The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 68

"It probably won't be a very difficult task, so would it be alright if I asked you Taoist masters for a favor?"

As expected, he asked us with a serious face.

I looked at my Master for a moment.

It was a situation where I was delegating the decision to my Master on whether to tell him that there was someone targeting us or not.

My Master, perhaps understanding my intention, said without any change in his expression, "Let's do that."

It seemed he had decided not to tell him.

Although I had many questions, I kept quiet for now.

I thought that my Master must have a reason for doing this.

Wang Hyeon-seong nodded his head greatly and said, "Thank you very much. I'm relieved."

"But can you tell me now what that item is and by when we have to take it?"

"Hmm..."

He couldn't answer right away.

As he continued to hesitate, my Master said, "It seems I'm going back on my word, but if you can't tell me what the item is, it will be difficult for me to send my junior brothers. Since they are all new to the martial world, it would be best not to get involved if it's a dangerous matter."

"Hmm... you're right."

He answered my Master's words with difficulty, then went to the desk where a pile of documents was stacked and brought something.

It was a bundle of papers wrapped in a red cloth.

"This is the item."

"Is it an important document?"

Wang Hyeon-seong again couldn't answer Hyeon Yang's question right away.

He had a face as if he was contemplating whether to speak or not.

My Master waited for him to speak without saying anything.

A little while later, words finally flowed from his mouth.

"I'm sorry. I've kept you precious guests waiting and dragged on the time. First, these bundles of papers are our merchant guild's cashbook and the bills of our major clients. This will all be worth three thousand taels."

The moment he mentioned the word 'bills', he looked around at our expressions.

And then he laughed bitterly.

"Haha... I'm really sorry. This is... embarrassing. I'm so embarrassed, and my appearance is so ridiculous that I can't help but laugh."

"You must have some circumstances."

"Yes. A little while ago, even after hearing the word 'bills', no greed passed over the faces of the three of you. The reason I was reluctant to tell you what this item was earlier was..."

He trailed off.

Because saying that we might run away with this money could be an insult in itself.

Perhaps knowing his heart, my Master immediately spoke up.

"I understand. Three thousand taels. It's a large sum of money that anyone would be tempted by."

"Thank you for understanding..."

"But it's a little strange. If it's a cashbook and bills, it's very important, but is it okay to entrust it to our Wudang, whom you've only known for a short time? Strictly speaking, we would be guests."

A very appropriate and reasonable question from my Master.

At that question, Wang Hyeon-seong made a determined expression and answered.

"That's why I'm asking. No one would ever think that I would entrust something so important to you. Actually, in our merchant guild... I think there is someone with bad intentions."

"Bad intentions?"

"Yes. I don't know who it is yet, or... how many there are, or what their exact intentions are. But, this is... a merchant's intuition."

"You must have discovered some sign."

"Yes. It could be that I'm being sensitive, but money keeps going missing... transaction details that should be confidential are being leaked to the outside, and the merchant guild's goods that were sent with great care are being robbed by mountain bandits. Of course, you might think that these things can happen to any merchant guild, but my intuition is screaming that it's not a simple incident. Although I'm not the greatest merchant in the Central Plains, I have raised the Eungnam Merchant Guild to this point with just this intuition and my ability. So I can't ignore this intuition... so for now, I'm trying to hide the important documents and important bills in a place only I know."

He poured out his words and then looked at my Master.

My Master was nodding with a firm expression.

Then, without asking any questions, he said, "I roughly understand. I will do so."

"Th-Thank you."

When my Master agreed, Wang Hyeon-seong said thank you for now.

He had thought he would ask for more explanation, but since he agreed so easily, he had a slightly dumbfounded expression.

Then my Master said to him, "First, since you can't guess where the enemy is hiding inside, you must be asking us, who are outsiders, for this favor, and the reason you were reluctant to say it earlier must be because those documents are that important to the Eungnam Merchant Guild."

"That's right."

"Then you don't have to worry. Of course, although the relationship between the Eungnam Merchant Guild and the Wudang Sect is based on money, that is only the relationship between the Yeongeun Palace and the guild master, we are Taoists. We have no greed for money. Isn't that right? Cheol-ah, Hwi-ya."

"That's right, Martial Uncle."

"Y-Yes, Master."

To be honest, when I heard the words 'three thousand taels' earlier, my heart was pounding like crazy.

Because if I ran away with that, it was a large sum of money that could support me in a region, so I was in the middle of overcoming the temptation of money.

So, with a guilty conscience, I answered in a crawling voice.

Fortunately, neither my Master nor Wang Hyeon-seong seemed to care.

"There are many other powerful and numerous sects, but I think this might be the reason why you wanted to form a sponsorship with us."

"Haha... Taoist Master Hyeon Yang's insight is truly amazing. Everything you said... is correct."

"Then we shouldn't let the merchant guild know that my disciple and junior brothers are going to Xiangfan. If you make up a small case and say they are going to Baokang, the time and distance will roughly match."

"Ah, I will do so."

"And the reason you're asking my junior brothers instead of me is because you don't want to be caught that the goods you're taking to Xiangfan are this valuable."

"Th-That's right."

Wang Hyeon-seong looked at my Master with admiring eyes.

He had accurately inferred why Wang Hyeon-seong had made this decision by combining the little information he had.

I also sent a look of admiration.

Because my Master had said exactly what I was thinking, without a single word being wrong.

"Uncheol-ah."

"Yes, Martial Uncle."

"Can you go and come back well?"

"I will do my best."

"In a matter like this, doing your best is of no use. I'm asking if you can do it well until the end."

"Yes. I will do it well."

Senior Brother Uncheol answered reliably.

