Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 73

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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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Chapter 73

 

Manager Seong flinched.

 

The exact name of Yang-ryeong is ‘Yang-ryeong County’.

 

When there was an existing county magistrate, that magistrate didn’t only manage Yang-ryeong County.

 

He governed all the various villages that existed centered around this Yang-ryeong.

 

There were a total of four villages around Yang-ryeong.

 

Cheongsu Village, Unam-ri, Baekun-jin, Jukrim-jin.

 

The county magistrate’s job was to collect taxes from these villages, maintain public order, and resolve disputes.

 

The previous magistrate didn’t do that, but Woon-hwi was different.

 

He intended to do it.

 

“I asked if it was correct.”

 

“…If you’re asking whether it’s Cheonrim’s black market… Yes. It is correct.”

 

Manager Seong, who had been looking at the smiling Woon-hwi, sighed and said.

 

“…Really… Please don’t. That’s really not right.”

 

He didn’t answer.

 

The current Woon-hwi was a white stone.

 

Since someone had placed a black stone, now it was Woon-hwi’s turn to place one.

 

* * *

 

Cheongsu Village.

 

This place was truly the countryside of the countryside.

 

However, even so, quite a lot of people flocked here about once every two weeks.

 

The reason was simple.

 

Because a black market opened here.

 

Cheonrim opened black markets throughout the Central Plains to sell all kinds of goods, and since this land called Central Plains was unimaginably vast, they created dozens of black markets throughout the Central Plains.

 

Cheongsu Village was one of them.

 

Yu Han-rim, the branch manager of Cheonrim’s Cheongsu Village branch, sat on the main wooden floor smoking divine ginseng smoke made from high-grade divine ginseng flowers and let out a deep sigh.

 

“…Tsk, now I can’t even afford to smoke this divine ginseng smoke.”

 

It was understandable.

 

Not long ago, he received a message from Cheonrim’s main forest.

 

The content was simple.

 

The ‘deal’ that had been proceeding with Divine Ginseng Valley was completely suspended.

 

And with the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace interfering in Divine Ginseng Valley, the very method to try again had disappeared.

 

It was very shocking and irritating content.

 

This.

 

This problem arose after that bastard illegitimate son named Seol Woon-hwi devoured Yang-ryeong.

 

Everything just went wrong from that time.

 

“…Should I have stopped it.”

 

Cheonrim’s position was unrivaled.

 

They had tremendous wealth, and using that wealth, they could recruit countless strong warriors.

 

Above all, they also had relationships with very many Murim families.

 

If they had wanted to stop it, they could have sufficiently done so, but who could have imagined.

 

That bastard named Seol Woon-hwi, who was looked down upon as an illegitimate son, would devour Yang-ryeong by himself.

 

Ignorant fools might babble that the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace’s power intervened, but Cheonrim grasped what lay beyond the surface information.

 

And.

 

“…Surely he won’t find fault with that incident now.”

 

It was a bit concerning.

 

It would have been exactly six years ago around this time.

 

Han Jang-kwang of Ju-ryeong Sword Gate, who would now be at the Jordan River, had approached.

 

He had made a very tempting proposal.

 

That proposal was to share the mines together.

 

Frankly speaking, if it had been one mine, he would have let it pass, but there were two mines that produced Han-reung Jade Crystal.

 

Seol-han Mine, Cheong-ryeong Mine.

 

As a merchant, he couldn’t help but be tempted, so he had cooperated in that matter.

 

He deployed Cheonrim’s warriors and personnel, completely blocked Seol-ap’s access, and transported ore after ore.

 

But honestly speaking, the cost-benefit didn’t match.

 

Above all, no matter how much Seol Woon-hwi, who was the branch head of Seol-ap at the time, was an illegitimate son, they couldn’t deny that he was a direct descendant of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.

 

From Yu Han-rim’s perspective or Cheonrim’s perspective, they were touching the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace in some way.

 

This wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

 

There was sufficient concern that they might take the fall if things went wrong.

