Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 102

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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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#102

The next day.

The place I found was a dilapidated building located in the outermost area of Anhui.

Water was leaking, and there were cracks everywhere. Not a single window frame was intact, and wind whistled through the collapsed walls here and there.

Anyone could see it was a place that had been neglected for a long time.

“I had a feeling when the Third Young Master treated it like a burden, but this is worse than I thought.”

Guk whispered beside me.

I pushed open the door and entered.

Inside was pitch dark.

With each step I took, white dust rose in the sunlight streaming through the broken window frames.

“Who’s there? There shouldn’t be anyone left to visit this place.”

A voice flowed from the shadows.

“Or are you a debt collector here for money? What a predicament. We’ve been abandoned by our master and haven’t received pay for over three months ourselves.”

The low, dry voice was filled with helplessness.

I answered briefly.

“Unfortunately, I’m not a debt collector, but the owner who has taken over the ownership of this place.”

“Owner?”

“Is this the first you’re hearing of it? The message should have been delivered through the Third Young Master’s side long ago.”

“….”

The shadow moved.

A man revealed himself.

Lean build with sharp eyes.

Though dressed plainly, I could sense an extraordinary aura from his gait.

Despite clearly stepping on creaking wooden planks, there was no sound of footsteps.

“I’m Sanyeong, who was in charge of middle management here at Cheonribang. I did hear the news. At the same time, I was curious. Just what kind of fool would purchase this place. But….”

He looked me up and down.

“Fourth Young Master… you’re Namgung Hwi, correct?”

“You recognize me?”

“More than you think. But well.”

Pointing to the collapsed ruins, Sanyeong shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s all meaningless. The head of Cheonribang took all the money and fled in the night, and even meticulously sold off all the valuable information we alone possessed, transaction records with other information dealers, everything. Since trust is the core of this business, Cheonribang is finished.”

His tone was barbed.

“Only the kids are pitiful. You’re unfortunate too. You’ve been had. I don’t know how much you paid for it, but taking over this place?”

“…This bastard, who does he think he’s talking to-.”

I grabbed Guk’s shoulder as he stepped forward with fire in his eyes and pulled him back.

Sanyeong spoke indifferently.

“The one beside you is from Baekjao? Though you’re deliberately wearing shabby robes, judging by the sword sheath with white molars engraved beneath, you’re Baekah among Baekjao. And with eighteen embedded, you’re a captain of the eighteenth unit.”

“…!”

Guk’s eyes widened.

“Nice to see the real thing when I only dealt with you as information? Well, you can cut off my head for leaking secrets if you want. I’m already a worthless, washed-up information agent getting beaten up and extorted by thugs anyway, so what’s the point of resistance? Kill me.”

Easy to say, but Guk always keeps his sword and right hand hidden under one side of his robe.

Even if visible, it would only be for a fleeting moment.

To see through that and instantly connect it with information in his head to reach a conclusion was certainly remarkable.

I said with admiration.

“Quite skilled. Sanyeong, was it?”

“Bullshit. Skill or whatever, it’s all useless. I’m just middle management with no decision-making power.”

“….”

“Do you know what I’ve been doing all this time after being lured here by the head’s deception about letting me spread my wings? Organizing documents, frantically working the abacus, and raising pigs to dispose of food waste because we couldn’t let it show that many people lived here – I was a pig farmer.”

Sanyeong spoke with a sigh.

“Plus physically enduring the kids’ complaints. The head bastard who told them to call him big brother and trust and follow him was already abandoned and neglected by his patron here, so he scraped together everything including our souls, had a grand feast, and ran off abandoning us.”

“So that’s how it ended up like this.”

I picked up a chair and threw it at the window frame.

-Bang!

Sunlight streamed in through the shattered window frame along with dust.

The dim space brightened.

Scattered here and there, barely breathing, were Cheonribang organization members.

Their eyes were all dead of motivation and gaunt.

Observing their appearances, hands, and feet, I said.

“Give me a tour. As middle management, you should know this place somewhat. I’m having trouble grasping the situation coming in now.”

Sanyeong let out a sigh.

It was an undisguised sigh.

“Fine. I need to wrap things up to be free anyway. Follow me. I’ll give you a tour.”

He turned around.

I followed behind.

We passed through a narrow corridor and went down stairs leading to the basement.

Water was dripping from the ceiling, and documents everywhere were covered in mold.

Going down the stairs, Sanyeong spoke.

“…Sorry for speaking roughly earlier. I have a lot of pent-up frustration. You were also deceived, Fourth Young Master, so what fault is it of yours?”

I smiled faintly.

Look at this guy.

Even in this situation, he’s considering me, even if it’s just lip service.

“Do I look like someone who was deceived to you?”

“As I keep saying, this place is already finished.”

“In what way do you judge it finished? You don’t seem stupid, and you appear to think quite methodically, organizing thoughts in library sections in your head.”

“….”

For the first time, Sanyeong showed an expression other than dead eyes.

But it was only for a fleeting moment before returning to dead eyes again.

“If you really want to hear it, I’ll recite just how fucked up the situation here is – this glorious middle manager Sanyeong with exactly one year of experience.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

His following voice echoed through the basement.

