The pitch-black night revealed no signs of life as I set out with Escort Guard Seo Wu and Escort Guard Jin Yu toward the place where Daoist Cheong Su had collapsed.
I chose only these two because they were the strongest, and we needed to move quickly and quietly.
“Come to think of it, I heard that Daoist Cheong Su was able to save his life because of the money you gave him, my lord.”
“Yes, so I heard.”
Since Maoshan Sect Daoists primarily traveled remote mountain paths late at night, using bank drafts was impractical. They needed silver taels or bronze coins that could be used anywhere, and I had placed silver taels in the pouch for him.
He said he didn’t lose his life because he had kept it in his left breast pocket.
“I believe it wasn’t the money I gave him, but the Daoist’s accumulated good karma that saved his life.”
At my words, both martial artists nodded in agreement.
Daoist Cheong Su’s good karma was undeniable.
Soon we arrived at the place where we had found Daoist Cheong Su and began searching for traces of the culprits.
Moving five Jiangshi without leaving evidence would be impossible.
“Here, there are footprints.”
“A tree branch is broken.”
The two martial artists, experienced in such matters, quickly located the trail, and we followed it.
“It’s that place.”
As we continued, a mountain fortress came into view.
It appeared they had taken over a bandits mountain fortress and were using it as their base.
Bonfires burned here and there, and a large, crudely constructed warehouse dominated the center.
Jingle.
Jingle.
With the sound of a handbell, three Jiangshi shuffled into that warehouse.
At that sight, I laughed inwardly.
Not just anyone could lead Jiangshi by shaking a handbell.
One had to imbue the handbell with Daoist power, and it wasn’t something that could be accomplished by randomly channeling energy into it.
Just as one learns martial arts through long training in a particular sect, controlling Jiangshi required extensive training in Maoshan Sect sorcery.
In other words, the person holding that handbell was a Maoshan Sect Daoist who had joined the Hwancheon Group.
Just then, someone approached that area.
When I focused my internal energy into my ears, I could faintly hear their conversation.
“Three this time. Then so far…”
“One hundred and three.”
“When will we achieve our great cause by gathering them like this?”
A calm voice answered the frustrated question.
“It can’t be helped. We must not be hasty and must proceed slowly.”
“At this rate, wouldn’t it be faster to just bring people here, kill them, and turn them into Jiangshi?”
An annoyed reply came back.
“Are you trying to work me to death? Do you know how much Daoist power it takes to make one Jiangshi? It’s faster to just steal the Jiangshi made by other Daoists like this.”
“I see. I hope our leader becomes Emperor as soon as possible.”
From that conversation, I understood why they had stolen the Jiangshi.
Because creating a Jiangshi requires enormous amounts of Daoist power, they were stealing them to gather large numbers.
And that comment about becoming Emperor…
I had suspected it, but now it was certain—this was the Hwancheon Group I knew.
Escort Guard Seo Wu whispered with a grim expression.
“My lord, I think we’ve seen enough.”
“Let’s go.”
We quietly withdrew from the mountain fortress and headed toward the village.
As the distance grew, Escort Guard Seo Wu wiped his dry face and let out a sigh.
“This is more serious than I thought. A group plotting treason…”
Escort Guard Jin Yu added.
“Not only the Jiangshi, but the martial artists’ skills are also considerable. There seem to be about a hundred of them, and there appears to be a Peak level martial artist among them as well.”
“You were able to assess that?”
At my question, Escort Guard Jin Yu nodded.
“Yes, it’s a skill I learned working as an assassin. To assassinate more safely, it’s important to accurately survey the surroundings.”
“That’s a very useful skill.”
“Yes. Thanks to it, it has saved my life many times.”
“Can I learn it too?”
“Of course, it’s possible.”
“Teach me later.”
Ah, this isn’t important right now.
“By the way, the ones we saw earlier don’t seem like they’ll use the Jiangshi for any good intentions.”
“Yes, gathering them in the hundreds like that suggests they intend to use the Jiangshi as soldiers.”
“Still, it’s a relief that there aren’t many yet.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu asked.
“What do you intend to do, my lord?”
“I heard it’s customary not to refuse a request from a Maoshan Sect Daoist.”
