Chapter 164: Respect for the Elderly
Ha Joo-yeon had, for the first time, such a thought.
Maybe I could die.
In truth, anyone living in that era would have experienced such thoughts more than once.
It was an age when blade-bearing martial artists lived mingled among ordinary people, and among them were not a few of the Unorthodox and Demonic Paths.
But Ha Joo-yeon, who had been born and raised in the wealthiest household under heaven, had never felt such a threat.
Everyone tried to appease him, to curry his favor, and no small number of guards constantly protected him.
Yet now, nothing could protect him. As Ha Joo-yeon met Jin Seong-un’s eyes, he instinctively realized it.
This man did not fear Myriad Gold Manor.
The guards he had brought along were completely useless.
Money, power, martial strength…
Before this man, all of it became meaningless.
“I, I…”
Ha Joo-yeon’s lips trembled.
He nearly said that what he had done was right, that he had lost his temper for a moment and made a mistake he shouldn’t have.
But at the last moment, Ha Joo-yeon desperately held on to his sanity. It was not because of his fear of Jin Seong-un.
‘I’ll be killed by Father.’
It was no figure of speech.
If such a thing he had done became known to the world, his father would kill him himself to reduce the damage to Myriad Gold Manor.
No, even if it did not reach his father, it might end at the hands of his elder brother, Ha Joo-myeong.
The eldest son, Ha Joo-myeong, was known as someone who was said to be exactly like the current Master of Myriad Gold Manor.
“I really don’t know anything about this.”
“Is that so?”
But Jin Seong-un could read many things from Ha Joo-yeon’s eyes. Martial artists could see and hear more than ordinary people.
Jin Seong-un released Ha Joo-yeon’s shoulder and spoke.
“This incident has gone beyond the competition between inns. Countless innocent commoners could die. How will you handle it if such a thing happens?”
“…I told you it wasn’t me! What’s so wrong with the sluice gate!”
Jin Seong-un stared at Ha Joo-yeon.
He was lashing out in fear, and Jin Seong-un could sense that the fear was not directed at him but somewhere else.
Soon Jin Seong-un spoke.
“Remember this: whoever treats others’ lives lightly will have to pay with his own life.”
“I said it wasn’t me!”
Jin Seong-un was not shaken in the slightest by Ha Joo-yeon’s vehement denial.
As he turned to leave the office, Jin Seong-un paused and asked.
“Was it Lee Seowon’s scheme?”
“All the schemes of Geumun Inn are that fellow’s work, but this time, it absolutely wasn’t us. How many times must I say it!”
Ha Joo-yeon continued to deny it firmly, but at the same time left himself an escape route. If things went wrong later, he planned to shift the blame to Lee Seowon.
But Jin Seong-un spoke as though he could see right through even that thought.
“So it wasn’t his scheme.”
Hadn’t he faced Lee Seowon before?
At that time, Lee Seowon had not looked like a man acknowledged by his liege at all.
Rather, he had looked at Seo Yu-gyeom, Seomun Ak, and Jang Gwang with eyes full of envy.
And now, to say that all the schemes of Geumun Inn were Lee Seowon’s work and give him all the credit?
The intent was so transparent it made Jin Seong-un laugh.
When Jin Seong-un returned to the inn, Seo Yu-gyeom and Seomun Ak asked simultaneously.
“Did you kill him?”
“Where’s the corpse?”
Jin Seong-un looked at them with a dumbfounded expression.
Just what did these young heroes think of him?
“Of course not. There’s no evidence yet.”
“You should’ve tortured him at least, why not?”
At Seo Yu-gyeom’s words, Jin Seong-un recalled Ha Joo-yeon’s frantic state.
Something strong had shut his mouth tight.
Moreover, a confession extracted under torture would be hard to accept as valid later.
“I’m worried about the escort mission.”
Already Jang Gwang, Won Hu-hyeok, and Bang Man-bok had left the inn.
When Jin Seong-un voiced his concern, Seo Yu-gyeom replied in a casual tone.
“Jang Gwang said it’s fine. Anyway, even if we don’t trust the Shui Stronghold Master, Jang Gwang isn’t someone who’d talk nonsense.”
