Chapter 62
Byeok Cheol-Woon became slightly nervous when he discovered that Baek Mu-Gun stormed out of the inn and charged toward them using a step technique. Considering Mu-Gun noticed their approach despite their considerable distance from the inn, and the refined step technique he displayed, Cheol-Woon realized he was no ordinary martial artist. However, he was still confident he would overpower Mu-Gun.
“Knowing we’re coming, you came out of your own accord instead of fleeing. How courageous of you,” Cheol-Woon remarked when Mu-Gun was about fifty feet away from them.
“I doubt I require courage to deal with the likes of you,” Mu-Gun said, finding Cheol-Woon’s claim ridiculous.
“Now that I’ve taken a closer look, you exude arrogance, not courage.”
“You’re free to think however you want, but I find that quite funny. Talking about courage and arrogance is quite ridiculous for someone commissioned by the Myth Vault to kill someone who has done nothing wrong. Considering you’re still a righteous sect at the end of the day, aren’t you ashamed to do something like this?”
Cheol-Woon’s face turned red. He knew full well that this incident strayed from the righteous path. However, he still came to the inn under the justification that this was for the sake of the Byeok Sword Manor.
He couldn’t help but feel ashamed when Mu-Gun hit the bull’s eye, but he couldn’t step down now that he had come this far.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You killed and wounded our clan’s warriors, and we’re just holding you accountable for those crimes. This has nothing to do with the Myth Vault.”
“Your conscience would know the truth, but the things you’re doing now make me wonder if you actually have one.”
Cheol-Woon clenched his teeth. There was no use talking to Mu-Gun any further. It was better to finish this swiftly.
“That bastard killed a member of the Byeok Sword Manor. From this moment forth, we’ll make him pay for his sins! Attack!”
On Cheol-Woon’s order, the elite swordsmen of Byeok Sword Manor quickly surrounded Mu-Gun. However, instead of waiting for them to surround him, Mu-Gun moved to the left and swung his sword.
Rather than executing a technique, he simply swung his sword to the side. It was a very obvious attack, but the results stated otherwise. The sword qi that formed along his sword extended and encroached on the targeted space. Flustered by the golden sword qi that was pouring in like waves, the Byeok Sword Manor’s swordsmen, who were trying to surround Mu-Gun from the left, hurriedly thrust their swords. Unable to stop it with their skills, the golden sword qi easily tore through over twenty swordsmen’s defenses and severed their waists.
The remaining opponents froze in the face of the overwhelming sight, Cheol-Woon included. He immediately realized upon witnessing just one attack from Mu-Gun that their foe’s skills were far above the Peak Realm. He was dangerous.
Cheol-Woon had just learned that he had messed with someone he shouldn’t have. They had to surrender if they wanted to survive. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to escape from total annihilation. His pride made him hesitate to make a decision, however. In that brief moment of wavering, Mu-Gun unleashed another wave of golden sword qi from his sword, this time to his right. It devoured all the Byeok Sword Manor swordsmen in its path.
The result was no different from a while ago. Twenty swordsmen fell down to the ground with their waists severed, leaving only Cheol-Woon and ten swordsmen remaining. Cheol-Woon no longer hesitated this time.
“Stop! We surrender unconditionally. So, please sheathe your sword.”
“You have no say in whether I sheathe my sword or not.”
“What do I have to do for you to stop swinging your sword?” Cheol-Woon asked while clenching his teeth.
“If you reveal the truth as it is to the world, I will spare the rest of you.”
“That’s...”
“You better answer carefully. If you refuse, I will take the Byeok Sword Manor’s patriarch as a witness.”
Mu-Gun’s words caused Cheol-Woon to stiffen. Using Byeok Cheol-Gun, the Byeok Sword Manor’s patriarch, as a witness was tantamount to saying that he would attack the Byeok Sword Manor itself because Cheol-Gun refused to volunteer to become a witness. If Mu-Gun made up his mind and attacked, the Byeok Sword Manor wouldn’t be able to deal with him. To save the Byeok Sword Manor, he had to do as Mu-Gun said.
“Alright, I’ll do as you wish.”
“Great thinking. You will stay behind. The rest of you can leave after cleaning up this place.”
Mu-Gun subdued Cheol-Woon and went back into the inn. The swordsmen cleaned up the area as per Mu-Gun’s order. They then returned to the Byeok Sword Manor and gave a full-detail report on the incident that happened in the inn.
