Chapter 99
Chapter 99
After spending time talking with my senior brothers, a servant knocked on the door and called us to go somewhere, as if it were already dinner time.
"Are we going to the dining hall?"
"No. Although you usually have your meals in the dining hall, today you will be escorted to the banquet hall."
"The banquet hall?"
"Yes. The family head has opened a banquet today."
My senior brothers and I looked at each other with surprised faces.
Although we were looking forward to the delicious food they had prepared, we didn't know that the scale would be so large as to open a banquet.
"Does the Zhuge family often hold banquets?"
"No way. We had a banquet at the beginning of this year for the young master's birthday, and this is the first time since then. Both the family head and the young lady were embarrassed to hold a banquet on their birthdays, so they skipped them all."
Well. From the simple appearance of Zhuge Myeong-hyeon that I saw earlier, or from the personality of Zhuge Ling that I saw before, it seems that they would have been burdened to hold a banquet just because it was their birthday.
But the guy called the young master, who the head of the Zhuge family said was ill-mannered and had no etiquette, seems to like things like banquets.
Putting together the stories I've heard so far, the guy named Zhuge Yun seems to have the impression of a typical young master from a prestigious family.
A guy who is arrogant, doesn't know how scary the world is, and only knows how to be proud of himself.
So I probably wouldn't have even associated with him in my past life.
To the point where I don't even remember the existence of Zhuge Yun.
"What kind of person is the son of the head of the Zhuge family? I've met Miss Zhuge Ling, but I've never seen him before."
"Young Master Yun?"
"Yes. I think his name was Zhuge Yun."
"Um... I don't think I'm in a position to say anything about him... I'm afraid I'll get in trouble if my words are misunderstood."
The servant was extremely cautious in his words about Zhuge Yun.
As expected, it seems he is the kind of guy I'm thinking of.
It seems he also hits his servants when he gets angry.
That's why he's so careful.
"This way. Taoist masters, please sit over there."
"Thank you."
Finally, we arrived at the banquet hall.
The seat we sat in was a seat of honor not far from the family head's seat, and next to the head of the Zhuge family, a beautiful middle-aged woman was sitting.
"You've come. I told my children to come on time, but they're later than the guests..."
The head of the Zhuge family looked at the empty seats on either side of them with an embarrassed expression.
Those seats probably belonged to Zhuge Ling and Zhuge Yun.
"It's alright. But it seems that the number of people attending the banquet is smaller than I thought."
"Even if it's a banquet, we don't do it excessively. Although the other martial artists who couldn't participate here eat the same food as us, they don't participate in the seats."
As the head of the Zhuge family said, it seems that only about twenty people, including us, are participating in the banquet.
But the aura of the people sitting there is all unusual.
It seemed that the core personnel of the family were gathered here, and they were exuding an aura that could only be seen by top-level masters.
'Why are they all staring at me like that?'
Those people are probably high-ranking masters in the Zhuge family, that is, people like the heads of each group or elders, but they are staring at me intently.
Some people are even trying to feel my dantian, just like the head of the Zhuge family tried to do to me a little while ago.
'What's wrong with these people?'
I was slightly annoyed and this time, I raised the energy of the Six Yang Divine Art and blocked their true qi.
Then, the eyes of a few people widened slightly.
When I frowned and turned my head towards them, some people even cleared their throats and avoided my gaze.
"Everyone, stop it. What kind of rudeness is this to a guest?"
It wasn't just me who was frowning.
The head of the Zhuge family, who had guessed what had happened from my and the martial artists' actions a little while ago, scolded the martial artists.
"I'm sorry. It's because everyone is so interested in you."
"It's alright. They might be curious. Well."
"Haha! I've been thinking about it since a while ago, but you seem to have a very magnanimous personality. You could have been offended and flared up."
"It's because I don't like to get angry over useless things. It's not like we're fighting, and it's not like they did it with bad intentions. Well."
As I answered nonchalantly and was about to sit down, this time, the beautiful middle-aged person next to the head of the Zhuge family looked at me with sparkling eyes.
Although she doesn't seem to have learned martial arts, for some reason, an atmosphere that I can't treat her carelessly emanates from her.
"Ah, dear. The introduction is late. I will introduce my family members first. This is my wife, Hwangbo Jeong-hwa."
"If you say Hwangbo..."
"That's right. She's from the Hwangbo family, which is called the hegemon of Shandong Province."
Then Hwangbo Jeong-hwa, while sitting, bowed her head slightly and greeted us.
"Please take care of me. I'm Hwangbo Jeong-hwa."
At her polite greeting, we all bowed our heads and introduced ourselves.
Although I was curious about what kind of relationship she had with the head of the Hwangbo family, Hwangbo Gyu-cheol, who is also called the Wave King Palm, I didn't ask.
Because I didn't want to be treated as a strange person by suddenly pretending to know him.
The old man Wave King Palm is a person I had a little connection with in my past life.
I met him because he was close to the old man Saber King, and although the Hwangbo family was not one of the five great families, his own martial arts were strong enough to be compared to the heads of the five great families.
A true martial artist who led the martial artists of the Hwangbo family and slaughtered thousands of Demonic Cult guys who had invaded Shandong Province during the Demonic Cult's invasion, and then died together with one of the four heavenly kings.
When the old man Wave King Palm died, I remember being depressed for two days, even though I was indifferent to death.
"As for my wife, she didn't learn martial arts because she had no talent for it since she was young, but she is the daughter of the great hero Hwangbo Gyu-cheol, the head of the Hwangbo family, who is famous for his nickname Wave King Palm. So he is my father-in-law."
Fortunately, the head of the Zhuge family immediately solved my curiosity.
"Ah... I see. I've always wanted to meet the great hero Wave King Palm someday, and I'm honored to meet his blood relative like this."
