Dark and Light Martial Emperor

Chapter 19. The Values of a Warrior (3)

“Clan leader.”

“What is it?”

Taekyung was still cautious and respectful towards Yeon Wi, even though he had been the chief administrator of the Yeon Clan for several years.

“A letter has arrived from the Mo Yong Clan.”

“From Mo Yong?”

“Yes.”

Yeon Wi’s face showed some curiosity.

The Mo Yong Clan was one of the seven great clans along with the Yeon Clan. Unlike the Byuk San-yeon Clan, it was a traditional martial clan with a history of over five hundred years.

That’s why the Yeon Clan had little contact with the Mo Yong Clan. They had exchanged greetings a few times at the Righteous Martial Alliance, but that was all they had in common.

“Give it to me.”

“Here it is.”

Yeon Wi’s eyebrows twitched as he read the letter.

Taekyung asked carefully.

“What is it?”

“A business proposal.”

“A business?”

Yeon Wi tapped the table with his index finger.

‘Let’s join forces?’

The Yeon Clan was located in Jiangsu Province, which was a region that actively engaged in maritime trade along with Zhejiang Province.

Of course, some famous sects had branches in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to conduct trade business. The Yeon Clan, which had settled in Jiangsu, also did trade business.

‘Does Mo Yong want to try this too?’

In the past, the Mo Yong Clan was based in the borderland of the Central Plains, Liaoning Province. But after the Blood Sect Rebellion (血敎之亂) three hundred years ago, they moved to Hunan Province in the heart of the Central Plains.

They had settled in the inland, so he thought they wouldn’t be interested in maritime trade. But it seemed that was not the case.

Yeon Wi shook his head after a moment of thought.

“It won’t work. Chief administrator.”

“Yes.”

“Prepare a brush and ink.”

“Ah, yes!”

Yeon Wi quickly wrote a letter to refuse. He was praised as a master of both literature and martial arts (文武兼全), and his handwriting was very elegant.

“Send this to the Mo Yong Clan.”

“I will!”

“That’s all for now.”

Taekyung bowed his head and left the clan leader’s room.

As he was about to return to his work, Yeon Wi looked out the window.

A faint worry appeared over his indifferent eyes.

“…It must be cold over there.”

* * *

“Woah!”

Yeon Ji-pyeong’s face showed an unmistakable admiration.

“Amazing, brother!”

As they entered Hapbi, they noticed that there were a lot more people.

That was not all. The city’s splendor was truly remarkable. It was comparable to Suzhou, which was known as a paradise along with Hangzhou.

Yeon Ji-pyeong looked around without a clue. It was very different from Jiangsu Province, which was adjacent to the sea. From the buildings to the people’s clothes, everything was colorful and pleasing to the eye.

Seeing Yeon Ji-pyeong’s excitement, Je Gal-a-yeon nudged Yeon Ho-jeong.

“Your brother is riding a wave, huh? He looked like he had all the troubles of the world on his shoulders last night. Is it because he lives near the sea?”

“…”

“Is he always like that?”

“Shut up.”

“Just say it.”

Yeon Ji-pyeong approached Yeon Ho-jeong with an excited face.

“Brother! Brother! Can we go to that street over there? Can we?”

Yeon Ho-jeong’s face showed some embarrassment.

“How about we find a place to stay first?”

“We can find a place to stay anywhere, right? Right?”

Well, that’s true, but.

“We need to rest first, even if we look fine.”

Yeon Ho-jeong pointed at Je Gal-a-yeon and Je Gal-jun.

Yeon Ji-pyeong realized his mistake.

“Ah! I’m sorry. I was too excited…”

Je Gal-a-yeon smiled wryly and waved his hand.

“Oh, it’s okay. Don’t mind us and go have fun. We can find a place to stay ourselves, no problem.”

Je Gal-jun also chimed in.

“Yeah. We only have two days left anyway, so we can rest nearby.”

The Je siblings looked at their mentor and asked at the same time.

“Right?”

Their mentor coughed.

“Sir. What will you do?”

Everyone’s eyes naturally turned to Yeon Ho-jeong.

He looked around for a moment and nodded.

“I’ll go to the meeting hall first. Anyone who wants to join me can do so.”

“Damn!”

“Ah…”

A cough and a regretful moan sounded at the same time.

Yeon Ho-jeong scratched his head.

He said it without thinking, but it seemed like a statement that could cause some misunderstanding.

“No, really, I don’t mind.”

“Hey, still, that’s not right.”

Yeon Ho-jeong glared at Je Gal-a-yeon with a scowl.

Je Gal-a-yeon shrank his neck like a cat. But he said what he had to say.

“We agreed to go together, so we should move together. Huh!”

“Don’t you have something else to do?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you have to find the guards of the clan that you probably ditched?”

“Uh?!”

Je Gal-jun also stiffened his legs that were limping.

Yeon Ho-jeong frowned.

“I see. If you don’t find the guards before the meeting starts, the innocent guards will go back to the clan and get whipped.”

“Ah, no!”

Bang!

Je Gal-a-yeon grabbed Je Gal-jun and lifted him up. Je Gal-jun had no time to resist.

“We’ll go first! Sir! See you at the meeting hall! Jeong-a! See you later!”

“Aaah! Sister! Put me down! The head of the men’s quarters…”

“Shut up, you weakling!”

Papapak!

The Je siblings disappeared in an instant. Everyone looked at the place where the Je siblings disappeared with wide eyes.

Yeon Ho-jeong muttered.

“They’re really close, huh.”

Whether it was the Nine Clans or the Seven Great Clans, everyone was suspicious. The doubt about the Je Clan was almost diluted, but you never know.

He had seen too many cases where unexpected situations caused incidents. He was not ready to lower his guard against the Je Clan yet.

