Chapter 32
Dan Seol-Young guided Baek Mu-Gun to an inner room that was opposite of Cheon Yu-Hwa’s room, divided by the hallway.
“Please rest here. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Thank you. I’d like to have a meal. The beef jerky and dry rations weren’t enough.”
“I’ve actually prepared some food for you in preparation for your return. Please wait for a moment.”
Seol-Young quickly left the room. After a while, she returned with a steaming bowl of noodles and stir-fried vegetables on the side.
“I don’t have many ingredients available at the moment, so this was the only dish I could prepare.” Seol-Young sounded apologetic.
“Did you make it yourself, Lady Dan?”
“Yes, though I’m not that great of a cook. Please try it.”
“It smells too good for it to have been made by a bad cook. Thank you for the meal.”
Famished, Mu-Gun began to eat the noodles in a hurry.
After slurping a mouthful of noodles and taking a sip of the warm broth, Mu-Gun’s eyes widened. It was really delicious.
“This is delicious. I think this is the best noodles I’ve ever had.”
“That can’t be true.”
“No, I’m serious. I think I would be fine eating noodles for the rest of my life if it always tasted this good.” Mu-Gun showered his compliments.
“For the rest of your life?” Seol-Young slightly blushed at his words.
“I’m just trying to put how amazing this dish is into words.”
“Well, please enjoy your meal. I’ll be leaving now.”
“Already?”
Mu-Gun grasped onto Seol-Young, who was trying to get up and leave.
“Do you have anything else you would like me to do...?” Seol-Young looked visibly alarmed at Mu-Gun’s sudden action.
“That’s not it. I just personally don’t like eating alone. If it’s not too uncomfortable for you, can you stay with me until I finish eating?”
Mu-Gun’s response seemed to have flustered Seol-Young a little, but she soon nodded. Thê ïñčëptïøn øf thïš çøntënt çån bë tråçëd tø n0v€1b¡n★
“Okay. But I’ll leave as soon as you’re done with your meal.”
“I’ll have to eat very slowly so I can appreciate your beauty a bit longer, then, Lady Dan,” Mu-Gun playfully replied.
He was interested in Seol-Young. The reason? Why would a man full of vigor need a reason to be interested in a beautiful woman?
Mu-Gun was genuinely attracted to Seol-Young’s beauty.
“Are you teasing me right now?”
“No. I just find you beautiful, Lady Dan.”
“Is that how you make women fall for you?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never done this to anyone except you.”
“I don’t believe you at all. You probably say that to every woman you meet.”
“Does the thought of me doing this with someone else make you jealous?” Mu-Gun smiled.
“Why would I be jealous? Stop saying such weird things and quickly finish your noodles.”
“Lady Dan, are you perhaps finding it uncomfortable that I’m interested in you? If so, tell me. I don’t like it if you find it uncomfortable either.”
“That’s not it. I don’t find it uncomfortable,” Seol-Young answered with a slight blush.
Mu-Gun was just listening to the conversation without much thought when his eyes shone. The Great Huangfu Family and the Qingdao Sect were factions Mu-Gun was interested in. The Great Huangfu Family was one of the Seven Great Clans, and the Qingdao Sect was an organization that suddenly flourished over the past decade just like the Great Sima Family.
After confirming that the Asura Cult had infiltrated the Great Sima Family, Mu-Gun singled out the forces that had shown sudden growth over the past decade. Coincidentally, he narrowed the list down to nine, four of which were martial families and five were martial sects. The Qingdao Sect was one of the five martial sects.
“It’s a fight to take Lady Shangguan Bihe’s hand in marriage, huh.”
“That’s right. I heard the Great Huangfu Family’s young patriarch and the Qingdao Sect’s vice sect leader are completely infatuated with Lady Shangguan.”
“She’s called Shandong’s greatest beauty for a reason. She’s so pretty she’s causing men to lose their minds.”
“Kyaaah, I wouldn’t be able to ask for more if I could sleep with such a beautiful woman even for just one night.”
“Dream on. For us, Clear Lake House’s Wolhyang is the best we can see.”
“Ehem, can’t I dream for a bit? Anyway, I wonder who Lady Shangguan is going to choose.”
“Wouldn’t it be the Great Huangfu Family? Though the Qingdao Sect was said to have shown rapid growth, it’s not comparable to the Great Huangfu Family, one of the Seven Great Clans. Either way, the Great Huangfu Family will definitely prevent those two organizations’ unison. If the Qingdao Sect and the Shandong Merchant Association combine their wealth, it would greatly threaten the Great Huangfu Family.”
