Book 25 Chapter 17

Hummingbird

-A tidal wave of regret

"Alas, I shouldn't have accepted……."

Jang Hong sighed.

"Why did I do that……."

Regret washed over me.

"I didn't mean to do this……. I didn't mean to do this……. Ouch!"

Jang Hong regretted his decision to accept Bi Ryuyeon's words. Why did I do that? Was I crazy for a moment? Yes, I was definitely crazy, otherwise I wouldn't have taken on a job like this.

"Should I just go back now? Do we say no?"

He was bad in the first place. You know how it is, when a good person does something good, it's not so noticeable, but when a bad person does something good, it's very noticeable. This was one of those cases. He was usually stiff and proud, but when I asked him to bow down, he looked so happy.

It's normal to bow your head when you're asking for a favor, but when you're smiling and saying that you did it normally, something is wrong. So I accepted it without really thinking about what it was. So here we are. Jang Hong was scared to death and wanted to run away with his tail between his legs. But what is a man's pride……. Despite breaking out in a cold sweat, he forced himself to take one step at a time. I'm sorry, but it's probably too late.

Her request was simple.

"I need someone who knows the ins and outs of the Temple of Heaven, especially someone of high status. I noticed that Mr. Zhang seems to know the seventh boss well, so I'd like him to help me. Please."

"Uh, uh, uh, uh!"

I can't believe I accepted such an outrageous demand. I had dug my own grave. By the time I woke up, I had already nodded.

"Now, wait, can I bite you again? That was a mistake, and if I do, I'll die!"

Here's what she had to say about it.

"It's okay, everyone dies once."

"Hey, it's my big day. Don't talk about it like it's nobody's business. There's a party in front of you!"

"I'll eat your food next year when it's time for the sacrifice."

"What are you doing, just eating!"

"Eat, eat, eat, so you can earn virtue on the list."

His story hasn't worked at all, and with the threat to tie Qingqing's hands and feet and hand him over to Seventh Avenue if he continues to refuse, Jang Hong has no choice but to comply. He tried to bemoan the cruelty of reality, but nothing came of it.

Fool me, next time!

Yeah, I swore I wouldn't be fooled if there was a "what if" next.

But after meeting her, can there really be anything next for him?

He wasn't sure.

* * *

The commander of the Seventh Battalion of the Thousand and Thirty-third, the Crimson Sword Pomegranate, was on alert when he spotted a suspicious figure approaching the battalion.

"Who is it?

He looked quite old, and his uniform was unmarked, so he was clearly an outsider. I thought he couldn't be a delegate from the Heavenly Academy if he was that old. However, his complexion was very pale, as if he was suffering from some kind of serious illness, and his hands and feet were shaking like an opium addict, which was suspicious enough.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure I've seen that face before…….

Seokryuha exclaimed, placing her hand on her sword.

"Wait, mister, stop!"

He stiffened and turned his head toward Pomegranate. He looked as if he'd seen the grim reaper, but when he recognized her face, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was getting more and more suspicious.

"What's up with our bloodbath, mister?"

Pomegranate asked, a little wary. Up close, she was sure she recognized the face from somewhere. She had the feeling that she had seen it as a very bad thing, but she couldn't quite remember. It was a very subtle feeling, like something so unpleasant that I had tried so hard to forget about it that I had forgotten about the person involved.

"I am not a suspicious person, and certainly not you. I'm Jang Hong, one of the envoys from the Heavenly Martial Academy."

"A delegation from the Heavenly Martial Academy? You look older, are you Master Mu, the leader?"

"Oh, no. I'm not a master, not even close. I'm just a student."

"But your face age is……."

"Can we please stop talking about faces and ages, young lady?"

When Jang Hong, whose heart was in a sore spot, raised his voice, the pomegranate stopped biting and sagging.

"How is Mr. Yeomdo Nosa doing?"

It was quite an out-of-the-blue question, and Jang Hong was suddenly curious as to why this young lady was asking it. However, it was someone else's private life, so he couldn't ask her outright.

"Oh, sure, it's him, roaring like an active volcano. But why is that……?"

"Oh, no, I was just curious."

Blushing slightly, Seokryuha replied.

