It wasn’t just us heading for Yanzhi Mountain.
Since we also had to deliver the support supplies the Murim Alliance had requested, we hired an Escort Agency.
“It’s an honor to travel with the famed Handsome Young Hero.”
The Escort Chief cupped his fist to me.
“I’m flattered. It’s a title I don’t really deserve. We’ll only be traveling together for a short while, but I appreciate your help.”
“We’ll do our utmost.”
With my mother’s family seeing us off, we headed for Yanzhi Mountain.
The trip was expected to take about three days.
On horseback, two days would’ve been enough, but because we had wagons to haul, it would take one day more.
Of course, if we rode the River–Crossing Horses at full speed, we could make it in less than a day, but we had to keep pace with the others.
To their credit, the River–Crossing Horses didn’t suddenly surge ahead on their own.
Though, to be fair, I had a feeling that wasn’t because of anything I’d said, but because they were scared of Geumryeong…
And so, three days later, we finally arrived at Yanzhi Mountain.
That said, where were we supposed to go?
As I paused to think, a group approached us.
“Heh heh heh, what’s all this?”
“We were just running low on food. This works out nicely!”
Even without the foul air coming off them, it was obvious what they were.
Of all places, we had to run into a pack from the Unorthodox Sect here.
My principle was to avoid bloodshed whenever possible.
Once blood was spilled, I’d be dragged into a cycle of debts and grudges whether I wanted it or not.
Being someone’s benefactor was always welcome, but becoming someone’s enemy was best avoided whenever possible.
That was true for anyone, but it mattered even more in the merchant world.
Business couldn’t go well forever, and if someone came charging in to settle a grudge when things were already bad, a merchant group could collapse.
That was part of why you spread as many favors around as possible in advance.
Some might call that coldly calculating, but a merchant couldn’t afford not to think that way.
But people like this, trying to rob us outright, were the exception.
Shing.
I drew my sword and gave them one warning.
“If you turn around and leave now, you’ll live.”
“What’s this pretty boy yapping about?”
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
I let out a sigh as they mocked me.
I honestly didn’t know why so many people refused to listen unless you spoke the hard way.
And then it happened.
“Ghk! H–ha–Handsome…”
“What?”
One of them cried out like he was about to choke.
“H–H–Handsome Young Hero!”
Then he smacked the back of the heads of the men in front of him.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Then he shrieked at the top of his lungs.
“Are you insane? Do you have a death wish? That absurdly handsome face! That’s the Handsome Young Hero!”
The color immediately drained from their faces.
Watching red faces turn white in real time was surprisingly entertaining.
“P–please forgive us!”
Then they bolted. As I sheathed my sword, I said to the others,
“Good. At least we didn’t have to waste our strength on that.”
Maybe they were moved by the way those men ran the moment they saw me, because the Raging Wind Squad warriors were looking at me with even brighter eyes now.
“By the way, where’s the Murim Alliance camp?”
At my mutter, Escort Guard Jin Yu spoke up.
“I’ll find it.”
There was a chance someone in the Murim Alliance might recognize Escort Guard Jin Yu.
That was why he was currently wearing a mask that covered half his face.
I nodded.
“I’ll leave it to you.”
Escort Guard Jin Yu vanished from the spot, then reappeared a short while later.
“Over there.”
As I headed that way, I cursed the Murim Alliance under my breath.
If they were asking for support, couldn’t they at least have given proper directions or sent someone to guide us?
No basics. Absolutely none. Tch!
Before long, we arrived in front of the encampment where the Murim Alliance banner was flying.
“Halt!”
The martial artists standing guard shouted at us.
“Where have you come from?”
I stepped forward and answered.
“We’ve brought support from the Yeongseon Min Family.”
“The Yeongseon Min Family… Ah! So it’s from them!”
Then one of the martial artists tilted his head at me, only to step forward a moment later with a look of realization.
“Could you perhaps be the Great Hero known as the Handsome Young Hero?”
“Embarrassingly enough, people do call me that.”
“Oh! To think a hero of the martial world would come to a place like this!”
“It’s an honor!”
Their attitude changed in an instant.
This was exactly why I actively made use of the title Handsome Young Hero, even if it embarrassed me.
A title carried a lot of weight in the martial world.
“Please come this way. I’ll guide you personally.”
And so we passed through the wooden palisade and entered the Murim Alliance camp.
There, I met the Elder in charge of this whole affair.
