Chapter 126 : Jurisdiction Over the Merchant Guild
Chapter 126: Jurisdiction Over the Merchant Guild
Byeokcheon Jinren and the martial artists of Mount Zhongnan could do nothing but stand there awkwardly and wait.
The Yeonryuk Merchant Guild Master had urgently requested a conversation with Yul Han.
From the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild Master’s position, he had no other choice.
It was because of what Yul Han had just said to Ghost Immortal.
<If it is not Golden Flower Manor, which has a contract with us, then whether ten merchant guilds are smashed or a hundred merchant guilds collapse is none of our concern.>
If those words were taken at face value, then once the Vice Cult Leader and the Heaven-Mixing Crushing Demon departed, and the martial artists of the Hundred Paths who had retreated returned to target the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild again, no responsibility would be demanded.
“A deal? No, I wish to form a contract.”
I stared quietly at the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild Master, who abruptly stepped forward asking for a contract.
“Do you understand the risks involved?”
“Pardon?”
“This place is different from Gansu, where Golden Flower Manor is located. We were fortunate this time, but next time, even if we stretch out our hand to help, it will take time. If the Hundred Paths wish to provoke trouble, they can inflict harm as much as they please.”
“B-But if the protection of the Bright Cult is proclaimed….”
“That protection will be nothing but words. We will not be stationing martial artists here.”
“T-That may be so, but might they not reconsider?”
“How long would that last? Not very long. So rather than that, why not align yourselves with the Hundred Paths? That would be the safer path.”
“But then the amount of grain supplied to Golden Flower Manor immediately—”
He stopped mid-sentence, and the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild Master’s eyes widened.
Only then did he understand the meaning behind the latter half of what I had told Ghost Immortal.
<If even a single grain entering the Bright Cult decreases, and if that is because of the actions of the Hundred Paths, then I will certainly hold them accountable.>
It was only after placing that statement together with what I had just told him—suggesting that he cooperate with the Hundred Paths—that he grasped the true meaning.
The Vice Cult Leader had effectively created a kind of shield for the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild and for all merchant guilds that remained within the territory of the Hundred Paths while trading with Golden Flower Manor.
In other words, even if every merchant guild sided with the Hundred Paths, the quantity of grain entering Golden Flower Manor could not change.
If they did not wish to clash with the Vice Cult Leader, the Hundred Paths themselves would have to step forward and make up the difference.
Thus, the merchant guilds that had previously traded with Golden Flower Manor would be able to continue supplying grain.
Naturally, since those guilds maintained ties with the Hundred Paths, even if they sold grain to Golden Flower Manor, their safety would not be jeopardized.
Only now did the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild Master realize the meaning hidden behind those words I had spoken with my blade half-drawn. His face was filled with emotion.
“H-How could you go so far for the safety of merchants like us?”
“You endured hardships you need not have suffered because of our Bright Cult. I can only feel apologetic. I do not know how much effect those words will have, but I merely hope they serve as even a small shield.”
Slaughter Demon. Butcher. Human Butcher.
The Yeonryuk Merchant Guild Master had long heard the countless rumors surrounding the Vice Cult Leader.
But the Vice Cult Leader he met today was far better than those of the Hundred Paths who constantly mouthed righteousness and chivalry.
At the very least, he was someone who practiced through action what righteousness truly meant.
“Vice Cult Leader. Please grant us a contract.”
“It seems you understood my words, so why insist?”
“They say a man is given three opportunities in life. Two have already come to me. The first was meeting my parents, and the second was inheriting the merchant guild thanks to my elder brothers’ concession. I believe today may be the third.”
“What do you mean?”
“From this day forward, all the grain of our merchant guild will be supplied to the Bright Cult. If you ask for it freely, we will give it freely. If you wish to pay only half the price, we will accept only half.”
“And if you go bankrupt?”
“Then I will simply trade again. Surely the Vice Cult Leader would not refuse to help me?”
I gazed steadily at the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild Master as he smiled faintly.
