Why Is the Mood So Heavy?
Why is the atmosphere so tense in here?
A chill greeted Samryong before anything else as he stepped into the main residence. Judging from the sour expressions on the faces of the Tang Clan and Qingcheng people, the negotiations weren't going well.
But did anyone realize that this was no time to be dragging things out? Samryong offered a slow bow.
"I have come as the Clan Head summoned me."
Tang Mun-seong, having negotiated first with Hwasun Satae and then with Qingcheng in succession, looked utterly exhausted, with faint shadows under his eyes.
"I called you here to hear your opinion on how Il Sal should be handled."
At Tang Mun-seong's words, Samryong found himself tilting his head.
"Is my opinion needed for this?"
Wasn't this the sort of thing the leaders of each party simply worked out among themselves? Seeing Samryong's puzzlement, Won Myeong spoke up.
"We find ourselves at an impasse, so I proposed we hear from the one who actually captured Il Sal."
Haah…
He was starting to regret ever hauling Il Sal back in the first place. Every moment they wasted here only bought the Geumo Merchant Guild more time to prepare.
The Guild had traded with the Tang Clan for years. In short, few people alive knew the Tang Clan as well as the head of the Geumo Merchant Guild did.
They're definitely preparing. Something like this needs to be pushed through fast, without giving them breathing room… but neither side seems to be taking it seriously.
Because the Geumo Merchant Guild wasn't that large, both the Tang Clan and Qingcheng apparently believed that if they set their minds to it, they could seize the Guild's master whenever they pleased. That complacency seemed to be playing its part in dragging things out.
Well, since it's come to this, I'll get things moving myself.
He couldn't pass up this golden opportunity to put Eon Jungmi in her place.
"Where exactly does the disagreement lie?"
"Well…"
He listened to the various arguments, and boiled down to its essence, Qingcheng's position was: We're taking Il Sal with us! And the Tang Clan's was: No, you're not.
The way they talk, it sounds like children squabbling.
But adults fought no differently from children — they simply dressed it up with flowery rhetoric, spoke with manufactured dignity, and dressed their positions in pretensions of logic.
The Tang Clan doesn't want to give Qingcheng anything. And Qingcheng wants to salvage its pride at all costs.
Samryong realized that nothing would end this stalemate until he put forward a proposal both sides could swallow.
"You asked for my opinion, so I'll state it plainly."
The Tang Clan people's eyes said, Oh, this ought to be good? while the Qingcheng side braced themselves to rebuke him at once.
"Hand Il Sal over to Qingcheng."
"Finally, some sense— wait, what?"
"We object— huh?"
…People, if you're going to ask for my answer, at least hear it out before reacting.
Samryong's audacious words left the Qingcheng delegation dumbfounded, and the Tang Clan looking as if they'd been clubbed over the back of the head. The only one who kept his composure was Tang Mun-seong — and that, apparently, because he assumed Samryong wasn't speaking idly.
"You have your reasons, I take it?"
Since the bloodbath at Guya Forest and the massacre of Seoksu Village, Tang Mun-seong's trust in Samryong had quietly deepened. It had been a short span of time, but the events themselves had left powerful impressions.
"Then let's all hear him out."
Thanks to Tang Mun-seong calming the room, Samryong pressed on immediately.
"Right now, capturing the head of the Geumo Merchant Guild matters more than Il Sal."
"The Geumo Merchant Guild's master…"
In the heat of their pride contest, the matter had briefly fallen by the wayside. At Samryong's words, Tang Woo spoke up at once.
"Seizing the Guild's head before his guilt is clearly established could very well send ripples through the other merchant guilds."
"The circumstantial evidence is solid. And judging by the Guild Master's own behavior, he is unquestionably involved."
"How so?"
"The guild that was attacked was Geumo. The survivors from my unit and Squad 7 of the Danggidae recovered some of the guild's goods, and those goods are stored in a Tang Clan warehouse."
"And?"
"Their property is sitting openly in someone else's house, and they haven't so much as asked for it back. Isn't that strange from the very start? If they were uninvolved, they should have come to us demanding their goods be returned."
