Chapter 58 : The Sleeping Dragon. -01

Chapter 58: The Sleeping Dragon. -01

Peng Mancheol spoke as if it were nothing serious.

No, unlike Ban Hojin, when he spoke in a tone that suggested he was making a great concession, Seo Joun showed an incredulous expression.

However, the surprise was brief, and Seo Joun quickly composed his face.

“Sorry, but I don’t have any intention of getting married yet.”

“At seventeen, it’s not that early. And I’m not saying you have to do it right now. Once both families coordinate opinions about the wedding date and such, even if it’s fast, it would be next year at the earliest.”

“That’s not what I mean. I truly have no intention of getting married.”

“Are you refusing the main house?”

Peng Mancheol widened his eyes.

He had merely opened his eyes wide, yet the atmosphere changed.

A murderous momentum burst forth from Peng Mancheol.

However, that momentum scattered with a single gesture from Ban Hojin.

“If he doesn’t want to, isn’t this a bit too coercive?”

“Ggh!”

Seeing Seo Joun lift his eyes defiantly instead of shrinking back despite the pressure being raised, Peng Mancheol made a bitter expression.

He had not expected to be rejected so coldly.

No matter what, he thought at least one of the two would hesitate, but the result was that both of them refused.

“It seems you’ve said everything you wanted to say, so I’ll be getting up now.”

“Wait.”

“Is there still something left?”

“Liaoning Province should be unfamiliar to all three of you. Having a guide would be better in many ways. I’ve prepared some people, so go together.”

“It’s not strictly necessary.”

Ban Hojin frowned suspiciously.

At the mention that guides had been prepared, something came to mind.

“Isn’t it better than wandering around? Consider it repayment for safely escorting Hwayeong.”

Peng Mancheol hurriedly stood up from his seat.

Judging by his gaze and tone, it seemed Ban Hojin had caught on, so Peng Mancheol quickly left the room.

Ban Hojin’s guess proved exactly right.

When they headed toward the main gate, familiar faces were gathered there.

Even when Sunwoo Bang and Seo Joun saw the eight people clustered together, as if they had expected it, they did not look surprised.

“Ah, hello?”

“Please take care of us.”

With three escort warriors each in tow, Peng Hwayeong and Peng Suyeong bowed their heads.

However, both women smiled awkwardly.

Seeing the two smile as if they themselves had no choice in the matter, Ban Hojin openly put on an impressed expression and glared at Peng Mancheol, who was walking ahead and leading the way.

He glared so fiercely that his back must have felt prickly.

“I happened to have something to deliver to the Murong Family anyway. Sending it by messenger would have been difficult, so I was wondering what to do, and then it just so happened that the three of you were heading to the Murong Family. So we’ll go together. Don’t worry about finding the way. Those two go back and forth to Liaoning Province often, so they know the route for sure.”

“I wasn’t hoping for this kind of goodwill.”

“Now, let’s go. You all travel safely too. Remember what I said. Understood?”

“Yes.”

As if he had no intention of listening to Ban Hojin at all, Peng Mancheol said only what he wanted to say, then turned his body.

And then, as if fleeing, he vanished in an instant.

“It feels like we’ve ended up in a situation with no way out.”

“Indeed.”

“I thought he was a bear, but…….”

Sunwoo Bang narrowed his brow.

He hadn’t been struck on the back of the head, yet strangely it throbbed.

“Let’s think positively. Either way, it’ll be convenient getting as far as the Murong Family.”

“That’s true.”

The middle-aged man who had come to find the three together with Peng Hwayeong answered cautiously.

Knowing the entire sequence of events, he was tense.

He knew well that Ban Hojin’s temperament was anything but easy.

Moreover, since his skills were outstanding, the middle-aged man carefully watched Ban Hojin’s expression.

“At this point, what choice do we have? Like you said, Brother, we should think positively. It seems the two Young Ladies were dragged along against their will as well.”

“Hohoho.”

At Seo Joun’s words, Peng Suyeong and Peng Hwayeong once again smiled awkwardly.

From their standpoint, they could neither affirm nor deny it.

