Volume 4 Chapter 14 – Sound in the East, Strike in the West

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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In the middle of the night.

Luoyang Sword Family, the Fourth Young Master’s office.

“…It is finished.”

After stamping the seal on the last document, the Fourth Young Master collapsed onto the desk as he was.

A scholar who had been waiting while half-asleep took the document and disappeared with faltering steps.

The Head Maid had already fallen fast asleep in the chair in the corner.

Having hosted a brief surprise celebration banquet in the evening to commemorate the lifting of the Eldest Young Master’s confinement for the Fourth Young Master was her final task.

It was practically a miracle that she, a commoner without any internal energy, had endured the intense work that had continued for nearly a week.

The middle-aged woman sitting opposite the Fourth Young Master’s desk stretched.

“…Whew. It seemed impossible at first, but this was truly a feasible plan.”

The Fourth Young Master replied with his head buried in the desk.

“…Indeed.”

She shook her head.

“It was far harder than when an emergency broke out on the very day I gave birth to our cute twins.”

“…That is a comparison I cannot understand.”

The woman, who maintained the firm figure of her youth, was one of the closest tacticians to the Fourth Young Master.

She put on her glasses, which she had taken off briefly, and began to review the documents once more.

“By the way, awarding the Sword Family Bronze Plaque to that informant, the Lord of the Crescent Moon Pavilion, was an excellent decision.”

“…Without her, we would never have made it in time.”

Playfulness flickered in her sharp eyes.

“When do you think the Second Young Master’s faction will notice they have been tricked?”

The Fourth Young Master raised his head.

A mischievous smile hung on his lips.

“…Probably about now?”

* * *

Second Young Master’s camp, Tactician Choi’s office.

“Tactician Choi! We did it!”

The closest subordinate of Tactician Choi rushed into the office.

“Oh?! Is there another reason to celebrate?!”

Tactician Choi had been celebrating the victory over the Eldest Young Master, emptying a giant wine cask brought all the way from Jiangnan with his subordinates.

“Yes! It is a report from the Great Immortal Merchant Group! They say that strategic land purchases have succeeded in various places of Walnut Village, the planned project site of the Fourth Young Master!”

The subordinates, who were heavily intoxicated, stood up all at once and applauded with fierce enthusiasm.

“As expected! I knew we would succeed! No matter how much the Fourth Young Master threatened the landowners, those guys had no choice but to be drawn to more money in the end!”

With this, a fatal problem arose in the Fourth Young Master’s project.

When they purchased land to push forward with the project later, they would discover the strategically acquired plots and fall into despair.

“They should have offered a large advance payment in advance and bound them with an overwhelming cancellation penalty! Though, that was probably not an option they could choose with their lack of funds. Hahaha!”

“The Fourth Young Master’s project is bound to be heavily shaken right from the start!”

“With this, we can thoroughly throw a wrench in that Eldest Young Master’s first move as well!”

Everyone cheered.

In the end, if the Fourth Young Master requested mediation, the Luoyang Sword Family Business Support Group would step forward.

Should that happen, they would ultimately have no choice but to resell the strategically purchased land back at the Fourth Young Master’s demand.

However, they could force the Fourth Young Master’s faction to suffer significant bleeding in terms of time consumption and purchase costs.

Tactician Choi scooped up wine with a gourd and asked.

“Great! Yes! How much did they say they bought?”

“They say they achieved as much as fifty percent of our target!”

Once again, the subordinates let out cheers bordering on screams.

But Tactician Choi froze while holding the gourd.

“…How much?”

“Fifty percent! That is land equivalent to ten percent of the entire planned site!”

“…They bought that much land all at once? Just in one day today? From multiple landowners?”

Only then did the others, sensing something strange, stop in their tracks one by one.

“What is the Fourth Young Master’s faction’s reaction?”

“…There is no report in particular yet, however.”

Tactician Choi’s flushed face began to tremble violently.

“Something, something is strange! Tell the Great Immortal Merchant Group to stop the transactions immediately!”

“…That will probably be impossible.”

“What?!”

One of his closest tacticians replied with an uncomfortable look.

“They must have already completed paying the contract deposits.”

