Chapter 49

The tattered Suyongsu and the three Chaeju’s mother branches were placed in a box.
“Where are you going to send them?”
“I’m going to send it to someone who’s going to take a shit, hang up the phone, and immediately ask me who sent it to me.”
“……What a noble hobby.”
“How’s the nanny, by the way.”
“She just fell asleep.”
The old man’s expression changed for the better. I looked at him and shrugged.
“I’m sure he’s made up his mind now. Anyway, I’m done with the construction, so I’ll leave you to it.”
“Goodbye, monkfish.”
The uncle looked at me as I walked past, and he couldn’t help but wonder, too.
“How did you know? When I asked Dae-myung, he told me that he ordered you to deliver the inspection to him.”
It would hurt my mouth to go into details, and I’m afraid that I’ll continue to be suspicious.
“Why would I want to go to the military?”
“Did you know about it early on?”
“I can’t resist curiosity. You know that.”
I shrugged, looking away from his gaze. I can’t say he was my teacher in the first place, so what can I do.
I gave him a quick smile and moved on to the other side of the room, where I saw a familiar face.
It had been less than seven years since I had seen him, but I recognized the face in my hazy memory. It was the face of a soldier who had grown much younger than his former life with the walls of the South Palace, a soldier who had begun to enjoy the life of a soldier rather than the life of a soldier.
“……You asked me to be patient, but you took so long.”
“I thought if I’m going to give you a gift, I might as well give it properly.”
“A gift.”
He showed Huang Tianhao a wooden box.
“It smells of blood. Is this truly a gift?”
“For coming at once to stabilize the civilian population, helping the restless men reorganize their lines, and ultimately slaying a horde of evil-doers.”
I shook the box and curled the corners of my mouth.
“There’s no point in just talking about it, I’ve got some tangible results here that you might like to take with you.”
The proof is in the pudding. Since the military was a place where no matter how much one talked, no one would listen, Huang Tianhou would probably have to go back and listen to the nagging. But with this, his ears wouldn’t have to be burning. After taking the box, Huang Tianhou shyly shifted his gaze to me.
“I wonder if we’ve met before.”
“No.”
“It’s strange how this scent is so familiar to you.”
“It’s …….”
“Aha, I almost had a strange misunderstanding. To clarify, you seem to know me too well, so I said this.”
Huang Tianhou smiled wryly, then handed the box to the adjutant standing next to him and gestured. The adjutant took the box, bowed his head, and walked away in silence.
“You already see through my actions and the consequences. It’s as if you’re in the military. Like you know me well.”
I felt a chill. Huang Tianhou was no ordinary bet.
“I could smell his scent from the beginning, but it’s strange to see him in person.”
“Can I take that as a positive?”
“Yes, it is.”
Huang Tianhou took a step forward and said, “Let’s walk a little bit,” and took up the rear. I followed suit and walked beside him.
“As you know, the military, and the Huang family, are not fond of the middle martial artists. They’re naturally wary of them, as they’re illegal and dangerous in their own right, with their unique combat and overwhelming power.”
Huang Tianhou sighed, as if he were lying around a potential bomb, but then his gaze shifted to me.
“So it wasn’t very favorable. I expected it to be difficult to close the gap.”
“I see.”
“Haha. You’re a hard man. I can feel the military-like tone in your words, so I wonder if it’s really your constitution.”
I must have melted into my former life’s Namgung Byeoks. I coughed and questioned how that could be, but Huang Tianhou seemed to like it.
“I apologize for the lack of support over the past hour. There are quite a few rotten people in the military. You’ve been working so hard for the civilians.”
“No, I understand.”
“Hehe. Understand what? I want one.”
Despite his chuckle, Huang Tianhou didn’t finish his sentence.
“You sent out a scout, I responded, and together we ravaged the Green Forest.”
His shuffling steps slowed a little. My own steps slowed to a trot in response.
“Too many coincidences can lead to fate.”
Huang Tianhou stopped walking and looked at the picture of a mixture of guan soldiers and martial artists, and decided it wasn’t bad.
“I’m afraid I don’t want to apply the Guanmu inviolability to you.”
At those words, I saw a change in his expression for the first time. At least, the Huang Tianhou I knew was not the kind of person who would say something as outrageous as this.
“When you say that you don’t want to apply the inviolability of Guanmu, you mean…….”
“Literally. You, me, and the Aggie Clan and the Southern Palace Clan want to help each other when there is danger.”
I stared at Huang Tianhou, trying to figure out what he meant, but I didn’t expect him to make such an impromptu decision.
“You must think it’s weird. I have no other intentions. But I do have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“That as much as I empower you, you work with me to accomplish things.”
“I don’t agree with the head down thing.”
“……This is the West Canal. When did you say you wanted a master-servant relationship?”
As he clicked his tongue, Huang Tianhou held out his hand to me. I had to look at his hand and try to make sense of the situation.
“You want an equal relationship. An equal relationship based on intimacy above all else.”
