Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 116 - When the Forest Grows Dense, Tigers Enter (1)

Chapter 116 – When the Forest Grows Dense, Tigers Enter (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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I glanced behind me. Myeong-il was looking at the ground, while Yeo Hong-yang was walking along while staring at the sky. It didn’t seem intentional, but I found myself wondering how they could be so different.

“Feels good to get some fresh air again after so long, doesn’t it?”

“Not bad.”

“What about you, Senior Brother?”

“Isn’t the main mountain outside too?”

It seemed Myeong-il asked that not to pick a fight, but because he was genuinely curious. Yeo Hong-yang let out a sigh at once.

“Daoist. That only came out because you were treating Wudang Mountain as inside. You don’t understand that?”

“Why should I have to understand that?”

“Let’s just not talk.”

“Then don’t. You talk too much and it’s noisy.”

“Honestly.”

Yeo Hong-yang was a merchant, so he hated it when words didn’t get through, while Myeong-il was blunt enough that eloquence could not be found in him at all. The two of them were polar opposites in every way.

In any case, even if I tried to stop them, they’d just keep bickering. Better not to stop them at all.

To get from Hubei to Gansu, one had to pass through Shaanxi in the middle. Shaanxi was home to the famous cat-and-dog enemies among the Nine Great Sects, the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect.

Speaking not of the martial world but of the commercial world, the provincial capital of Shaanxi, Xi’an, was the core of the northwestern commercial sphere of the Central Plains. In other words, it had a tremendous floating population.

The Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect, who were supposed to protect public order, were too busy tearing at each other, and the floating population was large. If one knew that much, one could roughly predict the atmosphere of Shaanxi.

“It’s a mess every time I come here.”

Yeo Hong-yang laughed loudly, while Myeong-il kept a stiff face and refused to look around anywhere.

Then again, there was the husband who’d been caught cheating and kicked out of his house, the fellow whose hair was disheveled and eyes bloodshot in broad daylight, clearly having come from some gambling den, and the drunkards fighting. It truly was a complete mess.

“You find this funny?”

“There’s nothing more amusing than watching human beings in their raw state.”

“How vulgar.”

Myeong-il clicked his tongue. Yeo Hong-yang, however, only kept snickering as though remarks like that didn’t bother him at all.

I slipped closer only to Yeo Hong-yang’s side and asked quietly.

“I told you to get close, so what exactly did you do?”

“How am I supposed to get close to a stuffy monk of monks like that?”

“What did the two of you talk about?”

“Not much. He suddenly asked if I liked Wudang, so I said there was nothing to like or dislike. I came here to build connections anyway.”

“You said that?”

“Yeah. After hearing that, he turned cold like this. Ridiculous, really.”

Now I understood why they disliked each other. In truth, Yeo Hong-yang had been sent to Wudang by the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company as a kind of exile, so he probably disliked Wudang instead.

He had probably said there was nothing to like or dislike for Myeong-il’s sake, but Myeong-il still wouldn’t have liked that answer either. To Myeong-il, Wudang was a place to which he owed the deepest grace.

And on top of that, by bluntly stating that he’d come to build connections, he’d made it sound like he viewed Wudang as a mere tool, which must have been deeply unpleasant.

“I see…”

So I simply let my words trail off like that.

In any case, if one had to classify me as closer to a merchant or a martial artist, I was closer to a merchant, so I too was finding the human spectacle entertaining.

That was Shaanxi’s distinguishing feature. Because it was home to two of the Nine Great Sects, there were no major black-path groups, but since those sects didn’t actually engage in public-order work, there were all sorts of petty thugs. That was why there were many gambling dens and black markets here without government permission.

Sure enough, Yeo Hong-yang leaned over to me at once and spoke in a low voice.

“There’s a black market here I know. Want to go take a look?”

“Forget it. Senior Brother Myeong-il is here too. He’ll lose his mind. What if a raid happens at the wrong moment?”

“Come on. What raids are there in Xi’an? You’re talking like someone who doesn’t know the world.”

I did know. Xi’an definitely had no raids. Even so, I didn’t particularly want to go. Right now, all I wanted to think about was how I should deal with Prince Xian in Gansu.

“A black market?”

At that moment, Myeong-il slipped his head between us. I wasn’t startled because I’d sensed him approaching, but Yeo Hong-yang jumped in fright and fell backward.

“You scared me!”

“Why are you so startled?”

I had known from the moment Yeo Hong-yang first mentioned the black market that Myeong-il would overhear the conversation.

