160. Martial Alliance (3)
Martial Alliance (3)
160. Martial Alliance (3)
"I won't ask for secrets. But at least tell me what's happened in the meantime."
"It's roughly as you already know. On my way back to Yeongsan Sect, I received your letter and was hurrying toward Heavenly Wolf Sect when I cast a divination of fortune and misfortune. The omen told me to go to Dong-o Peak."
Fudging the details, I filled her in on everything that had happened. My desperate arrival at Heavenly Wolf Sect. I disposed of Heuk Cheon-gyeon in a surprise attack without ever crossing swords with him, and in the process of rescuing them, White Tiger Fortress ended up under my command.
"Cheon Myeong-hwa? That bitch from Seven Fingers Sect? I didn't like her from the start. What did you do with her?"
"She's living well in White Tiger Sect. It's similar to Baek Clan Estate there."
"I see. That's a good idea, Young Master Baek. If you'd clumsily forgiven her just because she was a woman, I'd have been genuinely disappointed."
Murong Rin nodded in praise. The story continued. The visit from the Black Heaven Association Leader afterward. The stability that finally settled in. Using a clue I'd gotten from the Four Heroes of Dong-o, I went to the Medicine Immortal Hall in Jilin and even obtained the Medicine Immortal's secret manual. Then came Murong Hyeok-jung's visit, followed by Branch Head Jeongmyeonggeom's suggestion that I go to Henan. Murong Rin, who had been listening up to that point, began cackling.
"You got thoroughly played, Young Master Baek. Did you really think they cut off information for the stability of Yeongsan Sect and the Liaoning martial world? The Liaoning Branch Head Jeongmyeonggeom is the Nangong Clan Head's confidant. The Martial Alliance leadership and the Nangong Clan must have wanted to monopolize information about Young Master Baek."
By now, I was dimly sensing it myself. That hundreds, thousands of nobodies would swarm to Liaoning targeting my fortuitous encounter? After seeing the countless people camped right in front of the Martial Alliance, people who hadn't even been granted permission to enter the Alliance but had come anyway just to catch a glimpse of the next-generation strongest martial artist of the Orthodox Faction, I couldn't dismiss it as nonsense.
But I didn't need to deal with the swarming martial artists one by one. They were all people who had come just to test the waters anyway. If I crushed a few as examples to demonstrate the truth of my martial power, the rest would scatter on their own. Honestly, the Top Hundred Masters belonging to the Ten Great Evil Factions weren't exactly men with time to spare dying of boredom, and they weren't sworn enemies of ours either; the idea that they'd come at me risking their lives was absurd.
Especially given my total lack of fame and ridiculously young age, the notion that opponents would underestimate me and come charging in was preposterous. Winning would be taken for granted, and if I lost like the Black Heaven Association Leader did, I'd suffer such humiliation I couldn't set foot in the martial world again. Still, thanks to getting hooked by the Branch Head, at least I had managed to buy time for the women to cultivate enough strength to step into the martial world.
The story continued. The incident with the Peng Clan in Hebei. And the incident in Shanxi where I stormed into Great Sun Association in a blind rage because they'd insulted Great Grandmaster.
"Good heavens. I was only briefly told by our elder that Yeongsan Sect had sided with them... I've truly hooked a prize catch. If Young Master Baek helps me, the Young Clan Head position is already mine."
Fundamentally, Murong Rin was an intensely selfish person who saw others only as objects to be used. But precisely because of that, she rejoiced in my growth and Yeongsan Sect's as if it were her own business.
"The conversation has gone on too long. Eat first. The servants prepared northeastern cuisine. It's been a long time since you've had Liaoning food, hasn't it?"
Actually, outside of villages, we'd mostly managed meals by camping, and Lee Eun-ha had regularly cooked both Liaoning and Joseon dishes for us, so we hadn't exactly been nostalgic. Still, familiar food was far better than foreign cuisine. And Murong Clan's cooking was truly high-class, so the meal was something to look forward to.
While we were conversing in the guest quarters, the dining hall had already been spread with a feast of delicacies piled high enough to break the legs of the table. This was absolutely not an amount the five of us could eat.
"First of all, starting this evening, my older brothers will want to meet the Sect Leader. Since I don't want that to happen, I'll tell them the Sect Leader is uncomfortable around men."
Murong Rin, who regarded even her own blood relatives as rivals, was trying to monopolize us. Master was genuinely pleased by her possessiveness.
"But Young Master Baek can't get out of it. Come to the First Manor this evening. Go there and draw a line with my brothers. No unnecessary talk—just tell them Young Master Baek is simply my friend."
"Couldn't you also tell them I'm uncomfortable around men?"
