Almighty God of War - Chapter 87

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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087

Guyang Cheongang, who had returned to the Yeom Estate, immediately sought out the main hall of the inner residence where Shangguan Wana and Yeom Pung were.

The room was filled with heavy silence and the suppressed anger of an old master.

“Damn it, if it weren’t for that woman from Hao Gate, I would have twisted that intermediary’s neck to find out who was behind this…”

Anger and regret crossed Yeom Pung’s face.

He spoke to Guyang Cheongang in a heavy voice.

“Young Master, I found out the identity of that thief I let escape. He was a man called Ya Wol, known in the Imperial Capital as the ‘Shadowless Thief.'”

“Ya Wol…”

“He’s not affiliated with any particular sect. He’s known to only take jobs through commission intermediaries.”

Guyang Cheongang’s eyes gleamed.

“This Ya Wol might not have known who commissioned him. Everything would have been done only through that intermediary.”

“Exactly. Ya Wol didn’t leave the Imperial Capital and went to the third floor of Blue Cloud Pavilion. At first, I didn’t know why he went there…”

“The intermediary was there.”

“Right. I raided the third floor of Blue Cloud Pavilion where Ya Wol and that bastard were together.”

Yeom Pung smiled bitterly and let out a quiet sigh.

Guyang Cheongang said.

“Looking at Hero Yeom’s expression, it seems things didn’t go well.”

“That’s right. Somehow, the Hao Gate Imperial Capital Branch Master showed up right at that moment.”

“Hao Gate?”

Guyang Cheongang’s gaze intensified.

“Yes. Coincidentally, that intermediary was the Branch Master’s elder brother.”

Yeom Pung clicked his tongue.

“She asked me not to lay a hand on her elder brother, saying she would owe me a favor. It was a proposal only possible if she knew the full details of tonight’s incident. Hao Gate’s information network is truly remarkable.”

“So you withdrew?”

Yeom Pung looked at Guyang Cheongang uncertainly, as if unsure of his decision.

“…Yes. Ya Wol had already left the Imperial Capital, and the Branch Master personally took that intermediary with her. I’m ashamed, Young Master.”

But rather than being disappointed, Guyang Cheongang smiled and said.

“No, Hero Yeom. You did well.”

When Yeom Pung looked puzzled at his words, Guyang Cheongang continued.

“Do you think the Branch Master came alone to rescue her elder brother? Hao Gate’s elites were probably all hidden at that location. She withdrew by owing a favor because of Ten Thousand Gold Mountain Villa’s influence. If Hero Yeom had been stubborn, an unnecessary fight with Hao Gate would have broken out there. Your judgment was correct.”

Only then did relief appear on Yeom Pung’s face.

“Young Master’s words lighten this old man’s heart considerably.”

Shangguan Wana, who had been listening, spoke in a calm tone.

“Uncle Yeom’s judgment was correct. Hao Gate is a sect even Father is reluctant to oppose. Making their information network an enemy brings more harm than good. Moreover, didn’t Uncle make her owe you a favor? This deserves praise, not criticism.”

Guyang Cheongang nodded at her words and added.

“You did well, Hero Yeom. No sect in All Under Heaven would want to make Hao Gate an enemy.”

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“Making their Branch Master owe a favor might be more valuable than uncovering who was behind this incident.”

But Yeom Pung’s expression remained dark.

“However, failing to extract information about the client from Ya Wol was this old man’s great mistake. In the end, I lost the clue to finding who was behind this.”

At his self-reproaching words, Shangguan Wana also let out a regretful sigh.

Guyang Cheongang spoke in a strong voice.

“There’s no need to feel regret. Though we let the rats escape, we learned the name of the master who raised those rats.”

He placed on the table the half-burned document fragment with the two characters for “spider” that he had obtained from Blue Pine Garden.

“This… this is!”

Both Yeom Pung and Shangguan Wana’s eyes widened simultaneously.

“I retrieved this from their base.”

Yeom Pung’s eyes flashed dangerously as he muttered.

“There’s only one organization in All Under Heaven that uses the spider as its symbol. Blood Spider… the blood of spiders.”

“So Hero Yeom knows of them.”

“Indeed. As their name suggests, once caught in their web, they’re known to drain every last drop of blood. They’re the darkest and most cruel shadow of Golden Tower Manor.”

“As expected…”

“Were you anticipating this?”

“Golden Tower Manor has the strongest desire to eliminate or steal my innovative salt production method.”

“That may be true… Young Master, you mustn’t take Blood Spider lightly.”

“Being an organization under Maternal Grandfather’s command, they wouldn’t be ordinary.”

“Is that all? Over the past decades, countless merchant groups and sects have disappeared without a trace at their hands.”

Guyang Cheongang thought for a moment before speaking.

“I have something I’d like to ask Young Lady.”

“Please speak.”

“Wasn’t the Merchant Alliance a united force? No matter how threatening, it’s strange for Golden Tower Manor to attack Young Lady of Ten Thousand Gold Merchant Group like this when you belong to the same alliance. Can’t this matter be made public?”

Shangguan Wana smiled bitterly at his question.

“Make it public? That’s impossible.”

Her following voice carried a bitter tone.

“There’s no evidence anywhere that Golden Tower Manor attacked us. They’ll thoroughly deny any connection to those who attacked the warehouse. And the Merchant Alliance’s rule is to never intervene in conflicts between merchant groups without clear evidence.”

“Doesn’t Ten Thousand Gold Mountain Villa also have an Imperial Capital branch like theirs? They should have a lot of information about Blood Spider…”

At his words, Shangguan Wana revealed her deepest feelings for the first time.

“Of course they would. But they… won’t help me.”

