The Shaanxi Yoo clan.
In the Shaanxi region, they were a fairly famous clan, but on a national scale, they were an ambiguous clan that didn’t even count among the important ones.
Yoo Hwa Yeon was born as the eldest daughter of such a clan.
With her perfectly formed features from birth, she grew up receiving all sorts of love and attention.
At that time, she thought she was a princess. In fact, the Yoo clan was the most powerful martial arts clan in Shaanxi, so it wasn’t unreasonable for her to think that way.
When her self-esteem was so high that it bordered on arrogance, she encountered the real thing.
It was during a trip to Hangzhou with her father and brother that she met the lady of a truly powerful clan.
When they were about to set off on a luxurious boat they had rented for a cruise, she appeared late.
“Sorry, but could you give up the boat for us?”
With just one word from her, Yoo Hwa Yeon’s father who had never bowed his head in Shaanxi immediately bowed and gave up the boat.
The realization that she and the Yoo clan were just frogs in a well ignited a fire in her heart.
She wanted to be like her, a woman whose every action and gesture exuded elegance.
Her arrogance ended there. And she was reborn.
She believed that natural beauty alone was not enough. So she cultivated her knowledge and learned martial arts. With talent and an ambition that surpassed it, she achieved new accomplishments every day.
However, when has life ever gone according to plan?
Out of the blue, she got a fiancé.
He was the second son of the head of the Baek clan in Shaanxi. This head of that clan was an acquaintance of Yoo Hwa Yeon’s father Yoo Kang Ho who was the head of the Yoo clan. They knew each other from his days wandering in Moorim.
Getting engaged was determined by an old promise made long ago to marry their children if they were to have any. And her fiancé was a boy with a charming bright smile.
Although the Baek clan was overshadowed by the Huashan and Jongnam sects among the Nine Great Sects, it was still a powerful clan.
Like the Yoo clan, they did not belong to the Five Great clans. But if the five fingers were extended to ten, they would easily be among them.
Even though this fell short of her own ambitions, she could not overturn the decision made by the heads of the two clans without a good reason.
From then on, she changed her mind.
She decided to nurture the boy into becoming the head of the Baek clan. After that, if the Shaanxi Baek clan and the Yoo clan joined forces, they could achieve a power that could rival one of the Five Great Clans.
And so, as the boy became a young man and the girl blossomed into a beautiful lady, they spent time together.
But her plan failed.
The dazzling young man did not achieve martial strength to match his appearance.
And as time went by, she grew impatient.
If she were to marry Baek Woo Jin as things were, how would her life turn out?
She did not imagine it. No, she could not. She felt nothing but an ominous and uneasy feeling.
Just as her heart behind that smiling face began to rot from the inside, he appeared.
The rightful heir of the Nangong clan, the best of the Five Great Clans, and the first sword clan of a thousand autumns.
He approached her without hiding his feelings.
She was exhausted, so she unknowingly revealed her deeply hidden thoughts for the first time.
“Can this nobleman take me to a place where everyone can look up to me?”
Nangong Soo’s response was enough to shake her heart.
“Would you be satisfied as the lady of the Nangong clan’s head?”
At that moment, she made a decision.
She decided that things would end here with Baek Woo Jin.
Just when she slowly tried to distance herself to end the long-standing relationship between them, another twist occurred.
How…?
Baek Woo Jin changed.
He subdued Gu Wang Soo who had tormented him so much in a single sword strike, and engaged in a subtle battle of nerves with Nangong Soo whom he could not even look in the eye before.
Even in front of Nangong Soo who exuded an imposing aura, he did not take a single step back. No, as time went on, it was Nangong Soo who began to waver.
Not long after, the two of them split up and Shin Ye Hwa was by Baek Woo Jin’s side as always.
While she watched him with a complicated gaze, Nangong Soo brushed past her.
“Let’s meet tonight.”
A secretive voice whispered in her ear.
Yoo Hwa Yeon showed no reaction and walked away.
After classes ended, late at night when the moon had already dipped, she left the dormitory.
In a pavilion tucked in the corner of the academy building, Nangong Soo stood alone under the moonlight and he was gazing at the pond.
“Gege.”
Nangong Soo turned around at her coquettish voice.
His face revealed in the moonlight looked gravely serious.
“Is something wrong?”
She asked in a worried tone, and Nangong Soo’s expression instantly twisted.
“Don’t be alarmed, Yeon Mae.”
“What…?”
When she wore a puzzled expression on her face, words like a bolt from the blue reached her ears.
“Baek Woo Jin… that guy knows about us.”
In an instant, Yoo Hwa Yeon was so shocked that her legs gave way, and she staggered back. Nangong Soo quickly reached out and grabbed her arm.
