Chapter 600: Side Story 100

Chapter side_100

“Are… are we really going again?”

“Of course! Since we failed to rescue those women, we must search for them again!”

Gang Sang-chun, who had been searching for Dan So-mi for a long time, entered Hunan once again and moved toward the Dan Family. With the sole determination to rescue her from the abyss of evil this time, he clenched his fists and steeled his fighting spirit.

“Ah, from what I heard, was that not a lie? You heard that the real one was already captured and handed over to the Murim Alliance!”

“No! That guy is indeed a villain! How could such beautiful ladies be beside a guy like that?!”

Gang Sang-chun did not intend to bend his will.

Thinking of Dan So-mi’s beauty and innocence, he thought there was no way such a strange human could be by her side.

Or, even though he might have already known such facts, since he could not return home empty-handed, he might simply wish to obtain a pretty bride.

Geum Dae-gil was certain it was the latter.

“We do not even know if she is in Hunan…”

“She will be! My intuition is telling me so!”

“I-Intuition…”

A sigh leaked from his mouth, going ‘haah’.

He even wondered if he should have abandoned such a fellow long ago and sought a way to live. He had stayed by him considering the future since he was to be the next sect leader, but it felt like he was only suffering terribly instead.

The sighs leaking from his mouth would not easily stop.

“Look at that! Isn’t she there?!”

“Yes?!”

At that moment, Gang Sang-chun ran recklessly while looking somewhere. At the end of his gaze, he saw Dan So-mi walking through the marketplace.

Just by greeting the merchants in the marketplace, a bizarre scene was created where she received this and that food for free.

“Oh, isn’t it the young lady!? It’s been a long time! Try some of this!”

“Young lady! It is more delicious than last time! Try eating some!”

“Who is this? Isn’t it the young lady? Where have you been that you are only coming back now?”

Geum Dae-gil, who was gradually getting closer to Dan So-mi, felt something uneasy. The way the marketplace people treated her was like treating the daughter of a family possessing immense influence, wasn’t it?

He felt that if they made a mistake, they would suffer a major disaster.

“Excuse me… young sect leader…?”

“Excuse me, young lady!”

However, even before Geum Dae-gil’s voice could reach Gang Sang-chun’s ears, his voice already rang out loudly and reached Dan So-mi’s ears.

Dan So-mi, who was greeting people, flinched as she turned her head.

“Ah… hello. You seem… perfectly fine.”

“I-I finally found you! I traveled all over the Central Plains searching for you! It seems heaven guided me to your side again in return for that sincerity.”

“Yes?”

What kind of strange things was he saying?

Dan So-mi had merely stopped by briefly because there was something to buy at the marketplace on her way home. Meeting like this was just a simple coincidence, so what did heaven have to do with it?

Furthermore, why on earth did he travel around the Central Plains searching for her?

She tilted her head at the incomprehensible words.

“By the way, do you have some business with me?”

“No… I… you…”

“What is the matter, So-mi?”

The moment Gang Sang-chun was about to court Dan So-mi, a man’s voice was suddenly heard from behind. Gang Sang-chun, who was interrupted, turned his head toward the sound with a fierce frown, and stood frozen as if he had become a stone statue, unable to move.

Although Gang Sang-chun was the young sect leader of a sect with a fair amount of influence in the Imperial Court, an existence whom even he could not dare to approach had appeared before his eyes.

“Ack?!”

“The… Imperial Court’s greatest warrior… H-Hong Jin-rang…!”

“Do you know me?”

Hong Jin-rang glanced at Gang Sang-chun and Geum Dae-gil. He felt like he had seen their faces somewhere once, but nothing in particular came to mind.

Also, since the opponent did not reply either, he paid no further attention and looked at Dan So-mi.

“I heard you went sightseeing in the Central Plains? Did you just return?”

“Yes! I came because I had to buy something briefly. I must return soon. Everyone is waiting in the carriage.”

“Is that so? Actually, there is something my father told me to bring… I should stop by in the evening then.”

“Ahaha! What is Uncle trying to give again?”

“It is obvious… Anyway, is he someone you know?”

Hong Jin-rang glanced at Gang Sang-chun and Geum Dae-gil. His eyes narrowed, harboring suspicion that they might be trying to harm Dan So-mi.

“No, he is someone I do not know… but he keeps…”

“I-I am sorry! It is nothing!”

“Y-Young sect leader?!”

Even before Dan So-mi’s mouth could fully open, Gang Sang-chun bowed his head and began to flee in a hurry. His actions were so fast that even Geum Dae-gil, who was beside him, could not help but be astonished.

Rather, the ones who were flustered were Dan So-mi and Hong Jin-rang.

The two wore dumbfounded expressions.

“What is it…?”

“Who knows?”

* * *

“Huff-huff!”

“Y-Young sect leader! A-Are you alright?”

“Would you be alright if you were me? That girl, what on earth is she? Hong Jin-rang… it’s Hong Jin-rang!”

Hong Jin-rang’s father, Hong Won-chang, was deeply trusted by the Emperor. His official rank was high, and his influence in the Imperial Court was to the extent that the Iron Fist Sect could not even compare.

Furthermore, what about his son, Hong Jin-rang?

He had already won the Imperial Court’s martial arts competition for five consecutive years.

