Collection Day Two — 1
Riiip! Tear!
Hwanggeum-seon shredded the flyer and flung the scraps aside, breathing hard through his teeth. This was a provocation.
"...You little bastard. Chewing you up and spitting you out wouldn't even begin to settle this."
Hwanggeum-seon thought of Ho Cheon-an. That guppy who had staged a bizarre sleight-of-hand performance right in front of the Hwanggeumga. After that day, though, the man had shown no further sign of opposing the Golden Family, had not even remained in Sichuan Province, and a background check had turned up no connection whatsoever to Yeo Il-ye.
The occasional reports from the Golden Family's informants had mentioned nothing more remarkable than that he was wandering around outside the province, so Hwanggeum-seon had paid him little mind.
He had once suspected a link to Yeo Il-ye, but the points of contact had been so thin he had dismissed the man entirely.
Now the fury in him was matched by a creeping dread. From the moment Ho Cheon-an's existence had come to light, it felt as though a noose had settled around his throat.
A survivor of the Yeo Family Mountain Villa? Or something else entirely?
Ho Cheon-an's appearance had shoved everything into a bottomless pit of chaos where nothing could be known for certain. If he was connected to Yeo Il-ye, did that mean the thread reached all the way to Diancang? From where had this board been laid out?
Had Yeo Il-ye storming through the front gates of the Hwanggeumga been part of the scheme all along? No — had that grotesque performance in front of the Golden Family been the opening move? Had he exposed the grudge token then to establish a plausible connection?
And Tang Do-gyeong, who had appeared that day, had now reappeared — was that coincidence? Hwanggeum-seon also recalled the rumors of Tang Do-gyeong frequenting the Wanderer Inn. Was even the Tang Clan tangled up in this board?
"Damn it all!"
This had been a trap laid to hunt Yeo Il-ye. He had never imagined other players would force their way onto the board. The Tang Clan had muscled in under the pretext of being a local powerhouse — and why had the Prefect allowed it? On top of that, the authorities themselves had stepped forward to rally the martial artists?
Looking back, even Master Cheongheo's hasty withdrawal seemed suspicious. Had he known something? If he were in league with Yeo Il-ye or Hyeok Gi-rin, it was more than possible.
Who is the pivot? Who?
Who had laid out a board to hunt the very man who had set a trap for Yeo Il-ye? Yeo Il-ye herself? Diancang? Prefect Sama Yeom? The Tang Clan? Ho Cheon-an?
Was this Ho Cheon-an even a real threat? Or was he merely bait, dangled by some other faction to throw Hwanggeum-seon into confusion? The man might have ties to Yeo Il-ye, or might have served as Hyeok Gi-rin's escort, but at the end of the day he was nothing more than a Sichuan nangin with no backing whatsoever.
So perhaps they had simply borrowed that nerve-grating flyer to sow chaos.
Crash! Bang!
Hwanggeum-seon overturned his desk, then hurled, kicked, and smashed everything that had toppled to the floor. After a long stretch of destruction he stood panting. Having vented some of his rage, his mind began to turn again.
Right now, the identity of the mastermind was not what mattered.
First, get the bandits out of there!
Hwanggeum-seon hastily drafted a letter, then summoned a trusted subordinate and handed it over.
"Depart the moment night falls and deliver this to the stronghold!"
"As you command!"
The bandits had to be evacuated without fail. At the very least, the officers and stronghold chiefs all had to be pulled out. If they were captured en masse, the connecting links would almost certainly come to light.
He had put safety measures in place, but this was no longer a situation those measures alone could resolve.
Next, Hwanggeum-seon immediately summoned the representatives of the Hwangbo Clan, Qingcheng, Emei, and Zhongnan.
"I trust you have all heard the news of the proclamation."
Hwanggeum-seon read their faces. They wore the expressions of men privately fretting that a bandit subjugation would cancel the branch-establishment plans entirely, or slash the support package to a fraction of its former size.
"Set your minds at ease. There will be no major changes to the existing support package for opening the branches."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes, of course. The Tang Clan's gallant warriors have stepped forward for now, but there is no guarantee something like this will not happen again in the future."
"Ah, what a relief."
The sect representatives' faces eased, as though a weight had lifted. The support from the Sichuan Merchants' Alliance was valuable in its own right, but what mattered most to them was that the Alliance and the Hwangbo Clan were providing the justification for establishing themselves in Sichuan Province.
Yes. Nothing to worry about...
Having soothed the sect representatives, Hwanggeum-seon felt his own mind grow a little calmer.
As long as the Hwangbo Clan, Emei, Qingcheng, and Zhongnan were present, any direct intervention by the Tang Clan or Diancang could be blocked. Even if the links to the bandits came to light, the present Hwanggeum-seon was a victim who had suffered enormous losses because of those very bandits.
He might face suspicions of deliberately summoning bandits to wipe out the small merchants, but it would not be a blow severe enough to shake the Golden Family itself.
