Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 60 - Bring the Fire (2)

Chapter 60 – Bring the Fire (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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At first, I did not respond. According to the contract, any clash with the Black Dragon Gate was the Thousand Snakes Gang’s responsibility to handle.

By now, the Thousand Snakes Gang was being spoken of in the back alleys as having surpassed even its old heyday while making a great deal of money from this contract.

The problem arose because the strength of the two sides was too evenly matched. One side had to be clearly bigger to swallow the other outright, but since their power was too similar, the bloodletting simply continued.

Judging by strength alone, the Thousand Snakes Gang should originally have exceeded the Black Dragon Gate. But the Black Dragon Gate had sensed the danger quickly and recruited other black-path groups. As a result, the black path of Wuhan had now turned into the Thousand Snakes Gang against everyone else.

“…So that’s why I’m here.”

“Ahem.”

The three of us all wore uncomfortable expressions. Beside me sat the leader of the Thousand Snakes Gang, and across from me sat the leader of the Black Dragon Gate.

The leader of the Black Dragon Gate and the leader of the Thousand Snakes Gang were glaring at one another. With someone they needed to devour sitting right before their eyes, their bodies were bound to be burning.

“The public order in Wuhan is in a terrible state right now. Reports keep coming in that black-path men are fighting the moment one steps into an alley. How serious must it be for the Provincial Administration Commissioner himself to summon all of you?”

Jin Mu-byeok, the Vice Minister of Revenue, who had called us together, said this. The black path and the commercial world might be entangled, but at base they were still part of the martial world. Normally officials and martial artists did not interfere with one another, but if they fought this openly in a prosperous city like this, there was no way official sanctions would not come down.

“We are only acting according to the contract.”

That was the Thousand Snakes Gang leader’s position.

“They trespassed on our territory, so we merely took measures to protect ourselves.”

That was the Black Dragon Gate leader’s position.

“But shouldn’t the Association Master of the Wuhan Merchant Association be here too?”

And that was my position. Jin Mu-byeok shook his head and answered.

“The Association Master of the Wuhan Merchant Association says this fight among black-path factions has nothing at all to do with them.”

“What nonsense. Do you actually believe that?”

“If that’s what he says, what can I do?”

I was dumbfounded. I had already known Jin Mu-byeok favored the Wuhan Merchant Association, but leaving the Association Master of the Wuhan Merchant Association out of this meeting made no sense.

If a building lost one of its pillars, it naturally collapsed. This discussion was no different. With one pillar missing, it could only scatter apart.

Jin Mu-byeok suddenly sighed and said to me,

“Why do you keep causing incidents like this?”

“Pardon?”

One of my eyes narrowed. I answered as though incredulous.

“The ones causing trouble are that Black Dragon Gate over there and the Association Master of the Wuhan Merchant Association colluding with them. We were quietly doing business in our own territory.”

“Territory, my foot. You trespassed into our territory, so naturally we fought. Do you think we’re just street thugs picking fights for no reason?”

The leader of the Black Dragon Gate bristled. He was a scrawny, unimpressive-looking man. I truly couldn’t understand how someone with a body like that was the leader of back-alley ruffians. Then again, people had said the real power in the Black Dragon Gate was that fellow Mun Il-ji. He was a textbook case of borrowing a tiger’s might.

“You think too little of the black path just because you’ve sold a few things. Keep that up and you’ll find your head cut off on some dark road one night.”

“Vice Minister of Revenue, isn’t openly threatening someone a violation of the law?”

“Officials and martial people do not interfere.”

I let out a deep sigh. Ever since the Association Master of the Wuhan Merchant Association failed to show up, it had been obvious how I would be treated here. Hadn’t Jin Mu-byeok just spoken as though I were some sort of troublemaker?

Jin Mu-byeok placed a hand on my shoulder and coaxed me in a slick voice.

“You only need to step back a little. Aren’t you already selling plenty in other places? Is it really so hard to yield this much in Wuhan?”

“Yielding itself isn’t the issue.”

I brushed Jin Mu-byeok’s hand off my shoulder. His expression stiffened all at once.

