Chapter 24 :

Second-Rate Warrior Preparing to Soar (2)

Step, step.

Only the footsteps of one man echoed over the training ground where silence had settled.

Wang Geumsan stood with his shoulders proudly straight even before Gye Yeonseok, whom the people of the Taeul Sect found so uncomfortable.

“Since I have ruined the important affair of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, must I pay the price for that?”

At Wang Geumsan’s words, Gye Yeonseok’s teeth chattered.

“Th-That is…”

But before Gye Yeonseok could finish speaking, Wang Geumsan cut him off.

“By the way, since when was the Gyeryong Merchant Guild able to look down on the Wang Family Estate like this?”

“N-No! L-Look down on you? Never!”

Gye Yeonseok flinched in surprise and bowed his waist.

“I came here today to see my benefactors, but seeing you disgrace yourself like this puts me in a rather unpleasant mood.”

“Pardon? B-Benefactors…?”

Instead of answering, Wang Geumsan swept his gaze over the warriors the Gyeryong Merchant Guild had brought, then spoke.

“Go back. Before my mood worsens further.”

“…”

Gye Yeonseok, whose soul seemed to have fled at Wang Geumsan’s sudden appearance, stammered incoherently before leading the merchant guild’s warriors away.

Gye Cheolyeong, who had been triumphant, was unable to do anything and only watched the situation before following his father back to the Gyeryong Merchant Guild.

Hong Mungi, who had unexpectedly received Wang Geumsan, was dumbfounded.

“…Sowoon saved… the estate lord’s daughter?”

Unable to believe it, Hong Mungi asked a second time, and Wang Geumsan nodded with a benevolent smile.

Hong Mungi also knew about the Wang Soso incident.

Wang Geumsan, the Golden King, who practically held the commercial rights of Anhui Province, no, all of Gangdong, in his hands.

Even Hong Mungi, who had been somewhat distant from worldly affairs, had heard until his ears hurt the rumor that his precious only daughter had gone missing.

But Sowoon had been the one to save that daughter?

“Come to think of it…”

He remembered when Sowoon had suddenly entered Daehyeon Hall a few days ago and asked for tea.

Could the child he said he had rescued back then have been…

“It seems it was my child.”

“…”

Hong Mungi could not close his mouth.

Kidnapping incidents often occurred among slash-and-burn farmers or nomads who had not settled in villages.

He had thought Sowoon had saved such a child…

“To be honest, I was a little surprised by that point. There was no one in the Anhui Province area who did not know about this incident. Yet he simply left the child at Wangbu and went away.”

“He simply left her at Wangbu?”

As Hong Mungi listened, his mind suddenly cleared.

Then the way Jin Sowoon had spoken of Wang Soso as if it were nothing special and the story that he had simply left Wang Soso at Wangbu began to fit together.

“…So that is what happened.”

“Is there something you know?”

“No. I merely understand that child’s state of mind a little.”

At Hong Mungi’s words, Wang Geumsan looked slightly surprised.

“Perhaps Sowoon did not attach much meaning to what he had done.”

“He did not attach meaning to it?”

“If he attached meaning to saving your daughter, then would that not mean he could no longer attach meaning to the kidnapping of a child from a poor family?”

If he received a price for rescuing Wang Soso, then he would also begin to expect a price for rescuing the child of a family with nothing.

“That is not the teaching of the Taeul Sect.”

Wang Geumsan also seemed somewhat moved and nodded.

“May I meet that child?”

#

A feast was held in the Taeul Sect with the gifts Wang Geumsan had brought.

There were all kinds of precious fabrics and ornaments packed inside, and to one side stood a cart loaded with grain, while another cart carried boxes whose contents could not be identified.

‘He is more generous than I expected.’

Just by seeing the corners of Father’s mouth twitch when his brow had not known how to relax because of worries over the sect’s finances, I could tell how much wealth Wang Geumsan had brought.

“The estate lord asked whether he may see you for a moment.”

A person who seemed to hold quite a high position even within the attendant group respectfully led me, and I was able to meet Wang Geumsan in the very annex where Namgung San had stayed before.

“Good to meet you.”

As I entered the annex, unlike before, I could feel faint presences here and there.

‘Stealth arts?’

Whether because my sense of energy had improved after my internal energy reached sixty years, or because even Wang Geumsan’s wealth could not hire skilled escorts, I could clearly feel their presence.

When I stared at the corner of the ceiling at the faint presence I was feeling for the first time in my life, Wang Geumsan’s expression subtly changed.

“Can you feel them?”

