Cheonyeong, who had been looking in the direction Gongson Seung had disappeared, turns his gaze to Baekta, who is greedily devouring food.

A future leader, acting so undignified...

"Aren't you going?"

"I have to go."

"Then go."

"That's not right."

"What's not right?"

"To leave the food and wine that have been prepared is a great sin for a proud Beggars' Sect member."

Baekta flatly refused Cheonyeong's order to leave.

This damn beggar... This food wasn't prepared for you to eat.

And he's stuffing food into his mouth the whole time he's talking.

Damn punk.

"Hah, forget it. Forget it. Do as you please."

Cheonyeong, who couldn't bring himself to be so cold as to kick out a poor beggar, even though he was a family head, waved his hand.

"But what's the matter that a person who is the Dongting Lake North Branch Leader and a future leader candidate has come all the way here? Let's at least know the reason."

"...!?"

Nosanggae's eyes widen in surprise at Cheonyeong's words.

"No, how did you know?"

"What? That he's a future leader candidate?"

"Uh-huh..."

"Anyone can see that."

At those words, Nosanggae blinks his eyes and looks back and forth between Cheonyeong and Baekta.

"He figured it out quickly. Well, it's an open secret."

"Well, that's true, but..."

"It's okay, senior brother. He's a punk who's just as you said."

"Hmm."

Baekta holds a piece of meat in both hands and smiles with a mouth glistening with grease.

Use a tool, a tool.

This punk, why does a person use his hands when there are chopsticks and a spoon?

"Tell me. The fact that you moved means a special mission has come down from the Beggars' Sect."

"Hmm, it's nothing much."

"It's nothing much, but you came?"

"Well, I came to check something."

"What?"

"You know Yunnan, right?"

"I know."

"No, not the name."

"Then?"

"I mean, do you know what kind of place Yunnan is?"

"Yunnan..."

He knows it quite well.

A place called the frontier of the Central Plains, or the outer world. In the martial world, it is called one of the Three Outer Worlds, along with the North Sea and the Zhejiang Archipelago.

Among them, Yunnan, in particular, was a place with many memories for Cheonyeong.

Yunnan, with its dense jungle and humidity, has preserved its primeval nature.

So the tribes that have settled there often make a living by gathering and hunting, and one of the things produced there is poison.

For assassins, poison is an inseparable item, but if they use a low-grade poison and fail to get the desired effect or fail in their killing, aren't they likely to face a backlash?

So in his previous life, Cheonyeong never used poison unless it was from Yunnan. He always went through a verification process when buying poison in the black market.

There were quite a few damn punks who faked the place of origin.

Thanks to that, Cheonyeong got to know a Yunnan merchant who sold poison directly in the black market and heard many stories.

About Yunnan Province...

Of course, he had never actually been there.

It was hot, humid, and far away.

"I don't know if you know, but Yunnan is one of the places commonly called the Three Outer Worlds."

"Hmm."

"To be precise, it refers to the Southern Sky Alliance, a confederation of three sects in Yunnan: the Beast Palace, the Poison Valley, and the Five Poisons Gate. Since it's a place with the power to compete with the Central Plains with just three sects... you can imagine how strong it is, right?"

"Yes. But why them?"

"Their movements have been unusual lately."

"Unusual?"

"The Five Poisons Gate, located in the north of Yunnan, has moved its branch near Sicheon."

"Its branch?"

"Yes, it hasn't crossed the border with Sicheon yet... but we can't help but be concerned."

Baekta's gaze became quite serious.

"...Is it an order from the Alliance?"

Baekta wears a surprised expression at Cheonyeong's words and then smiles.

"As expected, I can't fool your eyes."

"It means you're moving on an official request."

"It's official, but it's still unofficial. First, we need to know their intention in deploying their branch to the north."

"Unofficial... it sounds like there's no support from the Alliance."

"That's right. They'll also be spreading their own information network and watching us. Neither the Bluegreen Stronghold nor Emei, nor any sect in Sicheon will move."

"It will be dangerous."

"Well, it's a daily routine."

Baekta grins.

Cheonyeong briefly recalls what Gongson Seung had said.

The medical hall he wanted to create in the Tang Family's estate.

There were enough medicinal herbs. Because the herb gatherers were tirelessly roaming the mountains of Sicheon and supplying them.

What was needed was a physician. A person who could treat people and handle medicinal herbs.

In fact, poison and medicine could be said to be a fine line. Depending on which side you lean towards, it can become a poison or a medicine.

The same goes for the person who uses it.

If you use it as a poison, you become a villain, and if you use it as a medicine, you become a good person, or a righteous person.

The basics are the same.

"Hmm..."

The border between Sicheon and Yunnan.

Among the people living there, there would surely be people who handle poison. And among those who handle poison, there would be those who are well-versed in medicine.

Shouldn't the medical hall of the Tang Family's estate be something different from what other martial families have?

Yes. Let's take this opportunity to create a new medical hall that has never existed before.

A medical hall that can not only save people, but also kill with poison.

So that whenever a moment of crisis comes, it can become another weapon of the Tang Family's estate.

And who knows?

Through this visit, the Tang Family's estate might be able to open a trade with the merchants who handle the poisons of Yunnan.

"Myeongseon."

"Huh?"

"If it's not a bother, can I go with you?"

"...Together?"

Baekta puts down the food he was eating and stares at Cheonyeong's words.

"Since Family Head Gongson is taking care of all my work, I have some free time, and the leaders who have passed on their troublesome problems will also have time, so their training results will be good. Also, I wanted to see the outer world on this occasion."

"The outer world?"

