Acquiring the Murim with Money - Chapter 15

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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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Episode 15. The True Merchant Awakens.

Before descending the mountain, Baek Unhui slipped past Byeok Soyeon and sent a discreet Sound Transmission to her.

[The elder physician from Mangshan is renowned throughout the realm—not only in herbal compounding, but also in diagnosing the most peculiar ailments. Surely you must harbor some suspicion about your family head’s sudden affliction? Should you need any assistance, the Baek Cloud Merchant Guild stands ready at all times.]

Byeok Soyeon’s pupils dilated as though struck by a tremor. The thoughts she had been desperately suppressing rose again to the surface.
She watched Baek Unhui’s receding figure, then the Sky Thunder Hawk still circling overhead with agitated cries, and finally her uncle Byeok Mujang with his hardened expression. Her hands clenched into tight fists.

* * *

“Hold on, Baek Unhui! You can’t just leave like that so easily!”
The steep mountain path descending from Mangshan.
So Ryang, gripping at tree roots and gasping for breath just as he had on the way up, called out in aggrieved protest.
“I already gave them a solution for dealing with that filthy bird—the Sky Thunder Hawk, I mean! The Family Head was completely won over too, but then that interim head had to butt in with his noise, and now you’re just tucking tail and leaving?”
Baek Unhui, descending the path at a measured pace to match So Ryang’s rhythm, let out a soft laugh.
“I didn’t tuck tail—I cast bait. If we’d stood there squaring off with the interim head and tried to force a contract through sheer stubbornness, what do you think would have happened?”
“What would’ve happened? We need to seal the deal somehow for the guild’s profit—”
“No. In the eyes of the Byeok Family Estate, we’d look just like Pungcheon Merchant Guild—external jackals preying on them.”
Baek Unhui continued with unhurried ease.
“The interim head, Byeok Mujang. He’s already made some arrangement with Pungcheon Merchant Guild. Whether the family finances crumble or not, he’s clearly obsessed with seizing the position of Family Head. Getting tangled up with a corrupted manager like that is just asking for trouble. We won’t force anything. We’ll wait for the right moment. The bait that can’t fail to sink is already in the water.”
“Ah, so that’s why you tucked—”
“That’s why we’ll hold firm and wait. I’ve already cast the irresistible hook.”
“A hook? That food mixture proposal from earlier—didn’t that come to nothing?”
“That was the excellent groundbait you laid. And I cast the appetizing hook on top of it. By the way, for you to come up with such a method and propose it on the spot like that—thanks to you, this whole affair might unfold far more smoothly than expected. You were truly magnificent back there. I have to say, I’ve managed to hire myself one excellent manager.”
Baek Unhui gave So Ryang’s shoulder an affectionate pat, beaming with pride.
“Creepy bastard. So what’s this bait you supposedly cast?”
“So Ryang—what was Dang Soyu’s original trade again?”
Baek Unhui offered no further explanation, merely humming a cheerful tune as he continued down the mountain.

