Chapter 59: Come to Deyang Inn

“The Trading Company Master is wavering.”

At General Manager Ho Yeon-baek’s words, Sa Ryeong-geuk nodded. In his eyes as well, Hwa Yeon-seol was a woman who swayed easily.

It was not that she lacked ability. To have run a trading company of this scale until now was proof enough of her capability.

What she lacked was experience. That, and the fact that her father had dragged in countless Unorthodox Faction connections before dying.

“They said his name was Seo Yu-gyeom?”

“Yes, he is the one who killed the previous Trading Company Master Hwa Yun-tak and fled.”

Ho Yeon-baek explained about Seo Yu-gyeom.

As the explanation continued, Sa Ryeong-geuk’s expression shifted repeatedly. Especially at the part about the “Heaven-Slaying Star,” his eyes gleamed sharply.

“If Seo Yu-gyeom was also the one behind what happened to the Four Dragons River Gang, then he might be the most dangerous enemy we currently face.”

“Why do you say that?”

“As an adopted son, he holds a clear claim to succession. No one would acknowledge it, of course, but that’s the nature of justification, is it not?”

Sa Ryeong-geuk nodded.

Justification only needed to exist in the barest form. The rest would always be explained by the logic of strength.

From that perspective, Seo Yu-gyeom was someone who carried a faint yet undeniable legitimacy.

“The boy is strong. Born with the Heaven-Slaying Star, it’s only natural. At barely fifteen or so, he breached the defenses of the Hwa-un Trading Company, entered the Master’s residence, killed him, and escaped. One can only imagine how much stronger he must have become since then…”

The reason Ho Yeon-baek feared Seo Yu-gyeom was clear. The blank stretch of years. No one knew how a man born with the Heaven-Slaying Star, fueled by hatred, had spent that time. That uncertainty was terrifying.

The unseen fear always came in the greatest form.

“I heard she commissioned Deathshroud for quite some time. Why didn’t Deathshroud kill him?”

“…The commission was made only once.”

“That doesn’t match what the Trading Company Master told me.”

Sa Ryeong-geuk gave him a puzzled look.

Ho Yeon-baek coughed awkwardly before continuing.

“It is true the first commission failed. But when word of that failure reached her, Hwa Yeon-seol was badly shaken. So after that, I only pretended to commission them, then reported false failures. Each time she looked like she was about to open her eyes, I did the same.”

Sa Ryeong-geuk laughed heartily.

So Hwa Yeon-seol’s ability seemed even more impressive.

In a situation already difficult enough, she had still managed to run the company with such a persistent saboteur clinging to her side.

“You’re quite the ruthless man.”

“…”

Ho Yeon-baek only bowed his head. He could not tell whether it was meant as praise or insult.

Sa Ryeong-geuk continued.

“Well. No wonder someone like Hwa Yun-tak, the Heavenly Poison Alliance Leader, trusted you. Very well. Let us go straight to the Trading Company Master.”

Sa Ryeong-geuk strode straight into Hwa Yeon-seol’s office.

“I have important words.”

As if it were his right, he entered and sat at the seat of honor.

Startled, Hwa Yeon-seol could not sit down and only looked at him for a time.

Sa Ryeong-geuk no longer smiled. He only gazed at her with calm eyes.

“Sit.”

Even his tone had shifted to that of command.

Hwa Yeon-seol felt a deep humiliation and fear as she sat down.

Tap, tap.

Sa Ryeong-geuk tapped the desk with his index finger. In the heavy silence, the sharp sound echoed again and again.

“Choose today. Whether to preserve your life, or not.”

It was not a matter of handing over the trading company or not. He spoke as though that was already decided.

Hwa Yeon-seol’s heart pounded as if it would burst.

Sa Ryeong-geuk did not give her time, speaking again in succession.

“By sunrise, put your seal on it.”

A document was placed on the desk.

It detailed the transfer of nine parts of Hwa-un Trading Company’s shares to Twilight Pavilion, Azure Wild Valley, and the Heavenly Poison Alliance.

“If you refuse, the Heavenly Poison Alliance will begin with two things. First, they will kill you. Second, they will use the ledgers of Azure Wild Valley and Twilight Pavilion to expose the corruption Hwa-un Trading Company has committed, and completely crush it. Of course, midway, we will intervene and tidy things up.”

The words were terrifying in their very plainness.

And it was precisely that plainness that convinced Hwa Yeon-seol they were true.

If she did not choose today, she would die tomorrow.

She struggled to breathe. The pressure felt as if she might faint at any moment.

“…I’ll decide before the day is over.”

Sa Ryeong-geuk nodded blandly. His attitude was consistent, as if her choice mattered little to him.

.

.

.

Left alone in her office, Hwa Yeon-seol glared at the document and seal. Her insides churned like smoke.

She was afraid. No matter how she thought, there was no answer.

Hand over the company and beg for her life, or die and have it taken by force.

The truly laughable part was that even if she chose the former, she could not be sure her life would really be spared.

There was nothing she could choose.

Time passed in silence.

Her eyes grew half-lidded.

She recalled her meeting with Seo Yu-gyeom earlier that day.

‘He used to be fine when he was young.’

Just as Seo Yu-gyeom had said, she too had once truly regarded him like a younger brother.

Perhaps such useless sentiments only surfaced when one was close to death.

