Chapter 39: The Beginning of my the Banquet (1)
Translator: hwarang
Editor: Kidyeon
The banquet took place at the Yang Clan’s manor; it was the same place that the meeting with all the Clan Leader had been held.
I arrived at the Yang Clan Manor hours before the banquet even started. I proceeded to meet with Jung Yeo in the secret room beside Ma Jung Soo’s bedroom. Showing the talisman he gave me last time let me bypa.s.s all of the guards.
“Is there some sort of treasure vault that he’s using right now?”
“Yes. There’s one inside of his bedroom.”
“Is it pa.s.sword protected?”
“Yes. If you enter the wrong number three consecutive times, it will lock itself for a day. After that, the key smith will have to come and open it.”
“So he must’ve changed the pa.s.sword...”
“Indeed. He asked me to tell him the original pa.s.sword, and how to change it. He naturally changed it.”
“How big is the vault?”
“It’s attached to the wall. If you’re asking whether or not you can simply take the entire vault, it’s impossible. The vault itself is also made from reinforced steel, making it impossible to cut open—even with sword-ki. And if you do forcefully attempt to open it, it will set off an alarm.”
“Is there any possibility that he’s entrusted his money to a bank?”
“That’s extremely unlikely, as neither he nor any member of his party have visited any banks. I’ve had my men observing their movements.”
It seems that there were a lot of watchful eyes that would’ve noticed one of them enter a bank.
“So their money should be in the treasure vault.”
“I believe so.”
He’d probably predicted where I was going with this, but I still stated my intentions, “I’ll tell you the truth Jung Bangju. I plan on robbing him of everything that he owns.”
Jung Yeo gave me a light smile. “You’re truly incredible.”
Rather than worry, he was showing awe. It seems that I was the one who was worried.
“If my plan succeeds, you might be in a tough spot.”
This would happen in the Yang Clan’s manor, after all.
“He’ll never doubt me, don’t worry. I’ll be with someone who can confirm my alibi.”
“I don’t have any plans yet. I’m waiting for an opportunity to appear at today’s banquet, as he won’t be in his room during that time.”
“I believe that you will succeed.”
I proceeded to ask him something else, “Is there any other way to get into his room than through the main door?”
With a mischievous smile on his face, Jung Yeo asked me, “Do you know what kind of person the previous gaju was?”
The previous gaju was someone that I had personally killed with my own hands, Yang Gi Chul. He was someone that had been full of greed and doubt.
“He prepared many hidden corridors, just in case he needed to quickly escape. As such, there’s a hidden corridor that leads directly to the guest pavilion. It’s made so well that, unless you’re a professional, you wouldn’t ever be able to find it. You could even escape from a room full of people without any of them even noticing you leave. There’s a pa.s.sageway to the outer shed in that corridor.”
He told me where the exit was, as well as where the outer shed led to. Thankfully the outer shed wasn’t that far from where the banquet was taking place at. However, I told him to place a cart in the corridor for easy transportation, just in case. My greatest concern was the combination for the safe. Without the combination, all of my preparations would be useless.
How could I find that out?
The banquet was grand. There was good food, wine, and even veteran musicians and dancers performing. I hardly saw banquets as grand as this even as the Mengju. The reason that Ma Jung Soo was holding such a grand banquet was quite clear: He wanted to show off to others. This definitely because the quality and size of a banquet has an influence on others.
If you thought about it, the Mengju Pavillion was the same. The exterior was ridiculously large and expansive. It was quite a walk from the entrance to the Master’s Chair. It was mainly for security, but there were other reasons, such as intimidating the enemy, and magnifying the status of the Mengju. This banquet was similar.
There were many youths gathered at the banquet hall. There were some new faces, but I’d met most of them during the banquet that was held at my house. I stayed hidden within the crowd and observed Ma Jung Soo. He really dealt with the heir well. He investigated everything about them, starting with what type of personality they had, what they liked, what their family situation was like, etc. Since he knew everything about these twenty-something year old youths, he was putting on a show by acting all glorious at one point, and then humane the next, catching their attention with his antics.
From the position of those that had been invited, they had to look good in front of Ma Jung Soo. They’d arrived at this banquet in a nervous mood, but since it was fun, magnificent, and the host was treating them well, they obviously became both less nervous and less vigilant.
Ma Jung Soo even started forming brotherly relationships with a few of the heirs. They were the young masters of the Clear Tree Clan, Nine Dragon Clan, Western Saber Clan, as well as a few other clans that he’d already made some secret agreements with. I honestly thought this was a really clever move. Since Ma Jung Soo favored these few, others were influenced. It’s said that the human heart is as fickle as a feather. Even though they might not want to be too friendly with Ma Jung Soo, if they saw others forming brotherly relations with him, they wouldn’t want to be left behind. And if they weren’t chosen today, they’d have to report it to their fathers. What parent wouldn’t want their child to do their best to get close to Ma Jung Soo? Either way, this was a perfectly calculated action.
I had a strong desire to tell these youths that, if you form a brotherly relationship with a good person, that person is doing it so that they can maintain that relationship; however, but if you form a brotherly relationship with an evil person, that person is doing it to use you.
Si Gon was always near Ma Jung Soo. It seems that Si Gon is in charge of personally guarding him. He’s stayed vigilant the entire time. However, Old Man Flower Fan and that mysterious woman are nowhere to be seen. As such, just in case, I decided to check out the window, but they were still gone. It seem that Si Gon is always near Ma Jung Soo to protect him, while the other two are moving independently.
I gathered every sc.r.a.p of information that I could about him.
Even though I tried my best to stay out of his line of sight, he still managed to find me. He casually approached me and greeted me in a friendly manner, “Byuk-Kongja, how have you been?”
I awkwardly smiled and replied, “Have you been well?”
Neither of us had any friendly intentions.
After our greeting, he said something as if he’d suddenly remembered something, “Ah! I heard that Miss Song is bedridden today.”
“Yes, I know.”
“I heard that you beat her up?”
When I heard this, I became certain. He definitely had an interest in Song Hwa Rin, considering the Song Clan would never have told him the details. He’d investigated everything about her.
It was a good thing that I’d made her bedridden.
“For what reason did you do that?”
This punk. First he rips others off, and now he want to take other’s women? He plans on doing everything that he wants here, eh?
I had to forcefully hold back my itchy hands. I really wanted to kill him with a single stroke of my blade right now. But rather showing my anger, I smiled. “Well… it somehow happened.”
I wonder how much he knows about me. He most likely has all the basic information about me—about how I’d been nothing better than sc.u.m until now.
“Alright. I’ll tell you the truth. She brought up the word ‘divorce’.”
Since the rumors have already spread, he definitely already knows about them. But I acted as if I was revealing a big secret. “She and I have been engaged since birth. And yet, she dared to say something such as ‘divorce’? That’s unforgivable.”
This was the most reasonable excuse that I could think of.
Then I added, “The last time I got drunk, I had a bout with her, but I ended up losing miserably. Of course, it was because of the alcohol. However this time, I made sure to discipline her when I got my revenge.”
He probably know up to here. Anyway, this was a perfect way for me to hide my true intentions. And in his eyes, I might have gotten some points for disciplining his women.
“Hahaha, I think you were quite successful in your revenge. I heard that she took lessons from an expert.”
“Either way, she’s just a girl.”
“Hahaha. It seem that you’re a man, my brother. A true man.”
“That’s just how I am.”
“Well brother, let’s have a meal together one day; so that you can surprise your brother’s eyes.”
“Hahaha. Good, very good.”
“Let’s say… ten days from now. She should be better then. Let’s do it then.”
This b*tch. It seems that he’s already found out when she’ll be able to get out of bed.
There was a saying that I’d always said to the younger generation when I was still Mengju: ‘Be careful of beauty.’
This was something that I’d thought of back when I’d met a youth back at a restaurant, and this is something that I was thinking right now.
Song Hwa Rin’s beauty can also be a curse.
Look, aren’t I correct? Because of his interest in her, he’d met with me.
Ma Jung Soo went towards the center of the room and signaled Si Gon. When he reached the center, he said in loud voice, “I have something to show you all.”
After getting the signal, Si Gon left the room for a second, before coming back with a sword.
The decorations on it alone were enough for someone to be all to guess that it was no ordinary sword.
Ma Jung Soo proceeded to draw the blade from its sheath.
Shiiiing!!!
Everyone was amazed by the sword.
“This was one of the swords that the previous Mengju used: The Heavenly Origin Sword.”
Everyone was surprised by Ma Jung Soo’s word. However, was there be anyone else who could be more surprised than me?
It really was one of the weapons that I used to use, the Heavenly Origin Sword.
I got a bit emotional from seeing my sword after such a long time. There were five swords that I’d used in my previous life.
The Heavenly Origin Sword, the Heavenly Mist Sword, the Heavenly Twilight Sword, Frostmourne, and the Divine Sword of King Shura.
They were all divine sword that had different shapes, sizes, and personalities. However, the one that I had been the closest to was the Divine Sword of King Shura. It had received its name as the Divine Sword of King Shura because I sometimes would want it to decimate the enemy like an Ashura, while other times I would want it to rule over them like a divine king would. That had been the weapon that accompanied me everywhere during the battle against the Demon Alliance.
