Chapter 60 – Yongbongjihoe (5)
“This time, you must tell everything without a single lie.”
The momentum of the master I felt earlier, like a taste test, now fully occupied the surrounding space and extended to where I was.
“Father! I told you to stop!”
Pang Soso stood in front of me and disappeared as if she had been washed away. What? Pang Soso’s shield performance is no joke…?
“Get out of the way! Are you taking his side instead of mine?”
“Isn’t that obvious? I can’t just sit still when my husband is being persecuted by my own father!”
“What…? My son-in-law is more important than me…?”
The master was amazed like a biologist who first learned that the unique genes of platypuses appeared 160 million years ago and that Steropodon, the direct ancestor of today’s platypuses, existed in the Cretaceous period 150 million years ago.
But soon his expression became more fierce.
“You!”
The title changed from “master” to “you.” And in the momentum that accurately aimed only at me, bypassing Pang Soso, I reflexively raised my Mu Ryeong Shin Gong.
Momentum is a combination of determination and inner strength. Therefore, Mu Ryeong Shin Gong, which establishes a pillar in one’s inner self with determination, can almost eliminate the influence of momentum, but…
“Kuk…!”
That’s only when the level difference is appropriate. No matter how advantageous I am in terms of compatibility, the gap between the peak and the transformation is vast.
Even though I raised Mu Ryeong Shin Gong, I couldn’t help but feel breathless from the pressure on my heart.
Surprisingly, my appearance of holding on somehow made the master raise his eyebrows in admiration.
“Hmm? You’re quite capable.”
“Father!”
Pang Soso almost screamed, but the master pretended not to hear and intensified his momentum even more.
“Let’s see how long you can hold on.”
Pang Soso had said it. She would try to threaten me when we first met. She would try to scare me away.
So I can’t collapse easily here. I can’t resign myself to it.
Gritting my teeth, I rotated my inner strength even more fiercely and hardened my determination.
I straightened my bent body, raised my head slowly, and took a step forward. This time, I stood in front of Pang Soso, protecting her.
“What? Do you think I’m going to threaten Soso?”
…Huh? This wasn’t the right answer? Should I have just let him hit me on the head obediently?
Chapter 60 – Yongbongjihoe (5)
“It’s customary to bow deeply to your spouse’s parents,” said the embodiment of Confucianism.
Fortunately, this confrontation didn’t last long.
“Stop it.”
Hong Yeon-hwa neutralized the pressure that was being exerted on me with her own energy.
“Isn’t this too much for a greeting?”
“This is…”
The master’s expression hardened as he watched Hong Yeon-hwa easily dissipate her momentum.
Hong Yeon-hwa was pointing upwards nonchalantly, but the master didn’t seem to notice.
“It’s better to discuss the rest upstairs.”
“….”
Finally, the master nodded silently and withdrew his momentum. Only then could we finally have a conversation, after receiving both Pang Soso’s shield and Hong Yeon-hwa’s shield.
I feel a little self-conscious.
***
“You probably already know, but… his name is Pang O-jin. He’s Pang Soso’s father and is known in the martial arts world as the ‘Sword King.'”
“I am Jin So-chan.”
“And you are Hong Yeon-hwa.”
The room was too small for four people. We sat on the hard floor, surrounded by a tense atmosphere, and finally exchanged introductions.
For some reason, when he heard my name, Pang O-jin furrowed his brow.
“I’ve never heard that name before. Do you have a nickname?”
“No, I don’t.”
“And you are…”
“Oh, I didn’t ask the deceased. I just had my reasons for hiding it.”
“Deceased?!”
The effect was tremendous! Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes widened in shock!
“I mean, you look young, but your martial arts skills are so advanced that I thought you were an old master who had achieved enlightenment.”
“Well, it’s somewhat accurate. But I’m not called the ‘deceased.’ At most, I’m just a second-rate martial artist.”
“I understand the desire to appear more experienced, but… did you really have to downplay it that much?”
“Huh?”
Hong Yeon-hwa stopped in her tracks, taken aback by Pang O-jin’s sincere expression.
In this life, I’m only 20 years old at most. There’s a considerable age difference between me and Hong Yeon-hwa.
Of course, since I have memories of my past life, I don’t feel like Hong Yeon-hwa is that much older than me.
It’s a strange calculation, but if you add up my age from my past life and my current life, I’m older than Hong Yeon-hwa.
And since I do a lot of cute things on a regular basis, I sometimes look like a teenager, let alone 30 years old.
But that’s only from my perspective.