Had it been another merchant guild, I would have refused. But the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild dealt in grain.
If not the Bright Cult, then at least the believers—who were all suffering—relied on grain.
“You will not regret this?”
“Rather than regret, I believe one should spend that time making up for mistakes.”
At his answer, I smiled.
“Very well. From this day forward, the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild falls under the jurisdiction of the Bright Cult.”
“Thank you, Vice Cult Leader!”
The two of us looked at each other and smiled brightly.
The Yeonryuk Merchant Guild Master found himself thinking that the Vice Cult Leader’s smile, which had only ever seemed terrifying, could appear this bright.
In truth, the killing intent in the Vice Cult Leader’s smile was no different from before.
And yet, he felt pleased, as though he had glimpsed what lay beneath it.
Byeokcheon Jinren returned dejectedly.
His disciples under him returned safely as well.
However, he carried the duty of delivering one piece of news to the entirety of the Hundred Paths.
<The Yeonryuk Merchant Guild is now under the jurisdiction of the Bright Cult. Not a contract—‘jurisdiction.’ Make sure to convey the distinction clearly.>
As he walked, turning Yul Han’s words over in his mind, Byeokcheon Jinren’s expression was utterly bleak.
The Yeonryuk Merchant Guild had extensive dealings with the secular disciples of Mount Zhongnan.
Now it had turned toward the Bright Cult.
The secular disciples of the Hundred Paths could not, in name and principle, continue trading with a merchant guild that had become property of the Bright Cult.
The problem was not merely the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild. In the western regions of the Central Plains, there were few proper places left to obtain grain.
The Great Famine was casting no small ripple even across the Martial World.
The resentful voices of the secular disciples—saying that we had needlessly provoked those who had been staying still and thereby made matters worse—seemed almost audible in my ears.
Perhaps because of that, Byeokcheon Jinren’s returning steps were unbearably heavy.
The Martial Alliance was no different in losing face.
The trainees of the Kongtong Successor Cultivation Plan, who had departed in high spirits, returned with their shoulders slumped.
Moreover, they brought back the Vice Cult Leader’s warning and the ominous intelligence that the Iron Demon and the Profound Demon had reached the Manifestation Realm.
At the hastily convened Council of Elders, denunciations poured forth.
The majority of the voices demanded the impeachment of the Strategist, who had pushed this matter forward despite the Alliance Leader’s opposition.
In the end, the Council of Elders decided to impose a period of self-reflection upon the Strategist, Jegal Giyeon.
Having shifted all blame for their own failings onto the Strategist, the elders busied themselves sending urgent written dispatches to their respective sects.
It was imperative to inform them that the Bright Cult now had additional masters in the Manifestation Realm.
The excitement that had filled the Hundred Paths over the outstanding results of the Kongtong Successor Cultivation Plan cooled instantly, as though cold water had been poured over it.
At the very heart of the Martial Alliance, within the Alliance Leader’s residence, the Shaolin Divine Monk and the Strategist sat facing each other.
“This is the order of self-reflection issued by the Council of Elders. They say it will take effect immediately once I approve it.”
“……”
The Shaolin Divine Monk looked at the Strategist, who merely listened in silence, and asked,
“Let me ask just one thing. Why? Why were you in such a hurry?”
“If we miss the moment, something that could have been stopped with a hoe cannot be stopped even with a plow. Ever since the Vice Cult Leader killed the Taiji Sword Emperor of Wudang, we have been lagging behind. I only wished to change that.”
“Lagging behind… That is not wrong. But, Strategist. ‘The late move that subdues first.’ That is the spirit of the Hundred Paths—that even if we begin late, we overcome those who moved ahead. That is our martial way. And history itself has proven it.”
“Will you turn a blind eye to the blood that had to be shed to prove it?”
“Hm… Indeed, many died and many were wounded.”
“That is precisely it. If we move just a little faster, if we act just a little more boldly, then such innocent losses need not occur.”
