Where the water had receded, only mud remained.
Some houses had collapsed, while others had rooms filled with mud.
People were clearing away a place where they sank into the mud up to their waists.
Children and adults alike were shedding tears. The women were struggling to salvage whatever household goods they could from the mud.
Two people were watching from a short distance away, and the woman among them was Geum Arin of the Golden Dragon Clan.
“Last night’s flood broke the embankment and swept over the village. Several people died because they could not escape in time.”
At the report from the Golden Dragon Clan’s chief steward beside her, Geum Arin let out a sigh.
“Have new houses built for those who lost their homes.”
The chief steward asked in surprise.
“You mean all of them?”
“Yes, build them all anew. Prepare places for them to stay for the time being as well, and send relief supplies.”
Geum Cheonbang, the head of the Golden Dragon Clan, had entrusted the clan’s affairs to Geum Arin and withdrawn from the front line. Now, every decision regarding the clan was hers to make.
“It will cost more money than you expect.”
The chief steward looked troubled, but Geum Arin was firm.
“That doesn’t mean we can simply stand by and watch them suffer, does it?”
This village was not far from the Golden Dragon Clan.
“I will request cooperation from the Murim Alliance and handle it together with them.”
“This is our territory. We should be the ones to take care of these people.”
“Did you not spend as much as one hundred thousand nyang for people in another region last time?”
She understood the chief steward’s worries.
“Are you afraid I’ll squander the main family’s wealth?”
“That is not it, but…”
He said that, but in truth, he was worried.
“I’m someone who loves money too. But this is something that must be done.”
The chief steward looked at her as if asking why she had changed so much, but she did not tell him.
“See to it at once.”
“Yes, understood.”
She stood there for a while, watching the restoration work. Not only the villagers, but also warriors carrying swords had come to help with the recovery.
The men cleared away heavy debris, and the women carried household goods out of the houses. There were also people looking after the children. To one side, they lit fires and cooked food to feed the children. The little ones, too young to understand, ran about laughing merrily.
At that moment, someone spoke behind her.
“The Golden Dragon Clan must be making a great deal of money these days.”
When she turned around in surprise, a middle-aged man was standing a short distance away. His face and body were round and soft, but in contrast to that harmless-looking face and figure, the presence and aura radiating from him were exceedingly sharp.
Geum Arin was an expert. She had once led a secret organization operated by the Golden Dragon Merchant Guild. Although she had been neglecting her martial arts training lately after formally inheriting the clan’s work, she still possessed enough keenness to discern an opponent’s strength at a glance.
‘He’s an expert.’
He was an expert powerful enough to make even her tense.
And the moment she saw him, she knew. He had not come with good intentions.
Srrrk.
A man with snow-white hair emerged from concealment in front of her.
He was Im Hyeok, Geum Arin’s personal bodyguard. As she had intended to come here without causing a commotion, she had brought only Im Hyeok with her.
Im Hyeok warned Geum Arin through sound transmission.
—He is an expert. Be careful.
After rumors spread through the merchant world that her father had stepped down, many things had happened.
Some tried to slash contract terms, thinking she knew nothing of the world, while others underestimated her and schemed in every possible way to profit from her.
There had been many tricks that did not work, but no one had ever come directly like this.
Im Hyeok drew his sword, but the man was not frightened in the slightest. Just from that, it was clear the man’s skill surpassed Im Hyeok’s.
Geum Arin signaled Im Hyeok to step aside. If the man had meant to kill her, he would not have appeared like this but would have ambushed her instead.
Geum Arin asked the man politely.
“May I ask Senior’s honored name?”
“People call me Blood Money Pouch.”
At the words Blood Money Pouch, Im Hyeok’s expression hardened. If the rumors of his skill were true, even if they attacked together, he would not be an opponent they could handle easily.
Geum Arin had also heard of Blood Money Pouch before.
Bearing the name of a pouch of bloody money, he was an extremely famous figure in the merchant world.
He was notorious as a vicious man who latched onto various merchant guilds throughout the Central Plains like a leech and extorted money from them.
One might wonder how much of an expert a man who did such things could possibly be, but in the murim, there were always exceptional experts.
They said money could make even ghosts obey, and the fact that he had survived while extorting money in the merchant world, where wealth overflowed, proved just how formidable an expert he was.
He liked exerting influence over the merchant world and enjoyed squeezing money out of them. The money he extorted this way was squandered on drink and gambling. There were times he scattered tens of thousands of nyang in a pleasure house in a single night.
“Someone of great fame has come.”
Blood Money Pouch replied with a broad grin.
“What is my fame compared to yours? Rumors are spreading everywhere that the Golden Dragon Clan has been saving the world these days.”