The survivors’ reports made Cheol-Gun realize that Mu-Gun was a master they couldn’t go up against. They still couldn’t be certain they could deal with him even with all of the Byeok Sword Manor’s combat forces. They would sustain devastating damages, which wasn’t ideal for the Byeok Sword Manor, even if they did manage to kill him.
Having to avoid losing any more of their forces, Cheol-Gun immediately headed to the Hangzhou Merchant Company to meet Jang Hyun-Chul.
“Considering you’re visiting this late, something has gone wrong, hasn’t it?” Hyun-Chul immediately guessed.
“That’s right. The target you gave us is a powerful master we can’t afford to go up against. To be honest, I can’t guarantee victory even if we mobilize the Byeok Sword Manor combat forces.”
“He’s that strong?”
“He killed forty of our elite swordsmen with only two attacks.”
“Is that even possible?”
“He’s at the Upper Peak Realm, at the very least. He could probably even be an Absolute Realm master. If we cross the line any further, the Byeok Sword Manor could be annihilated.”
“Does that man know that our company was involved in this matter?”
“I’m not sure about the Hangzhou Merchant Company, but he probably knows that the Myth Vault is a part of this. Our biggest problem right now is that he has captured a witness to testify to it.”
“A witness?”
“He’s holding one of the Ten Azure Swordmasters captive.”
“Sigh, how could you handle things so poorly?”
“You’re putting the blame on us? This honestly wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t greedy. No, things wouldn’t have gone this far if you had proper information about that man.” Cheol-Gun frowned upon Hyun-Chul’s audacity to blame them.
“Phew, I’m not trying to blame you. That was a mere slip of the tongue out of frustration at the fact that things didn’t go as planned. Please overlook this and understand where I’m coming from,” Hyun-Chul apologized after flinching at Cheol-Gun’s aggression.
“Fine. How do you plan to settle this incident?”
“Now that it’s come to this, I’ll have to go meet that man and negotiate with him.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“I’ll have to give him what he wants on the condition that he remains silent about this incident.”
“Is that possible?”
“There's nothing in the world that money can't do,” Hyun-Chul confidently said. That had always been the case all his life.
***
Early morning the next day, Jang Hyun-Sung, the Myth Vault owner, visited the inn where Mu-Gun was staying. He then asked the inn’s staff to pass on a message to Mu-Gun so they could meet.
Mu-Gun, who was in the guest room, headed down to the ground floor after hearing from the staff that he had a visitor.
“It’s that person.”
The staff pointed at Hyun-Sung, who was drinking tea. Mu-Gun nodded and approached Hyun-Sung.
“I heard you were looking for me?”
“I’m Jang Hyun-Sung, the Myth Vault owner.”
“Why would the Myth Vault owner personally come to see me?” Mu-Gun asked, pretending not to know.
“I sincerely apologize for the disgraceful matter that happened last night.”
“You aimed for my life. Do you think this will all be over if you simply apologize?”
“Of course not. We will compensate you accordingly. In return, take what happened last night to your grave and tell no one.”
“I’ll decide after hearing how much you think my life is worth.”
“Tell me how much you desire.”
“If I want it, will you give me everything?”
“That’s naturally impossible. However, we will try to match your demands to the best of our abilities.”
“Fine. If you pay me 200,000 silver nyang as compensation for yesterday’s matter, I’ll keep this a secret until I die.”
Mu-Gun originally thought of asking for 100,000 nyang, but he doubled the amount. Hyun-Sung’s expression slightly stiffened at Mu-Gun’s demand.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t give you that much due to the financial circumstances of the Myth Vault.”
“I heard the Myth Vault has great financial power. That doesn’t seem to be the case, though, considering you’re reluctant to pay a meager amount of 200,000 nyang.”
Hyun-Sung’s jaw trembled at Mu-Gun’s words, which trampled on the Myth Vault. His pride was hurt, but he couldn’t risk screwing things up by doing as he pleased here.
“Truthfully speaking, it is very demanding for us to immediately pay 300,000 nyang in interest on the principal amount of 200,000 nyang. If we have to pay an additional 200,000 nyang on top of that, the Myth Vault’s finances could falter greatly. Would it be possible for you to make a little bit of concession?” Hyun-Sung swallowed his pride and pleaded.
