Chapter 126: I Fleeced the Rising Stars-1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 126: I Fleeced the Rising Stars-1
It was then.
"In that case, perhaps we should... silence the witness?"
One of the young men among the Rising Stars spoke up slowly.
"Ah, so you're saying we should just kill her so we don't get caught?"
"Yes, exactly. We can just tell the Poison King that she ran off with another man..."
The man continued, his voice filled with a strange sort of confidence. His logic was simple: if you can't hide it, destroy it.
"What's your name?"
Hearing this, Sun-woo slowly turned his gaze toward him.
"I am Moyong Gye."
"Is the Gye in your name the character for 'chicken'?"
"No, it is the Gye for 'brave.'"
"From now on, it's changed. It's Gye for chicken."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sun-woo lunged at him and started throwing punches.
Thwack!
"Agh!"
Thud!
"Urgh!"
Moyong Gye screamed under the barrage of Sun-woo's fists.
"You want to keep talking shit?"
Sun-woo beat Moyong Gye until he was on the verge of passing out. He had finally set the right mood, and this idiot had to go and ruin it with such nonsense. Even though these were the Rising Stars of the Murim—supposedly well-educated elites—it seemed there was always a clueless fool in every group.
Sun-woo composed himself and turned back to the rest of the Rising Stars.
"If I were going to kill anyone, I'd kill you lot. Why would I kill the Sixth Lady?"
At Sun-woo's chilling words, the Rising Stars turned pale.
‘Ugh, that bird-brained idiot.’
‘Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?’
‘Seriously, read the room.’
Moyong Gye was already notorious among the Rising Stars for his lack of tact and impulsive, shallow thinking. They clicked their tongues as they looked at the crumpled heap that was Moyong Gye. He had practically begged for that beating.
"There are two main issues we need to resolve right now. One is restoring the Sixth Lady to her original state before we meet my Master. The other is making sure she keeps her mouth shut."
Sun-woo looked back at the group and continued.
"Master is currently away to meet an old acquaintance in seclusion. We are set to meet him in seven days. We must restore the Sixth Lady to her original state before then."
The Rising Stars fell into despair. Restoring a woman whose body had been practically mangled in just seven days? It was an impossible task, no matter what physician they brought from their respective clans. They began to wonder if Moyong Gye’s suggestion of silencing her wasn't the better option after all.
"Fortunately, it's not impossible."
Flash.
At Sun-woo's words, the Rising Stars' eyes snapped back to him. Hope began to flicker on their desperate faces.
"As you know, the Sichuan Tang Clan is known as the World's Greatest Poison Sect, but it is also known by another name."
"…The World's Greatest Medical Sect."
Lee Ye-seol finished his sentence. It was true. While the Tang Clan was the supreme authority on poisons, they were also the finest medical sect in the world. If anyone could heal the Sixth Lady, it was only natural that the Tang Clan would be the ones to do it.
"I have inherited not only the poison arts but also the medical arts from my Master. Treating her is not a difficult task."
Hope flared in Lee Ye-seol's eyes. If only the Sixth Lady could be restored... if only the events at Pungcheonru could be erased as if they never happened... then everything could go back to the way it was.
"However," Sun-woo said, looking at their hopeful faces, "restoring the Sixth Lady completely in such a short time is impossible with ordinary medicinal herbs."
He paused for effect.
"I will need a large quantity of rare ingredients. Things like the Heat-Yang Herb, Yin Moon Grass, and fifty-year-old He Shou Wu."
The Rising Stars looked bewildered. The Heat-Yang Herb was a rare spirit herb that only grew in the Southern Barbarian Lands. Because it contained Extreme Yang Energy, it was highly sought after not only by martial artists practicing Yang-heat techniques but also by wealthy merchants who spared no expense to buy it for its restorative properties.
And what about the Yin Moon Grass? It was a spirit herb filled with Yin energy, grown under the full light of the moon. It was considered a legendary elixir for those practicing Yin-cold techniques. As for the fifty-year-old He Shou Wu, it went without saying that every martial artist craved such a precious medicine.
