Chapter 348 – I Picked Up a Self-Proclaimed Demon. And…
I raised my sword.
My legs were shoulder-width apart, and the tip of my sword was at eye level.
Then I took a deep breath.
“Hoo.”
Breathing was the point of distinguishing between self and others.
Therefore, all willpower comes from breathing.
The sword naturally lifted. It rose above my head like a precursor to something.
“Hup!”
With a short sound of exertion, it fell vertically.
A straight line drawn in the air.
Despite having no internal energy, it was a strike that seemed to divide the world in half.
Mount Tai Pressing on Top.
The sword that once touched the sky and split a mountain was once again unfolded.
In our backyard.
Splat!
“Ugh! That’s not cool! I don’t want to learn the sword from Dad!”
“What?! Yerin! What are you talking about? Look at the sky! The clouds are splitting! Isn’t it cool?!”
“That’s just because Dad is strong! I know everything! I’m 9 years old now! Dad’s martial arts aren’t cool! I want to learn demon arts from Mom!”
“Cough!”
Ten years have passed since I was called the best in the world or the Divine Sword.
No one has hurt me like this before!
Except for my eldest daughter, Jin Yerin, born to Hong Yeon-hwa.
“Mommy!”
I pretended to clutch my chest, and Jin Yerin, who ran towards Hong Yeon-hwa, seemed to think it didn’t matter.
“Uh? What’s wrong, Yerin?”
“Mommy! Show me the demon arts!”
“Wow! Yerin, you have a good eye. No matter how extreme the sword is, demon arts are cooler than the Three Realms Swordsmanship. Ahem!”
After saying that, Hong Yeon-hwa immediately used demon arts to show the appearance of the demon’s domination.
“Wow….”
Jin Yerin’s pink eyes, like a house-sized demon, sparkled like her mother’s.
I thought Hong Yeon-hwa’s pink hair and eyes were a side effect of the manipulated physique by the Blood Demon, but about half of it was inherited.
Her hair is black like mine, but her eyes are pink like Hong Yeon-hwa’s.
It’s pretty in its own way, but that’s not important right now.
“Yeon-hwa, that’s cheating! Where did the realm of detachment go?”
“Hehe! Didn’t Yerin ask me to ‘show’ her the demon arts? I can’t push something that doesn’t exist.”
“Ugh….”
I felt like I was really upset, and Hong Yeon-hwa, who was giggling, whispered in Jin Yerin’s ear.
“Yerin, Yerin. I think Dad is really upset. Go and give him a big hug.”
“Yes~”
Jin Yerin, who answered with a bright smile, ran to me and hugged me tightly.
Continuing, Jin Yerin brought her cute face, which resembled Hong Yeon-hwa’s, to me and started hitting my cheeks.
“Eight!”
Her cheeks, which haven’t even lost their baby fat yet, were hitting my cheeks like crazy.
Boobit boobit.
It was small but soft to the touch. I tried to force a smile, but all that came out was a hesitant laughter.
“Hehe.”
“Huh? Did you laugh just now? Dad just laughed?”
My daughter shamelessly left as soon as I laughed.
And then, as if she had learned it from Hong Yeon-hwa, she put her hands on her hips and made a proud expression.
“Et hem! I made Dad laugh! I can control Dad’s emotions!”
“Ugh…!”
I pretended to collapse and shouted, “I’m cured!” Jin Yerin, who was jumping up and down, ran to Hong Yeon-hwa.
After whispering something to Jin Yerin, Hong Yeon-hwa began practicing a new posture.
“Now, try to follow me, Yerin. Heng! Bonnyeo is angry!”
“Heng! Bonnyeo is angry! …Like this?”
“Um. Try to put your arms under your chest a little more. And when you turn your head, do it powerfully…”
She’s teaching something strange instead of martial arts.
I won’t stop her because it’s cute, but still.
I chuckled and headed towards Pang Soso and my second daughter, Jin Ryung-ryung, who were diligently practicing martial arts.
…Yeah. I noticed it vaguely, but I gave birth to children in the order I married my wife.
Unlike Jin Yerin, who seemed to be a mix of me and Hong Yeon-hwa, Jin Ryung-ryung looked exactly like Pang Soso.
