I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 30

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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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Chapter 30
Grinning from ear to ear.
That was the perfect way to describe Seonwu’s current expression.
“So that organization called the Heuksa Sect, you’re saying it’s just a small sect?”
“Yes, their influence is limited to a single county and a few neighboring villages.”
“Oh, but still, if they exert power over a few villages rather than just one, doesn’t that mean they aren’t completely insignificant?”
“They are certainly larger than a sect confined to a single village, yes.”
Watching his junior disciple, Dan Suyeong, reply with absolute politeness, Seonwu smacked his lips.
If they were true martial brothers, wouldn’t they be a bit closer and more informal?
Of course, that varied from sect to sect, but for people from a ruined sect consisting of only two members rather than a prestigious orthodox sect, wasn’t he being a bit too polite?
‘But for this guy, this is probably the best he can do.’
Just calling him senior brother instead of Your Highness must be an immense mental burden.
No matter how much he had been instructed beforehand to use terms suited for their undercover mission, and no matter how well he was trained to act accordingly, treating a high-and-mighty Imperial Prince as a fellow martial brother could never feel comfortable.
‘To put it in modern terms, just because the CEO suggests a casual talk session, it doesn’t mean the employee can actually relax and say whatever they want.’
Actually, no.
Between a CEO and an employee, at least the CEO can’t physically take the employee’s head off.
At worst, they can only pressure them to resign.
So is it more like the relationship between a division commander and a private in the army?
‘Hmm, it’s even more extreme than that.’
A division commander can’t legally execute a private, after all.
So, let’s just overlook this slight awkwardness.
If anyone asks, I’ll just say my junior disciple finds me, his senior brother, a bit too intimidating.
‘Anyway, back to the matter at hand—the Heuksa Sect.’
An unorthodox sect that wields considerable influence within a single county.
The leader is in the High-Ascending Realm, and though inferior to him, two other High-Ascending Masters serve as deputy leaders.
Those beneath them are just ordinary second-class and novice martial artists.
‘And those bastards dared to try and steal my branch office?’
To be precise, it was a shop acquired by the Feilong Sect, but since the Feilong Sect belongs to me anyway, the shop acting as their branch office is also mine.
“People who do this kind of thing wouldn’t stop at just one offense. Before targeting us, they must have used force to steal shops from other innocent people, right?”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Why are fellows like this allowed to run rampant? What on earth is the local government doing?”
At Seonwu’s question, Dan Suyeong replied.
“While the Namgung Clan is the absolute master of Anhui Province, their influence does not reach every single corner. Sangdang County, where we are heading now, is a small territory. Although a county magistrate resides there, he merely collects taxes and rules over the local Xiangzu in a broad sense. He does not closely investigate individual matters like this.”
‘Does that even make sense?’
Seonwu tilted his head in bewilderment.
In other words, gangsters are extorting a shop, and the police and courts are just standing by and watching?
There is a victim who lost their entire livelihood, yet the perpetrator gets off scot-free?
Could such a thing really… happen.
‘When I think of it like real estate fraud, it suddenly becomes incredibly convincing.’
An unorthodox sect uses raw power to snatch a shop from commoners, and the county magistrate doesn’t bother himself with the theft of a single shop.
If the unorthodox sect provides the appropriate bribes, the authorities look the other way.
It seems like something that could easily happen.
I’ll have to go and see for myself exactly how things work.
‘Even though it has already been several decades since Father founded the empire, it can’t be said that every remote corner is being governed perfectly down to the finest detail.’
At any rate, those unorthodox bastards.
If they really laid a finger on my shop….
“That Heuksa Sect or whatever they’re called needs to be taught a lesson, don’t they?”
“I shall wipe them out.”
Because Dan Suyeong answered instantly with a momentum that literally promised to slaughter everyone, Seonwu quickly stopped him.
“No, don’t just blindly wipe them out. Let’s investigate first.”
“Understood.”
* * *
Sangdang County could be said to have four major powers.
First was the local government.
The county magistrate’s office, possessed the authority to rule granted by the state, so no one could disregard their power.
