Chapter 63
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Black Tiger Gang (1)
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“What in the world is this!”
The Master of the Moonlight Pavilion spat out in a voice thick with rage.
The general manager of the Moonlight Pavilion kept his mouth shut and his head bowed, simply waiting for his master’s fury to pass.
“General Manager!”
But as if he wouldn’t allow it, the master called out to him.
“Yes.”
“Why does the Radiant Flower Pavilion continue to thrive? Hasn’t the Honam Merchant Guild made a move?”
“They certainly did at first.”
“At first?”
The master’s face contorted at the general manager’s words.
“And now?”
“…They are no longer doing anything.”
When the Honam Merchant Guild, who had accepted their proposal, first made their move, the Master of the Moonlight Pavilion couldn’t stop smiling.
But for some reason, the guild had suddenly backed off.
Thanks to that, the merchant groups that had cut ties with the Radiant Flower Pavilion started doing business with them again.
“Because of those bastards, we have to buy at high prices too.”
“Yes. That is true.”
Jinmyeong’s obsession with purchasing only the finest ingredients, paying exorbitant prices for them, had become a problem.
Now, everyone was starting to raise the prices of their ingredients.
“And it’s not like I can just beat them all to death.”
He wanted to kill them all—the Honam Merchant Guild and the merchants they dealt with.
“What did the leader of the Black Tiger Gang say?”
“He says there’s a courtesan he desires.”
“Suddenly? Who?”
Until now, it was the Black Tiger Gang that had been threatening the patrons and courtesans of the Radiant Flower Pavilion.
But perhaps the payment from the Moonlight Pavilion’s master wasn’t enough, as the gang’s movements had become lukewarm.
“It can’t be Myeonghwa.”
Among the five flowers of the Radiant Flower Pavilion, the most popular courtesan was Myeonghwa Yuran.
The Master of the Moonlight Pavilion had planned to bring Yuran to his establishment.
Unlike the Radiant Flower Pavilion, he was confident he could properly utilize her and make a fortune.
“If we want the Black Tiger Gang to move proactively, we’ll have to give him Myeonghwa.”
“…The greedy bastard. Can’t it be another courtesan?”
“However, for some reason, I don’t think the one the gang leader is talking about is Myeonghwa.”
“It’s not?”
“He said she has a cold demeanor. Myeonghwa doesn’t have that kind of impression, does she?”
Yuran had an air that stimulated a man’s protective instincts; she wasn’t cold.
“There was a courtesan like that?”
“I’m not sure. I believe I saw her leaving the Radiant Flower Pavilion by chance recently.”
“It’s not Yuran, but someone else?”
It was as the master and general manager were having this conversation.
“She’s supposedly prettier than Yuran. Don’t you want to see her?”
“What kind of question is that?”
As he answered, the Master of the Moonlight Pavilion turned his head with a start.
“Hello?”
“You, you…”
A young man of mixed blood with brown hair.
The master recognized him instantly.
“So you’re the one who’s the de facto owner of the Radiant Flower Pavilion.”
“That’s right. I’m the de facto owner there.”
“How in the world did you get in here?”
“I just came in through there.”
Jinmyeong pointed to the window he had entered through.
Looking now, he could see an open window large enough for one person to pass through.
“This is the fourth floor.”
“It’s not so high that I couldn’t climb it.”
“…”
No matter how he thought about it, this was no ordinary person.
“Seriously, why is everyone here so slow on the uptake?”
“What did you say?”
“Haven’t you heard that I recently fought the Heretical Young Master who visited the Radiant Flower Pavilion?”
“That is…”
Of course, he had heard.
Whenever figures like the Fifteen Rising Dragons or the Heretical Young Master came, the owners of the many taverns and courtesan houses around Dongting Lake grew tense.
They spent a lot of money, but they always got into fights with someone, causing problems.
And he had heard that the Heretical Young Master and a few of the Fifteen Rising Dragons had gone to the Radiant Flower Pavilion this time.
“I heard the Heretical Young Master fought with the Fifteen Rising Dragons and simply left.”
It seemed the rumor that he had retreated after fighting Jinmyeong hadn’t spread.
It was a strange experience to see information so controlled, even with so many people watching.
“None of that matters. I heard a rather interesting story.”
“An interesting story?”
“That the Moonlight Pavilion has quite a lot of money.”
The story was that they had extorted a great deal of money from surrounding merchants, taverns, and courtesan houses using the Black Tiger Gang.
“So?”
“The Radiant Flower Pavilion suffered because of you. So I’m here now to demand compensation for that.”
“Ha! You think I’ll give it to you?”
Was it because money was involved?
The Master of the Moonlight Pavilion scoffed, mocking Jinmyeong.
Because of this, the thought he’d been having just moments ago was completely erased from his mind.
The thought of how Jinmyeong had entered this place alone.
“Hmm. Do you know where it is?”
The general manager, meeting Jinmyeong’s gaze, unwittingly nodded his head.
In any case, as the one who managed everything in the Moonlight Pavilion, he knew where the master kept his accumulated wealth.
“You do? Then I can kill him, right?”
“What?”
Only after hearing those words did the master realize something was wrong.
*Thwack!*
The body of the Master of the Moonlight Pavilion, a finger-sized hole pierced through his forehead, fell backward.
“Hup!”
The general manager stared with wide eyes as his master suddenly collapsed, blood pouring from his forehead, dead.
“You’re the master here now.”
“Yes?”
“I killed the master, so you can be the next one, can’t you?”
“Th-uh, yes. I-I understand.”
The general manager stuttered several times as he nodded.
“The money.”
“Yes?”
“The money. Send it properly. I have a rough idea of how much the master had.”
“Ah, I understand.”
