The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 153

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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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The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 153

Chapter 153. Treasures Must Be Stored in the Warehouse (4)

I asked Palgap again in response to his reaction.
“You really can’t see this?”
But Palgap merely looked at me with eyes that suggested I was being strange.
“Then what color is this inkstone?”
I pointed to the inkstone that had transformed into a pale jade luminescence and asked, and Palgap answered.
“Black, sir.”
“….”
“I believe we should summon the Physician.”
So these things… only I can see them?
I stared blankly at them.
“Please wait a moment.”
“Ah, wait… I’m fine. I’m not hurt.”
But before I could stop him, Palgap had already left the room to fetch the Physician.
This is troublesome.
It seemed my movements had grown faster lately as I trained in the secret techniques left behind by Sal Wang.
“Sigh….”
I exhaled and turned to look behind me.
The white door was still visible, and the inkstone continued to gleam like pale jade.
I approached slowly, and when I was about two steps away.
Creeeeak.
The door opened by itself.
As if inviting me to enter.
I peered inside, but saw nothing.
Should I go in?
As I hesitated, Geumryeong poked his head out from my sleeve and suddenly bounded through the doorway.
“Hey!”
I moved to catch Geumryeong, and before I knew it, I had stepped inside.
The moment my feet touched the ground, the scenery before my eyes transformed completely.
“What?”
I blinked my eyes.
It happened in an instant.
A pleasantly cool sensation surrounded me, and shelves filled the space around me.
“A warehouse?”
Then Geumryeong appeared from somewhere, carrying a book in his mouth.
“What will you do if you move about recklessly?”
“Squeak.”
Geumryeong set the book down on the floor and tapped it with her front paws.
“You want me to read this?”
I picked up the book.
[Secret Vault Usage Manual].
There was no need to read it. The moment I opened the pages, every word inscribed itself into my mind.
“So it really was a warehouse?”
In other words, the space I occupied was called the Secret Vault, and Gak-ju was the key to this vault.
And when certain conditions were met, one gained the qualification to open this warehouse.
Those qualifications were: possessing Gak-ju for three years or more.
Mastering the inner energy of Yin Qi.
Reaching the realm of Perfection or higher.
These three conditions in total.
Having fulfilled these qualifications this time, the Secret Vault appeared before my eyes, and I could now enter this place.
And when I infused my energy into Gak-ju while strongly visualizing the warehouse, the entrance to the Secret Vault would open.
It seemed I had unconsciously let my energy flow while grinding ink on the inkstone earlier.
In any case, I had been in need of a warehouse, and now I possessed such a secret and spacious one!
I felt as though the heavens were aiding me.
Moreover, the inkstone was a bonus acquisition.
I wondered if I should tell the General Store Elder about this, but more than three years had already passed.
And even if I did tell him, the man I know would simply say, “Is that so? Well then, use it well,” and leave it at that.
Besides, as my martial prowess increased, the width of the warehouse would expand as well, giving me one more reason to diligently cultivate my skills.
I lifted Geumryeong, who was scurrying about exploring the warehouse, and placed her into my sleeve as I spoke.
“Let’s head back now.”
“Squeak.”
And I opened the warehouse door and stepped out.
The moment I passed through the door, the surrounding landscape shifted in an instant, and I returned to my original chamber.
Glancing back, the white door still remained.
When I tapped the inkstone resting on the wooden table with my hand, it returned to its original form, and the white door vanished as well.
I had obtained a fine treasure.
I could store the Night Luminous Pearl and the Heavenly Fragrance Incense Bead inside this. The same would apply to any treasures I acquired in the future.
At that moment, Palgap’s voice reached my ears.
“Young Master, I have brought the Physician.”
“….”
No, I’m really fine.

