The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 97

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 97. Something That Feels Like Someone Else’s
When So Gwang Yeo hurried out after his younger brother, So Cheong Jin was clutching the hand of a man who appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, his face bright with joy.
Yet the expression of the man whose hand was being held was filled with nothing but awkwardness.
Seeing this, So Gwang Yeo called out to his excited younger brother.
“Cheong Jin.”
At the Family Head’s voice, So Cheong Jin turned around.
“Ah! Brother, you’ve arrived. The son of Hae Dong Gwi, the master whom the Gangdo Pung Family arranged for the betrothal, has come!”
So Gwang Yeo understood his younger brother’s joy well enough.
So Cheong Jin believed that once the marriage took place, Hae Dong Gwi would be bound to the Mun Chang So Family Estate by blood and could not turn a blind eye to their affairs.
Indeed, if the wedding were to happen, the Mun Chang So Family Estate’s daughter would become Hae Dong Gwi’s daughter-in-law.
Knowing this, So Gwang Yeo could not pretend there was no hope.
If his memory of Hae Dong Gwi’s skill was accurate, he would be able to stand against the Yu Seong Cheol Family and Yu Seong Chu Hun.
Of course, the previous message had said that the son of Hae Dong Gwi, who was to be betrothed, had lost his Inner Power, but if Hae Dong Gwi alone could bring back his captured daughter, the loss of Inner Power mattered little.
With such thoughts, So Gwang Yeo stepped forward and greeted Ryu.
“Come now, welcome to the Mun Chang So Family Estate.”
“Ah… yes.”
Unlike the people of the Mun Chang So Family Estate who were welcoming him warmly, the woman standing behind Ryu watched him with a quite interesting gaze as he answered reluctantly.
She had the feeling that this betrothal was not something Ryu desired.
Just as such a feeling began to stir unexpected hope in her, Ryu suddenly pointed.
“There… I have brought someone, but….”
The woman’s eyes widened in surprise, and So Gwang Yeo, who had been gazing intently at where Ryu’s hand was pointing, asked a question.
“Who… are you?”
At So Gwang Yeo’s question, Ryu’s face filled with consternation.
The woman he had been certain was the daughter of the Mun Chang So Family Estate was not recognized by the very Family Head of the Mun Chang So Family Estate.
Wondering if his eyesight had perhaps failed him, he looked at So Cheong Jin standing nearby, but his expression showed only confusion.
Moreover, he seemed displeased that Ryu had brought an unrelated woman to the home of his betrothed.
Unable to hide his shock at this unexpected turn, Ryu asked carefully.
“Do you truly not know her?”
“How could I know a woman I’m seeing for the first time?”
At So Gwang Yeo’s reluctant answer, Ryu’s eyes wavered.
This meant he had truly brought the wrong person.
At that, the woman merely shrugged her shoulders with an expression that seemed to say “I really don’t know anything” as Ryu turned around, bewildered.
It was then that one of the Mun Chang So Family Estate’s martial artists ran up to So Cheong Jin, who had been regarding the woman and Ryu with displeasure, and whispered something.
At the report from his subordinate, So Cheong Jin’s eyes widened, and he asked Ryu in a startled voice.
“Did you… by any chance attack, or rather, stop by the Yu Seong Cheol Family Estate on your way here?”
At So Cheong Jin’s question directed at Ryu, So Gwang Yeo’s eyes opened wide with alarm.
“What do you mean?”
“The Yu Seong Cheol Family Estate was attacked, and the attacker was a young man wearing three swords at his waist….”
Following the direction of So Cheong Jin’s gaze as his words trailed off, So Gwang Yeo’s eyes opened wide.
Three swords hung at Ryu’s waist, just as they had on Hae Dong Gwi in the past.
In other words, it meant that the one who had attacked the Yu Seong Cheol Family Estate was Ryu himself.
Unable to hide his shock, So Gwang Yeo asked Ryu.
“You… did you truly attack the Yu Seong Cheol Family Estate….”
Too startled to finish his words properly, So Gwang Yeo received an answer from Ryu, whose expression was one of discomfort.
“That is… yes. I did go to rescue someone, but… it seems I have brought the wrong person. I apologize.”
As Ryu bowed his head, So Gwang Yeo, the Family Head, and So Cheong Jin stared at him with expressions filled with shock and alarm.
***
Yu Seong Chu Hun, who had been brought to the Yu Seong Cheol Family Estate by his subordinates, had not regained consciousness even as nearly a full day passed.
The family physicians at the Yu Seong Cheol Family Estate, as well as all the renowned doctors from the neighboring villages, had been mobilized for treatment, yet the situation remained unchanged.
The only consolation, if it could be called that, was that all the physicians said he would wake without great difficulty.
Many of them had even asked what sort of Miraculous Medicine he had taken.
They said that a considerable amount of medicinal efficacy was circulating through his body, healing his internal injuries, and that his lack of consciousness was because of this, so there was no need to worry.