Second were the local Xiangzu.
They could be described as village chiefs representing each village attached to the county.
While “village chief” might sound trivial, these were local notables who owned vast lands, wielded significant power, and possessed connections extending to influential places, meaning even the county magistrate could not ignore them.
They belonged to groups like the Jeong Manor or the Lee Manor.
Cooperating with the local government, they prepared the taxes and tributes due from each village so that the county magistrate could send them up to the Imperial Court without a hitch.
In addition, they maintained good relations by presenting appropriate separate gifts required by the magistrate.
Third was the Heuksa Sect.
They were a band of unorthodox thugs who wielded power within the county and formed a sect, but they knew how to walk a fine line and never crossed the local government or the Xiangzu.
Conversely, the Xiangzu chose not to actively antagonize the Heuksa Sect, which was fully capable of making them wary of walking the streets at night.
At the same time, the sect members also knew how to maintain a proper distance by sending appropriate gifts to the local government.
Fourth were the subordinate organizations of larger Wulin sects.
These were places like escort agencies or martial banks. Individually, they stationed fewer forces compared to the Heuksa Sect, but because of the massive entities backing them, the Heuksa Sect dared not touch them.
However, these organizations only focused on their own business and did not care if the Heuksa Sect extorted protection fees from the common folk on a small scale.
And finally, there were the ordinary commoners who possessed no power at all.
Therefore, the secret branch manager of the Feilong Sect, who had purchased Myeongwolru—a reasonably prosperous tavern in Sangdang County—had fully intended to pay the protection fee demanded by the Heuksa Sect at a conventional level.
What mattered to him was maintaining his cover, and a slight reduction in profits due to a protection fee was no issue.
The problem was that the amount the Heuksa Sect demanded this time completely exceeded that level.
Heuksa Sect disciples paced back and forth in front of the tavern, wearing menacing scowls.
Under these circumstances, there was no way customers would enter the tavern.
Not only that.
The employees who worked at the tavern were also cornered and threatened by the Heuksa Sect on their way to and from work.
“Sir, I am terribly sorry, but I do not think I can come to work for the time being.”
“Did they threaten to hurt you if you keep working here?”
“They did not say those exact words, but they told me to be careful so I wouldn’t meet with a terrible accident on the dark roads at night….”
“These scoundrels!”
“I am sorry, sir. If things settle down, I will return immediately.”
Just like that, another employee quit.
The tavern master scowled as he glared at the disciples outside the door, but he could not step out to drive them away.
‘Ugh, pieces of trash like them would be nothing….’
Though he was hiding his martial arts, he was actually a High-Ascending Master.
He was the branch manager of the Feilong Sect, an organization created by the Imperial Family.
How could anyone below the High-Ascending Realm hold such a position?
Of course, since he was precisely a High-Ascending Master, he wasn’t strong enough to handle the joint attack of the Heuksa Sect’s leader and two deputy leaders all by himself.
‘But that doesn’t really matter.’
If permission were granted, there were plenty of places from which he could receive reinforcements.
Just how monumental was the backing behind him?
With a bit of support, overturning the Heuksa Sect would be child’s play.
The problem was that doing so would blow his cover.
‘What should I do?’
He couldn’t make the decision on his own. He had no choice but to await orders from above.
‘But why on earth are those bastards targeting this specific place?’
While they only collected reasonable protection fees from other shops, they were relentlessly harassing this tavern to prevent it from operating entirely, forcing it to close down.
Thinking they might want a higher fee, he had tried to negotiate, but he was met only with cold rejection.
They demanded that he unconditionally hand over the shop and leave.
‘Good grief, those fools have no idea they are stepping on a tiger’s tail right now.’
They probably think they are dealing with nothing more than a stray cat.
Even if business was good, this wasn’t a high-end courtesan house where massive sums of money changed hands. Who could possibly imagine that the Feilong Sect stood behind a tavern of this scale, and that the Imperial Family stood behind the Feilong Sect?
‘The higher-ups might just tell me to hand it over and re-establish ourselves elsewhere in a different way….’
