Chapter 198
Chapter 198
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: The One Who Seizes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The warriors of the Sima Clan realized the situation too late and put up resistance, but they were no match for the monks of Shaolin Temple. With not only Cheonguk—the Myriad-Power Monk touted as the next of the Six Eminent Ones—but even the current Six Eminent One, the Divine Monk, present, they had no chance from the start.
It took less than the time it takes to eat a meal to subdue all the Sima Clan warriors.
"Keep your backs straight."
The Myriad-Power Monk didn't deem them worth the effort of his hands and instead stomped on their dantians with his feet, shattering them. Among the Sima Clan members, there was now not a single person who could be called a warrior.
Once everything was finished, the Myriad-Power Monk approached Dang Mujin.
"Benefactor Dang. I trust you've been well?"
The Myriad-Power Monk's voice was filled with warmth. Even setting aside the matter of Monk Inhang of Shaolin Temple, he was one of the few close friends his master had.
Dang Mujin offered a greeting with clasped hands to his master's old friend.
"I've been well, yes. It's been a long time."
"And Elder Sima as well. There are a few people missing who I don't see—whatever happened to them? It doesn't seem like they noticed and fled."
"Sima Jeong. Sima Yu-gong. Sima Song. All three are dead."
The Myriad-Power Monk eyed Dang Mujin's appearance. Not a single wound, not even a tear in his clothes—pristine.
"You've achieved that level? Impressive."
"It was just luck."
"If Elder Sima was the sort to be subdued by mere luck, he wouldn't have dominated the Sima Clan. Your humility is excessive."
A few days before setting things in motion, Dang Mujin had sent a messenger pigeon to Shaolin Temple via Namgung Myeong.
The plan of mass-producing meridian-severance syndrome patients, risking madness or death, was something anyone would see as a method only unorthodox sects or demonic cults would employ.
Thus, he hadn't even considered the possibility of Shaolin Temple standing by idly.
The Myriad-Power Monk murmured.
"Seeing the piles of bones in the Brain Prison, it seems an incalculable number of outsiders were sacrificed. Thanks to you, Benefactor Dang, we were able to uproot this evil in advance. Though calling it a 'sprout' might be inaccurate after all this time..."
Dang Mujin and the Myriad-Power Monk watched as the Sima Clan members were bound with ropes and tossed into a corner of the courtyard.
One person in particular stood out among them. Sima Rin, glaring at him with venomous eyes.
Dang Mujin knew she had approached him with dark intentions, so he just smirked and let it pass. The price for lusting after a married man wouldn't be light.
"What will you do with the Sima Clan people?"
"The men will be thrown into Shaolin Temple's Repentance Cave to spend the rest of their lives. The women will go into the Emei Sect's Brain Prison."
The Emei Sect's Brain Prison must refer to the underground chamber beneath the Golden Justice Hall where Dang Mujin himself had once been imprisoned. A place where no sunlight entered, and all one could see were thick bars and rock walls.
Even masters with immense inner power couldn't escape from there, so someone without even a scrap of inner power had no way out.
"Isn't the Emei Sect too far away? You'd have to go all the way to Sichuan Province."
"No choice. The other sects dislike imprisoning sinners unconnected to their own schools in their prisons."
"Hm."
As Dang Mujin listened to the Myriad-Power Monk, he realized he still had work left to do.
"Are you departing for Mount Song right away today?"
"It's late in the day, so that's difficult. I plan to wrap things up here over a day or two before leaving."
"Would it be all right if I treated the meridian-severance patients?"
The Myriad-Power Monk smiled at Dang Mujin's words.
It was because he saw his dear old friend in Dang Mujin's willingness to treat patients regardless of their circumstances or status.
"They might not welcome the treatment. For them, dying at the right time might be less suffering than rotting away imprisoned for decades."
Dang Mujin shrugged lightly.
"What can they do if they don't like it? Without any inner power, it'll be enough to knock them out roughly and treat them."
"You're starting to resemble your master even in your eccentricities. There won't be any issues if you treat them, right? Like them suddenly gaining immense inner power or something."
Dang Mujin shook his head.
"Their dantians are already shattered, so they can't gather inner power. Nothing will happen."
"Then it's fine. Stay at Shaolin Temple with the prisoners for a while and treat them."
"But the women can't enter Shaolin Temple, can they?"
"We'll keep them confined in the village below until the Emei Sect escorts arrive, so handle their treatment as well. Let me know if you need anything."
"Understood."
