Chapter 61. The Cold Glint of a Well-Polished Sword (8)
Si-Hyeon had handed the Luminous Night Pearl to Woo-Moon earlier, so he took the initiative.
“You see, it’s a very expensive item. Can you really take responsibility for it, old man?”
Woo-Moon’s question seemed to offend the elderly man’s pride.
“I am the deputy branch manager. I can handle it, so please continue.”
Hearing the deputy branch manager’s confirmation, Woo-Moon lowered his voice down to a whisper and said, “A Luminous Night Pearl.”
The eyes of the bespectacled elderly man widened in shock. However, Woo-Moon’s words were too difficult for him to take at face value. After all, how could just any random person have a Luminous Night Pear?
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
Woo-Moon pulled a box out of his sleeve and opened it just slightly. Even through that small gap, a glow was clearly visible—there was a light-emitting pearl sitting by itself in the box.
“O-oh! J-just wait a moment. You there! Take these people to the highest-grade room!”
“Yes, sir.”
As Woo-Moon, Si-Hyeon, and Mu-Jae followed a maid and headed toward a drawing room, the old man ran to the branch manager.
‘It’s real!! It’s a Luminous Night Pearl! A Luminous Night Pearl!!!’
In the meantime, the trio sat down in a luxurious room, where they were offered tea.
“Why didn’t you tell them you were from the Baek Family?”
“Well, considering this is a personal matter, I felt a little uncomfortable throwing around the name of the Iron Sword Baek Family. Also...to be honest, there’s a part of me that hopes they’ll try something. There’s no way they would attempt anything if we tell them we’re from the Baek Family.”
“Huh? Why would you want such a thing?”
Woo-Moon responded with a smile that looked eerily like his grandfather’s.
“Well, you see, once they cross the line and try to swindle us, we can demand...compensation. After all, they’ll be the ones who offended us, not the other way around.”
“Ah...”
Si-Hyeon suddenly felt a little dispirited. Before, Woo-Moon had been a really kind and innocent person. However, at some point, after he had met his grandfather, things had changed completely.
‘It seems that because my senior brother has been obsessed with that landscape painting since he was young, he was a completely na?ve and innocent young man, so when he met Grandfather, he just wanted to be more like him....’
Obviously, she thought that Sang-Woon had corrupted his grandchild, but there was something she didn’t know—before losing himself to the landscape painting and becoming a fool, Woo-Moon himself had been a troublemaker who ran amok in the village all day.
Now that he was back to his normal personality, Woo-Moon had been showing a side of himself that even seemed to surpass Sang-Woon’s mischievousness these days.
‘Still, he shouldn’t copy Grandfather's wanderlust at the very least... ha...’
As Si-Hyeon was sighing to herself, the maid from before came into the room again.
“The branch manager would like to meet you. Please follow me.”
Following her guidance, Woo-Moon and his party walked to the deepest part of the Hefei Branch of the Golden Dragon Bank.
“Branch manager, I have brought the guests.”
The branch manager was a fat middle-aged man in his early forties wearing a blue robe. He raised both hands and welcomed Woo-Moon and the others. After briefly exchanging greetings and sitting down, the branch manager, Go Mu-Dong, seemed to be in quite a hurry and quickly got to the point.
“I heard you brought a Luminous Night Pearl with you. Do you mind if I inspect it?”
Woo-Moon took the box out of his sleeve and opened it again. Instantly, the somewhat dim room became brightly lit.
“Oooooh! I can’t believe it, to think it’s a real Luminous Night Pearl! This is a treasure among treasures, even I’ve never seen one before. This is truly amazing!”
Woo-Moon noticed Go Mu-Dong slightly pulling on a piece of thread that was sticking out from under the table in front of him. Although he had cleverly covered the motion with his clothes, he hadn’t been able to avoid Woo-Moon’s gaze.
‘Wow, he’s pretty good at that. He must have worked at a casino when he was younger.’
“The only thing that’s a shame is that it’s not that big. Anyway, what are you looking to sell it for?”
This time, Si-Hyeon came forward to speak, her eyes smiling beneath the veil.
“We don’t know the exact value yet, so what do you think about giving us a suggestion first, mister manager?”
Hearing that, Go Mu-Dong expressed his disapproval.
“Hmm. Well, this is also my first time seeing the Luminous Night Pearl...”
“We wouldn’t dare to offend you by naming a price. It would only be right for you to offer us a suggestion first.”
“Well...”
