Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 97

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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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#097

“Zhaoxiang Stronghold has been annihilated? What kind of nonsense report is that?!”

At Namgung Taejin’s outcry, Kwak Hyeong broke out in a cold sweat.

“I’ve checked several times, but it’s certain. Including the branch offices, the main residence has been completely razed, and all related subordinates are either dead or so badly injured they can never recover. Even those who remain have scattered and fled, so it’s essentially in a state of complete collapse.”

“What about Seokmoddo?! What was Seok Chaejoo doing while things got this bad?!”

“He has the same injuries as the other Black Dao disciples… no, even worse.”

Namgung Taejin gritted his teeth.

“Then what about Yoehwa?! That Seokmoddo bastard was always an idiot anyway, and Yoehwa was the real manager!”

“Yoehwa was also recovering at the physician’s when she heard the organization was destroyed overnight and fainted. And that’s not the problem right now.”

Kwak Hyeong swallowed hard.

“The main source of income for Zhaoxiang Stronghold happened to be illegal liquor, brothels, and taverns. When the enemies attacked the main residence, there happened to be key customers of Zhaoxiang Stronghold there… including people related to the imperial court.”

Namgung Taejin’s face turned pale.

“…Don’t tell me.”

“The attackers threw all those unconscious people out onto the streets in broad daylight and disappeared.”

“…”

“The Zhaoxiang Stronghold leadership, especially Seok Chaejoo and Yoehwa, will spend their lives being hunted and living in hell, let alone recovering. No, they’d be lucky to survive – they probably won’t last even a month. In the end, they’ll die running desperately and get butchered in some gutter.”

“Damn it all!”

Namgung Taejin’s teeth ground together.

His fingernails dug into his palms.

Red blood seeped out, but he didn’t notice.

“Which… damn bastard did this?”

Whatever one planned to do,

Whether operating a group, funds were necessary.

This was an absolute unchanging law.

And for the third prince, who sought to survive in the gap between the first and second princes who deployed wave attacks with broader support from justification, power, and groups, massive funds were even more essential for survival.

However, all the official money sources of the Namgung Family were monopolized by the Five Great Patriarchs and especially that money demon Bugaju.

The princes had to first build and grow their own domains to become the Young Master, and since this also led to the growth of the Namgung Family’s power overall, even the family head tacitly approved it. In fact, there were even rumors that he used this to gauge the princes’ potential.

Therefore, for competition among themselves, the three princes were competitively building and growing their forces even before the youngest fourth prince, Namgung Hwi, could interfere.

But even in such circumstances, the first and second princes had overwhelming support within their forces and first-mover advantages, making it easy for them to independently grow their power, while the relatively late-starting third prince found it extremely difficult to squeeze into their gap.

In the midst of this, there was a place he had penetrated with the help of strategist Kwak Hyeong’s schemes – the establishment of four funding sources in areas that the other princes would never consider.

First was gambling halls and betting.

Second was the monthly tribute and gifts received by unofficially promising to back the minor local strongmen who desperately wanted to curry favor with the Namgung Family.

Third was cargo transport and handling of contraband.

The fourth and final was taverns, inns, and even brothels.

All of them were things that a prince of a righteous sect family wouldn’t touch – things with one foot in the shadows.

But if one just swallowed a bit of pride.

And as long as it wasn’t officially discovered, these were certainly perfect niches for the third prince, a latecomer, to expand his influence and secure funds in the gap between the first and second princes.

In reality, that domain was unclaimed territory, and with the pressure from the funds, reputation, and background he possessed as the third prince of the Namgung Family, Namgung Taejin was able to expand his territory without hindrance.

Recently, he had grown large enough that he thought he could compete with the other two princes, at least in terms of funds.

It was in the midst of this that the current incident occurred.

Moreover, the Zhaoxiang Stronghold that was destroyed this time was the most aggressively expanding force among the three middle managers who handled the fourth and most core money source – taverns, inns, and brothels – making the third prince’s heart particularly bitter.

‘The other two still remain, but the one with the biggest money bag had to fall…’

Namgung Taejin irritably asked Kwak Hyeong.

“Zhaoxiang Stronghold – do you remember how much money those bastards were supposed to send this spring?”

“About twelve silver pouches.”

“Damn it!”

Unable to contain himself, Namgung Taejin cried out as if having a fit.

“I! Kwak Hyeong, you know what I was going to do with that money!”

“You were going to buy three additional businesses in the rear of the brothel district. Those who had been stubbornly refusing to sell for half a year of persuasion and pressure finally gave word the day before yesterday that they would sell to us.”

“Exactly!! Damn it, those lowly Black Dao bastards screwed things up like idiots at such a crucial time?! Do you think those businesses will wait until I come with money?! And it’s not like I, the third prince of the Namgung Family, can openly step forward, and all the persuasion and pressure so far was done through the Zhaoxiang Stronghold bastards as proxies. If the parties involved are scattered to the winds, what about the deals, never mind the money!! Damn it all! These sons of bitches!”

-Bang!

-Crash!

Dishes flew through the air.

Teacups shattered.

A porcelain teapot was hurled to the floor.

Namgung Taejin paced around the room, panting heavily.

It was like a fat tiger frantically pacing back and forth in its cage.

