The City of Luoyang and a Very Expensive Dinner
Paeng Daesan’s friend, the head escort of the Gonbung Escort Company, Sang Anjin, was stunned. Just what kind of social affinity did that woman possess? To befriend the eldest son of the Hebei Paeng Clan in the blink of an eye? At first glance she seemed sloppy, yet her skill at handling people was astonishing. And on top of that, she was a master at the late stage of the Peak realm! The world was wide and full of hidden masters and strange eccentrics, so it wasn’t entirely strange that such a high-level expert had remained unknown until now. However, Sang Anjin was a head escort—one of the pillars of the company. If a head escort simply brushed things off with a casual “Ah, there are many hidden masters in the world,” he would have no excuse if he were immediately stripped of his position and kicked out. After all, there were many pillars, and losing one wouldn’t sink the entire company.
Connections! He could smell the scent of connections. A young master of high skill was a rare commodity. The “young” part was even more important than the “master” part. Moreover, she was still an unknown wanderer. In some ways, she might even be more valuable than the eldest son of the Paeng Clan. After all, Paeng Daesan already had more than enough sticky “relationships” tied to him.
The Gonbung Escort Company operated across two provinces, but that scale was incomparable to the Hebei Paeng Clan, which was practically the royal family of Hebei. No matter how well they treated Paeng Daesan, it was merely repaying a debt. It was only natural for the Paeng Clan to receive such treatment. But Cheong was different. Just look at her—clearly destitute, and the way she was devouring food as if her stomach would burst was positively gluttonous! It reconfirmed the fact that she had lived with practically nothing.
“The braised beef seems to suit your taste? Hey, over here!”
“Ah, you really don’t have to order more. I’m fine……”
“How can you say that? Bring us a lot more of that braised beef!”
“No, you really don’t have to……”
Cheong trailed off, half grateful and half embarrassed. As someone from the Eastern Country of Courtesy, Cheong found the older, extremely attentive Sang Anjin a bit burdensome. If he had been an old bastard with a mountain of evil deeds, she could have hurled every curse under the sun at him. But against a kind elder, she simply could not overcome the instinct to respect her seniors—an instinct engraved into her very genes.
“Three plates. You’ve got quite the thick face. Well, I suppose.”
“What the hell, man? Why are you picking a fight?”
“Was it so delicious that you emptied the plate twice?”
“You should eat your fill when you have the chance, right?”
Paeng Daesan let out a deep sigh. It wasn’t just shamelessness (though that was certainly part of it). The bigger issue was her complete lack of common sense. Then again, looking at her current state, how many times could she have ever been treated to a proper meal?
“Leaving the plate empty is rude.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It means cleaning the plate so thoroughly that you might as well have licked it is considered rude. You should at least leave two or three pieces behind.”
Cheong couldn’t understand. “You’re telling me to leave food behind?”
“Yes.”
“It’s rude if I don’t leave any?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Why would you waste precious food?”
It was a question on the level of “Why do people eat rice? Why do people sleep? Why do people breathe?” Paeng Daesan clicked his tongue. Tsk!
“Listen. An empty plate at the table becomes the host’s shame.”
“Like how scars on the back are a swordsman’s shame?”
“……? What are you even—……? Well, the words make sense, I suppose.”
The only thing a guest was allowed to completely finish was alcohol. All food should be left with at least a little remaining. An empty plate was an act that damaged the face of the one who prepared the meal. Whether it was because they lacked money or were stingy, it implied they had failed to properly entertain their guest. If a guest emptied the same plate twice? It carried the meaning of “Your hospitality today was so lacking that there was barely anything worth eating, hahaha.”
Cheong’s eyes widened into perfect circles. “Head Escort, I made a mistake because I didn’t know……”
“Haha, it’s perfectly fine!”
Sang Anjin had already noticed Cheong’s ignorance. Actions done out of genuine ignorance were not considered rude. Only doing something while fully aware it was rude counted as disrespect.
“So I have to leave something behind no matter what? Is that it?”
“For a simple meal it might not matter, but when you’re being treated, it’s better to leave the last two pieces.”
“Whoa. I really didn’t know that.”
“Just what do you know?”
It was the gradual process of Cheong becoming civilized. In truth, living in a different culture was inherently difficult precisely because of the lack of such common sense. In any case, it was a valuable realization for Cheong. When being treated to a meal, leave some food behind. It was precious teaching for the sake of being treated to many more meals in the future. A tactical retreat in order to gain more in the long run.
