Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 172 - Give Me Wings (2)
Chapter 172 – Give Me Wings (2)
“…Ah.”
Only then did I realize I had phrased it in a way that invited misunderstanding.
But words could not be taken back.
Peng Gyeong-seung was already looking at me like I was insane, and Peng Chae-hyang’s face had gone so red it looked ready to burst. For most people it would have been one thing, but for Peng Chae-hyang, who was still awkward around men, those words were devastating.
“Wait a moment. That is not what I meant. I really meant it literally. I want to take her with me.”
“As a wife?”
“No, just by my side.”
“You want her at your side?”
The more Peng Gyeong-seung misunderstood, the uglier Black Elder and White Elder’s expressions became. Had the Clan Head not been present, they looked ready to cut off my head on the spot. “As a companion, that is all. A companion. Right, that was the proper word.”
I had panicked for a moment and failed to find the right term. Only once I said companion did Peng Gyeong-seung’s misunderstanding clear.
“So you meant you want to head out into the rivers and lakes together.”
“Of course. How could a nobody like me dare covet a young lady of a great house like Young Lady Peng?”
“I would not mind.”
“Pardon?” What nonsense was this now?
Even though this was a matter of his daughter’s marriage, Peng Gyeong-seung wore an utterly indifferent expression.
“The fact that someone with that level of strength remains an unknown nobody only makes him seem more capable. The Doctrine of the Mean says, ‘The gentleman abides in the ordinary and awaits Heaven’s mandate.'”
“How am I any gentleman? I am just a merchant.”
“Even thieves are called ‘gentlemen of the roof beam.’ Why should merchants alone be denied the title? Merchants have their code as well, do they not?”
“That is true.” To think I would hear words like this from Peng Gyeong-seung. He was more free of prejudice than I expected. He was merely especially harsh toward Peng Chae-hyang. That only made me more uncomfortable.
“After seeing you in Iron Origin Hall the other day, I looked into you a little. Despite entering Wudang as a lay disciple, you have Immortal Cheong-hwa as your master, and have formed firm senior-junior brother ties with the other Daoists as well, I hear.”
“Your information network is quick.”
“All the world’s goods and information enter Beijing. That is why the Beggars’ Gang is in Beijing as well.”
Ah, so the Beggars’ Gang was in Beijing.
What was the Beggars’ Gang if not the group said to possess the most information in the martial world? Only a few days had passed since he had seen me in Iron Origin Hall, and already he knew this much about me.
“Seeing things like this, even the saying about the awl in the pouch feels false. A man like you staying hidden like a crouching dragon.”
“You praise me too much.”
“What use would excessive words from me be? I am only saying what is obvious.”
Why was he suddenly acting like this?
My concern was less with him than with Peng Chae-hyang, who was standing there with her head lowered. The dark look on her face had eased thanks to my reckless statement, but she still stood there hesitating in obvious embarrassment.
Then, quite unexpectedly, Peng Gyeong-seung glanced at Peng Chae-hyang and said,
“Whatever else may be true, I know that my daughter is acknowledged across the Central Plains for her martial skill. If someone possesses enough strength at your age to defeat my daughter, then of course that person ought to be known.”
Peng Chae-hyang looked slightly startled.
Depending on how one heard it, it had even been praise for her. But Peng Gyeong-seung did not leave it there.
“From what I learned, before entering Wudang as a lay disciple, Young Master Muk had not learned any proper martial arts, and came from a poor household that could not even provide a single spiritual elixir. You should be ashamed.”
“…My apologies.”
The brightness that had returned to Peng Chae-hyang’s face dimmed once more.
Peng Gyeong-seung turned back to me.
“But is this really true?” “What are you referring to?”
“That before entering as a lay disciple, you had not learned martial arts and came from a poor family, so in truth you have only been training for a little over three years.”
Everyone’s eyes gathered on me. It seemed that point alone had made them all curious. I saw no reason to lie.
“Yes, that is correct.”
“A genius of the ages, then.”
Peng Gyeong-seung clicked his tongue in wonder. At that point Black Elder, who had been silent until then, barked out, “Boy! Do you know before whom you are lying? You expect us to believe that kind of martial skill was learned in three years?”
Black Elder and White Elder both looked deeply aggrieved.