While they were fighting over who would set the first price, the maid from before came over with a tea set.
“Why don’t we talk slowly over some tea,” the branch manager said with a warm smile.
“Thank you."
Si-Hyeon and Go Mu-Dong both smiled again, clearly engaged in a battle of wits. At the same time, Woo-Moon also grinned. He could feel that the energy of the Forbidden Divine Art was stirring, sending him a warning.
Then, at the moment that the maid poured him a cup of tea, Eun-Ah cried out softly.
Growl!
The maid was startled by the sudden sound while Go Mu-Dong sipped his tea as if he hadn’t heard a thing. Seeing Go Mu-Dong drink without harm, Si-Hyeon and Mu-Jae both reached for their teas as well. However, Woo-Moon stopped them right before they took their first sips.
“Wait just a moment.”
Woo-Moon looked at Go Mu-Dong, but the man just looked surprised at his reaction.
‘Ho ho, you’re quite the actor, aren’t you?’
“Haha. What might be the problem, young sir? Is the tea not to your liking? We have some other types as well if you’d like.”
Woo-Moon chuckled and pushed his teacup with his scabbard toward the branch manager. With a steely glint in his eyes, he said, “Drink it.”
Go Mu-Dong’s expression shifted slightly.
At that moment, Si-Hyeon and Mu-Jae also noticed that something was strange. Naturally, they trusted Woo-Moon, so they also looked at Go Mu-Dong suspiciously.
“Haha. I’m afraid you may be misunderstanding something...”
Right at that moment—
SHING! SQUELCH!!!
Woo-Moon’s sword flew out from his scabbard with a flash of white light, and a moment later, red blood splattered on the walls. Four men had suddenly jumped out from the ceiling and tried to cut down Woo-Moon, Si-Hyeon, and Mu-Jae’s! Yet, these very four men suddenly split into eight pieces and fell to the ground.
“I hate people who use poison the most.” Woo-Moon smiled coldly, his cheeks splattered with blood.
“Eeek!!”
Go Mu-Dong took a step back and shouted, “W-what are you doing?! Hurry up and get rid of these bas—”
Crack!!!
Before Go Mu-Dong could finish his sentence, Woo-Moon moved like the wind and stabbed the wall in three places. Rather than dust or splinters, however, his blade was now covered in blood.
“It seems there were a lot of rats.”
At the same time, people dressed in black rushed out from a secret door on one side of the room, brandishing swords and sabers.
Clang!!!
As Mu-Jae and Si-Hyeon struggled to block the attacks of the men dressed in black, Woo-Moon shouted, “Both of you hide behind me!”
Then, he stepped on the table and jumped forward as he thrust his sword below him, causing three of the men dressed in black to collapse with holes in their chests.
While Woo-Moon fought, he wondered if this really was just a branch of the Golden Dragon Bank.
Those who had appeared ranged from Second Class to First Class in cultivation, people strong enough to be called experts among gangho.
However, none of them could stand for even a second before Woo-Moon.
Go Mu-Dong fell on his butt in terror as the warriors he had boasted about died like flies.
“W-what are you doing, Saber Demon? Are you really only going to show yourself after I die?”
Woo-Moon had already taken down all twelve men dressed in black when he felt a sharp wave of qi coming from outside. He pushed Si-Hyeon and Mu-Jae further behind him.
“Hoho, how impressive. And these bastards weren’t weak, either. Your sword is quite something, kid.”
Appearing before them was a saber wielder in his late thirties. When he showed up, Go Mu-Dong breathed a sigh of relief. The man before him was someone he had gone to great lengths to hire. The man was rude and arrogant, but his skills were so great that he couldn’t afford to let him go.
This man was one of the four strongest saber wielders in Anhui Province. He was the Peak Martial Artist known as the Saber Demon, who had just recently crossed the threshold of the First Class.
“Old pig. Is it fine if I kill everyone here?”
“Why are you asking the obvious?! Kill them all right now!!”
Woo-Moon, who had been listening to their conversation, couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“You’re in the mood to laugh now? I guess the young ones are fearle—”
The Saber Demon’s eyes widened right in the middle of his sentence as Woo-Moon’s figure suddenly blurred and disappeared. Woo-Moon had just used the Divine Phantasm Step, which had now reached the sixth level!
Woo-Moon rapidly shortened the distance between them, appearing right before the Saber Demon as if he was a ghost.
“Heup!”
“What?! What sort of footwork is that?!”