“That’s true. Lady Shangguan is the only direct descendant of Master Shangguan, the Shandong Merchant Association Chairman. To marry Lady Shangguan essentially means obtaining the entire Shandong Merchant Association.”
“Well, I don’t think the Shangguan Family will just stand still and watch that happen.”
“Ah, you’re so clueless. What can they do if the Great Huangfu Family puts Lady Shangguan in the lead and overpowers them with force? They would just be swallowed whole.”
“You never know. It’s possible for the Shangguan Family members to involve the Qingdao Sect just to keep the Great Huangfu Family in check.”
Mu-Gun found the two merchants’ conversation quite interesting. Although the Qingdao Sect achieved rapid growth, they couldn’t compare to the Great Huangfu Family, which was one of the Seven Great Clans.
In fact, if the Great Huangfu Family decided to, it would only be a matter of time before the Qingdao Sect collapsed. Of course, it would be a different story if those from Nine Celestial Demons Sect hiding inside the Qingdao Sect intervened. And if the Qingdao Sect and the Shandong Merchant Association joined forces, even the Great Huangfu Family would no longer find the Qingdao Sect an easy target.
In order for the Qingdao Sect to overthrow the Great Huangfu Family in Shandong, they had to obtain the Shandong Merchant Association. On the other hand, the Great Huangfu Family had to obtain the Shandong Merchant Association if they wanted to keep the Qingdao Sect in check and solidify their status as Shandong’s strongest force.
Either outcome wasn’t beneficial for Mu-Gun. Be it the Great Huangfu Family, which he had a grudge against in his past life, or the Qingdao Sect, which could be connected to the Nine Celestial Demons Sect, nothing good would come from increasing their influence.
However, it was something that Mu-Gun couldn’t prevent. But while the Great Huangfu Family and Qingdao Sect were keeping each other in check, there was a way for Mu-Gun to profit from it. That method was to get Bihe for himself. In all honesty, it was practically impossible.
In the first place, Mu-Gun had no intention of doing so, and even if he did, there was close to no possibility that Bihe or the Shandong Merchant Association would choose him. Mu-Gun just wished for neither side to join hands in marriage with the Shandong Merchant Association.
In the meantime, the food he ordered had been served. After his meal, Mu-Gun went back to his room, circulated his qi, then went to sleep. The next morning, he left the inn early and headed to Mount Tai. He arrived five days after.
Since it was already getting dark, Mu-Gun decided not to immediately climb Mount Tai. Instead, he stayed the night at a shabby inn located at the base of Mount Tai.
Mu-Gun checked into a guest room and went down to the restaurant within the inn to have a meal. There were five tables in the restaurant, which was as shabby as the inn, but only one of them was occupied.
At that table, there were two men around Mu-Gun’s age sitting opposite each other. They were having a meal, but they looked anxious. When Mu-Gun first entered the restaurant, they looked at Mu-Gun warily.
‘Are they being chased?’ Mu-Gun thought. However, one of the two men seemed a tad unique. He looked pretty rather than handsome.
‘He’s most probably a woman.’
Although she dressed as a man, she couldn’t deceive Mu-Gun’s keen eyes.
‘Are they eloping?’
From Mu-Gun’s perspective, the two didn’t have an ordinary relationship. They looked at each other with affection, so there was a high possibility that they were in love.
A loving couple being chased by someone was quite cliché. If they were eloping to avoid opposition from their family, then that would explain their behavior.
‘Well, it’s none of my business.’
Mu-Gun stopped paying attention to them and ordered a bowl of thin noodles and dumplings. Ordering the most basic food in such a shabby restaurant always proved wise. If he ordered expensive food, and it didn’t taste good, he’d only be wasting his appetite and money.
On the other hand, if the thin noodles and dumplings were delicious, all he had to do was order extra food. After a while, his order was served. They looked quite decent, making his expectations rise. He ate the thin noodles.
‘Yuck.’
It tasted so bad that he wanted to spit it out. He couldn’t help but wonder how someone could make noodles taste so bad. After barely swallowing the noodles, Mu-Gun tried the dumplings. As expected, they were no different from the thin noodles.
Mu-Gun thought it was certainly great he only ordered such basic food. He pondered if he should keep eating, but there weren’t any alternatives. There was no other place in the area where he could eat dinner. He had to fill his stomach for now.
Mu-Gun bit the bullet and resumed his meal. While he forced himself to eat, the bead curtain hanging on the restaurant’s entrance was lifted and a group of people entered. There were exactly eleven people. They all looked like martial artists.
They glanced around the room with fierce eyes. Soon, they approached the couple.