Chapter 118 – Back to Hahoe (5)

Samamaeng opened his eyes, which had been closed in thought.

“I’ll tell you from the moment my eyes became like this.”

His unfocused gray eyes flickered dully.

“It was about ten years ago, when Samaseyaga was still in power.”

Ten years ago. Samamaeng was still a child, except for his chest.

At that time, Samamaeng was at the height of his power.

He pushed aside the ugly Arabi and became a protector, killing the Sapa’s warriors who took advantage of the weakened succession struggle and raising his name as a brain and soul witch.

At the same time, it was the time when he was about to ascend to the highest position as Samamaeng’s son, not just as a protector, but also as a military officer of Samaryeon.

“To say it myself, I was really great. I reached the pinnacle at the age of 30, with a reputation for never losing a battle, a beautiful appearance, and of course, I was also competent as a military officer.”

Just one thing. Except for the strategic marriage he did without his own will for Samasega, Samamaeng achieved everything he wanted.

“Oh, I don’t regret it. It was good when I first hugged Yeoryeong.”

Samamaeng stroked Samaryeon’s head, sitting next to him and smiling kindly.

Samaryeon was already grown up, but she didn’t move her head, even though it looked like she was asking what he was doing.

She looks like a sister on the outside, but… at times like this, she seems to be a mother and daughter.

“Anyway, it was a time when my influence was increasing within Samaryeon. Thanks to that, I naturally met strong people. …Among them was the Blood Red Horse, who is now the Samaryeonju.”

Samamaeng unconsciously bit his lips. The intermittent flow of energy was a bonus.

Blood Red Horse, Maseongcheon.

It’s a name I heard when I heard about the attackers from the Yongbongji Society a while ago.

He was a famous horse who forcibly tore apart women he had committed or took them away and made them crazy about sex.

He’s a guy who has been designated as a martial arts hero since before I was born… Somehow he survived and recently killed the Samaryeonju of the previous generation and became the new Samaryeonju.

After taking a few deep breaths, Samamaeng finally spoke.

“I told him that I wouldn’t kill or make him lose Eiji if he liked the Blood Red Horse, so he should become his own.”

At that time, Samamaeng was a brain and soul witch who was doing well, and it was common for those called color horses to pursue high-ranking women.

Translated by: @koreanliteraturelover (Twitter)

“Of course, I refused under the pretext of necessity. I was already married and had Yeoryeong, and I couldn’t believe the guy was crazy, let alone trust him.”

But the Blood Red Horse didn’t give up. He wouldn’t have been called a color horse if he had.

At that time, Samamaeng, who was working as a military officer for Samaryeon, had no choice but to be in the main camp of Samaryeon.

The Blood Red Horse visited Samamaeng every day, aiming for this, and eventually, Samamaeng couldn’t stand it and challenged him to a duel.

“I wanted to kill him as I pleased, but at that time, Samaryeon valued reconciliation among the Sapa. At least, they didn’t want to kill each other.”

Again, at that time, Samamaeng was a young, top-notch warrior who was at the height of his power as a brain and soul witch.

The Blood Red Horse, who focused on waist movements rather than punching, was an opponent he couldn’t handle.

“After that, he disappeared somewhere. I thought he had run away because he was ashamed or felt the difference in status… but it was my mistake.”

A few months later, when Samamaeng was returning from his duties in Samaryeon, he was ambushed by the Blood Red Horse, who had become much stronger than before, for some reason.

He managed to escape various traps and flee, but he couldn’t get out unscathed.

“I was poisoned. It was a kind of fire poison, and even after I expelled the poison, I couldn’t see anything in front of me. I couldn’t read letters, so I had to retire from military service.”

Fire poison doesn’t kill people. Instead, it leaves terrible pain and various aftereffects, like being burned by fire.

Samamaeng’s eyes were probably also destroyed by the fire.

Of course, Samasega was in chaos. Samagumsang, who was the previous Samaryeonju and the head of the family, mobilized the power of the family as soon as he heard the whole story from Samamaeng and tracked down the Blood Red Horse, but…

“It was a trap. The one waiting for my father was not the Blood Red Horse, but an alliance between two factions.”

Although they couldn’t always produce a Samaryeonju from the Sapa, Samasega always had Samasega as the second in command.

To grow the emerging factions of Tugyeonmun and Saekhyangmun, they had to break the ceiling called Samasega, which was Samasega.

They planned to attack Samasega, including the Blood Red Horse, many Nangin, and even holding hands with each other.

Of course, Samagumsang, who was a master of Hwagyeong, didn’t let it go so easily.

They fought like crazy until the moment they died, and as a result, they blew the heads of Tugyeonmunju and Saekhyangmunju.

Hwagyeong’s master, of course, and Samasega, who lost half of their military power, and the two factions who lost most of their leaders and disciples.

It was a fight that should have ended with no winner in the first place.

“No, unlike the two factions that completely fell, Samasega was able to recover its previous power based on its remaining strength and become the victor of the judgment in the next generation.

If it weren’t for the Blood Red Horse interfering.

“He gathered the remnants of Tugyeonmun and Saekhyangmun and created a new faction called Tamhwamun.”

Externally, they were a new emerging Sapa group that operated a Changgwan or received protection fees from other nearby Girus.

But it wasn’t for nothing that they gathered the survivors of Tugyeonmun and Saekhyangmun, and they constantly attacked Samasega from behind under the pretext of revenge.

