Chapter 175
Translator: penny
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Schemes for the Baek Family
After the simple self-introductions wrapped up, Peng Sawol kept showing interest in me.
"How did you get close to my big brother?"
"It just sort of happened."
I answered in a thoroughly bored tone, not bothering to hide my annoyance.
But Peng Sawol showed no signs of giving up.
I could guess why this woman kept striking up conversations with me.
Whew, this damn popularity of mine.
Looks? Check. Martial arts prowess? Check. And now, my skyrocketing reputation on top of that.
No wonder any young lady would take an interest in me.
The attention from beautiful beauties was always welcome, but I didn't even want to chat with ugly ones.
And Peng Sawol was among the ugliest of the lot.
As I radiated impatience, Peng Deokjo finally couldn't take it anymore and stepped in.
"Ahem, Peng Sawol. Let's talk separately for a bit. I have some questions about the family lately..."
"Can't I hear it from Gold Elder?"
"I want to hear it from you too, so get up already!"
Peng Deokjo forcibly hauled his younger sister to her feet.
Then he apologized to me and Eun Garyeon.
"We'll step out for a moment."
Once the Peng Family members left, only Eun Garyeon and I remained at the table.
There were still a few warriors guarding her nearby, but that was a simple matter of deploying a sound barrier.
"Eun Sojeo, how have you been?"
"Yes. Aside from being busy, I've been doing great. But Mok So-hyeop, what's brought you all the way here? And with Do-ryong, no less..."
"Well, first off, the Murim Alliance right now..."
I immediately spilled everything about the Harmony Group.
It was a secret organization, but I had no intention of hiding it from my woman.
Once I explained the circumstances making the Eun Merchant Group suspicious, Eun Garyeon let out a sharp squeak with a baffled look on her face.
"You told us to do it, Mok So-hyeop!"
Good thing I'd set up the sound barrier in advance.
Otherwise, her guards would have swarmed us.
"Eh, I know. Of course I know. It's just the vibe around things."
"Sigh, really..."
Eun Garyeon glared at me like something was really bothering her.
I just grinned back at her.
After staring at me for a while, she finally burst into a snicker.
"Got it. Thanks for the heads-up. If the Murim Alliance and Four Black Alliance are hunting for the masterminds behind this war..."
Eun Garyeon trailed off and tilted her head.
Then she gave me a cautious look.
"Mok So-hyeop, just to be sure... you're not the one behind it, are you?"
"Huh? What kind of talk is that?"
I reflexively shot back, but then nodded to myself in understanding.
Maybe that's how it looks to Eun Sojeo.
I'd foreseen the war from the start, and I'd killed Chu Mun-rak, an elder of the Four Black Alliance.
Plus, my martial arts realm was ridiculously high for my age.
It wouldn't be strange at all if there was some shadowy force behind me stirring up the war.
The Murim Alliance might even suspect me.
Even so, they'd assigned me to the Harmony Group because my past was too transparent.
A quick check would reveal I'd spent the last year holed up in the Mok Family Clan.
I glanced at Eun Garyeon—her face was dead serious.
"Do I look like the type to get tangled in something that annoying? You know what I'm capable of, Eun Sojeo."
"Mm... true."
She nodded as if conceding the point.
She'd probably asked just to cover her bases, even if she had a hunch.
"So what should the Eun Merchant Group do? Lay low until the Murim Alliance's suspicions clear?"
"Why bother? Just keep doing what you were planning."
I was the one investigating, after all.
And I knew the Eun Merchant Group was innocent.
"Got it. Anything else I need to watch out for?"
"Actually, there is a favor I'd like to ask..."
I jumped right into the Baek Family matter, as if I'd been waiting for the opening.
This was the real reason I'd come.
"The Baek Family...?"
After hearing me out, Eun Garyeon furrowed her delicate brow.
Her unexpected reluctance threw me off a bit.
"Yeah. Too much to handle?"
"It's not impossible... but what about Foster Mother?"
Ah, it was about Yang Hwa-jeong.
She'd been kicked out of the Baek Family and was staying with the Eun Merchant Group now.
But I'd prepared for this.
"Just make Baek Rihyeon the family head."
