Dark and Light Martial Emperor

Chapter 28. The Reason for Fighting (3)

The atmosphere in the restaurant turned cold.

Chu Seong’s face was horribly distorted. Namgung Hyun, who was sitting at the end of the restaurant and drinking tea, also had a stiff expression.

Yeon Ji-pyeong swallowed his saliva.

“Uh, brother.”

“What? Not hungry?”

“…That’s not it.”

“If you’re not going to eat, I’ll eat it all. I’ve been training since dawn and I feel like my stomach is stuck to my back.”

Boom!

The ground shook.

Everyone’s eyes except Yeon Ho-jeong turned to Chu Seong.

“What did you just say?”

Yeon Ho-jeong glanced at Chu Seong.

His eyes were very strange. He looked at him not as a person, but as a passing beast or a trivial scenery.

Yeon Ho-jeong, who was looking at Chu Seong, started to chew the meat again.

It was a complete disregard. Chu Seong’s face turned red.

“Didn’t I ask you what you said?!”

“Shut up.”

Yeon Ho-jeong covered his ears.

“As expected, a beast is a beast. You can’t understand human words.”

He poured oil on the fire that was burning well.

“How dare you, you brat!”

That was when.

“Stop it.”

Namgung Hyun, who was sitting far away, came over.

Chu Seong didn’t look at Namgung Hyun. His anger rose to the tip of his head. He felt like he wanted to draw his sword right away.

He actually clenched and unclenched his hand repeatedly. He was ready to draw his sword.

Namgung Hyun put strength in his voice.

“Chu Dan-ju!”

“…”

“Step back.”

Chu Seong, who was grinding his teeth, turned his body. His movement was so rough that his clothes made a rustling sound.

Namgung Hyun, who breathed a sigh of relief, said in a whisper-like voice,

“What are you trying to do?”

Yeon Ho-jeong tilted his head.

“Are you talking to me?”

“Who else would I be talking to?”

“What did I do wrong?”

“The act of insulting the guard captain of another clan, do you think our clan will let it go?”

Yeon Ho-jeong snickered.

“When did I insult your guard captain?”

“What?”

“I don’t remember saying who it was?”

“You’re petty. Don’t play with words. Anyone who saw this situation would…”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Yeon Ho-jeong’s face became serious.

“Why didn’t you come out sooner if you saw everything? You saw my temper yesterday, and you’re just drinking tea leisurely?”

“What, what are you saying?”

“If you have something to say, say it to me directly. Don’t just watch the show behind the old guard captain.”

“That’s nonsense!”

“Don’t be sneaky. Why can’t you say a word to me when you’re a descendant of the Namgung clan? Are you afraid of me?”

“You’re delusional. You’re pushing people too far…”

Yeon Ho-jeong raised his hand.

He didn’t listen to the other’s words until the end. It would be obvious anyway.

If he was going to say something annoying, he might as well say what he wanted to say.

“I know you don’t have a good feeling for me. Then act like a man and challenge me to a duel, or ask me to drink with you. If you’re going to play tricks, don’t make it obvious.”

“You’re meddling. Why would I…”

“Weren’t you? Weren’t you planning something because of your sister?”

Namgung Hyun’s expression changed.

He brought up Namgung Sang-hwa in front of everyone? This was dangerous.

Namgung Hyun hurried to open his mouth, but Yeon Ho-jeong’s words were already pouring out.

“You may have a twisted personality by nature, but if you learned the law of the noble clan, you shouldn’t cross the line. You and your sister make me ashamed of the name Namgung.”

Namgung Hyun’s face turned fierce.

“Are you insulting our clan now?”

“If you don’t want to hear the beast’s sound, you should listen to the human’s words properly. The name Namgung is a shame, because you and your sister are not like the people of the Namgung clan. Can’t you understand this much?”

“You…
“And.”

A faint light shone in Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes.

Namgung Hyun’s body flinched. For a moment, a flash of light that burst like a fireball pierced through his eyes and the back of his head.

“Right here, right now, you are insulting our clan through me and my brother, using the settled incident of yesterday as an excuse. Is there any reason why I shouldn’t insult you back?”

“In, insult?”

Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.

“Wasn’t it an insult? Then you’re saying you didn’t order your guard captain to do this?”

“Of course not!”

“Then you have no right to complain if I take care of your guard captain who insulted our clan in front of everyone.”

It was nonsense.

But with that nonsense, Yeon Ho-jeong made it sound reasonable.

“If you didn’t order him, then your guard captain acted on his own and offended another clan. As the heir of the offended clan, don’t I have to settle this grudge?”

“That’s absurd! Chu Dan-ju was just exercising his authority for the sake of the banquet, he didn’t mean to insult or…!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to be petty with me? You shouldn’t do that either. Everyone in this restaurant saw your arrogant guard captain’s attitude.”

Namgung Hyun looked around without realizing it.

Young men and women sitting in different places were looking at them. Some of them were nervous, some of them were interested.

The important thing was that they were all members of the seven clans.

Namgung Hyun clenched his teeth.

‘Damn it!’

He just wanted to refresh the atmosphere of the second day of the banquet.

It was him who ordered Chu Seong to attack Yeon Ho-jeong. But he didn’t really intend to drive out the Yeon brothers. They were small, but the Yeon clan was also a member of the seven clans.

He just wanted to step in at the right moment, and end this incident in front of everyone. It was to establish his prestige, as well as to crush the opponent’s spirit, and to make Yeon Ho-jeong careless.

And at the decisive moment, he wanted to cut down the opponent’s face and show the power of Namgung.

But what is this? The audience who should have given him an advantage was rather giving the opponent strength.

