I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I obtained Guan Yu’s martial prowess 034
Yang Family (4)
“Oh. Nice room.”
Guan Hui nodded with satisfaction as he stepped into the guest quarters the Yang Family had prepared for him.
“Rich households really are different.”
The Yang Family was unquestionably the premier family of Shanxi Province.
The guest house they had arranged befitted a family that had long served in the Military Ministry and accumulated both wealth and influence—it was enormous in scale.
If anything, it rivaled the Guan Family’s own manor.
“And they have five of these, apparently.”
Guan Hui let out a rueful laugh.
He had believed the Guan Family had built considerable wealth for itself, but seeing the real thing was truly astonishing.
“The Yang Family has accumulated their riches over a very long time, after all.”
Ju Ho spoke with evident displeasure, his lips pursing.
“We can do the same. Brother. We’re aiming for the Aristocratic Family rank, aren’t we? We’ll have the Yang Family in our grasp within half a year.”
……
Guan Hui regarded Ju Ho with an odd look.
‘What a strange one.’
Guan Hui’s ambition to make the Guan Family an Aristocratic Family.
His retainers follow and support him because it is the head’s will, but they hold no real conviction.
It was natural to doubt whether the Guan Family, which had faced near-annihilation not long ago, could truly achieve such a thing.
But for someone not even born into the Guan Family to harbor such ambitions—that was remarkable.
“I like that.”
Guan Hui smiled faintly and tapped the boy’s shoulder.
“……Why would you say that?”
Ju Ho, bewildered, could only stare with wide eyes.
-I agree with you. That boy will prove a great asset to the family.
Guan Yu too endorsed Guan Hui’s assessment, adding his own words.
-Just as not all who walk the White Path are virtuous, neither are all who tread the Black Path wicked. Though that boy may have lived the life of a petty thief, if you guide him well, he could grow into an excellent Strategist.
A long adage from the ancestor, after a long silence.
Guan Hui tilted his head with a wry expression.
‘I’d rather not watch him become arrogant once he’s promoted to Strategist.’
Ju Ho’s ordinary features were especially insufferable when he wore that smug expression.
Guan Hui preferred seeing him aggrieved far more.
“Ah, but Brother, there’s something we need to be careful about from now on.”
“Careful?”
“Yes. From what I can gather, this invitation has a clear purpose. They mean to humble the Guan Family and the Anmun Jang Family.”
“Explain in detail.”
Interest flickered across Guan Hui’s gaze.
“The patriarch of the Yang Family is extremely arrogant and authoritative. Being of Military Ministry stock, he tends to look down on martial artists from the Central Plains.”
The Yang Family’s direct line all followed a unique custom of serving in the Military Ministry for a set period before returning home.
It was a practice designed to deepen ties with the Military Ministry and thereby maintain the family’s power.
“When someone of Military Ministry background invites others, there’s usually a reason, and I believe his reason is to display his authority.”
“Authority?”
“Yes. Though your Guan Family and the Anmun Jang Family are doing well enough, you’re still beneath us. Don’t get any ideas, be satisfied with your station, and accept your place. That sort of thing.”
“Hmm.”
Guan Hui nodded in agreement.
The family’s Chief Steward had said something similar before he left.
“So he intends to provoke me and Jang Seong to establish his dominance.”
“You catch on quickly, as expected. Exactly. He’ll certainly resort to various schemes at tonight’s banquet.”
“Don’t worry. I’m patient.”
At Guan Hui’s confident reply, Ju Ho tilted his head skeptically.
“That doesn’t match what I know……. You’re not patient at all. You always say whatever’s on your mind…….”
Guan Yu also offered his voice.
-You do have a tendency to speak whatever thoughts are in your heart.
“Huh!?”
Guan Hui let out an aggrieved laugh, drumming his chest.
“If I misspeak, I’ll write a hundred times on my palm.”

* * *
The evening banquet held by the Yang Family brought together numerous luminaries of Taiyuan.
“Hah, it’s been quite some time. Master of the Yang Family.”
“Your spirits grow sharper with each passing day, I see.”
“They say the Yang Family is the foremost clan in Shanxi Province. This very aura is no ordinary thing. Hah.”
From the master of the Taeseong Merchant Company to the celebrated chief of a renowned Escort Agency, retired masters of the martial world, elders of the Hangsan Sect—
Those connected through the web Yang Mu Won had woven with his wealth spoke without restraint, gilding the Yang Family name from the very moment the feast began and lavishing praise upon the family master.
An endless procession of wine and food flowed through the hands of servants.