“Please take us by the fastest route.”

“Understood. Leave it to us.”

It was troublesome and bothersome, but there was no absolute reason they had to refuse taking the two women along.

At least as far as the Murong Family was concerned.

Thus, Ban Hojin departed without asking anything further.

‘Seeing that there’s no carriage, it seems he didn’t act without thinking at all.’

Both Peng Hwayeong and Peng Suyeong were lightly dressed.

They weren’t completely without baggage, but having prepared as lightly as possible, Ban Hojin moved his steps while once again thinking that Peng Mancheol had used his head well.

-Now that I think about it, this is irritating.

-What is?

-Aren’t we being treated too much like baggage?

Having left the Peng Family of Hebei behind, Peng Suyeong sent a voice transmission to her younger sister while pouting her lips.

The more she thought about it, the more unreasonable it felt.

Since it had been sudden, she hadn’t expected warm hospitality.

But she hadn’t thought they’d be treated this coldly, so Peng Suyeong complained.

-Calling us baggage isn’t exactly wrong. Originally, they were planning to go with just the three of them. This wasn’t discussed at all beforehand. To put it bluntly, imagine if we had to go to the Murong Family and men from the Shandong Yue Family suddenly joined without warning.

-Ugh! That’s horrifying!

Peng Suyeong screamed through voice transmission.

Just imagining it was enough to make a scream burst out.

-See? You don’t like it either, Sister.

-That comparison is too much. We’re not on the level of the Shandong Yue Family, are we? At the very least, we don’t act clingy.

Peng Suyeong pouted her lips even more.

No matter what, she thought comparing them to the children of the Shandong Yue Family Head went too far.

-But that’s just our perspective. From the three of them, it might look about the same.

-Eh. That’s going too far. At least we’re pretty women.

-We’re not going together with just the two of us.

-You’re being overly objective. Sometimes you need to be subjective.

Peng Suyeong let out a soft sigh.

Everything said was true, yet she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

Moreover, she hadn’t merely joined them.

Since her father had given separate instructions, Peng Suyeong secretly sighed.

-Don’t worry too much about Father’s words.

-How can I not worry? He stressed it so much.

-So, from your perspective, Sister, do you think it’ll be possible?

-……It was hard. There wasn’t even a gap to poke a needle into.

Peng Suyeong’s gaze turned toward the three young men walking ahead.

Even though quite some time had passed since they set out, the three of them had not turned back even once.

One would think they might at least ask whether her legs hurt.

-Father probably knew that too.

-Still, they should at least go through the motions. There are observers.

-Calling the uncles observers… If they hear that, they’ll feel hurt.

-It’s not wrong, is it?

They were escort warriors, but at the same time, it was also true that they were observers.

Knowing it was obvious that they would watch every action from now on and report it to Peng Mancheol, Peng Suyeong made a slightly sullen expression.

-Well, that’s true.

-How about you? Are you confident?

-No. Like you said, Sister, there isn’t even a gap for a needle. To begin with, he doesn’t seem interested in women at all.

-Is it because he grew up in a temple? From what I can see, it doesn’t seem like he’s really going to the Murong Family because of Heesu.

-Heesu seems to be the objective of Young Master Seo?

Peng Hwayeong laughed playfully.

Anyone could see that the one interested in Murong Heesu was Seo Joun.

And Sunwoo Bang also seemed to be quietly hopeful.

-He’s still young, after all.

-But his potential is boundless. His talent is truly overwhelming.

-Little Brother was far too careless.

-For a martial artist, carelessness is a sin. You can’t blame everything on carelessness. Put another way, it means his Discernment was only at that level. He’s also been training half-heartedly these days. I thought Father would say something to Little Brother.

Peng Hwayeong spoke in an extremely cold tone.

He was her brother, but it was true that he was pathetic.

In fact, Peng Juyeong had trained in the best environment compared to anyone else.

Yet instead of making an effort, Peng Juyeong had settled into complacency and spent his time in idleness.

-I agree. Little Brother lacks drive. He has no dreams. Even if he’s the second son, he should still have the drive of a martial artist.

