Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 107 - Merchant King (1)
Chapter 107 – Merchant King (1)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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All the merchants began reading the room. Normally, the ones they were watching were Namgung Hwi and me.
“Hand that over! Hurry!”
The most excited person of all was Myeong-gyeong. He ran at Namgung Hwi and confiscated Azure Radiance. Namgung Hwi, still dazed, had Azure Radiance helplessly taken from him.
“Now this belongs to Junior Brother!”
Myeong-gyeong forcibly put Azure Radiance into my hand and raised my wrist high. Everyone’s gaze turned toward Azure Radiance in my hand.
“…”
Namgung Hwi could only stare at it blankly. Then a voice mumbled into my ear.
– Let’s talk.
The voice was utterly drooping. It was the first voice transmission I had ever heard in my life.
Normally, voice transmission was used when martial artists wanted to speak secretly to one another, so there was no reason for a merchant like me to hear it.
There was no need to look for who had used the technique.
“Now that the tension’s gone, I need to visit the privy for a moment.”
I gave Namgung Hwi a look. Son Yeong-ui seemed to catch on roughly as well and clapped his hands to take charge of the mood.
“Let’s take a short break. Anyone who needs the privy may go.”
I left Returning River Tower and went to a secluded grove. When I glanced behind me, Namgung Hwi was coming after me all drooped over like a rain-soaked puppy.
Azure Radiance was still in my grasp. Even in this darkness, the way it softly shone with blue radiance proved that a famous sword truly was a famous sword.
I did want it. But only as a treasure to possess. This sword was not suitable for using Wudang martial arts. Its blade was wide and its center of balance hung too far downward. It was a sword suited to martial arts like the Namgung Clan’s, which used a great deal of domineering force. That was why it was a divine weapon of the Namgung Clan.
“Young Master Namgung.”
I had decided to return it. In my previous life, I had died after taking charge of an object beyond my station, and I did not want to do that again this time.
“Big Brother!”
Then suddenly I heard something I doubted my ears over. When I looked down, Namgung Hwi was clutching the leg of my trousers with tearful eyes and looking up at me.
“…?”
“Big Brother, Big Brother. I was wrong.”
“Pardon?”
I knew Namgung Hwi. Right now he was called the Azure Dragon Rising Hero, but I was more familiar with the sobriquet Azure Dragon Emperor.
The next Clan Head of the Namgung Clan and one of the Five Great Sword Masters Under Heaven. It was deeply unreal to see such a giant kneeling before me and clutching my trouser leg.
“If I go back without that, they’ll beat me to death. Seriously.”
“I suppose they would.”
I answered indifferently. It was amusing to see this other side of Namgung Hwi, but it was even more amusing that a future giant was calling me Big Brother.
Come to think of it, since I was going to give it back anyway, it didn’t seem bad to tease him a little first.
“I acted rashly. As you know, Big Brother, gambling with martial artists like that was insulting. Even so, I shouldn’t have done it.”
“First, please get up. I’m afraid someone will see.”
“Until you return Azure Radiance, I cannot get up.”
Holding onto my trouser leg with one hand, Namgung Hwi flopped flat onto the ground.
“My life’s over…”
That gloomy mutter was an added bonus. I had not known that the future head of the Namgung Clan would be such a baby. Though, since he was still only around twenty, perhaps it was possible.
“Get up. If you don’t get up right now, I’ll never return it.”
“Yes!”
Namgung Hwi sprang up by bouncing off his back. Because he had crawled around on the ground and flopped about like a lunatic, his expensive-looking black clothes were covered in dirt. That did make him look a little pitiful.
“I know I’m making a shameless request. But that’s a divine heirloom of my clan, not something I can dispose of as I please.”
“If it wasn’t something you could dispose of as you pleased, then you shouldn’t have staked it.”
“That’s true. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d lose. No, come to think of it, what was that strange aura at the end?”
“What do you mean?”
I played dumb. I now had the ability, through All Streams Return to the Source, to use demonic qi fused with spiritual qi. Even if that energy spread outward, people would not be able to identify it. It was an energy no one but me could use.
That had been my hidden move, and since Namgung Hwi was a true expert, he must have instinctively recognized the uncanny nature of the demonic qi mixed into my energy and retreated. If there had not been a rule that stepping outside meant defeat, and if we had continued fighting, I would have been the one to lose.
“Hmm. Perhaps I saw it wrong.”
