Chapter 202
Chapter 202
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 202
Chapter Title: Invitation to the Zhuge Clan Banquet
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‘I thought I’d just hand over the letter and be done with it, but to think I’d end up meeting the Mount Hua Sect Leader in person...’
Zhuge Songyoung swallowed his tension.
He was pretending to be calm on the outside, but inside, he was burning up with anxiety.
He had come to the Mount Hua Sect at the request of the Third Young Master, but even climbing up to the sect gates had filled him with no small amount of worry.
No matter what, even if he’d heard directly that the Third Young Master had ties to the Mount Hua Sect, they were still in a hostile relationship with each other.
The Mount Hua Sect belonged to the Murim Alliance, while the Zhuge Clan was part of the Biheaven Society.
As Zhuge Songyoung grew extremely tense...
“You’re inviting Cheonhwi to the Zhuge Clan’s banquet?”
The Sect Leader’s lips moved.
Even though he had already heard it clearly from Zhuge Songyoung, the Sect Leader asked again.
He simply couldn’t fathom their intentions.
If it was a banquet celebrating the Zhuge family head’s sixtieth birthday—one of the Eight Great Families—then surely many people would attend.
And in a situation where most of the invited guests would undoubtedly be from the Biheaven Society, to invite a Daoist from the Mount Hua Sect...
Wrinkle lines formed on the Sect Leader’s forehead.
‘What’s their aim?’
Suspicion arose first and foremost.
The Zhuge Clan had long been renowned as a family of exceptional strategists, praised across the jianghu and the world as the Divine Machine Zhuge.
That was why he couldn’t help but think they had some ulterior motive for inviting Cheonhwi.
As he pondered their purpose...
“Sure.”
Cheonhwi accepted refreshingly.
“I was thinking of checking it out anyway. Perfect timing.”
“Cheonhwi.”
The Sect Leader urgently called out to Cheonhwi, who had accepted the invitation without hesitation, trying to stop him.
“Think it over before you speak.”
What he really wanted to say was to take it back immediately, but it was awkward to say that in front of Zhuge Songyoung.
That was why he had phrased it indirectly, but...
“What’s there to think about? They’re asking me to come, so I’ll just go.”
Cheonhwi brushed off the Sect Leader’s words with one ear and responded.
Not content with that, he looked at the flustered Zhuge Songyoung and asked nonchalantly.
“So, when’s the banquet?”
“...One month from now.”
“That’s pretty tight if we’re walking.”
“It is, but...”
“Then you’ve prepared a carriage, right?”
“A-a carriage, you say?”
Zhuge Songyoung made a troubled expression.
Seeing his face, Cheonhwi shook his head.
“Come on, no way. You invite someone from far away and expect them to walk?”
“Well...”
As Zhuge Songyoung’s mouth opened and closed without giving a straightforward answer...
“They wouldn’t do that.”
Hyeonryeo, who had been silent, chimed in.
“The Zhuge Clan is currently enjoying immense prosperity among the Eight Great Families. Surely they wouldn’t come unprepared.”
Cheonhwi met Hyeonryeo’s eyes.
She gets it right away.
The corner of his mouth twitched upward.
At Hyeonryeo’s words, which seemed to grasp his intent, Cheonhwi spoke again.
“Right? No way they’d invite me without preparing anything.”
“Exactly. And who issued the invitation? None other than the Zhuge Clan’s Third Young Master himself.”
Hyeonryeo emphasized each syllable of “himself” while continuing to glance at Zhuge Songyoung.
Zhuge Songyoung looked increasingly embarrassed.
‘Has the Mount Hua Sect always been like this...?’
From what he had heard, the Mount Hua Sect was a pure and upright Daoist sect with great prestige.
That was why they were revered by the common folk of Shaanxi and had built their fame, or so he’d thought.
But seeing them in person, it felt a bit different.
Zhuge Songyoung carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and spoke.
“Hahaha. Of course, we’ve prepared a separate carriage for Daoist Cheonhwi.”
Cheonhwi and Hyeonryeo both grinned.
“The Zhuge Clan sure knows how to act big.”
“The Zhuge Clan isn’t so petty as to skimp on something like this.”
Watching the two speak with satisfaction, Zhuge Songyoung felt his stomach ache.
