Hot Taro (1)
The strange thing was that it was paper densely covered in writing, not plain white hanji.
Cheolno unfolded the paper casually and poured ink he'd ground in advance from a gourd bottle into the inkstone.
Once everything was prepared, he handed the brush to Hanbin last of all.
Seolhwa kept stuffing dumplings into her mouth as if none of Cheolno's preparations had anything to do with her.
After eating for a good while, she spoke to Cheolno in a hoarse voice, her throat dry.
"Ah, mister, can I have some water?"
Hanbin quickly cut in.
"Sign first, then eat."
"Sign what?"
"You promised, remember? To follow me for three years."
"Well..."
Seolhwa trailed off. It was the promise between Heukcheon and Hanbin.
She had no choice but to follow him unconditionally.
But for some inexplicable reason, goosebumps prickled down her back.
It was the survival instinct of an assassin.
And that instinct was screaming at her to get out of there.
At that moment, Cheolno said with a kindly face.
"Don't worry—just sign here. You don't trust me, Seolhwa?"
Cheolno patted his chest with a good-natured expression.
In Seolhwa's eyes, he was just a servant who knew no martial arts and blindly followed Hanbin without a thought in his head.
Unthinkingly, she picked up the brush.
But oddly, the goosebumps only grew worse.
Seolhwa looked at Cheolno again.
He looked a bit dim-witted, sure, but it wasn't the face of a deceiver.
With no suspicion, she was about to sign the contract when she decided to read the contents first.
After reading for a long time, her eyes widened.
"What is this?"
"It's the standard contract everyone at Cheonsu Manor signs. What's wrong?"
Cheolno tilted his head, and Seolhwa snorted, glaring at Hanbin.
"This is a body pledge usurers use. And what's this? This is a straight-up slave contract."
"If you don't want to sign, go home. I'm not stopping you."
Hanbin picked up a dumpling, popped it in his mouth, and leaned back in his chair.
His face said it had nothing to do with him.
Seolhwa realized she was trapped with no escape.
She whipped her head around to look at Cheolno.
He was still nodding with that affable expression.
Come to think of it, both Hanbin and Cheolno were in on it together.
Seolhwa sighed and picked up the brush.
"Sigh."
Scritch-scratch.
Once the signature was done, Cheolno said,
"This is actually a good deal. I guarantee it."
"This is a good deal?"
Seolhwa asked in a trembling voice, and Cheolno nodded with a broad grin.
Seolhwa stared up at the innocent ceiling.
What kind of treatment did the people here get, exactly?
And what the hell was this place, anyway?
The day after Seolhwa joined Cheonsu Manor, at the Hebei Paeng Family.
Paeng Daewi sighed as he looked at the stack of documents in front of him.
"Sigh."
Just seeing paperwork made the world spin and his appetite vanish for Paeng Daewi.
But he couldn't neglect these documents, not even for his brother Paeng Kangwi, who had entered secluded cultivation.
He even resented the peacefulness of the Hebei Paeng Family. If some incident would just happen, he could escape this pile.
He could handle something more important himself and leave the minor paperwork to the chief steward.
As he kept sighing, the door to the patriarch's hall opened.
Creak.
A guard warrior rushing in desperately.
Thud-thud-thud.
Before the echoes of footsteps faded, the warrior continued.
"Big trouble, Law Enforcement Leader!"
Paeng Daewi's face lit up at those words.
Finally, the incident he'd been waiting for had erupted.
Now he could shove the paperwork aside and dance with his blade.
Paeng Daewi asked,
"What happened?"
"Well, a secret letter arrived from the Henan Jeong Family."
"A secret letter? What about the warrior who brought it?"
As Paeng Daewi's eyes gleamed, someone limped in from behind, supported by law enforcement warriors.
Paeng Daewi narrowed his eyes.
From his attire, he was definitely a warrior from the Henan Jeong Family.
The limping Jeong Family warrior stopped in front of Paeng Daewi.
"Great hero, I bring a letter from the patriarch."
The Jeong Family warrior pulled a letter from his bosom.
His hand, handing it over, was covered in blood.
Blood dripped from his chest, soaking through his uniform and staining the floor drop by drop.
The Jeong Family warrior was in a state where collapsing on the spot wouldn't be surprising. Yet he struggled, with the law enforcement warriors' support, to get just a bit closer to Paeng Daewi.
Paeng Daewi snatched the bloodstained letter.
Whoosh!
He handed it straight to the steward beside him.
At the same time, Paeng Daewi shouted,
"Get treatment for this Henan Jeong Family warrior! Everyone else, out!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Paeng Daewi's command, the law enforcement warriors filed out.
He'd been told this was a secret letter.
And the warrior who brought it was in critical condition.
Steward Yi Seolyeong, who had received it, began reading the letter once the warriors were gone.
"To the esteemed Patriarch of the Hebei Paeng Family, we have a heartfelt request..."
Paeng Daewi furrowed his brow as he listened to the letter's contents.
It was more serious than he'd imagined.
Patriarch Jeong Muryong of the Henan Jeong Family was gravely ill.
Though both were patriarchs, Jeong Muryong was the father-in-law of Hebei Paeng Family Patriarch Paeng Kangwi.
He wouldn't last more than two months in his current state.
