“Have you calmed down a little now?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Hwang In nodded and answered.
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Contrary to his words, Hwang In’s heart was still pounding wildly.
In the urgent moment itself, he had not trembled this much. Everything had passed in a blur.
Rather, now that it was all over and he realized he truly had nearly died, his heart was beating like mad.
So, unable to return in such a state, he was drinking water in Geom Mugeuk’s room.
He gulped the water down, then choked on it. Only after coughing several times did he finally settle down. What had happened earlier truly felt like a dream. Even the fact that he had nearly died did not feel real.
“That martial art you displayed at the end was… No, never mind.”
Because he had closed his eyes, he had not seen it himself, but feeling that it was not something he should ask about carelessly, he shut his mouth.
When he recalled the sight of the Battle Ghosts lying dead earlier, his breathing quickened again.
He did not know much about martial arts, but there were still things he could understand. Those men were not people who would die so easily.
The martial art this man before him had displayed must have been the peerless divine art of the Shinbi Clan.
“What should I do now?”
With Jeon Nak dead, a new worry came upon Hwang In.
“If they learn that Jeon Nak is dead, the terrifying person he mentioned will come looking for me first.”
Jeon Nak had been terrifying enough. How frightening, then, would the person he had used to frighten him be? He might well end up wetting his pants.
Should he simply flee far away?
He considered it briefly, but he could not do that. If he abandoned the Hwangdo Merchant Guild and ran, what would he live on?
“Please stay with me. You must not leave my side even for a moment.”
“I cannot do that. Right now, every single moment is precious to me. I have no time to spend with you.”
“Then what am I supposed to do when that person comes? News of Jeon Nak’s death will have to be delivered first, so he may not barge in immediately, but… no. If my luck is bad, he could drop by out of nowhere while passing through, couldn’t he?”
At that moment, Geom Mugeuk suddenly asked.
“Is only the person coming frightening? Am I not frightening?”
Hwang In flinched.
Now that he thought about it, this was the man who had killed Jeon Nak and the Battle Ghosts in a single move.
If he was going to fear anyone, he should fear this man.
For some reason, Geom Mugeuk felt comfortable to him, and he had momentarily forgotten just how terrifying he was. This was not someone he should be whining to or clinging to like this.
“I apologize.”
Hwang In lowered his head. To the dispirited man, Geom Mugeuk said,
“If someone comes looking for you, bring him to me.”
Hwang In’s expression brightened. He had been terrified that Geom Mugeuk would say, Since you were involved too, handle it yourself.
Now, this man was the only person he could trust.
“Ah, what should be done about the remaining Battle Ghosts?”
“We will take care of them, so do not worry.”
Those words inspired confidence.
Through the window, the courtyard could be seen. The corpses that had been scattered there earlier had already all been cleared away. Not even a single drop of blood remained on the ground.
Just as the Battle Ghosts who had entered the building earlier had vanished, the corpses too had vanished without a trace. In that short time, Hwi had cleaned everything up perfectly. People who handled matters like this could be trusted.
Once his heart steadied, Hwang In spoke cautiously.
“I hope the deal I mentioned before can continue.”
Hwang In desperately did not want to miss this opportunity. Now that he had personally confirmed just how powerful Geom Mugeuk’s martial arts were, he wanted to let it go even less.
“You said your dream was to become the master of the greatest merchant guild under heaven?”
“That is correct.”
“Are you sincere?”
“If I had not been sincere, I would never have joined hands with someone like Jeon Nak.”
Geom Mugeuk stared directly into his eyes and asked,
“Was it not because you were not sincere that you joined hands with him?”
As Hwang In was struck right where it hurt, Geom Mugeuk continued.
“I do not know much about the world of merchants, but I do know this. To become the master of the greatest merchant guild under heaven, you must become someone worthy of that position.”
Hwang In silently listened to Geom Mugeuk.
“I do not think your dream should contain Jeon Nak, or me, or my father, or even that terrifying person who is said to be coming.”
Hwang In could not understand what he meant.
“Then what should that dream contain?”
“A merchant. A merchant with the ability to lead the greatest merchant guild under heaven. A merchant with trust and honor, negotiation skills and crisis management, intelligence networks and leadership, insight into the world, and even an eye for people. Is there room for anything else in such a place? Is there room for this stench of blood and this cold sword to intrude?”
Hwang In felt so ashamed that his face grew hot. When he asked himself which of the things Geom Mugeuk had mentioned he possessed, he could not answer confidently for even one of them.