“Pardon? What do you mean…”

“Did you not just feel that someone was there?”

“Ah… yes.”

“Haha!”

Along with Wang Geumsan’s hearty laugh, the presences became more distinct.

Their breathing had become disturbed.

“The truth is, the kidnappers avoided those people and kidnapped Soso. …No, to be precise, it would be correct to say they ignored them.”

Martial arts replace technique.

Sometimes it was also a saying of the murim world that a single deeply dug path could accommodate side branches.

It seemed that ignoring those who had trained only for guarding duties had been nothing difficult for the elites of the Namgung Family.

“Experts skilled enough to ignore them, and a young man not yet twenty who saved my daughter from those people. It is hard to believe, truthfully.”

Wang Geumsan was still staring at me intently as if observing me.

There was no fighting spirit or killing intent, but the accumulated experience of his life pressed down on me no less heavily.

“Moreover, to say you rescued her by chance and then left. Even that fact must be believable.”

Somehow, my behavior, which he could not understand with his own mind, seemed to instead be creating misunderstandings for him.

“I apologize if I have caused you to misunderstand.”

“No. No. For the first time in a long while, I felt very proud. …Of course, that would be if it was truly a misunderstanding.”

His tone now held a distinct coldness.

It seemed that this incident had broken something in him quite severely.

In truth, it was inevitable that he would misunderstand, because if not for me, he would never have seen Wang Soso again.

That did not mean I felt particularly good about it, so my tone was also gradually growing colder.

“What is it you wish to say?”

“I investigated you thoroughly. But in the end, I could not find out anything.”

Of course.

The me from my previous life was nothing more than a person whose insides were far too clearly visible.

“So I would like you to tell me if there is something you are hiding from me. I will definitely pay the price for this rudeness I am committing.”

“I do not know what could possibly heal the heart of someone who has been wounded. What are you most curious about?”

Wang Geumsan’s face was already unwavering.

“First, I want to know why you did not come to Wangbu with her.”

It seemed that, for Wang Geumsan, the reason I had not immediately received an enormous reward was something he simply could not understand.

“First, it was because I found it difficult to explain the entire story of the incident.”

Wang Geumsan’s suspicion deepened even further.

“When I rescued your daughter, it was the third day since I had begun chasing the kidnappers. At that time, your daughter’s condition was extremely poor, and it was the moment they were about to kill her and silence her… so I had no time to think of informing anyone and had no choice but to act.”

“…Ahem.”

No matter how great a person’s courage, the fact that their child had nearly died was difficult to hear.

“Second, it was because of the enormous reward that could be expected.”

“You did not reveal that it was your deed because of the reward?”

The enormous reward Wang Geumsan would give might look good on the surface.

But if I did not have the power to protect it immediately, it would be no different from a disaster.

“Third, it is because saving Wang Soso was nothing more than an act based on my personal vow.”

“What is this personal vow?”

“To never pass by injustice.”

To be exact, it was that I would never pass by those who committed injustice against me.

In any case, what I needed was a sponsor sufficient to remove the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, so anyone would have done.

The reason I specifically chose Wang Soso in that process was simply because it was connected to my personal grudge against Namgung Sangwon.

Moreover, now I even had the Seven-Colored Jewel I had obtained from Namgung San.

At this point, it did not have to be the Wang Family Estate.

“The gifts you brought today have already paid more than the price I wanted, so I do not think you need to seek me out any further.”

“Were you displeased?”

“If an act of goodwill returns as suspicion, then would that not make anyone unable to perform another act of goodwill afterward? I do not wish to become like that, so I have no intention of continuing my relationship with you, estate lord.”

He was someone who had fought for profit his entire life and reached its peak, so I knew well how little faith in humans he must have.

But that was his position.

In any case, from my position, I had become displeased because of it.

I stood from my seat and respectfully gave a fist-and-palm salute.

And the moment I tried to turn around,

thud.

At his action, my mouth fell open.

“Wh-What are you doing right now?”

Soon after, even those who had been using stealth arts in the ceiling appeared before my eyes.

They could not continue hiding while their employer was kneeling and bowing.

“Please forgive my sin of failing to recognize a benefactor sent by heaven and suspecting you first. In addition, the grace of saving my precious daughter. I will carve it into my bones for the rest of my life and offer gratitude every morning.”

“““Please forgive us.”””

Even the escorts all bowed deeply at once, leaving me unable to hide my bewilderment.

Who was this man?

He was a giant who could pile mountains with gold and who was responsible for the livelihood of people under all heaven.