 

So they withdrew.

 

Since then, they had thoroughly kept their distance from Yang-ryeong, but somehow recently, getting entangled with the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace again seemed ominous.

 

Tsk.

 

It was then, as he was clicking his tongue inwardly.

 

Crash-!!

 

At the sound of the main gate breaking, Yu Han-rim jumped up from his seat.

 

This was Cheonrim’s branch.

 

What crazy bastard was attacking Cheonrim’s branch…

 

His thoughts stopped.

 

Five men and women revealing themselves at the entrance.

 

Three men, two women.

 

And among the three men, one face was all too familiar.

 

Ash-colored hair.

 

Sharp eyes.

 

Though he wasn’t wearing the famous White Tiger Heavenly Garment, there was no way Yu Han-rim couldn’t recognize that this was Seol Woon-hwi, the one he had been grinding his teeth over in his mind just moments ago.

 

It was when Cheonrim’s warriors were drawing their weapons toward those five. Yu Han-rim raised his hand and said.

 

“…Sheathe your swords. He is a guest.”

 

He slowly moved his steps.

 

Seeing him up close, he had such a young face.

 

With such a face, he lived as a puppet for six years?

 

Either his inner thoughts were very deep, or he was properly insane, or he had something to rely on.

 

It would be one of the three.

 

Yu Han-rim, who sighed inwardly, asked.

 

“What business brings the famous branch head of Yang-ryeong to this place? And…”

 

Yu Han-rim’s gaze, whose words trailed off, turned toward the shattered main gate.

 

It was completely destroyed. It would cost quite a bit of money to restore it to its original state, and among those fragments, two guards were lying down.

 

They didn’t seem dead, but appeared to be unconscious…

 

“…Your greeting is truly rough.”

 

“You seem to know me well.”

 

“…How could I not know you.”

 

“But I don’t know you.”

 

He chuckled.

 

“I am Yu Han-rim, the branch manager of Cheonrim’s Cheongsu Village branch. And that person over there is a guard sent from the main forest, Tak Geuk, famous by the alias Raging Sea Single Dragon.”

 

His level was Five Energy Harmonizing Origin.

 

Beside him were two warriors who had reached Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, three warriors who had reached Yang Gwang I Hyeon, and about ten martial artists who had reached Jucheon Gyeong, but he didn’t bother introducing them all.

 

“Enough, I came here because I have something to ask.”

 

“…What could you possibly want to ask that requires such excessive…”

 

“Who gave you permission to operate a black market in my jurisdiction?”

 

His words were cut short.

 

Cheon Rim.

 

How dare that Cheon Rim ask for anyone’s permission.

 

“It’s been over ten days since Yang-ryeong changed owners, yet you haven’t even come to pay your respects.”

 

“…”

 

“Is this how Cheon Rim manages its branches?”

 

He scratched his head.

 

Yu Han-rim had caught on to what this young bastard was thinking.

 

* * *

 

From how things are unfolding, Cheon Rim is deeply involved in the reconstruction of the Thousand Year Demon Cult. But frankly speaking, whether the Thousand Year Demon Cult gets rebuilt or not, I have no interest in such matters.

 

I have no intention of stopping them, nor do I plan to help them.

 

Even if they had concealed the existence of the secret realm that appeared in Yang-ryeong in the past and hunted down and killed everyone related to it, strictly speaking, that was someone else’s business.

 

If I were to bring that up now and make an issue of it, there would be no greater unreasonableness. I don’t want to be that unreasonable.

 

However, even though Cheon Rim has been operating a black market here in Cheongsu Village for a long time, and even though they took all the profits from it for themselves.

 

Even though they didn’t give the former magistrate Jeong Mu-gi a single coin.

 

Now this Cheongsu Village is under my jurisdiction.

 

Yu Han-rim wiped his face and quietly continued speaking.

 

“The reason we didn’t come to pay our respects was… we thought there was no particular need to do so. And furthermore, we have already been rooted in this Cheongsu Village for a long time. It’s troublesome for you to act this way now, Branch Master.”

