Monopolizing Fortunes (168)
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Monopolizing Fortunes (168)
But then the sword that had been swinging toward his neck suddenly veered off in another direction.
Clang!
The two swords collided, letting out a thunderous noise that felt like it would tear his eardrums apart. Yeom Je-cheong had to retreat two steps before he could regain his balance.
Only then did he realize that the one who had attacked him was a man in his mid-thirties, and he frowned.
"Do you know who I am, and still attack me?"
The man in his mid-thirties, Jang Yu-seom, answered.
"You tried to kill my little brother. I don't need to know anything beyond that."
"Brother!"
Wang Du-sik, who had run over to Jang Yu-seom, pointed at Yeom Je-cheong like a child tattling to his mother.
"He's an old man from Mount Hua Sect, and he's fucking cowardly!"
Do Tong-dal, standing behind Jang Yu-seom, spoke to Wang Du-sik.
"Go inside and get your wounds treated first."
"It's just a scratch! If I fight him again, that old man...!"
Do Tong-dal cut Wang Du-sik off.
"Go inside and get treated."
"Yes."
With his head hanging low, Wang Du-sik disappeared with a pitiful expression like a dog caught in the rain. Beside Do Tong-dal stood Namgung Seol-rin, her arms crossed and her face showing clear displeasure with the situation.
Do Tong-dal asked.
"You came from Mount Hua Sect?"
"I am Yeom Je-cheong, the Absolute Sea Single Sword, an elder of Mount Hua Sect."
"Hah! Unbelievable."
Do Tong-dal walked toward Yeom Je-cheong. His swaggering steps, hands shoved in his pants pockets, showed no sign of stopping.
When the distance closed from one jang to six ja, Yeom Je-cheong grew flustered. Even if the man could be considered an enemy, approaching this close with his hands in his pockets was far beyond common sense.
Six ja became five ja, and finally they were close enough to feel each other's breath. Yeom Je-cheong felt he could not back down, so he gritted his teeth and held his ground.
They were so close that he had to look up at Do Tong-dal, who was taller than him.
"Fuck, so if you're a Mount Hua elder, you can kill someone's disciple in front of their sect and talk down to people you've never met?"
"You... you insolent wretch! There is a clear hierarchy in the martial world, and this is nothing but rudeness!"
"If you want any fucking respect, act right! You're swinging a sword around at my house and you want me to be polite? What kind of bullshit is that?"
This was a first for Yeom Je-cheong. Even the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans treated him as an honored guest when he visited.
The heads of most sects could not even raise their heads before him. Yet a person from a newly founded sect that had not even held its founding ceremony was cursing him out.
"You bastard! You must truly wish for your entire sect to be destroyed!"
Baek Su-hyeon shouted, pointing his sword at Do Tong-dal. Seeing this, Namgung Seol-rin stepped forward.
"Swinging a sword means you're ready to fight to the death, right?"
He had meant to rebuke their rudeness, not fight to the death. But he could not back down after hearing those words.
"Come at me if you dare! Today I will show you the spirit of Mount Hua Sect!"
"Fuck, you got your ass kicked by a kid and now you're talking about spirit. What a joke."
They had hung a sign calling this the Righteous Chivalry Sect, yet even the women here went around cursing.
Do Tong-dal spoke to Yeom Je-cheong.
"Justification matters in the martial world. It's clear that Mount Hua Sect attacked our Righteous Chivalry Sect today, isn't it?"
In that instant, Yeom Je-cheong racked his brain until it cramped. He had come to punish the one who had harmed the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
He had believed that no matter who it was, he could mete out punishment easily. But the way things were unfolding was anything but easy.
They had exchanged only a single move, but the man in his mid-thirties was by no means an easy opponent.
The swaggering bastard before his eyes had to be considered a master as well, and the woman with the foul mouth was the same.
He had no real justification to put forward either. He did not even properly know why the lay disciple of Mount Hua Sect had been struck in the first place.
If he was not careful, he could end up utterly humiliated.
"I did not come for the Righteous Chivalry Sect. I came to punish the scoundrel who injured our Mount Hua Sect's Plum Blossom Swordsmen."
Yeom Je-cheong backed down about half a step. He thought that if he showed this kind of reaction, the other side would also quietly back off out of consideration for Mount Hua Sect's reputation.
