Friend (2)

171. Friend (2)

Storm-like Murong Rin and bitter-cold Gyeong Su-yeon. Even in Yeongsan Sect, where my four lovers got along far better with one another than with me, I had never seen anything like this. I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠assumed that marrying such gentle, warmhearted women meant I would never be caught up in jealousy, yet the jealousy bomb had exploded, absurdly enough, between these two friends.

"One thing is similar. You. You don't like me, do you?"

"Yes. I don't like you. I don't like the fact that you tormented Young Master Baek with your family's power all these years, and I don't like the attitude you still have now—brazenly trying to use Young Master Baek despite all that."

"Ridiculous. I'm the one who doesn't like you. You've lived your whole life on Young Master Baek's kindness, haven't you? From what I heard earlier, a nobody from the insignificant Gyeongse Sect, and the only reason you could enter the Mount Tai Sect at an age far too late to start learning martial arts was because Young Master Baek returned a secret manual he'd obtained through a lucky encounter—correct? After leeching off Young Master Baek's kindness to this degree, you ought to be finding your own way to live now. What more are you hoping to suck out of him that you're still hovering around his side?"

Ah... I was finally beginning to understand. They truly considered me a precious friend. That was why Gyeong Su-yeon could not stand Murong Rin, who still tried to push me around however she pleased even after I had left the Baek Clan Estate. Murong Rin likewise could not stand Gyeong Su-yeon, who had benefited from my kindness her entire life and still remained at my side. In other words, each saw the other as a wicked woman trying to exploit her friend. In their heads, I seemed to be a good-natured fool weak to women, a dimwit who did nothing but get used.

"Don't you think calling yourself a friend is rather laughable? Don't you think it's an insult for a perpetrator who tormented him over so many long years to even speak the word friend?"

"I'll throw that right back at you. By that logic, you can't be Young Master Baek's friend either, can you?"

"Young Master Baek is my benefactor. I never genuinely hated Young Master Baek's touch. Admit it, Heroine Murong. You merely used your status and power to force friendship onto Young Master Baek. The proof is that even now, Young Master Baek doesn't lower his speech to you, does he? No matter how close two friends may be, a man who has tied his topknot ought to speak down to a woman as is proper, but Young Master Baek still sees you as nothing more than a daughter of the Murong Clan."

Gyeong Su-yeon hurled the issue of address, which I had never even thought about, straight at Murong Rin. Thinking back, with Do-hwa it was mutual informal speech. With Murong Rin it was mutual formal speech. And with Gyeong Su-yeon, I used informal speech while she used formal speech to me. That wasn't Murong Rin's fault—it was how I had been treating Gyeong Su-yeon wrongly all along. Still, however close as friends, when judged by the Central Plains etiquette of male superiority and female inferiority, Gyeong Su-yeon's point was correct, and Murong Rin flared up in an instant.

"Young Master Baek! Did you hear that? Because of Young Master Baek's formal speech to me, did you hear the kind of thing I had to listen to from that bitch? I never forced formal speech on you. I don't want to give them any more reason to pick on us, so from now on, absolutely do not use formal speech with me."

"No... this is just habit. Raising or lowering speech doesn't make someone not a friend, does it?"

In that instant, Murong Rin's eyebrows twitched.

"Don't make me say it twice. If you use formal speech one more time, I will tear out that woman's tongue."

Ah... she was seriously pissed. Even though I had gained power so vast that I no longer feared her, like a trained dog I cowered at that look in her eyes.

"What a remarkable thing to say? You'll tear out my tongue? No matter that you are the direct-line descendant of the Murong Clan, the Beautiful Madness Murong Rin—if you commit such an act in the very heart of the Martial Alliance, do you truly think you can handle the consequences? Far from remaining the Young Clan Head of the Murong Clan, you would be unable to even lift your head in the martial world, would you?"

"You think I can't do it?"

"Was my short tongue truly worth enough to trade for your dazzling future?"

Whoa. Gyeong Su-yeon. It turned out she was no joke with words. Moreover, as Murong Rin had said, she had an exact grasp of her current position. She was right. No matter how prominent the Murong Clan might be, if she harmed Gyeong Su-yeon, the Head Disciple of Mount Tai, here, even Murong Rin could not walk away unscathed. This was on an entirely different level from the mutually agreed-upon duel between Myo Hong-seon and Son Yeong.

But Murong Rin would do it. For her pride if nothing else, she would absolutely go through with it. Even if I stopped her here, she would send an assassin and do it anyway. In the end, the most harmless solution to this situation was for me to drop my formal speech.

