Chapter 792: PAID

While the conversation dragged on endlessly, I eventually had to leave the room with a thoroughly disgruntled expression.

Naturally so.

I had been called in for something important, yet the discussion had been cut off midway—it felt like someone interrupted me right in the middle of taking a dump.

“What the hell was that?”

So what was the conclusion supposed to be?

Why did that old man, the founding head, summon me? And why, of all things, did he bring up questions about the Gu family?

What could possibly have been his reason?

I was dying of curiosity, but now there was no way for me to find out.

‘…Hmm.’

Madam Mi had barged in suddenly, and a cold war erupted. In the end, I was summoned for nothing, didn’t even get proper answers, and got kicked out instead.

This was downright pitiful—I couldn’t even complain about it.

‘…Should I just eavesdrop?’

The thought crossed my mind—using my qi arts to spy on the room.

‘Tsk.’

But I quickly abandoned the idea.

The fact that Madam Mi had burst in during their talk despite a soundproofing barrier meant she had been listening through it somehow.

It was probably the power of a spiritual artifact, and if I tried to eavesdrop now, they’d definitely have countermeasures in place.

‘If it’s for eavesdropping, then… Eavesdrop Stone, maybe?’

A few artifacts came to mind, but the Eavesdrop Stone seemed the most likely. Its range was decent, and its clarity wasn’t bad as long as the distance was right.

The problem was—

‘It’s an artifact that’s easy to detect, so people rarely use it.’

Normally, I would’ve scanned the area with my qi senses to detect such things.

But it never even crossed my mind that Madam Mi would hide something like that in her own quarters.

That’s why I hadn’t noticed it earlier.

‘Did she anticipate this and plant it ahead of time?’

Was it hidden in anticipation that I wouldn’t detect it?

It wouldn’t be surprising if Madam Mi had thought that far ahead.

‘…’

But it was already too late to dwell on it.

‘The room’s already sealed off anyway.’

I had sensed the deployment of a new barrier as soon as I left and retrieved my qi field.

‘The barrier’s at Hwagyeong-level.’

Judging by its density and sturdiness, it was at the level of a master in the Hwagyeong realm.

I could force my way through it if I wanted, but—

‘That would be a risky gamble.’

In my current state, the chances of getting caught were high.

And besides—

‘The old man’s reaction was weird too.’

The founding head’s behavior when he summoned me—

It was too strange. What exactly did he want from me?

‘Was he asking if I wanted to become the head of the Gu family?’

He even asked if I knew what it meant to be the head of the Gu family.

Was that really what he called me in for?