Book 23 Chapter 10

Ryu Eun Kyung meets Namgungsang after twists and turns

-Namgung Sang, Crisis!

"Hey… can I ask you a question……?"

After a long wait, the silver-haired boy barely managed to get his mouth around Na Yerin and Yunbi. For a while, he was in no mood to talk at all. But when the atmosphere finally seemed to calm down, he plucked up the courage to speak.

"Ask."

Yeonbi replied.

"Do you happen to know who just helped me?"

The silver-haired boy's question was a bit of a surprise.

"Why do you ask?"

"You helped me, so I'm going to thank you later, but I'm too busy to say hello……."

"Tsk tsk, you're a strange person to ask us after just seeing that, are you naive or just plain dumb?"

In any case, it was a very unexpected reaction.

"He's… my lion."

It was Na Yerin who answered, still staring silently in the direction of the spirit's disappearance.

"I just said it wasn't him……."

However, Ryu was unable to finish her sentence.

"Nope. That's definitely my lion, and I'm about to prove to you that it's the only truth in the world."

Na Yerin said in a determined tone.

"Uh…do you mind if I ask you one more question?"

Ryu asked hesitantly.

"What is it this time?"

Yunbi asked. The silver-haired boy paused.

"Stir… who are you two?"

Turns out, it was three people who hadn't even spoken in unison yet.

"Two people walking by."

Yunbi replied with a smirk. It seemed he should introduce himself first. The silver-haired boy puffed up his chest and said.

"I… excuse me, my name is Liu Yunlong from Hubei, and I'd like to ask you, sir, what is your status?"

The awkwardness of his tone made Yunbi burst out laughing.

"Poohahahahaha!"

Yunbi giggled as he held his stomach, and Na Yerin smiled at the sight, embarrassed. The boy's face flushed quickly.

"I… why are you smiling, Sojae?"

After laughing for a while, Fuel finally managed to compose himself, and then asked the question straightforwardly.

"You're actually a girl, right?"

"Yes?"

The silver-haired boy's eyes widened to the size of lampshades.

"You're a woman, right?"

Yeonbi asked again in a stronger tone.

"That… that's……."

Visibly flustered, Yeonbi smirked.

"Why hide it from the same woman? Be honest with me, you're a girl, right?"

The silver-haired boy nodded helplessly at Yunbi's adamant demeanor.

"That's right… no, that's right."

Before I knew it, my voice had changed from that of an awkward boy to that of a little girl.

"You were right about the Yeonbi."

When Na Yerin conceded, Yunbi gave her a thumbs up. He seemed to have recovered from his earlier shock.

"So what's the lady's real name?"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Eunkyung Ryu from Seryubo."

"Did you hear that?"

Yeonbi asked, looking in my direction.

"No, it's my first time."

It's just not that famous.

"Can you tell me the names of the two Sojaes?"

Ryu Eun-kyung asked in a hushed voice.

"I'm Yunbi, and this is Lin."

Yunbi briefly introduced herself. They didn't give their real names or nicknames.

"That was a close call. Are you okay?"

When asked about Yeonbi, Ryu nodded and said.

"Yes. Luckily, the lady helped me, so I'm fine."

When the subject of spirits came up again, Na Yerin's complexion visibly deteriorated. Yunbi quickly changed the subject.

"But you want to join the speculative system?"

Then Ryu remembered again why she was here.

"Yes, you're right, I should definitely enter the contest and win."

The look in his eyes was too serious to be a joke.

"Maybe he's serious……."

"Of course I mean it."

"Can you beat that, young lady, those seven scars?"

"That… that's……."

The silver-haired girl couldn't answer quickly enough.

"So you know how good you are at it."

"I've heard rumors, but I've never seen it in person."

The girl's shoulders slumped as she answered: the rumors she'd heard were terrifying: that Dan Moxue's samurai, Iron Spear Dan Moxue, had fought alongside the other two members of the Divine Wind Triad, Ho Gum and Zhan Dao, and had been defeated by Qi Shangfeng. Even without seeing it in person, one could only guess at the strength of the Eight Great Families' Samgaju.

"Ha, but as long as you find someone to help you, you'll be fine, Master introduced me to you."

As if to cheer herself up, Ryu said.

"You must have a helper, who is he?"

"Well, that's……."

Ryu Eun Kyung hesitated for a moment, and then Yeon Bi said.

"Tell me, you know, maybe it will open up."

Liu Eun Kyung's heart was stirred by Yan Yu's smug smile, and she spoke the name without realizing that she was walking into a trap.

"I'm Confucius of the Southern Palace of the Southern Palace Family, called the Brain Warrior Sword Dragon."

When the unexpected name came out of the mouth of an unexpected person, Yunbi was stunned, but her reaction was to say the least.

"Foot!"