“If I step back before street ruffians like that, then I’ll have to step back elsewhere too. A person who makes retreat a habit will keep retreating until the day he dies. I won’t watch that happen in my merchant company.”

“Do you truly mean to drain the penalty cup?”

“No, they should be the ones drinking it. Why are you only pressing me?”

“Because it would be enough if you alone yielded.”

“They can yield. No, not even yield. All they have to do is stop coveting what belongs to someone else. Yielding means giving up what is yours. These people are madmen trying to take what belongs to others.”

“I’m grateful for the help you gave the authorities as Divine Physician of Hubei, but you have crossed the line now.”

“And what happens if I cross the line? Does the sponsorship money coming out of the Zhuge Clan get cut off?”

Bang!

Jin Mu-byeok slammed his fist down on the desk. Even without martial strength, a high official of the third rank carried a pressure that overwhelmed other people. Even the Black Dragon Gate leader shifted in his seat, and the Thousand Snakes Gang leader moistened his lips with his tongue though he pretended calm.

“The magistrate’s office will not involve itself in the negotiations. In particular, the noise surrounding Radiant Crystal Merchant Company will have to be dealt with by Radiant Crystal Merchant Company itself.”

So in the end this was how he would come out. In other words, he was stripping Radiant Crystal Merchant Company of legal protection.

“Does the Provincial Administration Commissioner know of this too?”

“Just because people lift you up as Divine Physician of Hubei, you seem to think you’re someone important. This is a matter I can handle on my own authority.”

“Then I’ll understand it that way.”

“Do not regret this. Even if you do, it’ll already be too late. It cannot be undone.”

“Things became irreversible quite a long time ago.”

I rose from my seat. The Thousand Snakes Gang leader awkwardly rose as well, while the Black Dragon Gate leader folded his arms and glared at me.

I snorted and left the Provincial Administration Commission. The moment we were outside, the Thousand Snakes Gang leader let out a deep sigh.

“Are you going to be all right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Do you not know what happens when the Provincial Administration Commission turns its back on a merchant company?”

“I do.”

A merchant company was a place that absolutely required legal protection. After all, it was a place where wealth beyond most people’s imagination was stored. And together with the accumulation of that wealth, grudges and obligations naturally accumulated and slept there as well. A mere fight among black-path gangs was nowhere near hot enough to compare to fire. What I had done at the Provincial Administration Commission had been closer to lighting the blaze.

As far as the authorities were concerned, they could simply wave it away by saying it was a matter of the martial world rather than the merchant companies.

“…Take care of your health. I’ve only known you a short while, but you’re the sort of man it would be a waste to see die early.”

“I’ll live longer than you, Gang Leader, so don’t worry.”

“Seeing your mouth still alive like that is reassuring. I’ll return straight to my own quarters. Since the negotiations have broken down, they’ll probably fight even harder now.”

I nodded and sent the Thousand Snakes Gang leader away.

Quietly, I walked through the streets of Wuhan. Since I was wearing a bamboo hat, it would not be easy for people to recognize me.

Then I quietly entered a back alley. Contrary to what the Vice Minister of Revenue had said about fights breaking out the moment one stepped into an alley, the alley was very quiet.

The strange thing was that there were no beggars with brass bowls set out or homeless drifters lying on leaves where they normally ought to be. It was as though someone had cleared them away.

When I spun around sharply, loose-looking men with sheathed swords slung behind their necks were closing off the alley.

I tilted up the brim of my bamboo hat with my fingertips and met their eyes. Their gazes were fixed solely on me. So it wasn’t a coincidence after all. Ever since obtaining demonic qi, my sense for qi had sharpened enough that I had already noticed from the moment I left the Provincial Administration Commission that someone was following me.

“What is this about?”

“Heh heh. You let your guard down too much. Didn’t expect us to come after you this fast?”

The man in front laughed.

“In the name of the Black Dragon Gate, we sentence you.”

“You’re talking like some righteous heroes. You’re just trash.”

“Even on the verge of death, your mouth keeps flapping. Maybe being a merchant really was more your calling than being a physician.”