“Was that why? Sending the Blue Wave Sword Venerable’s treasured sword to the Hae-nam Sword Sect?”
“S-Sect Master!”
At the startled cry of the Strategist, the Shaolin Divine Monk continued,
“Strategist. Do you not consider the harm done to them, used as a means to conceal our involvement, to be innocent? If martial artists of the Hae-nam Sword Sect continue to die like that, do you think they will simply endure it? And what of the innocent lives that will be lost in the unrest that follows?”
“The Hae-nam Sword Sect will ultimately target the Bright Cult. Can you truly call them innocent?”
“When has the Hae-nam Sword Sect ever distinguished between martial artists and commoners in its blade? Many innocent commoners will be slaughtered under their swords merely for being believers of the Bright Cult.”
“When they chose to believe in a heretical cult, they must have prepared themselves for such consequences. I do not believe it is something we need concern ourselves with.”
“Haah… Strategist.”
“Just approve it. Do not attempt to lay strange accusations at my feet.”
Leaving only those words behind, Jegal Giyeon strode out of the Alliance Leader’s residence.
The Shaolin Divine Monk, lamenting that his attempt at persuasion had only ended in deeper discord, ultimately could not place his seal upon the order of self-reflection.
The crime was not his alone.
Knowing that, he could not agree to place all the blame upon him.
A deep sigh escaped the Shaolin Divine Monk once more.
“Haah……”
The Blue Wave Sword Unit, having advanced north at high speed, reached Mihyeon just after Byeokcheon Jinren and the disciples of Mount Zhongnan had departed.
For them, it was ill fortune that the Heaven-Mixing Crushing Demon and Yul Han were still staying at the Yeonryuk Merchant Guild.
“Leave one alive to confess the truth—kill the rest! Move!”
With the cold command of the Twin Might of the Moon Sword, the martial artists of the Blue Wave Sword Unit leapt over the walls in unison.
They too halted abruptly the moment they landed.
What was unfortunate was that, unlike the martial artists of the Hundred Paths, they did not recognize Yul Han or the Iron Demon.
They had long been isolated from the mainland.
Perhaps angered by their momentary hesitation, a harsh voice burst from the Twin Might of the Moon Sword.
“Attack!”
At the instant the command fell, over a hundred members of the Blue Wave Sword Unit surged forward, spreading out like the ribs of a fan.
As Yul Han gave a nod, the Heaven-Mixing Crushing Demon’s roar exploded forth.
“Fight them head-on! Do not let a single one retreat!”
At his thunderous shout, the martial artists of the Crushing Faction charged forward with a resounding battle cry.
Boom!
An explosion and the clash of weapons erupted the moment the two sides collided.
The battle was fierce.
Not only were the Heaven-Mixing Crushing Demon and the Twin Might of the Moon Sword evenly matched as commanders, but the martial artists on both sides were similarly balanced in skill.
The Iron Demon was about to step in as he watched the fight devolve into chaotic melee, but Yul Han stopped him.
“Leave them.”
“But… we need only a few. If we kill the one entangled with the Heaven-Mixing Crushing Demon over there, the tide will clearly turn.”
That was only natural.
The Heaven-Mixing Crushing Demon would then be free to rampage at will.
Yet Yul Han shook his head.
“They are in training right now. So leave them.”
“Training…?”
As the Iron Demon echoed in confusion, Yul Han’s voice rang out across the battlefield.
“If you train so lazily like this, do you think you will enter the realm of ultimate techniques without Unsealing Training? Wasn’t it by charging as if to die that training was accomplished?!”
After Yul Han’s shout, the movements of the Crushing Faction’s martial artists changed.
They truly began charging as though they meant to die.
As if it did not matter so long as they could take their opponent’s head after receiving a single strike.
At once, members of the Blue Wave Sword Unit began falling—dead or grievously wounded—in rapid succession.
In that situation, as the sword momentum of the slightly shaken Twin Might of the Moon Sword faltered, the Heaven-Mixing Crushing Demon’s blade bored in with overwhelming force.