Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: He'll Do That One for Free
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Martial God (94)
“He'll do that one for free,”
“Mom!”
Adal rushed into the room.
“What's going on?”
A woman in her mid-fifties looked at Adal and asked. The slightly overweight woman was Adal's mother, Yi Bong-ryeong.
“That bitch is alive.”
“Who are you calling a bitch?”
“Ara.”
“Who told you...? The Grand General?”
“Yes.”
“Damn it... How the hell does that Grand General handle things?”
Yi Bong-ryeong shouted in anger.
“Yelling won't solve anything. We have to get rid of that bitch no matter what. If she comes back and it comes out that she went to the battlefield in my place, our family is finished.”
“We can't let her come back, absolutely. Where is she now?”
“Near the Chacha Kingdom, a desert nation. And she's with some guy named Black Wind.”
“Who's Black Wind?”
“The leader of Feng Corps.”
“The leader?”
“He's got strong survival instincts but doesn't know any martial arts.”
“So he knows Ara's secret too?”
“Yes.”
“We have to take him out together.”
“Exactly.”
“Hmph!”
A cough came from outside.
Yi Bong-ryeong quickly pressed her index finger to her lips. It was a signal to stay silent.
Adal nodded.
“It's me.”
“Come in.”
The door opened immediately, and a sturdy-built man entered. This was A Seokbu, the head of the Heavenly Stream Merchant Company, known as Gold Hand. Ara resembled A Seokbu so much that the two shared many similarities.
“Is something going on?”
A Seokbu asked.
“No.”
Yi Bong-ryeong shook her head.
“...What did the Grand General want to see you about?”
A Seokbu, who had been quietly watching Yi Bong-ryeong, turned to Adal and asked.
“He called me to discuss how I might come back to life.”
“What did he say?”
“He said there might be good news soon.”
“That's welcome news.”
“He needs money.”
Yi Bong-ryeong said.
“Did he say that?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Probably at least five million taels.”
“Do you know how much five million taels is?”
“It's the cost of bringing our dead son back to life. We can't be stingy with five million taels.”
“You're the one who killed that son.”
“So you're refusing to give it?”
Yi Bong-ryeong's eyes turned venomous.
“He didn't give a firm promise—just said there 'might' be good news. That's a classic extortion tactic.”
“He's from the royal family.”
“The higher the rank, the easier it is to extort money.”
“Then I'll use my own money.”
“Your money?”
“The money my father left you. No, not money—he left you the Heavenly Stream Merchant Company.”
“...”
A Seokbu quietly stared at Yi Bong-ryeong.
“Have you forgotten you were penniless before marrying me?”
“And have you forgotten the Heavenly Stream Merchant Company my father left me was on the brink of ruin?”
“But without it, you never would have earned the moniker Gold Hand. At best, you'd be running some tiny shop, chasing flies.”
“Bring an imperial decree saying Heavenly Stream General Adal has returned alive. Then I'll give you not five million, but fifty million taels.”
“Then I'd have to live like a ghost, Father.”
“You brought this on yourself.”
“Father!”
“My answer is the same. Bring the decree, and I'll pay.”
A Seokbu spoke coldly and turned to leave.
“You're doing this because of that bitch!”
Yi Bong-ryeong shouted.
A Seokbu didn't respond and walked out. Once outside, he headed to his own room.
“What did they say?”
He asked as he walked.
“The young miss is alive.”
A low voice emerged from the darkness.
The one hiding with stealth techniques was Eoyu Sang, the leader of the Heavenly Stream Hidden Guard Squad, also known as the Great Guest. The squad numbered three hundred in total, each member's martial arts at least at the first-rate level, making it a formidable organization.
Thud!
A Seokbu's legs gave out, and he collapsed on the spot.
“Master.”
Startled, Eoyu Sang revealed himself and supported A Seokbu.
“No, leave me be.”
A Seokbu shook his head, hot tears streaming from his eyes.
'Thank you. Thank you so much.'
A Seokbu murmured, looking up at the sky.
Ara going to the battlefield in Adal's place had happened without his knowledge.
He had only learned of it recently.
His wife had handled all family affairs, so he paid no mind. He hadn't seen his daughter in three years but thought she was doing well at Emei Sect.
Then, on his way to Sichuan Province for business, he told his wife he'd stop by to see Ara. That's when she said Ara wasn't at Emei but at the battlefield.
He thought he'd misheard.
Even if she wasn't his real daughter, sending a woman—who wasn't even a man—to the battlefield made no sense. But it was true.
She had taken advantage of her son on leave, dressed Ara in Adal's armor, and sent her to the front lines.
He flew into a rage, but what was done was done.
Yi Bong-ryeong turned it around, yelling that if this came out, not only Ara but her only son Adal and the entire family would be ruined.
She was right.
If Ara had been a mere foot soldier, he could have pulled her out, but she was one of the ten generals. Swapping out a general mid-war was tantamount to deceiving the emperor. If exposed, it could destroy the family.
Then recently, he received the notice of her death in battle.
It felt like the sky was collapsing.
And now, his daughter was alive.
“Is it... really true?”
A Seokbu asked in a choked voice.
“Yes.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
A Seokbu knelt right there and bowed in gratitude.
“But it seems they've put out a hit on her.”
“Kill...!”
Viscous killing intent poured from A Seokbu's body. Only then did he understand why his wife and Adal had been talking about money. The killing intent emanating from him was so intense that the surrounding air popped and burst.
'Huh?'
Eoyu Sang's eyes widened. He was the only one who knew A Seokbu practiced martial arts. But he hadn't known how strong he was. Today, it seemed A Seokbu's skills were extraordinary—possibly even surpassing his own.
