Return of Mount Hua Sect

“Hmm.”

A deep voice flowed from the lips of Tang Gunak as he read the letter.

He repeatedly read the entire content, which wasn’t too long, then smiled and nodded.

“So that’s what happened.”

Tang Pae, who was quietly standing guard nearby, looked at Tang Gunak’s expression and felt irritated.

The person who never smiled, no matter what happened, was Tang Gunak. This was especially true within their family.

Of course, the burden of being the head of the family might force them to suppress their emotions. Still, Tang Gunak’s reaction every time he heard news of Mount Hua was different.

“I knew that Mount Hua was much stronger than what the world believed, but I had no idea they would take down such a large bandit group without sustaining any injuries.”

Tang Pae was one of those who knew the skills of Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon and the Mount Hua sect better than anyone else. However, Mount Hua’s performance this time greatly surprised him, too.

“They have to do that much. Then won’t the Nine Great Sects, who have been enjoying their leisure time oblivious to the changing world, be knocked off their feet?”

Thinking about the faces of the Nine Great Sects when they heard this news made him suppress his laughter.

‘Anyway, he is truly like a ghost.’

Negotiations with him didn’t go well, nor was he helpful in the way one might expect. He was usually annoying and made situations more complex when they became difficult.

But the agreement was the foundation of any sect that called itself the Justice faction. Just as one could be distracted by the flashy rise of martial arts and neglect their basics, causing their true skills to regress, if one became blinded by profit and wealth, they would forget what they needed to protect.

There was something strange about how public sentiment worked, and in the end, one should never lose sight of that fact.

“I’m sure the Nine Great Sects have a lot to say.”

“Yes, probably so. The subjugation was a task that was clearly difficult for anyone other than Mount Hua to handle.”

“But that was just an excuse.”

Tang Gunak quietly shook his head.

“It was impossible to change the minds of the people based on just one incident. The fact that this incident was a problem only proved that the Nine Great Sects had been neglecting what they should do.”

“Yes, family head.”

“So, always keep that in mind.”

Tang Gunak’s eyes darkened.

“The moment you took for granted what you were currently enjoying in the name of being the rulers of Sichuan, the downfall of the family would start. You had to constantly think about what happened with this.”

“I will keep it in mind.”

Seeing Tang Pae nod his head with a serious look, Tang Gunak gave a bitter smile.

‘In that sense, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon was quite a troublesome man.’

This person could understand others like a ghost, whether it was calculation or sense. And casually change the plans and do things that no one expected.

It would be fun to watch if one was an ally, but if one was an enemy, it would have been like having a heated rock in one’s stomach.

“Anyway, it was turning into a hot topic a lot faster than I imagined.”

Tang Gunak gently pressed the corners of his eyes. He felt like he knew what Chung Myung would say next.

“We need to hurry up a bit.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We must declare the Heavenly Friends Alliance before the name of Mount Hua fades from the minds of people.”

Such a calm and light voice.

But the weight carried by those words wasn’t so light.

“Preparations must be completed at least before Mount Hua returns to their abode.”

“… wouldn’t that be too rushed?”

“Probably not.”

“Uh? No matter how far Hubei is from Shaanxi, they are warriors. It won’t take more than a few days…”

Tang Gunak sighed lightly and said.

“There’s no way that Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon can return to Mount Hua immediately.”

“…Ah.”

“He will surely take action. That’s just the kind of person he is.”

“…I understand.”

“You can arrange whatever you want, but as soon as he steps into Mount Hua, he will complain about why nothing is done yet. Ugh.”

At times, Tang Pae couldn’t determine whether his father admired Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon or not.

Tang Gunak spoke with his usual expression.

“I don’t want to hear any unpleasant news, so hurry up. How are the preparations going?”

“Most of the other preparations are complete. However, we received no response when we asked the small and medium sects around us if they wanted to join the Heavenly Friends Alliance.”

“Press them.”

“…”

The moment Tang Pae was about to say something, Tang Gunak raised his hand and interrupted.

“I’m not asking you to push them. I’m asking you to expedite. It doesn’t matter what their answer is.”

“Ah…”

“We won’t get a favorable response anyway. Although they can’t help but be influenced by being in Sichuan, they can’t ignore the existing order of the Nine Great Sects and five families.”

“It definitely felt like they were being stirred.”

“So all you have to do is ask whether they want to participate or not. There’s no need for them to join us from the start. Just ask them to attend the ceremony and then brighten the occasion.”

“This might work.”

“Then hurry.”

“Yes. Otherwise, I will have to endure the nagging of Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

“Right. I will move!”

“Yes!”

Tang Gunak laughed as he saw Tang Pae rushing out.

‘Nagging.’

The Sichuan Tang families found themselves in a situation where they had to hurry because they feared the young Taoist’s nagging.

The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed, but the bigger problem was that he didn’t dislike this.

‘Well.’

Compared to the Nine Great Sects, who trembled in anger due to the existence of Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon, the situation here couldn’t have been better.

Tang Gunak glanced east and picked up his brush again, a smile gracing his face.

The Gold Boat Merchants Union was the largest marketplace in Wuhan.

Song Tae-Ak, the head of the union, looked at the ledger with a shocked expression.

“… Why did this happen?”

“Uh?”

“Why did this happen?”

Mo Wan, the commander, answered with an awkward expression.

“That… actually, isn’t tea the main focus of our union?”

“Yes.”

“In recent years, the tea sold well, and we managed to make a profit.”

“Yes.”

“Hehe. Among that, the expensive teas sold to high-ranking people brought in a lot of money.”

“But?”

Mo Wan frowned slightly and spoke in an awkward tone.

“But when the Yunnan tea trade resumed, the market for expensive tea was completely wiped out.”

