Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: Meeting Go Un-hyo's Nemesis, Gyu-wi!
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A question popped into my mind.
“How did you open the stone chamber before?”
“I used to sneak in here behind Nu Jong-won's back, but I couldn't find anything at first. I came back a few more times and, upon closer inspection, found a narrow slit in the stone wall. I wondered if it might be the key to opening something. Given how narrow it was, I figured a sword was meant to be inserted there.”
“You thought the Blood Shadow Sword was the key?”
“Yes. So I waited for an opportunity, and when Nu Jong-won was passed out drunk, I secretly stole the Blood Shadow Sword and came back.”
“Well done.”
About twenty feet into the narrow passage inside the stone chamber, we came upon a small, square clearing.
The passage from the entrance and the area around the clearing were tightly packed with black iron chests, stacked all the way to the ceiling. In other words, the chests themselves formed the walls of the passage and the clearing.
Go Un-hyo kicked off the ground and shot up, nearly touching the twenty-foot-high ceiling, before grabbing the highest chest and landing back down.
*Thud!*
“Ugh!”
The weight of the iron chest made Go Un-hyo's landing heavy.
He gripped the lock sealing the lid of the two-foot-high-and-long chest and gave it a slight twist.
*Crrrack!*
As the shackle of the lock broke, Go Un-hyo threw the chest's lid wide open.
*Clang!*
A yellowish gleam poured out. The chest was packed to the brim with yellow gold ingots.
“What is this?”
“It's gold, Brother.”
I had never seen gold before in my life.
“I once snuck one of these out to have it checked in Yueyang Castle. It's pure gold, and each ingot weighs one gwan (3.75 kg).”
“I have no idea how much a gwan of gold is worth.”
Go Un-hyo smiled faintly at my naivety.
“One of these gold ingots is worth one hundred taels of gold.”
I shook my head.
“I still don't get it.”
I could probably figure it out if I thought hard, but it wasn't that I didn't know; I was just stunned by the immense value of a single gold ingot.
Go Un-hyo wore an expression of wonder, as if it were the first time he had ever taught me anything.
“This one gold ingot is worth three thousand taels of silver.”
One tael of gold is thirty taels of silver.
“Is that so?”
“Incredible, isn't it?”
“Yes. It's incredible.”
Each iron chest held exactly one hundred gold ingots. That meant a single chest was worth three hundred thousand taels of silver.
Go Un-hyo counted every iron chest in the stone chamber and said there were a hundred of them.
Since one chest held a hundred gold ingots, one hundred chests would be worth thirty million taels of silver.
In this single stone chamber, there were ten thousand gold ingots, worth thirty million taels of silver.
Still, I couldn't quite grasp just how much that was.
It was probably because I had lived in poverty my entire life.
We opened and checked all eighteen stone chambers in the vault.
As it turned out, seventeen of the chambers contained iron chests filled with gold ingots, while the golden chests filling the last chamber held all sorts of rare jewels and treasures.
I had never seen such incredible jewels and treasures before.
In the eighteenth and final chamber, there was a peculiar iron chest. Inside, it was piled high with a thick book and many colorful envelopes.
The book was a ledger, a kind of account book. In other words, it contained detailed records of money lent or debts to be collected.
The hundred-odd envelopes contained bank notes and promissory notes. The promissory notes detailed when, to whom, for what reason, and how much was owed, along with the other party's seal and signature.
I spread a few of the promissory notes on the stone table.
“These might be clues as to how Nu Jong-won was able to amass so much gold and treasure.”
“You think so?”
“Look here.”
“It's a signature.”
-Seventh year of Hongwu. Received assassination request for Ryu Su-gwang of Wuchang from Ryu Ik-hwan of Wuchang. Brokered to Tak Gyu-won of the Profound Underworld Agency. Request completed same year. Outstanding payment: 1.5 million taels of silver.-
-Sixth year of Yongle. Received request to annihilate the Jinhae Clan of Nanchang, Jiangxi, from the Nanchang branch of the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union. Brokered to the Martial Alliance's Silver Sword Hall. Request completed same year. Outstanding payment: 12 million taels of silver.-
Go Un-hyo looked puzzled.
“Brother, what is this?”
“Hmm! It seems to me that Nu Jong-won was in the business of contract killing and brokerage.”
“Is that right?”
“Look here, it says that in the seventh year of Hongwu, he brokered an assassination request for Ryu Su-gwang of Jinan to Tak Gyu-won of the Profound Underworld Agency, and that he never received payment.”
“I see. Then what about this one?”
“In the sixth year of Yongle, he brokered a request to annihilate the Jinhae Clan of Jiangxi Province to the Silver Sword Hall. The Silver Sword Hall wiped them out that same year, but he never got paid.”
Go Un-hyo's face showed his surprise.
“So he didn't just take on individual contracts, but also requests to annihilate entire clans?”
“Hmph!”
Go Un-hyo looked at me, sensing something was wrong.
“Brother, are you upset?”
“I feel disgusted.”
“Why is that?”
“The Silver Sword Hall is under the Martial Alliance.”
“No way!”
Go Un-hyo was greatly shocked.
“Are you saying the orthodox Martial Alliance carried out contract killings?”
I scowled deeply.
“What's more, the client was the Nanchang branch of the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union.”
“But aren't the Martial Alliance and the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union mortal enemies?”
“They accepted a contract from the very enemy they're supposed to be fighting.”
“The Nanchang branch of the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union must have seen the Jinhae Clan as a thorn in their side.”
“I'll ask Byeok-gyo directly.”
“Will that be alright?”
I snapped.
“Why wouldn't it be alright?”
A heavy silence fell for a moment. The silence gradually quelled my anger, allowing me to think more rationally.
‘Right. The Martial Alliance has nothing to do with me.’
