Surviving as the Heavenly Demon’s Concubine - Chapter 94

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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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Mujin nodded his head.

“Right. This land. It’s useless anyway since all the poison has drained out, isn’t it? It would take decades to tame it again. And it would cost a lot of money too. You know it’s not worth saving to that extent.”

“…That may be true, but.”

Umun Gwoe glanced at Mujin suspiciously.

“What are you planning to do on this kind of land?”

Even if the poison had drained out, it was still treacherous land.

It was merely insufficient for growing poisonous herbs, but it wasn’t farmland suitable for growing ordinary crops either.

“I have uses for it all.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to spill it. I said with my own mouth that I ruined it, but surely a few patches of garden and orchard in front aren’t everything? The toxic pond, toxic blood, and toxic bamboo forest behind are still intact. It’s land teeming with poison.”

“Then that’s even better.”

Mujin nodded with a bright expression.

“I’ll pay you more generously depending on how strong the remaining poison is. You have many other territories besides this place anyway, don’t you? Take this opportunity to sell off this burdensome land and use that money to generously fertilize your other territories.”

“Hmm…”

At Mujin’s words, Umun Gwoe exhaled as if troubled.

‘Honestly, it’s tempting.’

This land located near Geomsu Jiok wasn’t a territory that Umun Gwoe absolutely had to protect.

There weren’t any poisonous herbs that grew only in this region, nor did it have any other value or meaning.

It was, so to speak, a small… weekend farm that he occasionally visited when he wanted to be alone, with an appropriately quiet garden of suitable size for passing time by himself.

While it would be a shame to just give it away, it was the kind of land he could sell if he received really big money for it.

“No. Still, it won’t do.”

“Why won’t it do?”

“This land is my land but not my land. It belongs to Cheonhyeong-gak.”

Umun Gwoe steeled his resolve.

Even if gold and silver treasures were precious, would they last a thousand years? The only thing whose value remains unchanged over time is land. Umun Gwoe showed strong conviction about real estate investment.

“Even if it’s a modest garden and humble house, it’s land inherited from my master. It’s property to be passed down to the next Dokma. No matter how many gold ingots you bring, nothing will change.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Mujin grumbled.

He could give any amount of money, but pouring out enough money to overturn his opinion wouldn’t be efficient since the Mazong’s coffers were quite well-stocked.

‘I thought it was a perfect location.’

Mujin wasn’t trying to dump just any land on Riser – this land was actually a place that could help Riser.

Since she had decided to learn poison techniques first, Riser would be emitting quite a lot of poison for the time being.

Doing such ominous things inside Cheonryeon Palace wouldn’t be convenient, so there was a need to prepare a suitable training ground.

Moreover, borrowing Umun Gwoe’s words, she could directly obtain poison from ‘land teeming with poison,’ so it would be beneficial in many ways.

“What are you doing here? I’ve been looking for you for a while.”

Just then, Riser poked her head out from behind the two men, holding an armful of clothes.

“Oh, well…”

“Senior. Could I borrow a room to change clothes?”

Mujin thought she was looking for him and tried to answer, but the person Riser had business with was Umun Gwoe.

Umun Gwoe must have thought the same, as he unconsciously showed the foolish behavior of pointing at himself as if saying ‘Me… me?’ but quickly recovered.

“You don’t need permission, so use it as you please.”

“Ah. Then may I also bathe?”

“…Yes.”

“Actually, it’s not just me, but Jegal Lin, Peng Guyeon, and Song Ha Dojang too…”

“Do whatever you want!”

Umun Gwoe got angry instead.

‘How eccentric! Is it because he’s a mysterious poison cultivator?’

Riser wondered why he suddenly got angry and found it puzzling, but since she had gotten a good answer, she didn’t want to create unnecessary trouble, so she just bowed her head to express gratitude.

Then she sent her gaze toward Mujin and acknowledged him.

“I suppose you’re trying to dress up since it’s supposedly a festival. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Ah… I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

“Don’t apologize so seriously.”

Mujin pursed his lips, wanting to give some refined flattery about beauty that women would like to hear, or quote some elegant sweet talk.

‘Damn it. I should have memorized a few in advance.’

However, unfortunately, Mujin was not Museong, so no appropriate praise came to mind.

