Book 23 Chapter 11

I can't die alone

-Operation Water Demon

A knock on the door caught Namgungsang's attention, and he opened the door and let a man in.

"Hey, South Palace Captain. Just now, I saw Qin Sojae running outside with a terrifying face, do you know……."

Long Tianming, who had been speaking as he pushed open the door that Qin Lie had slammed shut, was left speechless by what he saw. The condition of the Namgung Sang and Liu Yun, who had been stiffened by the appearance of the Qin Clan, had hardly changed since he had seen them.

"Uhm, I'm going to head back now. Sorry for the interruption. Have a good time!"

Yong Tianming hastily closed the door, turned around, and tried to disappear.

"Wait, wait, wait, dragon brother, wait!"

Nan Gongsheng's urgent cry broke out. There was no good that could come from further misunderstandings, and he needed to do something to prevent this from escalating. He wanted to avoid a situation where he and Liu Yun were alone together for a long time. To do so, he didn't care who the other person was. Moreover, it was too unfair for him to drown alone. Unaware of this, Long Tianming had fallen prey to the tricks of the Southern Palace.

"I was going to ask you to leave because I don't think it's appropriate for me to be here, but……."

It seemed like a nice gesture, but Namgung-san didn't appreciate it at all.

"So it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding, nothing happened, of course it has nothing to do with you!"

Yong Tianming looked skeptical and asked.

"Did that excuse work?"

Namgungsang shook his head, his expression grim.

"I didn't even get a chance to say a word."

"I guess so. He wouldn't have that look on his face otherwise. It was an incredible life. It was enough to make me step aside and make way for a bird I didn't even know."

When Long Tianming encountered Qin Ling in the hallway, he was surprised by her vigor and took a step back against the wall to get out of the way.

"So please come in. Don't put me in any more trouble."

"If you'll excuse me, then."

Only then did Yong Tianming reluctantly enter the room, by which time Lord Liu had completely straightened up his disheveled appearance. There was an awkward silence as Yong Tianming entered the room.

"Oh, don't worry about it, his brother Yong is a promising Shaolin prize called the 'Chang Tian Dragon' and he's not amoral enough to pretend he didn't see the lady's predicament."

In other words, if you didn't step up to the plate and help out, you would become an immoral and dry-hearted person. This trick of subtly nailing the water ghost to the wall was something he had originally learned through experience from his elder brother, Bi Ryuyeon, and today, he had unconsciously learned it. Realizing that he had been caught, Long Tianming couldn't help but smile bitterly, but it was too late.

"Okay, so your name is……."

"I'm Ryu Eunkyung from Cerulean."

They had both heard of it, at least by name. It was a politically neutral place, but if anything, it was a white island.

"What has brought you to this place, Mr. Forbidden Jade Leaf, and what in the world do you need help with?"

A sense of urgency drives the Namgungs, as they realize that if they don't resolve this somehow and get Ryu Eun Kyung's explanation, it will be the end of Jinryung. So Yeonbi's little nudge has worked.

Ryu Eun Kyung stood up from her seat, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes again, and took a sip of the tea that Namgung-sang had brewed before she spoke.

"Then I'll tell you the story of the girl, and then you'll know, too, why I came here."

The silver-haired girl began to nervously tell her story.