The moment I let out an uncomfortable air, Namgung Hwi immediately stepped back. I promptly returned to a gentle expression.
“Then what shall we do? This is mine now, after all.”
I stroked Azure Radiance’s blade and pressed my cheek to it. Namgung Hwi’s expression grew even more miserable.
“It feels like watching the woman I love get stolen right in front of me. Not that anything like that has ever happened.”
“That must feel wretched. Well then, I suppose it can’t be helped. I’ll return it.”
“Really?”
Namgung Hwi leaped up in place. It must have meant he was that shocked.
“On one condition.”
“Then this is a deal after all.”
“What a hurtful thing to say. Even if it is a deal, are you going to refuse?”
“I have to accept.”
I felt as though an invisible tail were wagging at Namgung Hwi’s waist. Teasing a future giant like this would have been enough drinking fodder for a lifetime. But drinking fodder for a lifetime was not enough.
“Young Master Namgung, you are currently the Namgung Clan’s heir, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then let us make one promise. If anything suspicious appears in the jianghu, tell me first.”
“What do you mean by that?”
I explained it a bit more fully. Even if I belonged to Wudang, there was no way I could be as well informed about the internal circumstances of the jianghu as the Namgung Clan’s heir.
Those who did suspicious things usually did them from the shadows. In that sense, Namgung Hwi was perfect for this role.
He stood in a position through which a great deal of information in the jianghu passed, and he was also someone who could at least pretend to be utterly devoted to a single word from me.
“But to be honest, I have no idea what counts as suspicious. If you look at it outwardly, every sect and clan seems suspicious.”
“Then tell me all of it. And especially…”
“Especially?”
“If it has to do with the imperial palace, all the more so.”
Namgung Hwi’s expression changed instantly. I felt a strange pressure and took a step back.
“If it has to do with the imperial palace. That’s rather difficult.”
“Difficult? In what respect?”
“The Namgung Clan cannot do anything harmful to the imperial palace. In that regard, watching the jianghu’s movements in connection with the imperial palace sounds extremely seditious.”
Bright flames burned in Namgung Hwi’s eyes. He looked ready to send a strike at me if I said even one thing wrong.
I realized I had spoken in a way that allowed some misunderstanding. The Namgung Clan was one of the foremost great houses not only in the martial world but in all the Central Plains. That meant they enjoyed the imperial palace’s favor and were bound to be close to it.
“You’d better explain yourself clearly.”
Namgung Hwi raised his momentum. I had felt it while fighting him earlier, but unless I drew out all my demonic qi while fighting, I could not beat him. And I had no intention of fighting now.
“Calm yourself.”
I slipped a hand into my robe. At that instant, Namgung Hwi used a qinna method to seize my wrist.
“What trick are you trying to pull!”
In the hand Namgung Hwi had seized was a beautiful agate plaque. Written on it were the words Investigating Censor. It was the censor’s token Wang Song had given me.
“…Investigating Censor?”
“Y-yes. So perhaps let go and we’ll talk.”
Namgung Hwi at once released my hand and raised both hands over his shoulders.
“I’ve only seen a censor’s token a few times, but that appears genuine. In the first place, being caught forging one would mean execution.”
“There’s no reason for a merchant to walk around forging a censor’s token.”
“That’s true. Might I look at it once more?”
Without protest, I handed him the token. Taking it, Namgung Hwi turned it over this way and that and even held it up to the light. Then he nodded and returned it to me.
“I see. It’s certainly genuine. I’ve heard that if you shine light through a real censor’s token, an invisible design appears.”
“Ah, is that so? I didn’t know that either.”
“You don’t need to know, Censor. So long as you handle state affairs properly, isn’t that enough?”
Namgung Hwi’s voice had grown even more respectful. Earlier, he had only raised his speech because he was desperate. Now, it was sincere courtesy.
“So you weren’t a merchant but a Censor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. No wonder your martial arts were so strong.”
“You recognized at once that I was from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”
The rank Investigating Censor existed only in two places, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Censorate. Of the two, Namgung Hwi had immediately seen through the fact that I was a Censor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
“The Embroidered Uniform Guard’s censors make their tokens from agate, while the Censorate’s censors make theirs from opal, or so I understand.”
“Your insight is impressive.”
“Does Wudang know as well?”
“No. So this is a secret. Even from your family. Once a secret breaks through the levee once, it seems the whole world learns it.”
“I will guard it to the letter.”
Namgung Hwi’s eyes became resolute. He certainly did seem deeply loyal to the imperial palace.
