Chapter 184 - The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

Chapter 184 - Poisonous - 5 One must not allow 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' to become the property of the Sacheon Dang clan. If 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' simply remains as a piece of writing intended to rescue Hwarin, or a writing till the end that only contains the secret tales of the Dang family, then my novel will have become the property of the Sacheon Dang clan. At this point in time, there is no longer any justification to continue serializing 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family,' and even if I wished to, the Dang clan could block further publication. However, it is impossible to retrieve the tales about 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' that have already spread far and wide. What should I do? I must separate truth from fiction, using the will of Hyang-ah, the woman whom the head of the Dang family loved, as a shield. I initiated my plan after first bringing up the story of Hyang-ah and giving the Dang family head a figurative blow. "The characters in 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' are not real people." Dang Jung is not Dang Baekho, and Du Eunghyang is not Hyang-ah. To achieve my goal, I must first get the head of the Dang family to acknowledge that the characters in 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' are fictional, allowing me to move forward. "The Dang Jung in 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' is not me, and Du Eunghyang is not Hyang-ah, are you saying that?" "Dang Jung, the unparalleled beauty of Sacheon, the foremost musician of Hubei, the solitary Poison Master, the Triple Poison. Isn't it true that most of the content in 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' is my own creation and not actual events? It only contains a slight admixture of events that those involved from twenty years ago might realize." If I am to continue the series, 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' must not be taken for the real characters. If 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family,' which contains the secrets of the Dang clan, is perceived to have real characters, then the influence of the Sacheon Dang clan becomes overwhelmingly strong. I would unwittingly become as a fool who gambled away his parentage for romance. The only truths I borrowed from reality are that a swordsman of the Dang clan fell in love with a courtesan, and that a lust demon really existed. In order to exercise my rightful authority over 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family,' I must have it acknowledged that the story is fictional, derived merely from the concept of the real events. If 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' is recognized as fiction, then I can continue with its serialization. "Indeed. Even though it's my own story, when I read the novel, it hardly seemed like it was about me." That's fortunate. At least he's not saying he used to go around sporting poison rings when he was young. Otherwise, I might have had to ask if he could run as swiftly as a knife hurled through the air. The truth always differs from reality. The head of the Dang clan pursued the lust demon twenty years ago, but unlike Dang Jung, he did so not alone but accompanied by his subordinates. "That's right. Dang Jung is not you, head of the Dang clan. Du Eunghyang is certainly not my mother. 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' is merely the story of a swordsman I have dreamed of since childhood but could never find." Having transformed 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' into a tale of fictional characters, I baited the head of the Dang clan. "Yearned for, but never found?" Feigning the visage of a son longing for his beloved mother, I began to speak, having bitten the bait the head of the Dang clan offered. "When I came to the Central Plains, I wished to encounter the swordsman of whom my mother told stories when I was a child. But there was no swordsman willing to lend a hand to someone like me, a mere barbarian with black hair in distress." “......” Your son seems to have suffered greatly in the Central Plains, doesn't he? The head of the Dang clan, imagining for a moment my hardships, found himself unable to respond. "I met Hwarin while enduring such hardship, a child like myself born out of wedlock who suffered deep scars, but one with a heart as warm as embers." And her heart was large as well. "I heard that both of you have endured much." "I wanted to become a swordsman for her. Yet, far from becoming a swordsman, I was on the brink of homelessness. That's when I thought: why not write the stories of the swordsman that my mother used to tell me, the swordsman that I had longed to see?" "Not to convey the tale of the Poisonous Persona to the Dang clan?" "I had hoped, but could not be certain. Yet, confident in my ability to write, I was certain I would make money. In Joseon, they say with money you can even command ghosts; if all else failed, I determined to ward off crises with money." I encapsulated the swordsman I longed to see in 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family.' It was a stroke of luck to be connected with the Dang clan. While maintaining my original