40. Murong Clan (2)
Murong Clan (2)
40. Murong Clan (2)
"Then, Reverend, since we were not invited into the Murong Clan, we will escort you only this far. We will also wait gladly to hear how your honored name spreads through a magnificent expedition ceremony."
Shenyang was the largest city I had seen in this life. At the Yongrim Escort Agency's Shenyang headquarters, I finally parted from Escort Captain Jeon.
"You've worked hard."
"It was my honor to escort you. The Second Young Master has secured rooms in advance at the Yeojo Inn and awaits you there. There is an agency branch here in Shenyang, so on your return journey you will be escorted comfortably even without me."
"Thank you. And I must tell you, I read your saju, and your first child will be a son. If you name him Seop-yeong, he will grow up bright and clever."
"Th-thank you, Reverend!"
It seemed Hwangseong, who had never received proper respect in his life, had taken a liking to him. Apparently unable to calculate it in his head, he had me break off a branch and fiddled with it while divining until he even bestowed a splendid name upon Escort Captain Jeon's future son.
When I left the branch office and entered the main avenue, an immense crowd came into view amid brilliant clothes and sophisticated buildings. These were the streets of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, yet my steps grew heavy. Everything until now had been enjoyable, but I finally had to meet that bitch. The soul-crushing despair of answering calls from outrageous customers at a customer-service desk to feed my family in my past life returned fresh and vivid.
"Hyung."
Just as I was trudging down the street, a familiar voice reached me.
"Huh? I heard you were at the inn?"
The brothers reunited after more than fifty days. We were not especially affectionate, however, so there was no moving reunion.
"I am on my way back from the Murong Clan."
Baek Dan-yeong bit down hard on his lower lip, swallowing his indignation. As expected, he looked exactly the way I had foreseen.
"Already?"
"Yes. I have visited the Murong Clan five times during that period, but they still do not remember my face. No matter how often I gave my name, I remained nothing more than "Young Master Baek's younger brother" to the end."
It was suffering I would have to endure as well, but still, another's suffering is enjoyable. At the snicker that escaped me, Dan-yeong looked at me and spoke.
"I trudged all the way here from Jilin bearing gifts, only for them to take the gifts and issue an order to leave. Without offering so much as a single cup of tea. At first, their attitude enraged me, but now that I think about it, I'm grateful. Because now I can go back to the Baek Clan Estate."
My younger brother's face had somehow attained transcendence: the face of a man who had come all the way to splendid Shenyang yet wanted to return to Baek Clan Estate one second sooner. Was this a different kind of power trip from the subtle abuse Murong Rin had directed at me?
"Are Father and Mother well?"
"Yes. You need not worry. All are in good health. The Taoist robes suit you very well, hyung."
So now don't come home. His eyes said it clearly.
"Did you announce your appointment as Young Clan Head?"
"Yes. There is still some resistance from the household retainers, but I will handle it well."
Hmm. He might be crooked, but at least now he was not hiding himself behind Lady Tang. They say position makes the man; had he grown a little?
"Good. As you can see, I became a Daoist. Impressive, is it not? Becoming a Daoist immediately after entering a sect isn't something just anyone can do."
I raised the White Feather Fan and said it with exaggeration, and the fellow laughed cheerfully.
"I received the money you sent. Thank you. I would like to help you someday too, but as you know, our sect is far too poor for that. Yeongsan Sect helping Baek Clan Estate is rather unrealistic, is it not?"
Our sect. And the Baek Clan Estate. In that brief exchange, I conveyed to him that my affiliation was now Yeongsan Sect, not the Baek Clan Estate, and he smiled with a serious face.
"I am truly glad that you have found the path you should follow, hyung."
"I'm sure you are. The sect is unsettled, so I probably can't return home for some time. Even if I miss Father's birthday or the ancestral rites, take good care of him so he doesn't feel hurt."
"Do not worry, hyung."