I popped a piece of bear paw, an insanely delicious super-premium dish, into my mouth and casually voiced a complaint, but naturally, the excuse didn't work. The cold eldest brother I didn't know about, well, but the second brother who had subtly treated me well didn't seem like someone I could coldly push away.
"No. If I say that, my second older brother might introduce pretty young ladies to seduce Young Master Baek. Because Young Master Baek is scheduled to gain a reputation within the Five Great Clans for being susceptible to honey traps."
In that instant, a flicker of regret passed through Lee Eun-ha's eyes. Lately, I had increasingly begun to understand how Hong Seon-hwa felt.
"It's true I like beautiful women, but I haven't gained a reputation for it. And what's this about being 'scheduled' to gain a reputation?"
"Among the Five Great Clans, not the Nine Great Sects, Young Master Baek was somewhat famous, wasn't he? Beautiful Madness's pet dog. You've heard it before too, Young Master Baek. It's nonsense gossip from busybodies who don't know our real situation, but Young Master Baek suffered every kind of humiliation and shame at the hands of that viperous bitch for over ten years. And now, even after becoming a peerless expert, not only do you not take revenge, but you're still stuck to my side just like before. Watching this, what kind of man would the Five Great Clans judge Young Master Baek to be?"
A dumb bastard bewitched by Murong Rin's beauty.
I couldn't entirely deny it, and that irritated me. If she were actually a hideous hag rather than a beauty, would I feel the same way now?
"I don't care about the Nine Great Sects and the Beggars' Sect, but keep your distance when meeting the Five Great Clans. The Alliance Leader's Nangong Clan was already trying to monopolize contact with Yeongsan Sect through Branch Head Jeongmyeonggeom. The Zhuge Clan also tried to temporarily isolate Yeongsan Sect within the Martial Alliance by using Sima Buyong. Since you've already clashed with the Peng Clan once, you especially have to be careful when meeting the Tang Clan.
"Oh, right. Did you know? Young Master Baek's younger brother is at the Alliance too. They say Baek Clan Estate has also joined the Alliance this time."
Huh? Baek Clan Estate? They'd fought unorthodox factions for decades and applied for Alliance membership, but the Martial Alliance refused, saying it was a league that defended the Central Plains from external foes and Baek Clan Estate was beyond the wall, so it couldn't join?
"The Tang Clan recommended Baek Clan Estate. Young Master Baek's younger brother. Seems he's now completely turned his back on the Murong Clan and decided to attach himself to the Tang Clan. Decades of efforts at exchange have come to nothing, so Young Master Baek will have to take responsibility and make up for the loss."
She spouted this shameless nonsense proudly with blazing eyes. No, Dan-yeong had indeed made the absurd choice of turning his back on the nearby Murong Clan, but wasn't that because Murong Rin hadn't bothered with him in the first place? The Sichuan Tang Clan had generously given him a Martial Alliance recommendation, so of course he'd attached himself to them.
"But if the Tang Clan recommended them, can Baek Clan Estate's membership really be approved even though they're beyond the wall?"
"The Tang Clan alone would be difficult. But is Baek Clan Estate these days the same Baek Clan Estate of old? It's none other than Baek Eun-hyeok's birth family, you know."
She said, openly looking at me. Honestly, I hadn't expected this. Was this something I should celebrate?
"Sooner or later, both the Tang Clan and Baek Clan Estate will come looking for Yeongsan Sect. The Tang Clan especially is scheming to win over Young Master Baek. They might even put forward a direct-line daughter like me as a match."
A direct-line daughter of the Tang Clan. In that instant, Tang Min came to mind. It probably wouldn't be just the Tang Clan. Until now, I'd been worrying about the flies that might swarm around the women, but here, I too was becoming the target of schemes. So I should just laze around in this manor until the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, since Murong Rin, who'd hate us interacting with other sects anyway, would use her foul personality to cut them off on her own.
Murong Rin had said she was truly spending a busy time right now. Since politics, not martial arts, was her specialty, this was surely a precious time to maneuver for the Young Clan Head position. Having finished our brief reunion like that, she returned to her own manor. A tremendous amount of talk had passed back and forth, but once she left, we basked in a sense of relief and decided to spend our time leisurely.
The manor was as pleasant as expected. Since my body had grown used to camping, the sleeping quarters didn't matter either way, but this spacious, high-class bath was truly satisfying. As soon as I finished bathing, I went to the Great Clarity Palace at Hwangseong's urging, and Master was already done bathing and offering prayers to Taishang Laojun. In the past, our Great Clarity Palace had been truly pitiful, and now, this Great Clarity Palace was a magnificently splendid place. But perhaps because Yeongsan Sect was descended from Maoshan, the basic structure was strikingly similar.
