Chapter 242
Chapter 242
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 242
Chapter Title: There's a Frog in This Cold Weather (1)
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Master's expression soured at the Little Palace Lord's attitude.
- Have you ever seen such a rude bastard!
'He's got a strangely insolent vibe.'
- Strangely? From that sword sect comment earlier to treating your granduncle like an equal—it's downright arrogant and disrespectful! And you call it 'strange'?
'It's a diplomatic occasion.'
Deep down, I agreed with Master.
'If this were a private meeting, I'd have called him out on those bulging eyes myself. But the Little Palace Lord is representing the North Sea Ice Palace Lord right now.'
In the jianghu, Uncle Jae-hyeok outranked him by far, but here, they were equals.
Aware of that, Uncle Jae-hyeok politely cupped his fists in greeting.
"Pleased to meet you, Little Palace Lord. I am Paeng Jae-hyeok, head of the Righteous Martial Academy's friendship delegation."
With that brief exchange between the representatives,
the Little Palace Lord pointed to one of the lined-up North Sea Ice Palace officials.
"That gentleman there is the Internal Minister in charge of the palace's internal affairs."
"I am Dam Chang-seok."
"You must be weary from your journey. Follow the Internal Minister to the guest quarters and rest. I have Righteous Martial matters to attend to today, so I must take my leave. I hope you understand."
"We shall."
Uncle Jae-hyeok replied, and the Little Palace Lord turned away immediately.
"My thanks. Young Lord, follow me for a moment."
And with that, our first meeting with the Little Palace Lord concluded.
Three days passed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Tap tap.
Horu-ruk!!
"Morning walk... Is it really a walk? Anyway, you're heading out?"
Horuk!
After a big stretch, I granted the wish of Eung-yong, who had been pecking at the window since dawn.
"Alright, be careful."
Then, to the maid bringing the wash water, I posed the same question as always.
"Young Master, your wash water."
"No word from the Little Palace Lord?"
"My apologies. This girl has heard nothing."
"No need to apologize."
The treatment wasn't bad.
A maid delivered wash water right when we woke.
The guest quarters were clean, spacious enough to include a training ground.
Meals brought by maids at mealtimes were excellent.
The only issue was the complete lack of contact from the Little Palace Lord's side.
- Still no change in your opinion that he's strangely insolent?
'...No, I said I don't like it either.'
Aside from Little Palace Lord Dam Yong-ju—the one who invited us—and Uncle Jae-hyeok's acquaintances visiting occasionally, that was it.
'I should check with Uncle Jae-hyeok first.'
Among Uncle's acquaintances,
last night's guest held a high position in the Ice Palace.
'External Minister.'
The Ice Palace's structure had departments under the Palace Lord and Little Palace Lord, each headed by a Minister.
The Internal Minister who guided us on day one was a high official but left after a mere escort.
The External Minister shared drinks with Uncle, so he might have heard something I hadn't.
"Uncle Jae-hyeok?"
"Nngh. Back from training? No, the sun's not up yet. Heading out now?"
"Yes. I was curious if you heard anything yesterday."
"The Ice Palace is genuinely busy. The incident at your maternal family blocked Shanxi trade routes, causing shortages in the Central Plains and chaos here with their own supply issues."
"Makes sense."
"The Little Palace Lord created several new departments to prevent that. Since this visit was so sudden at Dam Yong-ju's invitation, they asked for understanding."
"I see. Was that the end of your talk?"
"Seems their view of Central Plains folk like us soured from that. Word spread about the Moyong family's huge loss. Those Moyong bastards are always trouble!"
Uncle Jae-hyeok, venting along his train of thought, looked at me.
"What should we do? Shall I lodge a formal protest?"
"We've come far and gained nothing yet. Best not give them excuses to blame us—stay put for now."
"Hmph. Complicated, so complicated."
"If nothing else, I'll head out for training. Oh, care to join today?"
"Hungover from toasting the External Minister last night. You kids go ahead."
"Can't you just circulate qi to sober up?"
"Then why drink in the first place?"
"...Have a good rest."
I closed the door firmly and headed to the training ground.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "One, two, three, four. Two-two, three, four."
As I warmed up my shoulders and legs on the training ground,
horu-ruk!!!
Eung-yong returned with a rabbit, dropped the prey, and perched on my shoulder.
That was when my Eon younger brothers emerged one by one from the quarters, looking half-dead like corpses.
"Yawn."
"Look at them."
Twitch.
Sensing something wrong, their faces paled instantly.
So damn quick on the uptake.
"Can't you see Eung-yong already caught breakfast? Line up, now! You gonna let a mere beast outdo humans?!"
Horu-ruk!!
"...Is that guy looking smug? Seol-ja, I didn't imagine it, right?"
"Nah, I saw it too, Ok-gi."
"Sisters, is Eung-yong the issue here? Isn't it humanly freezing? Big Bro Yong-un, have mercy!"
I opened my mouth to discipline my sluggish younger brothers.
"Ha-seong, cold?"
"Freezing!"
"That's 'cause your training sucks! Training! You feel the cold at that level?"
"...Huh? Isn't that normal?"
- Exactly. Low cultivation doesn't grant winter immunity. The weaker, the colder, right?
I decided to ignore Master's words.
"Back in my day, they'd yell 'bare-chested push-ups' even in snowstorms—running through mountains and fields shirtless! Spot a frozen pond? Smash in and swim!"
"......"
"No good. All Eon younger brothers, back to bed! Eung-yong, fetch the red hat from the room!"
Horu-k!
And so, another ordinary day at the guest quarters began.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Little Palace Lord not summoning us wasn't entirely bad.