The face that had looked like he was chewing shit when we first met brightened completely. We were not such an affectionate pair of brothers. Our reunion ended that briefly, right there on the main road. Dan-yeong's words were right. He had his path, and I had mine. For both brothers to have found their own paths was something worthy of being called a blessing.
Now then, where should I go? Murong Rin's birthday was the day after tomorrow. I considered staying at an inn for two days, but Shenyang was exceptionally expensive, and I could no longer spend money carelessly. That left me briefly conflicted.
Fine. I would just go to the Murong Clan. It was Murong Rin's birthday, so she should be too busy receiving guests to seek me out. Since I was invited to conduct the expedition ceremony, they'd surely house me and provide good liquor and food.
The Murong Clan truly resembled a palace. Though this era preceded my past life, the scale of a wealthy household defied imagination. Then again, even Ojukheon in Gangneung had made me think the scale of a great house was absurd. Despite my Daoist robes, the gate guards recognized me immediately. At the level of the Murong Clan, even its gatekeepers were extraordinary. I visited once a year, but in a world without photographs and with thousands of visitors, their precise memory for faces deserved admiration. A servant familiar with the routine guided me to the Fourth Guest Hall, where Murong Rin's guests stayed.
Every stone lantern and wooden pillar in the Murong Clan approached a work of art, yet this was only the outer area where outsiders stayed. At this scale, Baek Clan Estate and Yeongsan Sect probably looked little different beside the Murong Clan. When I put down my bundle in the splendid room assigned to me, a servant brought fine refreshments, a wine jar sealed with red paper, and a cup on a small tray.
They had investigated my tastes thoroughly. As a top-tier clan, the Murong Clan clearly understood the value of information. Although the room was dazzling and unfamiliar, I felt neither lonely nor tense as I chatted with Hwangseong's spirit and enjoyed fine liquor. Murong Rin had once told me that this magnificent guest hall was designed to intimidate visitors. Everyone arriving already knew the Murong Clan was great, but hearing of it and experiencing it firsthand were different. Any ordinary person would grow extremely nervous upon entering.
"Young Master. Lady Murong Rin commands that you be escorted to her."
Already? No, wouldn't that bitch have plenty of guests coming for her birthday? Why was she looking for me so quickly, knowing I'd be staying put anyway until the expedition ceremony?
The room itself had not made me nervous, but the thought of meeting her raised my tension. I had no choice but to follow the servant through the garden to her favored reception room. Murong Rin waited there in resplendent clothes, accompanied by a massively built young man and a woman who slightly resembled her, already seated at the drinking table.
"You came quickly. Young Master Baek."
"I came the moment I arrived in Shenyang."
"Did you not consider setting out a little earlier?"
"I traveled according to the escort agency's schedule, so it could not be helped. Unlike you, Miss Murong, I am terribly weak. I could not deal with bandits if I met them on the road."
At those words, Murong Rin burst out laughing. And the man chuckled. And the woman, her face rigid with tension, simply kept her head bowed.
"Young Master Baek of the Baek Clan Estate, whose very livelihood is bandit subjugation, fears bandits? Do you think that makes any sense? Well, thank you for forcing yourself to make a journey you did not wish to make."
"Rinmae. That's enough. He's a guest who came all this way to celebrate your birthday."
The man, a bulging mass of muscle, spoke gently. Rinmae? Was he perhaps Murong Rin's current lover?
"I am Huangfu Gun. Rinmae has told me a great deal about you. Ah, though I look quite young, I'm five years older than you. Since this is our first meeting, would you mind if I spoke casually?"
He looked young? Oh. Despite his appearance, this man apparently possessed a sense of humor.
"Of course, Hero Huangfu."
"Spare me the "hero." You need not be intimidated by the Huangfu name. I am from a thoroughly collateral branch. Just call me hyung."
"Thank you. Huangfu hyung."
Huangfu Gun extended a thick forearm and shook my hand so hard that my palm felt ready to shatter. For fuck's sake. Since when was a handshake a Chinese greeting in the fifteenth century? This bastard had clearly grown addicted to greetings that flaunted the Huangfu Clan's monstrous physique.