‘An unexpected expense...’
But what could he do?
If he said there was no prepared carriage, the Zhuge Clan’s reputation would suffer.
‘Still, for fulfilling the Third Young Master’s request, this level of expense is...’
Zhuge Songyoung soothed his aching gut.
The Third Young Master, Zhuge Sung-hyun, was someone who rarely ventured out into the world, holed up in the family compound.
But after going somewhere for about a year recently, he had changed completely.
‘He’s totally different now.’
Zhuge Songyoung recalled the last time he had seen the Third Young Master.
At first, he hadn’t even recognized him.
The pale, scrawny Zhuge Sung-hyun was gone, replaced by someone with bronzed skin and a body full of rippling muscles.
And not just that.
The Third Young Master, who used to never leave his room during family events, now actively participated and even offered various insightful opinions, showing off his brilliant mind.
Because of this, he had recently earned the moniker “Hidden Dragon,” and together with the eldest young master called “Heavenly Dragon,” they were now referred to as the “Twin Dragons.”
Since it was a request from such a Third Young Master, he could bear this much expense.
“Then we’ll have the carriage ready at the sect gates by dawn tomorrow.”
With all business concluded, Zhuge Songyoung rose from his seat and clasped his hands in salute.
“I’ll take my leave.”
The Sect Leader smiled gently and said,
“You’ve had a hard journey coming all the way to Mount Hua.”
“Haha, not at all.”
“Safe travels.”
After bidding farewell to the Sect Leader, Zhuge Songyoung left the Purple Cloud Pavilion with Hyeonryeo.
“Cheonhwi.”
The Sect Leader called out to him casually.
Erasing his gentle smile, he fixed his gaze on Cheonhwi, half-closing his eyes.
“It’s an invitation addressed to you, so I won’t say more. But as I said earlier, be careful with your actions and words. Especially this time, since everyone from the Biheaven Society will be gathered.”
“Come on, don’t worry.”
Despite the Sect Leader’s words laced with concern, Cheonhwi dismissed it lightly.
This made the Sect Leader look at him with eyes filled with even greater anxiety than before.
But soon, he shook his head.
Either way, the letter—no, the invitation—was addressed to Cheonhwi, and he had accepted it himself.
‘Besides, I already decided to let Cheonhwi go free.’
As the Sect Leader closed his eyes briefly...
“Then I’ll go prepare.”
Cheonhwi stood up and vanished in an instant.
The Sect Leader, opening his eyes late, looked at the now-empty seat across from him and gave a wry smile.
“I worry about sending him off alone.”
As he muttered lowly to himself...
“I think so too.”
Hyeonryeo, who had left with Zhuge Songyoung, approached with a dissatisfied expression.
“How are you back so soon?”
“I left Cheonsu to guide him midway.”
Hyeonryeo spoke calmly as she strode over and sat across from the Sect Leader.
“More importantly, are you really okay sending Cheonhwi alone to the Zhuge Clan’s banquet?”
“What choice do we have? It’s his decision.”
The Sect Leader gave a wry smile.
“At least it’s a direct invitation from the Zhuge Clan, so they’ll prevent any major incidents.”
“But is that enough?”
Hyeonryeo asked cautiously.
“With Cheonhwi’s personality, he won’t fit in well at the Zhuge Clan’s banquet.”
“True.”
The Sect Leader nodded.
He wasn’t worried about Cheonhwi himself.
But he was concerned that if someone picked a fight and Cheonhwi couldn’t hold back, he might cause trouble.
The Zhuge Clan was enemy territory.
And they wouldn’t leave a Mount Hua Daoist like Cheonhwi alone there.
At that moment, Hyeonryeo spoke up.
“In that case, Sect Leader Martial Brother, how about sending someone who knows a lot about clan banquets with Cheonhwi?”
“That’s a good idea, but do we have a disciple in the sect who knows about clan banquets...”
The Sect Leader trailed off mid-sentence.
The thought of the recently initiated female disciple flashed through his mind.
“Right, that girl.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The next dawn.
Arriving at the sect gates, Cheonhwi faced a crowd of people.
Shinui, Jeokgeom, Seollan, and Cheonhyang.
The four, who had been coming less frequently lately due to treatments and training, had apparently heard something and rushed over at this early hour.
