The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 453

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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 Eun Hae Trading Company Chapter 453

Chapter 453. Ascension (6)

At that very moment.
Hae-chul was in his office.
He had created the office simply to keep up with the other Manor Lords who maintained their own, but in truth, he rarely used this space.
He delegated most of his duties to the Chief Manager.
He ate when he wished, played when he wished, and spent his days in idle leisure.
The reason he was in his office now was because of the box resting upon the wooden table.
Inside that box lay something dark in color.
‘So this is the Spirit Elixir, then?’
He had provided the Spirit Elixir as requested by the man who had approached him about repaying his debts.
But that man certainly had no way of knowing exactly how much Spirit Elixir there was.
It was not multiple pills, but rather a single lump.
Spirit Elixir was expensive.
Greed seized him, and he secretly set aside half of it, while the man who had approached him accepted it without the slightest suspicion.
“Hmm….”
He considered selling this Spirit Elixir to raise funds, but quickly abandoned the thought.
If he sold this elixir and his tracks were discovered, he would fall under the pursuit of Shaolin Temple.
Moreover, if those who had approached him learned of this, they might demand that he return the money.
‘Hmm… what should I do with this?’
Now that he thought about it, the man who had given this to him had said something.
That if a martial artist consumed it, they would gain ten years’ worth of inner energy, and even those ignorant of martial arts would develop inner power.
Since this was a village near Shaolin Temple, he often saw the martial monks of Shaolin and other martial artists.
He had often envied them—those who flew through the heavens or ran faster than horses.
Of course, he knew that such abilities did not come freely, but required bone-grinding, arduous training.
But he wanted to use martial arts without such a process.
‘That’s right, he said consuming this would grant inner power!’
He had heard enough talk to know that inner power was necessary to practice martial arts.
In the end, he made his decision.
‘Yes! I’ll consume it myself!’
Having resolved this, he ordered his attendant to bar anyone from entering, then secretly began to consume it.
Normally, Spirit Elixir required considerable caution when consumed, but already consumed by greed, such thoughts never crossed his mind.
‘The taste… why is it like this?’
The flavor was strange, but he assumed it was simply because it was a Spirit Elixir.
Had he only asked the Guard Warrior whether this was genuine Spirit Elixir, he would not have consumed it.

* * *

Jong-o Monk from the Guest Hall conveyed to me that I should wait just a bit longer.
I readily agreed.
I’m not entirely sure why it’s taking this long, but there’s no urgency on my end.
Staying here longer suits me just fine.
I’ve already dealt with the Black-Clad Criminals targeting Hyeol Gon Seong Seung Master’s remains, but this hasn’t completely resolved the matter.
And I still need to settle the matter of Hae-chul, who is Ji-sang Monk’s maternal uncle.
There’s a saying about killing two birds with one stone.
This time, as I deal with Hae-chul, I plan to simultaneously prevent them from laying their hands on Hyeol Gon Seong Seung Master’s remains.

