Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 156 - Reunion from Memories (2)

Chapter 156 – Reunion from Memories (2)

There was a reason I chose to tell this to Gwan Seo-ye rather than to Gwan Yeong-sang.

Of course, I will not deny that the biggest reason was simply that I wanted to see Gwan Seo-ye in person. But beyond that, there were other factors.

I knew Gwan Yeong-sang so little that I had only met him for the first time in this life very recently, whereas I knew Gwan Seo-ye’s temperament well.

And indeed, even though what I said sounded absurd at first hearing, Gwan Seo-ye very quickly treated it seriously. “So you received a gu worm from a merchant bearing the Gwan surname.”

Gwan Seo-ye immediately drew out the single 핵심 line from my long explanation and sank into thought.

She tucked in her chin and pushed out her lower lip, a habit peculiar to her whenever she thought deeply. I gave her ample time to think.

When she seemed to have finished, she drew her lip back in.

“I see. So that’s why you want to come to the Yunchang Merchant Company.”

“Yes.” “There are still things I don’t fully understand.”

“Ask as much as you like.”

Gwan Seo-ye crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. She had practically taken the posture of an examiner conducting an interview.

“Let’s say there really is an infiltrator from the Demonic Cult in our merchant company. What exactly can you do once you come there? Shouldn’t this normally be reported to the military or the government?”

“Mm. That’s a reasonable way to think about it.” I had already prepared an answer for this question.

I took the censor token from my robes and laid it out.

Even I had not expected that the censor token I had once been so reluctant to accept would prove so useful. This was probably why people were always going on about power.

In keeping with the saying that power does not last ten years, my view was that since one never knew when power would vanish, it was best to use as much of it as possible while one could.

Even after seeing the censor token on the table, Gwan Seo-ye calmly took another sip of tea.

“A Jinyiwei censor token.” “You’re not very surprised.”

“A mere merchant wouldn’t come barging in like this. I assumed there had to be something behind it.”

Gwan Seo-ye really was clever. Of course, no matter how clever she was, there was no way she could know that I was the true master of demonic qi or that I remained wary because I had died at the hands of the Demonic Cult in my previous life.

In any case, that meant one more person now knew that I held the status of a censor.

“There’s something else I’m curious about.” “As much as you like.”

“You said it was a merchant with the Gwan surname who gave it to you. The person who passed on the gu worm.”

“That’s right.” “Then that means it’s someone from our family. If that person really is an infiltrator from the Demonic Cult, then what happens?”

“That doesn’t sound like you’re asking because you don’t know.”

Gwan Seo-ye’s mouth closed.

She was intelligent enough that she surely already knew what kind of answer would come out of my mouth. Even so, she asked because she was gambling on the slim chance that a different answer might still come.

“The Demonic Cult is a forbidden religion in the Imperial State. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do.” Gwan Seo-ye answered in a gloomy voice.

This was an imperial edict.

If it were revealed to the state that the Yunchang Merchant Company harbored an infiltrator from the Demonic Cult, then the entire Gwan surname could face annihilation. Even someone who was not a cultist themselves, if they merely provided convenience to them, could be condemned to death.

To the anxious Gwan Seo-ye, I spoke in a gentle voice.

“If I intended to investigate by force, I wouldn’t have called you here in the first place. Depending on how much you cooperate with me here, what I choose to report can change.” “That sounds almost like a threat.”

“It’s closer to salvation. I think Lady Gwan would understand that.”

“Yes. I know.”

Gwan Seo-ye let out a sigh. It seemed the idea that someone in her own family might be an infiltrator from the Demonic Cult weighed heavily on her.

“Then I’ll ask the thing I’m most curious about last.”

“You still have more?” “Actually, this was the thing I was most curious about from the beginning.”

“What is it?”

“Did you really call for me over this matter, with not even the tiniest bit of romantic interest in me?” The anxious tone in Gwan Seo-ye’s voice was so absurd that I laughed.

The Gwan Seo-ye I knew was someone who never brought up romance, love, or marriage at all.

There were times when she seemed almost above such desires altogether, so this side of her felt fresh to me. “Should I read your palm, perhaps?”

