Fleecing the Golden Uncle
“Gang, your big brother is here.”
Uncle Tang Gang’s residence.
Jeokryeongak’s doors swung wide open.
As if it were his own home, Uncle Tang Ho strode boldly inside without the slightest hesitation.
[What kind of trouble is about to brew this time?]
Nothing’s going to happen, so don’t get your hopes up.
Hwancheonjihwan’s excited voice rang out. The little bastard secretly loved chaos. Like someone who thrived on watching a good fight unfold.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Uncle Tang Gang emerged from within.
Every member of the Tang bloodline possessed sharp, striking features and tall frames, so his face registered at a single glance.
“What brings you here, Elder Brother? You only ever set foot in Black Dragon Hall and never once bothered to visit my Jeokryeongak.”
“I dropped by because I have something that might tempt you.”
“You’re here to sell me something now?”
“Are you going to leave your big brother standing outside?”
“Come in. But why did you drag Cheonwi along?”
“He said he was curious about Jeokryeongak, so I brought him for a look around.”
“What’s there to see? Come in first. Cheonwi, you too.”
His tone was curt and dismissive. That was classic Uncle Tang Gang.
“Thank you, Second Uncle.”
The moment they stepped into Jeokryeongak, the interior dazzled. Everything was swathed in yellow, as though the entire place had been forged from pure gold.
“Quite the taste. Do you really love gold that much?”
“Respect your younger brother’s preferences.”
“You’ve smeared money all over the whole damn house.”
Uncle Tang Gang was loaded. His wife was the daughter of the lord of the Mansang Merchant Group, one of the three great merchant groups under heaven. A family drowning in wealth. That was why every corner of the pavilion gleamed with gold.
“What item made you drag your heavy feet all the way here, Elder Brother?”
“Don’t be shocked when you see it.”
Uncle Tang Ho produced the wooden box he had received earlier and opened it.
“What’s this?”
“Internal injury medicine.”
“Is that all? Jeokryeongak is overflowing with internal injury medicines.”
“Heh. Just take one. Its efficacy is worlds apart from anything you’ve ever tried.”
Uncle Tang Gang looked puzzled by Uncle Tang Ho’s confidence.
“You’re not going to demand payment after I swallow one, are you?”
“Do you take this big brother for a common robber?”
Seeming flustered at having come to pull a robber’s stunt, Uncle Tang Ho spoke in a sharp tone. Uncle Tang Gang took a step back.
“I’ll trust you. If the effect is mediocre, I won’t buy any—keep that in mind.”
Uncle Tang Gang tossed the Wild Herb Qi Resolving Pill into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Whether he trusted his poison resistance or simply trusted Uncle Tang Ho, he ate it without a shred of suspicion.
A moment later, Uncle Tang Gang shot up from his seat.
“This is an internal injury medicine?!”
His face was pure shock, quickly followed by flustered disbelief. He clearly couldn’t accept the efficacy.
“How is it? Even without injuries, taking it normally lets you feel the effect, right?”
“Of course. It’s the first internal injury medicine I’ve ever tasted like this.”
Every internal injury medicine was bitter. Some even made you want to vomit. The better the efficacy, the more bizarre the flavor. Yet the Wild Herb Qi Resolving Pill was different. Sweet and tart. It tasted exactly like candy children ate.
And that was not all. In a body free of internal injuries, it purged impure qi. Before it was medicine for wounds, it was a spiritual elixir. It did not increase internal energy, but it swept away unnecessary energy cleanly. An intermediate version of the Wild Herb Qi Resolving Pill—refined even further in that short span of time.
“I’ll buy them all. How much for everything?”
One of the five pills had already been eaten, leaving four.
“Ten taels.”
“Ten taels of silver? Right away—”
“Look at this thief. A man swimming in money trying to scam his own big brother?”
Uncle Tang Ho glared daggers. Startled, Uncle Tang Gang retreated another step.
“Then you mean ten taels of gold?”
“Obviously. This thing clears the impure qi you can’t—”
“It’s the Wild Herb Qi Resolving Pill.”
