Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

“Well then, until we meet again.” Pung Jinho rose from his seat, hands clasped in a farewell gesture, before turning to leave the inn.

The Smiling Grim Reaper watched him go, his thoughts churning as he studied Pung Jinho’s retreating figure.

What a blood-sucking bat…

The Smiling Grim Reaper had never fully trusted Pung Jinho. The man was like a shadow, changing sides as it suited him, his loyalties rooted only in self-interest. Their alliance was born of necessity, not mutual respect.

When Pung Jinho was finally out of earshot, the Smiling Grim Reaper sighed, “It’s too bad we need his cooperation to take control of the Azure Dragon Academy…”

The Blood Cult had a vested interest in the murim’s Five Great Academies, and Pung Jinho was their chosen spy in the Azure Dragon Academy. He wasn’t of noble birth, but he held a respectable position, and more importantly, he was a man driven by greed.

“…But at least he’s someone we can dispose of without much consequence after we’re done.”

A soft chuckle escaped the Smiling Grim Reaper’s lips. He turned his gaze to Yang Jin, who still lay flat on the floor.

At the mention of his name, Yang Jin lifted his head slightly, but when he met his superior’s eyes, he quickly pressed his forehead back to the ground, stammering, “Y-Yes, sir?”

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“Our plan cannot be derailed. The Golden Dragon Trading Company controls the economic lifeline of the Jiangxi region. In order to realize our Cult’s grand vision, we absolutely must seize it.”

For two years, they had meticulously groomed Geo Sangwoong, the son of the Golden Dragon Chairman. Every step of their plan had been carefully calculated, from orchestrating Geo Sangwoong’s escape from his lodgings at the Heavenly Martial Festival to luring him into the clutches of the Blood Dragon, their foremost expert in the Soul Reaping Demonic Art.

Now that I think of it, that was the moment we first joined hands with Pung Jinho.

In the second phase of their plan, Geo Sangwoong would return home to recuperate, only to succumb to the dark influence of the Soul Reaping Demonic Art, drowning in the clutches of gambling, gluttony and despair.

All we had to do was make sure he quickly took over the family business after graduation…

Once Geo Sangwoong was confirmed as the successor of the Golden Dragon Trading Company, they would arrange for the Golden Dragon Chairman to die under mysterious circumstances. At that time, the Blood Dragon, who had injected Geo Sangwoong with demonic qi, would reappear and brainwash him into obedience. Just like that, the Golden Dragon Trading Company would fall into the hands of the Blood Cult.

Everything was going perfectly… until Baek Suryong showed up.

Turning toward his men, he commanded, “Gather all the information you can on Baek Suryong.”

“Yes, sir!” the Ghost Blood Unit warriors acknowledged, before fading into the shadows and disappearing as if they had never been there.

“Hmm…?” Suddenly, the Smiling Grim Reaper sensed a presence above him.

“Who’s there?” he shouted, even as he moved with lightning speed, flinging his chopsticks at the ceiling as if they were deadly projectiles.

THUNK!

The chopsticks pierced through the wooden ceiling boards, and blood began to drip down, accompanied by a faint squeal.

“…Hmph, so it was just a rat.”

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A subordinate soon retrieved and handed him the rat’s lifeless body, causing the Smiling Grim Reaper to shake his head in irritation.

Am I being too sensitive?

It was a tense situation, after all. If something went wrong with their plan to seize the Golden Dragon Trading Company, not even he, the Captain of the Ghost Blood Unit, would escape the wrath of the higher-ups.

I need to revise the plan, and quickly, the Smiling Grim Reaper thought, shuddering at the thought of the punishment that awaited him if he failed.

That very night, however, a bolt from the blue snapped him out of his reverie.

One of his subordinates leaped in through the window and bowed deeply before him, shouting, “Captain!”

The Smiling Grim Reaper scowled. It was early evening, and the underground gambling den was still in operation. If anyone had seen his subordinate coming or going suspiciously, it could spell trouble.

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“…I told you not to use martial arts carelessly around here. The Murim Alliance has eyes and ears everywhere.”

“I apologize, sir, but I have an urgent report…”

“That’s for me to decide. Now, speak,” the Smiling Grim Reaper interjected, though in his mind, he was already devising punishments for the man should the report turn out to be insignificant.

“The Golden Dragon Chairman has collapsed.”

“…!!”

