Sect Leader! That Bastard Is a God of Wealth! (5)
Hwang Mun-yak sat across from Chung Myung, sipping tea.
Watching him, Chung Myung frowned slightly.
It was Hwang Mun-yak who spoke first.
"Well?"
"You kept saying some weird stuff here and there."
"Nothing that’s bad for you, is it?"
Hwang Mun-yak’s eyes sharpened as he studied Chung Myung’s reaction. With Chung Myung saying neither yes nor no, only keeping his brows furrowed, an odd sense of dissonance crept over him.
This Hwang Mun-yak is speaking to a child like that as an equal?
He wasn’t the type to be full of pride in himself, but even so, considering all that Hwang Mun-yak had accomplished, he wasn’t someone who should be sitting down for a private talk with a third-generation disciple of Mount Hua.
And yet here he was, in a one-on-one with Chung Myung. Not as the benefactor who had saved his life, but simply because he wanted to see what kind of person the third-generation disciple of Mount Hua really was.
"Aren’t we on the same boat now?"
"The same boat, huh…."
Chung Myung smiled faintly.
"It’s true I got lucky and saved your ass, but who the hell am I to be on the same boat as the leader of a guild? You should be talking to the Sect Leader now."
"I have no intention of being on the same boat as Mount Hua."
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes a little and looked at Hwang Mun-yak.
Oh? Look at this guy.
Had he shown too much?
"To be precise, Mount Hua without you, young Daoist, is of no interest to me."
"You think a little too highly of me."
At Chung Myung’s modesty, Hwang Mun-yak’s lips curled slightly upward.
"Young Daoist. I am a merchant. I have lived my entire life as a merchant, and I will die as one. If there is one and only weapon a merchant has, it is his eye for people."
"…."
"If my eyes were wrong, I would already be ruined. Even if I’d been lucky enough not to collapse until now, I’d eventually stumble and fall one day. There would be nothing unfair or regrettable about that. But if my judgment is correct…."
Hwang Mun-yak looked at Chung Myung with a meaningful gleam in his eyes.
"Wouldn’t it be good for both the Eunha Merchant Guild and Mount Hua?"
Chung Myung scratched his cheek lightly.
"Anyway, let’s not say things like we’re on the same boat. I don’t really like that sort of talk."
"Why not?"
"The people who say nice things are always the ones who stab you in the back."
That had been true in the past.
There had been no shortage of people who praised Chung Myung and the people of Mount Hua for stepping forward to save the world, who shed tears over them. But none of those people had ever shown Mount Hua the slightest warmth in the end.
Why would he like hearing those words now?
"I don’t care much for that kind of talk either. For a merchant, a boat is something you can always get on and off."
"Yeah, I guess."
"However."
Hwang Mun-yak smiled pleasantly.
"If the destination is the same, then there’s no need to get off the boat, is there? If two people row together, they can get there faster. Surely that much is fine?"
"Hmm."
Chung Myung looked at Hwang Mun-yak with a serious expression.
"Yeah. Well, there’s no reason it’d be bad."
A strange light appeared in Hwang Mun-yak’s eyes.
Just as I thought.
That was confirmation enough.
How this conversation ended did not matter very much. It would be good if he could gain Chung Myung’s cooperation, but even if he couldn’t, once the talks with the Sect Leader were finished, the Eunha Merchant Guild would support Mount Hua and reap the rewards either way.
Even so, the reason Hwang Mun-yak had wanted this private conversation with Chung Myung was to confirm exactly this point.
This child already sees Mount Hua as something that will develop. He believes that as long as he’s here, Mount Hua will absolutely rise.
What tremendous confidence.
Yet that confidence did not feel like the arrogance of a foolish child who knew nothing of the world. Perhaps it was because Chung Myung gave off, from time to time, the distinctly seasoned feeling of an old hand.
"Young Daoist."
"Yes."
"The Eunha Merchant Guild will do everything it can to support Mount Hua. You understand what that means, do you not?"
"What, you’re saying you’re willing to make enemies of Zhongnan?"
"That’s right."
"You’re asking for something we didn’t even request, then wanting something in return? Feels a little shameless."
"I’m not asking for a reward. I merely hope the young Daoist will remember it."
"Sure, that much…."
He would remember it.
Sure he would. Happily.
It didn’t cost him anything, after all.
"I’ll likely be visiting often from now on."
"Right. The Sect Leader said that if there’s ever a need to send someone to the Eunha Merchant Guild, it’ll probably be me going."
"That’s wonderful. I hope we can see each other often and grow fond of one another. Hahaha."
"Yes, of course. Hahaha!"
Chung Myung and Hwang Mun-yak looked at each other and laughed heartily.
While inwardly thinking entirely different things.
That slippery little brat!
Trying to fleece people, are you? I’ve seen a cartload of punks just like you in my previous life!
They were facing each other with smiling faces, but somehow sparks seemed to be flying between them.
"Young Daoist."
"Yes?"
"This is a gamble with my life."
"That sounds like something a young man should be saying."
"Well, since you saved my life, Young Daoist, I consider this a second life. It can’t hurt to stake that newly given life on you."
"I don’t really look like I’d care all that much about that."
"I only wanted to say it. Well then."
Hwang Mun-yak rose from his seat, then looked at Chung Myung quietly.
"As my way of repaying even a little of my debt, allow me to give the Young Daoist one piece of advice."
"Go on."
"Young Daoist, you are extraordinary. At your age, there’s probably no one in the entire world like you."
"Thanks for the good appraisal."
Damn it. It’s not that there’s no one else my age like me, it’s that if you search the whole world, there’s just nobody like me at all!
Has there ever been anyone else who died and came back to life besides me?
