Moyong Clan.
One of the Five Great Clans that would rank among the top in the Martial World.
I looked at Moyong Mo, who was laughing heartily.
For now, I quietly assessed Moyong Pung’s profile.
His vigor was high, but the operation seemed riddled with flaws, so I wondered if he had just recently reached the Peak Stage.
Hmm.
To think I could gauge the estimate of a Peak Expert just sitting here!
Is this… Hwa-gyeong?
As I felt a sense of achievement in such an unexpected place, Miss Yeo Il-ye spoke up.
“Moyong Young Hero, I’m sorry, but today is a long-awaited gathering with friends.”
With a chilling gaze and tone rivaling the Nine Yin technique radiating from the Black Cat.
“Haha hahaha!!!”
Though it was clearly disdain, Moyong Pung burst into laughter before responding.
“The more joyous the occasion, the more people should be present, don’t you think?”
“That may be true, but I wouldn’t want to disturb this long-awaited reunion, so please understand.”
“Haha hahaha!!”
Even in her dismissive words, he burst into laughter again.
It was a laugh that seemed to miss the obvious opportunity.
“In that case, we can truly have a conversation tomorrow!”
Miss Yeo Il-ye’s face twisted.
It was a fierce expression, so terrifying that I almost flinched, even though it was sparked by Moyong Pung.
Listening to the conversation, it seemed she was using some excuse to chase away Moyong Pung, but it appeared that the excuse had just shattered upon contact with us.
“I’ll be looking forward to it! Hahaha!!!”
With a consistent laughter, Moyong Pung disappeared.
In the end, I didn’t even catch his name.
“Phew.”
Miss Yeo Il-ye, who seemed furious just from having spoken with Moyong Pung, swept her forehead and downed her drink in one go.
“And the author?”
“That would be Moyong Mo. As you can see, he is from the branch clan of the Moyong Clan.”
So his name really was Moyong Mo.
Typically, referring to oneself as surname + Mo is a sign of humility.
It’s akin to responding to someone who praises, “Oh, your skills in martial arts are impressive!” with “Oh no, I’m still lacking!”
It is a courteous way of acknowledging the opponent while simultaneously lifting oneself, suggesting that you are not worthy enough to be named in comparison.
I thought it was that sort of rhetoric, but it turned out he simply introduced himself.
Tang Do-yeon chimed in.
“I thought I was going to die from irritation when he kept coming around since a few days ago after he arrived.”
“Ah… I see.”
“Being a leech, he will probably come around tomorrow morning bugging us.”
With a frown, Miss Yeo Il-ye realized she had misspoken and awkwardly shifted the topic.
“Oh dear, I seem to have gotten too excited. By the way, didn’t we run into the Master of the Sect?”
“Oh. Right. That’s where the conversation was cut off. Forget the useless guy and let’s get back to the topic.”
The Black Cat also began to share the story, following the cues of the two who were trying to brush off the previous incident as if it had never happened.
“Um. So after being summoned to the Master of the Sect…”
“Oh…”
As the group focused back on the Black Cat’s story, I, too, set aside my thoughts about Moyong Mo and concentrated on keeping the atmosphere lively with the group.
Thus, the issue of Moyong Mo, which had been buried under a brief stir, resurfaced the very next morning.
Moyong Mo showed up right at the inn.
Looking at the faces of my group as if they had eaten something unpleasant and the roaring laughter of Moyong Mo, I couldn’t help but scowl.
After evading Jeong Cheol’s watch, I had come to Shengsu, only to have a nuisance appear before me.
In truth, chasing away Moyong Mo was not at all a difficult task.
However, acting on that would lead to quite a headache.
What posed the problem was Moyong Mo’s background.
To be more precise, it was the Moyong Clan’s branch represented by Moyong Mo and the Shengsu Faction.
The members of the Moyong Clan’s Shengsu Faction!
They were infamous figures, notorious within the Righteous Faction Forces.
Troublesome!
