Chapter 136

Chapter 136
Chapter 136

An old adage claims that you cannot strike a smiling countenance.

That sentiment is patently false.

“Seol-ha, I am grinning right now.”

“And?”

“I am using my expression to convey my deepest apologies to you.”

“Ah. Do you truly believe a single grin will absolve you? Do you imagine yourself some peerless beauty?”

…The peerless beauty here is you, not me.

“Sigh.”

“A sigh? Surely I am the one entitled to lament here?”

The reason Zhuge Seol-ha was boiling with rage and lashing out at him was transparent.

Without any warning, he had dispatched a letter to the Zhuge Clan and summoned her uncle, Zhuge Seon.

She must have endured quite a turbulent ordeal because of it.

To compound matters, her doting father and her sister-obsessed elder brother Zhuge Hwa-un had accompanied him as well.

“I placed my trust in you, senior brother. My heart, which received betrayal as the sole return for that trust, is wounded and demands medicine.”

“…How?”

“Repay favors twofold, grudges tenfold!”

Desperate to alter the conversational atmosphere, he bellowed aloud.

“Adu, you scoundrel! Were you not supposed to be meditating?!”

Adu flinched violently and whipped his head toward the window.

No wonder the room had been saturated with such a peculiar, heavy aura.

It must have been deployed specifically to muffle Zhuge Seol-ha.

“I trusted you! Suffer the consequences of betraying that trust, you monk!”

“That is… that is…”

Watching Adu fidget nervously, he shouted once more.

“What did you extract? What bribe did you accept to sell me out?!”

“Heh.”

Adu offered no reply. Zhuge Seol-ha answered in his stead.

She extended her palms wide like folding fans. Various types of rice cakes were wedged between her fingers.

Bean cakes, red bean cakes, steamed cakes… what variety was that one?

Regardless, every high-end variety of rice cake was accounted for.

“This rogue traded away a fellow practitioner for a handful of confections? And you style yourself a monk?”

Adu responded with an unyielding expression, as though this were one matter he could defend with absolute conviction.

“Yang-hui is no fellow practitioner!”

“Amitabha. The Lesser Vehicle walks the path of suffering solely for the weak…”

He stood on the verge of gaping in sheer disbelief at the absurdity.

“Do not malign our humble monk. Should you not be addressing me instead?”

“Seol-ha is entirely correct! Spot on!”

“Well spoken, monk!”

Zhuge Seol-ha lobbed a piece of rice cake through the air, and Adu snatched it mid-flight like a trained hound.

When on earth did the two of you grow so close?

“Enough idle chatter, senior brother. Let us discuss restitution in earnest.”

“…Very well.”

“You sold me out. Do you concede?”

“The phrasing makes it sound as though I corresponded with a fiend.”

“Hush. Stop splitting hairs. Do you concede?”

“…I concede.”

“This junior sister trusted you. For what reason? Because we are senior and junior siblings! Because I believed in our shared bond and loyalty!”

“Expressed differently, your conduct constituted an outright betrayal. Treachery!”

Is this a matter that warrants such a dramatic proclamation?

“Listen closely, junior sister. In a sense, did I not alleviate Uncle’s anxieties in your stead? It was an act of filial piety by proxy.”

It was a remarkably sound justification and line of reasoning, but Zhuge Seol-ha’s retort was concise.

“Punish the traitor! Treachery calls for immediate execution!”

“Is that not right, monk?”

“Without a doubt!”

“Make the traitor pay!”

“Immediate execution!”

His temper began to simmer.

Now that he reflected upon it, he had yet to adequately settle accounts with her for mocking him back at the Dongpa Inn when he was attempting to maintain his composure.

If she intended to press the matter, he would simply unleash his inner ruffian!

“Junior sister. You surely do not anticipate escaping unscathed with mere words, do you?”

“Naturally not.”

“Then let us proceed thus. I shall refine your physical vessel for you.”

“Pardon?”

“You stand at the first-rate tier. To advance beyond the peak realm, you must perfect your mortal shell, correct?”

“That is true, but…”

Abruptly, Zhuge Seol-ha knitted her delicate brows together.

Refining the physical vessel. Simple to articulate, yet practically equivalent to handing over a rare spiritual elixir.

“Just like that? You? You are not hatching another peculiar scheme, are you?”

“What scheme could I possibly harbor?”

“Such as suddenly recalling how I ridiculed you earlier and plotting retribution.”

How did she discern his thoughts?

