Chapter 225
Chapter 225
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 225
Chapter Title: Upheaval in Nine Dragons (4)
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It is said that everyone born into this world is given three opportunities.
In my case, I thought the first was meeting my grandfather, the second was learning the Dragon-Slaying Arts, and the third was using the land of Hanzhong to devour the Hanzhong Merchant Guild.
‘To think a fourth opportunity would come!’
I never dreamed there would be one more chance.
How do I know it's an opportunity, you ask?
How else?
Because the Gold Dragon Hall Master came to me with a sack of money.
“You have to meet with me eventually. I mean, honestly, as fellow Hall Masters, can't we at least share a meal?”
“Hehe, you're right. Now that you mention it, my master is a bit lacking in social skills. You've known him for a long time, so you're aware, aren't you?”
“Hmph, a man shouldn't be like that... We live in a world where we have to get along.”
“Please be generous and understanding. They say geniuses often have their quirks. Of course, it's not the case now, but I'm sure you had your own sharp edges once, Hall Master.”
At the subtle compliment, the Gold Dragon Hall Master, Geum Geuk, cleared his throat.
“Ahem, hmm. Still, a man ought to mature with age, shouldn't he?”
“But he has a certain gravity to him, doesn't he? Speaking of which, anyone else would have been jumping from side to side, trying to gain an advantage.”
“Ahem, the Combat King does have a manly side to him.”
He nodded and gestured to the subordinate behind him.
*Thud.*
A money pouch landed in front of me with a heavy sound.
“Oh my! What is this...”
Just as I was quickly reaching for it, the Gold Dragon Hall Master's voice cut in.
“I heard the news that you defended Hanzhong very well.”
“Not at all. I was just struggling to survive, and...”
“No. Looking over the records, you moved very strategically.”
“Hehe, I did my best. For your information, I was famous for being smart even back in my Heaven-Ascending Pavilion days...”
“But setting fire to the villages and fields where the common people live seemed a bit excessive. For a moment, I thought I was seeing things and had to rub my eyes.”
“However, that strategy was planned by our strategist, Yu So-pyong. As you know, he's the Grand Chancellor's son. I couldn't just ignore him, so I had no choice. Speaking of which, I'm sure even the King of Hell wouldn't take Strategist Yu.”
“Well, it's not that extreme...”
*Slide.*
With a slightly relieved expression, he pushed the thick money pouch toward me.
Peeking through the slightly open flap, I saw the brilliant, multicolored gleam of gold coins. Judging by the shape of the pouch before it was set down and the sound it made, there were exactly thirty of them.
“I couldn't put much in. We don't have much to spare either, due to the aftereffects of the war.”
“Oh, what a thing to say! This is more than enough!”
“If you think so, then just pass on one message for me.”
“I can pass on ten messages.”
“Tell him to let me know first if he decides to support someone.”
“...I will keep that in mind.”
“By the way, when do you plan to meet So-cho?”
“Pardon? That catfish... I mean, why would I meet Lady Geum?”
“Didn't you say it yourself? That you would marry as soon as the Ten Demon Alliance was finished.”
Ah, right.
‘For a man of my caliber to make such a rookie mistake...’
I had once been introduced to the Gold Dragon Hall Master's daughter.
At the time, I had barely managed to refuse by lying that I had no intention of marrying until I had avenged my grandfather by destroying the Ten Demon Alliance.
To think he still remembers that...
‘He's a formidable man, as expected.’
But the die was already cast.
In times like these, the only way is a head-on breakthrough.
“Ah, about that...”
And so, by mobilizing every ounce of my persuasive ability, both real and imagined, I was able to fend off the Gold Dragon Hall Master.
“To think you have a taste for older women... What a shame. I thought you and my daughter would have been a good match...”
“I apologize. I wasn't aware of my own preferences either.”
It wasn't an easy persuasion, though.
I only managed to convince him after playing my trump card: claiming I couldn't get it up for anyone but an older woman.
However, like a true merchant, he threw out one last deal at the very end.
“Ah, if you don't like So-cho, how about my younger sister... She's a widow with one child...”
“...”
Well, it was a ridiculous deal, asking me to become his brother-in-law.
A moment later, watching his departing back, I found myself nodding.
‘He's a smart one, alright. And persistent...’
Perhaps because he was a merchant, he had taken out a safe insurance policy named Master Bukgung for thirty gold coins.
And that man would take out the same insurance on the other side as well.
*Flop.*
Anyway, to be this drained already... Politics really don't suit me.
Still.
“Can't resist collecting the cash.”
*Jingle.*
The heavy feel of the money pouch made my heart swell.
***
The Gold Dragon Hall Master, a merchant by nature, didn't care about saving face and came to see me in person.
But the others sent people to extend invitations, so I had to decide the order of my visits.
Among them, I first visited the Red Dragon Hall, a sort of economic partner.
I figured that since they were well-versed in internal affairs, I could get a sense of how things were unfolding.
Given that the Red Dragon Hall deals with information, they're half intelligence-based, so I thought I might get some useful advice.
Of course, they were still martial artists who would draw their swords if things went south, but wasn't that a hundred times better than Grandmaster War King?
Now that I think about it, I have no idea what goes on in Grandmaster War King's head.
When he's drunk, he beats up warriors under the pretext of training... And he only drinks the most expensive liquor; I've already paid off fifty taels of his tab at the Moon Flower Pavilion.
And that's only because Yang-ryeong gave a fifty percent discount; the original price would have been over a hundred taels.