“That’s right. But there’s no law requiring acceptance. And Daoist Cheong Su will understand the situation.”
“That’s probably true. But if we see this and just pass by, will our hearts be at ease?”
“…”
Escort Guard Jin Yu said worriedly.
“But it’s impossible for us to subdue that mountain fortress by ourselves.”
“That’s right. We’d be the ones getting beaten instead.”
I nodded and continued.
“But is helping them only possible if we wield our swords ourselves?”
The two martial artists looked at me with puzzled expressions.
“You remember their conversation from earlier. If so, the answer is simple.”
“Ah…!”
Only then did the two martial artists seem to grasp what I was thinking.
“We don’t necessarily have to resolve this matter ourselves. It’s enough to inform the proper authorities.”
I returned to the village and headed to my room at the inn.
I immediately wrote a letter and tapped my sleeve.
“Geumryeong. Come on out.”
“Kui?”
“I need you to deliver a letter to the old man at the general shop. You have to get a reply too.”
“Kui!”
When I tied the letter to Geumryeong’s tail, it kicked off the ground and flew away.
Soon, its figure became a dot and disappeared.
‘It’s really fast.’
In fact, it might have been better to deliver the letter directly to the Emperor.
But I didn’t want to reveal Geumryeong’s existence to the Emperor yet, so I decided to borrow the power of the Ghost-faced Constable whom the Emperor trusted.
And if I sent Geumryeong and was misunderstood, it would be troublesome.
The Emperor was already coveting me, but it couldn’t be helped.
I still had no connections with the martial arts sects in this region, and I didn’t want to attract the attention of the Murim Alliance.
So I had the proper parties resolve it.
And there was still plenty of time.
The Emperor muttered to himself as he worked on state affairs late into the night.
“It looks like I won’t be sleeping early today either. I wish I had a trustworthy and wise talent to help me with my work…”
He leaned back in his chair for a moment and closed his eyes.
Then, a talent he had his eye on suddenly came to mind.
Eun Seo-ho.
He would be nineteen by now.
‘He’s not far from twenty, so should I bring him in next year and put him to use?’
As he was contemplating.
Tap.
A martial artist descended from above and prostrated himself.
“Your Majesty, an urgent message from Elder Hwangbo Hui.”
“Give it to me.”
The martial artist respectfully handed over the letter, and a eunuch standing behind took the letter and presented it to the Emperor.
The Emperor’s expression hardened as he read the letter.
Placing the letter on the desk, the Emperor ordered the eunuch in a cold voice.
“A troublesome matter has arisen. Call the commander of the Embroidered Guard.”
I woke up early in the morning, finished my Qi circulation, and opened my eyes to find Geumryeong looking up at me.
A letter was tied to its tail.
“You’re back already. You’ve worked hard.”
I gently stroked Geumryeong and untied the letter to read it.
It said that the news I had sent had been delivered to His Majesty the Emperor, and that he would probably mobilize the Embroidered Guard to handle it.
And the last sentence.
[He said he has also requested support from the Daoists of the Maoshan Sect. By the way, does trouble call to you? Or do you call to trouble?]
The exact same words I had heard from my father a while ago.
‘Well, I don’t know either.’
Two days later, a martial artist dressed in a black cape came to find me.
“Are you Eun Seo-ho, the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group?”
“Yes, I am Eun Seo-ho.”
“A letter from His Majesty the Emperor.”
At those words, I immediately bowed on the spot.
“I receive the sacred will of His Majesty the Emperor.”
I lifted my head and said to him.
“By the way, am I really allowed to receive the sacred will of His Majesty the Emperor? To receive the sacred will of His Majesty the Emperor would be an honor worth boasting about for generations to come.”
And even tears of emotion.
Hah!
Even I thought it was perfect acting.
The reason I was acting so excessively was that the other party’s eyes didn’t look friendly.
The other party was from the Embroidered Guard.
They were people who could imprison and torture without the Emperor’s permission if they thought something was suspicious.
Then his eyes softened a little.
“It’s fine, so hurry up and receive it.”
“Yes.”
I carefully took the letter and opened it on the spot.
“…”
For a moment, I almost failed to manage my expression.
