The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group – Chapter 550

After wrapping up my conversation with Young Lord Zhuge Cheon-du, I followed an attendant to my quarters.

“You may stay here.”

The quarters I’d been given looked even finer than Young Lord Zhuge Cheon-du’s.

I suspected this was the best accommodation the clan offered its guests.

That was likely a sign of just how highly they regarded me.

I didn’t turn it down.

They had gone to the trouble of preparing it for me, so refusing would have been discourteous.

Besides, their consideration was probably tinged with guilt.

“Please convey my thanks to the Grand Clan Lord.”

We entered the residence.

My quarters consisted of a detached guest villa staffed by two male servants and two maidservants.

As I unpacked, I sensed a familiar presence.

A moment later, Palgap’s voice came from outside.

“Young Master. The Zhuge Clan’s Young Clan Lord has arrived.”

I immediately answered.

“Show her in at once!”

“I’ve already escorted her to the reception room, sir.”

I quickly straightened my clothes, then headed to the reception room attached to the guest villa.

When I opened the door and stepped inside, I found a welcome, familiar face waiting for me.

“It’s been a long time, Young Clan Lord.”

“Yes, it has. Please, sit down.”

The woman who greeted me was Young Lady Zhuge Yu-a.

She was now the Zhuge Clan’s Young Clan Lord.

At the last Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering, she had fallen just short of victory after losing to Young Clan Lord Peng Gang-un in the finals, but no one could deny her martial prowess.

After deliberation, the Zhuge Clan had formally recognized her as its Young Clan Lord.

The Zhuge Clan valued wisdom above all else, but it was still a martial clan. Martial prowess couldn’t simply be ignored.

The current Clan Lord and Grand Clan Lord were both formidable martial artists in their own right, after all.

I’d heard that her reputation as Young Clan Lord was quite good. Considering the careful foresight she’d shown me, not to mention what I’d seen of her in my previous life, that was hardly surprising.

“You could’ve simply summoned me. Why come all the way here yourself?”

“What does it matter? It’s not as though doing this will diminish my authority.”

She continued.

“A Young Clan Lord’s authority comes from the clan members recognizing and following her. It doesn’t magically appear just because I insist I have it, does it?”

She had a point.

If she never lost sight of that belief, she would become an excellent Clan Lord.

“How have you been?”

“Nothing worth mentioning.”

Of course, all sorts of things had happened, but I couldn’t very well recount every little detail.

After briefly catching each other up, we parted ways.

It wasn’t because we’d run out of things to say. Young Clan Lord Zhuge Yu-a simply had another engagement to attend.

“Let’s share a meal next time.”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

With that, she left my quarters.

Young Lord Zhuge Cheon-du had asked for three days, which meant I was effectively on vacation until then.

I made up my mind.

Tomorrow, I was sleeping in.

“Kui!”

Geumryeong caught my hem between its teeth and tugged.

Ah… I should give Geumryeong a gold tael before going to bed.

When Geumryeong sulked, it was adorable… no, that wasn’t the problem. I couldn’t sleep.

I took out a gold tael, and Geumryeong hugged it close before rolling happily across the floor.

It really loved that thing.

But didn’t you say you needed it to nourish yourself? Aren’t you going to eat it?

.

.

.

Early the next morning.

I opened my eyes and let out a sigh.

Good grief.

So much for sleeping in.

My eyes simply opened on their own whenever this hour came around.

After waking at the same time every day for so long, my body had come to accept that this was when it was supposed to rise.

I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep again, but instead of growing drowsy, I only became more alert.

In the end, I climbed out of bed while grumbling inwardly and began my Breathing Meditation.

After finishing breakfast, I headed to the Grand Clan Lord’s residence.

He had asked me to set aside some time today.

“Ah! There you are!”

The Zhuge Clan Lord was also present in the Grand Clan Lord’s residence.

“This humble merchant, Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group, greets the Zhuge Clan Lord.”

He accepted my formal greeting with a warm smile.

“It’s good to see you again. It has been far too long.”

“Yes. I’ve been remiss in visiting.”

“I know how busy you are, so don’t trouble yourself over it.”

“Thank you.”

The Clan Lord rose from his seat and bowed to the Grand Clan Lord.

“Then I’ll take my leave, Father.”

“Very well.”

He then turned to me with a final word of consideration.

“If anything inconveniences you while you’re staying at our estate, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

The Clan Lord left the residence, and the Grand Clan Lord spoke to me.

“Come. Let’s have some tea.”

“Yes.”

I followed him farther inside.