If he weren't my grandmaster, I would have... well, I couldn't have beaten him up, but I would have found a way to verbally chase him off.
Anyway, I went to meet the Red Dragon Hall Master, who was a stark contrast to my grandmaster.
“I survived thanks to you.”
Jeok Sam had relayed news to Hanzhong even while his own life was in danger. If not for him, our war preparations would have been delayed, and we would have been in greater peril.
Furthermore, the news the Red Dragon Hall occasionally sent during the war was like welcome rain in a drought.
After all, it was difficult for the Underworld Sect to obtain information from the battlefield.
The problem was.
“Hmph...”
The Red Dragon Hall Master received my greeting with a deeply displeased expression.
“Huh? What's this all of a sudden?”
“Hmph...”
“You have to tell me why you're sulking...”
“Hmph... Tsk tsk.”
“Should I just leave, then?”
“Ahem.”
Only then did the Red Dragon Hall Master open his mouth.
“Do you think it makes sense for a man and a woman, away from home, to be together and have nothing happen?”
So it was true that this old man sent Jeok Hwa-ran.
“No.”
She's too... petite for my taste.
But I couldn't let such true feelings slip out.
“It is a rule that men and women should not associate after the age of seven.”
“What rule is that when I, her grandfather, give my permission?”
“Are you not aware that Confucius forbade it? It's been over a thousand years...”
“Cut the crap. Hmph.”
“Anyway, isn't there something more important right now? If we stand by, Nine Dragons Fortress will be engulfed in internal strife. And this, right after we won that difficult war.”
I averted the crisis by changing the subject with my brilliant eloquence.
When the topic shifted to business, the Red Dragon Hall Master spoke with a displeased expression.
“What is this damn power that makes them act like this... Anyway, the young folk these days have no sense of family. If they just compromised a little, everyone could live well and prosper... Hmph, tsk tsk.”
“...”
For the record, this man is famous for having killed his five brothers to become the Hall Master.
Even now, as an old man, he is known to have a strong lust for power.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be pouring so much manpower and money into the Intelligence Pavilion under the Lord's Hall just to assert the Red Dragon Hall's presence.
Even now, as he's raking in a fortune through his partnership with the Hanzhong Merchant Guild, he's probably doing more, not less.
The Red Dragon Hall Master, an incarnation of that lust for power, opened his mouth, his eyes hardening as if to begin the real conversation.
“Alright, it seems you've heard the news about the Hermit Grove...”
“Yes, I heard about it indirectly through Strategist Yu, but I don't know the details. Do you happen to know anything?”
“I don't know the internal situation either. I don't even know which of the hermits in the Grove are dead and which are alive.”
“Is there no way to find out?”
“How?”
“Well, somehow...”
“That is where the venerable elders of each hall reside. Even if I went myself, I'd be discovered before I even got close.”
He asked with a small smile.
“How much do you know about the Hermit Grove?”
“Other than it being a gathering place for the retired, I know nothing.”
“Well, the Fortress Lord... no, the Poison King, who is now the former Lord, kept it tightly under wraps, so it's natural you wouldn't know.”
“...If you don't mind, please tell me.”
“It's not difficult.”
The Red Dragon Hall Master's explanation was as follows.
The Hermit Grove was established for two reasons.
The first was to serve as a final bastion to overcome any crisis that befell Nine Dragons Fortress.
Indeed, those who entered the Hermit Grove were said to freely discuss their martial arts with one another, seeking profound enlightenment.
Then, when their time of death approached, their final contact would be to organize their enlightenment and pass it down to their descendants.
Up to this point, it sounds like a very progressive and beautiful home for the elderly, but there was another, true reason for the Hermit Grove's creation.
It was to prevent internal strife.
There are many conditions necessary for a martial artist to grow strong—a great master, outstanding martial arts, rare elixirs, prodigious talent—but if one were to pick the single most absolute condition, it would be time.
Just as a novice who has just begun their training cannot defeat a master, it was difficult for a young genius to defeat a genius who had studied the martial path for a long time. That was the way of the martial world.
In other words.
“To force those with higher seniority than the Fortress Lord to retire in order to prevent internal strife within each hall...”
It meant that the strongest masters of each hall were forcibly retired to prevent internal conflict.
As I stood there, mouth agape in disbelief, the Red Dragon Hall Master gave me a simple example.
“Fifty years ago, there were two absolute masters in the Blue Dragon Hall. Then the Poison King became the Fortress Lord. What do you think would have happened if they hadn't retired?”
“...He would have had to walk on eggshells around the Blue Dragon Hall.”
“Correct. The Fortress Lord would likely have faced great difficulties in running Nine Dragons Fortress. And if so, the Nine Dragons Fortress of today would not exist.”
Only then did I understand the role of the Hermit Grove.
The Hermit Grove wasn't simply a nursing home where the retired gathered to pass their time; it was a kind of containment facility.
And now, the inmates of that facility were trying to get out.
“And besides, there's something you've experienced firsthand.”
“Me?”
“Baek Jung-cheon. I believe you've clashed with him several times already.”
“Ah... yes. That son of a... I mean, I've clashed with the White Dragon Hall Master a few times.”
“It's fine. I don't think highly of him either. But you must consider this. What if great power falls into the hands of that wolf-like bastard? Or...”
The Red Dragon Hall Master continued, his gaze meaningful.
“What if that wolf-like bastard's father is still alive?”
The shocking proposition felt like being struck in the head with a blunt weapon.
“No way.”
“That's right. The one moving the Hermit Grove right now is Baek Jung-cheon.”
I really can't stand that guy, right to the very end.