The chief steward looked at Namgung Mu, who had suddenly appeared, and let out a hollow laugh.
It was partly because he could guess what wind had suddenly blown to make him move about so busily.
Daring to show emotion in front of the Clan Head was an enormous discourtesy, but it was fine.
The two of them were that close.
The chief steward pushed up his glasses and asked.
“I did not expect you to come in person, Clan Head.”
“Should a father not personally take care of his son’s spending money?”
“Heh heh. Did he please you that much?”
“I am merely keeping my promise.”
Of course you are.
The chief steward simply smiled and nodded.
In truth, he himself had been quite surprised.
Who would have thought the boy would display such tremendous skill starting from the Group Leader Selection Trial?
Was he truly the young master who had suffered from severed meridians?
“Was he a hidden dragon, or had he been sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall ?”
“That, I do not know either.”
“Oh…… truly? I thought it was by your command, Clan Head. You have had quite a few worries lately, have you not?”
“It is the truth.”
So it was something even the Clan Head had not known…….
The chief steward nodded.
The taut power struggle between the Clan Head and the Elders had been an issue that had continued for quite some time.
The Elders, because the Clan Head was young.
The Clan Head, because the Council of Elders was overstepping its authority.
The chief steward, who had been looking over every financial matter with an objective eye, knew.
He knew that the Elders wanted to take even the slightest share of authority away from the Clan Head.
‘In this situation, what will the Clan Head do……?’
He said he did not know, but would the other Elders think the same?
Even in the chief steward’s eyes, the fourth young master, Namgung Yeon, was a secret weapon.
Otherwise, how could he have stood out at such a perfectly suitable time?
“So, how much spending money are you thinking of?”
“How about ten taels of gold? As a modest amount.”
“Hmm. With that much, he could build himself a lodging house and live there.”
How much was ten taels of gold?
Simply put, it was enough money to build a small village in the mountains.
In a city, it was enough to buy a small manor.
Since he had shown such fine results, would it not be all right to give him that much?
“His competitors should have no complaints either.”
“I believe it is appropriate.”
If an ordinary commoner heard the amount, they would have shouted, asking what part of that was appropriate.
But to these people, it was close to pocket change.
This was the occasion for choosing the next Clan Head.
If even this much were not invested in such a talent, what would become of them?
“Then I will prepare it.”
“I leave it to you.”
“The attempts to keep Yeon in check will become rather severe.”
“…….”
Namgung Mu thought the same.
He had openly displayed that martial prowess.
Even Tang Yeonho, the Retired Clan Head of the Tang Clan and Namgung Mu’s father-in-law, had laughed uproariously in delight.
What could that hearty laughter have meant?
‘Will you be able to do well?’
Worry came first, but he deliberately did not bring it up.
Three months.
He had heard that the boy had gone around here and there alone and accomplished many things.
It had been Namgung Yeon himself who made rumors spread through the marketplace, through all of Hefei.
‘If he accomplished that much by his own strength, he should not disappoint me.’
Namgung Mu broke free of his thoughts and spoke to the chief steward.
Since he could not deliver it himself, he could send someone.
Come to think of it, was his name Hoho?
It would be perfect to send that child on the errand.
“Then I leave it to you.”
“It will be handled without issue.”
The chief steward watched Namgung Mu’s back as he vanished smoothly.
He thought it would be very interesting to see how this decision would unfold.
Now, the competition with the fate of the clan at stake would begin in earnest.
***
“Ugh…….”
“Get up, you bastard. Is that all I taught you?”
“N-no, sir…….”
Namgung Jinjin was covered in dust, his face swollen.
Before him stood his father, huffing with anger.
The White Dragon Unit Captain.
Even within the Namgung Clan, he was the captain of one of its most distinguished sword units, a loyal retainer who had achieved countless merits.
His dream was only one thing.
For his son to become the Young Clan Head.
No, honestly, even if not the Young Clan Head, he wanted him to rise far higher than himself.
Was that not the dream of every father and mother?
Among them, the White Dragon Unit Captain’s dream was even more desperate.
“I invested time and money into you. Yet this is all you can do? This father of yours is disappointed. I believed you were the hope of the collateral line!”
“I am sorry…….”
“There is no need to apologize. In any case, you are the one who bears the responsibility.”
“…….”
There was no way his father did not know those cold words would lodge even more icily in him.
Namgung Jinjin squeezed his eyes shut.
His father had always looked at him with expectant eyes and encouraged his confidence, saying that he could do well.
When he did something wrong, he was scolded too, but he knew.
He knew those scoldings had been grounded in the belief that he would succeed.
But this time was different.
The words had been sharpened entirely from disappointment.
At the thought that he would no longer be expected to achieve anything, his heart sank.
“Leave on your own.”
With those words, the White Dragon Unit Captain abruptly left.
Namgung Jinjin sat there for a long time, cursing his own skill.
Why was this all he amounted to?
‘Why couldn’t I beat even one bastard like that?’
On the way there, he had seen the expression of Namgung Jin, whom he had followed as though they were brothers.
In the eyes that had always been favorable to him, disappointment and contempt had mingled.
And those eyes had revealed a competitive spirit toward Namgung Yeon, not toward him.
The Third Young Master, Namgung Jin, who had always built up his skills by holding martial contests with him.
For the first time, he had shown a competitive spirit toward someone other than him.
Even if that emotion was close to hatred.
“Damn it…….”
It welled up.
The venomous resolve that he could not simply stay still like this.
The hatred toward Namgung Yeon, who had taken everything from him.
The disappointment in himself, whose talent amounted to only this much.
The desperation that he could not betray his father’s expectations.
‘In the end, I will be the one to win.’
And so, he resolved himself.
