The God of Death and the God of War - Chapter 97

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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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Evil Hegemon Martial God

Chapter 97

Words without feet travel a thousand li.

This is a proverb about the spread and fearsome nature of rumors.

“Did you hear about that?”

“About what?”

“Well, apparently Geumhwang Sangga’s great fleet…”

The incident that occurred in the main stream of the Yangtze River near Jijiang County in Hubei Province spread throughout the Central Plains before day and night had changed several times.

-Geumhwang Sangga’s great fleet has completely sunk.

Geumhwang Sangga.

Great fleet.

Sunk.

Any one of these would prick up one’s ears, but all three served up in one bowl?

People devoured the rumors greedily like beggars who had starved for days, and before long they grasped the more detailed truth.

That Geumhwang Sangga’s great fleet, which had been traveling along the Yangtze River route, was attacked by someone and completely sunk.

“It wasn’t swept away by a storm?”

“Hey, man! From what I heard, there were dozens of ships – would such a fleet all sink from just a storm?”

“…Then who on earth?”

“Wouldn’t it be the water bandits of the Yangtze River Pirates?”

When there was no proper information at first, most people suspected the Yangtze River Pirates as the culprits behind the incident.

They were the most likely perpetrators.

The Eighteen Yangtze River Pirate Groups were part of Heukpaesong and a water bandit organization that controlled all the waterways of the Yangtze River.

To turn dozens of ships in a great fleet into fish food, it would be impossible without such a massive force.

However, proper martial artists of the martial world, not ordinary civilians, dismissed such suspicions.

“That’s nonsense. With that scale, the Yangtze River Pirates would negotiate in advance rather than attack.”

“Right. They said nearly a thousand ronin were aboard the great fleet. After a large-scale water battle, the cost-benefit wouldn’t make sense.”

“Besides, those money-crazed bastards wouldn’t throw plunderable goods into the river.”

“But that’s not what’s important now. Rumors are rampant that Geumhwang Sangga stands at a crossroads of survival from this incident.”

“Huh, one of the Three Major Merchant Guilds of the Central Plains is on the verge of collapse?”

That Geumhwang Sangga’s situation was serious was something everyone could guess.

Since their incomparably prepared great fleet from all previous trading expeditions had completely sunk, there was no way to recover their invested funds.

From Geumhwang Sangga’s perspective, it was truly like lightning striking from a clear sky.

“It has to be seen as impossible to remedy.”

“That’s right. I heard this trading expedition was prepared several times, no, several dozen times larger than usual…”

This trading expedition was like a gamble that Geumhwang Sangga had attempted by overextending themselves, and there was an unavoidable background to this.

After Geumhwang Sangga was severed from the Martial Arts Alliance, they had to recover from the damage and prove their resilience to continue existing as a merchant guild, and this was the only means available.

But all those hopes were buried at the bottom of the Yangtze River.

According to rumors, this incident caused Geumhwang Sangga to lose more than ‘four-tenths’ of the funds they had accumulated over generations in one blow.

Of course, the human losses were comparable as well.

In this absurd situation, naturally the world’s attention turned to the beast who had caused all this.

“So, who is this culprit?”

“Namga-il… that’s what they say.”

“I heard he’s the current Cheon-ju of a place called Seolcheon?”

“Who is this Namga-il? And where is Seolcheon?”

The identity of the beast was conveyed through the mouths of survivors.

Seolcheon.

A mysterious force of single-person transmission that had never been known before.

Namga-il was mentioned by gossipmongers as the unique successor of that mysterious force.

“Huh, a great demon lord has appeared in Gangho…”

“He uses extreme yin techniques?”

“Then this place called Seolcheon. Isn’t it connected to the Northern Ice Palace?”

“Probably so. By the way, Jin-jun is really something. What did he do to build enmity with such a master?”

Based on survivors’ testimonies, rumors spread like wildfire that he was a demon with cruel methods and possessed absurd martial prowess reaching the Hyeon-gyeong level.