As dusk descended, the atmosphere ripened, and the revelry grew louder still.
“…….”
Yet not all present savored the wine and feast with equal joy.
Jang Seong, the eldest son of the Anmun Jang Family, wore a expression that soured throughout the gathering.
‘How crude.’
The Yang Family master had deliberately seated both Jang Seong and Guan Hui at the lowest table.
The very end of the seating order.
A place even beneath that of a mere merchant company’s chief administrator.
‘So this is his way of dealing out shame.’
Now Jang Seong understood why his father had sent him in his stead.
Beyond the harsh beating dealt for his failure, this was a punishment of sorts—a message delivered in silence.
“Huff.”
Jang Seong’s throat felt tight; food would not pass his lips.
‘Does that fool have no shame? The way he devours everything…’
His gaze drifted to the opposite end of the lowest table, where Guan Hui and Ju Ho sat.
The two were eating with the ravenous hunger of men who had fasted for seven days and nights.
They consumed with such gusto that even the heads of the Escort Agency—men renowned for their appetites—raised their thumbs in admiration.
‘In a certain way… impressive.’
Jang Seong glanced at Guan Hui and took a sip of wine.
Though the man was half-blood and foolish, and Jang Seong bore him no affection for having killed his own brother, he could not deny a certain regret for his subordinate’s overreach.
Of course, he harbored some remorse for that transgression.
In any case, Jang Seong’s feelings toward Guan Hui remained largely negative.
But that thought had begun to shift, if only slightly.
It was the sight of this morning that had wrought the change—a clever move that had outmaneuvered the Yang Family master.
‘He’s not entirely contemptible, it seems.’
Unlike his cowardly brother, the man possessed a certain martial dignity that stirred something in Jang Seong’s chest.
And there was something almost enviable in the easy rapport he shared with his subordinate.
“This wine tastes foul.”
Jang Seong grimaced at his cup, which seemed to carry the weight of solitude itself, when someone spoke.
“But Master Yang, those seated at the lower table—who are they? Would you introduce them?”
“Ah, I seem to have forgotten my introductions.”
Yang Mu Won, wearing a warm smile quite unlike his morning demeanor, pointed at Jang Seong with a single finger.
“This is Jang Seong, a minor master from Anmun.”
Having deliberately omitted the family name from the introduction, Jang Seong refused to yield, adding his own correction.
“The young master of the Anmun Jang Family. I am Jang Seong, called the Jade Blade.”
“Oh? An alias I’ve not heard before.”
“A pleasure to meet you, young Jang.”
“……?”
The unexpected response made Jang Seong’s brow twitch.
Though he was reluctant to speak of it himself, the alias of Jade Blade was fairly well known within Shanxi Province.
Usually such men reacted with surprise or admiration—they did not simply brush past it with such indifference.
As understanding dawned, Jang Seong’s eyes sharpened in an instant.
‘The stage has been prepared.’
It was clear the Yang Family master had brought only his own inner circle as guests.
All to polish the prestige of the Yang Family and to trample upon the names of both the Anmun Jang Family and the Guan Family.
“……Huff.”
Veins rose suddenly on Jang Seong’s brow as he sought solace in wine.
Had he not drowned his fury in drink, he might have unleashed something terrible.
“Hah, the Jade Blade is an alias even I have heard.”
Wang Hang, the master of the Taeseong Merchant Company, whose face had flushed with drink, lifted the corner of his mouth in a subtle smile.
“But isn’t the Liu Yun Spear the true thing? Or am I mistaken?”
“Indeed, you speak truly.”
“Our Yang minor master, known as the Liu Yun Spear, is a prospect without equal in terms of future potential.”
“Hah, so I have heard as well. Young Master Yang is surely a talent destined soon for the Five Dragons Three Phoenixes!”
The guests seized the moment to heap praise on Yang Yun Sang, the Yang family master’s son, their compliments flowing without pause.
The flattery came so relentlessly that Jang Seong had no opening to object.
Clench—
Jang Seong’s face twisted with fury, his arms trembling with barely suppressed rage.
Watching this display with a satisfied smile, Yang Mu Won gave a subtle gesture to the assembled guests.
It was a signal to direct their attention toward the next target.
“Master Yang, then who might that guest over there be?”
“Ah, they are the master of the Guan Family from Yunsheng, and his subordinate.”
“The Guan Family?”
“I confess I’ve never heard the name. A newly risen house, perhaps?”
“How long has your family existed, by any chance?”
The guests’ sharp gazes fixed upon Guan Hui like predators circling prey.