The Myriad-Power Monk wore a pleased expression, as if looking at his own disciple, then moved off to finish up the remaining tasks.
*
As dawn broke the next day, far more people came and went from the Sima Clan. Not only were Shaolin Temple's monks still staying there, but onlookers and officials had shown up as well.
Onlookers were one thing, but the officials' appearance was a bit unexpected. The government tended to look the other way from matters of the martial world as much as possible.
"Why are those officials here?"
When Dang Mujin asked, Namgung Myeong answered.
"Martial artists don't just swing swords for a living. The Sima Clan operated merchant caravans and escort agencies, and owned quite a few shops. The officials are here to handle the assets issue."
"Is that normal?"
Namgung Myeong shook his head.
"If it were a fight between ordinary clans, the victor would usually take the loser's assets. But the one who subdued the Sima Clan this time is Shaolin Temple."
Unlike warriors of ordinary clans or sects, Shaolin Temple's monks shunned material greed. They weren't in a position to actively take over and manage the Sima Clan's businesses.
If Shaolin Temple didn't claim rights, the Sima Clan's merchant caravans, escort agencies, and other enterprises would lose their owners and fall apart, so the officials had gathered to prevent that.
Hong Geolgae spoke flatly.
"Having so much means even the aftermath gets complicated."
At Hong Geolgae's side clung the little one, Wang Jincheong, who had suffered from meridian-severance syndrome.
Though Wang Jincheong had been locked in the Brain Prison for over three months, his physical condition wasn't bad.
Considering how the health of the woman imprisoned with him had deteriorated severely, it seemed Wang Jincheong was innately sturdy.
Dang Mujin stroked Wang Jincheong's head as he spoke.
"What are you planning to do with this one?"
"Well. No suitable place to leave him."
"Didn't you say he was originally a beggar? Kaifeng isn't far from Luoyang, so how about taking him to the Beggars' Sect headquarters there and entrusting him?"
Dang Mujin made what he thought was a reasonable suggestion, but Hong Geolgae didn't seem pleased.
"A beggar taking a beggar to a beggar den and handing him to another beggar? Something feels off about that."
This time, Hyeon-gong chimed in.
"There are plenty of monks around—how about entrusting him to Shaolin Temple?"
Hong Geolgae shook his head again.
"If he becomes a Shaolin monk, he won't be able to leave Mount Song freely. Wang Jincheong is still young, so it seems better to let him choose his own path in life."
Wang Jincheong, apparently uninterested in joining Shaolin Temple, nodded vigorously while clinging even tighter to Hong Geolgae.
"Then what will you do?"
"How about taking him to Zhongqing and entrusting him to Red-Faced Old Beggar or Flame-Petal Nun? Those Beggars' Sect folks have pretty good circumstances."
Hong Geolgae seemed to think it a reasonable choice, but everyone except him could vaguely foresee Wang Jincheong's future.
The sentimental Hong Geolgae would end up caring for Wang Jincheong himself. Just as Ma Jeon-gae had once cared for the young Hong Geolgae long ago.
As the group conversed, a band of people entered the Sima Clan.
They numbered around thirty, and since they weren't martial artists, tension was plain on their faces.
"More officials."
"They look much higher-ranking than the ones from before."
There were three or four who appeared to be high officials, surrounded by over twenty soldiers escorting them. Yet the center of the group wasn't an official.
The high officials were flanking an elderly man and a middle-aged man like attendants. The Myriad Gold Merchant Lord, probing the ground ahead with his cane since he couldn't see, and Chief Steward Seo, his right-hand man.
The moment they spotted the two, Dang Mujin's group panicked.
'Why bring a blind old man all the way here?'
Dang Mujin's group immediately concealed their presence and barricaded themselves in the guest hall.
*
While the five, including Wang Jincheong, huddled inside the guest hall chatting idly, the door slid open smoothly. All eyes turned to the opened door.
A familiar face, but not one they wanted to see here. The Myriad Gold Merchant Lord and Chief Steward Seo were entering the guest hall. Dang Mujin regretted it belatedly.
'We should've holed up in the warehouse instead of the guest hall.'
The group quietly rose from their seats, intending to slip out of the guest hall.
But Chief Steward Seo stopped them.
"Please wait. The Merchant Lord heard you were in the guest hall and came specifically to see you."
The group wore tense expressions like children who had sneaked their father's money to buy snacks.
Dang Mujin spoke hesitantly.
"Greetings, Merchant Lord. What brings you all the way to the Sima Clan..."