Come to think of it, the Guild Master had instead been holed up inside his own residence, refusing all visitors.
"Heh heh…"
"I see."
"His behavior certainly is peculiar."
One by one, they seemed to be catching on to the Guild Master's odd conduct. Samryong continued.
"I told Qingcheng they could have Il Sal, but that doesn't mean handing him over for nothing. And I suspect Qingcheng would feel somewhat uneasy simply walking off with a man whom our Tang Clan worked so hard to capture."
Not remotely true, but if Qingcheng denied it here, they'd come off as a petty, stingy sect — so Won Myeong kept his mouth quietly shut. The orthodox sects had already been embarrassed enough by Hwasun Satae.
Observing Qingcheng's reaction, Tang Mun-seong didn't let it show, but smiled faintly inside.
"In that case, how would you have us hand over Il Sal?"
"Accept Qingcheng's help in capturing the Geumo Merchant Guild's master."
"The Tang Clan plus Qingcheng? To arrest the master of a small guild, that seems excessive. Is it truly necessary?"
Because we have no idea what tricks Eon Jungmi might pull.
Eon Jungmi would know that the Guild Master's capture was something she absolutely could not avoid. Which meant she might have already laid some scheme in place. That was exactly why they needed someone from outside the Tang Clan's ranks, not within it.
But he couldn't say that openly, so Samryong circled around the truth.
"A small guild, perhaps — but their connections are anything but small. They operate across all of Sichuan. There may be those who would aid the guild despite the Tang Clan's name. Even beyond Chengdu, our clan's reach does not extend everywhere."
Sichuan was vast, and its powers many.
"Hmm."
The argument held enough merit that Tang Mun-seong fell into thought. Still, handing over Il Sal just like that felt like a poor bargain. As if reading his mind, Won Myeong spoke.
"If the Tang Clan entrusts Il Sal to our Qingcheng, we will assist in capturing the Geumo Merchant Guild's master, and for the next two months we will deliver a fixed quantity of ore from the mines under Qingcheng's ownership."
Tang Mun-seong's eyes gleamed at that. Since dragging things out further would lead nowhere, the two sides had elected to concede a little to each other. As Samryong had said, capturing the Guild Master was the more urgent matter.
"We can discuss the duration and quantities later. Shouldn't capturing the villain Il Sal's backers come first?"
"I share that view."
He had no idea how the later negotiations would shake out, but that part was no longer his concern.
Eon Jungmi, just you wait.
Samryong resolved to capture the Guild Master at all costs.
And if we can't take the Guild Master himself, then at the very least we secure the ledgers.
He had to find, at minimum, the ledger that recorded Eon Jungmi's commission to the Geumo Merchant Guild.
With common ground reached, the task force for the Guild Master's arrest was swiftly assembled.
"You want me to spar with you?"
"Is now really the time? And why are you suddenly talking so casually—"
"We're practically the same age, so casual suits us better, doesn't it? All this 'young master' this and 'sir' that between people helping each other is just awkward. Relax already! I'm a year older, so consider it me doing you a favor! Hahaha!"
Ever since arriving at the Tang Clan estate, Cheong Song had been acting overly familiar with Samryong — past the point of reasonable. Flustered, Samryong turned away and looked off to the side.
"Brother! Tell us about your spar with Lady Wi!"
Haah…
Why on earth had Tang Oryong joined this task force too? He had volunteered eagerly, apparently, but Samryong could only wonder at Tang Mun-seong's judgment in sending a fifteen-year-old along.
"Quite popular with the ladies, aren't you, Poison Hero?"
"Brother!"
Ugh. Women never fall for me, do they. Not even once.
For the arrest of the Geumo Merchant Guild's master, Qingcheng had sent the Pine Green Sword Cheong Song and his senior disciple, while the Tang Clan fielded Samryong, Oryong, the Vice Commander of the Cheonryong Squad, and a contingent of his men.
It looked like overkill for apprehending the master of a middling guild — yet somehow, Samryong couldn't shake the feeling that even this might not be enough.
