The Pang Family Banquet
In the guest quarters assigned to the Cheonhae Merchant Group.
On the bed in a spacious room whose open view was impressive even from the top floor, a little kid flung himself down hard.
Thud.
Yeo Baek-rang, his face soft and clean as if he had just washed. His clothes had been changed as well; not a trace of the hard merchant journey remained.
As if he were in his own bedroom at home.
The young master of the Cheonhae Merchant Group mumbled with a languid expression.
“Ugh.”
“Young Master.”
“I wanna sleep without dinner...”
“You must maintain your dignity.”
“Ah, I don’t care! It’s all over, Nanny!”
“We’ve only delivered the samples. For the deal to be properly concluded, we still need to draft the contract we prepared and at the same time...”
“La la la— I can’t hear you—”
Lying flat, Yeo Baek-rang covered both ears and shook his head.
At the childish tantrum that looked for all the world like a full-blown fit, Ju Hwa-jeong—who had been wearing a deliberately stern face—let a hollow laugh slip out.
Heh.
She knew it too, after all.
The moment the samples had been safely delivered, this deal was as good as finished.
Especially here, at the Hubei Pang Family, where a verbal promise carried the same weight as a formal contract.
The instant she saw Pang Mu-gwang’s expression upon receiving the samples, she had been certain of success.
“Still, you must eat.”
“Fine, who said I wouldn’t go?”
Contrary to his words, Yeo Baek-rang rolled around on the bed.
In truth, the boy wanted to linger in this feeling a little longer.
Those words he had heard yesterday.
The praise from that man that made the corners of his mouth curl upward every time he recalled it.
If I had gone through something like this at the Young Master’s age, the tear tracks would never have dried from my face.
Every adult gathered around the campfire had looked at him with eyes full of admiration. What a thrilling moment that had been!
By the time the Young Master reaches my age, you’ll be such an outstanding person that I wouldn’t even dare to compare myself.
It was such a delightful memory that he could turn it over in his mind all day without growing tired of it—enough to make him wonder if this was the reason people wandered the jianghu.
Moreover, the good feeling had even transferred to that man himself.
...Well, he does know how to judge people a bit.
Gwak Yeon, who had acknowledged his achievements and preserved his face.
Once praised like that, every action of Gwak Yeon’s that he had been jealous of all along now felt like the bearing of a cool adult.
...And he seems pretty strong in his own way, too.
His branching thoughts reached Gwak Yeon’s skill just then.
“But Nanny.”
“Please call me Bodyguard.”
“Fine. Bodyguard Ju?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Be honest with me.”
“Yes—though I’m sorry, you absolutely must have dinner. This is a place where you’ll meet the Family Head of the Hubei Pang Family. Are you saying you’ll skip that—”
“Not that.”
Suddenly sitting up on the bed, Yeo Baek-rang asked with a serious look in his eyes.
“Bodyguard Ju, are you stronger than Pavilion Master Gwak Yeon?”
It was an unexpected question. Ju Hwa-jeong blankly met the boy’s gaze for a moment. A hum escaped her lips as she crossed her arms.
“...Hmm.”
“I’m serious.”
“Based on what I’ve observed so far, you mean?”
“Whatever.”
“I don’t really know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That’s all I can say for now.”
“Bodyguard Ju, Father said that if you put your mind to it, you could even get your name on the Jianghu Rankings. If you’re a master of that level, shouldn’t you know the answer the moment you look at each other?”
“Young Master.”
Ju Hwa-jeong smiled slightly and answered after a moment’s thought.
“It’s true that many of the Central Plains’ masters have their names on the Jianghu Rankings, but that doesn’t mean it’s the standard for all strength. There are so many hidden masters the world doesn’t know about. Moreover, gauging an opponent’s skill is an entirely different matter.”
“Then you can’t compare with Pang Mu-gwang either?”
“I can compare with Young Master Pang.”
“Oh?”
“I’m more likely to lose.”
“!”
Ju Hwa-jeong answered immediately when it came to Pang Mu-gwang.
To Yeo Baek-rang, who looked a little disappointed, she added an explanation.
“Of course, not always—I think I could win about three times out of ten. Depending on the situation, the results could reverse to some extent.”
“Aw, what.”
“Young Master Pang Mu-gwang is a master who makes the Jianghu Rankings every year; he wouldn’t be easy to face.”
“Earlier you said the Jianghu Rankings aren’t the standard for all strength.”
“Hoho, martial prowess is that complicated to compare.”
The Jianghu Rankings was the list of the “Three Hundred Strongest in the Central Plains,” updated annually by the Murim Alliance.
