69. Jilin (3)
Jilin (3)
69. Jilin (3)
An immense crowd had gathered in front of the Baek Clan Estate's main gate. It was one of the Baek Clan Estate's most important events, the first public appearance of the Young Clan Head, the next power-holder of Jilin, so people had flocked from every region. It wasn't as large as the hundreds who had attended the Murong Clan's expedition ceremony, but for a place like the Baek Clan Estate out here beyond the border, it was the biggest crowd I'd seen since my grandfather's funeral. They were all waiting to get in. It looked like you'd have to wait at least three hours just to squeeze inside, but naturally, it was my family home, so I pushed through the crowd and strode right through the main gate.
"Hyung! You came?"
Baek Dan-yeong was greeting the guests. He looked quite startled to see me appear out of nowhere.
"I didn't know about the appointment ceremony until I visited Jilin."
"What? But I'm certain the letter was delivered to the inn in Liaodong."
Ah, shit. Lately I'd had the White Tiger Sect running every errand in the village, so I hadn't even considered stopping at the inn. And since those bandit bastards had gotten me dead drunk every single day, I hadn't needed a drink badly enough to visit the inn before leaving for this trip to Jilin.
"Don't even mention it. Our sect—burned completely to ashes."
"Are you serious? Are you really all right?"
Baek Dan-yeong looked even more flustered than I was. I had clearly told him that I would follow my path in Yeongsan Sect while he followed his at the Baek Clan Estate. Now that my sect lay in ruins, he eyed me suspiciously, as though I had crept home just before his Young Clan Head appointment ceremony.
You little shit. You've been so busy reining in the household retainers that you had absolutely no idea what happened in Liaoning. You hit the jackpot. From now on, you'll be riding your big brother's coattails.
"That's why I am only passing through. Don't worry. I have money, and I already contracted Daeseon Construction Company in Shenyang. I'm taking this opportunity to tear everything down and rebuild from the ground up."
"That's a relief, then. Right now, our Baek Clan Estate isn't in any position to help you, Hyung."
"Look at this guy. 'Our' Baek Clan Estate? I leave home and suddenly you treat me like an outsider?"
"Would I have said 'our' if you were an outsider? I would've said 'my' Baek Clan Estate."
Baek Dan-yeong made the joke with a brazen face and practiced ease. They said a position made the man. It felt like only yesterday that he hid behind Lady Tang's skirts, yet now he looked every inch a proper Young Clan Head.
"Since you're here, I'd like to ask a favor. I'm receiving important guests, so I'd appreciate it if you entertained them in the guest room, hyung."
"Right. So you're the Young Clan Head now, is that it? I come home after two months, and you put me to work the second I walk in?"
"My mother brewed this Changhwa Wine herself. You should taste it too, hyung."
Half joke, half serious. Baek Dan-yeong was quick to learn the smooth art of handling people. It was a million times better than the way he used to be, all gloomy and unsettling. Besides, giving me the task of receiving VIPs meant he still recognized me as the eldest son of the Baek Clan Estate. Important guests and honored visitors aren't something you can assign to just anyone. I'd thought he'd keep a careful distance, still carrying some subtle unease toward me, but surprisingly, once he let a grudge go, he forgot it fast.
I exchanged nods with the frantic household retainers and headed for the guest room. My hearing, sharpened many times over by the vast internal energy the Flame Emperor had poured into me, caught the servants' whispers perfectly. They muttered about the eldest son who'd lost to his younger brother and fled, wondering why he had returned for the Young Clan Head appointment ceremony. I'd never realized it before, but Father must have heard their backbiting all along.
"Oh my! Eldest Young Master!"
Lady Tang, who had been greeting the honored guests, was caught completely off guard when she saw my face.
"Mother. Have you been in good health?"
"Eldest Young Master! You came!"
"Dan-yeong put his brother to work the moment I walked through the door after two months away. I'll take over here, Mother, so please go see to your other duties."
Lady Tang looked far more pleased to see me than Dan-yeong had. The announcement had already been made public anyway, and so many guests had been invited. No matter what trick anyone tried to pull at this point, she knew Baek Dan-yeong was the Young Clan Head, so Lady Tang was genuinely and purely glad that I'd come to celebrate her son.
"Thank you, Eldest Young Master. Here, let me introduce you to the guests.
"This is Great Hero Huangfu Gun of the Huangfu Clan. He came all the way from Shandong to visit the Baek Clan Estate."
"You're late, little brother!"
He'd been sitting at the drinks table, enjoying his wine, and greeted me warmly.
"Oh my. Are the two of you already acquainted?"
"Yes. We met at the Murong Clan estate. Didn't you go on to Henan, Hyung?"
