Chapter 106

“Let’s go together. To the Mount Heng Sword Sect.”

“What?”

“You heard me, Young Master Jin. I have business at the Mount Heng Sword Sect too.”

“What kind of business?”

“I don’t think I can tell you that. I’m rather clear about keeping business and personal matters separate myself.”

Talk about getting paid back tenfold.

My own words had come straight back to bite me. Wolhwa’s smile deepened as she watched me grow awkward.

“I’m only joking. I happen to have something to collect from the Mount Heng Sword Sect. More precisely, something I’m supposed to receive from the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

“What… Oh.”

A memory suddenly came to me. Back when the war with the Mount Heng Sword Sect was in full swing, the Jin Family of Taiyuan and the Lower District Sect had made a secret pact.

Hadn’t we promised them ownership of the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s properties and other holdings in exchange for information?

The Lower District Sect—or rather, Wolhwa—had kept her promise. It was thanks to her help that we had been able to annihilate the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s vanguard early in the war.

The Jin Family of Taiyuan had continued receiving help from the Lower District Sect afterward and eventually won the war, but that was when the trouble began.

“As you know, Young Master Jin, our position has become rather awkward. We won the war, but we can’t lay our hands on the spoils.”

The strong devouring the weak. That was the law of Murim.

But the appearance of the Head Elder had ruined everything. The moment it came to light that the Jin Family of Taiyuan and the Mount Heng Sword Sect had both been manipulated by him, the justification for claiming the spoils had grown faint.

So that’s why we’re pursuing a merger.

Now was the time to sheathe our swords and negotiate with a brush. Jin Wikyung’s vision was to quietly and amicably absorb the Mount Heng Sword Sect within limits that would keep the world from condemning us.

Wolhwa wanted her reward before that happened.

“If the Mount Heng Sword Sect accepts our proposal, couldn’t you demand your reward then?”

“That would only be possible if the Jin Family of Taiyuan were Shanxi’s hegemon rather than its Alliance Leader. If you tried to seize anything rashly in the current situation, the other small and mid-sized sects would pull out too. Besides…”

For a moment, she gave me a meaningful look, then shook her head.

What was that supposed to mean?

“Besides what?”

“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, I did receive a proposal from the Lesser Family Head.”

Wolhwa took a puff from her long-stemmed tobacco pipe before continuing.

“He said he would transfer wealth equivalent to what he had promised, or hand over some of the areas managed by the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

That sounded reasonable enough, but it looked different from the perspective of someone leading an organization rather than acting as an individual.

She wants to expand her territory.

Wolhwa was neither a courtesan nor an innkeeper at heart. She was an information merchant.

She clearly wanted to use this opportunity to expand the Lower District Sect’s influence into northern Shanxi, where the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s blockade had kept it relatively weak.

Jin Wikyung, naturally, wants the Jin Family of Taiyuan to encompass all of Shanxi.

The Jin Family of Taiyuan had already wielded enormous influence over central and southern Shanxi for a long time. Handing over a few prime territories wouldn’t diminish what they had built.

This is exactly like a redevelopment zone.

The Mount Heng Sword Sect, which had held the north in an iron grip and blocked outside forces from entering, was collapsing. The greenbelt had been lifted and the area opened for redevelopment, kicking off a tug-of-war between Jin Wikyung and Wolhwa.

They’re both something else.

Yesterday’s ally had become today’s competitor.

Once again, I was reminded that there was always more to people than met the eye.

“So I thought I’d meet our adorable new Sect Leader and collect what I’m owed while I was at it. How about we travel to the Mount Heng Sword Sect together?”

I answered without another thought.

“I’ll have to decline.”

“Wow, aren’t you being a little too decisive? You cut me off without even hearing the terms.”

“As his younger brother, I can’t go around splashing filth on my hyung’s path.”

We might not have shared a drop of blood, but I had long since accepted his existence—and this Murim—as my own.

“Hmm.”

Wolhwa stared at me for a moment before setting her pipe down with a sharp tap.

“All right, then.”

“Ah. Yes.”

I had expected her to tempt me a few more times, but she gave up right away.

Well, I was glad the conversation had ended quickly. That made things easier for me.

“Then we’ll be going.”

I gave Hyuk Mujin, who was still sitting there with his mouth sealed shut, a light tap and rose from my seat. That was when Wolhwa smiled strangely and spoke.

“Oh, could you tell Young Hero Jin something for me? The old pines in the rear courtyard are expensive, so please ask him to be careful while training.”