She even had a bun on her head like Pang Soso, and by now, it was okay to call her Mini Pang Soso.
And now. The original Pang Soso and Mini Pang Soso…
“Ho, Howawang….”
“Again! With a louder voice!”
“Howawang!”
Continuing the ancient tradition of the Pang family. She was practicing how to shout “Howawang” while teaching the Ho Wang Gong.
Jin Ryung-ryung, who was embarrassed and flailing her short arms and legs, had watery eyes, and her white baby skin turned red with embarrassment.
“Mommy… Do I really have to shout like this?”
Despite Jin Ryung-ryung’s request, which seemed to say, “How can I not be embarrassed?” Pang Soso firmly shook her head.
“No. This is how you practice faster. Mommy did the same thing when she was young.”
“Heeeng….”
Pang Soso, who was trying to hold back her laughter, spoke solemnly.
Jin Ryung-ryung, who had a sulky expression and pouted her lips, spotted me giggling next to her and brightened up.
“Daddy daddy daddy!”
And then she walked towards me, circling around me and greeting me.
No one taught her separately, but how did she inherit her mother’s traits like this?
As soon as I hugged Jin Ryung-ryung, who was feeling better, she whispered to me while squirming in my arms.
“Daddy, Daddy.”
“Yeah? What’s up, our daughter?”
“Do I really have to shout ‘Howawang’? Is Mommy lying?”
“….”
I stroked her head slowly, considering her doubts.
“Mommy did it when she was young too. So don’t be too embarrassed, Ryung-ryung.”
“Heeeng….”
Jin Ryung-ryung pouted her lips again. I lightly kissed her duck-like lips and put her down on the ground.
Plop.
“But still, Ryung-ryung shouting ‘Howawang’ is cute, right?”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. So don’t be too embarrassed and try it.”
“Um…okay! I’ll believe you, Daddy!”
Her mood quickly improved, and she nodded her head vigorously before returning to her spot.
Jin Ryung-ryung shouted “Howawang” again, swinging her short arms, and I couldn’t help but smile at how cute she was.
I headed towards where the Samma mother and daughter were practicing martial arts with their children.
“Oh, Mother Samma, did you come here?”
“When did Jin Lang come? She said she was going to teach Yerin martial arts.”
As they blinked at each other, they made room for me to sit between them, and the twins clung to me on either side.
“I tried to teach Yerin martial arts, but she doesn’t seem interested in my techniques. Right now, she’s learning Hyeongbonppi from Yeon-hwa.”
“Hehe. Even if they’re your children, they won’t always do what you want them to.”
“Hyeongbonppi? They’re learning that…?”
Samma-mang laughed and covered her mouth, while Samma-yeoryeong blinked her eyes in confusion.
As I was about to sigh and complain, my daughters jumped on my knees.
“Daddy!”
“Dad!”
The small figures sat on either side of my lap.
Brown eyes and hair. Identical features and voices.
But there was a clear difference.
One had her hair tied to the left and called me “Father,” while the other had her hair tied to the right and called me “Dad.”
Jin Seollan and Jin Yuran, the Samma-mang’s twin daughters.
By the way, Jin Seollan, who ties her hair to the left and calls me Father, is the older twin, while Jin Yuran, who ties her hair to the right and calls me Dad, is the younger twin.
As I hugged the twin sisters, my energy seemed to flow towards my uterus. Was that the twin’s curse? I hope I don’t keep having twins in the future…
I smiled widely, hugging the twin sisters tightly.
Who cares if they’re twins. They’re both beautiful.
“What were our princesses doing?”
I asked, shaking my head, and the twin sisters raised their hands simultaneously to answer.
“We were playing with our moms!”
“We were playing with our moms!”
“…?”
Their answers were contradictory. I looked at Samma-mang and Samma-yeoryeong, wondering what was going on.
Samma-mang smiled softly as usual, while Samma-yeoryeong pointed to a book she had placed neatly on the floor, snickering.
“The kids were reading us a book they made themselves.”
“But it was a really fun story. Do you want to listen with Jin Lang?”
“Oh, Seollan and Yuran made it? I’m looking forward to it.”