* * *

Luoyang, the main residence of the Baek Cloud Merchant Guild.
The moment the two men stepped through the guild gates, they felt an unusual, subtly charged atmosphere pressing against their skin. The martial shouts that should have echoed from the training grounds had ceased, and staff members crowded near the inner quarters, murmuring excitedly.
“Unhui! Unhui!”
Just then, Baek Yeonhwa came running from the inner quarters with tears streaming freely down her face, her usual composure nowhere to be found. The sharp, imposing presence she had maintained to protect her brother and family had vanished entirely.
“Sister? What’s happened? Has someone attacked the guild?”
“No, it’s not that! Just now—Father—the Family Head has finally opened his eyes!”
“What did you say?”
Baek Unhui’s eyes flew open.
Their father, who had been teetering on the brink of death from an unidentified ailment. Baek Manseok, the great merchant who once dominated the Luoyang market and led the Baek Cloud Merchant Guild, had finally awakened.
Without waiting to respond, Baek Unhui dashed toward the inner quarters. So Ryang and Baek Yeonhwa rushed after him in panic.
The Family Head’s sickroom was thick with the bitter smell of medicinal broth and an acrid, lingering scent. In one corner, the guest physician Dang Soyu sat in a chair with an arrogant expression.
“Hmph. The treatment is more or less complete. The old man’s got a stubborn hold on life, I’ll give him that.”
Baek Unhui offered his thanks to Dang Soyu’s blunt mutter, then approached the sickbed.
A middle-aged man whose flesh had withered away during months of illness, skin and bone barely holding together. Yet the two eyes resting against the pillows burned with a clarity that no invalid’s should possess.
Baek Unhui carefully knelt down.
“Father, are you with us? Can you hear me clearly?”
Rather than answer, Baek Manseok gazed at Baek Unhui intently for a long moment.
“Are you truly my son Unhui?”
At his father’s cold question, countless thoughts flashed through Baek Unhui’s mind as he sincerely tried to gauge his father’s condition.
In his past life, Kang Taeseok had been utterly alone. He had no family, no friends, and as he ran ever forward, he had never truly recognized his own loneliness. Fearing hurt, he had treated people as transactions. Even his kindness toward others, his carefully worn mask of benevolence—it had all been nothing but cold calculation and business interest.
Yet Baek Unhui, though originally thoughtless, actually possessed a gentler, warmer side that looked after those close to him.
And what of himself now?
Somewhere along the way, under the guise of “investment,” he had begun to care for those around him with genuine attentiveness. His concern for his sister Baek Yeonhwa and his father before him was no fabrication.
So Ryang, Punggeun, all the members of the guild—without his even realizing it, his heart had begun to offer them sincerity.
‘Am I truly Baek Unhui? Come to think of it, for some time now I’ve called myself by his name without the slightest hesitation. Who am I now, really?’
“I… I am—”
Baek Manseok, who had been watching the flustered Baek Unhui with an unreadable expression, soon let out a quiet chuckle.
“Surprised, are you? No matter how long I was asleep, surely this old man wouldn’t fail to recognize his own blood. That reckless fool of a boy wearing such a serious look in his eyes—I was just having a bit of fun with you.”
Baek Manseok coughed dryly as if to cover his earlier words, then tapped the stack of approval ledgers piled high at his bedside.
It was clear he had checked the merchant guild’s financial state the moment he awoke.
“But while my eyes were closed, you’ve certainly made quite a stir. Borrowing money freely from the Gumsin Money Lender and spending it so lavishly!”
The air in the room froze in an instant.
For the Family Head to open with an interrogation about the ledger accounts the moment he awakened—So Ryang and Baek Yeonhwa, standing at the door, swallowed hard in tension.
Yet Baek Unhui showed no sign of intimidation, smiling faintly and lifting his head with confidence.
“Not a single copper coin was wasted carelessly. It was investment meant to rebuild the foundations of a crumbling merchant guild, investments that will return tenfold, a hundredfold in profit.”
“Investment, you say…”
Baek Manseok’s sharp eyes swept across the ledger.
A moment later, as Baek Manseok closed the ledger, a faint smile spread across his lips. The cold gaze of the aging merchant warmed with deep pride.
“While I lay ill, you’ve truly upended many boards. Convincing people from the slums to fill the labor force, infusing emergency capital to restore the guild’s lifeblood, starting a fashion craze with Western cuisine, negotiating with the Pungcheon Merchant Guild… and you’ve even brought a mysterious healer—the one who saved this life of mine—on as a guest? Remarkable.”
Baek Manseok began to laugh heartily before breaking into another cough.
Baek Yeonhwa, watching with an expression of equal pride, quickly brought warm tea. After taking a sip, Baek Manseok spoke again.
“Cough! As your father and master of this guild, I’ve always looked forward, driven by ambition. In doing so, I failed to see what lay around me—especially you, Unhui. During those days at death’s door, I learned much. My relentless severity toward my children was nothing but my own stubbornness.”
Baek Manseok reached out with trembling hands and gripped Baek Unhui’s shoulder firmly. From that rough grip flowed both deep regret and unmistakable pride in his son.
“A merchant must leave more than just profit. He must leave people too. You’ve done excellently. I thought you’d remain a foolish child forever, but fortunately you’ve grown well and gained a merchant’s eye. Thank you for protecting our guild without me.”
It was the first praise Baek Unhui had heard from his father since things began to fall apart.
“You do me too much credit, Father.”
“Nonsense. But mark my words.”
Baek Manseok’s gaze sharpened once more.
“If you’ve spent money building the guild’s foundations, then you must scrape together profits with those foundations to be a true merchant. Recently, under Hanchul’s merchants, we’ve made substantial gains—but they’re not sustainable. I worry you’ve grown too absorbed in martial matters and hiring mercenary guards. Now you must return to the guild’s true purpose: commerce and logistics, establishing stable, consistent cash flow.”
“I will take your words to heart.”
Baek Manseok withdrew a heavy blackwood box from beneath his pillow and placed it in Baek Unhui’s arms. It was the Guild Master’s Seal—the authority to control and approve all the guild’s funds.
“Father…?”
“My body is not what it was, so I have my excuse for resting. But more than that, I have no wish to become an obstacle to the grand scale of commerce you envision. I will remain merely as the Baek Cloud Merchant Guild’s steady backing and its name value. I’ll support from within, so you take on the role of acting Family Head officially and do your utmost to grow our guild.”
The moment Baek Unhui’s hand closed around the weighty seal,
his vision blazed with brilliant golden light.

