STNPC-C11

Chapter 11

“Young Master?”

“Please get up, Brother Jo. My brother has given his permission, hasn’t he? I’m worried your legs might start hurting.”

Seogyeom had been about to get up anyway. As he spoke, tightening his grip firmly around the hand he was holding, Namgung Yun flinched.

It was an extremely subtle movement, but more than enough for the system to detect.

Hidden Piece unlocked.

Taking his action as consent, the system produced a golden scroll. As it slowly unfurled, Seogyeom’s heart began pounding with anticipation.

What Is Jianghu Like?

You have received a request from Nalsuchimdok to obtain medicinal herbs for the Third Young Master. It is a dangerous journey even alone… yet there is someone who keeps showing an interest in coming along.

The Third Young Master is very, very curious about what Jianghu is like. Obtain the medicinal herb together with the Third Young Master, who is full of curiosity!

• Success Reward: Tang Seogyeom’s Affection Max, recruit Tang Seogyeom into your party, and clear <Chapter 4: Danhwaeyeong> regardless of Tang Yu’s satisfaction level.
• Failure: Tang Seogyeom’s permanent death.

“……”

The anticipation sparkling in Seogyeom’s eyes instantly turned cold.

He had expected the quest to tell him to accompany Tang Yu at most, but instead, he had been thoroughly stabbed in the back.

Of course, he had always intended to join Namgung Yun on his journey.

But that was only under the assumption that it was safe.

As far as Seogyeom knew, perfectly clearing <Chapter 4> required traveling to Mount Tian and obtaining the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus.

‘Finding it itself won’t be difficult. Going with Namgung Yun is one of the conditions, after all.’

The problem was the spiritual beast guarding it.

People said it was a flower that bloomed once every thousand years, but in The Chronicles of Yun the Hero, the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus was actually a flower that had absorbed moonlight for a thousand years and transformed into a spiritual herb.

Naturally, even the beast living beside it had developed intelligence.

It was a boss monster so powerful that even several martial arts masters working together would struggle to defeat it.

And on top of that, Namgung Yun had arrived at the Tang Clan three years earlier than usual.

No one could guarantee what difference those three years would make.

‘And they expect me to go to Mount Tian…?’

Seogyeom glared at the scroll in disbelief.

Then his eyes caught the words written in one corner.

Regardless of Tang Yu’s satisfaction level…

Seogyeom immediately took back every curse he had been hurling at the system.

It seemed the system still possessed at least a shred of conscience.

“Gyeom, what is wrong? Is your head spinning?”

When Seogyeom suddenly froze while holding the outsider’s hand, Tang Yu abruptly rose from his seat. He strode toward him, then hesitated helplessly, unable to bring himself to touch him, before finally asking after his condition.

“Brother.”

“Yes. Where does it hurt?”

Taking a slow breath, Seogyeom looked at Tang Yu.

“I want to go too.”

Even though he said it as carefully as possible, it was still completely out of the blue. Tang Yu’s worried expression immediately crumpled.

Seogyeom lowered his eyes, pretending to be meek.

“I know everything, too. The reason you told him to find medicinal herbs… is because of me, isn’t it?”

“Gyeom…”

“I know that I’ve been weak and have only caused trouble for everyone in the Tang Clan all this time. But… I don’t want Brother Jo to go through all that trouble because of me too. I might only become a burden… but at the very least, I want to help guide him.”

His desperation to obtain the Hidden Piece made the words pour from his mouth one after another.

Inside, all he could think about was still ‘Quest!’, but Tang Yu, who had no way of knowing that, could only see his pitiful and sorrowful younger brother.

Unable to give an immediate answer, Tang Yu looked down at Seogyeom with a heavy heart.

For a moment, the image of the little Seogyeom he remembered overlapped with the neatly combed crown of his head.

‘When did you grow up so much…?’

Tang Seogyeom had once been such a fragile child that he couldn’t even sleep without a light because he was afraid of the dark.

Yet that child seemed to have become an adult before anyone realized it.

Even if he would be going with someone else, he had learned to take a step forward on his own.

Tang Yu suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to grant him permission immediately.

But he forcibly held himself back.

“It’s true that your health has improved considerably. But the world outside is a dangerous place.”

“I’m not going out into Jianghu, so what could possibly be dangerous? Weren’t you talking about the herbs growing on the mountain behind us?”

Pretending not to understand, Seogyeom tilted his head at Tang Yu’s attempt to dissuade him.

A bitter smile appeared on Tang Yu’s lips.

The Tang Clan dealt with medicine as deeply as it dealt with poison, so there was no need to go as far as the mountain behind them. Medicinal herbs grew everywhere around the estate.

Just as Seogyeom said, one could gather high-quality herbs simply by taking a leisurely stroll.

Of course, the herbs Tang Yu had demanded from that mysterious martial artist were undoubtedly rare spiritual herbs.

But if he told Seogyeom the truth, he would only hurt his younger brother’s feelings.

“I will go alone.”

Realizing what was happening, Namgung Yun attempted to step in before Tang Yu could be put in an even more difficult position.