After being lost in thought for a long while, Hwang In revealed his decision.
“I would like to join hands with the Ju Sword Family with the mindset of starting anew. May I write a new agreement and send it to them?”
Geom Mugeuk could at least tell that he was not a hopeless man.
That was why he nodded. In truth, this permission was not for Hwang In’s sake. It was for Ju Hyangwol of the Ju Sword Family.
She must still be worrying even now about what to do with this matter. The Ju Sword Family was still facing difficulties, and through this opportunity, it had to be reborn anew.
That was why this one sentence was for Ju Hyangwol.
“I will be watching.”
How could Hwang In not understand that it meant he should not try anything foolish? He lowered his head and answered politely.
“Thank you for allowing it. Then I will take my leave now.”
As Hwang In walked out across the courtyard where corpses had lain only moments ago, Geom Mugeuk gave him one final piece of advice.
“Do not be so captivated by your dream that you forget reality. Your world is not here, but there. I am someone who will vanish like smoke, but the Ju Sword Family will remain.”
* * *
The next morning, I headed to Father’s quarters.
“Father, may I come in?”
“Come in.”
When I entered, Father was checking several letters.
They were letters sent by Sama Myeong from headquarters. Matters that absolutely required Father’s approval had arrived as urgent correspondence.
“You work even after coming out here?”
“You try sitting in my seat someday.”
I waved my hands in exaggerated refusal.
“I do not want to. Hand it over to me later. Much, much later.”
“You want me to keep suffering like this?”
After a brief pause, I asked Father,
“If I inherit it, will you go traveling? If you promise me you will, then I will consider it too.”
Father gave no answer.
Since I had no intention of prolonging this awkward silence, I smiled and changed the subject.
“Very well. Let me practice in advance. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Then Father handed me one of the letters. It contained the recent movements of a certain family.
At last, Father revealed our objective.
“The reason we are going to Shaanxi is because of the Jinlong Clan.”
A far greater name than I had expected came out.
The Jinlong Clan.
It was a clan ranked among the top five in all of the Central Plains when it came to wealth. It was truly a symbol of immense riches.
They were not merely a sect with a lot of money. The head of the Jinlong Clan, Jin Qianfang, was not only well versed in the affairs of the merchant world, but also a supreme master of the clan’s secret martial art, the Jinlong Divine Art, and was renowned in the murim. As a result, the Jinlong Clan had countless experts who followed him.
“At some point, the Jinlong Clan secretly began absorbing and operating merchant guilds.”
It was possible for the enormously wealthy to secretly acquire merchant guilds. The problem came afterward.
“The Hwangdo Merchant Guild was one of those guilds.”
Father nodded.
“They used martial artists to expand those guilds by force and made a great deal of money. But that money did not flow into the Jinlong Clan.”
“That immense sum was being siphoned off somewhere.”
Having sensed the Jinlong Clan’s strange movements, Sama Myeong began investigating them in earnest and found clues that connected them to the force behind the scenes.
Well, considering what that hidden force had shown so far, it would have taken something on the scale of the Jinlong Clan to handle it.
“The one coming down this time must be the person secretly in charge of the Jinlong Clan’s external affairs.”
Because this had been carried out in secret, the dead Battle Ghosts were likely not martial artists directly under the Jinlong Clan, but men hired from outside.
Aside from Jeon Nak, they probably had not even known they belonged to the Jinlong Clan.
“Since it involves supporting them with a large amount of money, the clan head would naturally have to permit it. In that case, the force behind this either occupies a position from which they can persuade the clan head…”
After a brief pause, I added,
“Or they have already seized power within the Jinlong Clan.”
* * *
Im Sohwa, the head of the Ju Sword Family, entered her daughter’s quarters.
Her daughter, Ju Hyangwol, was sitting at her desk looking at something. Surprisingly, it was a book. When was the last time she had seen her daughter reading a book?
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, you’re here?”
Ever since the day she had met the heir of the Hwangdo Merchant Guild, her daughter had been acting differently than usual.
“I was reading a book that explains contracts in detail.”
“Why that?”
“The Hwangdo Merchant Guild sent over a new agreement in advance.”
“Let me see.”
Im Sohwa read the agreement.
After reading a few lines, she quickly lost focus. Martial arts manuals were interesting enough to read all night, but writing like this truly did not enter her eyes.
“So I was looking up the words I didn’t understand.”
She had never expected the Hwangdo Merchant Guild to send a new agreement.
