Chapter 201 |
The group eventually parted ways with the Hwangbo Clan at a crossroads. They were apparently resting at a separate pavilion some distance away.
Following the path a bit further, the guest house where the group would rest came into view.
“Oh? This is more spacious than last time,” remarked Joo Danha, the Master of Chiropractic Hall.
It was indeed a quite large and luxurious pavilion.
“That seems to be their way of asking for our best…” said Sama Byeong, the Acupuncture Hall Master. “This humble one is already worried. Whether we’ll face the same situation as last year…”
“Just thinking about it makes me want to run away.”
At those words, all the Medical Pavilion members let out sighs deeper than the ocean.
‘Now I’ll be ground by that millstone too’, Jin Cheonhee thought to himself.
But shortly after, clutching his head, he reconsidered.
And here he was, working in the ER (Emergency Room)!
The ER is hell in any country. The ER in Korea is hell. What would the Murim ER be like?
Hehehe, since this is the Later Period, we’ll mostly get young patients.
Jin Cheonhee tried to hypnotize himself again with thoughts that he was in the world of martial arts, this was the Martial Righteous Alliance, and he was living his dream, but he despaired for three seconds at the reality that the work was exactly the same.
While they were unpacking inside, a warrior from the White Dragon Medical Pavilion entered.
“Minor Pavilion Master, someone is here to see you?”
Wondering what it was about, he went outside to find an unfamiliar young lady standing there.
Huh? Who is this?
It was a face he’d never seen before.
The young lady’s face flushed as she spoke, “Brother! It’s been so long. I heard you’ve been getting injured and wandering around everywhere. I was so worried about you.”
Her tone was like that of a lover addressing her beloved.
W-what’s going on?
Even while desperately searching his memories using the Profound Origin Heaven and Earth Divine Technique, he couldn’t recall this person.
She approached Jin Cheonhee and locked arms with him. When he tried to hurriedly pull away, her grip was so strong he couldn’t budge. As he hesitated whether to use his internal energy, she clutched her stomach and laughed.
“Hahaha, look how frozen you are~”
“W-who are you?”
Still holding his arm, she made a shy expression before covering her face with her other hand.
In that instant, the girl’s face vanished, revealing the face of a handsome young man. With alluring, mischievous eyes and striking features like those of a young noble, his lips were as red as if he’d drunk blood, and his thick, strong grip remained unchanged.
“Sama Hyeon…?”
“Your expression is a masterpiece, brother~ Wow, I didn’t expect you to be this surprised~”
Thankfully, some traces of his childhood face remained, making him recognizable.
“What was that just now?”
“Bone and Muscle Transformation Technique[1]. It’s a martial art that shifts the position of muscles and bones. Using this…”
Like performing face-changing magic, Sama Hyeon briefly covered his face with his sleeve. In that instant, another face appeared – again, that of a delicate young lady, but different from the previous face.
“Ta-da! I can change my appearance to some degree just like this~”
Wow, this is something I’ve only seen in novels. Amazing…
While thankfully not involving skinning people’s faces to wear as masks, it was similar in allowing transformation into any desired appearance at will. Moreover, this was an even higher-level technique as it created changes without materials, just by manipulating bones and muscles.
At that moment, the Acupuncture Hall Master poked his head out, wondering what was happening.
Sure enough, Sama Hyeon, still wearing a girl’s face, acted coy, saying “Brother~ This girl missed you so much~”
The Acupuncture Hall Master’s face instantly turned pale.
Jin Cheonhee considered grabbing Sama Hyeon by the scruff of his neck, but then remembered this guy still hadn’t let go of his arm.
This insane grip strength…
This wouldn’t do.
“I’m just going to get some fresh air!” he called out as he dashed away with Sama Hyeon still attached to his arm.
“Have… have a good time, Minor Pavilion Master…”
Damn it.
The misunderstanding would only grow worse now. He caught glimpses of several Medical Pavilion members whispering in surprise from the corner of his eye.
But regardless, he needed to catch up with this troublesome brother of his.
Jin Cheonhee found a relatively secluded spot where he could be alone with Sama Hyeon.
“Hyeon. Change your face back.”
“If it makes you uncomfortable~”
Though he’d expected resistance, Sama Hyeon surprisingly returned to his original face without protest.
“Brother, are you angry? I’m sorry, okay?”
He clasped his hands together and apologized sincerely, like a child who’d done something wrong.
Sigh. Though his pranks go too far, he’s still just a kid.
Jin Cheonhee said, “Don’t pull pranks like that again.”
“Okay! I absolutely won’t~ And judging by your reaction, I guess you still don’t have a lover.”
“Why?”
“If you did, you wouldn’t have fallen for something this simple~”
What a fox.
“Just like someone from the Unorthodox Faction. Really.”
At those words, Sama Hyeon spoke solemnly, “The Righteous Faction can’t make money, brother. If you want to make real money, the Unorthodox Faction is best.”
“What?”
“I joined the smuggling business.”
Cough
Jin Cheonhee choked and said, “Smuggling?”
“Yeah. I can build up my strength through training, and after that, this is the best.” He curved his thumb and index finger to make the money sign.
“Let’s go to the city and have some tea first.”
The two moved to a teahouse. The Martial Righteous Alliance was a gathering place for martial arts sects. Naturally, there were many occasions for secret conversations. All teahouses in the Martial Righteous Alliance were divided into small rooms and constructed with formation arrays to prevent conversations from leaking outside.
They ordered Dragon Well tea[2] and several snacks.
While conversing with Sama Hyeon, Jin Cheonhee couldn’t taste the Dragon Well tea at all.