For example, they would go to a store under Samasega’s management and cause trouble, or disguise themselves as robbers and rob the upper echelons who were entrusted with Samasega’s protection, or indiscriminately kill the unarmed people under Samasega’s affiliation.

“Many people died in the process. My husband was no exception.”

But they couldn’t reveal it. Sapa’s Mureum was so unpredictable that if they revealed their weaknesses, they would be torn apart from more places.

As if it wasn’t enough, Samamaeng, who was already a big guy, could be overwhelmed by everyone.

Now I understand why Samayeryeong has such a twisted personality.

Although the once-prosperous household was slowly collapsing, they couldn’t reveal it. If they made a slight mistake, they could really fall into ruin.

If Samamaeng used his strength to prevent the family’s situation from being exposed to the outside, Samayeryeong had to make sure that people didn’t doubt Samasega’s well-being.

Fortunately, she was overflowing with talent. Samayeryeong, who was born with more talent than Samamaeng, was famous for being a genius.

Not only martial arts but also all kinds of magic and secrets, Samayeryeong, who was able to master them all, could surely regain Samasega’s former glory if she held out until she became the head of the family.

In fact, they did well. No one thought that Samasega was in the midst of a collapse, and Samayeryeong even won the Black Heaven Championship.

The continued attacks of Tamhwamun brought Samasega to the brink of collapse, but they couldn’t completely destroy it.

That’s why everyone thought that although Samasega was now wavering under the pressure of Tamhwamun, once Samayeryeong became the head of the family, everything would come back or enjoy even greater prosperity than before.

“Until the Blood Red Horse kills the previous Samaryeonju.”

I don’t know what happened, but the Blood Red Horse suddenly became stronger. And the Tamhwamun he founded is based on Girus.

What if the guy who mastered the Color Gong captures the Girus in the Gwangdong area?

With medicines scattered everywhere, they will grow at an incredible speed.

The Blood Red Horse, who quietly grew in power, recently reached the level of Hwagyeong and challenged the Samaryeonju.

“I… never imagined that a person’s inner strength could be so great…”

Although the Samaryeonju, Ssangpae Chang, was a good fighter, his attacks could not penetrate the Blood Red Horse’s protective energy.

Despite being weak, it was incredibly thick, and even if it was broken, it was said to be quickly restored.

In the end, the exhausted Ssangpae Chang was torn apart and killed, and the Blood Red Horse became the new Samaryeonju.

“The new Samaryeonju openly began to attack Samasega. He even offered a bounty for our capture, unharmed.”

Realizing that there was no way out, the remaining members of Samasega scattered.

Their goal was Samamaeng alone. If they couldn’t handle it anymore, they had to let some people live.

Thanks to their quick thinking, they were well prepared to flee.

However, since the entire Samaryeon was now an enemy, there were only a few places they could go.

The Mureum faction, which was on par with Samaryeon. Even if not, they had to be at least as strong as Odaese or Gupa Ilbang to be safe.

For that reason, they initially planned to go to Mureum, but they heard about Hong Yeon-hwa along the way and were tracked down.

Well, they didn’t even bother to hide the Pangga carriage, so it wouldn’t have been difficult to figure out where they were going.

When the story was over, the gray eyes of Samamaeng finally closed.

He understood the situation roughly. But there was one thing he was curious about.

“I understand the situation. But why didn’t Samayeryeong run away separately? The goal is only the Brain Soul Witch.”

“Oh, that’s…”

As Samamaeng was about to answer my question, Samayeryeong stepped forward faster than him.

“Mom and I look alike. What do you think?”

Samayeryeong closed her eyes quietly and tried to maintain a calm expression. She really looked like her mother.

Of course, many parts of her face were different.

Samayeryeong let out a deep sigh after briefly explaining it to us.

“That colored horse will probably dress me up like my mother and make me act like her. There are so many insinuating spells in Samaryeon that it’s overflowing.”

Although she was also quite skilled in spells, she wouldn’t be able to withstand it for long. Samayeryeong knew that.

There was a deeper contempt in her calm tone than when she was excitedly talking before.

Suddenly, Pang Soso got up from his seat.

“Oops!”

“Huh? Why are you suddenly like that, Soso?”

“If what we just heard is true, then that Blood Red Horse won’t give up on crossing over to the Brain Soul Witch’s territory, will he?! What do we do if he just charges in?”

“Regardless of the actual outcome, isn’t he the type to only move when he’s confident he can win? Since Bonnyeo is holding out, there’s no need to worry.”

Well, the guy didn’t give up on Samamaeng, but he didn’t just charge in without a plan.

He continued to weaken Samasega and only moved when he had a chance to completely overwhelm them.

So even if he sends his subordinates, he won’t lead the attack himself.

And if he does turn back and really charge in, then both Mureum and Hwanggun will come out at the same time, so we’ll manage somehow.

Hong Yeon-hwa, who was hesitant to act because this wasn’t her world, wouldn’t just sit back and watch if something like that happened.

As I was mentally organizing my thoughts, I saw Jumsoui coming from afar, carrying a tray full of dishes. The food we ordered must have arrived.

Hong Yeon-hwa sniffed the delicious aroma and swallowed her saliva, then cheerfully patted my back.

“Let’s eat first.”

And then she smiled innocently, tapping my back.

-Don’t forget the promise.

-Promise? …Ah.

Come to think of it, when I got off the carriage, I promised Hong Yeon-hwa and Pang Soso that I would do everything they asked.

…What on earth did they want me to do?