“So-hyeon.”
“Yes, Sister.”
Yeon Seo-rin looked at Yeon So-hyeon.
“You must have heard the saying that the most fearsome warrior to face is one I don’t know about, right?”
At those words, Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes widened slightly before returning to normal.
“…Of course. I know it.”
“Right, there’s no way you wouldn’t know.”
Yeon Seo-rin nodded.
“When others are unaware of your true skills, now is that very moment.”
She grinned.“Give them a proper thrashing.”
“Ha.”
As if she had been watching from the side, she guessed the plan in Yeon So-hyeon’s mind.
She called herself a blockhead, but in reality, she was his sister who demonstrated senses surpassing humans in many ways.
“Look forward to it.”
Yeon So-hyeon also grinned just like her.
“I’ll give them a blow so devastating that even your stone head can’t possibly imagine, Sister.”
At those words, Yeon Seo-rin laughed loudly.
A flock of birds, startled by her laughter, took flight from the lake.
“Good. Great. If you say so.”
She roughly brushed off the grass leaves stuck to her from sitting and asked,
“The hot springs at Wongak Pavilion are being well-maintained, right?”
“The hot springs? Of course.”
She smiled while looking at Yeon So-hyeon.
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed the hot springs at this Wongak Pavilion.”
She swiftly walked away, soon disappearing from sight.
“…”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled faintly.
How could he not know his sister’s heart, using the hot springs as an excuse because she felt bad about keeping their esteemed guests waiting?
“Wahoo!”
He made a wry smile at his sister’s joyful cheer coming from afar.
‘Perhaps she really did miss Wongak Pavilion’s hot springs.’
The very person called Yeon Seo-rin was someone even the renowned Yeon So-hyeon found difficult to follow her thoughts.
Unpredictable.
To the point it seemed like that word was prepared just for her.
***
Luoyang Sword House, 2nd Young Master’s Faction.
Jiangnan Corps Headquarters.
Waiting for Advisor Choi, who had returned with unfocused eyes, was the oddly flustered advisor of the Jiangnan Corps.
“Advisor Choi!”
The middle-aged man of short stature and solid build, Advisor Kang, jumped up upon seeing him.
“Where have you been until now?!”
“Ah? Oh.”
The focus returned to Advisor Choi’s eyes.
“I had some business, so I went to Luoyang’s marketplace for a bit…”
“It doesn’t matter anyway.”
Advisor Kang pulled Advisor Choi’s arm, making way for another advisor hurrying by.
Wondering what was going on for them to be running around like that, he looked around and finally noticed the chaotic state of the headquarters.
“It’s utter mayhem right now.”
“What on earth is happening?”
At that question, the other man frowned.
“What do you mean, how can the advisor in charge of the 4th Young Master not know the situation? Didn’t the Elder Son say anything?”
“Like I said, I was at the marketplace…”
The impatient Advisor Kang waved his hand.
“Doesn’t matter. Right now, by the Lord’s order, all advisors are gathering at the meeting hall.”
“The entire Jiangnan Corps?”
He roughly shook his head.
“No! All the advisors included in the Lord’s faction!”
Those words made Advisor Choi’s eyes go wide.
“But, for what reason…?”
“This is still a speculation.”
He looked around and lowered his voice.
“It seems the Lord has ordered to completely finish off the Eldest Young Master and 4th Young Master’s business this time.”
“Completely?!”
Advisor Kang nodded.
“It’s still a speculation, but there’s basis for it.”
“What is it?”
The other man lowered his voice even further.
“According to the information I obtained, all the elders belonging to the Lord’s faction are currently in a meeting with the Lord.”
“All the elders?!”
“Please be quiet…!”
Advisor Choi hurriedly covered his mouth and nodded.
“I heard from the butler in charge of the meeting room that during the break, the elders were talking about ‘Daseollang’ and ‘Sin Valley’.”
“Is that the only basis?”
“I heard other elders were also having similar conversations overheard by their subordinates.”
“The elders having such conversations where subordinates could hear means:”
“It’s a matter that will soon be known to everyone in the faction anyway.”
Those words left Advisor Choi with a blank expression.
‘It’s true that our obstruction plans have been continuously failing. But suddenly involving all elders and all advisors?’
His head spun.
‘Just what is going on…?’
As the conversation couldn’t properly continue due to the dazed Advisor Choi, Advisor Kang lost his temper.
“Damn it. Where did the other advisor go in this situation? Didn’t he go out with you?”
“Advisor Han?!”
At his words, Advisor Choi was startled and looked around.
“Advisor Han didn’t come in with me?”
“What are you saying? You came in alone, Advisor Choi.”
“Alone?”
The other man made a dumbfounded expression at Advisor Choi’s words, who had been acting strange for a while, and sighed.
“Well. It doesn’t matter anymore now.”
He spoke while looking at the advisors running around busily.
“If my prediction is correct, the task regarding the Eldest Young Master and 4th Young Master’s business is no longer under your jurisdiction.”
***
Luoyang Sword House, somewhere.
The tea placed in front of Emei Sect’s Grand Preceptor, who was sitting alone indoors waiting for the other party, had long gone cold.
‘They urged me about the appointment time, yet they’re the one being late?’
The old woman’s teeth ground together.
The more she experienced this place called the Luoyang Sword House, the more she found it filled with people whose arrogance pierced the heavens.
Then the door opened, and the Deputy Chief Nun entered with a respectful appearance.
She carefully approached and used sound transmission into the Grand Preceptor’s ear.
