Regressed by the Heavenly Demon - 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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I had returned to the Heavenly Demon.
Geon A Seong (2)
Contract documents and promissory notes bearing the seals of major war merchants lay spread across the table.
The head of the Sa Cheon Dang Family came forward as representative and sat across from me to discuss the settlement of accounts.
“The amount you mentioned, sir, would come to two coffers’ worth in gold, but we’ve only managed to prepare one coffer’s worth in promissory notes. To mortgage the entire assets of our organization in just one day is….”
“It’s difficult, I imagine. And?”
“We’ve sold off some of our inns, but we still cannot raise the remaining coffer’s worth. If you would grant us time, we could provide it sequentially….”
“Why take the hard path when an easy one lies before you?”
“…….”
“The Baekryongmok lands you hold are quite profitable here in Nan Zhou. If you divided them up and sold them piecemeal to those vultures slavering after them, wouldn’t that secure your funds?”
“If we did that, it would become difficult to maintain our organization….”
“Precisely. You need to feed your subordinates and recoup lost capital, so naturally you’d have to raise the price of Baekryongmok significantly. The Yeom Wang Chae will be operating again on profits from their Baekryongmok sales, after all.”
“Yes, we’re grateful that you would understand it that way….”
“That’s what I want.”
“…….”
“If you were prepared to cheat me, you should have been prepared to pay the appropriate price when you failed. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“…….”
“From this moment forward, I shall take ownership of the Baekryongmok lands in place of the funds you cannot provide.”
The head of the Sa Cheon Dang Family, with no real choice in the matter, lowered his head.
“Divide the Baekryongmok lands into shares and hold a public auction. Once the transaction proceeds smoothly, I’ll return a portion of the proceeds to you.”
“Do you truly mean to sell it? Rather than that, we could continue to operate the Baekryongmok lands ourselves….”
“It’s fine. I’m selling it.”
As far as I knew, the Baekryongmok lands would soon plummet in value—truly plummet.
Baekryongmok deposits, once found only in Nan Zhou in Gansu Province, were beginning to be discovered in other regions of Gansu as well.
In other words, now was when the price was at its highest.
In any case, the Yong Cheol Ryeon—a organization that couldn’t afford to be choosy about cold rice or hot—would never refuse this.
Not if they wanted to salvage even spare change for their own survival.
“Understood….”
“There are plenty of wealthy merchants living in Nan Zhou who will bid. It’s best to conduct the auction and take what we get. Until then, you’ll remain here.”
I smiled faintly, gathered up the promissory notes, and rose from my seat to leave the room.
Then came a Bang! from inside the room.
Not just once—for quite some time after, the sound of things being smashed echoed from within.
“Aaaahhhhh!!!”
An anguished cry, thick with frustration, followed.
*
*
*
The city of Nan Zhou stirred with activity.
Wang Baek had done his work well.
I’d given him funds to purchase an inn as a reward for handling the various tasks I’d assigned him capably. He’d wept and sworn his loyalty, so I made my escape quickly.
In any case, the rumors went like this:
—Je Gal Lin of the Je Gal Family distributed Baekryongmok supplies freely, aiding the common people of Nan Zhou who suffered from Togoldok.
And when Baekryongmok was indeed distributed without charge through the Medicine Houses and street markets, many praised Je Gal Lin.
Another rumor was added to the mix:
—Qing Ya, the leader of the Yong Cheol Ryeon, had entered Closed-Door Cultivation.
This was spread by the Yong Cheol Ryeon’s upper echelon, independent of my intentions.
Considering that news of Qing Ya’s death might provoke the organization’s enemies, they were too busy covering it up to do anything else.
For my purposes, it was a convenient outcome.
While the outside world grew loud with these developments,
I shared a modest dinner with Seol Ha on the second floor of an inn.
“They say the stir-fried vegetables here are exceptional, and they really are. I’ve never tasted anything like it even in Seong Do.”
“Really? The vegetables stay so fresh despite being cooked.”
“Right?”
This is what happiness is.
As I found myself humming contentedly, Seol Ha posed a question.
“But Master,”
“Yes?”