It was the look of beasts preparing to tear into their meal.
“Ah, you mean my family?”
Guan Hui, who had been gnawing on a chicken leg, scratched the bridge of his nose.
“Well, I’d say we’ve been around longer than this place. We carry the blood of Guan Yu, after all.”
Yang Mu Won’s brow furrowed sharply at those words.
“Ah, so you are descended from Guan Yu himself.”
The merchant master Wang Hang tilted his head with patent skepticism.
“But have you had your family genealogy verified? There are so many houses that steal the names of heroes from the age of Three Kingdoms and fabricate their lineages. Ha ha.”
“Ha ha, indeed, there are quite a few such families.”
“Are there not some fools who claim to be of Liu Bei’s blood merely because they have large ears?”
Perhaps because of Yang Mu Won’s distorted expression.
The mockery grew many times sharper than it had been toward Jang Seong.
To question the very roots of a family—
Had this been anywhere but a banquet, swords would have been drawn several times over.
“Well, believe it or don’t. That’s your choice.”
But Guan Hui refused to take the bait.
Instead, he shrugged with deliberate indifference.
“So you won’t provide proof, then?”
“That’s right.”
Wang Hang’s smile deepened at the response.
“Then I take it you’re admitting you’re a fake?”
“Think what you like.”
Guan Hui waved a dismissive hand through the air.
“We’ve no intention of doing business with the likes of you anyway. So what difference does it make to me what foolish ideas you people entertain?”
…
“Th-this man, how dare you—!”
Cascading verbal abuse left the guests too stunned to respond.
The content was crude gutter language, but delivered with such formal packaging and respectful address that they couldn’t even muster proper anger—they simply sat there agape.
“Master Guan, Yunsheng is not so very far from Taiyuan.”
Wang Hang, who had just been branded a fool, straightened his expression and spoke.
“It’s possible our paths might cross again in the not-distant future. Are you certain you won’t come to regret this brashness?”
Cloaked in merchant’s courtesy though the words were, Wang Hang’s meaning was unmistakable.
Can you afford to make enemies of us?
“Ah, there’s no need to worry about that at all.”
Guan Hui raised a chicken leg as though proposing a toast.
“Look at this chicken leg. Plump and tender—clearly from a bird of the finest quality.”
“What does that have to do with—”
“The Guan Family deals only in premium goods. Chickens and people alike—we trade exclusively with the genuine article.”
A naked sneer played at the corners of Guan Hui’s mouth.
“Th-this man—?!”
“Are you insulting us right now—?!”
“Such discourtesy—!”
“Be quiet.”
Guan Hui released a surge of presence that silenced them all, his brow furrowing with annoyance.
“I’m just trying to eat in peace and leave. You can spout nonsense from your mouths or eat it for all I care.”
“Th-this bast—!”
The faces of Wang Hang and the other guests flushed crimson with rage.
“Some backwater clan from Yunsheng dares to—!”
“Do you think we would forgive such insolence?”
“This swordsman! Cut down that arrogant wretch at once——!”
“Enough.”
A low, quiet voice sent ripples through the hall.
“…….”
“…….”
The murmuring crowd fell silent in an instant.
The guests, who moments before had burned with anger, immediately closed their mouths and began watching Yang Mu Won’s expression.
“Interesting.”
Yang Mu Won, who had commanded everyone’s attention with a single word, slowly raised his cup to his lips.
He wetted his throat with the wine, then fixed Guan Hui with a steady gaze.
His eyes held no anger, no particular interest—nothing of the sort.
Only a perfectly composed rationality showed through.
“I do admire your spirit.”
“Well. I’m grateful for the compliment.”
“But here’s the thing—to speak such words, one must first have the strength to back them up.”
A faint smile played at the corners of Yang Mu Won’s mouth.
“Does the Guan Family have the power to utter such words?”
“…….”
Guan Hui’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
‘This bastard.’
First he’d been subtle, but now he was pressing down with raw force.
‘Damn. That’s aggravating.’
It would be the right thing to let it pass, just as Ju Ho had said.
There were too many witnesses here, and most of them sided with the Yang Family anyway.
‘Right. I should let it go.’
Guan Hui recalled Ju Ho’s earnest request once more and resolved to swallow his pride this time.
And then, in that moment.
The corner of Guan Hui’s mouth twitched.
“Ah…….”
And seeing that twitch, Ju Ho understood.
‘We’re done for.’
Guan Hui, master of the Guan Family.
He had a habit of twitching the corner of his mouth whenever he was about to let slip what he truly felt.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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