“Hyeon-gyeong? That’s nonsense.”

“It’s true! He was standing still on the water!”

“No, even if there are techniques like Deung-pyeong Dosu or water-walking. How could any master stand firmly in the middle of the Yangtze River? That’s impossible.”

“No, it’s really true! I saw it clearly!”

Due to the abundance of sensational content, people were skeptical about the realm called Hyeon-gyeong.

But the situation began to change as new rumors spread.

“Did you hear! They say Seolcheon is a place that inherited Bing Bai Wu Di’s legacy!!”

“B-Bing Bai Wu Di?! That monster passed down like a legend!”

“That’s right! Putting together the survivors’ words, Jin-jun had stolen and hidden Bing Bai Wu Di’s treasure!”

“Gasp! Then Namga-il was trying to retrieve that treasure?!”

“Exactly! Bing Bai Wu Di’s treasure that must be reclaimed as a successor! He caused that chaos because of it!”

“What kind of treasure is it? What power does it contain…!”

“Think about it! How could Geumhwang Sangga have survived on their own strength after their connection with the Martial Arts Alliance was severed!”

“Gasp! Then the power that Geumhwang Sangga’s newly revealed military force received was…!”

Rumors bred rumors, and those who liked to pretend they knew added flesh to the rumors one word at a time.

“From what I heard, if you find that treasure, you can obtain all of Bing Bai Wu Di’s power!”

“I-is that really true?!”

“Wait, then right now in Geumhwang Sangga’s treasury…!”

“That’s right, a treasure that can reverse one’s life is sleeping there!”

Jin-jun Oh Chu-baek is hiding the secret arts left by Bing Bai Wu Di inside Geumhwang Sangga’s headquarters.

People began talking about the treasure left by Bing Bai Wu Di rather than Geumhwang Sangga’s situation.

Some claimed it was a martial arts manual, while others said it was a divine object that could grant access to the forbidden land left by Bing Bai Wu Di.

But whatever it was, those who heard the rumors had one thing in common.

Namely, their eyes blazed with the light of greed.

In such circumstances.

The revenge journey of ‘Baek-eun Byeong-ma’ Namga-il, named for his silver-white hair.

-Geumhwang Sangga’s Gamni County branch, annihilated. Baek-eun Byeong-ma continues heading north.

-Eido County branch’s defense line on the verge of collapse. Urgent support from the main family desperately needed.

Right now, at this very moment, it continued.

* * *

“Aaah!”

The old man screamed and fell over.

Though his silk robe was wretchedly wrinkled and torn, the old man had no time to care about that.

“I-it’s a misunderstanding!”

The old man, Oh Chu-baek, desperately protested. If he didn’t, he might be beaten to death.

“This vermin-like bastard. How dare you try to deceive me?”

“N-no! How could I, how could I deceive my benefactor.”

“Then why is that damned bastard coming all the way here, not satisfied with just attacking the fleet!”

“I-I really don’t know! I want to know too, benefactor…!”

Oh Chu-baek looked like he was dying of injustice.

If he could, he wanted to split open his belly to reveal his innocence, but he couldn’t, and even if he did, Ho Baek-seon wouldn’t believe him.

‘The great fleet alone is a deadly situation!’

To make matters worse, the false rumor about Bing Bai Wu Di’s treasure was added.

When the false rumor about Bing Bai Wu Di’s treasure spread, Oh Chu-baek thought people would say ‘who would believe such nonsense?’

But as they say, even a carriage pulled by four horses cannot outrun a person’s tongue.

When the rumor spread throughout the Central Plains, there were more than a few who believed the false rumor.

Starting with Ho Baek-seon right in front of him.

‘What the hell kind of grudge does that damn bastard have to cause all this chaos?’

Oh Chu-baek was so miserable he was on the verge of tears.