[Notification: You have been granted 100% operational authority and asset control of the Baek Cloud Merchant Guild!]
[The Baek Cloud Merchant Guild’s liquid assets, previously provisionally allocated, are now formally integrated into your portfolio.]

Whoooom!
In that instant, golden energy spiraled through his Dantian, striking his entire body. The moment when the total capital and official management premium of the Luoyang’s most prominent merchant house, the Baek Cloud Merchant Guild, was finally fully synchronized.
‘Perfect! Now I can draw on the guild’s funds without any risk to my Internal Energy!’
Until now, Baek Unhui had necessarily served as both acting manager and provisional guild master. The guild’s proper structure had collapsed, so it was only a temporary measure—but now he was finally receiving official recognition of his authority to decide all major and minor matters within the guild.
As Baek Unhui bowed respectfully in gratitude, Baek Manseok’s voice grew heavy.
“Yet Unhui, the guild has vitality again, but I see none of the old faces.”
Baek Unhui’s eyes dimmed slightly at those words.
“Just before you collapsed, Father, you emptied every last coin in the guild to pay their overdue wages in full, then forced them out. You told them not to waste away guarding a dead guild, but to find their own way to survive.”
“…Yes, I did.”
Baek Manseok nodded bitterly.
“A great merchant can never be built by treating people as mere tools, refusing to pay their just due while demanding only loyalty. Those men who wished to stay out of devotion—I could not starve them to death.”
Baek Unhui’s eyes wavered once more.
In his past life, his father had abandoned the family, unable to bear his debts. But this man, even as his guild crumbled, had scraped together his last coins to look after his people.
“Yes. You taught me that people must never be seen as mere tools, and that each and every one of our family and workers is the foundation of the Baek Cloud Guild. Now that we can pay justly, I intend to call back our loyal people for the guild’s sake.”
Baek Unhui withdrew a heavy purse from his clothes and placed it on the table. The clear ring of silver coins striking one another echoed through the room.
“Overseer So!”
So Ryang, standing at the door, straightened and stepped forward.
“Use the Cheonil Network to search thoroughly. Find steward No and the old members who stood by us—as many as you can locate.”
“Find them, and bring them back?”
Baek Unhui smiled and nodded.
“Go and tell them: to compensate for the hardship they endured losing their positions, we’ll provide generous severance. Come back and gather under the Baek Cloud Merchant Guild—let’s make some real money together.”
At that bold declaration, a warm smile spread across Baek Manseok’s face.

Wealth Acquisitions in the Martial World — Episode 15

Author
Song Jjwonbol
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yun Taeri
Cover Design
Sik

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260907057.0015

ⓒ2026, Song Jjuonbol

※ This e-book is protected under the Copyright Law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of this work may be reproduced or modified 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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