The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 166

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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 166

Chapter 166. A Visitor in the Dead of Night (3)

A pitch-black night where not a soul wandered the roads.
I set out toward the place where Cheong-su Taoist had collapsed, accompanied only by Seo-woo Warrior and Jin Yu Warrior.
I brought only those two because they were the strongest.
We needed to move swiftly and silently.
“Come to think of it, I heard that Cheong-su Taoist was able to survive because of the money you gave him, sir.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard.”
Since the Moshan Sect Taoists primarily traveled mountain paths late at night, it was difficult for them to use promissory notes.
Thus they needed silver coins or copper cash that could be used anywhere, and I had placed silver coins in their possession.
Because he carried it in his left breast pocket, he did not lose his life.
“I believe it was not the money I gave, but the Taoist’s good karma that saved his life.”
Both warriors nodded at my words.
Cheong-su Taoist’s virtue was undeniable.
Soon we arrived at the place where we had discovered Cheong-su Taoist, and began searching for traces of the corpse demons.
It would be impossible to leave no traces when transporting five or so corpse demons—the effort required was simply too great.
“Here, there are footprints.”
“Tree branches are broken here as well.”
The two experienced warriors quickly found the traces, and we followed them.
“There it is.”
As we continued, a mountain stronghold came into view.
It appeared they had seized the Green Forest Bandits’ stronghold and were using it as their base.
Bonfires burned in various places, and there stood a crudely constructed large warehouse.
Ding,
Ding,
With the sound of a spirit bell, three corpse demons moved into that warehouse.
At the sight, I let out a silent laugh.
Not just anyone could lead corpse demons by ringing that bell.
One had to infuse the bell with inner force, yet not just any infusion of inner force would suffice.
Just as one learns martial arts through long training within a sect, the techniques of the Moshan Sect required years of cultivation to master.
In other words, whoever held that bell now was a Moshan Sect Taoist who had joined the Hwan Cheon Dan.
At that moment, someone approached that location.
Concentrating inner force in my ears, I could faintly hear their conversation.

“Three corpses this time. So in total so far….”
“Ninety-nine.”
“At this rate, when will we ever accomplish our great undertaking?”
A frustrated voice posed the question, and a composed voice answered in return.
“There’s no helping it. Don’t be impatient—we must proceed slowly and steadily.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to just bring people here and kill them to create jiangshi?”
An irritated response came back.
“Do you want to work me to death? Creating even a single jiangshi consumes an enormous amount of spiritual energy. It’s far faster to steal jiangshi already created by other Taoists like this.”
“I see. I do hope our Sect Leader becomes Emperor as soon as possible.”

From that conversation, I began to understand why they had been stealing jiangshi.
Creating jiangshi required an enormous expenditure of spiritual energy, so they were stealing them to amass large numbers.
And this business about hoping the Sect Leader becomes Emperor…
I had suspected it, but now I was certain—it was indeed the Hwan Cheon Dan I knew of.
Seo-woo Warrior whispered with a grave expression.
“My lord, I believe we have seen enough.”
“Agreed.”
We quietly withdrew from the mountain stronghold and headed toward the village.
As we put distance between ourselves and the stronghold, Seo-woo Warrior washed his face with his hands and let out a heavy sigh.
“This is far more serious than I thought. A group plotting treason….”
Jin Yu Warrior added his thoughts.
“It’s not just the jiangshi—the warriors there are quite formidable as well. There appear to be roughly two hundred of them, and some seem to be at the peak level of martial prowess.”
“You were able to discern that?”
At my question, Jin Yu Warrior nodded.
“Yes, it is a skill I honed during my work as an assassin. To assassinate more safely, it is crucial to carefully observe one’s surroundings.”
“Truly a useful skill.”
“Indeed. Thanks to it, I have saved my own life on numerous occasions.”
“Could I learn it as well?”
“Of course it is possible.”
“Teach me later, then.”
Ah, but that is not the pressing matter at hand.
“In any case, those we saw earlier do not seem to intend to use the jiangshi for any good purpose.”
“No, the fact that they are gathering them in the hundreds suggests they mean to use the jiangshi as soldiers.”
“At least they haven’t amassed great numbers yet, which is fortunate.”
Seo-woo Warrior posed a question.
“What do you intend to do, my lord?”
“I have heard it is customary not to refuse a request from a Moshan Sect Taoist.”
“That is true. However, there is no law that says you must never refuse. And Cheong-su Taoist would understand the circumstances.”
“That may be so. But if I simply walk away after seeing what they are doing, could my heart be at ease?”
“….”
The Jin Yu Warrior spoke with concern.
“But it would be impossible for us alone to suppress that Mountain Stronghold.”
“That’s right. We’d only end up suffering instead.”
I nodded and continued.
“But we don’t necessarily need to help by wielding our swords directly, do we?”
The two warriors then looked at me with puzzled expressions.
“You’ll remember their conversation from earlier. If so, the answer is simple.”
“Ah…!”
Only then did the two warriors seem to grasp what I was thinking.
“There’s no need for us to resolve this matter directly. Simply informing them will suffice.”