“An upright man does not engage in such petty vindictiveness. You are aware of that, correct?”

An upright man… petty?

A triumphant smile crept across Baek Yang-hui’s face.

Indeed. He was well aware of that fact.

“Unlike my junior sister, who refuses to overlook even the most minor slights, I, your senior brother, am magnanimous and open-hearted. Why would I hesitate to bestow gifts upon you?”

“Oh ho. Is that so? I harbored a trace of remorse for escalating matters so abruptly, but that is entirely gone now.”

“Accompany me.”

Baek Yang-hui strode ahead. Zhuge Seol-ha tilted her head in confusion and trailed behind him.

‘Is he genuinely going to provide a spiritual elixir?’

To be candid, Zhuge Seol-ha had anticipated a modest leverage point, such as seizing a weakness or extracting a minor concession.

Yet a spiritual elixir materialized out of thin air?

Strictly speaking, she lacked grounds to reproach Yang-hui now, placing her in a slightly awkward predicament.

‘Should Father discover this, he will lecture me for throwing a tantrum over nothing.’

As she walked immersed in these reflections, Zhuge Seol-ha suddenly registered their destination.

“Senior brother, why have we come here?”

The location they reached in Baek Yang-hui’s wake was not a spiritual elixir vault.

It was the training courtyard constructed within the rear gardens of the Baek Pavilion.

“For what reason? I stated that I would refine your physical vessel.”

A sudden wave of dread washed over her. She hesitated before posing the question.

“Now that I ponder it, how precisely do you intend to perform this refinement?”

“You are aware that I wield a mystical energy designated as pure qi, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Pure qi possesses a singular attribute. It guides the physical frame along the optimal trajectory.”

“And so?”

Baek Yang-hui moved with the speed of a fleeting beam of light and struck her Pursuit Acupoint.

From the lips of the woman he had just mentally categorized as a peerless beauty emerged a cry of utter disbelief.

“Seol-ha. The initial approach was somewhat excessive for you, causing me to hesitate, but hearing your words dispelled all hesitation.”

“Senior brother?!”

“What was that about an upright man being petty?”

Consequently, he arrived at a profound realization, Seol-ha.

An upright man ought not to obsess over minor, insignificant grievances.

Because he is above pettiness!

“Senior brother, I was mistaken, senior brother! Kyaaah!”

The rigorous body-tempering session, brimming with affectionate senior-junior sentiments, commenced.

A month elapsed.

It was the duration required to dismantle the Baekui Gate, which had long dominated the sprawling metropolis of Namchang, and for Baek Yang-hui and Zhuge Seol-ha to further cement their senior-junior ties.

“Senior brother… I shall never forget this grievance…”

Baek Yang-hui let out a cold snort.

“Grievance? Are you not misinterpreting it as benevolence? I catalyzed tremendous growth within you in the span of a single month.”

“Eek…”

Zhuge Seol-ha found herself devoid of a rebuttal and emitted a groan steeped in fury.

Because Baek Yang-hui’s assertion held factual weight.

The properties of the pure qi were astonishingly potent. It had restructured her entire physical foundation in a mere thirty days.

Naturally, as the individual who had endured the torment, her perspective differed vastly.

“I will not let you escape retribution for this…”

“Yes, yes, repay it tenfold later.”

Baek Yang-hui wiped the perspiration from his brow with his sleeve, leaving Zhuge Seol-ha behind as he made his way toward the guest quarters.

There, So Seo-saeng, whom he had summoned in advance, was pacing anxiously.

“Young master. How can you keep someone waiting and materialize at this hour?”

“My apologies. The process required more time than anticipated.”

So Seo-saeng’s visage appeared profoundly exhausted—an astonishing sight for a youth in his prime developmental years.

More precisely, he bore the complexion of a mortal buried beneath an avalanche of paperwork.

“Your vitality appears to have suffered. Would you care for a prescription for a restorative tonic?”

“Is that a remark suitable for the individual who reduced me to this state?!”

Unable to suppress his frustration, So Seo-saeng raised his voice.

His reaction was entirely justified.

So Seo-saeng had managed a mere two hours of slumber per night, tormented by relentless administrative burdens, all orchestrated by Baek Yang-hui.

Yet.

“You were the one who volunteered to assume the role of the Baekui Gate leader.”

“That was a request for the Baek Clan to extend backing! Not an invitation to shred the Baekui Gate to fragments and compel me to manage every trivial scrap!”

