Monopolizing Fortunes (80)
Monopolizing Fortunes (80)
"Hehehe... sure. But are you really planning to feed the entire Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King to Tong-dal?"
"If we split it up to drink, there'd be enough for six people. How much effect would it have then?"
"It's the finest of the finest, the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King. Each person would gain at least half a gapja."
Any martial artist would go wild over even half a gapja, but Namgung Seol-rin was firm.
"It's better to concentrate it on one person than to spread it thinly among several."
"Do the others think so too?"
"I didn't ask, but they'll agree. If Jang Yu-seom or Won Dae-yeon knew, could they hide their expressions in front of Tong-dal?"
"They're excessively honest people. But how do you plan to feed this to Coordinator Do? He'll know the moment he tastes it."
"We'll have to make sure he doesn't know."
* * *
Won Dae-yeon scratched his head.
"I've never done it that way before."
"It's not like you can't do it just because he's unconscious, right? And Tong-dal doesn't know a single line of internal energy cultivation methods anyway, so it wouldn't make a difference even if he were awake."
"That's true, but it's unprecedented."
"Everything has a first time. And if it goes well, Tong-dal might even keep his wits about him. We should hope for that. Then I'll trust you, Won Dae-yeon. Ah! And don't meet Tong-dal today."
"Why?"
"Because he'll notice you're hiding something."
"Don't worry. I don't wear things on my face that much."
"Tong-dal sees right through it."
"Really?"
"If you doubt it, ask Jang Yu-seom."
So he asked. And Jang Yu-seom nodded as if it were obvious.
"Yes. If Won Dae-yeon is hiding something, Coordinator Do will notice immediately. So don't bother lying."
"What kind of person is that? It's not like he's learned some mind-reading art."
Even though Won Dae-yeon was someone he could trust, he couldn't tell him about the Mind-Reading Art that Do Tong-dal had learned.
"Right here. But why do you ask?"
"No, well......."
"Wait! Don't say it. Then I won't be able to meet Coordinator Do either. If Protector Namgung said that, just avoid him. It's not hard not to see him for one day, is it?"
"Damn, it's not like I committed a crime. I'm actually trying to do something good for Coordinator Do, so why do I have to avoid him?"
He grumbled, but Won Dae-yeon left the headquarters and took a meaningless walk all the way to the outskirts of Hangzhou.
While Won Dae-yeon was taking his walk, Namgung Seol-rin went to find Wang Chil.
"Why? Why should I drink with Tong-dal?"
"Just drink. You have to drink until he's completely drunk."
"I don't mind, but I'm curious why I suddenly have to."
"If I tell you the truth, are you confident you can hide it from Tong-dal?"
Wang Chil's answer came immediately.
"No."
"So just drink."
"He'll probably figure out that Protector Namgung put me up to this too, won't he?"
Namgung Seol-rin hung her head. It was absolutely impossible for Wang Chil to hide anything from Do Tong-dal. He would definitely notice something was off and would surely spill everything about this meeting with Namgung Seol-rin.
"Just forget it. And don't meet Tong-dal today."
And so another person was forcibly quarantined from Do Tong-dal.
"Why did this guy have to learn something like the Mind-Reading Art and make everyone's life exhausting!"
In the building behind the headquarters used as a training hall, Namgung Seol-rin racked her brain desperately.
"Should I tell the Deputy Society Leader? No, he's not the type who lies well either. The old man from the slaughterhouse...... no. I can't ask a Hao Sect Elder for this kind of favor. Ugh...... who in the world am I supposed to ask?"
After racking her brain alone, she went to find Seon Hye-min.
"Hm. That is quite a difficult problem."
"Exactly. Who could possibly deceive Tong-dal?"
"No one, I'd say?"
"Then should we just wait and hope he gets drunk while drinking?"
"Unless something special happens, Coordinator Do doesn't drink to the point of losing consciousness."
"Exactly. Should we create something upsetting for him?"
"He's someone who's too clear-headed about everything. The Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King will rot while we look for something like that. Ah!"
"Do you have a good idea?"