purpose of writing for rescuing Hwarin, I slightly altered my intent. "What would you have done had you failed?" "Had I not been present here, I would have given my all for my woman in every moment, and whether that would've led to success or failure is beyond my knowing. However......" I paused in my speech, fixing the head of the Dang clan with a silent, penetrating stare. What does he think is the reason for my gaze fixed upon him? He must be curious. "However?" "If even a small portion of the stories my mother told me were true, if the swordsmen I dreamed of truly existed, I believed they would come to save Hwarin." Trust was imbued in my gaze toward the head of the Dang clan. Her son has grown to be a man who, unlike himself, has written a novel about a swordsman to protect a woman he cares for, based on stories of a swordsman modeled after a man his mother had once known. The characters of 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' are fictional. The story of 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' is fictional. Yet one truth remains unchanged. If it involved the Sacheon Dang clan, they would come to the rescue. My logic seems a far-fetched leap, but in reality, the Dang clan arrived and did rescue Hwarin. Once the outcome is determined, it just takes a bit of beautifying to wrap things up neatly. What might the head of the Dang clan be feeling now? Unable to comprehend his own emotions, for a moment he hung his head, closing his eyes. ------------------------- "Of course, things didn't go as planned. Expecting a swordsman, instead someone came looking to chop off my eight limbs." I maintained a light-hearted tone as if making a joke, smiling as I spoke, in an effort to buoy the spirits of the head of the Dang clan who was watching me compose myself. I truly thought I was a dead man then. But considering what happened afterward, I see it as a cheap vaccine that put me in touch with allies. "I heard it from the head of the Association. Dang Mugi was truly sorry. Joined midway and all he could do was endlessly sing your praises on the way. I hope you don't hold too much of a grudge against the lad." Perhaps due to being his close confidant, the head of the Dang clan, like defending an irrepressible friend, advocated for him with affections. "No hard feelings. It's not the first time I've seen someone taking an irrational dislike to a black-haired barbarian for no reason." I had a significant dispute with the head of the Yi Association, but in the end, he became a trusted ally, so no ill feelings remain. "There is a reason." From the head of the Dang clan, an unexpected response emerged. "What do you mean there is a reason?" "I should not speak of a friend and subordinate's family affairs, but it pains me more to leave you with a misunderstanding about the head of the Yi Association. As a child, his mother eloped with a black-haired man." "Ah." Such a thing? Experiencing a mother's infidelity as a child could lead to those misconceptions. But isn't that an excessive dislike for people with black hair? "On top of that, his childhood friend and fiancée was also taken by a black-haired man. I can still hear his cries of grief." "Ha... ha... ha..." With that history, one can’t help but harbor aversion. Indeed, fiction cannot surpass reality. So, the head of the Yi Association’s discrimination wasn't unfounded. To him, perhaps I resembled some blond-tanned ruffian from a walking NTR scenario. Given his past, I can acknowledge his prejudice. Seeing as he rose above that to support me, should I not recognize him as truly righteous? After learning of the head of the Yi Association's harrowing personal narrative, which was utterly jolting, almost like doing a tap dance on top of 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family,' I couldn’t help but smirk wryly, considering how he overcame his wounds and found his match. ------------------------- I took a moment to calm the awkward atmosphere by gulping down some bitter ginseng tea. "How did Hyang-ah live in Joseon?" The head of the Dang clan carefully inquired about Hyang-ah's whereabouts. I don't really know. I must be cautious when speaking of Hyang-ah. Too much detail, and I might reveal the truth. Pretending to be a son overwhelmed with emotions at the thought of his deceased mother, I withdrew my lips from the teacup and began. "She was a compassionate mother. The wisest of wives. However, she couldn’t evade the epidemic that swept through our village when I was young. As she neared her end due to the illness, she revealed a truth to me that she had kept hidden in her heart." "So she told you the truth only before dying." "A mother guides her child to prevent them from going astray, does she not? I miss my mother now that I'm here. As I've grown older, her voice has begun to escape my memory. The face that used to come to mind as soon as I closed my eyes now takes a little effort to recall. What about you?" "......I can picture her face, but her voice eludes me too." "That's why I wrote 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family.' Because the stories of swordsmen my mother told me remain in my heart. As her son, I wanted to put the stories of the swordsmen we admired into a book." This is the essence of the Mysterious Sect’s Tai Chi Sword Technique being overwhelmed by 