It had been about two weeks since I arrived at the Qingcheng Sect.
My group and I had cleared a path to the Wind Cultivation Pavilion, while the disciples of the Sichuan Tang Clan and the Emei Sect had kept themselves busy with work of their own.
Thanks to all that, the Qingcheng Sect had finally regained a great deal of stability.
I was currently on my way to see the Sect Leader.
Prince Seongbo had been summoned by the Crown Prince and was over at the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner’s office, so I was alone this time.
“Sect Leader. Handsome Young Hero has arrived.”
“Show him in.”
I opened the door and stepped inside, then greeted the Sect Leader with proper courtesy.
“Eun So-sang greets the Sect Leader.”
“Sit comfortably.”
I took a seat, and the Sect Leader offered me tea.
After we each took a sip, the Sect Leader was the first to speak.
“So, what did you want to see me about?”
“Surely you already have some idea.”
He nodded at my question.
“This must be about the assassin who tried to kill my son.”
“That’s right. I thought the interrogation might be finished by now.”
The Sect Leader let out a sigh at my words.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you the answer you were hoping for. All we managed to get out of him was that he’d been hired for the job and was promised fifty gold taels if he succeeded in killing Geum-bong.”
“That’s a considerable price for a single life.”
“It is. Then again, infiltrating our sect is no simple task, so the difficulty of the job warranted a high price. But… he truly knew nothing beyond that.”
“So he was nothing more than a hired hand?”
“That is all we’ve been able to determine so far.”
I recalled what Escort Guard Jin Yu had told me.
According to him, the assassin we captured was fairly well known in that line of work.
“Among assassins, he’s known as the Exploding Needle Wanderer.”
“The Exploding Needle Wanderer?”
“Yes. One of his specialties is making poison needles explode so the fragments bury themselves inside his target. Since the pieces shatter so finely and scatter throughout the body, treating the wounds is almost impossible.”
“What a vicious bastard. Still, you seem remarkably knowledgeable about assassins. The same was true of that man we encountered in Shandong.”
Escort Guard Jin Yu had also been the one to realize that the cook at the Golden Rooster Pavilion in Shandong was an exceptionally skilled assassin.
The man himself had hidden his identity so thoroughly that we only learned later that he was the Dark Rain Wanderer.
“The higher-ups in the organization I used to belong to once said they might have need of them, so they investigated assassins throughout the empire. That’s how I learned about them.”
“I suppose that knowledge was meant for a day like this.”
“It seems so.”
I lifted my gaze to the Sect Leader.
“What do you intend to do from here?”
“I’m still considering it. If we want to learn anything more from him, I’ve been thinking we may have to send him to the Murim Alliance.”
What?
No.
That absolutely couldn’t happen.
I already suspected the Murim Alliance of either backing the true culprit or being connected to them somehow. If we sent the assassin there, they would simply kill him to silence him.
And that would almost be the better outcome.
There was no guarantee they wouldn’t frame some completely unrelated person as the culprit and sacrifice them instead.
But I couldn’t exactly tell him that.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“The assassin’s intended victim was a disciple of Qingcheng. How could the Qingcheng Sect entrust such a matter to an outside organization like the Murim Alliance?”
“Hmm…”
The Sect Leader still seemed hesitant.
So I gave him another reason.
“As I understand it, the Murim Alliance also has a branch here in Sichuan. Is that not so?”
“That’s right. The Murim Alliance’s Sichuan Branch is in Chengdu.”
“Then why haven’t they sent any aid? Even the Emei Sect, which suffered damage from the earthquake itself, sent people to help. Yet not a single person has come from the Murim Alliance’s Sichuan Branch.”
The Sect Leader’s expression darkened at my words.
“The Murim Alliance of today seems far more concerned with maintaining its position as the representative of the Orthodox martial world than with the circumstances of individual sects.”
“Hmm…”
“Besides, this assassination attempt is tied to something the Qingcheng Sect would rather not have exposed. Would you really hand over the one person who might reveal that secret? I certainly wouldn’t.”
“You’re right. We’ll have to handle this ourselves somehow.”
Fortunately, the Sect Leader accepted my reasoning.
“If further interrogation proves difficult, I can help.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
He shook his head and continued.
“We may be Taoists, but we’re hardly so inflexible that we refuse to shed blood when the situation demands it.”
“I see. Forgive me. I spoke out of turn.”
I cupped my fist in apology, but the Sect Leader waved it off.
“It’s fine.”
I carefully changed the subject.
