Chapter 55
Chapter 55: Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven
Without understanding the true nature of the Baek Estate, building a satellite post under their roof was entirely out of the question.
Even had they carried out an exhaustive inquiry, stationing a stronghold on the private grounds of another martial clan was inherently intrusive.
Yet beyond those considerations, a separate motive prompted Tang Gun to voice his refusal before Yanghwi could even conclude his thought.
“Stationing our Tang Clan on the grounds of the Baek Estate will bring your family nothing of value.”
Hearing those words, Yanghwi immediately saw through Tang Gun’s hesitation.
He fears the vile rumors and grim infamy dogging our name might taint his own clan. Ah, Brother Tang has always possessed such a conscientious nature.
Since that was the root of his reluctance, swaying him would be remarkably straightforward.
“If that is your sole concern, you may put your mind at ease, Brother Tang. After all, the standing of our own clan is far from unblemished.”
The justification was plain.
“Of late, idle gossips have not ceased their chatter regarding our household. They claim the Baek Estate, broken by its waning fortunes, opened its doors to ruffians of the dark path.”
“What? Is not the Baek Estate a house of the orthodox path? How could you harbor renegades from the dark path?”
Noticing Yanghwi’s signal, Gu Ak stood up from his seat.
“Allow this Gu to clarify that affair, Young Lord.”
Gu Ak stepped forward to speak.
He recounted how Ak’an County had long languished under the tyrannical sway of unorthodox factions.
He detailed how, to champion righteousness, the clan had adopted the tactic of using poison to subdue poison, sheltering and retraining those dark-path outlaws who earnestly sought redemption.
He also recounted how he himself, formerly feared as Blood Axe, had taken on the moniker of One Chivalrous Deed a Day.
“The master of our household granted a base wretch like me an opportunity to begin anew. I remain eternally beholden to his boundless generosity.“
A visible wave of awe and warmth washed over Tang Gun’s features.
“Such lofty virtue. Those meddlers speak far too recklessly, judging a house purely by surface appearances.”
“Is that not precisely the plight of the Tang Clan amid the foul rumors whispered about you? As long as the heart of the Tang Clan remains true to chivalry, our Baek Estate pays no heed to such shallow slander.”
“I see your point…”
“To speak candidly, our family’s present might is indeed too modest to stand alongside the illustrious Tang Clan as an equal partner. However, Brother Tang.”
Prompted by Yanghwi’s hand, an attendant stepped forward, unfurling a wide parchment map across the table.
Now came the vital task: convincing Tang Gun that a partnership with the Baek clan held the greatest possible advantage for the Tang Clan.
“Consider the Tang Clan of Sichuan and the Baek house of Jiangxi. As you well know, Jiangxi lacks any dominant martial sect capable of dictating the fate of the realm. It stands as an ideal territory for the Tang Clan to plant its roots.”
“That is true. Your reasoning is sound.”
“Moreover, our patriarch shares a sworn bond of brotherhood with Master Zhuge Seon, the young master of the Zhuge family. Aligning with us effectively grants your clan the political shield of the Zhuge family.”
“Mm. The Zhuge family, is it?”
Tang Gun’s brow knitted slightly.
The Zhuge family stood among the Five Great Houses.
In truth, they were among the very powers that had initially nurtured the ascent of the Tang Clan, only to rein them in when their might grew too formidable.
“The Nine Great Sects and One Gang. The Five Great Houses. Though commonly spoken of together, their wills are far from uniform. Certain houses adhere rigidly to pristine righteousness and absolute rectitude, while others shift allegiances without hesitation whenever profit beckons.”
The Zhuge family was not of the sort to abandon moral principles purely for personal gain, unlike the Namgung noble house.
Even should greed tempt them, the sworn bonds already forged would shield the alliance from friction.
Furthermore, having dispatched Seolha to apprentice under the Sound Empress, they were in no position to pursue naked self-interest openly.
Though Yanghwi held back these unspoken truths, he presented enough astute deductions to sway Tang Gun entirely.
Before long, a spark of genuine intrigue lit Tang Gun’s eyes.
“Understood. Your reasoning thus far is compelling. Yet there remains a question in my mind.”
“Please, speak freely, Brother Tang.”
“Should matters unfold as you describe, Brother Hwi, my clan stands to gain immensely. But what does the Baek house obtain in return?”
The motive was clear.
“To borrow your towering prestige. And to forge a blood alliance aimed at a far grander prize.”
“Borrow our prestige? Ah, you must be dealing with antagonistic factions in your vicinity?”
“We are.”
Ever since the emissaries of the Zhuge family left, the Gyojin Gang—now reigning as the foremost dark-path power in the territory—had been lying in wait for the slightest vulnerability.
We cannot simply eradicate them without a righteous cause. They remain an aggravating thorn beneath our fingernails.
With the formidable banner of the Tang Clan shielding them, such irritating meddling would cease entirely.
The Gyojin Gang undoubtedly knew the menacing whispers surrounding the lethal arts of the Tang Clan.
“Borrowing our prestige is understandable. But what is this far grander prize you mentioned?”
