Chapter 596: Side Story 96

Chapter side_96

“Here, eat this.”

“Thank you, sister!”

Beside Dan So-mi, who was eating late dinner in a cozy gathering, Jang Sam-tae’s two daughters sat, continuously stuffing delicious things into their mouths.

Mae-hyang, who had gone to look for Jang Sam-tae, returned when it was time to eat, left the children with Dan So-mi, and went outside again.

She had been told to at least eat some rice, but she left as if she barely heard it, and there was no news of her. Thus, taking care of the two children inevitably became the role of Dan So-mi and Namgung So-hye.

“By the way, where did this guy go instead of taking care of his children?”

At that moment, Sado Hak looked around, frowning as if something was uncomfortable. This was because Jang Sam-tae, who had run out in fright upon seeing Mae-hyang, had still not returned.

Thanks to that, he was in a position where he had to tend to the troublesome Jeok Mu-seong. With his personality, if he found out that a member of the Heaven and Earth Sect-especially the Holy Maiden and one of the Four Heavenly Kings-who had made the situation like this, was tending to him, he would beat Geum Ji-ran and Jin Tae-gong to death with all kinds of furniture in the room.

He was not the leader of the unorthodox faction for nothing.

“He will return soon. Just eat your meal.”

“Ayy! What a pathetic bastard. He could just get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness… Tsk, tsk.”

“Haha. Indeed, why on earth did he leave without a word and cause this trouble?”

Even Namgung Cheon shook his head and let out a sigh. Since a guy with children had cast everything aside and left home, it would not end with just faceplanting on the ground and begging for forgiveness.

“But if Uncle Jang hadn’t followed us… wouldn’t we have been extremely uncomfortable?”

“That is not wrong.”

As Dan So-mi spoke up to defend Jang Sam-tae, even Dan Woo-hyun, who was beside her, nodded. And in an instant, everyone’s eyes grew wide in surprise, because they did not know that even Dan Woo-hyun, let alone Dan So-mi, would have such thoughts.

“Why are you looking like that?”

“Young Master Dan… is that really you? It feels like you’ve become a different person.”

Namgung So-hye asked with a flustered gaze.

He said things today that he would not normally say. Wondering if this was indeed Dan Woo-hyun, she tried to reach out and pinch his cheek to pull it, but he lightly dodged her hand and frowned.

“No… I just wanted to make sure. I thought… maybe someone else was wearing a human skin mask…”

“Do I look like that?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“…”

Dan Woo-hyun let out a short sigh and shut his mouth.

He began to eat again, picking up his chopsticks, but Namgung So-hye’s gaze was still staring at him intently.

“It’s going to wear out, wear out. Stop staring. No matter how much you like him, what are you doing in front of the dining table?”

“W-Who said they did anything?”

At Sado Hak’s following words, Namgung So-hye blushed deeply and lowered her head. As if she had even lost her appetite, she abruptly stood up and went into her room.

At that sight, Namgung Cheon burst into a hearty laugh, while Sado Hak wore a nonchalant expression.

“By the way, is Grandfather Jeok alright?”

Was it to change the atmosphere?

Dan So-mi asked lightly while putting food on the children’s plates. Actually, since it had been a long time since she last saw Jeok Mu-seong, she wanted to run over right now and check on his condition, but she was afraid of being a nuisance to him when he had no strength, so she could not check.

Thus, Dan So-mi’s face was filled with worry and concern.

“His energy has weakened a lot. Even speaking is difficult for him… Haha… He must be having a very hard time right now, so be a source of strength for him.”

“Yes, don’t worry. Should I prepare some porridge for him?”

“He ate roughly earlier and is probably sleeping now. That crazy bastard… If only he had come down quickly like us, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Sado Hak grumbled, wondering what was so displeasing to him. In fact, he had been upset in his own way when Namgung Cheon lost his arm, but hadn’t Jeok Mu-seong experienced something far worse than that?

He was stripped of everything right before his eyes, and everything vanished in an instant.

In Namgung Cheon’s case, it ended with the orthodox faction being split in half, and although the Demonic Cult was heavily damaged, it ended at the level of repairing it.

But Jeok Mu-seong literally lost everything.

Now, a place called the Martial Sovereign Castle did not exist.

At that moment, Sado Hak glanced at Dan Woo-hyun.

“Hey, what is it… I heard he was poisoned.”

“…I see.”

“They said all his blood points are blocked.”

“Yes.”

“…”

In an instant, Sado Hak frowned as hard as he could.

He could not tell if the guy was unable to understand what was being said, or if he was pretending not to know even though he did.

Thus, he spoke directly.

“I’m asking if you can cure him!”

“It is not difficult.”

“Then say so quickly, you bastard! Why are you playing with me?!”

In an instant, as Sado Hak, whose anger flared up, shouted, Dan Woo-hyun glanced at him. Then, he let out a chuckle, making Sado Hak wonder if he was playing a joke in his own way.