Instead, Dam Yong-ju visited daily under the pretext of apologizing for the discourtesy.
Thanks to him, we caught up on talks we missed on the northward journey.
"Heard the External Minister visited yesterday?"
"Came to see Uncle. Said to understand their rudeness and left."
"This is awkward. My apologies."
"Not your fault, Dam hyung—don't worry. But staying cooped up is stifling. Maybe let us sightsee?"
"Was just about to ask your father that. Promised to show you Ice White Hall at least. But..."
"But?"
"I have a question too."
"Ask away."
Dam Yong-ju paused, then spoke.
"...Thinking back on what you asked on the plains. Does Father think you've allied with the Demonic Cult?"
Honestly, I suspected it was likely.
The original Little Palace Lord believed North Sea goods only fattened Central Plains folk.
'He weighs protagonist's generation against Demonic Cult, ultimately sides with them.'
Of course, circumstances had changed drastically.
No Shanxi handover.
Orthodox murim and our protagonist generation's status utterly different from canon.
So alliance with us was possible.
'But his temperament leans toward Demonic Cult sweet-talk.'
Not the time to bring it up, though.
No solid proof for Dam Yong-ju, and it could seem like meddling.
I chose my words carefully.
"That question tested if you only cared about your own neck."
"...Ah."
"Fighting the Demonic Cult means staking your life—wanted to check your resolve."
"Thorough, as expected."
"Nothing changed while at the Righteous Advance Tournament?"
"Plenty. New departments outside the org chart popped up."
"Dig into them."
"Thought about it, no time. Reports from the tournament, plus... poking Father's initiatives openly is tricky."
How long had we been chatting when Woo So-rung visited my room.
"Eon hyung! Someone from the Little Palace Lord just entered Professor Paeng's room. The escorts said... banquet for us at lunch?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In the basement of a mountain lodge near the North Sea Ice Palace,
Yeon Ok-ran—disciple of Reverse Heaven Demon Gu Cheon-seo and Jade Demon Lord—inspected water tanks in splendid palace attire.
"Hm hm hum."
These weren't ordinary tanks.
No fish or water inside—just pale-eyed stiffened corpses and blood laced with grudges.
After humming over the blood-stiffened corpse tanks for a while,
her right-hand man Jo Gyeom spoke from outside the iron door.
"My Lord. Jo Gyeom here."
"Come in."
"Yes."
"What's up? Trouble at the Ice Palace?"
"The Little Palace Lord is hosting a banquet for the Righteous Martial Academy delegation snubbed for three days."
"So it happened."
"Yes. Shall we leave it?"
Yeon Ok-ran grinned back.
"You have other ideas, Minister Jo? What do you want? Speak."
"Eon Yong-un blocked the Demonic Heaven's rule—a grave sinner. Shouldn't you punish him for the Leader and Elder Demon Gu? It would solidify Ghost King Division's standing in the cult."
"Wrong."
"Pardon?"
"Gwak Sa-hong. Song Gil-jun. Those two probably thought that and got wrecked."
"......"
"Sa-hong lacked talent, Gil-jun had too much—but both forgot the key point and lost everything."
Yeon Ok-ran played in the grudge blood.
"Minister Jo. Why are we here?"
"To seize the North Sea Ice Palace."
"Exactly—focus on that. If Eon Yong-un and the later-generation kids die here now, will the palace fully fall to us?"
"...This subordinate was short-sighted."
"Eon Yong-un's bold, our Little Palace Lord prideful—friction inevitable. After the clash, the Orthodox delegation leaves. We strike then."
Finishing, Yeon Ok-ran licked blood from her fingers.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ We headed to the banquet hall at the appointed time.
Ice Palace officials and young warriors were already there.
The Little Palace Lord at the head seat greeted perfunctorily.
"Sorry for neglecting far-traveled guests before inviting you. My regrets."
We returned soulless fist-cupped greetings.
"No issue."
"Grateful for understanding. Palace servants, serve the food."
Thus began the insincere welcome banquet.
Despite the lackluster start, the mood wasn't bad.
"Body and Gall Blade Guest Paeng Jae-hyeok! Your name reached even this northern land alongside your master's! As a dao user myself, I've wanted to meet—delighted!"
"Haha. Now just teaching kids."
The North Sea Ice Palace had long ties with the Central Plains.
Rumors spread via letters.
Curiosity and admiration born from them.
"Hey, Monster Dragon. True you soloed Shaolin's top three disciples?"
"Not solo. Jeong-hyeon here took two per ship."
"Oh! You're the Sword Dragon then?!"
"Sword Dragon? Too grand a title."
But some harbored grudges.
As the atmosphere warmed, they stirred trouble.
"Heard you trained here too. Quite the racket."
"Empty carts rattle loudest."
"Baek Woong Division Leader?"
"Heaven's Top Later-gen, Sword Dragon, Little Warrior King, Little Sword Queen. Such flashy nicknames... Aren't they too presumptuous for unproven folk against our Ice Palace elites?"
Cheon Jang-ho—never one to filter—slammed his chicken leg down.
"Damn it. They don't show and talk sh..."
I covered his mouth before the swear.
Dam Yong-ju flushed.
"Baek Woong Leader! Too harsh! You're drunk—retire."
"No, isn't it true? Plenty agree. You're drunker, Finance Minister—leave."
He turned to apologize to me.
I sent a transmission.
[Don't push further. This works in our favor.]
'......'
[While attention's here, slip out and check those new departments.]
Transmission done, I grinned at Baek Woong Leader.
"Confident? Let's spar."
Damn.
There's a frog in this cold weather.