This thought crossed my mind as I returned to my quarters after the Nine Dragons Festival.
Fuck, it seems like I really messed up.
"Why did I do that, you idiot?"
I recalled Gyu Yeonseo collapsing after being slapped, with blood streaming from his nose.
Since my body is frail, I didn't use much force, and I didn't channel any inner energy, so he probably didn't suffer any serious damage.
"Still, it was too much, even if that's the case."
I'm not saying my actions were too harsh. By my standards, I could have been even harsher, but it's not something I can easily overlook.
I simply forgot about Gyu Yeonseo's status.
Should I have let the bloodline of the Gyu family be humiliated in front of hundreds of spectators at a festival hosted by the Gyu family?
Even if Gyu Yeonseo, who was genuinely trying to kill me, is still young, I, who have lived twice as long as him when including my previous life, was too swayed by my emotions.
"Even after all that, I still haven't matured."
Or maybe it's the fault of the elder who sent me there at that age?
...What's the point of questioning it? It's the old man's fault.
- Whoosh
A breeze brushed past, accompanied by a sound that tickled my ears.
Even though winter is almost over, the spring night is still cold.
Despite wearing thin martial arts clothing, I don't feel the cold thanks to the Gyu Yan Huo Lun Gong.
"Achoo!"
I turned around at the sound of a short sneeze and saw Wu Lian and Wei Xuelian.
While Wu Lian greeted me, Wei Xuelian approached, holding a lot of cloth in her hands.
"What are you holding?"
"Master... your hands..."
Only then did I notice my hands. The skin was peeling off, and blood was trickling down.
Gyu Yeonseo was surrounded by inner energy, so the impact of hitting him without any protection must have caused this.
A person who has cultivated inner energy regenerates faster than an ordinary person, so this minor injury will heal quickly if left alone.
"What a mess... This is nothing..."
Before I could finish, Wei Xuelian started wrapping my hands with the cloth. Her movements were clumsy, as if she didn't know what to do.
I wanted to wrap them myself, but seeing the tears streaming down Wei Xuelian's eyes, I couldn't bring myself to do it.
When the elder was beating Pang Wujin, it looked exciting, but for such a minor injury, she's reacting like this, which is a bit surprising.
'Getting a bandage wrapped by Wei Xuelian, how interesting.'
It's something a future top martial artist would do. Isn't it a somewhat honorable thing?
The cloth wrapped around my hands became twice as thick before she stopped.
She stroked the wrapped hands, which were now unrecognizable, and sniffled.
"Master, does it hurt a lot...?"
"It didn't hurt before, but now it does because of this."
"You mean it doesn't hurt? That's a relief..."
"...Yeah, sure."
Are you only hearing what you want to hear?
After an unexpected walk and a short stroll at night, I returned to my quarters.
Is Gyu Yeonseo okay?
'I don't know.'
I decided not to care.
There's no way I would suddenly develop a sense of family now.
Not just Gyu Yeonseo, but me too.
When I returned to my quarters, the light was on in my room. I asked a nearby servant what was going on, and he was surprised.
"Eh? I thought you were already informed..."
His face turned pale instantly.
Wondering who could be in my room, I opened the door to find:
"Ah! Master Gyu!"
The lunatic... no, Pang Wujin was sitting there.
******************
"Nice to meet you, I'm Pang Wujin."
"I know. Young Master Pang."
"You can call me Brother Pang or Brother Wu if you want to be more familiar."
"No, we're not that close..."
Why is this lunatic here?
And why is Pang Ahxi covering her face?
Her ears were red, so she must be quite embarrassed.
I roughly grabbed the collar of Pang Wujin, who was pretending to be friendly, and said:
"Brother... Since we caused some trouble, shouldn't we apologize first?"
Her voice trembled with embarrassment.
Pang Wujin looked surprised at Pang Ahxi's words.
"You're right... Since we're already engaged, it would have been better to leave Ahxi behind. I was too careless."
"What... Is he really a lunatic?"
I agreed with Pang Ahxi.
He kept talking nonsense, so she reluctantly spoke up.
"Sorry for coming so late at night without any warning, and for my lunatic... brother insisting on coming to see you."
"Did Young Master Pang come to see me?"
"You can call me Brother Wu."
"No, that's fine."
I don't want to be close to this guy.
While the tea, which I had the servant make in a hurry, was cooling, Pang Wujin just smiled and didn't say much.
"So, why did you come here...?"
Is he here to confront me about the incident with the elder? It seemed a bit late, but one side of Pang Wujin's cheek was still swollen.
That was where the elder had hit him directly.
'He said he controlled his strength...'
What kind of strength control is that? If he had used a bit more force, his head might have exploded.
"..."
...It's a bit scary to think that he might have really done that.
"I have nothing to do with what the elder did. I clearly tried to stop him."
"What do you mean by that?"
Huh, is it not because of that?
When I looked puzzled, Pang Wujin continued.
"It's nothing serious. I heard you're the younger brother of Jian Feng, and I wanted to see your face again."
"Are you close to my eldest sister?"
I hadn't heard that Pang Wujin was close to Gyu Xibi, and of course, I wasn't particularly close to her either.
If I had to compare, I had a slightly better relationship with her than with Gyu Yeonseo.
"I think I'm close, but I'm not sure about Jian Feng."
'So, they're not close.'
Considering Gyu Xibi's personality, they probably aren't. She wouldn't get along well with someone like Pang Wujin.
"So, I came to see you and get your seal."
"What are you going to use my seal for? I don't have any special abilities."
What do you want from a half-breed living in the family?