* * *

The next morning.
I woke early again for my training, as I always did.
Palgap looked at me with a worried expression.
“Why not take it easy today, sir?”
“I’m fine.”
“But the Physician yesterday said… it would be better if you rested for a few days.”
The Physician whom Palgap had brought yesterday examined my pulse, asked me several questions, and concluded that I was simply fatigued and had perhaps seen things that weren’t there.
That report was immediately relayed to Father, and I was forced to rest from yesterday afternoon onward.
Though I had rested well enough lying in my chamber, I couldn’t relax knowing that the more I rested, the harder things would become for my future self.
My body rested, but my mind—calculating all the tasks that awaited me—never ceased its labor. It was… exhausting.
In any case, Palgap worried far too much about me.
“Palgap, there’s a saying: hardship that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. So you can’t grow strong by lying in bed complaining of pain.”
“How does that relate to work, sir?”
“Work is a form of hardship too. Where in this world is there someone who enjoys their labor? All work is hardship.”
“Then you dislike working, sir?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“I dislike work. But without it, I cannot grow stronger.”
“That doesn’t make sense, sir. If work makes you stronger, then… well, work just exhausts the body. It doesn’t make you stronger.”
“No, you must work to survive. And it’s not the strong who survive—it’s the survivors who become strong. So the harsh reality is that you must work hard enough not to die, survive, and thereby become powerful.”
Palgap paused in thought at my words, then clapped his hands together.
“That’s truly profound wisdom, sir. I should share this with Master Gwak Pyo-du when he arrives later.”
In that instant, cold sweat poured down my back without warning.
If Master heard those words, he would immediately call them excellent and proceed to train me to the point of near-death.
“Wait, no! That’s not it!”
“Sir?”
“Really, that’s not what I meant.”
“…”
I sighed heavily.
“The saying about hardship not killing you making you stronger actually means: to grow stronger, you must ensure hardship doesn’t kill you—in other words, skillfully evade hardship.”
“Young master.”
“Yes?”
“…It’s nothing, sir.”
Did he just insult me with his eyes?

I stepped out into the courtyard to complete my morning cultivation, and Master entered my separate pavilion immediately after.
“Master, did you rest well last night?”
“Yes, good morning.”
I tilted my head as I looked at Master. For some reason, his aura felt different from usual today.
Before, it had seemed like gazing upon something sharp and solid like ice, but today it felt like looking up at a vast frozen gorge.
Master appeared to have noticed my expression.
“What is it?”
“Pardon?”
“You seem puzzled about something.”
“Ah, well… it may be my mistake, but your aura seemed different from yesterday.”
“…How so?”
When I described what I had sensed, Master’s expression shifted slightly and he nodded.
“You are correct.”
“Sir?”
“Yesterday, while studying the secret manual you gave me, I had a small enlightenment.”
“Congratulations.”
I clasped my fists in salute and offered my congratulations, and Master’s expression became slightly bashful.
I had rarely seen such an expression from him, so it was quite refreshing.
“It is thanks to you.”
“I believe Heaven thought of you, and returned that secret manual to you through my hands.”
Master gazed at me intently for a moment, then opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“After I study that manual further, I shall transmit it to you.”
“I await the day of instruction.”
“Then let us begin training.”

* * *

Time passed, and my birthday in the eleventh month came and went peacefully—I had turned nineteen.
Four years had passed since my return from death.
And this winter solstice, the Imperial Court announced that the Eunhae Trading Company had risen to forty-ninth among the Top Hundred Trading Companies of the Realm.
The summit was now within reach.
Once I entered the Ten Great Merchant Guilds of the Realm, I planned to wage a full-scale war against the Baekcheon Trading Company.
For now, I merely obstructed the Baekcheon Trading Company and the Murim Alliance from the shadows.
Since the Eunhae Trading Company was still small compared to the Baekcheon Trading Company, I could have been endangered by them.
Of course, I had preparations hidden away, but they had to remain hidden to be truly effective.

