Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 183 - Return (2)

Chapter 183 – Return (2)

Before the main gate, beneath the signboard of the Wudang Sect, people were raising their voices. I had no idea what exactly was going on, but they looked like men who had a great many complaints against Wudang.

The protesters were causing a disturbance in front of the Wudang Sect, while several disciples had come out and were trying to stop their rowdy behavior.

Overseeing the disciples was Myeong-yeop, a first-generation disciple of the Myeong line, and after a short while his eyes met mine. He looked slightly startled at seeing me back after so long, but then his face turned strangely pitiful.

“Junior Brother! Help me out here!”

Every single one of these people protesting was an ordinary civilian, not a martial artist. One glance was enough to tell that all their muscles were soft as dough.

If they had been martial artists, Myeong-yeop could at least have suppressed them with force, but because they were civilians, he was unable to use force freely.

I hurried over, pushing myself between the protesters and Myeong-yeop as I spoke.

“No, what is all this?”

“Abolish it! Oppose it! Guarantee it! Dissolve it! Denounce it!”

“No, I mean what exactly are you abolishing, opposing, guaranteeing, dissolving, and denouncing?”

“Are you a man of Wudang?”

“Yes. So what?”

The protesting merchant rubbed at his temple as though I were the one exhausting him. From my point of view, the whole thing was absurd.

“First, we denounce the Wudang Sect’s octopus-style expansion of business. Second, abolish the main branch of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company inside Wudang. Third, we oppose Wudang’s advancement into and expansion throughout the merchant world. Fourth, guarantee the right of survival for small and medium merchants. Fifth, dissolve the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”

Counting off his fingers one by one, the protester laid it all out in a neat list. To me, it sounded ridiculous.

“There’s so much nonsense in there I don’t even know what to refute first, but let’s start with the first point and go one by one. Since when has Wudang been doing any such octopus-style business expansion?”

“Hmph, and now you start pretending ignorance again. Isn’t Wudang swallowing up the entire market of Hubei by putting a phantom merchant company called the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company out front? Weapons, paper, dyes, pottery, there isn’t a single area its reach doesn’t extend into!”

So that was why this talk had come up, of octopus-style business, opposition to expansion into the merchant world, guaranteeing the survival rights of small merchants, and the like.

Even so, there were still things I didn’t understand.

“But why exactly is the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company a phantom merchant company?”

“It’s already a rumor spread all through the merchant world! Everyone says the true body of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company is in fact Wudang’s Sect Leader!”

“I’m the Company Lord of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”

“What?”

The protesting merchant was taken aback. But someone behind him immediately chimed in to support him.

“Hmph, and no doubt you’re just some fake Company Lord they propped up as a scarecrow!”

“R-right, right!”

Myeong-yeop’s face twisted. Apparently he’d spent several hours now trapped in this circling argument. But that sort of thing came from nothing more than lack of experience.

“That’s a deeply insulting thing to say. Are you claiming that I am some sort of puppet set up as a front?”

“If you aren’t, then yes!”

“Then the burden is on the side making the claim to bring the proof. To begin with, how exactly am I supposed to prove that I’m not a puppet?”

“The very way you’re speaking just now proves that you’re a puppet!”

The logic was a complete mess. The disciples, Myeong-yeop included, were all looking at me anxiously. Their expressions made it clear they were worried whether I would really be able to smash through such atrociously unreasonable nonsense. But this was the sort of experience I’d had plenty of.

“Are you aware that what you’ve just said amounts to a significant insult against me?”

“Well, it would, if you weren’t a puppet!”

“Then let’s settle it in front of a magistrate. Luckily for us, the empire does have laws concerning abusive defamation. You know that if you slander another person without cause, the punishment is ten strokes with the rod, yes? I’ll prove before the authorities that I am not any sort of puppet, so in the meantime you can simply wait here. Hand over your identification tally. Otherwise how are the constables supposed to find you?”

“…What?”

My words struck the protester one after another like arrows loosed in a perfect line from archers on a city wall. The moment I began citing actual law, the protesters faltered. The law was never on the side of the common people. It was on the side of the one who knew it.

To begin with, when ordinary civilians quarreled among themselves, they didn’t usually invoke the law. Because they didn’t know it. If there was some grievance, they simply went and filed a complaint with the authorities and let the officials decide.

“Hand it over.”

When I barked the order, the protester visibly panicked.

“W-why should I show my tally to you?”

“So I can identify you when I file the complaint. If you won’t hand it over, then I’ll drag you to the authorities right now.”

The protester immediately began to sweat. The others who had been backing him up from behind apparently weren’t bound together all that firmly, because every single one of them suddenly pretended not to know anything.

