Chapter 235
Chapter 235
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 235
Chapter Title: Lord Bukgung Baek (3)
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Two million taels.
There was a specific reason I demanded this enormous sum, worth over two trillion won in modern currency.
Shortly before the Nine Dragons Tournament began, Baek Jung-cheon had come to me, demanding that I leave the Nine Dragons Fortress with my master.
‘This is a promissory note from the Shanxi Merchant Guild. For two million silver taels. Isn't this enough money to live like a king wherever you go?’
In other words, the Baek Clan currently possessed that money in cash.
While it was practically pocket change for taking over the entire Nine Dragons Fortress, there was no way they could have prepared such a large sum so easily.
They must have sold off everything they could liquidate. Even if they failed to win me and my master over, the money itself wouldn't disappear.
But his plan had failed, and the two million taels must still be intact.
So, what was I to do?
Take it, of course.
"What? You don't like it?"
"...I think it's too excessive."
"The price for a life is always high."
"..."
Baek Jung-cheon's eyes darted about as if he were deep in thought.
'He wouldn't be stingy about the money at this point...'
I decided to rattle him a bit more.
"If you don't like it, forget it. It doesn't matter if we make a deal or not. Do you think I'd just let you go, knowing the Baek Clan is holding a promissory note for two million taels?"
"What?"
"Five hundred cavalrymen from the War King Arts, led by the Iron-Blooded Hegemon, are rushing here as we speak. To wipe out the Baek Clan, root and stem. As for the money, well, I'll just search the corpses."
It was a lie. Five hundred cavalrymen? Please.
No matter how much I loved money, would I, a member of the Righteous Path Alliance, resort to robbery?
Besides, the chances of success were almost nil.
A promissory note is just a flimsy piece of paper. If it gets wet or torn, the owner has to go and get it reissued.
Baek Jung-cheon must have known this too.
"Do you think you could get the money that way? Even if they are not my direct bloodline, they are warriors of the Baek Clan. They would rather tear it up than hand it over."
As expected, he immediately realized it was nonsense.
"Actually, the money doesn't matter much. Just wiping out the Baeks sounds like fun. The last day of the Baek Clan. Ah, just thinking about it is so refreshing."
What was the point of killing people for no reason? It just creates corpses. The money was what mattered most.
"Annihilating those who are leaving after paying for their crimes. Do you think such an act would be tolerated?"
he asked, his voice trembling in panic.
"I'm saying it because it *is* tolerated. You remember the Hwangju Merchant Guild, don't you?"
It was the merchant guild that had once supplied the military of the Nine Dragons Fortress, only to be exposed for human trafficking, which led to the beheading of everyone involved.
At the time, I had clashed with the White Dragon Hall while taking them down.
"We had nothing to do with it!"
"Nothing to do with it? As I recall, you bought kidnapped girls and used them in your deals. Should I bring the ledger?"
This wasn't a lie. It was a fact I'd discovered by personally asking the Underworld Guild.
Otherwise, there would have been no reason for them to attack me when I was going after the Hwangju Merchant Guild.
Thanks to that, I spent a lot of money to find the girls and send them home, or if that wasn't possible, I got them jobs with the Underworld Guild so they could get by.
The reason I hadn't revealed this sooner was that while there was plenty of suspicious circumstantial evidence, I had no concrete proof.
But now, I didn't need proof.
If I just shouted in the marketplace, ‘Turns out the Baek Clan was involved in human trafficking!’ people would be calling for their heads.
Realizing this, a low groan escaped Baek Jung-cheon's lips.
"Decide. Will the Baek Clan be branded as a heretical faction and wiped out, or will you suffer a small financial loss and preserve your family's lineage?"
"...How can I trust you?"
"Do you have another option if you can't?"
"Fine. I'll do as you say."
"Good. Where can I pick up the promissory note?"
"I've hidden it in the innermost warehouse of the Baekcheon Merchant Guild. You'll find it if you dig under the jar in the corner."
And just like that, I was able to get my hands on most of the cash the Baek Clan possessed.
And three days later.
"..."
I made eye contact with Baek Jung-cheon as he was dragged to the execution ground.
A gaze both hot and cold.
Although he couldn't send a telepathic message because his dantian was destroyed, I clearly received his message.
