Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Having Too Much (3)
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“Wouldn't it be better to go check on him right now?”
Seok Ung's face was filled with barely concealed anxiety.
“If they've come from the Ten Sword Sect, they wouldn't have sent any run-of-the-mill fighters. And those striking sounds we heard just moments ago... A fight must have broken out.”
“......”
“Acting Patriarch.”
Murong Sujing, who had been sitting cross-legged, opened her eyes.
She hadn't been cultivating qi until now. If she had, Seok Ung wouldn't have even spoken to her.
“Bi-a will be fine.”
“That's not the issue here!”
“The Body Separation Technique is a secret art that even mid-tier masters from great sects with history and tradition can't easily perform. Unless they're a genius among the younger generation, it's nearly impossible to find anyone in the youth who can use it.”
“......”
“Bi-a single-handedly wiped out the entire Black Tiger Gang. Before even considering his internal energy techniques, that means he's quite familiar with combat. Unless the Ten Sword Sect Lord himself shows up, he won't be in any danger.”
Her words carried a cold rationality.
Seok Ung wanted to say that he wasn't doubting the young master's skills.
As Murong Sujing had said, even if his body was emaciated, if he could wield such profound internal arts, there was nothing to fear from any opponent.
But...
'The problem isn't the young master—it's the Ten Sword Sect itself.'
If the young master couldn't push back the entire Ten Sword Sect on his own, then this was the greatest crisis the family had ever faced.
And even Murong Sujing surely knew that.
In the end, Seok Ung let out a sigh and spoke.
“My apologies. It seems age has brought on needless worrying.”
It had nothing to do with age. It was a situation that would make anyone tense and anxious.
After a moment of silence, Murong Sujing spoke up.
“Chief Steward.”
“Yes.”
“Honestly, I'm worried too. Still, I have no intention of leaving this place even a single step.”
“......”
“Because Bi-a told me to trust him and wait.”
It was unshakeable faith.
Anxiety was inevitable, but in the end, she believed in her little brother.
Seok Ung understood her feelings.
'She still hasn't shaken off her sense of debt.'
The guilt and remorse of an older sister toward her younger brother.
Murong Bi had suggested they both cast aside those emotions and move forward for the future, and Murong Sujing had agreed.
But human hearts don't change so easily. Especially when the opponent was a sect vying for supremacy among the great powers.
Her resolve and trust in enduring that anxiety to the very end were truly admirable.
'Young master, please dispel the worries of both myself and the Acting Patriarch.'
A moment later.
“I'm coming in.”
Murong Bi's voice came from outside the door, and Murong Sujing shot to her feet.
The door slid open with a rumble.
Murong Bi entered.
Seok Ung involuntarily stepped back, while Murong Sujing rushed straight to him and cupped his face in her hands.
“Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?”
She had pretended to be composed, but she had suppressed the urge to run out hundreds, thousands of times.
“I-is that blood? Are you hurt? Where? Did they cut you?”
Murong Bi shrank back like a turtle pulling into its shell.
He loved the affection, but he wished she'd just say it with words.
“No injuries. It wasn't like any big shots showed up.”
“It felt like an elder-level expert had come. The Ten Sword Sect Lord's daughter too.”
Having cultivated her internal heart method, Murong Sujing had heard most of what happened outside.
Which must have made it even harder for her to hold back.
Murong Bi gently pulled her hand down and sat in a chair as he spoke.
“The eldest daughter and an elder named Yi Jeong showed up.”
Seok Ung let out an involuntary gasp.
“You don't mean Flame Sword Yi Jeong?!”
“Yeah, something like that. The guy's eyes spun faster than he could draw his sword.”
“Wh-what happened?”
“I killed the guy and his guard.”
He said it so casually that Seok Ung didn't grasp the meaning at first.
“Killed them?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Well, of course you had to ki—...”
“......”
“You killed them?”
“One from excessive blood loss, the other from full-body fractures. Buried them in the back mountain.”
Seok Ung's jaw dropped.
“Y-you killed a Ten Sword Sect elder?!”
“Mind pouring me some tea? I'm thirsty.”
“Young master!”
It was a rare outburst from Seok Ung.
“What have you done?! Killing an elder!”
“I can't exactly die in their place, can I?”
“Th-that's not what I—!”
“Even if I could graciously die for them, what about the rest of the household?”
“......!”
“Those bastards came to crush the main house with their names and words alone. That Yi Jeong guy was ready to swing his sword from the start. You want me to stick my neck out and politely ask them to chop it off cleanly?”
Seok Ung flapped his mouth like a carp. He had nothing to say.
Murong Sujing picked up the teapot.
“Cold tea is fine?”
“As long as it quenches my thirst. Actually, it's better this way.”
Murong Bi drained the cup refreshingly.
“Now I can breathe easy.”
Murong Sujing, sitting across from him, asked with a serious face.
“You killed the elder and his guard?”
“Yeah. You must have heard it all.”
“It's different from just hearing it.”
“Fair enough.”
“You said the first daughter? What about Hwang Jihwa?”
“Knocked her out and had Suhyang tie her up in the storage shed.”
Seok Ung looked ready to faint.