The Silver Sword Hall is one of the Ten Halls under the Martial Alliance. The Victorious Battle Hall I belonged to was also one of the Ten Halls.
Apart from the Disciplinary Hall and the General Affairs Hall, the other eight of the Martial Alliance's Ten Halls were combat halls responsible for external battles.
It's clear the Silver Sword Hall was used as a moneymaker for the Martial Alliance. The organizations under the Alliance are fiercely loyal and would never act on their own.
But the surprising thing—no, the ridiculous thing—is that the client was the Nanchang branch of the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union.
If the Jinhae Clan that the Silver Sword Hall annihilated was an orthodox sect, it would be even more absurd.
From what I remember, the Martial Alliance back then was even more vicious than the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union or the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path, but would they really have allowed the Silver Sword Hall to annihilate an orthodox sect?
What does it matter? It has nothing to do with me.
We went up the stairs and came outside.
Go Un-hyo moved the stone lantern to close the entrance.
*Rumble!*
My martial arts naturally vanished as we emerged from the vault. But now I could reactivate them with about ten breaths of meditation, so I wasn't as anxious as before.
As we were coming out of the forest, a man stood before us with his arms crossed, speaking in a swaggering tone.
“Hey! What were you two doing in the for—huh?”
The man stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening in shock as he saw Go Un-hyo.
I immediately recognized the man as Gyu-wi. Ma Suk had told me Gyu-wi had come to the Nu estate a month ago.
The man, Gyu-wi, who had a slick, handsome appearance, pointed at Go Un-hyo in astonishment.
“You... you can't be Gwi-ryong, can you?”
After Gyu-wi had slashed Go Un-hyo's beautiful face with a knife, the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable had seen his ruined features and called him Gwi-ryong. He had worn a veil ever since.
Go Un-hyo tried to remain calm, but failed.
“You bastard! My name is Go Un-hyo!”
“What? You son of a bitch, are you drunk?”
Gyu-wi had heard from Ma Suk that Go Un-hyo had arrived and was out looking for him. He reeked of alcohol.
Ma Suk had seen Go Un-hyo's true face and seen him veiled, but he had never seen his disfigured face.
That's why he had only told Gyu-wi that Go Un-hyo was here.
Go Un-hyo walked straight toward Gyu-wi.
“Hey? Stop right there!”
*Shing!*
Gyu-wi drew his sword and swung it recklessly at the approaching Go Un-hyo.
*Swoosh!*
“This bastard's got a death wish!”
No matter how drunk he was, Gyu-wi had learned the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable's signature sword art, the Myriad Blood Shadow Swords, for fifteen years. With seventy years' worth of internal energy, his strike was incredibly powerful.
Moreover, Gyu-wi was determined to kill Go Un-hyo, so his technique was utterly vicious.
In the past, Go Un-hyo only had fifty years of internal energy and was no match for Gyu-wi.
Now, however, Go Un-hyo possessed one hundred and ten years of internal energy. His Ren and Du meridians had been opened, giving him a hundred years' worth, and he had steadily cultivated his energy since, gaining another ten. Now, on the contrary, someone like Gyu-wi was no match for him.
Without so much as blinking, Go Un-hyo sidestepped, easily dodging the attack, and delivered a short kick to Gyu-wi's shin with the tip of his foot.
*Crack!*
“Haaargh!”
His shin broken, Gyu-wi tumbled to the ground.
*Thwack!*
Go Un-hyo kicked Gyu-wi's wrist, sending the sword flying.
“Ugh... you bastard! I'll kill you...!”
Gyu-wi struggled to get up on one foot, grinding his teeth.
Go Un-hyo kicked Gyu-wi's other shin, shattering it.
*CRUNCH!*
“Aaargh!”
With both legs broken, Gyu-wi rolled on the ground, screaming bloody murder.
Just then, Ma Suk and his wife ran over and were shocked by the scene.
Murderous intent radiating from his eyes, Go Un-hyo spoke to Ma Suk.
“Ma Suk! This man must die by my hand, so step back!”
Ma Suk pulled his wife's arm and retreated. They knew well what a terrible person Gyu-wi was, so they didn't interfere.
Even with both legs broken, Gyu-wi's eyes were bloodshot as he bared his teeth and snarled.
“Grrr! You son of a bitch! Have you forgotten that I'm your senior brother?”
Go Un-hyo looked down at Gyu-wi, who was propped up on his elbows, and sneered coldly.
“Gyu-wi, I am a disciple of the Golden Sword Martial Venerable. I have never once thought of you as my senior brother.”
“Golden Sword Martial Venerable?”
Gyu-wi didn't know that the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable had killed the Golden Sword Martial Venerable. Therefore, he had no way of knowing that Go Un-hyo was his disciple.
A triumphant smile spread across Go Un-hyo's cold face.
“Hahaha! What's more, your master, the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable, died a miserable death at my brother's hands!”
“...”
Gyu-wi blinked, looking back and forth between Go Un-hyo and me, then mumbled.
“Then... are you saying this man is the Fire Dragon Sword?”
I stood a short distance away, my hands clasped behind my back.
Go Un-hyo looked down at Gyu-wi as if he were pathetic.
“My brother is known as the Fire Dragon Sword, or sometimes the Clear White Jade Hand.”
Gyu-wi had heard the endless rumors about the Fire Dragon Sword that everyone in the martial world was talking about. Of course, he also knew that the Fire Dragon Sword was the Clear White Jade Hand.
Gyu-wi stared at me, his mouth agape as if his jaw had been dislocated.
The reality of his situation finally dawned on him, his face contorting and his body beginning to tremble.
“You had a brother...?”
I said leisurely.
“Un-hyo not only has a brother, but a family as well.”
By family, I meant Jang Ung, Ja-un, and the others.