Is it because of Eon Jungmi?
Was this unease simply the thought that she must have laid some trap? No — this gnawing dread felt like something deeper than that.
It was the same sensation as the time, in his past life, when his raid party had been driven to the brink of annihilation by a monster's ambush while clearing a dungeon.
If we charge in carelessly, something will absolutely go wrong.
That had been the day he learned how terrifying routine could be. Clearing a low-ranked dungeon the same complacent way he always had, he'd been properly counterattacked.
Hmm… what on earth is it…?
Just as his worry over the dread was deepening, Cheong Song's voice rang out.
"Chengdu — same as ever, and as beautiful as ever."
Before they knew it, the task force had arrived in the capital. Cheong Song drank in the sights of Chengdu, which he hadn't visited in a long while.
Everyone was heading toward the Geumo Merchant Guild in a lighthearted mood — when it happened.
"Hold a moment."
"Everyone, halt."
The instant Samryong spoke, Tang Bi, Vice Commander of the Cheonryong Squad, opened his mouth as well. Their eyes met at the same moment.
"Something's wrong."
"Yes."
"Qingcheng disciples, watch your surroundings."
Cheong Song belatedly sensed it too. Only Oryong still wore a puzzled expression, and just one person here could dispel it.
"Brother?"
"There's no one around."
"Huh? Wha—"
At those words, Oryong looked around and felt the wrongness himself. The food stalls and shops near the Geumo Merchant Guild were all shut tight.
"Where is the meeting point with the Wind Sky Unit members?"
"Right here."
At the designated spot where they were to meet the agents dispatched in advance to surveil the Guild, there wasn't so much as a single ant crawling about.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…"
"Brother, shouldn't we fall back for now?"
Strictly by the Tang Clan's combat doctrine, retreat was correct — if contact with the Wind Sky Unit had been cut, it meant the reconnaissance had been discovered, which meant the enemy knew they were coming. Forcing an entry in this state meant a high likelihood of walking into an ambush.
But we can't just turn back. At the very least, I need to see what we're walking into.
Somehow, he had the feeling that if they let today slip by, his chances of ever getting near the Guild Master would dwindle to nothing.
"Everyone wait outside. I will scout ahead myself."
"Brother! It's dangerous!"
"That's the Poison Hero for you — real backbone. I'll come with you."
"Senior brother! What are you saying!"
"Don't say such foolish things!"
All sorts of protests rose from the Qingcheng side too, but Cheong Song brushed them off lightly. Then Vice Commander Tang Bi spoke.
"The Cheonryong Squad will spare two or three men to accompany you. If anything feels off, you must withdraw at once."
"Please keep Oryong safe. If anything happens, you must pull him out of there, no matter what."
"Brother! I'm coming too!"
"Tang Oryong. Save your tantrums for an occasion and a place that call for them."
At Samryong's cold words, Oryong fell silent, and Tang Bi gave a nod.
"Understood."
"Move out!"
Whoosh!
The five-man scouting team moved toward the Geumo Merchant Guild's grounds. Traveling along the rooftops, past a bizarrely deserted streetscape where not a soul was to be seen, they arrived at an inn building overlooking the Guild compound.
Where crowds always thronged the Geumo Merchant Guild, only silence hung in the air. And from within that silence, a faint killing intent crept out like smoke, slithering inch by inch.
"Well, well… an ambush laid out in the open, huh."
"Yes. It certainly looks that way."
Samryong could only agree with Cheong Song.
"We fall back. With just us, this will be difficult."
Who exactly are the ones plotting to strike the Tang Clan here in Chengdu?
He wanted at least to learn their identities, but for now, following Cheong Song's advice seemed the wiser course.
"Agreed. Let's pull ba—"
Shff! Clang!
A hidden weapon came flying at his back, and Samryong whipped out his iron wire and batted it away. They'd thrown hidden weapons plenty of times — but it had been a long while since he'd been on the receiving end.
"Well, this is trouble."
Samryong scanned the surroundings. One by one, black-clad figures emerged from every direction.