Before long, we reached the same place where I had once recited poetry with Inner Chief Administrator Yu So-ak.

It was a place where no one could interrupt us.

He personally brewed the tea, and for a while, we drank in silence.

“Do you know about Snow Wind Palace?”

“…!”

The abrupt question nearly made me spit out my tea, but I somehow managed to hold it in.

“…What do you mean by that?”

“I asked whether you know about Snow Wind Palace.”

“May I ask why you’re asking me about it?”

“Because I can sense Snow Wind Palace’s unmistakable Qi from you.”

“…”

I stared at him, my body going tense.

I still couldn’t let the world learn that the martial arts I practiced came from Snow Wind Palace.

That was why I’d been passing them off as martial arts inherited from Great Hero Gwak Hun, the Extreme Heaven Sword. Everyone else had accepted the explanation without much thought.

How had he recognized the martial arts I practiced?

Even the Murim Alliance Leader hadn’t seen through them.

“Forgive me. I was too hasty.”

The Grand Clan Lord took something from inside his robes and placed it on the tea table.

It was a small white jade token, tiny enough to fit entirely in the palm of his hand.

It was shaped like a plum blossom, and I could sense a familiar Qi within it.

More precisely, it carried the Qi of the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art I practiced.

“What is this…?”

“A token of the friendship I shared with an old friend. When our clan was endangered by the Soul-Eye Veiling Formation, this jade token protected me from the formation’s influence.”

He smiled bitterly.

“My friend died, but the jade token he left behind saved my life.”

I asked cautiously.

“May I ask who that friend was?”

“Surely you’ve already guessed. His name was Gwak Won-gyu. He was Snow Wind Palace’s Palace Lord.”

I had suspected as much.

Anyone below the level of Palace Lord couldn’t possibly have sealed Qi this pure, refined, and immense inside a jade token.

“And I knew from the moment you first came to our estate that you practiced Snow Wind Palace’s martial arts.”

“I see. Even so, you chose not to reveal that you knew. Was it because you suspected there was more to Snow Wind Palace’s destruction than what the world had been told?”

He nodded at my question.

“That’s right.”

“Then I owe you my thanks.”

“You were a disciple of the palace my friend had devoted himself to. How could I knowingly place you in danger?”

He continued.

“When I heard Snow Wind Palace had been destroyed, I began investigating in secret. But there truly wasn’t a single trace left behind.”

“I was told that the North Sea Ice Palace Lord recovered the remaining bodies.”

“I suppose the North Sea Ice Palace couldn’t have been unaware of what happened. At least the bodies were recovered. The thought of even their remains being devoured by Spirit Beasts would have haunted me.”

His face openly revealed his sorrow and grief for his late friend.

“Was Myeong-hyeon your master, by any chance?”

So he knew Master.

And the fact that he used Myeong-hyeon’s name without any title meant they had been quite close.

“Yes, he is.”

“So he really survived! Ah, then Myeong-hyeon must have inherited the position of Snow Wind Palace Lord.”

That still left one question unanswered.

“That’s right. But Master has never once mentioned you.”

“Of course he wouldn’t have.”

“What?”

“We called one another by different names. Everyone bearing the Zhuge surname has a separate true name, but clan law forbids us from revealing it to outsiders. I couldn’t exactly tell him to call me Hyeon-ri, either, so I asked him to use another name.”

He continued.

“Then that rascal Three Trees suggested an amusing set of names.”

Three Trees?

“Ah, I was One Tree. Red-Robed Hua Tuo was Three Trees.”

Wait. Then could it be…?

“Was Snow Wind Palace’s Grand Palace Lord Two Trees?”

“Indeed.”

“Then the drawing of three trees on the letter I was asked to deliver was proof of that bond.”

He slowly nodded.

A sudden chill raced over my entire body.

That meant the two people I had saved were Master’s father’s friends… no, the Grand Palace Lord’s friends.

Was this fate too?

“I first met Two Trees during my Hidden Dragon Journey. After that, we mostly deepened our friendship through letters.”

He smiled.

“When I met that rascal Two Trees, he told me he was in the middle of his Snow-Washing Journey.”

I remembered Master telling me about the Snow-Washing Journey.

It was a Snow Wind Palace tradition requiring disciples to spend roughly ten years active in the outside world once their martial arts reached a certain level.

Hadn’t he said it was meant to keep Snow Wind Palace from becoming completely isolated from the world beyond its walls?

“That was also when I met Three Trees, that rascal Red-Robed Hua Tuo. I deeply miss the years when the three of us traveled together.”