 

I shook my head.

 

“The ones who should be troubled are you, not me.”

 

“…Pardon?”

 

“Now I am the owner of Yang-ryeong, and Cheongsu Village is under my jurisdiction. There should be nothing happening in my jurisdiction without my knowledge.”

 

“…Hah…”

 

“Especially for those like you who need to borrow land for commerce, shouldn’t you at least pay tribute with a portion of your profits?”

 

Yu Han-rim let out a hollow laugh.

 

“You are truly an amusing person.”

 

“Strangely, I’ve been hearing that a lot lately. Am I really that amusing?”

 

“Yes. It’s amusing because I can clearly see through your ulterior motives in playing this ill-fitting magistrate game.”

 

I burst into laughter.

 

“You can see through my ulterior motives?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then why don’t you tell me what my ulterior motives are.”

 

“It won’t be difficult. The tribute is just an excuse, and in the end, you need achievements, don’t you?”

 

“Achievements?”

 

“We know. We know that the Branch Master devoured Yang-ryeong using only your own power, without the help of the Eternal Snow Palace.”

 

That was unexpected.

 

I thought he was quite stupid, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

 

“But the people of the world don’t acknowledge such things. The fact that your alias is called Snow Mountain Demon Army makes it obvious.”

 

“Continue.”

 

“If you receive money from our Cheon Rim in Yang-ryeong, that would become the Branch Master’s achievement, and that alone would strengthen your position within the Eternal Snow Palace.”

 

“Strengthening my position…”

 

“Yes. Among the people inside the Eternal Snow Palace, there will be those who know that the rumors spread outside are not real, and those who don’t. You’re clearly planning to use our Cheon Rim to instill wariness in all of them… How could I not see through this?”

 

Unfortunately.

 

Really unfortunately, he got it slightly wrong.

 

However, I didn’t bother to correct him. There was no need to.

 

“Whatever reason you attach to it is your freedom. I have no intention of making you understand, nor do I plan to persuade you.”

 

“Understanding aside, you’ll have to do some persuading.”

 

“Why?”

 

“You’ll have to persuade me for me to play along with your scheme, won’t you?”

 

My smile disappeared.

 

Play along, persuade me.

 

The contempt and displeasure thickly embedded in his tone was making me even more displeased, but I let it slide for now.

 

“As I said before, I have no intention of persuading you. If you still need to be persuaded, then persuade yourself.”

 

“…Truly, how audacious of you.”

 

My brow was gradually furrowing.

 

Still, I endured it.

 

At least we were having a conversation.

 

“From now on, hand over 30% of the profits from the black market you operate in Cheongsu Village.”

 

“What if we refuse?”

 

“Then you’ll have to persuade me.”

 

The branch manager chuckled and said.

 

“Because we are in Cheongsu Village, many people flock to Yang-ryeong. And they spend money in Yang-ryeong. This ultimately leads to a virtuous cycle. Yang-ryeong functions because we are here, Branch Master.”

 

“So?”

 

“So, the ones who should be receiving money are us.”

 

“The ones who should be receiving money are rather you? Today you’re making me greatly disappointed in the organization called Cheon Rim.”

 

“…What do you mean?”

 

“Between Yang-ryeong and Seol-ap, there are two mines. Those two mines are now all my property, but they weren’t in the past. When Yang-ryeong’s Four Major Sects and magistrate Jeong Mu-gi seized ownership of the mines, there was an organization that played a pivotal role.”

 

“…”

 

“That was you, Cheon Rim.”

 

“…”

 

“The amount you took then was 800 silver coins. Very little, but it’s clear you helped with the work.”

 

“…You said you had ledgers, was that recorded there?”

 

“Do you deny it?”

 

“I will neither deny nor confirm it. But if we played a pivotal role in helping Yang-ryeong acquire those two mines, how could the profit be merely 800 silver coins?”

 

“Yu Han-rim.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’d prefer if we didn’t pretend not to know what we both know.”

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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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