"Ah... fine. Fine, so both of you stop it. Look, here in Henan, aren't people from Jilin and Liaoning all from the same neighborhood anyway? Just get along a little, please."

Did she still respect me after all? Some of her anger eased, and Murong Rin spoke slowly with a faint smile.

"That sounds much better. You should have done that long ago. Even before Young Master Baek became a master, we were a man and a woman who desired each other's bodies. Using forms of address that treat each other like strangers, when we are people who have shared our bodies together—I've disliked it for a long time."

We had slept together before I gained power. Murong Rin was saying that she hadn't changed her attitude merely because she was drawn to my strength. And beyond being friends, we also shared a relationship as man and woman, making our bond more special than Gyeong Su-yeon's. Murong Rin was subtly making that appeal to her. Was this... a little cute?

Just then, the door of the reception room opened.

"Junior Brother. Are you having a pleasant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chat? How is it that my junior brother only befriended such pretty friends?"

Jeong-hyang walked into the reception room carrying a large platter and a bottle of liquor.

"They aren't all pretty. Do-hwa isn't very pretty, you know."

"What are you talking about? Madam Do is a beauty whom both the unorthodox faction and the Red Flower Pavilion tried to recruit. Junior Brother, have your standards shot through the roof because all your friends are beauties?"

"What do you mean all my friends are beauties? I don't know about the others, but Ji-gyu is definitely no beauty, is he?"

"Yes, yes. Your eldest senior sister understands everything. So please enjoy yourself to the fullest with your pretty friends."

She put on this ridiculous older-sister act, subtly invoking the head senior sister now that my friends had come to visit. After she left with her oddly offbeat charm, Murong Rin and Gyeong Su-yeon were left with dumbfounded expressions.

"That woman. What was she saying just now? I can understand Heroine Murong, but me, a beauty? Does Yeongsan Sect not own a mirror? Or was she mocking me?"

"That's Jeong-hyang, the Head Disciple of Yeongsan Sect. She's Young Master Baek's lover."

Murong Rin said it to Gyeong Su-yeon with a bitter smile.

"So that was the woman Young Master Baek said he had found and would make his wife. What a relief. Now that he has a beauty like that in his grasp, there won't be any more occasions for Heroine Murong to push him around."

"It means that body of yours, whether virgin or whatever, is useless too. I'll say this in advance—the women of Yeongsan Sect are all beauties. Every single one of them is Young Master Baek's lover. Ah, except for that little brat.

"But Young Master Baek. Who is this wench called Do-hwa? There shouldn't be any old friends of Young Master Baek's that I haven't identified."

Gyeong Su-yeon was deeply shocked by the statement that every woman in the sect was my lover. But soon she picked up Murong Rin's words and began to speak.

"It's a name I'm hearing for the first time too. Is she a new friend you made on this trip through the martial world? Given that you call her Madam Do, she seems to be a married woman—Young Master Baek does seem to have a talent for making rather peculiar friends."

Along with the words peculiar friend, Gyeong Su-yeon glanced sidelong at Murong Rin. Murong Rin was also looking at Gyeong Su-yeon with the exact same look.

"No. She's a friend from Jilin. Actually, she's my oldest friend."

"What?!"

Gyeong Su-yeon, who right from the start had revealed a strange pride to Murong Rin, declaring herself to be the oldest friend, was so shocked she began firing off questions rapid-fire.

"You said she's from our Jilin? I've never heard such a name."

"You know Do-hwa. You know the Medicine Immortal Hall in Jilin, right? She was the girl who lived there."

"Did someone live in the Medicine Immortal Hall?"

"Her whole family moved elsewhere when we were young, so you'd have no way of knowing. You are famous in Jilin, but Do-hwa is just a commoner."

"So, that wench. Who is she, and where does she live?"

Murong Rin asked with eyes blazing blue. Ever since way back, she had always gotten strangely worked up whenever any piece of information about me that she hadn't uncovered came out.

"I'm not telling you. Unlike Gyeong Su-yeon, Do-hwa can't handle it if you persecute her. She's not even a martial artist, and she's a poor widow with a child, so just forget about Do-hwa."

"A widow? Young Master Baek. You did it, right?"

"I did."

My promiscuous history with women was embarrassing, but at least I wasn't ashamed of it in front of Murong Rin. She had been far more promiscuous than I was.

"Good heavens... I'm going to have to rethink what it means to be Young Master Baek's friend. Did Young Master Baek sleep with every single friend he met?"