In fact, she had already eaten quite a lot today. Cheong had already established the common sense that high-level masters were naturally supposed to be treated to meals. She had no idea that the escort fees Sang had paid for the journey had long since been exceeded by her food expenses. Paeng Daesan didn’t know this either. Moreover, receiving hospitality as the legitimate heir of the Paeng Clan was as natural to him as breathing. He had no need to concern himself with the circumstances of an escort company.
That said, Sang Anjin wasn’t exactly suffering a loss. It wasn’t because of some uncertain future profit from investing in a promising new female master. The loss was already being compensated right there on the escort route.
A wild bandit had appeared!
“Halt!”
“Troublesome. This body. High-level master.”
Cheong, who had been lying on the lead carriage basking in the warm spring sun, drew her sword. As soon as sword energy rose, the bandits who had appeared so imposingly naturally began walking backward and disappeared. It was a sight like someone had rewound time.
The largest expense in Central Plains logistics was, in fact, this kind of toll. Cheong had always thought there were far too many bandits in the Central Plains. Now she realized that had only been the tip of the iceberg. Bandits had no interest in lone swordsmen carrying swords. Even if they attacked, there was no money to be gained, and the danger was filthy high. It meant not many bandits had dared to touch Cheong.
Even at that level, Cheong—thinking like someone from ancient China—had assumed the entire world was infested with thieves. But after joining the escort mission, she learned the truth. Every mountain had bandits. Every valley had bandits. Even in the sparsely populated forests, there were bandits.
If Paeng Daesan hadn’t taught her that one should not attack unless the bandits gave a clear excuse, Cheong would have walked a path of blood while leisurely stacking up Good Karma points. She had realized something. Traveling with a merchant caravan was comfortable and provided good food, but it made slaughtering villains a bit difficult. Still, she got to see blood about once a week. As expected, there was no perfect path in the world. If you gained one thing, you had to give up another. Still, since it was comfortable and the food was good, she didn’t particularly miss spilling blood. After obtaining her goal of the Yeorae Shinjang, the urge to farm Good Karma didn’t pull at her as strongly. A thousand points was just too much of a grind anyway.
While Cheong was gradually growing lazier, the escort company’s carriages rolled onward until they finally reached Luoyang.
---
Cheong knew that Luoyang was the name of a city. It was probably a big one. She had seen it in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Though “seen” was a bit of an exaggeration—she had only read it once. She only really knew about Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang. However, the Luoyang she saw in person was massive and majestic even by a modern person’s standards. It was no wonder it was called the Luoyang Fortress. For its long history, Luoyang had served as a practical fortress that had endured countless real wars.
Walls far taller than most modern commercial buildings stretched endlessly to the left and right. Through the wide-open main gates, an absurdly high population density mixed with carriages, swallowing and spitting out people in utter chaos. In truth, Cheong had inwardly looked down on Central Plains civilization. She had roughly pegged it somewhere above primitive but not by much. As a modern Korean, it was an unavoidable perception of ancient China. The proud and magnificent achievements of ancient China had all been burned away by the collective will of the Red People, so modern Koreans had neither heard of nor seen them.
Especially the height of these walls! She had thought nothing could overwhelm her in terms of height. After all, she had lived in an era of massive structures like the Ring Eye Tower visible from anywhere in Seoul and the Second Whatever Building. Moreover, the density of the buildings was incredible. The shared walls between neighboring structures belonged to both. There was no concept of alleys at all; the buildings were constructed continuously connected to one another.
After unloading their cargo at the Luoyang branch of the Gonbung Escort Company, sharing a cup of tea with the branch manager, there was nothing in particular left to do.
“Hey, San.”
“No.”
“What? I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“You’re obviously about to suggest we go sightseeing around Luoyang, aren’t you?”
Annoyingly, he was exactly right. However, Cheong had a reason she could not back down. She had no money! And fortunately, a very reliable sponsor was right here.
“If you follow obediently, there will be no bloodshed.”
Paeng Daesan looked at Cheong with a sullen gaze. Sometimes, surprisingly refined vocabulary popped out of her. Despite that terrifying level of ignorance. How?
“My Wolgwang-geom is starving. If you don’t want to become an offering to the blood-red moon, guide me around Luoyang right now, human.”
“Yeah. That. I’ve been curious about it for a while. Wolgwang-geom? Isn’t that just an ordinary iron sword?”
“It’s only natural to give your beloved weapon a name.”