Above all, the portrait of Taishang Laojun placed at the center. Actually, in Taoist temples of the present day, a Great Clarity Palace enshrining Taishang Laojun was surprisingly rare. Even within the same Taoism, the main object of worship changed with the era. Simply put, it was a matter of popularity. Taishang Laojun, or Laozi, had been a popular deity in the past. In recent centuries, the Jade Emperor, represented by the Mount Hua Sect, had risen as the mainstream; then, with the emergence of the Wudang Sect, the Primordial Heavenly Worthy had become the mainstream. The traces of the Great Clarity Palace and Taishang Laojun encountered in this era felt special to me as well. Having lent my body to Hwangseong, who was moved by the traces of a sect now vanished, he also began to earnestly offer prayers alongside Master.
Murong Su and Murong Jun, whom I met that evening, did not try to entice me as Murong Rin had imagined. With the old awkwardness still lingering, they ended the meeting extremely quickly. I brought Cho-ryeong back from the Murong Clan's Second Manor, where she had been happily playing with a young girl, and slept with her that night.
Master, deeply moved by the Great Clarity Palace, said she would pray through the night. Son Yeong, her heart swelling at finally reaching the Martial Alliance, said she would practice her sword beneath the moon. Lee Eun-ha was on her period. Quite unexpectedly, Jeong-hyang also seemed to have found some clue to enlightenment, for she sat cross-legged in the training room and sank into meditation. Thanks to that, I celebrated the journey safely completed thus far with Cho-ryeong and fell comfortably asleep.
"Young Master. Elder Tang Woo of the Tang Clan, and Lady Tang Min. Junior Manor Head Baek Dan-yeong of Baek Clan Estate have come to see you."
It was the first night in a while without either alcohol or sex. Perhaps because the tension had finally eased, I slept late enough that the sun was already high in the sky when I woke. Cho-ryeong must have grown hungry, because she was no longer in bed. She was at the age when she could have chewed through rocks.
A huge yawn escaped me. I had heard that yawning was a reflex for drawing in a large amount of oxygen when the body lacked it, yet it still happened even after I had become an expert. As I had at Baek Clan Estate, I roughly washed my face with the water a servant brought and changed into Yeongsan Sect's martial uniform. At least while we were here, I couldn't let Hwangseong and the Four Heroes out of my reach for even a moment.
Guided by a servant, I headed to the reception hall. There, one elderly gentleman with the distinctive appearance of black hair and a white beard, Tang Min looking as delighted as a puppy, and Dan-yeong, who wore a complicated expression, were waiting.
"The sun rose long ago. Had you been sleeping until now?"
Baek Dan-yeong asked in a surly tone.
"I arrived yesterday. I've been walking that road for months, so sleep came easily."
The simple greeting with Dan-yeong was much better. If he'd heard the rumor that I'd become an expert and greeted me with something like, 'Oh, hyung! It's Dan-yeong, your one and only little brother~,' it would have turned my stomach first thing in the morning.
"This is Elder Tang Woo. He is my maternal great-uncle and the head elder of the Sichuan Tang Clan."
"It's been a long time, Young Master Baek."
A long time... Honestly, I had no idea. Perhaps he had visited Baek Clan Estate with Tang Min when I was young.
"I greet Elder Tang Woo."
"When I heard the Junior Manor Head's older half-brother had defeated the Black Heaven Association Leader, I couldn't believe it at all. It's baffling. I truly can't sense any internal energy."
Tang Woo said, his face falling.
"Oppa. Have you been well?"
"It's been a long time, Min-mae. Are the preparations for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering going well?"
"I'll participate, but I'm not expecting anything. No matter how I think about it, there are well over twenty women stronger than me, you know?"
Her heated gaze felt heavy. Why was she so favorably disposed toward me?
"I heard Baek Clan Estate joined too? Are you going out for it? The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?"
"My internal strength rose a little after consuming the Ice Palace's spirit pill, but I know my own skill better than anyone. Is there any need to deliberately humiliate myself?"
Baek Dan-yeong answered as if annoyed. Seeing him again after such a long time, the Junior Manor Head of Baek Clan Estate truly had unimpressive martial arts. Even if Master fought him with her eyes closed, she'd just toy with him.
"You know. Baek Clan Estate is a new member of the Martial Alliance. You have to suffer a little embarrassment and make the rising stars of the great sects shine; then they'll view you favorably. This is their banquet anyway."
Dan-yeong smiled wryly. He must have felt it now too. Even if Baek Clan Estate was the king of Jilin, here it was only one pebble among countless sects.