Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 135
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 135. Heaven’s Command and Earth’s Command (5)
“Master Ja Dam has forfeited.”
The news I heard as soon as I returned to the residence was quite shocking.
Moyong Bi frowned.
“She forfeited?”
“Yes.”
“Why on earth?”
Jegal Chung Ho shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know either.”
It seemed like the words ‘…is what I’d like to say!’ were omitted after that. His expression suggested as much.
Ignoring Jegal Chung Ho, who clearly wanted to be asked more, Moyong Bi sat down in a chair and said.
“Well, she’s probably not in the right state of mind to compete anyway.”p>
Jegal Chung Ho didn’t hide his dejected expression.
Jegal Lin, who had been glancing at her elder brother, asked cautiously.
“So did you have a good talk with the Hubei Branch Alliance Leader?”
“He’s quite good at talking in circles.”
“Well, he is a Sima after all.”
Though she tried not to show it, a subtle sense of competition and jealousy toward the Sima clan came through.
“Where are your two uncles?”
“They’re discussing the Bi Chang Moon matter with the elders.”
“That makes sense.”
“By the way…”
“Hmm?”
Unmistakable tension appeared on Jegal Lin’s face.
“What about Ho Geom Jin In then?”
“Ask Uncle about that later.”
“You could at least tell us that much, considering our relationship.”
“What kind of relationship do we have exactly?”
“If we hadn’t acted as good intermediaries, things wouldn’t have been resolved so smoothly, would they?”
“In some ways, it might have been better for the Jegal Clan if you hadn’t gotten involved.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I had thought to handle it alone without calling you, I would have taken his head the day Ho Geom Jin In returned.”
“…!!”
“Then your two uncles wouldn’t have been in danger, even for a brief moment.”
Jegal Lin’s face hardened.
If what Moyong Bi said was true, that certainly could have happened.
“Then why did you ask Uncle to act as an intermediary?”
“Are you joking? If I had captured Ho Geom that day too, would Jegal Dae Hyeop have trusted me? Would Sama Jin Gung have even bothered coming here?”
“…”
“Of course he would have come. But with full determination to dissect me, who would have been utterly suspicious, like picking meat off chicken bones.”
When he put it that way, it was so obvious that asking the question in the first place felt embarrassing.
“Still, you could at least tell us.”
“It would be better for you to hear it from Uncle rather than from me.”
“If it’s the same content, it shouldn’t matter who tells us, right?”
“Precisely because it’s the same content, what the listener takes away differs depending on who’s speaking, doesn’t it?”
“You could just tell us the bare facts. What’s so difficult about that?”
“If it were just a matter of bluntly stating simple facts, do you think I would have spent these past few days running around the entire mountain without sleep?”
Finally, Jegal Lin raised the white flag.
“Fine. I’ll ask Uncle.”
“By the way, where are our sisters?”
Only the Jegal siblings were present in the third floor area where the group often gathered.
“I’m not sure. I saw them heading toward the Family Head’s residence.”
“The Chief Administrator too?”
“He said he was going to have some day drinking with Gang Dae Hyeop.”
“Did the Chief Administrator suggest it first?”
“His mind is probably still complicated.”
Bitterness crossed Moyong Bi’s face.
‘This man, why is he tormenting himself so much?’
Well, I would have been dumbfounded too. I get angry a dozen times a day just thinking about my Great Grand Nephew who died unjustly, so how much more so for Seok Woong, who had lived with him as family for so long.
Reading Moyong Bi’s expression, Jegal Chung Ho quickly interjected.
“By the way, you won’t be able to see So So until the day after tomorrow either.”
“So So? Ah, that So So?”
He had no interest whatsoever.
“Why not So So?”
Judging by his indifferent reaction, he was clearly asking out of politeness.
“She says she’ll stay away temporarily since we’re enemies until the sparring match.”
“An interesting decision.”
“Right? I can’t understand why she’s being so formal when we’ve already shared everything there is to see and not see.”
“That’s probably not it.”
“Pardon?”
“Neither I nor that sharp-tongued fellow have ever shown everything about ourselves.”
“Is that so? I thought that guy wasn’t such a scheming type.”
“It’s not about being scheming, but that there was no need to. Do you really tell your friends every little detail about your past just because you’re friends?”