At the physicians’ words, the subordinates could only tilt their heads in confusion.
They had never heard that the Family Head had obtained Miraculous Medicine recently.
The same was true for Wi Hae Sam Chu, who stood watch at close range.
At least from the point that his life was not in danger, the masters of the Yu Seong Cheol Family Estate could take some comfort.
Yet they could not leave the Family Head alone in his chamber like this.
If the Family Head’s temperament were such, there would be no subordinates left unharmed when he awoke.
So all the key figures of the Yu Seong Cheol Family Estate, headed by the Deputy Family Head, had gathered at the Family Head’s bedside.
It was at that very moment.
He bolted upright.
Yu Seong Chu Hun, who had lain motionless as if dead, suddenly lurched to his feet, startling his attendants who had been watching him with worried expressions.
A man who had lain as if dead for a full day now rose with fists clenched as though ready to hurl himself at someone, rolling off the bed and dropping into an attack stance.
“F-Family Head!”
At the alarmed cries of his attendants, Yu Seong Chu Hun at last looked around, relaxed his posture, and spoke.
“What happened?”
“We found you unconscious in the forest beyond our estate and brought you back, sir.”
Yu Seong Chu Hun’s gaze flickered as he searched his memory under the weight of his subordinates’ and deputy heads’ expectant stares, and he ground his teeth.
“That sword-wielding bastard!”
“Yes, sir. He attacked our estate and killed several of our warriors….”
“Where is he now?”
One of his men hastened to answer Yu Seong Chu Hun’s clenched question.
“We received word that he was seen entering the Mun Chang So compound a moment ago….”
The attendant never finished his report.
By then, Yu Seong Chu Hun had already seized his personal weapon from beside the bed and burst out of the room.
“Wait—we haven’t even reported yet that he disappeared….”
The attendant’s words trailed uselessly after him, scattering into the void in the wake of Yu Seong Chu Hun, who had already vanished.
Before the deputy head could even fully register his alarm, he was barking orders to give chase, and the Yu Seong Cheol Family’s high-ranking martial artists poured out after him in a rush.
***
Though the woman had no connection to the Mun Chang So Family, So Gwang Yeo brought her inside with Jeok Sa.
The thought of his abducted daughter weighed on him, and he could not simply abandon a woman who had lost her memory and did not know who she was.
Thanks to this, the woman was shown into a guest reception room prepared in the compound’s quarters, alongside Jeok Sa.
So Gwang Yeo meant to provide a comfortable place for Jeok Sa, who had come all the way from Hae Dong to rescue his abducted daughter, and to take care of the woman, who had lost her memory, for the time being.
He harbored no intention of treating her poorly, after all—she had come here as his daughter’s betrothed—but he had received word that Jeok Sa had attacked the Yu Seong Cheol Family and defeated Yu Seong Chu Hun in combat.
With this in mind, So Gwang Yeo entertained other possibilities, and had given special orders to assign the largest room in the guest quarters to the woman.
Even without So Cheong Jin’s words that “if he did it once, why not twice?”—So Gwang Yeo harbored the expectation that Jeok Sa would go to rescue his daughter again.
For these various reasons, Jeok Sa, who had been treated with considerable courtesy and shown to the reception room, merely fidgeted with the teacup placed before him.
So Gwang Yeo and So Cheong Jin had left to hurry the preparations of rooms, leaving only Jeok Sa and the woman in the reception hall.
“It seems this place doesn’t suit you very well,” the woman said.
At her words, Jeok Sa’s expression grew uncertain.
“It’s not that—it’s just that my mind is unsettled.”
“Why is your mind unsettled? You were supposed to rescue your betrothed, but you rescued me instead—is that it?”
Her tone had taken on a sharp edge, and Jeok Sa shook his head.
“No, I should be grateful I rescued someone. It’s only that… I’m uncomfortable being treated so hospitably when I’m not the sort of man who deserves it.”
“But you’re her betrothed, aren’t you? Why would hospitality be uncomfortable?”
“Because… I have no intention of marrying her. Let’s leave it at that.”
At Jeok Sa’s answer, the woman’s eyes gleamed briefly like a bright star.
But that light vanished in an instant, and her steady gaze fixed upon Jeok Sa, who continued to fidget with the teacup, as unwavering as before.
In truth, the woman’s following Jeok Sa here had been born of lingering attachment.
Though she knew it was a “forbidden fruit,” the unique fighting method she had witnessed from him the day before kept surfacing in her mind, making it impossible for her to simply leave.
She had the feeling that remaining at his side might reveal something even more intriguing.
That was all it was.
She kept making excuses to herself—that it was as a martial artist, not as a woman, that she had lingered, and that her interest was purely professional—but….
Yet now, having heard Jeok Sa’s words, her direction shifted.
From his response—that he had no intention of marrying the Mun Chang So Family’s daughter—she glimpsed a possibility that the forbidden fruit might not remain forbidden forever.
What mattered was that she was not someone else’s; and if she was not someone else’s, she could become her own.
