Free Web NovelEven though Namgung Hyun remained silent, the Young Clan Head questioned him as if he had already heard the answer.
“Seeing that you’re sitting still right now, it doesn’t seem like you’re in the middle of making a Passage...... Did you refuse her?”
Namgung Jin let his gaze slide over his half-brother’s face as if to read his expression.
“Or is there something you have to obtain in order to make a Passage, like last time? If it’s something like that, then say so. I’ll get it for you.”
Just moments ago, Namgung Munseon had scolded Namgung Hyun not to go outside, yet the Young Clan Head spoke like this. He was arrogant, as though every matter in the Namgung Clan was an exception where he was concerned.
Suppressing the surge of disgust, Namgung Hyun answered.
“No. I was going to make a Passage for the Tang Young Lady, but she did not ask it of me.”
The Young Clan Head, who had been leisurely observing Namgung Hyun’s expression, furrowed one eyebrow.
“The Tang Young Lady didn’t ask for a Passage? Why?”
“It seems she gave up because the time required to construct the Passage would be too long.”
“How long does it take?”
Looking at the Young Clan Head, who acted as if he were simply tossing the question to him, Namgung Hyun’s lips twisted faintly.
“Longer than it would take for the Four-Directions Hall Administrator to confirm the Passage to Sichuan and return.”
“Then what did you and the Tang Young Lady talk about?”
“I don’t wish to say.”
There was a hint of displeasure in Namgung Hyun’s voice. There was no way Namgung Jin would fail to notice it.
A heavy silence settled between them. The atmosphere between the brothers, who found each other uncomfortable, was far from pleasant.
“If you don’t want to talk about the Tang Young Lady, I’ll ask something else.”
Namgung Hyun did not respond.
But Namgung Jin did not trouble himself over his younger brother’s wounded temper.
Dropping his gaze to the table, he asked his question in a calm voice, as though asking about the weather.
“It’s about Elder Cheonghae.”
“......”
“He was one of the few in the Namgung Clan who cherished you, wasn’t he?”
“He was.”
“Then why did you kill him?”
At the lightly thrown question, Namgung Hyun felt as if his heart dropped.
Only when no answer came did Namgung Jin’s gaze rise.
“Why did you do it?”
As he asked again, Namgung Jin’s expression changed in a strange way.
“I believed you, and I told you about the path Elder Cheonghae had mentioned. So how is it that the moment you heard that, you came up with the idea of killing him?”
Namgung Hyun could not answer.
The Young Clan Head, who had only vaguely suspected that it was Namgung Hyun’s doing, had voiced it aloud for the first time. As if he truly wanted to know the reason.
By now, the Young Clan Head was already certain that Namgung Hyun had killed Namgung Cheonghae.
Then an out-of-the-blue question tore into his eardrums.
“Did you resent me that much?”
At the unexpected words, Namgung Hyun’s brows drew together.
“To get rid of me, did you reveal Elder Cheonghae’s position for something so petty, and lure me to die chasing the Blood Cult?”
It was true he had wanted to remove Namgung Jin.
But what he was saying now was not the truth.
“No.”
“Then why on earth!”
Raising his voice, Namgung Jin closed his mouth for a moment, as if to calm himself.
“Why did you do something like that?”
“I had no intention of killing Elder Cheonghae.”
In the end, Namgung Hyun could not deny it outright.
Namgung Jin already knew the truth. Once this man made up his mind, he did not compromise. He could have gone straight to the Clan Head and reported him.
The Clan Head would not think twice. He would believe the Young Clan Head’s words and immediately throw the bastard child into the dungeon.
Namgung Hyun knew this was the opportunity the Young Clan Head was giving him. He seemed to want to hear his reasons.
So Namgung Hyun began to explain.
“At the time, I was told the Blood Cult was tracking Elder Cheonghae, and I merely informed them when I learned he was coming. I didn’t think the Blood Cult would kill him.”
“You didn’t know?”
“Yes.”
Namgung Hyun answered as though he were sincere. But Namgung Jin did not believe him.
“That day, even when you saw Elder Cheonghae’s corpse, you were very calm. You said we had to find the ones who killed him, and had us preserve the body. You even brought up that he’d been poisoned and listed a few suspicious sects by name. Didn’t you naturally guide me to suspect the Tang Clan, as smoothly as flowing water?”
“......”
“And now you’re saying that you never meant to kill Elder Cheonghae, that you merely did what the Blood Cult ordered you to do?”
Namgung Jin’s voice was icy.
The corners of his eyes had gone dry again. frёewebηovel.cѳm
“Three years ago, you drove things so I would suspect the Tang Clan. I’m sure you intended to pull tricks on them as well. Right, it was strange when you asked the Clan Head to let you attend the Family Alliance Meeting this year. Wasn’t that the first time the Tang Clan Head’s eldest daughter attended? I know very well that the Blood Demon wants the Tang Young Lady. Only now do I see everything clearly. Didn’t you attend the Family Alliance Meeting on the Blood Demon’s orders to lure the Tang Young Lady there?”
Namgung Jin’s voice dropped low.
