After retrieving the golden frog, Chujungsan wrote us a letter and immediately set off with the escort warriors.
We also finished our somewhat delayed meal and prepared to set out for Muhan City once more.
However, there was one difference from before.
"It seems I'll be traveling with you for a while. Please take care of me, Miss Seo."
"Ah! Since I'll be staying at the Geumhwa Merchant Guild's inn, that makes sense. I'll be in your care as well!"
Seomun Hwa-rin had joined our party. Since the greatest purpose of attending this Dragon Phoenix Gathering was to bring Seomun Hwa-rin to the Tang Clan rather than the Black Alliance, this was fortunate for me.
Seomun Hwa-rin herself was so delighted that she bounced in place.
She was probably thinking she had taken a step closer to the new life she had dreamed of—a life worthy of a human being.
However, it seemed Tang So-wol and Seol Ri-hyang saw things a bit differently.
"You said this is your Murim debut, right? You must still have a lot you don't know, so feel free to ask me anything if you're curious."
"You said you're participating in the Dragon Phoenix Gathering too, didn't you? You look a bit younger than me… You might keep your sect a secret, but surely your age isn't a secret too?"
The two of them surrounded Seomun Hwa-rin, firing questions at her with sparkling eyes.
Tang So-wol seemed delighted to finally play the role of the benevolent senior martial artist helping a junior—one of the things she had lamented to me about endlessly over the past three years, saying she wanted to do it once she set out into the martial world.
Seol Ri-hyang, for her part, seemed excited to have met, for the first time since she began learning martial arts, someone whose skill level and age were similar to her own.
But I knew better.
Seomun Hwa-rin was, in fact, so seasoned in the ways of the martial world that she had once shaken the entire Central Plains under the infamous alias of Baekbal Nachal.
Despite that youthful face and small frame, she was a Harmony Realm martial artist whose true age far exceeded fifty.
While I alone found myself in a situation I couldn't laugh at, Seomun Hwa-rin, flustered, answered each question one by one.
"Ah, well. Then is it alright if I ask about the Dragon Phoenix Gathering? I said I would participate, but I don't know much about it, so I was a bit frustrated. And my age… I-I'm sixteen."
"Pfft!"
At the part about her being sixteen, I finally couldn't hold back my laughter and covered my mouth.
Tang So-wol looked at me with concern at my sudden outburst.
"Young hero Cheon? Are you alright?"
"Ahem. I'm fine. I just swallowed wrong, so don't worry about it."
"If that's the case, then I'm relieved."
Tang So-wol, still looking puzzled, let the matter drop. Meanwhile, Seomun Hwa-rin, as if struck by guilt, let out a sigh of relief.
…How should I put it? It felt like I'd seen the hidden side of the person who was both my master and a parent to me?
It was far better to see than the fully resigned look from my previous life, but somehow I felt like I'd seen something I shouldn't have.
Whether she knew of my complicated inner feelings or not, Tang So-wol smiled brightly and clapped her hands lightly.
"Right! Speaking of which, we got so caught up in other stories that I never got to hear about Gangseo Province, which I'd actually meant to ask about."
"Now that you mention it, that's true. Let me see… We still have a long way to go until the next village, so there's no need to save stories. …Do you happen to know why Gangseo Province, unlike other places, has no family or sect worthy of being called a hegemon?"
Wait, that story here?
The reason Gangseo Province has no group comparable to the Five Great Families or the Nine Great Sects and One Gang is simple.
Because Baekbal Nachal, Seomun Hwa-rin, turned the entire province upside down over a decade ago.
The Seomun Clan, once an Orthodox Sect, was exterminated, and Unorthodox forces rose to prominence—but even they were all wiped out by Seomun Hwa-rin's hand, leaving only middling small and medium sects in the end.
Seomun Hwa-rin must have had a tremendous influence on the fact that no force capable of seizing control of the vast Gangseo Province as a whole ever emerged.
And she herself must be well aware of this fact.
Well. She had spent a long time in seclusion, devoting herself solely to martial arts training, and it hadn't been long since she'd come back out into the world.
That must have been why she had no more stories to tell than that.
…It was absolutely not an attempt to subtly disguise his own story as a tale of Gangseo Province.
***
A lonely battle against himself that he could not reveal to anyone… specifically, a battle he barely won against the urge to laugh, and thus arrived at the next village without incident.
Tang So-wol, having found a suitable inn, made an unexpected proposal.
"Since we'll be traveling together for a while, wouldn't it be better to become a bit closer than to remain awkward strangers?"