“It happened three hours ago. The news was kept top secret, so even our spies inside the Golden Dragon Manor only just learned of it.”

“What was the cause?”

“I don’t know. The physician said that his life may be in danger… so the Golden Dragon Manor’s executives have all been summoned.”

Unable to restrain himself any longer, the Smiling Grim Reaper sprang to his feet. The Golden Dragon Chairman had collapsed, and the executives had been called in, but Geo Sangwoong was not yet the official successor of the company. If things went awry, their entire plan wouldn’t just be disrupted, it would be obliterated.

Grinding his teeth, the Smiling Grim Reaper spat out, “…We don’t know what might happen, so close the gambling den for tonight. Also, tell the Ghost Blood Unit to come back and remain on standby.”

“Yes, sir!”

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A heavy, melancholic air settled over the Golden Dragon Manor, wrapping it in an aura of solemnity. Geo Sangwoong, having rushed over from his training, nearly broke down the door as he barged into the chairman’s bedroom.

“Father!” he cried out.

The room was already filled with dozens of family members and senior executives from the Golden Dragon Trading Company. At the far end of the room, the Chairman lay unconscious on his bed, his face pale as death.

Geo Sangwoong hurried to his father’s side, his face a mixture of fear and desperation. “Father! I’m here! What happened to you all of a sudden…?”

The physician, who was carefully placing acupuncture needles in the Chairman’s body, spoke in a grave tone, “It seems he’s been under significant emotional strain recently. His breathing is unstable, and there’s a buildup of impure qi in his body.”

“He’ll wake up soon, right? He has to.”

The Golden Dragon Trading Company was rich enough to afford every miracle medicine in the world. Unfortunately, money couldn’t solve everything, otherwise Geo Sangwoong wouldn’t have wasted away for so long.

The physician shook his head, his voice heavy with regret. “It may be… difficult for him to wake up again.”

Geo Sangwoong crumpled to the ground, his senses numbed by the shock. After a moment, he mumbled dazedly, “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. I’ve caused Father so much pain over the years… ugh…”

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Teardrops as large as chicken droppings rolled down the Geo Sangwoong’s face, whose massive frame belied his vulnerable state. Laying down beside his father, the young man sobbed uncontrollably.

Many in the room sighed at the sight, still reeling from the fact that Geo Ilsan, the chairman of the Golden Dragon Trading Company—one of the ten largest trading companies in the world—and the richest man in Nanchang, had fallen unconscious. His absence, or worse, his death, would devastate the city’s economy.

“You know, if the Director dies, who will inherit the company?”

“It should be his son, right?”

“Geo Sangwoong? That good-for-nothing bum who hasn’t accomplished anything in years?”

As whispers filled the room, eyes shifted from the weeping Geo Sangwoong to the middle-aged man standing behind him, Geo Ilsan’s only brother, Geo Yisan.

“If this is about ability, shouldn’t Master Geo Yisan be the one to take over the company?”

“That seems likely…”

“The Director didn’t name an heir before he collapsed, did he?”

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Already, many were speculating about the future of the Golden Dragon Trading Company. To them, the death of Golden Dragon’s chairman was less important than the fate of their own businesses.

“If we want to protect our firms, we have to side with the right person.”

“But who should we choose…?”

As the onlookers mulled over these thoughts, Geo Yisan approached Geo Sangwoong.

“Sangwoong.”

“U-Uncle…”

“Crying won’t solve anything. Now more than ever, you need to keep your wits about you.”

“Yes…” Geo Sangwoong nodded weakly, his voice drained.

Geo Yisan gently patted his nephew’s shoulder to offer him some comfort. “I know it’s not easy to pull yourself together after such an incident, so don’t worry about the company for now. Leave the management to me and stay by Hyung-nim’s side.”

“Yes, thank you.”

With just a few words, Geo Yisan smoothly took the reins of the Golden Dragon Trading Company, a subtle transition that did not go unnoticed by the company executives.

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Soon, news of Geo Yisan’s takeover also reached the Smiling Grim Reaper.

“Damn it! Damn it all…!” he cursed, his face a blend of conflicting emotions. His eyebrows furrowed grotesquely, but a warped smile tugged at the corners of his lips, a clear sign that his wrath had reached its breaking point.

“Haha… I can’t believe I’m about to hand over everything on a silver platter,” he laughed, his hands trembling with rage.

