Acquiring the Murim with Money - Chapter 17

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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 17. Scaling the Cliff at Night

“What? You’re assuming poison without even attempting a pulse diagnosis?”
Within the Baek-un Trading Company, in Dang So-yu’s quarters.
Dang So-yu, who had been fitting together the delicate wooden carvings that his personal assistant Gwang-du had carved, snorted and turned to face Baek Un-hui.
“I’ll grant you have a merchant’s sharp instincts when it comes to commerce. But medicine cannot be forced to fit like balancing ledger numbers. To declare a patient you’ve never even laid eyes on has been poisoned—there’s no quack so thoroughly quack as that.”
“I never claimed certainty down to the last detail. It’s reasonable suspicion—the merchant’s intuition simply points in that direction.”
Baek Un-hui settled into the seat across from Dang So-yu with unhurried grace, taking a slow sip of tea.
“Consider what happened when my father collapsed, sir. Luoyang’s finest physicians came and went, yet not one recognized poison. They spoke only of old age, melancholy sickness, or unnamed ailments—that he would waste away slowly and pass.”
“That’s only because those fools lacked skill.”
“Precisely. But doesn’t this situation feel familiar to you?”
Baek Un-hui’s eyes grew still and measured.
“My father was a merchant who never mastered martial arts properly, and he was already advanced in years. Besides, he’d suffered considerable shock from various circumstances at the time—so his collapse made a plausible story.”
Baek Un-hui continued, his tone carrying absolute conviction.
“But the patriarch of the Bikcheong Household is different. He holds the title of master of a renowned martial family and is a first-rate warrior with deep Internal Power cultivation. For such a man to suddenly fall ill one day, and show no improvement despite every quality medicine poured into him—do you truly find that natural?”
Dang So-yu’s hands stilled.
For a lifetime martial cultivator to suddenly collapse from a natural illness and never rise again was rare—unless he had reached extreme old age.
“If it’s not natural misfortune, then only one conclusion remains: someone orchestrated this deliberately. And with such subtlety and venom that it slipped past even a martial master’s keen Qi sensing.”
“……Blood-Money Poison.”
Heavy and cold, the word fell from Dang So-yu’s lips.
That same deadly toxin that had killed his dear friend, a master of the Hebei Peng Household, and had brought down the White Million.
“If your words hold truth, then there exists a shadowy hand that commands this poison freely—someone tightening their grip around commerce and the great families alike.”
Dang So-yu rose from his seat and slung the worn Medicine Box onto his shoulder from the corner where it rested.
Gone was the irritable demeanor from moments before; his eyes now blazed with relentless hunger to unravel the poison’s secrets and the desire for vengeance toward his fallen friend.
“Let’s go. I must see with my own eyes whether that arrogant intuition of yours proves true.”