“Why did you distribute the Baekryongmok under Je Gal Lin’s name? She tried to harm you before, didn’t she?”
“First, raising the reputation of Geon A Seong would be of no use to me whatsoever. And second, Je Gal Lin wanted to keep this hidden, didn’t she? In every conceivable way.”
“Yes.”
“But now there’s no hiding it, is there?”
Seol Ha’s eyes crinkled with amusement.
“True enough.”
“Still, you ought to thank me. I gained reputation rather than profit, and thanks to that, I was able to send him the generous funds I’ve acquired this time.”
Through this affair, I’d managed to send Baek Mun Gyu far more than the minimum I’d planned.
In fact, I held in my hands substantially more than my original target.
The wealthy magnates of Nan Zhou, competing fiercely, had ensured the auction shares for the Baekryongmok land sold handsomely.
As a result, I now possessed something like two carloads worth of gold.
A windfall fortune sufficient to purchase two hundred prime horses in one stroke.
Because of it, even the Yong Cheol Ryeon—which had once commanded considerable scale in Nan Zhou—entered its final stages of collapse.
Most of the seven hundred or so warriors, servants, and personnel who’d dwelt within the Yong Cheol Ryeon fled from an organization that could no longer promise even monthly stipends.
The Yeom Wang Chae ventures and the Baek Ma Sang Dan had to be shuttered with the capital on hand, and only two inns remained of their properties.
Those who remained as sect leaders of the Yong Cheol Ryeon were now seized by the atmosphere of internal conflict, each grasping for what remained.
“They’ll see blood fighting over everything still in the headquarters and warehouses—furnishings, carriages, horses—whatever they can claim. In time, the name Yong Cheol Ryeon will fade from the jianghu altogether.”
“You foresaw all of that?”
“To some degree. Now I need only send this capital to Baek Mun Gyu.”
After setting aside a portion of funds to deliver to Je Gal Lin, I divided the rest into three promissory notes: one from the Seong Ho War Merchant—the great trading house that spans not only Nan Zhou but Gansu Province and Shaanxi Province—and two more from major trading houses in the Gui Zhou and Hu Nan regions.
“Your sister will deliver them. Once Baek Mun Gyu receives the notes, he’ll know how to break up the funds and move them himself.”
“Far more capital than he asked for, yet you’re entrusting all of it to him?”
“Right now, there’s no safer investment than placing it in his hands. He’ll understand my purpose and accept it.”
“Understood. I’ll proceed as you’ve instructed.”
“Good. In the meantime, I’ll return to Hwang Geum Jang. I still have unfinished business with Je Gal Lin.”
Seol Ha, nodding, laughed as she glanced at my empty bowl.
“Already finished? Have another bowl.”
I smiled slightly.
“No. I’m full as it is.”
I meant it.
*
*
*
The moment I returned to Hwang Geum Jang, Je Gal Lin was waiting for me, just as expected.
Having kept her ear pressed to Nan Zhou’s gossip, she’d have heard of my affairs before almost anyone.
And she would inevitably face interrogation from the Je Gal Family before long.
Perhaps for that reason, her face flushed with anger she was straining to control.
Je Gal Lin’s mouth twitched with a forced smile.
“Impressive.”
Having recovered an air of composure, Je Gal Lin offered me a light clap.
“Remarkable. You’ve liquidated every scrap of Baekryongmok you held. I don’t know what you were thinking, but since you’ve disposed of it all, there’s nothing owed to me—or so you might claim. Yet you must repay me five times over, as promised, mustn’t you?”
“The agreed term hasn’t elapsed yet. We said one month, didn’t we?”
“I heard the Baekryongmok was disposed of without compensation. How could I sit idle? Agreement or not, I need to hear your plan for recovering the funds.”
Je Gal Lin’s eyes darted restlessly.
She was trying to determine if the collapse of the Yong Cheol Ryeon bore any connection to me.
Since Wang Baek, who’d been impressed by me, hadn’t told her anything significant, the affairs now revolving around me were not going as she wished—and that frustration was plainly burning within her.
