill from the Moyong Clan, one of the Five Great Clans of the Central Plains — and a special one among them at that. I quietly resolved that once I became Clan Lord, I would value Moyong Hu deeply.
Now that's loyalty. Yeah, sure, absolutely.
Sitting cross-legged on the spot, I began regulating my internal energy with the Reverse Sense Divine Art. The pine trees around me, steeped in pure qi, shed their turbid air and poured their own vital essence into me in exchange.
When ingesting a rare elixir, both your body's condition and your surroundings matter — and right now, both were at their absolute peak. There was no doubt I could absorb the Great Restoration Pill's energy entirely.
"This Great Restoration Pill is called the Tiger Dragon Body Pill. It means a tiger and a dragon entering your body — its power is not merely immense, but raging. Mishandle it and you could suffer internal injury or fall into Qi Deviation, so you must be careful."
You son of a—
You were about to shove something that causes Qi Deviation if mishandled into my mouth? I retracted my earlier resolution to treasure Moyong Hu. This bastard has been trying to kill me from the very beginning.
"But worry not. Who am I? A prodigy of the Moyong Clan and Commander of the Royal Sword Brigade of the Wang Clan. I will stay at your side and regulate your energy for days on end if need be."
I re-affirmed my resolution to treasure Moyong Hu. Talent like that was hard to find anywhere.
"When you are ready, simply say the w—"
"Let's go!"
"Yes, my Lord. Then — in it goes."
Moyong Hu popped the Tiger Dragon Body Pill straight into my mouth. I chewed it down and grinned. My internal energy was finally about to surge. And it was quite sweet, too — it even tasted good.
They say medicine that's good for you tastes bitter, but isn't something that's good for you AND sweet just better?
"Heh heh heh."
"Do you feel nothing yet?"
"A tiger and a dragon? I'm the strongest of the three."
Still, better safe than sorry — I figured I should run through my breathing cultivation, and so I began circulating my energy. That was when I was struck utterly speechless.
What... is that.
Examining my own body, I saw the Tiger Dragon Body Pill's energy creeping toward my dantian, jaws yawning wide, inching closer with a low, patient menace.
In a grave voice, I called for Moyong Hu.
"Hu-ya."
"Young Lord...?"
Moyong Hu wore a baffled expression at my sudden seriousness. He had only ever heard tales of the Tiger Dragon Body Pill — he had never actually taken one himself. Looking at him, I spoke.
"I don't think I'm making it home tonight."
What do I do? At this rate, that Tiger Dragon Body Pill is going to drain every drop of my internal energy.
I closed my eyes and threw all my focus into breathing cultivation. If I rushed, this was the perfect setup to have my internal energy swallowed whole and tumble straight into Qi Deviation.
The next time I opened my eyes, nearly a week had passed.