And understandably so.
It was outrageous enough that the Peng Chae-hyang they cherished had lost and been slighted by Peng Gyeong-seung, but for the victor to claim he had been cultivating martial arts for only three years was something they simply could not accept.
“Enough, Black Elder. This is first-rate intelligence obtained directly from the Dragon-Head Beggar Chief.”
That silenced Black Elder at once. The one truly startled by that statement was me.
“What about me qualifies as first-rate intelligence?”
“The fewer people know a piece of information, the higher its grade. When I asked about you, the Beggars’ Gang hesitated to tell me. They said it was rather expensive information.”
That was yet another surprise. I, Muk Hui-yeong, was being managed by the Beggars’ Gang as first-rate intelligence.
“I persuaded the Dragon-Head Beggar Chief himself and obtained it directly. He also said that since you are in Beijing, he would like to see you once.”
“…That is burdensome.” “Naturally. Speaking with the Dragon-Head Beggar Chief is practically the same as spreading that conversation throughout the entire Central Plains.”
Had I truly become a person so notable that the Central Plains treated me as first-rate intelligence? It felt strange. Good, perhaps, but unsettling too.
Sensing that reaction from me, Peng Gyeong-seung added,
“Do not be too uncomfortable about it. It is only natural that the information on a promising younger-generation disciple of one of the Nine Great Sects would be strictly managed. Are you not an important resource of the Central Plains martial world?”
“Really? I had no idea I was that kind of person.”
“I was surprised as well. Most likely you became first-rate intelligence because you defeated Young Master Namgung.” At Peng Gyeong-seung’s words, not only Peng Chae-hyang, but also Black Elder and White Elder looked startled. Clearly they realized at once which Young Master Namgung he meant. White Elder, shocked, cut in,
“C-Clan Head. By Young Master Namgung, do you mean the Azure Dragon Rising Hero…?”
“That is right.”
“Good heavens.”
Black Elder and White Elder stared at me with newly altered eyes.
How did those beggars know that too? I immediately corrected the information.
“There were rules to that match. Young Master Namgung broke them, which is why I won. If it had been purely martial skill, I would have lost.”
“I do not know what rules were involved, but Hui is not a foolish young man. You must have maneuvered him into breaking them.”
That was true enough, so I had nothing to say against it.
“In any case, since you are such a promising younger-generation expert, I see no reason I could not entrust my daughter to you. To be honest, I think you are the more valuable one.” “I really do not think that is the case…”
I knew what I looked like. Peng Chae-hyang was objectively beautiful, so I had no idea what in the world made him think I was the more valuable one.
To begin with, this was baffling talk to hear, since I had never once, even in my previous life, considered the possibility of pursuing women. Truly, the mouth is the gate through which calamity enters.
“Hyang-ah. And what do you think?”
“…Pardon? Ah, um…”
Peng Chae-hyang bit her tongue in her fluster. Even so, from the way she waved her hands, it seemed she meant to say she did not dislike the idea. Peng Gyeong-seung clicked his tongue in displeasure at that clear hesitation. At that obvious rebuke, Peng Chae-hyang’s expression shrank in on itself once again. Before I knew it, I was opening my mouth.
“One moment, Clan Head.”
“What is it?”
“There is one thing I would like to say.”
I drew in a deep breath.
What I was about to say truly was overstepping. “Before she goes out into the rivers and lakes, please acknowledge Young Lady Peng first.”
As expected, Peng Gyeong-seung’s expression darkened.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know it yourself. You are the one making Young Lady Peng shrink. Even in that spar just now, had you not been there to watch, Young Lady Peng would not have looked so anxious at the end.”
“And you are saying that is my fault?”
“Yes.” My blunt answer left Peng Gyeong-seung momentarily speechless.
Black Elder, White Elder, and Peng Chae-hyang were equally startled.
“I am not presumptuous enough to say, ‘Change the way you treat her,’ nor is that even my place. But at the very least, as the one who brought Young Lady Peng into this world, you have a duty to shoulder. Young Lady Peng is already someone fully capable of flying on her own. But each time she tries to fly, you scold her and clip her wings. How can she fly like that? That is not something you should do.”
“To think I would hear words like this from someone as young as you. That is the sort of thing my own father would say.”