My Master smiled brightly and then looked at Wang Hyeon-seong and said, "Although they are still young, they are disciples of Wudang. Please trust Wudang."

"Yes. Thank you. I will trust you."

After that, we talked about various things.

It was a boring story about what kind of sponsorship we would give to Wudang in the future and how Wudang would support the martial artists.

Although I was listening intently from the side, to be honest, I wasn't very interested, so I don't remember the details.

Around the time the conversation was ending. I finally had one question, so I asked Wang Hyeon-seong, "Guild Master. But where is the other uncle who came with you last time?"

"You mean Tae-jin?"

"That's right. Jin Tae-jin. That was his name."

"I am in charge of the internal affairs of the merchant guild, and Tae-jin is in charge of the external affairs. He is in charge of things like external sales, or recruiting external talent to the merchant guild... so he doesn't show his face at the merchant guild often."

"Oh-ho. It seems one of you is inside and one is outside, and you are each doing your best in your respective fields."

"You could say that. Although we don't share blood, we've worked together for a long time, so he's like a brother."

A smile spread across his face.

He added a few more words, saying that although Jin Tae-jin was a little rude and had a tendency to give too many bribes, besides that, he was a man of outstanding ability.

But, in an instant, his smile disappeared... and he said in a quiet voice, "But Taoist masters..."

When we all looked at him, he slowly opened his mouth.

"The work you Taoist masters are doing this time... I'm not planning to tell Tae-jin."

"......!"

My Master made a slightly surprised expression.

Because what Wang Hyeon-seong had just said meant that he was also a little suspicious of Jin Tae-jin as the internal enemy in the merchant guild.

"I understand."

My Master nodded with a firm expression.

And we left the building without another word. Wang Hyeon-seong said he would call when he was ready and told us to rest comfortably until then.

Saying that if we needed anything, we should ask the servant in charge of our quarters for anything.

"Heo-heo... this is. Don't trust anyone in front of money... is this what it is?"

Not long after leaving the building, my Martial Uncle stopped walking and said.

And he looked back.

The old and shabby office of Wang Hyeon-seong could be seen between the large buildings.

"Hwi-ya. Do you know why that building was left like that?"

"I don't know. Only the guild master's office is particularly old."

"That building was the beginning of the Eungnam Merchant Guild. The Eungnam Merchant Guild grew from that small and shabby building. As the number of people in the merchant guild increased and the number of goods they handled increased, they continued to buy the surrounding land and put up buildings. But, in the meantime, Wang Hyeon-seong couldn't rest for a single day because of the work of the guild master. He said that in order to move the documents in his office to a new building, he had to stop working, but he didn't have time for that, so he just continued to use the place he had been using."

Although I had only seen him for a short time earlier, it seemed that Wang Hyeon-seong had a special affection and interest in the Eungnam Merchant Guild.

Coming all the way to our Wudang Sect must have been the result of great deliberation.

"To be honest, I like the guild master. Although he made me a little frustrated earlier, if a guild master doesn't worry about even that much, then he's the one who's not qualified."

"I also saw him favorably."

"Yes. For now, let's go back to our quarters. Let's rest well today... and from tomorrow, I'll have to go around a bit."

"Do you have something else to do?"

"I have to find out who the culprit who attacked you is. Since you have to leave for Xiangfan."

"Ah...!"

My Master, seeing my stupid expression, let out a small laugh and then moved his steps.

Since his steps were quite fast, Senior Brother Uncheol and I had no choice but to follow him quickly.

***

Two days passed after arriving at the merchant guild.

During that time, nothing special happened.

My Martial Uncle, who had gone out early in the morning, also returned without any particular results, and we rested completely on the first day, and then the rest was just training, training, training... Senior Brother Unmi, who had been a little lazy until now, trained so hard that I even told him to stop.

When I asked him if he would collapse soon if he did this, and how long he could do this, my senior brother answered that he would only do this until he grew to a similar level as the other senior brothers.

Since his goal and will were quite good, I told him to do so for now.

"Taoist masters. The guild master has arrived."

And early in the morning of the third day. Wang Hyeon-seong came to our quarters himself, holding the bundle of papers from that time.

"If you come here yourself like this, won't everyone know that this is an important item?"

"Haha! Don't worry. I've told them well that I'm going to ask you myself since it's the first mission."

My Master received the bundle of bills from him and then handed it to Senior Brother Uncheol.

"I have a feeling that something like this will happen a few more times in the future. Is that right?"

"That's right. I think I'll be asking you often."

"I understand. I will keep that in mind."

"The exact map of where to go and the password needed there are all written on the paper I gave you."

"Yes. Please trust my junior brothers."

"I trust them. The future of the merchant guild... may be in your hands."

He said, and then he bowed his head deeply to us, who were much younger than him, and showed his respect.

My Martial Uncle, seeing the back of Wang Hyeon-seong who had returned again because he was short on time to work, said, "Hwi-ya. Depart. You must come back safely. I hope I have some results in the meantime."

"Master, don't overdo it. When we come back, let's investigate together then."

"Yes. I'll do it in moderation."

My Master said so and then went out again to investigate who the culprits who had ordered our attack were, outside the merchant guild.

We also returned to our quarters, prepared to leave, and then left the merchant guild right away.

There was no one to see us off, and no one paid any attention to us.

So I rather have faith in Wang Hyeon-seong. Because it means that his work is certain.

'But why would a merchant guild run by such a capable merchant disappear without a name?'

Although a question arose as I left the Eungnam Merchant Guild, there was no way to know now.

For now, I plan to carry out the mission I've been given properly and find out slowly.

(End of Chapter)