As the gathering slowly drew to a close, Merchant Lord In Gang-su stepped up onto the stage.
“I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. With that, we’ll now conclude this year’s gathering.”
He then raised his fan and struck the drum beside him.
Doom! Doom! Doom!
At the same time, I heard a faint sigh from somewhere.
I had a good guess as to what it was.
It must’ve been the sigh of a thief who failed to steal a silver token.
And among them was likely the sigh of the Great Thief Chun-il, because our contest had ended in my victory.
.
.
.
On the way back to the inn.
Father quietly asked me,
“By the way, I noticed earlier that you seemed to show interest in one of the dancers. Is that the kind of person you’re into?”
At that, Mother also focused her attention on us.
I’d expected they might ask about it, but I didn’t think they’d be this blunt.
I let out a small chuckle and shook my head.
“Father, I’m interested in women, not men.”
“Hm?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Both of them looked completely puzzled.
Since I’d need Father’s permission to hire the Great Thief Chun-il as a security advisor, I explained everything to him.
“So you’re saying that dancer is a famous thief?”
“Yes, Father.”
“And you challenged him, and won.”
“Yes.”
At my answer, Father’s gaze shifted to the silver token hanging from my waist.
“Well now, this was your first time attending the gathering, so how did you manage to keep your token?”
That was because I’d done an enormous amount of research in my past life.
At the first gathering I ever attended, I lost my silver token in an instant. I was furious.
So I studied seriously and went to the next gathering… and lost the token again.
But from the third gathering on, I never lost it.
Part of it was thanks to my efforts, but the biggest reason, as I see it, was because Chun-il didn’t show up.
No, he couldn’t.
By the time I attended the third gathering, he’d already been executed.
In other words, I never once beat Chun-il in my previous life.
Would I have won in that third gathering?
No, probably not.
It’s only now, with my Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art and Peak level martial arts, that I can say for sure.
Chun-il wasn’t just some ordinary thief.
He had Profound-level skill.
A man with Profound-level talent, who resented stealing but couldn’t escape from it—there’s no paradox greater than that.
Which is all the more reason I couldn’t just leave him be.
Of course, I couldn’t tell my parents all that, so I gave a vague explanation.
“I just… saw through his techniques.”
“Is that so?”
Fortunately, they let it pass without digging further.
I glanced at both their waists, but didn’t see any silver tokens.
Could Chun-il have swiped them?
But he spent the entire gathering targeting only my token.
Then someone else must’ve stolen my parents’ tokens.
There’s nothing I can do about it this time, but next year will be different.
I plan to offer them a bit of ‘advice.’
The reason I didn’t warn them this time about how not to lose their tokens was because this was my first time attending.
It’d have looked strange to go around giving advice right off the bat.
And so, the carriage we rode continued toward the inn.
At that moment.
Chun-il had returned to his hideout and collapsed onto the bed.
He was furious.
He still couldn’t figure out how Eun Seo-ho had seen through his disguise.
But the match was a complete loss.
What made it worse was that every time Eun Seo-ho hit him, he pretended it was an accident—but Chun-il knew they were clearly intentional.
He’d been kicked while hiding under the table, slapped on the back of the head when trying to steal during a walk-by…
He disguised himself as an attendant to go for the token, and got tripped.
What really infuriated him wasn’t just that he couldn’t steal Eun Seo-ho’s token, but that he got kicked, hit, and tripped all night.
“Sigh…”
He let out a long breath.
Whatever the case, he’d lost. That couldn’t be changed.
He looked at the note Eun Seo-ho had left him.
[Tomorrow night, come to the private room in Daejin Tower at the start of the hour of the pig (亥時: 9 to 11 PM), without revealing your identity.]
The next morning.
As usual, I finished my breathing exercises and came down to the first floor.
Father was already seated at the table.
“I’m late.”
“It’s fine. I just arrived too.”
Soon after, Mother came down, and we all enjoyed a hearty breakfast of chicken congee.
While sipping tea after the meal, Father said to me,
“You’re meeting him tonight, right?”
“Yes.”
“He might not show.”
“That’d actually be better. It’d mean he lacks integrity, and I could filter him out early.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Father was positive about hiring the Great Thief Chun-il as a security advisor.
“As you said, only a snake knows a snake’s path. Hiring him wouldn’t be a bad idea. But old habits like that don’t break easily.”
“You’re right, Father. That’s why I’ve thought up a plan.”
“Of course you have. I trust you.”
That word—trust—struck a deep chord in my chest.
I bowed my head in gratitude.
“I won’t let you down.”
Both of them smiled warmly and nodded.
“There’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“I understand we’re heading back to the headquarters tomorrow morning, but I’d like to stay behind for a few more days.”
“You want to remain in Luoyang a bit longer?”
“Yes.”
Because there’s still one last thing I need to claim.
The biggest treasure in Luoyang. The true reason I came here.
It would be abandoned two days from now.
To pick it up, I had to stay a bit longer.
After a brief moment of thought, Father gave his permission without hesitation.
“Alright. Do as you wish.”
“Thank you, Father.”
.
.
.
I headed out into the market streets of Luoyang.
Not for any particular reason—Palgap had wanted to come.
“To finally visit a place I dreamed of, only to be stuck in an inn the whole time… I’m starting to feel gloomy, even in my dreams.”
Looking at Palgap, who resembled a droopy-eared bear, pricked my conscience.
So here we were.
Well, sometimes a little break isn’t so bad.
Three Escort Guards were closely tailing me for protection.
Escort Guard Seo Wu in particular looked especially tense, surveying the area with a wary expression.
“Escort Guard Seo Wu, you don’t need to be so tense.”
“It’s nothing, sir. This is Luoyang, where martial artists from all over the Central Plains gather. For your safety, I must remain vigilant at all times.”
