Chapter 151: Hayden Hotel (1)
Reading others’ heavenly energy. Or seeing their fate.
It was never beneficial; those who strayed on the path of good would still meet an unhappy future.
Puck!
“Huak!”
The Lord grabbed his head, but not a single drop of blood flowed out. The forehead that was supposed to have been pierced seemed fine.
“What are you doing?”
Chun Yeowun asked, looking at him. The Lord was trembling in fear.
‘Was that my future?’
Out of caution, he had looked into his own fate. He saw that the moment he used the white robe that his ancestors had pa.s.sed onto him, he died without having time to save himself.
‘Is this man an actual monster?’
Seeing even further into the future was just as shocking as when he looked into Cho Yushin’s.
The moment that he died, Elder Gyeong and Elder Seong rushed for Chun Yeowun but he effortlessly managed to kill both of them using a sword full of eerie energy. Then, he saw ghosts coming out of their bodies.
‘Ahh…’
The Lord then realized the fact that attempting to stop the fox and the man would bring him the worst outcome: the destruction of Eun Jarim.
Drip!
Beads of cold sweat ran down his forehead and cheek. His body was feeling cold. He remembered the advice his father gave him.
[Father. Why do we turn our backs on the world when we learn this?]
[To read the flow is to entangle ourselves with the end. It might be hard to understand now, but the deeper you learn our family’s technique the more you’ll understand what I’m saying.]
Reading the heavenly energy and fate meant to know in advance what wouldn’t be good.
This instilled more discipline in a person, and allowed the Lord to understand the reason why his ancestors didn’t enter the outside world.
‘Because it was meaningless. And it didn’t make sense.’
Every time he read fate, it hurt him. He kept telling himself to not read the flow of fate, but he did and each time it filled him with bitterness.
“Sigh…”
The Lord groaned, sighed, and bowed his head to Chun Yeowun.
“You are right. This all stemmed from my fears and foolishness to save my face. I apologize.”
Chun Yeowun’s eyes shone at it. He felt a subtle feeling that the bowing man was scheming something, but suddenly heard him apologize.
Shh!
The Lord raised his hand and part of the curtain opened.
“Can you send the Golden Gumiho out?”
At that, Chun Yeowun looked at the fox.
-What are you looking at? No, I won’t go.
She tried to stick to him, but he picked her up by the tail and threw her out.
-No! Don’t hold my tail! Ahhhh!
He could hear her screaming but the moment she went past the curtain he could hear nothing.
“What do you want to talk about?”
At Chun Yeowun’s question, the Lord took off his robe and showed what he was wearing. There were gold letters on the white robe.
Without knowing what they meant, Chun Yeowun knew it wasn’t good for him. However, the man took it off and handed it to Chun Yeowun.
“Hm?”
“I heard that you are strong. However, the Golden Gumiho you are about to take with you is a yokai that wants destruction. Please take this with you and be prepared for anything she might do.”
“This is?”
“It is a robe which has the good energy of our clan instilled in it. If you are accustomed to dealing with energy, you will be able to use it.”
The Lord changed the fate he saw. He knew it was impossible to stop both the fox and this man. So he decided to do something better than dying.
“This might be useless.”
Said Chun Yeowun, but he didn’t refuse it. Even if not for him, he could give it to Hu Bong or someone else to be ready to use whenever the fox went out of control. And when Chun Yeowun put it in the shadow, the Lord removed the curtain that blocked the sound.
-Ugh! I hate you!
The moment the curtain vanished, the fox bit Chun Yeowun’s ankle, but rather than actually biting, it seemed like it was only acting to bite. Looking at that, Chun Yeowun sneered.
“If you are fine, can I ask for a small favor?”
“What do you mean?”
“Even though this all happened because of me, it would be dangerous if the Heavenly Killing Star gained eternal life.”
“So?”
“You seem to have an idea of what he is and are interested in him, so if you ever meet him, please make sure he doesn’t come here.”
A cautious request. In fact, it almost sounded like a deal. To that, Chun Yeowun responded.
“If he blocks my way, he will pay the price.”
Chun Yeowun was sure that he would meet this man because he had connections with MS Group. If that ever happened, Chun Yeowun decided that he would kill him; the Lord didn’t have to request it.
‘Right. A monster is a perfect opponent for a monster.’
Chun Yeowun’s answer gave him a creepy feeling, but he thought this was good.
“Then I guess this old man’s worries have been relieved. Elder Ark.”
“Yes, Lord.”
Ark Young approached him.
“Did you say that Mr. Chun is your teacher?”
