Chapter 202 : Is It the Beginning? -01
Chapter 202: Is It the Beginning? -01
“Of course it’s shocking. The Family Head and Young Lord of the Shangguan Family actually bowed their heads to me. Of course, ninety percent of the reason was because of you and Shaolin. If it had been just me alone, they would never have lowered their heads. They would’ve tried to use me to swallow up the Hao Sect instead.”
“They’re more than capable of that.”
“That’s why it’s even more moving. Honestly, Master also wanted to come here. Receiving an apology from the Shangguan Family Head and Young Lord is the kind of thing that might happen once in a lifetime, if ever.”
Nan Hee-ju smiled brightly.
All the oppression and pressure she had endured from the Shangguan Family and several other martial families seemed to wash away cleanly with this incident.
Especially the sight of Shangguan Jeok—who used to act so sly—now forced to apologize with boiling anger in his eyes—it was unbelievably satisfying and refreshing.
Even Shangguan Bo couldn’t fully hide the emotions in his eyes, despite pretending otherwise.
“You should’ve come together. It would’ve been fine even if the Sect Leader came too.”
“She wanted to receive it in person, but I think she felt burdened about revealing her face. Mine’s already exposed, but Master’s isn’t. So she was really disappointed. She said she doesn’t know when such an opportunity will come again. And she told me to pass on that she’s truly grateful to you.”
“I don’t think it’s to that extent.”
Ban Hojin shrugged.
The starting point had clearly been Nan Hee-ju, but the root cause of this situation was the Shangguan Family sending the Monster King Danwi.
That was why things had turned out this way, so honestly, such words felt a bit burdensome.
“Why? Have you heard it so often that you’re tired of it now?”
“You don’t get tired of hearing things like that. But it can feel burdensome.”
“You don’t have to feel burdened. You more than deserve to hear this. If you hadn’t looked out for us, this situation wouldn’t even exist.”
“To be precise, I was more interested in messing with the Shangguan Family.”
“But that still means, at the underlying level, it involved me and the Hao Sect.”
Nan Hee-ju grinned.
Even if he said that, she knew his true feelings were different.
Surprisingly, Ban Hojin was quite shy when it came to revealing his true intentions.
And honestly, Nan Hee-ju found that cute.
It was like a gap in his personality.
His actions were overwhelmingly bold, yet he also had a surprisingly delicate side.
“Think whatever you want.”
“I already am. I think I’m starting to understand you now. Hehe.”
“Are you really?”
“More importantly, you know this too, right? Those people won’t just let this pass. Right now they’re holding back because of your strength, but the moment they see an opening, they’ll come at you like mad dogs. Grinding their teeth, thinking that a gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years.”
“Of course. But anyone can imagine things. The problem is turning that into reality.”
Ban Hojin understood Shangguan Bo and Shangguan Jeok even better than Nan Hee-ju did.
So he wasn’t particularly worried.
He could already clearly see how they would act.
“You sound confident.”
“Because I have the strength to be.”
“Wow. That’s an arrogant thing to say, but I can’t deny it. I saw you suppress the head of one of the Ten Great Families myself. But you know this too, right? Murim may run on strength, but information power can’t be ignored either. I’ll find my own way to take revenge. Just because they apologized doesn’t mean everything is settled.”
“You don’t need to worry too much about the other prestigious families. Master said she’ll be keeping a close eye on the Shangguan Family too. She and Senior Brother weren’t satisfied with that apology either.”
Nan Hee-ju’s eyes sparkled.
If Shaolin stepped in, the Shangguan Family’s situation would only worsen, not improve.
Shangguan Bo might think he had settled things, but that was a mistake.
A clumsy resolution that satisfied neither side would only deepen the resentment.
Moreover, even a partial apology was essentially an admission of fault.
That meant Shaolin, Damhyeon, and Beopmu now had justification to apply real pressure on the Shangguan Family.
‘To put it bluntly, even if oppa steps forward openly, the Shangguan Family would have nothing to say. They might think it’s over, but it’s not. Now it’s the beginning. No… since the Shangguan Family won’t let this go either, it’s the beginning for both sides.’
Nan Hee-ju understood people like Shangguan Bo and Shangguan Jeok very well.
Right now, they were crushed under Ban Hojin’s presence, but the moment they saw an opportunity, they would lunge like rabid dogs.
All the while, replaying today’s events over and over in their minds.
‘Not just toward oppa, but toward me and the Hao Sect as well—they’ll burn with revenge.’
Nan Hee-ju’s gaze sank.
There was no turning back now in her relationship with the Shangguan Family.
That was why she intended to give it her all.
But she didn’t feel like she would lose.
‘I’ll devour them instead.’
The Shangguan Family might be one of the Ten Great Families, but the Hao Sect’s strength was not insignificant either.
Moreover, they were currently isolated.
Nan Hee-ju believed they could handle them.
A direct confrontation might still be difficult, but fights didn’t have to be head-on.
There were countless ways to fight a battle or wage a war.
‘There’s no need to fight on terms favorable to the enemy.’
Furthermore, unlike the Shangguan Family, the Hao Sect stood between the orthodox and unorthodox paths.
