Chapter 44
Chapter 44: Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven
“Ugh, hic, waaah…!”
For quite some time, Chudal wept uncontrollably, gasping for breath as a flood of tears poured down his cheeks.
Watching the boy unravel, a vivid memory from Yanghwi’s previous existence surfaced in his mind.
Well, would you look at that. In all my days, I’ve never seen Chudal shed a single tear.
Back then, Yanghwi had crossed paths with Chudal only a few years prior to reaching his thirtieth year. By that point, Chudal had already matured into a seasoned warrior, battered and tempered by the gritty turmoil of the jianghu; breaking down in tears at that stage would have seemed utterly bizarre. Even so, the man had always worn his heart on his sleeve, laying bare every sensation and sentiment without the slightest pretense of false bravado.
I will ensure you have the freedom to live just as openly this time around. In truth, your path in this life shall eclipse your last by far.
In that bygone era, a persistent pang of sorrow had struck Yanghwi whenever his gaze fell upon Chudal. Although the boy did not match his own extraordinary caliber, Chudal was undeniably gifted enough to be heralded as a prodigy. Yet, deprived of a proper foundation and elite backing, his martial growth had fallen tragically short of his raw potential—a reality that had long weighed heavily upon Yanghwi’s conscience.
In this lifetime, we won’t settle for a modest journey of a hundred li. Let us aim for a thousand—no, ten thousand li.
Carrying a gentle curve on his lips, Yanghwi patiently stood by until Chudal’s sobs subsided. At last, wiping the wet streaks from his flushed face, Chudal offered his heartfelt appreciation.
“I am deeply indebted to your benevolence, Boss.”
“Benevolence? Don’t make a fuss over nothing.”
“You shattered the chains of the Heartless Art they forced upon me.”
“Ah, that rubbish. Squandering a talent like yours on a gutter-grade technique like the Heartless Art would be an absolute crime. Once we reach the main family estate, you will be schooled in genuine, supreme martial arts.”
Yanghwi had already devised a grand blueprint for the boy. Chudal possessed the natural agility of a feline predator, coupled with an uncanny knack for wiping away every trace of his own presence—and the Baek Estate housed an instructor uniquely suited to cultivate those exact gifts.
“At any rate, now that your tears have dried, it is time to move. Clamber up here beside me.”
“Understood, Boss.”
“Hold on, you little pests! Who gave you permission to turn my back into a lounging parlor? Now that both of your heads have cleared, plant your feet on the dirt, the pair of you!”
Hearing Gu Ak erupt in anger, Yanghwi adopted an expression of unabashed innocence and cried out,
“Aaargh! The lingering internal trauma from that bloody clash back at the Yu Estate… urgh, my vital energy!”
“Cut the theatrics! I know full well you haven’t sustained a single scratch, you shameless imp!”
Tch, saw right through it. Time to switch approaches.
Without missing a beat, Yanghwi began shuddering violently from head to foot, quivering like a leaf caught in an icy gale.
“Ah…! The crushing psychological agony of taking a human life for the very first time…! If only someone among our ranks had attained the apex realm, a tender eight-year-old child would never have been subjected to such slaughter…”
“…….”
Gu Ak went utterly rigid. When he turned the thought over in his mind, the grim truth remained that an eight-year-old boy had just been forced to stain his hands with blood. He had momentarily forgotten because Yanghwi seldom carried himself like an ordinary youth, yet by all natural laws, an experience that gruesome had to inflict profound emotional trauma.
No matter how unnaturally mature he behaves, he remains a mere child. If anything, because he conceals it behind that shrewd facade, the agony might simply be buried out of sight.
“…Are you truly unwell?”
“How could anyone be sound of mind? My hands will not cease their trembling, and it takes every ounce of my will just to swallow down my sobs, you know.”
“Forgive me. In hindsight, I failed miserably in my duties to safeguard you.”
“In that case, may I continue riding up here?”
“…Remain where you are.”
Behind Gu Ak’s turned head, Yanghwi flashed a triumphant smirk. Naturally, the notion of battle shock from a maiden kill was a complete fiction.