It seemed her recent acts of charity had reached this money-grubbing demon’s ears.
“There is a reason behind those good deeds.”
“What reason?”
“I made a promise. To live kindly.”
“With whom?”
Originally, she had not been the type to help people in need or make donations like this.
But after she became the successor of the Golden Dragon Clan, she had not spared money in doing good deeds.
She was living with the heart of repaying her past mistakes.
Following the will of one person who had helped make her the successor.
“There is someone whose name uses the character yeon, as in smoke. It is a promise I made with that person who vanished like smoke.”
Of course, Blood Money Pouch had no way of knowing what she meant.
“Why do you still keep someone who vanished like smoke in your heart?”
Because he had not been ordinary smoke. Even now, Geom Yeon came to mind from time to time. The astonishing things he had accomplished. It would be nice if she could see him even once more, but she would likely never see him again.
“Why have you come to see me?”
In truth, Geum Arin knew better than anyone why he had come, but she asked as if she did not.
“I have come to make a deal with you.”
“Please speak.”
He took a sheet of paper from his robe and held it out. When she read it, it was a contract stating that she would pay three hundred thousand nyang in exchange for protection from an enemy. It was not a small sum, but a demand for as much as three hundred thousand nyang.
“Who is the dangerous enemy written here?”
At Geum Arin’s question, he slowly approached her. Im Hyeok tried to stop him, but Geum Arin signaled that it was all right.
Since he had presented a contract, nothing would happen until she placed her handprint on it.
Blood Money Pouch came to her side and looked toward the place where restoration work was in full swing. In front of them, a man covered completely in mud passed by, carrying mud and broken household items in a handcart.
Watching him, Blood Money Pouch mentioned someone.
“According to the rumors, there is an exceedingly vicious fellow in the merchant world. They say that man is so greedy for money that he steals everything his opponent possesses and is not satisfied until he takes their life as well. I heard he is like the flood that swept through this place, a natural disaster merchants cannot stop.”
Blood Money Pouch turned his head and looked at Geum Arin as he said,
“I am saying I will protect you from that man.”
Geum Arin could tell. The vicious fellow he spoke of meant none other than Blood Money Pouch himself.
In other words, it was a brazen threat that if she did not hand over three hundred thousand nyang, he would steal all her money and kill her.
The reason he had prepared and brought a contract must be so that if the Murim Alliance later made an issue of this matter, he could claim it had been a legitimate transaction.
Geum Arin recalled an incident that had recently occurred in the merchant world.
“I heard a rumor that the guild master of the Nine Dragons Merchant Guild had one of his arms cut off not long ago. Was that also the work of that vicious man?”
It was known to the outside world that his arm had been lost in an accident. But looking at Blood Money Pouch, she felt certain he too had been victimized by this man.
As if her guess was correct, Blood Money Pouch defended the man.
“I think that vicious fellow showed mercy. After all, he ended it with just one arm.”
When her father had been the clan head, Blood Money Pouch had never once come to the Golden Dragon Clan. It was publicly known that her father was close to the leader of the Murim Alliance.
And now that she had taken charge of the clan’s affairs, he had come as if to show off. As if he had been waiting for this very moment.
Even so, the fact that he had come to her like this while her father was still very much alive meant that this man not only had the strength to back it up, but also possessed a boldness bordering on madness.
“I’m sorry, but I do not have that much money right now. If you come again later, I will give it to you then.”
“You have money to build houses for those people, though?”
He had overheard the conversation she had shared earlier with the chief steward. That was why he had said the Golden Dragon Clan must be making a great deal of money these days.
“Good. Let us do this, then. First, I will take only the money you planned to use to build their houses. As for the rest, I will consider it money I have lent you. I will charge only one-tenth in interest per day.”
He set conditions she could not accept.
He was someone who enjoyed this process. The amount of money was not what mattered; what mattered to him was the other person’s reaction.
When Geum Arin gave no answer, another threat flowed out.
“Ah, you probably have not heard that rumor. They say that before the head of the White Dragon Merchant Guild had his arm cut off by that vicious man, the guard protecting him had his neck cut off first. You had not heard that, had you? After all, the only thing you people care about is money. The head of the White Dragon Merchant Guild shouted that he would not pay because he trusted the guard protecting him. In the end, that guard was the only one who became pitiful. I hear he even had a family.”
It was a threat that he would kill Im Hyeok as well. He would steal their money and mock them too. Blood Money Pouch was acting with utter arrogance.
His threat led to the drawing of his sword.
Srrrng.
“I will ease our young family head’s worries as well. Originally, when a subordinate’s neck is cut off, decisions tend to be made quickly.”