His eyes held profound regret and longing for days that could never return.

“Afterward, we chose a certain place and agreed to leave letters for one another there. It was difficult for us to visit each other’s homes.”

“Then did none of you ever visit one another?”

The Grand Clan Lord shook his head.

“That’s not what I mean. Afterward, we secretly visited one another once or twice. I even saw Myeong-hyeon when he was a child. He was far too young to remember me now, though.”

“…”

“Because I’d visited Snow Wind Palace before, I was able to investigate after hearing it had been destroyed. Had I not known its location, I never would have found it. That was how completely it had been erased.”

“…”

“So Myeong-hyeon knows about ‘Uncle One Tree,’ but he has no idea that man is me.”

That explained why Master had never mentioned any of this.

As I was thinking that, the Grand Clan Lord asked another question.

“Did Myeong-hyeon marry? Two Trees used to fret endlessly over what sort of fine young woman he should take as a daughter-in-law.”

“Yes. Master married.”

“That’s a relief. At least he was able to continue the family line. Then his son must be the Young Palace Lord.”

“Well, about that…”

Now that things had come this far, I should tell him.

He had revealed his identity first, so it was only right that I return the courtesy.

I rose from my seat and respectfully cupped my fist.

“Eun Seo-ho, Young Palace Lord of Snow Wind Palace, greets the Grand Palace Lord’s bosom friend.”

He blinked at me.

“W-W-Wait. You?”

“Yes. One thing led to another, and that’s how it turned out.”

I sat back down and studied the Grand Clan Lord, who still couldn’t hide his shock.

Then a question suddenly occurred to me.

My connection with the Grand Clan Lord was hardly a recent one.

Even if he had chosen to pretend not to know at first, there had been plenty of opportunities to tell me afterward.

So why was he only revealing this now?

“Grand Clan Lord, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you wait until today to tell me about Snow Wind Palace? Did you not trust me until now?”

“No. Of course not!”

The Grand Clan Lord waved both hands in denial.

“After everything you’ve done for our clan, how could I possibly distrust you?”

“Then why?”

“Because I decided you were finally ready to handle the truth.”

“What? What exactly do you mean by that…?”

Instead of answering, the Grand Clan Lord asked me another question.

“You’ve reached the Profound Realm, haven’t you?”

So he’d noticed.

Though we were both in the Profound Realm, I couldn’t underestimate the wisdom he’d accumulated over a lifetime, especially as the Zhuge Clan’s Grand Clan Lord.

I readily admitted it.

“That’s right. I reached the Profound Realm about a year ago.”

“I thought so.”

“But you said I needed to be ready to bear the truth. Is it really that dangerous?”

At my question, he nodded with a bitter expression.

“To an extent. At the Profound Realm, few people can harm you easily. And the training and experience it took to reach that level should keep you from doing anything rash.”

Just what kind of truth could this be…?

“Besides, now that I know you’re the Young Palace Lord, there’s even more reason for me to tell you this.”

As I watched him with questioning eyes, the Grand Clan Lord asked,

“How much do you know about Snow Wind Palace’s destruction?”

“What?”

“I asked exactly how much you know.”

I lightly bit my lip, then answered with a sigh.

“I only recently learned that the Blood Cult was involved.”

“The Blood Cult…”

He closed his eyes and considered that for a moment, then drew out a letter and placed it on the tea table.

“Read it.”

The letter looked extremely old, though it had been carefully preserved.

Even so, the dark traces left across it were unmistakably bloodstains.

“This is Two Trees’ final letter. He left it at the place the three of us had agreed upon.”

– Kui!

Geumryeong’s Voice Transmission reached me.

– Kui! Kui!

You can sense your family’s Qi on this letter?

Ah! In his final moments, he must have entrusted this letter to a Ice Guardian Beast.

I carefully unfolded it.

[Our palace is under attack. I was right. Didn’t I tell you? I warned you not to trust them! And you told me to stop talking nonsense]

The hurried scrawl made it clear just how desperate the situation had been.

Of course. That was why the letter was stained with blood.

[My son is away on a mission, and I can’t stop worrying about him. Please look after him for me]

Even in that desperate moment, the Grand Palace Lord had been worried about his son.

You don’t need to worry. Master became a truly outstanding Palace Lord.

[Please, be wary of them. And live long in my stead. Even in death, I will never forget the friendship I shared with you both]

I folded the letter, set it down on the tea table, and asked the Grand Clan Lord,

“Who are the ‘they’ mentioned in this letter?”

–TL Notes–
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