“Did we not delegate full authority to the Great Immortal Merchant Group to cope with the situations on-site quickly and flexibly…?”

“According to our guidelines, the Great Immortal Merchant Group would use their operation funds first and bill us for the costs later, wouldn’t they?”

The color drained from Tactician Choi’s flushed face.

Just then, the office door burst open.

“Tactician Choi!”

It was Han Myeong-hwi, his face pale white.

“Something is strange! That wench, the Lord of the Crescent Moon Pavilion, holds the Fourth Young Master’s Sword Family Bronze Plaque! There is something we do not know right now! We must halt all ongoing operations immediately! A comprehensive review is needed!”

“…It is too late.”

“What did you say?”

“It is already too la—!”

Tactician Choi threw up right on the spot.

In the office where everyone froze, only the sound of Tactician Choi vomiting echoed forlornly.

* * *

Luoyang Sword Family, the Fourth Young Master’s office.

The woman sitting opposite the Fourth Young Master, a tactician called the Black Widow of the Sichuan Tang Family.

Commonly known as the Red Venom Spider, she wore a faint smile.

“To change the project site entirely in just a week.”

The Fourth Young Master giggled.

“Those guys probably could not have even imagined it.”

“Even if I had been on that side, it would have been the same. I would have been done in without even imagining it.”

“It was a perfect case of sounding in the east and striking in the west.”

“Because it was a situation where they had no choice but to reach their limits no matter how many human resources they possessed.”

The Red Venom Spider licked her lips.

“Tracing the rumors about the Eldest Young Master, grasping the incident in the Inner Courtyard caused by the Eldest Young Master, and even the issue regarding the Eldest Young Master’s confinement.”

“In a situation where they could not pull out the personnel dealing with the existing Third Young Master, they must have tasted hell for a week as well.”

“Moreover, we had recently eliminated all of their spies from the inside.”

“There was absolutely no way for them to grasp our movements.”

The Fourth Young Master grinned.

“In the meantime, we succeeded in completely changing our plan to a larger and grander project site.”

“The Lord of the Crescent Moon Pavilion did more than her share too. Not being exposed to the Second Young Master’s side, she settled almost all the contracts for the new project site.”

“For a Sword Family Bronze Plaque and a single pavilion, it was a cheap bargain.”

“Come to think of it, she was also someone introduced by the Eldest Young Master, right?”

The Fourth Young Master was about to laugh out loud, but lowered his voice upon seeing the Head Maid sound asleep.

“In the first place, the new project site itself was a place we could not have even dreamed of if Eldest Brother had not stepped forward.”

“…You said that from the day you announced the project plan, the Eldest Young Master showed interest in that neighborhood instead of Walnut Village, right?”

The Fourth Young Master smacked his lips.

The boy recalled that day.

The day he had been excited to meet his Eldest Brother after a long time.

Right at the moment when he lifted the tent flap to explain about the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering and show the project site in person.

The Eldest Young Master was definitely looking not at Walnut Village, but at the area corresponding to their new project site now.

* * *

“Ah, the direction you are looking at now, Eldest Young Master, is not our planned project site.”

“That place is one of the largest slums in Luoyang.”

The Fourth Young Master laughed.

“No one dares to lay a hand on that place, even if it is not us.”

* * *

“At that time, I simply thought Eldest Brother had made a mistake, but…”

“It is hard to imagine that the Eldest Young Master, who runs the House of Benevolence and Love, would confuse the location of Walnut Village with the largest slum in Luoyang, the ‘Valley of Sin’, which is one of the Five Evils. Furthermore…”

The Red Venom Spider rummaged through the desk and pulled out a thick bundle of documents.

“The draft of this project plan modification was also something provided by the Eldest Young Master.”

“Correct.”

She sighed as she flipped through the documents.

“If not for this draft, just designing the plan modification proposal would have taken forever.”

“It probably would have taken at least two weeks with everyone working on it, right?”

She placed the heavy bundle of documents back on the desk.

“Even the amounts pre-invested by those to whom the Lord of the Crescent Moon Pavilion sold the business information, finding them trustworthy, cannot be ignored.”