He was a tall, striking middle-aged man.
But there was a strange desperation in his eyes.
“It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Eun Seo-ho.”
“Good to meet you. I am Elder Gyeong Sanja of the Kongtong Sect. Come, have a seat.”
“Thank you.”
I took my seat, and tea was soon set in front of us.
“I heard you’ve come as the Yeongseon Min Family’s representative. Do you have some connection to them?”
“Yes. The Yeongseon Min Family is my mother’s family.”
“Your mother’s family… Ah! Come to think of it, I did hear that the Yeongseon Min Family’s eldest daughter was exceptionally gifted in the martial arts. They called her the Graceful Flow Sword, didn’t they?”
“She’s my mother.”
“I knew it!”
But that was all long in the past now, and since Mother had all but given up the sword, that title had faded into obscurity.
The only reason he remembered her title at all was because he was an Elder of the Kongtong Sect, which was also based in Gansu Province.
If the Elder sitting before me learned that Mother had taken up the sword again after I gave her that flexible sword, how would he react?
But I had no intention of telling him.
That was confidential, and part of our preparation for the future.
“Unfortunately, she put down the sword long ago. Once she had to take charge of the Eunhae Merchant Group household, she grew too busy.”
“That’s truly unfortunate.”
“I feel the same.”
The Elder changed the subject.
“Still, I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you came.”
“Is the situation that bad?”
At my question, he stroked his beard.
“I wouldn’t call it good. We just received a carrier pigeon from Shaolin Temple saying they can no longer send the disciples they promised as support.”
“Wasn’t Blood Staff Star Monk a Great Monk of Shaolin Temple? Then why would they refuse to send disciples? What’s the reason?”
He clicked his tongue and answered with obvious displeasure.
“They said that since he broke Shaolin’s precepts and left, he has no remaining ties to Shaolin. That was their entire reason. Narrow-minded fools, aren’t they?”
I smiled inwardly.
So Monk Jeong Myeong had made it safely back to Shaolin Temple and somehow managed to persuade the higher-ups, including the Abbot.
That was a relief.
But… if that was true, then the request for support from the Yeongseon Min Family wasn’t because I sent the Shaolin monks back.
Then why had they?
“In any case, I’m glad you’re here. So, I’d like you to attend tomorrow’s meeting.”
“A meeting?”
He answered my question.
“We decided to hold a meeting regarding entry into Blood Staff Star Monk’s Sword Tomb, so we can prevent meaningless casualties from clashes between the various sides. It’s an important one. It’ll determine who ends up taking the lead.”
“Am I really allowed to attend something that important?”
I made it sound hesitant, but that wasn’t how I really felt.
I had to be in that meeting.
That was the only way to create an opening for me and the Yeongseon Min Family to step back without taking any damage.
“Of course! Absolutely!”
Thankfully, he strongly urged me to attend.
Well, that made sense. The more reputable people there were in the room, the more weight each statement would carry.
“If you put it that way, I’ll do what little I can to help.”
“You have my thanks.”
With that, I took my leave. As I walked back to the others waiting for me, I said to the martial artist guiding me,
“We’ve brought the provisions the Murim Alliance requested.”
“Thank you.”
That was the end of the Escort Agency’s job.
There was no point keeping them here any longer. Nothing good would come of it.
I paid the Escort Chief the remainder of his fee and saw him off.
“Travel safely.”
“Thank you for using our Escort Agency. May fortune favor you, Great Hero.”
And with that, the people from the Escort Agency left Yanzhi Mountain.
“Then please show us to the tent where we’ll be staying.”
“Of course. Please follow me…”
Then the martial artist suddenly made a face like he’d just remembered something.
“Ah, come to think of it, I wasn’t told you were arriving today… Please wait a moment.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll only need to wait a bit.”
Then he ran off in a panic, and it wasn’t until about two hours later that we were finally shown to our tent.
Compared to the other tents we’d seen on the way in, ours was quite large and comfortable.
Only then did I understand why the martial artist guiding us had reacted like that.
The Yeongseon Min Family’s original tent was probably one of those ordinary ones we’d passed on the way.
But because I was the representative of this group, the treatment had changed.
They’d probably rushed to find a better spot, put up a new tent, and then brought us here.
There were nearly thirty people in our group, but the tent was big enough that it didn’t feel cramped.
The martial artist only left after giving us several instructions and explanations.