“I came all the way to the Mount Hua Sect because of you, and you’ve got the nerve to look this unpleasant!”
Shinui approached, fuming.
“Well, that could happen.”
But Cheonhwi brushed it off indifferently.
Bickering with Shinui over this had already gone on for over a year, making it all too routine.
“You heartless bastard!”
“You’ve been busy testing the medical texts in the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion lately anyway.”
“H-how did you...”
“It’s obvious. I read that one too.”
“...”
Shinui clamped his mouth shut.
As he said, while helping treat the injured disciples from the fight with the Divine Lords and Evil Blood Alliance, Hyeoncheong had offered an ancient Mount Hua medical text for reference.
He had scoffed at first.
But now, he was completely immersed in that medical text centered on Daoist philosophy.
“Get ready to learn medicine later.”
Shinui grumbled as he turned away.
“We’ll see.”
Cheonhwi withdrew his gaze from him and turned to Jeokgeom and Seollan.
“You two, train properly. Don’t skip the joint formation I taught you, and remember all the training?”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
Hearing their resounding replies, Cheonhwi narrowed his eyes at them and twisted his lips.
“When I return, the squad with the weakest skills will train under me.”
Their faces turned pale.
As the two paled at the thought of training with Cheonhwi, Cheonhyang tilted her head.
“Why are they like that, Martial Brother?”
Having never trained with Cheonhwi before, she asked curiously, and Cheonhwi grinned widely.
“Curious? Want to find out later?”
“I’d like to, but...”
Cheonhyang puffed out her chest.
“I don’t like losing.”
As Cheonhwi smirked at her eyes burning with competitive spirit...
“Cheonhwi.”
Hyeonryeo approached from the opening sect gates.
She handed him a blackish-red Daoist robe and a small satchel from her bosom, smiling.
“Take this.”
“Perfect timing. I missed this robe.”
This robe doesn’t show bloodstains easily.
As Cheonhwi recalled the white-red Daoist robe he’d worn recently and took the robe...
“Good thing.”
Hyeonryeo hugged him with a smile.
Again.
Cheonhwi shook his head as if utterly fed up.
This went on for a moment.
“Then take care.”
Hyeonryeo released the hug and stepped back.
Then the Sect Leader, who had come outside, stood before Cheonhwi, his eyes gleaming.
“All prepared?”
“Not much to prepare. Just these are enough.”
Cheonhwi held up the blackish-red Daoist robe, then tapped the two swords at his waist and the small satchel.
It was a long journey, but there wasn’t much else worth packing.
The Sect Leader smiled faintly.
“Always be careful.”
“Yes.”
“Think and stay cautious.”
“Of course.”
“And if others pick fights with you on purpose, ignore them as best you can.”
“...That might be tricky.”
As Cheonhwi grumbled in dissatisfaction, the Sect Leader hardened his eyes and spoke.
“Cheonhwi.”
At the Sect Leader’s weighted voice, Cheonhwi scratched the back of his head and replied.
“Tch, fine. I’ll hold back.”
“Good.”
The Sect Leader’s expression softened.
“Then I’ll be off.”
“Go.”
After bidding the Sect Leader farewell, Cheonhwi headed toward the carriage where Zhuge Songyoung waited.
Thud-thud-
Zhuge Songyoung smiled at the approaching Cheonhwi.
“You’re well-loved.”
“Is that so? I wouldn’t know, but if it looks that way, maybe.”
Cheonhwi said nonchalantly.
But Zhuge Songyoung, interpreting it as shyness, smiled faintly and pointed to the coachman’s seat.
“For this journey to the Zhuge Clan, Old Three will guide you well.”
The coachman, Old Three, bowed deeply.
“I’m Ko Sam. Honored to escort Mount Hua’s young Daoist this time.”
“Cheonhwi.”
As Cheonhwi finished greeting Ko Sam, Zhuge Songyoung opened the carriage door.
“Please, come inside.”
Cheonhwi entered the open carriage door and frowned.
There was already a passenger inside.
A very familiar one at that.
“Huh? Why are you here?”
“I’m coming along this time.”
Danmokin, her hands demurely on her knees, sparkled her eyes.
“So, take good care of me, Senior Brother!”