I Will Start Doing Business In Jungwon From Today [EN]: Chapter 86

< Spoils of War 2 >

Seo So-gang, who had been walking slowly to accommodate the ailing Chief, suddenly stopped.

“Come out.”

It wasn’t that he had sensed something strange gradually. There had been no sign of the Namgung Clan all the way here. It was a sudden, sharp spike of murderous intent.

The fact that they weren’t concealing their murderous intent suggested there would be no surprise attack.

Seo So-gang frowned as a dozen men appeared, a low groan escaping his lips.

A dozen masters who had managed to evade his senses. Moreover, he felt their combined aura was too much for him to handle alone.

Seo So-gang drew his sword.

“Who are you?”

“Does knowing change anything?”

“Did you come to kill me?”

Seo So-gang’s voice trembled.

“Do you need to ask? Are you hoping for something?”

“The moniker ‘Thousand Victory Flying Sword’ is wasted on you. You’ll be begging for your life soon, won’t you? So full of fear… tsk, tsk.”

They knew who he was, yet they were so relaxed. Their confidence was palpable.

“More importantly, send that old man over here first.”

One of them pointed at the Chief.

“You bastards. Was it Namgung’s wealth you wanted after all?”

In the end, they were just a group chasing money. A faint hope flickered in a corner of Seo So-gang’s heart.

Would they only take the money?

If they came to kill, it was only a matter of time before he and the Chief died. But if they only wanted money, he could give up the Chief and save his own life.

It was this thought that made him momentarily forget the Chief’s pain and consider letting him go. But what followed shattered his last hope.

The Chief, freed from Seo So-gang’s grasp, ran towards the Mukdo Society [likely a rival martial arts sect] warrior as if meeting a savior, but that was the end.

Before he could take a few steps, his head was severed.

Seeing that, Seo So-gang abandoned all hope.

To live, he had to evade their swords.

Without further hesitation, Seo So-gang leaped away. His destination was the Namgung Clan. The Mukdo Society warriors clicked their tongues as they watched him flee.

“Tsk, tsk. Is that the level of a Sado Alliance [a martial arts alliance, likely with negative connotations] master who carries a moniker? The Sado Alliance’s standards are showing.”

“Is a moniker a big deal? You have to live first. You’d run away in this situation too, wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t have a moniker. Hehe.”

“Stop the useless talk and catch him. It’ll be troublesome if he goes back to the Namgung Clan and joins up with his underlings.”

The ten warriors began to chase Seo So-gang.

The Chief was dead, and Seo So-gang would die too. Now, the whereabouts of the Namgung Clan’s lost wealth would forever remain unknown.

* * *

The surviving Hongmun [likely a martial arts sect or organization] disciples were in a terrible state. Their leader was dead, and countless fellow disciples had died. The future was bleak, and a crazy master who suddenly appeared wouldn’t let them go.

There was no guarantee of what would happen after this was over. One wrong word could cost them their heads, so the trembling servants before them didn’t seem to be in a much different situation than their own.

But to make matters worse, constables suddenly rushed in through the broken gate.

“Everyone, freeze!”

The captain of the archer squad scanned the Hongmun men and bit his lip slightly.

“Look at these bastards. Did you have a war? Did you play land grab? Are you an occupying force? How dare you treat the people like prisoners? Huh!”

The Hongmun men were going crazy.

They didn’t want to act like an occupying force. They just wanted to collect their dead comrades and return quickly. But they couldn’t do anything because of the Yaksha-like [Yaksha: a type of mythical being, often depicted as fierce or demonic] Seo So-gang.

And to think that the constables would barge in when Seo So-gang wasn’t there.

The captain shouted at them, who were hesitating. No, he was providing them with a way out.

“You all deserve to be thrown in jail to come to your senses, but since this is a matter of the Murim [the martial arts world], we’ll end it here. If you don’t disappear from my sight by the time I count to three, you’ll all be executed on the spot.”

As soon as the captain finished speaking, the archer squad appeared on the walls and roofs of the Namgung Clan.

Their arrows were all aimed at the Hongmun men.

They all wanted to escape from this place, but it was hard to imagine what kind of misfortune they would suffer if Seo So-gang returned.

The captain told them one fact that made it easy to decide.

“Don’t think your boss will come back alive. He’s already walking the road to the afterlife. He’s no longer of this world.”

It was hard to believe that a master of that level was dead. But there was no better excuse to leave this place.

“We want to collect the bodies of our comrades. Can you give us some time?”

When someone dared to speak, the captain’s expression hardened even more.

“Is there anyone who died in this house who didn’t die a dog’s death? Do you hold a funeral even when a dog dies? You just bury a dead dog in the ground. I’ll allow it if you plan to bury all the bodies in this house with your own hands.”

As soon as the captain finished speaking, the sound of drawing bowstrings grew louder.

The Hongmun men rushed out of the Namgung Clan.

As the fierce men disappeared, the Namgung Clan’s servants each found their children and held them in their arms, and the children burst into tears.

“Listen carefully. You will now move to the Hyeon Office [local government office]. From this moment on, your master is the Hwangsan Hyeon Magistrate [local government official].”

Everyone was surprised by the captain’s words, but they had to accept it obediently. It was their fate to be born as slaves.

As the slaves also left the Namgung Clan, the captain began the last task.

It was to turn this site into a giant tomb by mobilizing the constables and laborers of Hwangsan Hyeon.

* * *

The Changryong Clan [another martial arts clan] temporarily gathered in Cheongyang, which was located midway between Hwangsan and Hapbi.

Jo Gwang-yun, who arrived late after finishing the work in Hwangsan, first grasped the current situation.

“How many survived?”