"Yes. I am the family head of the Tang Family's estate. As the master of a family located in Sicheon, I can't help but be concerned about Yunnan, which faces the border."

"Hmm..."

"Since I might become the master of Sicheon someday, I thought it wouldn't be bad to see it in advance."

Baekta's mouth splits into a wide grin at Cheonyeong's words.

"I'd love that! If I go with you, I won't be bored."

"The two of us?"

"Huh?"

"I want that punk to go with us too."

"Who?"

Baekta tilts his head, looking in the direction Cheonyeong pointed with his finger.

"Heavenly Power Pestle?"

"He's the Deputy Family Head."

"I know, is he going too?"

"He needs to know as much as I do."

"Well, it doesn't matter to me."

"Alright. Then let's leave early tomorrow morning."

"Huh? So early?"

"I'm the type to take care of things right away when I think of them."

"...Well, let's do that."

* * *

The next morning, their travel bags were packed, and the leaders of the Tang Family's estate gathered in front of the Three Yang Hall to see Cheonyeong off.

Since they always woke up early in the morning to train, their wake-up time was not particularly moved up.

"Hey!"

"...?"

Yongcheon gets annoyed at Baekta, who arrived late, yawning.

But, hey?

It was such a natural informal address that Baekta, whose sleep had been startled away, stares blankly at Yongcheon.

"What's with the slowness? We've been waiting for a long time."

Baekta wore a dumbfounded expression at Yongcheon's scolding.

"Huh?"

"You're not fully awake yet? What's with the 'huh'?"

"No, you suddenly spoke informally."

"I heard you decided to be friends with our family head."

"Well, that's true, but..."

"Then you're my friend too."

"A friend?"

"Of course. I'm originally the best friend of our family head. So you're my friend too."

"Ah..."

Since Yongcheon was so confident, Baekta nodded his head without realizing it.

"Wait a minute. No, I'm five years older..."

"Does age matter between friends?"

"Well, no, but."

"Then it's settled. I'm counting on you until Yunnan."

Yongcheon grins and pats Baekta's shoulder.

This is, well, beyond being hearty, it's a case of being rude.

"But what's all that?"

Baekta asks with a puzzled look, looking at the large object that Yongcheon is carrying on his shoulder.

"Luggage."

"Luggage?"

"Yeah."

It's a huge size.

It looks like it could fit one, no, two adult men...

"You have that much luggage?"

"Of course. Even if it's sleeping outdoors, can I let our family head sleep on the bare ground?"

"Sleeping outdoors is sleeping on the bare ground."

"Basic bedding, hunting tools, cooking utensils needed for cooking, etc."

"You're taking all that?"

"Of course. It's my role as the Deputy Family Head to comfortably assist the Family Head."

Yongcheon pounds his chest so hard that it makes a thumping sound.

"No, but this is a bit much."

As Baekta frowns.

"Why? I prepared it... is something wrong?"

"Pardon?"

Sanghui asks, looking at Baekta with a cold face.

"Ah, well, it's not that something is wrong..."

"Then it's fine. It's not your luggage, so don't worry about it."

"Yes."

He nods his head awkwardly, but the Inner Hall Master's attire was strange.

Unlike the others who had come to see them off, didn't she look like someone going on a long journey?

"Huh? By any chance... is the Inner Hall Master going with us too?"

"Yes."

"Pardon? Why?"

"Is there any reason why I can't go?"

Sanghui's expression becomes even colder.

"No, not particularly, but what about the household affairs of the Tang Family's estate?"

"It's not the business of the Dongting Lake North Branch Leader to worry about the affairs of our family."

"Pardon?"

Baekta blinks his eyes.

It is... his business.

In the first place, going to Yunnan was also his mission.

The Tang Family's estate was just accompanying him. But what was this atmosphere, as if the guest and host had been reversed?

"Because I'm not at ease."

"What are you not at ease about?"

Baekta, who had asked with a puzzled expression, flinched.

The gaze of the Twin Flash Asura looking at him.

His spine tingled at the coldness that filled it.

What is it? Why is she looking at him with such a gaze?

There is a saying that if a woman holds a grudge, frost will fall even in the fifth and sixth months.

It was that kind of gaze.

No, what on earth did he do wrong? Did he make some mistake last night?

He wasn't that drunk...

"Oh? You're here?"

Just as Baekta was pondering about Sanghui's gaze, Cheonyeong, who had finished his preparations, came outside.

"Ah, Family Head Tang."

Baekta, who had greeted him happily as if he had met a savior, quickly approaches Cheonyeong and whispers.

"By any chance, yesterday, I mean."

"Yesterday?"

"Did I make some mistake at the banquet?"

"Well, I don't particularly remember anything like that."

"Then why on earth?"

Cheonyeong smirks as Baekta glances at Sanghui.

He had... made a mistake.

Thanks to that, Sanghui was going with them.

Last night, Sanghui, who had heard that Yongcheon was included in the trip to Yunnan with Baekta, had insisted that she would go too.

Although he had said no, it was useless.

Since she had heard that Yongcheon was popular with the women of Dongting Lake, her heart must have been in a mess.

"Sanghui is going with us too. Is that okay?"

"It doesn't matter if one person is added, but that kind of gaze is a bit... and is it okay for the Inner Hall Master to be absent, not to mention the Deputy Family Head?"

"It's okay. Because Family Head Gongson is doing the work of several people."

"But I somehow..."

Although Baekta wore a reluctant expression, Cheonyeong did not explain the reason.

It's karma, karma.

Why did you say useless things to get close...

Although it was creaking from the start, the journey towards the border of Yunnan and Sicheon began anyway.

(End of Chapter)