Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 94

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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Chapter 94.
The Butler finished calling out the names of the eight survivors and rolled up the scroll.
Family Head Yalü Jin rose slowly from his seat.
“The first day of the martial tournament concludes here. The semifinals will commence tomorrow morning. All participants are to rest and prepare yourselves fully for tomorrow.”
“True enough—with the dedication matches included today, pushing further would be excessive.”
“It’s unfortunate, but taking a day’s rest here is the right call.”
The atmosphere was largely one of agreement.
Yet the moment the Family Head spoke again, the air in the hall trembled once more.
“Furthermore, those who advance to the semifinals and their companions shall be provided lodging in the Inner Hall and private training facilities.”
A brief silence.
Soon, soft exclamations leaked out from various corners.
“The Inner Hall…?”
“Does that mean the semifinalists will be treated as honored guests of the main house?”
If the Outer Hall was the space for guests and lesser disciples, the Inner Hall was different.
The heart of the main residence where the direct bloodline of the Guang Feng Yalü Family dwelled—a place only those whose identity and qualifications were recognized could enter.
Yeon Ha Ran reflexively grasped Yeon So Ran’s sleeve.
“Sister, did you hear? The Inner Hall. The Inner Hall!”
A faint smile graced Yeon So Ran’s lips.
‘As expected.’
My choice had not been wrong.
Forgoing the initial opportunity to enter the Inner Hall and standing on equal footing with Yun Cheon’s group.
During my stay in the Outer Hall, I observed people, read the currents, and witnessed firsthand the rise of the Black Dragon Gang’s standing.
And now, the price of that choice was returning to me.
‘I’ve proven my discernment.’
Yeon So Ran felt pride in that fact.
Rather than appearing as a clueless woman riding on her parents’ coattails, I wished to be seen as a woman of genuine insight.
Kang Hui laughed with a short whistle.
“Now we’re finally receiving proper hospitality.”
Yalü Hee accepted it matter-of-factly.
“With skill alone, one’s lodging changes quickly. Not that it’s a particularly welcome place, though.”
Yun Cheon spoke briefly.
“Don’t get carried away. What matters is tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
Kang Hui grinned.
“Now the truly strong ones will finally appear.”
At that moment, Yalü Hyeon descended from the judges’ platform and approached the group.
“Young Master. Allow me to personally escort you to the Inner Hall.”
Yun Cheon nodded.
Yalü Hyeon’s gaze turned briefly toward Yalü Hee.
“Sister… Father has acknowledged you.”
“…I’ve only just earned recognition for my aptitude. There’s still a long road ahead.”
Yalü Hyeon nodded calmly, knowing his sister would never be satisfied with merely that.
Yalü Hyeon stepped back and gestured.
“Please, come this way.”
The Black Dragon Gang entourage followed in his wake. The Yeon sisters and Yeop Cheong A accompanied them as well.
Their path diverged from those returning to the Outer Hall.
Beyond the Grand Martial Arena, a corridor wound deeper into the main residence.
The passageway leading to the Inner Hall was adorned with crimson decorative carvings, and the subtle fragrance of pine permeated the air.
When the corridor turned once more, a garden opened before them.
An ancient pine tree stood sentinel at its center, flanked by meticulously arranged flower beds and a pond. It was far more serene than the Outer Hall—a space far more enclosed and intimate.
“From here onward is the Inner Hall.”
Yalü Hyeon offered a brief explanation.
Kang Hui inhaled the pine scent and let out a low chuckle.
“Huh. It really is a different world from the Outer Hall.”
Yeon Ha Ran’s eyes sparkled.
“Right? It feels like a completely different place!”
Yalü Hee walked along the corridor and gazed once at the pine tree in the center of the garden.
It was a path she had traversed countless times in her childhood.
Yet now, she walked it again not as a daughter of the Guang Feng Yalü Family, but as a member of the Black Dragon Gang.
‘It’s been my first time since entering Zamadong… three years, perhaps?’
The sentiment was peculiar, but she had no intention of being swept away by it.
Yalü Hyeon came to a halt before the Guest House.
