Book 20 Chapter 23

Fateful Day

-Don, don, don, don, dance in my palm!

The fateful morning dawned. Namgungsang stretched and got out of bed. Fortunately, it wasn't insomnia. He felt like he'd gotten enough sleep.

"Sleeplessness itself is a sign that you've lost your cool. It's a harbinger of defeat before the battle is fought. I want you to be well-rested and at your best. If you get a nasty case of insomnia, I'll kill you! Understand? If you really can't sleep, do it now, because one punch will send you to dreamland."

I declined. I was still young and didn't want to visit such a place already.

"But did it have any effect at all?

It was Namgungsang, who had slept incredibly well last night, even for himself.

"I'm actually going to do this."

Yesterday, when things had been roughly knotted up in the Guanzhu residence and he was in the mood to dig in his heels, Qin Xiaoling called him aside.

"Southern Palace Clan, come to think of it, I've been distracted by all sorts of things, but I think we've reached the time we agreed upon. Isn't it?"

"Well, yes."

Resenting Qin Shaolin's excellent memory, Nan Gongsheng replied.

"What was the date of our appointment?"

Qin Shaolin's question made Nan Gongsheng's heart sink.

"Oops, I forgot about that.

Speaking of which……

"That, that……."

Namgungsang paused for a moment.

When I tried to calculate from the day we first met, my nervous brain didn't work so well.

"That's tomorrow."

It was Bi Ryuyeon who suddenly appeared in front of the statue of Namgung.

"My, tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow!"

"Phew, is it already tomorrow?

Come to think of it, I guess I did. He'd been bullied into forgetting by his big brother.

"You didn't forget, did you?"

The glare that pierced through Bi Ryuyeon's front hair was frightening. They were like the eyes of a predatory beast, gleaming among the trees in a forest.

"Come on, no way, why would you do that?"

Namgungsang categorically denied it.

"Okay, let's call it a day. Until you win tomorrow."

Namgungsang tried to breathe a sigh of relief, but was interrupted by a chuckle. That means…….

"If I lose, you're telling me you're going to come after me about it!

That's enough for this guy.

"Everything is ready to go, so you can relax and come to the appointment."

Bi Ryuyeon said to Qin Xiaoling in a respectful voice.

"Ready? What ready?"

She heard nothing.

"You'll know when you come in tomorrow."

In a confident voice, she replied.

"Preparation? Is there such a thing?

It was also the first door to the South Palace.

'You've been in jail all this time, and now you're ready for that…….'

Of course, being locked up in a cell didn't make him a quiet man… but he'd done what he had to do.

'You've been loudly proclaiming that it's not the chains that bind you, it's your own mind…….'

I never thought it would end with words, but action……. Ryu-yeon Bi, you were a very scary person. I had a rough idea of the means.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one struggling!

I couldn't help but think that they must have suffered a lot in preparation. There were people working hard in places they couldn't see, making the world go round in places they couldn't see, and it was a little comforting to think about that.

"But I suffered the most!

That fact was never compromised.