Chapter 335
Chapter 335
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 343
Chapter Title: Betrayal in Shandong
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Southern Shandong Province. The chief manager of the Soaring Heaven Merchant Company, along with his escort warriors and servants, made their way toward the massive iron mine.
He had come straight to the southern region, to the iron mine owned by the Huangbo family, right after the conclave ended.
Gazing at the mine's immense scale, he let out an inner exclamation.
*It's bigger than I imagined!*
They said the iron ore from Shandong was the finest in the world, and seeing its size firsthand made it feel real.
*So from now on, our merchant company will handle the transport and distribution of the ore from here?*
The thought that countless goods from Shandong would pass through the Soaring Heaven Merchant Company in the future filled his chest with excitement.
Just this high-quality iron alone would bring huge profits to the company.
It was a foundation for the Soaring Heaven Merchant Company to take another step forward.
*To secure such a massive deal... I'm ashamed for ever doubting Young Master Yi's abilities, even briefly! Ha ha!*
He was called a dragon for good reason, wasn't he?
Wasn't he the pinnacle among the later-generation prodigies, the Radiant Dragon?
*If the Five Great Families unite their strength, not only the main family but our Soaring Heaven Merchant Company will secure its position!*
Perhaps they might even surpass Hangzhou to become the top among the Five Great Families—no, one of the Ten Great Merchant Houses in the world.
*This is just the beginning.*
This situation had arisen because the conclave with the Huangbo family had ended successfully.
Grinning from ear to ear, he stepped into the mine entrance.
Huangbo Yunjang, the supervisor of the southern iron mine, turned his head.
The chief manager spoke to the servants.
"Set those down quickly!"
The servants unloaded the items from the cart.
The quantity they had brought in one load was far from insignificant.
Huangbo Yunjang rolled his eyes, scanning the goods piling up in the open space.
The chief manager smiled amiably and offered a cupped-fist salute.
"The Soaring Heaven Merchant Company has arrived, great hero! This is a humble gift from our company. Please accept it without burden—it's just a token of our hope for good relations going forward."
"......"
"I am here to oversee the transport operations..."
Huangbo Yunjang stared piercingly at the Soaring Heaven chief manager before bellowing.
"Who gave some outsider permission to set foot in our family's iron mine?!"
The tremendous pressure, shaking heaven and earth, made the chief manager flinch in terror, and the escort warriors startled.
Huangbo Yunjang glared at them with a fearsome gaze.
In an instant, the Huangbo family's Yellow Dragon Squad, clad in earth-yellow uniforms, guarding the mine area burst out and surrounded the Soaring Heaven people.
*Shushushushu!*
The sharp, oppressive aura they exuded scattered the souls of the chief manager and escort warriors.
"W-We came to transport the ten thousand catties of iron as agreed..."
"I've never heard of any such thing!"
"What?! That can't be. There must be a mistake. I confirmed it several times before coming."
"I said I've never heard of any such agreement!"
*Boom!*
It was a domineering presence no ordinary person could withstand.
Even the escort warriors shrank back under Huangbo Yunjang's aura.
The chief manager, pale as a ghost, looked at him.
"P-Please check with the main family...!"
"Shut your mouth!"
"......!"
"What are you waiting for? Drag these outsiders out!"
At Huangbo Yunjang's command, the Yellow Dragon Squad drew the greatswords from their waists.
*Clang!*
The razor-sharp blades were instantly aimed at their necks.
"Get out!"
"Scram!"
"Want me to beat you senseless?!"
The chief manager and the merchant company people, along with the escorts, were dumbfounded.
*W-What's going on?*
They were so stupefied it felt like they'd been possessed by a ghost.
Just as the realization hit that something was terribly wrong—
"Chase them out!"
Huangbo Yunjang's thunderous voice rang out, and the Yellow Dragon Squad shoved the Soaring Heaven people away.
"Ugh!"
"Hurk!"
"P-Please, don't do this!"
"What is the meaning of—"
*Smack! Bang!*
The Yellow Dragon Squad roughly seized the chief manager and escort warriors.
The Soaring Heaven people were powerless against their brutish grips.
Even a light toss sent them rolling far away like kicked stones.
*Crash!*
The goods piled in the open space shattered and toppled over.
