Chapter 146
“Damn that family! They’ve never been any help in my life!”
I swallowed the curse rising to my throat and twisted my body. The old man only chuckled.
“A misunderstanding? No. This old man found the right person. Young lady, aren’t you the Poison King’s only disciple?”
“Y-Yes, I am, but—ah!”
“You inherited the Poison King’s martial arts. Naturally, you inherit his karma as well.”
“No, what kind of logic is that—! Please, use words! Sir! What happened between you and my grandfather that makes you act like this?”
“Hoho. Curious, are you?”
The old man slowly pushed his bamboo hat back.
His eyes gleamed with a chilling, feverish madness.
The look in them burned so fiercely that every question I had vanished on the spot. I almost hiccupped.
Still holding my gaze, he loosened his grip. Then, with the gentle smile of a grandfather about to tell an old tale, he began.
“This old man first entered the Martial Alliance when I was twenty.”
“What?”
“At the time, your master was already well past ninety.”
He looked up at the sky with an almost wistful expression, as though tracing old memories. Then he looked back at me, his face twisting.
“My martial skill was meager back then, so I had no idea the old man was a master who had returned to youth. I mistook him for a child who had come with his parents and patted him on the head.”
His teeth ground together.
“For that, I was hung upside down from the Martial Alliance’s front gate.”
“Ah... I-I see.”
I had heard Grandpa absolutely hated people touching him.
Apparently, he had been even worse than I thought.
As I stood there with nothing to say, fumbling over my words, the old man bared his teeth.
“And that was all? He found fault with me in every little thing and berated me endlessly. Whenever he saw me, he would scowl and call me an idiot. Back when I served in the Heavenly Army Vanguard, he made me rewrite so many reports that I still dream about staying up all night revising them!”
...Ah.
I did understand the misery of being forced to redo reports after working late.
Grandpa was in the wrong there.
I nervously worked my fingers together. It seemed the old man’s grudge against Grandpa ran very deep.
Unable to contain his resentment, the old man kept huffing, his voice steadily rising.
“Then why in the world did he put that idiot in the Alliance Lord’s seat?”
“What?”
“He spent his whole life tormenting me, then recommended me for that position at the very end! Why? I was ready to wash my hands of everything and go fish in my hometown! If this isn’t him trying to make my life miserable, what is it?”
“Sir... are you the Martial Alliance Lord?”
“The old man gets to hide in the Tang estate, enjoying his granddaughter’s antics in retirement, while this Wi has to keep managing Alliance affairs even in his old age! Isn’t that outrageously unfair?”
Startled, I studied the old man’s face as he shouted himself hoarse.
It did look like the face I had once seen in Grandpa’s residence.
Why was the Martial Alliance Lord here?
Was he the one Uncle Geunmyeong had sensed following us?
Wi Jigok tore off his bamboo hat and pointed straight at me.
“I always thought that if I ever met the Poison King’s disciple, I would do the same to her! I endured for sixty years! A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years!”
“What? Why is this landing on me? This happened long before I was even born!”
At my cry, he snorted like a bull.
“A disciple inherits a master’s grudges and debts!”
“That’s not a real rule!”
Sixty years had passed. Couldn’t he let it go already?
The more he thought about it, the more wronged he seemed to feel. He swung his fishing rod again.
I jumped around like a colt with its tail on fire, desperately trying to dodge Wi Jigok’s attacks.
The fishing line sliced through the hem of my robe with a sharp shhk, and an urgent protest burst from me.
“Martial Alliance Lord! I understand your feelings, but this is still unfair! I’m not Grandpa!”
“My heart is still burning with fury. Why shouldn’t I?”
“Then I’ll tell Grandpa!”
“Go ahead. Who knows when the old man will emerge from seclusion? Hohoho.”
Aaargh.
Grandpa! What kind of life did you even live?
After running from Wi Jigok while cursing Tang Jung in my heart for roughly fifteen minutes, I eventually ended up dangling from his fishing hook like bait.
Only after catching me did Wi Jigok seem to feel somewhat better. Smiling in satisfaction, he stroked his beard.
“I always wanted to hook that green robe by the back of the neck like this...”
At least he no longer looked like he intended to threaten me further.
He shook the fishing rod around and watched me scream for a while longer. Then, looking thoroughly satisfied, he reeled me in.
“Hoho. What fun is there in catching a minnow? You must let it grow so you can enjoy a bigger catch later.”
You had already enjoyed yourself plenty.
I was dumbfounded, but there was no point in provoking his temper further. I backed away from him, dusting off my thoroughly wrinkled green robe.
