Kwak Yeon, absorbed in his own thoughts, failed to notice the subtle shift in Ju Yeoryeong’s voice as he spoke.
“There’s nothing yet decided about whether the two of us even have a future, so I wouldn’t know. But I do know that when it comes to being rude, Lady Ju is hardly inferior to me.”
Even though the remark was openly barbed, Ju Yeoryeong nodded without hesitation.
“If the two of us are so incompatible, then we must be a perfect match made in heaven. Thanks to that, things feel a lot more comfortable now.”
Kwak Yeon sensed that if he kept matching her banter, it would go on forever, so he changed the subject.
“Lady Ju, are you familiar with the Sangwan Clan?”
Unlike himself, Ju Yeoryeong was clearly a rising star of her sect. He assumed she would’ve received systematic education regarding the affairs of Kangho and Murim.
“Why do you bring up the Sangwan Clan all of a sudden? Ah, you must’ve just returned from some business related to them, right?”
Even when she stated the obvious, Kwak Yeon remained silent. Ju Yeoryeong pressed down the irritation rising in her throat and continued.
“The Sangwan Clan is the dominant family in this Jeongeum region—meaning the southern Dongjeong Lake area. They can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Five Great Clans. Especially since the Sangwan Clan Lord is one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, whatever the matter was... Cave Daoist, you’d better tread very carefully.”
“The Sangwan Clan Lord is one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions?”
Naturally, Kwak Yeon had heard of the Twenty-Eight Mansions. He simply didn’t know who they all were, specifically.
The One Sage, Four Venerables, Five Peaks, Six Kings, Eight Demons, Nine Evils, and the Twenty-Eight Mansions—those are the names of the supreme martial masters of today’s Central Plains.
Which meant the Sangwan Clan Lord was a powerhouse ranked among the top fifty martial artists of the realm.
Ju Yeoryeong looked at Kwak Yeon with a face full of disbelief and astonishment.
“You don’t know the Twenty-Eight Mansions?”
“Of course I know of them. I just don’t know exactly who’s among them.”
“My word, what a clueless Daoist you are. And yet you’ve been strutting around like that?”
Kwak Yeon didn’t like the edge in her tone.
It was the instinctive discomfort of being entirely known by someone he himself knew nothing about.
“How much has your organization investigated me?”
“We know at least what’s known to the world. Even that you recently fled from Danmok the Old Monster.”
Kwak Yeon understood that “Danmok the Old Monster” referred to Danmok Seong, whom he’d encountered on the Guando Road.
“That incident became that widely known?”
Whatever the reason, the fact remained that he had indeed run from Danmok Seong.
“Is Senior Danmok also one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions?”
“You really didn’t know that Danmok the Old Monster was one of them before you fought him?”
“It just sort of happened that way.”
“You’re truly a hopeless Daoist.”
Ju Yeoryeong clicked her tongue, then said with a serious look,
“Anyway, let’s end this talk.”
“Make a decision. Are you going to get yourself killed by my grandmaster, or are you going to take me along as your companion?”
Kwak Yeon stared at Ju Yeoryeong for a moment before asking,
“Is your grandmother also one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions?”
“Hah. How dare you even compare my grandmaster to the Twenty-Eight Mansions?”
“Stop trying to be clever. Just keep it in mind. You’ll find out naturally when you meet my grandmaster.”
When Ju Yeoryeong said “naturally,” it sounded as though she put particular weight into the word.
In any case, the idea that the white-haired, red-cheeked old woman surpassed even the Twenty-Eight Mansions only made Kwak Yeon more intrigued.
He had already sensed she was a master of extraordinary caliber from the moment their eyes met.
She had launched a burst of qi from a distance of at least fifty jang and made him raise his head in response.
At the time, Kwak Yeon had pondered through what combinations of internal and external cultivation such a harmony of energies could be achieved. For more chapters visit novel·fıre·net
It was a martial art of a completely different nature from the wall of internal energy Danmok Seong had demonstrated.
Kwak Yeon felt a thirst for advancing in martial arts.
To reach the Realm of No Extremes, one had to refine essence, energy, and spirit.
Even so, martial arts ultimately had to be manifested through the body. That act of manifestation is what forms martial techniques and postures.
It was this thirst that made Kwak Yeon inwardly hope for another encounter with that ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) old woman master.
It wasn’t a competitive drive to win in combat, but a yearning to learn.
Even if it meant a life-and-death duel, if he could learn something, he didn’t want to pass up the chance.
‘So to meet that old woman, I have to travel with this young lady...’
The thought of such a peculiar companionship was not particularly appealing.
As he quietly studied Ju Yeoryeong, Kwak Yeon suddenly recalled the young girl named Jeong-a whom he had met in the courtyard of Simnyeong Palace.
A girl with blue eyes and hair black as ebony—mysterious like a celestial maiden.
‘She must be around this young lady’s age by now.’
But in Kwak Yeon’s mind, she had remained forever a child.
When exhausted from training, he would sometimes think of that girl—just a passing encounter, like a breeze.
“I wanted to run away, no matter where.”
It was likely that upon hearing her say that, he had felt a pang of shared pain.
‘I wonder what path that child chose in the end?’
Suddenly, Kwak Yeon wondered if Ju Yeoryeong, too, was wrestling with something.
He felt a story she couldn’t voice hidden in the earnest look in her eyes.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I mean, I know I’m rather pretty, but staring like that with your soul slipping out of your eyes is just rude, you know.”
