The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 112

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

112
Woo Geom-San’s Struggle for Supremacy
A young man in his mid-twenties and a middle-aged martial artist were standing at the wharf.
The young man possessed a tall stature and bold, distinct features.
He had the kind of appearance that anyone would consider quite handsome.
Standing with his arms crossed, the young man gazed out at a vessel entering the wharf.
A massive ship, measuring over twenty zhang in length and three zhang in height, was pulling in.
It was a Ren Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessel, which primarily operated on the Yangtze River.
Even though the huge vessel was entering majestically, the young man’s face was completely crumpled in a deep frown.
The middle-aged martial artist standing beside him asked cautiously,
“Why do you look like that when the ship is coming in, Young Master?”
“Don’t you find it strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“Only Ren Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels have been coming in for a while now.”
“Isn’t that only natural, since Ren Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels are the most widely used on the Yangtze River?”
The middle-aged martial artist asked, wondering what could possibly be strange about it. However, the young man’s stiff expression did not soften.
“Haven’t you noticed? At some point, the Tian Grade and Di Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels stopped coming in entirely.”
“Well, that’s…”
“We’re different from the other Seven Great Water Sects. We have ships coming in from the sea as well. The vessels that come from the sea are almost all Tian Grade or higher. Yet, for some reason, Tian Grade ships haven’t entered the docks in ages.”
To say that Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels were not docking was equivalent to saying that no ships were coming in from the sea.
While Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels were not a common sight to begin with, it made absolutely no sense for them to vanish completely like this.
“You have the ledger where the ship arrivals are recorded, right?”
“Yes! I have it right here.”
“Bring it to me.”
“Please wait just a moment.”
The middle-aged man hurriedly ran toward a small building located near the wharf.
It was a storehouse where records of the ships entering the wharf were kept.
After a brief moment, the middle-aged man returned panting and handed the ledger he was holding to the young man.
“Here it is, Young Master!”
Flip, flip!
As the young man quickly flipped through the pages, his face hardened rigidly.
“The arrival of Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels stopped completely two months ago. And the arrival frequency of Di Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels has dropped noticeably as well.”
“How could that be…”
“I need to go see my sister.”
Holding the ledger, the young man hurriedly left the wharf.
The place he headed to was none other than the Woo Family Manor, located not far from the wharf.
The martial artists standing guard recognized him and greeted him.
“Have you arrived, Young Master?”
“Where is my sister?”
“I believe she is in the rear garden.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. Please go on in.”
The martial artists ushered the young man inside.
The young man’s name was Woo Gong-hak, the fifth young master of the Woo Family Manor.
Woo Gong-hak headed to the rear garden just as the martial artists had told him.
In the rear garden, he was able to find the person he was looking for.
“Sister!”
“Ah, Gong-hak.”
The one welcoming Woo Gong-hak warmly was none other than the fourth young lady of the Woo Family Manor, So-ha.
“Sister! We have a huge problem.”
“A huge problem?”
“Look at this.”
Woo Gong-hak handed the ledger he was holding to So-ha.
“The arrival ledger?”
“Look at the arrival records for the Tian Grade and Ren Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels.”
“What about them?”
Scanning the ledger, So-ha’s expression froze.
“There are no arrival records for the Tian Grade at all, and the frequency for the Di Grade has dropped drastically.”
“It’s bizarre, right?”
“Since when has it been like this?”
“According to the records, it started two months ago…”
“Two whole months? And yet, no one reported this?”
A flash of anger flared in So-ha’s eyes.
With a fluctuation of this magnitude, it was only right that someone should have reported it to her. The fact that it had been neglected like this meant there was a failure in the Woo Family Manor’s reporting system.
“The person in charge of the arrival records is…”
“Brother Gyeong-yeol.”
Woo Gong-hak answered without even catching his breath.
Woo Gyeong-yeol was the second son of their uncle, the head of the Financial Hall Woo Gyeong-mun, making him their cousin.
“So Brother Gyeong-yeol blocked the report? Could it be our uncle’s doing?”
“The possibility isn’t zero. You know it too, don’t you? Just how grand our uncle’s ambitions are.”
“Sigh!”
So-ha let out a heavy sigh.