I roamed the perilous winds of the jianghu as a wandering blade for nearly two decades. What sort of childish fright would snuffing out a life stir in me now?
Regardless, the ploy had worked to perfection.
“…I will walk. I believe my strength has returned.”
Chudal, who had been perched atop the travel bundle strapped to Gu Ak’s back while nervously gauging the atmosphere, began to clamber downward, but Yanghwi caught his arm.
“Now, now. Chudal, our esteemed Brother Gu possesses an ocean of benevolence. He is hardly the sort of heartless brute who would force a fledgling child, fresh from unconsciousness, to march on foot.”
“…Enough. You stay put as well.”
“See? Did I speak falsely?”
“Thank you ever so much.”
“Splendid. Never forget this golden rule: stay obedient to your elder brother, and blessings will shower upon you even while you slumber.”
Gu Ak seethed quietly beneath his breath, grinding his teeth at how Yanghwi was greedily harvesting all the gratitude while he was the one reduced to a pack mule. Meanwhile, Yanghwi raised an arm high, his voice ringing with authority.
“Then let our journey resume! Onward to the Baek Estate!”
“Straight to the Baek Estate? Did you not insist before we departed that our itinerary required a detour to the Baekseo antiquarian bookshop in Nanchang, Little Brother?”
“Well, it lies along our natural path regardless, does it not? In the end, it makes no difference whatsoever.”
In order to journey from Jiujiang, where Chudal had been residing, to Muju, the seat of the Baek Estate, their route unavoidably cut straight through Nanchang.
“Very well then, mush! Faster!”
“…….”
“Are your legs asleep? Giddyup, let’s go!”
Gu Ak made a silent, solemn vow to the heavens: should a foul bog or mire present itself along this road, he would heave this insufferable rascal headfirst into the muck.
It took a span of three days to reach Nanchang. Under normal circumstances, traversing such an expansive expanse by carriage would have consumed more than six days, but through Gu Ak’s relentless pace and his mastery of lightfoot techniques, they halved the duration of the trek.
“Well, Chudal, what do you think? Is this your maiden voyage to the provincial capital?”
Nanchang stood proudly as the jewel of Jiangxi Province. Whether measured in vast territory or the sheer spectacle of its roaring commercial quarters, it outstripped the rustic confines of Ak’an County beyond all comparison. Yet, rather than offering a straightforward reply, Chudal peered at Yanghwi with a guarded, skeptical squint.
“If I admit it’s my first visit, are you going to ridicule me for being a backwater rustic?”
When they first set out, Chudal had maintained stiff, reverent speech, but his current phrasing was every bit as crooked as his sideways glance. This transformation was the direct consequence of Yanghwi spending every waking hour over the past three days teasing the living daylights out of him. Though Chudal had originally harbored deep reverence toward Yanghwi for rescuing him from the brink, no living soul possessed the patience to endure Yanghwi’s relentless, mischievous barbs unscathed.
“Your wide eyes betray everything anyway. Drink it all in while you can. We will only tarry here for a day or two before pressing onward to the Baek Estate.”
“Hmph! I outgrew gawking at merchant stalls ages ago!”
“Listen to you bluster, and you’ve barely reached seven summers.”
“You’re only eight yourself, Boss!”
“…You insolent brats! Just how much longer do you intend to wage your petty bickering atop my spine?!”
Unable to stomach another breath of their banter, Gu Ak finally roared in fury. Giving the man an apologetic pat, Yanghwi and Chudal swiftly slipped down to the cobblestones. Bunking atop him had been harmless along the secluded wilderness roads, but the vibrant markets of the city were thick with roving onlookers. Gu Ak guarded his dignity with fierce pride, so allowing him to preserve a measure of face was a wise investment—it ensured they could commandeer his back as a mount on future travels.
“Even so, how do you expect us to pinpoint the Baekseo antiquarian bookshop within an ocean of streets as sprawling as Nanchang? Do you know the path, Little Brother?”
“Brother Gu. Did you truly accept the post of our escort without even bothering to ascertain such basic intelligence?”
“…….”