Looking at Ju Yeoryeong’s slightly pouting expression, Kwak Yeon found her cute. Just like with Seokjangsan, there was a certain fun in teasing her.
Suddenly, a memory of So Cheong popped into Kwak Yeon’s mind—the little girl who used to hide behind her mother’s skirt at the mere glance of a stranger.
‘She’s hard for me to approach, but this young lady might...!’
By any measure, she’d be a hundred times better suited.
‘If she could bridge the gap between me and So Cheong, her recovery would be much faster. The problem is that this young lady’s temperament is rather prickly.’
After a moment’s thought, Kwak Yeon abruptly asked,
“Lady Ju, have you ever looked after a child?”
Ju Yeoryeong stared at him, baffled.
“What’s with the sudden mention of a child...?”
Then she recalled seeing Kwak Yeon so focused on picking out a bead in the curios shop.
“You... are you married?”
“Wait—if the child’s old enough to play with beads, then they’re not a baby. How old were you when you got married? No, more importantly, then you really are going to die when we meet my grandmaster.”
At that last comment, Kwak Yeon went beyond baffled into genuine anger.
“What does it matter to your grandmaster if someone else married young or not? And how would that be some sort of capital offense? That bead was for my niece.”
Ju Yeoryeong let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, that’s a relief. But why are you getting mad? I was the one who got startled. You could’ve just said from the start it was for your niece.”
Hmph! What shameless cheek.
“Anyway, if it’s not that, then fine.”
“I’m not fond of grown men, but I do like little kids.”
By “grown men,” she clearly meant Kwak Yeon.
‘They say even dung has its uses.’
Kwak Yeon was irritated, but this leech still had more value than dung, so he nodded.
“Fine, then. Let’s travel together until your grandmaster arrives. I’ve got a thing or two to say to her as well.”
“A wise decision. And let me tell you one thing: if you don’t want to die on the spot, never call her ‘grandmother’ in front of her.”
“That’s the one word in this world my grandmaster hates more than anything else.”
Sangwan Clan, Deokseong County Branch – Cheongu Manor.
At Cheongu Manor, the Manor Lord Sangwan Jin-ho was writing official letters in his private study.
“Lord, Overseer Gong is here.”
The doors of the study opened, and a man with a fierce look in ornate silk clothing stepped in. He was Gong Yeom-gak, regional chief of Yeomwangsa for the Jeongeum region.
Even as Gong Yeom-gak gave a courteous bow, Sangwan Jin-ho remained focused on his writing.
Gong Yeom-gak’s brow creased slightly.
‘Even if Yeomwangsa is a low-tier faction of the Black Path, I’m still the regional chief of Jeongeum. Hmph!’
But the moment Sangwan Jin-ho lifted his head, his face broke into a wide smile.
“What took you so long?”
“As you know, Lord, we’ve had quite a bit to handle. Messages to send in all directions, replies to sort—I've barely had a moment to breathe.”
Sangwan Jin-ho tossed a ledger onto the desk.
“Records of the newly arrived drifters.”
Gong Yeom-gak skimmed through the pages and muttered,
“Looks like we’re going to get busy again.”
“That’s money for you people, isn’t it? A good thing, no?”
“Oh, please, don’t say that. We at Yeomwangsa have our own struggles too. These fools scatter like grasshoppers hit with firecrackers.”
“Though I’ll admit—it’s much easier thanks to your recent support.”
As Sangwan Jin-ho narrowed his eyes, Gong Yeom-gak quickly corrected himself.
“Lord, that was a slip of the tongue.”
“Our Sangwan Clan has no ties to your group. Your comings and goings to this manor are solely in your capacity as Overseer of the textile trade, nothing more.”
“If so much as a word leaks out, you’ll be held fully accountable.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“And what of those previous drifters we handed over?”
“I brought the report here.”
Sangwan Jin-ho scanned the new ledger and remarked,
“Still, the amounts aren’t all that big this time either.”
“Lord, that’s just the nature of Yeomwangsa loans. The principal is barely anything. That’s why we call it the ‘King of Flames Loan.’”
“You people really have no conscience.”
“I can’t argue if you put it like that. But we have our reasons too. Even an unwed girl who gets pregnant has her excuse, right? A lot of the money gets lost to those who run. We factor that in when we set the interest.”
“In any case, thanks to you buying up all the debt slips in bulk, we at Yeomwangsa are more than grateful.”
“I know you’ve already squeezed everything you could.”
“We at Yeomwangsa can wring water from dry sand, Lord.”
Sangwan Jin-ho opened a safe under his desk and pulled out a promissory note.
“A five-hundred yang note.”
As Gong Yeom-gak stiffened his neck, Sangwan Jin-ho added,
“What would you find inside a fool’s belly even if you cut it open? Just shit. Go on, take it.”
“Lord, could you spare just a bit more? It cost quite a bit to summon Yeomwangsa agents from Hubei and Anhui provinces.”
Frowning, Sangwan Jin-ho pulled out one more hundred-yang note.
“Thank you. So when does the operation begin? Our boys are getting restless, sitting around in the sticks.”
“On the fifteenth of this month. The Family Head will attend the Daijehak’s birthday celebration. Begin operations three days beforehand. Keep it quiet but efficient.”
“Lord, quiet is a luxury when it comes to our business. Most of the fugitives are tough bastards. Words don’t work—you’ve got to chop off a head or two before they listen.”
“That won’t do in Sangjeon Village.”
Sangwan Jin-ho’s voice turned firm and quiet.
“There are far more effective methods than crude violence.”