Geom Mugeuk’s words flew like a dagger and lodged in his heart.
“If you are a merchant, should you not make a deal?”
Hwang In had often displayed the pride of being a merchant.
But he knew. This pride was nothing more than a sandcastle that would collapse in a single crashing wave of truth. Because at the decisive moment, he had handled matters not by dealing as a merchant, but by mobilizing the Jeon-gwi.
“Originally, you should have come alone and made me an offer. ‘I want that agreement back. What do you want?’ Isn’t that how a true merchant speaks? Discerning what I want and offering something suitable. A person who accomplishes what a sword cannot—isn’t that a merchant?”
Without realizing it, Hwang In bit his lip tightly. The reason he had flared up earlier at the inn when Geom Mugeuk said that a merchant should keep his calculations straight was likely this very inferiority complex.
Silent for a moment, Hwang In turned his gaze toward the building the Jeon-gwi had entered.
“What happened to the people who went inside?”
“Well, I don’t know either.”
“Did you use poison or something?”
Geom Mugeuk smiled.
“My father is someone who despises poison. And because of that, there is someone who feels slighted as well.”
What on earth did that mean? Hwang In could not understand.
Geom Mugeuk rose from his seat.
“Now then, if you’re curious, let us go inside.”
Geom Mugeuk took the lead and walked in.
Hwang In wanted to run straight out through the main gate, but he could not.
Even if he could flee, and even if they let him go, what could he say to Jeon Nak upon returning like this?
That he had fled without confirming whether the three Jeon-gwi he cherished were alive or dead? Since he himself knew no martial arts, that might be plausible. But Jeon Nak would not believe it. He would think there was no way they had simply let him go.
With a fearful heart, Hwang In followed Geom Mugeuk inside.
Walking along the neatly decorated hallway, there was no trace of a fight, let alone the corpses of the Jeon-gwi. Not a drop of blood had splattered on the flowers in the vase upon the display cabinet.
They had definitely said those were experts capable of killing the Seodopa Sect Leader.
‘Where on earth did they disappear to?’
He thought that perhaps the three of them might be sitting in the inner room at the end of the corridor, drinking tea. Please, let it be so! Or perhaps, after killing the Seodopa Sect Leader, they were exchanging idle jokes while looking down at the corpse.
But what if it were the opposite?
While all manner of thoughts raced through his mind, the two arrived at the room at the end of the corridor.
When they entered the room, Geom Ujin was sitting at a table drinking tea.
The Jeon-gwi were not in the room.
“Father, the merchant from the inn that day has come again.”
Geom Ujin, who had been looking out the window, turned his gaze to Hwang In.
“I greet the Sect Leader.”
Hwang In greeted him in a trembling voice.
Geom Ujin looked at him with a blunt expression. It was the same gaze as when he had seen him at the inn, but the heart of the one receiving it was different.
He should have continued with further courtesies, but he could not contain his curiosity.
“The people who came with me entered this building first. By any chance… did you see them?”
Honestly, he wanted to ask outright. Whether Geom Ujin had killed them.
Geom Ujin shook his head.
Geom Mugeuk already knew. That the one who had dealt with them was not his father, but Hwi.
Unless an order had been given to let them in, Hwi would never have stood by while someone targeting his father entered the house. To Hwi, it would truly have been ‘How dare they!’
She had probably remained concealed and silently dispatched the Jeon-gwi as they entered one by one. Without a drop of blood, without a single scream—this was the skill of the guardian tasked with protecting the Cheonma of the current era.
“Then where did those people go?”
Speaking cautiously, Hwang In looked at Geom Mugeuk. Naturally, should he not be curious as well? Yet he showed such a composed demeanor?
At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Hwang In’s mind.
‘Could it be? These people?’
Like the protagonists of secret tales quietly passed down in the Murim.
‘A hidden secret sect that has lived concealing its strength?’
And another thought that followed.
‘Then one of the young successors, unable to endure the frustration, enters the Murim and participates in the Soryeongjeon and wins? Eventually, because of that, even the family head appears in the world.’
He did not think this naturally constructed story absurd. Without such a background, how could a mere martial artist from a regional sect win the Soryeongjeon, and make three Jeon-gwi disappear in an instant without a sound?
It was a plausible story. The Murim was a place where all manner of beings with secrets and mysteries existed.
Thinking so, he even understood the incomprehensible composure he had seen from them at the inn.
