Chapter 527: Side Story 27

Chapter side_27

Early in the morning, Jang Sam-tae was speechless upon seeing Dan Woo-hyun unexpectedly coming out with a bundle packed. He couldn’t properly perceive whether the words he heard came from a person’s mouth or were auditory hallucinations flowing from a dream.

Jang Sam-tae turned his head and looked at Namgung Cheon.

He saw him shrugging his shoulders.

Soon, he unknowingly looked at Dan Woo-hyun again.

“What did you say?”

“I said I’m going on a journey.”

“Yes?”

The single phrase that flowed naturally from Dan Woo-hyun’s mouth took quite some time to dig into his ears and be transmitted to his head.

He looked up at the sky, then turned his gaze towards Dan So-mi, who was smiling awkwardly beside Dan Woo-hyun.

Dressed lightly with her hair tied up tightly.

No matter how one looked at it, it was an outfit for leaving the house.

“…? Where are you going?”

“Hubei.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

Roll-

Jang Sam-tae, rolling his eyes, turned his gaze outside.

Before he knew it, a large carriage was prepared.

That carriage, which looked quite large and comfortable, had a spacious area in the back to load luggage, and there he saw three coffin-like objects.

“…”

Jang Sam-tae looked back at Dan So-mi without a word.

But she painstakingly averted his gaze and turned her head.

At that sight, his voice naturally grew louder.

“No, isn’t this weird!? Hubei all of a sudden? And what are… those coffins?”

“What coffins? They’re just boxes holding items.”

“Anyone can see they’re coffins!”

Jang Sam-tae’s head began to throb.

It was only possible ten years ago that anything could be achieved by stubbornly insisting. Both Dan So-mi and Jang Sam-tae had grown older, so the days of saying ‘yes, yes’ after hearing Dan Woo-hyun’s unfunny words had already passed.

“Hubei… Hubei, you say?”

At that moment, Namgung Cheon, who had approached without anyone noticing, smiled while stroking his slightly longer beard. The sight of Namgung Cheon, whose hair and beard had now become perfectly white, was enough to make someone who didn’t know him think a divine being had descended.

“Hohoho, are you planning to go sightseeing at the Wudang Sect?”

“It’s true that I’m going to Mount Wudang, but I have no intention of specifically entering the Wudang Sect.”

With an “Hmm-“, Namgung Cheon swallowed a groan and slowly approached the carriage. Soon, he loaded the bundle he had prepared onto the carriage and looked at the three coffins.

“It seems you are going home now.”

“…”

Dan Woo-hyun didn’t answer, but Namgung Cheon nodded calmly as if he had already read his mind. No matter how inseparable Dan Woo-hyun and the Three Heavens were, their descendants remained, and the things they had built were still left behind.

Therefore, it was right for them to return to where they originally belonged.

The Namgung family had already been preparing to enshrine Nam Ju-ryeon for a long time, and hadn’t they even built a shrine at a considerable expense?

Now it was time to return there, to where they should originally be.

“I also thought… a day like this would come eventually.”

At that time, Sado Hak, who had approached unnoticed, put down his bundle and smiled widely. He looked at Dan Woo-hyun with resolute eyes, as if saying he could never miss this journey.

“Is it the Heavenly Mountains after Hubei?”

“Yes.”

“Then of course I’m going too. You have no complaints, right?”

Dan Woo-hyun frowned.

He had been thinking of going just with Dan So-mi, but two unexpected people had been added. Thinking he wanted to decline adding any more to the party, he turned his head and saw that Jang Sam-tae had already climbed onto the coachman’s seat.

“What are you doing? Aren’t we going?”

“…Shouldn’t you stay and take care of the kids?”

At those words, Jang Sam-tae quickly turned his head to scan the surroundings. Fortunately, Mae-hyang was nowhere to be seen. Since she said she was going to Yueyang with the two children early in the morning, she wouldn’t be back until around evening.

Recently, it seemed she had found joy in meeting mothers of similar-aged children in Yueyang to chat.

Therefore, Jang Sam-tae grinned.

“I also… need some rest sometimes.”

“…”

“Hmm…”

With a hollow, dead expression, Jang Sam-tae let out a dejected laugh, going “Haha.” People broke out in a cold sweat at his appearance, which looked as if he had lost his soul.

“But… we can’t all go, right?”

Just then, Namgung So-hye approached and let out a small sigh.

There was Mae-hyang, and there were also Jang Sam-tae’s two children.

Since they couldn’t just leave these people behind, not everyone could leave in the end.

But she couldn’t hold them back either.

Namgung So-hye glared at Dan Woo-hyun with a sharp gaze, but he didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Since he said with his own mouth that he was going, he would go no matter what happened.

Bad bastard!

Namgung So-hye cursed inwardly and sighed again.

“I’ll stay. Since everyone else will be going anyway…”

“Right, that’s not a bad idea.”

“Ugh?!”

With a zap, her gaze became sharp again. As a fierce momentum raged like a storm, Jang Sam-tae held his breath and shut his mouth.

Over the ten years, her level had risen to an unbelievable extent.

However, she remained here serving Namgung Cheon, voluntarily taking on the role of a nanny and taking charge of Dan So-mi’s education. If she threw everything away, grabbed her sword, and went out into the Central Plains, she would be able to earn the title of Sword Empress without it seeming ridiculous.