Jo Gwang-yun asked slowly, and Gu Seung hesitated before muttering.

“A little over three hundred.”

“How many from the Hana Association [likely a subgroup within the Changryong Clan] died?”

“About forty are missing.”

He lost the core force, Lee Hal. The death of forty was more heartbreaking than the sacrifice of seven hundred.

“Those who are unharmed and those with minor injuries should return to their respective Changryong Clan branches, and those with severe injuries should be entrusted to doctors.”

“Yes.”

It would take a lot of money and quite a long time to recover the greatly reduced forces. The Namgung Clan’s wealth would cover a considerable portion, but he needed to shorten the time.

Rapid expansion of power was, above all, mergers and acquisitions.

Jo Gwang-yun sought out Yeom Shin.

“Did you call for me, Clan Leader?”

Yeom Shin also couldn’t hide his gloomy expression.

“You played a very big role this time. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Don’t mention it. I didn’t do well alone. Everyone deserves to be praised.”

As Yeom Shin showed humility, Jo Gwang-yun spoke even more cautiously.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask you for another difficult favor.”

“What isn’t difficult these days? Especially since Clan Leader Jo is doing all the most difficult things… Don’t hesitate and tell me anything.”

“It’s about gathering uncomfortable people in one place. For this kind of work, the reputation of the Murim is important, so I’m telling you, Great Warrior.”

“What’s so great about my name… So, what is it?”

“It’s about the clans that betrayed the Namgung Clan this time. I’d like you to gather their leaders in one place.”

“Yes? Why them…?”

Jo Gwang-yun smiled brightly and said.

“I’m thinking of removing the name Namgung attached to them and attaching the name Changryong Clan. Then wouldn’t this Anhui Province be the territory of our Changryong Clan?”

No matter how much Yeom Shin thought about it, it didn’t seem possible.

A clan is a group united by martial arts. They could accept external guests wandering the Jianghu [the martial arts world, often romanticized] like the Changryong Clan, but he had never heard of changing the name of a clan.

“This is the Murim. If you want to avoid the rain in the forest, there’s nothing better than a big tree with lush branches and leaves. The Changryong Clan can sufficiently take them in.”

He was still suspicious, but wasn’t this a person who had never spoken nonsense out of his mouth?

“I understand. I’ll gather as many people as possible.”

“Thank you. Then please prepare to meet with them in Hapbi.”

Jo Gwang-yun also prepared to leave for Hapbi.

He organized the list of the Namgung Clan’s assets and also took the land documents.

He was going to hand over all the land documents as promised with the military governor, but he changed his mind after looking at the list.

The Namgung Clan liked land more than money.

Jo Gwang-yun closed his eyes and moved half of the land documents into a box and set off for Hapbi.

* * *

“I am Jo Gwang-yun, paying my respects to the Great Governor.”

“Oh, welcome, Clan Leader Jo.”

The military governor was most pleased that a hundred archers had returned unharmed.

“I received the captain’s report. You achieved a great victory?”

“No, sir. It’s just that we barely didn’t lose. It’s not something to brag about.”

“That’s not what I heard… Good. I’ll take it as humility. And you…”

“Yes, Great Governor.”

“The captain said you’re a very outstanding strategist, and he was shaking his head. He said even if Han Shin, the peerless strategist of the nation, came back to life, he couldn’t do that.”

“That’s also an overstatement. It’s a victory based on the sacrifice of a huge number of troops. Anyone can do it.”

The military governor clapped his knees.

“That’s exactly it. A huge sacrifice.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know why it’s so difficult to capture a castle?”

“Isn’t it because there’s a strong fortress called a castle?”

“No. It’s because the heart wavers.”

Jo Gwang-yun listened without saying anything. The military governor seemed to have a lot to say.

“A general has to keep watching the soldiers climbing the castle walls die. Their deaths must accumulate to capture the castle, but there are many times when I can’t stand the accumulating deaths and order a retreat.”

“Even though you know that once you retreat, you have to start over.”

“That’s right. You have to see the soldiers as weapons. I tell myself hundreds of times that they’re just spears and swords, but when they die in front of my eyes, I see them as lives.”

“Hearing you say that makes me feel like a very ruthless guy.”

“What’s needed in war is that kind of mindset. The most foolish guy is the general who loses despite a huge sacrifice.”

The military governor looked at Jo Gwang-yun as if he were looking at a commendable son and subtly said.

“How about it? Do you have any thoughts of working by my side? As my strategist.”

To offer a government job to a well-earning entrepreneur. He hoped it was a joke.

“I am grateful for your high evaluation of me, but I know that pine caterpillars must live on pine needles [idiom for staying within one’s means/expertise].”

Before the military governor’s mood could worsen, he threw a bait to ease his mind.

“Also, I hope that my relationship with the Great Governor will not end here, and I say this with anticipation. I believe that if I am in the business world, I can be a force for the Great Governor in both visible and invisible ways.”

The military governor’s expression brightened at the suggestion that a reliable sponsor was better than a strategist.

“Thinking about it, that’s true. I can’t block you from fully blossoming your abilities. Haha.”

Jo Gwang-yun breathed a sigh of relief at the military governor’s laughter.

“I’ll be rude for a moment.”

Jo Gwang-yun bowed his head to the military governor and clapped his hands.

At that sound, two men came in, groaning and carrying a large chest.

“This is what I promised the Great Governor.”

The military governor thought, ‘He said land documents, but is he giving me money?’ How much money would be in a chest of that size and weight?

The military governor opened the lid of the chest, filled with anticipation.

Inside the chest were neatly stacked envelopes.

“These… are these all land documents?”

Jo Gwang-yun bowed his head towards him, who couldn’t close his mouth.