As he moved to kill Im Hyeok, Geum Arin said coldly,
“If you lay a hand on us, the Murim Alliance will not stand by.”
But Blood Money Pouch was certain she would not be able to inform the clan head of this matter.
“You are the one leading the clan, yet you cannot handle your own affairs and will go complain to your father? Go ahead and try.”
She had put forward the Murim Alliance, but it did not work.
“Even if the Murim Alliance comes to investigate, I will give half of the three hundred thousand nyang as a bribe to the one who comes. Let us see whether that fellow chooses justice or money.”
Blood Money Pouch chuckled as he enjoyed the situation. There was nothing more pleasurable than the thrill of stealing what was most important to someone.
“I will kill this man and cut off one of your arms.”
Blood Money Pouch mocked her.
“Then again, even without an arm, someone else will count your money for you. They will feed you and wash you too. That is the good thing about being rich.”
Geum Arin’s expression hardened. What if there was no guarantee they could win if they fought him?
“I will place my handprint.”
She could not lose Im Hyeok over three hundred thousand nyang.
“If you kill him, then you will have to go to my father to receive that handprint.”
She meant that she would die here as well.
“Then I will take just one arm from this man.”
Just as Blood Money Pouch raised his sword to cut off Im Hyeok’s arm,
Geum Arin drew her sword and stood in front of him. He had guarded her since she was young.
“Not even a single hair!”
Im Hyeok stepped in front of her again and said,
“I am all right, Young Family Head.”
If only she could remain unharmed, he could offer not just an arm, but his life.
“When you act so tenderly toward each other, how can I not kill him? If only to see what kind of reaction you will have.”
Just as he raised his sword high,
Splat.
Something flew at Blood Money Pouch.
Thinking it was a hidden weapon, Blood Money Pouch looked down at himself in surprise, only to find that it was mud.
When he raised his head and looked, the young man who had been moving trash with a handcart had thrown mud from the cart at him.
“What are you doing? Everyone else is working, and you’re over here fighting!”
For a moment, Blood Money Pouch was dumbfounded. The one who had interfered was absurd enough, but had he really just let that mud hit him? It must have hit him because there had been no killing intent at all.
Blood Money Pouch looked at the young man. He wore a sword, but there was no trace that he had trained in martial arts at all.
Above all, the reason he felt no tension whatsoever was that the young man’s face and entire body were covered in mud. A true expert could not possibly be doing this kind of restoration work.
Blood Money Pouch laughed loudly, as if amused.
“Have you lost sight of everything because you lost your home?”
At that moment, Geum Arin’s eyes gradually widened as she looked at the young man.
“No way?”
At first glance, his face had seemed familiar. Since his whole body was covered in mud and his face was smeared with it, she had not recognized him at once. But when she heard his voice, she knew.
“Geom Yeon!”
Astonishingly, the person who had been passing by while pulling the handcart was none other than Geom Mugeuk.
It was the first time Geum Arin had ever been this glad to see someone. She was truly glad. She was so happy she almost cried out in delight.
“Why are you here?”
“I was on my way to meet you, but I couldn’t just pass these people by, so I was helping them.”
“You were on your way to see me? Why me?”
“Have you already forgotten? I said I would introduce you to my friends next time.”
That was right. Geom Mugeuk had said that. That he had friends who were pure despite their positions. That he would introduce her to people like that.
Geum Arin had interpreted his words like this: the position of young head of the Golden Dragon Clan was not so extraordinary, so do not make a fuss and live kindly.
She had thought that was what he meant, but he had truly come to introduce his friends.
Blood Money Pouch’s expression had hardened. It bothered him that this man knew Geum Arin. That meant he had approached intentionally.
Sure enough, Geom Mugeuk threw an unexpected question at Blood Money Pouch.
“You have saved up a lot of money, haven’t you?”
“Why do you ask?”
“My friends have such sharp ears, you see. They all heard. I also tattled a little.”
It meant they had heard the conversation between him and Geum Arin.
“They all want to cut off your arms.”
“What?”
“There are five people in my party besides me, so not only your arms but even your legs have all been reserved. It seems you’ll have to spend the rest of your life lying down and eating only the food someone else feeds you. I think you’ll need a lot of money.”
Blood Money Pouch’s expression stiffened at once. To dismiss it as the nonsense of a madman felt strangely wrong.
“One person in particular got very angry. Why did you have to bring up the Murim Alliance? I will try to stop him, but during this journey, he regained his true nature and has become very rough and violent. He may even switch over to the unorthodox faction.”
Blood Money Pouch could not understand what this mud-covered young man in front of him was talking about.
Geom Mugeuk turned to look behind him, where the restoration work was in full swing, and said,
“Now then, allow me to introduce my friends.”