Chapter 534
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 534
Chapter Title: I Don't Know
"Fuck..."
A curse slipped from Yeo Goeng's mouth.
He was at a complete loss.
It was the natural reaction, all things considered.
The whole operation had gone completely to shit.
"Let's head back for now. We have to."
Jang Un grabbed Yeo Goeng's arm and pulled him along.
"We'll catch you later, old timer."
With that farewell, Jang Un turned back toward the Crimson Flower Tower.
'Yeah, I knew from the start there was no money scent to it...'
From the moment he'd heard that Sa Hoon, Seon Gyu's advisor and idea man, had come up with the scheme, Jang Un hadn't been sold on it.
His innate nose for money hadn't picked up a whiff.
Hugeum Ung, the Money-Sniffing Bear.
That was his nickname.
It was a talent acknowledged by every member of Black Face Hall.
Hell, even the courtesan Nak Hwa at the Crimson Flower Tower had turned down the hall master's summons because Jang Un had picked her client.
But back then, Jang Un had played it safe and said he wasn't sure.
He couldn't throw cold water on a plan that the hall master and his advisor were pushing so enthusiastically.
So he'd just said he couldn't tell if there was money in it or not.
And so the two of them slunk back into the Crimson Flower Tower, their faces dark.
Some of the courtesans had already started their shifts, and early-bird patrons had filled the place, so incense and the scent of liquor wafted from every corner.
The pair who should have gone straight from the gambling den to the Yunwu Martial Hall had returned to the brothel far too soon, and Sa Hoon—lounging on the first floor—spotted them right away.
"What the hell? Why are you back so quick?"
Yeo Goeng flinched at Sa Hoon's shout.
No matter how you sliced it, Sa Hoon was third-in-command in the hall.
Right after the hall master and deputy.
He hadn't expected the man to be holding down the fort on the brothel's first floor, and hearing that sharp tone the moment they returned didn't help.
Jang Un stepped forward.
"They paid it off."
"Huh?"
Sa Hoon blinked, as if he'd misheard.
"What'd you say? Paid? Who? What?"
Disbelief filled Sa Hoon's eyes.
"They paid back every last tael of gold at the Yunwu Martial Hall."
Sa Hoon's face twisted at Jang Un's reply.
"What kinda bullshit is that? How the hell do those bastards have the cash to cough up a hundred gold taels in one day!"
A roar erupted from Sa Hoon's mouth.
He'd demanded an impossibly huge debt from old man Kang at the Yunwu Martial Hall, then nodded along when they'd brought back a hundred gold taels.
No matter how you looked at it, it was an amount they could never repay.
He hadn't even bothered checking how they'd arrived at that figure.
As long as it was something the Yunwu Martial Hall could never pay back, that was fine—and now they had?
"Where the fuck did those assholes find a money hole?"
Just in case, he'd locked down the other gambling joints too.
In case someone might lend money to the Yunwu crew.
He'd choked off their cash flow before starting the squeeze.
They'd flashed the forged IOU just yesterday.
Today, they should be scrambling for funds.
That's why he'd sent his men to turn up the pressure—and they'd paid it all?
"What? What the hell does that mean?"
Seon Gyu emerged from his room at the back of the first floor, hastily adjusting his clothes after his debauchery, drawn by Sa Hoon's rough voice.
"H-Hall Master."
Yeo Goeng startled.
Jang Un flinched too.
Sa Hoon relayed exactly what Jang Un had told him.
Seon Gyu's face naturally contorted in fury.
"What? So what the hell happens now!"
"It's over."
Sa Hoon shook his head as Jang Un gave the full rundown.
"They even took the signed IOU with them proper-like, so the Yunwu Martial Hall owes us nothing now."
His voice was utterly deflated.
"No way! Those bastards! Where the fuck did they get that kinda money from!!! We just did a solid for that old fart Kang for nothing!!"
Seon Gyu bellowed.
That was right.
Old man Kang had pocketed a hundred gold taels in one day, courtesy of the IOU Black Face Hall had forged through the Hao Clan.
"Um..."
That's when one of the hall members lurking in the corner spoke up cautiously.
"What?"
"I overheard that their eldest son—the lord of the Yunwu Martial Hall—came back yesterday. Maybe he brought the money..."
Yu Hyun-gwang always insisted he was just the deputy lord, and the real lord was his brother who'd stepped away temporarily.
"The lord?"
Seon Gyu shot Sa Hoon a questioning look.
"Must be the one with the Fierce Dragon Corps in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest. They say he paid off all the debts with money he earned there... Surviving the Fierce Dragon Corps is impressive enough, but no way he walked out with that much cash."
Black path folk and ronin were inseparable.
And among ronin, tales of the Fierce Dragon Corps were legendary.
Ronin sold their swords for coin, after all.
And the Fierce Dragon Corps was one of the highest payers.
Even so, hardly any ronin joined up.
Ronin sold blades, not their lives.
Only those in truly desperate straits went to a place where death was all but guaranteed.
"Hmm. So, is the guy strong?"
Sa Hoon shook his head at Seon Gyu's question.
"No idea. The Fierce Dragon Corps is just meat shields for the Demon-Sealing Corps... But surviving there five years? Gotta be something to him."
Worry deepened on Seon Gyu's face.
He'd figured worst case, just take it by force—but hearing the hall lord had survived the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, that death trap, for five years made him hesitate.
In the end.
"Sa Hoon, you come with me. Rest of you, get back to work."
