Before setting out on the trading run, Jeok Wigang went to see his father, Jeok Rihyeon.
“I will be going now.”
“I am sorry. It feels as though I have placed an unnecessary burden on you.”
“A burden? Families are supposed to help one another.”
“Thank you.”
Jeok Wigang looked around the room and asked,
“By the way, where is Grandfather? I thought he was always in this room.”
“He went out to train Wiun.”
Does he have no intention of returning to Heavenly Martial Castle? It seems the new strategist is doing an excellent job.
“It does not look as though Grandfather intends to return to Heavenly Martial Castle anytime soon. Is it really all right for him to be away this long?”
“It is probably fine. There is someone dependable holding things together at Heavenly Martial Castle.”
“Really? But Wigang, how do you know so much?”
Because I was the one who put that dependable person there.
“I heard it from Grandfather.”
“Is that so? He has not told me anything like that.”
“You and Father are still a little awkward around each other, after all.”
“That is true. Still, we have been talking more lately.”
“You are happy about that, right?”
At Jeok Wigang’s question, Jeok Rihyeon let out a quiet laugh and nodded.
“Yes, I am. I thought I resented and hated Father, but this time I understood for certain. I have always liked Father more than anyone.”
“Boys grow up admiring their fathers, do they not?”
“Were you like that too?”
“Of course! Father is the person I admire most in the world.”
Hearing Jeok Wigang say that he admired him made Jeok Rihyeon beam.
“Hahaha! Hearing that from you, there is nothing left in this world for me to envy.”
“I will make sure you have even less to envy.”
“Really? Then hurry up and get married. Bring me a grandchild.”
“Ah! How did it get so late already? I should be going.”
Jeok Wigang hurried out, and Jeok Rihyeon chuckled.
“That brat. Does he hate the thought of marriage that much?”
He assumed it was because Jeok Wigang had not met a woman he liked yet.
“I hope he meets a good woman on this trading run.”
It was only a hope.
With Jeok Wigang’s personality, such a thing would never happen.
Jeok Rihyeon watched the direction his son had vanished in for a moment before returning to his work.
*****
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG—!
A thunderous explosion rang out from the training grounds.
Jeok Wigang smirked, apparently able to guess what was happening.
When he listened closely, he could hear Jeok Wiun screaming.
“Grandfather! Are you trying to kill your grandson?”
“Hehehe. Brat, you will not die from something like that.”
“I would have died if I had not dodged that just now!”
“I told you, you would not die. Here I come again.”
“AAAAH! Grandfather! I am only at the supreme level!”
“Cross the boundary between life and death, and you will naturally grow stronger! This is all your grandfather’s love for you!”
He called it love while mercilessly beating Jeok Wiun.
WHUMP-WHUMP—.
“Ugh!”
Jeok Wiun had tried to dodge.
But could someone at the supreme level possibly evade the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s fists?
Even the shield around his body was useless.
Jeok Mugun’s powerful fist pierced straight through it with ease.
To lessen the pain even slightly, Jeok Wiun focused intently on watching Jeok Mugun’s movements.
Then he concentrated his shield in the direction from which the fist was coming.
CLANG—.
“Urgh!”
It still hurt, even after he blocked it with everything he had.
Still, it did not hurt so badly that his mind went blank as it had before.
Jeok Mugun grinned.
“That is it. Good! How is it? You are improving quickly now that you are learning it through your body, are you not?”
His grandfather was right.
He could feel his progress increasing far more quickly than when he trained alone.
He had to improve his dynamic vision to keep from losing sight of his grandfather’s rapidly moving hands, and he had to move his inner qi just as quickly to respond.
CLANG—.
Jeok Wiun’s body jolted as he was pushed back.
He grinned.
For the first time, he had properly blocked one of his grandfather’s punches.
“Well, look at you. You are improving remarkably fast.”
“It is thanks to you, Grandfather.”
Jeok Mugun smirked.
“Then shall we raise the difficulty?”
“I only just got used to this.”
“Then you can get used to the next level too. Here I come.”
“W-wait! Brother is behind you!”
Jeok Wiun shouted in desperation that Jeok Wigang was behind him, and Jeok Mugun froze.
When he looked back, Jeok Wigang really was standing there.
“When did you get here?”
He had not sensed him even though Jeok Wigang had come this close.
He really was extraordinary.
“I came to say goodbye before leaving on the trading run.”
“Ah! Should I come with you?”
Jeok Wiun looked at him with an expression full of hope.
Jeok Wigang snickered.
“Grandfather, stay here and play with Wiun. Look at his face. He is full of anticipation.”
“What?”
Jeok Mugun turned to look, and Jeok Wiun panicked before quickly averting his eyes.
“You little brat? You like your grandfather that much?”
“Huh? W-well, yes?”
“Hahaha! My grandson wants me this badly, so I cannot possibly go. Excellent!”
Jeok Wiun looked close to tears.
He should have stayed quiet.
He regretted it, but it was too late.
“By the way, do you not need to go back to Heavenly Martial Castle?”
Jeok Wigang asked, and Jeok Mugun flashed a grin.
“I handed all my full authority over to that strategist. He will handle it well enough.”
“Were you not busy choosing a successor? You have to do that too.”
“Why would I bother with that when I have you?”
“I might not do it.”
“Then when that time comes, I will just pick some clever fellow and be done with it.”
“Can you really do that?”
“What use is Heavenly Martial Castle without you? Wherever you are will be the greatest place under heaven.”
“Aren’t my uncles all hoping for it?”
“Hmph! Not one of them pleases me. All they want is the position of Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle. Not one of them is devoted to me.”
“To you, Grandfather, being strong is filial devotion.”
“That is right! In that sense, you are the most dutiful grandson there is. Hehehe.”