When such a woman unleashed her momentum, who could withstand it?

“…”

No, there were many.

Except for Jang Sam-tae, everyone else’s expressions were nonchalant.

The moment she realized that, she unknowingly frowned.

“T-then me too…”

“So-mi is coming with me.”

“Must I?”

“Yes.”

Hearing him speak so firmly, Namgung Cheon and Sado Hak nodded as if they realized something. This journey wasn’t simply meant just to return the remains of the Three Heavens.

There was undoubtedly an intention to show Dan So-mi a bit more of the wide world.

Therefore, they couldn’t stop him.

“Hoo- I have no choice. I’ll guard the place well.”

At some point, Namgung So-hye approached and fiercely kicked Dan Woo-hyun’s shin. However, when Dan Woo-hyun dodged her attack just by subtly pulling his leg back, Namgung So-hye bit her lip.

To not even allow this much?

She cursed herself.

“I will be back soon. Don’t worry and rest easy.”

“Hmph, who says I’m worrying…”

With a sullen expression, Namgung So-hye turned her head away. The single phrase that came out of Dan Woo-hyun’s mouth had melted her frozen heart.

Unknowingly giving a small smile, she glanced at Dan Woo-hyun.

Her gaze turned to look at his face one more time, but as if he had no particular feelings, Dan Woo-hyun was already heading towards the carriage and loading the remaining luggage.

At that sight, Namgung So-hye’s expression changed.

“I… I want to go too!”

“What!?”

“You too?”

“Yes! I will go too. Mae-hyang, well… she’ll manage on her own. She’s not a kid…”

Panting in anger, Namgung So-hye ran towards her quarters. Soon after, she carried a large bundle on her back and loaded it onto the luggage cart.

Seeing that, Jang Sam-tae made an absurd expression.

“No… still, one person has to stay…”

“Are you staying, then?”

Jang Sam-tae shut his mouth.

Originally, it was right for him to stay. There were the kids, and wasn’t Mae-hyang his wife? But as if he couldn’t give up this time around, Jang Sam-tae stealthily turned his head away and ignored Namgung So-hye’s words.

Sometimes, men also needed some relaxing time.

Persuading himself thus, he painstakingly fortified his mind.

“Then I can go too, right?”

She looked up at Dan Woo-hyun with a bright smile. As if saying she wouldn’t listen no matter how he tried to dissuade her, she had already approached the carriage, taken a seat, and called out to So-mi.

“I… can’t stop you…”

“Poke a hornet’s nest, alright, a hornet’s nest…”

Namgung Cheon and Sado Hak sighed as they looked at Dan Woo-hyun.

How could a guy who knew Dan So-mi’s heart so well not understand a woman’s heart to this extent?

Even they, who were old and left with nothing but bones, seemed to know.

“…If you’re all ready, let’s go.”

However, Dan Woo-hyun still didn’t care. Whether she went or not, he didn’t really show any particular emotion.

At that sight, Dan So-mi let out a deep sigh.

“…Why is no one here?”

Despite it being evening, Mae-hyang expressed her puzzlement as she looked at the house where not even a light was turned on. Originally, it would be the time when Jang Sam-tae was in the midst of cooking rice, but there was no sign of that at all.

“Where did they go?”

“Without saying a word?”

Holding the hands of her two children tightly, Mae-hyang looked around anxiously. Soon, she returned to the quarters, opened the door, and looked inside, but she couldn’t feel a single sign of human presence.

The two of them went around lighting lamps and illuminating the surroundings.

The empty space without anyone finally felt like people lived there.

As the surroundings brightened a bit, Gwon Mu-jin began to look around in earnest. It was because he felt anxious that something might have happened.

‘To begin with… this isn’t a place where anything would happen.’

But soon, he shook his head, thinking he had made a ridiculous assumption. Even if a war broke out or the surroundings were laid to waste, the Hunan Dan family at least would remain intact.

Thinking that,

“Where on earth did they go… huh?”

Around the time he started searching the dining room for traces, a small letter left alone on the dining table caught Gwon Mu-jin’s eyes.

A letter in a place like this?

Without realizing it, he reached out and picked it up.

“…”

Soon, his eyes that were scanning the contents as he opened it slowly widened in astonishment, and eventually, cold sweat began to pour down his forehead.

“Did you find something?”

At that time, Mae-hyang, who arrived late, approached Gwon Mu-jin with a deep sigh. Despite speaking to him, she looked at him with a puzzled expression as he didn’t move at all.

Soon, she confirmed there was a letter in his hand, poked her head out, and scanned the contents.

“What?!”

A sharp voice rang loudly in the ears.

The pitch was so high that it made the ears ache.

But she didn’t care in the slightest and snatched the letter away to read it.

The moment the contents perfectly entered her mind, crumple! She crushed the letter in her hand.

“Is this man crazy?! Where is he going, leaving the kids behind?!”

Once again, the sharp voice rang out loudly.

The pitch was so high that Gwon Mu-jin, who was next to her, plugged his ears and watched Mae-hyang as she tore the paper to shreds and stomped on it mercilessly.

What on earth should be done about this?

The future already seemed bleak.

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