* * *

Two days passed, then four.
Yet those who had promised to bring thirty thousand nyang showed no sign of appearing.
As the debt repayment deadline drew near, Hae-chul’s nerves began to fray.
“Damn it! Damn it! Why haven’t they shown up yet?”
At that moment, his attendant came looking for him.
“Sir, Manor Lord. A guest has arrived.”
“A guest? Who is it?”
“They said you’d understand if they mentioned thirty thousand nyang.”
“…!”
At those words, he sprang from his seat and spoke.
“Bring them in at once!”
“Yes, sir.”
He hurried toward the Guest Reception Room, and after waiting briefly, a man entered.
But it was not the same person who had come before.
“Are you Manor Lord Hae?”
“Y-yes, I am. But why isn’t that Yeon the Great Hero….”
“Ah, he’s dead.”
“What?”
“He failed to handle the task properly. He didn’t notice that half of the spiritual elixir that emerged from within Hyeol Gon Seong Seung’s corpse had vanished.”
“….”
“So I’ve come myself. From what I can tell, it seems you’re the one who pocketed half of that spiritual elixir.”
At that steady gaze, Hae-chul’s pupils began to tremble.
‘They discovered I stole the spiritual elixir!’
According to his words, the man who had approached him had died because of him, but Hae-chul felt no remorse about it.
‘He was careless and got caught! Damn it! If he was going to die, why drag me into this!’
The mysterious man in black, wearing a bamboo hat, spoke coldly.
“Your face confirms my suspicion.”
“I… that is…”
“You were the one who broke faith first. However, we are merciful. So I will give you one more chance. Bring me that elixir. But if you squander this final opportunity, your life is forfeit.”
Now thirty thousand nyang was no longer the issue.
My life was in danger.
‘Wait? But I consumed that elixir, so shouldn’t I be able to use martial arts to some degree?’
If that were true, I could potentially subdue the man before me instead!
With that thought, I drew out an ornately decorated short blade and lunged at him.
“Aaaagh!”
Thwack!
But my dream was far too naive.
Before my blade could even touch the Man in Bamboo Hat, his foot swept out and struck me.
Boom!
“Cough!”
My abdomen was kicked, and I crashed into the wall, coughing up blood from the impact.
“Manor Lord!”
The Guard standing at the door heard the commotion and rushed in urgently, but he was sent flying back out without even drawing his sword.
The Man in Bamboo Hat dragged Hae-chul and threw him to the ground. Then he pressed his head down firmly and spoke.
“You have no sense of fear.”
“P-please spare me. I lost my mind for a moment.”
“I understand the situation now. I wondered what sudden confidence made you attack, but you consumed that elixir.”
“…”
“Foolish wretch. That elixir requires at least a month to take effect. This is problematic…”
He continued.
“Should I cut open your belly and extract that elixir? It remains undigested in your stomach for a month, slowly dissolving into your body.”
At those words, Hae-chul’s face went deathly pale.
“P-please spare me! I will do anything. Please, I beg you!”
Hae-chul was out of his mind with terror.
“Very well, I will do this instead. Cutting open your belly to extract the elixir is tedious for me. So you will provide an elixir of equivalent grade in its place.”
“Yes? An equivalent grade?”
“Such as Geumjingwa or Guyeopsajam… that should suffice. An elixir that raises one’s martial level by a full rank in an instant is not so common, after all.”
“…”
“I give you two days. If you bring the elixir within that time, I will spare you. But… if you fail to bring it within that period, then I will cut open your belly and extract that elixir.”
“Yes, I understand! I understand!”
Hae-chul nodded frantically.
His mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of sending word to the creditors and fleeing.
Then the Man in Bamboo Hat withdrew a small pellet from his sleeve. He grabbed Hae-chul by the collar, placed the pellet in his mouth, and pressed a certain point on his neck.
Gulp!
The pellet went down against Hae-chul’s will.
“This is a special tracking incense from our organization, so we can find you wherever you go.”
“…”
“If my words sound like lies, then by all means, try to run away. But when you do, it won’t be your boat that gets kicked—it’ll be split in half.”
Thud.
The Man in Bamboo Hat released his grip, and Hae-chul’s body fell limply to the ground.
“Then I’ll see you in two days.”

