Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Discernment
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"Wait a minute!! It's too early to end the meeting! We need to review if there are any flaws in the plan, and finally, there's something I need to tell you, Baek Hyun...!"
"Forget that, pick a lunch menu. We all skipped breakfast and our stomachs are growling. You set the meeting time ambiguously, so take responsibility."
"H-how is that my responsibility!!"
In truth, thanks to the ability of his Solar Heavenly Spirit Body, Baek Hyun had no issues at all even if he never ate a meal in his life.
Yet he demanded food without the slightest shame.
The other two possessors showed signs of agreement with him.
In the end, Zhuge Seol-ha made a face like she wasn't sure about this, let out a deep sigh, and had no choice but to go along with their near-coercive demand.
"...How about hongshaorou?"
"Nah, there's a vegan in the group, so meat-only dishes aren't great."
"That's true."
"I can't eat meat."
It was a valid point, so she quickly thought of another menu.
"Then how about oja? It's lotus root stuffed with tofu or meat and fried—monks can eat it too..."
"Ehh, that's more of a snack. Isn't there something more filling?"
"That's true too."
"I don't like greasy fried stuff."
...It was a bit hard to accept, but still somewhat understandable, so she pulled out yet another dish.
"...Alright, let's go with sanshen doupi. It's precious ingredients from various regions wrapped in bean curd skin and glutinous rice. This should be filling enough for a full meal..."
"Ehhh, the name sounds weird. Why would there be issues with scalps?"
"That's true."
"I can't eat it because my scalp is exposed?"
Kim Sam-soon was utterly speechless at the blatant nonsense.
"Are you kidding me right now!? I was picking carefully because you said you were hungry!! If that's how it is, let's go back to the meeting!!!"
"Jeez! Can't the young lady of the Zhuge Clan even pick a lunch menu properly? How are you supposed to command on a urgent battlefield like this!? Aren't you ashamed before your ancestors!!"
"What does lunch have to do with commanding!? Fine, you pick one!! Don't just make me do it!!"
At those words, Baek Hyun pondered for a moment before casually opening his mouth.
"Let's have bibimguksu? Hubei is famous for reganmian."
"Ha, you were so picky, and all you want is bibim guksu..."
"Oh, sounds good."
"I'm in."
"Then let's all go eat noodles~!"
"…………"
And so, the three possessors, having even decided on their after-meeting meal, began stepping out of the top floor where the meeting had taken place.
"Jeez, couldn't even suggest bibimguksu."
"Just eat some simple noodles, why make a fuss..."
"Stop teasing her, you guys. Intelligence and common sense don't always go hand in hand."
Kim Sam-soon watched them blankly for a moment, but as their presences truly began leaving the top floor, she hurriedly ran after them and shouted.
"Ah, no...! Are you all serious!? You're just ending the meeting like this!? When your lives are on the line!!"
Unable to keep up with the other possessors' pace, Kim Sam-soon finally let out a wail, drawing the eyes of the three men who had been casually chatting as they walked away.
They exchanged quick glances in a flurry, and after an instant silent conference, Baek Hyun stepped forward as representative and approached her, slowly speaking.
"Sam-soon... no, Seol-ha."
The name was different from usual, the atmosphere serious unlike before.
"I fully understand how you feel. You're worried if the info you deduced is true, if the hastily made plan will work, if we'll die in vain for following your judgment.
My brothers and I get it. That's why we agreed to your plan without questions. We felt how hard you tried.
We felt how much sincerity went into your plan and info.
You're way smarter than us, and you put that much heart into it—how could we nitpick or object?"
"B-but... you could die because of me...!"
"Then we die. Can't be helped. If it doesn't work even after you did that much, then it wouldn't work no matter what. It's not your fault."
"Sob, still..."
At Baek Hyun's sincere words of trust delivered in a completely different atmosphere from usual, Zhuge Seol-ha burst into tears and buried her face in his chest.
Baek Hyun soothed her while subtly glancing back.
To signal to the other possessors that the plan had succeeded.
She had an especially strong desire for recognition.
Not praising the results of her hard efforts must have left her inwardly anxious.
The other brothers had noticed that too, giving him those looks...
"What, aren't we going to ask about reganmian places?"
"Uh... so Sam-soon is reserved by you, right?"
"…………"
The possessors had been lost in their own little world.
How much time passed with that awkward atmosphere lingering?
Just as Zhuge Seol-ha realized her embarrassment late, pulled away from Baek Hyun's embrace, and wiped the tear stains from her face...
"Oh? Isn't that Lady Zhuge? Did you get home safely yesterday?"
A stranger's presence intruded into the quiet space that had only held the four possessors.
They had descended from the top floor, inaccessible to regular guests, to the lower floors where high-class patrons were.
"! Damn, why him of all people...!!"
Zhuge Seol-ha hurriedly composed her face and spat out an irritated voice.
A heavyweight who could enter the upper floors of the Jade Flower Pavilion despite his young age, a peerless later-generation talent expected to lead the next generation of the righteous faction.
"Who's that guy?"
"...Namgoong Hwi."
"Ah~ That clingy one?"
The eldest son of the Namgung Clan.
Azure Heaven Sword, Namgoong Hwi.
At just twenty-two, he had surpassed the threshold of peak realm—a genius fit to dominate an era.
If this era weren't overflowing with off-spec existences, that is.
Baek Hyun gazed at the elegantly handsome young man in blue martial robes befitting his title and thought.
'This is the guy my master mentioned?'
He recalled the conversation with his master before coming here.
'Normally, lots of internal energy definitely helps raise realms, but beyond the Flower Realm, it doesn't work.
That's why prestigious clan kids who gorged on elixirs stagnate at peak realm for so long.'
The type who abnormally raised realms by consuming realms like rice with their clan's power.
