Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 602

“Hmm.”

Tang Gunak groaned as he read the letter. It was a heavy sound.

He read the short letter again and again. Then, he smiled and nodded.

“So, it has come to this.”

Dang Pae stood quietly, guarding him. He watched Tang Gunak’s face and smiled a little.

Tang Gunak didn’t smile easily, no matter the situation, especially within the Dang family.

Being the family head meant hiding his feelings. But his reaction to news about Mount Hua was always special.

Dang Pae knew the skills of the Divine Dragon of Mount Hua and the strength of Mount Hua better than most. Even he was surprised by Mount Hua’s performance this time.

How much greater would the shock be to those who didn’t know Mount Hua well?

“They had to do at least that much. If not, the Nine Great Sects won’t understand. They are too slow to see the world changing. They are like people whose feet are burning, but they don’t notice because they are too busy protecting their treasures.”

Tang Gunak could hardly stop himself from laughing as he imagined the faces of the Nine Great Sects when they heard this news.

‘He’s got a ghostly side to him, anyway.’

The alliance wasn’t as great or helpful as one might think. Usually, it was more of a nuisance, requiring a lot of work but giving little in return, making it closer to a white elephant.

But the alliance was the base of any sect that claimed to be righteous. It’s like martial arts. If you only focus on new, fancy moves and forget the basic skills, you will become weaker. If you only care about money and power, you will forget what is truly important to protect.

What people really think is important. In the end, the public always sees the truth.

“The Nine Great Sects must have a lot to say.”

“Yes, they probably do. In fact, defeating the Great Dividing Faction is something that no one in Jianghu could have done except for Mount Hua.”

“But that’s just an excuse.”

Tang Gunak quietly shook his head.

“People’s minds can’t be changed by just one event. The fact that this event is becoming a problem only proves that the Nine Great Sects have been neglecting the work they should have been doing.”

“Yes, Head of the Family.”

“So, you must always keep that in mind.”

Tang Gunak’s eyes darkened slightly.

“The moment you take for granted what you are enjoying now under the name of the overlord of Sichuan, the decline of the family will begin. You must constantly think about what is supporting all of this.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Watching Dang Pae nod with a serious face, Tang Gunak smiled wryly.

‘In that sense, the Divine Dragon of Mount Hua is a real headache.’

Maybe it was planned, or maybe it was just his feeling. But he always knew exactly what would annoy others. And then, he would easily change his plans and do things no one expected.

It was only because he was an ally that he could look at it with amusement; if he was an enemy, it would be very stressful and annoying.

“Anyway, he’s become a hot topic faster than I thought.”

Tang Gunak pressed his fingers to his temples.

He already knew what Chung Myung would say next.

“I need to hurry a bit.”

“What are you referring to?”

“We must start the Heavenly Union quickly, before people forget about Mount Hua.”

His voice was light and calm.

But the weight carried in those words was by no means light.

“We need to finish the preparations at least by the time the Mount Hua Sect returns to Mount Hua.”

“…Wouldn’t that be too tight?”

“It won’t be.”

“Yes? No matter the distance from Hubei to Shanxi, they are martial artists. It won’t take them many days…”

Tang Gunak sighed lightly and said.

“There’s no way that Divine Dragon of Mount Hua would just obediently return from Daebyeolsan to Mount Hua, is there?”

“…Ah.”

“He’ll definitely cause some trouble again. He’s that kind of person.”

“…I understand.”

“He’ll do whatever he wants and then, as soon as he gets back to Mount Hua, he’ll start nagging about why the preparations aren’t finished yet. Ugh.”

Dang Pae couldn’t quite grasp whether his father liked or disliked the Divine Dragon of Mount Hua.

Tang Gunak spoke with his usual expression.

“I don’t want to hear any unpleasant words, so hurry up. How are the preparations going?”

“Most of the other preparations are finished. But we haven’t heard back from the smaller, important groups nearby. We asked if they want to join the Heavenly Union.”

“Urge them.”

“…”

The moment Dang Pae was about to say something, Tang Gunak raised his hand to stop him.

“I’m not telling you to persuade them. I’m telling you to urge them. Any answer is fine.”

“Ah…”

“We won’t get a good answer anyway. They can’t help but be influenced by Sichuan, but they can’t ignore the existing order of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families.”

