Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 186

It was very late at night. The Saehae Merchant Guild was quiet and dark.

Even though it wasn’t famous everywhere, everyone in Chengdu knew the Saehae Merchant Guild was very powerful. They were one of the strongest groups in the city.

Knocking on the guild’s door at night was very rude. Only two kinds of people would do that in Chengdu: people with a very urgent need, or people who didn’t care about being rude at all.

The first kind might be anyone, but the second kind was definitely the Dang Family.

“Who is it?” Jo Pyung asked.

“Well…” The servant sounded unsure.

Suddenly, there was a lot of noise outside.

“You can’t come in here!” someone shouted.

“Please wait! You can’t just go in there!” another voice said.

Jo Pyung’s face became serious.

‘Why now?’ he thought.

Knowing things were about to get difficult, he stood up quickly.

“Take the guests to the reception room,” he ordered.

“Yes!” the servants replied.

Jo Pyung hurried to open the door.

Sure enough, he saw a group of servants trying to stop three people from coming in.

The three people didn’t look very old, and they were walking calmly through the crowd of servants.

They wore martial robes of a deep, forest green, the color of the Dang Family. Their hands were slightly calloused, the skin rough from years of holding a sword.

Anyone who used a sword in Jianghu could easily guess who they were just by looking at those two things.

“Stand back!” Jo Pyung ordered.

“Yes, Guild Master!” The servants quickly moved to the sides. The three people walked forward with relaxed faces.

“We greet the Guild Master of Saehae Merchant Guild,” the leader said, cupping his fist in greeting. Jo Pyung returned the gesture, then looked closely at the man’s face and his eyes widened.

“Are you not Young Master Dang?” Jo Pyung asked.

The leader was Dang Zan, one of the young masters of the Sichuan Dang Family.

‘Dang Zan. The fifth son of the Sichuan Dang Family Head,’ Jo Pyung thought.

In other groups, the fifth son wouldn’t be very important. But the Sichuan Dang Family was different. Family was everything, and everything was passed down through blood. In the Sichuan Dang Family, the fifth son of the family head was very important.

He wasn’t old enough to have a big role yet, but in ten years, he would probably be a key person in the Dang Family.

And this was the man who had suddenly come to the Saehae Merchant Guild in the middle of the night.

Jo Pyung’s face darkened.

‘They haven’t come for a friendly visit,’ he thought.

When Dang Zan didn’t answer right away, Jo Pyung spoke first.

“It is an honor to meet the heroes of the Dang Family. But I am worried that you have come so late without telling me. I hope my hospitality is good enough,” he said, hinting that it was rude to come so late.

But Dang Zan just smiled, as if he didn’t care.

“I really wanted to come and meet Young Master Lee, so I came even though it’s late. I hope you don’t mind too much,” Dang Zan said.

“…You wanted to meet him?” Jo Pyung asked.

“Yes.” Dang Zan glanced behind Jo Pyung. Jo Pyung realized he was looking inside the building and quickly changed the subject.

“Please, come inside. Let me offer you some tea…”

“I heard that Young Master Lee of the Saehae Merchant Guild, who went away to learn, has returned,” Dang Zan interrupted.

Jo Pyung bit his lip.

‘The Dang Family already knows?’ he thought.

It had only been half a day since Jo Gul came back.

Even though this was Chengdu, the fact that they already knew showed how much control the Dang Family had over the city.

“Isn’t that so?” Dang Zan asked.

Jo Pyung’s eyebrows twitched.

“Yes, that is so. My son has just returned home,” he said, waiting for Dang Zan to explain why he had come. He needed to understand what they wanted.

“Haha. Young Master Jo Gul of the Saehae Merchant Guild is very talented. Our Dang Family wanted him too. The Family Head was very sad when you sent him away,” Dang Zan said.

Jo Pyung was worried when he heard the words “Family Head.”

‘This isn’t good,’ he thought.

Mentioning the Family Head meant this wasn’t just a casual visit. It meant the Dang Family had sent them.

“So, we want to ask about something,” Dang Zan said.

“Ask?” Jo Pyung repeated.

“Yes.” Dang Zan smiled.

“We know Young Master Jo Gul joined the Hwasan Sect. Is that right?”

“…That is right,” Jo Pyung admitted.

“So, we want to know, why did he join Hwasan instead of learning martial arts at the Dangga Tower? What did Young Master Jo Gul learn that makes up for our disappointment?” Dang Zan asked.

“…” Jo Pyung bit his lip tightly.

‘I knew this would happen, but I didn’t think it would be so soon,’ he thought.

Most of the children from important families in Chengdu went to the Dangga Tower to learn the Dang Family’s martial arts.

But they were never taught the real secrets of poisons and assassination. Only the Dang Family could learn those secrets. They didn’t even teach them to their daughters, because they were afraid the secrets would get out.

Only the Dang Family’s sons could learn the real assassination techniques.

So, the children of other families only learned a little bit for many years.

The Dang Family did this to stop the other families from focusing on martial arts. They wanted them to depend on the Dang Family and feel like they belonged to the Dang Family.

This had been going on for over a hundred years, and the Dang Family now controlled all the merchants in Chengdu.

And Jo Gul had refused to be a part of it.

– Why should I be a puppet? he had asked.