'Why, why, why are you blushing? Boo, you're making me nervous, why are you blushing? What the hell happened? You can't be……, you're a real redneck! You mean there's a grade between rednecks? I can't accept that!'

All uncles are uncles. Whether auntie or uncle, it was a Third and Fourth Gender that had already left male and female behind. It was not a single creature, but a mental organism, a huge collective consciousness. It was therefore unseemly to try to judge it as an individual creature or to give it a personality. There was no place for discrimination in the world of bobbies, so I felt terrible when I felt like I was being discriminated against.

"I'm just here to see a man, miss, not a 'I'!"

Jang Hong laughed out loud, holding back a strange giggle. However, it was a somewhat forced laugh. The nervousness and anxiety inside him was not easily concealed by a false smile.

"Who are you here to see, mister?"

It's not you, it's her!" But Jang Hong's opinion was simply dismissed.

"Yi, I understand that there is a lady here, the Blood Jade Adept Okuyukyung."

I was careful not to call him a blood nachal, as that would have been an offense.

"Yes, my boss."

There was a salt of respect in his voice as he answered.

"Miss, will you put a message in for me, for I am not your uncle, but my younger brother, and I will wait here."

Pomegranate hesitated for a moment. Should she really trust this man, this untrustworthy man who claimed he wasn't a man at all? But the hesitation didn't last long. He was a guest of the captain, and it wasn't right for her to turn him away. Pomegranate finally smiled and answered.

"Hold on a second, ahhhhhhh!"

If she had realized that Jang Hong was the same man who had buried his face in the valley of Okuyukyung's deep, voluptuous breasts in the hallway not long ago, she probably wouldn't have left him alone. However, at the time, Jang Hong had been turning his head this way and that in his haste to hide his face from Okuyukyung's gaze, so she hadn't been able to get a good look at him from a little distance away. That kept him out of trouble.

After delivering the message, he opened the door to the captain's chamber and entered to find Jade Emperor wearing a red "blood armor" on his upper body. It was a special armor with a special function, and wearing it meant that she was fully armed and ready for battle.

"Ryuha, you're busy right now."

Ok Yukyung could feel a sharp tension in the air. It was probably because she had received an urgent letter from the Twelfth Battalion earlier. It must have been related to the emergency bell that hadn't rung in years.

"Judging by the livery you're wearing, I assume you're going to the Great Council?

So I asked.

"Are you going to the big meeting?"

"Oh yeah, that's a payment, too."

The scroll that Okuyukyung had received earlier was lying open on the table to her right.

"I didn't know that, and I should have listened… Sorry, boss."

"It's okay. I have hands, and I can do this by myself. Never mind. The job of a company commander is to assist the captain, not to do his bidding. We are not the Sixth. I'm the captain of the Seventh, not the Sixth."

Seokryuha's mind briefly flashed to Jang Ji-ok, the commander of the Sixth Battalion, who was said to be the most pitiful commander of the Thirteenth Battalion. Compared to him, he was quite the blessed one.

"Well, it doesn't look like it's time for another customer anyway, so I'll tell them to go home."

"Oh, yeah, you have company?"

"Yes, it's no big deal, a man named Jang Hong, who looks like your uncle, came and asked for a meeting, but I told him to go back to……."

At that moment, Ok Yoo-kyung, who was kicking the leather toshi to her forearm, stopped in her tracks.

"Bar, who did you just say?"

Sukryuha bowed and apologized.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to ask you to leave now."

"No, the name. His name."

It asks sternly.

"Jang Honglao……."

As her boss gave her a ghostly, scary look, Sukryuha felt like she had made a huge mistake, and her voice dropped.

"I will meet you. Lead the way!"

His voice was tinged with a frosty coldness.

"But the payment letter was sent to……."

This meant meeting at the general's office in half an hour. There was no time for other business, but Okuyukyung's will was as hard as a rock.

"I said I'd meet you!"

"How's it going, Sojae, are you going to meet me?"

When Su Liuha returned from delivering the news, Jang Hong asked as if he had been waiting.

"Follow me."

Jang Hong's eyes widened at Su Liuha's words.

"Did you really say you were going to meet me?"

"The captain is waiting for you."

He spun on his heel and strode off, his demeanor saying, "Follow me if you want.

"Okay, wait a minute."