“I reserved this undeserved honor from him.”
There were only five people in the entire Murim world who were Heavenly Masters. And Ark Young thought that it was lucky that he was the disciple of Chun Yeowun who seemed to have a connection with Ark Wei.
“Stay beside the man and learn well.”
“Ah! Lord, thank you.”
Ark Young"s face brightened. In fact, before Chun Yeowun left, he was waiting to ask for permission to leave his home and go with his teacher.
However, as he was a member of Eun Jarim, he couldn’t just move as he wished and let Chun Yeowun be his teacher. However, now that the permission was given, he could leave.
“Mr. Chun. I heard that Cho Yushin had some connections with an unidentified group. And as I, a lord who doesn’t know any martial arts, will be sending the elders to help.”
The Lord was changing his fate. He regretted not being strong enough, but thanks to the future he saw, he was able to continue the Eun Jarim and the legacy of his ancestors.
Drrrr!
A small vibration.
-You arms are shaking, Chun Ma.
The fox tilted its head. Chun Yeowun pulled something out of his coat pocket. An invitation card with an MS lettering in blue. Not knowing when it would come, Chun Yeowun carried it with him at all times.
‘I am glad that this didn’t burn during the body reconstruction.’
Everything on his body had burned, but thanks to its special material composition, it was still fine.
‘Hmm.’
The date, time, and place were written on the back of the card and there was a b.u.t.ton to accept it.
"In 3 days?’
The next event would be held three days later, at 7 p.m. in the Hayden Hotel in Shanghai.
‘Where did I hear this….ah!’
Chun Yeowun had heard of this hotel because he knew that Chun Wu-kyung had used the place for trading.
‘Is this a coincidence?’
Chun Yeowun ordered Nano to check the place without accepting it right away. If it was waiting for a reply, then the signal must be active.
[Tracking the signal.]
Drrr!
Not long after, augmented reality opened. The position was marked in the area of China.
And in it.
“Hayden Hotel, Shanghai?”
The signal was coming from there. It seemed like they were sending the invitation from the hotel and not their base.
‘We need to go there.’
In the end, he had a clue about the auction site. Chun Yeowun looked at the LED screen and pressed the b.u.t.ton.
‘Return Baekgi to me, MS.’
3 days later.
Shanghai city.
Originally, it was just a fishing village. However, Shanghai grew slowly into a financial center, accepting the cultures of every nation within and was one of the most renowned places.
Even with the Gates opening, Shanghai continued to be a great city.
There was Hong Kong as well, which had the most foreigners.
People arrived at the Shanghai City West Underground high speed train station.
They were the two secretaries and Bi Mak-heon.
“Do you always go back and forth like this?”
“What?”
At Im So-hye’s words, Yu So-hwa shot her a glance. Im So-hye changed her att.i.tude right away.
“I’m just asking.”
After being brought in from Black Athena, her life had changed. She now had to look at Yu So-hwa everyday.
‘Sigh.’
Bi Mak-heon just sighed as he looked at the women constantly bickering. Fortunately, he was happy that Shakena wasn’t here. He couldn’t fathom a situation where all 3 women would be together.
He heard a voice calling to him.
“Yo~Mak-heon!”
“Teacher!”
It was Hu Bong. Then, he saw Chun Yeowun and Ark Young.
When Bi Mak-heon was puzzled at the new face, Hu Bong answered with a smile.
“Lord’s disciple.”
“Disciple? Huh? A disciple?”
Bi Mak-heon was startled. Not just anyone’s, but Chun Yeowun’s? It was impossible to not feel envy when this new man was going to be the disciple of the great leader of the Sky Demon Order.
“I am Ark Young. It is embarra.s.sing, but I am being guided by Teacher.”
Ark Young greeted them. Both the women were a bit shocked at his way of speaking.
“Ready?”
Chun Yeowun asked them. Yu So-hwa placed the coat she had prepared for Chun Yeowun on his shoulders and said.
“The car is ready out…”
-Take your hand off.
‘!?’
Yu So-hwa was puzzled at it. She didn’t know where this came from. At that moment, Chun Yeowun pulled something out, a cute baby fox with golden fur. Yu So-hwa, who was putting the coat on, loved it.
“Oh my!”
Im So-hye too watched it.
“Vice-chairman, what is this? When did you bring such a cute ki…”
Bite!
“Ack!”
As she tried to stroke the put, the fox bit Im So-hye’s finger. And it was not just a painful bite, but one that drew blood.
-Where do you think you are putting your hand?
“Huh?”
