༺ Fifth Chapter – Dragon Phoenix Tournament (12) ༻
He was worried about her because she hadn’t returned even this late at night and came out looking for her.
Those were his feelings when he first set out.
‘Today, I’ll be the one to nag her!’
It wasn’t everyday when Tang Hwa-seo, who had nagged him for hours when he came back late, was late herself.
Thinking that today was finally the day he could repay her for all the humiliation he had suffered, he was extremely excited.
That was why Mok Riwon was shocked by the scene he witnessed.
–It’s been a long time, Young Clan Head.
Young Clan Head.
With that title alone, Mok Riwon knew who they were.
‘The Tang Clan.’
The Sichuan Tang Clan.
Tang Hwa-seo’s home.
Was this a mere family reunion after a long time?
It wasn’t something he had even considered.
Why not?
Even to someone like Mok Riwon who consistently did foolish things, he was able to tell that Tang Hwa-seo bore a deep grudge towards the Tang Clan.
The only times he saw her making a sad face was whenever she talked about the Tang Clan.
There was some sort of unspoken rule in place between Tang Hwa-seo and Mok Riwon when it came to the Tang Clan.
However, that didn’t mean his curiosity would stop.
Mok Riwon listened to the ongoing conversation.
…The more he listened, the more his expression hardened.
–Hasn’t this little outing been enough?
The words of the man who seemed to be her brother were mocking in tone.
–The Clan Head is very satisfied. He said he didn’t expect that our young head, who had left home, would have such a person in her hands.
There was an insincere sarcasm directed towards her.
And disgust.
–You’re too much. Wasn’t he the one who implanted that qi in you? So how could you possibly say such things…?
–Yes, he did. Even though I didn’t want it.
Mok Riwon couldn’t understand.
They were supposed to be a family, a relationship where they should protect and love each other, but the words were so cruel.
Yet, they pointed sharpened daggers at each other’s throats.
The more he thought about it, the more incomprehensible it was.
However, Mok Riwon did not intervene hastily.
He was aware that intervening only after knowing a fraction of the full story wasn’t chivalry, and would end up leading to violence.
So he tried to endure.
He tried, knowing that he had to respect the family matters Tang Hwa-seo desperately wanted to hide, and that he had to respect her choices.
–If it weren’t for this shitty poison immunity, I might have forgiven the Clan Head.
Because he could hear the full story later when she had calmed down.
–You know, I just really can’t understand. How the hell could that old head say such a thing to me?
Since he didn’t want to embarrass her.
He tried to be patient.
But he couldn’t.
-Taking away my future, even taking away my chance to bear a child. How the fuck could you possibly intertwine me with a man?
The moment he heard those words, Mok Riwon felt his mind go blank.
He felt his heart, which had always beat warmly, began to turn cold in that instant.
Emotions like sympathy, pity, or anger were possibilities, but the emotion that took root in his heart before that was,
Self-loathing.
It was hatred towards himself for having once said things like ‘As expected, the Tang Clan is amazing’ while looking at her poison immunity.
Then, sympathy and anger came next.
Mok Riwon clutched his head which began overflowing with a flood of uncontrollable emotions, and right after, he heard something that made him doubt his own ears.
–…What can’t be done?
Mok Riwon wished.
–Young Clan Head, the Tang Clan has many women. Women who can give birth to children.
That he was dreaming right now.
That the one saying those words was a dark piece of his heart.
And that the reality where such a vile person exists was a lie.
But, no matter how much he wished, nothing changed.
–I’m saying that there are children who can receive the Ink Sword’s seed instead. Everyone in the Tang Clan will turn a blind eye. You just need to raise that child as your own, don’t you?
Funnily enough, the thought that came to Mok Riwon at that moment was not much different from Tang Hwa-seo.
‘It’s a knife.’
His words were a knife.
A knife that existed only to tear apart the other person’s heart, and therefore, should not exist.
With a thump, Mok Riwon felt like something in his head had snapped.
“…I can’t listen anymore.”
Mok Riwon revealed his presence, staring at the alley where they stood.
It was at that time when he saw Tang Hwa-seo’s expression.