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family.' As my gaze shifted to 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family,' the head of the Dang clan looked at the book for a moment before speaking. "Unlike the Du Eunghyang in this book, your mother wasn't the foremost musician of Hubei. She was a future renowned courtesan in training at the courtesan academy Gyo-bang. Far from her first patron, she almost fell into the clutches of a lust demon before I rescued her. And then, the two of us fell in love." Courtesans receive education at the Gyo-bang, a courtesan academy. If they score high marks at the Gyo-bang, they are classified as 'S-grade' and become cheonggi, focussing on liquor and dance. If they receive 'F-grade,' they become honggi, whose primary service is prostitution. It's not that cheonggi do not engage in prostitution, but their appearance fees for the upper echelons can easily unsteady the legs of even high officials. In my novel, Du Eunghyang is a cheonggi, Hyang-ah a courtesan apprentice. The head of the Dang clan means to say that my mother was not even in the vicinity of being a courtesan, alerting me not to misunderstand who my mother was. "I know. That's why 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' is a work of fiction." "This novel is undoubtedly a story of your entire creation." The head of the Dang clan nodded in agreement with my statement. Done. With Hyang-ah as the hostage, the fact that 'The Winds and Clouds of the Dang Family' is fiction has been unmistakably acknowledged. "So long as you understand." "But..." Why? Do you have an objection? Suppressing my surprise, I looked at the head of the Dang clan. He met my gaze with a voice filled with determination and continued. "I loved her, not like the way she's portrayed in this novel, but more so. More than anyone." That's a hit on me. Here we have a legendary romantic. "So the clan was dearer than love, I take it?" Had anyone else said this, they would have likely earned slaps from the head of the Dang clan. But I am the only one in this world allowed such a statement. I exaggeratedly collected my surprised expression, sarcastically remarking to the head of the Dang clan as if a son, deeply moved, made a clumsy retort to his father. I can't appear too moved. I must maintain my distance to leave Sacheon Dang clan alive. "I was in a state of unconsciousness, having succumbed to the lust demon when your mother found me. My overly loyal subordinates thought they were acting in my best interest when they drove her away." "So you are going to claim it wasn't your fault?" "No. It's my fault. As I traveled, my heart wavered under the persuasion of my subordinates, and in the end, I failed to make a decision until the final showdown with the lust demon. My silence was not their mistake to interpret as consent. Had I truly chosen her, I would have used every means, no, abandoned everything to find her, even if she loathed and resented me her whole life. It is not my place to say anything about that." "She bore no resentment." "Is that true?" "Would she have told me tales of a swordsman had she harbored resentment or hatred? On the contrary, before she passed, she only told me that even if I longed to see my biological father, I should endure." This is the truth that I can boldly speak to the head of the Dang clan. I plainly revealed to him Hyang-ah’s true feelings. "Hyang-ah... said that..." The head of the Dang clan couldn't suppress the sorrow that surged within him. He stood up and turned his back to me for a while, gazing out the window. -------------- After composing himself, the head of the Dang clan took his seat again. "What are your parents doing now?" My stepfather? He subtly asserts himself as my biological father. "They have passed away. That's why I sought a livelihood and came to the Central Plains." How certain he must have been. Without showing any surprise at my words, the Dang family head considered them for a moment before speaking. "...The reason I didn't take another wife after losing my spouse was because I harbored a hope that Hyang-ah might come back one day." So, that was why a man of the head of the Dang clan's stature, who would typically have two or three wives, had a vacant position. "I have heard that the Lady was absent." "If it's agreeable with you, I would like to announce you, not as my illicit child but as my son before the family elders and at the family shrine." "What did you just say?" "I would like to officially take you in as my son." This gentleman is really causing a stir. Mr. Dang family head. This meeting with you has to be the end. Where is my mother's grave? Who is my father? To which Kang family do I belong? How was Hyang-ah like? Any minor slip-up or suspicion could cost me my life, let alone being your son. It's too dangerous. And if I were to become your official son, I wouldn’t just be any son. I would become the eldest son. Even if I abandoned my rights to succeed or if the Young Master recovered, the position of the eldest son could drive countless people of the Dang family to desperate straits. "I am supposed to be your s..." "Family Head!" How should I put it? As I was trying to figure out what to say, the chief steward, whom I had seen earlier, rushed in urgently. "What's the matter?" "Lady Hwarin has awakened! You must go to her at once!"