Chapter 6: To the World. -01
“Ah, come in!”
“What’s going on? We have guests here.”
At the response of Seonwu Bang, the owner of the room, the door opened and Ban Hojin revealed himself.
However, Ban Hojin was slightly startled when he entered the guest reception room.
He knew that guests had come, but he had not expected them to be Zhuge Hye-jeong and Murong Heesu.
Murong Heesu’s appearance, in particular, surprised Ban Hojin.
“Hello, Young Master Ban! I’m Zhuge Hye-jeong of the Zhuge Family!”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Murong Heesu of the Murong Family.”
As Ban Hojin’s pupils widened slightly, Zhuge Hye-jeong and Murong Heesu greeted him as if they had been waiting.
Both of them spoke with sparkling eyes, as though they had long awaited this moment.
At the sight of the two of them, Seonwu Bang formed a bitter smile.
They were so different from how they treated him.
‘As expected.’
He had anticipated it, but seeing it directly still did not feel particularly pleasant.
However, feeling offended here would only be petty, so Seonwu Bang soon erased his bitter expression.
He thought there was no need to feel disappointed when he was well aware of his current situation.
“Ah, yes. I’m Ban Hojin.”
“You don’t seem very pleased to see us.”
“I can’t exactly be happy when my friend was used.”
“Mm!”
Zhuge Hye-jeong let out a low hum.
Most people would have pretended not to notice and moved on, but Ban Hojin was different.
At his manner of speaking frankly right to their faces, Zhuge Hye-jeong smiled awkwardly.
“I think differently from Elder Sister.”
“Hm?”
At that moment, Murong Heesu opened her mouth as if she had been waiting.
She spoke while clearly drawing a line between herself and Zhuge Hye-jeong.
At Murong Heesu’s words, which left no room for excuses, Zhuge Hye-jeong let out a hollow laugh.
“Differently?”
“Yes. It’s true that I also came to see Young Master Ban, but that isn’t all. If Young Master Ban came to seek out Young Master Seonwu first, I believe there must have been a good reason for it.”
“Oh?”
Ban Hojin showed a surprised expression.
She seemed bolder than what he had heard.
There had been talk that, like her epithet White Lotus Flower, she was gentle like a lotus, but now she was different.
She was speaking very directly, clearly expressing her thoughts.
“Oh my?”
Zhuge Hye-jeong was just as surprised by that sight.
She had known Murong Heesu for quite a long time, but this was the first time she had seen her like this.
At the same time, Zhuge Hye-jeong could sense it.
Murong Heesu had prepared quite a lot for this occasion.
“And the Seonwu Family also has many similarities with the main house.”
“You’re aiming for a seat among the Five Great Families.”
“Huh? I never said anything like that?”
Seonwu Bang, who had been listening quietly, wore a flustered expression.
He had not said a single word, yet the conversation seemed to be flowing in a strange direction, so he hurriedly opened his mouth.
“Isn’t that the case?”
“That’s not exactly wrong, but…”
Seonwu Bang replied quietly while gauging Zhuge Hye-jeong’s reaction.
After all, he could not help but be mindful of the Zhuge Family, one of the Five Great Families.
Yet, unexpectedly, Zhuge Hye-jeong’s expression remained calm.
“In Murim, competition is essential. Jianghu is a place where the weak get devoured. Knowing that, the main house has no intention of being easily swallowed either.”
“Hahaha, I’ve never said that I would compete with the Zhuge Family.”
“I didn’t say that either. It’s not like the Zhuge Family is the only one among the Five Great Families.”
Despite Seonwu Bang’s subtle attempts to signal caution, Ban Hojin spoke without restraint.
He also agreed with Zhuge Hye-jeong’s thoughts to a certain extent.
Without competition, there was no development.
However, excessive competition only led to mutual bloodshed and was not desirable.
“That’s right. Aside from the main house, there are four other families. And among them, there are families that are quite restless.”
“You’re speaking as though the Zhuge Family doesn’t fall into that category.”