Sera Zhanghong, who would miss her, quickened her steps. She passed through the main building of the Seventh Temple and into the corridor that led off to the right.

"Oh, I thought we were meeting inside?"

"……."

Pomegranate did not reply, and after a moment she veered to the right, then to the left again. A small winter gate appeared, with the two characters "Yanmu" written above it, and a sign on the right side that read "Captain's Only". Apparently, it was a private training hall for the captain.

"Here."

Pomegranate was the first to disappear through the door. Jang Hong, who was left behind, hesitated for a moment, then squeezed his eyes shut and stepped through the door, but he didn't have the courage to open them. Each moment seemed like an eternity. It was then that I heard voices.

"You're keeping the others from coming in here!"

It was a voice he'd never forget.

Jang Hong opened his tightly closed eyes. In the center of the performance hall, wearing a red robe and with a sword sheathed at her left waist, stood Jade Yujing in an imposing posture. Their gazes met in midair.

The heavy silence that descended on the hall made Su Liu's chest tighten, making it difficult to breathe. Neither Okuyukyung nor Jang Hong had spoken a word since they had seen each other. She didn't dare to speak up when her boss wasn't speaking. But somehow, just being around him made her feel uncomfortable, both physically and mentally. What was going on? Pomegranate sneaked a glance at the side of Okuyukyung's face. She was wearing a face she had never seen before.

Yes.

She had the face of an ordinary woman, not one of the Twelve Captains of the Twelve Thousand and Three. There was a clear agitation in it, along with anger. If this complex emotion could be summarized in a single word, it would be called "Han.

"You've got some nerve coming here, did you come here to die?"

From the very first word, Ok's words were harsh.

Shi Liuhua was stunned. She had spoken to Mr. Jang Hong as if she had known him for a long time. What's more, what she was saying was strange. What was going on here? Should she even be here? Pomegranate suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable in this seat.

"No… it's just that……."

Even the normally laid-back Jang Hong couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut. Of course, he had a hundred mouths to feed, but he still had to drag himself all the way here and explain his purpose. But when it came down to it, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Finally, he mustered up the courage to open his mouth.

"I need help."

Jang Hong's voice sounded like it was crawling.

"Help? Did you say help now?"

Jade Yujing was stunned and seemed to be at a loss for words. Jang Hong fully understood her feelings. If it was crazy to him, how could it be to her? She must think he was so shameless, but there was no stopping him now.

"Uh, yes, sir. I need someone who knows the inner workings of the castle."

"Surely you can't blame me for ringing the emergency bell earlier?"

He said in a sharp tone. It might be a guess, but it was a keen one.

"No…… that's why……."

"Right or wrong, that's all you need to say."

"Yeah, right."

Jang Hong replied hesitantly.

"Ha ha…… what kind of guts did you have to do such an outrageous thing? Do you want to die? Well, I guess you do, since you came here to see me."

"Na Yerin Sojae has been kidnapped, and in my attempt to rescue her, I've been……."

Fast.

"Are you telling me that you showed up in front of me to save another woman!"

She exploded. Her shouting words were like sharp blades. The coldness emanating from her entire body rose higher and higher, freezing the air around her. It caused Jang Hong's complexion to rapidly flare up.

"No… that's not……. Oh, my mistake!"

"Misunderstanding? Put that flimsy excuse to the sword, you rascal!"

CHANG!

The Bloodthrall Jade Sutra's sword that was drawn out sprayed red sword energy.

"Ugh!"

Jang Hong hastily pulled himself back as the flag flew.

"That guy, he's still alive?

When he saw that, he was quite surprised.

Jang Hong had dodged the Blood Jade Adept's unexpectedly unleashed Blood Peak Sting.

'He's not as bad as he looks. I never thought someone who looks like him would have such hidden skills…….'

Apparently, you can't judge a book by its cover. You're still you, but you're still you.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen this before somewhere……."

It felt like it hadn't been that long ago that Ok Yoo-kyung had been this angry.

"Ah!"

In that moment, everything that was blurry became clear. And I realized.

"Ah! The same color bone!"

Fire burned in Pomegranate's eyes.

"Ohhh, you're going to shamelessly avoid me?"

"No, this is just an instinctive……."

"Is that instinct what makes you go after younger women?"

