Multiverse , Leveling Up in the World I Created

Chapter 427: 427 Return to the Volcano 13

After the treatment was finished, Lord Hwang’s complexion improved dramatically and he began to regain consciousness.

The Junior Sect Leader hurriedly approached Lord Hwang and spoke to him.

"Father, are you awake?!"

"Ah... Jong-ui. How long was I lying down?"

At Lord Hwang’s question, the Junior Sect Leader said with tears in his eyes.

"Father had been bedridden for several months, and I truly thought I would lose you.

Fortunately, the young master of the Jin Manor provided a precious elixir that saved your life."

"I see... Then you must be the young master of the Jin Manor."

"Yes, Father."

I cupped my fists and greeted him.

"I am Jin, the young master of the Jin Manor.

I congratulate you on your recovery, Lord Hwang, but I would ask that you keep the elixir a secret.

It’s something others might try to take."

"Indeed.

Understood.

I promise."

"And Lord Hwang, you said you were never attacked.

Is that true?"

"Yes, it’s true.

I was never attacked.

Why do you ask?"

"Then it means there is someone inside using demonic arts.

Most likely, they were slowly infusing demonic energy into your body."

"Wha, what did you say?

Demonic arts???"

"Yes."

I told Lord Hwang the same story I had told the Junior Sect Leader.

"Heh... I can’t believe it..."

"I don’t know if this is related to the Demonic Cult, but if there is someone using demonic arts, it is very dangerous."

"Then, what should we do?"

"The method is simple.

First, keep the fact that you have recovered a secret.

Then, have the Junior Sect Leader tell the household that I can make medicine to cure you, and have him gather various medicinal ingredients.

I will pretend to make a decoction from those ingredients.

Then, someone will inevitably try to interfere.

That person will be the culprit."

"Oh~ That’s a good idea.

But the opponent will be someone using demonic arts.

Isn’t that dangerous?"

"Don’t worry about that.

I am quite strong myself.

It won’t take long, so Lord Hwang can just rest here until the culprit is found."

"Understood.

I’ll do that."

With the plan set, I stayed at the lodging provided by the Silver Merchant Guild and waited for a while.

Then, as planned, the Junior Sect Leader made a big show of having found a way to cure his father and began delivering various medicinal ingredients to me.

I took those ingredients, pretended to brew the decoction with great care, and waited for the culprit.

Then, in the middle of the night, a masked assailant appeared, attacking both the decoction I was brewing and me, so I quickly subdued him by cutting off both his arms.

Here, there were only the two of us, so there was no need to hide my skills.

When my lodging became noisy, the Junior Sect Leader rushed over with the soldiers he had prepared in advance.

But he seemed utterly shocked to see the person I had subdued.

"I can’t believe it... The general manager was the one using demonic arts..."

"This man is definitely the one using demonic arts.

I checked his internal energy, and it matched the demonic energy that was in Lord Hwang."

"I see..."

Once I caught the culprit, the Silver Merchant Guild quickly began to stabilize, and the general manager confessed to all his crimes.

He probably thought that with both his arms cut off and seeing Lord Hwang healthy, further resistance was pointless.

The general manager poured out his story, including the fact that he was the son of a merchant family that had once competed with Lord Hwang, but no one felt sympathy for a criminal’s circumstances.

The demonic art he used was called ’Damsuma,’ and he said he had found the manual on a corpse he encountered deep in the mountains while on a business trip.

In the end, it had nothing to do with the Demonic Cult.

After everything was settled, the Silver Merchant Guild invited the best chefs for several days and treated me lavishly.

But to me, the food was just fancy and not particularly delicious.

However, the alcohol was decent, so I took a few bottles and drank them with Dongpo pork as an accompaniment.

’The Yeonhong they give here is quite good.’

It wasn’t that I hadn’t had Yeonhong during my time in the martial arts world.

But in this era’s China, quality control was nonexistent, so the taste varied by region, and I didn’t bother looking for it because I didn’t expect much.