“That’s because it’s true. To be blunt, we’re not quite at the level to vie for the top, but we’re not so weak as to be pushed out either.”
At Zhuge Hye-jeong’s confident words, Ban Hojin nodded slowly.
At least before his death, the Zhuge Family had never been pushed out of the Five Great Families.
As she said, the martial family that firmly held the exact middle position was the Zhuge Family.
But that did not mean the Zhuge Family lacked ambition.
‘They just don’t show it.’
Ban Hojin smiled faintly to himself.
He knew well why Zhuge Hye-jeong wanted to meet him.
‘Selective breeding.’
The Zhuge Family, known as Divine Zhuge, ruled as a prestigious family in Murim with their outstanding intellect.
However, the Zhuge Family was not satisfied with just this.
They wanted to stand tall under heaven with martial arts as well, achieving both literary and martial excellence.
Thus, what they chose was to improve their lacking physical constitution.
By marrying women with exceptional bones and physique.
But that was not all the Zhuge Family was aiming for.
‘Like the Sichuan Tang Family, they’re a family that favors taking in sons-in-law.’
As a Jianghu family where the smartest minds in Murim gathered, the Zhuge Family possessed many outstanding martial arts.
However, due to insufficient physical constitution and talent, they had not been able to fully utilize them.
So the Zhuge Family came up with an idea.
If they could not cultivate them themselves, they would bring them in from outside.
“Are you interested in me?”
“It seems to be the other way around.”
“I’ll be honest. I’m interested in Young Master Ban. I’d like to have an in-depth discussion about martial arts as well. As you know, the main house has many things to offer.”
Zhuge Hye-jeong smiled confidently.
For a woman, the most powerful weapon was her looks, but something even stronger was charm.
And Zhuge Hye-jeong knew her own charm better than anyone and knew how to use it.
“I’m well aware.”
What Zhuge Hye-jeong overlooked, however, was that Ban Hojin had little interest in women, and little interest in the Zhuge Family as well.
They said heroes were fond of women, but Ban Hojin was not yet a hero, and this time, he had no intention of becoming one.
Thus, Ban Hojin responded indifferently to Zhuge Hye-jeong’s words and shifted his gaze to Murong Heesu.
“When will the Young Lord of the Murong Family come out of closed-door training?”
“Pardon?”
Murong Heesu noticed that Zhuge Hye-jeong briefly made a face as if she had bitten into dung when their gazes turned toward her.
However, that expression vanished in an instant.
It was because Ban Hojin had asked something completely unexpected.
This question seemed unexpected to Seonwu Bang as well, as his eyes widened into circles.
“I happened to hear it. That Miss Murong’s older brother possesses remarkable talent.”
“Ah, yes, that’s true.”
She had not seen him many times, but anyone could tell after meeting him just once.
That Ban Hojin did not speak nonsense.
Even now, he was saying everything he wanted to say in a straightforward manner, so Murong Heesu wore a flustered expression.
She felt pleased that he knew about her older brother, but at the same time, she was surprised.
“I’d like to meet him once later on. Ah, of course, this fellow too.”
“Huh? Me too?”
“Yes. It’ll probably be a good stimulus.”
“Well, for me it’s fine, but…….”
Seonwu Bang, who had been dragged into this out of nowhere, trailed off.
From his perspective, it was not a bad proposal at all.
The problem, however, was that the Murong Family’s stance would likely be different.
They would naturally welcome Ban Hojin’s visit, but he was a different matter.
“There’s no guarantee that being at a low level now means it’ll stay low in the future. Even the Five Great Families of this era weren’t Five Great Families from the beginning. Ah, Shaolin is the same.”
Because there could be room for misunderstanding, Ban Hojin added Shaolin at the end.
At that, Seonwu Bang’s stiffened expression relaxed a little.
After thinking about it, there was nothing wrong with what he said.
“Then please visit our main house sometime as well. I’ll invite you.”
“Understood. If the opportunity arises, I will visit.”
“That’s a promise?”