“Yes.”
“…”
“I do.”
Moyong Bi shuddered and stood up.
“I’ll be going first.”
“Oh! Already? Won’t you have a drink? I’ll buy.”
“Look at the person next to you first before saying that.”
Wondering what he meant, Jegal Chung Ho turned his head and immediately buried his face on the table.
Jegal Lin, who had been glaring at her elder brother with fierce eyes, said.
“We won’t be able to see each other until your sparring match with Elder Brother Namgung.”
“Very well.”
“…Aren’t you going to ask why?”
“You must have your reasons.”
His annoyance showed completely.
What a strange person. Even though he’s usually blunt and indifferent, the bond they’d built wasn’t insignificant, yet at times like this he treated her like a complete stranger.
Rather than feeling hurt, she found it somewhat puzzling.
‘It seems like he’s deliberately keeping his distance.’
Jegal Lin nodded inwardly.
‘Some people find that more comfortable.’
Moyong Bi turned around.
“I’ll see you in two days.”
“Yes.”
A moment later.
“Elder Sister.”
Creak.
The person who opened the door was Moyong Su Hyang.
“You’re here?”
Moyong Bi smiled brightly.
Everything from his eyes to his facial muscles was completely different from when he dealt with the Jegal siblings.
“I’m here. Have you eaten?”
“We’ve all eaten already.”
“Good. Let’s eat dinner together later.”
“Okay.”
For some reason, she seemed much more docile than usual.
Moyong Bi, who had been tilting his head, came inside.
Moyong Su Jeong was sitting on the floor, cultivating her energy.
“You were standing guard.”
“Just in case.”
Comfort settled on Moyong Bi’s face as he sat on the floor across from Moyong Su Jeong, leaning against the bed.
He might not know it himself, but there was a face he only showed to family. Indeed, when looking at people from the Moyong Family, his expression overflowed with vitality.
Of course, he wasn’t just in a good mood.
‘It’s accumulating well.’
Infinite True Qi that arose naturally enveloped Moyong Su Jeong’s body.
Since it was such a subtle energy, Moyong Su Jeong didn’t notice Moyong Bi’s qi seeping in. She was also concentrating on her energy cultivation.
‘Oh?’
A gleam appeared in Moyong Bi’s eyes.
‘She’s more aggressive than usual.’
She had long since internalized the incantations of the Honyuan Heart Method and could naturally perform energy accumulation as easily as breathing.
But today in particular, she seemed obsessed with energy accumulation.
A sign of trying to build up even a little more internal energy.
‘This girl, there’s no need to be in such a hurry.’
Still, her intuition was so good that her circulation wouldn’t get twisted or make mistakes, but somehow he was worried.
Moyong Bi, who had been looking at Moyong Su Jeong with concerned eyes, soon withdrew his Infinite True Qi.
‘She’ll handle it well on her own.’
Honestly, he worried about everything she did, but he knew. That worrying alone wouldn’t solve anything.
Just as only I can change my life, only I can change my martial arts.
‘There are times when you just have to watch over them.’
He had to trust Su Jeong’s character and talent.
Moyong Bi, who had been staring at Moyong Su Jeong, turned his gaze to Moyong Su Hyang.
Moyong Su Hyang was brewing tea.
“Huh? Aren’t those tea leaves from home?”
“That’s right.”
A mischievous look appeared on Moyong Bi’s face.
“Do you even know how to brew that properly? You’re not going to shrivel it all up trying to extract the fragrance like Elder Sister, are you?”
Trickle trickle.
Having apparently finished brewing, she filled two cups and sat next to Moyong Bi.
“Try it.”
“Sniff sniff.”
“…”
“Not bad? It has roughly that fragrance.”
“My eye for detail isn’t bad.”
“As expected of Moyong bloodline.”
Moyong Su Hyang quietly drank her tea.
Normally she would have responded to such teasing with her sharp-tongued manner, but she was unusually quiet.
No, rather than quiet, should it be called calm?
Moyong Bi, who had ended up picking a fight by himself, couldn’t overcome his awkwardness and sipped his tea.
How much time passed like that?
“Are you finished drinking?”
“Yeah.”
“Give it here.”
