Chapter 61
The Byeok Sword Manor’s patriarch, Byeok Cheol-Gun, welcomed Jang Hyun-Chul, even though the latter had come without informing him in advance.
“Welcome.”
“I’m sorry for barging in without notice.”
“What do you mean? We’re in-laws. You’re always welcome. However, considering you came here without telling me ahead of time, you’ve probably got an urgent matter for me.”
“Yes, I’d like your help in taking care of something.”
“What is it?”
“A customer of ours came to the Myth Vault today to withdraw 500,000 silver nyang.”
“500,000 silver nyang? It’s got to be difficult to pay him that amount all at once.”
“Naturally, it’s our obligation to return the money entrusted to us by the customer, but 300,000 silver nyang of his money came from interest.”
“He has accumulated more in interest than the principal amount. How long did he entrust the money to you for it to reach that situation?”
“Thirty years.”
“Huck, that customer is amazing. He managed to keep that much money untouched for thirty years. Why are you telling me this, though?”
“To be honest, we find paying that much interest unacceptable. I think it would be a hundred times better to invest in the Byeok Sword Manor than to give the money to a complete stranger.”
“Be that as it may, if you don’t pay him, won’t the Myth Vault’s credibility drop?”
“That’s why I need your help.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it would be great if you can orchestrate an incident where a Byeok Sword Manor’s martial artist had a scuffle and fought with the man, resulting in the man losing his life in the process.”
“Even if so, that’s a little too—”
“Brother Cheol-Gun! I’m not doing this for my own good alone. If you can give this incident a proper resolution, I’ll give you 100,000 silver nyang of the 500,000 silver nyang that I’m supposed to give that man.”
Hyun-Chul’s words made Cheol-Gun’s eyes waver. He didn’t want to get involved in such a messy incident, but 100,000 silver nyang was too much money to refuse. The Hangzhou Merchant Company provided the Byeok Sword Manor with a lot of funds, but they had to pay them back. Hence, there was a limit to how much support they could receive. If they accepted an amount of funding that they could not afford, the Byeok Sword Manor would eventually be dominated by the Hangzhou Merchant Company.
On the other hand, they would not have to repay the 100,000 silver nyang that they would receive from this incident. With that amount, they would be able to expand the Byeok Sword Manor’s power without requiring the Hangzhou Merchant Company’s support.
“Fine, however, this is the only time I’ll do something like this.”
“Of course. I don’t want to ask you to do such a difficult request again anyway.”
Hyun-Chul smiled with satisfaction. Cheol-Gun said that this would be the only time, but he would not be able to escape the Hangzhou Merchant Company’s grasp as long as they received funding from them. Naturally, Hyun-Chul had no intention of only using the Byeok Sword Manor once.
Hyun-Chul would use their martial capabilities at any given moment if it was for the benefit of the Hangzhou Merchant Company. In the first place, the reason he had entered into a marital relationship with the Byeok Sword Manor and funded them was so he could take advantage of their combat strength.
***
Kwak Il-Hyun, the Myth Vault’s general manager, met up with Baek Mu-Gun in person and asked him to wait for two days since it would take time to prepare 500,000 silver nyang. Mu-Gun willingly accepted Il-Hyun’s request, because he had expected that he wouldn’t be able to immediately withdraw all of it in the first place. If it meant that he could get his 500,000 silver nyang, he was willing to wait for two days.
Having decided to return after two days, Mu-Gun left the Myth Vault. However, he noticed someone secretly following him not long after he left the vault.
‘That’s what I thought.’
Mu-Gun did not expect the Myth Vault to easily give up 500,000 silver nyang. Since ancient times, those who ran money lending businesses had always been bound to be greedy. They would have felt vexed if a customer visited for the first time in thirty years and asked to withdraw a deposit in which the interest exceeded the principal amount.
It was obvious how they would react. They would likely kill him, disguise it as an accidental death and pocket his money. He had already experienced this in his previous life, so he was well aware of it. However, back then, he thought that it was reasonable for them to lash out like that—he had left his money untouched for a hundred years, causing his earnings from interest to become five times the principal amount. Hence, it was utterly disgraceful that they tried to kill a person just for thirty years’ worth of interest.