Paeng Daesan frowned. It was one of the famous lessons among martial artists: do not name your weapon. It was the accumulated wisdom of their predecessors that if a martial artist grew too attached to their weapon, they would end up cherishing it only to be cut down by it. However, having seen exactly how recklessly Cheong used that Wolgwang-geom, he didn’t feel the need to explain it. When she had casually stabbed a campfire with the sword (Wolgwang-geom, No. 6) out of boredom, he had doubted his own eyes. Using a sword as a poker went beyond cherishing or abusing it—it was something that cast doubt on whether the person even qualified as a swordsman.
“Leaving that aside. Why Wolgwang-geom?”
“Because I’m a master of the Wolnyeo Sword Art?”
“……?”
“Wolnyeo Sword Art. Wolgwang-geom.”
“……?”
“You don’t get it? Wolnyeo Sword. Moonlight Sword.”
“……Never mind.”
Wolnyeo was short for “woman of the Moon Kingdom.” And of course, the Moon Kingdom was not literally the kingdom on the moon. How could a country’s name be the moon?
“Anyway, let’s go. San. Luoyang awaits us.”
“I said I’m not going.”
“I’ll keep annoying you until you do. Just surrender already.”
Paeng Daesan’s eyebrows twitched. Her words had lightly brushed against one of his reverse scales. By now she had become something like a friend—not as a woman, but as a sword master, an ignorant person, and a beggar. But the way she clung to him like this made him suspicious of her motives. Surely not. Was this some kind of strategy? Her calling herself a woman? It was a severe case of terminal prince disease.
Fortunately, Cheong’s thoughtless nonsense extinguished the spark before it could ignite.
“We’ll eat dinner at Choseon Pavilion. Do you agree?”
“You… do you even know what that place is……”
“They said it’s the best in Luoyang? I heard the escorts talking about it.”
It was indeed the best in Luoyang. Choseon Pavilion was the finest guesthouse in the city.
“That place is expensive, you know. And you don’t have any money, do you?”
“What are friends for? When will I ever get another chance to visit such a top-class restaurant in my life? Right, San?”
It was a blatant attempt to mooch off him. So it wasn’t seduction—it was just pure freeloading. Paeng Daesan’s paranoia subsided. Instead, he felt strangely annoyed. Why did he feel annoyed?
“Fine, I’ll be generous. Then I don’t have to escort you all the way to——”
“Good.”
“Huh? What?”
“I said good. Take me there. To Choseon Pavilion.”
Cheong blinked. “Really? You said it’s expensive? San, are you serious? You’re a man with that much wealth?”
“You’re the one who asked me to take you—no, are you seriously asking if I have that level of wealth?”
“It was just a negotiation tactic. First make a big demand, and if rejected, then make a smaller one.”
It was one of those sharp remarks that occasionally slipped out from within her ignorance. This one was especially sharp. Paeng Daesan mulled over her words carefully. Cheong, taking his silence as something else, gave an awkward, apologetic smile.
“If it’s too much of a burden, forget it. I was just throwing it out there.”
Paeng Daesan’s eyebrows twitched again. The way she had mentioned his wealth earlier, too. Surely not.
“Hey. Do you even know what family I come from?”
“You’re from the Hebei Paeng Clan, right? The head escort keeps saying it all the time.”
“Do you not understand what that means?”
“You don’t have to brag about your family being rich. Whoa. Sorry. When I said it was a burden or whatever, I wasn’t trying to scratch your pride, okay? Don’t overthink it.”
She really didn’t know what kind of family the Hebei Paeng Clan was! She seemed to think of it as just some famous wealthy household. There were limits to ignorance. The people Cheong had met so far had either been absolute scumbags or bottom-tier martial artists. People who wouldn’t dare utter the names of the Five Great Clans. The Nine Great Sects were at least willing to forgive you if you got caught badmouthing them and immediately prostrated yourself crying and begging. But if you got caught badmouthing the Five Great Clans, you would lose at least one arm. And that was the minimum.
“A place like Choseon Pavilion isn’t much of a burden at all. Let’s go.”
It was true that it wasn’t a burden. It was also true that his pride had been slightly scratched. Above all, Paeng Daesan agreeing to go with her wasn’t purely out of goodwill. There was a reason he had been reluctant to go out. And he was curious about how Cheong would react to a guesthouse. When the excited Cheong, completely unaware of any of this, hurried out the door—
She came face to face with a huge crowd of Luoyang’s beauties who had gathered there in droves.