When the fox spoke, both women wouldn’t hide their shock. To those who didn’t know she was a yokai, the fox cub’s ability to speak human language was enough to shock them.
Hu Bong warned them.
“Even if it looks like that, I recommend you to not touch it.”
“W-what are you saying! This thing bit me!”
Im So-hye was angry at Hu Bong, so he asked why she was getting p.i.s.sed at him.
Swish!
The fox moved from his hands and walked onto Chun Yeowun’s shoulder. And warned both women.
-Chun Ma is mine. Don’t touch me carelessly.
The way she wiggled her seven tails was cute, but it wasn’t so cute for Im So-hye, who got her finger bitten.
“V-Vice chairman… she… she what is it?”
“Don’t mind it. As Hu Bong said, don’t touch it.”
Chun Yeowun wasn’t the kind to explain things.
-Hear that? Hear that?
The fox moved from the right shoulder to the left, and left to right. Only later, through Ark Young, did they learn that the fox was a great Yokai, the golden-haired nine tailed fox.
In the sedan waiting outside, they moved to the Hayden Hotel. On the way, Chun Yeowun looked at the information prepared.
The hotel was a 5 star hotel famous for its designation as a black market. It was an old hotel, over 100 years old.
“Politicians, famous journalists, as well as foreign investors often use it. Quite an unexpected place.”
Choosing a hotel that was quite open to many people was strange.
“Maybe they aimed to stay under the darkness of the lamp.”
The hotel was quite a long distance away, and they arrived about an hour and a half later. As is the case with most hotel arrivals, a valet in red opened the door.
“Hm.”
Chun Yeowun, who got out, looked around. Numerous strong energy sources could be felt.
“Ha. From the yellow-haired punks to a lot more.”
Hu Bong said it. Undoubtedly, there were a lot of foreigners here.
“Teacher. Those people… aren’t ordinary ones.”
Ark Young, standing next to Chun Yeowun, pointed to a few. Their nationality was hard to tell, but they seemed quite strong and had a unique energy.
“Right.”
“They must be foreign talented people or warriors of their place.”
Bi Mak-heon asked,
“Foreign talented people?”
“I heard that there are people with special martial arts or skills or talents in other nations like ours. And I heard that they try everything to save their own nations.”
It was impossible for just one place to have martial arts, as other places should have their own way of martial arts when it came to fighting. Considering the warriors of India he had met, Chun Yeowun knew that strong people existed in other nations too.
“Shall we head in?”
They still had two hours more to spare. Chun Yeowun wanted to check in and then look around.
After pa.s.sing through the revolving door, a large lobby emerged into view.
However, strange words appeared.
“このやろ! この方が誰か知っているのか.”
The characters were weird, causing Bi Mak-heon to frown.
“Seems to be j.a.panese.”
“j.a.panese?”
Hu Bong didn’t know the myriad of languages in this world. At that, Bi Mak-heon frowned and said,
“A nation to the east.”
At that, Hu Bong clicked his tongue like he understood it.
“Ah! Those ones! Such a nuisance wherever they went.”
Even in Chun Yeowun’s times, there were frequent incidents where pirates from j.a.pan attacked the villages on sh.o.r.e.
This was why Chinese people hated the j.a.panese. Of course, not just that, as there were lots of reasons why the two nations didn’t like each other.
In an instant, the j.a.panese language patch was added to Chun Yeowun’s mind, allowing him to pick up what the j.a.panese at the desk were saying.
“Do you know who this man is? This is Kenji-san, the vice-boss of Odagum who inherited the samurai lineage in the Kansai region.”
The man shouted while pointing to a middle-aged man with pointed eyes, a gray kimono, a blade, and sungla.s.ses.
In the hotel, an employee wearing a white bow tie spoke in firm j.a.panese.
“Sorry. You won’t be able to check in without an invitation card.”
“Ha!”
The man seemed frustrated at this mess. At that, Kenji reached out, trying to stop him, and said.
“The invitation was stolen on the ship, so what do you want me to do?”
“Sorry.”
The att.i.tude of the hotel staff was still adamant.
Stroking his chin while glaring at the hotel staff, the one named Kenji said.
“I just need to have an invitation?”
“… yes.”
In response to that, Kenji looked at the tall man with long hair in black kimono next to him.
“Did you hear that, Tanaka?”
“Yes. I will take care of it.”
With an answer, the one called Tanaka looked around. And looked at Chun Yeowun and his companions who were walking to the desk. Seeing the sword on Hu Bong’s waist, Tanaka smiled and gestured something which made a group of six men in suits follow him.