“ Mobilize all our intelligence immediately to find that child.”
“Understood.”
“And this time, I'll move personally.”
“What about here?”
“I'll have to head to the Western Regions.”
“Understood.”
Eoyu Sang departed.
“I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry, Raya.”
A Seokbu stood up.
Thud! Thud!
With each step he took, the ground sank deeply.
Where in the Central Plains has the most assassins?
Many would say the martial world, but that's wrong. The place teeming with assassins is Beijing. Power struggles rage there three hundred sixty-five days a year, with countless people needing to vanish without a trace. Assassins are the ones who handle them.
Underworld, Life-Death Society, Yanluo Messenger Pavilion, Soul-Summoning Inn, and Soulless Assassin Squad operate in the shadows of Beijing.
The place Yi Bong-ryeong visited was the Life-Death Society. Since Adal was officially dead, he couldn't move freely, so she went alone.
Like other groups, the Life-Death Society's procedures were strict. Before the commission, one had to don a blindfold that blocked all sight and board a carriage. Once the carriage moved, the blindfold could be removed to begin.
First, write the target's details on paper provided by the Life-Death Society. Descriptions had to be as detailed as possible—appearance, residence, etc.—for easy identification.
Yi Bong-ryeong wrote meticulously inside the carriage. She had the info on Black Wind from Adal.
She handed over the completed documents. They went straight to the Life-Death Society's screening department. The papers underwent first, second, and third screenings.
Standard process.
Insignificant targets—those worth under a hundred taels—cleared at first screening. Important ones advanced further. Ultra-high-profile ones faced fourth and fifth screenings. Ara's commission kept rising: past third, through fourth and fifth, all the way to the assembly leader.
Because the target was the sole heir of the Heavenly Stream Merchant Company—an ultra-high-profile figure.
“Hmm.”
A hunchbacked old man skimmed the documents.
His bent back made him seem very short, but the air around him brimmed with a peculiar energy.
It was clearly something, yet indefinable—instilling fear precisely because it couldn't be pinned down.
This man, from whom no energy could be detected at all, was the Life-Death Society's assembly leader, Camel Elder.
“Tell me.”
“Ara is A Seokbu's daughter, but not from the principal wife Yi Bong-ryeong—she's the concubine's child. Yi Bong-ryeong couldn't stand the sight of her and kicked her out, so she went to Emei Sect.”
“A Seokbu just stood by while his daughter became a nun?”
“With Yi Bong-ryeong sure to send assassins, he had no choice but to hide her elsewhere.”
“'Precious Heaven Emei' must have seemed like a decent hiding spot. Becoming a nun could be undone with laicization later.”
“Ara lived at Emei Sect under the dharma name Bul Jeong. Then four years ago, Yi Bong-ryeong dragged her out. She threatened to cut off donations, forcing Emei to excommunicate Bul Jeong. At the time, Yi Bong-ryeong's son Adal was on leave from the battlefield and said he'd rather die than go to the desert.”
“So the doting mother who loved her son so much sent the concubine's daughter to the battlefield instead.”
“Exactly.”
“And A Seokbu didn't know?”
“He was swamped taking over another merchant caravan.”
“So everything happened without A Seokbu knowing.”
“Yes.”
“But as the war was ending, Feng Corps rebelled, and reports came in that Iron Blood General Gun Cheokjeon, Plain Iron General So Daehwa, Grand Harmony General Ak Gun-eok, Heavenly Stream General Adal, and Full Flower General Choyu were killed—yet among them, Heavenly Stream General Adal... no, Ara... is alive and coming back.”
“Yes.”
“If Ara returns alive, the Heavenly Stream Merchant Company is in deep trouble. Exposing that they sent a daughter in place of their son would be the end.”
“Not just them. Grand Commander Ju Jang-cheol could lose everything too.”
“Why?”
“Because of the man named Black Wind by Ara's side.”
“Who is he?”
“He was Feng Corps leader, named a rebel ringleader with a twenty-thousand-tael bounty on his head.”
“So the rebel chief accused of killing those five generals including Gun Cheokjeon is coming back with Heavenly Stream General.”
“Yes.”
“This stinks to high heaven. What do you think?”
“The answer lies with Ara.”
“Still need to kill her?”
“It's a commission.”
“What if Heavenly Stream General... no, Ara... doesn't die?”
“Grand Commander Ju Jang-cheol's group will kill Adal.”
“From Ju Jang-cheol's view, Adal dying cleans things up neatly?”
“Yes. No one would believe her even if she shouted she fought in the war.”
“Yi Bong-ryeong wants Ara gone to save her son?”
“Probably.”
“How much can Yi Bong-ryeong squeeze out at most?”
“I hear she got about five million taels in cash from her father, the former head.”
“Not all to her husband?”
“She gave A Seokbu the failing business and kept the cash and properties for her daughter.”
“So the current Heavenly Stream Merchant Company was all built by A Seokbu.”
“Yes.”
“What about Black Wind?”
“One of the few who survived ten years in Feng Corps' first company.”
“Must be strong in martial arts.”
“Actually... he doesn't practice martial arts.”
“A non-martial artist survived the battlefield for ten years?”
“Yes.”
“Quite the character. Anything else...?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Yes. A complete blank slate. Nothing known except he's Feng Corps leader Black Wind. Not even his real name.”
“Hmm...”
Camel Elder stroked his goatee.
“Commission price: five million taels for her. Black Wind... tell them we'll do him for free. And find out what really happened.”