* * *

I sent a telepathic message to the Yeo Eung-am Warrior as he emerged from Hae-chul’s house.
– Well done.
The Yeo Eung-am Warrior had performed far better than I expected. Voice modulation was one of his specialties, making him perfect for this task.
– I’ll keep watch to ensure no one follows. Wait for me at the appointed meeting place.
– Understood.
My companions and I observed Hae-chul’s house. Hae-chul sat completely dazed, his mind utterly vacant.
But what could I do? This was only the beginning.
I entrusted Hae-chul’s surveillance to the Jin Yu Warrior and headed toward the appointed meeting place.
The Yeo Eung-am Warrior had already shed all his disguises and changed into fresh clothes.
“Wow, your acting skills are truly exceptional.”
At my words, he chuckled softly and replied.
“Actually, I was part of a famous traveling theater troupe when I was younger.”
“A theater troupe?”
“Yes. My parents were from a traveling theater troupe. I learned voice modulation from one of the troupe members when I was young. But my parents disliked me being in the troupe, so they placed me in a martial hall instead.”
“I see.”
The Yeo Eung-am Warrior’s acting talent must be hereditary.
Regardless, his performance was genuinely spine-tingling. The theater world lost a promising talent.
But I benefited from it.
“By the way, why did you demand the elixir?”
At the Lee Pil Warrior’s question, I wore a bitter expression.
“Because anything else would be useless to Ji-sang Monk.”
Hae-chul must atone to Ji-sang Monk.
But would such a man ever apologize sincerely? There was no chance of that.
And an insincere apology would only deceive the other party.
Therefore, he must atone through material compensation befitting his transgression.
But Ji-sang Monk is a disciple of Buddhism.
By principle, he owns no possessions and receives only a small monthly allowance to sustain himself.
He even saved that meager sum to give to Hae-chul, or so he claimed.
Good heavens.
I’d sooner extract blood from a stone.
In any case, land and money are useless to such a monk. Even if I gave them to him, Ji-sang Monk would simply donate them away, wouldn’t he?
That would be meaningless.
So what I settled on was the elixir.
One of the few things a martial artist can truly possess is inner energy.
Of course, it’s important to have him consume the elixir and provide support afterward, but that’s something to consider later.
For now, I need to extract everything I can from Hae-chul.
“But Master, was that really Chasing Fragrance you fed him earlier?”
“No. It was just mud I shaped together.”
Horse dung, mud… he might get an upset stomach, but he won’t die.
Honestly, he shouldn’t complain about pain from that.
Because of him, how many people have lived with their hearts torn apart in agony.
.
.
.
Two days had passed.
According to Jin Yu Warrior’s report, Hae-chul made a heartbreaking effort to obtain the elixir.
But in the end, he managed to procure it.
As promised, two days later, Yeo Eung-am Warrior headed toward Hae-chul’s residence again.
The estate looked considerably emptier than before.
That made sense—he had sold everything he could to prepare the elixir and even dismissed his servants.
Those who suddenly lost their employment were given some compensation.
If they were diligent, that would be enough for them to survive until they found new work.
I made my way to the Guest Reception Room through the gaps between the roof tiles.
“Do you have what you promised?”
“Y-yes, it’s here.”
Hae-chul presented the box with a respectful posture.
Yeo Eung-am Warrior accepted the box and placed it on the wooden table.
Then he opened it.
A purple ginseng with nine leaves.
It was Nine-Leaf Ginseng.
Unlike other ginseng, it grows between cliff faces, producing one leaf every hundred years.
When it reaches ten leaves, it transforms and returns to nature.
In other words, nine leaves is when its medicinal efficacy is at its peak.
Consuming a single root of this can grant one approximately ten years of inner energy cultivation.
– Is this genuine?
– It appears to be genuine.
I examined the ginseng carefully and replied to Yeo Eung-am Warrior’s telepathic transmission.
The energy emanating from the Nine-Leaf Ginseng was unmistakably authentic.
This is incredibly expensive.
It makes sense he sold all his household goods and dismissed his servants to obtain it.
“Hmm, it is genuine indeed.”
Yeo Eung-am Warrior closed the box and rose from his seat.
“Then… what about the thirty thousand nyang…?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you say you would repay the thirty thousand nyang on my behalf?”
“I did. But now that you’ve embezzled half of that elixir, hasn’t that promise already been broken?”
“What?”
“And I said I would spare your life if you brought back the elixir you stole or brought an equivalent amount of elixir in its place—I never said I would give you thirty thousand nyang.”
“….”
Now that I thought about it, that was true.
His face crumpled as though the world itself had collapsed.
“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave. Don’t deceive others anymore. Living that way won’t let you live long. Haha.”
“Wait, just a moment, please….”
He tried to grab the Yeo Eung-am Warrior, but the Yeo Eung-am Warrior’s movement technique was swift.
Thus he couldn’t even grasp the warrior’s sleeve and tumbled forward flat on his face.
“No, this can’t be….”
As he stood there in a daze, his spirit utterly shattered, a group of people entered his estate.
People dressed in green robes.
All the blood drained from Hae-chul’s face the moment he saw them.
“Are you Hae-chul, the Manor Lord of this estate?”
“….”
“No need to answer. We already know your face.”
The name given to them was the Green-Robed Collectors.
They were those who seized the assets of those who borrowed money from the Geumsan Money Exchange and failed to repay it.
.
.
.
That day, the Green-Robed Collectors from the Geumsan Money Exchange seized all of Hae-chul’s assets.
In a sense, it was the natural consequence of squandering the wealth accumulated through his younger sister’s sacrifice.
Since he had exhausted even his emergency funds searching for the elixir, he had become truly destitute.
He had said he didn’t even own a single plot of land before, so he had simply returned to his starting point.
But if Hae-chul remained here, he would surely be the type to hold out his hand to Ji-sang Monk for help.
So I needed to send him far away.
“Palgap, could you find out where Hae-chul’s wife’s family home is?”

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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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