“By the way, what was Magong-ja doing?”

While he was hesitating, Riser casually changed the subject without much thought.

Mujin answered while feeling both disappointed and relieved at the same time.

“I was negotiating to buy you land.”

“Ah, that.”

“…?!?!”

Upon hearing those words, Umun Gwoe’s eyes grew three times their usual size.

‘It was land to give to Dang Ri-seo?’

He should have said that first! Umun Gwoe stamped his feet.

“Were you thinking of buying this place for me?”

“Yeah. I thought it was a good location for practicing poison techniques. It’s a bit remote, but if I ask Jegal Lin to open a dragon vein, it won’t even take a moment to reach Cheonryeon Palace. Since you’re from the Sichuan Dang Family, you should know how to handle most poisonous herbs and toxins, so there won’t be any danger.”

“That’s true.”

Riser nodded and thought carefully.

When she first asked Mujin to buy her land, she hadn’t had this kind of location or land in mind…

‘I wanted a bustling commercial district good for opening a pharmacy.’

After hearing Mujin’s words and thinking again, that wasn’t urgent.

Even if she had land right now, Riser couldn’t open a pharmacy, and even if she did, she didn’t have any medicinal materials to sell.

‘Right. The store isn’t the only important thing. Production comes first.’

If she learned poison techniques while absorbing poison to tame the land, then grew medicinal materials and set up facilities to process them in the backyard, it could become a decent medicinal material production site.

Since the surroundings were Geomsu Jiok, security would be excellent, and if she asked Jegal Lin for a dragon vein, transportation would improve too…

‘This is good?’

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that it was good land.

“This is really great! I love it!”

“Right? I knew you would. But what can we do? Old man Umun has no intention of selling this place…”

“I do! I intend to sell!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Umun Gwoe suddenly interrupted.

“Huh? But earlier you said…”

“I said I’d sell it!”

Umun Gwoe threatened Mujin to prevent him from saying more.

“Will you really sell it?”

When subtle hope showed in Riser’s voice, Umun Gwoe became even more determined.

Saying such things was really damaging to his pride, but such petty face-saving wasn’t worth anything compared to Mandokbun’s future.

“There’s a condition!”

“Wait, old man. Don’t tell me…?”

“Instead, become my disciple!”

Umun Gwoe’s heartfelt confession left his lips and could no longer be taken back.

His fingertips trembling and his heart pounding… it had been so long since he was this nervous that he couldn’t even remember when.

Riser hesitated with a somewhat troubled expression.

“Uh… I… I’m not even a Mazong member yet… I’m a prospective concubine? I’m not sure if I can become someone’s disciple…”

“I’ll handle that somehow!”

Riser pondered while scratching the back of her head as if troubled.

‘What should I do.’

Honestly speaking, while she did need to learn poison techniques, she didn’t want to have a mysterious poison cultivator as her master.

She just needed to master the Five Poison Circulation Technique she learned from the Sichuan Dang Family. She wondered if a master was really necessary.

The existence of a relative elder who entered the sect from the Sichuan Dang Family also weighed on her mind.

‘Most importantly, this person is too eccentric.’

As Riser seemed to deliberate with a thoughtful expression, dragging out the time, Umun Gwoe grew anxious.

“If… if you become my disciple…!”

What followed were tremendously generous conditions.

I’ll give you this land, I’ll give you the rights to that land, usage rights to certain poisons from certain lands, 10% of the sales revenue from all elixirs and pills made using certain poisonous lotus flowers cultivated in certain ponds, and so on and so forth…

“Stop, stop it! Old man Umun! You’ve gone way overboard now! Aren’t you going to prepare for your retirement?”

Mujin, unable to watch any longer, stepped forward to intervene.

“What’s the point of preparing for retirement without a disciple!”

“You’ve lived just fine without a disciple until now, so why are you acting like this? Really.”

“…”

Riser remained silent throughout all that time.

Honestly, she didn’t even understand about 80% of what Umun Gwoe had mentioned in his conditions.

What was certain was that Umun Gwoe was generously offering everything he had.

“I understand.”

Riser felt that this one fact alone was enough to set aside all other concerns.

“Please take good care of me, Master.”

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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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