“Chudal, observe the sheer negligence of our Brother Gu. Take care never to mimic his slipshod ways.”
Chudal found himself entirely unable to nod along. The thunderous, shifting hues of crimson and indigo storming across Gu Ak’s contorted visage were far too menacing to invite further provocation.
How on earth can Boss gaze upon a face that terrifying without his spirit trembling even a sliver?
A mere single year separated their ages, yet their reserves of audacity seemed to inhabit completely different planes. Or perhaps the boy’s liver had simply swollen until it crowded out every trace of fear. To Chudal’s bewildered mind, that was the only plausible explanation.
“Relax, Brother Gu. I know the way like the back of my hand.”
Taking the lead, Yanghwi steered the small entourage toward a bustling commercial district sprawling across the southern sector of Nanchang.
“Just ahead. That establishment is the Baekseo antiquarian bookshop.”
“I was led to believe they dealt strictly in volumes of literature, yet the compound is remarkably vast.”
“Using the title of an antiquarian bookshop is merely humble decoration; in truth, their enterprise functions as a merchant firm specializing in publications and premium paper.”
“Understood. Then let us step inside and secure a hot meal first. After sleeping beneath open skies and gnawing on stale travel rations for days on end, my tongue feels like parched gravel.”
Alas, Gu Ak’s humble longing was doomed to disappointment. Crossing the threshold into the Baekseo antiquarian bookshop, they were greeted not by the serene scent of ink and parchment, but by a scene of utter devastation. Spotting Chu Yongwol standing amid several laborers who were grimly clearing away shattered debris, Yanghwi called out over the wreckage.
“Young Mistress Chu!”
“Ah… could it be, Young Hero Baek…?”
“What kind of disaster has swept through here?!”
“That is… what could have possibly brought you all the way across the province from Muju to our doorstep…?”
“What else would it be? More than half a year has drifted by without a single whisper of correspondence following our substantial investment. I came personally to discern the reason for the silence.”
Yanghwi had previously entrusted the establishment with the printing rights to three complete narrative sagas. Even considering the arduous labor required to engrave the wooden printing blocks and press the paper, enduring more than six months without a single missive was beyond reasonable patience. That very irregularity had prompted Yanghwi to alter his course and pay an unannounced visit.
“…I have no words to justify our failure.”
Standing before the boy, Chu Yongwol bent her waist and lowered her head in heartfelt, unreserved contrition.
“I offer my most wretched apologies. Not only did our establishment miss the designated window of completion, but we also committed the grave discourtesy of failing to send word of our delays.”
“Our Baek clan is hardly a tyrant that grinds its commercial associates beneath its heel without mercy. Did some unavoidable catastrophe strike your operations?”
Chu Yongwol gave a faint, troubled nod, extending an arm toward the corridor.
“…This is hardly a matter fit to be aired in the public hall. Please, step into the inner quarters.”
She ushered the group into a private salon nestled at the rear of the property. A short moment later, an attendant served warm tea. Chu Yongwol released a heavy, weary breath that carried the accumulated misery of recent weeks before she finally began to unpack the grievance.
“To speak candidly… our Baekseo antiquarian bookshop is burdened by substantial debt.”
“A debt? Why was this critical detail withheld during our initial discussions?”
“Because at that juncture, it posed no grave threat to our enterprise. Securing moderate leverage to finance the expansion of a commercial outfit is ordinary practice. The calamity lies in who holds the ledger…”
Three dominant merchant outfits in Nanchang perpetually vied for supremacy over the local markets. Chief among them stood the Namgeum Merchant Guild, an organization whose principal wealth was built upon ruthless usury and loan-sharking. In their bid to enlarge their operations, the bookshop had turned to them for funds. That single misstep had seeded their present ruin.
“It was our own foolish complacency that unraveled us. Because their collectors did not aggressively demand repayment the moment the maturity date lapsed, letting the debt drift past one month, and then another, we allowed our guard to drop.”
Placing faith in their sweet assurances that updating the covenant was unnecessary since they harbored no immediate desire to call in the coin had proven to be a catastrophic blunder. The very second word spread that the bookshop had secured a massive financial infusion from an outside patron, the Namgeum Merchant Guild ripped away its amiable mask.