“Young Hero Mok…”
On her face were emotions of dismay, shame, and despair.
The moment he saw her face, Mok Riwon felt a lump in his throat.
“…Ah, Ink Sword?”
The words that followed made his cold heart heat up again.
What was ringing in the back of his head was a clear warning.
–Do not harbor the intent to kill.
The plea that had shadowed him every moment of his life.
A principle that must never be broken.
Mok Riwon had never once gone against that principle even once, but at this moment, it felt difficult.
“Pleased to meet you! I really wanted to see you. I am Tang Woonkyung…”
There was something inhuman spitting out human words.
While smiling.
Mok Riwon watched him, trying hard to suppress the voice in his head.
–Do not harbor the intent to kill.
But that principle cracked.
His breath rose sharply.
His fingertips trembled as he kept trying to reach for his sword.
All while a strange thirst began rising within him.
“…and I’d like to invite you to the Tang Clan. Will you come with us?”
A scene momentarily flashed through his mind.
In his head, he draws his sword and slits Tang Woonkyung’s throat as he passes by. Then, one by one, he beheads the men behind him from front to back, silencing everyone present.
If he did that, this feeling inside him might be a little relieved.
The warning torturing him inside would fade away.
Rather. There would be nothing left to warn him once he passed the point of no return.
–Do not harbor the intent to kill.
He heard those words once again.
“…Hero Mok?”
A non-human called him hero.
It made him want to vomit as the warning became clearer.
‘Do not harbor the intent to kill.’
He repeated those words in his mind.
Then he uttered his response.
“…How old are you this year?”
Fortunately, the voice that came out was calm.
It was a voice so smooth and subdued that even Tang Hwa-seo felt betrayed.
However, it didn’t take long for that calmness to unmask itself as a bone-chilling, false tone.
“Ah, I’m twenty. That makes me older than Hero Mok. If you wish, you can call me Brother…”
“That’s fortunate.”
Mok Riwon smiled.
Like a doll, only the corners of his mouth curled up on his otherwise stiff face.
“I am truly glad you did not join the Dragon Phoenix Tournament.”
No, that wasn’t enough.
At this moment, Mok Riwon felt deeply disgusted at the sight of himself for even talking to him.
He felt guilty for even letting that neck, which deserved to be crushed immediately, keep spitting out noises.
–Do not harbor the intent to kill.
So Mok Riwon concentrated on the warning.
‘Smile.’
He smiled.
He forcibly twisted his facial muscles to lift the corners of his mouth even more, and put strength in his cheeks to make a smiling eye.
But as expected of a forced smile, the impression Tang Woonkyung felt while looking at it was bizarre.
His extremely beautiful appearance, twisted like that, made him feel an incomprehensible emotion.
“What…”
“If you had come to the tournament. If you had stood on the same stage as me.”
Mok Riwon’s voice trembled, trying to suppress the rage burning within him from bursting out.
“Then….”
But it was challenging as expected.
The strange heat burning his insides couldn’t be contained no matter how much he suppressed it, as if he was trying to cram everything inside a tiny little box.
Mok Riwon spat out his overflowing anger.
“…I would have crushed your throat.”
His eyes narrowed.
Along with the killing intent he wasn’t able to completely control.
Thump–
Tang Woonkyung stepped back.
His breath clogged up, and the moment he met Mok Riwon’s eyes, all of his thoughts came to a complete halt.
At that moment, Tang Woonkyun had a thought.
‘…A snake.’
His eyes looked just like a snake’s.
Not the snake slithering in the mountains, but the black spirit beast coiled up within the Tang Clan’s forbidden territory that he had witnessed one day.
It was marvel beyond any jealousy, the fear that engulfed him transformed into awe; the look in the monster’s eyes was exactly like that.
A vague discomforting sensation took root in Tang Woonkyung.
Even as his body trembled uncontrollably, Tang Wookyung didn’t even dare think of stopping his shaking.
It was a signal to him.
A plea for mercy born out of his overwhelming fear.
“Young Lady, let’s go.”
Mok Riwon grabbed Tang Hwa-seo’s wrist and pulled her away from this place.
