Chapter 10

“Speaking of which, how are things at the mine?”

“……Well, the same as usual. The martial artists from Yangryeong are occupying it, obstructing us…… and it’ll probably only get worse from here.”

“Sounds to me like you’re saying the mining of Cold Spirit Jade Crystal (Hanreung-okjeong) is being delayed.”

“We’d be lucky if it were merely delayed. To begin with, we haven’t been able to mine anything at all. Now that Ya Woon-sang—who periodically received the Cold Spirit Jade Crystal—is dead, the damage to the Blue Cloud Merchant Group, other trade factions, and the local residents will likely grow even worse.”

The conclusion was simple.

There was a lot of work to do.

When I looked at Chief Steward Seong in silence, he gave an awkward laugh.

“……Well, the order you gave me earlier…… I’ll go carry that out now.”

Chief Steward Seong turned around, walked a few paces, and then came to a sudden halt.

“Also, I’ve moved all the goods that were gathered in the yard into the warehouse.”

“You must have worked hard.”

“It was nothing…… hardly any trouble at all.”

“Then while you’re at it, do one more thing for me.”

I pulled out the ledger I had kept inside my robes and tossed it lightly to him.

Catching it, Chief Steward Seong wore a puzzled expression—a face that clearly asked why I was handing this over.

“Those who were exploited here in Seol-ap should be listed in there. Some are dead and some are alive, so categorize them and return what was taken.”

“……All of this? Every bit of it?”

“Not everything. Leave out the spirit pills and cultivation resources.”

“……May I ask…… why?”

“Did this not happen because I turned a blind eye?”

“……”

“It started because of me. If I don’t take responsibility, how am I any different from Ya Woon-sang?”

“……Understood. I will distinguish the living from the dead and compensate them as much as possible.”

“If it’s not enough, feel free to use my personal funds.”

“……Understood, Young Master.”

I nodded and looked back up at the sky.

It was truly beautiful.

Since things were going to get extremely busy starting tomorrow, I intended to enjoy this brief moment of leisure while I could.

Meanwhile, in the Beggars’ Sect branch at Yangryeong—

Won Sam, a man wearing four knots on his belt and serving as the Branch Leader, roared in fury:

“Seol Woon-hwi! That son of a bitch!”

Beside him, Deputy Branch Leader Jeong Gae-san flinched in shock and quickly added:

“Umm…… Branch Leader…… calling him a son of a bitch is a bit…… That’s Seol Jung-cheon’s son. The Seol Jung-cheon.”

If Seol Woon-hwi was a son of a bitch, then who did that make the bitch?

As Jeong Gae-san pointed out, it meant Seol Jung-cheon.

Pricked by a sudden chill of realization, Branch Leader Won Sam cleared his throat with a dry cough and hastily rephrased his words:

“They say a tiger doesn’t sire a dog, but a complete stray mutt has come out from under the White Tiger!”

A stray mutt…… well, that wasn’t too bad.

At least it was better than insulting Seol Jung-cheon directly.

“They say he’s a illegitimate son, right?”

“Yes. He is an illegitimate son.”

“So that’s why.”

“Pardon?”

“That bastard of an illegitimate son realized it far too late. He realized that since the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace is backing him, he can run amok like a madman and get away with it. What an absolute piece of…… no, what a pest of a fellow.”

“……”

“That stray dog is having the time of his life. A bastard worse than a dog—a mongrel who wouldn’t be missed even if he were torn to shreds!”

In truth, whether Yangryeong and Seol-ap tore each other apart was of no interest to them.

If they wanted to fight, so be it.

However, laying a hand on a member of the Beggars’ Sect was a grave issue.

An arrogant brat.

As Won Sam poured out his anger, Jeong Gae-san handed him a cloth he had been keeping in his robes. Though caked in dirt and grime, it was needed nonetheless.

Taking it, Won Sam roughly wiped away the bits of leftover food smeared across his face.

“Why the hell is that bastard Ice-Snow Sword Trace taking his temper out on me of all people? What a nuisance!”

“Throwing what he was eating was a bit much. No matter how much we are beggars, we’re way past the point of eating someone else’s scraps.”

