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Right after Moyong Biyeon suddenly appeared and pulled a prank on me.

I was somehow trying to manage…

No, I couldn’t really manage anything, but I chased away those weird-eyed guys looking at me and decided to have a little chat with Moyong Biyeon.

Talking right there was hard, as she was wailing loudly, making it impossible to do anything.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Who would expect a woman that must be in her middle ages to start shrieking like that out of nowhere?

Just thinking about it makes my head spin.

I can only hope that odd rumors don’t spread about this.

Considering Woo Hyeok’s blabbering nature, it wouldn’t be long before strange stories start circulating.

That damn guy.

Even in my previous life, rumors about Seolbong and me spread oddly, causing a ruckus for days.

Thanks to that, a furious Seolbong almost froze Sleeping Dragon solid, but So Sword Sect managed to intervene.

Anyway, had that jerk seen this, I should have gone and shut him up before it was too late.

But now, I was in a situation where that was impossible.

It couldn’t be helped….

“Haah…”

Looking at the scene in front of me brought out a deep sigh.

As I was tirelessly pondering what to do, I decided to just say something.

…But what should I say?

“Um….”

Flinch.

As I tried to spit something out, I saw her flinch in front of me.

Seeing that made me let out another sigh.

Ha—

The person who heard my sigh seemed to misunderstand something, and with a rather pitiful expression, asked me.

“…Should I, um, raise my hands higher?”

The woman, looking cold and heartless, had a surprisingly crinkly voice, and she was even kneeling down with her hands raised high.

It looked like she was expecting punishment or something.

The problem was.

“…No, please put your hands down.”

It wasn’t like I ordered her to do that; she was doing it all on her own.

Let alone, she was a woman who had lived more than twice my age.

Not just her age, but her reputation as a martial master who had experience in the Central Plains was far beyond mine.

Seeing her in such a state in front of me was utterly perplexing.

In such a ridiculous situation, I questioned the kneeling woman, Moyong Biyeon.

“What in the world are you doing…?”

“Should I raise my hands even higher…?”

“Please, Senior…! Put your arms down.”

As I pleaded, only then did Moyong Biyeon cautiously lower her arms.

Just watching this made me feel dizzy.

What in the world was this person doing to me?

Just thinking about it was giving me a headache.

Suppressing my rising irritation, I gently asked the now upright Moyong Biyeon.

“What’s your intention with this?”

“Uh…?”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

No matter how much I thought, I couldn’t understand.

She had suddenly come and grabbed my pant leg.

And now, out of the blue, she started kneeling and raising her hands like this.

Watching her, I couldn’t fathom what kind of person Moyong Biyeon was.

This was a completely new character for me. That made it even harder to comprehend.

What is wrong with this person?

As I was lost in thought, Moyong Biyeon awkwardly smiled and said.

“I must have been in the wrong, so I should beg for forgiveness.”

Hearing that, I looked at her curiously, suppressing the emotions that were bubbling up.

It was undoubtedly the truth, but for some reason, it sounded bizarre.

In a world where a strong person’s words carry weight,

It was refreshing to hear someone like Moyong Biyeon, who could act rather shamelessly, admit their wrongs like this.

However, that doesn’t mean….

“…But do you really have to kneel right away?”

Kneeling in front of someone who had at least a few decades of age difference was simply unfathomable to me.

Shouldn’t this make me angrier?

Thinking about that made things feel a bit awkward.

I was already sucked into the atmosphere of Moyong Biyeon, and my thoughts were muddled.

I gazed at her with bewilderment, and she continued speaking.

“Will you forgive me?”

“…”

Hearing that, I was left speechless.

Forgiven? Seriously, why on earth was she doing this to me?

I bit back my thoughts and tried to speak in the calmest tone I could muster.

“Senior, if it’s an apology, shouldn’t you be giving it to someone else?”

To be honest, Moyong Biyeon hadn’t done anything terribly wrong to me.

We hadn’t even sparred, and the soreness in my arm was my fault for stepping in.

So if she needed to apologize, it should be to the kids who had trained with her.

Thinking that, I voiced it, and Moyong Biyeon, with a cheerful smile, said like it was no big deal.

“I’ve already apologized to the kids.”

“You did?”

“Of course!”

Could it be—

“…You didn’t just kneel and raise your hands like you did to me, did you?”

You didn’t seriously go knee-deep in front of them with hands raised high like that, did you?

Thinking of that gave me a chill, and I hurriedly asked, and Moyong Biyeon waved her hands dismissively.