“Why? Aren’t you the precious daughter of the manor?”

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me. But I’m merely Father’s youngest daughter. Above me are three elder brothers and one elder sister who already receive attention within the manor.”

“Hmm…”

“Until the spirit pill business is firmly established, the elders of the main family will only see me as a lucky youngest daughter who was born to good parents. Siding with me now would be nothing but a losing gamble for them.”

Her voice carried the deep loneliness felt by someone born as the heir to a massive merchant group.

Guyang Cheongang was silent for a moment.

He saw loneliness in Shangguan Wana’s eyes, yet also an unbreakable fighting spirit.

Guyang Cheongang looked straight at her with eyes flickering with determination and said.

“Then, Young Lady. I’ll turn that losing gamble into the most certain investment for you.”

Upon hearing those words, an intense light appeared in Shangguan Wana’s eyes that had been filled with loneliness.

* * *

The morning after the bloody battle at the Yeom Estate warehouse.

Having finished dealing with Ya Wol and the Blood Spider Imperial Capital Branch, Guyang Cheongang was walking along the official road leading to the warehouse.

But in the middle of the official road where few people passed, surrounded by rice fields and farmland, a strange and absurd sight caught his eye.

A magnificent canopy over one jang in length was set up, and beneath it sat a dining table and chairs made of the finest rosewood.

Moreover, the table was perfectly prepared with tea sets from which steam was gently rising.

Guyang Cheongang approached the handsome young man in his early to mid-twenties who was sitting in the chair drinking tea.

Dressed in silk robes, he sat leisurely as if he were in his own garden.

Behind him, two elders stood motionless like mountains, watching the approaching Guyang Cheongang with eyes blazing with spiritual light.

From their presence alone, one could tell at a glance that these two elders were extraordinary individuals.

Guyang Cheongang immediately realized they were waiting for him.

As he approached casually, the young man spoke first.

“Prince Hahou, it’s a pleasant spring day with a nice breeze. Won’t you come and have a cup of tea?”

Guyang Cheongang asked in an indifferent tone.

“Do you know me?”

“How could I not know the young prodigy who single-handedly annihilated the elite Dark Shadow Ten Deaths of Golden Tower Manor’s Blood Spider Imperial Capital Branch last night and even destroyed the branch itself?”

“You know me. But I don’t know you.”

“I am Yeon Sahyeok of Geumsan-ru.”

At those words, Guyang Cheongang’s eyes deepened.

‘Not Golden Tower Manor, but Golden Mountain Tower….’

Without hesitation, he plopped down in the chair across from Yeon Sahyeok.

As he approached Yeon Sahyeok, the intense aura emanating from the two old men pressed down on him, but he received that pressure as casually as a spring breeze.

Yeon Sahyeok spoke as if finding it interesting.

“You don’t seem surprised even after hearing my name.”

“Should I have been?”

“Hmm… If you were expecting me to come, then there would be no reason to be surprised.”

“I expected someone would come. I just didn’t expect one of Golden Mountain Tower’s prominent heirs to suggest meeting in such an open place.”

This was the truth.

Guyang Cheongang had expected that some force would attempt to contact him. But he hadn’t thought they would attempt it so openly.

This kind of meeting would obviously reach the ears of not only Shangguan Wana but also Golden Tower Manor within a few hours.

In that sense, Yeon Sahyeok was a man who knew how to catch one off guard.

“Ho!”

Yeon Sahyeok nodded with admiration and continued speaking.

“Thanks to Prince Hahou’s appearance, a very interesting stone has been placed on the go board called the Imperial Capital. I came here simply because I’m curious whether that stone will become a white stone or a black stone.”

His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not.

In those coldly sunken eyes, a blade-sharp killing intent coiled like a snake.

Guyang Cheongang lifted his tea cup, smelled the fragrance, and spoke.

“Good tea. Is this Wuyi Rock Tea?”

“You have a good eye indeed. It’s Da Hong Pao from Mother Tree Rock.”

“To drink such expensive tea in a place like this… Golden Mountain Tower’s leisure is impressive.”

Yeon Sahyeok smiled.

“Leisure… I wonder. Perhaps I came out like this because I’m actually in a hurry.”

“In a hurry?”

“Prince Hahou, last night’s incident shook the balance of power in the Imperial Capital. The Spider Blood Imperial Capital Branch has disappeared.”

Guyang Cheongang set down his tea cup and asked back.

“What does that have to do with Golden Mountain Tower?”

“There’s no direct connection. But indirectly… there’s a quite complicated relationship.”

Yeon Sahyeok continued speaking while pouring tea water.

“Spider’s Web was an organization that handled Golden Tower Manor’s information and dirty work. If they disappear, Golden Tower Manor will have to step forward directly.”

“Then did Young Master Yeon come to find me to keep Golden Tower Manor in check?”

“Keep in check….”

Yeon Sahyeok pretended to think for a moment and spoke.

“Or should I call it cooperation? It’s clear that you’re in an adversarial relationship with Golden Tower Manor.”

“You seem to overestimate me. I’m merely a craftsman.”

“Interestingly, the Revolutionary Salt Production Method created by that ‘mere craftsman’ is shaking the Imperial Capital. Moreover, you single-handedly annihilated the Spider Blood Imperial Capital Branch… You’re truly a versatile craftsman.”

Guyang Cheongang’s expression changed subtly.

Yeon Sahyeok had grasped quite a lot of information.

“Your information network is excellent.”

“Golden Mountain Tower is the Great Merchant Alliance’s top merchant group. But there’s still much I don’t know about you. For example, why you joined hands with Miss Shangguan, and….”

Yeon Sahyeok smiled meaningfully.

“What your true identity is.”

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