Baek Hyun instantly realized this young man was the example his master meant.
"Brother Namgoong, the food's here, hurry back... Oh! Lady Zhuge!"
"Lady Zhuge, you're here too. I was worried yesterday since you seemed to have urgent business."
"Tch, what a coincidence."
As Baek Hyun finished sizing up Namgoong Hwi, three men and women who screamed "rich kid" appeared behind him.
Young, but each boasting high-level martial arts with distinct personalities.
The heirs of the Five Great Clans, excluding the Zhuge.
"What a coincidence. We were just bonding as heirs of the Five Great Clans—care to join us?"
Namgoong Hwi suggested with a friendly smile.
Zhuge Seol-ha inwardly cursed at the fake smile while forcing a business-like one.
'Fuck, if you're not gonna show it, at least control your gaze.'
She trembled at the unpleasant gaze brushing her exposed skin but soon felt relieved.
Normally she'd be dragged along helplessly, but luckily, she had an excuse to escape this time.
"Sorry, but I already have plans with others."
As her gaze turned to the rest of the group with those words, Namgoong Hwi's expression stiffened for a moment.
But he quickly flashed another friendly smile and addressed them this time.
"Shaolin's Mujin and Wudang's Cheong-un, right? I've heard a lot, but didn't know you were close with Lady Zhuge."
"Ah, yes..."
"Fate brought us together. Amitabha."
Cheong-un showed open annoyance, while Mujin, for Shaolin's image, even clasped hands in greeting he hadn't planned to.
Namgoong Hwi slipped his body between them and Zhuge Seol-ha as he continued.
"If you don't mind, could I take Lady Zhuge? We have close matters to discuss as fellow Five Great Clans."
"...Pardon?"
Despite her prior commitment, Namgoong Hwi's refusal to back down flustered Zhuge Seol-ha.
Cheong-un's face rapidly cooled, and even Mujin struggling to keep a poker face couldn't hide his twitching eyes.
Amid that, Namgoong Hwi's expression remained brazen as thick-skinned as ever.
As subtle tension flowed in that moment...
-Tap
"Ah, no can do. Seol-ha's going with us."
Like a taut bowstring snapping.
With Baek Hyun's swift yet gentle hand, Zhuge Seol-ha's figure was pulled back.
And simultaneously, a firm rejection slicing through the shameless request echoed.
In that instant, a man's hand on Zhuge Seol-ha's shoulder.
And her lack of strong resistance to it—Namgoong Hwi's pupils trembled.
"Sorry, but... who might this young hero be?"
'!!'
At Namgoong Hwi's shocking remark, not only Zhuge Seol-ha but even the Five Great Clans' heirs couldn't hide their agitation.
Baek Hyun was in Starpoint Sect robes, so impossible not to recognize him even if a first meeting.
Thus, his words insulted not just Baek Hyun but his sect, Starpoint Sect, as well.
'No, he won't have tolerance for this kind of situation!'
If he fell for the obvious provocation and used violence, it'd play right into that rotten guy's hands.
As Zhuge Seol-ha hurriedly tried to speak for the surely furious Baek Hyun...
"It's fine. It's not shameful to have shallow learning from devoting to martial arts."
"...Pardon?"
Contrary to her thoughts, Baek Hyun not only didn't get angry but smiled and grasped Namgoong Hwi's hand in return.
"I understand fully, Brother Namgoong. That feeling when the other knows you but you don't know them. So awkward and sorry.
But shallow discernment is no sin. So I'll help you mingle with the others, rolling up my sleeves.
Come, let's greet the others together!"
"What? What do you..."
With those words, Baek Hyun grabbed Namgoong Hwi's hand and dragged him to the delicate-featured young man with long straight hair.
Then, taking a fist-and-palm salute first, he greeted him.
"If I'm not wrong, this young master is Tang Jin, heir of the Sichuan Tang Clan, correct?"
"Khuh... Yes, Brother Baek Hyun. I've heard so much from relatives. You greatly contributed to resolving the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace dispute. Honored to meet you."
"The honor is mine. Now, Brother Namgoong, greet Lord Tang quickly. Oh, by the way, salute like this: one hand wrapping the fist."
"Do you see me as a child who doesn't even know fist-and-palm!?"
"No need to be ashamed—cutting ties with the secular world for training is something to be proud of."
Next, he approached the noble beauty with a large sword on her back and greeted her.
"This lady with both lovely beauty and spirited aura must be Peng Lianhua, the pampered flower of the Hebei Peng Clan, right?"
"Hehe, yes. Nice to meet you, Brother Baek Hyun."
"My... Are all the ladies of the Five Great Clans such beauties? Brother Namgoong, be careful not to fall at first sight while greeting."
"Oh my, you have an eye for beauty."
"You, what are you even doi...!!"
Finally, Baek Hyun approached the hearty man with a physique as robust as Mujin's and saluted.
"No way, aren't you Brother Huangfu Ilmun, who single-handedly crushed a bandit stronghold?"
"Ahahaha!! Yes, that's me, Huangfu Ilmun. You really have sharp discernment!"
"How could I not recognize the manly aura and fierce energy emanating from your whole body? But lest Brother Namgoong commit the rudeness of not recognizing you, please be lenient for my sake."
"Wahahahaha!! Yes! I'll understand for your face, brother!!"
"As expected of a great hero's magnanimous demeanor."
Having greeted all the later-generation talents, Baek Hyun finally released Namgoong Hwi's wrist and spoke last.
"Now, you know who they are, right? I hope this broadens Brother Namgoong's discernment even a little."
"You, you bastard...!!"
"Finally, I'm Baek Hyun of Starpoint Sect. Next time, remember my name properly."
Well, we're off—busy.
-Wink
Baek Hyun left with the group after that fatal wink.