Yeonbi barely held back the laughter.

"Well, that's another surprising name."

That's a novelty, said Turo Yeonbi.

"Do you know him?"

Ryu Eun-kyung, who hadn't expected him to know, asked in surprise.

"I kind of know a little bit about it."

He scratched the corner of his right eye with his index finger and gave a vague smile.

"Really? I can't believe he was that great……."

She didn't know much about powerhouses and celebrities because she didn't pay much attention to them. After hearing Yan Bi tell her about the Thunder Sword Dragon Namgung Sang, Liu Eun Kyung was already overwhelmed.

"That doesn't sound like a big deal.

He thought about it, but he didn't say it out loud. He couldn't let go of the mask he was wearing.

"But would such a famous person help me with something like that?"

Ryu Eun Kyung muttered in an unconfident voice.

"Was he that famous?

Of course, I didn't say it out loud.

"Maybe they can help you?"

However, given the circumstances of their situation, I didn't think it would be easy to say yes.

"But you have to pay for it, right?"

"That's what……."

There was nothing wrong with accepting help and then paying it forward. It was a matter of judgment. From the looks of it, Namgungsang wasn't exactly a math whiz to accept help and ask for it in return.

"So what's the price for me?"

Ryu Eun-kyung asked outright. Her eyes were quite serious as she stared at him, and he couldn't help but wonder why she was looking at him with such serious eyes.

"In return? I don't know, maybe if you ask nicely enough, they'll just listen?"

"No. That can't be right, they're probably asking for something in return, like my body……."

"Poof!"

The Yeonbi would have been blood-curdling. If I had been holding something in my mouth, I would have spit it out.

"That's a good joke."

She looked at Liu Eun-kyung, who was lost in her own delusions, and criticized her Yeonbi. Ryu Eun-kyung was able to ask with a little more confidence because she thought she had the same Yeonbi as Ryu Eun-kyung. In that sense, she didn't seem to distrust humans completely. Distrusting them was every bit as dangerous as trusting them, especially when it was someone like Yan Bi.

"You're kidding, I'm serious."

It was definitely serious. However, I decided to make an excuse for him because he had a connection.

"Well, I don't know, I mean, he's kind of a dick, but he didn't seem like an unscrupulous guy, did he?"

A young girl's tearful request would have been granted without a backward glance by the Namgungsang, whose Yeonbi was still very much in the doldrums. Of course, that was when he had the presence of mind to do so. No matter how nice, good, sincere, and timid he might be, as the head of the delegation, his head would be sizzling with the thought of how to handle the great crisis that the delegation was facing.

"No, I'm sure he does, it's a common story! Aren't all men like that? I mean, just look at those three guys from earlier, he must be like that, he's the same guy, he's a celebrity, he must be more like that."

"More so because you're a celebrity, I think that's a bit of a bias?"

But Ryu wasn't listening.

Sparkle!

Suddenly, Yunfei's mischievousness kicked in. Seeing the young lady in such a state of distrust, a vague sense of duty, as if she had to play a prank on her at a time like this, took over her entire body. Overcome by this intense sense of duty-one might even say temptation-Yan Bi called out to Liu Eun Kyung with a light wave of her hand and whispered in her ear.

"Then I'll tell you a trick to convince that guy named Namgung Sang."

"Really?"

Ryu Eun Kyung's eyes widened as her ears pinned back.

"Sure, sure, sure, I've known him for a while, the palace… I mean, the Southern Palace."

But Ryu Eun Kyung, whose gaze was already on Yeon Bi's shoulder, could only feel Yeon Bi's breath tickling her ear, and didn't notice that Hoan's eyes, with their red lips and long lashes, were smiling wickedly.

"Yeonbi……."

Na Yerin called out to Yunbi in a hesitant tone, slightly embarrassed. He looked back at her and brought his index finger to his lips.

Shhh!

Yeonbi's amber eyes sparkled with mischief as he signaled for quiet.

"Can you really tell me the secret?"

Turning back to Ryu Eun Kyung, Yeon Bi leaned in and spoke close to her ear.

"Sure. Trust me, it's the ultimate trick to get help without giving your body away. It'll work."

"Really?"

"Sure."

In a confident voice, Yanbi answered. Drawn by the sweet whisper and an unknown force, Liu Eun Kyung listened. The whisper echoed in her ears.

"So, you know, how to do it is……."

With a hot breath, Yunbi whispered a so-called trick into Liu Eun-kyung's ear. Up until this point, Liu hadn't realized that the whispers were from the devil. She just listened in a daze with her eyes wide open.

How could she ignore a trick that would help her without giving her body away? The sweet whispers drew her in, and she was entranced. The way she listened, only nodding occasionally to make sure she didn't miss a word, showed an almost manipulative obsession. It was a frightening concentration.

"This is where he is."