Ever since their father and even their eldest brother collapsed, their uncle, Woo Gyeong-mun, had been steadily expanding his influence.
As the head of the Financial Hall, his influence had long surpassed that of So-ha and Woo Gong-hak, who belonged to the direct lineage of the Woo Family Manor.
Because of that, the majority of their business foundations were currently at the mercy of Woo Gyeong-mun.
“The fact that Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels aren’t coming in is a critical issue.”
“Exactly! Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels handle at least twenty percent of our total cargo volume.”
“It’s safe to say that the Woo Family Manor’s income has decreased by more than twenty percent.”
The Woo Family Manor maintained relationships with numerous merchant groups and escort agencies.
They paid out and received tens of thousands of gold pieces from them every single day.
If profits decreased, it was only natural that problems would arise regarding payments.
For that very reason, So-ha had to go and confront Woo Gyeong-mun not too long ago.
If this state of affairs continued, it was clear that countless problems would erupt in the future.
Closing the ledger, So-ha spoke.
“I have one question.”
“A question?”
“Just how on earth are they handling the massive amount of cargo loaded onto those Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know it well, right? No one can use the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal without going through the Woo Family Manor. That’s why Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels must dock at the wharves managed by our Woo Family Manor.”
“That’s true.”
“If they bypass the Woo Family Manor, how can they transport the massive amount of cargo from the Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels onto the mainland?”
“Well, that would be…”
Woo Gong-hak’s voice trailed off.
The reason waterways were used to transport cargo was because it was cheap and efficient.
To transport the same volume of cargo by land would require at least several times the manpower and cost.
For a merchant group or an escort agency, it was a structure where they couldn’t help but suffer massive losses.
“It’s clear that someone is intentionally blocking the Tian Grade Cloud River-Crossing Vessels from entering the Woo Family Manor. Even while enduring astronomical losses.”
“This is impossible with our uncle’s capabilities alone.”
“If Uncle is the one driving this, he must have an accomplice.”
“It must be an incredibly massive faction.”
“A faction large enough to slowly choke the Woo Family Manor to death.”
“Then, could it be the Yunyo Bang?”
“Most likely…”
The expressions of both individuals turned grave.
They knew all too well how desperately the Yunyo Bang coveted the Woo Family Manor’s shipping rights.
To steal those shipping rights fifteen years ago, they had tried to marry off So-ha, who was only thirteen at the time, to the third young master of the Yunyo Bang, Yun Tae-ho.
At that time, Yun Tae-ho was already in his mid-twenties.
If Woo Geom-san hadn’t stepped forward back then and beaten Yun Tae-ho half to death, So-ha would have been helplessly forced into that marriage.
Traumatized by that event, So-ha insisted on remaining single, to the point that she was still living at the Woo Family Manor unmarried even in her late twenties.
“I wonder what happened to Brother Geom-san?”
A look of distant longing appeared on So-ha’s face.
The person she held dearest in her heart was none other than Woo Geom-san.
Just thinking about Woo Geom-san brought an ache to her chest and filled her with guilt.
Woo Geom-san could have lived a perfectly comfortable life. Yet, he had stepped forward without a single shred of hesitation for his younger sibling, and as a result, he had to leave the Woo Family Manor where he had spent his entire life.
Woo Gong-hak spoke up.
“I miss Brother Geom-san. If he were here, Uncle wouldn’t be able to abuse his power like this.”
“He will return to our side one day. Until then, let’s stay strong.”
“Yeah!”
Woo Gong-hak replied with a firm expression.
A deep, profound yearning for Woo Geom-san was etched onto both of their faces.
***
Disembarking from the rapid ship, Woo Geom-san’s party traveled by land.
Since Ha Baek-jin and Gong Pyeong-hae were with them, finding the way was not particularly difficult. Both of them had active histories as rogue warriors for a long time, so they were deeply knowledgeable about the geography Under Heaven.
Gong Pyeong-hae’s knowledge shone exceptionally bright in this region.
He had spent several months passing through this area a long time ago. Thanks to that, he knew many shortcuts that ordinary people could never discover.
Gong Pyeong-hae took the lead, guiding the party.
“Though this path is rugged, it will save us at least two days of travel.”