“There’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“I heard you decided to accept financial support from the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“That’s right. We decided to accept it. Our sect simply doesn’t have enough resources to manage all of this on our own.”
“I don’t know how much money the Sichuan Tang Clan intends to provide, but will that be enough?”
“I can’t say. From there, all we can do is try our best.”
Good.
At least he didn’t seem opposed to accepting outside help.
“If you’re willing, the Eunhae Merchant Group would also like to contribute.”
“The Eunhae Merchant Group?”
“Yes. The Eunhae Merchant Group has a branch in Sichuan as well, does it not?”
“I’ve heard as much… but how much support are you planning to provide?”
“We’ll provide our construction company’s services.”
“Your construction company?”
“Yes. And for the construction itself, we’ll charge only the cost of materials. We’ll cover the workers’ food and other living expenses ourselves, and we won’t add any profit margin.”
The Sect Leader’s eyes widened in shock.
“Y-You truly mean that?”
“I do.”
But his surprise soon gave way to caution.
“…What do you want from us? If you’re willing to provide that much support, surely there’s something you expect in return.”
“Word of mouth.”
“Word of mouth?”
“Yes. Houses that nearly collapsed in an earthquake usually don’t remain safe for very long. Most people eventually tear them down and rebuild from the ground up. If those people come to consider our construction company when they need rebuilding done, then that alone would make this investment worthwhile.”
“Is that your own idea? Or the Eunhae Merchant Group’s?”
As sharp as ever.
But I had already received Father’s permission through Geumryeong, so I could answer without hesitation.
“It is the Eunhae Merchant Group’s decision.”
“I see.”
“In return, once all the buildings have been completed, it would be a great honor if the Eunhae Merchant Group’s name could be engraved on their marker stones.”
It was common practice to erect a marker stone when a building was completed.
Things like the date of construction were usually engraved on it.
“…”
“Will you accept the Eunhae Merchant Group’s proposal?”
“This is not something I can decide alone. I’ll convene the Heavenly Inquiry Council, so would you give us a little time?”
“Of course. But I would appreciate it if the decision didn’t take too long. I have many responsibilities of my own, and I’ll need to return when His Highness the Crown Prince leaves.”
Besides, the Crown Prince now had to formally proceed to Nanjing, so he couldn’t remain here much longer anyway.
“Understood. I’ll give you an answer as quickly as possible.”
“Then I’ll take my leave…”
I had just offered my farewell and started to rise when the Sect Leader stopped me.
“Handsome Young Hero.”
“You may simply call me Deputy Merchant Lord Eun.”
“You’ve trained in martial arts yourself and stepped into the martial world. How could I address you that way?”
“Everything people claim I did out of chivalry was ultimately done for my own benefit. That title makes me somewhat uncomfortable.”
“Is that so? Haha.”
The Sect Leader took a sip of tea as he looked at me.
“Does the intention really matter so much? If the results of your actions bring good into the world, then you are a good man.”
The Sect Leader continued.
“And people’s eyes can be more discerning than one might think. If you were truly an evil man, they would never have called you Handsome Young Hero.”
“…”
“I also heard that, thanks to you, my foolish junior martial brother finally faced his son. I wanted to thank you for that as well.”
His junior martial brother…
Ah, he was talking about Taoist In-bong and his father, Daoist Master Sun-cheong.
“Taoist In-bong was the one who approached me first.”
“I see. But how did you come to know about Sun-cheong?”
“He thanked me for helping his son, and that’s how I learned the truth. He also helped us subdue the assassin this time.”
“I see. It was something that had been weighing on my mind for a long time. You truly have my thanks.”
Since the subject had come up, I decided to satisfy a question I’d had for a while.
“Sect Leader, may I ask you something personal?”
“If it’s something I can answer, then I will.”
“I’ve heard that you’re very strict with your children. I’ve always wondered why.”
“Why I’m so strict with them…”
Tap.
The Sect Leader set down his teacup.
“Because I am the Sect Leader, I suppose.”
“Pardon?”
“Compared to other sects, the Sect Leader of Qingcheng does not wield particularly absolute authority. Even so, I am still the man who represents the sect. If my children were to use my name as their backing and throw their weight around, what would become of Qingcheng?”
So that was his reasoning.
And he was right. If he hadn’t been strict with them, far greater problems could easily have arisen.
What Taoist Geum-bong had done was a perfect example.
Keeping one’s own children in line was also one of the virtues expected of a good leader.
Still, there was one thing I found lacking.
“Then I think you should explain that to your children.”
“Hmm?”