“Hm. Is that your answer to my question? That’s such an obvious line.”

“That depends on what your palm says. My ideal type is a woman with a beautiful palm.”

“That makes me recoil even more than if you just admitted you like pretty faces. It sounds like you worship superstitions. For the record, I think only losers believe in that sort of fate.” Gwan Seo-ye muttered that sullenly, but she still held out her hand.

I caught her wrist and pulled it sharply toward me.

“You’re too far away.” “Ah!”

When I gave that strong tug, Gwan Seo-ye practically lifted herself from the chair and leaned across the table.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Ignoring her words, I stared at her palm.

Then I let go of her wrist.

“Judging from your palm, your road ahead is nothing but hardship.” “You suddenly shifted straight into cursing me.”

“What can I do if your palm really is that ugly?”

“Do you actually know how to read palms?”

“Of course.” Naturally, I did not.

But I did know how hard and thorny her life would be.

I had seen with my own eyes how much envy, jealousy, and hardship she had suffered as a woman fighting to become the Company Lord of a giant merchant company. Rubbing her wrist, Gwan Seo-ye said,

“Anyway, now I understand how you think of me.”

“It’s nice that we understand each other so well. I think we can become good friends.” “Not a chance.”

I laughed.

Though Gwan Seo-ye didn’t know it, that laugh was one of relief. What I had checked by grabbing her wrist wasn’t her palm, but whether demonic qi might perhaps be flowing inside her body.

As expected, because she truly had nothing to do with martial arts, there was not even a shred of inner power in her, let alone demonic qi.

After that, I arranged with her that I would visit the Yunchang Merchant Company the following month, and we wrapped things up.

* * * “…Do you truly think a fellow like that deserves to enter our Merchant Union Council?”

“I do, Senior.”

The formal meeting proceeded in an entertaining fashion. Whenever a newly risen merchant company was brought up for admission into the Merchant Union Council, the old established companies almost always exerted pressure.

That was because it meant one more spoon being added to the dish of vested interests they had long shared among themselves.

The seasoned old men kept pressing exactly that point before the gathered Company Lords. “What benefit could such a disrespectful brat possibly bring to our Merchant Union Council?”

“That’s a strange thing to say. Wasn’t it the seniors themselves who placed this agenda on the table in the first place?”

I truly could have remained silent the whole time. Na Han-geol practically acted as my spokesman.

At Na Han-geol’s words, the old men began speaking in fits and starts, measuring his reaction.

Naturally, they had placed the matter on the agenda intending to attach themselves like mosquitoes to a rising merchant company and suck it dry.

But now that they knew I was not someone who would yield meekly, they were flipping their opinion as easily as turning over a hand. Even so, perhaps out of respect for his seniors, Na Han-geol did not bother pointing that out directly.

“I’d like to hear from someone other than Company Lord Na.”

The chairman of the Merchant Union Council said that in a weak voice. The current chairman was Im Mun-geun, a man who had once served as chief chamberlain for several Great House merchant companies.

He was not one of the true giants of my own generation, but I had certainly heard his name many times.

Serving as chief chamberlain, effectively the second-in-command, for Great House companies was an immense career in itself. But how had he gained that career?

Not through the ability to run a merchant company, but because he was astonishingly skilled at self-preservation and politics.

He was exactly the kind of political merchant I disliked. A merchant ought to travel and trade, damn it.

Tsk.

Unlike the other old men, Im Mun-geun did not shriek and insist on his own opinion.

He had already reached a state near enlightenment, in the sense that he had realized which way the larger current was flowing. The others seemed to have understood the same thing.

Even those who had been hostile to me, like the Qin-Jin Merchant Company and Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company, remained silent.

“This motion will be decided by a show of hands.” “C-Chairman. I haven’t even stated my opinion yet…”

“Is your opinion really significant enough to consume everyone’s time right now?”

Im Mun-geun glared at the council member who had foolishly raised his hand. Faced with that fierce expression, the man shrank back immediately and lowered his tail.

“We’ll vote.”