Seeing the cart smashed to pieces, the chief manager turned ashen and shouted.
"R-Restore order! We'll leave, so stop this!"
The chief manager and Soaring Heaven people fled the iron mine in panic.
*H-How can this be? What kind of bolt from the blue is this?*
Clutching his throbbing shoulder, the chief manager stared blankly at the Huangbo warriors, now mere specks in the distance.
Huangbo Yunjang watched the fleeing Soaring Heaven warriors, then turned away.
He bowed toward the pavilion built at the mine before leading the Yellow Dragon Squad back inside.
Huangbo Seong withdrew his gaze from the window and took a sip of tea.
Chief Manager Huangbo Cheol spoke in a worried tone.
"Brother, is this really okay?"
It was a situation that could only be called tyrannical.
They had torn up the pledge and immediately caused this incident—Shandong might be Huangbo territory, but they couldn't avoid scrutiny.
Moreover, wasn't the Soaring Heaven Merchant Company run by the Nangong family?
Huangbo Seong chuckled derisively.
"Don't worry."
"Brother!"
"They can't do any harm to our main family."
"What?"
They had broken the pledge and driven out the Soaring Heaven merchants, yet the Nangong family couldn't take any action?
Huangbo Seong said.
"Those who talk of forming an alliance threaten our family. Do we cower because of that?"
"It's certainly burdensome..."
"That's exactly why they can't touch us."
"What do you mean?"
Huangbo Seong spoke leisurely to the puzzled Huangbo Cheol.
"The alliance needs our Huangbo family. That's why they're resorting to this absurd threat."
"Hmm!"
"Don't you get it? They can't protest to our family. Not if they want to build that alliance."
Huangbo Cheol's eyes gradually widened at Huangbo Seong's words.
"Isolate us? If three of the Five Great Families isolate ours, what meaning does the alliance have? What would set it apart from the unorthodox sects?"
"...They'd lack justification."
"Exactly! A coercive alliance would only weaken the union. That's the last thing the three family heads plotting this want. Retaliate because a negotiation born of threats fell through? The whole world would laugh."
"Umm!"
"And would the Nine Great Sects sit idly by? While the Five Great Families expand and flaunt their power? For that reason alone, they won't dare touch our family."
Huangbo Cheol was impressed.
He had planned everything.
Actions that seemed reckless were all calculated!
Huangbo Seong said softly.
"Then you know what you must do now."
"...Renege on the negotiations."
"Right. Our family will break this deal and lay out a new board."
Huangbo Seong's eyes blazed.
* * *
Nangong Hyeok popped fruits from Hangzhou into his mouth one after another, chewing contentedly.
"Delicious!"
The sweet flavor spread through his mouth, soon followed by a delightful tangy burst.
Paeng Jung-hyeok plucked the anesthetic needles from his arm and asked.
"...But when do you plan to head back? It's been days since the conclave ended."
"Why? Want to go home?"
"W-Well, it's about time..."
"I said we'd go later."
"What?"
What was that supposed to mean?
"What?! I don't recall hearing that."
Paeng Jung-hyeok shot to his feet but quickly knelt again under Nangong Hyeok's gaze, laughing awkwardly.
*...My sin is grave.*
The conclave had taught him much.
*Father... how far ahead did you see?*
Nangong Hyeok smirked.
"I passed the message to the beggar."
"To Little Beggar? When did you even do that?"
"This punk must've been out cold. He's over there writing the letter right now."
Paeng Jung-hyeok turned his head.
*Scribble scribble scribble!*
Tang Myeong-ok was diligently writing something in the corner.
*...So that's what she was writing—a letter.*
Seeing the stacks of paper behind her, Paeng Jung-hyeok felt a pang of shared suffering, knowing her time while he was unconscious hadn't been easy.
He glanced at the crumpled papers scattered on the floor.
*...All of these were statements of reflection?*
While he was passed out...
"It was my fault. I was wrong. I did wrong. Young Master Paeng ordered it."
Tang Myeong-ok muttered with hollow cheeks.
...What the fuck?
Those Tang bastards, those damn things?
Paeng Jung-hyeok's eyelids twitched, but he stealthily bowed his head under Nangong Hyeok's gaze.
He asked quietly.
"Th-Then, when?"
