The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 384

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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 384

Chapter 384. The Ghost Marketplace (3)

The fact alone that someone could create such exquisite counterfeits and that they dared to attempt this against the Northern Sea Ice Palace made it abundantly clear.
Just watching how Bok Yun Sub-leader treated Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master, proved how terrifying the Northern Sea Ice Palace’s reputation was in this Liaoning land.
Had he been coerced, or had he willingly conspired?
It was too early to judge.
For now, I planned to infiltrate Im Cheong-mil’s residence tonight—the eve before the Ghost Marketplace auction opened.
If my suspicions were correct, something would surely surface.
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.
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I shared breakfast with Bok Im-gil.
Naturally, Bok Yun Sub-leader attended as well, along with Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master, Jin-ho, and Ha Cheol Pyo-du.
I’d heard before that the Gwangjun Trading Company shared breakfast with important guests.
That’s why our party dined together.
After the meal, I met separately with Bok Yun Sub-leader.
“First, here is the information regarding Im Cheong-mil.”
He handed me the documents.
Yesterday, I had asked him for information about Im Cheong-mil.
Our Eunhae Trading Company’s Information Bureau was skilled, but there was no way they could surpass the Gwangjun Trading Company in this Liaoning land.
“That was remarkably fast.”
“Of course. There’s nowhere in this Liaoning land where the Gwangjun Trading Company doesn’t have eyes and ears.”
“Thank you. I will repay this debt without fail.”
“Don’t think of it as a debt. I don’t think of it as one either.”
I chuckled at his words.
“May I open it here?”
“Of course.”
I opened the envelope and withdrew the papers inside to read them.
His name was Im Cheong-mil.
He was fifty years old this year.
He was a fairly renowned figure in Liaoning, the Merchant Leader of the Cheongmil Trading Company, which bore his name.
His father had been a medicinal herb gatherer who fell from a cliff while harvesting herbs.
So his widowed mother raised him with difficulty, and he too worked as a herb gatherer until he unexpectedly obtained a precious elixir, which he used as capital to start a medicinal herb trading business.
The fact that the Northern Sea Ice Palace conducted business with him meant he was a fairly substantial merchant and someone trustworthy…
It was then that my eyes caught the next piece of information.

[Im Cheong-mil, the Merchant Leader, has noticeably reduced his attendance at gatherings of Liaoning merchants in recent times. He now attends only the most important meetings.]

This is truly suspicious.
For merchants, gatherings are quite significant. They serve as occasions to foster camaraderie while simultaneously acquiring information.
Information is money itself, and there’s no way Im Cheong-mil wouldn’t understand that.

That night.
I departed from Bok Yun Sub-leader’s Residence alongside Jin Yu Warrior. There was a place I needed to visit today.
Specifically, Im Cheong-mil’s Residence.
To unravel the mystery surrounding his suspicious activities, infiltration became necessary.
Since we weren’t going to fight, I brought only Jin Yu Warrior, who specialized in infiltration.
Im Cheong-mil’s Residence wasn’t far away.
It was a fairly large tile-roofed house, with the main headquarters of Cheongmil Merchant Guild attached directly beside it.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
We immediately rolled forward and scaled the wall. And right then, we sensed something amiss.
– Master, there are more warriors here than expected.
I nodded at Jin Yu Warrior’s telepathic message.
Naturally, a merchant guild of considerable scale would need to maintain warriors to protect it, but even accounting for that, this seemed excessive.
It felt as though they were preparing for war against another merchant guild entirely.
And from these warriors, I sensed no unified discipline.
Not only the great martial families and sects, but even the guard warriors of merchant guilds bear the marks of systematic training.
They must move in coordination with one another, after all.
Yet these warriors showed no such signs.
Something about them seemed rough, almost as if….
Vagrants?
There were occasional individuals who bore the marks of training, but they seemed strangely subdued.
– Let’s head to the office.
– Yes.
We made our way toward Im Cheong-mil’s office.
Fortunately, the lights were off, and surveillance wasn’t particularly strict, allowing us to infiltrate safely.
The interior was nothing more than an ordinary office.
Then something caught my eye. It was a mark left on the back of a chair.
A small mark, but unmistakably created by a sharp blade.
Why would such a mark be here… Ah! He was threatened!
When a blade is pressed against the neck, it leaves a mark precisely at this position.
I recalled one piece of information about Im Cheong-mil that Bok Yun Sub-leader had provided.