Only then did Jin Seong-un nod.
In that case, the escort mission was proceeding without a hitch, and what remained was to uncover Ha Joo-yeon’s affair.
The problem was that neither Ha Joo-yeon nor the officials he had bribed were likely to open their mouths easily.
As Jin Seong-un fell into thought, Seomun Ak approached and said.
“What are you worrying about so much? You’ve got an expert in that field, don’t you?”
“Ah.”
Jin Seong-un thought of someone.
Come to think of it, there was indeed one person whose main job was exactly this.
The government office of Dangyang County.
Magistrate Lim Tae-ho sat at his desk, biting his nails nervously.
He had momentarily succumbed to the proposal directly handed to him by the third son of Myriad Gold Manor, but being timid by nature, his heart had not calmed for days.
‘Surely the embankment won’t really collapse, will it? If it does…’
Even so, Myriad Gold Manor would protect him.
He understood that clearly in his head. But having never committed corruption, bribery, or any wrongdoing in his life, the days were nerve-wracking beyond measure.
It was then. From outside, the hurried footsteps of his subordinates came, followed by an urgent voice.
“Lord! The Guest Dragon from Yichang has come to see you!”
The magistrate flinched so hard his shoulders jerked. He barely clutched the desk to avoid toppling over with his chair.
After catching his breath, the magistrate asked.
“W-why is he here?”
“I do not know either, but…”
“Tell him I’m not here. No, say I’ve gone far away on business!”
But no answer returned.
For some reason, silence followed, and the magistrate’s heart pounded as if it would burst.
Suddenly, other footsteps reached the door, and only then did his subordinate’s voice continue.
“…The Anchaesa of Hunan Province is with him as well.”
The magistrate cursed inwardly as he sprang to his feet.
No, you should’ve mentioned the Anchaesa first!
As he rushed toward the door, without his permission it swung open wide, and two men appeared.
The magistrate, mid-run, bent at the waist so deeply it nearly touched the floor and greeted them.
“I pay my respects to the Anchaesa! What brings such an esteemed person to this small county…”
“You scoundrel!!”
A sudden roar.
Anchaesa Wi Gyeong-heon now displayed a voice full of authority, proving he was indeed a high-ranking official.
The weak magistrate felt as though his heart dropped to his ankles.
Wi Gyeong-heon’s roar continued.
“Because of your greed, the lower embankment burst and hundreds of people in Hunan Province have died! Do you realize that?”
The magistrate, shocked beyond belief, lifted the head he had bowed so deeply. The Anchaesa, whom he normally would hardly dare to even see, was glaring at him as if to kill him.
“…”
The magistrate’s eyes slid shut.
If hundreds had died…
At minimum, a central official of the Sunmu Inspector rank would be dispatched, and even with Myriad Gold Manor’s backing, there was no guarantee he could handle it.
I’m dead now.
With that thought, the magistrate fainted.
.
.
.
When he opened his eyes again—
Jin Seong-un and Wi Gyeong-heon were calmly sitting on one side of his office, sharing tea.
“Awake?”
Jin Seong-un asked.
The magistrate could not answer properly and only parted his lips.
After a moment of retracing what had happened, the magistrate sprang to his feet.
“H-hundreds of people really died…?”
“It was no joke.”
“Eh?”
“Judging by your reaction, you truly opened it on purpose.”
The magistrate’s face grew paler and paler.
Watching the color drain from his face in real time, Jin Seong-un approached and gently breathed energy into him.
Life returned to the ashen face.
Jin Seong-un said calmly.
“There is much to say, so stop fainting all the time.”
The magistrate was not even allowed to faint.
While his eyes rolled about, the Anchaesa’s words continued.
“You had your clerk close the sluice gates. Do you have any complaints?”
“...No.”
After collecting his thoughts for a moment, the magistrate bowed his head slightly and spoke.
“Anchaesa, I think there has been some misunderstanding. It is true that I opened the sluice gates. It was my duty. But it was not out of greed or petty feelings; I made a judgment in my own way.”
The magistrate’s tongue kept growing longer.