That was hilarious. As if she hadn't lived swapping out her living dildo every few months.

"No. One of them is a man. And I told you, I didn't do it with Gyeong Su-yeon either."

"So among the women, I'm the only one you haven't slept with. Is it really true what Heroine Murong said? Am I truly the ugliest one?"

Gyeong Su-yeon, who had earlier shot back at Murong Rin with dignity by saying that I had treasured and protected her, suddenly asked me with a sulky face.

"I said no, didn't I? You're far prettier than Do-hwa."

"Then why? You slept with Young Lady Murong and Madam Do, so why won't you take me into your arms? Don't tell me, Young Master Baek. Do you dislike virgins?"

"What man in the world dislikes virgins? Stop trying to make me out to be some weirdo and eat your food. My senior sister here has amazing skills, and it's been a long time since you had northeastern cooking too, right? It'll be quite delicious."

"Hey. Did you hear that, Gyeong Su-yeon? Young Master Baek, who only keeps company with beauties, says the food his beloved senior sister made looks far tastier than women like us. And speaking of which, this man—when we met again he swore up and down that he'd show me a hundred-out-of-a-hundred man, yet here we are days later and he doesn't have the slightest intention of laying a hand on me, does he?"

Downing a cup of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠liquor, Murong Rin glared at me. Hey. Weren't you getting married? Your fiancé was only a few hundred meters away.

"The informal speech you've been using—now that I've been listening to it, it's unpleasant. We're the same age, aren't we? Is it all right if I use informal speech too?"

"That formal speech of yours, pretending to be polite while dripping with hypocrisy—that was really grating on me too, you know."

"Murong Rin. You're a strong martial artist, right? Can you block the sound coming from this room? There are a lot of Young Master Baek's lovers here, after all."

"For the first time, we're thinking the same thing. You're full of ideas, aren't you? But at my level, the qi barrier I can spread is barely one zhang. And why should we be the ones worrying about that? If it's truly embarrassing, I'm sure the peerless master, Reverend Yeongmok, will spread a perfect one for us."

Wearing a wicked smile, Murong Rin shouted as though deliberately making sure everyone could hear. I could condense Sword Aura, but I didn't know how to perform acupoint transfer, let alone spread a qi barrier. My senior sisters were one thing, but if we held an orgy here, the Mount Tai elder speaking with Master in another nearby reception room would notice. He was unquestionably a first-rate master.

Gyeong Su-yeon rose smoothly from her seat. With practiced hand movements, she brought her hands to the collar of her clothes.

"W-wait. There isn't even a place to wash here, is there? Murong Rin I can understand, but Gyeong Su-yeon can't possibly return to the Mount Tai estate looking like she just finished coupling, can she?"

At my words, Gyeong Su-yeon stopped her hands.

"And so?"

"The estate is this enormous—do we have to do it right here? Let's move to a suitable room."

"That's unexpected. You're not going to stop us?"

"Stop you? Why would I stop you? You've been talking about me like I'm some kind of eunuch all this time—I clearly warned you. I told you that if this happened again, even if you're my friends, I wouldn't hold back."

Anyway, now that it had come to this, I would just enjoy it. I was neither a eunuch nor a gentleman. When I stated it that brazenly, Murong Rin burst out laughing.

"Just as I thought. Young Master Baek. That's exactly how a man ought to be. Let's move. There's a spacious room deeper inside the estate."

She summoned the servants, had them move the food and liquor, and ordered them to prepare water for washing. The moment her instructions were given, the servants moved in perfect unison. As the atmosphere veered toward this strange conclusion, Murong Rin asked Gyeong Su-yeon with a pleased smile.

"But will you be all right? Losing your virginity here?"

"It doesn't matter. The Mount Tai Sect is a Buddhist sect. I have no intention of becoming a nun, but I have no intention of becoming anyone's wife either."

"Fair enough. Shall I prepare a silk cloth for you? Still, it's a maidenhood that's been with you for over twenty years—you should leave behind some evidence, shouldn't you?"

"It isn't necessary. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠From now on, whether I'm a virgin or not won't matter to any man."

The two of them had grown close with astonishing speed. If I thought back to the murderous atmosphere from moments ago, this was definitely a situation I ought to welcome, but how in the world had it come to this? Of what significance was the fact that I had a friend named Do-hwa, and that I had slept with Do-hwa? I didn't know. I'd stop racking my brains over it. Being a master of sex was enough; I didn't particularly wish to become a master of women's hearts on top of that.