Since the beginning had gone wrong anyway, he would reclaim the position of group leader later.
The bastard had become group leader now only because he was lucky.
That was why he would take that position as group leader back.
Originally, it should have been his.
“I will…… definitely take it back.”
That position is mine.
Namgung Jinjin, now overflowing with venom, staggered to his feet.
Then, dragging himself along, he headed not to his quarters, but to the training field for cultivation.
***
At the same time.
Namgung Yeon was having a private audience with his mother.
“You want me to let you meet your maternal grandfather…… that is, my father?”
“Yes.”
“Wait a moment.”
Around now, he would likely be lounging about like an idle man, chewing on poison pills, so going to see him would not be difficult.
The problem was that his mother, Soyeon, was curious why he wanted to go meet him.
She sent a maidservant to first check whether her father was staying in his quarters.
“He appears to be there now, Madam.”
“Yes, thank you.”
And so, Soyeon went with Yeon to see Tang Yeonho, the Retired Clan Head of the Tang Clan, who was staying in a nearby detached residence.
Come to think of it, why had the other children not paid their respects?
‘Or did they visit him separately?’
Thinking that she would need to teach them some manners, she knocked on the door to his quarters.
“Father, I am here.”
“Ooh-! Is that Soyeon? Come in! Hurry!”
It was a rough, booming voice, as if he had boiled and swallowed a firebox.
Soyeon smiled softly and continued speaking.
“Yeon came with me too. My fourth child.”
“Oooooh-! Is that so? Let me see my grandson’s face! Ha ha ha ha!”
A bold, pleasant laugh.
Namgung Yeon thought of his maternal grandfather.
They had not had many points of contact, but he was someone who had always firmly guarded the west.
The Nine Sects and One Gang, which had all collapsed.
At a time when both the righteous factions and the unorthodox factions had collapsed, he had been the pillar of Sichuan who held firm.
‘If only I had been able to strengthen that pillar even further.’
What would have happened then?
Could Sichuan, Chengdu, and the countless people who had flocked there have survived?
Namgung Yeon recalled the tragic news he had heard countless times and stepped inside.
A man who still appeared hale and vigorous.
The smell of medicinal ingredients rushed in, along with the musty scent of trace poison .
WHISH, WHISH—.
Tang Yeonho was reclining at an angle, spinning a dagger.
The king of poison and daggers.
And so, the world called him this.
Ten Thousand Poisons Dagger King.
Even after he had stepped back from the front lines, that epithet remained unchanged.
That was because he was the king of ten thousand poisons, the king of dagger-throwing arts.
And because no one had yet appeared who surpassed his renown.
“Heh heh heh heh! My grandson! Did you come because you missed your grandfather? How good to see you!”
“Greetings, Grandfather.”
“Yes, yes, come in quickly. Is my son-in-law busy?”
“Yes. He has to coordinate the things needed for the training locations.”
The two of them entered and naturally continued the conversation.
Tang Yeonho looked at his grandson, Namgung Yeon, with affectionate eyes and asked.
“So, my grandson. You were truly remarkable today. I heard you were sick when you were young. Your mother must have taken good care of you.”
“No. He stood up on his own.”
“Eh……?”
He stood up on his own?
Only then did Tang Yeonho carefully retrace his memories.
Yes, surely…….
“Was he not said to suffer from severed meridians? Is my memory correct?”
“Yes, he was. When there was no real improvement to speak of, he shook it off and stood up on his own.”
“Heh heh heh…… what a miracle. Wait. If that is the case……. Child, how long has it been since you began learning martial arts in earnest?”
Tang Yeonho straightened his posture and asked Namgung Yeon.
At the same time, he saw eyes unbefitting a boy and swallowed his surprise inwardly.
How could this little child have eyes this deep?
‘A bottomless pit.’
As though he were looking into an endless abyss, there was no glimmer or keen intelligence in Namgung Yeon’s eyes.
He had seen eyes like this exactly once before.
Just before the death of the Sword Demon, who had once been called the public enemy of murim.
Those hollow, deep eyes appeared only in those who had lost every lingering attachment to everything…….
“It has now been three months.”
“……What?”
The words pulled him out of his thoughts.
Thinking he might have heard wrong, he had to ask again.
“Three years?”
“No. Three months. Three months.”
At the sight of his grandson stretching out his hand and showing him three fingers, Tang Yeonho’s expression turned bewildered.
So…… a little boy who had recovered from severed meridians had beaten down a martial artist close to first-rate in only three months?
And twice in consecutive matches at that?
“Heh heh. Heh heh heh heh…….”
What kind of child is this?
He was genuinely shocked.
Because he could not possibly gauge how far this child’s talent went.
The greed deep in his heart quietly raised its head.
“So, is there a reason you came to see this grandfather? If you grow tired of the succession struggle, come to your maternal clan at any time.”
“Rather than that, I came because I have a request.”
Tang Yeonho’s eyes gleamed.
This child’s talent.
And above all, there was something different about him.
‘The others did not even come to see me. That was a characteristic of the Namgung Clan, so I did not think much of it…….’
Whether they had deliberately not come, or whether they were trying to climb up by their own strength, he did not know.
However, not a single direct descendant participating in the Young Clan Head Competition had come to see him.
To be precise, when he visited, they had simply paid their respects and then acted as though they knew nothing of him.
Yet this child had come to see him.
Not only that, he even said he had a request.
He began to wonder what sort of grand plan was inside this bold little child’s head.
“Very well. What request do you have for this grandfather?”
“Please become my backer. During this Young Clan Head Competition.”
“…….”
Everyone closed their mouths.
Because this was unprecedented.
And because no one had ever held out a hand to another clan in the name of Namgung.
Tang Yeonho’s eyes sank low.