Even the great nobles of Beijing could not treat him carelessly, yet seeing him kneel and bow deeply made me quickly approach him and try to raise him up.

“Please do not do this. How could you bow to a mere warrior?”

“First, you saved my daughter. Second, because of that, you saved me. Thanks to that, my household was saved, and even the families of my household were saved. How could I not offer you a bow?”

I could not force someone who would not budge to stand up, so in the end, I had no choice but to nod.

“I understand, so please get up quickly. I am afraid someone might see this.”

“Are you forgiving me?”

“I understand, so please get up quickly.”

After rising and sitting down, Wang Geumsan’s face carried a bright smile.

The title of a giant of the merchant world had not been attached to him for nothing.

This man was playing people very well.

“Thank you.”

“Please stop speaking so respectfully now. If you really keep doing this, I will leave.”

“Ahem, I am sorry. But no matter how much I thought about it, I could not bring myself to believe it. Because there were parts that I could not understand even at the edge of my perception, I committed such rudeness. I apologize once again.”

The strange pressure that had seemed impossible to approach disappeared, and only an expression remained on his face, a mix of exhaustion and relief that created a sense of dissonance.

He spoke to the guards.

“Step out for a moment.”

“Yes.”

The guards disappeared like ghosts before my eyes, and I could no longer feel any presence in the ceiling or inside the building.

“May I ask one thing?”

“You are asking because of the medicine, correct?”

The reason he had gone so far as to perform this play to learn what was inside me could only be related to that medicine in the end.

If that medicine had not existed, there would have been no need to look into me.

Even if I had been part of the kidnapping scheme, if he watched me over time, my true intentions would eventually be exposed.

“Oh, they said you had a clever mind, and it seems that was true.”

“My memory is just pointlessly good.”

“That… medicine, what exactly is it? Even the full-time physicians do not know what it is. They are worried because of the poisonous herbs used in it. They say there is a possibility of poisoning. Yet Soso says she will take that medicine even if it kills her.”

Before parting with Soso, I wrote down and handed over the method of preparing the pill she had to take every day.

As long as she took one pill a day for the rest of her life, she would no longer suffer because of the solar physique, so from Wang Soso’s perspective, she would never want to give it up.

“It is true that poisonous herbs are included. The possibility of poisoning must be considered as well.”

“…Then is it not dangerous?”

“That is why I taught her the Taeul Heart Method to neutralize it. It would have been better if it were a higher-level heart method, but the situation was too urgent, and at the time, that was all there was.”

“Then… are you saying she only needs to take that medicine and practice that heart method for the rest of her life?”

“Of course, since she has already learned the Taeul Heart Method, she will not be able to learn another heart method. Even though I received your daughter’s permission on that point, I apologize again.”

“No, no, that is not what I mean. If she only takes that medicine, how much longer can she live?”

The medicine was not an elixir, so how could I know the lifespan of a human?

“I am not a fortune-teller… How could I know a person’s natural lifespan?”

Wang Geumsan’s eyes grew as round as bells.

“Then, are you saying she can enjoy her natural lifespan?”

“If there is no serious illness or accident, she should, yes?”

“How did you come to know such a preparation method?”

A little adaptation was necessary here.

I could not reveal that it had been a confidential document of the Murim Alliance’s Intelligence Department.

“Once, in the mountains, I was bitten by a venomous snake and nearly died, but an old man saved me using poisonous herbs. After that, his herbal arts were so mysterious that I persistently followed him and ended up learning various medicine preparation methods.”

“He countered a venomous snake’s poison with poisonous herbs?”

When I told him a story by adding details about the method of fighting poison with poison contained in the All-Grass Records, Wang Geumsan thought for a long while before opening his mouth.

“You obtained a fortuitous encounter.”

“A fortuitous encounter?”

“Yes. Under all heaven, the only one who neutralized poison with poison was once the Divine Doctor of Life and Death. Since his death was never made known, I thought his lineage had been cut off, but such a connection existed.”

Because his daughter had an illness, Wang Geumsan also possessed vast knowledge of medicine.

Thanks to that, the conversation flowed smoothly.

Then Wang Geumsan suddenly grabbed my hand.

Wang Geumsan lowered his head.

“Thank you.”

“If I hear that one more time, calluses will form in my ears.”

Warm droplets fell onto my hand.

“I will pray for you every morning when I wake. And I will never forget this grace until the day I die.”

The resentment I had held toward him quickly dissolved with the tears falling onto my hand.

#

In the end, it was decided that Wang Soso would enter the Taeul Sect.