This technique, commonly called intimate sound transmission, was a countermeasure to prevent the transmitted sound from leaking outside.
[…For that reason, we failed to enter Wongak Pavilion.]
The Grand Preceptor waved her hand, and the Deputy Chief Nun quickly vacated the spot.
It wasn’t that she was being careful, but anyone who had attended this old woman would act that way.
‘Failed….’
Then the door on the opposite side opened, revealing the person she had been waiting for.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Purple Sound Divine Nun.”
The one who appeared, calling her by her old moniker, seemed as aged as her.
“It’s been a long time since I was called by that moniker.”
The old man laughed, sounding like the wind leaking through his teeth, at the old woman’s words.
“Even between us of the same faction, we should apply gold to each other’s faces, shouldn’t we?”
The old woman snorted softly at those words.
“Seeing your face so full of grease, it seems the Sword House has gone beyond applying gold to your face and washed your marrow clean?”
Even at the old woman’s thorny words, the old man calmly smiled and sat down.
“Well. Being the former sect leader of one of the Nine Great Sects, even if not to the extent of marrow-cleansing, this family definitely gives me an elder position and treats me properly.”
At that smug attitude, the old woman scratched at his ego once more.
“Ha. You who offered up the renowned Diancang Sect whole, of course they would treat you well.”
The former sect leader of the Diancang Sect, currently maintaining a meager existence as a subordinate sect of the Luoyang Sword House, laughed, revealing yellowed teeth.
“Thanks to that, my disciples no longer need to go around collecting protection fees or run a shabby inn. They can simply focus on cultivating martial arts, so how great is that?”
It was a case of a single palm unable to make a sound.
As the other party slipped away as if greased, the Grand Preceptor’s venom also lost its target.
“Anyway, we greatly benefited from the information you provided in advance, Sect Leader.”
Information about 4th Young Master’s business.
Information about the investment group.
Information about the Eldest Young Master breaking his seclusion.
The one who had passed on such information was none other than the former sect leader of Diancang Sect.
“The Daelidan family has been an old friend of our Diancang Sect since ancient times, and since the Dan family and Emei Sect have joined hands, Emei Sect is also our friend, no?”
“Having an alliance in this faraway land is reassuring.”
The former sect leader of Diancang Sect smiled.
“So, what’s your impression after exchanging the first moves with the Eldest Young Master?”
Asking for an impression while clearly knowing the result showed the twisted nature of this former sect leader.
“…He was quite fierce. If you hadn’t warned me about the Eldest Young Master in advance, Sect Leader, we might have suffered an even greater fiasco.”
The former sect leader laughed heartily.
“Just fierce? Seeing that lad turning the family’s Elder Council upside down these days, such a soft expression doesn’t fit at all.”
The Grand Preceptor narrowed her eyes.
It seemed she needed to rate the danger level of the Eldest Young Master, known as a swordless expert, much higher.
“…Now that we know the enemy’s true nature, we just need to respond accordingly.”
The former sect leader of Diancang Sect nodded at the old woman’s words.
“You’re right. The most fearsome enemy is a warrior I don’t know.”
He picked up the old woman’s cold teacup and poured it out to the side.
“Now that we know his true nature, with the Divine Nun’s skills, you can thoroughly trounce that lad.”
And he poured the liquor he had personally prepared into it.
“My lord, the Third Young Master of the main family, also told me not to spare any cooperation with you.”
***
Outside the room where the Grand Preceptor and the former sect leader of Diancang Sect were conversing, two nuns were communicating through sound transmission.
[I wonder if the Grand Preceptor isn’t anxious, not knowing what conversation the Sword Houses Eldest Young Master and Daseollang are having right now.]
The Deputy Chief Nun smiled.
[Even if they’re treated as successful businesswomen by those around them, in the end, they’re just children.]
The smile on her lips took on the bitter scent of blood.
[As long as their families are essentially held hostage, the majority of Daseollang’s shares will eventually be seized by our Emei Sect.]
***
Luoyang Sword House, Wongak Pavilion.
Eldest Young Master’s Office.
“Young Master. The Daseollang ladies wish to see you.”
At the voice coming from outside, Yeon So-hyeon rose from his seat and spoke.
“Show them in.”
Led by Sanggwan Nanhwa, the five ladies of renowned beauty in the Central Plains entered the office.
Despite the accumulated fatigue and the commotion they had experienced today, Daseollang’s condition was better than expected.
Perhaps it was their exceptional mental fortitude.
“You must be tired from the long journey.”
Yeon So-hyeon greeted them with a respectful attitude while displaying his inherent dignity.
“I am Yeon So-hyeon, the Eldest Young Master of this Luoyang Sword House.”
Sanggwan Nanhwa stepped forward as the representative and received Yeon So-hyeon’s greeting.
“We are overwhelmed by your generous hospitality. I am Sanggwan Nanhwa, the representative of Daseollang.”
After exchanging greetings with the rest, Yeon So-hyeon extended his hand and guided them to the seats prepared in advance.
“Now then.”
Personally pouring tea for them and providing ample time to compose themselves, Yeon So-hyeon quietly began.
“Regarding the reason this Eldest Young Master invited you…”
At that moment, Sanggwan Nanhwa slightly raised her hand with a polite attitude that didn’t breach etiquette, interrupting Yeon So-hyeon’s words.
“Mm. Do you have something to say first?”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Yeon So-hyeon spread his hand, yielding the right to speak to her.
“Eldest Young Master.”
Sanggwan Nanhwa took a deep breath before opening her mouth.
“We will give you, Eldest Young Master, all of Daseollang’s shares.”
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