Peng Gyeong-seung let out a hollow laugh. The other three watching us all looked on in mounting tension.
“But your words are odd. Is telling me to acknowledge her not the same as telling me to change my heart?” “No. Your heart is, quite literally, your own. I have no place speaking about that. I am only saying that you should acknowledge what Young Lady Peng has achieved. I do not believe you are an elder so lacking in judgment that you cannot do at least that much.”
I hesitated a moment, then added,
“Do you know what my father’s final words to me were?”
“What?”
“He said that being a father had been his first time as well, so I should forgive him. I understand that you too are a father for the first time, and so I know your heart will not change dramatically overnight. At times, you may even think your daughter stole the wife you loved. But Young Lady Peng is the final gift your wife left behind before leaving this world without even being able to remain a proper mother. How can you treat a treasured gift from someone dear to you like this?”
That truly was overstepping. It was talk about his family.
If Peng Gyeong-seung had shouted in fury, I would have had no grounds for complaint.
But I simply wanted to say it.
I had already experienced one failed family in my previous life, so I wanted to stop someone else from walking the exact same road.
And, besides, Peng Gyeong-seung himself still seemed younger than I had been in that previous life.
“…I will consider it.” Peng Gyeong-seung looked steadily at Peng Chae-hyang and muttered that much.
Frankly, I counted myself lucky that he had not drawn a blade.
To be honest, I had only dared say it because I thought Peng Gyeong-seung was not a terrible man. If I had thought him nothing but vile-tempered, I never would have made such a suggestion.
“So then, Hyang-ah. Do you dislike the idea?”
The subject swung back once more. I naturally expected Peng Chae-hyang to refuse if she understood what was being asked.
But unexpectedly, she said something strange.
“It is not that. I think Mister Muk is a good person too, but if we are to speak of marriage, then I feel I would still want to know him a little better…”
“Hmm. Is that so.”
Black Elder and White Elder’s eyes went wide.
Even they, who had carried Peng Chae-hyang on their backs and raised her from childhood, had not expected an answer like that. To be honest, neither had I.
“Then go out into the rivers and lakes with Young Master Muk. A year should be enough, would it not?”
“…Yes.”
Peng Chae-hyang answered with her head lowered, clearly embarrassed.
Just what in the world had happened here?
Things had unfolded more or less as I intended, yet the path they had taken was somehow altogether wrong. I had once experienced how the rift between my father and me softened only after we spent time far apart. Which was why my intention here had only been to separate Peng Chae-hyang and Peng Gyeong-seung a little.
And yet had this not now turned into some preliminary step for me to take Peng Chae-hyang as a life partner?
“Then I will entrust Iron Origin Hall to someone else.”
“Yes.”
With that, Peng Gyeong-seung departed briskly.
Which meant that the awkwardness left behind was now the burden of the four remaining people. Peng Chae-hyang stood there with both hands clasped in front of her, wriggling awkwardly, her face bright red. Black Elder and White Elder looked at me as though they wanted to devour me whole. But since the Clan Head had spoken publicly, there was nothing they could do to me.
I scratched hard at the back of my head, then turned to Peng Chae-hyang.
“Young Lady Peng. What exactly made you think I am a good person?”
“…Um.”
“I can wait. Take your time.”
“It is just that… you helped with my affairs as though it were nothing, and for some reason it is easier to be around you than other men…” “Easier, and yet like this?”
“Relatively speaking, relatively…”
Peng Chae-hyang had reached the point where she seemed ready to cover her face with both hands and her hair alike. Seeing her raised hands reminded me that she had hurt her palms.
“At this rate blood is going to clot in your hair. Give me your hand.”
“Ah.”
I caught the hand she had lifted to her head. Black Elder had already stopped the bleeding with acupoint work. I took out the wound medicine I carried in my travel pack and applied it to the injured parts of Peng Chae-hyang’s hand. “There. Better?”
“…Yes.”
“I am going to the Imperial Palace tomorrow. Pack your things.”
Peng Chae-hyang simply stared blankly at her own hand, rubbing the spot where I had held it.
Seeing that made me feel embarrassed too, and I hurried away from the scene. Tomorrow, I truly did have to go to the Imperial Palace.