Chapter 196: Chapter 196

Jang Sam-tae, whose face was swollen from being re-educated by Sa Do-hak, was sitting on his knees.

Resting his hands politely on his knees and bowing his head, he looked quite disheartened.

Ma Jang-gang sighed at that sight.

It had only been about a month and a half since he had met and received teachings from the monks of the Potala Palace.

Although they were arts that could not be called high-level martial arts, except for the Great Hand Print, it must have been like a dream for Jang Sam-tae, who had never had a proper master until now.

He was even full of confidence thanks to Sa Do-hak’s Return to Heaven Qi, and because of that, his way of thinking seemed to have strayed a bit in a different direction.

Up until now, it was fine.

The only one who could say anything was Ma Jang-gang, and he too only sighed and did not directly scold him.

However, the story changed the moment he returned to the clan.

Because.

‘There are too many terrifying things here…’

Ma Jang-gang bowed his head and glanced around. Sa Do-hak was glaring. Next to him, Namgung Cheon sighed and looked up only at the sky.

Dan Woo-hyun looked indifferent, but that was scary in its own way.

“You rascal, did you think the whole world belonged to you just because you roamed around as you pleased for a few months?”

Namgung Cheon said with a smile.

Although he sounded stern, his expression was not. It was thanks to the feeling of emptiness from not seeing Jang Sam-tae lately having vanished.

As expected, the Hunan Dan Family had to be like this.

“No, well… it could be like that…”

Jang Sam-tae mumbled and turned his head. He could not bring himself to speak while looking at the faces of Sa Do-hak or Namgung Cheon.

Especially the glare of Sa Do-hak, who was staring fiercely.

“It is fine. It is a good thing to have confidence in one’s own skills. It seems many things have happened in the meantime.”

The swollen Jang Sam-tae abruptly lifted his face and looked at Dan Woo-hyun.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

“Uuuugh, M… Master-!”

Jang Sam-tae sprang up from his seat.

The journey to the Tianshan Mountains for several months, and the hardships he suffered returning from there; the more he thought about it, the more he could not control the emotions welling up inside him.

How difficult and grueling had it been? The pocket money he had received generously had somehow turned into nothing, with only dust blowing in his pockets, and thanks to that, he had to catch bandits to make money.

At times, he was chased and almost died, crossing between life and death countless times, and later on, he had to receive harsh teachings from the Potala Palace monks and was even forced to shave his head.

Learning martial arts was good, but he had no intention of shaving his head.

Thinking up to that point, Jang Sam-tae felt choked up. Although they beat him, bickered, and played jokes, their usual behavior and atmosphere made him realize anew that he had truly returned to a comfortable home.

Only then did the tingling tension dissolve.

“Wah-!”

A grown adult’s crying indeed looked very unsightly. However, Dan Woo-hyun accepted it without a word. He did not comfort him, but just quietly watched Jang Sam-tae who was burst into tears.

“Yes, you worked hard.”

At the words that soon followed, everyone present was startled. Dan Woo-hyun’s expression turned quite soft. As his originally expressionless face relaxed completely, they let out exclamations before they knew it.

It was a smile that possessed a magic capable of dazzling one’s eyes.

“I suffered so much!”

“Yes, yes.”

Jang Sam-tae, who was sniffling and wiping his tears, suddenly blew his nose on Dan Woo-hyun’s sleeve with a snort!

In an instant,

“Ack!”

With a brief thud! sound, Jang Sam-tae’s head slammed into the floor. He was hit so hard that his whole body trembled.

“Oh my goodness-!”

He rolled on the ground, clutching his head and screaming. Although it was nothing more than a light tap on the back of his head, because it was Dan Woo-hyun’s hand, pain assailed him as if he had been struck by a hammer.

Dan Woo-hyun frowned as he wiped his snot-stained sleeve.

Soon, he reached out and wiped it on the clothes of the rolling Jang Sam-tae.

“You really do not change.”

“Groan… D-don’t people say that if a person changes, they will die soon?”

“Is that something to say for a guy who mimicked a monk?”

He thought he would have grown a little through the journey, but in the end, nothing had changed.

“So, what is the reason you missed him?”

Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze turned fierce. Once an incident was started, one had to pull it out by the roots so they could never crawl back up again.

But they missed the most important one, Chu Mun-won.

It was a painful mistake.

Jang Sam-tae scratched his head.

“I-it was possible to pursue him, but…”

“But?”

“Seeing the way that guy fled was terrifying…”

Thinking back to that time, Jang Sam-tae shivered.

He was referring to Chu Mun-won, who did not show a single sign of pain despite bleeding all over his body and exuded murderous intent.

Even though it was his fleeing back, it was chilling, as if seeing a ghost. Also, the fact that the others, except for him, were slow was one of the causes.

Even if Jang Sam-tae’s skills had improved, how many seconds could he last in a proper fight with Chu Mun-won? He was a guy who stood up perfectly fine and spat even after being struck by the Return to Heaven Qi, the finest technique.

At the sight of Jang Sam-tae turning his head with an embarrassed expression, clicking tongues could be heard from here and there. Especially when Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze sharpened, he lost his spirit without realizing it.

