Chapter 49
Aftermath of Charm Emission (2)
First, he was shocked.
‘Why on earth is that woman here?’
She said she had been waiting, so clearly, she came to see him. But why was she smiling so coldly?
‘Did I make a mistake?’
No…?
He hadn’t done anything wrong.
Kang Yong-un’s heart began pounding violently.
Because the aura Tang Soso radiated was nothing short of overwhelming.
“Ah! Miss, forgive me.”
He quickly bowed with an apology.
“I had urgent business and left without properly greeting you at the manor…”
“That’s not it, Hero.”
Tang Soso cut his words off like a blade.
“I merely came because I had business with you.”
Her icy smile remained unchanged. At the same time, her aura grew even sharper.
Thud.
Kang Yong-un felt as if his heart were sinking.
‘Why? Why is she so combative?’
Was she trying to fight him?
Damn, this was bad.
‘She’s Tang Sobek’s sister, and her skills are said to be so formidable that even Sobek trembles before her.’
Fighting such a warrior would require him to unleash the Thunder God Technique.
But if it came to that, one of them could be seriously hurt. Maybe even himself.
But all of this was just Kang Yong-un’s misunderstanding.
If Tang Soso could hear his thoughts, she would feel deeply wronged.
—“Her face keeps popping up in your head, and once it does, you can’t get rid of it? My lady, that’s love!”—
It all began with Cheonga’s advice.
Tang Soso, confused about her emotions, had eventually confided in Cheonga, who had grown up with her like a sister.
—“Just thinking of his face makes your heart pound, and your cheeks flush for no reason? That’s definitely love, my lady.”—
The realization had been a huge shock.
Love?!
She had resolved to spend her life training alone, determined to reach the peak of the Tang family’s martial arts. And yet, how could she fall for a man—after only a few days at that?
—“Come on, my lady. Why do you think the saying ‘love at first sight’ exists? That’s exactly what this is.”—
She couldn’t deny it.
The man who instantly saw through a branch family’s betrayal.
The man who stabilized the poison of Dokjeongji, which had plagued the Tang family for hundreds of years.
The man who aided her grandfather the Poison Lord and her father the Clan Head with their cultivation, leaving behind immense merit—and whose smile at that moment still made her heart race.
‘Yes. I admit it.’
As Cheonga had said, she had fallen for Kang Yong-un, the man two years her junior.
‘But I can’t just blurt it out…’
So she kept her face cold as ice.
Cheonga, however, didn’t let up.
—“Remember the question you asked me, my lady? You asked how men feel about older women. That’s proof enough you have feelings for him. And you want to know if Hero Kang feels the same, don’t you?”—
She couldn’t hold out anymore.
So she changed tactics and fired questions at Cheonga.
—“Look, even if not right away, I want him to remember me. So much that he can’t forget me. So that even after leaving the manor, he’ll always come back to see me. How can I do that?”—
And the answer to that question was what had brought her before Kang Yong-un today.
—“Simple. Show off your charm.”
—“Charm?”
—“Yes! My lady, who are you? Among the young masters and mistresses of the martial world, you’re known as the Cold Flower.”
—“W-well, yes.”
—“So smile. Brightly. You’re more beautiful than almost any other woman. That’s the first step in showing your charm.”
Kang Yong-un asked cautiously, his gaze trembling.
“B-business? What business with me…?”
Tang Soso smiled radiantly.
Just as Cheonga advised.
Sssmile.
That smile made Kang Yong-un flinch.
‘What? Is she about to launch a hidden weapon?’
The aura she released was so intense, and paired with her icy smile, it was terrifying.
“M-Miss?”
His voice quivered.
Tang Soso quickly recalled Cheonga’s secret formula for charm display.
—“After the smile, show the side of yourself you’re most confident in.”
—“Most confident?”
—“Exactly. Like your graceful figure, your alluring curves, or your fluid movements!”
—“Ah-ha!”
Grace, curves, fluid movements.
Swaying, soft, elegant.
That was what Cheonga had meant.
But in Tang Soso’s mind, it turned into something entirely different.
‘Grace, curves, and beautiful movements? The only way to show all of that at once is through martial arts demonstration!’
She assumed Cheonga had been speaking indirectly.
‘Clearly, she meant I should boldly display my martial skills before him.’
Yes, that had to be it.
When she struck with her fists or launched into an aerial kick, her body’s curves and grace showed most clearly.
“Hero.”
She declared boldly to Kang Yong-un:
“Please, exchange a bout with me.”
“Ah—!”
So it came to this.
Kang Yong-un groaned, pained.
‘To face her, I’d need the Thunder God Technique…’
What now?
If they fought seriously, someone would be badly hurt.
But as if reading his thoughts, Tang Soso raised her fist.
“With the Tang family’s Three Yang Fist, Three Yang Palm, and Three Yang Hand, I would like to test hands with you.”
Kang Yong-un’s eyes widened.
‘Fist, palm, hand—! Then I don’t need to draw my sword?!’
She wouldn’t use hidden weapons or poison.
He quickly nodded.
“Very well, miss. Then I’ll answer with the Three Talents Sword Art, mixed with some basic martial principles.”
Did she mistake his hesitation as reluctance?