‘I need to see the clan’s elders to know for sure. I can’t be careless.’

Then, Yeon Ji-pyeong asked.

“Brother.”

“Hmm?”

“Shall we go to the meeting hall?”

“Huh? Didn’t you want to look around the street?”

Yeon Ji-pyeong smiled brightly and said.

“What’s the fun of that if you’re not going with me? It’s okay.”

“You don’t have to do that. If you insist, we can go together until tonight…”

“No, no. If you think about it, we’re not here to have fun. Even if it’s a meeting, we can’t tarnish the clan’s reputation. We should calm our minds.”

Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.

‘He’s admirable.’

He was different from the boys of his age. He was still pure, but he also had deep thoughts.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

“Yes!”

With that, the group headed straight to the meeting hall.

As they walked to the meeting hall, Yeon Ho-jeong was lost in thought.

‘The Hugi Jisu meeting is in two days. It lasts for three days. It’s a meeting, but it’s more like a social gathering. I have to find out everything I can in the meantime.’

There weren’t many people in the meeting of Hugi Jisu, which represented the Seven Great Clans. Even if one clan sent six people, there were less than fifty people in total.

The important thing was to scan each and every one of them for their martial arts and energy. At Yeon Ho-jeong’s level, it was impossible to analyze them by just looking at their inner energy.

‘If there is a fight or a physical contact, I might be able to…’

That’s when it happened.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmm?”

Yeon Ho-jeong looked at Yeon Ji-pyeong.

“What did you say?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

Yeon Ji-pyeong bowed his head deeply.

“I, actually, I heard you and Sister Je Gal talking in the forest yesterday.”

“I know.”

“Huh! Oh, you knew?”

Yeon Ho-jeong chuckled.

“You hid your energy so poorly that it would have been impossible not to notice.”

“Ah…”

“You don’t have to be sorry for that. If I was bothered, I would have called you first.”

Yeon Ji-pyeong’s face turned red. He looked embarrassed and apologetic.

“That’s not all.”

“Hmm? Did you do something else wrong to me?”

“…Not really, but anyway, I’m sorry.”

Yeon Ho-jeong laughed without realizing it.

He didn’t know why his brother was acting like that at first. But last night, he realized why Yeon Ji-pyeong was so quiet during the conversation with Je Gal-a-yeon.

‘I was too insensitive.’

He had no intention of changing his way and his perspective. But he felt sorry for not caring about his brother.

Yeon Ho-jeong ruffled Yeon Ji-pyeong’s hair.

“Ugh! Bro, brother!”

“Kid, you’re too young to keep saying sorry. It becomes a habit.”

“But…”

“I’m too stubborn and rough to get along with people easily. So sometimes I don’t try to understand others. That’s why I don’t feel gratitude or remorse very well.”

“…”

“You don’t have to be as extreme as me, but I don’t think it’s good to have thank you and sorry on your lips all the time. Being different is not wrong, is it?”

“Is that so?”

“That’s what I think.”

Yeon Ho-jeong tried not to impose his thoughts on his brother.

He just wanted him to think. He hoped he would become a person who could see wider and deeper than himself.

He hoped he would not be a person who would mistake the perspective that others gave him for his own.

The mentor looked at the brothers who were chatting and a strange light came to his face.

‘They are very close.’

He thought so when they were heading to Choseong-ru.

That’s why he was curious. Everyone knew that the eldest son hated the second son terribly.

But in reality, it was not like that. The Yeon brothers looked closer than any other brothers in the world to the mentor.

‘And…’

The mentor’s eyes fixed on Yeon Ho-jeong’s back.

‘He was amazing.’

He didn’t think about it at the time because the situation was urgent, but it was a series of surprises afterwards.

His martial arts were impressive, but especially his judgment. He came up with a quick and clear solution, as if he had experienced countless fire incidents.

‘Where did he get such experience?’

He could understand his martial arts, since the clan leader had taught him personally.

But the series of actions that he found the answer naturally as if he was breathing in a crisis situation were not something he could learn from a secret manual.

‘He didn’t do it once or twice. I really don’t know…’

“Sir.”

“Yes? Oh, yes!”

“Please assign one of the men to guard the entrance of the meeting hall.”

The mentor was startled and looked around.

They had already arrived at the entrance of the meeting hall. It was a meeting hall, but it was actually a garden that they rented. Of course, the garden was big enough to accommodate hundreds of people.

“Of course.”

“And if someone comes in, please report to me who they are, which clan they belong to, and how many they are.”

“I will follow your command.”

“Good.”

Yeon Ho-jeong relaxed his shoulders.

“Shall we go in?”

The mentor knocked on the gate of the garden.

Thud! Thud!

“Is anyone there?”

As if they were waiting, a voice came from inside.

“Who is it?”

“We came from the Byuk San-yeon Clan in Jiangsu. Please open the door.”

After a while.

Creak!

The door opened and the spacious garden inside came into view. And a group of people who were close to the gate.

“Byuk San-yeon Clan?”

“Yes.”

The man who was in front bowed his head.

“I am Han Ho-myeong from Sachun. It is an honor to see the warriors of the Yeon Clan.”

Sachun, and Han Ho-myeong.

Even though he had never seen his face before, the mentor knew who he was in an instant.

“Poison Dragon Iron Whip Han Ho-myeong?!”

“Haha! It is an honor that you recognize me.”

Just like the mentor, Han Ho-myeong was also one of the top masters who was famous in his region.

And there was one more thing in common between the mentor and Han Ho-myeong. They both joined the best martial family in that region.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes sparkled.

Behind Han Ho-myeong, a young man with a sharp eye and a moderate build caught his eye.

“Tang Clan (唐家).”