Chapter 113
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Jade-Faced Young Master (2)
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The unbridled march of the Jade-Faced Young Master began at the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress's Chengdu branch.
"You've had a hard time."
"Welcome... Gasp, Third Young Master?"
Even in the primitive ancient barbaric murim world or the modern high-tech barbaric Earth world, recognizing the faces of the owner's family was an essential virtue for any employee.
After spotting Geum Sihyeon's face with the jade mask removed, the branch manager raised his voice, only for Sihyeon to silence him with a single raised finger.
"I've come to exchange some vouchers. Do you have any Azure Heaven Fortress vouchers in stock?"
"Ah, yes! Please follow me this way."
Geum Sihyeon first added the massive sums from the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress vouchers he carried—proceeds dismissed as mahjong tile sales—and laundered them all into Azure Heaven Fortress vouchers and gold coins.
Of course, it was an irrational move.
When viewed across the entire Central Plains, the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress vouchers, linked even to Ten Thousand Gold Pay, were far more popular.
"But, um, why go to the trouble...?"
"Ah."
Geum Sihyeon grinned and whispered the purpose of the funds.
"Using Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress vouchers would be too obvious."
Whatever could be so obvious, he had no idea.
But the owner's family's orders were absolute law anyway.
Having scraped together every last Azure Heaven Fortress voucher in stock at the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress Chengdu branch, Geum Sihyeon flashed a sinister smile and donned his mask once more.
"Hoo..."
Leaving the branch manager's stunned murmur behind at the sudden shift in atmosphere—like a master of disguise at work—the Jade-Faced Young Master stepped back out onto Chengdu's streets.
With a bold expression betraying not a hint of anxiety despite carrying wealth nearing a full month's city budget, he scanned his surroundings, gauging the street's mood.
He had already surmised as much from the Murim Wiki and passersby's whispers, but Chengdu truly was dominated by the Tang Family, second only to the royal house.
Over half the shops lining the streets bore plaques emblazoned with the character for Tang.
"Impressive."
The Jade-Faced Young Master let out an admiring sigh without realizing it.
In this primitive ancient barbaric Central Plains, such tentacle-like business expansion was remarkable.
Sure, places like the county under Mount Hua were heavily influenced by their sects, but...
Chengdu was exceptionally so.
After that, the Jade-Faced Young Master spent some time thoroughly touring Chengdu, observing the flow of goods and crowds, as well as the movements of Tang Family warriors.
And then.
He spotted several gaps.
Approaching it modern-style, the industries directly managed or influenced by the Tang Family were mostly secondary and tertiary—manufacturing and services.
In other words, heavy on production and services.
Conversely.
There were many untouched areas in the core primary industries supporting the overall structure, and some auxiliary material production processes.
The Jade-Faced Young Master set his target.
From there, things proceeded smoothly.
Based on the list he'd meticulously compiled in his mind while touring Chengdu, he began briskly visiting every leather workshop in the city.
"...What’s that whip over there?"
"Ho, sharp eyes you have, sir. It's a secret, but they say the nuns of Mount Ami use it for treating heart demons..."
As the plain-looking man expounded on sadism, the Jade-Faced Young Master mused that masochists were rare indeed in the murim world.
But the workshop owner's secret tastes weren't the point.
Soon enough, he secured an exclusive supply contract for leather goods at over double the market rate.
"You'll be busy for a while. What do you plan to do with it all?"
"Heh, the use doesn't matter."
"Hm...?"
Most of it would rot in a warehouse rented from the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress anyway.
But that too was fully part of the Jade-Faced Young Master's plan.
That single day.
He signed exclusive contracts with every leather workshop in Chengdu.
The next day.
"Hm, you rascal. Is this really right?"
"Doesn't it suit you, Elder?"
"Well, it aligns with Master's teachings..."
Accompanied by Tang Wuliang's reluctant expression, he visited every herbal shop in Sichuan.
"This one, licorice—"
"Good eye. That batch of licorice turned out particularly fine."
"—all the way to the peony at the far end. I'll take it all."
"...?"
It wasn't a department store, but.
The Jade-Faced Young Master felt a thrilling rush as he bought out every herb in the shop at once.
Naturally, he even proposed buying all incoming herbs for the foreseeable future.
"What for...? No, no, it's fine by me. Business has been slow lately... Might as well take a break. Thank you."
In truth, the herbs stocked by Sichuan's herbal shops weren't of exceptional quality or rarity.
But.
"Elder, do you know the saying 'even dog shit is medicine if you need it'?"
"Why the hell would you use dog shit as medicine?"
"Tch."
Having wasted a proverb only to get burned, the Jade-Faced Young Master smacked his lips and took the bulging sack the beaming herbalist handed over.
"Kyawoo..."
The wolf pup, suddenly demoted to pack mule, grumbled in discontent, but he ignored it and pressed on.
"If you were running a large clinic, Elder, would you stockpile herbs like this in advance?"
"Hm... Not in such bulk. Herbs are tricky to store. That's why I can't fathom what you're scheming, rascal. What do you even plan to do with all this?"