Woo-Moon’s sword seemed to move slowly as it approached the Saber Demon’s neck.
‘He’s slow!’
The moment he was about to strike down the sword, however, the sword seemed to glide on the very air currents around the Saber Demon’s blade.
‘Cold Snow!’
Saber Demon was only just barely able to escape being fatally injured by quickly twisting his waist. However, Woo-Moon’s attack didn’t just end there. His sword turned upward and swung toward the ceiling. The moment it reached its apex, a rain of sword qi torrented down!
All Saber Demon could do was use every ounce of his power to block and dodge. In an instant, his entire body was soaked in blood.
Eventually, as Heavy Rain came to an end, Woo-Moon’s sword flicked forward, unleashing Raging Wind.
Without even looking at the sword that had dug into his chest, the Saber Demon looked at Woo-Moon with eyes full of resentment and astonishment and said, “Perfect Peak Stage Martial Artist?”
As soon as he finished his final words, his head fell to the ground.
“Eeek!!!”
When even the Saber Demon, whom he had full faith in, was defeated so easily, Go Mu-Dong screamed and tried to run away. However, he wasn’t even able to take five steps; before he knew it, Si-Hyeon had placed the edge of a sword to his neck.
“Where do you think you’re trying to run?”
“P-please let me live. Please, just let me go with my life...”
“What are you going on about? It’s not like we’re any bandits or anything. No, my dear manager, you are the real bandits here. You’re even willing to commit murder! We are only here to discuss the price of the Luminous Night Pearl, you know? Oh, by the way, there’s also the compensation we deserve for the attempt on our lives,” Si-Hyeon said, smiling brightly.
Now that he was looking at her from up close, Go Mu-Dong was able to see that her face, hidden beyond the veil, was actually incredibly beautiful. But the moment he saw her cold smile, he couldn’t help but get goosebumps all over.
Si-Hyeon grabbed Go Mu-Dong and began to systematically search him and remove all his possessions. Since she was a merchant herself and they’d had dealings with the bank, she had a rough estimate of Go Mu-Dong’s personal wealth. Even if he tried to lie to her, she would be able to discover it quickly.
As Woo-Moon had no intention of getting involved in this part, he walked around and looked at the calligraphy scrolls on the wall.
However, as he did so, he felt something strange.
Every time he got close to a certain piece, Go Mu-Dong would twitch and look over at him. Woo-Moon pretended not to notice as he paced around the area, raising Go Mu-Dong’s anxiety levels. After pacing in circles several times, he was able to figure out exactly where Go Mu-Dong’s worries lay.
Woo-Moon approached the place where he noticed Go Mu-Dong would display the most anxiety and looked over at the branch manager. Go Mu-Dong was sweating profusely—on the one hand, from the anxiety of Si-Hyeon plundering all of his wealth, and on the other hand, from worrying about Woo-Moon. Nevertheless, he forced himself to smile when their eyes met.
“Haha...”
In response to Go Mu-Dong's laughter, Woo-Moon grabbed the piece of calligraphy and tore it off the wall.
“EEEK!”
While Go Mu-Dong was shocked and terrified, Si-Hyeon looked over and saw a handle where Woo-Moon had torn the calligraphy off the wall. As Woo-Moon grabbed the handle and pulled it, one of the walls slid over to the side with a creak, revealing a small and dark room.
“Oho! What else could be in here? It really is hidden quite well.”
Woo-Moon was truly impressed.
It was such a cleverly hidden mechanism that he hadn’t even realized that there was an empty space there.
“T-there’s nothing special in there. Haha. It’s a terribly inauspicious place, you’ll feel quite irritated if you go in.”
“It’s fine. You think ghosts are going to eat me or what?”
Despite Go Mu-Gong’s attempts to dissuade him, Woo-Moon went inside. He discovered that the small room was in fact the top of a seemingly endless spiral staircase that descended into darkness.
Cold sweat poured down Go Mu-Dong’s face like rain as Si-Hyeon forced him to follow Woo-Moon down the stairs while Mu-Jae stood guard at the very back.
The further they went down, the louder the sound of people’s voices became.
‘Who could they be? Why does it seem like quite a few people are here, too?’
Eventually, he arrived at the bottom and opened the door to see about a hundred people gathered there, shouting something with great vehemence.
“Two hundred taels!”
“Damn it, fine! I’ll pay three hundred taels!”
“Three hundred and fifty!”
“Four hundred!”
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