"Is this the first time you've seen a person with a bigger build than you, Young Master Baek?"
Murong Rin asked while laughing at the grimace the painful handshake drew from me. I was large for this era too, but still fell short of a family of physical monsters. Even though we were both bulging with muscle, his had been trained for genuinely practical External Arts, while mine were show muscles built for the Senior Sisters to admire.
What a crazy bitch. Her taste in men was varied too. Whenever Murong Rin took a lover, she chose a different collateral descendant of some famous clan. Even in this patriarchal age, her position made it no problem. Last time she had chosen an intelligent man from the Zhuge Clan; this time, a muscle-bound man from the Huangfu Clan.
"This is my older cousin. Pretty, is she not? Unfortunately, she's married—a steadfast woman who fell into truly pure love."
The words sounded complimentary, but Murong Rin's contemptuous expression and her cousin's gloomy face made it clear they were not.
"She should make a fine rival for Young Master Baek, who abandoned Baek Clan Estate to follow a beautiful Senior Sister. My cousin fell desperately in love with the bodyguard assigned to her. Naturally, the clan opposed them completely, but she ultimately abandoned even the Murong Clan and left with that handsome warrior—our brother-in-law. Now the martial arts school he founded is being crushed by neighboring schools and is about to fail, so she's crawled back, begging for help. Naturally, neither the Clan Head, my father, my paternal uncle, nor my older brothers would even hear her out.
"But you know me, Young Master Baek. I am a loyal woman. Since I was close to her when we were young, I called her here at least to hear her story."
Ah... This woman had been summoned solely so Murong Rin could scorn her.
"My name is Baek Eun-hyeok. I presently use the Daoist title Yeongmok."
"Yeongmok? Puhahaha! Yeongmok?! It really suits you perfectly, doesn't it?"
I introduced myself to the woman called her cousin, while Murong Rin cackled beside me. Her circumstances were none of my concern, and I had no intention of sympathizing with the foolish choice to abandon the Murong Clan. Whether I liked it or not, however, she and I were comrades summoned as the weaker parties at this drinking table to cater to Murong Rin's mood.
"I am Murong Jin, Hero Baek."
As though unaware that I too occupied the weaker position, she greeted me with extreme courtesy and caution.
Murong Jin. It looked like a man's name at a glance. When a woman received such a name, the reason was usually similar: a desperate prayer that the next child would be a son. Murong Rin's father was the second son. Because the eldest son, Murong Jin's father, ultimately produced no son, Murong Rin's father, Murong Sang, became Young Clan Head. Unlike my father, Murong Hyeok-jung was a Super First-Rate martial artist. At the highest levels of martial arts, both lifespan and the prime of life lengthened. Thus, while Father had already become Head of Baek Clan Estate, Murong Sang, who was around his age, remained only Young Clan Head.
"That title is too lofty, Madam Murong."
"I overstepped with my courtesy, Reverend Yeongmok."
She lowered her head as though she had committed some grave offense. She was the granddaughter of Murong Hyeok-jung, someone I normally could not have dared to look at, yet one foolish choice had reduced her to bowing even before a wretch like me. The law of strength that governed the martial world—no, every world—felt terrifying once again.
"What do you think? Our cousin here. Pretty, isn't she?"
"She is beautiful. I am impressed that you remain loyal to your cousin, Miss Murong. But why did you summon me to the gathering where you called Madam Murong?"
Murong Rin giggled at that.
"This is why I like Young Master Baek. You seem obedient, yet in the end you always say everything you need to. It's nothing serious. I was drinking with Huangfu oppa when I heard a commotion and had Cousin brought here. But look: one man and two women. The numbers don't match. I thought of my dear friend Young Master Baek, who struggled to rush here for my sake. You really love liquor and women, do you not?"
Yeongsan Sect truly was paradise, removed from the present world—a place where innocent, artless girls hatched adorable schemes and lived together in pure harmony. Murong Rin spoke to me with a wicked yet alluring smile. The law of power was more horrifying than I had imagined.