“I can understand if you wanted to bring down the Namgung Clan. The Clan Head, and many others, know how you’ve behaved. I haven’t been warm to you either. I admit it. You were younger than you are now, so one might say you could have been swayed by the Blood Cult’s whispers. But.”
A deep wrinkle formed on Namgung Jin’s forehead.
“What wrong has the Tang Clan done?”
“......”
“Why should the Tang Young Lady have to risk her family’s ruin just because she was moved by you and came to harbor feelings? The Tang Clan’s only ‘crime’ is that the Clan Head’s daughter gave her heart to you, so why must they be exterminated? I cannot understand this utterly heinous course of events. Why on earth are you doing this?”
Namgung Jin pressed his younger brother in an angry voice.
After a long time listening in silence, Namgung Hyun finally opened his mouth.
“I did not use the Tang Young Lady.”
“You didn’t use her?”
Namgung Jin echoed.
In truth, he was confused as well.
While he thought he had to eliminate Namgung Hyun at once, when he recalled how Namgung Hyun had made a Passage for Tang Sohwa, he could not move so easily.
Then Namgung Hyun wiped away even the polite smile he had been wearing and spoke in a flat voice.
“I am sincere.”
“......”
“But you’re right as well. The Blood Demon ordered me to bring the Tang Young Lady, and to do so, I approached her with that intention.”
This part, at least, Namgung Hyun could answer honestly.
“But you know this too, don’t you? That I am sincere toward the Tang Young Lady now. That’s why, knowing your temperament, instead of immediately °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° going to the Clan Head, you arranged this chance to talk with me, isn’t it?”
Namgung Jin let out a dry laugh.
“Yes, you’re right. I came here to talk with you one last time. But deciding to talk to you was something that happened the moment I saw you about to leave the building. Changing my mind and deciding to give you a chance wasn’t even one part of it.”
In a chilly tone, Namgung Jin continued.
“Today at Sagye Hall I heard that the Tang Young Lady had gone to the Namgung residence hall, and that because she didn’t report the reason to the Clan Head, she was sent to the dungeon. So the Tang Clan couldn’t attend the meeting, they said.”
“......” ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
“The moment I heard that, I thought I had to report you as quickly as possible. I suspected you had pulled tricks on the Tang Clan again. I believed you, and Elder Cheonghae died, and the Namgung Clan was thrown into danger. When I thought that the Tang Young Lady might also end up losing everything, locked in the dungeon because she believed you, I couldn’t turn away.”
He clenched the fist resting on his knee.
“But you certainly did help the Tang Young Lady. You made a Passage so she could flee from the Blood Demon, and in doing so you helped bring about the Blood Cult’s downfall. Just now, I saw you trying to ignore the elder and go outside, when you value your reputation like your very life. So I realized you’d lost your mind as well. You must not have known the Tang Young Lady would end up in the dungeon.”
Namgung Jin let out a long breath and added on.
“So speak.”
“......”
“Tell me why I shouldn’t reveal who you really are.”
Namgung Hyun stared at his brother with an unreadable expression.
“I can create a path leading to the Tang manor.”
“Didn’t you say earlier that the Tang Young Lady gave up her request because it would take too long?”
“It’s not a Passage made with Han Cheol or engraved into stone. I can draw a formation on the ground and create a Passage. But because of the nature of a formation that breaks if even a single character differs, it can only move the ground once.”
Namgung Hyun spoke in a calm voice.
“Because it’s a formation that can be deployed only once, everyone has to be gathered together when I draw it. Which means I can’t help but reveal to everyone that I’m a Blood Cult cultist.”
At those words, Namgung Jin’s thick eyebrows twitched.
“If it were only a path for the Tang Young Lady alone, I could draw the formation for her immediately, but I told her it would be difficult because I couldn’t announce it in front of everyone.”
Namgung Hyun let out a faint, involuntary laugh.
“So the Tang Young Lady withdrew her request. She quietly went back, saying she understood me.”
His light brown eyes held the Young Clan Head without any emotion.
“I also just now heard that she was locked in the dungeon to hide my identity. That was when you were returning.”
When Namgung Jin kept his mouth shut, his younger brother, fully feeling that it was his turn, slowly went on.
“I am a Blood Cult cultist, and I have committed an unforgivable crime against the Namgung Clan. But I swear I have committed no crime against the Tang Young Lady, and contrary to your suspicions, I have not the slightest thought of using her.”
Namgung Hyun’s composed voice filled the room.
“All this time, I’ve been thinking of a way to move people to Sichuan without exposing my identity. So I was going to tell you the method I came up with to get the Tang Young Lady released from the dungeon. It’s already been half a day; she must be in agony. In this situation, I had no thought of telling anyone and leaving. For a brief moment, I even forgot the state the Namgung Clan is in.”
Namgung Jin’s upper body leaned toward the table.
“A method? What do you mean, moving them without revealing who you are?”
His tone was urgent.
Namgung Hyun gave him a smile.
“Just as you don’t trust me, I don’t welcome you either. So I’ll tell the Tang Young Lady that myself.”
In contrast to his gentle expression, a cold voice flowed out.
“That is my answer to you. It is the reason you must keep my identity hidden and not throw me into the dungeon.”