"Cut the bullshit. The bastard who groped my sister's ass at the pleasure house is the scoundrel. Why would my little brother, who punished that bastard, be the scoundrel? Is Mount Hua Sect just a gathering place for bastards like that?"
"You dare!"
Unable to stand it any longer, Baek Su-hyeon threw himself at Do Tong-dal. But he could not even get close.
The sword Namgung Seol-rin swung sent Baek Su-hyeon's sword flying.
Smack—!
Namgung Seol-rin's sword struck his backside, drawing a scream from Baek Su-hyeon.
"Your Mount Hua bastard touched my ass like this! Like this!"
The sound of the flat of the sword smacking his backside rang out repeatedly. Yeom Je-cheong felt a chill before anger.
No matter how abnormal Baek Su-hyeon's body was, he was still the Plum Blossom Sword Lord. He was the most outstanding of Mount Hua Sect's rising generation, and even among all the rising talents of the martial world, he would rank within the top ten.
Yet this woman who looked to be in her twenties was literally toying with Baek Su-hyeon.
Baek Su-hyeon, who had been getting his backside smacked, finally collapsed forward with a thud. An old voice fell over him.
"Oh my, what a sight this is."
Yeom Je-cheong turned his head at the voice he had heard somewhere before.
"Sect Leader?"
It had been a long time, but it was unmistakably Baek So-gu, the leader of the Beggars' Sect.
"Hm? I saw the Mount Hua Sect robes and thought, isn't that Elder Yeom Je-cheong?"
"What brings you here, Sect Leader?"
"Me? I had business at the Luoyang branch of the Beggars' Sect. And you?"
He could not answer that he had come to discipline the one who had injured the Plum Blossom Swordsmen and was instead being humiliated.
"Well, that is..."
"Oh? Isn't this young man your disciple? He was the leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, the Plum Blossom Sword Lord, wasn't he? His name was... Ah! Baek Su-hyeon, wasn't it?"
The old man had annoyingly sharp wits.
"But why is he getting beaten so hard he's kicking up dust on a rainy day?"
While Yeom Je-cheong hemmed and hawed, unable to come up with a decent excuse, Do Tong-dal asked.
"Who are you, old man?"
"Me? Just an old beggar passing by. And you?"
"I'm Bae Cheong-dong, who will be serving as Hall Master here at the Righteous Chivalry Sect, though we haven't held our founding ceremony yet. From what I hear, you don't seem to be just any old beggar."
"Heh heh heh! I do carry the complicated status of Beggars' Sect leader."
Do Tong-dal gave Baek So-gu a respectful cupped-fist salute.
"This junior of the martial world, Bae, greets the renowned leader of the Beggars' Sect."
Baek So-gu even stood on his tiptoes to pat Do Tong-dal on the head.
"What a polite young man. How admirable, truly admirable."
'Where does this old beggar get off touching my head...!'
But since he was putting on an act as if they were meeting for the first time, he could not snap at him.
"Th... thank you for thinking so highly of me."
"Of course you should be thankful. The leader of the Beggars' Sect is even patting your head. Heh heh heh..."
Baek So-gu savored the moment to his heart's content. When would he ever get another chance to pat the head of this little devil Do Tong-dal?
Do Tong-dal was seething inside when Namgung Seol-rin stepped in.
"We can't leave such an esteemed person standing in the street. It's humble, but please come inside. I've heard you're quite the drinker, and we happen to have some liquor to serve."
"Is that so? I don't know about anything else, but I can't refuse an offer of liquor."
Baek So-gu, who had turned to follow Namgung Seol-rin, asked Yeom Je-cheong.
"Aren't you coming? It looks like your disciple needs treatment too."
Yeom Je-cheong looked with displeasure at Baek Su-hyeon, who was struggling to stand before flopping back down.
Baek Su-hyeon's condition aside, if he simply left now, there was no telling how rumors about Mount Hua Sect and Yeom Je-cheong would spread.
'I need to wrap this up somehow...'
But he could not just trot in after Baek So-gu without being invited.
"Let us go. Even if we fight when it is time to fight, should we not settle the rights and wrongs that need to be settled with words?"
Yeom Je-cheong grabbed the hand Do Tong-dal extended.
"Hmph! Judging by the name of your sect, it sounds like an orthodox sect, so I suppose I should at least talk."
They went inside. As soon as he crossed the main gate, Yeom Je-cheong quickly scanned his surroundings.
Perhaps because it had originally been a merchant company, the scale was considerable. Many workers were coming and going for renovation work, but those who looked like martial artists were rare.