The Radiant Crystal Merchant Company’s admission into the Merchant Union Council passed with the support of everyone except Jin Deuk-myeong and Yeo Hong-won. I had not said a single word, and I still hadn’t expected it to be this easy.

As the saying went, a person needed good connections above all.

Of course, joining the Merchant Union Council was not exactly something to celebrate.

Whether my relations with them were good or bad, it still meant I now had one more line of connection to these insufferable old men. Still, nothing in life came with only advantages.

In exchange, by entering the Merchant Union Council, I officially gained the right to enter the Beijing Restaurant, and beyond that, I could now use the Merchant Union Council’s safehouses and villas scattered throughout the Central Plains at cheap rates.

I didn’t know whether the day would come when I’d need them, but having them was still better than not. When the meeting ended and we came out of the Merchant Union Council building, I approached Na Han-geol.

Given how much he had helped me, that was only natural.

“Company Lord. Thank you.” “Heh heh. It was nothing. The commercial world can only develop when young blood like you pushes forward. It was the most natural thing in the world.”

“I hope it won’t create unnecessary friction with the Qin-Jin Merchant Company, given that they share your roots in the Shanxi Four Families.”

“Hahaha. When people stay gathered together, conflict naturally arises often enough. But the fact that we continue to remain together despite that simply means we have the experience to manage those conflicts. I’ll handle that myself, so don’t worry about it.” Na Han-geol really was a magnanimous man.

I promised that I would visit the All-Under-Heaven Merchant Company later, then went around to greet the others.

Everyone attending this meeting was someone worth greeting and opening a face with.

I didn’t childishly ignore Jin Deuk-myeong and Yeo Hong-won simply because they had tried to block my admission. Honestly, what reason did I have to do that?

If anything, I wanted to greet them all the more.

“Respected Company Lord Jin. As fellow members of the Merchant Union Council now, I hope we can work well together.” “…Heh heh.”

When I offered my hand first, Jin Deuk-myeong laughed in disbelief.

It made all the more sense, since I had extended my hand in the foreign style rather than offering a martial salute. But with all the other merchants watching, he evidently lacked the courage to simply swat my hand away.

In truth, Jin Deuk-myeong had no especially strong reason to clash with me.

But judging by the fact that he displayed more hostility today than he had on the first day, it seemed he had heard something from his son Jin Su-gwan. “Very well. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Jin Deuk-myeong gripped my hand tightly.

But how strong could the grip of a middle-aged man with no martial training really be?

When I returned the pressure, Jin Deuk-myeong twisted his body and let out a bizarre cry. “Gueeagh!”

That scream startled even me, and I let go immediately.

I’d reached the point now where I really had to be careful around ordinary civilians. I thought I had weakened my strength as much as possible, but I hadn’t expected him to scream like that.

Jin Deuk-myeong was embarrassed for having screamed, and I was embarrassed too, which made for a very strange moment.

Nothing much happened after that. The hatred in Jin Deuk-myeong’s gaze toward me thickened slightly, and a faint fear mixed in with it.

I had only planned to greet Yeo Hong-won in passing, but apparently after seeing Jin Deuk-myeong scream, he had fled at full speed.

In any case, that reunion from memory came to its end that way. For now, I had no intention of unraveling that reunion or those old ties any further.

That was because there was a much larger matter right in front of me.

The Yunchang Merchant Company, which I would be visiting next month.

If someone could handle gu worms to that degree, they might very well be a high-ranking demon. So far, my demonic qi had made it easy for me to win, but I couldn’t guarantee the same if the opponent truly was of that level.

That was why I intended to hone my martial arts as much as possible over the next month.

Of course, the best place to do that would have been at the Wudang Sect, where Martial Uncles could observe my training. But if I returned to Hubei now, I’d only have to turn around and leave for Shanxi the moment I arrived, so it would be meaningless.

And fortunately, even in Beijing there were people who could observe my martial arts.

I stood before that place, placed a hand over my chest, and drew in a deep breath. The people who could watch over my martial arts were right here.

The Forbidden City.

The single strongest organization in the Central Plains. The Imperial Palace.