As the focus of the conversation shifted toward Murong Heesu, Zhuge Hye-jeong quickly opened her mouth.
She could not leave without gaining anything like this.
Since she had worked hard to arrange this meeting, she needed to take away as much as possible.
“Yes.”
“Please feel free to tell me anytime. If no one else, at least Young Master Ban is always welcome.”
“Thank you.”
Facing Zhuge Hye-jeong’s bright smile, Ban Hojin also grinned.
However, she would not know.
The meaning contained within those five characters, “if the opportunity arises.”
Unfortunately, no one realized it.
“Then we’ll see you next time.”
“Yes. Please take care on your way.”
Zhuge Hye-jeong and Murong Heesu, who had remained seated until they finished their tea, left the room.
Since they had obtained what they wanted to some extent, they tactfully took their leave.
As the two women departed with graceful farewells, Seonwu Bang did not hide his regretful expression.
“Go at it like a man.”
“Do you even know who you’re talking about?”
“You can tell just by looking. Isn’t it Miss Murong?”
“But would I even be good enough in Miss Murong’s eyes? No, would the Murong Family Head be satisfied?”
Seonwu Bang gave a bitter smile.
It wasn’t negativity; it was reality.
And Seonwu Bang knew that better than anyone.
“That may be true now. But later on, you never know.”
“And decisively, it seems like she’s more interested in you than in me?”
“I am an attractive groom candidate, after all.”
“So you were pretending not to notice?”
“It’s not pretending not to notice. There’s no need to decide anything here and now. It’s not something that can be decided anyway.”
Even combining his previous life and this one, there had been no woman in Ban Hojin’s life.
In his past life, he had been holed up in Shaolin, and this life was no different.
But that didn’t mean he lacked experience altogether.
He was fairly perceptive in his own way.
“Miss Zhuge seemed to have feelings too, didn’t she?”
“Just from a glance, she’s testing the waters. She probably has more than ten candidates.”
“It might not be quite like that. The Zhuge Family, like the Sichuan Tang Family, prefers adopted sons-in-law. That naturally reduces the number of options.”
“Even so, it’s probably at least ten.”
Ban Hojin spoke as if it were nothing.
He felt somewhat sorry to Zhuge Hye-jeong, but in Ban Hojin’s mind, she was merely the precious jewel of the Zhuge Family.
There was no other meaning beyond that.
“Lucky bastard. I wish I could show off like that too.”
“If you continue to diligently advance like you are now, there’ll be good results.”
“That’s such an annoying thing to say, but when you say it, it strangely feels like it means something.”
“That’s because it’s the truth, and you know it too. Anyway, from now on, you should come to my quarters. If things like this happen every time, it’s tiring.”
Ban Hojin shook his head side to side.
He acted as if it didn’t bother him, but Ban Hojin was still human.
And more than anything, conversations with women were tiring rather than comfortable.
Others might want to be with Murong Heesu or Zhuge Hye-jeong, but he was not one of them.
“You’ve really had it good.”
“If you ask for help, I can help once or twice.”
“No, now is the time to focus on training. It’s not like I can get married just because I like someone.”
“That’s a good mindset. In that sense, let’s clash energetically again today.”
“Yeah.”
Seonwu Bang’s expression turned serious.
Seeing Seonwu Bang rise from his seat with a solemn face, as if he had never been fooling around, Ban Hojin also stood up with a smile.
The rising juniors who had stayed at Shaolin for nearly a month departed.
Seonwu Bang felt regretful, but there was nothing to be done.
As the heir of his family, it was not good for him to stay away from the main house for too long, so after telling Ban Hojin dozens of times to be sure to come visit later, Seonwu Bang left.
Clatter.
In the now-quiet temple grounds, Ban Hojin leisurely savored tea alone.
He was drinking the Dongjeong Biluochun that Murong Heesu had given him as a gift.
Aside from that, Ban Hojin’s room was occupied here and there by quite a variety of gifts.
“As expected, expensive things are expensive for a reason. There’s no reason people indulge in luxury for nothing.”
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