But the Silver Merchant Guild, being a large guild that traveled to many places, seemed to know where to get good liquor.

Then, Lord Hwang visited my lodging with the Junior Sect Leader.

"I was worried you didn’t eat much of the food we prepared, but I’m glad you’re enjoying the pork and alcohol."

"It’s good liquor. I’m drinking it well."

When I said that, Lord Hwang suddenly bowed deeply to me.

Then he spoke respectfully.

"Please accept my greetings.

I have received a great debt of gratitude from the Jin Manor and the young master.

Not only did you use your family’s precious elixir to save my life, but you also caught the assassin and protected my family.

I can’t think of any way to repay this favor, but I want to do everything I can.

Please give me the opportunity to repay you.

If there is anything you desire, please tell me without hesitation."

I approached Lord Hwang, helped him up, and spoke.

"I would normally prefer not to expect anything in return... but since I used a precious elixir from the manor, I must receive something that the manor would find acceptable.

I apologize."

"No, that’s only natural.

So, what would you like..."

"What we need is a way to expand.

As you may know, our manor sells Western goods.

However, Sichuan, where we are located, is difficult to develop because the Sichuan Tang Clan holds almost all the commercial rights.

So we are looking for a place to open new shops.

We would like your help with that."

"Oh~ I see.

Of course, I will help you.

But that alone is not enough.

My life is not that cheap."

Lord Hwang said that and led me outside.

There, I saw two bars of gold bullion and a cart loaded with the Yeonhong I had been drinking earlier.

"This is too much."

"Hehe, not at all.

You should receive this much to show your face at the manor.

Also, I will give you a shop in the best location in Xi’an."

I thought about declining once more but decided to accept.

"Thank you."

Through this incident, the disciples at the manor who had only been training in martial arts now had work, and I was able to support the growing number of household members.

’This should be enough.’

As I said before, I had no intention of developing the manor significantly.

Drawing too much attention was never a good thing.

However, as time passed, the number of people at the manor continued to grow.

We were still in the black, but at this rate, we might soon be in the red again.

I could just spend my own money freely, but if that continued for a long time, people would inevitably find it strange.

That’s why I took on the Mount Hua job and made this request to the Silver Merchant Guild.

And I thought this much was fine.

Compared to other sects, the manor only managed a few of Mount Hua’s businesses and ran only two shops, so it wasn’t enough to draw public attention.

’I’ll use the money I received this time to expand the manor as well.’

I informed the manor lord of this matter via telepathy and, under the Silver Merchant Guild’s escort, moved the gold bullion and alcohol to Huayin at the foot of Mount Hua.

Then I sent the guild people away, stored everything in my inventory, returned to the manor, and handed over all the gold bullion to the manor lord.

The manor lord and general manager would use it well to expand and purchase necessary items.

I also filled the warehouse with Western goods in advance.

After finishing that work, I bought some chickens for Yui-seol and returned to Mount Hua.

"This is a fairly decent martial art, but it’s not complete. It feels like there are gaps in the middle..."

"Yes, that’s right. The Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique hasn’t been perfectly restored yet. But with the Sect Leader’s help, I’ve restored it to a usable level."

"I see."

After returning and having dinner, I was teaching Yui-seol the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique that I had roughly restored earlier.

It seemed to be a new stimulus for her, and she learned eagerly, but it couldn’t be helped that she regretted the missing parts.

Then I felt someone watching us.

"Who’s there!"

Then Cheongmyeong jumped out from behind a tree and stared at us in surprise.

"What is that sword technique? How do you know it..."

"Ah, it’s you. I thought it was someone else."

When I pretended to know him, Yui-seol asked me.

"Brother, do you know him?"

"Yes, he’s a kid I met when I went to buy chickens. He wanted to enter Mount Hua, so he came up with me and became a 3rd-generation disciple. I think his name was Cheongmyeong."