This was an inn run by the greatest information merchant in Shanxi. Ever since we entered this place, she had probably seen right through us, down to our innards.

“Sure.”

“And tell me if you need anything. It’s a request from our Young Master Jin, so I have to procure anything you might need.”

She winked. I glanced at her and left the room, only to remember something I had momentarily forgotten.

“Mujin, why do you run your mouth so carelessly?”

Whack! Whack! Whack!

“Argh! Argh! Argh!”

One of us hit, and the other took the hits.

When we returned to the private residence, several old pine trees stood neatly severed, with Jin Mukyung waiting beside them looking thoroughly satisfied.

“There’s a certain satisfaction to cutting.”

“……”

“……”

One day, I really want to cut that bastard down.

The guest room fell quiet. Wolhwa smoked her long-stemmed tobacco pipe for a long while, and it was only well after Jin Taekyung had left that she finally spoke.

“Did you look into what I instructed you to investigate?”

A member of the Lower District Sect who had been waiting outside the room answered in a low voice.

“What you confirmed four days ago is all we have. We’re still gathering additional information, but…”

“Nothing else is going to turn up?”

“It’s unlikely.”

“Unlikely? Then there’s still a chance. Keep digging. I’ll give you plenty of time, so don’t rush. You know we won’t come out of it well either if we provoke the Jin Family of Taiyuan right now.”

“Yes, Branch Leader.”

The Lower District Sect member was about to withdraw when Wolhwa stopped him with one more question.

“A Third Rate wastrel became the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi in less than two months. What do you think?”

“It’s possible, if the rumors are true.”

“Ah, that.”

Wolhwa let out a short, incredulous laugh. The rumor had begun spreading after Jin Taekyung defeated Jopil, One Question, One Kill.

According to the rumor, everything Jin Taekyung had shown until then had been an act. In truth, he had trained in martial arts from childhood with the family’s full support.

By now, the story had spread so widely that there was hardly anyone in Shanxi who hadn’t heard it.

“Do you believe it?”

“It’s ridiculous nonsense. But…”

“People believe it. Not because they’re stupid, but because they have no choice but to believe it. But we’re different.”

Shanxi was a remote frontier the Central Plains barely even acknowledged, but the Lower District Sect had never stopped gathering information there.

That went without saying when it came to the direct descendants of the Jin Family of Taiyuan, one of Shanxi’s most powerful families. Their only mistake had been failing to accurately assess the Head Elder, who had been active during the chaotic period of war.

But their information on Jin Taekyung was nearly perfect.

“Alcohol, women, gambling. He was lazy from childhood and cared about nothing but having fun. He was so out of place that you had to wonder whether anyone like him had ever existed in the history of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”

“That was the first order you gave after taking office as Branch Leader two years ago.”

“That’s right. Monitor the entire situation in Shanxi. And investigate Jin Taekyung in depth.”

Talent tended to run in families. The direct descendants of the Jin Family of Taiyuan had possessed exceptional martial talent for generations, and the current Family Head and his two sons, all regarded as eccentrics, were no exception.

Jin Taekyung stood out among them as something almost alien. That was why the Lower District Sect had begun its investigation.

“The result was anticlimactic.”

“He was exactly what he appeared to be.”

Other than slightly superior bones, sinews, and meridians—perhaps thanks to his bloodline—there was nothing special about him.

“Did we miss something back then?”

“He was the kind of bastard who spent every other night at a pleasure house. Martial arts take more time than anyone has, even if they cut back on sleep.”

“I know. I know very well.”

Wolhwa had cultivated her martial arts to a fairly mature stage even within the First Rate realm. There was no way she didn’t understand that.

She drew repeatedly on her pipe in frustration, then released a long breath.

“In the end, there’s only one answer.”

“That’s right.”

Jin Taekyung had gone from Third Rate to a master beyond First Rate in a little over two months. Wolhwa was dumbfounded by the conclusion she had reached herself, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Forget the order I gave earlier. Don’t ask about him anymore, and don’t try to learn anything else. Issue a gag order and make sure no one even mentions this.”

“Yes, Branch Leader. I’ll make sure they understand.”

“Oh, and one more thing. I’ll be leaving early tomorrow, so make the preparations.”

“Who are you planning to take with you?”

“No one. I’ll go alone.”

“Branch Leader, that…”

“It’s an order.”

“Understood.”

Once her subordinate withdrew, silence settled over the guest room. Wolhwa tapped the blackened tobacco leaves from her pipe and thought.