-The ones with drive are those three over there.

-Young Master Ban doesn’t seem like it though? Just from the atmosphere, he looks like someone who lives each day casually. Is it because his skill is so overwhelming?

-You just don’t know him well yet, Sister. If you watch him for just one day, you’ll understand why Young Master Ban is so strong. He’s someone whose words and actions are completely different. You could say he’s the embodiment of inconsistency between speech and action.

Peng Hwayeong grinned.

She too had thought the same way as Peng Suyeong at first.

On the surface, he looked like someone who didn’t train and lived carelessly.

But the reality was completely different.

-Is that so? Well, I’ll know if I watch.

-We’ve got plenty of time.

-I wonder when we’ll come back after going to the Murong Family.

Peng Suyeong let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

Although Liaoning Province bordered Hebei Province, the distance between the Murong Family and the Peng Family of Hebei was by no means close.

Moreover, since Shenyang, the provincial capital of Liaoning Province, was geographically located almost at the very center of Liaoning Province, the round trip distance was considerable.

-What choice do we have? We have to do as Father says. Still, it’s not like we gain nothing at all.

-You can at least have plenty of sparring matches, but what am I supposed to do?

Peng Suyeong let out another deep sigh.

Then she stole a glance at Seo Joun, whom Peng Mancheol had set as her target.

Perhaps because of his young age, he felt more like a younger brother than a man.

However, his looks were exactly to her taste.

‘He really is handsome. In another year or two, he’ll make plenty of women cry.’

There was still a boyish air about him, but in just a few years he would become a beautiful young man.

That was something Peng Suyeong could see clearly.

And unlike Ban Hojin, he seemed to like women, so there was a high chance he would become a playboy young master.

‘The most lacking one is Young Master Seonwu, yet Big Brother lost to someone like that.’

Peng Suyeong’s gaze lingered on Sunwoo Bang for quite some time.

In fact, when the sparring had first begun, she hadn’t thought for even a moment that such an upset would occur.

Although Peng Chu-yeong had not been counted among the Four Dragons, he was at least the martial artist closest to them.

Moreover, since he had trained diligently after returning from Shaolin, she had naturally expected him to easily suppress someone like Sunwoo Bang, but the result was the exact opposite.

‘He was just an ordinary Rising Junior.’

He hadn’t even stood out, let alone had an epithet.

Yet when the lid was actually opened, he turned out to be quite skilled.

Peng Suyeong found even that surprising.

‘Or did he grow because of Young Master Ban? Young Master Seo was saved by Young Master Ban too.’

In the end, her gaze came to rest on Ban Hojin.

Peng Suyeong stared at Ban Hojin’s back with eyes filled with countless mixed emotions.

‘If you put it that way, I can understand Father’s greed. But…… can I win?’

Even among women, Murong Heesu’s beauty was on a completely different level.

If there was such a thing as a heaven beyond heaven in beauty, that was Sambong, so Peng Suyeong honestly had no confidence.

She had no confidence in standing side by side with Murong Heesu and competing.

Though she hated to admit it, Murong Heesu’s beauty was overwhelming.

‘That’s why Father told me to settle it before arriving at the Murong Family.’

Peng Suyeong gave a bitter smile.

She could understand why her father had said such a thing.

However, there were things in the world that could not be achieved no matter how much effort one made.

Unlike Ban Hojin, who calmly entered Shenyang, the provincial capital of Liaoning Province, Seo Joun widened his eyes and constantly looked around.

Though it was only a difference of one province, many things were different from Hebei Province.

At the scenery that seemed to directly show why a frontier was called a frontier, Seo Joun wore an intrigued expression.

“It’s definitely different, even the clothing styles.”

“Heilongjiang Province will probably be completely different.”

“That’s what I think too.”

While subtly surveying the surroundings, Sunwoo Bang rolled his eyes slightly and looked at Ban Hojin.

Since the destination of this journey had been decided solely by Ban Hojin’s decision, he checked his expression just in case.

“Heilongjiang Province, huh.”

“Are we going that far?”