She wondered what kind of trick this was.
“This time, they sent an agreement without any toxic clauses.”
“You know that just by looking at it?”
In the past, she would surely have flared up at those words. She would have taken them as an insult.
But now, in her bosom, she had a piece of paper with the words “Let’s not get angry” written at the very top.
Perhaps because she had thought, I must not get angry?
From her mother’s perspective, she felt it was something that could be said. Yes, that could happen.
That was the next line written beneath “Let’s not get angry.”
Yes, that could happen.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to sign it as is. I plan to verify it again.”
“With whom?”
“With someone who knows this sort of thing well. I’ll tell you when I get back.”
Im Sohwa was angry. They should simply reach an agreement; what was she investigating when she did not even know much?
And yet, she had no chance to get angry. Somehow, her daughter’s attitude toward her was different from usual.
Her daughter, who used to snap and talk back sharply, was speaking so gently and calmly that she could hardly explode all of a sudden.
“I’ll be back! Oh, make sure you eat properly!”
Im Sohwa was most surprised by her daughter’s final words. When had she ever been told to make sure she ate? No, had she ever heard such words at all? Now she found herself worried about her daughter.
Ju Hyangwol’s expression was bright as she left the Sword Family.
This time, too, she had ended the conversation with her mother without raising their voices, and she felt proud.
Since she had spoken kindly with the mindset that she must endure, there had been no reason to fight with her mother.
Of course, she did continue to feel the sense of crisis that, at some point, everything might explode properly.
* * *
“I think you may sign the agreement.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Ju Hyangwol was delighted. She had asked Geom Mugeuk to examine the agreement Hwang In had sent. And the result matched what she had found herself.
“The fact that they changed their minds is all thanks to you, Young Hero.”
“No. It is because Lady Ju asked me for help.”
If she had not asked Geom Mugeuk for help at the inn that day, she would have entered a different fate.
“My relationship with Mother has improved too. That’s why I’m actually uneasy. I’m worried that everything that’s been building up will suddenly explode in a big way.”
Geom Mugeuk asked back with an expression that said it was no great matter.
“So what if it explodes?”
Geom Mugeuk’s solution was simple.
“Something that used to explode ten times has been reduced to one.”
“What if it builds up and then explodes?”
At her worry that the explosion might become ten times greater, Geom Mugeuk cut the fuse clean off.
“If you endure, and endure again, and then explode, it might indeed explode greatly. Did you endure things with your mother today before coming here?”
She recalled her conversation with her mother, then soon shook her head.
She had not gritted her teeth and suppressed herself. It had been closer to trying to see her mother from a different perspective. With the thought, That could happen.
“Then it will be fine. What you are worried about is due to a misconception.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is a misconception we often have. The misconception that if a relationship is good and then explodes, it might explode in a big way.”
“Is that not true?”
“Rather, if you keep having small fights, one day it is bound to explode greatly. Those small fights may seem insignificant, but they wound people’s hearts and serve to heighten the atmosphere. Conversely, if you continue to maintain a good relationship, even something that might explode greatly will instead explode only a little. Do not doubt the power of those moments when you exchanged kind words, one sentence at a time.”
Those last words in particular touched her. She still felt good that she had ended the conversation with her mother without raising her voice.
Ju Hyangwol stared at him. It was as if her gaze were saying this.
How can you speak so well?
It would take a very long time to learn. I spent an entire lifetime becoming who I am now.
“Then I’ll be going. Thank you very much for today.”
At Ju Hyangwol’s farewell, Geom Mugeuk said,
“Since you have come all this way, you should meet the safest vault in the murim before you go.”
Geom Mugeuk sensed that she wanted to see his father. He also sensed that she could not bring herself to say it.
“Father is taking a walk in the back garden. Let us go.”
As she followed Geom Mugeuk toward the back garden, she stopped.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll just go today. Please only convey my regards later.”
“I will.”
Her steps quickened without her realizing it as she turned away. It was not because seeing him kept making her think of her own father. It was because she felt she must not meet him.
Watching her back as she departed into the distance, Geom Mugeuk spoke as if to himself. His gaze was directed toward her, but the words were for the person who would be listening clearly from far behind him.
“Isn’t it wonderful to come out into the Central Plains? You even get to confirm how popular you are. Father, when we get to Shaanxi, let us have a popularity contest.”
I could not see Father’s face at that moment, but somehow, I could imagine it.
The image of Father, with his aloof expression, not refusing this contest.
Absolute Regression, Chapter 458