As I looked at the little ones sitting on my lap with a pounding heart, they whined loudly, seeming annoyed.
“Ugh…we just finished reading it!”
“You want us to read it again as soon as Dad comes back?”
“So annoying~”
“So annoying~”
Their alternating speech was so precise that it was like watching a synchronized swimming team.
I didn’t know that Samma-mang’s calm daughter could be so lively. But then again, Samma-yeoryeong was also Samma-mang’s daughter. It was strange how similar they felt.
I giggled as I kissed each twin on the forehead in turn.
“Well, then I’ll listen later. Or can I just read the book myself?”
“Um…no!”
“Yeah! We’ll read it to you! …Later, not now!”
They didn’t want me to read it myself. I nodded my head at the twins’ words, and they finally relaxed with a relieved expression.
But their small backs that I had been patting endlessly suddenly jumped off my lap like a predator that had found its prey.
Then they ran towards a corner and pounced on something.
“We caught it!”
“We caught it!”
“Quackkkk?!”
An upside-down duck-billed platypus was caught by its tail and hung upside down, crying out pitifully.
But the children thought it was cute and petted its back and belly with their remaining hands.
“Seollan! Yuran! Play nicely and don’t torture it!”
“Yes~”
“Okay~”
Although I said that, they just put the platypus back on the ground and continued to pet it roughly.
“Quackkkk….”
Well…it seems like the platypus is enjoying it, so I’ll just leave it alone.
Lastly, I looked at Samma-yeoryeong’s son, Jin Cheong-un, who was reading a book alone in the corner.
He had black hair and black eyes, a handsome appearance, but his eyes were slightly sharp.
Overall, he looked like me when I was young, except for his eyes, which resembled Samma-yeoryeong.
But I lightly massaged my son’s back, who had been ignoring me and focusing only on his book since earlier, wriggling and reacting sensitively.
“Kkkueak!”
I don’t know how much his muscles were tensed, but my son writhed and reacted sensitively.
“Stop it, Father! That hurts!”
“You little rascal. Your father is here, and you’re not even looking up from your book?”
“You didn’t have anything to do anyway, so I saw you yesterday, and today, and even while eating breakfast. What else is there to see…Euek!”
But I wish he would pretend to not know every day!
I gently rubbed his back a little more with a sad heart, and Jin Cheong-un used all his strength to tilt his head back and try to escape.
I didn’t know why my father bothered me so much when I was young, but now I think I understand.
My son can play these kinds of pranks, unlike my daughter.
But I enjoy it, and the exchange between a healthy father and son will soon be banned.
“Jin Lang! He’s torturing my son again! I told you not to do things my son hates!”
Slap, slap!
Samma-yeoryeong, who turned on her eyes with anger, hit my shoulder and shook it.
“Oh my! To my husband who is like the sky…”
“I even know a little bit of the heavenly wine.”
“…To my lovely husband! What’s a handkerchief sword?”
When did she learn that? It’s scary.
When I made a dissatisfied expression and let go of my neck, Jin Cheong-un finally became free.
Contrary to Samma-yeoryeong’s worries, Jin Cheong-un grew up politely.
…He’s so polite that I wonder if he’s really nine years old.
The too-polite son looked at me, who was being hit by Samma-yeoryeong, with a very pitiful expression.
“Father. I really respect you…but I don’t want to be like you.”
“What? What’s wrong with me? Is this it? This is an expression of love?”
“I know that you have a good relationship with the mothers. But since there are so many mothers, don’t you feel pressured every time?”
“Uh…um….”
Son. You don’t know anything yet because you’re still young.
In the world of adults, there is something called day and night.
Jin Cheong-un spoke with a determined expression, whether he knew my disappointed feelings or not.
“I’ve decided. I will only marry one woman.”
“Is that so? Is it the princess we met last time?”
“Why, why is the princess here?!”
After I officially announced that I had become the best in the world.
The royal family, who were already getting along well, went crazy when I rose to the top.
Although we have a good relationship, it seems insufficient as they even asked me if I would consider pairing our children every year.
During that process, my son Jin Cheong-un briefly met the Emperor’s youngest daughter…it seems like he fell head over heels for her since that day.
“But wasn’t the princess only nineteen? A ten-year age difference is quite significant.”