“Right, the Wild Herb Qi Resolving Pill clears it, doesn’t it? Ten taels of gold is me giving you a family discount because you’re my little brother.”
Whoa. I never knew Uncle Tang Ho was this much of a bandit. He was fleecing him for a full ten times the price. The man was even greedier than me.
[This might be that human’s true face. There are no normal people in the Tang Clan, after all.]
I found myself half-agreeing with Hwancheonjihwan. The only person in the Tang Clan with a normal personality was Tang Yuhyeon—my own little brother.
“I’ll buy them all. But are there only these four pills?”
At the question of whether more existed, Uncle Tang Ho threw his head back and laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! Why wouldn’t there be? I can make more anytime. But there’s one condition.”
“What is it?”
“You buy large quantities of Danhoncho, Cheonhaecho, Bancheongcho, and Sahwacho.”
Uncle Tang Gang’s brow furrowed.
“Elder Brother, do you need money?”
“Hey now. I’m handing you the chance to purchase precious herbs that grow in Biwon Forest in bulk.”
Uncle Tang Gang remained suspicious, but soon asked for the price.
“State the quantity and the cost.”
“Enough to supply about a hundred people with Wild Herb Qi Resolving Pills.”
“So enough to hand one pill each to my subordinates. That’s a thousand taels of gold… but looking at the efficacy, it doesn’t seem bad.”
Damn. The sheer scale of it. The wealth to scatter a thousand taels of gold among subordinates like pocket change. No wonder his wife’s family stood among the three great merchant groups under heaven. In the entire Tang Clan, only Uncle Tang Gang could throw money around like this. Of course, that was only possible because certain people stood behind him.
“Who said one pill per person? It’s ten pills per person.”
“Huk!”
When Uncle Tang Ho corrected the quantity, Uncle Tang Gang’s eyes flew wide.
“T-ten pills per person?”
“That’s exactly why I came to you. You’re the only one who can throw around this kind of fortune, Gang.”
“W-well… that’s true.”
“You’ll buy them, right?”
“Hmm…”
What had started as a thousand taels of gold had ballooned into a full ten thousand. Even for Uncle Tang Gang, it was not a sum he could accept lightly.
“Surely you, who have the lord of the Mansang Merchant Group—one of the three great tycoons under heaven—as your father-in-law, aren’t about to refuse?”
Uncle Tang Ho prodded his pride with casual precision.
“Of course not. I’ll purchase every last one, so don’t worry, Elder Brother.”
“Gang, you’ve always had a big heart.”
At the praise, Uncle Tang Gang’s shoulders lifted with pride. Uncle Tang Ho turned his head just enough to shoot a subtle thumbs-up.
I truly never saw this coming. Uncle Tang Ho was this kind of man.
He had scammed his own little brother properly—not double, but a full ten times the price.
“I’ll send the precious medicinal herbs and poisonous herbs to Jeokryeongak before long.”
Uncle Tang Ho held out his hand.
“Wait a moment.”
Uncle Tang Gang disappeared into the bedroom, then glanced back at the two of them.
“The fact that you hide money under your bed is something every one of us brothers already knows.”
“Ugh… I’ll have to change the spot.”
Just as Uncle Tang Ho said, Uncle Tang Gang pulled a thick stack of notes from beneath the bed.
“Here.”
They were banknotes issued by the Mansang Bank owned by the Mansang Merchant Group.
“Quite the thick stack.”
“But how did you make this internal injury medicine? Even the Poison Hall Master couldn’t produce something with this kind of efficacy.”
“Do you go around announcing trade secrets to outsiders? It’s a secret, you brat.”
Uncle Tang Ho took the notes and stuffed them firmly into his robes. He looked thoroughly pleased to have secured his marriage dowry. Gratitude toward me was simply a bonus.
“Business is finished, so I’ll be on my way.”
The moment his work was done, Uncle Tang Ho turned without a shred of hesitation.
He’s going to call me.
