Chapter 331
Chapter 331
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 339
Chapter Title: Tense Negotiations
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sogolgae came strolling back casually, and Peng Zhonghe’s eyes lit up.
“How’d it go?”
“He’s just holed up in the inn.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah. That’s all there is to it.”
“Nothing else?”
“Just like the merchant group reported. The representative who came for the meeting is sick. And there’s been no response.”
“Still like that?”
“Yeah. What’s the plan?”
“The meeting is the meeting. I’ll have to go over there and talk directly.”
Peng Zhonghe spoke in a resolute tone.
The people around them flew into a rage.
The three from the Thunder Dragon Squad chimed in one after another with incredulous looks.
“If they made an appointment, they should show up! No contact at all—what kind of nonsense is that, kid?”
“He’s sick.”
“Sick! What, did just one representative come? How long is he sick for?”
“He’s really sick.”
“Damn it, it’s not like his head got cut off—can’t he just apply some salve and get better!”
“……What am I even supposed to say to you?”
“Why? I’m doing fine—hey! You damn... mmph!”
Jang Ung jabbed a stick into Tak Hyeok-dong’s side and clamped his mouth shut.
“Man, you’ve got no sense at all. Just stay quiet!”
“Well done.”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
Jang Ung even sealed Tak Hyeok-dong’s pressure points as he tried to shout something else, then quietly dragged him to a corner and dumped him there.
Geon Cheon-hwi waved his hand as if nothing had happened.
“Go on, hurry back.”
Peng Zhonghe took a few steps again.
As he walked, he kept glancing back.
He’d bound him tight just in case and stuck in two more anesthetic needles, so why did the back of his head keep prickling?
“……Can you handle the aftermath?”
“Bro, bloodline.”
“……”
Hey, I’m not a bloodline.
Peng Zhonghe was sweating bullets.
‘Father, I miss the bloodline.’
“……W-well, anyway, we’ve held it off for now.”
“Mm!”
“If we resolve it well and come back, that’ll be that, right?”
As Peng Zhonghe spoke, Nangong Ryong nodded.
Peng Zhonghe continued.
“The Huangbo Clan’s merchant tendencies... well! If they’re sharp about profits and losses, they’ll definitely want to complete this alliance.”
An alliance with the Huangbo Clan was, in a way, practically a done deal.
The situation demanded it.
The Nine Great Sects held real power in the Orthodox Heaven Alliance, and the atmosphere of excluding the Five Great Clans had surfaced during the recent war with the unorthodox rabble.
They must be feeling the crisis too.
“Resolve it.”
“We have to. But this ultimately comes down to a battle of interests. How much to give, how much to take.”
The Huangbo Clan had no pressing reason to join with the Nangong Clan like the Peng or Dang Clans did.
They needed something to exchange.
Shifting from their clan’s passive management to an active one meant they could wield massive profits and influence.
So...
“……How much will we give?”
“Mm.”
“Our main house has had many dealings with the Huangbo Clan from the start. I’m thinking of compromising by yielding some of those...”
Peng Zhonghe trailed off as he looked at Nangong Ryong.
Nangong Ryong calmly gathered his thoughts.
“Unconditionally.”
“Unconditionally?”
“Behind me, or beside me.”
“……”
Peng Zhonghe’s jaw dropped.
‘What’s this? They say brothers start to resemble each other.’
His way of speaking even sounded like Nangong Hyuk’s now.
Just a bit more dry and cold.
Nangong Ryong said.
“Alliance first. Or hold off.”
Simple and clear.
No, just simple.
‘Yeah, sometimes simple and clear is the answer.’
“Fine, let’s hash it out! Without that Young Master Yi, we’re halfway to success already, right?”
“Hash it out. Success!”
“Let’s do this! Feels so much lighter without Young Master Yi!”
As the two steeled their resolve, Dang Myeong-ok, who had been staring blatantly at them from behind, picked up her brush.
Scribble, scribble!
Peng Zhonghe, gossiping behind Young Master Yi’s back.
And so, the seeds of betrayal sprouted from within.
* * *
Huangbo Chong let out a low groan as he looked at Huangbo Ryeon.
Huangbo Ryeon was savoring his iron kwan-eum tea while quietly gazing out the window.
“Uncle, this is the third time already.”
The Heavenly Sky Merchant Group had sent someone three times already. And he’d sent them back three times.
“……The appointed time has long passed.”
Huangbo Chong looked at Huangbo Ryeon with a worried expression.
He couldn’t fathom what he was thinking.
This was a meeting of the Five Great Clans, no less.
No matter who showed up from the other side, they’d be representatives of their clans, yet Huangbo Ryeon remained holed up in the inn without budging.