“Hand it over!”

When I shouted, the protester flinched and hurriedly pulled out his wooden identification tally. The lion’s roar of a martial artist was naturally more than an ordinary man could bear.

I snatched the tally from him and examined it. The tally listed his name, age, profession, and place of residence.

“Hm.”

Just as I’d expected. I had no interest in his name or age. What I cared about were his profession and residence.

There was nothing written after profession. Which meant he was an idle loafer who lived off others. And his residence wasn’t even in Hubei. It was in Henan.

When I handed the tally back and glared at him, the protester avoided my eyes.

“Why is a man who’s neither a merchant nor even from Hubei standing here leading a protest?”

“T-that, that is….”

Pressed by the frost in my voice, the protester visibly shrank.

At my words, not just Myeong-yeop and the other disciples but even the people who had been protesting alongside him all looked startled.

“What? He wasn’t even a merchant?”

“A man from Henan?”

The merchants among them stared at the protest leader as though he were absurd. I’d seen this kind of thing plenty of times. You hire agitators to spread slander, gather people, and stage a protest. It was a time-honored form of merchant-world sabotage.

I clapped my hands and drew the atmosphere back toward myself.

“Now then. I imagine there are some genuine merchants of Hubei among those protesting here. But the man who led you is nothing more than a hired agitator brought in from Henan. I intend to report to the authorities whoever deliberately spread false rumors concerning our Radiant Crystal Merchant Company. That said, I have no intention of accusing the merchants of Hubei who stand here in good faith, so if you are truly innocent, show me your tallies and prove it.”

At once, I seized control of the atmosphere. It was the first step in separating the hired agitators from the people who had been led along. Naturally, no one wanted to be hauled before the authorities.

Several among the protesters glanced at one another and then handed me their tallies.

I took those whose tallies listed Hubei as their residence and merchant as their profession, and placed them behind me.

Before long, many people had moved to my side, leaving only four men awkwardly standing in front, including the man who’d posed as their representative.

“Senior Brother Myeong-yeop.”

“Y-yes?”

“Please head down to Yun County and bring back an official. We need to file charges against these men.”

At my cold words, the leader of the protesters immediately flung himself into full prostration before me.

“Forgive me, honored sir! I let myself be blinded by a few coins and dared to spread slander….”

“Oh? So someone was behind it after all.”

“T-that is correct!”

“Then shall we hear about that? Come inside Wudang, all of you. The merchants of Hubei too. I need to clear up the misunderstandings as well.”

Smiling, I began leading everyone inside Wudang. The merchants of Hubei and the hired agitators alike hesitated, then slowly started to file in.

“…You’ve really become frighteningly adept at handling people.”

“I’ve had some experience with this sort of thing.”

“Thank you. You saved me.”

Myeong-yeop and the other disciples all rushed up to me and began offering their thanks in turn. Judging by how worn down they looked, they’d clearly been suffering through this for quite some time.

“Let’s head in too.”

“Ah, but….”

“Yes?”

Myeong-yeop shot a sidelong glance. His gaze flicked briefly toward Peng Chae-hyang, who had been standing there blankly watching the whole scene, then snapped back at once.

“Who is that lovely young lady?”

“Ah, I’ll explain on the way.”

And so my return to Wudang began with putting down a group of protesters.

I left the protesters and the Hubei merchants to Jo Chung-heon for the time being and headed straight for the Hall of the Three Purities. Peng Chae-hyang came along at my side.

Yu Cha-ryeon and Jo Chung-heon belonged to the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company established within Wudang, so there was no real need to formally report their presence. But Peng Chae-hyang had said herself that this was her first time at Wudang. That meant the Sect Leader at least ought to know that she existed.

“Are we going to see the Taiji Sword Emperor right now?”

“Yes.”

“Is he really someone a lay disciple can just meet like that?”

“I’m not exactly just a lay disciple.”

“…I’m nervous. To think I’ll be meeting one of the Five Great Sword Masters Under Heaven.”

Peng Chae-hyang drew in a deep breath, as though her heart were racing.

“By the way, all the Daoists of Wudang seem nice.”

“Do they?”

“Yes. It feels… comfortable.”

In a way, Wudang suited Peng Chae-hyang well. She wasn’t used to men, while the Daoists of Wudang, even when older, generally weren’t used to women either.

Even Myeong-yeop and the other first-generation disciples, all of them over thirty, had practically broken down into stammering the moment they learned she was Peng Chae-hyang of the Hebei Peng Clan. Peng Chae-hyang in turn had begun stammering right back at them. Why I alone had to bear the embarrassment of watching this, I had no idea.