“You entered into this fully cognizant of the circumstances.”

“I anticipated that you would acknowledge my utility as a strategist, but I scarcely imagined you would exploit me to this extreme!”

“A man feels deeply fulfilled when his worth is recognized. I completely understand your sentiment.”

The boy, who appeared a mere thirteen or fourteen years of age, clutched the back of his neck like a middle-aged elder of fifty.

“Compose yourself. You will collapse from exhaustion.”

“Whose fault is this entire ordeal?!”

“Very well, very well. Let us transition to official matters. The time has arrived to put the remnants of the Baekui Gate to practical use.”

The Baek Clan and the Zhuge Clan had dismantled the signboard of the Baekui Gate and partitioned its members into individual household units.

Rather than scattering them completely—which might invite future regrouping—they permitted small-scale survival.

Through this arrangement, they could harness the residual forces of the Baekui Gate to a designated degree.

‘Truthfully… without this fellow’s intervention, such a maneuver would have been impossible.’

The rationale was straightforward. Aside from managing an overwhelming administrative burden, the undertaking was unfeasible from the outset.

Much like a fledgling bird attempting to swallow prey far exceeding its own dimensions.

Even if carved into smaller portions, overindulgence would merely induce severe indigestion.

‘However, what if one refrains from consuming it outright and repurposes it through alternative means?’

That methodology was rendered viable solely due to So Seo-saeng’s existence and responsibilities.

“Now then. Outline the course of action we must pursue.”

“Another assessment?”

“Negative. Merely seeking counsel from my personal strategist.”

“…Heh heh heh heh.”

Still a mere youth, evidently. The mere designation as a strategist caused him to beam with pride.

“So Seo-saeng. Given your intellect, you are well aware of how precarious the main household’s current standing is, correct?”

“Naturally. It is a crisis of internal discord coupled with external perils, in the truest sense.”

The Baek Clan had successfully absorbed the Baekui Gate.

Regardless of any moral justifications, this development would inevitably convulse the martial sphere of Jiangxi.

Topple and replace the master of Namchang, the central fortress city of Jiangxi, was an undertaking of monumental proportions.

“The Jiangxi martial realm is bifurcated with Namchang as the focal point: factions of the black path reign over the western regions, while the white path dominates the east.”

“An unavoidable reality. Hunan lies directly to the west of Jiangxi.”

Decades prior, the catastrophic bloodshed at the Sword King’s Tomb left the white path martial society of Hunan in utter ruin.

Presently, designating it as territory dominated by the black path would be entirely accurate.

“The western black path syndicates will inevitably mobilize against our main household.”

“They will witness the banner of the Heaven-Covering Baek Clan and convince themselves they possess a righteous pretext.”

“Concurrently, the main household, having freshly digested the Baekui Gate, still requires time to consolidate its forces.”

Internal strife paired with external threats, precisely as described.

Internally, remaining factions of the Baekui Gate instigate turbulence; externally, they must fend off incursions from the black path.

“To inquire how one ought to navigate such a predicament implies a complete absence of strategy.”

“Am I to infer that you possess no countermeasures in mind?”

So Seo-saeng curved the corners of his lips upward and shook his head dismissively.

“As if that were true. To a true strategist, turmoil equates to opportunity.”

The strategy So Seo-saeng subsequently proposed was remarkably straightforward.

“With the assistance of the Tang Clan, pacify the black path martial factions of Jiangxi. Leverage external adversaries to fortify internal cohesion. A textbook execution of achieving two distinct objectives with a single stroke!”

So Seo-saeng concluded with a grand flourish and cast an expectant gaze toward Baek Yang-hui.

Clearly anticipating immediate commendation, however…

“Incorrect.”

“Incorrect?”

“Indeed. Regrettably, the Tang Clan is in no position to render assistance.”

“Pardon? For what reason?”

“Because the Namgung Clan is on the verge of intervening.”

“Pardon?”

So Seo-saeng’s eyes dilated in shock.

“Why inform me of this only now?!”

In stark contrast to the astounded So Seo-saeng, Baek Yang-hui merely offered a cunning chuckle.

‘Sufficient time has elapsed since the incident at the Sword King’s Tomb. It is precisely the appropriate juncture for those scoundrels to make their move.’

He conjured the irritating visage of Namgung Cheon-hu within his mind.

That fellow was hardly the type to remain docile after suffering a defeat.

Thanks to his impending actions, however, a crisis could readily be transformed into an opportunity.