“Is that really what matters right now?!”

“……My apologies.”

“Tsk, why did the Sect Master of the Juryeong Sword Sect have to enter secluded cultivation at a time like this……”

The current Sect Master of the Juryeong Sword Sect was a master who had reached the Five Flowers Converging at the Crown (Ogi-jowon).

He had entered secluded cultivation about a year ago and had yet to emerge.

It might extend for years if it dragged on, but the crucial point was that during this period, the one exercising the practical power of the Juryeong Sword Sect was Ice-Snow Sword Trace.

Ahem.

Clearing his throat, Jeong Gae-san spoke up:

“Looking at the situation, it seems Ice-Snow Sword Trace will visit Seol-ap sometime today. Shouldn’t we do something as well?”

“We have to do something. A Three-Knot Beggar of our sect was killed—we can’t just sit on our hands.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“What else? Doesn’t that person happen to be in the vicinity of Yangryeong right now?”

“If you mean that person……”

“Yes, that person. The Vice Master of Sword Pressure Castle (Geam-apseong).”

Sword Pressure Castle was a massive city that governed all the smaller surrounding towns, including Yangryeong.

The Main Branch Master there was a Seven-Knot Beggar, and the Vice Master was a Six-Knot Beggar.

The Six-Knot Beggar, Cheon Su-gang (Thousand Hands Gang).

Jeong Gae-san swallowed hard.

“……Are you really planning to call…… him?”

“Of course I am. That illegitimate brat is treating the Beggars’ Sect like absolute dirt right now. Shouldn’t we warn him to check where he’s stepping before he lies down?”

“……I suppose…… that’s true.”

“Besides, while we’re at it, let’s wring out whatever we can get from the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace.”

Jeong Gae-san didn’t particularly try to stop him. He wasn’t the type to listen anyway. Above all, Won Sam was someone who placed immense value on authority—if the aforementioned Cheon Su-gang came and told him to lick the food scraps off his face, Won Sam would do so without a moment’s hesitation.

He was a man so steeped in greed that he clearly viewed this situation as an opportunity.

Jeong Gae-san clicked his tongue internally.

He truly couldn’t guess what kind of outcome this would bring back upon them.

Seol-ap was a small town.

In fact, calling it a town was a bit generous, yet calling it a village didn’t quite fit either—it existed somewhere in between.

On the other hand, neighboring Yangryeong was a full-fledged city.

When dividing administrative districts, the hierarchy went: State (Jut), Commandery (Gun), and County (Hyeon).

All five nations currently existing in the Murim followed this system.

Government officials were dispatched starting from the County level, and below a County were Townships (Jin), Districts (Ri), and Villages (Chon).

In the case of the neighboring Yang Empire and the distant Wolgye Kingdom, a Fortress-City (Seong) existed above the State level, but combining both nations, there were only four such entities in total—a unique feature exclusive to those two realms.

Seol-ap was a territory that belonged to no nation.

Because it was solely the land of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace, its name was simply “Seol-ap.”

However, if one had to classify it, Seol-ap could roughly be considered a District (Ri).

Seol-ap District.

And its neighbor, Yangryeong, was Yangryeong County.

Setting aside the sheer difference in size, the key distinction lay not in quantity, but in quality.

The strongest master in Seol-ap reached no higher than the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown (Samhwa-jujip).

In Yangryeong County, however, there was a master of Five Flowers Converging at the Crown (Ogi-jowon), alongside more than five masters of the Three Flowers Gathering stage.

Despite this gap, the reason Yangryeong County had not swallowed Seol-ap was crystal clear:

Because this place, Seol-ap—and I, who resided here—carried the bloodline of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace.

To devour Seol-ap was to provoke the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace itself. What lunatic would dare cross them?

They lacked the guts to mess with the giant of the North.

However, keeping Seol-ap in check was a different story altogether.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace would not intervene over simple political posturing and checks.

Because that was a fair conflict.

A clash backed by justifiable pretexts.

The situation here was simple.

To begin with, there were two mines between Seol-ap and Yangryeong:

The Cheongreung Mine (靑陵鑛山) and the Seolhan Mine (雪寒鑛山).