"A thing's purpose isn't fulfilled only by using it."
The Jade-Faced Young Master curled another sinister smile at his lips.
Leather, herbs—it was the same.
At least for Geum Sihyeon himself, they held no immediate use.
"What matters isn't the goods or the money. It's the message."
Over three days, the Jade-Faced Young Master bought out every leather workshop, herbal shop, oil refinery, and charcoal kiln with cash, then piled it all in the largest rented warehouse.
Of course, he wasn't just letting it rot.
A bizarre plaque engraved with the grandiose characters '玉TION' in bold script now hung at the massive warehouse's entrance.
Naturally, few came or went, and even the suppliers delivering goods often gossiped as they left.
After all.
Even if some deft hand had quickly renovated the warehouse to store herbs properly, what good was it if nothing sold?
He wasn't even price-gouging through hoarding.
If Chengdu's common folk came seeking necessities, he sold them cheaper than his purchase price.
Money evaporating into thin air in real time!
"Y-Young Master... This is..."
Even the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress staff assigned to manage inventory couldn't hold back their fidgeting tongues and offered earnest advice now and then.
"Heh. It's fine."
The Jade-Faced Young Master merely fanned himself leisurely, flitting between fabric shops and taverns.
Buying heaps of clothes he'd never wear, covering tabs, renting entire floors of taverns just to drink alone—such eccentricities were his routine.
A week passed, then another.
Just as Third Young Master Geum Sihyeon's reputation at the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress Chengdu branch began plummeting vertically.
Within the Tang Family.
"...No way. The peony's all gone?"
"Safflower's short too? Then how do we fill prescriptions right away? Well, patients haven't been coming to the clinics lately anyway, thanks to whatever that plague fuss is..."
"No herbs to mix with the antidotes? Does that even make sense?"
Little by little.
The effects of his money-fueled sabotage began to materialize.
The first wails came from the Tang Family's poison workshop.
Among the myriad herbs the Jade-Faced Young Master had swept up were, naturally, the basic ingredients for poison production.
And then.
"The hidden weapons storeroom... is short?"
"No leather straps for the grips? Can't you just buy those from any lowly tanners?!"
"Ack! I cut my finger...!"
Soon, lamentations leaked from the hidden weapon workshops and the warriors handling them.
And decisively.
"Why is this charcoal so shitty! Not even white charcoal—they bring mid-grade! How am I supposed to forge with this?!"
"Ha... Weak heat means no power..."
With even the finest white charcoal depleted, the artisans of the iron workshop raised their voices in outrage.
"This can't be... Sigh, I'll check it out myself."
The Tang Family's belatedly recognized shortages fueled burning dissatisfaction.
The fallout splattered squarely onto Outer Hall Leader Tang Hyeok.
The first places Tang Hyeok visited were their usual intermittent suppliers.
"Leather straps? Even for the Tang Family, orders are backed up too much—can't manage it."
"The herb gatherers just left; it'll take at least a month for new stock. This is all we have."
"Truly sorry, but we've contracted our full month's charcoal output already... Here, take this much at least."
Some merchants prioritized future gains over immediate profit and supplied a bit, but.
"...Understood for now."
It was woefully insufficient to meet the Tang Family's demands.
The entire Tang Family had been swamped with their long-cherished project lately, so Tang Hyeok spent time inquiring around to uncover the truth.
It wasn't exactly a secret anyway.
In the end, his footsteps led him to track the whereabouts of the Jade-Faced Young Master, who'd been buying up goods.
In the process.
"Aigoo, Elder! Thank you! Thank you...!"
"Hyah, three years of suffering cured in one go—truly a divine healer!"
He frowned upon witnessing free medical service sites that had fully absorbed the Tang clinics' demand, but.
Knowing there was no room for intervention, Tang Hyeok could only furrow his brow and pretend not to see as he passed.
And then.
"Are you the Jade-Faced Young Master?"
Tang Hyeok finally confronted the man known as the Jade-Faced Young Master.
It looked a bit unseemly, renting an entire top floor of a tavern from midday to lay out a feast of delicacies.
Tang Hyeok swallowed his rising irritation and politely requested supply of the missing goods.
The Jade-Faced Young Master's lips twisted into a sinister curl.
"How much are you offering?"
At that utterly arrogant follow-up.
Tang Hyeok finally realized this chain of events wasn't mere temporary shortage—it was deliberate, orchestrated by this Jade-Faced Young Master.
In other words.
This was a challenge to the Tang Family.
With the young heir issue and recent restraint in projecting power externally, had they become this ignorable?
Tang Hyeok didn't hold back.
This clueless pup needed to learn how fearsome murim warriors could be.
"Listen up, young friend. Seems you don't know."
Tang Hyeok naturally drew a dagger from his bosom and condensed his energy into it.
A feat only first-rate or higher masters could perform.
Sword aura wrapped the dagger, emitting a faint glow.
"In Chengdu, the Tang Family's word is law. You're not in a position to haggle. Got it?"