Last time, even Im Cheon-hak, a Green Forest Bandit Chief, had barely scraped onto the tail end, but Ju Hwa-jeong believed she could defeat someone of that level.
Pang Mu-gwang, however, who sat higher on the list, was a bit ambiguous.
After all, the martial prowess he had displayed at the end of yesterday’s fight against the jiangshi had been truly tremendous.
“Are you disappointed?”
“...No.”
“Don’t worry. I get stronger every year too, so later—”
“Then what about Pavilion Master Gwak?”
“Pardon?”
“Pavilion Master Gwak would lose to Pang Mu-gwang seven times out of ten too, right?”
“I don’t know about that either.”
“Huh?”
“When I say I don’t know who would win if I fought Pavilion Master Gwak, it doesn’t mean our martial prowess is similar.”
Yeo Baek-rang’s eyes grew confused.
“In short, I have no sense of what level Pavilion Master Gwak’s martial prowess is at.”
It was truly so.
Im Cheon-hak, ranked among the top ten of the Green Forest’s Hundred and Eight Bandit Chiefs, she had seen fight coming and going over several years.
And Pang Mu-gwang had poured out every scrap of martial prowess he possessed without holding back in yesterday’s battle.
But not every form of martial arts in the world was the type that exploded all its power at once.
There’s definitely... something more.
In that regard, Gwak Yeon was a little ambiguous.
He was clearly strong... yet it felt as if he hadn’t fully revealed his foundation. She had the impression that he fought while keeping “something” prepared that he could pull out from under the floorboards in an emergency.
“Geez, even I could say something like that.”
“Is that so?”
“Forget it, forget it. People who think too much are weak in real fights. Gwak Yeon? I already have thirty-nine ways to counter him in my head alone, what are you talking about.”
“Young Master?”
“Nanny.”
“Pfft, I’m sorry.”
Ju Hwa-jeong’s absurd look as she slipped back into her usual form of address, Yeo Baek-rang sensing it and putting on a straight face, and Ju Hwa-jeong unable to hold back and bursting into laughter at that expression.
Before they knew it, the two were exchanging their usual banter.
“Ah, seriously! Praise me a little too!”
“Like Pavilion Master Gwak did?”
“That guy just said the obvious!”
“R-right.”
Ju Hwa-jeong nodded, barely holding back her laughter.
Even as he flailed about, the expression he made when mentioning Gwak Yeon suggested that much of the jealousy he had harbored before had faded.
Seems Pavilion Master Gwak has thoroughly won him over...
She herself thought Gwak Yeon was rather decent.
On the boy’s first merchant journey he had given this little young master good memories and precious spiritual herbs, not to mention room to grow, and had even shown a cool side worth emulating.
And she thought:
...The Group Leader will like him too.
When they returned, there would probably be a substantial reward from the merchant group directed toward Gwak Yeon.
As Ju Hwa-jeong wore a proud expression—
Sniff sniff.
Suddenly getting down from the bed, Yeo Baek-rang approached the open window.
“Haa. Already time to eat.”
“Pardon? How did you know it was mealtime? Could it be that Young Master can read the heavens?!”
“...The smell of meat is reaching all the way here.”
“Ahh, Young Master is truly an outstanding person!”
“...Stop praising me for the obvious, Nanny. I’m not an idiot.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ju Hwa-jeong twitched her cheeks, desperately suppressing the urge to tease him further.
As she bowed her head—
Ding— Ding—
The bell tones announcing the first banquet at the great family, along with the announcement, began to spread throughout the guest quarters.
“The banquet will commence shortly, so we would be grateful if everyone would prepare their attire.”
The great banquet hall with a distant view of the pond.
Under the red evening sunset.
Red curtains draped from long poles set up in every direction, and bronze braziers placed here and there added to the atmosphere.
“Everyone, you’ve worked hard coming such a long way!”
The current Family Head of the Hubei Pang Family rose from the head banquet table and introduced himself in a booming voice as he looked left and right.
“I am Pang Chi-ung. Today, no need for formalities—just eat heartily and sleep soundly! Wahaha!”
Family Head Pang Chi-ung spread both arms to indicate the tables before him as well as the banquet tables stretching long to the left and right behind.
Famous fine liquors and rare delicacies were abundantly laid out in the full white porcelain bowls and jade-colored wine cups.
To those who had all risen as one and paid their respects toward the Family Head and the Grand Madam, Pang Chi-ung gestured for them to sit.
“Come, come! No need for formalities, I said! Everyone sit down and eat and enjoy!”