The one thing that could topple Hwanggeum-seon in a single stroke was still the matter of the Yeo Family Mountain Villa.
Yeo Il-ye... Ho Cheon-an.
Round and round, it always came back to Yeo Il-ye and Ho Cheon-an. Hwanggeum-seon ground his teeth.
If you two have chosen to provoke me, then I will return the favor in kind.
An ambush for Ho Cheon-an. And for Yeo Il-ye, another provocation.
Hwanggeum-seon ground his teeth and set himself in motion.
Thud!
The ambusher went flying into the alley wall.
"The road is proving rough from the very start today."
"I have a feeling today will be quite enjoyable."
Yeo Il-ye looked at Dang Do-yeon, who was disguised as a bodyguard just as she was. Ho Cheon-an had suggested it, but she had never expected someone from the Tang Clan to actually put on a disguise and come outside like this.
Was it Ho Cheon-an's nerve that was swollen beyond measure, dressing up a Tang Clan expert as a hired guard and putting her to work? Or was it Dang Do-yeon who lacked sense, agreeing to the plan and tagging along with that look of pure excitement on her face?
Ambushers had been stationed in the alleys leading to the Seongrak Pavilion, but mere back-alley thugs were nothing more than fallen leaves before the hands of two Super-Peak experts.
"Muahahahaha!!"
The moment he stepped into the Seongrak Pavilion, Ho Cheon-an burst into laughter and drew every eye in the room.
Even the people who had been heatedly discussing the bandit subjugation force turned to stare at him.
Murmurs rose.
"Who is that man?"
It was only natural. Very few people visited an entertainment pavilion every single day, and with talk of Tang Do-gyeong's bandit subjugation force sweeping Sichuan Province, almost no one currently in the Seongrak Pavilion recognized Ho Cheon-an.
"So yesterday's lucky guppy has shown up gilded in gold."
But the handful who did recognize him looked on with open displeasure. It had been galling enough when some rich young master had waltzed in with a beautiful warrior on his arm and walked off with a fortune on pure luck.
Today he had not only dressed himself head to toe in brand-new clothes that screamed I am a nouveau riche, he had arrived with yet another beautiful bodyguard added to his entourage.
"Chunhyang! Watch well this body's inspired gambling skill! Yesterday I took a full hundred nyang of gold! Today let us aim for a hundred and fifty!"
Those who overheard him were left speechless — and in that instant they understood exactly what kind of man Ho Cheon-an was. A greenhorn who had blown through a lifetime's worth of luck in a single day, who knew nothing of the world or of gambling! And yet here he was, strutting into an entertainment pavilion in flashy clothes with two women on his arms?
Dang Do-yeon was impressed.
The moment he entered, Ho Cheon-an had successfully announced to the crowd exactly what kind of person he was, drawing hostile stares and undivided attention.
"My, my~ Young Master. Since you've come all the way to an entertainment pavilion and a gambling hall, why not set your sights higher — say, two hundred nyang of gold?"
"Hahaha! So my vessel was too small! Very well! Two hundred nyang is the goal today! Wahahahaha!"
"Ohohoho~"
Ho Cheon-an nodded in satisfaction at Dang Do-yeon's performance.
Today her role was to fan the flames so that this luck-drunk young master, utterly ignorant of the world, would look even more insufferable!
Excellent fanning technique. Today I am going to rub salt in some serious wounds.
Already most of the pavilion was sending hostile looks his way, and some were muttering curses under their breath.
"You bastard! Today I will avenge myself on you! Sit down at the table!"
"Oh~ Did you come well-stocked with stakes today? Yesterday you ran dry halfway through, and it was rather..."
Gu Ju-jin, who had been cleaned out of several dozen nyang of gold the day before, ground his teeth as he glared at Ho Cheon-an.
He had put in a request to have the man intercepted on his way home and brought before him, but the only answer that came back was failure. Suspecting that one of the special clients fleeced by Ho Cheon-an the previous day might have paid extra to spirit him away, Gu Ju-jin had stormed into the pavilion intending to confront the Seongrak Pavilion management — only to find Ho Cheon-an already raising a ruckus.
Useless Seongrak Pavilion dogs!
Judging by the suddenly luxurious clothes and that triumphant air, it really did seem the interception had simply failed!
Gu Ju-jin ground his teeth as he looked at the man who had humiliated him.
I hired two of the Seongrak Pavilion's top-tier gamblers. You little—!
"Today this person needs to win two hundred nyang of gold, you see. If you haven't the stakes, I may as well play with someone else..."
The sight of Ho Cheon-an settling into a chair, crossing his legs, and idly swinging one foot made Gu Ju-jin's already overheated face flush a deep crimson.
"Bring my money out here at once!"
"Yes, sir!"