"Officials barged in at the crack of dawn making a fuss. If the Sima Clan's businesses vanish, more than a few people will be in trouble, so they asked me to step in."
The Sima Clan's influence was great, and so was the scale of their businesses.
In vast Luoyang, no one else could swallow up the Sima Clan's numerous shops, caravans, and escort agencies all at once without issue. It was natural for the officials to seek out the Myriad Gold Merchant Lord.
But this was also a highly satisfactory proposal for the Myriad Gold Merchant Lord. The Sima Clan wouldn't have been running loss-making ventures.
The officials bundled up the Sima Clan's prime businesses and tossed them to the Myriad Gold Merchant Company for a cut of the profits, while the Merchant Lord easily acquired the Sima Clan's best assets.
The only losers were the Sima Clan. And now they were in no position to protest anyway.
Dang Mujin replied with a still-burdened expression.
"You must have gone to great trouble..."
"Your voice lacks conviction. Why is that?"
No one answered. As Dang Mujin's group made awkward faces, the quick-witted Chief Steward Seo sent Wang Jincheong out of the guest hall.
The Myriad Gold Merchant Lord broached the subject.
"Why so burdened?"
"...Pardon?"
"You toppled the Sima Clan, and I easily swallowed it up. In two or three years, I'll have recouped more than that amount."
The phrase "that amount of money" carried profound weight.
Contextually, it should refer to the investment to take over the Sima Clan's businesses or the shares given to officials, but no matter how he thought about it, it didn't seem so.
Dang Mujin, Hong Geolgae, and Hyeon-gong's gazes turned to Namgung Myeong. In a situation like this, shouldn't the ringleader step forward?
But Namgung Myeong avoided the others' eyes and pretended ignorance.
In the end, Dang Mujin shot Namgung Myeong a glare and stepped up.
"...How long have you known?"
"Known what?"
"The money on that table... I mean."
The Myriad Gold Merchant Lord burst into laughter.
"Of course I knew from the start. Think about it logically. The only ones who knew that money was in my office were me, Yu Jingwang, Chief Steward Seo, and you lot. If it vanished without a trace, whose doing could it be?"
Dang Mujin and Hong Geolgae flinched, realizing they were fully exposed.
But Hyeon-gong showed a slightly different reaction. Among the people the Merchant Lord mentioned, one was absent from this room.
"Oh dear, Brother Yu..."
Hyeon-gong tried shamelessly to slander Yu Jingwang, but Hong Geolgae and Dang Mujin swiftly clamped his mouth shut.
Unlike Hyeon-gong, Dang Mujin and Hong Geolgae still possessed human hearts.
The Myriad Gold Merchant Lord said.
"Don't feel indebted. You deserve that money."
"Pardon?"
Dang Mujin widened his eyes as if hearing something absurd, and the Myriad Gold Merchant Lord chuckled as if amused.
"Listen. What do you think a merchant is?"
"Someone who trades goods, isn't it?"
"Correct. But more fundamentally, a merchant is someone who puts a price on work and goods, then pays that price."
The Myriad Gold Merchant Lord spoke calmly.
"You risked your lives traveling to the distant north and returned after saving my childhood friend's son. I'm a merchant, and I intend to pay the appropriate price for what you've done."
Then, the Myriad Gold Merchant Lord brought up something odd.
"What I want to ask is why you didn't take the money openly but stole it instead."
"Pardon?"
"Why? Chief Steward Seo, didn't you relay the message to the young heroes?"
Chief Steward Seo, who had been listening quietly, shook his head.
"No, I did relay it."
"To whom?"
"I told Young Hero Namgung outside the tavern. To come to the Myriad Gold Merchant Company tomorrow and collect the money."
A memory flashed through Dang Mujin's group's minds.
The day they infiltrated the Myriad Gold Merchant Company, Namgung Myeong had insisted not to harm anyone even in the urgency.
That could be explained.
When trouble arose, Namgung Myeong had shouted that he'd take responsibility.
That was starting to get odd. Namgung Myeong wasn't the type to meekly accept responsibility.
And crucially, Namgung Myeong was the sort who stole items only to sneak back in secretly and return them. A thief who derived satisfaction from the act of stealing itself, not the stolen goods.
Would such a Namgung Myeong have any reason to steal such a massive sum and flee?
Everyone in the guest hall perked up their ears toward Namgung Myeong's answer.
Finally, Namgung Myeong spoke.
"Because what one seizes holds greater value than what one is given."
As always, Namgung Myeong spouted nonsense.