Ryu Eun-kyung looked up at the sign that said "Gangneung Guest Cup" and silently pondered. After hesitating by the door for a moment, she made up her mind and stepped inside. She had already met a woman named Yeonbi a while ago, and she knew where he was staying. She was able to find it without the clerk's guidance, so Liu Eun-kyung strode briskly toward her goal.

"Mr. Liu, what is your relationship with Mr. Yi Yak Bing?"

Accepting Yi Yak Bing's letter of introduction from Liu Eun Kyung, Namgung Sang asked politely.

"He's my bad teacher. I don't deserve him."

Upon hearing that, Namgungsang nodded, his eyes wide with surprise.

"This senior has finally found a disciple, too. I've seen him before, when he came to Sega sometimes. He was a friend of my mother's, a very sickly-looking man, and I was fiercely scolded by my father that I shouldn't judge him by his outward appearance. hahaha!"

As he spoke with a wistful look in his eyes as he reminisced about the past, Namgungsang laughed as he remembered what had happened. He then opened the introduction and began to read it carefully. Aside from being an acquaintance of his mother's, he was also a swordsman he respected, so he could never neglect it.

After reading all of the accepted letters of introduction, Namgungsang paused for a moment in thought. He seemed to be contemplating something. To Liu Eun Kyung, that fraction of a second seemed like fifteen years. After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"I understand the situation."

"So?"

Liu Eun Kyung asked with some hope. But Namgungsang shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Liu Sojae. I wish I could help, but I don't think I can right now. Normally, I wouldn't know, but this is an emergency. I'm not in a position to help others when I can't even take care of myself."

Namgungsang's back was spinning with all the work he had to do. Even if he wanted to help others, he could only afford to do so much.

"That doesn't work either……."

Ryu Eun-kyung, her shoulders slumped, said in a deadpan voice.

"So… they said it couldn't be done… and it was."

In an inaudible little voice, Ryu Eun Kyung muttered.

"What? What did you just say?"

Lord Ryu said in a determined tone as he listened to Namgung Sang's question.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't expect you to help me for nothing either; it's not fair to ask for free help, and I'll pay you well. I heard from a lady I met a while back that you like women."

I was embarrassed to say the last word, and my voice became as small as a mosquito.

"What? A girl?"

"If there was a mistake, it had to be corrected. If there was a mistake, it had to be corrected.

"That's a misunderstanding……."

But Namgungsang couldn't finish his sentence. His tongue was paralyzed by the sight before him.

Grrrr!

After a bit of hesitation, Ryu released the pus. The pus flowed down her back. Holding back her embarrassment and shame, Liu Eun-kyung desperately forged words. She barely held back the tears that threatened to fall. Slowly bringing both hands to her pus-soaked top, Liu Eun-kyung clutched the hem with one hand and spoke in a trembling voice.

'"Please help me.'

The timid envoy's heart leapt out of his throat as he tried to pull his top off with both hands.

"Whoa!"

With a grotesque scream, Namgungsang ran in a panic and grabbed Liu Eun-kyung's hand with both hands as she was about to fall further down, but by this time, the flesh of Liu Eun-kyung's immaculate shoulders had already been exposed to the air. Thanks to Namgungsang's quick thinking, she barely managed to stop herself from falling further down, but just when she was relieved that she hadn't gone any further… ……

Bam!

Without warning, the door swung open.

"Huzzah!"

The Southern Palace Lord's eyes widened in horror at the sudden turn of events. His body froze as rigid as an ice cube. A puzzled look appeared on Liu Eun Kyung's face. The Namgung Sang's face looked as if she had just met the Great King of Yanla. She slowly turned her head to look at the visitor. A woman dressed in a red silk robe was standing there. The woman, who had suddenly burst through the door, was just as stiff as a stone statue.

She was a jinling.

What is this? What am I seeing? Is this a dream? Dreams are weird these days, aren't they? Maybe it's because we're all so suspicious these days? But this ominous, vivid sensation in all five senses was screaming at him that this was no dream, no matter how hard he tried to deny it.

"So what the heck is this nonsense?

Qin Ling wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and plug her ears, but her gaze was fixed on one place.

A woman I've never seen before is unbuttoning her clothes, her shoulders are bare, and her hands are clutching at her top, which is about to come off. Everywhere you looked, you could see a man forcibly or consensually removing the clothes of a woman he didn't know. Qin Lie's complexion turned blue. She wasn't the only one turning blue.

"Oh, no, Ryeong. It's like……."

Namgungsang seemed to be rambling on, but she couldn't hear him at all. Her mind was too cluttered to listen to all of that right now and make a judgment.

"Oh, no, misunderstanding!"

Namgungsang cried out desperately.

"Misunderstood? What did I misunderstand?"

Qin Lie asked, her voice trembling; she was very confused right now.