Because of the antics of these fellows, people in the martial world always asked if the person they met was a direct line member or a branch member whenever they encountered someone from the Moyong Clan.
So why are they troublesome?
To explain that, we must first touch on the peculiarities of the clans in the Martial World.
Martial Clans.
What distinguishes Martial Clans from Martial Sects?
First of all, the difference between Martial Clans and Martial Sects derives from access to core martial arts.
Disciples of a sect, above all else, act in order to enhance their strength.
They must show their skills, talents, and efforts to gain closer access to the sect’s core techniques.
But what about the Martial Clans?
In a Martial Clan, only the direct line members can learn the core martial arts of the clan.
The Sacheon Tang Family divides its members into direct line, branch, and non-clan by their abilities and will, but general clans typically categorize their members into direct and branch clans by bloodline.
It meant that those eligible to learn the core techniques were decided from birth.
Let’s consider it from the perspective of an ambitious branch member.
Being tied to the clan by bloodline while being unable to reach the peak position naturally means their gaze would shift outward.
Since they couldn’t become the peak within the house, they would establish a prosperous business outside!
From a direct line member’s perspective, this wasn’t a bad situation either.
Even as a branch member, they were still explicitly a member of the Moyong Clan. If a member wanted to expand their influence, why refuse?
Thus, branch members of the clan would often establish their presence in other regions to either gain the proper support from the main family or to break away with nothing but their bare hands.
The branch members of the Moyong Clan’s Shengsu Faction were among such usual branch members.
However, what set them apart from other ordinary branch groups is that they hit a mega jackpot.
The large mountains they bought for the timber business?
They discovered a massive iron ore deposit.
It was practically a windfall!
The Shengsu Faction of the Moyong Clan expanded rapidly. With their success, branch members naturally flocked to them, and due to the nature of the iron mining business, they had to manage numerous laborers and skilled workers, making the faction’s scale inevitably grow.
At this point, the Shengsu Faction’s branch members began to grow a bit greedy.
Do we really need to heed the annoying orders from the main family?
They wouldn’t disclose the clan’s techniques anyway, and they had enough martial artists gathered in the faction, along with ample financial and human resources.
Actually, if you think about it, couldn’t this side become the main family?
Though the main family had its techniques, in terms of influence, wouldn’t this side be superior?
Thus, the branch members of the Shengsu Faction created an unprecedented incident in the Martial World.
They claimed that the Shengsu Faction was the headquarter of the Moyong Clan and that they were the direct line!
Such actions by the branch members of the Shengsu Faction would be viewed very unfavorably by the major branches and clans.
It was only natural for members of other clans to express rejection against the branch members of the Shengsu Faction. No clan would be pleased to see the order of existing clans being disrupted by the Shengsu Faction branch.
From the perspective of the sects, the matter was just as awkward.
Let’s think from the sect’s viewpoint.
Distribution of resources in the martial world was a significant issue.
And the direct line and branch members of clans were distinctly different statuses.
Having those who inherited the clan’s core techniques and those who did not receive the same treatment was, in some sense, a reverse discrimination.
Yet, the branch members of the Shengsu Faction wished to receive treatment equivalent to that of direct line status from other sects.
Such behavior from the branch members of the Shengsu Faction was a troublesome problem for the sects.
Conflict between the clan’s direct line and branch?
Conflict between the faction and the main family?
It was an important matter for them, but from the sects’ standpoint, it was none of their concern.
They would rather have the family sort out their domestic issues.
Or else, at least behave appropriately in public.
Major factions expressed those sentiments in various ways and kept their distance from the branch members of the Shengsu Faction.
But if things were resolved at that level, would the branch members of the Shengsu Faction have gained their reputation as the troublemakers of the martial world?
The branch members of the Shengsu Faction actively attached themselves to the influential and prestigious members of the big factions in the martial world.
And the reason was simple.
They needed to be recognized by those prominent factions and prestigious clans as the headquarters of the Moyong Clan and as the direct line members.