"Henan, my ass. My martial arts are nothing special, and neither is my bloodline. I was loafing around the clan estate when I heard about the Baek Clan Estate's Young Clan Head appointment ceremony, so I volunteered to come and see you, little brother. I have to earn my keep occasionally."
Huangfu Gun spoke cheerfully. Murong Rin hadn't taken him to Henan. Apparently, their little lover act had ended quickly once she found a fuck buddy in me.
"My, my. Our Eldest Young Master and Great Hero Huangfu are close enough to call each other brothers. Great Hero Huangfu, please regard our Young Clan Head as your brother as well and favor him in the future."
Lady Tang jumped at the unexpected opportunity to bolster Dan-yeong's connections.
"Lady Tang, as you know, I'm only a freeloader of the Huangfu Clan. I appreciate your words, but I possess no authority to aid the Baek Clan Estate."
Was this the fallout from being dumped by Murong Rin? Huangfu Gun drained his cup forlornly, putting himself down. That image might well have been me, a freeloader as originally planned. No—the scale of the Baek Clan Estate and the Huangfu Clan were worlds apart, so my side would've been far more miserable.
"What are you saying? I myself come from a branch line of the Tang Clan. I'm not asking for the Huangfu Clan's power, only that our Young Clan Head gain a dependable older brother."
Lady Tang understood perfectly. No matter how distant the bloodline, such connections were absolute in a small sect like the Baek Clan Estate. That was precisely why the second son, Dan-yeong, had become Young Clan Head.
"If that's all, do not worry, madam. I, Huangfu Gun, have nothing but loyalty and a youthful face."
At that, Lady Tang smiled gently. Not bad. The Baek Clan Estate would flourish even more in the next generation.
...But wait. Did Huangfu Gun truly not know that I'd killed Heuk Cheon-gyeon and the Black Heaven Association Leader? The Baek Clan Estate lay beyond the border and was consumed by preparations for the Young Clan Head ceremony, so I could understand why they hadn't heard the news from Liaoning. But for a man from the Central Plains to know nothing was unacceptable.
My mouth itched to spill it. I really wanted to brag a little. But if I so blatantly brought the story up with my own lips, I could practically feel the Four Heroes, the ones who actually struck them down, scoffing at me, and somehow it'd make me look pathetic.
"You use the Daoist title Yeongmok, yes? A pleasure to meet you. I am Song Ok of the Qingcheng Sect."
The quiet young man who'd been watching finally spoke—at last, a true man of the martial world who recognized me appeared.
"Oh my. Song Ok of the Qingcheng Sect, you also know our Eldest Young Master?"
"Know him? Of course I do! He's a remarkable man."
Here it came. At last, the story of the new hero of the Liaoning Martial World, the one who would turn the Baek Clan Estate on its head, was about to spill from Song Ok's lips.
"The Murong Clan expedition ceremony—I watched it with great admiration. An incredible Grand Rite of that magnitude I have never once seen, not even in our Qingcheng Sect, which pursues Daoist studies."
Ah... a dud. Damn it, people of the Martial World. There was no internet or telephone, but when Heuk Cheon-gyeon came to Liaoxi, even random escort captains knew. Now the Black Heaven Association Leader was dead, and no one had heard? Could it be Cheonghwa Hall Master? Had that old man suppressed the news so he could monopolize the ultra-secret intelligence called Yeongsan Sect for a while?
"Is that so? Our Eldest Young Master did?"
"It is no empty boast. Frankly, knowing that an Eldest Young Master of his caliber was present, I wondered why you asked Reverend Hwa-il to officiate."
"I was once a candidate for Young Clan Head, so Mother considered that I might find it awkward. Reverend Hwa-il is also my grandmother's junior sect brother in the Mount Hua Sect and has long overseen the Baek Clan Estate's rites."
That was what I said out loud, but the truth was, since I had no lingering attachment to the Young Clan Head position, I could have actually given him a truly spectacular ceremony as his older brother, and deep down I felt a bit disappointed.
"It has been a long time, Young Master Baek."
A woman a little younger than Lee Eun-ha, clad in an exquisite formal martial robe that reminded me of Murong Rin. She carried a sense of calm composure, yet I could feel a strength exceeding Song Ok's. Who was she? I couldn't remember. What's more, despite being so young, she was seated in the seat of honor. Lady Tang hadn't introduced her first among those in the honored seats. That meant we were already acquainted.
"I figured you wouldn't remember me. It was when we were very young that we met."
She spoke as if she found it annoying.
"Eldest Young Master, this is Lady Tang Min of our Tang Clan. The Sichuan Tang Clan sent a direct descendant of its Clan Head all this way for the Young Clan Head appointment ceremony."