In the original story, Sama Hyeon worked as an assassin for the Five Assassins Branch[3]…
Jin Cheonhee had prevented that, and Sama Hyeon received the privilege of choosing wherever he wanted to go.
And he chose smuggling and trafficking – the Golden Blood Chamber[4] with its Black Market[5].
The organization was headed by the Golden King[6], as far as he knew.
“Ah, I heard rumors they sold human meat too, but they don’t. I wanted to see that~ What a shame~”
Though the nihilism that burned everything in the original story was gone, he still retained some peculiar tastes.
The Golden Blood Chamber is a ruthless place where gold flows through their blood.
It was truly a gathering of Unorthodox Faction members obsessed with money, dealing not only in smuggling but also in usury and gambling. They even conducted some banking operations, though that was a somewhat strange concept here.
It was where all the world’s black money gathered. Rumors said that money equivalent to the Martial Righteous Alliance’s annual budget flowed through the Golden Blood Chamber in just one season.
The Golden King, the leader of the Golden Blood Chamber, rarely appeared in public, but it was said that when he moved, the market prices in the martial world would shake.
He never appeared publicly in the original story either.
Wherever money gathered, there was always a Black Market. The Black Market sold things that normally couldn’t be bought, including information unavailable anywhere else, and even lost martial arts manuals if one paid enough.
The Black Market remained neutral even when Sama Hyeon fought Yeo Ha-ryoon.
The Hao Sect was a community of various Unorthodox Factions. The Golden King declared neutrality there, though he offered a 30% discount when dealing with Sama Hyeon.
While this might sound crazy considering Sama Hyeon’s deranged state in the original story, Sama Hyeon as the master of Hao Sect accepted it. The Golden Blood Chamber was also Hao Sect’s source of funding.
Money was needed for everything. The Golden Blood Chamber would lend money to various Unorthodox Factions, hold partial ownership in businesses, or provide funds to bribe officials.
The original Sama Hyeon might have plotted to kill the Golden King from behind, but it was a given fact that if he disappeared, not just the Hao Sect but the entire Unorthodox Faction would be shaken.
Even the Supreme Heavenly Demon Yeo Ha-ryoon used this Black Market several times. Since Yeo Ha-ryoon was an enemy of the Hao Sect’s leader, he had to pay 50% higher prices.
The Golden King was insane.
Countless Unorthodox Faction members and Demonic Cult followers said so at the time.
From reading the original story, the winner of the Unorthodox Faction versus Demonic Cult fight was the Golden Blood Chamber. They extracted money without losing a single leader.
Yes, capitalism existed in the martial world too. And it was even more ruthless in this world without human rights.
And young Sama Hyeon entered that Golden Blood Chamber.
A child chose the Golden Blood Chamber without anyone’s advice?
His cunningness is really on another level.
Normally, a child who had walked the rough path of the martial world would naturally want to join a faction that emphasized martial strength. Especially if they had already learned martial arts, it was almost instinctive to want to join a stronger place to become a master.
In such circumstances, deliberately choosing to enter the Golden Blood Chamber to make money showed he was no ordinary person.
“Who are you learning from?”
At Jin Cheonhee’s words, Sama Hyeon lowered his eyelids playfully and said, “The Golden King~”
Cough!
Jin Cheonhee spat out the tea he was drinking.
“The, the Golden King? The one I know…?”
“Yeah. For some reason, he said he liked me. Said I was cute and reminded him of himself when he was young~”
“…”
“Brother? Oh dear, did you choke?”
Saying this, he took out a handkerchief.
The finest silk with embroidery… wait, is that golden… thread?
The glossy silk had the same luster as the silk robes worn by past emperors and royalty. Moreover, the embroidery on top was done with real gold thread.
“No, how can you wipe your mouth with this?”
This feeling was the same as when he’d heard the price of a certain luxury brand handkerchief in his previous life. It felt like the handkerchief should be addressed as “Sir Handkerchief” rather than just handkerchief.
How could one wipe dirty saliva with this?
Jin Cheonhee quickly wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
“Hey, brother. How dirty. I have lots of these.”
“Still, how can you use this?”
“You’re my benefactor, brother. Why would I be stingy? Take it if you need it.”
No wonder all the gifts Sama Hyeon had sent were consistently expensive and of unknown origin…
“Brother, if you don’t take it, I’ll wipe the table with it.”
Saying this, Sama Hyeon really moved to wipe up Jin Cheonhee’s spilled tea.
“Are you crazy? Alright, give it here!”
“Should have said so earlier~”
He received the handkerchief with trembling hands.
Up close, it looked even more expensive.
No, is there really any need to make something used for wiping dirt this luxurious…? It would be better to carry multiple cheaper ones and wash them frequently…
Though thinking about it, Sama Hyeon probably had many such handkerchiefs. He was the Golden King’s disciple after all.
“There’s my name written on this handkerchief…?”
“Yeah. Actually, I prepared it to give to you. It’s made of Hundred Silkworm Silk[7].”
“What?”
“I said it’s made of Hundred Silkworm Silk.”
“What… did you say?”
“It’s not even Heavenly Silkworm Silk[8], why are you so shocked?”
While the Hundred Silkworm was a special silkworm, it couldn’t compare to the Heavenly Silkworm. However, it was extremely difficult to raise, and since semi-spiritual medicine ingredients were required, it cost an enormous amount.
The thread it produced was blade-resistant. While it couldn’t block attacks imbued with sword energy, it absolutely couldn’t be cut by ordinary blades.
Light as a feather, it was so thin you could feel textures through it.
“Why… What’s the reason for making just a handkerchief with something like this.”
Jin Cheonhee’s voice trembled unconsciously.
“Because it’s fun~!”
He couldn’t understand the psychology of the wealthy.