Chapter 265
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 265
Chapter 265. The Dragon and Phoenix Duel (2)
Soon, we arrived in front of the Jaegal Clan's guest house.
“Thank you for bringing me here.”
“It's nothing.”
“Would you like to say hello to my grandfather before you go?”
I shook my head at her suggestion.
“No, it's getting late. I'll see the Clan Head tomorrow. Please go inside.”
Young Mistress Zhuge Yu stopped at the gate and turned back to me.
Did she have something to say?
“Tomorrow... are you going to watch the preliminary round?”
“Yes. I think I will watch it with my mother.”
“You will cheer for me, right?”
I nodded in response to her question.
“Of course. I will pray for your success.”
“Thank you.”
Then she quickly went inside.
I watched her leave, then turned around.
By the way, if Miss Jaegal came, that means the Sichuan Tang Clan is here too.
It seems like I will be able to meet some familiar faces there.
But... Pal-gap's gaze felt somewhat disrespectful.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“...Nothing.”
.
.
.
The next day.
We started the day early in the morning.
We stopped by the temporary shopping district of Eunhae Trading Company, returned to the inn, picked up my mother, and left the inn.
Then, we met the wife of the head of Gwangjun Trading Company and headed to the duel.
“I heard that the daughter of the Jaegal Clan will be participating today.”
“I heard that too.”
“And I heard that the son of the Peng Family from Hebei and the disciples of the Emei Sect will also be participating.”
“Is that so? Then...”
I quickly continued.
“I don't think it's Xiangyu's turn yet.”
The wife of the head of the Gwangjun Trading Company said with an expectant look.
“By the way, the daughter of the Jegal Family! I wonder what kind of skills she will show.”
"...
Suddenly, I understood why the children of prestigious families committed such a disgraceful act.
People have a certain expectation that the children of the Eight Great Families of Murim and the disciples of the Nine Sects One Union will pass the preliminary round.
However, these expectations and admiration are a double-edged sword.
If they show the skills to match, people will praise them as the children of prestigious families.
However, if they fail to live up to those expectations, not only will they be ridiculed, but their families and sects will also be ridiculed.
If that happens, their position will inevitably become weaker.
That is why they resort to cheating in the preliminary round.
They meet under the pretext of unity among those competing in the preliminaries on the same day and try to get close to each other.
We arrived at the duel arena and entered.
After waiting for a moment, the emcee finally appeared.
It was the Sword Master we saw yesterday.
What was his name?
“Thank you to everyone for joining us again today. Now, let's begin the second day of the 36th Dragon and Phoenix Duel. The first duel of the day is...”
Yesterday, several promising new masters appeared. And today was no different.
The duels continued, and finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived.
“The next duel is between Jaegal Yu-ah of the Jaegal Clan! Facing him is Moon Suk, a martial arts academy student from Fukken Province!”
I smiled.
Miss Jaegal Yu-ah looked truly beautiful as she stepped onto the stage.
Miss Jaegal Yu-ah and Moon Suk clasped hands in a greeting.
“Let the duel begin!”
Dong!
The duel began with the sound of loud drums.
Taking their starting stances, the two moved slowly, sizing each other up.
How much time had passed?
The first to move was the warrior Mun Suk. He swung his sword with sharp momentum toward Miss Zhuge Yua's shoulder.
However, Miss Jaegal easily dodged the attack with a quick movement.
“If she attacks Mun-Sook, who has lost her balance... Huh? Why isn't she attacking?”
As her mother had said, even though she had the chance to attack, Miss Jaegal did not attack Mun-Sook.
Her expression showed her confusion.
Seeing this, Mun-Sook Musha did not miss the opportunity and began to corner Miss Jegal.
Miss Jegal looked defeated.
However, for some reason, I felt a sense of déjà vu from her expression.
What is it?
Why do I feel this sense of déjà vu... Ha!
For a moment, I clicked my tongue.
Miss Jaegal is acting in a duel!
The reason I felt a sense of déjà vu was because she was acting like a crazy person with a clear mind when the Jaegal Clan was in danger.
But why is she acting like that now?
Then, the warrior Seo said,
“It's no wonder they call her the Mysterious Jaegal.”
“Huh?”
“I think I know what Miss Jaegal is up to.”
I tilted my head and looked at Miss Jaegal. She has a plan?
Come to think of it, when did she get so close to the edge of the stage?
Only then was I able to smile.
“I think I know too.”
However, Mun-sook, who was caught up in Miss Je-gal's acting, was completely unaware of her plan.
Soon, the moment of victory was approaching.
“Haah!”
With a loud shout, Mun-sook swung his sword. His face was filled with the joy of victory.
However, Miss Je-gal was no longer in front of Mun-sook.
She moved behind Moon-Sook in an instant and swung her sword at him.
“Huh!”
Moon-Sook was taken aback and turned around to defend himself. However
“Kuh!”
Miss Je-Gal-Yoo-Ah's attack was fierce, and he was eventually pushed back by her attack...
“Huh? Ugh!”
Kaboom!
She fell outside the duel area.
That's right.
One of the rules of the Dragon and Phoenix Duel is that if you fall outside the duel area, you are disqualified.
That was Miss Jaegal's strategy.
“Jaegal! You win!”
“Wahhh!”
The crowd cheered.
“As expected of the Jaegal Clan!”
“We believed in you!”
But I wondered why she chose to win by default when she could have won by attacking.
She wouldn't have done that for no reason.
I'll have to ask her later.
The morning duels ended, and an hour later, the duels resumed.
Everyone needed to take a break and have lunch.
After lunch, the duel resumed, and once again, it ended before sunset.
I headed to the inn with my mother. However, my mother looked a little sad.
Why is she like that?