“I did get a sense that they were hesitant.”

“So, just find out whether they will participate or not. There’s no need for them to be with us from the very beginning. Just ask them to come to the opening event. Their presence there will be enough.”

“That much should be possible.”

“It would be good to hurry.”

“Yes. Otherwise, I’ll have to listen to the nagging of the Divine Dragon of Mount Hua.”

“Yes. Move!”

“Yes!”

Watching Dang Pae run out, Tang Gunak chuckled.

‘Nagging.’

The powerful Sichuan Dang Family, afraid of a young Taoist’s nagging, and rushing to work.

The more he thought about it, the more absurd it was, but the bigger problem was that he didn’t particularly dislike the situation.

‘Well.’

Compared to the Nine Great Sects, who must be worried and upset because of the Divine Dragon of Mount Hua, we are in a good position.

Tang Gunak, who had been glancing east, picked up his brush again with a face still filled with laughter.

The Gold Ship Merchant Group, the largest merchant group in Wuhan.

The head of the merchant group, Song Tae-ak, was looking at the ledger with a very bitter expression.

“…Why is it like this?”

“Yes?”

“Why is it like this, I ask?”

Then, the chief manager, Mo Wan, replied with an awkward face.

“Well… the main strength of our merchant group is tea, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“In recent years, that tea has sold well, and we’ve made a lot of money.”

“That’s right.”

“Hehe. Especially the expensive tea we sell to rich people. That made us very rich.”

“And?”

Mo Wan frowned slightly and said with a bitter face.

“But now, Yunnan tea is being sold again. Our expensive tea is not selling at all anymore.”

“…”

Song Tae-ak furrowed his brow.

“It’s not like Yunnan tea didn’t exist before. It just wasn’t selling well, and now it’s starting to sell again, isn’t it?”

Mo Wan looked around the busy office, nodding slowly. “Indeed,” he said quietly, more to himself.

Song Tae-ak threw his hands up, his voice full of worry. “But why are they emptying everything out? It didn’t just appear from nowhere, did it? This is our best tea warehouse!” He pointed at the workers carrying boxes out the door.

Mo Wan sighed, a small smile on his face. “Ah, Tae-ak, business is sometimes strange and hard to understand. Remember Yunnan tea? It was always for the rich, the nobles.”

“True.”

“But when trade routes were blocked, there wasn’t enough tea, so the prices went way up. The tea that rich people drank became tea for only the very richest! Only very rich people could afford it.”

Song Tae-ak was silent.

“At that point, it wasn’t just tea anymore. It was a symbol of power and wealth.”

“Of course, that’s obvious. But that’s not what I’m asking! I’m asking why our trading guild’s sales have dropped a lot.”

“So, this Yunnan tea, which had become a very expensive thing for the upper class, suddenly became available in large amounts at a lower price than before.”

Song Tae-ak didn’t say anything.

“They even started grading the tea and selling it, making the expensive tea even more expensive, and pricing the cheaper tea so that anyone could buy it if they wanted to. Because of this, people who liked tea are spending money to try the higher grades, and people who didn’t care about tea are buying the cheaper grades.”

Song Tae-ak remained silent.

“So, the tea market is ruined. The tea we sell cannot sell tea as well as this Yunnan tea anymore. It’s piling up in the warehouse, growing mold.”

“Ugh.”

Song Tae-ak ran both hands through his hair, pulling at it in frustration, making it stand up in messy spikes.

“So, very expensive things have become reasonably priced, and everyone’s rushing to try them.”

“Exactly.”

“Then what’s the plan?”

Mo Wan smiled slightly.

“When a typhoon hits, the only thing to do is hold onto a pillar and pray to survive. People will not always like Yunnan tea; it will change in a few years.”

“So, the best thing is not to go bankrupt during those few years,” Song Tae-ak said.

Song Tae-ak sighed deeply, feeling trapped.

Of course, the Gold Line Trading Guild was not small enough to go bankrupt just because it didn’t make a big profit from tea for a few years. It could survive for another hundred years on the money it had already made.

After all, it was one of the most powerful groups of traders in the land, the Ten Great Trading Guilds of the Central Plains.