At the same time, fear welled up within him.
‘They might kill me too, to protect their secret.’
The secrets of a mysterious force had to be hidden.
‘If not that.’
Hwang In looked at Geom Mugeuk. Seeing those clear, deep eyes so distant from killing intent, he conceived hope.
‘This could be an opportunity.’
An opportunity granted by heaven to make the Hwangdo Merchant Guild the world’s greatest merchant guild.
Geom Ujin broke his silence and asked.
“What business brings you to me?”
Should he answer honestly? That he had come to retrieve the agreement? No, to steal it back?
While worrying, Hwang In suddenly recalled what Geom Mugeuk had said.
If you are truly a merchant, should you not make a deal?
Hwang In took a deep breath and spoke to Geom Ujin.
“I have come to make a deal with the Sect Leader.”
Geom Ujin listened in silence.
“Please make my merchant guild the world’s greatest merchant guild.”
Anyone hearing this would call it madness. One might ask if he could betray Jeon Nak so quickly just because three Jeon-gwi had disappeared.
But this was not betrayal.
It was a weighing of survival. At least for this moment, he had to become a true merchant. He had to calculate accurately.
“Not only the money earned in the process, but half of all money earned thereafter—I will offer it for life.”
It was Hwang In’s instinctive gamble thrown at an opponent who might kill him or spare him.
The Jeon Nak he knew was a butcher without blood or tears.
Would such a man let them be after losing the three cherished Jeon-gwi? No. If a fight broke out, he had to side with the victor.
‘Let us wager my fate on these people.’
Because for now, they were right before his eyes.
Soon, Geom Ujin answered briefly.
“Consult my son.”
Hwang In became certain from Geom Ujin’s reaction that his guess was correct.
Would an ordinary sect have reacted this way?
—Make you the world’s greatest merchant guild? What kind of nonsense is that?
But he was told to consult his son. As if discussing it might make such a thing possible.
As if he had nothing more to say, Geom Ujin drank his tea and turned his gaze back out the window.
“Now then, let us take our leave.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Hwang In respectfully bowed his head to Geom Ujin.
Hwang In followed Geom Mugeuk out of the room. The moment he stepped out, a sigh escaped him unconsciously.
When they had exited the building, Hwang In asked Geom Mugeuk.
“Did I… make any mistake toward the Sect Leader?”
“You made no mistake. However, I cannot say the terms were excellent.”
“What do you mean?”
“What you offered as the price of the deal was money.”
Geom Mugeuk added with a faint smile.
“My father also has a great deal of money.”
Hwang In spoke as if protesting.
“The amount I guaranteed is not merely great, but an enormous sum.”
“My father is already enormously wealthy.”
What on earth was he saying? Where the world’s greatest merchant guild was offering half its earnings, how could one compare it to personal wealth?
Every now and then, this man said things he could not understand.
“Anyway, now you are acting a bit more like a merchant.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s gentle expression, Hwang In felt inwardly relieved. At least because it seemed he would not be killed.
Then naturally, his worries shifted to Jeon Nak.
“If that man learns that the three who came with me are dead, he will not sit still. He will bring all his subordinates to kill you.”
“Do his subordinates number about three hundred?”
It was a joke Geom Mugeuk had made earlier. The words that his father would only draw his sword if three hundred came—they no longer sounded like mere jokes.
“In total about thirty or so, but among them, I know there are experts greater than those I brought earlier.”
Geom Mugeuk gazed at Hwang In for a moment. When the smile vanished from Geom Mugeuk’s face, Hwang In anticipated that the important words determining his life would now follow.
“Go back and bring only that man here.”
Hwang In was startled. What could this mean? Did it not mean to lure Jeon Nak here to kill him?
“He might kill me out of suspicion.”
“You might betray us.”
Hwang In could tell. That this was a test of him. That if he passed this test, they would join hands. The scale in his heart wavered up and down. Now if he chose wrongly, he would die.
“If I bring him? Can you handle him? He is a far greater expert than those who came earlier.”
“Whether we can handle him is also for you to judge. However, you should know this. Your dream is so grand that you have drawn in a very dangerous person.”
He would think the dangerous person was the one he had joined hands with, but the person Geom Mugeuk spoke of was his father.
“So judge well. In this deal, there will be no backing down.”
* * *
To state the result first: Hwang In chose the secret sect.
The reason was simple. The fact that his opponent had left the judgment to him was a display of confidence that they could handle it even if he betrayed them and brought everyone along.