Valuing secrecy above all else, such orders could very well come down.
But on the other hand, they might choose to deploy force.
‘If orders for the latter come down, all of you bastards are dead.’
Which way would the decision fall?
The tavern master was intensely curious.
On the other hand, the Heuksa Sect disciples blocking the tavern door and disrupting business had no such thoughts whatsoever.
Thus, when two young martial artists approached them, they merely reacted as they always did.
“Hey, this place isn’t accepting customers. Go somewhere else for your drinks or food.”
They delivered a light threat like that.
They didn’t actually intend to start a fight.
From the looks of it, these were just arrogant young martial artists who cared about appearances; a warning like this would usually make them back off on their own.
Since they already recognized the faces of the Xiangzu children they needed to watch out for, these guys were clearly just passing drifters.
“Who do you think you are commanding!”
So when Dan Suyeong unleashed a monstrous killing intent and roared in the next instant, all four Heuksa Sect disciples felt their breath hitch.
“Gasp…. Haah.”
The overwhelming killing intent made it impossible to breathe.
The opponent hadn’t even drawn a weapon, yet they felt as if they had already been sliced into two pieces.
“Kugh… Cough….”
One whose willpower was weak was not merely suppressed but sustained internal injuries, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
It was no ordinary injury; to fully recover, he would need several months of proper rest and recuperation.
Of course, that was a mild consequence.
Had Dan Suyeong intended to draw his sword, a part of their bodies would have been severed entirely.
“Junior disciple, your killing intent is too fierce.”
“My apologies, senior brother.”
The one who appeared younger intervened, and as the killing intent subsided, they could finally draw a breath.
But that was all.
‘Damn, he’s a master far beyond our level.’
‘Curse it, we should have observed them properly before blocking them.’
Even if he was a master, how much could just two people add to the tavern’s revenue?
It would have been better to just let them pass and quickly relay information to the leader that such a person had arrived.
There is a proverb in the Jianghu.
In the Wulin, beware of old men and young children.
So, does that mean one doesn’t need to be careful around young men?
The answer was clear now.
If you rely blindly on proverbs and exclude young men, you might pick the wrong target and end up dead.
Seonwu grinned widely.
‘Whoa, this is the real deal.’
An unorthodox sect actually exists here.
Bad guys blocking a shop, intentionally disrupting business to force it into bankruptcy.
In a way, it was a truly trivial matter.
To speak frankly, as someone holding the status of a prince, it was completely beneath his dignity to intervene personally.
Even if a chivalrous xia stepped in, the opponent felt a bit too weak and insignificant.
‘But as the saying goes, even a small good deed should be done when the opportunity arises!’
What if this tavern belonged not to him, but to an ordinary commoner?
‘In reality, only the tavern master is our agent; the rest of the staff are ordinary commoners.’
They had essentially lost their jobs overnight.
And now, he could embark on his very first chivalrous journey to rescue them.
‘Hmm, considering the victims, maybe I shouldn’t be acting this excited.’
Even so, since this was his monumental first chivalrous journey acting like a true protagonist after being reincarnated into the Wulin, he couldn’t help but feel quite thrilled.
‘Hehe, as long as my behavior remains proper, there’s no harm in feeling a little excited inside.’
Seonwu offered a bright smile with those thoughts, but the sight only terrified the Heuksa Sect disciples even more.
‘He called the smiling one his senior brother.’
‘The junior disciple is already a master capable of killing us with nothing but killing intent.’
Yet he is extremely polite to his senior brother.
Which means the senior brother is an even greater master.
If it were the other way around, no matter how much older the senior brother was, the junior disciple would have looked down on him.
And such a master is smiling brightly in front of novices who just threatened him?
This could never be a good sign.
The Smiling Fiend, a hidden dagger behind a smile.
Not a single person with “smile” in their moniker is ever sane!
Regardless of what the Heuksa Sect disciples were thinking, Seonwu was simply thrilled to experience a real chivalrous journey.
‘Hmm, how should I punish these guys so that it’s neither too excessive nor too lenient?’

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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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