There was an imperial decree declaring that replicating and selling the Windcraft Fan would be punishable by execution.
But since humans always do foolish things when profit is involved, I’d already set up a contingency measure.
I grinned slightly.
“Pass.”
Palgap spoke up at my remark.
“Then, is the inspection over now?”
“No.”
“What else is left?”
At Palgap’s question, I rose from my seat.
“We’ve got to check the ledgers.”
An inspection usually ends with ledger checks.
A short while later.
I arrived at the Wu Merchant Group.
As I strode toward the main gate, the gatekeeper respectfully asked,
“Where are you from?”
“I’m Eun Seo-ho, the Department Chief of Virtuous Wind from Eunhae Merchant Group. I’d like to meet your Merchant Lord.”
.
.
.
“To suddenly arrive without notice! You startled me.”
The Merchant Lord of Wu Merchant Group practically ran up to greet me.
“It’s been a while.”
Actually, it hadn’t been that long—we met three months ago at the gathering.
“I’m aware it’s rude to visit unannounced, but as my purpose is the inspection of Windcraft Fan sales, I had no choice.”
I got straight to the point.
“I’d like to see the ledgers.”
Selling Windcraft Fans was troublesome for salt retailers.
Yet, they didn’t dislike the task.
It was profitable for them.
They still made a profit even at prices lower than expected, and there was only one shop selling Windcraft Fans per city.
Thus, it sold incredibly well and yielded substantial profits.
Supply still hadn’t caught up with demand.
I followed the Merchant Lord into a building.
“I apologize for making such a request immediately upon arrival.”
“Not at all. It’s your duty, so how can I complain? But you must be exhausted from the journey; are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Truthfully, I was somewhat tired.
Although the journey from Hubei to Shaanxi had been comfortable initially, the incident with the Shaanxi Scorpion had worn me out.
And riding for two straight days wasn’t easy either.
But since I had to be thorough, I was heading straight to inspect the ledgers without rest.
Inside the building, many people sat recording something.
“There are quite a lot of ledgers…”
I glanced at a bookshelf occupying an entire wall.
Half of the shelves were filled with something.
“All of those are ledgers.”
“I… see.”
Meaning Deputy Yeo Chang-ui and I had to review all of these.
“I’ll have your dinner brought here tonight.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Even faced with this huge number of ledgers, Deputy Yeo Chang-ui and I maintained confident expressions.
“We’ll finish before dinner.”
This much was a piece of cake.
.
.
.
Late afternoon, near the end of the hour of the Rooster (酉時: 5–7 pm).
Thud.
I closed the final ledger.
The inspection was finally complete.
“Finally… done.”
Thunk.
Deputy Yeo Chang-ui dropped his head onto the ledger’s back cover.
I gestured at Palgap, who grabbed the deputy’s shoulder and lifted him up.
“You can’t do this here.”
“Ugh…”
“Please eat dinner and then rest at the lodging.”
Just then, someone entered the place where we were, the building set up specifically for selling the Windcraft Fans.
It was the son of Wu Merchant Lord, a young man gaining experience as a shop manager.
His name was Wu Se-gyeong.
He was twenty-three, one year older than Jeong-ho.
“I heard you were here, so I came by.”
“Oh! It’s good to see you again.”
I returned his greeting warmly as well.
We had met at the last gathering too.
“What about dinner?”
At his question, I rose from my seat.
“Since we’ve just finished checking the ledgers, let’s eat together.”
“Already?”
Seeing his surprised expression, I handed over a scroll.
“Here are some suggestions for improvements.”
Wu Se-gyeong opened and scanned through the scroll.
His eyes moved, absorbing the contents.
“…”
His eyes gradually widened.
“This is real.”
“I don’t joke about these things.”
“I’ll report this to my father.”
He continued,
“Then first, I’ll guide you to your lodging.”
The lodging provided by the Wu Merchant Group was better than expected.
Among the various rooms prepared for guests, they seemed to have given us the largest one.
Facing forward, the room to the left was for the escort guards.
The room on the right was for Palgap and Deputy Yeo Chang-ui, and next to it were rooms for the guards Bae Cheol and Go Ju-sang.
I sat down on the bed and sighed.
I’m really exhausted.
But I still had to eat dinner before sleeping.