"What's this all of a sudden?"
"I mean that today we shouldn't just eat, but also share a drink or two. Of course, Miss Seo should only have a little."
"I'm fine with that, but… Seol Ri-hyang, and Seo, ahem. Rin. What about you two?"
Every time I called her name, my tongue would stumble without my meaning it to. At first, Seomun Hwa-rin had looked at me curiously, but after it happened a few times, she simply nodded and let it pass.
"I'm fine with that."
"This one is fine as well. B-But I'd be a little troubled if the drinks were too expensive…"
"Don't worry about that. I am a daughter of the Tang Clan, after all. I have plenty of travel money, so drink your fill."
Tang So-wol puffed out her chest and cleared her throat. This was clearly one of the things she'd said she wanted to do someday — "sharing a drink with a martial artist she'd met for the first time and formed a bond with" — so she was obviously excited.
But well. Whatever the case, she looked happy, and that was enough. And with the Poison Spirit Constitution she was born with, there was no chance of Tang So-wol getting too drunk anyway.
I casually ordered a somewhat strong baijiu.
…I shouldn't have done that.
At first, it was pleasant. The prize for this Dragon Phoenix Gathering was to be put up by the Shaolin Temple, and word had it that the famous Great Return Pill would be on offer.
There was also talk of a rising talent from the Wudang Sect who had already been tapped as the next Sect Leader — an incredible genius.
And the question of whether the Hwangbo Clan or the Jinzhou Eon Clan would take the alias of Fist Dragon at this Dragon Phoenix Gathering had the whole world's attention fixed on it.
We started with stories related to our common topic, the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, and chatted away comfortably.
The problem began when Seomun Hwa-rin, who had been listening to the latest news of the martial world with great interest, tilted her small head and asked a question.
"But there is one thing I am curious about. You two are said to be betrothed — how did you come to develop such a relationship? For children of noble houses, it would usually be a political marriage, but… hmm, is the Tang Clan's name not too great for that?"
"Oh dear. Are you saying, in a roundabout way, that I'm from a family you've never even heard of?"
"Ah, no! This one had no such intention at all! It is simply that I was curious about the circumstances that led to the engagement!"
A single joke sent Seomun Hwa-rin into a fluster, shaking her head vigorously. Her long white hair swayed along with the motion, veiling her embarrassed face.
Tang So-wol giggled at the sight, took a sip of the white liquor, and opened her mouth.
"That's right. If I had to put a name to it, it wasn't a political marriage so much as a kidnapping marriage."
"A kidnapping marriage, you say…?"
Seomun Hwa-rin tidied her half-loose hair belatedly as she asked back, her gaze alternating between me and Tang So-wol, clearly struggling to make sense of the word "kidnapping."
"Just how bold must one be to kidnap a daughter of the Tang Clan?"
"Hehe. You think so too, Lady Seomun? Well, ta-da! It actually happened!"
"What?!"
Seomun Hwa-rin stared at him with wide eyes, even leaning her upper body back ever so slightly—she was genuinely taken aback.
"Let me just say this first: I had no choice. It's not like I resorted to force from the very beginning."
"Mm… Cheon Hwi? It's not normal to go straight to kidnapping when words don't work, you know? That's what happened with me too."
"W-wait a moment. It wasn't just once, was it?"
"Yeah. So here's how it went… ah, maybe I should hear Lady Tang's story first, in order?"
"That would probably be best. Then, following mine, would Lady Seol tell hers to Lady Seo… hmm. Your surnames sound so similar, it's hard to tell you apart. I've known Lady Seol for quite a while now, so would it be all right if I called her Hyang-i casually?"
"Huh? I'd be fine with that. I've already been calling her unni, but it actually bothered me a little that Lady Tang kept calling me 'Lady Seol.'"
"It's just a habit I've fallen into, calling you as I always have—I never meant to keep my distance from Hyang-i. We're not strangers; we share similar burdens, after all. If I had my way, I'd like us to get along like true sisters."
"Unni…!"
Perhaps it was because she'd just heard the person she'd always admired say she wanted them to be like sisters. Seol Ri-hyang's eyes reddened with emotion.
Tang So-wol, on the other hand, wore a suspicious smile, as if everything was going according to plan.
…Seomun Hwa-rin was just clapping her small hands together, saying it was moving.
I had no idea what was going on.
As I poured myself another cup of baekju and sipped it, Tang So-wol naturally held out her glass to me.
It was empty, so I absentmindedly filled it. She downed it in one gulp before continuing.