Perhaps because she liked the way I bowed my head politely and spoke, Hwangbo Jeong-hwa smiled with her eyes curved like a crescent moon.
As soon as I saw that smile, I thought of Zhuge Ling's eye smile.
I wondered who Zhuge Ling resembled to be so pretty, but it seems she looks just like her mother.
"I've heard a lot about you. I heard that thanks to you doing a little while ago, you were able to destroy the Unorthodox Faction in Fangxian. It must have been a difficult task, but you're amazing."
"Do you know about the incident at the Eungnam Merchant Guild?"
"Of course. I know most of what happens in Hubei Province."
A subtle pride can be felt in her voice.
I instinctively realized that she doesn't play no role in the Zhuge family just because she doesn't know martial arts.
It seems that she is playing a big role in the family in a direction that does not require martial arts, that is, in the direction of information or internal affairs.
"Let's talk about the details later. Since there will be plenty of time to talk once the banquet starts."
"Yes, Family Head."
"I understand."
"This way are the elders of our family, and over there are the senior martial artists. Please greet them slowly as well."
"Yes. I will do so."
We sat in the empty seats, and the preparations for the banquet were all finished.
Originally, it would have been right for Senior Brother Uncheol to sit in the seat closest to the head of the Zhuge family, but for some reason, Senior Brother Uncheol sat in the seat next to it and put me in the seat of honor.
Although I told him to sit here, my senior brother gave me the seat, saying, 'I think it would be too awkward if he talks to me.'
I had no choice but to sit in that seat, but the seats on either side of the head of the Zhuge family couple are still empty.
Looking at the place, the head of the Zhuge family said in a displeased voice, "Oh dear... they seem to be even later today. Is there anyone there? Go and get Yun and Ling."
When he was about to have a servant call his children, the entrance of the banquet hall seemed a little noisy, and then someone entered the banquet hall.
I turned my head that way without thinking... and I couldn't help but open my mouth in surprise.
"Wow..."
But the exclamation came not only from my mouth.
Because my senior brothers sitting next to me were also making a similar sound without realizing it.
The object of our admiration was Zhuge Ling.
At the entrance of the banquet hall, it was as if a fairy had come down from the sky.
'Was Zhuge Ling that pretty?'
Although I had met her twice on Mount Wudang, I had never thought she was that pretty.
Since she was climbing the mountain and coming to listen to the sermon, she wore comfortable martial arts clothes, and her hair was just tied back roughly.
And since she didn't wear any makeup at all, although she was pretty, she couldn't hide her youthful face and just looked like a young child.
But now, perhaps because of the makeup, or because of the pretty clothes, or because of both, the young child I met on Mount Wudang was nowhere to be seen, and a beautiful woman was there.
Perhaps because she was embarrassed that everyone's eyes were focused on her, she blushed slightly and bowed her head as she entered the banquet hall.
She walked gracefully to the only two empty seats.
"Why are you so late?"
"I'm sorry, Father. I was trying to bring my older brother, but..."
"I told you to come quickly, even if you had to leave Yun behind."
"I'm sorry. I thought I could bring him out quickly today."
"Yes. But why did you come alone? You couldn't bring him?"
"No. We came together right in front of the entrance of the banquet hall, but he said he would come in after composing himself for a moment..."
The head of the Zhuge family let out a small sigh and said, "I see. You sit down first."
"Yes, Father."
Zhuge Ling bowed her head once more and then stood up and looked at the empty seats.
There are two empty seats.
Only the seat to the left of the head of the Zhuge family and the seat to the right of Hwangbo Jeong-hwa.
I naturally thought that she would sit next to Hwangbo Jeong-hwa.
Since she is a daughter, it would look good for her to sit next to her mother, and if she sat next to the head of the Zhuge family, it would be right next to me.
"......"
"......"
But she naturally moved her steps and sat next to me.
The head of the Zhuge family, his wife, and even the elders who were watching the scene were all a little surprised and couldn't say anything.
To be honest, I also couldn't understand what she was thinking, so I glanced at her, and she was bowing her head deeply with a face that was a little redder than before.
An awkward silence enveloped the banquet hall for a very short time.
When I thought I couldn't bear the silence any longer and was about to say something.
A servant saved us.
"Family Head, the young master says he is coming in. Would it not be a disturbance to the banquet if we let him in now?"
"Yes! The banquet was just about to start. Let him in quickly."
"Yes, Family Head."
Thanks to that, the air that had suddenly stopped seemed to start flowing again.
The other martial artists of the Zhuge family, who had been unable to say anything, now began to chat a little.
Then the door of the banquet hall opened.
My head naturally turns that way.
Seeing that he doesn't even keep the banquet time and does as he pleases, he must be the arrogant guy I expected.
'Yes. Let me see what kind of arrogant face he has.'
He is a person I have to be with on the way to the Nangong family.
In other words, he is a colleague who will have my back.
I'm curious what kind of guy that colleague will be.
What if he's so annoying that I want to hit him? The moment I had a slight worry.
"I-I'm sorry. I-I'm late..."
A small-bodied boy entering the banquet hall.
No, on closer inspection, he's not a boy, but a young man, but his body is so small and slender that he looks like a boy.
His eyes are constantly looking around as if he were an anxious person.
As I was staring at him blankly because he was so different from what I had imagined, the head of the Zhuge family said to him, "The guests are here, can't you move quickly!"
Then he was startled and answered, "I-I'm sorry, Father. It's been so long since I've been out of my room, so I-I had to prepare my mind..."
He answered and then hunched his shoulders and quickly went to an empty seat and sat down.
Looking at him, I realized one thing.
'No way... was the reason I didn't even know of Zhuge Yun's existence in my past life because he was a shut-in?'
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