I returned to the village and headed to my room at the inn.
I immediately wrote a letter and then tapped my sleeve.
“Geumryeong. Come out.”
“Chirp?”
“You need to deliver this letter to the General Store Elder. And bring back a reply.”
“Chirp!”
As I fastened the letter to Geumryeong’s tail, the creature kicked off the ground and soared into the air.
Soon its form became a mere speck and vanished.
That creature is truly fast.

In truth, it might have been better to deliver the letter directly to the Emperor.
However, I didn’t wish to reveal Geumryeong’s existence to the Emperor just yet, so I decided to borrow the power of the General Store Elder, whom the Emperor trusted.
And if I sent Geumryeong and caused unnecessary misunderstandings, it would become troublesome.
The Emperor already covets me, as I’ve heard, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
I still have no connections with the sects in this region, and I don’t wish to draw the attention of the Murim Alliance.
So I had the involved parties resolve it themselves.
And there’s still plenty of time anyway.

* * *

The Emperor attended to state affairs late into the night, muttering to himself.
“It seems I won’t be getting to bed early again. If only I had a trustworthy talent—someone wise enough to assist me with my duties….”
He leaned back in his chair for a moment and closed his eyes.
Then, suddenly, one of the talents he had marked for future use came to mind.
Eun Seo-ho.
He must be nineteen years old by now.
‘Since he’ll be twenty soon, should I bring him into service next year?’
As he pondered this matter.
Thud.
A warrior descended from above and prostrated himself.
“Your Majesty, an urgent letter from Hwangbo Hui.”
“Let me see it.”
The warrior respectfully extended the letter, and the Eunuch standing behind received it instead, presenting it to the Emperor.
The Emperor’s expression grew increasingly stern as he read the letter.
After setting the letter down on the wooden table, the Emperor issued a cold command to the Eunuch.
“A troublesome matter has arisen. Summon the Commander of the Geumui Guard.”

* * *

I woke early in the morning, completed my breathing exercises, and opened my eyes to find Geumryeong staring down at me.
A letter hung from her tail.
“You’ve already returned. Thank you for your hard work.”
I gently stroked Geumryeong and unfolded the letter to read it.
It said that the news I had sent had been delivered to the Emperor, and that he would likely summon the Geumui Guard to handle the matter.
And the final sentence.

[So you’ve requested support from the Moshan Sect Taoists as well. But tell me—does trouble seek you out, or do you seek out trouble?]

The exact same words I had heard from Father not long ago.
I couldn’t say. I truly didn’t know myself.

Two days later,
a Black-Robed Warrior came seeking me out.
“Are you Eun Seo-ho, the Small Guild Master of the Eunhae Trading Company?”
“Yes, I am Eun Seo-ho.”
“I bring a letter from His Imperial Majesty.”
At those words, I immediately prostrated myself.
“I humbly receive the imperial decree of His Imperial Majesty.”
Then I lifted my head and spoke to him.
“But surely I, a mere merchant, am not worthy of receiving the imperial decree of His Imperial Majesty? To receive such an honor—it is something my descendants will boast of for generations to come.”
And tears of gratitude welled up.
Click!
Even I had to admit it was a flawless performance.
I was being so theatrical precisely because something about the man’s gaze unsettled me.
He was from the Geumui Guard.
Those were men who could imprison and torture anyone they deemed suspicious without imperial permission.
At my display, his expression softened slightly.
“It’s fine. Go ahead and take it.”
“Yes.”
I carefully received the letter and unfolded it right there.
“….”
For a moment, I nearly lost control of my expression.
“He has asked that I accompany you and show him the location of the bandits.”
“I see. Then hurry along. We have troops standing by outside the village.”
Of course, that wasn’t the entire contents of the letter.
What on earth had the General Store Elder written to the Emperor to bring this about….