His explanation was lengthy, but in summary it meant that, without any conflict of interest, he had opened them because, in his view, it was the right thing to do.
Magistrates in regions where sluice gates were located were always tempted by such tests.
Thus, the magistrate had resolved something.
If he told the truth, he would certainly be killed. But if he tried his best to deny it and Myriad Gold Manor handled the aftermath, there was a fair chance he might live.
“But if my judgment displeased the Anchaesa of Hunan Province, I sincerely apologize. If you wish, I will cooperate fully with the investigation…”
Above all, he had one thing he trusted.
Why would the Anchaesa of Hunan Province investigate a magistrate of Hebei Province? That would be an outright slight to the Hebei Anchaesa.
“I fear incurring the wrath of the Hebei Anchaesa. If it’s acceptable, I will go through the proper rituals and be investigated by both gentlemen.”
The Hebei Anchaesa was not exactly on his side. Still, sending a carrier to the prefectural office and receiving a reply would take time.
First, he intended to feign compliance to get through the situation, then meet the third son of Myriad Gold Manor again to seek a way out.
“Haha, that sounds exactly like a young magistrate’s idea.”
The problem was that the other party was a political fox who had served for decades.
Wi Gyeong-heon smiled broadly and said.
“If I take you, what can that Hebei Anchaesa do?”
The Hebei Anchaesa and Wi Gyeong-heon had a personal acquaintance. Not a deep friendship, but Wi Gyeong-heon was no longer a mere frontier inspector.
Wi Gyeong-heon still vividly remembered the day he had had Jin Seong-un locked in a cell and received letters from powerful families, sects, and figures across the country.
“Was that a blessing in disguise?”
At the time he had been terrified to the point of numbness, but in the end Jin Seong-un had rolled up a lucky break and handed it to him.
Recently, the Anchaesa had consolidated his position in office backed by the Sichuan Tang Clan and the Hwa-un Trading Company.
Perhaps soon he could expect a seat as Left or Right Councilor of the Central Censorate.
Given his current standing, who within the same Anchaesa rank would dare touch him?
Wi Gyeong-heon looked at Jin Seong-un.
There was pure honey dripping from his eyes.
Jin Seong-un looked puzzled, and Wi Gyeong-heon said in a decisively resolute tone.
“Trust me and proceed. Never forget that I, Wi Gyeong-heon, stand behind you!”
“…Yes, well.”
Jin Seong-un bowed his head once.
A fleeting, petty thought that this was a bit showy crossed his mind, but since it was still helpful, he quickly banished it.
Jin Seong-un then strode over to the magistrate.
Having realized from the two men’s conversation that there was nothing he could do, the magistrate closed his eyes gently as if resigned.
Jin Seong-un spoke in a soft tone.
“A little sting.”
Thud — the sound of impact echoed once, and Jin Seong-un lightly slung the limp magistrate over his shoulder.
They had already secured the prison in the Yichang office. With an Anchaesa of a province personally arriving at the county, there was no one who could stop them.
“Shall we go?”
“Finish this cup first. Dangyang County’s tea is surprisingly good.”
The next morning.
Ha Joo-yeon was looking down at Seong-un Inn through the office window as usual.
‘You’ll be next soon enough.’
They had blocked the Yangtze where all their ingredients and liquor moved. Just in case, soldiers had been stationed along mountain paths to intercept them.
The contest they had called their scheme would end in the humiliation of Seong-un Inn.
Geumun Inn, on the other hand, intended to use that contest to further solidify its position.
If Lee Seowon, holed up in his room, learned of this, he would grumble considerably…
‘Business is originally like this.’
Ha Joo-yeon found Lee Seowon far too dull. Business was fundamentally about people dealing with people. There were many things numbers and data could not show.
While Ha Joo-yeon imagined scolding Lee Seowon and felt a mild sense of victory,
“What, what is this?”
A line of carts had stopped in front of Seong-un Inn.
Rugged men who did not look like porters or bearers unloaded boxes filled with all kinds of liquor bottles and ingredients.
They were the boatmen of the Yangtze River Stronghold who had become temporary porters.
Only then did Ha Joo-yeon recall one fact.