"Oh, you're wrong, I'm not chasing you, you've been kidnapped and I'm trying to rescue you."

"Guys are all the same, all you have to do is be pretty and they'll lose their minds, die!"

Para la la la la!

Once again, the Bloodthirsty Jade Sutra's sword rushed toward Jang Hong's entire body, spraying red petals.

Blood Sword Dance

Jaycho

Twins

The ferocious attacks rushed toward Jang Hong, more like two vipers than two bees.

Jang Hong was quick to dodge.

"I'm telling you, it's a misunderstanding, trust me!"

Jang Hong shouted, dodging the sharp sword grass as it swarmed toward him.

"Are you asking me to trust you?"

Turo Okuyukyung said she had never heard such a thing in her life.

"You, who for seven years and four months could not tell whether you were dead or alive?"

Jang Hong's complexion turned sour.

"No, it means……."

Jang Hong's voice trailed off as he was poked and prodded.

"I don't need all of that! There's only one thing you can do for me."

"What is that?"

"To die here today!"

Shhhhhhhhhhhh!

Once again, Yue Yun's sword buzzed, making a sound like the wings of a swarm of ferocious wasps, spraying sword Qi.

In the seventh generation of the Thirteenth Dynasty, a beautiful but ferocious red queen bee lived in the place known as Blood Peak. The queen bee's name was the Blood Jade Sage Jade Yue, or Blood Nachal as she was called by her students. Her sword was the Blood Peak Sword. It was named for the sound of a swarm of bees flying around it whenever it was unsheathed, and right now, the ferocious blood bees were flying around, buzzing and making terrifying noises as they sought blood.

Blood Sword Dance

Visionary Misconceptions

Stitches

It was a combination of ferocious cries and sharp thrusts, designed to distract the opponent with sound and then plunge the sword through the gap. The three holes drilled into the tip of the hilt of Jade Yujing's love sword, the Red Peak, were one of the devices used to amplify the sound.

Jang Hong dodged, dodged, dodged, and dodged. His technique was so unusual that he narrowly avoided attacks that looked like they would kill him. Sometimes he thought he was cut, but it was just an illusion. It was as if he was using some kind of illusion. But I could only dodge so much. I hadn't yet been able to counterattack properly.

"Why aren't you fighting back, are you ignoring me?"

Boom!

Without slowing down her sword, Okuyukyung shouted sharply.

"…I can't attack you……. I can't hurt you."

"Huh, you can't hurt me, liar!"

"Me, I mean it."

Jang Hong replied in a bewildered voice, and Jade Yujing shouted fiercely.

"If you don't hurt my body, that's it, but what about my mind, isn't that an injury?"

The voice was filled with pent-up frustration, the anger of years past.

"Well, that's……."

Jang Hong's pupils fluttered violently. The agitation in his mind was revealed through his body. He wanted to open his mouth to say something, but his mouth was glued shut. The glue of guilt sealed his mouth and tongue.

"Why did you disappear in front of me that day, why?"

Okuyukyung's mouth opened with difficulty. She had been so fierce a moment ago, and now she sounded rather plaintive. She, too, must be confused.

"……."

Jang Hong had a hundred things to say about that.

"Do you know how long I waited for you to come back? I stood at the door and waited for three days and three nights… in the pouring rain… with tears in my eyes……. But you never came back, why? Why? And why did you just show up in front of me now, when I had forgotten everything, when I had finally put everything in order, why!"

"……."

Jang Hong's expression darkened even more as he remained silent.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?"

But two years passed, and three years passed, and Jang Hong did not appear.

"I wanted to come back too."

"You call that bullshit a horse? On a subject you haven't heard from in seven years and four months!"

Shhh! Flash!

Once again, a red glow fills the room. It was a chilling blow in the first seconds of the day.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Jang Hong didn't seem to know how to say anything other than sorry.

"If you're sorry, shut up and die!"

Poof!

The hidden stab of the Blood Rod Sword Technique, the Dark Needle, pierced Jang Hong's shoulder blade.

Ding!

Drops of blood fell to the ground.

"Why…… didn't you avoid……?"

Yue Jing's hand on the red rod trembled as violently as her voice. She hadn't expected Jang Hong to fall for such a shallow attack, for she had never defeated him before.

"I was a coward……."