After hesitating briefly, Tang Yu raised one hand to stop him.

“Fine. Do as you wish.”

‘Yes! My Hidden Piece!’

Seogyeom cheered inwardly while outwardly blinking in surprise.

‘Is he really that happy?’

There was no need to explain how Seogyeom’s expression—his lips moving soundlessly because he couldn’t openly show his excitement—looked to Tang Yu.

“You haven’t stepped outside the Tang Clan even once since coming of age, have you? That fellow seems capable enough, so perhaps taking a stroll outside with him wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

His voice, which had initially sounded as though it might break, gradually grew firm.

Long ago, Seogyeom—the Tang Clan’s greatest source of worry—had once behaved like any other child his age.

‘Didn’t he once throw a tantrum because he wanted to see a festival…?’

It had been the only request the sickly child had made, and everyone had desperately wanted to grant it.

But Seogyeom’s qi and blood had been in disarray, making him excessively sensitive to other people’s internal energy.

If someone even touched him, he would often collapse before taking more than a few steps.

It was impossible to find a member of the Tang bloodline who had nothing to do with poison and had not learned martial arts.

As a result, Seogyeom had no choice but to live in isolation until adulthood.

As the distant memories faded, Tang Yu turned his gaze back to Namgung Yun.

“Is the martial art you practice related to the harmony of yin and yang?”

Seogyeom sharply drew in a breath at Tang Yu’s unexpected question.

‘My god… He’s actually asking that?’

Seogyeom knew very little about martial arts outside of The Chronicles of Yun the Hero, but even he knew how rude it was to ask someone directly about their martial arts.

The Tang Clan itself was a group built primarily around blood relatives because of concerns that its martial arts manuals might leak into the outside world.

Although it had since taken on some characteristics of a martial sect in order to expand the influence of its outer clan, there were countless groups that had once operated in much the same way.

And Namgung Yun was in a position where he had to conceal his identity.

“I do not possess any martial art that could truly be called something I formally learned.”

After a brief silence, Namgung Yun answered calmly.

“I learned whatever came my way, so I merely had to learn how to regulate myself. I am hardly in a position to speak of the harmony of yin and yang.”

It was a humble answer, but one that carried an implicit affirmation.

Tang Yu’s expression eased slightly.

The moment he had asked the question, he had prepared himself for Namgung Yun to react negatively.

The fact that he had let it pass so calmly suggested that the outsider was not a bad person.

Normally, Tang Yu wouldn’t have cared whether someone had a good character or not.

But Seogyeom was involved.

That changed things.

Having reassessed Namgung Yun, Tang Yu slowly organized his thoughts.

“As you can see, my younger brother is extremely weak. Poisonous qi is dangerous enough, but even the residual effects of internal energy can be fatal to him.”

This time, Namgung Yun’s eyes widened slightly.

In the martial world, revealing someone’s medical condition was almost as unusual as asking about their martial arts.

Tang Yu himself had no desire to reveal every detail of his younger brother’s condition to an outsider he had only recently met.

But there were times when circumstances left one with no choice.

Even now, his precious younger brother was staring eagerly at Namgung Yun.

Reports had already been coming in for the past few days that Seogyeom had been acting strangely, leaving Tang Yu deeply unsettled.

There was a saying he hated even to think about—that people sometimes changed suddenly when they were nearing death.

Could Seogyeom have sensed his own end?

While the entire Tang Clan had watched him anxiously, an outsider had suddenly appeared and captured Seogyeom’s attention.

Whether it was admiration for a martial artist around his age or curiosity about things beyond the Tang Clan didn’t matter.

The important thing was that Seogyeom had regained his vitality.

That alone was enough.

“So that’s why you asked.”

“If I was rude, I apologize.”

Tang Yu, who had acted arrogantly the entire time, was the first to bow his head.

He was undoubtedly older and of a higher generation than Namgung Yun, but none of that mattered when Seogyeom was involved.

“No. Considering the kindness my benefactor has shown me, what is there that I could not reveal?”

His generosity doesn’t seem so lacking either.

“So… in that case, can I entrust Gyeom to you?”

At last, Tang Yu gave his permission.

The words written on the scroll slowly began to change as well.

Seogyeom instinctively turned toward Namgung Yun.

‘This should be enough, right?’

The corner of Seogyeom’s lips, which had been rising triumphantly, suddenly froze.

With the difficulty drastically reduced, this should have been welcome news from Namgung Yun’s perspective.

Yet, for some reason, he looked dissatisfied.

“Is that… truly enough?”

He even asked as though he were unhappy with the arrangement.

For a brief moment, Seogyeom felt an inexplicable chill crawl down his spine.

In The Chronicles of Yun the Hero, Namgung Yun had only one reason for coming to the Tang Clan.

To uncover the source of the poison used in the Namgung Clan massacre.

Once he learned the secret, he was supposed to leave without looking back.

And yet…

Something was strange.

The way Namgung Yun kept pressing the matter so insistently…

It was almost as if—

he knew that herbs from some mountain behind the estate would never be enough to keep Seogyeom alive.