Chapter 30
Chapter 30
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Family's Secret Retreat (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Murong Bi hesitated for a moment upon entering the room.
"The Chief Steward is here too."
Seok Ung bowed his head.
"Greetings, Young Master."
"Ah, yes."
Something felt different about the atmosphere.
Murong Bi keenly sensed the change in Seok Ung's demeanor.
Seok Ung spoke cautiously.
"If the two of you have private matters to discuss, I can step out..."
"No, that's fine."
Murong Sujing said.
"Whatever it is, the Chief Steward doesn't need to leave. Right?"
Murong Bi nodded with an awkward smile.
"Right."
"Make yourself comfortable."
Why do you sound the most at ease here?
'Good.'
Her complexion looked even healthier than yesterday.
His excitement had subsided, and his mood had lifted.
"So, what's going on?"
"I came because I had some questions, but..."
Murong Bi glanced at Seok Ung.
"For some reason, it feels like I should explain myself first?"
"What makes you think we're going to ask you something?"
"Yeah?"
Murong Bi cleared his throat after checking their faces.
"Did I do something wrong, by any chance?"
His intuition was sharp in moments like this.
Seok Ung smiled and said,
"I've never thought that, but does the Young Master have something weighing on his mind?"
"...No."
"Then there isn't. However, as Seok Ung the individual, not the Murong family's Chief Steward, I have something I'd like to ask."
See, there it is.
"Go ahead."
"What happened with the Black Tiger Gang?"
He had already made peace with it in his heart, but since Murong Sujing was watching, he wanted to ask once more.
"Rumors are already spreading?"
"It seems like there was chaos starting yesterday. I only heard about it late today."
"I see."
"I had no idea the Young Master had mastered such remarkable martial arts."
It wasn't a question expecting an answer, but unavoidable curiosity slipped through.
Murong Bi smiled wryly.
'The timing lines up perfectly, doesn't it?'
He had come to ask about the family's secret retreat, and of all things, he was getting this question.
It was natural, perhaps, but honestly, it would have been more comfortable with just Murong Sujing.
'But this isn't bad either.'
Seok Ung was family. In a way, he could even be seen as more precious than blood relatives.
In an era where even parents and siblings stabbed each other in the back, serving a clan that wasn't even bound by blood for twenty years was no easy feat for anyone.
He deserved to be cherished like family—no, more than family.
And Old Man Gwak too.
"Sister, do you have any tea?"
"Oh, want some? I'll brew it."
Seok Ung offered to do it himself, but Murong Sujing waved him off and moved to prepare it personally. With her body healthy again, even brewing tea felt like a joy to her.
While Murong Sujing measured out the tea leaves and boiled the water, Murong Bi sank into silent contemplation.
Seok Ung's expression turned serious.
'He's definitely different.'
Did he no longer feel the need to hide it?
Seeing him so composed, the Young Master's gaze and aura were unmistakably changed.
'Is this the Young Master's true self?'
Honestly, there was a tiny bit—a very tiny bit—of disappointment.
If he had planned something, he could have given a hint. Then Seok Ung wouldn't have worried, and he wouldn't have felt let down by the Young Master.
In the end, what Seok Ung wanted to say was this.
'I'm sorry for everything up until now, Young Master.'
A moment later, Murong Sujing brought the tea.
"Try it."
"The aroma is nice."
He didn't usually enjoy tea, but he still remembered the tea that the Divine Physician and the Grand Marshal had brewed for him after battles.
One sip warmed his insides and settled his restless mind.
Seeing Murong Bi's now composed expression, Murong Sujing and Seok Ung felt an inexplicable tension.
"Let me get straight to the point."
His voice was heavy.
It felt less like a question to his sister and more like one to a subordinate. When he grew serious, an inherent dignity emerged that he couldn't fully conceal.
Murong Sujing swallowed unconsciously.
"What is it?"
"Do you remember anything about the main family's secret retreat?"
"Secret retreat?"
What kind of sudden question was this?
"Which secret retreat do you mean...?"
She turned to look at Seok Ung, whose face showed clear surprise.
"Surely you don't mean the one the Previous Patriarch mentioned?"
"That's right."
Only then did Murong Sujing let out an exclamation.
"Ah, that secret retreat?!"
"You remember now?"
"But why bring it up?"
As expected.
Just as Jin-gwang had said, Murong Sujing hadn't believed in the existence of the secret retreat from the start.
Murong Bi asked innocently.
"Remember what Father said back then? About where the secret retreat is and how to get there."
"Well..."
Murong Sujing furrowed her brows slightly before shaking her head.
"Honestly, I don't remember everything. It was right before he passed, and we were so young. Mother mentioned it a few times before she went too, but I wasn't interested from the beginning."
"Why weren't you interested?"
This was a purely curious question.
Murong Sujing smiled wryly.
"How could I believe talk of 'the place where the gates of heaven open' or 'treasures hidden in the folds of a fairy's robe'?"
After Father passed, she had matured far too quickly. And Mother had been gravely ill too.
The romantic, fantastical jianghu of her dreams had ceased to exist from childhood. To her, the jianghu was a brutal reality, with clear lines between possible and impossible.
