SYM 14

Leader of the martial arts alliance?

But Ha Yeo-un is the Heavenly Demon!

Eun-hyeon silently cried out, clutching his head inwardly.

He still had the pride of a righteous martial artist from his life as a Kunlun Taoist.

No matter how precious a disciple that guy was to him, for the Heavenly Demon to be the leader of the martial arts alliance!

If Yeo-un hadn’t been the Heavenly Demon, Eun-hyeon would have been genuinely happy to hear that he was suitable to be the leader of the martial arts alliance. But now, he was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even laugh sarcastically. How could the future of the Martial Alliance, no, the righteous martial arts alliance, be entrusted to the leader of the demonic sect? Seeing Ha Yeo-un remain calm after hearing such words made Eun-hyeon want to grab him by the collar and shake him back and forth.

Was he planning to live a double life, as Leader of the Martial Alliance by day, Heavenly Demon by night?

Ha Yeo-un, whose thoughts were incomprehensible, smiled gently at Eun-hyeon.

“But when did you become close enough to involve yourselves in each other’s private affairs? I find it hard to believe.”

Ha Yeo-un looked at Eun-hyeon, his eyes curving at the end of his words. If someone else had done this, Eun-hyeon might have frowned, but even this behavior seemed different when Ha Yeo-un did it. Even his fluttering white clothes made him look like a judge who had come to pass judgment on villains.

Only then did the two men from the Danmok family realize that Ha Yeo-un was picking a fight, and their faces hardened.

“Great Hero Ha! Are you insulting the Danmok family right now?”

The younger-looking of the two men from the Danmok family shouted, his voice filled with anger.

Ha Yeo-un smiled at the man and fluttered his fan.

The sight was so elegant that Eun-hyeon couldn’t take his eyes off him.

“I’m just a humble man from a small, unimportant martial sect with no backing. But seeing how close the Danmok family seems to be, I couldn’t help but let my curiosity get the better of me.”

The calm tone made it impossible to openly get angry, which only made the other party more irritated.

The man seemed to feel the same way, as he took a step closer to Ha Yeo-un with a reddened face.

By now, everyone in the banquet hall was looking this way. The tense atmosphere attracted interest and focused attention.

Tap.

Ha Yeo-un lightly tapped the other’s chest with his fan and stepped back slightly.

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?!”

“My martial arts skills are so meager that I get terribly startled when someone with such powerful martial arts as the Young Master Danmok suddenly approaches.”

“Wh-what are you…!”

The younger man from the Danmok family stretched out his hand as if he was about to draw his weapon.

As the Namgung family didn’t particularly prohibit carrying weapons inside the household, everyone was armed at the time.

Eun-hyeon was about to step in, thinking that a dangerous situation might unfold.

“Oh my, junior brother. What are you doing? This is the Namgung family estate.”

“But, senior brother…!”

“Tsk, have you forgotten our master’s instructions? He told you to just observe and listen, to broaden your horizons, and not to cause any trouble on this visit.”

“B-but… that person has insulted our sect…”

“Oh! Who has insulted our sect now? Isn’t that right, Great Hero Ha? Surely Great Hero Ha, the most promising young talent in the martial arts world, wouldn’t deliberately insult the Danmok family. I am Danmok Yeo-gang of the Danmok family. This is Danmok Yeo-jun.”

“I am Ha Yeo-un, White-Robed Divine Dragon.”

At Ha Yeo-un’s response, Danmok Yeo-gang’s eyebrow twitched. He thought it was insincere to just state his name without any other greeting.

However, Danmok Yeo-gang remained silent instead of showing his displeasure. More importantly, he wondered why the White Dragon was intervening in Namgung Eun-hyeon’s affairs.

Could there be some connection between the White Dragon and Namgung Eun-hyeon?

“By the way, what kind of relationship do you have with the eldest son of the Namgung family?”

In other words, it was a question asking why he was interfering.

Ha Yeon easily picked up on the underlying meaning but shrugged with a smile as if he didn’t.

“Haha, for someone like me who can hardly receive help from my sect, it’s difficult to form connections with members of prominent families. Isn’t my reason for being here the same as everyone else’s?”

As Danmok Yeo-gang listened to Ha Yeo-un’s words, his face flushed red and pale alternately.

This Ha Yeo-un character seemed to have an exceptional talent for subtly irritating people.

And the fact that he said it all with such a composed face made it even harder to express any anger.

Before leaving the Danmok family, the family head had called Yeo-gang aside. He had instructed him to help ensure that Namgung Eung-wang would become the next family head when they visited the Namgung family.