With that, Seon Gyu headed to his quarters. A courtesan was just slipping out, having grabbed her clothes.
The room still reeked of heat and perfume.
"What do we do? We already talked to the Plum Fragrance Gate, and we've sunk money into this."
He was thinking about recouping his investment.
"Sigh. Beats me."
Alone without underlings, Sa Hoon's tone shifted.
It was the familiar speech reflecting their long friendship.
He always used formal language in front of the men to uphold the hall master's dignity, but alone, it was different.
"And the profit split talks aren't even done yet—everything's fucked."
"Huh? Profit split's not settled?"
"They want eighty-twenty."
"Those bastards want eighty?"
Sa Hoon nodded at Seon Gyu's question.
"Fucking thieving sons of bitches."
Angry mutters spilled from Seon Gyu's lips.
"Looks like they'll settle for seventy-thirty tops, so I was dragging it out aiming for sixty-forty. But now with this mess, it's all blown."
"Ugh."
Seon Gyu let out a dissatisfied groan.
Sa Hoon addressed him.
"Just let it go. Forget the Yunwu Martial Hall, wait for another chance around here. Write off what we gave the Plum Fragrance Gate as networking costs and move on."
Sa Hoon tried to soothe him, regretful but resigned.
But Seon Gyu's face flushed red and purple—he wasn't having it.
After a moment, he spoke.
"The Plum Fragrance Gate was interested in the Yunwu too, right?"
His tone was chilling.
Sa Hoon caught the implication and startled.
"Don't even think it. Killing the golden goose to fetch a tiger? A chicken's plenty for mutts like us, but call in a tiger like the Plum Fragrance Gate, and it'll eat the chicken—and us too."
Unlike Black Face Hall running everything with Plum Fragrance Gate as backup.
If the Plum Fragrance Gate flexed its muscle, Black Face Hall could get devoured.
Sa Hoon had sensed that during their profit-split negotiations.
But Seon Gyu wasn't listening to the warning.
Having something almost in hand slip away had driven him mad.
"Hmph, if that was the case, they'd have moved already. They like having us around, that's why they've sat idle. So go to the Plum Fragrance Gate and push things forward."
Seon Gyu's tone was ironclad.
No room for dissent.
Sa Hoon, who'd been with him for years, knew well.
Opposing Seon Gyu in this mood never ended well.
"Sigh. Understood, Hall Master."
Answering not as Seon Gyu's old brother, but as Black Face Hall's advisor, Sa Hoon withdrew from the room.
'What a pain.'
As Sa Hoon emerged, the underlings sneaked glances.
"Don't worry about it. Do your jobs."
He brushed them off and left the Crimson Flower Tower.
Before heading to the Plum Fragrance Gate, he had a stop.
The southern outskirts of Sangnam, a slum.
Deep in the slums, a ramshackle hut.
It was on the verge of collapse but sizable.
Two rough-looking men squatted at the entrance, chatting idly.
"Oh? Brother's here!"
They jumped up and bowed deeply.
Fierce faces, but scrawny builds.
"Is Brother Gwan inside?"
"Yes."
Sa Hoon stepped right in, revealing a space thick with acrid smoke.
He wrinkled his nose.
Opium haze.
This was Black Face Hall's true cash cow.
The opium den.
A haunt for addicts craving their fix day in, day out.
Even some high-ups in the Plum Fragrance Gate indulged.
As important as it was, the man overseeing it was Black Face Hall's number two, Deputy Hall Master Gwan Po.
Second-in-command on paper, but the hall's true strongest.
Only he, the hall master, and deputy knew it.
In Gwan Po's room, he waved a lazy hand in greeting.
"Oh, Sa Hoon."
Half-lidded eyes.
Gwan Po was hooked on opium too.
"What's up?"
Sa Hoon despised the stuff. He rarely came here, so his solo visit drew the question.
"Big Brother's lost his head to greed."
Sa Hoon's tone was grave.
"What, first time? Cleaning up his messes is our job. Always has been."
"This opponent's bad news. If things go south, I'm counting on you for Big Brother..."
Gwan Po straightened at Sa Hoon's words.
Focus sharpened in his hazy eyes.
He'd circulated his qi to burn off the drug's fog.
"What do you mean?"
"He's walking into the tiger's jaws."
"Plum Fragrance Gate?"
Sa Hoon nodded.
Gwan Po started to speak, then shut his mouth.
Sa Hoon wouldn't have let it slide without warning him.
Coming here anyway meant he needed backup.
"Got it."
Gwan Po replied heavily.
Sa Hoon rose.
And headed straight for the Plum Fragrance Gate.
Chil Hwa-gae blinked at the man before him.
Ha Mu-baek, who'd visited not long ago, was back already.
"Forget something?"
"Hao Clan branch head. Who's she?"
Chil Hwa-gae gave a small nod at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"Ah, looks like you put in a request with the Hao Clan too. You're thorough, aren't you."
Ha Mu-baek met Chil Hwa-gae's jest with a calm gaze.
"I don't know."
Under the urging look, Chil Hwa-gae answered readily.
Ha Mu-baek's eyebrow twitched then.
The Beggars' Sect couldn't not know.
"Well, the higher-ups at headquarters might, but no one in our branch does. I got tangled up once myself, asked headquarters all hot and bothered, and they just said I didn't need to know."
What could he do if the branch lord said so?
Ha Mu-baek's eyebrow finally relaxed.
"My apologies."
With that, he turned and left.
Figured he'd have to ask someone higher up in the Beggars' Sect.