*Keep your promise.*
I met his gaze squarely and nodded.
"Criminal Baek Jung-cheon, hear me! You, consumed by personal greed for power..."
As if relieved, Baek Jung-cheon managed a faint smile even as his sentence was being read.
*Shhhk!*
It was the end for the man once called a pillar of the Nine Dragons Fortress, the Hall Master of the White Dragon Hall.
* * *
Time passed quickly after Baek Jung-cheon's execution.
As negotiated, I took the two-million-tael promissory note and helped the White Dragon Hall—no, the Baek Clan now—get exiled safely.
I only imposed a fine of one hundred thousand taels, didn't take their lives or martial arts from the direct and collateral family lines, gave them time to pack their assets, and asked my master to ensure no one from the Nine Dragons Fortress would pursue them.
This even applied to the Silver Star Escort Agency.
Although they hadn't made a deal with me, it would have been too obvious to grant special treatment only to the Baek Clan.
And well.
'The Silver Dragon Hall Master was just being used, after all.'
My relationship with his son, Eun Ryong-chang, wasn't bad either.
In response, several Hall Masters, led by the Blue Dragon and Gold Dragon Hall Masters, voiced their opposition, and the Grand Chancellor also spoke up.
"If we just let them go, the laws of the Nine Dragons Fortress could crumble!"
But our master crushed all their opposition with a single sentence.
"Do as he says."
They looked very dissatisfied, but what could they do?
It was still the beginning of his reign, so it would be a long time before he became a lame duck.
Thanks to that, I was able to keep my promise to Baek Jung-cheon.
And so.
I headed for the Baek Clan's estate in the outer city, where they were staying after being kicked out of the inner city.
"Anyone here?"
"Y-You are...?!"
*Clang, clang, clang.*
The warriors who recognized me drew their swords and pointed them at me.
"Isn't this a rather rough welcome?"
Of course, my current status was practically that of the first son of the leader of the Nine Dragons Republic.
The family of arch-traitors didn't dare attack me.
*Step, step.*
Ignoring the warriors, I walked in, and Baek Mu-ha appeared with the family elders.
His face was a mixture of fatigue, irritation, and anger.
The Baek Mu-ha who had led the privileged class of the Heavenly Dragon Society and was steeped in entitlement was nowhere to be seen.
"Been well?"
"We're busy right now, so please leave."
"Doesn't look like it, seeing how on edge you are."
I walked up to him.
"Shouldn't you at least offer a cup of tea to the man who saved your lives?"
"..."
Seeing he wasn't surprised, it seemed he had a rough idea of what was going on.
After biting his lip for a moment, he nodded.
"Come in."
I followed him into a small guest room, where a maid brought tea.
"Oh, the tea's not bad. Looks like you're still living well?"
"..."
In truth, I had come for two reasons.
One was to see the face of the loser, Baek Mu-ha.
'Because I'm going to swallow the White Dragon Hall and put an end to this long-standing bad blood.'
The other was to devour the White Dragon Hall, just as I had declared when persuading my master.
Absorbing their assets was the fastest way to devour the White Dragon Hall.
With the two million taels I got from Baek Jung-cheon.
"I hear you're selling off your assets."
"That's none of your business."
"None of my business? I happen to be the person with the second-most cash in the Nine Dragons Fortress right now."
For the record, the first was the Gold Dragon Hall Master.
"Don't be ridiculous..."
Seeing Baek Mu-ha's reaction, I was sure.
'Just as I thought.'
This guy didn't know about the two million taels.
If he knew, he wouldn't have reacted this way.
*Thud.*
I tossed a pouch filled with luminous pearls in front of him.
The brilliant glow leaking from the opening of the pouch illuminated the table.
Although they probably weren't good for one's health, they were ridiculously expensive items in the martial world.
That one pouch full of luminous pearls was worth over ten thousand taels.
Naturally, Baek Mu-ha's eyes widened.
"...Looks like you found some treasure hidden by the previous lord."
Well, it seemed he'd jumped to a strange conclusion, but it wasn't a bad thing, so I just let it slide.
He'd just be pointlessly enraged if he found out I'd gobbled up the Baek Clan's two million taels.