Just then, the Moshan Sect Taoists arrived, and the operation to eliminate the Hwan Cheon Dan began in earnest.
“Attack! They are rebels!”
“Ahhhhh!”
“Wait, how are they so fast!”
“We have no choice! Bring out the corpse puppets!”
In their desperation, they deployed the corpse puppets they had been hoarding to the front lines.
However, the Moshan Sect Taoists did not simply stand by and watch.
Ding, ding, ding,
As the bells chimed and they chanted the incantations, the corpse puppets crumbled and collapsed.
They had dispelled the corpse puppet sorcery.
What had been a rebellion that threw Shandong and Beijing into chaos in my previous life was now resolved as a minor disturbance in this one.
Indeed, when poison is still a seedling, two fingers are all you need.
.
.
.
“Thanks to the benefactor’s assistance, we were able to recover the remains of those poor departed souls.”
Cheong-su Taoist bowed to me in gratitude.
“Not at all. Everything was accomplished by the other Moshan Sect Taoists and the Geumui Guard.”
“Still, we know that you were the one who initiated the resolution.”
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
“Therefore, our Moshan Sect has decided to regard you as our Eun Master. Should you ever require our assistance, please do not hesitate to ask.”
With that, he handed me a wooden tablet.
Though I said it was unnecessary, I had no choice but to accept it given Cheong-su Taoist’s nearly insistent urging.
Afterward, Cheong-su Taoist and the other Moshan Sect Taoists transformed the corpses back into puppets and sent them to their respective hometowns for proper burial.
Now we too had to return to our original task.

Palgap approached me and asked.
“Young Master, when are you planning to depart?”
“I should get going soon.”
At that moment, Jin-yeong Great Swordmaster, who had led the Geumui Guard during the subjugation operation, approached.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Not at all. What hardship has a small merchant like me endured?”
“By the way, it seems the Emperor holds you in quite high regard.”
“Pardon?”
“He said he would sever the wrists of anyone who dares to lay a hand on you.”
“….”
“So I wondered if perhaps you were the Emperor’s illegitimate child.”
Could that be why he looked at me with such suspicion when he first saw me?
Did I perhaps overact?
No, more than that—the Emperor.
He would sever the wrists of anyone who touches me?
“Haha, the Emperor’s illegitimate child? Absolutely not. I am merely the leader of a small unit within the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“Yes, I thought as much. But in its own way, that’s quite significant.”
“How so?”
“It means you’ve won the Emperor’s favor to that degree. And the Emperor never lets go of talent he has chosen.”
“….”
It was then.
In the distance, I saw a carriage bearing the Imperial Court’s flag approaching.
Damn it, he’s going this far?
The letter I had received earlier stated that he knew of my journey to the Northern Sea, and that he was sending a carriage for me—I should come to the Imperial Palace without making excuses.
Upon seeing the carriage, Jin-yeong Great Swordmaster laughed.
“It seems he values you far more than I thought.”
“….”
“Before long, we’ll be working together at the Imperial Palace.”
Though Jin-yeong Great Swordmaster’s words were spoken lightly, as if teasing me, to my ears they were nothing short of a curse.
I had no intention of becoming a slave to the Emperor’s tasks in Beijing.
I must make the Eunhae Trading Company the Greatest Merchant Guild Under Heaven and exact my revenge upon the Murim Alliance and the Baekcheon Trading Company.
I cannot allow myself to be captured by the Emperor so easily.
Yet I had no choice but to board the carriage the Emperor had sent and head to Beijing.

“This carriage is remarkably comfortable, sir.”
At Palgap’s words, I nodded in agreement.
The other Guard Warriors followed behind my carriage on horseback.
“By the way, when we go to Beijing this time, will we be able to see those children?”
“Children?”
“The children from that academy, sir.”
“Of course we will….”
A thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I found myself smiling without realizing it.
Yes, there was that method, wasn’t there?

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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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