The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 74

I calmed my surprised heart and asked Zhongli Hou.

"Say that again. Jin Tae-jin?"

"That's right. Jin Tae-jin of the Baekma Merchant Guild..."

"Why is Jin Tae-jin a member of the Baekma Merchant Guild?"

"Why, you ask me that..."

Zhongli Hou asked me back with a dumbfounded face.

For a moment, I even thought that there might be a person with the same name.

But a more likely thought comes to mind.

'It's a betrayal!'

When I first met the two of them at the Wudang Sect, they had definitely introduced themselves as being on equal terms.

But when I came down to the Eungnam Merchant Guild myself, I did think that their relationship was a little different from what I had thought.

Although Jin Tae-jin was said to be in charge of the merchant guild's external sales and other matters, in reality, it seemed that Wang Hyeon-seong was doing almost all the work.

Wang Hyeon-seong was struggling in that hell of documents, and just seeing Jin Tae-jin wandering around outside was enough to make me think so.

'Wang Hyeon-seong's family is the Jeongsan Wang family, he said. Then there's a high possibility that the source of the Eungnam Merchant Guild's funds was originally from there.'

I don't know if that fund was given by the Jeongsan Wang family to establish a merchant guild, or if it was something that Wang Hyeon-seong had privately.

The actual guild master is Wang Hyeon-seong, and Jin Tae-jin is just a nominal partner, so he might not have much real authority.

"Did you know that Jin Tae-jin was not from the Baekma Merchant Guild, but from the Eungnam Merchant Guild?"

"You're saying Jin Tae-jin is from the Eungnam Merchant Guild? I don't know about that... I was just introduced to him as a member of the Baekma Merchant Guild. The people higher up than me might already know, but a low-ranking person like me can't know."

Hearing that story, I can roughly guess how things are going.

Jin Tae-jin, for some reason, has decided to betray Wang Hyeon-seong and has probably joined hands with the Baekma Merchant Guild.

It's not only that the Baekma Merchant Guild lacks a just cause to directly lay a hand on the Eungnam Merchant Guild.

If the Eungnam Merchant Guild were to borrow the power of some place and strike the Baekma Merchant Guild, it's clear that they are trying to ruin the Eungnam Merchant Guild by borrowing the power of the Black Society first.

In other words, there was no need to worry about whether it was the Baekma Merchant Guild, the Black Society, or the work of an insider of the Eungnam Merchant Guild; they were all in it together. The spy inside the Eungnam Merchant Guild is Jin Tae-jin.

Since such a high-ranking person was a spy, it's safe to say that the Baekma Merchant Guild already knows all the secrets of the Eungnam Merchant Guild.

The fact that the Black Society knew the location of the safe house and attacked it also fits perfectly if you think that Wang Hyeon-seong, thinking of Jin Tae-jin as a real close friend, had told him the location.

'No wonder his actions at the Wudang Sect were so suspicious.'

He deliberately acted like a fool at the Wudang Sect.

He deliberately gave me, my Martial Uncle, and my Martial Granduncles excessive bribes to give a bad impression.

It also felt like he was trying to interfere in the middle somehow.

Of course, at the time, I thought that was just his personality.

Fortunately, since Wang Hyeon-seong presented a groundbreaking condition and the Martial Granduncles accepted it, his acting was all for naught.

That means that it was all Jin Tae-jin's doing to bribe the Geoungbang and try to kill me and my senior brothers.

Because if we died on the way, the agreement between the Wudang Sect and the Eungnam Merchant Guild could be postponed indefinitely.

The anonymous two hundred taels that went into the Geoungbang.

It could have come from the Baekma Merchant Guild, but perhaps that money was the Eungnam Merchant Guild's money.

Because the Eungnam Merchant Guild is also a merchant guild of a scale that can easily handle about two hundred taels.

"This... this son of a bitch who deserves to be torn apart."

"......!"