“You can’t simply assume they’ll understand your intentions without being told.”
I continued.
“Some children will understand on their own, but others won’t. No two people are the same, and children are no different.”
“…”
“If you had explained it to him beforehand, Taoist Geum-bong might never have made such a foolish choice. From what I saw of him, he only acted that way because he desperately wanted his father’s love.”
“…”
The Sect Leader fell into thought, his expression suggesting that possibility had never occurred to him.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“Return safely.”
I left the Sect Leader’s residence and headed back toward my tent.
We were already into the 4th Month.
By the time I returned to Beijing, I might get to see the plum blossoms in bloom.
I mentally sorted through all the things I had set in motion.
Construction on Hainan Island was probably still in full swing, and the Martial Arts Academy in Beijing should be going up by now as well.
If my prediction was right, the merchant ship bound for foreign trade would depart from Nanjing sometime between the 4th and 5th Months.
When people were dispatched from Beijing to Nanjing for that purpose, there was a good chance the Crown Prince would be sent with them.
The Emperor valued efficiency, after all.
Since I was already in Sichuan, I should also discuss the pepper trade with the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group before heading back.
Wow… I have way too much to do.
Then again, now that I thought about it, I was the one who started all of this.
– Kui?
You’re asking why I’m crying?
I’m not crying. My hair just got in my eyes.
.
.
.
That afternoon.
“Ah! Did you know about this?”
“Know about what?”
I was currently washing dishes with the disciples of the Emei Sect.
How did I end up washing dishes again?
Right. I’d seen one of them carrying a huge pile of dirty bowls all by herself and offered to help.
Then I spotted Young Lady Seohyang washing dishes there too, and somehow I ended up joining them.
I had gotten myself dragged into extra work for no real reason, but at least it gave me a chance to hear stories about Cousin Hyang-ok from the Emei Sect disciples.
The things I hadn’t known about Cousin Hyang-ok turned out to be surprisingly entertaining.
“Last time, a group of Young Masters who had fallen for Junior Sister Hyang-ok ended up dueling each other.”
“What? How did that happen?”
“Oh my! You didn’t know? Well, you see, all these Young Masters had taken a liking to Junior Sister Hyang-ok. They kept flirting with her and trying to outdo one another, and when none of them would back down, they eventually started dueling.”
“So who won?”
“Junior Sister Hyang-ok did.”
“Pardon?”
“Junior Sister Hyang-ok said she was a disciple of the Emei Sect and asked what kind of ridiculous nonsense they thought they were doing. Then she beat every last one of them into the ground.”
“Hahaha. I see.”
That sounded exactly like Cousin Hyang-ok.
“Still, with Cousin Hyang-ok’s martial arts being so exceptional, the Emei Sect must be proud to have her.”
“Of course.”
“She also distinguished herself during the last Forest Bandit suppression. I heard His Highness the Crown Prince personally commended her for her achievements.”
“Junior Sister Hyang-ok is the pride of the Emei Sect.”
So that story was famous among the Emei Sect disciples too.
“Come to think of it, I heard she left to suppress another group of Forest Bandits.”
“What? She only just came back, and she’s already gone out again?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“I heard this group is to the northwest. Apparently, they aren’t very far from here.”
“I heard she volunteered to go.”
Cousin, seriously…
I wished she would take better care of herself, but knowing her personality, that was probably too much to ask.
.
.
.
That afternoon.
I received a summons from the Sect Leader.
“You called for me?”
“Come in.”
I sat across from the Sect Leader.
He probably called me about the support proposal from earlier…
“I summoned you because our discussion with the Elders has just concluded.”
“That was remarkably quick.”
The Sect Leader smiled faintly.
“There wasn’t much reason to drag the discussion out. To give you the conclusion first, we’ve decided to accept your proposal. However, we do have one condition.”
“What is it?”
“The marker stones you mentioned. We would like to decide what is written on them ourselves.”
“That’s fine with me. As long as they mention that the Eunhae Merchant Group was responsible for the construction. I would also like our side to review the wording before anything is carved into stone.”
“Understood. That should be easy enough.”
And so we discussed the details.
The discussion didn’t take long. There was no reason for it to.
Once we were finished, I left the Sect Leader’s residence.
Just thinking about how much this would raise the reputation of the Eunhae Merchant Group and our construction business put me in a good mood.
In the long run, that reputation would come back to us as profit.
I returned to my tent in high spirits and began writing a letter to Father.
Then, without warning, Palgap came charging into my tent.
“Young Master! Young Master! We’ve got big trouble!”
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won't get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt