Acquiring the Murim with Money - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13. Falling Things Have No Wings.

The topmost floor of Geumsin Jundang, the Sojunju’s chamber.
“Oh? You’re early. And the cute little abacus has come too.”
As the door opened, Seo Ha-rin greeted them with the cool scent of money. She drew a smooth arc with her crimson lips, moving toward them slowly.
In a breath’s moment, her pale fingers traced lightly across Baek Un-hui’s solid arm and sharp jawline.
“Hmm… your body’s gotten quite masculine, hasn’t it? And that pale mark on your face has faded too. I suppose my money was quite sweet?”
The fragrance brushing his nose couldn’t shake Baek Un-hui’s leisurely smile.
“It’s all thanks to the Sojunju’s generous support. Once this body is healthy, I can repay you properly later, can’t I?”
“Your mouth has certainly grown fatter on the spoils.”
Seo Ha-rin laughed and pushed him back with a flick of her fan against his chest.
In an instant, she withdrew her seductive air and returned to her characteristic cold gaze, speaking bluntly.
“Now that body is built up, it’s time to earn your keep. We don’t keep pigs that just eat and grow fat—we slaughter them.”
“What would you have me carve for you?”
“A bird.”
Seo Ha-rin gestured, and an attendant from the entrance brought a wooden box. When it opened, a carrier pigeon transfixed by an arrow lay inside.
“Ah… this is a carrier pigeon.”
“Yes. The lifeblood of Geumsin Jundang is the speed of information—reading the flow of money. But our core communication network, which exchanged letters in real time with the branch offices across the Central Plains, has been destroyed for several days now.”
So Ryang ventured to speak carefully from his side.
“You mean to use a common carrier pigeon? But surely important information must be in it… isn’t that too dangerous…?”
“The communication network we originally used was Bichain Byeokga. Their Bigyeon-bo—a technique modeled on a bird’s wing-beats—is impressive enough, but what sets them apart is their mastery in commanding hawks and carrier pigeons. Thanks to them, we read the flow of money faster than anyone else. But…”
Seo Ha-rin snapped her fan closed irritably.
“That arrogant Bichain Byeokga suddenly signed an exclusive contract with Pungcheon Sangdan. Now we’re reduced to sending these stupid pigeons at great expense, praying they dodge the arrows of bandits hunting information.”
Then So Ryang, listening quietly, plucked at his worn abacus beads.
“Adding the increased operational costs for common pigeons and the lost opportunity costs at each branch due to information delays… even at just ten pigeons a day, it comes to over a thousand silver taels in losses per month.”
Seo Ha-rin’s eyes flicked toward So Ryang.
“Impressive—your calculations are always precise. You’re right. My blood is literally draining away.”
Baek Un-hui’s mind turned rapidly.
Bichain Byeokga, based at their ancestral home on the treacherous Mangsan just north of Nakyang. Originally they took a colossal spiritual phoenix as their clan guardian and were nearly a mystical lineage that dealt with birds.
But even a noble mystical clan belongs to distant history. Running a proper clan requires money—a great deal of it.
When the household was small, perhaps it didn’t matter, but as time passed, they inevitably needed proper revenue activity.
Bichain Byeokga leveraged their specialty, establishing a branch in Nakyang and throwing themselves into the business of dispatching carrier pigeons.
But fundamentally, they remained a proud martial clan. Rather than genuine business, they preserved their dignity by renting trained carrier pigeons to places like Geumsin Jundang.
They placed themselves under Pungcheon Sangdan? His sharp instinct told him this was no ordinary transaction.
“It seems Pungcheon has made another move. Perhaps Bichain Byeokga has some weakness they’re holding over them?” Baek Un-hui mused while studying Seo Ha-rin’s face.
Baek Un-hui stroked his chin briefly, meeting her gaze directly.
“But Sojunju, I have one question. With Geumsin Jundang’s vast capital, couldn’t you simply break that contract without going through me?”
At that question, Seo Ha-rin’s brow creased slightly.
“You know one thing but not two. If Geumsin Jundang openly uses money and force to crush someone else’s contract, the Nakyang Merchant Coalition led by Pungcheon Sangdan will have grounds to cry ‘market monopoly abuse.'”
She fiddled with her fan irritably.
“And I’ve already sent a few of my men to find a solution, but those arrogant martial clan bastards wouldn’t even open their doors—they threw everyone out.”
Seo Ha-rin rose from her seat and stepped close to Baek Un-hui’s face.
“That’s why I need you. An external fixer, not an official member of Geumsin Jundang. A mad hunter who can dig out the rot beneath those legitimate contract terms and overturn the board without staining the Hall’s name. That’s exactly why I took you on as a Gaekhaengsu, isn’t it?”
Baek Un-hui understood the game perfectly. A large organization arranging outside unofficial work to handle delicate matters it couldn’t touch directly.
A deep gambler’s smile spread across Baek Un-hui’s lips.
“That’s right up my alley. I should head to Mangsan immediately.”
Seo Ha-rin’s lips curled with satisfaction.
“Good. You know how to take a hint. Go to Bichangbong on Mangsan and break through the blockade. Go solve it.”

* * *

Mangsan stood like a folding screen around Nakyang’s north, a renowned mountain.
And among its peaks, Bichangbong was notorious for its treacherous terrain—those unskilled in Gyeongong couldn’t climb even a quarter of the way before being thrown back down.
“Huff… huff! Un-hui… Baek Un-hui, you heartless boss!”
Halfway up the steep mountain path, So Ryang clung to a tree root, breathing hard. With his lower body already worn to shreds from morning practice, climbing Mangsan was pure agony.
“When I signed the chief accountant contract, there was nothing about mountain climbing in it! There are plenty of martial masters in the Company—why me of all people!”
Baek Un-hui, scaling a boulder with light steps, laughed and extended his hand.
“You can’t show up to a major deal involving money without the finance chief. You need to see exactly what their money situation looks like so we can negotiate properly, don’t we?”
“Sigh… that’s just my luck. Once the company stabilizes, I won’t budge an inch from my post….”
So Ryang reached for Baek Un-hui’s hand, grumbling with an aggrieved expression, when—
Screeeee—!
A sharp sound of air tearing split the silence, and a grey shadow plummeted down like lightning.
“Whoa!”
So Ryang yelped and held up the Jupan like a shield, stumbling backward.
Baek Un-hui flicked his sleeve to brush away the vicious gust of wind, revealing a Cheol-jo Mae perched on a jagged rock—a bird of prey with sharp talons reinforced by steel claws.
“What rats dare climb Bichangbong without permission?”
An arrogant voice drifted down from the towering branches above.
A young man in an elegant scabbard and blue martial robes descended with two white-clad fighters on light steps, blocking their path.
A hawk with blazing red plumage, wreathed in ferocious intent, perched on the youth’s shoulder.
A system window materialized before Baek Un-hui’s eyes in clean, organized format.

[Subject: Byeok Tae-gang (Firstborn Son of the Interim Patriarch of Bichain Byeokga)]
[Asset Value: Approximately 2,100 silver (Premium Grade includes Grade-2 Gongmyeong Mae holdings)]
[Status and Particulars: Grade-2 Fire-aspected Gongmyeong Mae, the Jeok-yeom Mae, with synchronized Qi-blood linkage, mutually complementing their collective asset value.]
[Critical Risk: Asset under Cross-guarantee Status. Injury to subsidiary (bird) incurs losses to parent company (owner) inner power.]

‘Now even mid-tier asset holders display information as systematically as a corporate due-diligence report. Hmm. Not the current patriarch’s line, but the interim patriarch’s bloodline… a potential flashpoint for internal succession disputes within the clan.’
Baek Un-hui clasped his fists in greeting, masking his satisfaction.
“We carry correspondence from Geumsin Jundang on behalf of Baek Un Sangdan. We seek audience with the head of the main house.”
Despite Baek Un-hui’s courteous manner, Byeok Tae-gang let out a derisive snort.
“Geumsin Jundang? Ah, those money-grubbing worms whose deals went dry and who now send nothing but carrier pigeons. You’ve wasted the trip. Bichain Byeokga’s networks are tied exclusively to Pungcheon Sangdan. The uncle who lies bedridden is in no condition to receive visitors—get off this mountain at once.”
“It grieves me to hear the patriarch is ill. Then might we meet with the young mistress?”
Byeok Tae-gang’s face twisted at once.
“The young mistress? Ha! That girl who knew how to fly a handful of messenger hawks and seized that hollow seat simply because she happened to resonate with the Cheonroe Mae by chance?”
Byeok Tae-gang ground his teeth.
“The true martial power of Bichain Byeokga rests in my hands and my father’s! Impudent merchants—if you don’t leave while I’m being courteous, I’ll toss you to my birds as food!”
The moment Byeok Tae-gang signaled, the Cheol-jo Mae shot toward So Ryang’s skull like a bolt.
Panicked, So Ryang fell backward as his legs gave way. At that instant, Baek Un-hui flicked a coin with deadly precision.
Clang!
The coin, infused with Cheongeum-tu force, struck the bird’s beak, sending it shrieking to the ground.
“How dare you strike our family’s hawk! I’ll take your life in payment!”
Byeok Tae-gang burned with fury, leaping skyward in a Bigyeon-bo stance.
Simultaneously, the Gongmyeong Mae on his shoulder—the Jeok-yeom Mae—traced a fiery arc, diving into Baek Un-hui’s blind spot. Master and bird formed a flawless offensive union, a signature technique of Bichain Byeokga.
“Fast, certainly. But if the subsidiary collapses, the parent company falls with it.”
Baek Un-hui judged that facing Byeok Tae-gang directly would be overextending. His golden eyes pierced through the Jeok-yeom Mae’s trajectory.
As he launched toward the hawk, his extended fingertips unleashed a fatal aura of value depletion.
“Gachi Jeolha.”
Screeeeeech—!
The Jeok-yeom Mae, descending at tremendous speed to strike, let out an agonized cry as its Qi-blood tangled before reaching Baek Un-hui. Dodging the weakened attack, Baek Un-hui’s hand sent the bird plummeting earthward.
A high-value enterprise suddenly struck by liquidity crisis, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
“Ugh—argh?!”
In that moment, Byeok Tae-gang’s inner power, synchronized with the hawk’s Qi-blood, seized up violently.
The Byeok-ung Geombeop—a cutting technique modeled on how hawks dive straight down from the sky to strike prey, aggressive and direct.
Byeok Tae-gang had leaped magnificently high, aiming to strike Baek Un-hui from behind. But the sudden reversal of his inner power threw him off balance, and he plummeted to the ground. Inexperience in real combat combined with showy form.
Synchronized stock collapse. The dire consequence of cross-guarantee exposure.
Byeok Tae-gang rose with flushed face, sword braced, grinding out curses.
“You bastard! Resorting to cursed arts! I swear by Jeok-yeom’s blood, I won’t let this stand!”
“Young Master, compose yourself.”
At that moment, Byeok Hyeong-geom, the white-clad fighter who had been quietly defending the rear, stepped forward and restrained him.
“The Jeok-yeom Mae is unharmed. The Qi-blood scattered momentarily from shock, causing her to lose consciousness, but there is scarcely any external injury. Fortunately, the Cheol-jo Mae too sustained only a light scratch on its beak.”
Byeok Hyeong-geom turned to Baek Un-hui and clasped his fists in respect.
“Despite receiving the first strike, you showed mercy in your technique. We are grateful.”
In Bichain Byeokga, the ability to commune with birds generally reflected martial strength and rank. Yet the immense aura radiating from this man contradicted that axiom entirely.
‘What a careless oversight. I was distracted by the loudmouth and missed the real blue-chip asset.’
Only then did Baek Un-hui’s golden eyes flare to life, belatedly beginning to assess the white-clad fighter’s true value.

Buying Out the Jianghu, Chapter 13

Author
Song Jjuonbol
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover Design
Sik

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260907057.0013

ⓒ2026, Song Jjuonbol

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No part or all of this work may be reproduced or reprocessed in any form without the permission of the author and publisher.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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