Murong Sujing's expression didn't change. But her breathing deepened as she steadied her heart.
“Bi-a.”
“Yeah.”
“The opponent is the Ten Sword Sect. Beyond their forces, their influence spans the entire region—it's tremendous. If they set their minds to it, they could destroy the main house overnight.”
Whether through financial pressure or brute force, they had the power to do so.
“True enough.”
“Ten Sword Sect Lord Hwang Gyu is known as a rather cold and calculating master. His business acumen is no joke either. But once he explodes, he doesn't care about consequences...”
“Once something explodes and loses all reason, man or beast, it's the same.”
“Bi-a.”
“But truly irrational people aren't as common as you think, sis.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just one daughter. One elder.”
Murong Sujing's eyes wavered.
“Just one?”
“Sects like the Ten Sword Sect have their hands in all sorts of ventures. Plus, they haven't been around that long building their power.”
It was a question he could ask thanks to the Martial Alliance Leader's memories.
Seok Ung nodded. Each nod made his neck bones creak audibly.
“Yes. The Ten Sword Sect opened its doors toward the end of the war with Holy Blood Palace. In truth, it's a young sect with only about thirty years of history.”
“They became the representative sect of the region in just over thirty years. That means unbroken success, rapid growth, grabbing everything in sight—and those who gain much that way don't easily let go.”
It was a cold analysis.
Less analysis and more prediction born of experience, but at Murong Bi's level, it was practically foresight.
“It's just a possibility, but most people are like that. Their thinking often defies common sense.”
“Defies common sense how...?”
“They won't stake the sect's survival on one child. Kids can be had again, but rebuilding a sect is hard.”
Shock colored Murong Sujing's face.
“Th-that can't be!”
“On this point, the Chief Steward knows better than you, sis. Right?”
Seok Ung nodded with a complicated expression.
“Yes. There are too many such power holders in the world to even count.”
“Most power holders think alike. That's why they say power is a demon.”
“How do you know so much about this, young master?”
He might have heard it somewhere.
But just as possessing all the world's knowledge doesn't make one the wisest, few can perfectly apply what they know to life.
Murong Bi viewed the Ten Sword Sect more coldly than anyone—even more than Seok Ung, who prided himself on knowing the world.
“Anyway, it's done. What's important is what comes next.”
“We need to clean this up.”
Murong Bi looked at Seok Ung, whose eyes gleamed with seriousness, as if he'd said something absurd.
“What are you talking about?”
“Pardon?”
“Clean up what?”
“Obviously... today's incident.”
“You don't mean trying to smooth this over somehow, do you?”
That was exactly what he meant.
It would be extremely difficult, but whether through persuasion or bribes, they had to resolve it. Seok Ung was even prepared to act as the envoy himself.
“Fortunately, since you only tied up the sect lord's eldest daughter, if we handle it right...”
“Chief Steward, do you know about low-temperature cooking?”
“Pardon? N-no, I don't.”
“Beyond boiling meat in furiously bubbling water, there's a method of simmering it slowly at lower heat. They say if you seal it and cook at low temperature for a long time, the meat melts in your mouth.”
One of the Martial Alliance's master chefs had served such dishes a few times.
“Why bring that up suddenly?”
“This situation is the same. If we just try to clean it up, we'll end up as tasty boiled pork.”
“What?!”
“People who won't abandon power even at the cost of their children. Do you think their power is just power?”
“......?”
“It's face.”
“......!”
“Power and face are one. Send the child back meekly? That's the start of their counterattack. They'll simmer us slowly but surely over a low flame.”
Seok Ung's face flushed red.
'Damn...'
Murong Bi was right.
In his panic to solve the immediate problem, he hadn't thought that far.
'You fool, you stupid scholar.'
He'd taught the Acting Patriarch all sorts of things from his worldly experience, but it turned out they were all useless.
Knowledge that can't be integrated into one's life is just grasping at clouds.
Back in Yonyeong Province, everyone called him the smartest, but now he didn't know why he'd ended up like this.
And that sparked his curiosity as well.
“Then how should we resolve this?”
“We eat them.”
“E-eat them?”
“If you don't want to be cooking ingredients, become the chef. We'll do the cooking.”
Murong Bi turned to Murong Sujing.
“You said you trusted me with this, right?”
“I did.”
“Leave it to me. Those bastards who looked down on the main house—I'll rip off their limbs, mix in some medicinal herbs, and turn them into tonic soup.”
Murong Sujing unwittingly smiled.
This situation was no small matter. One wrong move, and the entire family could die without it being strange.
But why?
Hearing her brother speak so playfully made her feel at ease instead.
It really seemed like they could escape this crisis somehow. No—even cook up the Ten Sword Sect, as he'd said.
Of course, that was unrealistic, but the unprecedented sense of security filled her with contentment.
It was the moment a luxurious eight-horse carriage appeared beneath the legs of the woman who had agonized alone for so long over how to lead the family.
“Yeah, you'll handle it just fine. I'll trust you.”
“Good.”
“But before that, there's something I need to tell you.”
“Hm? What?”
Murong Sujing's face suddenly turned serious.
“You need to formally inherit the Patriarch's position.”