“Well, what’s wrong with a ten-year age difference? Your father is a grandfa-“
Pinch.
Jin Cheong-un, who was pinched in the side by Samma-yeoryeong, changed his words with tears in his eyes.
“But there’s a twenty-year age difference with my third mother!”
Yeah, the family tree is already complicated enough, no need to spread rumors around the neighborhood. Anyway, that’s how it is.
I chuckled and showed a wry smile to my son, who was jumping up and down like a person with a thorn in their heart.
“Oh really? Then what about Namgung Se-ga’s women?”
“Why, why is Hye-a here?!”
Well, sometimes when I attend meetings with the council, Namgung Hye, that little girl of Namgung Se-ga’s, follows me around calling me “grandpa.”
By the way, Namgung Hye is Namgung Se-ga’s first daughter, the daughter of his concubine who I met at the Yongbong Association. She’s around the same age as me and got married around the same time as me.
Come to think of it, my son is like the protagonist of a novel.
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, straddling between the princess and Namgung Se-ga’s forbidden fruit?
“Hehe…okay. Then two. I’ll only have two wives!”
With a face as red as a tomato, Jin Cheong-un declared and quickly ran away, starting to play with his twin siblings and chase after ducks.
What a shy kid.
By the way, I wonder why he couldn’t stand having three mothers anymore.
The ducks started to run away, shaking off the children’s hands.
“Quack!”
At this point, Jin Ye-rin and Jin Ryung-ryung also wanted to play with the ducks, looking up at Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so.
Nodding their heads, they started chasing after the ducks together, shouting “Waaaah!”
Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so looked at them with gentle eyes before turning towards me.
And then…
“This is the Lady’s seat!”
“Oops! Then I’ll sit here!”
The two women, who were clinging to my sides, ran towards me competitively.
Their motherly demeanor from earlier disappeared, and they pressed their bodies against me as the same alluring women they were ten years ago.
Hong Yeon-hwa, as always, on my lap.
Paeng So-so, the only remaining spot, behind me.
After taking their respective seats, the women added a word or two.
“As expected, being in your arms like this is the best, my Lady.”
“I’ll use Jin Gagga’s pillow as a headrest…this is it…hehehe.”
“Oh my, everyone looks so happy. The children are grown up now, so how about we leave them with the priest and have some alone time?”
“Mom’s right! You’ve been neglecting us lately because of the kids, Jin Rang.”
Warmth enveloped us. Each person’s unique scent. And voices murmuring from all around.
Even though it’s been over ten years, their presence still makes my heart race like first love.
As I examine each of my women’s faces, a smile naturally forms on my lips.
It’s like water overflowing from a full bucket, something that can’t be stopped and something I don’t want to stop.
“Hehe.”
We’ve returned to the house where we lived with the teacher, but many things have changed.
Just look at this pavilion, for example. We just installed it recently.
A clear view. A refreshing breeze. Tombs on the hillside. Children playing around. Wives in my arms.
Some have passed away, some have started their lives together, and some have been born anew.
There were positive things, but there were also negative things.
In the end, everything changes.
As the seasons change, more things will change.
Someday, the children will become adults. We will start to have white hair even as we reach the highest level of martial arts.
However, there are things that I am certain will never change.
For example, spring comes after winter, and the sun rises tomorrow.
Or.
The fact that I am still captivated by the chestnut-colored hair I saw that day.
It happened a long time ago, but I still vividly remember the scene.
A cold river. A single lotus flower floating on it.
That day, I picked up a self-proclaimed celestial horse.
“Huuu….”
I buried my head in Hong Yeon-hwa’s pink hair and took a deep breath.
The scent that filled my lungs was like a flower that filled my entire being.
As if drawn to it, my mouth moved naturally.
“Yeonhwa, Soso, Samamaeng, Yeoryeonga.”
Their curious gazes were fixed on me, and I had to hesitate for a long time before speaking.
How can I convey everything I’m feeling right now?
I carefully chose my words.
At the end of it all, I finally said the words that were too precious to say out loud.
“I love you.”
More than anything in the world.
There was no response, but I could tell even without hearing it.
Our breathing quietly overlapped.
-完-