“Which bastards were they. Which bastards should I tear apart and kill. Was it other brothel guys? There are various factions in the Black Dao too. Some half-wit who didn’t know that our Namgung Family was backing Zhaoxiang Stronghold made the first move. Right? No. No matter how ignorant those Black Dao bastards are, they have some sense. They definitely would have felt uneasy seeing Zhaoxiang Stronghold’s growth. But they wouldn’t act so recklessly. Yoehwa also used to hint around that she had someone backing her…”

“We’ve also been investigating with full force to find out who the culprit was at the scene.”

“So did you find out who it was?”

“There are surprisingly few clues.”

“None? Does that make sense? What, did some ghost dance with swords? Over fifty people got smashed to pieces and that makes sense?!”

Finally, Namgung Taejin’s face was on the verge of losing it completely.

“There can’t be no traces. There was a brawl too. But all of it was literally just traces of ordinary street thugs fighting, so it’s meaningless. If they swept through like that, it would definitely be a martial artist. But there are no traces of martial arts that should definitely remain if it was a martial artist. No, there are no sword marks at all.”

Namgung Taejin turned around.

“What?”

“There are no traces of using internal energy, no traces of wielding sword energy. Just looking at the traces, it only looks like ruffians had a brawl. According to witnesses, two people went in, but aside from that, it really just looks like a common Black Dao group brawl.”

“…”

Namgung Taejin frowned.

“…Because it’s too perfect, it’s probably not a Black Dao faction?”

“Yes.”

Kwak Hyeong carefully continued.

“It’s speculation, but there are two possibilities. One is that it was really handled by a master from the Black Dao or wandering martial artist background who received a commission. The other is…”

“A master among masters who has been through so much that they deliberately left no traces.”

“Yes. And if it’s a master of that level, they would most likely be from a prestigious sect or family with unique superior martial arts.”

Namgung Taejin stroked his chin.

“Why would such a master bother with trash like Zhaoxiang Stronghold? I don’t understand.”

“There’s one interesting story.”

“Tell me.”

“There was a report that someone was wandering around the alleys near Zhaoxiang Stronghold around the same time. The description was similar to the fourth prince, Namgung Hwi.”

Namgung Taejin’s eyes narrowed.

“…That bastard?”

“It’s not certain. There was also one companion. They wore a deep bamboo hat and always buried their face in their collar, so their identity couldn’t be determined. And whether it’s a coincidence or not, there was a separate report that two people entered the Zhaoxiang Stronghold main residence just before.”

“…Aha.”

Namgung Taejin recalled a certain insignificant face in his mind.

At first, he had ignored him.

A child who was embarrassing to call blood relation, a disgrace to the Namgung Family.

A guy with poor martial arts, no background, poor physique, and even an ugly face.

He thought he wasn’t worth paying attention to.

He thought the chilling martial arts that guy showed in the Heir Apparent Selection Competition was too frivolous and vulgar.

Everything from one to ten was unpleasant.

‘The recent encounter was even more so.’

Not long ago, when he faced that guy.

In the battle of energy disguised as a handshake, he was actually pushed back.

Namgung Taejin still hadn’t forgotten that humiliation.

“The Boatman. With the Boatman’s skills, there’s no way he could have done it alone. He must have had some kind of fortuitous encounter. Ah, now everything fits together. So that inexplicably brutal martial technique he displayed at the Soga Clan Heir Selection Competition where he was chosen as Young Master—he must have inherited that from this person too. It seems he requested this person’s martial assistance for this situation.”

“According to eyewitness accounts, two people entered, but we can’t completely trust the word of a single witness.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“No matter how skilled the Boatman’s companion might be, it’s not logical that just the two of them could sweep away over fifty people like that. They must have mobilized a secret organization. You should keep that in mind…”

Kwak Hyeong stopped speaking mid-sentence and chuckled.

“My apologies. I overlooked the fact that if the Boatman is at the level of employing such petty secret organizations, he would be even less of a match for Third Young Master.”

“Exactly. If he’s at such a low level, he’s nothing more than an ant I can crush anytime. However…”

Namgung Taejin sat down in his chair.

He muttered while tapping his temples.

“But why exactly? Setting aside how he came to know such a master, why did he destroy Yaxiang Guild? The middle part is unclear. Did the Boatman really do it… I can’t make sense of the middle part. All the surrounding circumstances and evidence definitely point to the Boatman, but it’s hard to accept.”

“The Boatman might have been commissioned by someone else. Especially now that he lacks power, he would need a financial backer to struggle somehow, wouldn’t he? Third Young Master knows better than anyone that nothing is impossible in this world. Reasons are merely secondary attachments that come when analyzing results after they’ve occurred—convenient side details at best.”

“…Then that makes it even more infuriating. There’s no evidence, but circumstantially it’s certain that bastard screwed me over… Ah, come to think of it, that bastard. I didn’t like the look in his eyes. If that bastard knew about the connection between Yaxiang Guild and me, there’s plenty of circumstantial evidence that he would do such a thing…”

Namgung Taejin let out a low growl.

“But I can’t directly confront him about it. If it’s revealed that I was connected to Yaxiang Guild, it’ll become a headache.”

Kwak Hyeong cautiously spoke up.

“Third Young Master, in that regard, I have one strategy that comes to mind.”

“What is it?”

Kwak Hyeong’s eyes gleamed.

“We pin this entire situation on the Boatman.”

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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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