Of course, it was a temporary choice.
He intended to straddle both sides and watch how things unfolded. For do scales not tip up and down?
For now, he would bring Jeon Nak to them. If the Seodopa killed Jeon Nak, he would side with them as originally planned; if Jeon Nak defeated them, he would pretend nothing had happened and stick to him.
What bothered him was that Jeon Nak had backing, but that was a worry for later. What he had to worry about now was how to bring him without arousing suspicion.
On the way, he had thought of many things. Should he say the Jeon-gwi were calling him? Then why send you instead of one of the Jeon-gwi? Would not all three need to be there? No. Such reasons would not work.
After agonizing over and over, he thought of one method.
“I wish to absorb the Seodopa into our side.”
At Hwang In’s words, Jeon Nak cast a puzzled gaze. He had sent three Jeon-gwi along, yet Hwang In had returned alone and was saying this.
Without revealing such inner thoughts, Jeon Nak asked calmly.
“What is the reason you wish to draw them in so suddenly?”
“As we talked, their successor caught my fancy.”
“For what reason?”
“He reminded me of the Sangdo, the way of the merchant, that I had forgotten lately.”
Jeon Nak’s expression slightly furrowed. His very existence was the exact opposite of the way of the merchant. Now that he was bringing up Sangdo, it was grating.
“They are clearly a sect useful in many ways. Please trust my judgment.”
Only now did Jeon Nak ask about the Jeon-gwi.
“Where are the Jeon-gwi who went with you?”
“I ordered them to be detained. Please simply give your permission. I will go and get their signature on the agreement. I believe them holding the agreement with the Jussa Sword Family was fate guiding us to this connection.”
He absolutely did not suggest going together. If he had, the suspicious Jeon Nak would have sensed danger immediately.
“You have not listened to my words well until now. So please leave this matter to me.”
Hwang In was acting with all his might. He had to. Because he could truly die in this very spot.
Jeon Nak, who had been watching Hwang In silently, accepted his request.
“Very well, draw them in as well.”
“Thank you. I will go immediately and get the signature on the agreement.”
Turning around, Hwang In inwardly screamed.
‘Say you’ll go together! You should suspect me!’
Just as he was opening the door to leave.
“Let us go together.”
Turning around, Hwang In deliberately stiffened his expression.
“I can handle it alone. You need not come.”
“Let us go together. I have come to want to see for myself what kind of person changed your mind.”
It was a success born of suspicion, but that suspicion left no gaps. Because he secretly ordered the remaining Jeon-gwi to follow him before departing.
* * *
Late at night, Geom Mugeuk and Geom Ujin lay side by side in a hammock, looking up at the night sky.
“Is this your first time lying on a hammock?”
“Yes.”
“Another first experience with Father!”
Geom Mugeuk was genuinely happy. In the past, he had wished his father would recognize such feelings, but now he did not. Because he believed his father would understand.
It did not matter if he passed by without knowing. He intended to continue conveying his heart going forward.
“I will take this hammock and hang it between the fingers of the large stone statue in front of the Cheonma Hall. If you are bored, lie there and rest.”
If installed between the tilted fingers, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would be fully visible below. Of course, it did not seem likely that his father would lie there.
“You are the one who intends to lie there, are you not?”
“When will you teach me the martial art that reads people’s minds?”
While looking up at the night sky for some time like that, Jeon Nak and Hwang In arrived.
Seeing the two lying in the hammock in the courtyard, Jeon Nak was inwardly dumbfounded.
‘Did he get my permission just to draw in people like that?’
Martial artists lying side by side in a hammock at play? He had never seen such martial artists before.
Geom Mugeuk raised himself from the hammock.
“You’ve come again!”
Seeing Geom Mugeuk smiling brightly as he looked this way, Jeon Nak felt a strange sensation. Because he seemed far too pure and cheerful for a martial artist.
Jeon Nak’s gaze remained fixed on Geom Ujin, still lying in the hammock.
Geom Ujin was looking up at the stars in the night sky. Seeing that figure, Jeon Nak found himself unconsciously following that gaze and looking up at the night sky.
He did not know why he looked up. The thought simply arose on its own—he is looking, so I should look too.
Even while gazing upon the incomparably beautiful stars, Jeon Nak felt an inexplicable unease. And so he knew.
‘Something has gone wrong.’
Absolute Regression, Episode 456