Chapter 405: Hi!? (2)

After following Pe Woocheol for a bit, I started to see a carriage I hadn’t seen before.

Judging by the poor state of the carriage and the extremely exhausted horse, it seemed like the person on the horse was very rough on both the carriage and the horse.

…Is that thing going to die?

It really seemed like the horse was about to die any second. The horse seemed to be high quality as well, judging by its muscles, but how did it end up that way?

I pitifully stared at the horse, huffing, and continued to make my way. After a moment of walking, I started to see a familiar face.

It was Moyong Hi-ah, who was barely holding onto the carriage, exhausted.

Now why is she acting like that over there…?

I carefully walked up to her and asked.

“What happened to you?”

“M-Master Gu… Blegh…”

Moyong Hi-ah didn’t seem to be in a good state at all. Her usual beauty was no longer there, and her hair had become a mess.

Huh, did she get sick on the way or something?

No way.

Moyong Hi-ah was a First-rate martial artist. There was no way that she would end up that way simply from motion sickness.

“Are you okay…?”

“No…”

“You’re right. You don’t seem to be fine at all.” Just what happened for her to end up like that?

“…”

I stared at her for a moment, slowly walked up to her and knelt on one knee.

When I suddenly looked into her eyes, Moyong Hi-ah stared back in shock, wondering why I was doing this.

I reached my hand out and gently pushed aside Moyong Hi-ah’s hair that was covering her cheek.

It was because it stuck to her cheek, seemingly because of her sweat.

“…!”

Was that a problem?

Moyong Hi-ah’s eyes widened in an instant. She then quickly snatched my hand as it brushed past her cheek, that was turning red.

“What are you doing?”

“Hmm…?”

I, confusedly, stared at Moyong Hi-ah after my hand was caught.

“What is… this?”

“What do you mean?”

I, curiously, asked what Moyong Hi-ah was suddenly talking about, but she continued to react in a way I couldn’t understand.

Then, she spoke to me.

“Why are you flirting all of a sudden?”

“What?”

Why is this girl suddenly talking about? When did I flirt with her?

“Like… seriously, what are you doing? Do you have a fever or something?”

“Aren’t you the one acting weird right now…? Are you perhaps sick?”

When I tried putting my hand on her forehead to check her temperature, she backed away in shock.

“S-Seriously, why are you doing this?”

“…Uh.”

“Did something happen to you…? You must be sick.”

I wondered why she was panicking that much. Seriously, what was up with her?

As I started to wonder if I was the problem here,

Hmm.

I moved away from Moyong Hi-ah a bit after feeling a strange sensation.

I noticed that our distance had narrowed a little.

This.

Was it because I realized that these girls were on my side after my conversation with the Poison King?

Or was it because of my own possessiveness towards these girls? My behavior seemed to have changed somewhat.

I should be cautious.

I felt full when that thought came to mind. I was unnecessarily feeling guilty. I can’t let that happen yet.

Not yet.

I repeated this phrase in my head. I told myself I couldn’t let myself be possessive towards anything yet. I left the exhausted Moyong Hi-ah alone and stood up.

The White Ripple Sword also came, right?

I was thankfully able to ease a little after seeing Moyong Hi-ah arrive safely. Now I had to go greet a Senior.

I asked a servant to take good care of Moyong Hi-ah and decided to go visit the White Ripple Sword. Right before I started to leave, I turned around and spoke to Moyong Hi-ah.

“Come visit me tonight.”

“…!”

After I left to go visit the White Ripple Sword, Moyong Hi-ah who was left alone, made a speechless expression while looking in one direction.

The young man who she hasn’t seen for a while had changed a bit. That change made her feel more heated than usual, and she was shocked because of it.

Moreover,

Seriously… what’s wrong with him.

Moyong Hi-ah knew what he meant by that phrase. He said that to her knowing that he needed to give his heat to her,

-Come visit me tonight.

But the emotion she felt from those words couldn’t feel stranger.

It would’ve been horrible if he said those words to intentionally tease her, but Moyong Hi-ah knew he wasn’t the type of person to do such a thing.

“…What an unfair guy he is.”

That only made her feel more frustrated, though.

It wasn’t too hard for me to find the White Ripple Sword.

Considering how Pe Woocheol had to tell me about the White Ripple Sword’s arrival, it meant that she went somewhere as soon as she arrived, and there was only one place she would go to.