Being tired was bad enough; adding hunger would be truly pitiful.
.
.
.
After dinner, I took out a map from my pocket.
It was a map of Shaanxi province.
To obtain the Fruit of Renewal, I needed to head into a forest.
Specifically, Mount Zhongnan.
My plan was as follows.
First, I would stay at a nearby inn.
Fortunately, there was a trustworthy inn in the vicinity.
I’d leave my group there and move out alone.
Fetching the Fruit of Renewal was something I had to do alone. The favor owed was a personal matter.
I didn’t want to forcibly involve others in something difficult and personal.
Moreover, the Fruit of Renewal was a miraculous Elixir.
If it became known that I possessed such an Elixir, or if it was known that Mount Zhongnan had such an Elixir, a bloody battle would ensue.
Just as it had in my past life.
To avoid that, as few people as possible should know about it.
.
.
.
Two days later.
We left Wu Merchant Group.
Other than some minor issues, nothing serious arose.
Honestly, problems like messy ledger organization weren’t even flaws worth mentioning.
Thus, the Wu Merchant Group sent us off smiling, and we left with smiles as well.
Several days passed.
We arrived at the inn I’d planned on.
Springtime Inn (如春客棧).
This inn, named after the phrase ‘spring-like,’ was run by a young, beautiful woman who was far from ordinary.
Her true identity was Granny Skullbreaker (破頭婆婆).
An old woman who maintained her youthful beauty by consuming vast amounts of internal Qi with a rejuvenation technique.
In other words, she was an incredibly powerful martial artist.
Thus, this inn was extremely safe.
“Welcome.”
“We’ll stay about two days.”
“Very well.”
She greeted us warmly.
“How many rooms will you need?”
“Four should suffice.”
One for me, one for Palgap and Deputy Yeo Chang-ui, and two for the guards.
The reason I took a room alone was because I’d need to slip out discreetly.
But…
There’s no way Palgap would notice again, right?
.
.
.
…Is what I thought only a few hours ago.
When I tried to sneak out, Palgap caught me.
I thought surely he wouldn’t, but he really had figured it out.
How on earth did he know?
And how should I persuade him now?
“Young master, if you keep doing this, it’ll put me in a tough spot.”
“Sorry.”
I decided to tell him the truth.
“You know Lady Hong Geum-so’s husband is bedridden, right?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You also know how much benefit I’ve gained from Lady Hong’s skills, don’t you?”
“What does that have to do with you secretly trying to leave?”
“Quiet and just listen.”
“Ah, understood.”
I continued,
“So, I want to repay Lady Hong. What would make her happiest right now?”
“Her husband… recovering?”
“Exactly.”
“But Young Master, the Physician said he’ll be able to get up in a few months.”
“But would that really be enough?”
“Huh?”
“What was Lady Hong’s husband’s occupation originally?”
“He was an Escort Guard of an Escort Bureau.”
“How painful must it be for a man so vigorous to be unable to use martial arts?”
“Shouldn’t he still consider himself lucky just to be alive?”
“If humans were satisfied easily, why would merchants like us even exist?”
“Well, that’s true.”
Palgap looked slightly embarrassed, and I continued,
“So, I’m going to get a miracle Elixir that’ll help Lady Hong’s husband regain his martial arts.”
“Even if that’s the case, do you know where to find this miracle Elixir?”
“I do.”
I smiled confidently.
That was precisely why I’d rushed to Shaanxi after hearing that Master Il-sim of Shaolin had reached the Profound realm.
Because around this time, the Fruit of Renewal would be found on Mount Zhongnan.
The person who discovered it was the heir of a merchant group, who’d gotten lost wandering on the mountain.
He took the Fruit of Renewal out with him.
But later, it ended up in entirely the wrong hands.
It was consumed by a certain man from the Blood Sect.
This man had his limbs severed and Dantian destroyed, imprisoned after a desperate battle against Orthodox Sect masters.
They probably didn’t kill him because they had their reasons or couldn’t simply end his life easily.
The real problem was that this man’s disciple stole the Fruit of Renewal and gave it to his master.
How much blood was spilled by that man, restored to his strength of ten years ago, as he sought revenge?
The entire Eunhae Merchant Group, no, the entire merchant community in Central Plains froze under that terror.
