One Fifth (1)
The Demon Sword Young Master Wants to Break the Murim – Chapter 68
“What… did you just say?”
Hyeon Yucheon turned to the woman shrouded in a silver veil, his surprise uncharacteristic.
The Seok Family?
To Hyeon Yucheon, the Seok Family was an enemy even greater than the Murim Alliance or the Heaven's Five Venerables.
He had never dreamed they would appear here.
“The Seok Family’s hidden Hebei branch. You may not know this, but their main house was originally in Hebei Province. They relocated to a larger base further south as their operations expanded across the Central Plains… and the old main house became the Hebei branch.”
Her words were spot on.
The Seok Family had risen to wealth centered in Hebei, but their vast scale forced them southward to cover all of Zhongyuan.
“That aside, I don’t understand. Why would the Beggars’ Sect’s Dragon Head Chief be at the Seok Family’s Hebei branch?”
Though the Heaven’s Five Venerables were tied to the Murim Alliance and the Seok Family, the timing felt strangely off.
So Jaun smirked on her delicate face.
“They call the Beggars’ Sect the faction of a hundred thousand beggars. Where do you think all the riches and treasures gathered by that horde end up?”
In hindsight, it was simple.
It all came down to money.
“A figure like the Dragon Head Chief would have wealth piled like mountains. Rather than managing it themselves, they’d hand it to experts. And the Seok Family makes the perfect partner.”
Hyeon Yucheon had no choice but to nod.
“How did you learn of this, Haomen Leader?”
“Call me Lady Baek outside. Anyway, why do I know? Trade secret, but since it’s you, Young Hero Hyeon, I’ll tell you.”
So Jaun glanced warily left and right, lest anyone overhear.
Out in the world, she lived strictly as the Moonlit Beauty Baek Ri-hyang, the courtesan known as Lady Baek.
“My late master, the previous Haomen leader, named the current Beggars’ Sect and Doryeong Old Man Hong In-gyeol as his lifelong rival. He tracked their every move with obsessive zeal. In his later years, he realized Hong In-gyeol always visited the old Seok Family main house.”
She was right.
Hong In-gyeol, the Beggars’ Sect’s Dragon Head Chief, converted the sect’s massive annual profits into Seok Family bills of exchange each year and deposited them at the hidden Hebei branch.
The process demanded utmost secrecy, known to no one but Hong In-gyeol himself, who handled it personally.
“Hmmm.”
Hyeon Yucheon felt a mix of satisfaction and unease upon pinpointing Hong In-gyeol’s location.
Even a freak like the Doryeong Old Man couldn’t escape the logic of gold.
“Disappointed?”
“A little.”
“No need. Unlike his public image, Hong In-gyeol is a thorough materialist.”
“Materialist?”
“Yes. Among the Heaven’s Five Venerables, few have any real character. Especially that hypocrite Jang Unhwi of Huashan Sect, who postures as a sage but is a vulture inside, and Hong In-gyeol, the beast-hearted wretch.”
Who in the world would dare slander the Huasan Sect leader and Beggars’ Sect chief?
It was astonishing, yet true.
These were the cowards who had ganged up on Demon Sword Ghost Lord Cheon Baeksang while spouting righteous drivel.
At least Ami Sect’s Biyeon Sinn-i Yeo Unsa-tae knew shame and held her tongue, but Hong In-gyeol and Jang Unhwi were the most shameless of all.
“That said… how do you plan to infiltrate the Seok Family’s Hebei branch? It’s no easy feat.”
Hyeon Yucheon asked.
So Jaun had requested to accompany him and offered to guide the way.
“Ho ho, it’s not hard. For Hong In-gyeol, heading to the Seok Family Hebei branch is like a festival or banquet. Carrying a year’s harvest of immense wealth to the fortress? What’s essential at such revelries?”
Hyeon Yucheon tilted his head innocently.
“Liquor?”
“Half right, half wrong.”
So Jaun laughed.
It was not the Haomen leader’s laugh, but that of the world’s top courtesan, Moonlit Beauty Baek Ri-hyang.
“Liquor and courtesans.”
“Hahaha!”
“Thank you, Chief.”
So Jaun knew exactly how the world turned.
Indeed, the Seok Family’s hidden Hebei branch—accessible only to VIPs and insiders—was in full revelry.
“Not at all. It’s an honor that the Seok Family’s fourth young master prepared this personally.”
The era’s freak, Beggars’ Sect Dragon Head Chief Doryeong Old Man Hong In-gyeol—far from wandering with nature as his companion—cavorted with the Seok Family folk, gold as his sole companion.
Hong In-gyeol had brought only three elders for protection: the Mad Dog Three Beggars, each with eight knots on their sashes.
Opposing him was the Seok Family’s fourth young master managing the Hebei branch, the Myriad Gold Young Master Seok Mugyeong.
“Since it’s a rare chance to see you, Chief, we spared no effort in preparations.”
Clap!