He was the strongest in the Imperial Court both in name and reality, and was the youngest to enter the Emperor’s direct guard. Rumors even circulated that the position of commander was promised to him, so no one tried to get on his bad side.

Therefore, the sudden appearance of Hong Jin-rang was truly enough to make their spines chill.

“Did we… touch something terribly wrong?”

“W-Who touched anything? M-More importantly, let’s return quickly. I do not want to stay here even for a moment.”

Gang Sang-chun sighed and began to walk quickly.

Considering that Dan So-mi and Hong Jin-rang knew each other, he thought it would be best to leave this place as quickly as possible and not show his face before her.

A major disaster could happen if he made a mistake.

Boom!

Was it because he was walking while thinking so deeply?

Gang Sang-chun did not realize there was a person in front of him.

The moment he bumped into someone, his thoughts shattered and he frowned without realizing it. He was already in a bad mood, and now he had bumped into a person?

“Where are you keeping your eyes when walking?!”

“Then are your eyes attached to the soles of your feet?”

“W-What… did you say…?”

At the words that suddenly came, he glared at the person standing before him. He raised his hand to throw a punch right away, but saw a person who was strangely familiar.

“Ah… the villain?”

“Uhaha-yes, yes, you son of a bitch. Thanks to me keeping my eyes wide open, I have found you guys.”

It was Jang Sam-tae, who was called the villain.

He had followed after seeing two familiar faces passing by from inside the carriage, but to think they were indeed the very bastards he suspected?

Grinning without realizing it, he raised his fist.

“Do you know how much I suffered because of you bastards?!”

“Ugh! W-Why is that my f-fault?”

Thwack!

The moment Jang Sam-tae’s fist struck his face powerfully, he saw stars.

* * *

“Ah-how refreshing.”

Jang Sam-tae smiled with a refreshed expression. He had never expected to meet those bastards in a place like this. Wasn’t this truly heaven helping him take his revenge?

If Mae-hyang had not come to drag him away and stop him, he would have beaten them into even more of a pulp.

“Why are you beating someone up in the middle of the street and acting crazy, you bastard?”

“They should consider themselves lucky I stopped at that, ma’am. I almost killed them, you know.”

“Haha. A human being must know how to endure…”

“Is that why you old men hear that you are not human?”

At Jang Sam-tae’s words, Namgung Cheon and Sado Hak glared with wide eyes. Their eyes were so sharp that it felt like his entire body would be torn to pieces just by looking.

He pretended not to notice, looking ahead without realizing it.

However, the cold sweat streaming down his back did not easily subside.

“Is it… near here?”

At that moment, Jin Tae-gong, who had unexpectedly been receiving the glare alongside Jang Sam-tae, looked at the manor that finally revealed its figure and asked.

A place so beautiful that the word large was insufficient.

Also, how was the scenery of Dongting Lake visible in front of it? The scenery of Poyang Lake was also beautiful enough to make one’s eyes spin, but right in front of a scenery no less than that was their home.

Wasn’t this place indeed a paradise on earth?

“Yes, we have arrived.”

Soon, simultaneously with Dan Woo-hyun’s words, the carriage stopped in front of the manor. The door opened and person after person slowly began to get off the carriage.

As if all of them were feeling some emotion while looking at the scenery of the manor they hadn’t seen in a long time, no one was the first to speak.

But Dan So-mi was different.

She began to run like an innocent child.

“…”

Dan Woo-hyun engraved that back view in his eyes.

In his eyes, it was as if the young Dan So-mi of her childhood was running toward the house, and before he knew it, the figure of the child who had grown up stopped in front of the door.

“Welcome home!”

He smiled without realizing it at the voice that was more than bright, but happy.

She had grown up, but she did not change.

Nodding his head, he thought that he had raised her really well.

“My goodness, I know she grew up well even if you don’t look at her with such a proud expression.”

“Can you feel it?”

“I can tell just by looking at your expression.”

“…Creepy.”

“What did you say?!”

Namgung So-hye glared at Dan Woo-hyun, letting out a sharp voice.

She had an expression of truly not knowing what was so creepy about it. She sent a gaze as if asking for an explanation, but Dan Woo-hyun smiled without even replying.

“It is just what it is.”

Dan Woo-hyun chuckling, stroked her head. While treating her almost like Dan So-mi, gentleness was nestled in his eyes.

At that expression, Namgung So-hye blushed without realizing it.

“I… am not So-mi, you know.”

“I know.”

“Do you really… know?”

“Yes.”

Then did that mean he was doing it while knowing?

Why?

Namgung So-hye was curious about the meaning, but her thoughts did not last long. Before she knew it, Dan Woo-hyun walked a step toward the manor, and others were waiting there.

“Go together!”

Dan Woo-hyun matched his pace with the hurriedly approaching Namgung So-hye. Considering that he had never matched his pace with anyone else other than Dan So-mi in his life, it appeared that there was a major change in his state of mind.

Did he himself feel it too?

Laughing softly, he looked at the sky for a moment.

‘If you guys had seen it… what would you have said?’

Without realizing it, he recalled the figures of those whom he could no longer see. Unmistakably, if it were them, they would have burst into cries of shock and made a fuss, asking if the world was going to end tomorrow.

“Dad! Come quickly, come!”

“Yes, I am going now.”

But what did such things matter?

One just lived thinking of the present.

• The End •

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