“Wiun is doing well too.”
“That is right! This brat is a dutiful grandson too.”
“My uncles would be upset if they heard that.”
“So what if they are upset? What can they do about it? Could they do anything to you with their own strength? They are not even worth a single punch.”
Come to think of it, Jeok Wigang had never met any of his uncles or other relatives during his time at Heavenly Martial Castle.
All he knew was that they were devoting themselves to training because of the succession.
He felt sorry for them.
They were probably training until they bled, dreaming of the sweet prize of becoming the successor.
“Then I will be going now. Have a good time with Wiun.”
“Go on!”
*****
Chief Escort Ha Muhyeon spoke to Jeok Wigang.
“Merchant Master, all preparations are complete. It is time to depart.”
“Wait a moment.”
“Pardon?”
Was there something else that needed to be prepared?
They had prepared everything without overlooking a single thing.
Ha Muhyeon was carefully considering whether anything had been missed when—
“Boss, I brought him.”
Brought whom?
Ha Muhyeon turned his head and saw an unfamiliar man walking over while carrying a familiar face in one hand.
“Heo Mujeong?”
Perhaps his pressure points had been sealed. Even when Ha Muhyeon called to him, Heo Mujeong did not react at all.
Ha Muhyeon spoke to Jeok Wigang.
“He handles intelligence for our Merchant Company. But why is he—?”
“He is a spy.”
“What?”
“He has been passing information about our trading runs to someone else.”
“T-to someone else?”
“Yes. The trading runs are top secret, yet our runs were attacked three times? Does that not seem strange? I thought someone inside must be leaking information.”
“So you intentionally waited instead of departing, because someone would have to move in order to pass along the information?”
“Yes.”
Ha Muhyeon stared at Heo Mujeong.
He could not believe it.
Only recently, they had drunk together and shared meals.
He was not someone Ha Muhyeon could ever have imagined betraying the Merchant Company.
“There could be some misunderstanding.”
“Whether it is a misunderstanding or not is what we will find out now.”
How?
Was Jeok Wigang going to torture him?
At Jeok Wigang’s nod, the man holding Heo Mujeong tapped a finger against his back, releasing the pressure-point seal.
The moment it was undone, Heo Mujeong regained consciousness and looked around in alarm.
Then he spotted Jeok Wigang and asked,
“Merchant Master? Why am I here?”
“Why do you think?”
“I do not know.”
“There must be a reason.”
Heo Mujeong’s eyes darted back and forth.
“No matter how much I think about it, I do not know.”
“That cannot be true. You should know better than anyone.”
“I truly do not know. Please tell me why I am here.”
“The information about the trading runs. Who did you give it to?”
At the words trading-run information, Heo Mujeong’s eyes flickered slightly.
Then he put on a wronged expression.
“W-what do you mean? M-me, passing along information about the trading runs? How could you say such a thing?”
“You would be wise to tell the truth.”
“This is truly unfair! I have never passed on any information.”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
“Fine. Let us see whether that is true.”
Jeok Wigang rose and walked toward Heo Mujeong.
His expression was cold, and Heo Mujeong involuntarily stepped back.
But the man who had brought him blocked his way.
“M-Merchant Master! You have misunderstood—”
CLACK—.
Jeok Wigang covered Heo Mujeong’s mouth with his palm in the middle of his plea.
Then he murmured something.
“Heart’s abyss, become clear. Falsehood, vanish. True qi, reveal yourself. Word-spirit, become truth.”
When he stopped murmuring and removed his hand, Heo Mujeong touched his mouth in panic and tried to speak.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
He seemed unable to open his mouth no matter how hard he tried.
What had Jeok Wigang done to him?
It looked like some kind of sorcery.
Could the Merchant Master use sorcery too?
Ha Muhyeon’s curiosity was soon answered.
“You did leak the trading-run information, did you not?”
Heo Mujeong’s mouth opened at Jeok Wigang’s question.
“Yes. I leaked the information about the trading runs.”
Ha Muhyeon was horrified by Heo Mujeong’s answer.
What had Jeok Wigang done to make him answer so obediently all of a sudden?
As Ha Muhyeon watched Heo Mujeong, he noticed something strange.
His mouth was speaking, but his expression said otherwise.
He was violently shaking his head with a look of horror on his face.
At the same time, he was struggling desperately to stop himself from talking.
“Who did you give the information to?”
“The Heavenly Flower Merchant Company.”
“The Heavenly Flower Merchant Company? Are they the ones who attacked our trading runs?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It is their method. They interfere with every merchant company that enters their territory.”
“Why did you betray the True Martial Merchant Company?”
At Jeok Wigang’s question, sorrow appeared on Heo Mujeong’s face, and his mouth moved.
“My child.”
“Your child?”
“Yes. They poisoned my child and give me an antidote every month. If I do not give them information, they will not give me the antidote.”
“They even use poison?”
“The family that runs the Heavenly Flower Merchant Company is the Tang Family of Sichuan.”
“The Tang Family again?”
“Yes.”
“Well, well. I suppose I was destined to meet the Tang Family one way or another.”
Jeok Wigang patted Heo Mujeong on the shoulder.
“Let us go.”
“Where?”
“To your home.”
“What?”
“You said your child was poisoned. We need to detoxify the poison.”
“I secretly searched everywhere, but no one has been able to identify the poison.”
“We do not need to know what poison it is. Let us go.”
With those words, Jeok Wigang placed his palm over Heo Mujeong’s mouth once more.
“Hah... Hah... Huh? M-my mouth...”
It had returned to normal.
“If you had betrayed the Merchant Company for your own gain, I would have killed you on the spot. But since it was for your child, I will take that into consideration.”
“Hngh!”