A personality I didn’t recognize was coming out of him, and I didn’t know what to make of it. That’s why it’s said that you can know ten ways underwater but not one way under a person.
Not only have I known Huang Tianhu for a long time.
I, who had served him as a teacher and a lord, was also puzzled by this sudden development.
“By equal relationship, I mean…….”
Huang Tianhou, who smiled at my words, said something even more outrageous than the outrageous words he had said earlier.
“I want to be your half-brother. Of course, I’ll be the older brother.”
My mouth dropped open.
Suddenly, “half-brother”?
What the hell does that mean?
“Oh, for the record, I don’t have any siblings. Of all the people I’ve met in my travels, I don’t even have a brother or sister relationship. You’re the first.”
“You suddenly call me your brother.”
“We may not share blood, but you have character and personality, excellent situational judgment, and the skills to match. Besides, I like people who know me. Furthermore.”
Huang Tianhou took a step forward and pulled my outstretched hand, forcing me to shake it.
“Your eyes are unusual, the eyes of someone who has lost someone, forgotten someone, and tasted the bitter sorrow of loss. They’re not the kind of eyes you’d expect to see in a grand duke from a prestigious family, but there’s something about them that draws me in, something about the story behind them that I can’t quite put my finger on, and you hide them when someone tries to read your sadness. I like that, and I know you’ll be a worthy member of the Southern Court, and I can’t wait to see what you’ll make of it. So I can trust you, if you are the one. Now, what are you going to do?”
So that’s why I cared for the walls of the Southern Palace in my previous life.
I never thought I’d be asked to be a half-brother in this lifetime, much less the man who was my mentor and lord in my previous life.
“Have I not convinced you to trust me yet?”
When I hesitated, Huang Tianhou shrugged.
“It’s not that…….”
“Good. I’ll take care of one of your problems first, because I’m sure it’s a problem you’d be willing to walk over.”
Huang Tianhou pulled out a booklet from his bosom. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the booklet labeled ledger. The few pages he showed me were detailed enough for a bandit to have kept, and the amounts listed were substantial. Even the dates were scrawled in dense detail.
“What is this?”
“It’s a ledger from the Shandong Red Army. It’s proof that they’ve done a lot of damage. It lists all the stalks that flowed to the Green Forest King Bai Guang.”
I shook my head at the story. He was not worth saving.
“By the way. There’s something strange.”
I pointed to a line in the ledger.
“Exactly the same amount for every day and night of the week.”
It was true. There were ten gold coins in each line.
“They’re taking it out somewhere.”
“Every seven days and nights, ten gold pieces are taken somewhere. Bandits.”
Based on what was in the ledger and what Huang Tianhao said, this was definitely something out of the ordinary. Someone was looking out for his back.
The Green Forest King Bai Guang was written separately, so it wasn’t meant to be given to a superior in the same green forest.
“That’s why the bandits have been so slow to be exterminated. Did you feel anything special?”
“You mean something special.”
Something special.
“Think about it, was there anything special about your arrival here in Shandong? You’ve been here for five years.”
Countless thoughts flashed through my mind.
Shandong, and the twenty-two mountain houses.
The mountains, the hills, the red tigers, the white tigers, and the green tigers.
I had fought so hard for five years, and in the end, I had won. It took quite a long time to get there, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be done.
With Namgung Han in charge of the Shandong branch, and Namgung Suk’s vast experience, you’ve been able to lead the front lines safely, and you’ve gotten to know the warriors of the Namgung family well.
Then the nanny was taken hostage.
……No way.
Then came the rumors of the ghosts.
Many people in the neighborhood were kidnapped and taken away.
There were bandits operating in the community, and the unthinkable happened, with members of the community selling their own people.
The question is.
“……Shandong Province.”
“Huh?”
“Shandong is the problem.”
Something I’d overlooked in my preoccupation with power lines and greenery.
There’s one family that’s ruffling feathers in Shandong, and one family that’s ruling the roost in Shandong.
If Anhui Province has the Namgungse family, Shandong Province has a family known for its unstoppable ambition.
“Shandong Province, Huang Bo Se.”
“Why did I think that?”
“Even if they’re not the real culprits, it’s worth suspecting.”
When asked how it came to mind.
“While they were building their lines and facing the bandits, they didn’t even turn up their noses once. And when so much happened, they didn’t even bat an eye. That’s not the only thing that’s suspicious.”
It didn’t make sense that a hundred swordsmen, one of the six great families, would have a front line against the green forest right in front of them and not even raise their noses.
Who wouldn’t know what was going on in the front yard of their own house?
“We’ll have to figure that out.”
Huang Tianhao shook his head and clapped his hands as if I had a point.
“Before we do that, what are you going to do about the Guanmu Immortal?”
“You. There’s one thing you can’t defeat no matter what you say. Do you know what that is?”
I scratched my head. I couldn’t think of any such cause.
But Huang Tianhou’s next words made me laugh out loud.
“Family, family. You are my half-brother. I’m moving to share my brother’s worries from now on.”
Brasher than me.
And yet, not unpleasant.
Those were the words.