The other person’s feelings?
Such things were irrelevant.
What mattered was that he had become someone she could possess.
Of course, for now it was still “my thing that belongs to someone else,” but that alone was not unwelcome.
Now she no longer had to deceive herself by insisting it was “professional interest as a martial artist rather than lingering attachment.”
With her thoughts shifting, her heart relaxed as well.
‘This bastard is completely my type, no matter how I look at him.’
Behind his bewildered expression as he fiddled with the teacup, a deep loneliness lurked—and it was drawing her in.
As the woman gazed at him sidelong, she had to press down the corners of her mouth that threatened to curl upward into a smile, and finally turned her gaze away from him entirely.
Any longer and she would surely burst into laughter.
She had not lived a life especially mindful of others’ discomfort or loneliness; the bewilderment and solitude pressing down on Jeok Sa were no consideration for her whatsoever.
It was only the thought that no man would appreciate a woman laughing at such a moment that made her restrain herself.
Though it was certainly true that those who knew her would find this forbearance astonishing.
Uncertain whether the woman noticed her own transformation, she turned her gaze from Jeok Sa and surveyed the reception room with a cool expression.
Her gaze fell upon the ceramics and paintings that adorned the reception room.
They were far too costly for a small martial sect in Eastern Hae Nam to possess.
‘Had those funds been spent on medicinal herbs to aid cultivation instead, things would be better now. Tsk.’
The woman’s brow furrowed slightly in disapproval, then smoothed just as quickly.
The door had opened and people were entering.
But they were not So Gwang Yeo and the others. These were younger men.
“We’ve come to see the one from Hae Dong who is to be married to our elder cousin…”
The one who spoke, mustering his courage, was a youth named So Myeong who had only recently come of age—the son of So Cheong Jin.
He had come upon hearing that his cousin’s betrothed had arrived from across the sea in Hae Dong.
“…….”
So Myeong offered a formal introduction to Ryu, who stood in awkward silence.
“My name is So Myeong. My father’s name characters are So, Cheong, Jin. You must be Brother Pungyu? Father has spoken much of his time in Hae Dong upon his return. Pleased to make your acquaintance, brother-in-law.”
So Myeong seemed quite personable and engaging.
The problem was that Ryu could not bring himself to respond with equal warmth.
It was because of that wretched name.
Pungyu.
The woman standing beside him had her hand over her mouth, suppressing her laughter.
And there was another thing—the title of brother-in-law that So Myeong had used also sat poorly with him.
It felt like deceiving innocent people.
“…….”
Ryu had a mission to complete, and a fellow operative who needed to survive it; he could neither deny nor confirm anything.
Standing in bewilderment, Ryu’s eyes caught sight of a youth peeking out from behind So Myeong.
Noticing that Ryu’s gaze had turned toward him, So Myeong smiled and introduced the boy.
“My younger cousin. The youngest son of our family head. His name is So Man—only seventeen this year, yet terribly shy, as you can see. Say hello now. This man will be your true elder brother.”
Ryu’s discomfort deepened, and the woman behind him frowned deeply at these words, but So Man—the youth introduced—was in fact a child unwelcome at the Mun Chang So Family Estate.
He was a boy that So Gwang Yeo had brought home from outside several years prior.
No one knew whose womb had borne him or the circumstances of his birth; So Gwang Yeo offered no explanation, and at the time his wife and children had resented him greatly for it.
As a result, So Gwang Yeo’s children had treated So Man quite coldly.
Only So Cheon, who had been kidnapped, had treated him with gentleness and care, but after her own misfortune struck, So Man found himself without a place to belong and clung to his affable older cousin So Myeong.
So Myeong, understanding his young cousin’s predicament of having lost his place of refuge, could not bring himself to treat the boy harshly and kept him at his side, caring for him whenever he had no pressing business.
At So Myeong’s introduction, So Man retreated completely behind his brother.
So Myeong regarded the silent So Man with concern, then turned to Ryu with careful hesitation.
“Is it true… that you defeated Yu Seong Chu Hun in combat?”
His question was laden with doubt.
So Myeong could hardly be blamed.
He had heard from his father So Cheong Jin that Ryu had lost his Inner Power.
Indeed, So Cheong Jin, upon returning from Hae Dong, had spent some time searching discreetly for Miraculous Medicine.
If Ryu could provide a cure to restore his lost cultivation, he had expected Hae Dong Gwi to come rushing over himself.
In any case, the story that Ryu had defeated Yu Seong Chu Hun while bereft of his Inner Power and escaped with a woman was simply beyond belief.
That was why So Myeong had defied his elders’ wishes and sought out Ryu directly to see for himself.
Ryu hesitated before answering So Myeong’s question.
“It wasn’t defeat in combat. He was dead, then brought back to life. Someone gave me aid…”
Ryu’s answer trailed off, incomplete.
The door swung open abruptly and So Cheong Jin entered, speaking with urgency.
“He’s come. Yu Seong Chu Hun is here. Prepare yourselves!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————