Jo Pyung had also supported his son. He didn’t want him to become a puppet of the Dang Family.

But he knew that sending him to a strong group outside of Sichuan would make the Dang Family angry.

So, after thinking about it a lot, he chose Hwasan.

It was becoming weak, so it wouldn’t offend the Dang Family. It also had a good reputation from the past, so Jo Gul could still learn something. Most importantly, it was far away from Sichuan.

It was the perfect place for Jo Gul.

“As you know, my son joined Hwasan. Isn’t Hwasan a sect that people say has become weak? I only sent my son there because he loved swordsmanship so much,” Jo Pyung explained.

“Haha, I know. I understand. But…” Dang Zan’s eyes turned a little cold.

“It’s not quite right to say that Hwasan has become weak. Isn’t Hwasan’s reputation spreading everywhere now?” he asked.

“…Yes? What do you mean…” Jo Pyung asked, confused.

“Oh dear, oh dear. For a merchant, you don’t know much about what’s happening! Hwasan is famous all over the Central Plains. People are always talking about Jo Gul and Yoon Jong, the three best students of Hwasan, and Baek Cheon and Yoo Iseol, the second-generation students,” Dang Zan said.

Jo Pyung’s eyes flickered.

‘They must be exaggerating. They’re just trying to pressure me,’ he thought.

But the names Dang Zan said were exactly the same as the people who had come with his son.

‘Even the Dang Family couldn’t have found out all those names so quickly,’ Jo Pyung realized.

If that was true, then Jo Gul really was becoming famous, even if it wasn’t as much as Dang Zan said.

“Especially…” Dang Zan’s eyes showed both interest and caution.

“I heard that the Divine Dragon of Hwasan, who is known as the best late-stage master in the world right now, has come here. I know I’m not as good as him, but I had to come and visit when the best master in the world came to Chengdu,” he said.

‘Huh? Divine Dragon of Hwasan?’ Jo Pyung thought.

‘That’s a very impressive name.’

Jo Pyung knew that people with such impressive names were all great masters. And he thought there was only one person inside who could have that name.

“Are you talking about Young Master Baek Cheon?” he asked.

“Hahaha.” Dang Zan laughed, shocked.

“Guild Master? Are you really going to pretend like that?” he asked.

“…What do you mean?” Jo Pyung asked.

“I don’t know if you’ve been ignoring news from the Central Plains while you’ve been traveling between Yunnan and Sichuan, or if you’re trying to trick me,” Dang Zan said.

“Trick you? How could I ever do that?” Jo Pyung asked.

Dang Zan nodded, staring silently into Jo Pyung’s eyes. He didn’t see any sign of lying.

“Well, fine. That’s not important right now. Anyway,” Dang Zan said firmly.

“As a member of the Dang Family, I want to meet the students of Hwasan who are visiting Chengdu. Of course, that includes your son,” he said.

Jo Pyung looked behind him.

‘What should I do?’ he wondered.

He lived in Sichuan, so he couldn’t ignore the Dang Family’s request.

But the Hwasan disciples were Jo Gul’s elders and guests of the Saehae Merchant Guild. He couldn’t just hand them over to the Dang Family, who were clearly threatening them.

Jo Gul wouldn’t be in too much danger because of his position, but he didn’t know what would happen to the others.

Jo Pyung knew how dangerous the Sichuan Dang Family could be, so he hesitated.

“I understand. But it’s very late, and the guests have already gone to their rooms. How about you come back tomorrow?” he suggested.

“Haha, they’ve already gone to their rooms? The Hwasan disciples must be very lazy,” Dang Zan said sarcastically.

“They’re tired from their long journey…” Jo Pyung said.

“Guild Master,” Dang Zan said, lowering his voice.

“This is a Dang Family matter. Are you saying you’ll stop the Dang Family from doing what they want?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Jo Pyung said, his face turning pale.

Anyone who knew what it meant to go against the Dang Family in Chengdu would react the same way.

Dang Zan smiled.

“It seems I’ve accidentally put you in a difficult position. I apologize,” he said.

“Ah, no, it’s alright,” Jo Pyung replied.

Dang Zan glanced behind Jo Pyung and said, “The Hwasan disciples must not have any pride. They can clearly hear me, but they’re still hiding behind the Saehae Merchant Guild…”

Just then…

“Hey! Stop it! I said stop it!” someone shouted.

“This is Sichuan, you idiot! The Sect Leader told you not to cause trouble…!” another voice yelled.

“Aargh! Get him, get him!”

‘Huh?’ Jo Pyung thought.

Suddenly, there was an extremely loud shout from inside. And then…

Bang!

The door flew into the air with a loud crash.

Thud!

Dang Zan blinked as he looked at the door that had fallen right next to him, then looked up.

Glug, glug, glug.

A young man with messy hair and a red face, holding a bottle of alcohol, took a swig and wiped his mouth.

‘Is he drunk?’ Dang Zan thought.

He looked completely drunk.

Dang Zan noticed the plum blossom pattern on his robe.

He was about to say something when the drunk man shouted, “Who are you to barge in and start a fight in the middle of the night?”

“…Huh?” Dang Zan said, confused.

“You wanna die?” the drunk man slurred.

“…”

Dang Zan had just heard the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.