At that sight, Sado Hak and Namgung Cheon were dumbfounded.

They thought that perhaps Namgung So-hye’s words were right.

And at that moment, Dan So-mi clapped her hands.

“That is truly a relief! I was worried that something terrible had happened.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Dan So-mi shook her head. On the way back to the inn, there was commotion here and there. Countless people were busy running somewhere, and the marketplace people, whose faces had turned pale, quickly packed their goods and fled to their homes.

The entire Chengdu was in an uproar.

Even the constables were busy throwing up while carrying something, and seeing that sight made her wonder if a war had broken out somewhere.

That was why she had worried that Jeok Mu-seong might have been caught up in such a situation and severely injured.

“Haha. What do you mean by a terrible thing? Nothing happened.”

“The neighborhood thugs must have had a street brawl.”

And looking at this situation, two people were eating.

Geum Ji-ran and Jin Tae-gong were driven to distraction.

“…”

“Mmm…”

Because of the chaos outside, people huddled in their homes and did not come out. Because of that, they were the only ones in the inn, so it seemed okay to relax a little.

However, the two could barely eat, breaking into a cold sweat and unable to speak properly.

Just looking at the atmosphere inside this inn, the events outside felt like a story from another world, but weren’t they the very start and culprits of all this?

Just until a day ago, they were the ones who easily killed, trampled, and mocked hundreds of people, yet how could they swallow their food so easily even after sending so many people to the afterlife?

A normal person would not even be able to eat properly because the memories of that time kept coming back.

Just like these two people right now.

The scene the two had seen while returning to the inn with Dan So-mi was vivid in their eyes. The people of the government office were moving the dead, stacking them several layers high on carts.

Since that procession was endless, they could easily imagine how many had died.

In such a situation, could food go down?

They had to respect their mental states to this point.

“If only he would return quickly…”

“Ahem. I, I feel the same way.”

Geum Ji-ran and Jin Tae-gong let out a sigh in that tension. They missed Jang Sam-tae, who had driven them so hard and treated them like slaves, exceptionally much today.

Although he was a bit harsh, he was not as ruthless as those people.

They even thought that he was probably the most normal human being among the people here. Thus, they wished to see his face even a little sooner.

* * *

Jang Sam-tae was crouching in a dark alley.

Staring at the darkening sky with a blank expression, he smiled like a person whose soul had escaped. He had been sitting there all day without even eating, and although thunder was rumbling in his stomach, he had no particular desire to eat anything.

“Damn it…”

He frowned, spitting out a curse without realizing it.

For Mae-hyang to be in such a place, of all things?

Furthermore, why on earth did she bring the kids all the way here?

Since he knew that was an extremely difficult task, he could not easily understand Mae-hyang’s heart for resolving to go through such trouble.

Who said they wouldn’t go back if she quietly waited at home?

Why did she leave a good house and suffer to come all the way here?

“Sigh…”

“Does sighing give you an answer?”

“Hiek?!”

At the voice that followed, Jang Sam-tae stood up in shock. Turning his head slightly to look, he saw Mae-hyang standing there with her arms crossed.

How fierce her eyes were, it felt like she would tear him to pieces right away.

“Y-Why are you here?! Are you crazy? Do you know what kind of place this is…”

“Does a person who is so worried run away?”

“No… it’s not that I ran away, I was just surprised…”

“…”

Breaking into a cold sweat at her steady gaze, he stepped back. He wondered if she was going to beat him with a laundry bat, but fortunately, no such thing was in sight.

“My goodness-running off without a word, you’re doing great. If you had just said something, who wouldn’t have given permission?”

“No… because you wouldn’t have let me go if I told you… No?”

“Of course not! If you don’t go, who will take care of So-mi, and who will look after the Family Head and the old men?”

“I… I thought you wouldn’t follow.”

“Are you crazy? Knowing full well what would happen, you’d bring the kids along on such a rough journey? That’s why you still don’t know me. You know?”

Jang Sam-tae flinched at the pouring voice of Mae-hyang.

It was always a sound argument.

Therefore, there was no room for refutation.

However, while he hated hearing it at home, hearing it in a place like this felt somewhat different.

Moreover, since it was a journey after a long time, why did her neatly dressed appearance look so pretty again? Her appearance, with her cherry-like lips twitching in a completely sulky face, was extremely alluring.

It was the moment when the faces of the countless beauties he had seen during the journey were completely erased from his head.

“Mmp?!”

And he rushed at her without realizing it.

He hastily pressed his lips against hers and kissed her deeply.

Surprised by the sudden situation, Mae-hyang tried to push him away somehow, but Jang Sam-tae did not even care and lifted her up in his arms.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“What do you think… The third one is calling us.”

“What?!”

Startled, Mae-hyang hastily shouted, but it was useless. Jang Sam-tae, who immediately leapt, began to run recklessly toward somewhere.

It seemed they would spend a deep, passionate night after a long time.

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