* * *

That night, even the moon was swallowed by cloud cover, leaving only thick darkness upon the hidden path behind Bikcheong Peak on Mang Mountain.
Bikcheong Peak had always been notorious for its treacherous terrain. Three shadows moved in stealth up a dizzying cliff path—no proper mountain road, but rather the sort of vertiginous passage only beasts would traverse.
“This way. Mind your footing,” said a small voice.
Byeok So-yeon, cloaked in a Black Robe, led the way with a soft call.
Her footsteps were light as air even across the Bikcheong Peak’s perilous cliffs—as if walking on level ground. Her darting form resembled a swallow cutting through the night sky.
Dang So-yu unfolded the Poison Path Light Body Technique and followed at ease, stroking his beard.
“Ah. So the Bikcheong Household’s Flying Swallow Steps, when fully unleashed, truly resemble a bird in flight. No mere rumor, I see.”
“You’re too kind, sir,” Byeok So-yeon replied.
She alighted gracefully upon a jutting rock and smiled with a touch of bitterness.
“The Bikcheong Household’s martial arts derive originally from mimicking a bird’s movements. Once one achieves spiritual resonance with a Spirit Companion, the efficiency of one’s techniques increases exponentially. The rank of each family member’s martial skill is determined by the grade of bird they can command—that’s why.”
“Just so. The body becomes lighter by borrowing the hawk’s essence, and the blade’s force must grow sharp as talons for true mastery. Yet the Qi I sense from you feels somewhat… peculiar.”
At Dang So-yu’s words, Byeok So-yeon caught her lower lip between her teeth.
“That’s true. I’ve loved birds since childhood and have always found it easy to commune with all manner of wild birds. Through steady cultivation of the family’s secret techniques, I eventually achieved spiritual resonance with the Thunder-Hawk. Though as a noble spirit, it doesn’t fully obey me yet, thanks to that bond the Flying Swallow Steps have made real progress.”
“At this level of technique, you’d have precious few rivals among your peers.”
“The problem is, I’ve made little true progress in the Bikcheong Household’s Jade-Hawk Sword Technique. And now Byeok Hyeong-geom continues to cause trouble, his sword mastery stalling as well. It weighs heavily on me as acting heir.”
“Curious indeed. Yet there is no single path to advancement. In the end, all streams return to the source—keep refining your cultivation, and time will solve it.”
While the two masters discoursed on martial arts with leisure, dangling tens of lengths above a bottomless chasm as if strolling level ground—
“Um, um… you two. Are you perhaps… sightseeing while climbing a cliff right now?”
An urgent, trembling voice called up from below. It was Baek Un-hui.
His total Internal Power had surged dramatically thanks to the Heavenly Gold Eyes Foundation Technique, yet he’d had no time to properly learn the movement techniques to wield it.
Until now, he’d scraped by on basic footwork hastily taught by Baek Yeon-hwa and his abundant Qi reserves, but facing a vertiginous cliff with no rope was a different matter entirely.
While the two ahead hopped lightly as birds, Baek Un-hui clung to the cliff-edge stones and crawled desperately upward on all fours.
Dang So-yu clicked his tongue as he looked down at Baek Un-hui.
“This lad called a merchant shows his true colors most shamefully. With so much Internal Power stockpiled, you can’t even gather your Qi into your feet? What in the world did your sister teach you?”
“I trained on flat ground with her! If I slip, I’ll plummet a thousand lengths—and you’re criticizing my posture now?!”
At Baek Un-hui’s desperate cry, Byeok So-yeon’s rigid gaze softened—ever so slightly.
She’d taken him for a clever merchant dripping with confidence, but clinging to the cliff in a trembling huddle, he was every inch a young man her own age.
“My uncle has assumed the position of acting patriarch, and security around my father’s chamber has grown even stricter. They claim it’s a contagious illness and admit no one but physicians—I haven’t seen my father in some time. In any case, if you cry out and are discovered, the whole Bikcheong Household will be thrown into chaos. Let me help you up.”
Byeok So-yeon extended her hand and pulled Baek Un-hui upward.
After several harrowing moments, the instant his feet touched solid ground, Baek Un-hui donned the mask of the cold CEO once more. As if to redeem himself for his earlier shame, an odd golden gleam flickered in his eyes.
“From this point on, don’t worry. I’m confident in everything except running away.”
Strange golden light rippled across Baek Un-hui’s irises as the Heavenly Gold Eyes activated. Immediately, within the pitch darkness, the guards’ positions began to float into view, their worth calculated and displayed in silver.

[Target Value: Approximately 28 silver taels (Guard, Martial Practitioner)]
[Target Value: Approximately 37 silver taels (Guard, Martial Practitioner)]

‘One behind the rock twenty paces ahead. Three patrol groups circling the right corridor.’
Baek Un-hui’s fingers pressed lightly against Byeok So-yeon’s shoulder, bringing her to a halt.

[Wait a moment. Three… two… one. Now.]

At Baek Un-hui’s razor-precise mental message, Byeok So-yeon couldn’t help but marvel silently. It was as though he were looking down at the entire mountain’s Qi from above—such perfect accuracy. Thanks to his guidance, the three of them slipped through the ironclad perimeter and reached the rear window of the master’s bedchamber.
They eased through the window carefully, and a thick, stale medicinal stench assaulted their nostrils. The moment Dang So-yu stepped inside, he inhaled deeply, his brow furrowing sharply.
“Tsk. The reek of decay hangs heavy here.”
On the bed lay Byeok Jin-gang, the patriarch of the Bikcheong Household, his skin and bones pressed together as though he were a corpse barely breathing.
Nothing remained of the majesty that once commanded Mang Mountain—only a husk drawing shallow, gasping breaths.
“Father…”
Byeok So-yeon moved toward him, swallowing her sobs, but Dang So-yu raised his hand to stop her.
“Stay back. Poison may be lingering in the patient’s breath. Do not draw near.”
Dang So-yu withdrew a long, thin Silver Needle from his robe. Without hesitation, he inserted needles around Byeok Jin-gang’s Heart Meridian, at the philtrum, and at the acupoints on his fingertips.
After a suffocating silence, Dang So-yu withdrew the needles, and his face hardened with dread. The tips of the Silver Needles had turned a sickly, deep purple.
Baek Un-hui kept watch over his surroundings, using the Heavenly Gold Eyes to assess the patriarch’s condition.