“It’s something that will be over in a few years. It’s a short time.”

“That’s not the problem, is it?”

“Yes?”

Song Tae-ak clicked his tongue, looking at Mo Wan.

“Looking at the way things are going, those guys definitely know how to make money. Instead of just selling it expensively to make a lot of money right away, they lowered the price to sell more. It’s like selling twenty items for one coin rather than one item for ten coins.”

“That’s right.”

“Do you think those guys don’t know that the price of Yunnan tea will eventually fall?”

Mo Wan didn’t respond.

“The problem is that they might use the huge amount of money they made from tea to do something else! Ugh. Maybe we should try to work with them…”

“Hey, we have the pride of the Ten Great Trading Guilds of the Central Plains.”

“The most useless thing for a merchant is that pride! As long as we make money, who cares about pride!”

“Even so, it’s impossible. The one who controls all the Yunnan tea is the Mount Hua Sect.”

Song Tae-ak was silent.

“It’s almost impossible for us, here in Hubei, to start trading with them.”

“Who doesn’t know that? I’m just saying I’m frustrated!”

Song Tae-ak shouted for no reason.

The most difficult time for a merchant was exactly this kind of situation: knowing clearly that the flow of money was starting to change, but having no way to get to that money.

‘And I can’t end our relationship with the Wudang Sect either,’ he thought.

There was no good reason to, and there was no reason for the Mount Hua Sect to accept them, who had been trading with the Wudang Sect. Why would successful people do that?

“Ugh. I wonder if the martial artists know about this situation.”

In the end, it’s money.

A growing sect always grabs money. It doesn’t grow and then make money, but grows because it makes money. The Shaolin became the greatest sect in the world because they were the richest sect in the world.

A sect that makes money doesn’t have to worry about anything. There’s no need to send disciples out; they can focus only on training, and they can buy expensive elixirs.

Who would become stronger: those who spend their lives training without worrying about anything, or those who have to worry about their next meal?

‘And now that gold mine is flowing to the Mount Hua Sect,’ he thought.

In just ten years, that money will start to make a difference.

“Ugh. It’s like hoping for something amazing to just fall from the sky. Hoping for something amazing to just fall from the sky.”

Just then, as Song Tae-ak sighed and reached for the ledger…

“Ch, Chief Manager!”

“Hmm?”

A hurried voice was heard. Mo Wan turned toward the door from which the voice came and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Y, you should come and see. There are people who want to trade, and th, the amount is very unusual.”

“Unusual amount? Did they bring grain or something?”

“That’s… Ah, no, it’s hard to explain. You have to see it yourself.”

Mo Wan tilted his head.

“Tsk. Let’s go see.”

Song Tae-ak quickly got up from his seat. He was already feeling frustrated, and in times like these, the best thing to do was to look at something that would make money and calm him down.

“I wonder what kind of amazing thing has come,” he said with a sly smile.

He walked out with light steps.

Something was coming in.

More and more things kept coming in.

Carts rumbled through the large gate of the Gold Line Trading Guild one after another. On each cart, huge white sacks, bulging at the seams, were piled higher than a person’s height.

“Wh, what is all this?”

It didn’t seem to be grain.

Even if it were all grain, it would be an enormous amount, but if it wasn’t grain, then what could it be?

“Th, that is…”

Clang!

At that moment, one of the sacks on the cart fell to the dusty ground, and the contents spilled out.

“J, Jewelry?”

Jewels that looked expensive at a glance were carelessly packed in dirty sacks.

“Th, this is… No, crazy, this can’t all be jewelry… Right, it can’t be. No, but still, this is…”

Even if it wasn’t all jewelry, it must be something expensive. Otherwise, they would have loaded the jewelry separately.

Then how much is everything that’s coming in here now?

Suddenly, Song Tae-ak started hiccuping. He couldn’t tell whether this was a blessing or a curse.

At that moment, a young man walked in, looked at Song Tae-ak, and grinned.

“Are you the guild leader?”

“Huh?”

“I heard this place has a lot of money. Can you check how much all this is worth if you sell it?”

Cold sweat began to bead on Song Tae-ak’s forehead.

‘A god of wealth has come!’ he thought.

Of course.

Whether it was a god of wealth or a god of disaster remained to be seen.