Lady Tang spoke with pride. Tang Min? I rummaged through my memory and seemed to recall some of Lady Tang's relatives visiting the Baek Clan Estate when I was about ten—was it a little kid, maybe six years old, I saw then? Right. That child's name had been Tang Min, I thought. I'd been young then too, but because of the precocious memories of my past life, VIP children like Murong Rin always seemed to fall on me.
"It's been a long time, Lady Tang."
"As Song Ok said, it appears you've built quite a reputation as a Daoist. But should you not work a little harder on that martial level? Young Master Baek, you're four years older than I am, are you not? Yet your martial prowess is only comparable to mine. I'm rather disappointed."
The gathering was startled by Tang Min's cold words. It was incredibly rude, but the fact that I, a son of the Baek Clan Estate, was at a martial level comparable to hers, a direct descendant of the mighty Tang Clan, made everyone look at me in surprise.
No, but why the hell are you disappointed?
"The Baek Clan Estate maintained its relationship with the Murong Clan until now, did it not? From Dan-yeong oppa's generation onward, we'll grow closer to the Tang Clan instead."
Well... that's probably how it'd go. Apart from Murong Rin, no one else properly dealt with the Baek Clan Estate, and Murong Rin and Dan-yeong were truly incompatible people.
"So from now on, curry favor with me rather than that Beautiful Madness."
Just as expected from the princess of the Tang Clan. Just like Murong Rin, with that arrogant face, she started power-tripping as naturally as breathing.
"My apologies, but while I remain a member of the Baek Clan's family, I have now become a Daoist of the Yeongsan Sect. In external matters, I am a person entirely unconnected to the Baek Clan Estate."
"Am I beneath that Beautiful Madness?"
"Lady Murong Rin is someone I've known and dealt with for a very long time. And my sect, Yeongsan Sect, is in Liaodong, where the Murong Clan is."
Tang Min bit her lip at my words. Just as I thought, a nasty personality.
"Um... E-Eldest Young Master? The Tang Clan may be in Sichuan, but the opportunity to build ties with the Tang Clan is truly a golden one. If you stay close to our young lady, it will be of great help to your sect too."
Sensing the atmosphere turning odd, Lady Tang discreetly stepped in.
"My sect has only six people including Master. We are smaller than a martial hall. Since we are not a major power of the Martial World, we can resolve most difficulties ourselves."
I'd already fended off the Black Heaven Association. What could I possibly need from her now?
"Hmph. You're just bewitched by Beautiful Madness's charms. You have no idea how obscene and vile that woman really is."
Her slightly sulky demeanor dealt me no damage whatsoever, but beside me, cold sweat ran down Huangfu Gun's forehead.
Just as the mood had grown slightly awkward, Dan-yeong, who had been greeting guests at the main gate, escorted a woman into the VIP room.
"This is Lady Eun Seol-hye of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, the Palace Lord's youngest daughter."
Snow-white hair. Skin so pale she seemed almost of another race. A beauty like ice jade, as though a sculpture carved from crystal had walked toward us. Her foreign appearance made her age difficult to judge, but she looked roughly Son Yeong's age. Yet she was the Ice Palace Lord's youngest daughter? Was that old man not nearly one hundred? I could not tell whether she had cultivated a Youth-Preserving Art or the Ice Palace possessed some extraordinary bedchamber art that allowed a hundred-year-old man to father children. For the moment, I rose and greeted her with a cupped-fist salute.
That was when she glided toward me as if skating on ice. In that instant, catching me completely off guard, she grabbed my cock.
"Wh-what the hell are you doing?"
"Sturdy. Good. A man should be like this. Do you have children? If not, I will bear one for you."
She said it with a completely blank face, kneading my cock.
"Are you insane?"
I roughly smacked her hand away, and she asked me calmly,
"Why are you angry? Objectively, my face is beautiful. Is a man not supposed to be pleased when a woman like this touches his male organ?"
"Are you messing with me right now?"
"Did it look like a joke? Then shall I get serious?"
In an instant, a pure-white extreme yin qi coalesced at her fingertips. The entire VIP room grew cold, like someone had turned on an air conditioner. The people around us felt only a chill, but one direct hit from that hand, and a person would freeze to death on the spot. Her white hand closed in fast. Even if I blocked it, the arm I blocked with would freeze solid. Acting almost on pure instinct, I wreathed my hand in the same flame qi the Flame Emperor had shown me when he grilled meat and blocked it, and her extreme yin qi collided with my extreme yang qi so hard that the entire VIP room shuddered.
"Impressive. And yet why do you refuse a woman's hand? Have you come to fancy men?"
"As if that's even possible! You—you're the Ice Palace Lord's daughter, you said?
"Then that makes you my aunt!!!"