It would make sense for her to go to the leader of the pack first, which would mean that she went to go visit the Poison King.

With that thought, I made my way to where the members of the Tang Clan were gathered in.

As I expected, I started to see one person around the Poison King who didn’t fit in.

Moreover,

“It’s been a while huh!”

Their voice was extremely loud as well. I looked towards where the voice came from.

Hahaha-!

A lady laughed out loud cheerfully as she greeted the Poison King.

She didn’t seem to have changed one bit ever since the last time I met her.

“Should I be calling you the Lord of Tang Clan now?”

The Poison King made an awkward smile after hearing the lady, who was called the White Ripple Sword.

“It has been a while, White Ripple Sword.”

“I heard that you became a Lord.”

“It’s been decades ever since I’ve been one…”

The White Ripple Sword smiled awkwardly after hearing the Poison King’s response.

“I’m not that interested in the world, you know.”

“Putting that aside, may I ask why you are here, White Ripple Sword?”

The Poison King asked why the White Ripple Sword was here. After hearing his question, she tilted her head.

She had a confused expression, as if she thought why he was asking such an obvious question.

“It’s nothing special. I was sent here as an escort, as he was nervous.”

“…You were sent as an escort?”

“Indeed.”

The Poison King stared at her skeptically. I would’ve done the same.

It was definitely strange for someone like the White Ripple Sword to be working as an escort.

She came here as Moyong Hi-ah’s escort huh.

Though, of course, the Poison King wasn’t in the position to judge.

He had no reason to stop her and it was beneficial for a martial artist like the White Ripple Sword to be here.

However, he seems to be a bit reluctant.

I didn’t know what kind of a person the White Ripple Sword was, but I was able to tell she wasn’t normal considering how reluctant the Poison King was.

For the Poison King to make such an expression… just what did the White Ripple Sword do?

“Anyway, that’s how things are.”

“…”

What does she even mean by that?

I continued to listen to their conversation as I walked closer, and it only got weirder and weirder. Does she really have the blood of the Moyong Clan?

Members of the Moyong Clan were known for their calculative behaviors, but I didn’t know how to describe her.

She definitely looked like she was from the Moyong Clan, but why did she have such a different personality?

I couldn’t understand one bit.

“Oh and… oh.”

When the White Ripple Sword noticed a presence during her conversation, she turned her head towards my direction.

Then, she put aside her conversation with the Poison King and instantly came up to me.

“Hi!?”

She shouted as soon as she came right up to me.

Her voice was so loud it felt like it was echoing in my ears.

“We’ve met before, right?”

I couldn’t help but feel exhausted already after hearing her.”

“Hello, Senior.”

The White Ripple Sword frowned, as if she felt unpleasant about something, after hearing my response.

“Isn’t the way you call me a bit cold? Didn’t I tell you to call me big sis?”

“That’s a bit…”

How could I call a woman a big sister when she was the same age as my father? She couldn’t be any more selfish than that.

Moreover,

Why was she here? Was she really here as an escort due to the White Heavenly Sword’s request?

I didn’t think that was the case. It seemed like there was a different reason.

But it’s not my concern.

I decided not to think about it any further. I was reminded of Gu Huibi whenever I saw the White Ripple Sword, but she didn’t seem like a bad person to me.

I’ll just try my best to gain some distance away from her. Right as I was about to turn around with that thought,

“Well, I’ll be counting on you.”

“Yes… I’ll be—huh?”

I made a confused expression after hearing her. She’ll be counting on me? For what?

“What do you mean?”

“Hmm? I told you just now. I came here as an escort.”

“Yes, I heard that part.”

But what does that have to do with me? How does it matter to me if she’s an escort or not?

“I would like to ask how that has to do anything with me…”

“Of course it does.”

The White Ripple Sword answered me with a laugh.

“I came here as your escort. Where else would I be?”

“What?”

I felt my soul leaving me because of how shocking her answer was.

The White Ripple Sword didn’t come here as Moyong Hi-ah’s escort?

Moreover,

“…Me?”

She came here as my escort all of a sudden? What was she talking about?

When I continued to stare at her, dumbfounded, she made a smile on her face.

“Therefore, I’ll be in your care, okay? My nephew-in-law.”

I didn’t even get to hear what she called me because of how shocking the previous answer was.