Although he didn’t know the details, it seemed that Madam Hwang, who had a longstanding relationship with the Danmok family, had made some sort of separate promise to the Danmok family head. Danmok Yeo-gang had a personal friendship with Namgung Eung-wang and naturally thought he would become the family head, so he readily accepted the Danmok family head’s request.

That was why Danmok Yeo-gang had insulted Namgung Eun-hyeon today.

The sudden appearance of Namgung Eun-hyeon in Namgung Eung-wang’s place was certainly not a good sign.

Danmok Yeo-gang had intended to humiliate Eun-hyeon and use that as an excuse to bring out Namgung Eung-wang.

But he couldn’t understand why something unexpected had been caught on the fishing line instead of the intended fish.

“Sigh, White Dragon, you seem to have misunderstood something. Our casual conversation among ourselves must have been a bit too loud. I ask the young master to please be understanding.”

Danmok Yeo-gang turned his gaze from Ha Yeo-un to Namgung Eun-hyeon. His target was Namgung Eun-hyeon, so there was no need to create tension with Ha Yeo-un.

Although Danmok Yeo-gang hadn’t seen Namgung Eun-hyeon before, he had heard rumors about him. Wasn’t he said to be very shy and averse to being in the spotlight?

“…There’s no need to create a disturbance over a small matter on such a good day.”

Eun-hyeon responded to Danmok Yeo-gang’s words.

Danmok Yeo-gang forced a smile, but he couldn’t hide the slight trembling at the corners of his mouth. It was hard to bear being seemingly disregarded not only by the White Dragon Ha Yeo-un but also by Namgung Eun-hyeon.

“Young master, when will Young Master Eung-wang be coming? We were supposed to discuss swordsmanship with him today…”

Danmok Yeo-gang let his words trail off as he looked Eun-hyeon up and down.

It was a statement and action with clear intent.

Eun-hyeon was a bit flustered. Just because he was in charge of entertaining the guests today didn’t mean Namgung Eung-wang couldn’t come out.

But Namgung Eung-wang hadn’t appeared until now. Eun-hyeon thought that perhaps he had no intention of appearing as long as Eun-hyeon was here.

“Did you arrange to spar with Eung-wang today? If so, I’ll send someone to his quarters now.”

“Oh, no, no. That’s not it. Young Master Eung-wang didn’t arrange to spar today but to discuss swordsmanship. Ah, you haven’t learned swordsmanship, have you, Young Master? I apologize. Those unfamiliar with martial arts sometimes think discussing swords means sparring.”

Eun-hyeon couldn’t help but laugh at Danmok Yeo-gang’s shallow attempt.

It seemed Danmok Yeo-gang was determined to belittle him today no matter what.

But Eun-hyeon had lived too long to fall for such simple tricks.

He decided to respond appropriately, knowing that if he pretended not to notice, they would continue to be bothersome.

“…I see. I thought today’s banquet was an opportunity to meet and greet various people, so I found it odd that the Danmok family specifically mentioned discussing swordsmanship with my younger brother. Perhaps you received a separate invitation from Eung-wang rather than from the Namgung family? If so, I must apologize for my ignorance. I hadn’t been made aware.”

The question, phrased so innocuously, subtly shifted the narrative. 

The situation became awkward as Eun-hyeon pointed out that while the Namgung family was hosting the banquet and inviting guests, they were specifically mentioning Namgung Eung-wang’s invitation. This statement both separated Namgung Eung-wang from the Namgung family and questioned whose guest they were.

Danmok Yeo-gang started to answer but hesitated, scrutinizing Namgung Eun-hyeon.

Seeing his innocent face, it didn’t seem like he had intended any harm. But the words were too sharp to be spoken without any knowledge.

Danmok Yeo-gang’s eyes narrowed.

Even though he probably hadn’t received a proper education and was stuck in a separate building, could it be that a tiger’s cub is still a tiger?

Until now, he had thought Madam Hwang was being overly cautious about Namgung Eun-hyeon, but perhaps it wasn’t an exaggeration after all.

“Ah, I see. But if there’s an invitation from the second young master of Namgung, wouldn’t it be better for both parties to have a separate meeting rather than making a fuss here?”

As Danmok Yeo-gang’s response was delayed, Ha Yeo-un interjected.

Danmok Yeo-gang stared at Ha Yeo-un with wide eyes.

He couldn’t understand why the White Dragon kept picking fights with him when they hadn’t even clashed before.

“I see. As it’s my first time hosting a banquet as the eldest young master, I misunderstood the intentions of the Danmok heroes in asking for a separate meeting.”

Eun-hyeon quickly responded to the White Dragon’s words instead of Danmok Yeo-gang.

Danmok Yeo-gang looked at Eun-hyeon and Ha Yeo-un in disbelief.

The two of them were in perfect sync as if they had been practicing this for a long time.