“…”

Song Tae-Ak frowned at this.

“It’s not that Yunnan Tea didn’t exist before; it just wasn’t being traded for a while, and then they began to trade again.”

“Right.”

“But why is everything one-sided? It’s not like this fell from the sky.”

“Seriously… there’s something off about this trade, right? As everyone knows, high-ranking people have consumed Yunnan tea since ancient times.”

“Yes.”

“However, as the tea trade is blocked, there’s a shortage, and the prices skyrocketed. The tea that high-ranking people drink is being requested by even higher-ranking ones. It has literally turned into a drink only for people with money to waste.”

“…”

“At that point, it’s not just tea, but a symbol of power and wealth.”

“Of course it is. But that’s not what I’m asking. I asked why the sales at our merchant union have plummeted.”

“So, Yunnan tea, which is now a luxury item, was suddenly released in large quantities at a cheaper price than before.”

“…..”

“They even sold tea by grade, setting prices so that one could buy the expensive tea at a higher price and cheap tea whenever they wanted. Thanks to this, people who were interested in tea didn’t care and spent money on higher grades when they wanted to, and those not interested bought the cheap ones.”

“…”

“So, the tea market was bound to collapse. The tea we used to sell could no longer be sold. Now, the tea was piling up in the warehouse, and mold was growing.”

“Ughh.”

Song Tae-Ak scratched his head with both hands.

“Now that the luxury had turned affordable, everyone was rushing to try them.”

“Of course.”

“Then what were the measures?”

Mo Wan smiled.

“When this typhoon passed, all you could do was hold on to a pole and pray that we arrived safely. The Yunnan tea preference would likely decrease in a couple of years.”

“… the best goal was not to fail during those few years.”

Song Tae-Ak sighed in frustration.

Of course, the merchant union wouldn’t collapse if they didn’t sell tea for a few years. They had wealth on which they could live for a hundred years.

After all, weren’t they one of the top ten merchant unions in the Central Plains?

“It will be resolved in a couple of years. It was a short time.”

“Isn’t that because it isn’t a problem?”

“Uh?”

However, Song Tae-Ak clicked his tongue as he looked at Mo Wan.

“If one looked at the current situation, they definitely knew how to make money. Rather than making a lot of money by selling it at a high price, they lowered the price to increase their profits. The strategy was to sell what was twenty-one coins for ten coins.”

“Right.”

“Don’t they know the price of Yunnan tea will eventually fall?”

“…”

“The problem is that they don’t know what to do with the huge amount of money made from the tea! Ugh! It would be better to put a…”

“Ah! Shouldn’t you have the pride of being one of the best in the Central Plains?”

“The most useless thing for a merchant is pride! All we had to do was make money, so why did pride come into this?”

“Even so, it was unreasonable. It was none other than Mount Hua who was reselling the Yunnan tea.”

“…”

“It was almost impossible for us in Hubei to do any business with them.”

“You think I didn’t know that? It just made me sick!”

Song Tae-Ak shouted for no reason.

These were the most difficult times for a merchant. Even though they clearly knew how the money flowed, there was no way to approach this.

‘But we couldn’t cut off our ties with Wudang.’

There was no justification, and there was no reason for Mount Hua to accept them when they had ties with Wudang. Why would people who were successful even do that?

“Ugh. I didn’t know if the people of Kangho knew of this.”

In the end, it was money.

A growing sect was sure to make money. One didn’t make money by growing; one grew by making money. The reason why Shaolin was the best sect in the world was because they were the richest sect in the world.

A sect that made money didn’t have to worry about small things. One could focus on training without having to send the disciples outside. They could even get expensive pills.

Who would turn into a stranger? Those who devoted their lives to training without worry or those who had to worry about tomorrow’s meal right now?

‘But now the path of gold flowed through Mount Hua.’

After ten years, that money would start to work for them.

“Ugh. It was like painting rice. (No matter how much one wanted, they couldn’t take the rice out of the painting).”

It was the moment Song Tae-Ak sighed and reached out for the book.

“C-commander!”

“Hmm?”

An urgent voice came in, and Mo Wan asked towards the door.

“What is it?”

“I-I think you should come out and look. Those who wanted to make a deal came, but the amount is too shocking.”

“… You’re saying the amount is odd? Are you saying they brought some grain?”

“That… it’s difficult to put into words. You’ll need to see it for yourself.”

Mo Wan tilted his head.

“Let’s get out of here now.”

Song Tae-Ak dusted himself off and rose to his feet. He already felt unwell, but the best course of action in situations like this was to remain calm and look for potential profit.

“Well, let’s see how incredible these things are.”

He grinned as he strolled out.

“…”

Swish.

“…..”

Something kept arriving.

Carts started to roll in, one after another, onto their property. Each cart was loaded with white sacks piled as high as a person.

“W-what is this?”

It didn’t look like grain.

Even if it were all grain, the quantity would be enormous, but if it wasn’t grain, then what was it?

“That…”

Clack.

At that moment, one of the sacks from a cart fell to the ground, and its contents spilled out.

“A-accessories?”

They were all jewels.

Jewels that appeared valuable at first glance were all stuffed into a dirty sack.

“T-this… no, this is madness, this isn’t junk… right, it can’t be. They’re jewels, but…”

Even if they weren’t luxury items, they were likely something valuable. Otherwise, the items would have been packed separately.

So, what did it mean for all these items to be delivered here?

Suddenly, he started hiccuping. Song Tae-Ak couldn’t determine whether this was a good or bad development.

“Are you the owner of the merchant union?”

“Yes.”

“I heard there’s a lot of money here. Please check how much all of this will sell for.”

“…”

Cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead.

‘The God of Wealth has arrived!’

Of course.

It remained to be seen whether this was a blessing or a curse.

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