In truth, Peng Chae-hyang really was a striking beauty. On our way to the Hall of the Three Purities, we passed several martial uncles of the Qing generation, and every last one of them praised her beauty.

The fortunate thing was that the martial uncles of the Qing generation were not only much older than Peng Chae-hyang but also men who had cultivated themselves as Daoists for many years, so they did not look at her with lustful eyes. As expected, Wudang was a place of peaceful Daoists, and it had to remain that way.

Whoever was behind this whole affair, I ought to catch him and tear him apart…

“…Young Master?”

“Ah, yes.”

“What were you thinking about? I called you several times and you didn’t notice.”

“Sorry. What is it?”

“Is this the Sect Leader’s quarters?”

At Peng Chae-hyang’s words, I looked ahead and realized that it was indeed the Sect Leader’s room.

“Looks like it.”

To cover my embarrassment I smiled it away and knocked on the door. The moment I did, I heard the familiar low voice of Cheong-ui, the Sect Leader.

“Enter.”

When I carefully opened the door to the Sect Leader’s room, the room itself came into view, antique and plain as ever. Even though a great deal of money must now have been flowing into Wudang due to the rise of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, the Sect Leader’s room had not changed in the slightest.

“So you’ve come back.”

“Yes. I’ve returned.”

Cheong-ui’s gaze fell upon Peng Chae-hyang. Before he could ask, I quickly explained.

“This is Young Lady Peng Chae-hyang of the Hebei Peng Clan. By chance I became acquainted with her in Beijing, and she came here together with me.”

“I-I am Peng Chae-hyang of the Hebei Peng Clan. I pay my respects to the famed Sect Leader of the Wudang Sect.”

Peng Chae-hyang reflexively bowed at once. As expected of someone raised in a great house, her manners were impeccable.

Cheong-ui received the greeting with a gentle laugh.

“I see. And is the Saber Emperor doing well?”

“Ah. Yes! He is doing well.”

“I see. His daughter has grown into a very lovely young woman. He must be proud.”

“Ahaha…. Thank you.”

Peng Chae-hyang gave an awkward laugh. Naturally, from Cheong-ui’s point of view, it was merely a polite remark, but because I knew the truth of her family circumstances, even I smiled bitterly.

“By the way, what was with the protesters outside? I dealt with them for now, but still.”

“I don’t know either. They appeared all of a sudden recently and have been making life troublesome for us.”

“Since when?”

“Not quite half a month.”

If it had started less than half a month ago, then it was right around the time I had only just left Beijing. Which meant it was a move made with clear malice. Wudang itself wasn’t the kind of group that drew that sort of hostility from elsewhere, so in the end it could only mean me.

“I’ll track down whoever’s behind it. For the moment we’ve got the hired agitators held over at the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”

“Ah, we’ve already identified who’s behind it.”

“What?”

“Though this isn’t really something to discuss in front of a child of the Peng Clan.”

When Cheong-ui looked toward Peng Chae-hyang with a gentle gaze, she sprang up at once.

“Then I’ll wait outside!”

Before I could even say anything, she darted right out. Cheong-ui watched her go and chuckled.

“A charming child.”

“At your age, Sect Leader, anyone under forty probably looks charming.”

“Ahem.”

When I pointed out the uncomfortable truth, Cheong-ui cleared his throat and lowered his voice.

“In any case, we already know who’s behind it. The Beggars’ Gang’s Hubei Branch is here, after all.”

“I see. Who is it?”

“The Zhuge Clan. It doesn’t seem as though they ever meant to hide it in the first place.”

“Ah.”

That was a name I hadn’t heard in some time. I had heard that after being defeated by Wudang during the previous round, they’d set themselves on a more aggressive path. Judging by the fact that they were reaching toward Wudang again, it seemed they’d found some new support to believe in.

“If you already knew, why didn’t you deal with it earlier? The disciples have only suffered needlessly.”

“If it were only Wudang’s affair, I would have handled it on my own authority. But doesn’t it concern your merchant company as well? I couldn’t settle it unilaterally. All I could do was wait until you returned.”

“I see.”

So Cheong-ui had known what those agitators were from the beginning and had still chosen to tolerate them for my sake. I nodded, a little moved.

“Now that I’ve returned, then, how do you intend to handle it?”

“Handle it how?”

Cheong-ui smiled faintly.

“Wudang has never once refused a fight that was brought to its door.”

“A coincidence, then.”

I smiled back at him.

“The Radiant Crystal Merchant Company has never once run from a fight brought to its door either.”

That was the moment Cheong-ui’s smile and mine crossed.