The friendly atmosphere suddenly became chilly.
Even the noisy guest house suddenly went cold. Flustered by this, Jang Kyung became speechless. In order to maintain his position, Hong Geol-gae asked coldly.
“What do you mean by that? So hyung?”
“Just like I said, we decided to work as guests for their escort services.”
“Haa….”
Hong Geol-gae walked up and looked between the woman and me. It was because Jang Kyung and his subordinates’ actions would be seen as an insult to me.
-Well, this is how you corner other people.
Short Sword commented.
I could hear whispers spreading through the crowd. Perhaps conscious of this, Hong Geol-gae spoke to me with clear displeasure.
“Are you really their guests?”
He then turned this gaze to the woman. She, who was surprised, then nodded immediately.
“That’s right. We requested their help for this year’s auction.”
She wasn’t stupid.
I didn’t even need to send her a message, and she managed to respond well. I couldn’t miss this chance.
“It seems like we were talking about things suiting us earlier, but can you tell me clearly what is happening?”
“…”
Jang Kyung stared at me with a stiff face.
-He seems to be in a bad mood.
No.
He was using his qi to try and sense how strong I was.
-He is?
I also just noticed it.
After crossing the wall, I could sense that someone was trying to test me.
Qi sensing was detecting the energy that flows from someone to estimate how strong their martial arts were.
Now, he was trying to do this, but since I was determined to hide my qi, no one would be able to guess it.
However, since he had a reputation as a leader, he should be able to guess that I was hiding my energy if he wasn’t an idiot.
‘Should I try stimulating him a little?’
Perhaps I should let him feel it and be alert.
If I focused on my qi…
Flinch!
Jang Kyung’s eyes changed. He was clearly surprised and turned to Hong Geol-gae with a puzzled look.
He seemed to be asking for help as the young beggar looked at me.
Unlike Jang Kyung, who was smart, Hong Geol-gae was a young man and overconfident in his position.
“So hyung. If you are a representative for Hwang Young, then I represent the Nurtured Land. Pressuring my people means you are treating me and the Beggars Union with contempt.”
As expected, he brought his sect into the conversation.
The Beggars Union was like a group of warriors, so that should work.
Well, that’s too bad.
Even if there were three things I could associate myself with, the only one I could use right now was the Ikyang So family.
No matter how it compared to the Beggars Union, it was still worth mentioning.
Then someone stepped forward.
“The ideology of the Beggars Union is loyalty to the nation and straightforward justice. I didn’t realize they began putting other people ahead of it like this.”
The person who stepped forward was none other than Cho Seong-won. Alongside him were Sima Young and Song Woo-hyun.
He wasn’t as intimidating as teacher, but Song Woo-hyun also had a rugged look with his muscled body and a visible lack of hair.
But what was Song Jwa-baek doing?
‘Seriously.’
Hidden behind Song Woo-hyun, he had his cheeks puffed out. It seemed like the noodles had arrived, and he had hurriedly poured them into his mouth.
Hong Geol-gae spoke to Cho Seong-won in a displeased tone.
“Who are you to speak about such things regarding the Beggars Union?”
“I am Won Seong, serving young lord So Wonwhi.”
I was worried that he was angry and would blab out the truth, but he managed to keep our cover.
Hong Geol-gae wasn’t aware of his true identity as he had also changed his voice.
Hong Geol-gae smiled at Cho Seong-won and said to me,
“I am just a lower-ranked person here, but doesn’t it seem like you’re trying to show that So hyung cannot handle his subordinates? They’re even interfering without notice.”
“It’s funny that you’re trying to argue about superiors and inferiors when it comes to beggars.”
As expected, Sima Young wasn’t going to stand still. She had been itching to say something.
Hong Geol-gae stared at her with a red face and said,
“Ha! Beggars? Do you know who I am? To be talking like this?”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a beggar lose his temper about being called a beggar.”
She’s right, you know.
“What!?”
“Well, isn’t it a problem when beggars don’t eat from his begging but instead sit in a guest house and sit with other people?”
“You!”
In the end, Hong Geol-gae lost his temper and used his martial arts.
It was the Stand Against Regret, one of the 18 martial art forms of the Beggars Union.
As expected, it was a strong martial art with a reputation for being counted as among the top three in Murim.
Despite his lack of talent, he seemed skillful enough.
It was no problem, however, since Sima Young was superior.
Sssss!
Sima Young simply moved her upper body to avoid Hong Geol-gae’s attack.
Exclamations flowed out from the people inside the guest house.
Once any mention of the Beggars Union was said, it became hard for them to relate.
“Ahhh.”
The female escort looked at Sima Young with shining eyes.
Unlike the beggar, Sima Young was wearing a handsome human skin mask.
“You. You seem to have some skill. Good! I will break that mouth of yours.”
Hong Geol-gae was enraged as he continued to attack, his technique containing killing intent.
I grabbed his hand very lightly.
Pak!
“Let go!”