The Cheongreung Mine belonged to Seol-ap.

It was unambiguously located within Seol-ap’s territory, and Seol-ap was its rightful owner.

The Seolhan Mine, however, was a different story.

It was situated right on the border between Seol-ap and Yangryeong, and while it was supposed to be under “joint management” in name, that was not how things were being handled.

Had it only been that, I might have let it pass with a reasonable compromise.

I could have simply gone over, demanded half of Seolhan Mine’s shares, or conducted negotiations to manage it jointly as originally agreed.

But six years had passed.

For these six years—ever since I arrived as the Branch Master of Seol-ap—Ya Woon-sang had served as the Deputy Branch Master. Although the general branch members changed multiple times along the way, the position of Deputy Branch Master had not shifted for a single moment.

For six whole years, the Cheongreung Mine located right inside Seol-ap’s territory had been effectively controlled by the factions of Yangryeong.

And the Seolhan Mine had been completely seized by Yangryeong as well.

It went beyond having our eyes sliced open and our pockets picked—we were being treated as absolute fools.

I intended to resolve this.

Accompanied by the branch members, I arrived at the Cheongreung Mine.

Mining was still actively underway at the Cheongreung Mine, but the people overseeing the operation looked extremely unfamiliar.

They were clearly not martial artists of Seol-ap.

I walked toward them, and upon spotting me, their brows furrowed deeply.

I spoke briefly:

“Explain.”

Cheon Pung stepped forward from behind me and spoke quickly:

“They are martial artists from Yangryeong. Judging by their attire, they belong to the Long Sword Sect (Janggeom-mun).”

“Yet they are the ones exercising control here.”

“Yes. Recently, they’ve been doing this under the pretext that contaminated Cold Spirit Jade Crystal was circulated, claiming that quality control is required.”

“Quality control, is it……”

“And their reasoning changes every single time. One day they claim to be investigating reports of smuggled materials, another day they claim to be supervising to ensure smooth trade between both regions…… It’s always something different.”

“My memory is a bit hazy since I used to be a figurehead—was it always like this?”

“……Yes. It was.”

After pondering for a moment, I asked:

“They’re actively mining right now. So where does the Cold Spirit Jade Crystal coming out of there go?”

“……It goes to Yangryeong.”

“It’s Seol-ap’s mine, but the ones managing it are Yangryeong, the ones mining it are Yangryeong, and the ones selling it and taking the profit are also Yangryeong.”

Cheon Pung winced and promptly fell silent.

Frankly, I understood everything even without him saying another word.

What was written in the ledger was truly beyond imagination.

The ones who designed this entire scheme were Ya Woon-sang and the factions of Yangryeong.

Exchanging bribes, sharing profits……

If Ya Woon-sang had become a merchant instead of a martial artist, he likely would have achieved grand success.

Lifting my head, I looked at the men standing in front of us, who wore bewildered expressions.

“Are you people from the Long Sword Sect?”

“……That’s right.”

“And you’re conducting management and supervision here?”

“Indeed we are.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because it’s always been done this way.”

“Always, you say…… Does this look like Yangryeong County to you?”

“……Look here, friend. We are martial artists of the Long Sword Sect. Right now, we are investigating reports that contaminated Cold Spirit Jade Crystal has been distributed, so come back tomorrow.”

“This is Seol-ap’s mine. Is it right for you to tell the owner to come back tomorrow?”

“Haah…… What on earth are you talking about? This mine belongs to Yangryeong.”

“Based on the map, this mine clearly belongs to Seol-ap. The first to discover it, the ones who planted the flag—every single one of them were people of Seol-ap. Stop talking nonsense.”

“……”

“It belongs to Yangryeong? Can you take responsibility for those words?”

Pondering for a moment, the martial artist of the Long Sword Sect flashed a strange, knowing smirk.

“……Aha, I get it now.”

“Get what?”

“You want us to toss you some ore just like Ya Woon-sang used to get, don’t you?…… I’ll report to my superiors so we can arrange a new negotiation meeting sometime soon.”

It was utterly absurd.