Watching me straighten my clothes, Wi Jigok waved his fishing rod.
“Do you know how to fish?”
“What?”
“The bait is obvious, but I don’t see a fishing rod. Would you like to borrow this old man’s?”
“...What?”
He wore the kindest expression, as though he had not just spent the last several minutes tormenting me.
The abrupt change made goosebumps rise over my skin.
Was this old man two different people or something?
*****
The highest decision-maker of the Martial Alliance, protector of the Central Plains.
The central pillar of the Alliance, with the Heavenly Army Vanguard—one of the most elite martial forces—as his personal guard.
Wi Jigok, Martial Alliance Lord.
He was...
“Your fishing is atrocious. Did the Poison King teach you like that?”
...teaching me how to fish.
“Stop dragging Grandpa into everything. If Grandpa comes out, I’m telling him you bullied me.”
“Ahem. Hm.”
Wi Jigok cleared his throat at my sulky response and gave the fishing line a light flick.
With a sigh, I kneaded the bait into a ball.
Sitting beside the old man who had charged at me like he wanted to kill me moments ago, both of us with fishing rods lowered into the river, made me wonder what exactly I was doing with my life.
There was no way I could escape someone at his level.
When was he going to let me go? This was driving me insane.
As I stared into the river with another sigh, Wi Jigok clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. Your fundamentals are poor. Don’t cast your shadow over the water like that. You’ll scare all the fish away.”
“If they run, I can just throw rocks and hit them.”
“...”
Wi Jigok stared at me in disbelief. His mouth opened and closed for a moment before he finally spoke as though patiently teaching a child.
“That is not fishing. That is hunting. What fun is there in catching something you can already see? The charm of fishing lies in not knowing what you will catch.”
Then he gave a quiet laugh.
“Though I suppose it would be difficult for someone your age to appreciate fishing. Live long enough, and you will learn that sitting by a river and hoping for a good catch is easier on the heart than expecting anything from people and being disappointed.”
“I see.”
“Hohoho. If your master had not forced this old man to sit in the Alliance Lord’s seat, I would have cast everything aside by now and spent my days fishing.”
That added remark carried his resentment toward Grandpa all over again.
I pretended not to hear it and changed the subject.
“Right. Sure. But can we actually catch crucian carp? Nothing’s biting.”
“Hoho. Even if nothing bites, I’ll catch one for you, so stop worrying. This old man was once called the Angler of Dongting Lake.”
He sounded extremely confident.
For some reason, though, I could not trust him.
The title sounded less like he caught fish and more like he caught people.
Just then, my fishing rod trembled lightly.
“Oh? You have a bite. Pull gently.”
Wi Jigok lowered his voice and demonstrated the motion.
I awkwardly copied him and pulled in the line. A palm-sized crucian carp came up dangling from the hook.
It was a little too small to boil down into crucian carp broth.
As I debated whether to release it or take even this much back with me, Cane stood on its hind legs and tapped the fish with its front paws.
The fish suddenly thrashed.
“Eek!”
Cane sprang backward, baring its teeth at the flopping fish.
“You touched it first. Why are you the one getting scared?”
“Kyuu...”
Cane drooped and wriggled into my arms.
“What do you need a crucian carp for?”
“I’m going to simmer it down and make crucian carp broth.”
“It is too small for that. Give me the rod. This old man will catch you a proper one.”
Wi Jigok laughed heartily and held out his hand.
I obediently passed over the fishing rod, then hugged my knees and let my eyes wander.
I could not guess what this old man had come looking for me to accomplish.
He had taken out his anger on me, but that could not have been his real purpose.
Grandpa had once recoiled at the thought of him, saying he had a snake coiled in his °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° belly.
He definitely wanted something from me.
I just had no idea what.
Wiping the sweat from my palms, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Martial Alliance Lord.”
“I’m listening.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Hmm? Do I look like I want something from you?”
“Yes. A man whose every second is precious would not come all this way simply to catch crucian carp for me.”
When I answered plainly, he paused while threading bait onto the hook, then chuckled.
“Hoho. Unlike your brother, you actually know how to think. The Tang Heir Apparent walks around with an ornament where his head ought to be.”
He muttered something that sounded halfway between an insult and praise, then cast his line into the river.
“Since you have already guessed, there is no need to circle around the matter. I hear your standing in the clan has become unstable because the old man entered seclusion.”
Wi Jigok’s eyes sank as he watched the quiet river.
“In that case, you need a new shield from the wind.”
He turned to me.
“Until the old man finishes his closed-door training, this old man will protect you.”
“What?”
“Entrust yourself to the Martial Alliance.”