Je Gal Lin folded her arms and fixed me with her gaze.
She clearly hoped to hear that I couldn’t repay the debt immediately.
“Of course. It couldn’t be otherwise.”
……
“Your complexion doesn’t look well, so I ought to settle this promptly. They say a fistful of gold can cure even the worst ailments.”
“Surely not….”
“The debt I owed you converts to seven hundred fifty silver taels. I’ve had someone place it in your carriage, so you may simply take it with you.”
……
“Ah, and out of gratitude, I’ve added roughly ten more taels of silver, so your heart should be at ease.”
“What on earth have you done? Did you borrow money from your mother?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“It seems the young lady is so moved by my generous addition that words fail her.”
“That’s not it!!”
Je Gal Lin’s voice rose sharply.
“How did you alone accomplish what even I couldn’t?”
“Didn’t you say you abandoned the attempt out of concern for your family’s reputation?”
“That’s….”
“I had no reason to worry about Hwang Geum Jang’s opinion. And seeing the reality of Nan Zhou, how could I suppress the heart of a Chivalrous Outlaw? I gave freely.”
“Then where did this money come from!?”
“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”
“Did you perhaps extort Yong Cheol Ryeon without any justification and steal money from them? If that’s the case, this is not something the Orthodox Faction can simply overlook as a single incident…?”
“So?”
“If you don’t explain this clearly enough for me to understand, I’ll report the situation to my family and have them investigate what you’ve done.”
“Hmm, if you’re going to be that way, I have no choice. I too can use my connections through Hwang Geum Jang to tell the Sa Cheon Dang Family about your price manipulation, and mention the circumstances of how you even defrauded me with Baekryongmok. There are plenty of ways to prove it.”
Those Orthodox Faction types were obsessed with reputation, so they dreaded public shame and dishonor above all else.
Je Gal Lin was no exception.
“…….”
“The family head’s pride will be utterly crushed, it seems. Her marriage prospects will be severely damaged too. What man would want to marry the princess of a family trailing such useless scandal? Even I wouldn’t want to marry into it, and the great martial clans like the Five Great Houses take strategic marriages very seriously.”
Quite apart from what I’d just said, anything involving Yong Cheol Ryeon held no profit for the Je Gal Family no matter how many investigative teams they dispatched.
The Baekryongmok shares were divided among several factions anyway, and drilling Yong Cheol Ryeon would only expose their rotten conduct.
“Ah, and let me offer one piece of advice.”
Toward Je Gal Lin, who had risen to her feet unable to argue back, I too stood and approached her.
Crack.
Using the Bak Tu Sul—which contained the mysteries of the Geum Na Shou—I twisted Je Gal Lin’s wrist and then pressed her against the table by striking her pressure points.
In an instant, her vital and numbing pressure points were struck, leaving her mouth and body completely immobilized, her eyes trembling violently.
For Je Gal Lin, who had always relied on her background and acted recklessly, this was probably the first time anything like this had ever happened.
At the same time, I pulled out a Spirit Pearl from Je Gal Lin’s secret pouch and showed it to her.
“Never take out that pathetic Seop Hon Sul in front of me again….”
As the Spirit Pearl crackled and shattered in my hand, anger and bewilderment flooded Je Gal Lin’s eyes with bloodshot rage.
She had good reason. It must have been one of the Je Gal Family’s most treasured possessions.
“And you’d do well to abandon the fantasy that your precious background can protect your life whenever it suits you.”
As I pressed down on a death point with the tip of my finger, fear crushed Je Gal Lin’s pupils.
“Meager strength always meets greater strength.”
Meeting my eyes as I released my aura in earnest, Je Gal Lin lowered her gaze in terror.
It was a murderous aura far beyond anything she could endure.
Not simply because I was a Peak Expert.
There was no way this frog-in-a-well girl could withstand the sharp killing intent of someone who had lived as a Demon Human for over ninety years.
Je Gal Lin, trembling violently, finally let out a whimper.
I shook my head slowly and turned to leave.
The pressure points I had struck were only pressed firmly enough to release shortly, so there was no reason to linger and face her any longer.

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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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