The man drew his sword. Desire shone greedily in both the blade and his eyes. The leader of the Black Dragon Gate had likely promised some reward if they brought back my head.

Just then, the man beside him suddenly rushed me with a dagger in hand.

“Huh!”

The one startled was not me, but the men on the other side.

“You, you coward!”

“That merchant’s head is mine! Ha ha!”

The man with the dagger moved swiftly and stealthily, as though he had trained mainly in sneak attacks. Certainly, after seeing only orthodox arts like Ladder-to-the-Cloud and Azure Cloud Steps in Wudang, a black-path movement art looked thoroughly sinister.

“Die!”

Swish.

The blade touched a throat and cut it wide open. Blood gushed out in waves. Of course, it wasn’t my throat, but the throat of the man who had charged me.

“Ghk, ghk, cough.”

Each time he coughed, blood sprayed from his throat.

“Wh-what?”

“What just happened?”

The Black Dragon Gate men seemed not to have understood what method I had used at all.

I had reached out toward the incoming dagger, twisted the man’s wrist, seized the dagger, and cut his throat with it. It was the soft-overcoming-hard method one learned day in and day out in Wudang.

“Looks like you didn’t know I was a lay disciple of Wudang.”

I crouched down and wiped the blood from the dagger onto the clothes of the man who had just died. The dagger gleamed again. I looked at my face reflected in the blade, then stood.

“Wh-what is this? No one said he was this strong!”

“Wasn’t he supposed to be just some crippled merchant lay disciple?”

The Black Dragon Gate men who had come to kill me started murmuring. As expected of black-path men, they were not organized in the slightest. The man at the front tried to calm them somehow, but there were already men trying to run.

“So you thought a pack of dogs like this would be enough to catch me?”

At that moment I was feeling a thrilling sensation. In my previous life, I would have had no choice but to lose my head to them or be captured and threatened. Power really was this convenient.

“Shall I come to you first?”

When I said that in a sinister tone, the men all took a step back at once. Since they hadn’t understood the technique I’d just used, it seemed to register to them as a fear of the unknown.

“This won’t do. Come out, Great Hero Mun.”

The man at the front turned and called behind him. Soon the men split apart, and through the gap came a man with a cold expression trudging forward. Rusted gauntlets covered both his hands.

“To think I’d be called out because you couldn’t even catch a single merchant.”

The cold-faced man looked at the Black Dragon Gate men as though they were pathetic. All of them avoided his eyes.

“Y-you, you’re finished now! Do you even know who this honored man is!”

“Be quiet. It’s shameful enough already that you’re pointing blades at a merchant.”

“Ah. Y-yes.”

The cold-faced man stopped before me and drew his blade. The air around us seemed to change. He was certainly unlike the others in force.

The man did not introduce himself, but I felt as though I knew exactly who he was.

“Flamefire Ghost Hand Mun Il-ji?”

“So you know my name. Don’t resent me. I’m not in a position to disobey the Black Dragon Gate’s leader.”

“Did you get caught sleeping with the Black Dragon Gate leader’s wife or something?”

“Does a bastard like that even have a wife? Didn’t you just come from the Provincial Administration Commission?”

“True enough.”

Mun Il-ji and I both laughed. We had probably both just pictured the sorry-looking face of the Black Dragon Gate leader.

“All of you, get out. I’ll handle this and leave.”

Mun Il-ji cast a glance back as he spoke. The Black Dragon Gate men emptied out of the alley like the tide withdrawing. Now only Mun Il-ji and I remained in the alley.

“An acquaintance of mine once received treatment from Divine Physician of Hubei, so I don’t particularly want to kill you, but know at least that this isn’t of my own will. It won’t mean much to you, but still.”

Mun Il-ji repeatedly opened his hands and clenched them into fists. He was doing nothing more than that, yet the sound of bones cracking rang out.

“I don’t bear you any ill will either. Only the Black Dragon Gate is my enemy.”

“You speak as if you can defeat me.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

I smiled. Violet energy flowed out from my body. It was the first moment demonic qi was emitted outward from my body. Mun Il-ji’s expression changed at once.