Chapter 80
Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: 23. The Great Chaotic Barbecue Party (4)
Standing beside Zhuge Ryang, Hwangbo Yun swept her gaze over him like he was some lunatic, then retorted in a small voice.
“Senior, what are you talking about? It looks exactly like an Arctic fox……?”
“Oh my, what a cute Samoyed.”
The one who approached while saying that and stroked Garung’s head was Teacher Namgung Ryeo.
Hwangbo Yun nodded with a vacant smile, her eyes unfocused.
“Yeah. It’s still just a young pup. So adorable.”
Hwangbo Yun here must have insane ambition for sure.
Had Teacher Namgung Ryeo gotten prior word from the CEO about Garung’s existence?
Otherwise, she wouldn’t go along with hiding that it was a yokai.
“By the way, don’t you raise cats too, Teacher?”
The Alliance Leader asked as if the thought had just occurred to him, and Teacher Namgung Ryeo nodded.
I knew about the cat Teacher Namgung Ryeo raised.
She was appearing on that show [Dogs Meow, Cats Bark] that showcased celebrities’ daily lives with their pets.
A white Korean Shorthair named ‘Miho,’ I think.
Something about it being born with a deformed tail that split into two……
“…….”
Thinking about it now, that was awfully suspicious.
Was it overthinking to suspect Miho might be a yokai too?
But weren’t two-tailed cat yokai a widely known tale?!
-Wowww!!!
At that moment, an enormous cheer erupted from down the hallway.
Garung in my arms startled and perked up its ears, while excited Green Forest thugs came charging toward us in a clamor.
“Found it, we found it!”
These grown men were hopping in place like kids, beside themselves with excitement.
“What’d you find?”
“Treasure, what else!!”
Wu Chi thrust out a white envelope as he said that, and I naturally assumed it was the highlight of any treasure hunt.
The prize list paper.
“…Isn’t this just a money envelope?”
What Wu Chi held out was an envelope stuffed with crisp bills.
“It’s not just any money envelope!”
Wu Chi, face flushed red with excitement, showed me the contents.
The stack of bills inside was far from thin.
“There’s a million won in here!!”
CEO bastard, what the hell did you hide as treasure?
Do you even know what a treasure hunt is?
The Heavenly Demon said flatly.
“What’s to get so thrilled about over scraps of paper?”
“Scraps of paper?! You bragging about getting good payouts??”
“What’s a payout?”
“Oh, Heavenly Demon, you haven’t debuted long enough to get payouts yet?”
“Is that a thing?”
The Heavenly Demon glanced at me for confirmation, so I nodded for now.
Couldn’t exactly say we couldn’t receive payouts because we didn’t have bank accounts.
Wu Chi snorted.
“You can’t even get payouts and you’re mocking a million won? What, you some Chinese tycoon or something?”
“Must I repeat myself again? Taiwan…….”
The Heavenly Demon started reciting that mantra again, so I coughed to get his attention.
It wasn’t forbidden talk, but I still hadn’t ruled out hidden cameras somewhere here.
Catching on, the Heavenly Demon shut his mouth and asked, looking displeased.
“A million won that great? Better than Nin○do?”
Wu Chi stared at the Heavenly Demon pityingly for a moment, like he was a dimwit, then said as if realization dawned late.
“Ah, you’re a foreigner, so you don’t know the currency units. A million won buys two Nin○dos.”
“What?!!”
Come to think of it, the Heavenly Demon had only ever used unlimited cards until now, so he probably had no clue about the value of bills.
The Heavenly Demon trembled with betrayal.
“That CEO bastard dared to lowball this seat’s compensation at half a Nin○do……!”
“No, if you’d told me, I would’ve bought it for you.”
“You? As if. You’re lucky if you don’t just load it with edutainment games.”
He knows me too well.
Teacher Namgung Ryeo stopped petting Garung and spoke up then.
“If it’s treasure, there’s probably more hidden.”
At that, the Green Forest kids grinned, saying they wouldn’t get greedy.
“Eh, finding a million won’s plenty.”
“Yeah, yeah. This has gotta be the grand prize.”
“Really? I saw CEO Sa putting checks in envelopes…….”
“Where haven’t we checked yet?!”
“First to find owns it!”
“This seat will find it first! Don’t know what a check is, but!”
“Master, I’ll help too!!”
The Heavenly Demon, Ja Ha, the Green Forest crew.
And the Five Great Families guys all bickered as they vanished down the hallway.
The Alliance Leader and I shook our heads in unison.
“Ja Ha aside, even Heavenly Demon seems to have forgotten the goal.”
“Neither would’ve helped much even if we dragged them to the study anyway.”
“Agreed.”
“Then let’s move, Brother.”
“Heading to the study?”
Teacher Namgung Ryeo asked with a faint smile, and I started to answer thoughtlessly before halting at her follow-up.
“Looks like what we stole from our clan wasn’t enough.”
Unexpectedly, Teacher Namgung Ryeo didn’t seem inclined to hide that she knew everything.
“What’d you do with what you took?”
No reason to answer honestly here.
Had I pulled Namgung Mu aside earlier to check on the manual’s safety?
I stared at Teacher Namgung Ryeo silently for a bit before slowly opening my mouth to ask.
“Asking about that here… does that mean you’re done hiding your involvement in this, Teacher?”
“Who knows. I’m just asking about the missing item.”
So she wasn’t ready to fully surface yet.
Come to think of it, last time the Heavenly Demon said if he met Teacher Namgung Ryeo again, he could fully gauge her martial prowess, but this troublemaker ran off treasure hunting.
So far, the CEO side had only directly shown force against us with the Left and Right Protectors and the Masked Expert.