The Shengsu Faction had no members who learned the clan’s techniques from the beginning.
To become the headquarters of that Shengsu Faction, the only way to achieve that was by gaining recognition from other forces.
What about the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Clans?
It would be like a muddy fish sticking to the Moyong Clan, sullying its name while muddling the waters of the martial world.
However, it was ambiguous to beat them outright, given they claimed to be the main family, and entirely ignoring them was too difficult due to their size.
Giving them the treatment of a main family was against the laws of the martial world, and treating them as a branch would provoke violent outbursts from these troublesome fellows.
Simply avoiding them was the answer to the troubles.
“Haha!”
That was exactly Moyong Mo standing right in front of me.
“Phew.”
Tang Do-yeon sighed and rubbed her forehead.
In fact, it was hard to find substantial grounds to reprimand Moyong Mo’s actions.
In an era where it wasn’t a serious blemish for a man to pursue a woman unless it endangered their safety or led to inappropriate conduct.
If one drove off Moyong Mo by force, they’d likely face a backlash from the entire Shengsu Faction, demanding why they targeted a member of the Moyong Clan’s direct line over such a trivial matter.
However, if I actually let them sit together, both Tang Do-yeon and Miss Yeo Il-ye would find themselves in a tricky situation.
The mere association with Moyong Mo would drag them into a conflict between the Moyong Clans.
“Haha! I came to fulfill my promise today!”
To be honest, from an objective standpoint, Moyong Mo was a man brimming with confidence.
He wasn’t bad-looking, and if he reached the Peak Stage, he would be impressive even across the entire Martial World, plus boasting the background of claiming to be a direct member of the Moyong Clan and his ability to back it up.
There would be nothing he feared in the world.
As I looked at Moyong Mo striding over, I burst into loud laughter.
Moyong Mo was just as startled as my flabbergasted companions.
“Wahahahaha!!!”
I laughed even louder until I suddenly stopped.
The people in the inn, who had already been watching us because of Moyong Mo, turned their attention here entirely.
“Impressive! Truly impressive! You are indeed a hero and a gallant one! What is your name?”
As I spread my arms wide in exaggerated praise, a flustered Moyong Mo eventually opened his mouth, conscious of the gazes around him.
“I’m Moyong Mo, a direct member of the great Moyong Clan.”
“Oh! A member of the Moyong Clan! Indeed!”
“Cough, direct line…”
“Truly amazing! That boisterous nature must indeed stem from the Moyong Clan!!”
I overwhelmed his attempts to assert his direct line status with my loud voice.
“Ah, no…”
“Today, I’ve met a true man!”
“So…”
“Come on! Let’s engage, just the men!! We’ll discuss boisterousness!!”
“Oh, today is… Miss…”
“Hahaha!!!”
As I forcibly put my arm around Moyong Mo’s shoulder and gestured behind, the Black Cat nudged Miss Yeo Il-ye forward.
“Come on, those great heroes over there seem to want to engage in camaraderie amongst men.”
Quick-witted Tang Do-yeon immediately chimed in.
“Hmm. That’s right. There must be something that great heroes understand together. Let’s not interrupt and move on.”
Miss Yeo Il-ye and Tang Do-yeon, who had been casting disdain on Moyong Mo, merely nodded and pretended to follow suit.
“Oh, no! Misses!”
“Wahahaha!! Come! Come this way without hesitation!!”
Pulled along!
Moyong Mo strained against my grip, but how could a baby just newly entered the Peak Stage stand against me?
He was dragged along without any resistance, forced to match my rhythm due to the eyes of the surrounding crowd.
“Hahaha! Come! Drink this!!!”
“Ha… ha… ha…”
I looked at the pale-faced Moyong Mo as he accepted the cup I offered.
If even the mere act of coming into contact was a problem for him,
It would be an easy matter to prevent contact altogether.
“Wahahaha!!!”
I laughed heartily as I thought.
Yes, Moyong Mo.
I’ll make sure to hold tight!
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