“…Please rest comfortably. We shall meet again at the Training Ground tomorrow morning.”
Though brief, his words carried a quiet tension—an awareness of tomorrow’s martial contest.
‘…In the worst case, my sister might become my opponent in the contest tomorrow.’
* * *
Deep within the Inner Hall, in the patriarch’s chambers.
As the heavy door closed, the noise from outside was completely severed.
Within the spacious room, the thick scent of aloeswood mingled with the humid warmth of a heated debate that had only just concluded.
Patriarch Yalü Jin sat in the seat of honor, with three elderly elders positioned below him. Vice-patriarch Yalü Cheok sat beside them, his lips pressed firmly shut.
Breaking the heavy silence, a white-haired elder spoke first. His voice was low, threaded with a metallic edge.
“Patriarch. There is one matter we must settle.”
Yalü Jin merely turned his head.
“The main family must decide how to accept Hee.”
The white-haired elder’s opening words were resolute.
“Is Hee a daughter of the main family? Or is she an outsider belonging to the Black Dragon Gang?”
At those words, the air in the room settled imperceptibly.
A lean-framed elder immediately took up the thread.
“Hee carries the blood of the Guang Feng Yalü Family from the beginning. She has not abandoned her name, nor has she ever been struck from the genealogy. She even proved her talent in today’s martial exhibition—how can she be called an outsider?”
The white-haired elder let out a derisive snort.
“She kicked away the marriage proposal and left of her own accord. Upon her return, she declared her allegiance not to the main family, but to the Black Dragon Gang. How can one who refuses to follow the family’s laws become a member of this household?”
The portly elder set down his teacup slowly.
“Yet what does the main family gain by casting her out as an outsider? Yalü Hee did not return empty-handed. She earned recognition at the martial tournament and advanced to the eighth rank.”
“The strict discipline of the main family must be upheld! Achievements do not erase the law. If we set such a precedent, who will fear the family code?”
The white-haired elder cut sharply.
The gaunt elder clicked his tongue.
“Tsk… Family law exists ultimately for the main family’s benefit. If we simply cast aside such exceptional talent—”
“Talent? She is a willful daughter who has returned after doing as she pleased.”
Though the three spoke with different voices, they all debated the same question: where should Yalü Hee be placed?
At first, it seemed a clash between principle and pragmatism.
Yet to Yalü Cheok, it was ultimately the same.
No one asked what Yalü Hee herself desired from standing in this place.
The portly elder spoke again.
“Family Head. Granting a hundred concessions—let us say Yalü Hee is an outsider. But then the picture becomes most unfavorable.”
The white-haired elder narrowed his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“Look at those who reached the eighth rank. If we leave Yalü Hee under the Black Dragon Gang, an obscure faction from Qinghai will have three names registered in the main family’s martial tournament. Kang Hui, Yun Cheon, and Yalü Hee herself.”
The room fell silent for a moment.
The elder tapped the table with his fingertips and continued.
“Meanwhile, the main family? Only the legitimate young master. In a martial tournament hosted by the Guang Feng Yalü Family, external factions’ names appear more frequently than the main family’s own.”
The gaunt elder’s eyes widened slightly.
“…If we place Yalü Hee with the main family, it becomes two from the Black Dragon Gang and two from the Guang Feng Yalü Family.”
“Furthermore.”
The portly elder added one more point.
“With the current bracket, if the young master and Yalü Hee face each other in the eighth rank, one of the main family’s disciples will certainly advance to the fourth rank.”
A brief silence.
Not a silence of conflict.
A silence where the numbers aligned perfectly.
The white-haired elder exhaled like a sigh.
“…There is merit to it.”
The gaunt elder immediately continued.
“If we place Yalü Hee with the main family, the picture becomes clear at once. Both dignity and numbers are satisfied.”
The portly elder nodded as well.
“She still bears the family name, so there is justification. We can settle it this way before the eighth rank begins.”
The divisions that had existed moments before converged into one.
Where should Yalü Hee be placed to benefit the Guang Feng Yalü Family most?
That was the only conclusion.
Yalü Cheok sighed quietly within himself.