This was the pivotal core of the entire proposal.
Yanghwi extended his hand, his finger coming to rest upon a specific territory on the sprawling map of the realm.
“Hunan.”
Lying east of Sichuan and west of Jiangxi.
A territory wedged right between the domains of the Tang Clan and the Baek house—where the orthodox orders had shattered into ruin after the catastrophic Sword King’s Tomb Bloodbath decades prior, allowing wicked and unorthodox factions to overrun the province unchecked.
In short, fertile soil waiting to be carved up without fear of censure from the orthodox realm.
“You have my solemn pledge. Within a decade, I will elevate the power of our household until we stand as a partner fully worthy of the Tang Sect. In that span, the Baek house and the Tang Clan shall orchestrate a sweeping campaign to claim Hunan for our own.”
The Ten-Year Grand Plan. This very ambition had taken root in Yanghwi’s thoughts the instant he returned.
“The Tang Clan pressing from the west toward the east, and the Baek house driving from the east toward the west. Brother Tang, when ten years have passed, we shall carve up Hunan side by side! Through this conquest, the Tang Clan will shatter its regional constraints, and our clan shall erect the foundations of a true noble house!”
Tang Gun looked upon Yanghwi in stunned disbelief.
To hear such a breathtaking, monumental blueprint drop from the lips of so young a boy seemed unreal.
I suspected he was far from ordinary, yet this beggars belief.
Unconsciously, Tang Gun surged his internal qi forward, exerting pressure to fathom the depths of the child before him.
Though merely fifteen years of age, Tang Gun bore the mantle of the young lord of the Tang Clan.
Having already stepped into the second-rate realm, he was capable of appraising an opponent’s martial foundation purely through the resonance of qi.
A gasp caught in his throat.
In that very breath, Tang Gun felt another shock ripple through him as Yanghwi nodded subtly, his lips curving into a knowing smirk.
“Brother Hwi… It seems I have gained a slumbering dragon as my younger brother.”
“You praise me far too generously, Brother Tang.”
The second-rate realm. Had the second-rate realm truly become so pedestrian an attainment that an eight-year-old child could touch it?
Outrageous. It defied all reason.
Tang Gun himself had broken through to the second-rate realm only the year before, an achievement that had earned him acclaim as an unrivaled prodigy of their era.
“Haha. Hahaha! A mere frog trapped in a well—no, the Tang Clan chained forever to Sichuan. Thanks to your vision, my sight has broadened.”
He had found yet another compelling justification to ally with the Baek house.
In truth, it stood above all others.
Baek Yanghwi himself.
“It is decided. Our Tang Clan embraces the proposal of the Baek house. To speak with absolute precision, I shall ride back to our ancestral seat and secure the formal decree of the Clan Head.”
“Even that willingness is a gift for which we are profoundly grateful. Thank you for bestowing such favor, Brother Tang.”
“Favor? We are the ones who walk away indebted. Did you not offer us a portion of your own estate grounds?”
For a proud martial lineage, yielding part of its sovereign estate to outside warriors was hardly considered dignified.
The rumor-mongers would inevitably scoff, questioning whether the Baek house had stripped itself of all shame.
Let them mock. Our sole priority is accumulating raw power as swiftly as humanly possible.
Beside that goal, a trifling stain upon our reputation means nothing.
When our might reaches absolute heights, such petty blemishes will wash away on their own.
“Ah, there remains one additional request I must make.”
“Speak your mind. Given the profound kindness you have shown us, I will grant it if it lies within my power.”
“Well, an esteemed elder serving as Vice Chief of the Medicine and Poison unit must surely command wondrous alchemical mastery, does he not?”
“Undoubtedly. The meteoric rise of our Tang Clan owes much to our craft of synthesizing miraculous draughts from rare botanicals and deadly venoms. Although the expense required is staggering.”
A staggering expense, is it… Whew.
Hearing that, Yanghwi offered an unabashed grin.
“Hehehe, Big Brother. Might you bestow upon your little brother a solitary pill… or perhaps, simply the formula for an elixir?”
“You ask for what?”
Predictably, Yanghwi’s audacious attempt at flattery crashed against an unyielding wall.
Tang Gun stated unequivocally that parting with an ancestral formula was entirely impossible.
Instead, the young lord presented an alternative.
“For the entire duration our disciples occupy the grounds of the Baek Estate, we shall concoct whatever draughts you require, provided your clan supplies all the necessary medicinal ingredients.”
In all honesty, considering they had merely captured the Sex-Crazed Fox and allocated land for an outpost, this arrangement was already a lavish concession.
Moreover, through their entire stay, the Tang Clan healers would oversee the physical recovery of his mother, Jeong Inhwa.
Our gains from this encounter are immense. Every piece is falling into place beautifully.
He had shielded his mother from physical decline and an untimely grave.
He had secured the martial shadow of the Tang Clan to deter local adversaries.
Furthermore, with the Tang Clan compounding sacred pills, the martial foundations of the estate’s retainers would experience an explosive surge.