“Ugh, no, not like that.”

That was a relief.

Yeah, even if Moyong Biyeon was a strange person, there was no way she’d treat everyone like that.

“I just… held my hands together and begged!”

“…”

“Then they said it was fine.”

With that, who would say they weren’t fine when someone begged before them with both hands?

I eventually couldn’t hold back and pressed my forehead in frustration.

…Is that something to be relieved about?

Now I was completely confused.

“Oh, the Tang Clan Leader warned me that if I cause any more trouble, he’ll kick me out. He said he’d really get angry.”

Did she just talk to the Poison King too? I couldn’t help but let out a self-deprecating chuckle in my heart.

‘Kick me out if I cause trouble….’

The choice of words was all too striking.

No matter how angry the Poison King was, I doubted he would have spoken so dismissively. But, I had a vague understanding of the meaning.

If a martial artist like Moyong Biyeon acted that way, it was bound to disrupt the flow of things.

If she was going to just create trouble instead of helping, it meant that she should just stay out of it.

In the meantime, I had to admire the Poison King’s patience.

‘If it were me, I would have kicked her out right away instead of just warning.’

No matter how powerful Moyong Biyeon was and how beneficial she could be, if she was uncontrollable and caused trouble, the Poison King would have expelled her yesterday.

Let alone with Tang Soyeol involved in that dilemma too.

To think that he would let this slide with just a warning….

I was slightly adjusting my perception of the Poison King when I asked Moyong Biyeon again.

“Why on earth are you doing this?”

This was the question I’d most wanted to ask from the start.

Listening to my question, Moyong Biyeon awkwardly smiled and mumbled.

“As I said earlier, it’s because I was wrong…”

“That doesn’t seem warranted to me.”

There was no way I would just let this go for something so minor.

“Do you want something from me?”

“…”

It was strange for someone to go this far without wanting something.

What could her goal be? Her expression turned a bit strange when I probed her.

It seemed she did have something she wanted.

‘What is it?’

What on earth could she want from me?

I pondered it, but I had no clue.

There wasn’t anything in our relationship that would hint at any underlying intentions.

That was why it felt even more frustrating.

“If you have something you want from me, instead of all this, why not just say it…?”

“Stop being a guard, they said.”

“…Huh?”

I tilted my head at Moyong Biyeon’s offhand comment.

Guard?

‘Guard, huh….’

Once I thought about it for a moment, I recalled the earlier conversation.

If she was going to be disobedient and ignore me, she might as well quit guarding me.

So did that mean—

‘Wait, are you begging me to let you continue being my guard because I told you to stop?’

It was a quip for both our comforts. But it seemed that saying “stop being a guard” landed her in this predicament.

‘Why?’

I couldn’t make sense of it.

Moyong Biyeon had come to guard me based on Lady Mi’s request.

Someone of her caliber had taken the trouble to come and guard me, and I had told Lady Mi I didn’t need her. Wouldn’t she be happy about that?

But instead of that, she came begging to continue her guard duties…what was going on?

‘What could it be?’

Was there some ulterior motive in keeping her guarding me?

While I was lost in thought, Moyong Biyeon carefully spoke up again.

“I’m sorry. Can you please let me keep guarding you?”

“…”

“I promise I won’t cause trouble anymore. I usually know how to hold back, but I just got too excited during that sparring, that’s all.”

“Moyong Biyeon.”

“Yep?”

“What’s the reason you’re so attached to my guard duty?”

“That would be… because Lady Mi asked me to…”

It seemed she wasn’t going to tell me the reason, as she artfully avoided the question.

‘Is she intending to keep her motive hidden while continuing her guard duty?’

If that was the case, what should I do? Should I just let her carry on?

That felt somewhat unpleasant still.

After all, it meant I’d have someone near me with unknown intentions.

Lost in contemplation, one thought suddenly struck me.

“Fine, let’s go with it.”

Moyong Biyeon’s face lit up brightly as soon as I said that.

Was that really enough to make her this happy? It was just me saying she could continue guarding me.

However.

“On one condition.”

There had to be some sort of condition.

Maybe she expected me to say something like that because her expression shifted somewhat coldly.

It seemed like I was going to impose conditions, and she didn’t expect that.

“Condition?”

“Yes.”

The conditions were simple.

First.

“Please refrain from acting on your own unless I approve.”

“…”

There was a three-part intention here: to avoid a repeat of what had just happened, but more importantly, that I hoped Moyong Biyeon would step back and listen to me.