"Till Hangzhou is settled, apparently?"
"What? Settled? It's already well—"
"The Huangbo bastards are trickling in one by one. Gotta check the goods they bring and see how the merchant company runs."
Paeng Jung-hyeok blinked.
"...You, Young Master?"
"Why?"
Ah... did I screw up again?
Paeng Jung-hyeok quickly replied.
"Isn't that what Geum Cheom-sang is here for?"
"That guy's off telling the Huangbo family about the inns and districts we're handing over."
"Ah."
"Perfect. Heh heh, Hangzhou is sweeter than I thought. Warm, and the liquor is nice and sweet. Should I just stay here?"
...Ah, I want to go home. Please.
*One moment's mistake...*
Paeng Jung-hyeok gloomily eyed the anesthetic needles stuck in his arm.
*Fuck, all I got was this weird immunity.*
Now it took ten needles to knock him out once...
His martial arts had improved, at least.
Good enough.
Paeng Jung-hyeok sighed heavily.
Nangong Hyeok chuckled.
After laughing for a while, he suddenly turned his head.
How much time passed with his gaze fixed on the parlor door?
*Bam!*
The door flew open as Geum Cheom-sang entered.
"You're back alre—huh?"
Nangong Hyeok tilted his head.
The people in the parlor gawked at Geum Cheom-sang.
The Thunder Dragon Squad trio's jaws dropped.
"What happened to you?"
"Get robbed on the way?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
One eye was black and blue, his upper garments half-torn and covered in dirt.
He looked thoroughly beaten.
Geum Cheom-sang staggered forward.
"Young Master, big trouble."
"What big trouble? You look like the bigger problem. Did a carriage hit you?"
"I got chased out."
What?
What the hell was this guy saying?
"Chased out of what?"
"Those crazy Huangbo bastards brought me to Oga Village and kicked me out right away! They're smashing inns, flipping stalls, and driving people out. Fuck, you see this? I got beat—Geum Cheom-sang got beat!"
"......"
Chasing people out of Oga Village?
Flipping stalls?
His thoughts hadn't even sorted themselves out yet.
"Y-Young Maaaster!"
Soaring Heaven Merchant Company Head Go Dong-gil came rushing in, panting.
"B-Big trouble!"
"I just heard about the big trouble."
"The Huangbo family is unilaterally expelling our company's merchants from Shandong without notice!"
Go Dong-gil poured out his grievances.
"All the deals they promised are canceled outright! Our chief manager got chased from the iron mine and is sailing back! Plus, all trade with our Shandong connections is cut off!"
Go Dong-gil wailed in despair.
Little Beggar let out a hollow laugh.
"These crazy Huangbo bastards broke the agreement the second they turned around?"
Paeng Jung-hyeok's eyes flashed open as he sprang to his feet.
"That's why everything needs limits...!"
Under Nangong Hyeok's fierce glare, Paeng Jung-hyeok slunk back into his seat with an awkward smile.
"...The Huangbo bastards went too far. Just because we threatened them a bit. Ahem!"
"......"
"The Huangbo family is retaliating right now."
The word 'retaliation' burned fiercely in Nangong Hyeok's mind.
"Retaliation?"
"Yes, retaliation."
"Retaaaaliation?"
"......"
"These fuckers haven't even let the ink on the pledge dry, and they're retaliating? Retaliating?!"
Madness began swirling in Nangong Hyeok's eyes.
"Retaliation? Huh? Retaaaaliation?"
Paeng Jung-hyeok smacked his forehead.
*Ah... these crazy Huangbo bastards. Of all people, they had to poke the Radiant Dragon.*
Whatever happens now.
No one knew what that madman would do.
As everyone stared blankly at Nangong Hyeok, a sudden smile bloomed on his lips.
"Ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
"......"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
After laughing heartily, he sobered up and roared savagely.
"These fuckers—I gave them face in orthodox style, and they go insane enough to touch my assets?!"
"......"
"Fine! I'll do it unorthodox style, my way."
The grinding of Nangong Hyeok's teeth echoed through the parlor.
Go Dong-gil, who had been wailing, froze at the suddenly sunken atmosphere.
*...W-What's unorthodox style?*
But no one was there to answer his question.
Everyone just shook their heads, expressing their unease.