It was something even I had struggled to adjust to when I first entered, but martial artists’ five senses often exceeded ordinary common sense.

Barely getting himself back up, Yeo Hong-yang brushed the dirt off his back and grumbled.

“You could at least have made some noise when you came.”

“I did.”

“When!”

From my point of view, Myeong-il had made more than enough presence as he approached, but to Yeo Hong-yang it must have been no different from an assassin springing an ambush.

“Anyway, why the black market?”

“Because I’m curious.”

Even I was slightly surprised by Myeong-il’s answer. I’d expected him not merely to lack interest in such places, but to loathe them.

“Oh. Daoist, now we’re finally speaking the same language? Right, going to a black market from time to time is fun.”

“No. I’m not going because it’s fun. Master told me to see as many places as possible. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t go.”

“Not fun, my foot.”

Yeo Hong-yang clicked his tongue in disappointment. Myeong-il’s master was Cheong-ui, in other words the Sect Leader.

“Hmm.”

That was another variable. Now that I was openly a person of Wudang, I couldn’t ignore the Sect Leader’s will. He had directly entrusted Myeong-il to me as well.

“Then shall we?”

“All right.”

And so, just like that, our trip to the black market was decided on the spot. With our course set, all that remained was to fill our stomachs and look around a bit. We first entered a nearby inn and sat down.

The moment I sat, I turned over something I’d nearly forgotten. As far as I knew, black markets had an unwritten rule.

“Where do we get the invitation?”

“Oh? Looks like you’ve been to a black market or two.”

Yeo Hong-yang grinned. There were some black markets that simply let anyone and everyone in, but a proper black market needed an invitation. At the very least, they didn’t admit just any riffraff.

Since Yeo Hong-yang knew about it, I figured it was at least a place with some class, which was why I’d asked. And, as expected, it was.

“Well, that’s…”

“Mind if I join for a moment?”

Someone interrupted Yeo Hong-yang and dropped into the seat beside us. Three heads, mine included, whipped around at once.

There sat a man with a strangely indistinct impression, smiling. His eyes were narrow slits, and his nose and mouth were slight, so he wasn’t the sort to leave a strong impression.

“My apologies for overhearing. Ha ha. Surely it’s no crime to have sharp ears, is it?”

The man laughed breezily. With a face that already looked weak, his smile only made him look even more like a complete pushover.

“We were speaking quite quietly, so if you heard us, doesn’t that mean you were listening in on purpose?”

“You know how it is, don’t you? That feeling when you hear the name of a hometown friend from somewhere and your ears perk up and focus. Exactly that sort of feeling.”

His words were slippery and smooth. Myeong-il was obviously wary, while Yeo Hong-yang didn’t seem to think much of it. It was common for merchants to butt in like this and ask for information. The man’s pushover-like face probably helped too.

I looked between Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang, then gave a small laugh and said:

“So what part caught your interest enough to make you join us like this?”

“Oh, why ask like that? The black market, of course. The black market.”

Sure enough, the man was interested in the black market.

“Ah. I was rude to delay my introduction. I’m Yeom Baek-gyu, Company Lord of Sohwa Merchant Company.”

“I’m Muk Hui-yeong of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company. These friends here are my company foreman and my errand boy.”

Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang, who had suddenly become my subordinates before they knew it, both turned and glared at me, but I ignored them. At that moment, Yeom Baek-gyu covered his mouth in surprise.

“Muk Hui-yeong of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company? The Divine Physician of Hubei?”

“Has that name spread as far as Shaanxi?”

“Hah. To think I’d meet such a famous personage. It seems today is a day of tremendous fortune for this Yeom.”

Humans truly did live on recognition. Smiling, I extended my hand, but he only bobbed his head like a chick sold off in a basket. It seemed he didn’t know the Western Regions handshake.

“Ahem.”

I withdrew the now rather awkward hand by myself and changed the subject.

Yeom Baek-gyu must have realized he’d made me uncomfortable, because he hurriedly raised his voice.

“H-ha ha. Meeting such a famous person has really startled me. No, this won’t do. I’ve been terribly rude to you at first meeting. I didn’t even use respectful speech. If I’d known you were Lord Muk, I’d have spoken properly from the start.”

“Lord this, lord that. Aren’t such compliments beyond proportion?”

“Oh no, you’re certainly worthy of being called that. Isn’t the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company the upstart merchant company currently causing a storm in the commercial world?”

Grinning, Yeom Baek-gyu raised a hand. A server hurried over.

“Yeees. What can I get for you?”