I was heading to my office in Hyun Pung Country.
Creak, creak.
The sound of wheels rolling echoed from a distance. I turned my head to see it was Heo Woon Officer.
“Ah, it seems you’re heading to work.”
“Yes.”
Heo Woon Officer was moving about in a wheeled chair—one I had commissioned Gongmil to create.
Others could push it to move him, or he could propel himself by turning the wheels.
The moment Sangyugak’s Yeon Gak-ju saw it, her eyes gleamed and she cried out to me.
“Lord! Let’s sell these!”
The wheeled chair had been given the name ‘Dependency Wheel Chair’.
It meant a wheeled chair that becomes one’s support—a name Father had bestowed.
Indeed, Father’s talent for naming things seemed to surpass my own.
In any case, the Dependency Wheel Chair was being prepared for sale according to Yeon Gak-ju’s wishes.
The world was full of people like Heo Woon Officer whose mobility was limited, so demand would surely be substantial.
Yet I had no intention of exploiting their hardship to reap excessive profits.
I spoke to Heo Woon Officer.
“It seems you’ve adapted well to the Dependency Wheel Chair.”
“Yes, it’s quite convenient.”
“Allow me to push you to Sangyugak.”
“No need. I can manage on my own.”
“I simply need companionship for the journey.”
I was about to push Heo Woon Officer’s Dependency Wheel Chair myself, but Palgap stopped me.
“I’ll do it.”
“Very well.”
From Palgap’s perspective, he couldn’t simply stand idle.
Creak, creak.
As we made our way to Sangyugak while exchanging various pleasantries, Heo Woon Officer broached another topic.
“Did I mention before? I remember all the ledgers of Baekcheon Trading Company.”
“Yes, I heard.”
“And recently, I recalled something in the recorded entries that troubled me.”
“What is it?”
“A considerable sum of funds from Baekcheon Trading Company flowed to Yeon Cheon Village in Hubei Province.”
Yeon Cheon Village?
I searched my memory for where that was, and soon it came to me.
That place… isn’t it next to Wudang Mountain?
“So I searched for records related to it, and there was a record of purchasing spiritual medicine.”
“Spiritual medicine, you say? Well, while somewhat unusual, they could have purchased it for trade purposes, no?”
It was common enough to obtain spiritual medicine and exchange it for trading rights and such.
“That’s true. But what troubled me wasn’t that—it was that within those records, there were also expenses listed for the acquisition of nearby trading companies.”
At those words, I fell into contemplation.
And the moment I saw Seo-woo Warrior, a thought flashed through my mind.
.
.
.
After delivering Heo Un Scholar to Sang-yu Hall, I returned to my office in Hyun Pung Country.
Then I closed the partition between my office and the administrative office where the others were.
There was something I needed to think through carefully, alone.

In this life, I was the one who saved Boksi Ridge Sect, and because of that, Seo-woo Warrior rose from his sickbed.
But in my previous life, it was Moon Ju-sung Scholar who saved Boksi Ridge Sect, and because of it, Deuk Haeng Merchant Group was utterly destroyed.
And that Boksi Ridge Sect was consumed by someone else.
By a Blood Sect member who had been imprisoned.
And the place where he had been imprisoned was the Wudang Sect.
When that Blood Sect member recovered his body, the Wudang Sect suffered tremendous damage.
That Blood Sect member destroyed and slaughtered wherever his feet took him, and because of it, the area around Hubei Province fell into chaos.
When the threat grew too great, the Murim Alliance finally stepped forward.
And not long after they did, the Blood Sect member was suppressed.
Now that I think about it, the one who benefited from that incident was the Murim Alliance.
By dealing with the Blood Sect member, the Murim Alliance’s prestige only grew higher.
At that time, Baekcheon Trading Company absorbed the merchant guilds around Hubei Province that had been driven to the brink of bankruptcy, further expanding its size.
Thus, Baekcheon Trading Company rose to the position of one of the Three Great Guilds.
Could it be… that incident back then was orchestrated by the Murim Alliance?
If so, I must prevent this.
The horrors of that time were so gruesome that words could not describe them—enough to understand why the Blood Sect was what it was.
But that person was an extraordinary master, so there would need to be a master capable of stopping him… wait?
Something doesn’t add up.
The Wudang Sect is among the most renowned sects in the Central Plains.
With the masters they possessed, how could they not have stopped that Blood Sect member?
And it was surely the Wudang Sect’s masters who imprisoned that Blood Sect member in the first place.
This is something I need to investigate.
I need a pretext to visit the Wudang Sect without arousing suspicion…
Ah, that would work.
I have the name Seon Hyeop Mi-rang, and if I mention making a donation to the Wudang Sect, they will open their doors wide for me.

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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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