From Hong Yeon-hwa’s point of view, I probably look like a young child. And to Pang O-jin, I probably look even younger.
“A person should have some dignity.”
“Dignity? What’s that…”
A while ago, I realized that my perception of Ilbudaechae was different from Hong Yeon-hwa and Pang Soso’s. Lately, I’ve been trying to learn more about it.
Before meeting Hong Yeon-hwa, I told her that I lived in the mountains and was ignorant of the world’s affairs. It was partly true.
Anyway, what I found out was that due to the nature of the times, there are many couples with a considerable age difference, such as those who enter into strategic marriages.
Could Pang O-jin think that about me and Hong Yeon-hwa?
It feels like Hong Yeon-hwa is teaching me some martial arts in exchange for my body, like a young woman being sold to an old man for several bags of rice.
“Actually, the age difference isn’t that big. You’re almost like a son… no, a grandson.”
“Grand…son?!”
Hong Yeon-hwa was so shocked by Pang O-jin’s choice of words that she couldn’t even speak properly.
Seeing her like that, I was quite satisfied. It seems like he doesn’t really think that way and is just saying it on purpose.
… Could it be that he decided not to fight under the table and wants to settle it with words?
“Well, let’s move on to your story.”
After completely melting down Hong Yeon-hwa with a few words, Pang O-jin’s next target was me.
“Your skills aren’t bad, but you don’t have a nickname… Do you have a nickname that you’re ashamed to tell others? For example, the Peach Blossom Playboy.”
It feels like I’m in an interview. But it’s not a typical interview, it’s probably a pressure interview.
Is he comparing me having two women with a peach blossom arrow?
By the way, a peach blossom arrow refers to a person’s horoscope that overflows with lust and sexual desire, ruining their own and their partner’s lives.
Of course, after Hong Yeon-hwa, Pang Soso couldn’t just sit back and watch him use such a metaphor on me.
“Dad! Jin Gaganeun isn’t like that! If you keep saying things like that, I’ll really get angry!”
“Oh dear. I can’t seem to say anything right. Okay, let’s stop with the useless chit-chat. We should get to the point… How long are you going to keep doing this, daughter?”
Pang O-jin looked at Pang Soso with a very uncomfortable expression, as if he was putting on his left shoe with his right foot.
No wonder, because right now, Pang Soso was clinging to me on my left side, hugging me tightly.
Pang Soso’s face on my shoulder, which was similar in height, and the good scent and ticklish breath that came out every time she exhaled made my body twitch without me realizing it.
But Pang Soso hugged me even tighter, as if she didn’t care about that at all.
Then, like a big doll, she pressed her cheek against mine and said, “I’ll keep rubbing my cheek against yours like this if you keep saying things like that.”
“Hmph! You never know if Father will harass Jin Gaganeun behind my back. We can’t stick together like this, or he might get ideas.”
“Soso, they came up here to hear our story. Don’t be so clingy, it’s okay to give them some space.”
“No. Do you know how I felt when I saw Jin Gaganeun being treated like a punching bag by that monster, sweating profusely? Absolutely not! Never!”
Now she’s even snuggling up to me, glaring at Pang O-jin.
Pang O-jin, who was clutching his chest in agony like a wounded person, now nodded with a strained expression as if he were swallowing poison.
“That…that was my mistake. It’s fine like this. Please explain your relationship with him and my daughter.”
“Uh, yes. In short, we both made a pact with him.”
“I’m his concubine.”
Pang Soso deliberately pointed out the part I was hiding.
“A concubine…of all things, a woman of the Hongyeong Pang family!”
What parent wouldn’t be angry to hear that their daughter was a concubine, especially when they were already lacking in household resources?
Of course, Pang O-jin got up with a sobbing rage.
“That’s not true…my daughter, she’s not that old. It’s true. Believe me, my friend….”
He grabbed my sleeve and looked at Hong Yeon-hwa, who was still in shock, as if he couldn’t get over the shock.
“That’s right. Come to think of it, it was bound to happen.”
“Oh, no, Father! It’s not like Hong Unni forced us or anything…”
Pang Soso hesitated for a moment and then spoke with difficulty.
“I got in between them!”
“What…?”
“I…pushed my body against them!”
“What?!”
I thought Pang O-jin was going to hit me and Hong Yeon-hwa with his previous momentum, but now he was stunned, his mouth agape.
Shouldn’t we soften the part about Pang Soso barging in just as me and Hong Yeon-hwa were about to have sex, at least a little bit?