The letter had been sent by Great Young Master Jeong Inji of the Henan Jeong Family.
Jeong Inji, brother of Madam Jeonghwa, was expected to inherit the Henan Jeong Family.
What the Henan Jeong Family wanted was the Qingming Pill that Madam Jeonghwa had brought as a betrothal gift.
The Qingming Pill was a divine elixir from the Kunlun Sect, comparable to the Shaolin Great Reversion Pill.
It was a treasure received due to the close ties between Kunlun and the Henan Jeong Family.
Now, with the pill-refining arts lost, only three remained even in Kunlun, or so it was said.
Legend had it that this pill could revive the dead if administered within a gak.
Returning a betrothal gift was a breach of propriety.
But this was a matter of the Henan Jeong Family patriarch's life.
Paeng Daewi plopped down in his seat.
He was the type to charge ahead regardless of consequences if he thought it right, but the timing here was suspicious.
With Madam Jeonghwa, the second wife, losing influence, even the merchant caravans she sponsored were being repeatedly plundered.
And now the Henan Jeong Family patriarch was on the brink of death?
Plus a two-month time limit.
Tap. Tap.
Paeng Daewi drummed his fingers endlessly on the armrest.
It was a habit when things weren't going smoothly.
How much time passed? Finally, he stopped drumming, stood, and strode forward purposefully.
Steward Yi Seolyeong asked in surprise,
"Leader, where are you going?"
"I'll drop by the Seclusion Cave and come back."
"But didn't the patriarch declare it off-limits?"
"Steward, is that the issue? When I'm about to die?"
"Law Enforcement Leader, what do you mean...?"
"The merchant caravans to Henan are practically blocked, right? And now, by coincidence, we have to transport the Qingming Pill that every Jianghu warrior has their eye on. You think that's just chance?"
Paeng Daewi finished with a meaningful smile and slowly exited the hall.
Steward Yi Seolyeong watched him go with a faint smile.
The Paeng Family looked like bears on the outside.
But when it came to crucial decisions, they schemed like foxes—that was the trait of this clan.
A short while later.
After a private meeting with Patriarch Paeng Kangwi in the Seclusion Cave, Paeng Daewi sighed.
Paeng Kangwi's answer had been simple.
'Handle it yourself as acting patriarch!'
Paeng Kangwi knew any decision would be a loss for the Hebei Paeng Family.
But he couldn't just delay it either.
It was like a hot taro.
A golden-roasted taro made your mouth water.
But shove it straight in?
Your mouth wouldn't stay intact.
Let it cool completely?
It'd turn tough and tasteless.
With the caravans to Henan under constant plunder.
And the two-month deadline.
But a decision had to be made.
Having received the hot potato of deciding on aid to the Henan Jeong Family from Paeng Kangwi, Paeng Daewi clutched his head and summoned the people needed for the meeting.
Once everyone gathered, Paeng Daewi summarized the letter.
When the explanation ended, everyone swallowed hard.
The Henan Jeong Family was one of the Five Great Families of Jiangnam.
A storm there would surely reach even Hebei.
Besides, the Hebei Paeng and Henan Jeong Families were in-laws.
They couldn't be separated easily.
Paeng Daewi confirmed the key point.
"Second Madam."
"Yes, Law Enforcement Leader."
"Though the Qingming Pill was a betrothal gift from the Henan Jeong Family, I understand full ownership rests with you. Do you intend to send it?"
"Of course. How could I, his daughter, ignore my father's illness? However..."
Madam Jeonghwa trailed off, glancing around.
The elders and division leaders her gaze passed over all bowed their heads hurriedly.
They feared being assigned this mission.
Clashing blades with mystery warriors on escort duty was nothing like sparring.
Facing a known opponent and conversing with steel was thrilling for any warrior.
But wondering when a blade might pierce your skull from behind? That shrank the heart, not stirred it.
And the item for this trip to Henan was the Qingming Pill, a treasure of the martial world.
If even a rumor spread?
It wouldn't just be bandits to worry about.
Murim bandits—or even righteous sect members disguised as such—could join the fray.
The biggest issue? The math didn't add up.
Would carrying this out raise one's status in the Hebei Paeng Family?
It was better suited to making one a hero of the Henan Jeong Family.
At best, you'd break even here.
High risk, low reward.
The bowed elders and leaders thought of their waiting wives and children at home.
As all heads stayed low, Madam Jeonghwa stood and slammed the table.
Bang!
"Does that mean none of you here intend to help the Henan Jeong Family? Since when did the Hebei Paeng Family become a toothless tiger?"
The atmosphere turned icy.
Jujak Division Leader Ga Gigun stood.
"Madam, take that back! How dare you call the Hebei Paeng Family a toothless tiger?"
Ga Gigun shouted, and Madam Jeonghwa flashed a sardonic smile.
"Then it's not? It's tight on time even now from Hebei to Henan. He's the pillar of Jiangnam's righteous sects before he's my father. And the Hebei Paeng Family of Jiangbuk is still mulling it over? Hmph."
She snorted derisively, and Ga Gigun replied uncomfortably.
"At least no one in the Hebei Paeng Family would defy the patriarch's orders. Recommend someone for the mission, Madam."
Ga Gigun stared at Madam Jeonghwa confidently.
All nodded at the words of Jujak Division Leader Ga Gigun.