Even until that moment, he hadn’t shown Tang Hwa-seo his face even once.
After the two had departed.
Plop–
Tang Woonkyung had collapsed on the spot, letting out his breath and rubbing his hand across his neck.
There were tears hanging from the corners of his eyes, but the croaking breaths finally told him that he had survived.
‘I-I’m alive…’
Amusingly enough, the only thing in Tang Woonkyung’s mind after Mok Riwon had departed was relief for his survival.
Tang Hwa-seo was being dragged away by Mok Riwon this entire time.
‘Where are we going now, why aren’t you saying anything, and why aren’t you even looking back at me?’
Even with her myriad of questions, she couldn’t say anything.
Tang Hwa-seo just kept her head down and let him lead her.
It was because of shame that her flaws had been exposed like that, and humiliation of being hurt by Tang Woonkyung’s words at that moment.
The alleys changed.
From a dark corner of Shexian to the main street, and then to the courtyard house.
It was only when they had finally arrived in front of their quarters did Tang Hwa-seo feel the grip on her wrist disappear and looked up.
Mok Riwon still had his back turned to her.
For a short moment, she felt her heart sinking, but that didn’t last long fortunately.
“…I’m sorry for interfering.”
Mok Riwon turned his head.
The usual simple-faced Mok Riwon that Tang Hwa-seo had always seen was there.
“You looked so uncomfortable that I poked my nose in. Did I do something wrong?”
He was acting timid like a child being scolded.
His appearance was so normal that Tang Hwa-seo felt uneasy instead.
It was natural.
He must have heard all the words exchanged between her and her half-brother.
The way she grew up, the way the current Tang Clan Head saw her, and even the flaws she had tried so hard to conceal.
But he didn’t ask anything, so she felt anxious.
Eventually, the question she couldn’t hold back came out.
“Why… aren’t you asking anything?”
“What’s there to ask?”
“Don’t play dumb…!”
“Young Lady.”
Mok Riwon smiled brightly.
“I didn’t hear anything. In fact, I couldn’t even focus on what that ugly man was saying because I was worried about you. Hm, how shameful.”
Tang Hwa-seo’s eyes slightly widened, fully understanding his intentions.
He was just saying he would forget what had just happened.
Mok Riwon stared at the dumbfounded Tang Hwa-seo for a long time, then slowly approached her and held her hands before continuing.
“I will become a fool in the face of things you want to hide.”
At his words, her mouth tightly shut.
Her fists were also quietly clenched.
Tang Hwa-seo felt her eyes heating up.
“So don’t worry. I, Mok Riwon, am the most patient person in the Central Plains. I can wait as long as it takes until you want to tell me your secret.”
Tang Hwa-seo clenched her teeth even more.
He felt so warm that her desire to lean on him was rising. She tried to shake it off.
But it was impossible.
There was a stark contrast between his words and the situation she had just faced.
His attempt to mend her wounded heart, the tender expression on his face, the words he said, and the gentle warmth wrapping around her hands were all incredibly soothing. The hands that reached out to her were indescribably warm.
Her eyes felt hot, tears threatening to spill. She held her breath, and clenched her teeth, trying to hold back, but the warmth spread inside her, heating her from within.
Her heart was pounding violently.
“What kind of…”
She struggled to speak, her voice trailing off.
It was only then that Tang Hwa-seo laughed through her tears with bittersweet emotion.
‘Ah.’
There was something Tang Hwa-seo could finally acknowledge.
The true feelings that she had been avoiding because she had closed her heart off. In the face of the love she had denied herself, the love she thought she couldn’t have because it could never bear fruit with her body, all of that laid bare before her.
‘Yes, this is the kind of person he is.’
His foolish obsession with chivalry, and his genuine sincerity in everything made her feel like she was looking at the clear, blue sky.
Being by his side washed away all her sorrows like a cool breeze, comforting her, making her look at him.
Suddenly, Tang Hwa-seo felt the negative feelings in her heart wash away with just a few simple words.
It was at that moment when she realized.
“I don’t want you to cry. So, I won’t nag you about coming back late today!”
That at some point, she had fallen for this foolish man.
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