Had Escort Guard Jin Yu come along, the burden on Escort Guard Seo Wu might’ve been lighter, but he was currently at the inn.
He used to be a secret assassin trained by the Murim Alliance, and Luoyang was once his base of operations.
Since being recognized here could cause a great deal of trouble, he chose to remain at the inn throughout the gathering.
I respected his decision.
But we couldn’t keep avoiding this forever. I’d need to come up with some kind of plan.
He’d lived in Luoyang for a long time, so in place of accompanying us, he gave me some useful information.
Like how the spicy chicken noodle soup at Mizhi Restaurant (味知飯店) was amazing.
Later, Mizhi would become so popular you’d have to line up to eat there.
It hadn’t reached that point yet, so I was thinking of having it for lunch.
And after that, I planned to visit the book street.
There was a book street in Luoyang as well, though I remembered it having a different vibe than the one in Beijing.
Before that, though, I needed to give Palgap something to brag about.
Before long, we arrived at an extravagant tower.
“Wh-whoa! Wh-where are we, sir?”
Palgap blinked wide-eyed at the five-story Golden Lake Teahouse (黃湖茶樓).
“Golden Lake Teahouse. They say if you want to say you’ve truly visited Luoyang, you have to come here.”
It was called Golden Lake because the lake in front of it would turn golden come evening.
It was also one of the most luxurious teahouses in Luoyang.
It’d be nicer to come in the evening, but since my parents were returning to the headquarters tomorrow morning, I had to eat dinner with them.
That was when an attendant approached us.
“Welcome. How many in your party?”
“Five.”
“Which floor would you like to be seated on?”
I answered with a smile.
“The fifth floor.”
The attendant gave us a brief once-over and bowed.
“Right this way.”
We ascended to the fifth floor of the Golden Lake Teahouse.
As we climbed higher, the noisy, bustling sounds below gradually faded.
When we reached the fifth floor, I smiled at the quiet and serene view.
It was just as I remembered.
We sat at a suitable table, and the attendant handed us the menu.
“Five pots of Bi Luo Chun.”
“I’m sorry, sir. But we require payment in advance.”
At that, I took out some money and handed it over.
“Thank you. It’ll be prepared shortly.”
Once the attendant went down, Palgap leaned in close and whispered.
“I’m really glad I became your attendant, sir. Getting to drink expensive tea in a place like this!”
At Golden Lake Teahouse, the price of tea differed by floor.
The higher the floor, the more expensive the tea. It was essentially a seating fee.
For most people, the prices would be enough to make them faint. But Palgap accepted it without hesitation.
His shamelessness made me chuckle, and I teased him back.
“So make sure to serve me well from now on.”
“Of course, sir!”
Even the Escort Guards seated around me all nodded in agreement, which left me feeling slightly embarrassed.
A little later—
Five pots of Bi Luo Chun tea I’d ordered arrived with some sweets.
This green tea, produced in Jiangsu Province, was made using tender young leaves.
It took effort to make but had both excellent flavor and fragrance.
The light fruity aroma meant they’d used high-quality tea leaves.
This was from Dongting Mountain.
Among Bi Luo Chun teas, those from Dongting were considered the finest—and priciest.
That’s why unscrupulous sellers often tried to pass off fakes at high prices. But this was the real Dongting Bi Luo Chun.
It was worth the money.
I glanced at Palgap.
He was sipping tea and nibbling on sweets.
A smile crept onto my lips.
The reason I’d brought Palgap here was because it reminded me of my past life.
— They say the Golden Lake in Luoyang is very beautiful—do you think we could go?
— Do you think we’ll get to see the Golden Lake this time?
He’d longed to visit the Golden Lake so many times, but his wish only came true much later.
Something always happened whenever we tried to go.
I remembered what Palgap had said back then.
— If I’d seen it when I was a little younger, it would’ve moved me even more. But still… thank you so much for bringing me here.
How could I forget the way he looked when he said that?
That’s why I brought him here, to this teahouse with the best view of the Golden Lake—the place he’d wanted to see most in our past life.
I’d wanted to take him to a tavern too, but both my attendants and Escort Guards weren’t allowed to drink.
Palgap was the one who stayed by my side to the very end in my past life.
This might not be much, but it was all I could do for him.
So I was glad I could at least do this.
After soaking in the scenery of the Golden Lake from the Golden Lake Teahouse, we made our way back to the streets of Luoyang.
“Where to now, sir?”
“We’re going to the book street.”
It was still too early for lunch.
“Do you know where it is, sir?”
At Palgap’s question, I nodded.
“Escort Guard Jin Yu told me enough to get the gist.”
Following my memory, I navigated the roads until we reached the book street.
[You Can Too: Master Martial Arts in One Hundred Days]
[A Must-Read for Newcomers to the Murim: How to Survive in the Martial World]
[New Edition In Stock: People and Powers of the Martial World]
I chuckled as I read the posters stuck in front of the bookstores.
Unlike in Beijing, where the focus was on exam prep books and poetry collections, here it seemed like martial arts and Murim-related books dominated.
As I browsed the shops, one tiny bookstore in a corner caught my eye.
I felt an odd urge to enter.
It was a strange pull I’d never experienced before.
I stepped inside the small bookstore.
The shelves were filled with worn, secondhand books.
It was clearly a used bookshop.
The old man behind the counter, who seemed to be the owner, didn’t even glance at us as we entered, simply continuing his task.
The moment I walked in, the other books faded into the background.
Only that one book stood out.
Drawn like I was in a trance, I approached and picked it up.
The cover had fallen off, replaced with a temporary one. No title was written on it.
I opened the book.
[Supreme Yin Foundation…]
But this—this content feels familiar.
–TL Notes–
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