Later, the merchant group heir bitterly regretted taking the Fruit of Renewal out, but by then it was far too late.
And because of all that, now I knew exactly where to find the Fruit of Renewal.
But I couldn’t tell Palgap the truth.
Even though I trust Palgap, if I told him honestly, he would forcibly lay me down on the bed and immediately summon a Physician.
“Do you remember that secret warehouse of the Shaanxi Scorpion we found earlier?”
“Of course. We found a tremendous amount of treasure there.”
“I found it there—a certain book marked the location clearly.”
“Show me that book, please.”
“It’s gone. After I read it, it vanished like smoke.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It was a book about miraculous Elixirs.”
“…Was it?”
Palgap scratched his cheek.
“So, I’ll just slip out quickly. Don’t worry.”
“Then I’ll go with…”
“If you do, the guards will find out. The fewer people know, the better.”
“Don’t you trust them? They exist solely to protect you, Young Master.”
“I trust them completely. Why wouldn’t I? But I don’t want them falling into danger because of me, nor making them suffer.”
“…”
“So, let me go alone.”
“…”
At that exact moment,
Creak, Thud—!
The door to my room opened suddenly, and people I hadn’t anticipated entered.
Escort Guards Yeo Eung-am and Lee Pil.
“We can’t allow that.”
“He’s right.”
“Huh?”
“We appreciate you thinking of us, but we are your guards, Young Master.”
“It is a guard’s duty to protect his master, even if it costs him his life.”
Did they overhear everything?
I looked at Palgap, who awkwardly turned his head away.
“Palgap?”
“I-I had nothing to do with it.”
“Sigh…”
.
.
.
In the end, contrary to my original plan, three people were headed out to find the Fruit of Renewal.
Escort Guards Yeo Eung-am and Lee Pil joined me, while Palgap and Deputy Yeo Chang-ui decided to stay at the inn along with the two other guards from Eunpoong Division.
Mount Zhongnan was too treacherous for those without martial arts training.
Foothills of Mount Zhongnan.
There stood a young man in shabby clothes.
If one looked closely, the reason for his shabby clothes was clear; he had suffered a lot, rolling down cliffs and such.
In truth, he wore clothes made of fine silk.
The young man wiped sweat from his forehead.
The reason he had come here was that there was something he had to find.
Only if he found it could he…
Just then, a chill ran down his spine. He slowly turned around.
“…!”
A huge beast was glaring at him.
A tiger.
“Oh, n-no!”
He drew the sword from his waist.
But he’d only learned basic self-defense, and his hands trembled due to having no actual combat experience.
Swoosh!
In an instant, the tiger leaped at him.
That was his last memory.
“Are you awake?”
He opened his eyes. An unbelievably handsome man stood before him.
Without thinking, he mumbled,
“An Immortal?” (TL Note: Mortals call Cultivators ‘Immortals’. Technically speaking, in Wuxia, Cultivators are a Myth, thought to be based upon Martial Artists that have ascended beyond mortality)
I entered Mount Zhongnan along with my two guards.
Mount Zhongnan was practically made entirely of rock.
That was likely the inspiration behind the stable, immovable martial arts of the Zhongnan Sect.
We used movement techniques to ascend the mountain.
And while we were taking a short break, we felt someone’s presence.
“My lord, there’s someone nearby.”
“…Let’s check it out.”
Identifying the person deep in this mountain was crucial to preparing against potential threats.
But we weren’t the only ones with business with him.
A large tiger was stalking him.
At a glance, the young man clearly wasn’t from Murim; he was just an ordinary civilian.
I quickly made my decision.
“Let’s save him.”
“Yes, sir.”
The young man had fainted, collapsing unconscious, and the tiger opened its jaws wide.
We swung our swords toward the tiger.
“Ah! We need to sell the skin later, so be gentle.”
“Yes, understood.”
A short while later,
We had dealt with the tiger and were preparing lunch when the rescued young man opened his eyes.
“Are you awake?”
But then,
“An Immortal?”
The young man, after opening his eyes and seeing me, started speaking nonsense.
“If I slap him once, do you think he’ll regain his senses?”
At my question, Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am replied,
“It’s possible.”
Immediately, the young man shouted,
“I-I’m perfectly sane!”
–TL Notes–
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