Although we had set off to et Zhuge Yun, Zhuge Ling said she had to stop by her quarters first.
Did she say she left the paper she needed to give him in her room?
No matter how young she was, I hesitated, wondering if it was okay for an unrelated man to enter a lady's room. She then said to , "The direct descendants of the Zhuge family live in the sa pavilion. In other words... my father and mother are on the floor right above my room."
Although she put it indirectly, it was no different from saying that if anything happened, the head of the Zhuge family could co crashing through the ceiling with just a scream.
No matter how hard I was training in martial arts, it was as clear as day that it would be difficult for to contend with the head of one of the Five Great Families yet.
Of course, I had no intention of doing anything untoward.
"Hee-hee. You usually have an expression like you know everything in the world, but you're flustered by this kind of problem."
"N-No, I'm not. What do you an, flustered?"
I said it quickly, but even in the voice that denied it, there was a hint of panic.
To be honest, the most difficult thing for right now is dealing with won.
In this life, I'm still just a kid, and since I entered Wudang at a young age, I've had no opportunity to et won.
Even in my past life, I spent my entire life training and brawling, so I never had a proper chance to et a woman.
I had felt sothing akin to affection for a few won, but I never even tried to start a relationship because I thought it would take up an enormous amount of my training ti.
Since I didn't chase after won first, and I avoided the won who chased after , it was only natural that I lacked experience with them.
At so point, a ridiculous rumor even spread that I might like n because I didn't spend ti with won and only hung around with Un Gwang.
"From here on, please quiet your voice. If we get caught by soone, it will be troubleso."
When we got near the pavilion where the direct descendants of the Zhuge family stayed, she spoke to and began to move stealthily.
Fortunately, there were no guards right next to the pavilion, but she said there were patrolling guards, so it seed she was trying to enter the pavilion without being seen by them.
We slowly and quietly entered the pavilion, and just as we opened the door to a room on the second floor...
"Young... Miss?"
Inside the room, Zhuge Ling's handmaiden, Yu Seon, was waiting for her.
The mont her eyes t mine, she was so startled that she was about to scream.
Suddenly, Zhuge Ling stepped with a graceful footwork, instantly reached Yu Seon, and struck her muting and paralyzing acupoints almost simultaneously.
"Wow... no..."
For a mont, I forgot the situation and marveled at her footwork and acupoint striking technique.
How could that be the footwork of soone who had only learned martial arts for half a year?
The saying that the world is unfair ca to mind once again.
I grow little by little by training every day with the feeling of carving my bones and sculpting my muscles, yet Zhuge Ling's progress is so fast.
"Yu Seon. I'm going to release the acupoints now. If you can refrain from screaming, blink once."
At her words, Yu Seon imdiately blinked, and Zhuge Ling's hand moved like lightning to release Yu Seon's acupoints.
"Why are you in my room at this hour?"
"That's because I never imagined that Young Miss would secretly bring a man... no, a Taoist master at this hour."
"Yu Seon!"
"Young Miss. Please be quiet. The Master and Madam will wake up from their sleep."
"Hup!"
At Yu Seon's words, Zhuge Ling was startled and covered her own mouth.
It seed their roles had sohow reversed, but for now, the situation seed to be resolved.
"Excuse . You said your na is Yu Seon, right? I don't know what I should call you, but..."
"Just call Yu Seon comfortably. You can also speak informally to . If you are the Young Miss's lover, you are also my master."
"Wait a minute. Miss Zhuge and I are not in that kind of relationship yet..."
"Not yet? Not yet? Does that an you will be later?"
"No, that's not what I ant..."
Perhaps finding my flustered face amusing, Yu Seon suddenly started laughing, and I felt like my energy was being drained by her, so I could only watch her laugh for a while.
I glanced at Zhuge Ling, and she was also rolling her large eyes here and there, flustered by the unexpected situation.
"Alright. In any case, I'll leave you two alone. I knew it when I saw you at Wudang, Taoist master, but you're really proactive, aren't you? But I like that. It's always the courageous man who wins a beautiful woman like our Young Miss."
She kept talking to herself until the end and then tried to pass to leave through the door.
"Wa-Wait. Yu Seon. What did you co to my room for?"
"Is that important right now? It was nothing important, so don't worry about it."
"Excuse , I think there's a misunderstanding..."
"Of course. That's why I'll get out of the way so I don't misunderstand."
Without giving Zhuge Ling a chance to grab her and speak, Yu Seon went outside, and Zhuge Ling and I looked at each other with dumbfounded eyes.
As I stood there blankly, not knowing what to say, she spoke to .
"I will explain it sohow later. So please don't worry too much, and for now, let's focus on the more urgent matter..."
"Right. It is indeed a huge misunderstanding. But is it normal for a handmaiden to act like that? If the young miss she serves brought a man in the middle of the night, shouldn't she normally be jumping up and down in protest?"
"Yu Seon is always worried that I won't be able to et a man or get married... and she despises the idea of having an arranged marriage. That's why she always acts like that whenever I get involved with a man for any reason."
"It seems your relationship is not that of a typical handmaiden and master."
"Yes... she's like an older sister who raised since I was young. And she's not just a simple handmaiden either..."
I was curious what she ant by not being a simple handmaiden, but I couldn't ask because she imdiately continued speaking.