If you gave big handouts to insignificant men like the magistrate, they would become nervous and might come around after a sleepless night or two.
But the magistrate of Dangyang County had not contacted him even once since that day. He had not looked the free-spirited type at all.
“Is anyone outside?”
Ha Joo-yeon sent his men to check on Dangyang County’s situation.
Only that night did his retainer return with shocking news.
The sluice gates had been closed, and the magistrate had been taken by the Guest Dragon and the Anchaesa of Hunan Province.
The color drained completely from Ha Joo-yeon’s face.
For an instant, he felt as if his father’s and elder brother’s blades were pressed against his throat.
“W-what is this….”
At that moment.
Outside Seong-un Inn, the Guest Dragon had come out and was, as always, looking up at him with emotionless eyes.
Usually it was hard to read the Guest Dragon’s mind, and Ha Joo-yeon had found it deeply unpleasant. But now he could clearly read what those calm eyes said.
“Remember this: whoever treats others’ lives lightly will have to pay with his own life.”
It had been the arrogant line the man had spoken days ago.
Ha Joo-yeon gripped the window frame tightly. He did not want anyone to see that his body trembled in small convulsions.
Feigning composure, he looked at the Guest Dragon for a moment and then turned away.
“Old man, come to my room at once.”
He muttered it like a half-whisper, and soon footsteps were heard in the corridor.
An old man entered the office without asking permission.
He was the old man Ha Joo-yeon had first brought when he joined the Yichang office.
The old man had been a martial artist that Ha Joo-yeon’s biological sister, Ha Cheong-a, had secretly hired without their father’s and elder brother’s knowledge.
No one knew what the old man had done or where he had come from. But his sister had asserted very clearly about him.
“Even if he were an elder of the Nine Old Sects, he could be killed by him,” she had said.
Ha Joo-yeon looked at the white-haired old man for a moment and then said.
“Kill only one man.”
“Who this time? Unlike your sister Cheong-a, you are truly a wild dog.”
“...Don’t say useless things.”
Ha Joo-yeon explained the situation.
If the magistrate were to bow to the Anchaesa and start babbling, matters would become terribly tangled.
“Even if he’s already confessed, whether there is decisive witness testimony or not is an important issue. But…”
The old man paused mid-sentence.
A look of dismay crossed Ha Joo-yeon’s face.
No matter how great a master, infiltrating the heavy guard of the government, killing someone inside the prison, and escaping would be difficult.
Yet the old man’s next words were not what Ha Joo-yeon had expected.
“Do you want me to kill a government official?”
He said it as if there had never been a question of whether it could be done.
Ha Joo-yeon nodded.
“There was no choice. At this rate, it was over.”
“Strictly speaking, only you and your strategist would be finished. I would simply return to Cheong-a.”
“……”
“Of course, since Cheong-a said to do as you asked, I will go.”
The old man chuckled as if he found the whole situation amusing.
Ha Joo-yeon watched the old man’s retreating back and thought for a moment.
‘If he failed, should I order him to take his own life?’
A normal retainer would have followed that order without hesitation. But the old man was not someone who bowed to the authority of Ha Joo-yeon or Ha Cheong-a.
It was beyond understanding why someone with that kind of attitude and martial skill would obediently follow his sister’s request.
After a moment’s thought, Ha Joo-yeon decided to keep silent. If he mentioned seppuku, the old man might simply turn and smash his head.
The old man descended the stairs at a leisurely pace.
When he reached the first floor, he frowned slightly. The recent stench from the beggar rascals was intolerably foul.
He had not seen them for a day or two, and yet the same beggars had settled themselves in their spots as usual.
“Mad Rooster, wash up a bit. The stench is so strong it’s hurting business.”
All the guards, waiters, and even the beggars in the hall stopped what they were doing to look at the old man and Elder Byeok.
Elder Byeok ignored the old man’s words and took a big bite of a chicken leg.
The old man repeated himself.
“Are your ears stuffed?”
Elder Byeok still showed no reaction.
Only one beggar beside them could not hold back.
After all, the man who always accompanied Elder Byeok was his subordinate. Five knots dangled from his waist.