Others might believe that all five of those swords are the same, but those that do, definitely don’t know the true value of the Divine Sword of King Shura. Even if you were to put the other four blades together, it still wouldn’t be worth it, considering that it was the Divine Sword of King Shura.
Now that I thought about it, I wonder what happened to him?
Had Ma Bong Gi took it? Would it be put in a weapons hall to be displayed as a treasure? Or did Kal Sa Ryang take it? If he did…
Anyway, the Heavenly Origin sword was nothing compared to the Divine Sword of King Shura, but it still wasn’t a bad divine blade.
Ma Jung Soo proudly stated, “My father personally gifted me with this blade.”
From this I was able to guess another important thing. He was here because Ma Bong Gi had sent him here. If not that, then there was no way for Ma Bong Gi to give such a blade to Ma Jung Soo. This sword was meant for Ma Jung Soo to use for his authority as a descendant of the Mengju.
“Is there someone who wants to have it?”
When everyone heard this, their heart skipped a beat. There wasn’t a way to price it, considering the fact that was a weapon used by the previous Mengju.
“I’ll give to the one who’s able to become my true brother…”
He made it sound like he could actually give it out.
Meanwhile, I was laughing on the inside.
He would just use and throw away that ‘true brother’. But the ones who were gathered here were all young masters in their twenties who would succeed their family. They were inexperienced in reading Ma Jung Soo true intent, and because of that, they had to look good in front of Ma Jung Soo. But now, with the addition of the Heavenly Origin Sword, their hearts were all over the place. There was another thing that they had to think about.
Regardless of the how much money Ma Jung Soo had, that blade was something that I had to take back. I didn’t want it to be in his dirty hands. Even though, if I take it back I can’t use it in the open public since it is such a fancy blade. I need to either disguise it or sell it on the black market. Since it’s the Divine Sword of the King Shura, either option is available.
Ma Jung Soo continued, “Since the future of San Dong is in the hands of this youth, I want to make a proposal.”
“What is it?”
“What if we held regular meetings?”
“Very good idea.”
“Hahaha. Cheers”
Everyone raised their winegla.s.s. The mood had turned extremely good. Si Gon took the Heavenly Origin Sword and went out. But at that time, I also made my exit.
Si Gon slowly turned the lock. The moment he put in the correct numbers, the Vault made a loud noise and opened.
He lowered his body to put the Heavenly Origin Swords into the Vault.
The next moment, he turned around and unsheathed his sword .
Swoosh!
Smack!
Before he even had the time to pull out his blade I smacked him square in the face, causing him to fall down.
I was one step faster than him. I arrived at the room earlier than Si Gon, and was hiding myself. Since the vault was located next to the bed, I was hidden quite close to it—inside of the wardrobe. I killed off all my killing intent and fighting spirit, then began to wait like a predator. The moment I heard the vault open, I made my move. My movement was hidden due to the loud noise of the vault opening.
The best case would have been finding out the number and opening it myself; however, the place that I was hidden in didn’t have a clear line of sight to the vault. If something went wrong they—could place the blame on Jung Yeo. As such, I made my move. Even though I hadn’t been certain that I could take on Si Gon, but I’d had the element of surprise. I was able to knock Si Gon unconscious.
I pulled everything from inside of the treasure vault into the bag that I’dd prepare beforehand. I didn’t have the time to check what was in it. After putting everything in the bag, I disappeared like a ghost. This happened in the blink of an eye.
A few moments later.
The door of the banquet opened roughly as Jung Yeo and Old Man Flower Fan rushed in. Old Man Flower Fist whispered something in Ma Jung Soo’s ear.
Ma Jung Soo eyes widened and said, “Everyone be quiet!”
Suddenly the banquet hall became silent.
After the Old Man Flower Fan finished whispering in his ears, Ma Jung Soo’s expression became ugly.
He quickly followed the two people and stopped at the entrance, “Find the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who isn’t here!”
Ma Jung Soo, Old Man Flower Fan, and Jung Yeo quickly looked around and began to check people
When it was my turn I asked in a surprised expression, “What is it?”
I’d just came back from dealing with Si Gon. I left the treasure back behind in the secret corridor, and got here as soon as I could.
All the young masters that were within the hall had never left the exit. But even if someone left , they still weren’t nearly as skilled as Si Gon. So Ma Jung Soo were checked first just in case.
Ma Jung Soo quickly left the banquet and said, “I think that this concludes today’s banquet. Please return home.”
I was smiling as he left.
I’m sorry, but this is the beginning of my banquet.
A banquet that you will never be able to escape.