Teacher Namgung Ryeo had contact with Wu Chi but hadn’t used force even after we stole the manual.
Even here now… she didn’t seem about to demonstrate power.
Best not to provoke her then.
“No intent to damage it. I’ll return it soon.”
“Hmm. Looks like you’re really training in the arts.”
Teacher Namgung Ryeo pondered something, then gazed at me with an enigmatic smile.
“Want me to help?”
“Pardon?”
“If the head of the Namgung Family taught you directly, you’d master it much faster.”
What was the intent behind that?
Learning directly from Teacher Namgung Ryeo, head of the Namgung Family, would obviously accelerate mastering the manual… but her vague attitude made me wary of accepting outright.
Not like empty words either.
“Did CEO Sa approve us learning the manual?”
“Oh my.”
Teacher Namgung Ryeo blinked, looking a bit surprised.
“CEO Sa wasn’t kidding about not talking in front of the ox’s seed. On second thought, this isn’t the place for such talk.”
Teacher Namgung Ryeo fell silent and gracefully withdrew.
“I can’t deny I’m CEO Sa’s person, but with the ox’s seed holding my child, remember I’m not fully your enemy.”
“Understood.”
“You’re straightforward. Take good care of Juni from now on, ox’s seed.”
With that, Teacher Namgung Ryeo lightly walked off in the direction we’d come.
The only room at the hall’s end was the cult CEO’s.
Checking if the effigy was still there?
“Teacher Namgung Ryeo doesn’t seem to suspect Namgung Jun. She said nothing when we passed him in the yard earlier?”
Dang Sa-cheon whispered softly, and Namgung Mu flinched before nodding.
“Guess since I was closer to Brother than the family head, impersonating him isn’t hard.”
So for now, no worry of them discovering someone the effigy’s spell didn’t work on among us—Namgung Mu.
“Still, best avoid running into Teacher Namgung Ryeo from here on.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Her earlier words echoed at Namgung Mu’s promise.
As long as I held Namgung Jun, she wasn’t fully an enemy……
She’d worded it as ‘enemy,’ so relations between me and the CEO had turned hostile.
No time to dwell on sentiment though, so we headed to the CEO’s private study.
Another guest was already there.
“Knew you’d come here.”
Lion CEO, perched on the desk reading an ancient tome, grinned at us.
Lion CEO was somehow an awkward person to deal with, so I blocked the door to keep the others out and asked.
“Not joining the treasure hunt, CEO?”
“Already saw an incredible treasure, so CEO Sa’s prizes don’t interest me.”
Incredible treasure?
With wealth rivaling CEO Sa’s, a million won might seem like kid stuff to Lion CEO.
“Why loiter by the door? Didn’t the ox’s seed come treasure hunting?”
“…….”
For some reason, it felt wrong to let him and the kids share space.
Namgung Mu and Dang Sa-cheon already knew Lion CEO, but.
What bugged me was the Alliance Leader.
Just now, he’d retreated to the back the moment he spotted Lion CEO inside.
The Alliance Leader was definitely hiding something.
His cooperation condition was ‘ask nothing,’ after all.
No idea how he knew Lion CEO, but I could’ve let them meet and gauge reactions……
Didn’t want to do that to the Alliance Leader.
“You guys check the warehouse. Lion CEO and I will handle here.”
“Just you two?”
As expected, the Alliance Leader stayed quiet, but Dang Sa-cheon furrowed his brow, looking baffled.
“Two people can’t search all these books.”
“Garung!”
Garung leaped lightly from my arms as if reminding us it was there too.
Then it sniffed around and headed toward the bookshelves.
As I smiled faintly at the sight, Dang Sa-cheon snapped his fingers to get my attention.
“Brother, forgot Garung’s a yokai? If something goes wrong…….”
“Lion CEO’s here, so it’s fine.”
Dang Sa-cheon’s expression turned subtly odd.
“You mean Lion CEO too……?”
I nodded at the implication he was from the jianghu, and Dang Sa-cheon looked resigned.
“Well, if so… but wouldn’t more hands be better for searching?”
“Can you read Hanja?”
“Regrettably, I picked Russian as my second language.”
Hanja isn’t a second language.
“Go to the warehouse…….”
“Yes, sir.”
Once Dang Sa-cheon and the kids were off to the warehouse, I stepped inside, and Lion CEO chuckled softly.
“Like Romeo and Juliet.”
“How so?”
“Sneaking around to meet, avoiding CEO Sa’s eyes?”
Lion CEO pressed his temple with a headachey look.
“CEO Sa’s still sore about me tipping you off on the tracker last time…….”
Right, he’d avoided sitting with me at the barbecue earlier, citing CEO’s watchful eyes.
So he’d been waiting here for me.
“Something you need to tell me privately, CEO?”
“Of course.”
Lion CEO set down the ancient tome and approached me.
I felt Garung weaving between my legs.
“Ox’s seed…….”
Lion CEO’s red eyes were a brighter shade than the Heavenly Demon’s, but shadowed by his bangs despite the lightness.
“You really planning to stay at CEO Sa’s house?”
He’d already heard that much.
“Just for a while.”
“How long is ‘a while’?”
“Who knows…….”
Lion CEO stared at me before whispering softly.
“You should leave this house right now.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll help you find whatever you’re after.”
I stepped back in confusion.
“Why say that all of a sudden… Did the cult CEO set traps here?”
“Cult CEO? That guy can’t touch you.”
“Then why tell me to leave?”
“Because this mansion was built for the demon.”
Lion CEO spat it out stiffly, then asked in a strange tone.
“You don’t actually trust the Heavenly Demon, do you, ox’s seed?”