Seok Mugyeong smirked slyly and clapped. From the opposite side emerged musicians alongside stunning courtesans.
The courtesans danced, the musicians plucked geomungo and piped tungso, lifting the banquet’s spirits.
Every musician was a peerless beauty, proving Seok Mugyeong’s claim of utmost preparation.
And that was not all.
“We’ve also prepared Hebei’s famed liquor, Little Dragon Fang.”
Little Dragon Fang appeared light and fragrant like fine tea, but one cup was enough to intoxicate—even wealthy merchants dared not underestimate its vicious potency, thanks to its deceptively sweet allure.
“I gratefully accept.”
Hong In-gyeol, a notorious drunkard who could never pass up liquor, licked his lips in anticipation.
He restrained himself now as sect chief, but in youth, he had drowned in booze.
Faced with rare vintage Little Dragon Fang, how could he resist?
[Chief.]
One of the Mad Dog Three Beggars sent a transmission as Hong In-gyeol lunged like a madman.
It meant restraint.
Though the three watched vigilantly for mishaps, accidents could happen.
[Don’t worry. If I get tipsy, I’ll expel the alcohol poison with inner power.]
The Mad Dog Three Beggars sighed at his words.
He said that every time with fine liquors, only to pass out plastered.
Outsiders praised his unpretentiousness as befitting a legend, but to them, it was frustrating.
“Kyaah!”
Hong In-gyeol downed two cups straight and grinned in satisfaction.
“To your taste?”
“Ugh, of course. With lovely courtesans, lively tunes, fine liquor, and fine company—what more could one desire?”
His words rang hollow; he had the Mad Dog Three Beggars scrutinizing whether the Hebei branch properly counted and tallied his bills of exchange.
“Since the mood is high, may I share an amusing tale?”
Hong In-gyeol, savoring Little Dragon Fang with his nose reddening from the buzz, spoke up.
“Amusing tale?”
“Yes. Nothing grand… but you know your nickname, Fourth Young Master?”
Hong In-gyeol burst into barely contained laughter upon seeing him.
“Yes. Father and his friends fondly called the unworthy me Myriad Gold Young Master.”
“It’s about that nickname. Until five years ago—no, nearly seven now?—it belonged to someone else anyway.”
“Hahaha! Is that so?”
Nicknames often persisted from past users, so it seemed unremarkable.
“Not just anyone, but the Seok Family’s greatest rival—the brat from the old Mangeum Clan.”
“Oh ho, I didn’t know that.”
Seok Mugyeong, nearing thirty, showed genuine interest; it was news to him.
He had only recently earned the title.
“The fallen Mangeum Clan’s lord had one precious son… a sharp lad.”
“Is that right?”
“They say he’d have amounted to something if he lived. But that’s beside the point… You know your father, the family head, gave you the nickname first?”
“Yes. Father called me that.”
Growing bolder with drink, Hong In-gyeol pressed on.
“Why bestow the last heir of Mangeum Clan’s nickname on you? Your father found it immensely satisfying—a reminder of toppling Mangeum Clan and claiming victory, no matter how much time passes. Hahaha!”
“Is that so? Haha! Father indeed. He wished my glory and wealth to endure.”
“A trophy of sorts!”
Hong In-gyeol and Seok Mugyeong blossomed in conversation, laughing uproariously.
It was then.
Screeech, snap!
As the revelry peaked, a musician’s performance abruptly halted.
The geomungo player, face veiled.
“Hm?”
“Why’d the music stop?”
Seok Mugyeong scowled, his preparations complete; even Hong In-gyeol, deep in his cups and jovial, paused his drinking.
“S-sorry. The string broke…”
Panicking, she tried replacing it but failed, then fetched a spare geomungo from behind.
Gulp!
What was this?
Seok Mugyeong and Hong In-gyeol’s eyes locked on the female musician. Veiled though she was, her beauty defied words.
“Heh, no matter. Your playing’s fine—remove the veil.”
Drunk and stirred by base urges, Hong In-gyeol approached with a lecherous grin.
For one of the world’s mightiest Five Venerables, it was vulgar, yet none here could reproach him.
“First, the geomungo…”
“Bah! I said it’s fine! Off with the veil—and your clothes.”
Swoosh!
Hong In-gyeol overstepped, glancing at Seok Mugyeong, who had arranged the courtesans and musicians.
Nod!
No reason to refuse from Seok Mugyeong’s view.
This banquet existed solely to please Beggars’ Sect Dragon Head Chief Doryeong Old Man Hong In-gyeol.
Thus, the lovely musician faced distress.
Crunch!
Suddenly, the unbelievable occurred.
A young man emerged from the geomungo she had brought.
“Doryeong Old Man Hong In-gyeol.”
It was, of course, Demon Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon, and the musician was Haomen Leader So Jaun.
Hyeon Yucheon had shed bloody tears hearing every word between those two.
Now, the time had come to overturn it all.
“I’ve come to settle the debts of the past.”