“Since you can’t meet my demands anyway, tell me the maximum amount that the Myth Vault can compensate me. I’ll make my decision after hearing that.”
Hyun-Sung couldn’t readily answer Mu-Gun. The maximum amount he was thinking of was around 100,000 silver nyang. However, Mu-Gun demanded 200,000 nyang just a while ago. Even if they couldn’t match that, they had to offer an amount close enough to it. It would be difficult to appease Mu-Gun with 100,000 nyang, which was only half of what he demanded.
That didn’t remove the fact that it would be financially burdensome to offer any higher than that. But if he couldn’t satisfy Mu-Gun’s demands, what the Myth Vault did would be known to the world, and their credibility would hit rock bottom. The people who deposited their money in the Myth Vault would swarm in to withdraw their funds. If that happened, not only the Myth Vault, but even the Hangzhou Merchant Company would fall to ruin. Saving a couple of thousand nyang right now wasn’t important.
“We will pay you 150,000 nyang in compensation.”
“Fine. I’ll be satisfied with that amount, considering the sincerity that the Myth Vault is showing. Prepare a total of 650,000 silver nyang by noon. Ready an appropriate cart to move that amount as well.”
“Understood.”
Mu-Gun settled with receiving 150,000 nyang as compensation, which was 50,000 nyang more than he originally wanted. He then sent Hyun-Sung back and had breakfast. After waiting until noon, the Baek Sword Corps’ warriors staying in an inn close to Hangzhou Port disguised themselves as porters and went to the Myth Vault. As promised, the Myth Vault had prepared 650,000 silver nyang and a cart.
The Baek Sword Corps warriors transported the cart containing the silver nyang to the port. The Eun Merchant Group’s ship, carrying chests holding a total of 650,000 silver nyang, soon departed from the Hangzhou Port and headed for Wenzhou.
***
Mu-Gun arrived in Wenzhou several days after departure. He waited until nighttime, then secretly moved the chests to the Baek Sword Sect. Afterward, he reported to Baek Cheon-Sang.
“Did everything go according to plan?” Cheon-Sang asked.
“There was a little conflict.”
“A little conflict?”
Mu-Gun explained what happened in Hangzhou.
“The Myth Vault aside, I didn’t expect the Byeok Sword Manor to do something so wicked,” Cheon-Sang commented afterward.
“Many sects and families in the world advocate themselves as a righteous clan, but only a few actually adhere to the path of righteousness. Many clans won’t hesitate to cross the line for their own benefit.”
“What do you think about the Baek Sword Sect?”
“We’ve been staying on the righteous path so far, at the very least.”
“I hope we will continue to do so. The Baek Sword Sect’s growth is important, but I don’t want us to do anything that will cause us to stray from the path of righteousness.”
“You are the Baek Sword Sect’s patriarch. Your will basically translate to the will of the clan. If staying righteous is what you desire, the Baek Sword Sect will naturally adhere to your will, Father.”
Cheon-Sang nodded with a satisfied expression upon hearing Mu-Gun’s remarks.
“I’m worried that the Myth Vault and the Byeok Sword Manor will hold a grudge against us over this matter and take revenge.”
“Don’t worry. I took proper measures to keep the Eun Merchant Group and the Baek Sword Sect’s identities hidden, so it’ll be difficult for them to find out who we are. Moreover, they know full well that it will be difficult to go up against my martial arts. They won’t dare think of taking revenge.”
“I’m glad to hear that. What do you plan to do with the additional compensation money you received this time?”
“I was the one who obtained the compensation, so it has nothing to do with the Heavenly Secret Hall. The Baek Sword Sect will take it.”
“With 150,000 silver nyang, we won’t have to worry about money for a while. It’s all thanks to you.”
“I just did what I had to.”
“You’re being too modest. You’re probably exhausted from traveling through the sea. Head back and rest.”
“Understood.”
“One last thing. We will be leaving for the Wind Saber Sect in three days, so prepare accordingly.”
The Zhejiang Martial Alliance held regular meetings once a year, and all ten clans took turns hosting the regular meetings. The Wind Saber Sect would be the one holding it this time. They were based in Jinhua, which was located in the center of Zhejiang Province.
It took about three to four days to reach Jinhua from Wenzhou, but they weren’t on a tight schedule. The regular meeting was still ten days away, after all.
“Okay.”
After bidding farewell, Mu-Gun left Cheon-Sang’s residence and returned home to turn in for the night.
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