He hadn’t even mentioned the meeting schedule.
They kept sending people to check, making him feel unnecessarily pressed.
He knew Huangbo Ryeon had come to Hangzhou with great ambitions, but this was starting to look like a tantrum, and he had no defense.
‘Even for Uncle, taking on three of the Five Great Clans is a heavy burden.’
He couldn’t just crush the meeting with prestige alone.
The other side would have sent someone formidable too.
Besides, honestly, the Huangbo Clan was currently the weakest in momentum among the Five Great Clans.
‘……What on earth is he thinking?’
As Huangbo Chong made a face like he couldn’t understand, Huangbo Ryeon chuckled softly.
“What are you worrying about?”
“……It feels like too dangerous a tightrope walk...”
“It’s fine. No need to worry.”
Huangbo Ryeon took a sip of his iron kwan-eum tea and spoke softly.
“Didn’t I tell you on the way? In negotiations, seizing the initiative comes first. The anxious and impatient one moves first and makes mistakes.”
“Mm...”
“The merchant group side must be in chaos right now. All sorts of speculations flying around. They’ll be uneasy. They’ll speculate on what our main house is up to and grow fearful.”
Huangbo Ryeon spoke with conviction, as if surveying a thousand li from his seat.
“That’s where negotiations begin. And they absolutely can’t send someone of higher standing than me, Huangbo Ryeon.”
“Yes……?”
“You don’t get it from how I haven’t budged? As expected, no elder-level has come.”
He was right.
If an elder had come, they would have pressured the Huangbo Clan somehow.
But the Heavenly Sky Merchant Group had only sent people three times to call them to the meeting venue, with no movement from the Five Great Clans.
‘How many moves ahead is Uncle seeing?’
Huangbo Chong swallowed dryly.
He could suddenly feel his father and uncle’s resolve.
The determination to stand at the pinnacle of the Five Great Clans.
Huangbo Ryeon sneered.
“This gathering is a negotiation disguised as a meeting. Even if it’s meant to strengthen the Five Great Clans’ alliance, it’s ultimately just a transaction of give and take, isn’t it?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“The Five Great Clans can never unite like the Nine Great Sects. Do you know why?”
“……I don’t.”
“Because we’re blood kin.”
It carried many layers of meaning.
Huangbo Ryeon said.
“The Nine Great Sects can move for the greater good. But not the Five Great Clans. We must move purely on thorough calculations of profit and loss.”
“Yes.”
“You must keep this in mind. Live only for the clan’s gain, for the clan.”
“Yes, Uncle!”
Huangbo Ryeon grinned, satisfied with Huangbo Chong’s response.
He gestured toward the window with his chin.
“See? They’re coming on their own feet.”
Light flashed in Huangbo Chong’s eyes.
Beyond the inn’s annex, a group was approaching.
Leading them were a strikingly handsome man and a burly fellow, obvious at a glance.
‘Nangong Ryong! Peng Zhonghe!’
He bit his lower lip.
Since the martial tournament, the gap between them had become as vast as heaven and earth.
He was still just Shandong’s later-generation talent, but Peng Zhonghe and Nangong Ryong had become dragons shaking the world.
Huangbo Ryeon smiled faintly.
“What are you doing? Go welcome them.”
“Yes, Uncle!”
Huangbo Chong stepped out of the annex with a faint smile, greeting Peng Zhonghe’s group.
“Brother Peng!”
Peng Zhonghe looked up.
“Mm!”
“He’s waiting inside. I’ll guide you.”
“Alright.”
Peng Zhonghe followed Huangbo Chong into the annex with a subtle expression.
Nangong Ryong and Dang Myeong-ok quietly followed behind into the room.
The middle-aged man sitting silently inside raised his head.
The moment he faced him, Peng Zhonghe’s pupils trembled faintly.
Huangbo Ryeon had the impression of a massive boulder.
His half-white beard, thick neck muscles, and large palms naturally exuded intimidation.
‘……An elder came?’
Huangbo Ryeon was among the highest in standing in the Huangbo Clan.
The man who wielded real power alongside the Family Head.
‘That means they’re dead serious about this?’
Huangbo Ryeon’s presence here showed how cautiously the Huangbo Clan was approaching the Hangzhou meeting.
Peng Zhonghe felt a momentary weight, but it passed quickly.
‘In the end, it’s just give and take.’
“The eldest son of the North Hebei Peng Clan, Peng Zhonghe, greets the First Elder.”
“Pleased to meet you, young clan head. We’ve met before.”
“Yes, a few times.”
“Seeing you here again feels fresh.”
Huangbo Ryeon spoke in a leisurely voice as he turned his gaze.