[Approximately two months ago, mysterious sounds of weapons clashing were heard from Cheongmil Merchant Guild.]

This trading company and residence have been seized by them.
Now I finally understand why Im Cheong-mil had to act as he did.
They used overwhelming force to coerce the Merchant Leader into compliance with their will.
From the Merchant Leader’s perspective, he had no choice but to obey if he wanted to save his own life or his family.
But this raises yet another question.
Who exactly coerced Im Cheong-mil into committing such acts?
And what could their true purpose possibly be?
I had extracted everything of value from the office.
Though I sensed there was some secretive place worth hiding something, I deliberately refrained from investigating it.
No fool would lay hands on a secret vault while being watched like this.
Besides, even if they discovered the vault, they would have already stripped it bare.
As we left the office and moved elsewhere, I felt warriors approaching—whether for patrol or something else.
We quickly concealed ourselves and suppressed our presence.

“I wish they’d give us a cut of the money from selling those elixirs.”
“We’d get an astronomical sum.”
“The auction is tomorrow, right?”
“To be precise, it’s tonight. It’s already dawn now.”

Still, those elixirs are honestly more trouble than they’re worth—better to dispose of them at the Ghost Marketplace.
Possessing those elixirs is evidence that they orchestrated this entire affair.
From what I’m hearing, those elixirs don’t seem to be the actual objective.
But did something like this happen in my previous life?
As I pondered this, I exhaled silently within myself.
Well, back then I was struggling desperately just to survive the famine, with no time to learn of other places’ circumstances.
What I do remember is that a few years later, the Palace Master of the Northern Sea Ice Palace emerged into the Central Plains.
It’s an event I remember clearly because the entire martial world trembled at it.
Though the Northern Sea Ice Palace’s movements were swift and unpredictable, making their purpose unclear, one thing was certain—bloodshed followed wherever they went.
Now I think I understand the reason.
This incident must have occurred around the same period in my previous life as well.
Which means the Ice Palace’s situation grew increasingly dire.
That means they were defrauded—not just once or twice, but repeatedly.
Solving food shortages through hunting or gathering works for a day or two, but absolutely not for years.
In any case, the Northern Sea Ice Palace is no fool. After conducting their own investigation, they must have realized this was someone’s scheme targeting them.
That’s why the Palace Master of the Northern Sea Ice Palace took direct action.
I wouldn’t have endured it either, had I been in their position.
Perhaps the vagrants and their forces involved in this affair became targets of their vengeance.
If that’s the case, the purpose of this incident becomes clear.
Their objective in orchestrating this was to destroy the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
But to attempt such a thing against the Northern Sea Ice Palace!
For such a thing to be possible, either the force behind it had to be powerful enough to bear that wrath, or there had to be a grudge so deep that it would burn everything to ashes.
Suddenly, I recalled words that Bing Hae-rin had spoken before.

“Our Northern Sea Ice Palace has more enemies than one might think. Once we step into the Kangho, we stir up a storm of blood, so our web of debts and grudges becomes quite complex.”

“Gratitude can barely last fifty years, but a grudge can easily persist for a hundred.”