And the groundwork for the Ten-Year Grand Plan had been firmly etched into stone.
Yet, amidst these grand successes, an immediate disaster had already erupted.
“Aaaaargh!”
It was said that no man strikes a smiling face.
Hearing that thunderous howl, Yanghwi pulled his features into the purest, most angelic expression he could muster, striving to appear as innocent as a babe.
“Young Master Hwi, the very child I placed my absolute faith in! How could you bring this upon me!”
Steward Han roared with such sheer fury that flecks of spittle rained down across Yanghwi’s cheeks.
Ah. The trick failed.
The smiling countenance had suffered a catastrophic defeat.
“Hehehe, Steward. If you would only hear the reasoning…”
“I revere you as the wealth god in mortal flesh! How could you commit such madness! For Young Master Hwi to carve out a catastrophic pit in our family treasury! At this stage, it is no mere pit—you have demolished the foundational walls entirely!”
There had been no alternative. The precious Seven-Branch Three-Berry Ginseng had to be refined into miraculous pills before the Tang Clan retinue departed for Sichuan.
Naturally, compounding such supreme elixirs demanded an array of exceptionally rare, costly auxiliary herbs alongside the primary spirit plant.
“A scant two weeks have passed since we finally crawled out of our suffocating debts! How could you plunge us right back into ruinous despair after a mere fourteen days! Aaaargh!”
Come now, securing twenty divine pellets that each bestow a full decade of internal energy for only a few thousand nyang is practically outright highway robbery in our favor, isn’t it?
Even as the thought crossed his mind, Yanghwi gripped Steward Han’s trembling sleeve with desperate meekness.
“Steward. No, revered Elder Han. Please, catch your breath first…”
“Catch my breath? What breath is left to catch! Performing miracles out of thin air works once or twice; it cannot be summoned every rising dawn!”
Steward Han had every justification to lose his composure entirely.
“We staged grand feasts for three straight days to properly honor the Tang Clan dignitaries. That expenditure alone drained more than a hundred nyang! Fine, that belongs to the past, and propriety demanded the expense, so I swallow the grievance. But this! This!”
Steward Han mentally tallied the terrifying sum Yanghwi had commandeered under the justification of refining medicinal pills.
It comprised more than ninety parts out of a hundred of their liquid reserves.
Though he had fought tooth and nail against the spending in his role as steward, the Clan Head had already affixed his official seal of approval, leaving him no choice but to surrender thousands of silver nyang earned through blood and sweat.
Even within a martial family, moderation must exist! Let someone whisper the words ‘internal energy’ or ‘elixir,’ and every sane man under this roof loses his mind!
Steward Han shoved a thick ream of debt agreements straight into Yanghwi’s view.
“The silver we must deliver within three days totals a staggering two thousand nyang! Two thousand nyang! If we default on this sum, one of our most lucrative trading shops will be stripped from our hands!”
Well, trading shops can be purchased anew at any time, but elixirs are a once-in-a-lifetime fortune, Steward.
Only by expanding our internal energy reserves without delay and forging our vessels through rigorous cultivation will the power of our clan truly skyrocket.
Ah… Where under heaven can we scrape together that much silver?
He searched through every fragment of recollection from his previous life, but conjuring two thousand nyang in three days remained an impossible feat.
…Given the dire straits, should he lead a raid against an unorthodox den nearby?
Perhaps seek instruction from Elder Yeo Hyeok in the art of nocturnal pilfering?
For the moment, I need an excuse to beat a retreat.
Languishing in the steward’s study any longer would mean enduring a steady downpour of enraged saliva.
The wisest course was to invent a plausible reason, slip outside, and resume the discussion once Steward Han’s temper had subsided.
Right as that desperate scheme formed in his mind…
“Pardon the interruption, Steward Han.”
An attendant stepped past the threshold to announce an arriving visitor, and the color instantly rushed back into Yanghwi’s relieved face.
A heaven-sent pretext for escape!
“Steward! A guest has arrived at our gates, so I must take my leave!”
Without awaiting permission, Yanghwi darted toward the exit, only to freeze as his gaze met the figure waiting in the corridor.
Wait.
Yanghwi halted, pivoting sharply on his heels.
His chest puffed out, shoulders squaring with triumphant majesty.
His chin tilted skyward with brazen, unyielding confidence.
“Steward. Repeat after me, if you please.”
“What nonsensical game are you playing at such a moment, Young Master Hwi?”
Looking down at the baffled manager, Yanghwi curled his thumb and forefinger into the unmistakable shape of a coin.
Understanding struck Steward Han like a sudden bolt from the heavens.
“Could it truly be?”
“Steward. Answer me, who am I?”
“The wealth god! Bwahaha! Without a shadow of doubt, Young Master Hwi is the living reincarnation of the wealth god himself!”
Steward Han flew past the door in his stockinged feet, racing to welcome the newcomer.
“You honor us with your presence, Young Mistress Chu!”
Standing before them was none other than the young leader of the Baekseo Merchant Guild, Chu Yongwol.
“Young Master! Steward Han! We have scored a colossal triumph!”
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