Hong Geol-gae raised his internal qi to shake my hand off, but he couldn’t even budge. His eyes shook as if there was an earthquake.
To me, who had reached a realm beyond humans, his internal qi was nothing.
“Hong hyung, let’s not do this.”
I warned him in a low voice.
Hong Geol-gae’s eyes moved from side to side.
He was paying attention because there were many eyes around us, and he eventually looked down. He knew better than to end up humiliated.
“… did you say, colleagues? For this time, I will put my hand away for the sake of So hyung.”
Sure, just handle yourself now.
I shook my head to Sima Young to make sure she didn’t say anything else. She licked her lips with a rueful expression in response.
Besides, their faces were crumpled as they had more to lose than us.
It ended cleanly since each side wanted to hold onto some integrity.
“Was it escort Jang? Didn’t you say you were busy earlier?”
“That’s right.”
“Then I guess we won’t have time this time.”
“Ahh! Right. It is a pity, but the meal has to be pushed back.”
Jang Kyung caught on quickly and agreed with Hong Geol-gae’s words. They didn’t even take their duck soup and rushed out of the guest house.
The chef, the customers, and everyone else seemed relieved as they left.
It was a good thing to receive support from the people around us.
[This much isn’t even enough.]
Cho Seong-won sent me a message.
Of course, I have no intention of letting things go at just this extent next time. His revenge would also not be this simple.
Well, since we’ve achieved our goals, I needed to talk to the woman. At that moment, Song Jwa-baek stepped forward and spoke.
“Miss. Are you alright?”
… Ah.
-That one, that one is back to pretending again.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her and was now finally talking to her. As if a man who had been busy scarfing down some noodles was cool.
-Instead of that, I think it would be better if he stopped his eyes.
As Short Sword said, his eyes continued to drift to her breasts. Even with this, he was still unable to control his eyes.
At that moment, the woman ignored him and approached me with a greeting and a bow.
“I am a Hwang Young Escort Group member, Hwang Hye-joo. I thank you for your help.”
Seeing this, Song Jwa-baek’s expression changed. However, I kept my voice and gaze normal.
Whether or not that idiot liked it, the woman called Hwang Hye-joo was speaking to me.
“As expected, you seem to have a gentlemanly spirit, just like your reputation.”
“No, no.”
“But I want to ask, why did you help us?”
Her eyes looked at me, full of concern.
She received help from me, but she wasn’t sure if she could trust me or not.
Hwang Hye-joo lowered her voice and said,
“If you are interested…”
Sima Young’s eyes were glaring at Hwang Hye-joo from behind me. That kind of emotionless look gave me goosebumps. I quickly cut off her words.
“It isn’t like that. Just as Miss Hwang said, while we did do you a favor, this was an unavoidable situation.”
“Phew.”
Hearing my words, Hwang Hye-joo let out a sigh as if she found this to be fortunate.
What?
This kind of thing made me feel a bit uncomfortable, and she asked,
“Do you mind if I ask what your unavoidable situation’s request would be?”
“Let’s change places.”
There were a lot of eyes watching her escort service. All of us exited the guest house and went into a deserted alley.
As we moved to a location with no one around, the other members of the escort group were on alert. Hwang Hye-joo, as their leader, then asked.
“Now, can you tell me?”
To this request, I smiled and said,
“I would like Leader Hwang to take us along as guests.”
“Uh?”
Her eyes widened at this.
She seemed to have been troubled because of a fear that our request might have been too difficult. Still, she was quite taken aback by what I said.
At that moment, one of her members then said,
“What do you mean? Even if we are a small group and want to grow, we’re not a group that is able to take the Second New Star.”
What was this?
Well, it was natural that he was suspicious since it seemed like we were asking to become their guests for no reason.
“It is because of the circumstances.”
“Circumstances?”
I could not give him our original intentions here. How would they react if I said I wanted to contact the 18 River Families of the Yangtze?
I thought of a good excuse and then told them.
“Would you be able to learn this and then stay silent?”
“You want us to hide it?”
“It will be dangerous if you leak it elsewhere.”
Hearing this, the members of Hwang Young looked at each other seriously and became silent. Judging by how their throats trembled, they were talking using internal qi.
Before long, Hwang Hye-joo said,
“Even if we don’t take you as a guest, I will keep this hidden until I die.”
She made sure to leave room to refuse. I realized again that being an escort service was not something to be taken lightly.
I lowered my voice and said,
“Didn’t you ever think it was strange that the Beggars Union is siding with an escort service?”
“That…”
Of course, it felt strange.
It was strange that people who lived as beggars would want to be guests. There was no reason for them to do it.
The Beggars Union was the largest organization that held its place throughout the central plains. Through words, one in a million ways was actually possible for them.
Since they were like that, everything was possible to do on their own without needing to bond with an escort service.
“We’re looking into this.”
For some reason, she turned back and looked around as she whispered.
“Is this a secret mission of the Murim Alliance?”
I never thought about this, but it felt like a good enough excuse.