"You don't need to know about that. Are you selling or not? If not, I'll just leave."
"How much do you have?"
"More than you can possibly imagine."
"The previous lord must have left you a great deal."
"Well... something like that?"
"Fine. Let's negotiate."
Baek Mu-ha shouted to the outside.
"Is anyone out there!"
"Yes, Young Master... no, Clan Head!"
"Bring the chief steward here immediately."
"Yes!"
And so the negotiations began.
They first showed me what they had.
"...You have this much?"
The assets of the Baek Clan, with its five-hundred-year history, were immense.
There were vast cotton fields covering thousands of acres, of course, but also dozens of mountains, docks, warehouses, and factories for turning cotton into fabric, all located in Sichuan Province.
For all I knew, a proper appraisal would surely value it at no less than ten million taels.
It was a scale of assets befitting the greatest textile magnate of the southwest, but.
"One million three hundred thousand taels! That's an absurd price!"
When you sell in a hurry, you never get the proper price.
I was able to enter the negotiations with a significant advantage.
"Then leave it all behind. If you come back next year, you'll probably find it all burned to the ground."
"You should know that you, Lord of the War King Arts, are not our only option."
"If you're counting on the Gold Dragon Hall Master... haven't you heard it's a no-go? He already has plans for his money."
He had decided to build the largest farm in the Central Plains south of Gansu, together with the Hanzhong Merchant Guild.
"...Still, it's too little. If you don't reconsider, the negotiations are off."
"I'm telling you, this is already a generous offer."
"We'd rather burn it all to the ground than sell at that price."
"..."
In the end, I yielded somewhat to the chief steward's resistance.
"Fine. One million nine hundred thousand taels. I don't have any more money."
"Not even close."
"Two million taels. But I'll pay the full amount in cash, not a promissory note. Right now. Take it or leave it."
At the word "cash," the chief steward turned his head.
*Nod.*
Baek Mu-ha gritted his teeth and nodded.
It was a choice made out of desperation, knowing that if they didn't sell now, they might never get another chance.
"It was a good deal."
"...Just pay up and get lost."
In the end, I used the Baek Clan's own money to acquire seventy percent of their assets.
Thanks to that, I was completely out of cash, but I was still happy.
Because I had reclaimed the old legacy of the Bukgung Clan.
'Master will be pleased.'
* * *
Seven days later.
The exodus began.
I stood on the walls of the Nine Dragons Fortress, watching the Baek Clan depart.
"..."
As if feeling my gaze, Baek Mu-ha also stared at me for a moment before turning his head away.
A bitter fate that had continued since our days in the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion.
I offered a farewell to that bitter fate.
"Farewell!"
Well...
Not that I had any intention of letting them go peacefully.
"Start immediately."
"Are you really going to do this?"
"Of course. Did you think I wouldn't?"
"No, it's just... do we really have to go this far? Isn't it too cruel?"
"You investigated them yourself. You know they're the biggest bastards in the world."
"...That is true."
Yong Ma-san nodded, his head gleaming.
"I accept your request, Lord Jin."
"But can't you give me a discount on the fee? We're dealing with bad guys here, it seems a bit expensive..."
"..."
Now, the Underworld Guild would spread a rumor throughout the entire martial world that the Baek Clan was carrying two million taels in cash.
Then, for the Baek Clan, hell would begin.
First, packs of jackals after the money would descend upon them from all directions.
Because humans are creatures who will cling to a one-in-ten chance of success, even knowing they'll most likely die.
As they grow weary from fending off one band of thieves after another, they will look for a place to rest.
And that sanctuary will most likely be one of the Baek Clan's collateral branches.
After all, relatives are more trustworthy than strangers.
But even then, would they truly be able to rest in peace?
Not a chance.
Weren't the members of the branch families human, too?
It wouldn't take long for them to turn into jackals in the face of two million taels.
Furthermore, even if they somehow managed to protect the money, an even greater hell awaited them.
The Lion's League.
There was no way those guys, the headquarters of all the unorthodox sects in the world, would stand by idly.
The moment they left Sichuan, it was certain that unorthodox factions would attack.
I kept waving at Baek Mu-ha as he rode away on his horse.
"Farewell, Baek Mu-ha!"
To hell.