Like ripples spreading on a once-calm lake, her previously calm breaths became rough and rapid.
“Th-that’s a lie, right?”
He’s just playing a prank to scare me, right?
But Nangong Soo betrayed her hopes and firmly shook his head.
“………”
“………”
“He told me himself.”
He recounted the conversation he had with Baek Woo Jin during the practical martial arts class.
It was a series of shocks, one after another.
Above all, the part where Baek Woo Jin brazenly asked whether it was okay to take away a woman who already had a fiancé. Those words struck her like thunder in her ears.
“I don’t know how he found out, but… I see this moment as an opportunity.”
“What… do you mean?”
“Break off your engagement with Baek Woo Jin, Yeon Mae.”
In the earlier conversation, when Nangong Soo asked Baek Woo Jin what he wanted, the latter answered with “nothing” but Nangong Soo didn’t believe him.
He’s biding his time.
Just as one lets rice simmer to enhance its flavor, he thought Baek Woo Jin was playing his cards to get something bigger.
“Whatever that guy wants, I’ll give it to him. So, trust me.”
As the legitimate heir of the Nangong clan, it was a bold and reliable statement.
Nevertheless, the anxiety in her heart did not easily fade away.
No, she couldn’t tell if what she was feeling was anxiety or something else.
In the midst of all this confusion, there was one thing she was certain about.
There’s no turning back now.
Last weekend, she briefly encountered Baek Woo Jin.
He knew even then.
The doubt she felt from him never calling her Yeon Mae was now finally resolved.
What had he been thinking when he faced her and talked with her then?
Had he been berating her as a bit*h who deserved to be torn apart, or perhaps he had been silently cursing her?
When she imagined him who was smiling brightly in her head now cursing her with a venomous expression, it made her heart feel like it was dropping.
“…I’ll talk to him myself.”
There’s no turning back now. No, there was no turning back in the first place.
It’s late, but at least she should explain everything herself.
“If you need help, let me know anytime.”
“I will.”
Despite Nangong Soo’s warm words, Yoo Ha Yeon did not feel any better. She forced a smile and nodded her head.
After having a hearty drink in the morning, Baek Woo Jin left the dormitory and headed to the request office located in the central hallway of the main building’s first floor.
“Only two more times…”
The request office was quiet. The diligent students usually completed their required points around the middle of the semester, and even the slightly behind students had mostly finished by now.
Those remaining here were either lazy, looking to earn reward money from completing requests for their livelihood, or simply bored with the academic environment and wanting to roam outside.
“Let’s see.”
With only a few students visiting the request office, the number of requests was also very low.
Among all the requests that required a long time and were not difficult but complex and required a lot of moving around, a decent one caught his eye.
[Escort a Merchant Group]
Difficulty: Intermediate
Points: Three Points
Number of Participants: 2
Description: Escort a merchant group traveling from Hanzhong to Mianyang in Sichuan province.
There was a report of a demon sighting at Taiping Mountain along the route of the escort, so the difficulty has been adjusted upward.
Reward: One tael of silver per day.
Hanzhong was the largest city near the academy and could be reached within three or four hours using the new road. The distance from Hanzhong to Mianyang was roughly four to five days.
“This is the best one…”
The problem was the condition of “two participants”.
“Who should I go with?”
He started to hate his past self for refusing Shin Ye Hwa’s offer.
“Hmm.”
As he scanned the surroundings with worried eyes, he saw quite a few anxious faces.
Like they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. He had to pick the most decent-looking person among them.
“Let’s see.”
Someone who doesn’t talk much, doesn’t meddle, and focuses solely on the request.
One person fit Baek Woo Jin’s criteria perfectly.
Long hair, anxious eyes hidden by bangs, and above all, a gloomy atmosphere.
“That one’s perfect.”
Shy and gloomy, the type who wouldn’t start a conversation unless spoken to first.
Baek Woo Jin approached her from behind as she lingered by the bulletin board, poked her shoulder with his finger, and opened his mouth.
“Hey, friend.”
“Eek…! Wh-Who are you?”
She turned around with a look of surprise on her face.
Seeing her react exactly as he had expected, Baek Woo Jin couldn’t help but clap his hands in admiration.
“Perfect.”
Her eyes which were partially hidden by long bangs glanced at him as if he were strange.
Baek Woo Jin ignored her gaze and spoke up.
“It looks like you’re also searching for a decent request, right?”
She hesitated and started fidgeting with her hands before reluctantly nodding her head.
“I’ve got a somewhat decent request here.”
Baek Woo Jin waved the request note in his hand and asked,
“How about coming with me?”
“N-No, I don’t want to…”
“Huh…?”
He was rejected.
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