[Target Name: Byeok Jin-gang (Patriarch of the Bikcheong Household)]
[Asset Value: Immeasurable (Life Force Depleted)]
[Status and Anomalies: Malignant poison deeply rooted in the Heart Meridian, devouring Internal Power and life force. Forced delisting (death) imminent.]

Baek Un-hui’s lips tightened. The situation was far graver than he’d anticipated.
“…So that damnable merchant’s instinct of yours was spot-on.”
Dang So-yu murmured quietly as he stowed away the Silver Needles.
“Blood-Money Poison. And a modified variant at that—refined to exploit a martial practitioner’s deep Internal Power and corrode from within. The toxin’s onset has been carefully calibrated to be controlled. Someone invested tremendous effort over years to bring this man down at precisely the right moment.”
“Ah…!”
Byeok So-yeon staggered backward under the shock, her hand finding the wall.
“Is an antidote possible?”
At Baek Un-hui’s question, Dang So-yu stroked his beard.
“The poison is stronger and deeper than what afflicted Baek Man-seok. But since I’ve been brought here, I cannot simply let him die. The effect varies with the compound’s composition… To treat this properly, we need a rare antidotal herb to purge the toxin. For now, I’ll take measures to prevent his condition from deteriorating further. Keep watch for a quarter hour.”
Creak.
Just as Dang So-yu became absorbed in acupuncture enhanced by his Internal Power, the bedchamber door, which had been tightly sealed, swung open.
Moonlight poured through the doorway, where a man in white martial robes stood, sword in hand, emanating a chilling killing intent.
It was Byeok Hyeong-geom, the sword instructor of the Bikcheong Household.
“…Young Master. I wondered where you’d gone, slipping past all the guards at this ungodly hour.”
Byeok Hyeong-geom’s cold gaze swept past Byeok So-yeon, fixing instead on Baek Un-hui and Dang So-yu, whose back was turned as he focused on the acupuncture.
“So you’ve smuggled in these rats, then. The proprietor of the Baek-un Trading Company. And that elderly man beside him—do I sense the strong odor of poison? A heterodox poison expert?”
“I-Instructor! This is a misunderstanding! These people came to perform pulse diagnosis on Father—!”
Byeok So-yeon rushed forward to shield the two men, but Byeok Hyeong-geom simply raised his sword point without a word.
“I’ll know whether it’s a misunderstanding or not once I’ve severed their heads. Young Master, please step aside for now.”
Whether he was acting as a subordinate to the temporary patriarch, or a blind loyalist determined to protect the clan—
either way, the aura radiating from Byeok Hyeong-geom’s blade was that of a genuine master.
Byeok So-yeon, trembling, gripped Baek Un-hui’s sleeve and whispered urgently.
“Proprietor, the Instructor cannot wield a Spirit Companion. But that’s precisely why you must be careful. Without a Spirit Companion to aid him, he climbed to the highest rank of our household’s masters through pure skill and effort alone.”
Baek Un-hui’s eyes gleamed with interest.
‘So he rose through nothing but his own ability and diligence. A relentlessly earnest self-made man—a solid asset.’
Baek Un-hui gently drew Byeok So-yeon back, then slowly drew upon his Internal Power from the Grand Principle Foundation Manual.
“A merchant’s body is his greatest asset, and an injury would be a terrible loss of capital…”
Baek Un-hui flashed an awkward smile at Byeok Hyeong-geom.
“Perhaps we could resolve this through conversation?”

Accumulating Wealth Through Martial Acquisition · Episode 17

Jee Eun-i
Song Jjeon-bol
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yun Tae-ri
Cover Design
Sik

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260907057.0017

© 2026, Song Jjeon-bol

※ This e-book is protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part of this work may be reproduced, modified, or redistributed in any form without the express 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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