That was also why I had revealed that I was a Censor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. It already seemed likely that he would not leak the secret as a person, but if he was deeply loyal to the imperial palace, then he could not help but keep it well.
“But how is it that a Censor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is inspecting the jianghu?”
“Is that really something you need to know?”
I deliberately lowered my voice and spoke in a gloomy tone. Namgung Hwi reacted at once.
“N-no, it isn’t! I dared to ask something presumptuous.”
“In any case, Young Master Namgung, you are my informant. Understood? Here is Azure Radiance back.”
“T-thank you. In truth, even if it weren’t Azure Radiance, if it’s for the sake of the imperial palace then of course I should help.”
“Yes. Which is why I told you. This isn’t a deal.”
I patted Namgung Hwi on the shoulder a few times. Looking overwhelmed, Namgung Hwi accepted Azure Radiance and bowed his head.
When else would I ever get to use around the Namgung Clan’s heir like this? Wang Song’s request had been on my mind every time, yet I’d had no leads to investigate. Now Namgung Hwi would handle it on his own, so that worry was eased.
“Shall we head back?”
“Y-yes!”
Together, Namgung Hwi and I returned to Returning River Tower. The other merchants had already returned as well.
Seeing me return alongside Namgung Hwi, and seeing Azure Radiance once more hanging at Namgung Hwi’s waist, the merchants started to speak.
“I negotiated with the Company Lord and got Azure Radiance back. Do not ask what kind of negotiation it was.”
Namgung Hwi cut in immediately. Having lost the initiative, the merchants could only gape. Since Namgung Hwi had said as much, there was nothing they could add.
“For now, let us enjoy the rest of the banquet.”
Watching the mood, Son Yeong-ui wrapped up the matter.
Courtesans of unknown origin came up and played the pipa and danced, turning it into a revelry.
Once the banquet resumed, the people who naturally gathered around me were obvious enough.
After all, simply by beating Namgung Hwi in a spar, I had become worthy of interest.
“Company Lord Muk. How in the world are your martial arts so formidable?”
“Exactly. Are all Wudang lay disciples that capable?”
Rubbing their palms together, the merchants came up to me. They were not welcome guests as far as I was concerned.
Unexpectedly, the one who drove them off was none other than Namgung Hwi.
“Can you not see that the Company Lord is uncomfortable?”
The one who was supposed to keep watch, Son Yeong-ui, did not, while Namgung Hwi came to my side and controlled the crowd. Once Namgung Hwi himself sent them off, the merchants could not even peep in protest and returned to their seats.
Namgung Hwi looked at me with bright, sparkling eyes, like he wanted me to praise him for doing well.
Just because I was a Censor, his attitude had changed quite a lot. At that moment, Son Yeong-ui came over hesitantly. Namgung Hwi looked ready to stop even Son Yeong-ui, the very man he was meant to escort, but I waved a hand.
“It seems the Chief Salt Merchant has something to say to me.”
“That is so.”
“Shall the two of us speak alone?”
“Very well.”
I signaled to Myeong-gyeong and Namgung Hwi and went down from Returning River Tower. We had only descended a few steps, yet it was immediately dark and quiet.
Son Yeong-ui bowed at once. I let out a hollow laugh.
“What’s this?”
“It’s my way of saying I’m sorry. As a merchant, misjudging a person is a grave mistake.”
“I see. Well, I accept it.”
“You’re refreshingly straightforward.”
In any case, I had no intention of turning the Huizhou merchants into enemies. I looked silently at Son Yeong-ui.
“So, there’s a proposal I’d like to make.”
“What proposal would that be?”
“Come under our Son family’s subordinate merchant companies.”
“Heh heh heh. Weren’t Huizhou merchants supposed to be limited to natives of Huizhou?”
“That was in the old days. But these days, because competition with the Shanxi merchants is growing fiercer, we’re trying to recruit capable merchants. Of course, the Shanxi merchants are doing the same.”
Son Yeong-ui’s voice was full of confidence, as though he were certain I could never refuse.
Son Yeong-ui extended his hand to me. They said that in the Western Regions, when a deal was concluded, people shook hands. But now was not the time for a handshake.
“A pine caterpillar should be content with pine needles. If it covets even the dead leaves on the ground, it will only get stepped on and die.”
“…What?”
“I mean you should know your place. What else would I mean?”
I smiled. Son Yeong-ui’s face turned the color of earth.