I smiled as if confirming this to her.
“Ahhh!”
She nodded, clearly liking it. I wondered if she understood, but she seemed to understand it well.
“But if it is such an important mission, shouldn’t you use a medium-sized service instead of mine?”
Despite her innocent appearance, she was quite smart. Well, this wasn’t my first time dealing with someone like this.
“That’s what I initially planned to do. However, since we are also human, we have to do this because we’ve become a nuisance.”
“A nuisance?”
“Once we intervene in this, the Nurture Land and the Beggars Union will probably proceed to disregard you, me, and my colleagues as well.”
‘…?!’
Looks like she didn’t think about that.
-I cannot believe, did you go against that beggar because of this?
To an extent.
That was also why I let Sima Young talk to him too. It was to provoke them into picking a fight with us.
As expected, Hwang Hye-joo and the others were in trouble.
“Leader Hwang, my heart feels heavy as if it becomes known that we aren’t your guests, you might end up harmed. So, please, accept us as your guests.”
“Warrior So….”
Hearing this, she and even the others looked touched and excited.
Their looks indicated that they were ready to take this on.
On the other hand, my subordinates simply stuck their tongues out.
With that settled, we, as their guests, headed toward the warehouse where the auction was being held.
It was in front of where the ships were anchored at port. It was also said that they would start the auction for the transportation of the items soon.
It was said that the competition would be fierce because one of the top five services of the Central Plains was coming here.
However, there was also something strange.
Song Jwa-baek could not take his eyes off Hwang Hye-joo.
However, Hwang Hye-joo was busy looking at Sima Young. Sima Young had a girl-like expression on her male mask and walked with me the entire time.
-This reminds me of that Yong-yong time.
How could that be?
From now on, I should tell Sima Young to stop wearing these handsome masks.
This was truly heart-wrenching, though.
Should I tell her later that Sima Young was a woman?
At that moment, Hwang Hye-joo spoke to me.
[Warrior So…]
Why was she doing this now?
As I wondered, she said something unexpected.
[Why is the sister beside you dressed as a man?]
… uh? Did she already know?
When I looked up, she waved her hand.
[If it is because of the mission, you don’t have to tell me!]
After saying this, she turned to Sima Young and blushed again.
‘…!?’
What the hell did I just see?
My head began to pound. Then, when I passed the alley, I saw a crowded place filled with people. Inside this open warehouse, various cargoes in large wooden boxes were visible as a crowd of around 1,000 stood inside.
‘Hmm.’
If it was this scale, it was unlikely that a single service would get it.
I wondered if this was such a big thing.
Hwang Hye-joo spoke in a slightly withered tone.
“I don’t know if we can win any bids. I wonder if this is going to place pressure on you for no reason.”
“Not at all.”
Seeing this kind of thing only made it clearer. A cargo of this size would definitely be a good target for many, even bandits.
Of course, bandits were a consideration for any winning bid. As of now, the favorites were likely the party with the Beggars Union.
I wasn’t sure about the guest house, but I saw dozens of beggars here.
‘They seem to have heavily invested in this.’
But these days, the title of Second New Star also has a lot of weight, so I will do my best. As I looked around the warehouse…
-…
There was a strange metal ringing in my head.
To get this kind of feeling, it was likely a treasured sword.
Flinch!
I turned my head towards where I felt the strong presence that made my body shudder.
I saw someone unusual among the warriors under blue flags near the port. It was a middle-aged man whose entire face was covered by scars.
He had two swords crossed behind his back, a tiger skin wrapped around his waist, and he looked like someone who would catch attention.
-Why are you so surprised?
… a warrior who crossed the wall.
-What? For real?
I was sure of it.
The energy around him drew attention, and I could feel it riling up my senses. It was like looking at a beast. That was how strong he was.
Then came the cry from the crowd.
“Wind Wave King!”
“The Wind Wave King is here!”
There was an uproar as everyone turned to him.
-Who is that?
Sigh…
Wind Wave King, Heok Cheon-man.
One of the Eight Great Warriors of Murim, and one who could be called the peak.
I had never met him before, and this was our first meeting. Why did a man with such a reputation come here?
As I was puzzled by this, the man’s eyes turned to me, and our eyes met.
“Second New Star!”
“The disciple of the South Heavenly Swordsman has appeared.”
Thanks to a few shouts, people began to turn to me too. I don’t know why this much fuss was being made for me.
However, my title was lower than the Eight Great Warriors, so most were still looking at Heok Cheon-man.
-Why is he looking at you?
I could sense his presence.
It would be odd if he couldn’t sense mine. At that moment, he moved.
Shhh!
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of me.
I didn’t notice it from a distance, but he was a little bigger than the twins.
It was my first time seeing a giant like this since Hae Ack-chun.
But why did he come to me?
As I was puzzled by this, he spoke to me.
“Since when was a person at the level of the Eight Great Warriors just called a New Star?”
‘…!!’
And those words sent everything into chaos.
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