"Cheongmyeong? Has he already received his Taoist name?"

"No, I think his name is just Cheongmyeong. Right?"

When I asked Cheongmyeong, he nodded.

"But what are you doing at this hour? It’s already past curfew, and disciples aren’t allowed to be outside."

"W, well... I couldn’t sleep, so I sneaked out to train..."

"You fool! Even so, it’s dangerous to be out at this hour. Wild animals roam around. And it’s forbidden to watch others train."

"I see... By the way, what is your relationship?"

"Ah, this is Yui-seol. Since she couldn’t receive a Taoist name at Mount Hua, she entered as something similar to a lay disciple. She’s also my younger sister, and we’re betrothed."

At that, Cheongmyeong tilted his head in confusion.

"You’re betrothed to your younger sister?"

"That’s a bit misleading. To be precise, she’s not my blood-related sister."

"Ah! I see. Now I understand."

"Since you’re here, wait a moment. It’s snack time. Yiseol, watch him for a bit."

Yui-seol nodded in agreement.

I quickly fried three chickens and brought them with some alcohol.

"Here, eat. Today it’s seasoned chicken."

Cheongmyeong tilted his head again.

"Seasoned chicken?"

"That’s the name of this dish."

"I see."

We laid a cloth on the ground and sat down to eat the seasoned chicken.

Munch, munch.

Yui-seol ate much more than I expected, and Cheongmyeong seemed a bit surprised.

Seeing her cold and aloof self eating so eagerly, he probably felt it shattered her image.

After watching Yui-seol eat for a moment, Cheongmyeong picked up a piece of seasoned chicken and took a bite.

"Whoa! This is delicious! How does it taste like this?"

Cheongmyeong, having only eaten the bland food of the martial arts world, couldn’t hide his admiration after tasting my cooking.

He looked like he had experienced a new world.

"Is that so? That’s good. I fried a lot, so eat up."

At that, Cheongmyeong and Yui-seol began tearing into the chicken as if competing.

I just drank my alcohol and ate slowly.

"Master Jin, isn’t that alcohol?"

When I drank, Cheongmyeong stared at me, drooling.

As if asking for a sip.

"Yes, it is. I’d give you a sip... Ah, you’re too young. I’d get scolded by the Sect Leader. If you’re thirsty, I’ll give you water, so drink that."

Then Cheongmyeong stopped eating and began to think deeply.

He seemed to be figuring out how to get some alcohol.

Even though the chicken was delicious, alcohol took priority.

"Um... Master Jin. I’d like to try alcohol just once. I’m curious why adults like it so much."

I could see right through him.

He looked at me with the most innocent expression in the world, as if to say, "I’m genuinely just curious."

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

I felt sorry for Cheongmyeong trying so hard to get a drink, so I decided to allow it.

"Really? Then have just a little."

When I gave permission, Cheongmyeong’s eyes lit up like a man who hadn’t had water in days in the desert, and he snatched the bottle.

He looked like he was about to chug the whole thing.

But at that moment, Yui-seol, who had been watching from the side, reached out like lightning and snatched the bottle away.

Then, while Cheongmyeong stared in shock, she drank it all without leaving a single drop.

She put down the empty bottle and spoke firmly.

"3rd-generation disciple, no alcohol!"

"Th, that can’t be..."

Cheongmyeong looked utterly devastated at those words, as if he had lost his kingdom.

He pounded the ground, his eyes even welling up.

Not being able to drink seemed to have been that much of a shock.

And the funny thing was, while Cheongmyeong was like that, Yui-seol ate all the remaining seasoned chicken as if nothing had happened.

"Phew... Brother, I ate well. Let’s go back."

"Y, yeah, let’s. Cheongmyeong, you go back too. And since it’s your first time, I’ll let it slide, but don’t come out this late again. You’ll get scolded by your senior disciples."

"Sniff... my alcohol..."

It seemed Cheongmyeong didn’t hear a word I said.