I was worried, so I asked my mother.
“Mother, are you worried about something? You don't look well.”
“Oh, is that so? I'm sorry. I was just thinking about this and that, and I guess it showed on my face.”
“What were you thinking about?”
In response to my question, my mother looked at the sunset and said, “Long ago, before I got married, my brother participated in the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament.”
“A long time ago, before I got married, my Orabeoni participated in a dragon and phoenix duel.”
My mother must be referring to my uncle.
“My brother passed the preliminary round and became one of the 108 new masters. However, he never participated in the duel again after that. So I asked him why. I asked him why he didn't participate again to climb higher and gain greater honor. Then my brother said...”
After a moment's pause, my mother continued.
“He said, ‘The Dragon and Phoenix Duel is, as its name suggests, a duel for dragons and phoenixes. So don't even think about participating in the Dragon and Phoenix Duel...’”
“...
”Just live quietly, and when you find someone you love, if he is a man without any major flaws, I will convince your father... so that you can get married and have a happy family... At that time, I honestly didn't understand what my brother meant. I just thought he was jealous of me. To be honest, I was much more talented than my brother. But..."
My mother looked at me.
“I think I finally understand. Orabeoni said that because he was truly worried about me.”
I listened silently to my mother's words.
“In the martial arts world, dragon and phoenix refer to the unmarried children of powerful families.”
“...”
My mother sighed.
“Among the duels I saw today... there were a few that caught my attention. Especially the duel between Master Peng and...
Master Peng was one of the people who was at the tavern with Miss Jaegal yesterday.
And it seemed that my mother had also noticed their exchange.
”I felt it too. I couldn't see any will to win in his opponent's eyes."
My mother nodded with a complicated look on her face.
“That's not all. There were quite a few situations where they could have attacked but deliberately didn't.”
“...”
My mother was right.
“But what can I say about that? It was their decision.”
“...”
“However, I am concerned that this will weaken the orthodox sects of the martial arts world.”
.
.
.
Soon, we arrived at the inn.
Judging from the sunset, it was not late yet.
“Mother, I have someone to meet at the temporary store. I will be back a little late.”
“Yes, be careful.”
“Yes.”
I promised to meet the head of the Jaegal Clan yesterday, so I had to go see him.
First, I stopped by the temporary shop to hear the report, then headed for the Jaegal Clan's guest house.
I asked the gatekeeper to call for Miss Jaegal.
It was the same gatekeeper who was there when I came with Jaegal Yoo-ah yesterday, so he readily called inside.
Soon, she came running out and greeted me warmly.
“Master! You kept your promise.”
“Of course. And congratulations on winning the preliminary round today.”
“Thank you.”
She said with a shy smile.
“Please come in. My grandfather has heard about you and is looking forward to meeting you.”
I smiled awkwardly and entered the annex.
As I entered, I asked her the question that had been on my mind.
“Ah, Young Mistress. I have a question for you.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you knock your opponent out of the competition today?”
“Ah... That?”
She said with a snort.
“They said something about me not participating in that.”
“....”
In other words, it was a kind of revenge.
As expected... Jaegal Yoo-ah also has a strong personality.
“But the others don't know about it. I told them it was to conserve my strength.”
I laughed inside.
Soon, we arrived at the building where the head of the Jegal Clan was staying.
“Master Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhae Trading Company has come to pay his respects.”
The door opened immediately, and I bowed my head and clasped my hands together.
“Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhaesang Trading Company is here to see the Clan Head.”
“It's been a long time.”
I raised my head and looked at his face.
His face hasn't changed much in five years. No, he looks a little healthier than he did back then.
“Have you been well?”
“Yes. I have been well. I apologize for not inquiring after your health.”
“Not at all. I am always in good health. And I have been hearing about you through my younger brother's letters.”
Chief Administrator Yoo was still exchanging letters frequently with the Clan Head.
That was how he knew about Young Mistress Yoo's hidden talent.
It was truly a wonderful thing.
“Is it still before dinner?”
“Ah, yes...”
“Good. Let's have dinner together.”
“What?”
Actually, I was just planning to say hello. But now, he suddenly invited me to dinner...
“Actually, I had a dinner party today, but I didn't feel like going, so I told them I had a prior engagement...”
He made up an excuse about having a prior engagement.
Now that he said that, I couldn't refuse his invitation to dinner.
“All right. I'll do that.”
.
.
.
The dinner was very delicious.
After finishing the banquet while talking about this and that, I left the Jegal Family's guest house.
Suddenly, my mother's words from earlier today came to mind.
This martial arts world... Is it really okay to stay here?
In my previous life, there were no major incidents in the martial arts world until I died.
But in this life, I intend to live a long life.
In that case, there should be no incidents in the martial arts world...
When incidents occur in the martial arts world, not only the common people suffer, but we merchants suffer as well.
Come to think of it, strange things have been happening since shortly before I died...
Could that have been a sign of a great calamity befalling Murim?
I was walking down the road, lost in thought, when
“Master Eun Seo-ho!”
I heard a loud voice calling me from behind.
I turned my head and my eyes widened.
“Huh?”
A boy was running toward me!
It was Tang Zao, the youngest son of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
“Huh? Zao... Are you here for the Dragon and Phoenix Duel?”
“Yes.”
Tang Zao nodded.
“My sister is participating, but I will also be participating in this duel.”
What?
I felt a familiar presence and turned my head to see a familiar face.
“Long time no see.”
It was Hong Ok, the head of the Sichuan Tang Clan. Standing next to her was Captain Dae-jeong, whom I had seen before.
I quickly clasped my hands together and greeted them.
“Um...”
Captain Dae-jeong looked at me intently and asked cautiously.
“Are you also participating in the Dragon and Phoenix Duel?”