Two years. I spent two whole years planning and meticulously making sure everything went smoothly, yet in just one single day, all my hard work fell to shambles. The Golden Dragon Chairman collapsed without naming his son as his successor, and Geo Sangwoong is too paralyzed with grief to stop his uncle.

If only I had turned him into a puppet earlier, I could have intervened in this situation, but for that to happen, the Blood Dragon would have to come here in person.

The Blood Dragon who had implanted the demonic energy of the Soul Reaping Demonic Art into Geo Sangwoong was now in his fourth year at Heavenly Martial Academy. Hence, even if the Smiling Grim Reaper contacted him right away, as a student, he couldn’t move around easily. By the time he arrived, it would be too late, and Geo Yisan would have already taken full control of the Golden Dragon Trading Company.

I don’t have a choice. I’ll have to act on my own judgment.

Having made his decision, the Smiling Reaper ordered his subordinates, “Geo Yisan must die before dawn. At three in the morning, I expect everyone in the Ghost Blood Unit to be present here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Regrettably, this was the Smiling Grim Reaper’s biggest blunder of his life.

That night, after all the visitors had left, the only people left in the chairman’s room were the sleeping Golden Dragon Chairman and his brother, Geo Yisan.

“……”

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Geo Yisan stood beneath the dim lamplight, his eyes fixed on the pale, bedridden Chairman. Unlike before, his expression was eerily cold as he regarded his only brother.

Suddenly, he extended a hand toward the Golden Dragon Chairman, fingers aiming for a vital acupoint, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

“I’m sorry, but… it’s time for you to sleep for good,” he cackled, but instead of dealing the fatal blow, he applied pressure just beside it, causing the Golden Dragon Chairman to shudder and awaken abruptly.

“Yaaawn… Ahh, I slept well,” the Golden Dragon Chairman muttered as he slowly sat up, stretching and yawning lazily.

After spending a moment taking in his surroundings, he asked, “…Where’s Sangwoong?”

“He cried himself to sleep, so I had him carried to his room.”

“Carried? He weighs several hundred pounds… Hoho, the poor servants must have had a hard time,” the Golden Dragon Chairman chuckled. His complexion was still pale, but his eyes were alert and full of life.

Geo Yisan couldn’t help but admire him. “Chairman, your mastery of the Breath Concealment Technique is truly remarkable.”

“A businessman often has to play dead, you know,” the Golden Dragon Chairman chuckled heartily, locking gazes with his brother—or rather, the man masquerading as his brother.

“Now that it’s just the two of us, why don’t you take that mask off? It’s a little disconcerting.”

“Sure.”

The man peeled off Geo Yisan’s thick mask, revealing Baek Suryong’s statuesque features.

The Golden Dragon Chairman smiled. “Hah, my real brother is not what anyone would call ugly, but damn, that face is really…”

With a sigh, the smile was instantly replaced by cold, deadly intent. “Anyway, the ones who tried to ruin my son and steal Golden Dragon Trading Company took the bait, right?”

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In reality, the chairman’s sudden collapse was all part of a scheme he and Baek Suryong had orchestrated just days earlier.

“Mr. Geo, may I ask you for a favor?”1

At that time, Baek Suryong had asked the chairman for help in setting up a trap to lure out Geo Sangwoong’s tormentors, who conveniently happened to also be Blood Cultists. Naturally, the chairman had agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

“They’ll make their move soon. They’ll be aiming for me, thinking I’m Geo Yisan,” Baek Suryong whispered.

The real Geo Yisan had been hidden away in a secure location for his safety. In his place, Baek Suryong, disguised as Geo Yisan, would stay in his quarters.

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Although they had already agreed on the plan, Baek Suryong felt compelled to stress, “Mr. Geo, it’s important that what happens tonight doesn’t get out. Please leave everything in my hands, as we agreed.”

“Of course. How could I sell out the man who saved my son?”

True to his merchant nature, the Golden Dragon Chairman was a man of clear debts and obligations. Because of this, Baek Suryong felt comfortable sharing at least some of the truth with him.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“Yes, I’d like you to surround my quarters with guards who can keep their mouths shut.”

The Chairman nodded in understanding. “I’ll find some capable men. Are you planning to strike with them?”

Baek Suryong shook his head, chuckling, “No, I just need them there to keep out innocent bystanders. I’ll take care of the rest myself.”

1. See chapter 113. ↩

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