That meant they had far more options to choose from.
“But do we really need Master or Senior Brother to step in?”
“You and I should be enough. Unless the Shangguan Family forms alliances with other families or sects. Just the Shangguan Family alone…”
“Wow. That’s a lot of confidence.”
“If it’s just the Shangguan Family, I’m not afraid.”
Nan Hee-ju proudly lifted her chin for the first time in a while.
She had been pushed around here and there, but the Hao Sect was not a weak force.
If they had truly been weak, they would have already been absorbed by another faction long ago.
Many forces had coveted the Hao Sect like the Shangguan Family, but none had succeeded.
“Good. That’s a great attitude. You need confidence.”
“Huh? What’s this? You’re even saying nice things?”
“Do you think I’m someone who only says harsh things?”
“Maybe not harsh, but you’re definitely stingy with praise.”
“I give it when it’s deserved. There just hasn’t been much reason to.”
Nan Hee-ju looked at him like he was talking nonsense.
At least to her, it sounded ridiculous.
“Then I guess I don’t need to tell you to be careful. You’ll handle things well on your own.”
“Of course. Oh, right. The people we rescued while raiding those mountain strongholds.”
“Yeah. What happened to them?”
“The children returned to their hometowns. For those without relatives, I decided to take care of them until they grow up. And the women all refused to go back home, so they’re currently working within the Hao Sect.”
“I figured as much.”
A faint bitterness flashed across Ban Hojin’s face before disappearing.
Knowing what they had gone through in the mountain strongholds, he fully understood their choice.
For them and the children, settling somewhere new might actually be a better life.
“Don’t feel too sorry for them. They’re all doing well. They also asked me to pass on their regards. They said things were too chaotic when they were rescued, so they couldn’t properly thank you. They’re sorry and grateful.”
“Tell them to live happily. Seeing me might remind them of those memories, so this is better.”
“You really are considerate. Most people only think about themselves.”
“I always live with an open mind and open thinking.”
“Hmm.”
Nan Hee-ju crossed her arms.
She neither agreed nor disagreed.
But judging from her expression and eyes, she leaned more toward disagreement.
“Think what you want. I’ll think what I want.”
“I’m joking, joking. I’m always on your side. And I always will be.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that lightly.”
“You’re not the kind of person who’d take advantage of words like that anyway, are you?”
Nan Hee-ju smiled meaningfully.
They had spent quite a bit of time together and gone through many things.
By now, she felt she understood Ban Hojin to some extent.
That was why she could say it without hesitation.
“This is the kind of person he is.”
“The most important thing in life is watching what you say. Plenty of people have ruined themselves because of their mouths.”
“There’s nothing good about talking too much. Sometimes it’s better to just keep your mouth shut.”
“What about the thing I asked you before? It should be mostly organized by now.”
“You mean the Yangtze River Waterway Strongholds, the Yellow River Waterway Strongholds, and the Dongting Lake Waterway Strongholds? I brought it with me. It took some time to organize recent information. I wanted to maximize accuracy. I can’t afford to look incompetent in what I’m good at.”
Knock knock knock.
As soon as Nan Hee-ju finished speaking, a familiar presence was felt outside the door.
It was Baekseol.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.”
With Ban Hojin’s permission, Baekseol carefully opened the door.
Her expression, however, was slightly flushed unlike usual.
Though she had been waiting outside, she had heard all the conversation inside.
Looking deeply moved, Baekseol gazed at Ban Hojin.
If permitted, she looked ready to even bow in reverence.
“Give it to oppa.”
“Yes.”
However, since she had a task, Baekseol instead conveyed her gratitude through her eyes.
She handed over the thick booklet she had been holding.
“…There’s this much?”
“There are three waterway strongholds alone. This is actually a summary. If we wrote just one page per person, it would be several times thicker than this.”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Seeing the thickness exceed a full hand span, Ban Hojin made a slightly overwhelmed expression.
He had expected a lot, but it was still quite substantial.
“This is just the first batch. There are still things not fully organized yet. I’ll send those separately.”
“You really put in a lot of effort.”
“Of course. You asked for it. And it helps us too. We frequently clash with the water bandits, even if not as much as the Geum Family Estate. Sometimes we cooperate, but our relationship isn’t exactly good.”
Flap.
Ban Hojin accepted the books Baekseol handed over with both hands and placed them on the table.
Then he picked up the one on top.
“It’ll be easier if you read them in numerical order. There’s no special reason—I just organized them by each waterway stronghold. The accuracy is fairly high. Since it’s based on gathered information rather than direct observation, there may be slight errors. You can probably judge their martial level at a glance, but we can’t, so please take that into account.”
“Of course. Even this is more than I expected.”
“Thanks for saying that.”
At Ban Hojin’s sincere words, both Nan Hee-ju and Baekseol smiled at the same time.
It felt like their hard work was being acknowledged.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect you to go this far.”
“If we’re going to do it, we should do it properly. It helps us too. In fact, with the weakening of the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds, we’ve gained quite a bit of indirect benefit. And you practically wiped out most of the Eight Evils.”