"How about making a completely unexpected person believe a lie as truth and sending them to approach Coordinator Do? For example, Magistrate Gong Myeong-un."
* * *
When he heard that a Protector of the Red Tiger Society had come to see him, Gong Myeong-un's heart sank.
The first thought that came to mind was, 'Have they come to kill me?' Even if the Red Tiger Society came to kill him, not a single person would step in to stop them.
"T-tell them to come in."
He wanted to issue an order refusing visitors, but he didn't have the nerve. Even though such a beautiful woman had come, Gong Myeong-un, seated in his chair, could only straighten his posture.
"To what do I owe the visit of someone as distinguished as a Protector of the Red Tiger Society?"
Before he knew it, the magistrate had become someone whose status was lower than an underworld thug.
"I've come to save your life, Magistrate."
"Pardon?"
* * *
He hadn't expected Gong Myeong-un to ask to meet first.
"I thought he'd be trembling like a rabbit until I got here."
He had no intention of killing Gong Myeong-un anyway. Even if he'd been made a scarecrow, a magistrate was still a magistrate. There was no need to invite trouble by killing some insignificant person.
"Shall we go to Cheonsangru for the first time in a while?"
So they set the appointment, and Gong Myeong-un, who had hurried over, was waiting in front of a generously laid table.
"I greet you, Coordinator Do."
Gong Myeong-un bowed politely.
"Oh my, the magistrate bowing to a lowly thug."
"I failed to recognize a noble person and committed rudeness all this time. Please forgive me with your generous magnanimity."
"It's not the kind of grudge that disappears with a few words......."
"O-of course not. Although it was because of my uncle, how could the sin I committed be small? My apology begins today. In that spirit, please accept my drink."
Gong Myeong-un respectfully held out the bottle with both hands. Do Tong-dal held out his cup to receive the drink and then filled Gong Myeong-un's cup as well.
"I'm a bit surprised you're apologizing so suddenly."
"Actually, Protector Namgung came to see me earlier."
"Seol-rin did?"
"She said that if I died, it would be troublesome for the Red Tiger Society too, so I should reconcile with Lord Do. The moment I heard those words, I had a flash of realization. I had been too complacent all this time. If I committed a wrong, I should naturally apologize, but I shamelessly just kept my position. Protector Namgung made me realize that, albeit late."
It was a problem Do Tong-dal had been agonizing over as well, and Namgung Seol-rin had opened the door to a solution for both Do Tong-dal and Gong Myeong-un.
'That Seol-rin, she had a praiseworthy idea.'
But that didn't mean he could just laugh it off carelessly.
"I don't know if I can forgive Magistrate Gong. It's the same as trying to kill the Red Tiger Society family, after all."
"Of course, I don't expect to be forgiven all at once. I will simply beg for forgiveness with all my heart whenever I have the chance, again and again."
Gong Myeong-un showed the depths of groveling. It was behavior faithful to the instinct to survive.
Do Tong-dal could read that desperation in Gong Myeong-un. If it weren't for Gong So-yang, he would never have built up bad blood with Do Tong-dal. Looked at that way, Gong Myeong-un was one of the victims too.
"Let's have a drink first."
Yeon Ja-yeon and a courtesan came in, and then Ja Su-yeong played the zither. As the drinking session warmed up, empty bottles piled up one by one.
"You know, I...... hic! Originally I wanted to paint...... I mean, I wanted to be a painter. But...... my family...... my family opposed it...... said was I going to live by painting Peking opera signs...... so I had no choice but to study."
With his tongue twisted, Gong Myeong-un rambled on about his past life without being asked. If Do Tong-dal had been sober, it would have been tiresome, but he was fairly drunk himself, so he just let it pass.
"I hated my uncle. Just because he had some money...... he treated my parents...... so carelessly...... but I couldn't help it. With that money...... we could eat and live and I...... I could study. Damn it!"
"A life lived bending your pride...... it's not easy."
"That's exactly what I'm saying! Who said I wanted to be a magistrate? He just... he just bought me the post with money! Fuck."