Nothing had happened yet, though, so there was no need to cuss at them. Pretending not to notice the people on his tail, Mu-Gun returned to the West Lake Inn. Upon confirming that he had entered it, the pursuers immediately informed the Myth Vault.
The Myth Vault then relayed the same intel to the Hangzhou Merchant Company, which then delivered it to the Byeok Sword Manor.
***
Mu-Gun had nearly finished his meal on the inn’s ground floor when the beaded curtains at the inn’s entrance opened. Five men with swords hanging by their waists then entered, looked around the inn, and found Mu-Gun. After exchanging gazes with each other, they sat at the table next to Mu-Gun’s. Mu-Gun couldn’t hold his laughter at their clumsy act that obviously indicated they were aiming for him.
“What’s this? Hey, you there! Did you just look at me and snicker?”
As he expected, one of the men picked a fight with him when he laughed.
“Who sent you? The Myth Vault?” Mu-Gun asked as he put down his chopsticks and leaned back on the chair.
“Who sent us? Stop spouting nonsense and apologize to your elders.”
“For what exactly?”
“You looked at me and snickered. You offended me, so you should apologize.”
“Even if I do, you’re still going to continue picking a fight with me, aren’t you?”
The man flinched at Mu-Gun’s unexpectedly calm attitude. He even seemed to know their identity. However, he soon fixed his demeanor and frowned.
“I gave you a chance, but you threw it away. You’ll have to pay for such disrespect.”
The man approached Mu-Gun, as he was being obstinate. When the people around them saw it, they quickly got up from their seats and left the inn. Nothing good would come from intervening in a squabble between martial artists.
“You shouldn’t interrupt people’s business, you know.”
“This punk!”
The man punched Mu-Gun. In response, Mu-Gun raised his hand and blocked it. He then grabbed the man’s fist with his palm and wrung it sideways, causing the sounds of his wrist bones breaking to echo.
“Aaah!”
Mu-Gun’s opponent rolled on the floor while holding onto his broken wrist. The other four immediately unsheathed their swords and surrounded Mu-Gun.
“This bastard’s got a death wish!”
“Stop putting up such useless sloppy acts and come at me already,” Mu-Gun responded and stood up from his seat.
The four men exchanged gazes, then thrust their swords in unison.
Mu-Gun had left his sword in the guestroom. Hence, he picked up a chair instead and launched a wide swing, deflecting the swords aside and pushing them away on collision.
Mu-Gun then dashed through and swung his chair at the man at the forefront of their formation, hitting his knee before he could avoid it. The opponent slammed into the floor, his leg freakishly deformed.
“AAAAAAHHHH!”
The man grabbed his shattered knee as he desperately screamed.
“Die!”
The remaining three screamed at the top of their lungs and thrust their swords from behind Mu-Gun. In response, Mu-Gun raised the chair in his hand and blocked their attack. When their weapons burrowed into the gaps in the chair’s backrest, he grabbed the chair and twisted it to the side. Unable to overcome the sudden burst of power, his opponents lost their grip on their swords.
Mu-Gun thrust both his palms toward the three flustered and disarmed men. The palm force struck two of them on their chest, blasting them up into the air and causing them to fall on top of a table. Unable to withstand the impact of their weight, the table split in half and let them crash into the floor. They clutched their chest in pain and groaned, seemingly incapable of getting up for a while.
Only one opponent remained. The man clenched his teeth and ran at Mu-Gun while swinging his sword. Mu-Gun easily evaded his attack, wrapped his hands around the man’s right arm, and snapped it. A gruesome sound resonated.
“Kuawkkkk!”
Mu-Gun tossed the man screaming in pain aside, pulled a chair, and sat down.
“Did the Myth Vault send you?” Mu-Gun asked his opponents, all of whom were now on the ground writhing in agony.
However, no one answered him.
“If you don’t answer, I’ll kill you one by one.”
Along with his warning, Mu-Gun gathered qi at his fingertips. Soon after, one of the men collapsed. His forehead had been pierced by the qi blast from Mu-Gun’s fingers.
“I’ll ask you again. Did the Myth Vault send you?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
The men gave two different answers. One of them answered ‘no,’ while three of them said ‘yes.’ Mu-Gun stared at the man who gave a different answer.
“If it’s not the Myth Vault, then who sent you?”