“With that money, we could establish a new branch of the House of Benevolence and Love at Eldest Mother’s shrine located in the Valley of Sin.”

“In the first place, if not for the House of Benevolence and Love and the faith in the Fairy, switching the project plan to the Valley of Sin would have been impossible.”

“Indeed.”

“And the famous figures inside and outside Luoyang who readily promised massive investments, calling themselves acquaintances of the Eldest Young Master, already number over dozens.”

“Won’t it continue to increase in the future? Because Eldest Brother’s network is no joke. Once they hear the news that Eldest Brother has ended his confinement…”

The Fourth Young Master shook his head.

“Even the amount of investment promised right now has exceeded the final target amount of the previous project.”

“The scale of the project has grown that much as well.”

The Red Venom Spider scratched her head furiously.

“Has it been about a week since we first explained this plan to the Eldest Young Master?”

The Fourth Young Master replied nonchalantly.

“It is probably the eighth day now.”

She finally exploded.

“Does that make any sense?!”

The Head Maid woke up with a start.

“Oh dear! I must have fallen asleep.”

The Fourth Young Master hurriedly supported her as she rose unsteadily.

“Yes, yes. Since today’s work is all finished now, you go in and rest too, Head Maid.”

“No. Until my master goes to sleep, I will…”

“No, no. I can ask another girl, so hurry along inside.”

The Head Maid left, unable to resist the Fourth Young Master’s firm command pushing her away.

However, given her personality, she would only go to bed after meticulously checking the maids who would fill her vacancy.

“Ah! Seriously, why are you suddenly shouting like that?!”

Ignoring the Fourth Young Master’s sudden anger, the Red Venom Spider sprang up from her seat and shouted.

“Isn’t it absurd?! Just one week! But when we actually received this draft, it was only three days after you explained the project to the Eldest Young Master!”

She pounded on the desk wildly.

“And then he entered the Inner Courtyard! After that, he shook the entire Sword Family violently! All by himself! In that manner, he pushed the Second Young Master’s seemingly endless information network to its absolute limit!”

“C-Calm down…!”

She tore at her hair.

“Do I look like I can calm down right now?! While simultaneously resolving the confinement on which his own fate depended, just how many things did the Eldest Young Master handle in the background at the same time?!”

The Fourth Young Master merely shrugged his shoulders.

“That is why I have been telling you since long ago. People like us cannot comprehend a Great Peng.”

At his response, the Red Venom Spider trembled all over and foamed at the mouth.

“At that time, I thought it was just an exaggerated metaphor!”

The Fourth Young Master clicked his tongue.

“Stop throwing a temper tantrum and go get some sleep now. Because from tomorrow, we must start cleaning the Valley of Sin in earnest.”

Indeed.

For it was still only the beginning of the plan.

Recalling the mountains they had to cross in the future, the Red Venom Spider also appeared slightly calmed.

“…True. Just scouting and cleaning up the underworld organizations coiled up in the Valley of Sin is something that would take several months.”

“Yes. Even if we receive help from the House of Benevolence and Love, distinguishing the poor from the members of the underworld is…”

The Red Venom Spider sighed.

“It is practically like separating ink that has already mixed with water.”

“Indeed. So…”

It was then.

“Fourth Young Master! Urgent news!”

The messenger, having received permission, came sliding into the office, almost rolling.

“It is urgent news from the scouts! The underworld organizations located in the Valley of Sin…! The organizations…!”

The Red Venom Spider pressed the messenger, who gasped, unable to speak properly due to his rough breathing.

“What about the underworld organizations?!”

The confused gaze of the messenger, whose face turned blue from lack of breath, directed toward them.

“T-That is, all the underworld organizations that were located in the Valley of Sin have vanished…!”

It was news that made the listeners doubt their own ears.

“What…?”

“What on earth does that mean! Report in detail!”

“T-That is, the details are still being investigated by the scouts…”

“Still, there must be something, isn’t there?!”

As the Red Venom Spider fiercely pressed him, the messenger shouted urgently.

“Dark Venerable!”

The messenger hastily continued.

“It is not precise information, but the alias ‘Dark Venerable’ was heard particularly often at the scene!”