O Gyeol-gae, that was, the head of the Beggars’ Gang, so he was treated with respect wherever he went, even at major sects and clans.
“Has the old fellow gone senile…?”
The old man glanced briefly at Soehong-gae.
At the same moment, the five knots at Soehong-gae’s waist trembled.
He did not flare his energy, yet Soehong-gae felt as if a massive force was pressing on his whole body.
It was then.
“My junior disrespected you and acted rude. If you truly have a complaint, clear away the lowly ones and come face me.”
Elder Byeok spoke in a rare serious tone.
The old man snorted with laughter.
“You speak as if I am one of your lowlings. I do not know what you mean.”
“Then do not meddle with us eating. Go your way.”
The old man and Elder Byeok met each other’s gaze for a moment.
The beggars sitting farther away secretly admired Elder Byeok’s vicious temperament.
But those sitting right next to Elder Byeok watched closely. They saw his hand trembling slightly beneath the table.
Some time passed.
The old man smacked his lips and said,
“A contest or whatever. I heard the Beggar King is coming, too. If you snapped this chicken’s neck now, I fear that old fellow would fly into a rage.”
Everyone’s mouths dropped open.
Who in the age could speak to the Beggar King—the head of the Beggars’ Gang and the dragonhead of the Beggars’ House—like that?
“Thanks for thinking it over. Our Beggar King truly has a prickly temper.”
Elder Byeok joked, and the old man laughed heartily as he stepped outside.
At that moment, the smile vanished from Elder Byeok’s face.
She became aware of the guards and waiters blinking around her and transmitted an order to her subordinates by telepathy.
Find out who that old man is at once. I have never seen anyone so dangerous in my near ten years.
What was truly frightening was that they could not even guess who he might be.
In other words, he could be one of three things.
Either a retired master of an old generation, a master of the Three Palaces of the Outer Regions, or…
‘Surely not the Demonic Cult.’
If that were the case, this was no longer a mere quarrel between inns. Elder Byeok, newly grave, picked at her chicken leg.
Late at night.
An old man descended in front of the Yichang office prison.
Because of his large frame, even the faint moonlight that had seeped in was mostly blocked, and a deeper darkness fell over the prison.
Inside, Magistrate Lim Tae-ho slumped half against the wall and slept.
The old man stood before the bars, watching the magistrate for a moment, then raised his hand.
There was no need to tear open the bars to kill such a scrawny creature.
A slender air blade shot from the old man’s fingertip. He planned to kill him in an instant, then ignite Sammae True Flame and burn the corpse inside.
Sss-!
The air blade sliced the dark.
If someone untrained in martial arts were to be hit by such an air blade on their trembling forehead, their head would explode instantly.
Swoosh-!
The air blade did not reach the magistrate’s forehead.
A short saber flew from somewhere and collided with the air blade in midair.
Because of that, the dagger embedded itself in the wall, and the diverted air blade smashed into the floor, breaking it.
The old man’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the dagger lodged in the wall. A dagger that remained intact even after striking his air blade—what a thing.
It had no ornamentation and carried a chilling history in its edge. To his knowledge, there was only one such dagger in the world.
The old man scanned the darkness briefly and said,
“Shinsalgwi, if you came here thinking you had business with this fellow, you wasted your steps.”
Shinsalgwi, the vice leader of the Deathshroud and Seo Yu-gyeom’s former master.
Two men walked out of the darkness.
“I was watching just in case, but I didn’t expect him to actually come.”
“Ha Joo-yeon crossed the line when he opened the sluice. He wouldn’t have stopped at once.”
Seo Yu-gyeom and Jin Seong-un had arrived.
The two stared at the old man’s face.
He had entered the government office without covering his face—his confidence showed that this was nothing extraordinary for him.
They recognized the old man’s face, and the old man recognized whose short saber Seo Yu-gyeom carried.
The old man, Jin Seong-un, and Seo Yu-gyeom all clearly understood what that implied.
“Oh dear, one of you will surely die. But we are still young and vigorous, so the old man will concede.”
At Seo Yu-gyeom’s suggestion, the old man laughed uproariously as if he found it very amusing.
“These youngsters know nothing of respecting their elders.”