Chapter 61 – Yongbongjihoe (6)

“He…he pushed me with his body!”

“What?!”

As soon as the gaping mouth closed, Paeng Oh-jin grabbed Hong Yeon-hwa by the hair and pulled her up.

“Of all the men in the world, why did you have to choose a man who’s already taken? And on top of that, a man marked by a shaman!”

“He’s not marked by a shaman! I mean, that’s not true!”

Suddenly hit, Hong Yeon-hwa denied it with tears in her eyes, but no one paid attention to her.

It was because Paeng So-so also stood up, shouting with a red face as if he would not sit down.

“What can I do?! When I came to my senses, I realized I liked him!”

“Even so, isn’t there a thing called order? You can’t just push your body onto a man who already has a partner…I didn’t raise you like that!”

The two women began to argue loudly, ignoring Nana Hong Yeon-hwa.

“What’s wrong with Jin Ga-ga? He’s handsome! He’s diligent! He’s great at martial arts! And above all, he treats his woman…he treats me so well!”

“That’s not the problem! Don’t you know that you can never be the first to someone who’s already engaged? If you have a child later, you’ll face all kinds of discrimination!”

“I’ll have Jin Ga-ga’s child…hehe…oh! It’s okay! Hong Unni always respects me, so there won’t be any problems!”

Paeng So-so smiled briefly in the middle, but the two continued to argue without backing down.

Paeng Oh-jin’s argument was that even though it might be good for now, it would surely lead to unhappiness later, so they should look for a new partner now.

Paeng So-so countered with examples of how great Nana Hong Yeon-hwa and she were and how well they treated her.

It seems like it will take a while. There’s no point in me interfering. First, I need to calm down Hong Yeon-hwa, who’s fallen into a frenzy.

I pulled Hong Yeon-hwa towards me, leading her to the empty space left by Paeng So-so, and she naturally became a shape that hugged me.

However, unlike Paeng So-so, she was small, so she only lifted her face from her side and looked up at me.

“Believe me…I really…”

To prevent any unnecessary attention, I pressed my index finger against Hong Yeon-hwa’s lips and quietly silenced her.

“Hush.”

Then, I wiped away the teardrops that made her pink pupils sparkle even more.

“A mysterious, talented master…even I feel like he looks more like 130 years old than 30.”

“My lord…?”

“Still, I believe what you say, Yeon-hwa.”

“My lord…!”

Chapter 61 – Yongbongjihoe (6)

Hong Yeon-hwa closed her eyes, moved to tears, and moistened the area around her eyes that she had just wiped. Her face already looked difficult to read, so what did her actual age matter?

However, there was one thing that puzzled me.

“Why are you so sensitive about your age?”

“Well…it’s all because of those wicked factions.”

Wait, why are we suddenly dissing factions here?

“During the height of the Yongma War, they used all sorts of dirty tricks, including poison and traps, because they thought they couldn’t defeat me with force…among them were also slanders to shake my mind.”

“Ah…I think I get the gist of it.”

Hong Yeon-hwa confirmed my guess and continued her explanation.

Due to repeated rumors and manipulation by the Wulin Alliance, the Shin-gyo sect became the Ma-gyo sect, and the Cheonma-in Hong Yeon-hwa also suffered from all sorts of slander.

She was said to be a Tang-nyeo who absorbed the vital energy of the southeast for immortality, or a crazy man who drank the blood of virgins.

As a result, she rose up to seek revenge for the plundered commoners, but instead earned their fear.

“So, I didn’t want to cause any misunderstandings with you.”

Uh…so is she saying that she was desperate not to be hated by me?

We’re fighting fiercely here, but is it okay to say such cute things?

I wanted to lift Hong Yeon-hwa up and play with her cuteness right now, but…I guess I can’t.

In the end, I comforted her by touching her soft cheek and saying, “There, there…” and before I knew it, the two women’s argument had escalated into an emotional battle.

“My father was always like that! Do you think I’m a child?! How did you even chase me here in the first place?! What about the family business?!”

“You said it was something that happened while you were on your way to participate in the Yongbongjihoe! I never thought it would turn out like this! That’s how sloppy you are, So-so! It means you don’t fit in with the martial arts world!”

Ah, so that’s what happened. Now that I know where our final destination is, we should come here as soon as we finish our work.

Although this neighborhood is large, it’s not so big that we can’t find the head of the Ha-bukpaengga even if he’s on the run.