That day, Yeon Ja-yeon refilled the cups whenever they emptied. When asked, "Why are you making us drink so much?" she answered like the owner of a pleasure house: "We should get our sales up properly for once, since it's been a while."
New drinks kept coming. Gong Myeong-un rambled incoherently, and Do Tong-dal had no intention of listening closely.
"Huh? This drink...... hic! tastes a bit different?"
"We ran out of the Sagiju, so I brought a different drink. Do you think I'd give Coordinator Do bad alcohol?"
"Hehehe...... I suppose not."
Too drunk, Do Tong-dal and Gong Myeong-un each did their own thing. Whether the other drank or not, they only drank what was poured into their own cups.
And so one bottle of the strange-tasting drink went entirely into Do Tong-dal's stomach. Yeon Ja-yeon shook the empty bottle and muttered.
"What is this stuff that she made such a fuss about, insisting that a whole bottle had to be fed to Coordinator Do?"
"What...... did you say?"
"Protector Namgung said so. That this drink must only be given to Coordinator Do."
He was too drunk and late to react, but that didn't mean his mind had stopped working.
"You little wench!"
At that moment, the door opened and the little wench appeared.
"Seol-rin, you......!"
Namgung Seol-rin ignored Do Tong-dal and asked Yeon Ja-yeon.
"It's all empty, right?"
Yeon Ja-yeon held the bottle upside down.
"Not a single drop left."
"How could you feed the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King to me! There's still some left, right? There's still some for you, Cheol-hyeon, Jang Yu-seom, and Won Dae-yeon, right?"
"How much do you think there is, that we'd split it?"
"You crazy wench! How could you feed something that precious all to me!"
"Then spit it out. Won Dae-yeon, let's begin."
At her call, Won Dae-yeon appeared. Do Tong-dal asked with a bewildered expression.
"Begin what?"
"Did you think internal energy just appears because you eat the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King? We have to root its energy throughout the meridians of your whole body so that later, when you learn an internal cultivation method, it all becomes your internal energy."
"I won't do it!"
"Really? You're satisfied with just not catching colds in winter?"
This was truly spilled water. Holding out here would only make him a messy drunk.
Do Tong-dal finally let out a sigh of surrender.
"What do I have to do?"
"Just sit in the lotus position. Won Dae-yeon will handle the rest."
At that moment, a thud was heard. Gong Myeong-un, who had toppled over along with his chair, fell asleep in that exact position. He mumbled something in his sleep, but it was impossible to make out.
"I hope you achieve great success. Let's go."
As Yeon Ja-yeon led the two out, Do Tong-dal sat in the lotus position in the middle of the room.
Won Dae-yeon, seated behind Do Tong-dal, spoke.
"Just sit still."
"I don't have to do anything?"
"You'll have to endure the pain."
"How much does it hurt? On a scale of 1 to 10."
Won Dae-yeon thought for a moment, then answered.
"About 50?"
Do Tong-dal sprang to his feet, went to the table, and brought back a pair of wooden chopsticks.
"You should've told me to prepare at least this much."
Once Do Tong-dal settled into position, Won Dae-yeon placed his palm against Do Tong-dal's back and said to Namgung Seol-rin.
"I'm counting on you."
The process of awakening the internal energy dwelling in another person's body and extending it to the meridians was meticulous, rough, and even dangerous.
Until the great method was completed, he could not take his hand off Do Tong-dal's body for even a single moment. So perfect protection was needed, and that role fell to Namgung Seol-rin.
"Don't worry."
It was something she had wanted to do, but she had not yet reached that level.
"I'm starting."
Do Tong-dal braced himself. But his resolve was merely resolve. From the moment he heard the number '50,' he had expected it would hurt. That was why he had even bitten down on chopsticks, but 50 was woefully insufficient.
By feel, it was at least 200, and he felt like he might die from the pain.
"Grrrk—!"
Do Tong-dal's trembling upper body curled up on its own. Namgung Seol-rin shouted at the shuddering Do Tong-dal.
"Keep your posture!"
Do Tong-dal forced his back straight. He wanted to say, 'You try it!' but it hurt so much he couldn't even scream.
* * *