The gambling table opened. Dang Do-yeon marveled at Ho Cheon-an's dazzling technique. Gu Ju-jin himself was essentially a novice, but the professional gamblers seated with him were, even to her eye, far from ordinary.
"Aaargh! I'm all in!"
"Damn it!!"
"Wahaha. Looks like luck is sticking to me again today!"
Ho Cheon-an was simply toying with the table. Now and then he would inexplicably shove all-in on a weak hand and lose. After a loss he would put on a bluff so transparent anyone could see it. On surprisingly strong hands he would either bet small or go completely mad with a massive raise. To any observer, he looked every bit the gambling greenhorn.
And yet the money kept flowing toward Ho Cheon-an's side of the table.
"Another one-pip difference!"
"Gu Ju-jin's luck is rotten today!"
He has complete control of the table.
Ho Cheon-an kept nibbling away at Gu Ju-jin's and the gamblers' gold with razor-thin hands. For a man who already dominated the board, whether the gap between his cards and his opponents' was large or small meant nothing at all.
"My, my. Did you get to enjoy a show this good yesterday as well?"
At Dang Do-yeon's sound transmission, Yeo Il-ye almost turned her head, then stopped herself. It was a transmission between Super-Peak experts — no one else would notice.
"Your acting is quite polished."
"Waaah! Young Master, you've won again! Today must be your day!"
"Muhahaha! Chunhyang, this is not luck — this is skill!"
"Heh. The young lady is excellent too. That rigid bodyguard act, all wound tight with worry for Nangin Ho's safety."
Yeo Il-ye said nothing. That part had not been acting at all.
"Isn't it satisfying?"
Yeo Il-ye turned toward Dang Do-yeon. She recalled what Ho Cheon-an had told her. He had shared information with the Tang Clan while deliberately omitting the parts about her enemies. So Dang Do-yeon would simply believe they had come to fleece one of Sichuan's villains.
Satisfying... is it?
Then, suddenly, a commotion rose from the uppermost floor. Yeo Il-ye pulled her gaze from the gambling table and looked that way.
And her eyes met those of a man in lavish dress.
Yu Ji-gyeong, master of the Seongrak Pavilion.
Yeo Il-ye watched him. Yu Ji-gyeong was listening to some explanation from the person beside him while glaring down at Ho Cheon-an. He had apparently come out in person to see the man currently turning his establishment upside down.
Seeing her enemy's face made her heart hammer by reflex — but the killing intent did not surge up.
Why is that?
She was still turning the thought over when Yu Ji-gyeong's gaze shifted. His displeased eyes passed over Dang Do-yeon and landed on Yeo Il-ye. And then—
Yu Ji-gyeong's face went deathly pale in an instant.
So he saw through my disguise.
Yeo Il-ye looked up at him calmly. In truth, it barely counted as a disguise. Some makeup, a beauty mark. Anyone who already knew Yeo Il-ye's face would have little trouble recognizing her at that level.
Yu Ji-gyeong stumbled backward and fled, his so-called confidants scrambling after him in a panic.
Watching their retreating backs...
"How delightful."
"Ah — young lady, use sound transmission!"
Yeo Il-ye stifled the laughter that threatened to spill out, chuckling under her breath as she thought. What could Yu Ji-gyeong possibly do? What could he do to Ho Cheon-an, who was wrecking his business right here in his own establishment, and to her? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
How could he use force against Ho Cheon-an, protected by two Super-Peak masters? If he banned them from the pavilion, would Ho Cheon-an simply sit still? She did not know what method he would use, but the damage would certainly be severe enough that letting them in would be the wiser choice.
The special clients would not stand by and watch Ho Cheon-an trample their dignity and their stronghold; they would either pressure the Seongrak Pavilion or abandon it entirely.
What must it feel like for Yu Ji-gyeong, master of the Seongrak Pavilion, to watch a supreme expert who could take his head at any moment walk into his own establishment and tear it down before his eyes?
He would have no choice but to cower somewhere, trembling, crushed by the helplessness and terror of being able to do nothing at all.
Imagining that feeling, Yeo Il-ye could not stop smiling.
"Young lady? Young lady? Honestly, if you keep laughing like that, the act will fall apart..."
"Hahaha! So even Hyangdan is finally discovering the joy of gambling!"
Ho Cheon-an must have heard her laughter as well; he turned in his seat and looked at her. Wearing a smile that had nothing to do with the act, he said:
"Did I not tell you yesterday? One day, and you would be fine!"
At those words, Yeo Il-ye recalled the conversation they had shared the day before, just prior to entering the Seongrak Pavilion.
"Still, controlling one's emotions as easily as one resolves to is not so simple."
"From tomorrow, it will be all right."
"...I do not believe one day will be enough to grow accustomed to it."
So that was what he meant.
"Yes. You are right, Young Master."
Yeo Il-ye chuckled softly.
The day was not even over yet.
And already, she found herself looking forward to tomorrow.