Especially since we had already broken off our engagement, we couldn't be considered in good terms.
Pang Wujin said:
"I thought there was no one interesting in the Gyu family except Jian Feng, but I found one more."
Is he talking about me?
Interesting? What kind of interesting is he talking about? I don't understand what he means by "interesting."
'He's definitely a strange guy.'
Thinking about how none of the future top martial artists were normal, it's not surprising.
Of course, I still don't want to be involved with him.
It might be good to build connections for the future when I become a disciple, but...
'He's a difficult person.'
Maybe it's because of his unpredictable personality, but he's a difficult person.
"If you want a seal, it's better to go to my sister. I'm not particularly useful."
"I can't see her now...?"
"Can't you come back tomorrow or the next day?"
Hmm, is she still unconscious?
"I came to see Master Gyu, and to be honest, I'm not particularly interested in Miss Gyu."
"Brother, can you please watch your words?"
"Sorry, I'm not good at that."
What can I do with this guy?
My headache, which had calmed down recently, was starting to come back.
Pang Wujin, seemingly oblivious to my thoughts, suddenly took out a black token from his pocket.
"This is the seal I'm giving to Master Gyu."
"A seal?"
The black token had the character "Pang" (彭) written in yellow. It didn't look particularly impressive, but Pang Ahxi's reaction suggested it was important.
"Brother, can you really just hand this over so casually?"
"What's the problem? It was given to me to use. I can give it to anyone I want."
"But still..."
"What is this thing, anyway?"
"It's a token that proves you're a guest of the Pang family. With this, you can receive the same treatment as a bloodline member if you visit our family."
"Please take it back..."
Why are you giving me such a burdensome thing?
If I accept this, I'll really be tied to Pang Wujin without any excuse.
"Considering my history with your family, I don't think it's a good idea..."
"I don't care about that."
"Brother, I do care."
"I hope you'll accept it, Master Gyu."
Pang Ahxi's words were ignored like they were nothing. Building a good relationship with the Four Great Families would be beneficial, but I can't understand why Pang Wujin is doing this.
"Even if you don't want to keep it, why don't you give it to my eldest sister? You two are close, right?"
"I already tried to give it to Jian Feng, but she refused. It's a really valuable item, so why won't she take it?"
He's already given up! Damn.
"Then, what about my second sister?"
"I'm giving it to you because I'm interested in you."
"...I like this woman, Young Master Pang."
"Ah, of course I like women, don't I? I think so."
Why are you asking? It's creepy the way you say it.
As I kept refusing, Pang Wujin reluctantly put the token back in his pocket.
Pang Ahxi couldn't look at her crazy brother's actions.
At least she seems normal.
The longer this went on, the more I wanted to just lie down.
Maybe it was because of the sudden sparring, but I was tired.
Noticing my condition, Pang Wujin reluctantly got up, saying he should leave.
This must have been his only business.
As he was leaving, Pang Wujin asked me:
"Will Master Gyu also join the New Dragon Hall?"
"Um, I guess so."
Born into a righteous family, I would need to go through the New Dragon Hall, which is run by the Martial Arts Alliance, to live as a martial artist.
While the family or sect can teach martial arts, the New Dragon Hall is necessary to graduate and receive a certificate to fight monsters and gain knowledge about them.
While there are other New Dragon Halls in different regions, the main ones are run by the Martial Arts Alliance for the major righteous families and sects.
'I've been thinking about how to avoid it, though.'
The training period is a whole year.
I don't have the luxury to waste a year.
"Then, you'll be my junior soon."
Pang Wujin smiled and patted my shoulder. Is he trying to build a school connection since blood and gifts are out of the question?
'Is it because I didn't lose to Gyu Yeonseo and hit him too hard? Why is he so obsessed with me?'
Even if a woman did this, it wouldn't be good, but a grown man doing this is just creepy.
As Pang Wujin left, Pang Ahxi hesitated and looked at me.
"What now?"
"You said I was older than you."
"You said it was disgusting to call me that. What do you want?"
After a long pause, Pang Ahxi spoke.
"I'm sorry."
"What are you apologizing for all of a sudden?"
"...For breaking your arm and knocking you down on the day of our engagement."
"...Did I?"
Did I really go through such a terrifying experience?
"What did I do to deserve such a scary thing?"
"You called me the child of a concubine or something."
"You deserved it."
Even if both arms were broken, it would have been justified. Instead, I found it strange that Pang Ahxi was apologizing.
"It's okay. If anything, I should apologize. I'm sorry for what happened back then."
We're both illegitimate children, so who was saying what to whom?
It was probably just jealousy.
Whether I accepted her apology or not, it was her right, but her expression seemed a bit clearer.
"Take care."
"You too, and even if you don't like what your brother gave you, remember it was given with good intentions and use it wisely later."
"What did he give me? I already gave it back..."
Chill. A cold blade flew and stuck in the air.
I quickly searched my pocket and found the black token Pang Wujin had put back.
'When did he...!'
When he patted my shoulder.
Could he have put it in then?
I laughed bitterly at the thought.
"He's really a lunatic."
In the end, I sighed and put the token back in my pocket.
******************
On the third day of the Nine Dragons Festival.
It's the day of the after-party and street festival, but I decided to return to the family estate and lay down in the carriage.
Gyu Yeonseo had already left early in the morning.
'At least he's awake.'
It's a relief that he's fine, but our relationship was already awkward, and now it will be even harder to face him.
After everything was ready, the carriage soon set off.
I was trying to rest, but Wei Xuelian kept leaning on my shoulder, unable to stay awake.
I quickly handed her to another servant and let myself drift off to sleep.