“If you don’t like that, why don’t you scold your guard captain yourself?”

“What, what are you saying?!”

“Whether he has the authority or not, your guard captain crossed the line. As a descendant of the clan, you should give him a stern lesson, shouldn’t you?”

“…!!”

“Make your choice.”

Namgung Hyun was originally a cold-blooded person.

But he had never encountered such a brazen situation. In fact, this was a trivial quarrel, too vague to call it an incident.

But the opponent put the burden of the clan’s honor on this trivial quarrel. No matter how smart Namgung Hyun was, he couldn’t help but panic.

That was when.

“I’ll take responsibility, and that’s it.”

Namgung Hyun looked at Chu Seong.

Chu Seong’s eyes were burning like fire.

“Anyway, this happened because of me, so I can handle it on my own. You don’t have to worry about it, sir. It’s not something you need to bother with.”

Namgung Hyun’s face turned pale.

‘You bastard!’

It was the worst.

Chu Seong shouldn’t have done this. He should have said something like, don’t be fooled by the opponent’s words, I’m not guilty.

But he said he would take responsibility. That meant he admitted that he insulted the Yeon clan.

Yeon Ho-jeong smirked.

“At least you know how to take responsibility, unlike your master. I like that.”

Oooh.

Chu Seong stepped forward.

He didn’t release his inner power, but an ominous aura was spreading.

“Then, how are you going to hold me accountable, sir?”

“Is there anything special about how martial artists resolve conflicts?”

“So you’re saying we should have a duel?”

“Isn’t that neat?”

From Chu Seong’s point of view, it was an unbelievable situation.

No matter how he was the heir of the seven clans, he was a young man who was not even twenty. On the other hand, he was one of the best among the best who had experienced life and death in the martial world for more than fifteen years.

And he wanted to have a duel with him? He couldn’t understand the opponent’s confidence.

Was it so ridiculous? Chu Seong said sarcastically.

“Fine, you seem to have some skill in fighting, seeing that you want to fight with the third descendant of the noble clan. How about this, I’ll give you a harsh lesson in front of everyone?”

It was a mockery and a chance to show the greatness of the Namgung clan. Chu Seong really wanted to knock down Yeon Ho-jeong thoroughly in front of the juniors.

What about Yeon Ho-jeong?

‘What the hell?’

Yeon Ho-jeong laughed without knowing it.

He wanted to make a scene anyway, and he said that? He wanted to forget everything that happened before.

“Shall we? I think that would be nice.”

The person who should have shrunk seemed to like it too much.

For a moment, Chu Seong wondered if the opponent had some trick up his sleeve. No matter how he thought, Yeon Ho-jeong had less than a tenth of a chance to beat him.

Yeon Ho-jeong got up from his seat.

“There’s such a thing as a friendly duel. After I hold you accountable, it would be meaningful to show off our skills among the juniors, wouldn’t it?”

Chu Seong snorted.

“Do as you please.”

“Good, very good.”

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes glowed fiercely.

At this moment, his eyes were not looking at Chu Seong, but at Myeong Ho-rim.

“Let’s have some fun.”

* * *

“What, what did you say?!”

Jegal Ayeon opened his mouth wide.

“Chuseong? You mean the Brain Alliance Chuseong who was appointed as the leader of Namgung Se-ga’s group a while ago?!”

“…Yes.”

Jegal Ayeon unconsciously touched his forehead.

“What the hell! Why are you doing this with him?!”

Brain Alliance Chuseong.

He was a mid-level expert who had made a great reputation in the Hanam and Anhwi regions.

He was known for his fierce swordsmanship that matched his fiery temper, and he had single-handedly wiped out three-tenths of the bandits in Hanam and Anhwi regions for fifteen years.

Among those bandits, there were many who had learned martial arts. Although most of them were from the Black Path, there were also large bandit groups of hundreds.

That meant that he was not someone who could be dealt with by the late-stage masters. The late-stage masters were only the outstanding ones among their peers, and sometimes there were geniuses of the century, but fighting with real swordsmen who had experienced countless battles was dangerous for anyone.

Namgoong Se-ga didn’t appoint Chuseong as the leader for nothing.

“We have to stop him! No matter how good Hojeong’s martial arts are, this is not right!”

“That’s…”

Yeon Ji-pyeong sighed.

“He’s already preparing at the outer courtyard training ground. He’ll start in a moment.”

“Ugh!”

Jegal Ayeon made a choking sound.

“That’s not good either! Chuseong is known to be as vicious as his martial arts! He’s not the type to care about other people’s eyes!”

“We have no choice. If we back down here, your brother’s honor will fall before we move to the main house.”

Jegal Ayeon was speechless.

“But Pyeong, why are you so calm? Did you give up everything? Did you attain enlightenment?”

Yeon Ji-pyeong sighed again.

“Of course not. I’m worried too. I tried to stop him several times. But…”

“But?”

“I trust my brother as much as I worry about him.”

“…!”

“The brother I’ve seen so far, he always did what he could take responsibility for, even if he looked a bit radical to others. I’m worried as a blood relative, but I believe he has a plan.”

Jegal Ayeon’s eyes shook.

You trust your brother? Even if you trust your brother, isn’t this too much?

They were truly strange brothers. They worried but they trusted? That was not a normal way of thinking.

‘Birds of a feather.’

But Yeon Ji-pyeong’s eyes didn’t waver. He wasn’t anxious.

He trusted his brother’s judgment and skill for sure.

“You guys are really troublesome in many ways.”

“Yes?”

“Never mind! Let’s go to the training ground quickly! Juna! You too, come out!”