“He said I should go with you and show you the location of the traitors.”
“I see. Let’s go quickly. I’ve had the troops wait outside the village.”
Of course, that wasn’t all that was in the letter.
What on earth did the old man write to the Emperor…
Just in time, the Daoists of the Maoshan Sect arrived, and soon the Hwancheon Group suppression operation began.
“Charge! They are traitors!”
“Uaaah!”
“H-how so fast!”
“It can’t be helped! Release the Jiangshi!”
In their haste, they brought out the Jiangshi they had gathered to the front.
But the Daoists of the Maoshan Sect didn’t just stand by and watch.
Jingle, jingle, jingle.
As they chanted incantations with the sound of handbells, the Jiangshi collapsed as if crumbling.
They had dispelled the Jiangshi sorcery.
The rebellion that had thrown the Shandong and Beijing regions into chaos in my previous life ended as a small commotion in this life.
As I said, when a poisonous weed is still a sprout, you only need two fingers.
“Thanks to your help, we were able to retrieve the bodies of the pitiful departed.”
Daoist Cheong Su cupped his fist and expressed his gratitude to me.
“Not at all. The Daoists of the other Maoshan Sects and the Embroidered Guard did everything.”
“Still, I know that the beginning of the solution was you, patron.”
I scratched my cheek.
“Therefore, our Maoshan Sect has decided to consider you, patron, as our benefactor. If you ever need the help of our Maoshan Sect, please feel free to ask for help at any time.”
He handed me a wooden plaque.
I said it was fine, but I had to accept it due to Daoist Cheong Su’s almost forceful recommendation.
And so, Daoist Cheong Su, along with the other Maoshan Sect Daoists, decided to turn the bodies whose Jiangshi sorcery had been dispelled back into Jiangshi and return them to their hometowns.
‘Now we also have to go and do what we were originally doing.’
Palgap came up to me and asked.
“Young Master, when are you planning to depart?”
“We should get going soon.”
Just then, Martial Artist Jin Yeong, who had led the Embroidered Guard and carried out the suppression operation, approached.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Not at all. What hard work did I do?”
“By the way, it seems His Majesty the Emperor cherishes you quite a bit.”
“Pardon?”
“He said he would cut off the wrist of anyone who touches you.”
“…”
“So I wondered if you were His Majesty the Emperor’s hidden child.”
‘Could it be that the reason he looked at me with suspicious eyes when he first saw me was because of that?’
‘Did I overact for nothing?’
‘No, more importantly, Your Majesty.’
‘You’d cut off the wrist of anyone who touches me?’
“Hahaha, His Majesty the Emperor’s hidden child, you say. Absolutely not. I am merely the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“Yes, I think so too. But actually, that in itself is a big deal.”
“Pardon?”
“It means you’ve caught His Majesty the Emperor’s eye that much. And His Majesty the Emperor never lets go of a talent he has his eye on.”
“…”
It was then.
A carriage with a flag symbolizing the imperial family could be seen approaching from a distance.
‘Damn it, are you going to go this far?’
The letter I had just received said that he knew I was going to the North Sea and that he would send a carriage for me, so I should come to the imperial palace without making any excuses.
Seeing that carriage, Warrior Jin Yeong laughed.
“Well, it seems he cherishes you much more than I thought.”
“…”
“We’ll be working together in the imperial palace soon.”
Warrior Jin Yeong’s words were probably thrown lightly to tease me, but to me, they were no different from a curse.
I have no intention of becoming the Emperor’s work slave in Beijing.
I have to make the Eunhae Merchant Group the number one merchant group in the world and take revenge on the Murim Alliance and the Baekcheon Merchant Group.
I can’t just be caught by the Emperor like this.
But I had no choice but to take the carriage sent by the Emperor and go to Beijing.
“This carriage is incredibly nice.”
At Palgap’s words, I nodded.
The other Escort Guards were following the carriage I was riding on horseback.
“By the way, can we see those children when we go to Beijing this time?”
“Children?”
“The children at that academy.”
“Of course…”
A thought that flashed through my mind made me smile without realizing it.
‘Yes, there was that method, wasn’t there?’
–TL Notes–
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