“From the very beginning, the Namgeum Merchant Guild extended those funds with the explicit malice of devouring our printing firm whole. That was why they conveniently looked the other way regarding the overdue terms without formalizing an extension on paper.”
“Is it impossible for you to simply clear the balance?”
The capital funneled into expanding the workshop was tied up in infrastructure and would take significant time to liquidate into liquid silver. Meanwhile, the Namgeum Merchant Guild was dispatching bands of ruffians almost every single day to batter down the doors and smash the inventory to splinters.
“We could never bring ourselves to surrender the silver entrusted to us by the Baek clan to those vultures. We were fighting with our bare nails simply to hold that line when you graced us with your arrival, Young Hero.”
As Chu Yongwol concluded her sorrowful account, Yanghwi rapidly organized the moving pieces within his thoughts.
Viewed from a certain angle, this storm erupted because of our presence.
The Baek Estate had transferred a staggering fortune into the printing house’s coffers. Realizing their insidious plot to seize the firm wholesale had been abruptly intercepted by an external backer, the Namgeum Merchant Guild was now resorting to brutal coercion to squeeze out whatever coin they could harvest to secure their principal and bloated interest.
No, that’s not entirely accurate. Even had we never intervened, the Namgeum Merchant Guild would have eventually unsheathed their claws to tear them apart. So this was the hidden roadblock that kept the Baekseo Company from exploding into a dominant commercial power until a full ten years down the line.
In the days to come, Chu Yongwol would become legendary throughout the trade realm for her uncanny commercial genius—a rise that began precisely ten years from the present era. That lost decade of quiet obscurity had almost certainly been imposed by the crushing, predatory stranglehold of the Namgeum Merchant Guild.
“Supposing this interference were cleared, how soon could you commence the distribution of the volumes?”
At his inquiry, Chu Yongwol’s features hardened with fierce determination.
“The woodblocks themselves have been carved to perfection. Every preparation has been completed to the finest detail; the instant we press the print onto blank leaves and bind them, the books can hit the market without delay. However…”
“The moment you attempt to procure voluminous stocks of blank paper, the Namgeum Merchant Guild will seize upon it as an excuse to unleash violence.”
“You see the crux of the matter with absolute clarity, Young Hero.”
Hmm. What path serves best here?
First and foremost, it remained an undeniable fact that the workshop had failed to honor the terms of their formal agreement. Even so, venting fury or demanding restitution seemed like the most shortsighted path imaginable. In truth, demonstrating profound leniency to foster lasting goodwill and unshakeable loyalty would yield infinitely greater dividends than brandishing a parchment contract against Chu Yongwol. After all, the woman possessed such peerless commercial acumen that her reputation was destined to shake the merchant world.
“I have grasped the full gravity of your dilemma. Should my father be made aware of this tribulation, he will undoubtedly extend generous accommodations to your house as well.”
“Young Hero…”
Chu Yongwol gazed upon him, her eyes glistening with deep, profound emotion. It was clear he had successfully won her absolute gratitude. In that case, why not place an even greater mountain of obligation upon her shoulders while the iron was hot?
This turns the board entirely in our favor. Let us seize this crisis to extend our hand, carving out an even vaster fortune for our clan.
“Allow me to pose a single question, Young Mistress Chu. If the shadow of the Namgeum Merchant Guild is permanently lifted from your doorstep, can you distribute the manuscripts immediately?”
“Without fail. I stake my very reputation upon it—no, I stake every single asset our establishment possesses.”
“Then consider the matter settled. I shall handle those mongrels on your behalf.”
“Forgive me? By what means could you possibly…”
“I have my own methods.”
If memory serves, the Namgeum Merchant Guild completely disintegrated roughly fifteen years into the future, did it not?
To dare obstruct the grand designs of our Baek clan… your ruin will simply have to arrive ahead of schedule. And while we bring down your house, we shall carve out a magnificent, savory portion of your flesh for ourselves.
A sly, calculating grin spread across Yanghwi’s youthful face.
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