Jin Taekyung.

If everything he had done until now was true, then the northern interests she needed to extract from the Mount Heng Sword Sect were nothing.

Has anyone in all history ever grown this quickly?

Her gaze darkened as she stared at the place where Jin Taekyung had been sitting.

The next morning.

I began to feel that something had gone wrong after meeting the person in charge of the private residence.

“The lodging fee is twenty-five nyang, the food comes to five nyang, and the property damage fee is fifty nyang. The total is eighty silver nyang.”

Hyuk Mujin, who had been celebrating yesterday after emptying those mounted bandits’ pockets, gaped.

“Property damage? Fifty silver nyang?”

“When I went to the rear courtyard, I found that five old pine trees had fallen.”

They were the trees Wolhwa had said were expensive.

Hyuk Mujin and I turned our heads at the same time. Jin Mukyung, whose eyes met ours, flinched before opening his mouth.

“I got carried away while practicing my swordsmanship.”

“……No, fuck. If you get carried away, does that mean you can cut down anything in your way? Huh?”

“Hoooo.”

Hyuk Mujin couldn’t say anything. He merely let out one furious sigh after another.

One look told me the bill exceeded the money we had left. If it had only been a little over, maybe we could have talked it out and found some middle ground…

“Mujin, how much do you have right now?”

“Forty nyang.”

Middle ground, my ass. We’re nowhere close.

“Could we put it on credit?”

That was the exact moment the kind smile around the private-residence manager’s lips disappeared.

“Young Master Jin, what are you doing here?”

A beautiful woman in a light, flowing palace-style dress was approaching us.

Right now, Wolhwa’s appearance was nothing short of a lifeline.

I felt bad about turning down her proposal so decisively the night before, but this was no time to be picky.

“Well, you see…”

When I explained the situation, Wolhwa’s eyes grew round.

“Eighty nyang? That can’t be right.”

“Exactly. I knew something was wrong.”

“Give me that.”

She took the bamboo slip from the manager and began to read.

The deeper her frown grew, the clearer it seemed that the arithmetic had been badly botched.

Knew it.

At last, Wolhwa finished reading the bamboo slip. A chill entered her voice.

“Are you not doing your job properly?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Do you have any idea who these gentlemen are? How dare you pull this kind of stunt? Write down the correct prices.”

Hyuk Mujin whispered to me.

“What a relief.”

“Yeah. We almost had to wash dishes before leaving.”

“Why do we have to suffer because of the Second Young Master?”

“Don’t even mention that man. Just hearing about him gives me cancer.”

“What’s cancer?”

“……Something bad.”

Meanwhile, the manager revised the prices, sweating profusely. Then he bowed deeply and apologized to us.

“I’m sorry. I acted thoughtlessly and committed a grave discourtesy.”

Hyuk Mujin accepted the apology with an arrogant air.

“Don’t do that again. You have to know who you’re dealing with before pulling a prank. So how much is it?”

“One hundred and five silver nyang and twenty-three iron coins.”

“……?”

“……?”

What the hell? Is this a dream?

My head turned toward Wolhwa of its own accord.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“He arbitrarily lowered the prices because you were my acquaintances. How dare he look down on the young masters of the great Jin Family of Taiyuan? Apologize again.”

“I’m sorry for failing to recognize your identities!”

“But…”

I asked in a thoroughly choked voice.

“We can put it on credit, right? Of course.”

“No, you can’t. Of course not. We haven’t allowed that even once in the past two years.”

“How about making an exception and setting a precedent this time?”

“I don’t have any plans to do that yet. You’ll have to aim for the next opportunity.”

Wolhwa added with a radiant smile,

“Was there something else you wanted to say?”

“……M-Mount Heng.”

“What was that?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and continued.

“Would you like to come with us to the Mount Heng Sword Sect?”

“Wow, I’d love to.”

That hateful smile.

At Wolhwa’s gesture, the manager snatched up the bamboo slip and vanished at the speed of light.

“We won’t have to worry about travel expenses anymore.”

While Hyuk Mujin was the sort of person who simply accepted reality, someone else was shouting vehement opposition.

“Nonsense! How can you bring a woman along while carrying out a family mission?”

“Then stay here and wash dishes.”

“……”

“Who here cut down the old pine trees? Raise your hand.”

Jin Mukyung didn’t raise his hand. Wolhwa slightly lifted the hem of her skirt and greeted him.

“Please take good care of me, Young Hero Jin.”