"Hyeon is a bastard son. Is that even possible?"
"Don't worry. I've already smoothed things over with him."
Baek Riunjeong had agreed readily to my proposal.
Staying the course meant the Baek Family's downfall was inevitable.
The only wrinkle was the young master Baek Rijun, but he wasn't a major obstacle.
Baek Rijun's still at late first-rate, right?
For reference, Baek Rihyeon had recently broken through to mid first-rate.
Just one realm apart.
Considering their twenty-year age gap, Baek Rihyeon would surpass him in a few years.
And Baek Riunjeong's the same now that she's gained inner energy from the Blissful Creation Art.
Of course, that didn't mean Baek Rihyeon could take over as family head right away.
It wasn't just about superior martial arts.
He needed a base of support within the family.
And I had a plan for that too.
Using the Baek Family elders.
Most of the retainers had fled after the recent incident, but the elders were still around.
And most of them had ties to the Shadow Gate Sect.
Not as direct subordinates, though.
They'd just taken a little graft.
Back when the Shadow Gate Sect and Baek Family were chummy, they'd all pocketed some of that shadowy funding.
It wasn't outright betrayal since they were practically allies, but it meant the Shadow Gate Sect's influence lingered.
In this mess, the Shadow Gate Sect backing a direct blood relative of the family head—even if a bastard?
Especially one who's a once-in-history genius?
No Baek elder would refuse.
The family was in no position to be picky anyway.
Honestly, I'd had zero plans like this before.
Why make the punk who killed me family head? What was so great about him?
But lately, my thinking had shifted a little.
The big lug's kinda cute when he's not being a pain.
Maybe I'd grown fond of him while teaching martial arts during his confinement.
He didn't piss me off like before anymore.
Plus, the future was changing.
No Heavenly Family this lifetime, probably.
The Heavenly Family that crushed the Blood Cult and countless other threats in the martial world.
The trigger for its founding was Cheon Woojin marrying Moyong Hui.
But that future was gone now.
Moyong Hui was my woman, and I planned to keep puppeteering Cheon Woojin.
So what would Martial Emperor Cheon Seonwoo do this time around?
Right now he's probably refining the Heavenly Extreme Swordsmanship because of our bet...
But after that, his path was unpredictable.
It wouldn't matter much for others.
But Cheon Seonwoo was the Martial Emperor, an absolute transcendent realm expert, and the real World's Greatest Martial Artist.
His actions could rewrite the future I knew in a flash.
So I'd decided to narrow those possibilities.
Cheon Seonwoo's eccentric, but he never stirred much from his own family base.
My plan was to have the Baek Family take him in as a guest warrior.
I could've done it with the Mok Family Clan, but with his prickly personality, it might backfire on me.
And it made no sense to slot him into some other family that could become my enemy.
Conveniently, Baek Rihyeon was Cheon Seonwoo's disciple.
Even if the man himself didn't know the kid existed yet, a disciple was a disciple.
Having the disciple's family host the master as a guest warrior?
How natural was that?
"Mm, alright. So how much should the Eun Merchant Group back the Baek Family?"
"As much as possible?"
If things went according to plan, the Baek Family would become the World's Greatest Family this lifetime too.
And I'd just milk the honey from Baek Rihyeon and Baek Riunjeong.
Perfect plan.
"As much as possible? Hmm..."
Eun Garyeon seemed lost in thought.
Not refusing, just weighing the Eun Merchant Group's remaining capacity, probably.
"We can figure that out later. More importantly, Eun Sojeo—got time today?"
"I'd make time even if I didn't. Since Mok So-hyeop came all this way."
I almost teased her about not making time back in Beijing, but held back.
She'd really seemed swamped then.
"Then how about some intimate time, just the two of us after so long?"
"What about Do-ryong who came with you?"
"He'll keep himself busy with the Peng kids."
I did need to chat with Peng Deokjo about the mission, but that could wait till tomorrow.
No rush.
No need to race against the clock.
One perk of the Harmony Group was the autonomy.
So today, I planned to spend some real quality time with Eun Garyeon.
"Shall we get going?"
"...Sure."
That day, we dismissed even her guard warriors and savored our time alone together.