When I suddenly frowned and cursed, Zhongli Hou looked at me with surprised eyes.

The fact that Jin Tae-jin himself appeared at the Black Society is no different from saying that he is almost ready to ruin the Eungnam Merchant Guild or for the Baekma Merchant Guild to eat it up.

This safe house attack was probably the beginning of that plan.

"Besides you guys, how many other safe houses were planned to be attacked at the same time?"

"As far as I know, there are two more places besides this one. But there will probably be no one who was robbed or killed there. Because I heard Jin Tae-jin say that he himself didn't know for sure where people would appear among the three places, so he told them to send people to all three places."

"Really? Jin Tae-jin grasped the situation better than I thought."

Although he didn't think I would appear here.

By any chance, was Wang Hyeon-seong already suspicious of Jin Tae-jin?

So, was he trying to deceive both the enemy and the ally at the same time, being careful not to let the news leak even within the merchant guild?

'What on earth is he thinking?'

Or maybe he's at the stage of being suspicious now.

Jin Tae-jin is his old close friend.

Although he heard information that Jin Tae-jin had betrayed him and joined the Baekma Merchant Guild through some opportunity, he couldn't believe it was true, so he was only suspicious.

But he doesn't seem to be thinking about what's next.

The fact that while he is only suspicious, the person he believed to be a close friend is holding a knife to his chin.

Hee-hee-hing—!

At that time, the sound of a horse neighing was heard from outside the door.

It seemed that Senior Brother Uncheol had come on a horse.

When I went out of the room right away, as I thought, Senior Brother Uncheol was tying up a horse.

"Senior Brother. You don't need to tie it up. We're leaving right away."

I immediately called the old man Gyu-sam.

He, without me saying anything, carefully stored the bundle of papers I had brought in his bosom, got on the horse, and then said, "I will return to the Jeongsan Wang family as I am and will not leave my house for a while. Unless it is a letter with the young master's official seal, I will not move an inch within the family."

"That's a good idea. Just the official seal is not enough. Instead, let's set a password between us. Even if the official seal is stamped, if the password is written at the end of the letter, then you can move."

"That's a good idea. What password should we use?"

I thought for a moment and then whispered in his ear as I thought of it.

"Dog Son Mokhwa-shin."

"...? What does that mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything. You can just think of it as a word only I know."

"Ah, I understand."

He kept repeating 'Dog Son Mokhwa-shin, Dog Son Mokhwa-shin' as he memorized it.

Seeing that, I let out a small laugh.

Dog Son M-ok-hwa-shin literally means Mokhwa-shin, you son of a bitch.

There are still nearly twenty years left until the name Mokhwa-shin becomes notorious in the martial world, and the Mok family is not a common surname in the Central Plains in the first place.

Since the old man can't even associate Mokhwa-shin with a person's name, it can be said that that word is a word only I know.

"There's no time to delay. Please leave quickly."

"I understand."

Hee-hee-hing!

With the sound of a horse neighing, the old man Gyu-sam soon disappeared from sight.

I don't know if he originally had horse riding skills, or if his hidden talent blossomed in a critical moment, but his horse riding skills seemed considerable.

After confirming that he had departed safely, I called my senior brothers and said, "Senior Brother. I'm going back to the Eungnam Merchant Guild right now."

"Yes. Let's hurry back together."

I shook my head.

And I said in a slightly cold voice, "It's a matter of seconds. To put it briefly, there's a traitor inside the Eungnam Merchant Guild, and that traitor is the mastermind behind all the events that have happened so far. I have to deliver this news as soon as possible. So I'm going to run at the fastest speed I can with my footwork."

"Ah..."

Senior Brother Uncheol let out a sigh.

He had understood that I was indirectly saying that my senior brothers were too slow to go back together.

"So, you senior brothers finish cleaning up here and then slowly... no, come back as soon as possible."

"You were telling us to come on our own without you."