Considering the great incident Wang Soso had gone through, one would expect caution, but Wang Soso’s insistence was too strong, and for some reason, Wang Geumsan also seemed to have nothing particular to say.

Instead, he carefully asked whether she could be accompanied by guards, and when one considered that the Gyeryong Merchant Guild had placed a hall master in Busaeng Hall as an instructor, all the hall masters agreed, feeling that it was nothing at all.

The person who had guided me to Wang Geumsan called me aside separately.

The person who introduced himself as the steward of the Wang Family Estate had moved all the mysterious boxes loaded on one cart into the annex after Wang Geumsan left.

“What are all these?”

“They are gifts the estate lord is giving to you, Young Master.”

“…?”

The gifts he had already brought to the Taeul Sect were enormous, and he had promised future sponsorship as well, yet there were more gifts?

The steward first presented a long box with an antique beauty.

“It is one of the most precious items in the estate lord’s treasury. It is called the Black Dragon Sword.”

Inside the box lay a sword completely ink-black from the blade to the hilt.

“Huh…”

The flawless, perfect blade and the hilt wrapped around by two dragons as if ascending to heaven made it closer to a work of art than a weapon.

“The hilt and scabbard are forged from black iron, and the blade is forged from adamantine imperishable iron, so even if it clashes with any divine weapon or treasured blade, its edge will not be damaged.”

Because there were no ornaments attached at all, it could look extremely plain in one sense, but it contained a demonic charm that drew the gaze into itself.

While my gaze was stolen by the sword, the steward opened the next box.

“This is the Heavenly Silkworm Treasure Garment, a garment passed down through the Wang Family Estate for generations and made through a special manufacturing process.”

The tight-fitting treasure garment, shaped in a way I had never seen before, looked like clothing perfectly suited for martial artists to wear beneath their clothes, since they needed freedom of movement.

“It is made by twisting heavenly silk, diamond thread, and silver thread separately, giving it elasticity, not hindering movement, and at the same time providing tremendous protection. As one example, even the Murim Alliance wished to purchase it several times, but because there were not many of them, it was not sold.”

The steward explaining it seemed even more excited himself, pouring out the story.

“If it is this precious, should not the estate lord or Young Lady Soso use it?”

“Ah, of course, both of them are already using one. Because it is so difficult to make, the Wang Family Estate makes them whenever the materials are secured. This time, for the first time, all family members are wearing one, and the remaining set is being given as a gift.”

If he was the steward, he was connected to the important responsibility of managing the family’s assets.

So seeing someone like that explain with such joy felt very hard to get used to.

Perhaps noticing my puzzled expression, the steward scratched his wrinkled cheek and said,

“You probably do not know how grateful we are.”

“…No, I think I know well enough.”

“In truth, the estate lord lost his parents when he was young, and his wife passed away while giving birth to Young Lady Soso. To the estate lord, Young Lady Soso is his only family, which is why he cherishes her even more deeply.”

Compared to Gye Yeonseok, the owner of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, who had five women in total, including his wife and concubines, this was truly a contrasting sight.

“We prepared for a real war after losing the young lady. The estate lord intended to commission the assassination of three sects at the same time. To do so, he was in the middle of liquidating his family assets. If that had happened, we probably would not have been able to remain in the Wang Family Estate anymore. Young Master, you saved tens of thousands of people.”

The steward looked at me with eyes full of gratitude.

“The estate lord said that if there is ever anything you need help with, you may tell us at any time. If it is difficult to speak to the estate lord, please tell this steward.”

“Haha… this is truly wonderful, but it feels burdensome.”

“There is no need for that. We all believe we received the grace of life from you.”

“Understood. If you go any further, I will become too embarrassed, so please stop. But what are the rest of these? Did you perhaps empty the estate lord’s entire treasury?”

There were still five boxes left.

“That is not the case. We brought things Young Lady Soso no longer needs.”

“Things she no longer needs?”

The moment the first box was opened, cold energy was vividly felt from inside the box, as if I had entered an ice storage.

“They say that is the inner core of a Snow Carp.”

Snap.

I was so surprised that I closed the box.

“Then this is?”

“They say it is a Snow Lotus Seed. I heard the Dragon-Slaying Escort Agency went through quite a lot of hardship in the North Sea to obtain it.”

Inside the box, a lotus fruit was emitting blue cold energy.

She had said she spent her life in a place like an ice storage, and it seemed that place had been made with these treasured items and elixirs that emitted cold energy.

“Then all of these are?”

The steward smiled comfortably, like Wang Geumsan’s smile.

“Yes.”

Long live the rich.