We started settling our things inside the tent.
All we were really doing was placing a piece of our luggage on a bed, but it carried a fairly important meaning.
It was how each person claimed their sleeping spot.
But instead of choosing, everyone stood there holding their belongings and staring at me.
“Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“Great Hero, please choose your bed first.”
“Just pick whichever…”
“Ah, no, that won’t do! Go on and choose first.”
Seriously, it was just choosing a bed…
Still, the fact that they wanted me to choose first meant they recognized me as the one leading them, and that wasn’t a bad thing.
I chose the bed closest to the entrance.
At that, Palgap and my Escort Guards naturally chose the beds nearest the entrance as well.
The Raging Wind Squad warriors looked puzzled by that.
Normally, the higher a person’s status, the farther inside they preferred to stay.
I just smiled like it was nothing and said,
“I like this spot. Now go ahead, choose your beds and get some rest.”
Evening came.
Meals were distributed to everyone the same way, and honestly, it wasn’t much of a meal.
It was just one bowl of noodles.
“Young Master, I’ll go get yours too.”
I shook my head.
“No, that’s fine. If we’ve come to a battlefield, we should act like we’re on one.”
I went to the food line myself, took my bowl of noodles, and sat down in a suitable spot to eat.
Then,
“I’m sick of this! I’m sick of it! For once, give me something other than noodles!”
At someone’s outburst, everyone’s eyes turned that way. A young man was over there throwing down his bowl of noodles and making a scene.
“There are plenty of other dishes, aren’t there? Then why is it always soggy noodles?”
“Please calm down.”
“You can’t behave like this here.”
So it was just childish whining over food. Tsk tsk.
This wasn’t just a place where people were fighting over Blood Staff Star Monk’s Sword Tomb.
It was a battlefield where the pride of every faction was on the line.
And he was throwing a fit over food in a place like this…
He really was astonishingly immature.
And on top of that, the severe famine was still ongoing.
There were countless people selling things they never should have had to sell just to get a single bowl like this. He should’ve been grateful he had one at all.
Judging by his clothes, he looked like the son of a well-off family, and I could only imagine how much trouble the people traveling with him had to deal with.
But it wasn’t my problem, so I lost interest and turned away.
No, I tried to.
If he hadn’t called out to me.
“You there!”
“You mean me?”
“What do you think? Don’t you want meat, or some other decent food?”
“Well, sure, of course I do.”
His face lit up at once. But he should’ve waited for the rest.
“But this is a battlefield. When we don’t know when supplies might be cut off, luxurious meals are a luxury we can’t afford. Compared to other foods, noodles can be prepared quickly.”
I looked around at everyone as I continued.
“For feeding this many people, I’d say it’s exactly the right choice.”
His face turned red, and he snapped.
“Damn it! When did I ask for your opinion?”
What was he talking about?
He’d literally asked for my opinion, and I’d answered.
“Anyway, I’m saying I don’t want to eat low-grade slop like these noodles anymore! You can have all you want!”
“Whew…”
Smiling, I asked him,
“By the way, what is your name, young master?”
“Mine?”
I looked at the martial artist beside him, and that man answered in his place.
“This is young master Hae Jun, the second son of the Seoryunhae Family.”
The Seoryunhae Family was a martial family from Shaanxi Province.
They were fairly wealthy, since they were at least a somewhat known martial family, but they were nothing compared to the Eunhae Merchant Group.
In fact, they weren’t even on the level the Eunhae Merchant Group had been at when it barely ranked among the Hundred Great Merchant Groups.
“And you are?”
From the way he asked, it was clear he had no idea who I was.
Well, I supposed he hadn’t imagined that the man eating noodles among the rest of the crowd could be the Handsome Young Hero.
“My name is Eun Seo-ho, and I’ve come here from the Yeongseon Min Family.”
At my answer, young master Hae Jun sneered.
“Hmph! Of course someone from a low-level family like that would be grateful for a bowl of noodles.”
At that, the Raging Wind Squad warriors bristled.
“Sit down.”
Frowning, I stopped them.
He really was getting on my nerves.
The Yeongseon Min Family might not be large, but it was an old and respectable family.
It was not a family that deserved to be spoken of like that.
No matter how immature the speaker was, plenty of people were watching.
If I let this slide, everyone would start looking down on the Yeongseon Min Family.
Now then, how should I put that brat in his place?
–TL Notes–
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