"Ahem. Then let's return to the main topic. Lady Seo. If you had just left for the martial world a few days ago, and a man you'd never met before—one who looked far younger than you—told you it was dangerous and you should return home immediately, what would you do?"
"I suppose I would hear them out first."
"But you have no intention of actually returning, do you?"
"…If it were truly a serious matter and a story I could trust, I wouldn't turn back."
A fairly earnest tone. It was a decision befitting Seomun Hwa-rin, who rarely bent once she'd set her mind on something.
Even so, she couldn't help but be taken aback by what Tang So-wol said next.
"That's what I said too. And that very night, I was overpowered and kidnapped. When I opened my eyes, I was in some pitch-dark cave."
"Ahem!"
Seomun Hwa-rin was staring at me as if I were the most notorious Lust Demon in history. That felt a little unfair.
"If you put it that way, what does that make me?"
"A kidnapper whose guts are bigger than his belly?"
"What kidnapper in the world would release the hostage's acupoint sealing just because she whined, then go all the way to the lower town to buy food and leather fit to use as a bed? I even emptied your chamber pot for you, Tang So-wol."
"Kyaaah! Why would you suddenly bring that up?!"
"I wasn't the one who started this story."
As I shook my head in disbelief, Seomun Hwa-rin dragged her chair over and pressed herself close to Seol Ri-hyang's side.
"Chamber pot…"
At that all-too-obvious reaction, Tang So-wol burst into laughter and waved her hand.
"Ahaha! You needn't be so frightened, Miss Seo. If I just list off everything that happened, it does sound strange, but young hero Cheon was quite good to me. That's why we're engaged now."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. From now on, I'll tell you all the details."
Tang So-wol wet her throat with a sip of wine before speaking.
"You see, here's what actually happened…"
And so Tang So-wol's story continued. Perhaps because she was the one who had been taken, not the one who had done the taking, she remembered everything far more vividly and in greater detail than I did.
Even I, who had a rough idea of what had happened, found it entertaining to listen to. Seomun Hwa-rin, hearing it for the first time, must have been even more captivated.
Aside from breaking into a cold sweat when she mentioned mistaking me for some old monster who had undergone Rejuvenation, she kept nodding along in admiration throughout.
After that, she spoke of how she had tracked down the mastermind behind it all and properly settled the Karmic Debt, and how, when Seol Ri-hyang had tried to pull her out and things had gone sideways, she had simply resorted to kidnapping her. The atmosphere grew warm and amiable.
Seomun Hwa-rin, thinking it was now her turn, cautiously opened her mouth.
"This humble one is still a Murim Debut, so I have no particularly interesting stories to tell. Therefore, this is not my own story, but one my master experienced."
Seomun Hwa-rin, trying to subtly reveal her own past under the guise of telling someone else's story. But her voice was buried beneath Tang So-wol's, which had become thoroughly animated.
"And so, you see, the truth is that young hero Cheon…!"
"…?"
Startled by the sudden theft of her turn to speak, Seomun Hwa-rin faltered, but Tang So-wol, whether she noticed or not, simply continued on with what she had to say.
That stubborn single-mindedness made me realize something. That Tang So-wol had, without my noticing, already downed five whole bottles of baijiu by herself. And that, far from expelling the alcohol toxin, she was deliberately spreading it through her body.
"Why on earth are you leaving the alcohol toxin in your body…?"
"Heheh. Well, when you drink, isn't it proper etiquette not to suppress the intoxication?"
"Who on earth told you that… Ah."
I realized half a beat too late.
No one had told her this. Tang So-wol simply wanted to say that, since she could suppress the intoxication but chose not to, drinking to get drunk was a matter of etiquette…!
I hadn't wanted to learn this way that trying to forcibly suppress a desire only makes it run wild.
"So where was I? Ah! I asked for something to eat because I was hungry, and what does young hero Cheon pull out but a grain-avoidance pill. It's bad enough being trapped in a cave, but not even being able to eat properly made me a little sulky, so I told him to repeat that a grain-avoidance pill isn't food—and not only did he actually repeat it, he was even a little cute doing it…"
"Tang So-wol. How about you expel the alcohol toxin first? If you'd like, I can draw it out for you."
"Ah! Young hero Cheon, do be quiet! Am I not still in the middle of telling my story!"
Squelch.
Tang So-wol suddenly threw her arms around my shoulder, swinging her free arm wildly through the air.
The feel of her poison pouch, which seemed to have grown even larger, left me utterly speechless.
…Little did I know that this was the beginning of an endless cycle of drunken rambling.