“Yes, it cannot be helped… Then, you have something to tell me now, don’t you?”

Lightly pushing away Jang Sam-tae, who was lying on the floor, with his foot, Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze directed toward Ma Jang-gang. There was a mountain of things to hear.

Ma Jang-gang noticed that gaze and bowed his head.

The moment he was about to slowly open his mouth.

“I will tell you in advance, keep it short, concise, and just the main points.”

“…”

In an instant, Ma Jang-gang’s mind became complicated.

How on earth was he supposed to summarize all those events shortly and concisely, and organize just the main points? It seemed like it would be difficult even if he were given a day or two, and he broke into a cold sweat at the sudden situation.

Organizing his complicated mind, he looked ahead.

The gazes of three people pierced him fiercely.

A cold sweat trickled down, and his mouth went dry.

Why did he feel that engaging in a life-or-death fight would be a bit more comfortable?

“Ah, you see…”

At that moment, Jang Sam-tae started speaking while massaging his sore head.

A sigh of relief escaped from Ma Jang-gang’s mouth.

* * *

Recently, Dan So-mi had become able to take walks quite far away. With reliable people by her side and having grown familiar with the area around the manor, there was no worry of getting lost, so from Dan Woo-hyun’s perspective, he was relieved.

Also, for some reason today, the adults were gathered separately. Therefore, even if she went further, there was no one to stop her.

Also.

“Kyaaaak!”

There was Hoyeon Ji screaming and holding tightly to the fur on the back of the white tiger.

They went up for a long time along the waterway of Dongting Lake.

Since she was riding on the back of the large white tiger, she could move much faster than walking. In Dan So-mi’s arms, the small Crescent Cat, White Cat, looked outside with only its head sticking out.

Because the white tiger’s speed was so fast, its fur fluttered wildly.

“J-just where are we going?”

It felt like they had already run for an hour. Since the white tiger ran with determination, they must have been far away from the family.

Judging by the distance and geography, they might have even come near Hubei along the Dongting Lake waterway.

“Wouldn’t near here be good?”

Dan So-mi looked around and patted the white tiger’s back. The white tiger, which had been running for a long time, gradually slowed down and eventually stopped in a secluded forest.

Hoyeon Ji sighed.

“Sigh, although I was the one who asked to go to a place with many herbs… this place is too…”

“It feels like a ghost might appear, right?”

“Do not say that so calmly…”

At the sight of Dan So-mi smiling brightly, Hoyeon Ji broke into a cold sweat.

She knew she was an innocent child, but sometimes she was so mischievous that she wondered if she really had no ill intent.

Hoyeon Ji brushed off her clothes and picked up the basket.

Although they had come far, it seemed she could obtain plenty of the herbs she wanted in a place like this.

“Then do you want to play around here? Or do you want to follow me?”

“So-mi will stay here. I will absolutely not go far.”

“Hmm? Really?”

“Really! So-mi listens well. Hehe.”

Hoyeon Ji groaned as if in worry. It was too secluded a place to leave a young child alone. What if a dangerous wild beast appeared…

Thinking up to that point, Hoyeon Ji groaned and looked back at Dan So-mi.

A single white cat.

Although it was small, there were assurances from Namgung Cheon and Sa Do-hak that it could easily handle a peak expert. She did not know what level that referred to, but it meant that most wild beasts would never dare touch it.

Furthermore,

Grrr-

A large white tiger roamed around Dan So-mi. Its size alone seemed to surpass three adult men, and those thick paws looked as though they could crush even rocks.

Its golden eyes licked its chops as it stared at Hoyeon Ji.

Shiver-!

Hoyeon Ji felt goosebumps.

‘I… I won’t get eaten, right…?’

If it had intended to do so, it would have done it long ago. Even though it had been a considerable amount of time since that tiger entered the clan, it had been behaving well without causing a single accident.

Perhaps the only comforting thing was that even though So-mi often went out to play with that white tiger and white cat, she had never been injured once.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes, yes! So-mi will be good. I will play quietly!”

Seeing her burst into a grin, Hoyeon Ji nodded slightly. It was not that she had no anxiety, but there was nothing she could do.

In the end, she too acquiesced.

“All right. But if anything happens, you must shout loudly.”

“Yes!”

Dan So-mi nodded with a bright smile.

After stroking her head, Hoyeon Ji began to move busily to do her work.

Dan So-mi quietly watched her retreating back.

Hoyeon Ji, who was wandering nearby, moved busily here and there and eventually disappeared from sight.

After confirming that,

“Shall we play?”

She turned around and smiled brightly.

The white tiger nodded, and the white cat sprang from her arms and began running into the mountains. It climbed trees here and there, sniffed around, and occasionally munched on delicious-looking wild berries.

Dan So-mi followed behind.

She giggled as she ran around with the white cat.

The white tiger quietly lay down on the spot.

Its gaze did not leave Dan So-mi, but unlike when it looked at Hoyeon Ji earlier, the white tiger’s gaze was very gentle.

Soon, it opened its mouth wide and yawned grandly.

Spring had approached rapidly before they knew it.

Since the day was warm, sleepiness washed over it.

Zzz-

The white tiger fell asleep.

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