The path he chose was a treacherous mountain trail.
He had guided them onto a mountain path so rugged that even the nearby village residents rarely utilized it.
Faced with the mountain path, Ha Baek-jin spoke to Ha Yeong-ryeong.
“Yeong-ryeong, climb onto my back. It is far too rugged; with your current physical condition, you can absolutely never pass through there.”
“Okay!”
Ha Yeong-ryeong immediately climbed onto Ha Baek-jin’s back.
Although her body had recovered a great deal, she was not yet in a state to overexert herself.
With Ha Yeong-ryeong on his back, Ha Baek-jin lightly moved his feet, following behind Gong Pyeong-hae. Yi Se-gyeong followed after him, while Woo Geom-san and Ning Yunxiao walked at the very rear.
Despite the grueling mountain path, Ning Yunxiao walked remarkably well, even as sweat poured from him.
Woo Geom-san found it admirable that Ning Yunxiao trudged along the mountain path silently without uttering a single complaint.
Unbefitting of his age, Ning Yunxiao possessed immense endurance and a mature mindset. Watching Ning Yunxiao naturally brought back memories of the younger siblings he had separated from during his childhood.
‘I hope everyone is doing well.’
He missed his older brothers, Woo Mun-san and Woo Gang-san, and he deeply yearned for his immediate younger siblings, So-ha and Woo Gong-hak.
He also wanted to see the faces of the twin siblings who were just newborn infants when he left the Woo Family Manor.
He had suppressed these feelings tightly for the past fifteen years, but perhaps because the Woo Family Manor was drawing close, his longing erupted all at once.
In his heart, he wanted to rush to the Woo Family Manor this very instant.
Had he been alone, he would have deployed his Lightness Skill to shorten the time, but he had to be considerate of his companions.
Ha Yeong-ryeong’s body had not yet fully recovered, and Ning Yunxiao was still young, requiring his physical strength to be rationed.
Sure enough, though they had only been climbing the mountain path for half a day, the physical conditions of Ha Yeong-ryeong and Ning Yunxiao deteriorated noticeably.
Woo Geom-san spoke to Gong Pyeong-hae.
“Let us take a short break here.”
“It just so happens there is a suitable place to rest near here. Let’s rest over there.”
Gong Pyeong-hae pushed through the thick brush and stepped a bit further ahead. A small valley stream with clear flowing water revealed itself.
“It’s water!”
Ning Yunxiao quickly rushed to the valley stream and plunged his face into the water. Only then did the scorching heat fade slightly.
Ha Yeong-ryeong also dipped her feet into the water and took a rest.
In the meantime, the adults pulled out the beef jerky they had prepared in advance and handed it to them.
“Chew it thoroughly, and it will give you some strength.”
“Yes!”
“Thank you.”
After expressing their gratitude to the adults, Ha Yeong-ryeong and Ning Yunxiao began chewing on the beef jerky.
Gong Pyeong-hae handed some beef jerky to Woo Geom-san as well.
“You should have some too, Young Master Woo.”
“Thank you.”
Without declining, Woo Geom-san accepted the beef jerky.
Gong Pyeong-hae asked cautiously,
“How long has it been since you last returned to the Woo Family Manor?”
“It has been fifteen years.”
“My goodness! You’ve been away for that long?”
“Things just turned out that way.”
“You must have suffered greatly.”
“Doesn’t everyone suffer in life? It is nothing special.”
Woo Geom-san replied indifferently, as if it were no big deal.
“Even so, to leave your home at such a young age for fifteen years… If it were me, I could never have endured it.”
“I consider it a blessing that I can return home even now.”
“However, the road back will definitely not be smooth. Both the Yunyo Bang and the Tianjin Escort Agency are groups notorious Under Heaven for being incredibly relentless.”
“I am prepared for that.”
At Woo Geom-san’s calm response, Gong Pyeong-hae felt goosebumps erupt across his entire body.
Premature threats or warnings are things only the immature indulge in.
A truly powerful martial artist does not jabber carelessly or show off.
Exactly like Woo Geom-san.
‘If it is this man, he will easily break through even an inescapable net of Heaven and earth to reach the Woo Family Manor.’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————