“Do you have any Tiger Bone Wine here?”

“Eh? Tiger Bone Wine, sir?”

The moment he heard the words Tiger Bone Wine, even the server suddenly became much more respectful. Which made sense. Tiger Bone Wine was made by soaking tiger bones in liquor, and the starting price alone was at least ten taels of silver. Because it was so rare, many inns couldn’t even carry it.

These days, because I was handling silver by the thousands, that sense had dulled somewhat, but twenty taels of silver was enough for an ordinary commoner family to live on for a year. As the price of a single bottle of liquor, it was not merely insufficiently modest but excessive.

Sure enough, once the words Tiger Bone Wine were spoken, the bustling inn fell quiet and everyone’s eyes turned toward us.

The server dashed inside, saying he’d check, then came running back out almost at once.

“Oh my, sirs are in luck. They say our inn has exactly one bottle left.”

“Perfect. Bring one out. What’s the price?”

“It’s twenty taels of silver. That’s more expensive than the original price, but the Tiger Bone Wine in our inn is usually made from a tiger that…”

Before the server could chatter on, Yeom Baek-gyu opened his purse and slapped down twenty taels of silver.

“Enough babbling. Just bring it.”

“Ah, yes! Right away!”

The server promptly brought out the Tiger Bone Wine. It came on a golden tray, in a blue ceramic bottle.

The eyes of the onlookers around us were filled with emotions of distinct color: jealousy, envy, greed, longing, and the like. Smiling, I said:

“It seems like a liquor too expensive to be treated to the moment we’ve exchanged names.”

“Oh, not at all.”

Skilled hands unsealing the Tiger Bone Wine, Yeom Baek-gyu spoke.

“In truth, it hasn’t been long since I founded the Sohwa Merchant Company, but no matter what I did, I found it difficult to grow it. Just as I was considering folding it up, I heard news of you, Lord Muk. That in Hubei there was an upstart called the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, and that alone it had slapped around an association and even brought the Huizhou merchants to heel.”

“The facts are facts, but that’s gilding me with embarrassing gold. I was merely lucky.”

“Just as I thought! In any case, after hearing your story, I too resolved to steel myself. You are the benefactor who carried on my dream.”

Smiling, Yeom Baek-gyu poured Tiger Bone Wine for me. A dense wave of warmth and fragrance rose through the inn. It was enough to make me think the server hadn’t merely been making up nonsense, but had actually been worth hearing out.

“Here now. This errand boy doesn’t look old enough for wine, so… Foreman, you should accept a cup as well.”

“Ha ha. I don’t know whether it’s all right for me to receive something this precious.”

“Please, don’t feel any burden at all.”

Yeo Hong-yang too accepted the Tiger Bone Wine smoothly. We clinked our cups and downed them in one go.

It felt not merely hot, but as though a lump of fire were going down my throat. But when it fell into my stomach, it turned cold as ice. It was an extraordinary liquor.

“An excellent wine.”

It wasn’t as though I’d never had Tiger Bone Wine before, but this flavor was enough to make even me feel startled. Xi’an certainly had a developed commercial sphere, but for an ordinary inn to have Tiger Bone Wine of this quality was a surprising thing.

“Hearing that it suits your taste makes me feel good as well.”

Yeom Baek-gyu, Yeo Hong-yang, and I passed the Tiger Bone Wine around and drank it together. The others watching us had to soothe themselves with cheap baijiu while looking on.

“Ah, good liquor fills the bladder quickly too. I’ll go empty it out and be back.”

After several rounds of cups, I said I was going to the privy and stepped outside. As I loitered in front of it, just as expected, Myeong-il came out.

“Muk Hui-yeong.”

“Senior Brother.”

“Be on guard. He’s a martial artist.”

Glancing around, Myeong-il spoke. The privy was quite far from the inn, and yet he was still clearly watching for eyes.

Understandably so. Earlier, Myeong-il hadn’t sensed Yeom Baek-gyu approaching at all.

“I know.”

“You knew?”

“Yes. His face is an artificial skin mask. Top-quality, with no separation from the skin, but still.”

“You saw through that?”

“I’ve dealt with too many bastards who play tricks like that.”

If one had to be exact, I’d seen many of them in my previous life. There were plenty of merchants who wore artificial skin masks when they came to shady deals.

“Then why are you still playing along?”

“Because I’m curious.”

I twisted the corner of my mouth into a smile.

“What sort of bastard he is, that he thinks he can play tricks on me.”

A chilly wind passed between Myeong-il and me.