I still didn’t know whether this was driven by hatred or merely a power struggle.
But I would rather have my throat cut by a blade than see something like this happen.
I sent a telepathic message to Jin Yu Warrior.
– Let us withdraw.
– Understood.
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Dawn broke.
Today was the fifteenth—the day the Ghost Marketplace auction was held.
I went to find Bok Yun Sub-leader.
“You seem busy.”
“Not at all.”
He rose from his seat, where he had been reviewing documents in his office.
“I have time for a brief conversation.”
He offered me a seat, and I sat before a low table in his office.
He personally brewed tea and served it to me.
“What brings you here?”
“I have several matters to inquire about. Have there perhaps been any new groups entering Liaoning recently?”
“Hmm….”
He nodded after a moment of thought.
“Now that you mention it, a merchant guild did arrive in Liaoning and establish itself. They were people I had never heard of before.”
“By any chance, did all the people from that guild carry weapons?”
He flinched at my question.
“How did you know?”
I answered calmly.
“According to my investigation, they appear to be ronin masquerading as a merchant guild.”
“Ah… I see. Their movements were indeed somewhat different from ordinary merchants. However, I heard they were summoned by the leader of Cheongmil Merchant Guild to offer assistance, so I let it pass….”
His expression showed he had grasped the full picture of the situation.
“So, could you tell me about the person who led that guild here?”
“Of course. I should still have the information I gathered before.”
Bok Yun Sub-leader rose and headed toward the bookshelf, where he manipulated some mechanism.
A hidden shelf appeared, and after searching through it, Bok Yun Sub-leader withdrew a document and handed it to me.
“I’m glad I didn’t dispose of it, just in case.”
“That West Street collection—it’s not a secret, is it?”
He answered my question readily.
“It is indeed a secret collection. I couldn’t very well display investigative materials like these, could I?”
“Would it be alright to show it to me?”
“Haha. I don’t see how it would harm me if the Eun Small Merchant Leader knew about this.”
Such profound trust directed toward me.
Though we called ourselves old friends, I was grateful that he trusted me to this extent.
“I will repay that trust.”
I cupped my fist in gratitude and began reading through the documents.
Along with a portrait sketch, brief information had been recorded.
His name was unknown, but his surname was Cho.
He appeared to be in his forties and was said to be a merchant who operated in Shanxi.
Overall, the information was extremely sparse.
If so little was known about him, there was a high probability he was operating under a false identity.
At that moment, Bok Yun Sub-leader asked me.
“Will you be going to the Ghost Marketplace tonight?”
“Yes. That’s what I’m planning.”
“Then would it be alright if I went with you?”
“I don’t think there’s anything to acquire there, but is this for my sake?”
At my question, his pupils wavered.
A direct hit.
“I appreciate it, but that won’t be possible.”
“What? Why…?”
“That place is dangerous. With your wedding approaching, you could be harmed if you went somewhere so perilous.”
That place had its own order, certainly.
But since illegal goods were traded there, sword clashes erupted with disturbing frequency.
There was no guarantee he wouldn’t suffer harm if he became entangled in such incidents.
I smiled and spoke gently.
“Bok Sub-leader’s body no longer belongs to him alone.”
After a moment’s thought, he nodded.
“You’re right, Eun Small Merchant Leader. I will be much more careful with myself from now on.”
“That’s wise thinking.”
“Then you’re going alone?”
At that question, I shook my head.
“Of course not. I have reliable Guard Warriors with me.”
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When the dead of night arrived, I left the Gwangjun Trading Company accompanied by Seo-woo Warrior and Jin Yu Warrior.
We dressed in pitch-black robes.
Entering the Ghost Marketplace came with certain restrictions—most notably, one had to wear black clothing.
Likely, this was to prevent one’s identity from being revealed through appearance.
I asked the two Guard Warriors.
“Have either of you heard anything about the Ghost Marketplace?”
Both warriors nodded at my question. Seo-woo Warrior answered first.
“I’ve only heard stories. During a previous journey, someone from the Merchant Guild mentioned they had visited the Ghost Marketplace.”
Jin Yu Warrior followed with his response.
“I’ve conducted some investigation myself. There was once a target who was attending the Ghost Marketplace, so I looked into whether we could conduct business there. I concluded that assassination is impossible within it.”
Seo-woo Warrior then asked.
“Why is assassination impossible inside the Ghost Marketplace?”
“Because of the one who hosts the Ghost Marketplace—its master.”
“Its master?”
“Indeed. His presence is what maintains order within the Ghost Marketplace. He is that fearsome a person.”
Jin Yu Warrior’s words rang true.
The Ghost Marketplace had a master, though no one knew his real name—he was called only “Blood Sea.”
The epithet came from the saying that when he drew his blade, blood formed an ocean.
Additionally, because he ruled like a king from within darkness, he was called the Dark King.
Together: the Blood Sea Dark King.
His reputation was as terrifying as his name, and his martial prowess matched it.
He was rumored to have reached the Hwagyeong realm.
Why such a formidable figure would open the Ghost Marketplace and gather people there remained a mystery.
I spoke to the two Guard Warriors.
“Today, you must not draw your blades recklessly in that place.”
“Understood.”
“I will remember this.”
After walking a bit further, I stopped in my tracks.
Looking into the darkness ahead, I asked.
“What is this place?”

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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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