She took the cup and placed it on the table, then sat next to Moyong Bi again.
Moyong Bi, who had been watching Moyong Su Jeong’s energy circulation with a calm face, spoke.
“Su Hyang.”
“What?”
Moyong Bi, who was about to say that Kang Won Gong was nothing special, suddenly felt his words get stuck.
That’s right. If it were me, if it were me who had overcome the madness of the Brain Gate Heart Technique to restore the family’s martial arts and even fought wars as the Martial Alliance Leader, I could say it was nothing special. Because I would have endured it somehow.
But that wasn’t me, it was my great grand nephew. The words “it’s nothing special” didn’t come out easily.
‘Still.’
Moyong Bi asked for understanding from his second great grand nephew who had passed away first.
‘If you were such a kind and responsible child, I trust you would understand me.’
Just as Moyong Bi was about to open his mouth again.
“Do you remember?”
“Huh?”
“When Elder Brother first cursed at me.”
Moyong Bi’s eyes wavered.
He couldn’t say he remembered, nor could he say he didn’t.
Because he knew but didn’t know.
Because he didn’t know, but also knew.
Moyong Su Hyang continued speaking.
“I didn’t even know what that curse meant. I had never heard or learned such words.”
“…”
“That was one month before I turned twelve.”
“Exactly five years ago.”
“Even though I didn’t know what it was, I thought Elder Brother was very angry. His face was scary and he was shouting.”
“…”
“Honestly, I was scared and anxious. I wondered if I had done something wrong, if I had made some mistake, and I vividly remember spending days reflecting on what I had done.”
“…”
“The intervals between his cursing got shorter and shorter, and as time passed, Elder Brother only became more violent.”
That would have been the case.
He had asked Yang Hyo Myeong directly about it, but seeing Kang Won Gong’s secret manual, this was really martial arts perfect for destroying people.
No, it couldn’t even be called martial arts. It was demonic study that destroyed human nature and even life force for a one percent, no, one ten-thousandth possibility.
In some ways, it could be called mystical arts more vicious than even demonic arts.
Moyong Bi felt anger rising again.
Kang Won Gong had destroyed not only his deceased great grand nephew’s life, but also the life of a young girl who had grown up without knowing parental love.
“The neighborhood kids also avoided me. Elder Brother’s reputation had spread throughout the area. I heard their parents told them not to associate with me.”
“…”
“Actually, I didn’t want to meet the kids either. No, I didn’t even think about meeting anyone. How could I go anywhere leaving my sick family behind.”
“…”
“Elder Brother was scary, but I couldn’t go anywhere leaving him behind. But I couldn’t even talk to this foul-mouthed person. If I got slapped, I felt like I really wouldn’t know what to do then.”
Bitterness appeared on Moyong Su Hyang’s face.
“Still, I was afraid that if I kept avoiding him we’d grow more distant, so I tried somehow to approach him.”
She would have been cursed at each time.
With no parents and her elder sister having left for Myeongjin Hall, and though Seok Woong was there, from Moyong Su Hyang’s perspective who had followed her elder brother like a parent, Moyong Bi was the only person she could hold onto.
“After a year passed, he couldn’t even speak anymore. I think he struggled for about half a year.”
That she had even developed speech disorders from the accumulating shock and anxiety.
It wouldn’t be strange if she had contracted an illness worse than aphasia. At that time, Moyong Su Hyang was twelve or thirteen years old.
The elder brother she had trusted and followed had somehow become a tyrant. There may not have been physical violence, but violence isn’t only violence when you hit someone.
Those days must have been like hell.
All the more so because he was someone she couldn’t give up on.
“I thought things couldn’t go on like this, so I decided to be more assertive myself. Otherwise, I’d end up living as a mute for the rest of my life. I also worked hard to learn martial arts. I wanted to overcome it somehow, no matter what it took.”
“…I see.”
“When I did that, I could see reality. I saw a scoundrel who was squandering money left and right, dragging our already struggling household into ruin. I was so incredibly angry.”
“If it were me, I would have beaten him to within an inch of his life.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
Moyong Su Hyang’s eyes grew moist.
“It wasn’t that our elder brother was a bad person, but that the world was making life difficult for us.”
Moyong Bi let out a sigh.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————