“It’s the Byeok Sword Manor,” the man immediately answered after glancing at his colleagues.
“I can roughly guess what’s going on in the Myth Vault and the Byeok Sword Manor’s heads, then.”
Mu-Gun guessed that the Myth Vault incited the Byeok Sword Manor. There was no such thing as a free lunch in the world. The reason why the Myth Vault—to be exact, the Hangzhou Merchant Company—invested a huge sum of money in the Byeok Sword Manor was so they could use the forces of the Byeok Sword Manor for their own benefit.
“The three of you should go back.”
Mu-Gun sent everyone back except for the man who revealed the Byeok Sword Manor’s name. The three men took turns looking at Mu-Gun and their colleague, then quickly left the inn.
“What do you plan to do with me?” the man asked with a nervous look.
“Let me make you an offer. If you testify later that the Myth Vault tried to kill me using the Byeok Sword Manor, I’ll pay you 10,000 silver nyang.”
“10,000 silver nyang?”
“With that amount, the rest of your life will be lived in prosperity.”
“If I testify publicly, the Myth Vault and Byeok Sword Manor will hunt me down.”
“But if you refuse to testify, then I’d have no reason to keep you alive either.”
“Fine. I’ll do as you say.”
Left with no other choice, he was forced to accept Mu-Gun’s offer. If he refused to testify, he would die helplessly at Mu-Gun’s hands. There was a possibility for him to survive if he testified, albeit the chances were sparse. He’d also earn 10,000 silver nyang.
Mu-Gun pressed the man’s ma-hyeol acupuncture point to numb him and locked him inside the guest room to prevent him from running away. He then thought about what he should do with the Byeok Sword Manor and Myth Vault.
First of all, he had to procure evidence that the Myth Vault had commissioned the Byeok Sword Manor to kill him. Although Mu-Gun had captured and locked a witness up in the guest room, it would be more advantageous for him to secure additional testimony by catching a more influential person.
Next, he would use the witnesses to threaten the Myth Vault and receive additional compensation. The Myth Vault would not want its dark secrets to leak out to the public. If they did not comply with Mu-Gun’s demands, he would destroy the Myth Vault by force. For the Myth Vault to survive, they would have no choice but to comply with his demands even if it meant suffering a loss.
They had brought this all upon themselves, so they could not complain about unfairness.
Mu-Gun’s current priority was to secure an influential witness, but to do so, he had no choice but to clash with the Byeok Sword Manor. Although having to fight them bothered him, since they were a member of the Zhejiang Martial Alliance as well, the Byeok Sword Manor had brought this upon themselves. Furthermore, if Mu-Gun took this opportunity to reduce their strength, the Baek Sword Sect would benefit from it as well, as it would make them more likely to become the alliance leader.
Mu-Gun didn’t really have to go out of his way and head to the Byeok Sword Manor. Once those he had let go had returned to their sect and informed them of the situation, the Byeok Sword Manor would send warriors again. Since they had been beaten once, their next assault would be more prepared. That meant important figures would most likely participate too. If Mu-Gun could capture them, he would be able to confirm that the Myth Vault had commissioned the Byeok Sword Manor to kill him.
As he waited in his room for the Byeok Sword Manor to send more warriors, his prediction soon proved true.
***
Late in the evening, a group of Byeok Sword Manor martial artists led by Byeok Cheol-Woon, a member of the Ten Azure Swordmasters, approached the West Lake Inn. His group consisted of fifty people superior in martial arts to the first five who came to the inn. Using the testimonies of the three men that Mu-Gun had sent back, the Byeok Sword Manor estimated the level of strength Mu-Gun possessed. They thought that he would be a Peak Realm master at best considering his age.
To that extent, the Byeok Sword Manor deployed Cheol-Woon and fifty elite swordsmen. There was an internal argument that sending that many elite swordsmen and a Peak Realm master was overkill, but Cheol-Gun decided to deploy them all anyway, just in case anything unexpected happened.
Perhaps that was why Cheol-Woon took it easy. He was confident that he could kill their opponent, no matter who he was.
Meanwhile, having noticed them approaching without difficulty, Mu-Gun made the first move. Staying inside the inn could accidentally cause those who were not involved to suffer damage as well, after all.
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