Just as everyone took their seats—
Suddenly looking to the left, Pang Chi-ung tossed out a remark in passing.
“Oh, and let’s go ahead with the contract.”
“Thank you.”
Gwak Yeon nearly spat out the water he was drinking.
“But can you match about five times the transaction volume you proposed? There are more people to arm than I thought.”
“I-it m-might be a little d-difficult.”
“If we double the unit price, would it be possible?!”
“I-I’ll d-do my b-best to m-match it!”
“Uwahaha! Since you answered so refreshingly, I’ll pay three times the unit price! Looking forward to it!”
“Th-thank you very much!”
“The young Young Master knows how to do business, huh? Uwahahaha!”
A massive deal concluded in an instant between Pang Chi-ung, who seemed to have thrown calculation out the window, and Yeo Baek-rang, who was stammering from nervousness.
“......”
“......”
“......”
Gwak Yeon, Cheon Gang, and Gwak Ho-shin stared blankly at one another.
What had they just witnessed?
Watching the deal between the Cheonhae Merchant Group and the Hubei Pang Family end as quickly as roasting beans over a flash of lightning, they recalled the talk the merchant group people had made midway through the previous journey.
Ah, seriously! With the Seven Great Families, if you just land one good contract, you can play and eat for life! Those people don’t bargain.
In deals that involved martial prestige and face, the Seven Great Families rarely haggled.
Since everyone knew their strength, any madman who tried to scam them was long dead, and with the wealth and reputation they had built up, they almost never cut prices.
Among them, the Hubei Pang Family is the best. As long as you don’t cross the line, they’re a family that stuffs money into a merchant’s mouth first when they come to trade. There’s even a story that they bought shoes that were two nyang for ten pairs at five nyang for twenty pairs.
And among them, the Hubei Pang Family was said to be the foremost.
He felt as if he finally understood why they had chosen this place for little Yeo Baek-rang’s first merchant journey.
Gwak Yeon gave a hollow laugh.
Even that guy in my past life wasn’t this bad...
He wondered if that made the man a sucker, but seeing Pang Chi-ung laughing the loudest here made it hard to look at it badly.
“Alright, alright, no more business talk!”
“Mu-gwang, what are you doing.”
“Yes!”
At the Grand Madam’s words, Pang Mu-gwang stood up energetically with a wine bottle in hand.
He went around the banquet tables filling everyone’s first cups.
It was a way of showing courtesy to the precious guests who had come a long way for tonight’s gathering.
A deep, heavy aroma of wine wafted to everyone’s noses.
“Cups are filled, so drink to your heart’s content! To our bonds!”
“To our bonds!”
Just as everyone took their first sip—
The musicians seated on the rear platform began playing pipa, flutes, and the like.
A heavy melody like the earth and a soft tune like silk blended smoothly through the banquet hall.
Thud, thud, thud—
In front of the banquet hall, sturdy men carrying great sabers gathered. Their vigorous energy and trained appearance made it clear at a glance that they were martial artists of the Hubei Pang Family.
“Haha! A banquet can’t be without song and dance!”
Nod.
At Pang Chi-ung’s signal, they drew their great sabers and began performing a saber dance in time with the music.
It looked ferocious yet soft.
Rough yet smooth.
Slow yet thrilling.
The martial art that sometimes followed the grain of the air to cut, and sometimes tore against the flow of movement, was one of the Hubei Pang Family’s hereditary techniques: the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Saber.
“Hoo... I’m getting a good show today.”
Even Caravan Leader Huang Pil, who downed his cup, let out a sharp exclamation of admiration at the viewing pleasure of the Pang Family’s saber dance.
As they drank and watched the saber dance—
Pang Mu-gwang opened his mouth.
“You two over there, from the Seoho Gwak Family.”
Gwak Yeon and Gwak Ho-shin turned their heads.
Toward the two of them, Pang Mu-gwang—who seemed quite excited for some reason—spoke.
“If you don’t mind, would you care to spar with us—no, perform a saber dance together?”
It seemed his true intention had slipped out just now.
That the Hubei Pang Family was obsessed with martial arts was a fact even three-foot children in the jianghu knew.
Just as everyone’s gazes focused—
Suddenly, many people flinched.
Hoohoohoo——
Over Gwak Ho-shin’s dirtily ferocious face,
that murderous smile of his bloomed.
With the uncanny talent of turning the flowing music into a funeral dirge, Gwak Ho-shin muttered to Gwak Yeon.
“......Hyung-nim, this looks fun, doesn’t it?”