The meaning was straightforward: don’t cause trouble without my permission.

Given her role as a guard, she would have no issue with this.

But looking at it from the perspective of a martial master who was from a higher generation, it might sound disrespectful.

And that wasn’t all.

There was one more condition.

“Also, I’d like to ask you to do me a favor.”

“…A favor?”

“Yes.”

It made sense for her expression to twist in annoyance at my add-on request.

It would be only natural; if I were in her shoes, I would have probably quit out of frustration hearing that.

And that was precisely what I was hoping for.

Having gone this far, there was no way she would accept this without feeling hurt in her pride.

Even if Moyong Biyeon was a breezy personality, it wasn’t odd for her to get angry at this point.

“Will that be sufficient?”

“…Huh?”

“Let’s do it. Then I can keep guarding you, right?”

Moyong Biyeon beamed at me, suddenly leaving me lost for words.

“Wait… did you just hear the conditions properly?”

“Of course I heard them. Before doing anything, you asked for permission and asked for a favor.”

“Yet why…?”

Didn’t this seem contradictory? This was a surprise I hadn’t anticipated.

…Why on earth was she so happy about it?

Moyong Biyeon, seeing my bewildered expression, tilted her head slightly and asked.

“Don’t you believe it?”

“…”

I lightly nodded at her words.

Honestly, it was hard to believe. The idea of accepting all this was unfathomable.

In response to my doubt, Moyong Biyeon rolled her eyes as if something clicked in her mind, then clapped her hands.

“If you don’t believe me, how about I put a Golden Binding on it?”

What an absurd suggestion to come out of nowhere.

“…Excuse me?”

A Golden Binding is not some pet name; a martial artist would not so casually throw that around!

I looked at her with disbelief at that statement.

“Then you’d believe it, right? Where should I put it? Your belly? Your chest? I can take off my clothes right now!”

“No, a Golden Binding is unnecessary… Ah! Don’t strip! What the heck are you doing?!”

Noticing she was genuinely about to bare her belly, I hurriedly intervened, realizing this was clearly my mistake.

I should have realized from the first moment I met her.

Moyong Biyeon was far crazier than I had expected.

As the days rolled on, about a month had passed since we started the Journey to Sichuan.

We were taking a more convoluted path than expected, which delayed our arrival a bit.

It wasn’t a huge deal. We’d already lost time because of the accidents before.

I thought this time could be used for training, so I didn’t see it as a significant problem.

Of course, training conditions had been awful, so I was suffering immensely.

Traveling in a carriage left my body exhausted.

At night, I was almost killed by the King of Demons, and during the day, in addition to physical training, I was dragged around by Pejon, rolling over and over again in training, making for a not so great experience.

So much so that even Wi Seol-Ah, worried about me, insisted I take breaks from training.

The funny thing was that seeing Wi Seol-Ah made me feel even more compelled to keep going.

Was it the sparring with Moyong Biyeon that caused this?

Wi Seol-Ah and Nangong Bi-ah often trained together, and I noticed that they were just as focused on their training as I was.

It was odd.

‘They’re running amok trying to get me to rest while working themselves to the bone….’

I was trying to scramble through this to avoid hardship as in my previous life.

As I was putting in all this effort, they started struggling along with me.

What was going on here…?

Was I accidentally radiating bad vibes?

If martial artists pushed themselves, that shouldn’t count as a bad influence, right?

In any case, everything felt a bit off.

Anyway, one day while training our hardest, we were just about to sneak into the Sichuan domain.

I had finished being clocked countless times and was taking a much-needed break when Pejon spoke up.

“Ah, hey.”

“Haah… Haah… Yes?”

I was panting heavily, soaked in sweat, when Pejon casually noted something interesting he’d heard.

“Heard from that Bat guy.”

The Bat guy referred to the King of Demons.

Goodness… calling the King of Assassins a Bat was unhinged.

That elder clearly wasn’t quite right in the head. Looking at my face, Pejon raised his brow and said.

“From the look on your face, you seem to be cursing me in your mind.”

“…No way. Not at all.”

That man was absurdly sharp.

Pejon didn’t buy my response and looked at me as if to say he really didn’t believe me, but he didn’t press it any further.

The main point seemed to be what he had heard.

“Anyway, he mentioned there are some strange folks hanging around.”

“Strange folks?”

“Yeah. Seemed like some bandits or something. In this day and age, bandits… ttytt…”

“…!”

My eyes widened at Pejon’s words.

Bandits, huh?

 

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