The information O Seonha had sent Jinmyeong contained practically everything about the Moonlight Pavilion.
It was so detailed that it even included the sleeping habits and verbal tics of the master Jinmyeong had just killed.
Naturally, it also included details about the master’s wealth.
“Send the money to the Radiant Flower Pavilion properly. If you don’t, you’ll end up like him next.”
“Ah, I understand. How much should I send?”
“Figure it out. Do I have to decide that for you too?”
“N-no, sir. I will send an amount that will not disappoint.”
“I know about how much there is, so show me your sincerity.”
Having finished his business at the Moonlight Pavilion simply, Jinmyeong immediately returned to the Radiant Flower Pavilion.
“You’re back already?”
“I just went, killed one pavilion master, and came back. Was it supposed to be difficult?”
“Excuse me? You killed him?”
Yang Jeon’s expression was one of shock.
“You didn’t kill the head of the Honam Merchant Guild.”
“That’s true. That man didn’t orchestrate things directly.”
He had merely accepted the proposal from the Master of the Moonlight Pavilion; he hadn’t directly targeted the Radiant Flower Pavilion.
“Of course, controlling the merchants was infuriating, but at least he didn’t touch the courtesans.”
But the Master of the Moonlight Pavilion had.
“Besides, he did a lot of bad things.”
“You’re not the type to care about such things, Young Master.”
“True. Whether he was a villain or a saint has nothing to do with me.”
If the master hadn’t touched the Radiant Flower Pavilion, Jinmyeong would never have made a move.
Not even if he had committed murder on the streets or extorted enormous sums from merchants.
“Anyway, I’ve arranged to receive money from someone who looked like the general manager of the Moonlight Pavilion, so handle it well.”
“We’re suddenly getting a huge influx of money.”
They were set to receive significant compensation from the Honam Merchant Guild and the Underworld Sect for this incident, and now they were acquiring the wealth of the Moonlight Pavilion on top of that.
“You’ll probably get more from there than from the other two places. Depending on how you handle it.”
“I’ll have to work hard, then.”
At the words that he could get more than from the Honam Merchant Guild and the Underworld Sect, Yang Jeon began to show his ambition.
“I didn’t realize the Moonlight Pavilion had that much money.”
“Me neither. Things like this really make you see how amazing the Underworld Sect is.”
Jinmyeong was once again impressed by the Underworld Sect’s intelligence network.
“You have to give me about half of that.”
“…Yes.”
At Jinmyeong’s demand for its return, Yang Jeon’s ambition deflated again.
It meant that in the end, half would go to Jinmyeong, and the other half would become the Radiant Flower Pavilion’s funds.
“If there’s a lot left over, you can have some too.”
But at Jinmyeong’s next words, Yang Jeon’s ambition began to blaze fiercely once more.
“Ten percent? If there’s a ton, I could even give you twenty percent.”
“I will do my utmost!”
Jinmyeong smirked at Yang Jeon’s exaggerated display.
“Now all that’s left is that Black Tiger Gang or whatever.”
“Are you really planning to strike them?”
“To be honest, I find the Black Tiger Gang more appetizing than the Moonlight Pavilion.”
“What on earth was in the information the Underworld Sect gave you?”
It couldn’t be just about money.
“So what will you do? Are you going to attack alone again?”
“I was thinking about it.”
Jinmyeong had thought he only needed to kill the leader.
With his overwhelming martial arts.
“But I had a fun idea this time.”
“A fun idea?”
“Yeah. The Master of the Moonlight Pavilion said something pretty interesting. It made me think this could be fun too.”
“Then shouldn’t you just do it?”
Jinmyeong sighed at Yang Jeon’s question.
“But it’s not something I can do as I please.”
“Excuse me? There’s something the Young Master can’t do as he pleases? Here?”
This place wasn’t the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Here, Jinmyeong had the power to do whatever he wanted.
“Want to hear it first?”
“Please, tell me.”
Jinmyeong began to explain the plan he had devised to Yang Jeon.
And as he listened, Yang Jeon’s face turned deathly pale.
“Doesn’t it sound fun?”
“It would be fun, I suppose. But I don’t think it’s possible.”
“Should I try asking?”
“Why are you going to such lengths? Can’t you, Miss Shin, and Young Master Gu just go and kill them all?”
No matter how much the Black Tiger Gang dominated the Dongting Lake area as an underworld gang, they were ultimately nothing more than a small group of third-rate thugs.
The three of them didn’t even need to go.
Jinmyeong could go alone and kill the entire Black Tiger Gang.
Yang Jeon couldn’t understand why Jinmyeong was so seriously devising a strategy to deal with such a trivial gang.
“I’m just doing it for fun. Do I need another reason?”
At Jinmyeong’s words, Yang Jeon shook his head.
“Understood. I won’t concern myself with it any further.”
“I get it. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just do as you say.”
Watching Jinmyeong leave with a mischievous expression, Yang Jeon let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
‘Is that the Young Master’s true self? It’s like his old self is coming out.’
After his return, Jinmyeong had changed.
That’s what he had thought.
His previous habits of getting angry at and tormenting his subordinates had largely disappeared.
He thought it was because his anxiety had vanished after learning martial arts.
‘What should I call this side of him?’
It wasn’t like his old self, who would take out his frustrations on the weak.
Right now, Jinmyeong was like a child playing a prank.
‘With people’s lives, no less.’
Of course, that wasn’t to say it was wrong.
Were there not people in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult far worse than Jinmyeong?
‘Young Master, please don’t take too much pleasure in things like this. You’ll truly become a Public Enemy of the Martial World.’
Was it because he had looked after Jinmyeong since he was a child?
Yang Jeon couldn’t help but feel a sense of bitterness at Jinmyeong’s changed demeanor.