Just as I moved to follow, Uncle Tang Gang stopped me.
“Cheonwi, stay a moment and talk with your uncle.”
Uncle Tang Ho, already heading out, halted mid-step. He clearly intended to listen.
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“I have a request for you.”
“A request… from Uncle to me?”
“It’s a matter my father-in-law, the lord of the Mansang Merchant Group, asked help with. Refusing would be impolite.”
What I had been waiting for had finally arrived. How could my prediction ever miss?
“Since it’s Uncle’s request, of course I should help.”
“Thank you. This uncle couldn’t move because of other matters and was fretting over what to do. Thanks to you, I’ll save face with my father-in-law.”
The Tang Clan’s young master himself was moving. Saving face would be the least of it. It would also demonstrate just how seriously Tang Gang regarded his father-in-law’s request.
“What do you need me to do?”
Uncle Tang Gang explained everything in careful detail.
The two of them stepped outside. Uncle Tang Ho spoke first.
“That Gang isn’t the type to ask favors of you.”
“I know. There’s a trap in it.”
The lord of the Geumru Merchant Group, another of the three great merchant groups under heaven, had been childhood friends with the lord of the Mansang Merchant Group. Both had grown into tycoons ranking among the top three. Of those two who had once thrived side by side, the Geumru lord had lately fallen into decline.
Merchant groups were organizations built on trust. Continuous incidents of lost goods had dealt them a heavy blow. To restore that trust and weather the crisis, they had activated their final measure: a secret auction. It was a move meant to display the most precious treasure the Geumru Merchant Group possessed while proving they still stood strong. At the same time, it was a net cast to catch those plotting from the shadows.
“But you’re still going?”
“Do you know what will actually appear at that secret auction?”
“Didn’t Gang call it the Wind Flow Fan?”
“That’s only the surface.”
The Wind Flow Fan was a heavenly weapon belonging to the Map of Sealing Ten Thousand Weapons, ranked fourth on the list. That Wind Flow Fan was a fake. The true prize was something else entirely.
“What the Geumru Merchant Group is truly proud of is the Soul Brightening Wood and the Sun Liquor.”
“Sun Liquor—the pure yang liquor concentrated into drink, right?”
A liquor brewed only once every hundred years by the Shaolin Sect. At present it was said none remained in stock anywhere.
“Soul Brightening Wood is a legendary divine wood whose growing place isn’t even known… and they had both of those at Geumru?”
The sap of the Soul Brightening Wood was said to revive even the dead. It was a divine wood that linked the flows of life and soul.
“What Geumru actually possessed was a single Soul Brightening Wood. The Sun Liquor was lent by the Mansang Merchant Group lord.”
“If this secret auction fails, Geumru will take a catastrophic hit, won’t they?”
“Beyond recovery. Mansang has always wanted to swallow Geumru whole.”
Something that had already happened in the previous life. The secret auction had collapsed completely. Raiders had stolen both the Soul Brightening Wood and the Sun Liquor. Left with no choice, the Geumru lord had handed everything over to the Mansang lord and died.
“All of this was Mansang’s scheme?”
“Yes. If it simply fails, they can gulp down one of the three great merchant groups under heaven in a single bite.”
“Mansang and Geumru were friends since childhood.”
“If they were truly friends, that would be true.”
When I spoke with deliberate weight, Uncle Tang Ho’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. To that expectant look I offered something else entirely.
“I’ll tell you just one thing for your sake, Uncle. Exchange every last Mansang Bank note for Geumru Bank notes. If you don’t, you’ll regret it later and pound the ground in despair.”
Perhaps because of the sly look on my face, Uncle Tang Ho simply nodded.
“It seems you’re plotting something again.”
“I’ll head back and prepare to leave for Junggyeong.”
“You little rascal of a nephew—won’t you teach this uncle as well?”
“You’ll find out later.”
I waved and turned away. Uncle Tang Ho’s voice followed me.
“Go and return safely. I’ll be waiting for an interesting story.”
It was Uncle Tang Ho wishing for my safe return.