With the spoils from subjugating the Azure-White Flood Dragon, along with a few gifts received from the North Sea Ice Palace, I set out for Sichuan Province.
A long procession amounting to a full three carts' worth of goods. At this scale, one would expect at least one provocation along the way, but…
Was it because everyone was a martial artist? Or perhaps because more and more people recognized either my face or Seomun Hwa-rin's.
We were able to reach Chengdu in Sichuan Province without encountering so much as a single Green Forest bandit, let alone the wandering outlaws who were ignorant of the affairs of the jianghu.
…Well. Though at the very end, we did end up facing someone more fearsome than any bandit.
A distance so great that even a Harmony Realm martial artist's eyes could barely make it out.
There, standing guard before the gate with his arms crossed, as if to say he had come out to greet us—no, that he had no intention of letting us in quietly—was Tang Jincheon.
A moment of hardship fell upon the otherwise peaceful journey.
Even as I unconsciously swallowed a gulp of saliva, the carriage continued its silent advance. I glanced at Tang So-wol and asked.
"So, she's really angry?"
"Yes. First, I suppose we need to prepare ourselves mentally."
This was a dilemma unlike almost any I had faced in both my previous life and this one combined.
No, perhaps I had entertained similar thoughts before my parents passed away. It was just so long ago that I could barely remember.
With a heavy heart weighing down on me like a thousand pounds, I let out a deep sigh and asked.
"What should I say to my father-in-law…?"
"I was scolded a lot as a child, so I know this well—in times like this, the best course is to apologize first. Of course, with a bit of aegyo mixed in."
"…I suppose I'll just apologize plainly."
"Tsk. What a shame."
Tang So-wol wiped the corner of her mouth, looking genuinely disappointed.
Surely she hadn't wanted to see me act cute, had she?
The story about being scolded often as a child, and the way she casually showed off her playful side on a regular basis…
I'd thought about it from time to time, but Tang So-wol really was no ordinary person.
With that thought, I finished preparing my mind. As the distance to Tang Jincheon grew shorter, I stepped down from the carriage.
Following that, just as I'd mentioned a moment ago, Tang So-wol and I bowed our heads at the same time and spoke.
"We're sorry, Father! And we missed you so much!"
"I apologize, Father-in-law. I should have at least sent a letter…"
"That's enough. There are more people here than I expected, so let's go inside and talk first."
An unexpectedly calm voice. I felt a moment of relief, thinking he wasn't all that angry.
But then I noticed Tang So-wol's complexion had turned slightly pale, so I sent her a discreet Voice Transmission.
-Why do you look like that? It seems like your father-in-law is willing to let this slide.
-…No. This means he's planning to scold us thoroughly once we're somewhere private.
-Oh.
I'm screwed.
***
"Son-in-law. Now that winter is gradually coming to an end, it seems it's already been nearly four years since I first met you."
As if recalling the past, Tang Jincheon looked into the air and spoke those words.
"Throughout that time, there was something I always thought while watching you. That you are mature beyond your years."
This time, Tang Jincheon looked straight at me. His voice was mixed half with pride and half with regret.
"I understand. It must have been an unavoidable situation. As I mentioned in detail before, I did look into your past on my own, didn't I?"
The regret in Tang Jincheon's voice grew heavier as he nodded.
"Those are all things that would be difficult for a child of that age to bear. To survive, to avoid being looked down upon, and sometimes to achieve revenge—you must have had no choice but to become an adult."
The regret kept growing. Because it felt like genuine concern for me, I too began to feel genuine guilt.
At first, Tang Jincheon had only shown a mix of gratitude toward his benefactor and displeasure toward the man who had stolen his daughter.
But after the engagement ceremony, once I officially became a member of the Tang Clan, we gradually became closer, and now I was almost treated like a son who simply wasn't connected by blood.
However, the words that followed dyed all my guilt with embarrassment.