"So you're saying, Ling, that what you're seeing is a misunderstanding."

"I don't think there's much to misunderstand, is there?"

The situation was obvious no matter how you looked at it.

"Liu Sojae, say something!"

Namgungsang pleaded for salvation in a desperate voice, and Ryu Eun Kyung was the only one he could count on.

"Me……."

Ryu Eun Kyung alternately looked at the stunned face of the southern courtier and the woman who was trembling with rage.

'Please… please…….'

There was an eagerness in the Namgungsang's gaze as he looked at himself.

Shake!

Ryu Eun-kyung, who didn't know what to do, just sat there in a daze. And……

"Aaaahhhh!"

A childlike cry burst from Ryu Eun Kyung's mouth.

"Gasp! What the……!

Namgung Sang's mind went white. His sudden action had drained the last of the blue blood from his face.

'There's no excuse for this! Turn it off!

I tried to scream, but the damage was done.

Nan Gongsang broke out in a cold sweat and hesitated, waiting to see how the spirit would react. He didn't have the courage to look directly at her, so he could only glance away, but that didn't stop him from understanding the situation.

KeyingKeying!

Trembling, Jade of the True Spirit drew a shaky sword from its sheath.

"Now… wait, wait, wait, wait!"

Horrified, Namgungsang waved both hands wildly.

"Question and answer dance!"

With a single word, Qin Ling dismissed the Southern Palace Master's words and silently drew his own sword.

Kill it and think about it!

Qin Ling was determined.

'"Why didn't you… why didn't you… why didn't you… why didn't you… why didn't you… why didn't you… why didn't you… why didn't you… why didn't you explain?'

Namgungsang, who had just escaped with his life after being beheaded by his lover, rebuked Liu Eun-kyung in a bitter tone. If he had been any less skilled in evasion, today would have been his day of sacrifice. In fact, even though he was alive, he didn't feel like he was alive.

"I want you to go and explain that it was a misunderstanding, that it was an accident!"

Jinling had already fled the room, almost crying.

"Blackblackblack, do I have to?"

Upon hearing Liu Eun-kyung's abrupt retort, Namgung Sang was dumbfounded.

"It's all your fault; if you hadn't made such a rash move, it wouldn't have happened!"

"But when you ask a guy to do it, it's instant……."

He figured he'd have to look underneath to see the real deal, and she'd been right when she'd said that the mere act of stripping would be enough to embarrass him. But he didn't let on that he had gotten help from her.

"Ha, the effect is bullshit. Anyway, I don't want a long story, so go ahead and explain."

Then she remembered what the woman in black had said to her on the street earlier.

"Never back down. When you're panicking, that's when you have an opportunity, take it!"

"What can I do?"

"Just cry it out."

Liu Eun-kyung made a mental note to herself, and then she sank back down to the floor and began to wail.

"Ooohhhhhhhh!"

Upon hearing the sorrowful and woeful cries, Nan Gongsang could not help but be perplexed.

"Why, why are you crying? I'm the one who wants to cry!"

But Ryu's crying didn't stop there.

"But… but… but… you keep screaming at me…… ugh!"

The cries were heartbreaking, and I wondered if I had pushed myself too hard.

"Oh, stop crying. You're making me cry. Okay, let's get to the bottom of this. What do you want?"

Being a timid person, she often sympathized with other people's emotions, so she hated it when people cried in front of her. With those words, Ryu Eun Kyung's tears stopped like a lie.

"Join me!"

Ryu Eun Kyung cried out in a desperate voice.

"Jorah, you don't mean the speculative entry?"

Ryu immediately nodded.

"Hehe, what a wonderful thing……."

Not expecting the timid-looking young lady to suddenly come out with such a bold statement, Namgungsang was stunned.

"What if they don't want to?"

In truth, he was in no mood for that right now. His biggest concern was how and with whom to participate in the speculative games, the only way to clear the huge gambling debts the envoys had incurred in one night.

"Blackblack, I can't do that, I have to go to him and tell him in excruciating detail how I've come to feel my virginity threatened, blackblack!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not true!"

Namgungsang, whose heart felt as if it had been dipped in and out of ice water, shouted in excitement. Liu Eun-kyung burst into frightened sobs again. So Namgungsang had to calm her down once more; there was no greater hardship for him.

"Black, black, black, he may not think so; a girl would expect the judgment of a Southern Palace Confucius to be wise, black, black!"

"Heh heh… this is interesting……."

It seemed like I had no choice. I had been caught. The statue of Namgung suddenly collapsed.

"How did this happen?

For some reason, the image of the South Pole made me suspect that someone was fooling around.

"Is someone playing with my fate?

Three years later, he still hasn't figured it out. Indeed, if you knew the real mastermind behind this incident, you would be horrified.