In all his life, he had never heard or seen any treasure of Bing Bai Wu Di.

But no matter how much he screamed his innocence at the top of his lungs, the rumors only grew uncontrollably without any sign of subsiding.

In his judgment, this wasn’t simply a case of rumors spreading.

‘Just how much power does this force called Seolcheon possess…!’

It was clear that an organized group had intervened in the process of spreading rumors, and Oh Chu-baek was certain that Seolcheon was the mastermind.

“Right now, dozens of bastards infiltrate your treasury every day trying to obtain Bing Bai Wu Di’s treasure! Do you think they’d risk their lives coming here without any basis whatsoever?”

“N-no! It’s really not true! Even if there might be some secret among the items I’ve collected that I don’t know about, I truly know nothing, benefactor!”

As Ho Baek-seon said, dozens of thieves targeting Geumhwang Sangga’s treasury were being discovered every day.

Just handling and covering up the massive losses of the great merchant fleet was enough to drain him dry, and now he had to worry about these rats too.

If he had his way, if there really was such a thing as Bing Bai Wu Di’s treasure in the family treasury, he would gladly throw it at them and cover up this whole affair.

But he couldn’t create a treasure that didn’t exist to give them, and even if it existed, he shouldn’t give it up.

If he did such a thing now, it would be like throwing the merchant house’s remaining thread of reputation into a cesspit.

If he opened the warehouse doors to thugs demanding treasure like ruffians, who would trust Geumhwang Sangga and continue doing business with them?

So this was a matter of the merchant house’s survival and existence, beyond mere inconvenience.

However, Oh Chu-baek wasn’t the only one cornered.

‘Damn it! This guy really seems to know nothing, so why the hell did this happen?’

Ho Baek-seon was equally troubled by the situation.

‘If only the Gwirryeongdae had been safe…!’

The annihilation of the Gwirryeongdae assigned to escort the fleet was painful enough.

That this was being reported to the Demonic Cult’s main base in real time was a humiliation so shameful he wanted to bite his tongue and die.

Ten Thousand Great Mountains recognized the situation and viewed it very seriously, and above all.

‘Damn it, I’ve given those bastards from Daehobeop’s faction way too perfect an excuse.’

Those who stood in opposition to Geom-ma, Ho Baek-seon’s master, were the Hobeobon.

The head of Hobeobon was Daehobeop Guhon Mazeon, and he had latched onto Ho Baek-seon’s mistake and wouldn’t let go.

Not only had the Gwirryeongdae been annihilated, but all sorts of riffraff were flocking to Geumhwang Sangga where Ho Baek-seon was stationed, potentially exposing the Demonic Cult’s presence.

Ho Baek-seon had requested support from Ten Thousand Great Mountains out of concern, but was flatly rejected.

Guhon Mazeon had drawn the line, saying this whole situation arose because Ho Baek-seon had acted recklessly without permission.

The meaning was clear.

‘Damn it, he’s telling me to stake my life and take responsibility.’

Cornering him, a disciple of Geom-ma, Guhon Mazeon was probably smiling.

He had to use any means necessary to cover up the situation and erase traces of the Demonic Cult.

Before this imperative, even Geom-ma, Ho Baek-seon’s master, could do nothing.

Shin-ma had even temporarily ceased his seclusion to emerge and command them to focus all efforts on the grand plan.

And here he had created this disturbance.

So Ho Baek-seon absolutely had to cover up and resolve this entire situation by himself.

‘Things have gotten disgustingly tangled.’

At this point, if he merely covered up the situation adequately, there would be no place for him when he returned to the main base.

‘There’s only one way to reverse the situation.’

Taking over the tarnished Geumhwang Sangga could no longer be considered an achievement.

Ho Baek-seon’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he reached his conclusion.

‘Baek-eun Byeong-ma. I’ll steal that bastard’s martial arts and take Bing Bai Wu Di’s treasure that’s supposedly sleeping here before I return.’

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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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