“The former head sold all of Cheonribang’s funds, sold fake information, sold our valuable information at dirt cheap prices, basically sold everything that could make money, pocketed a fortune and ran off. Thanks to that, Cheonribang’s reputation in this industry isn’t just rock bottom – it’s finished. All the clients who trusted our information and acted on it got completely screwed.”

Sanyeong shook his head.

“In that process, we had to pay three hundred silver in compensation to business partners. And do you know what we used as collateral since we had no money? Our salaries and this building. I mean, what insane information organization uses their own headquarters and assets as debt collateral for compensation when they’re broke, when confidentiality should be the top priority?”

Sanyeong’s voice grew agitated.

“Confidentiality? Fuck, did they throw it across the Samdocheon river? For an information organization to do something that even a fabric shop wouldn’t do – this must be a first in martial arts world history.”

“…That is quite surprising.”

“Hence this mess. Confidentiality and trust should be the two pillars, but both are completely shattered, and every debt collector came storming in and swept everything away. What is this? The kids left here are ones who trusted only me and worked together since the old days. Some are from Hao Faction branch families, but there are also beggars, ronin, lowlifes scraped together from the bottom… They had nowhere to go so they just stayed here sucking their thumbs, somehow waiting for the patron called Third Young Master to do something.”

Sanyeong’s shoulders drooped.

“But when we heard it was handed over to the Fourth Young Master instead of the Five Great Patriarchs, anyone could think, ah, we’ve been abandoned. We’re abandoned dogs. No, since we raised pigs to put food on the table, are we abandoned pigs? Anyway, both me and those friends over there are all completely useless in this industry with one year of experience. You can just give us some money and let us go.”

“Hmm.”

He stopped walking and turned around.

“Or let me ask the new owner.”

“Ask me?”

His eyes gleamed coldly.

“Why did you buy this?”

“….”

“I wouldn’t ask this if you seemed stupid, but judging by your reactions and such, you’re definitely not someone who would be naively deceived.”

I smiled broadly and said.

“Don’t I look like someone who doesn’t know how the world works, or an ugly fellow, or someone who appears innocent and naive?”

“Ha! You?”

Sanyeong waved his hands dismissively, looking incredulous.

“That’s the thirty-fifth time now. Right now, while listening to my words, you’re looking left and right, observing carefully, and even while moving, you stop your gaze – anyone can see you’re monitoring and analyzing the situation, taking it all in. And you call such a person innocent? Even after hearing what I said, your breathing didn’t change one bit?”

Sanyeong shook his head.

“If I had been a candidate in the Soga Clan Heir Selection Competition, I would have slit your throat on the first day, even if it meant betting my entire fortune.”

“….”

Firmly grabbing the edge of Guk’s robe as he tried to dart out for the third time, I nodded with satisfaction.

“Your words are rough, but I’ll take them as a compliment.”

“So what will you do?”

We had made a complete circuit of the building.

From the basement to the third floor.

Now, in the middle of the empty space on the third floor of this building with nothing left, where red sunlight streamed in, standing in the middle of a dust pit, Sanyeong spread both arms wide.

“This leaky building that would be cheaper to tear down and rebuild, the trust in the Cheonribang organization so completely shattered that even passing beggars would treat it like garbage, and this place where even the headquarters’ secrets have all leaked out.”

I looked to the side.

The third floor was also empty and all the valuable items had been taken, but the shelves packed with documents and papers still lined the walls densely.

On one side, maps were spread out, and on the other side, personnel rosters were stacked.

I approached one of those piles of documents.

“Those are all worthless too. There’s a reason the debt collectors didn’t take them. They’re either information that other intelligence organizations already have, or they’re already outdated, dead information.”

I didn’t respond.

Instead, I pulled out a scroll from the shelf and unrolled it.

A list of officials from the eastern county of Anhui Province.

Their positions, tendencies, and backgrounds were all recorded.

“Who compiled this?”

“…Pardon?”

“Sanyeong. I’m asking you. Who compiled this? Was it the former branch head who ran away?”

Sanyeong frowned.

“The former branch head did nothing but drink after bringing me here. I created all of this myself. But why are you asking about that? It’s all dead information anyway.”

“The information is dead. Right. Useless. It’s even from half a year ago, and all the officials in that county have changed by now.”

“….”

I folded the scroll.

“What I’m looking at now isn’t whether that information is helpful. I’m seeing what information was prioritized, how it was organized and extracted, how it was handled and selected.”

I pulled out another scroll.

I unrolled it.

Trading company information from the western county of Anhui Province.

Business partners, cargo volumes, key figures’ tendencies, even their romantic affairs and financial vulnerabilities.

I let out a brief chuckle.

“Really, with some exaggeration, you’ve figured out details down to the number of chopsticks. Moreover, avoiding the unnecessary task of investigating every person down to their bones, you’ve classified people’s importance with five black bars as ranks, and conducted investigations according to a set framework for each corresponding rank. This is the real deal. At least ten years. Without at least ten years of running around in the field, experiencing trial and error thinking ‘it would have been good to have this information at that time,’ this kind of result could never be produced.”

I looked at Sanyeong.

“You’ve been hiding things about yourself. You’ve been rolling around in this business for at least ten years, haven’t you?”

“…!”

Sanyeong froze.

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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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