His eyes scanned Nangong Hyuk standing awkwardly beside Peng Zhonghe, then Dang Myeong-ok in turn.
“And these are?”
Nangong Ryong clasped his hands in greeting.
“Nangong Ryong. Eldest son of the Nangong Clan.”
“Ah, right. The young hero called the Anhui Sword Dragon.”
“……”
“Then this must be from the Dang Clan.”
Huangbo Ryeon’s gaze swept over Dang Myeong-ok.
Dang Myeong-ok bowed her head politely.
“The eldest daughter of the Dang Clan...”
“My head hurts. Sit.”
As Huangbo Ryeon lightly offered seats, Peng Zhonghe looked troubled.
……What?
‘……He hasn’t stood up once.’
The condescension was natural, cutting off Dang Myeong-ok’s greeting before it finished.
A sticky feeling rose.
The atmosphere felt off even before the meeting started, like something creaking.
Peng Zhonghe, Nangong Ryong, and Dang Myeong-ok inwardly tilted their heads as they sat.
Huangbo Ryeon downed a cup of iron kwan-eum tea and spoke.
“So, what brings you?”
Even knowing it was about the meeting, his tone flustered them, but Peng Zhonghe calmly answered, mind on the goal.
“We couldn’t delay the meeting any longer, so we came directly. The location isn’t important.”
“Didn’t I say I was ill?”
“……”
“I conveyed my intentions clearly, yet showing up unannounced like this is rude, isn’t it?”
Peng Zhonghe was at a loss for words.
Rude?
Rude comes up here?
Something felt twisted.
But he was the young head of the North Hebei Peng Clan.
“I decided it was best to prioritize the Five Great Clans’ meeting. If it displeased you, I apologize, but we can’t postpone it.”
“Hm, I see. I understand your opinion. That’s your thought, right?”
“Yes.”
Huangbo Ryeon trailing off felt off, but Peng Zhonghe nodded.
Huangbo Ryeon stroked his beard and said.
“So, you’ve come as representatives?”
“Yes.”
“To hold the meeting?”
“That’s right.”
Peng Zhonghe nodded tensely as he watched Huangbo Ryeon.
Huangbo Ryeon’s faint smile twisted as he put strength into his eyes.
In an instant, his demeanor shifted.
“Are you toying with me right now?”
“……Pardon?”
“Are you trying to conduct this vital clan meeting without a single elder?”
His low, intense voice echoed through the annex.
Peng Zhonghe’s expression hardened.
Nangong Ryong, sitting quietly beside him, sensed from Huangbo Ryeon’s sneering face that today’s meeting wouldn’t be easy.
* * *
How much time had passed since the three left for the meeting?
Flash!
Nangong Hyuk opened his eyes.
Sogolgae, yawning lazily, tilted his head.
“Huh? Already up...”
He bolted up.
“Eek! He’s awake!”
Sogolgae stared in horror at Nangong Hyuk jumping to his feet.
“Eek, eek!”
Snap! Rip!
“Hah!”
With a light flex, the tightly bound ropes snapped.
Instantly, everyone’s eyes around him widened like saucers.
No, why’s he up already?
Even an elephant would stay down.
And he’d been hit with needles like three square meals a day...?!
Nangong Hyuk cracked his neck side to side.
“Damn, I dozed off!”
Then he strode forward.
Geon Cheon-hwi, watching, shouted.
“St-stop himmm!”
Tak Hyeok-dong hurled himself from the corner, and Jang Ung threw his body in too.
“Where are you goinggg!”
“Nooo!”
Sogolgae clung on, and Geum Cheom-sang jumped in.
“Stop him! Stop him!”
“Everything’ll go to hell—stop him!”
“The meeting!”
Nangong Hyuk growled.
“Out of my way, you bastards! I gotta go to the meeting!”
“The young masters went!”
“Went? Where to?”
“Th-the meeting...!”
“Went without me?!”
Boom!
“Gaaah!”
“N-needles, quick!”
Dang Myeong-jin snapped to and jabbed an anesthetic needle.
Plunk!
Nangong Hyuk slowly turned his head with a fierce glare.
Dang Myeong-jin’s face went pale.
“You punk, needles again?!”
“Huh? Huh, why isn’t it...”
“Like hell it’ll work!”
Nangong Hyuk flung him away with force.
Thud!
“Gaaah!”
In a flash, Nangong Hyuk overturned everyone around him and bolted out of the guest hall.
“Sh-shit.”
Geon Cheon-hwi stared blankly in the direction Nangong Hyuk had run, sprawled on the floor.
“We’re screwed.”
It spoke for everyone’s feelings.