"But Young Daoist, you need to hide yourself a little more. The world is a frightening place. It’s a place where all kinds of ghosts and evil spirits dance, where jackals fight each other over every scrap of profit. The moment Young Daoist reveals himself like a nail sticking out, there will be no shortage of people who come running to drive you down."
Chung Myung snorted.
"You really think too highly of me. I’m just a kid."
"I have said everything I wished to say. Then, I’ll take my leave."
Hwang Mun-yak bowed deeply, then turned and left.
"Ah, wait a moment."
"Yes?"
When Hwang Mun-yak looked back, Chung Myung wore a strange smile.
"There are a few things I’d like you to find out for me. Would that be possible?"
Hwang Mun-yak returned a faint smile of his own and nodded.
"As much as you like."
Thud.
As Hwang Mun-yak closed the door and stepped out, Hwang Jong-ui, who had been waiting outside, came up to him.
"Did the conversation go well?"
"How did the negotiations with the Finance Pavilion head go?"
"Starting today, we’ve decided to place our men in Huayin. If we support their goods and distribution, we should be able to stabilize their businesses before ten days are out."
"Too slow."
Hwang Mun-yak cut him off sharply.
"Stabilize them within three days, even if we have to swallow some losses. This is not the time to chase profit. We need to show them our capabilities."
"Understood."
Hwang Jong-ui could not hide his curiosity and asked tentatively, "And the Young Daoist…?"
"…Who knows."
Hwang Mun-yak glanced back over his shoulder with a peculiar expression.
He’s a monster, plain and simple.
You couldn’t see through him. Couldn’t tell what he was thinking inside.
Even the youthful recklessness he showed on the surface—there was no way to know if that was real or fake.
"Mount Hua, huh…."
Hwang Mun-yak laughed in a satisfied way.
"It would be better to call it a Dragon Pool instead."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. Let’s go."
Hwang Mun-yak strode away with a loose swing of his arms.
Dragon Pool.
A pool where dragons lived.
There was no need to think hard about what that dragon referred to.
"Jong-ui."
"Yes, Father."
"My thoughts have shifted a little more. Perhaps we need to stake everything on Mount Hua."
"…."
Hwang Mun-yak looked around with slightly excited eyes.
A merchant didn’t live on money. He lived on information. Money was merely the result of using information well.
He was the first to realize that a dragon lived in Mount Hua, a place that no one had been paying attention to. Even for seasoned Hwang Mun-yak, it was hard to guess what value this information might hold.
If we use this information well, the Eunha Merchant Guild could rise to become the greatest merchant guild under heaven.
It wouldn’t be easy. But wasn’t that exactly why it was worth trying?
"There’s much to do. Let’s go. We need to lay the board."
Hwang Jong-ui followed behind Hwang Mun-yak in silence, looking as though he had no idea what was going on.
And on the high eaves of Baekmae Hall, a pair of eyes watched their retreating figures grow smaller and smaller.
"Ugh."
Watching the two men leave with their attendants in tow, escorted by the elders of Mount Hua, Chung Myung flopped down on the eaves.
"So that’s what they mean when they say old ginger is spicy."
Dealing with Hwang Mun-yak felt entirely different from dealing with Hyun Jong or the other elders of Mount Hua. Of course, Mount Hua’s elders were deep in Dao and possessed genuine grace. But looking at it objectively, they were Daoists who had lived their entire lives in the mountains.
Hwang Mun-yak, who had lived his whole life in the cutthroat world of merchants, could never be the same as them.
"Still, what does it matter."
So long as it got solved, that was enough.
Hwang Mun-yak would become a great strength for Mount Hua in the days to come. He would fill in what Mount Hua lacked most.
Wealth?
No.
Hwang Mun-yak would restore the sense of the mortal world that Mount Hua had lost after being cut off from it for so long. If Mount Hua was merely a Daoist sect, that might not matter. But since it had chosen to call itself a martial sect, this was absolutely necessary.
With his fingers laced behind his head, Chung Myung looked up at the blue sky and grinned.
"Anyway, one thing’s been settled, Sahyung. How about it? Did I do well?"
Beyond the sky, Chung Mun seemed to smile back at him.
As though to say,
You brat. See? I told you it could be done.
"It was only the first step, though."
The road ahead was still long.
The biggest obstacle to Mount Hua’s rise had been cleared away. From here on, they would no longer have to worry about money causing trouble.
Now that the problem of food and survival had been solved, it was time to devote themselves to martial arts.
This was no time to curse Zhongnan.
If Zhongnan had abandoned its foundations and turned its eyes elsewhere, then wasn’t Mount Hua in a situation where it had lost its foundations entirely? They needed to find a way, as quickly as possible, to restore Mount Hua’s roots to them.
Chung Myung suddenly sat up.
"Hah. How the hell am I supposed to raise all these idiots?"
He was lamenting out loud, but as he looked down over the expanse of Mount Hua, his heart seemed to loosen a little. Even if it had changed a great deal from before, Mount Hua was still Mount Hua. Looking at it, he could only….
Chung Myung flopped back down again.
"Sahyung, Sahyung. Back when you used to nag me all the time, maybe I should’ve listened a little more. Now that I’m in your shoes, I get it."
Chung Myung closed his eyes.
The image of his old self hiding on the eaves to dodge Sahyung’s gaze and the sight of the Sect Leader Sahyung searching for him with a flushed face came vividly to mind.
Though their appearances had changed and the years had passed.
Mount Hua was Mount Hua.
Yes. It was nothing more than Mount Hua.
It was a day when the long winter had passed, and the first buds of spring plum blossoms had begun to rise in Mount Hua.
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