"To be honest, I'm also worried, but the situation can't be helped. If I'm not there, you, senior brother, have to lead everyone. You know that, right?"

I looked up at Senior Brother Uncheol.

My senior brother had a confused expression for a moment, and then he nodded.

"No. Even if you were there, it was me who had to lead everyone. Didn't the Sect Leader give me such a special order?"

"Good. That's the spirit."

I'm quite pleased with Senior Brother Uncheol's answer.

When I look at the faces of the other senior brothers, it seems that they have also made up their minds firmly.

"You might meet an assassin sent by the Baekma Merchant Guild on the way, or the Black Society might have sent martial artists. So be as quick as possible, and this time, move on the official road as much as possible instead of the mountain path, and sleep at a large inn. You have enough silver, right?"

Seeing Senior Brother Uncheol nod, I immediately continued, "Don't worry about the Black Society martial artist inside. He'll either run away or go back to the Black Society, so he'll take care of himself."

"Hwi-ya. Or how about we burn this place down and erase the traces? Since the safe house has been discovered, it's no different from having lost its function."

At Senior Brother Unmi's words, I looked at him with slightly surprised eyes.

They say that after three years at a village school, even a dog can recite a poem, and Senior Brother Unmi had suggested a very reasonable and plausible opinion.

But there is one regrettable point in that opinion.

"That was a good idea, but we can't do that now. The enemies don't know if we have subdued all the men in black, or if everyone has left and this place is empty. If we use this information imbalance well, we can buy enough time to get out of here, but setting a fire is the same as throwing away that opportunity."

My senior brothers blinked their eyes and looked at me as if they wanted a supplementary explanation, and I immediately continued, "Because if something burns, smoke will surely rise."

"Ah...!"

"I see!"

"If we burn the building, our traces will disappear with the building. But, there's no way to stop the smoke. The smoke will be visible even from ten li away."

"Ah...! Then the opponent will realize that something has happened here."

"That's right. But, that opinion was also good. If the enemies had already grasped our situation and we had to run away while shaking off their pursuit, erasing our traces would also be a good choice."

After praising Senior Brother Unmi enough, I said, "Anyway, I'm going back to the Eungnam Merchant Guild quickly, so you senior brothers also clean up quickly and follow me. No. Just don't clean up. Let's leave with me."

"Ah, okay."

"Although there's nothing to prepare to leave, please wait and be ready."

And then I went back into the room.

Zhongli Hou, perhaps because his abdomen was injured, couldn't put strength in his legs and was sitting in the same spot, unable to move.

Fortunately, since the treatment was good, there was no more bleeding.

"There's no time, so I won't take any questions. Get on my back quickly."

"Why..."

"I said I won't take any questions. I'm leaving you behind?"

When I spoke in a rather strong tone, he didn't answer anything and got on my back, groaning.

Although it's not an easy thing to carry a man who is almost limp...

'It's lighter than the bed I usually carry on my back.'

Zhongli Hou, perhaps to lessen my burden as much as possible, is clinging to me well even though he's in pain.

If I can't overcome even this much, I won't be able to say I've trained anywhere.

When I opened the door and went out, my senior brothers were already waiting for me, each with a bundle on their back.

Perhaps because they had packed the luggage I had brought as well, their bundles were a little bigger than when they came.

In fact, every time this happens, I feel something tingling in my chest.

I had never thought of taking a disciple before, but now that I'm old and retired, I think I can understand why masters always have at least one disciple.

Sometimes I even doubt if those senior brothers are the same snot-nosed kids I first met.

"Hwi-ya. Let's go. Or should I carry that person?"

"It's okay. I'll put him down in a suitable place, so don't worry about me and just focus on returning to the merchant guild safely. And if a fight breaks out..."

I was about to nag some more, but I trailed off.

Because my senior brothers' expressions were enough to be called martial artists.

Well, a little while ago, they had just punished the Black Society guys in a battle.

So I just added one more thing.

"Wipe them all out."

(End of Chapter)