This man was demanding things that were all incredibly rare and expensive.
"Altogether, it should cost about fifty thousand silver taels."
*
The Rising Stars were struck with consternation. No matter how prestigious their sects were, they didn't carry that kind of money on them.
"That's absurd! How can you use polar opposites like the Heat-Yang Herb and Yin Moon Grass together to treat a wound?"
Zhuge Jia voiced her disbelief. As she said, the Heat-Yang Herb and Yin Moon Grass contained Extreme Yang and Extreme Yin energies, respectively. If mixed, the medicinal effects would surely cancel each other out rather than blend. She was certain he was lying—using the Sixth Lady's injuries as an excuse to extort money.
‘She’s sharp.’
Sun-woo was impressed by her keen observation. Zhuge Jia was quick to find the flaws in whatever lie he told. She truly lived up to her reputation as the Divine Strategist.
"Who said I was mixing them? I'll use them separately. Depending on how you use them, herbs can be either poison or medicine. The same goes for the Heat-Yang Herb and Yin Moon Grass. Depending on the method, they can become legendary elixirs."
Sun-woo rattled off the lie without a hint of hesitation. He knew for a fact that they didn't know the first thing about medicine, so he lied with a clear conscience.
"Besides, you're not exactly in a position to argue, are you? Is there anyone else here who can restore the Sixth Lady besides me?"
"……"
Zhuge Jia fell silent. It was true. The man before them was the only one who could clean up this mess. The Rising Stars' faces turned ashen.
"Don't be so scared. Haven't you heard the saying 'many hands make light work'? If everyone chips in a little, we can raise the money."
Sun-woo continued as he watched their pale faces. There were about twenty of them. That meant each person would have to contribute at least two thousand five hundred silver taels. There was no way these young Rising Stars had access to that kind of capital. They stood there, mute as statues.
"Why the silence?"
"Ex... Excuse me, Hero Gal."
Zhuge Jia finally spoke up, looking at Sun-woo.
"What?"
"Even though we are promising Rising Stars from our respective clans and sects, we aren't in a position to mobilize such a large sum of money."
She was telling the truth. No matter how much their clans valued them, they wouldn't just hand over two thousand five hundred silver taels. If they asked for that much, they’d likely be beaten for having lost their minds during training.
"It's fine, it's fine. There's a way."
Sun-woo continued nonchalantly.
"You all have your identity tokens, right?"
He suddenly asked about their tokens. The Rising Stars nodded in unison. Who wouldn't carry a token to prove their identity? Even as martial artists, they had to present their tokens to enter different provinces or counties.
"Perfect."
Sun-woo cheered internally. Fortunately, it seemed everyone had one.
"If you walk straight to the right from Pungcheonru, you'll find the Gyunhyeon branch of the Mangeum Bank. It's a very helpful place that provides large loans at low interest rates as long as you have a verified identity token and a signature seal."
Sun-woo slowly scanned the group.
"Go borrow it."
The Rising Stars' faces turned even paler.
"Wha... No! Hero Gal, are you telling us to take out private loans!?"
Zhuge Jia asked, her voice rising in agitation. Sun-woo was essentially telling them to borrow money using their family names as collateral. They couldn't do that. If they failed to pay the money back on time, the Mangeum Bank would surely come to their clans to collect. Furthermore, wasn't the Mangeum Bank the family business of the Tang Clan Head's third wife, Geum Jeok-hwa? It wasn't a place they could simply intimidate with the power of their own sects.
"This is madness, Hero Gal!"
"If it's found out that I borrowed money in my family's name, I'll be beaten to death!"
"If I recklessly use my sect's name to borrow such a sum, I don't know how many years of wall-facing meditation I'll be sentenced to!"
Protests erupted from the Rising Stars. It was unthinkable. If the news of them using private loans got out, their clans and sects would be in an uproar. Their standing would plummet, and if they were unlucky, they might actually be beaten to death.