"For now, before we run into soone else, how about we quickly go to my older brother's room? No one goes near my older brother's room. Only I do."
"Alright. Let's move quickly."
She took a large bundle of paper and a few books from a drawer on one side of the room, tucked them under her arm, and led the way.
How much must all that cost... The Zhuge family must be really rich.
I followed her, munching on the potato I got from the dining hall.
We crossed a hallway where not a single sign of human presence could be felt, and after going up two flights of stairs at the end of the hallway, a large, sturdy-looking door ca into view.
It was clearly a door made of the sa material as Zhuge Ling's room, but strangely, it looked thicker.
"This is it."
"I thought so."
"Please wait a mont."
She knocked gently on the door and announced her arrival.
At first, there was no response, but after she added that she had brought paper and books, the door opened slightly, as if to let her in.
She stuck her foot in the gap to prevent Zhuge Yun from closing the door and then said, "Older brother, just a mont. I have sothing to talk about."
"What is it?"
The voice coming from inside the room was quite normal.
His voice at the banquet had been trembling faintly, cowering, and he had even stuttered, but if it weren't for the sa tone, one might have thought it was a different person.
"There's soone who wants to talk with you for a mont."
"With ...? Why?"
"It's about going to the Nangong family together."
"...I'm not going."
Then, as if the door was about to close again, Zhuge Ling grunted and held onto the door.
"What are you doing?"
"I told you. Let's talk."
"I'm not in the mood to talk...?"
Only after all this did Zhuge Yun poke his head out from the gap in the door, and through it, he was able to spot standing quietly behind Zhuge Ling.
"Li-Ling'er! Behind you!"
"Don't be surprised. I brought him."
"Wh-What...?!"
He was as startled as if he had seen a ghost. He started stuttering again, and his voice beca faint once more.
'Is it anthropophobia? Or...?'
I deliberately pretended not to know anything and took a step closer to him, saying, "Young Master Zhuge. We've t before, haven't we? I am Unhwi of the Wudang Sect."
"Ah, T-Taoist master, what brings you here..."
"As Miss Zhuge Ling said, I wanted to have a brief talk with you."
"B-But why at this hour... and what would you have to talk about with soone like ..."
I smiled brightly at him and said, "I thought we could talk about maps. As for the ti... well, is there a specific ti we must et? If the mood strikes, that's when you co."
"Maps...?"
As if an unexpected word had co from my mouth, he looked back and forth between and Zhuge Ling with slightly widened eyes.
As his gaze seed to accuse her, asking if she had told about him, I added an explanation.
"I found out by chance. I thought that if you needed so many booklets and so much paper, you might have the sa interests as , so I asked Miss Zhuge Ling. And doesn't it match perfectly?"
"The sa hobby?"
"Yes. I'm also very interested in map-making."
The wariness on his face seed to loosen a little.
People like Zhuge Yun, who are deeply engrossed in one thing, are usually like this.
If you form a common ground, an opening to break into their heart is bound to appear.
"So today, it's not really about official matters like going to the Nangong family or anything, but I wanted to talk about maps, so I made an unreasonable request to Miss Zhuge. I also thought it might be better for Young Master Zhuge if my comings and goings here were not noticed by others."
The eyes of both the Zhuge siblings, Ling and Yun, who were looking at , wavered.
Zhuge Yun's eyes seed to say, 'How does he know my heart so well?', and Zhuge Ling was flustered because I was speaking so fluently about things that had not been discussed beforehand.
But there was a reason I didn't tell Zhuge Ling in advance.
At a glance, Zhuge Ling was a pure person who had probably never lied more than a few tis in her life, and if I had tried to coordinate a story and make her act, it was obvious she would act much more awkwardly.
In that case, it's much better for her to just stay quiet like that.
"S-So that's what it was..."
"Then, may I co in for a bit? It's a bit awkward to keep standing here."
"Ah, then, just a mont, I'll..."
Zhuge Yun took a step back and said.
That reaction probably ca from thinking that the state of his room was too embarrassing to show to others.
But I didn't miss this opportunity and quickly opened the door and entered his room.
"Whoa...!"
Although Zhuge Yun was surprised, he didn't seem to think of stopping .
It seed his mind had gone blank from experiencing such a bewildering event.
As soon as I entered the room, I was hit by the strong sll of paper and ink.
And the full view of the room ca into sight.
Zhuge Yun's room was filled with paper, paper, and more paper.
Paper was stuck not only on the walls but also on the ceiling, and when I looked closely...
"A map of the entire Central Plains...?"
"...! You can recognize it at a glance?"
"Of course. You've made the entire room into a map. That end over there is Qinghai Province, and this end here is Zhejiang Province... up there seems to be Liaoning Province, and down there is Hainan Island. It's amazing."
As I praised him out of the blue, he seed to have forgotten his intention to stop .
He waited for my next words with sparkling eyes.
I pretended to look at the map slowly and then... quietly continued.
"But to be honest, it's not drawn very well. How should I put it? This level is about third-rate, sothing you could easily buy at a market."
"...!"
"...!"
At my sudden criticism, astonishnt filled the eyes of both Zhuge Ling and Zhuge Yun.
Zhuge Yun even seed to show a hint of anger.
I looked at him and thought with a smirk.
'So you still have your pride. If I just pull it out a little, you'll be able to stand on your own two feet.’
(End of Chapter)
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