‘As expected….’
The elders still did not see Yalü Hee as Yalü Hee.
It was then that Yalü Jin, who had remained silent until that moment, slowly opened his mouth.
“Just because the engagement fell through does not mean that child is not my daughter.”
The gazes of all three elders turned simultaneously toward the family head.
Yalü Jin looked down at his teacup, then cast his eyes down very briefly.
“…However, separate from whether she is my daughter, where she stands is for that child to decide.”
In that subtle pause, there flickered—for just a moment—not the hesitation of a family head, but the trembling of a father.
“Whether to call Hee one of the main family or to keep her among the Black Dragon Gang members. I have no intention of attaching and removing that label according to the main family’s advantage or disadvantage.”
The white-haired elder immediately countered.
“Family head, then—”
“I will not change the matchups either.”
Yalü Jin’s voice sank low.
“If Hyeon and Hee face each other, that too is a position they created with their own strength. The moment we alter the bracket out of fear of victory or defeat, the tradition of the Guang Feng Yalü Family’s martial tournament dies right there.”
Silence.
All three elders could not help but feel the weight of those words.
Yalü Jin tapped the table lightly with his fingertips.
“That will be all for today.”
The white-haired elder could not hide his displeasure in the end, but he could not press further.
The lean elder also nodded with his lips sealed.
The elders rose from their seats one by one. They offered brief fist salutes and departed.
Only Yalü Jin and Yalü Cheok remained in the room.
For a time, neither spoke.
Only the cooling tea and the lingering echoes of words exchanged moments before settled in the room.
Yalü Jin caressed his teacup once and slowly opened his mouth.
“Cheok.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think?”
A brief silence.
Yalü Cheok could not answer easily.
The words that had drifted through this room until moments ago tangled in his mind. Bloodline, legitimate succession, status, honor, engagement. Yet nowhere among them was Hee’s will.
“I am uncertain… but I believe the position of family head is truly a heavy burden.”
Yalü Jin was silent for a long time.
Then he murmured very quietly.
“Those words ring true….”
He caressed his teacup once more. In the fingertips that traced the rim of the cup lay a subtle tremor.
“A family head’s position is a heavy one.”
“All the more so when the family’s interests and the wishes of those you love diverge.”
At those words, Yalü Jin’s eyes sank deeply for a moment.
Yalü Cheok recognized that expression in his father. The look that appeared whenever their mother was mentioned. It had been an unspoken rule not to ask about it until now.
Instead, Yalü Cheok raised his gaze to look at his father.
“Must we be the ones to decide?”
Yalü Jin shifted his gaze.
“Yalü Hee has already chosen her path. Yet no one in this household sees why she stands beside that man.”
After a brief silence, Yalü Cheok added another word.
“I think I must meet that man directly.”
The air in the room trembled ever so slightly.
“That man?”
“Yes.”
“As your sister’s brother?”
Yalü Cheok shook his head.
“Not only that.”
A beat.
“As the young master of the main family as well.”
Yalü Jin regarded his son’s face for a long moment.
“…Very well. I too have been curious about that man. If you meet him directly and return, there is nothing more I could ask for.”
Yalü Cheok clasped his fist in salute.
“Yes, Father. I shall return shortly.”
* * *
The corridor outside the Guest House in the Inner Hall.
Yun Cheon had stepped outside the Guest House for a moment.
The rich scent of pine drifted slowly through the night air.
The Inner Hall was quiet.
Yet beneath that silence, far more gazes and calculations breathed than during the day.
Yun Cheon gazed briefly into the darkness beyond the railing.
The quarterfinals were tomorrow.
And before then, I did not believe this quiet night would pass without incident.
It was then.
From the darkness not far away, a shadow slowly separated itself.
There was almost no sound of footsteps.
Yet there was no attempt to conceal his presence either.
Yun Cheon’s eyes grew cold.
“Master of the Black Dragon Gang.”
A low, measured voice.
Yun Cheon turned slowly.
At the end of the corridor, beneath a faint lantern, a man stood still.
The young master of the Guang Feng Yalü Family.
It was Yalü Cheok.

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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