"I know you have talent, but talent alone couldn't have brought you to your current level. You must have continually reflected on yourself, and through that, attained your own enlightenment. I can't simply call you young. …That is why I have remained silent until now, but I suppose it's time I spoke up."
"What is it you wish to say?"
Son-in-law. You need to be scolded a bit.
"…"
I understand that you lost your parents early and had to survive on your own strength in the rough martial world of Zhejiang Province. The way you sometimes show yourself close to the Unorthodox Sects is probably for that reason as well.
"Yes…"
However, it doesn't matter what circumstances you had or how high your training has reached. What you need now is an elder who will point out your mistakes and scold you for them. Though I may be lacking, I will take on that role.
Having said that much, Tang Jincheon began to point out, item by item, what was wrong with heading to the North Sea Ice Palace without a proper word.
The aftermath a Harmony Realm martial artist's movements would bring, the worry caused by leaving without a word, the problems of interacting with the Outer Murim, whose customs differed too greatly from the Central Plains, and the fact that he hadn't properly explained even after the fact about such a major matter as the Heavenly Killing Star.
For a moment, I couldn't even bring myself to retort, as every word was a sound argument. Having finished speaking, Tang Jincheon pointed at the wall and spoke.
"So stand against the wall with your hands up."
"…Excuse me?"
"As I said before, if you've done wrong, you must be punished. I know it's not a difficult task for you, but still, hands up and stand there."
"…"
For a moment, I was at a loss for words. But considering the worry Tang Jincheon must have gone through, I couldn't very well refuse.
I bowed my head deeply, then raised my hands near the wall, nodding inwardly.
He was right, after all. When I had regressed, my parents had already been dead for several years, so it had been far too long since I'd last heard such scolding.
A faint trace of nostalgia. And along with it, a slight sense of shame from the act of standing with my hands raised at my age, regression included.
The two emotions were about to blend into a complex, subtle feeling, but only for a moment. A flustered Tang So-wol protested to Tang Jincheon.
"Wait, just a moment, Father! No matter how you look at it, this is a bit much for young hero Cheon… In the first place, this whole matter was something I pushed for strongly!"
"Hmph. Well said, So-wol. Cheon Hwi is at least still young, but you're not young anymore! How long are you going to keep acting this childish! And it's only getting bigger in scale. When I think of your mother, I can't even lift my head in shame!"
"Ah, ah…"
Tang Jincheon snapped back as if he had been waiting for this. Tang So-wol, shrinking her neck and being scolded for a long while, eventually began to raise her hands beside me with a deflated expression.
And so, as the two of us obediently stood with our hands raised, this time Seol Ri-hyang, without anyone telling her to, quietly stood beside me and began to raise her hands as well.
At that, Seomun Hwa-rin also glanced around cautiously before standing beside Tang So-wol.
"…What do you think you're doing, Head of the Seomun Clan."
"…Well, this one is an adult, yet she failed to lead you all properly. So…"
"I have no intention of scolding someone who's sick, so stop it."
"Sick?!"
Seomun Hwa-rin jumped as if she had heard something unbelievable. Well, strictly speaking, it wasn't wrong—she was suffering from the side effects of Rejuvenation, after all.
And so, the three of them stood with their hands raised, while the remaining one stared blankly into the air, repeating the words "sick person" over and over. After a deep sigh, Tang Jincheon continued.
"Hoo… So? What happened this time that you had to go all the way to the North Sea Ice Palace? And what happened at the North Sea Ice Palace that a Diplomatic Envoy came with that much luggage?"
"Hmm. First, it was when I went to deliver the Shaolin Temple's stance on the matter of the Heavenly Killing Star to the Murim Alliance Leader."
Starting from the encounter with the martial artists of the North Sea Ice Palace at the Murim Alliance, he began explaining one by one the process of how they managed to defeat the Azure-White Flood Dragon and return with their spoils.