'How many disciples do they have?'
Just then, Baek So-gu asked the very thing Yeom Je-cheong was curious about.
"There don't seem to be any people who look like martial artists. How many disciples do you have?"
"We plan to start with about a hundred. They're all training elsewhere and will come in time for the founding."
"When do you plan to hold the founding?"
"Soon."
"Have you sent out invitations announcing the founding to the various sects?"
"Who would come to the founding ceremony of a small sect like ours?"
"Hmph! Depending on how the liquor you serve today tastes, I might be able to help out a little."
Out came the Four Happiness Liquor. For Baek So-gu, it was an unexpected windfall.
'That Tong-dal, he acts prickly on the outside, but he's the real deal. Heh heh heh...'
The Four Happiness Liquor melted the old beggar's heart. Yeom Je-cheong did not like drinking in broad daylight, but Baek So-gu insisted so much that he took a small sip.
Then he emptied an entire bottle. For a drinker, there was no choice but to be disarmed before the Four Happiness Liquor.
Quite a lot of conversation passed while they drank, and Yeom Je-cheong was able to hear the cause of the fight.
"Hah... It seems a lay disciple of Mount Hua Sect made a mistake."
Do Tong-dal picked up on Yeom Je-cheong's words.
"My little brother made a mistake too. He shouldn't have insulted Mount Hua Sect like that. I already gave him a stern scolding over it, and then this happened today."
Thanks to Baek So-gu skillfully guiding the mood, by the end they were chatting and even bursting into occasional laughter.
"Of course Mount Hua Sect will send someone as well. Although we met through an unfortunate incident, all under heaven are brothers, so shouldn't we turn this into an opportunity to grow even closer? Hahaha!"
Even Baek Su-hyeon received attentive treatment, and their meeting ended on a cordial note.
But as soon as Yeom Je-cheong crossed the threshold of the Righteous Chivalry Sect, his face hardened. No matter how nicely it was packaged, today's events were an insult to Mount Hua Sect and a personal disgrace.
"Su-hyeon."
"Yes, Master."
"As of today, step down from your position as Plum Blossom Sword Lord and enter a hundred-day closed-door training."
"Understood."
"Never forget today's shame. The Righteous Chivalry Sect will one day be destroyed by our Mount Hua Sect's hands."
As Yeom Je-cheong made that vow, the same words came out of Do Tong-dal's mouth.
"Yeom Je-cheong's mood improved? Seol-rin, did you really believe everything that guy said?"
"The atmosphere was good, wasn't it?"
"It was all an act."
Baek So-gu spoke.
"Yeom Je-cheong is the kind of man who can hide a knife in his belly and smile on the outside."
"Right about now, he's probably scheming about how to destroy the Righteous Chivalry Sect."
"Did you factor Yeom Je-cheong's arrival into your calculations?"
"What am I, a god? I didn't even know who Yeom Je-cheong was."
"Then why did you have me standing by? Because of you, I was stuck in Luoyang for two days."
"Because you appearing at that moment, Sect Leader, gave the Righteous Chivalry Sect and Mount Hua Sect an excuse not to fight right away. And it made forming a connection with the Beggars' Sect look natural. It was all for show, for the Revenge Society."
"You should have told me beforehand. When I heard there was a fight, I came running so fast I thought this old man's breath would give out."
"Please make sure as many sects as possible can attend the Righteous Chivalry Sect's founding ceremony, Sect Leader."
"When are you holding the founding ceremony?"
"In ten days."
"That's too soon. Only the sects in the nearby cities will be able to come."
"It's enough if three or four of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans participate."
Namgung Seol-rin spoke.
"The Namgung Clan will attend."
Just then, a voice came from outside.
"Protector Bae, a message has arrived that all the family members of the Hwangdae Merchant Company have arrived safely."
"Yes, understood."
As the sound of footsteps faded, Baek So-gu asked.
"Family members of the Hwangdae Merchant Company?"
"Because of the imperial palace's attack, only the key figures evacuated, so families were separated. We gathered all those families and brought them to the Jang Merchant Company."
"Good."
Baek So-gu had said it as a formality, but to Do Tong-dal it was a very important matter.
He had finally taken in the family of Byeon Hui-song, who had acted as a spy for the Revenge Society.
"Tomorrow, I'll have to go to the Revenge Society headquarters with Company Head Jang."
* * *