By the way, shouldn’t we stop this argument soon? As the argument became more and more heated, Paeng So-so suddenly fell to the ground.

“I don’t know! It has to be Jin Ga-ga! Anyway, it can’t be anyone else! I’ve become like this, so I’d rather grow old and die alone than marry someone else!”

She said she wasn’t a child, but now she’s throwing a tantrum like one…

Paeng Oh-jin, who seemed to be feeling frustrated, pounded her chest as if to say something.

Chapter 61 – Yongbongjihoe (6)

“That’s why I’m so anxious! How can you just recklessly ask for help without thinking about what will happen if something dangerous occurs again? Have you already forgotten what happened at Unjuwon?”

“It’s okay! If I’m in danger, Jin Ga-ga will help me! He’s already saved my life three times!”

“Just because he’s done it before doesn’t mean he’ll be able to do it again in the future…wait, three times?”

“Oops.”

Paeng So-so realized her mistake and covered her mouth, but it was too late.

Paeng Oh-jin sat down with the most terrifying expression I had ever seen and asked me, “Can you tell me what happened?”

Although I almost died when I went out alone thinking I could handle it without money and ended up being attacked by bandits, I think I tried to hide it because of the situation…but now there’s no choice.

***

It all started from our first meeting, where we went to subdue bandits with a light heart because we had no money, but almost ended up in a dangerous situation.

After passing the story of Unjuwon, where the corpse fetishist was almost killed while peeping, Paeng Oh-jin explained the rest as a reasonable excuse.

After listening to the story, Paeng Oh-jin thought silently for a moment before bowing his head politely to me and Hong Yeon-hwa.

“Although it’s late, I sincerely thank you for saving my daughter. Consider me a benefactor of the Paeng family, and I will do whatever I can to help you.”

Normally, I would have asked him to let us go, but that was the reason why we started this journey with Paeng So-so.

But now, something more important has come up.

“Then please give me So-so.”

“….”

Even if we win the Yongbongjihoe and ask the Wulin Alliance for help, they won’t be able to do anything. It was originally the first plan, and Paeng’s help was like insurance for emergencies.

If that fails, we’ll have to aim for the royal family…anyway, it’s getting harder and harder, but there are still ways.

So I think this is the best option for now.

After a brief thought, Paeng Oh-jin spoke up.

“I can tell you the martial arts of the Ha-bukpaengga.”

“So-so is more important to me.”

“I can give you a fortune that you won’t be able to spend in your lifetime.”

“Even if you give me all the gold in the world, So-so is more precious to me.”

Paeng Oh-jin frowned slightly and spoke.

“…Paeng has many enemies. We’ve been pretending to be friendly with the Sa-pa people for a long time. The Ma-du people, who are not even comparable to the Nokrim, might be targeting you.”

“That’s why I’m learning martial arts to protect my people.”

“Hmm. You’re not relying on anyone else’s power?”

“No. It’s just me.”

Chapter 61 – Yongbongjihoe (6)

Paeng Oh-jin stared at me silently for several seconds without saying a word. Then he nodded slowly.

“Okay. Although not everything you did was for her, you did save So-so three times. But my opinion hasn’t changed. Just because everything has been fine until now doesn’t mean it will be in the future.”

“That’s…!”

I tried to say something, but Paeng Oh-jin stopped me by holding up his hand and continued.

“That’s why I need to assess your skills.”

“My skills?”

“In martial arts. Let’s see if you’re capable of protecting So-so or if I should entrust her to you.”

“I won’t disappoint you.”

“Good. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Paeng Oh-jin wanted to test my abilities to see if I was capable of protecting his daughter. Although the circumstances were different, it was still an opportunity to prove myself.

As we stood up to move to the open space next to the guesthouse, Paeng Oh-jin suddenly remembered something and asked Paeng So-so.

“What do you mean by ‘you can only be mine if it’s Jin Sohyeob’? Does that mean you’ve already been…?”

“No, no! It’s not like that! It’s just…well, it’s complicated!”

I felt embarrassed to admit that I had become her exclusive partner due to her sexual frustration, but if I didn’t say anything, it would only make things worse.

“….”

Paeng Oh-jin’s expression became indescribably complicated upon learning indirectly that his daughter was sexually active.

***

“So-so, you’re crazy! You sold the pillars of our house for a man!”

Ah, I’ve been caught.