"Then how else are you going to get the money?"
"……"
"……"
"……"
The Rising Stars, who had been shouting in anger, fell silent once again. As he said, they had no other way to get the money. But taking out a loan meant a guaranteed beating.
"You should think carefully. If you don't heal the Sixth Lady here, you'll be making an enemy of the Tang Clan. The moment the Poison King—my Master—finds out, this won't be something that can be settled with money. My Master, his pride wounded, will march to your sects and clans. He'll demand the heads of those who stood by and watched this happen."
Sun-woo lowered his voice and explained the worst-case scenario in vivid detail for those who still hadn't grasped the gravity of the situation.
"And what choice do you think your sects will make? Will they choose a former 'prodigy' who has already been branded as trash with no sense of chivalry? Or will they choose a titan like the Poison King, a hero who once saved the Murim and has reached the Absolute Realm? Nine times out of ten, it'll be the latter. I'd bet on it."
The faces of the Rising Stars grew darker by the second. Not a single word he said was wrong. No matter how talented they were, they weren't important enough for their clans to go to war with the Poison King. Especially not if they were the ones who had stood by while the Sixth Lady was being mutilated. Their sects would discard them without a second thought.
Hearing his words, paying two thousand five hundred silver taels to settle an incident of this magnitude seemed like a bargain. What did it matter if their standing in the clan dropped? What did it matter if they had to do years of wall-facing meditation? What did it matter if they were beaten half to death? At least they would be alive.
Their minds slowly began to lean toward taking out the loans. Come to think of it, they were the top talents of their respective organizations. Two thousand five hundred silver taels was a lot of money, but it wasn't enough for their clans to actually kill them over. Thinking that way made them feel much better.
It was then.
"I'll borrow it."
Lee Ye-seol answered immediately. She had no choice anyway. In fact, even if she had been told to cover the entire fifty thousand taels herself, she would have agreed. That was how desperate she was. To be able to resolve everything for a mere two thousand five hundred taels... how could she refuse?
"Me too."
"I'll go borrow it right now."
"Count me in."
Starting with Lee Ye-seol, the Rising Stars scrambled to agree. The milk was already spilled. If that was the price to clean it up, it was actually quite cheap.
But then...
"Wait a moment."
It was Zhuge Jia.
"What now?"
"Even if we heal the Sixth Lady completely, isn't it all for nothing if she doesn't keep her mouth shut? How do you plan to silence her?"
Zhuge Jia voiced her lingering doubt. As she said, even if they healed her, if the victim herself spoke up, they would have just thrown their money away. Whether she was healed or not, the Poison King would be furious and would have their heads.
"Don't worry about that," Sun-woo said confidently. "The Sixth Lady is my cousin. She won't want to see me get into trouble either. If this incident becomes known, I won't be able to escape punishment myself. And she won't want my Master to start a war with the prestigious sects because of her."
Sun-woo lied through his teeth with practiced ease. The first lie was the hardest; after that, it was easy. When he first started squeezing out lies, his head felt like it was going to split, but now it wasn't difficult at all.
"However, she is only human, so her anger might not fade so easily. If that resentment builds up, she might eventually tell Master everything."
"What!?"
Zhuge Jia asked in shock. That meant a perfect secret couldn't be guaranteed. This wasn't what they had agreed upon.
"However!" Sun-woo continued, ignoring her agitation. "If you all show her a small token of your sincerity, the story changes."
"A token of sincerity?" Zhuge Jia asked, puzzled.
"She's returning to the Tang Clan after her honeymoon. Wouldn't she be touched if she found wedding gifts or congratulatory presents waiting for her there?"
"Where would we get the money for that!?" Zhuge Jia shouted, as if he were being absurd. They were already planning to borrow two thousand five hundred taels. How were they supposed to afford gifts on top of that?
"There's always a way," Sun-woo said dismissively. "Isn't two thousand five hundred taels a bit of an awkward number? How about a nice, even three thousand?"
The faces of the Rising Stars began to turn a sickly shade of grey.