Back then, all she could rely on was her own talent, and as she grew, her only wish was to cure her Nine Yin Absolute Meridian.
'As I thought!'
Murong Bi clenched his fist without realizing it.
'The secret retreat Daeho mentioned was my safehouse!'
The place where the gates of heaven open. The folds of a fairy's robe.
There was no better metaphor for the Alliance Leader's safehouse in Hubei Province. To those in the know, it wasn't even a metaphor—it was practically spelling it out.
Murong Bi felt joy mingled with puzzlement.
'Why tell it in such vague terms? He could have kept it as a secret known only to blood relatives.'
Was he afraid the story might leak to others?
'That could be. We were smart kids, but still children, so he might have feared our loose lips... But he could have at least found a way to inform Jilbu.'
Murong Bi mulled it over before setting the doubt aside.
To speak ill of the dead, he had no way of knowing the clan's situation or Murong Daeho's state back then. Wondering or regretting it now was pointless.
What mattered now was that the secret retreat Murong Daeho mentioned was his safehouse—and that his descendants had heard of it.
'That explains their motives.'
He had known little of the original owner's past, but most of his questions were now resolved.
'You did well, you rascal!'
For the first time, he felt proud of his ancestor Murong Bi.
'You never gave up until the end!'
Even if he had gone astray once, he carried the Murong blood. He might have become a wastrel, but his tenacity was unmatched in his generation.
His chest felt clear, as if blocked meridians had opened.
"Sister."
"Hm?"
"What if that secret retreat really exists? What would you do?"
"W-what?"
Murong Sujing jumped in surprise.
Murong Bi, who had been about to continue calmly, hesitated for a moment.
'She doesn't believe it?'
From her eyes, it wasn't shock at the possibility of its existence—it was more like, 'What nonsense is this guy spouting all of a sudden?'
Murong Bi understood her.
'It must have been tough.'
She had lost her parents young and become the eldest daughter of the family.
She wasn't in a position to be swayed by pie-in-the-sky tales. She was smart and had matured early.
Having believed the secret retreat itself was fiction, it was natural for her to think her brother was talking nonsense.
Murong Sujing shook her head.
"If it really exists, of course it'd be great. But there's no way, right?"
"Why do you think there's no way?"
"Well..."
Explaining it would take too long.
Murong Sujing made a wry face.
"If such a place existed, Father would have found it long ago."
Yes, he probably would have.
But upon second thought, maybe not.
"Why assume that?"
"Huh?"
"Have you ever considered why Father might not have gone there himself?"
He sensed her flinch in surprise.
"That's..."
She truly hadn't thought about that part.
To her, for whom reality was paramount, human motivations were strictly rational.
She excluded hypotheticals like 'if this' or 'if that.' Otherwise, she'd be swept away without principles in that environment.
"You've never considered that aspect, have you?"
"Right?"
"But Father didn't explain it clearly either."
It was something Murong Bi himself had wondered about, so he said,
"Reasons he didn't explain clearly. Reasons he didn't go himself."
"...?!"
"What could those reasons be?"
"Th-that's."
"I don't remember perfectly, but Father was never one to confuse us with empty fantasies. The Chief Steward told me that when I was young too."
Seok Ung scratched his cheek and said,
"D-did I say that?"
"You mustn't forget it."
Of course, Murong Bi had no idea if Seok Ung had actually said it. It was just something he made up.
Times like this called for shamelessness.
"Hearing that from you, Chief Steward, made me stake everything on it."
"Pardon?!"
"The secret retreat."
"...!"
"Father and Mother weren't the types to chase illusions. Yet they still told us about the secret retreat, even if passively. Why bother if they weren't going to say anything at all?"
Murong Sujing's mouth slowly fell open.
"That's..."
It made sense.
Mother had been warm and serene, treating her children not as heirs but as the little ones she had borne. She often shared romantic legends and myths of the jianghu.
But Father?
'Father was definitely...'
She could hardly remember Father's personality now.
But there was one undeniable truth.
Father had been the Patriarch.
'Bi is right.'
Murong Sujing's eyes shook greatly.
'Father would never...'
The head of a clan wouldn't chase fantasies.
'Why didn't I think of the obvious?'
It was because of her circumstances and sense of responsibility.
She prioritized what must be done and what could be done. Even as a child, she bore heavy duties, leaving her no choice.
In other words, she had calculated human rationality based solely on her own situation.
But Murong Bi was different.
Not because he knew Murong Daeho. He tried to gauge human rationality from the other person's perspective.
The difference was vast.
"Father had his reasons for not explaining clearly and for not going himself. It's only logical to approach it that way."
"I-is that so."
"Sister and I saw the same thing but interpreted it completely differently. What I took for granted was something you never even considered—and for good reason."
Murong Sujing nodded as if entranced, then suddenly widened her eyes.
"You mean to say...?"
"I've been searching for the secret retreat."
The original Murong Bi had indeed done so.
"And I found out where it is."
Astonishment appeared on their faces.
A faint smile crossed Murong Bi's face.
"The secret retreat exists. You can believe me—I've seen it myself."
He planned to see it himself soon enough, but what did the order matter?