“Haaaah—!”
Tang Soso threw her dantian wide open.
She unleashed her inner force at full blast.
Crackle.
Her aura was so overwhelming that Kang Yong-un felt as though he were being tested by the clan head himself.
‘Damn.’
He hurriedly raised his sheathed sword, assumed middle stance, and summoned the Great Heaven Divine Art with full force.
‘Just endure. That’s all I need to do.’
With the sword still sheathed, he couldn’t use the Thunder God Technique anyway.
“Here I come—!”
Tang Soso leapt forward.
Whoosh. Crackle.
The Tang family’s unique blue qi blazed vividly to his inner eye—like being engulfed in blue flames.
‘Chest, solar plexus, abdomen…’
He prepared to block and counter…
…Counter, my ass—!
Boom! Crash! Bang-bang-bang!
‘Ugh—hff—hh!’
Too fast.
And with his sword sheathed, Kang Yong-un couldn’t unleash his true skill.
Her torrential, storm-like strikes overwhelmed him. Defending was barely possible.
‘Damn—!’
He almost swore aloud.
Forget basic forms—her flurry of fists pierced through his guard.
Smack! Crack! Thud-thud!
Thus began a “duel” that was, in truth, a beating born of a misunderstanding about charm.
‘Should I draw my sword now?’
He wrestled with the thought for some time.
***
An hour later.
Trudging toward a nameless hill, Kang Yong-un clicked his tongue.
“Whistle—! No wonder Sobek trembles before her!”
How many times had he been hit?
“Ugh, sore all over.”
Pathetic.
Even if he hadn’t gone all out because he didn’t unsheathe his sword, to be pummeled like that by a woman?!
—“Please remember my name, Hero. No matter where you go, don’t ever forget it.”
That was what Tang Soso said as she turned away.
Her cold smile engraved itself on his heart like a chilling scar.
But her own thoughts were completely different.
‘Cheonga—! I did it!’
Truly a case of different dreams in the same bed.
‘I’ve engraved my grace, my curves, and my dazzling movements into his heart forever!’
Satisfied, Tang Soso left.
Meanwhile, Kang Yong-un limped along, sore and battered like a defeated soldier.
Step by step. Limping.
“Phew—! I endured well, Kang Yong-un. You held out without drawing your sword until the end—!”
The time of pain was over.
Now came the reward promised by the Elders of the Sky Vault.
“Elder Irei, should I keep going this way?”
He asked in his mind.
—[Tsk tsk. Yes, keep going straight for now.]—
—[Ah, poor child…]—
Their tone made him sigh. Even as he sought the reward, bitterness lingered.
‘Damn.’
He resolved.
Next time this happened…
‘I don’t care if she’s Sobek’s sister or not. I’ll draw my sword immediately and fight with everything. I’ll even unleash the Thunder God Technique.’
Yes. He would.
Still limping, clutching his aching side, he trudged on.
After half an hour of climbing…
—[There. To the left now.]—
Elder Irei guided him.
Kang Yong-un immediately turned as instructed.
—[Ahead, ten more zhang. Then left again. One step forward—!]—
Oh! It was close.
‘A miraculous herb, this nearby?!’
His steps quickened.
He rushed forward and reached the spot Elder Irei mentioned.
But…
“Huh?! Wh-what is this, Elder?”
He couldn’t help but ask.
For instead of a miraculous herb, there was only a small bird’s nest with three eggs inside.
—[What do you mean what? They’re eggs, laid by a wild mountain hen.]—
—[Your swollen eye looks amusing. See the slightly greenish one? That one’s bad—it won’t hatch. Use it to rub your bruise.]—
—[Yes, yes. When your eye swells like a plum, eggs are the best cure—!]—
Kang Yong-un felt the strength drain out of his body.
‘Seriously? You’re mocking me in this situation?!’
He was so disheartened.
But then—
—[What are you waiting for, boy? Don’t you want your internal strength to grow quickly? Move, hurry—!]—
Elder Irei urged him.
Dragging himself up, he reluctantly rubbed his bruised eye with the egg and muttered sullenly,
“What next? More eggs?!”
It was his way of rebelling.
But—
—[Eggs? No, we’re going after a hundred-year ginseng.]—
Twitch.
His body reacted before his mind could.
“A—A hundred-year ginseng?!”
—[That’s right, boy. Now get moving.]—
Well, in that case…!
“Yes, Elder.”
A silly grin spread across his face.
‘They tease me now and then, but the Elders truly do care for me.’
A hundred-year ginseng.
Just thinking about it was delightful.
One root alone would increase his inner power by at least ten years’ worth.
—[See that mountain? Head deep into it.]—
“Yes, Elder.”
Swoosh—!
He even used his footwork technique to hurry.
Half an hour later…
Elder Irei’s voice rang urgently in his head again.
—[Left ridge. Yes. Fifty zhang straight. Now that big pine tree to the right. Under it—!]—
Following every word, he moved.
At last, a rich, incomparable fragrance of ginseng filled his senses.
—[Five leaflets in odd arrangement, and a red fruit in the center! That’s it—the hundred-year ginseng.]—
He had found it.
Kang Yong-un’s heart pounded violently.