At first, Tang Jincheon looked at Seol Ri-hyang with a surprised gaze, but as the story progressed, his expression grew more varied, until finally he let out a breath that was neither admiration nor a sigh.
"Hoo… Well, Miss Seol, you may lower your arm. I never asked you to hold it up in the first place."
"Yes. Y-yes…"
Seol Ri-hyang slowly lowered her arm. In the meantime, Tang Jincheon was lost in thought for a moment before speaking.
"So in the end, you've returned having been of great help to the Tang Clan once again."
"That's right, Father. So now…"
"So stay like that for just half a sijin more, then return to your rooms and rest. In the meantime, I'll be speaking with the envoy who came from the North Sea Ice Palace."
"Hmph."
"My daughter. A grown young lady like you, saying such things."
"Hmph."
"…Sigh. I suppose there's no point in arguing."
Tang Jincheon shook his head and was about to leave his office when he paused, hand on the door handle, and spoke in a casual tone.
"Oh, and I hear your sister-in-law is with child. When you have time, go find Cheong and offer your congratulations."
"Brother?!"
Tang So-wol's eyes went wide. Well, it made sense. Even if the martial world tolerated late marriages, Tang Cheong's age had long since passed thirty.
As the young head of the clan, raising his own cultivation was important, but preparing for an heir was just as crucial—if anything, one could say it was a little late.
Tang So-wol nodded with a wistful expression.
"Yes. Of course we should congratulate them. …Right, young hero Cheon?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I wonder. Why might that be?"
Tang So-wol tilted her head with a feigned look of curiosity. After confirming the door through which Tang Jincheon had left, she casually lowered her arm and continued.
"Come to think of it, we should probably pay a visit to the Black Alliance sometime."
"Hmm. I suppose we should. The Lord of the Black Alliance personally invited us, and we did receive help from Sama Yuryeon during the Poison Demon incident."
"Yes. Since those two are getting married, it would be proper to at least show our faces once."
"…Wait, am I being pressured right now?"
"Oh, come now. Pressured? It's not that serious. I just happened to hear from Father that we should start preparing as well, so I'm a little concerned, that's all."
"I still think that's the case."
"Besides, there are matters that need to be resolved before that anyway."
Saying this, Tang So-wol glanced toward Seol Ri-hyang and Seomun Hwa-rin before adding in a light tone.
"Young hero Cheon, there's still a lot you haven't told me, isn't there?"
"…"
That's right. Tang So-wol had simply been quietly setting it aside all this time—I still hadn't properly explained a single thing about my regression.
After that, Tang So-wol never pestered me again, but precisely because of that, I racked my brains for days on end, trying every possible way to weaken or circumvent the seal.
Meanwhile, many changes had taken place in the Tang Clan.
First, the scales and bones of the Azure-White Flood Dragon were reborn as hidden weapons through the hands of craftsmen, the hide was made into a whip, and the poison—weak in toxicity but brimming with chilling energy—along with the giant eyeball, became the subject of research that both the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall and the Medical Pavilion threw themselves into.
Results were still far off, but since these were the byproducts of a powerful Spirit Beast rarely seen in this day and age, the Tang Clan's knowledge was sure to grow thicker through the process.
At the same time, with the help of the North Sea Ice Palace's technicians, they began building a training ground for Seol Ri-hyang. By now, she had become too deeply entangled with the Tang Clan to be called a mere retainer. Perhaps that was why she had been given a title of her own.
It was practically an honorary position, and since it was a post under Tang So-wol, nothing really changed from before… but nominally, she had become a retainer of the Tang Clan.
Aside from that, the Chief Steward once collapsed under the mountain of work that piled up, but with the help of abundant Spiritual Medicine and the enlightenment he gained, he became a worker who lasted even longer… no, I should say a more powerful Martial Artist.
At any rate, by this point, another rumor was beginning to spread across the Central Plains.
It was the sort of rumor that said the Sichuan Tang Clan should be called the number one clan in the world, surpassing the Namgung Clan.