A bitter laugh escaped her.

“Seo Yu-gyeom?”

Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner?

She began writing something on the document.

In the dead of night, Sa Ryeong-geuk and the General Manager returned together.

Normally, the sight of the two would have made her wary, but now it no longer mattered.

“I’ve made my decision.”

Sa Ryeong-geuk stared fixedly at her.

Unlike in the day, she now looked as though her heart had settled.

To him, that attitude seemed like resignation.

Hwa Yeon-seol placed the document on the desk.

It was the same document he had handed her earlier, save for one added clause.

The Heavenly Poison Alliance must find and kill the one who murdered the previous Trading Company Master Hwa Yun-tak and fled, by any means necessary.

This was not a follow-up condition but a precondition.

In other words, only after this was fulfilled would Hwa-un Trading Company pass into the Heavenly Poison Alliance’s hands.

Sa Ryeong-geuk sneered.

“And why should we agree to this?”

In truth, it did not matter much.

They had already intended to capture or kill that Seo Yu-gyeom.

The Heaven-Slaying Star was not something they could simply overlook.

“Hwa-un Trading Company may be taken by force, but there is one treasure that cannot be claimed without my cooperation.”

In that instant, the General Manager’s face twisted violently.

Sa Ryeong-geuk did not miss it.

“A treasure? What is it?”

“The Thousand-Year Ice Crystal.”

“What!”

Sa Ryeong-geuk shot to his feet.

Even he, who had been deliberately projecting an air of composure, could not hide his shock.

The Thousand-Year Ice Crystal was the treasure of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.

Over twenty years ago, when the Ice Crystal had been stolen, the palace had launched a massive bloody campaign under the banner of reclaiming it.

In the end, countless lives were lost, yet the Ice Crystal was never recovered.

“Do you even understand what you’re saying?”

Hwa Yeon-seol’s eyes trembled for a moment, but soon regained their firmness.

Sa Ryeong-geuk gave a hollow laugh.

“Heh. So the Ice Crystal was here all along. Hwa Yun-tak, that wretch lower than filth…”

Back then, the Ice Palace’s rampage into the Central Plains had caused widespread casualties, righteous and unrighteous alike.

Among the losses had been a considerable part of the Heavenly Poison Alliance’s own strength.

Sa Ryeong-geuk turned his gaze to the General Manager. The very mention of the treasure had been enough to twist his face earlier.

‘This one is full of snakes inside too.’

It was clear he had intended to intercept the Ice Crystal for himself by hiding its existence.

Sa Ryeong-geuk sneered. Such a treasure was far too great for a mere General Manager of a trading company to bear.

Handing it to the Heavenly Poison Alliance was actually a better thing for the General Manager. A burden too heavy for its master would always devour him in the end.

“How can I trust you?”

“Why should the Heavenly Poison Alliance worry about such a thing?”

At her brazen remark, Sa Ryeong-geuk burst out laughing without realizing it.

Her words were true.

They could first seal the agreement, confirm the treasure with their own eyes, and if it turned out false, kill her afterward.

“So be it.”

Sa Ryeong-geuk nodded willingly.

She sat in her chair, letting out a deep breath.

The contract was sealed.

She handed over the key to the basement where the Ice Crystal was kept. Since there were not only locks but also formations guarding it, either she or the General Manager had to accompany them.

Sa Ryeong-geuk wanted both of them to come.

But she refused, claiming she was too emotionally strained.

It was not a convincing reason.

Yet Sa Ryeong-geuk had no intention of wasting time quarreling over the Thousand-Year Ice Crystal.

So he went with the General Manager to the basement.

Naturally, he summoned a martial artist of Twilight Pavilion to guard her inside the room.

Hwa Yeon-seol exhaled smoke from her pipe as she looked at the martial artist.

He was grinning lewdly.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. You’re just too pretty, so I’m enjoying the view.”

Hwa Yeon-seol realized her situation.

A mere Unorthodox Path martial artist could openly mock her to her face, and she could do nothing.

Had her father still been alive…

She shook her head. She vowed never to think like that again.

‘If only I had held onto power myself.’

Would a wretch like him dare mock her then?

Her gaze grew cold and heavy.

“I’m tired.”

So saying, Hwa Yeon-seol stood up.

She picked up the nightclothes laid on the side.

As she began to remove her top, she looked at the martial artist.

“You plan to just stand there?”

“Heh, go ahead and change. My job is to watch, isn’t it?”

“You’re insane.”

“It’s hard to survive in this world without a bit of madness.”

The martial artist grinned wickedly as he said it.

The sheer vileness of his attitude made her feel a sudden urge to vomit.

“What’s your name?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“So I can beg Elder Sa Ryeong-geuk to kill you after this is over. And if he won’t, at least to make you a eunuch.”

“……”

The martial artist’s complexion turned pale.

There was not a trace of hostility in her voice as she mentioned Sa Ryeong-geuk.

‘What is this?’

It was unlikely that the Trading Company Master of Hwa-un had suddenly opened her heart to the Heavenly Poison Alliance’s Vice Leader.

But if that faint chance meant his life, he could not dismiss it.

Hwa Yeon-seol calmly continued removing her clothes.

“They say Elder Sa Ryeong-geuk never spares those who covet what is his. Look all you like. It’s fine, since anyone who stares is already a corpse.”

“……”

At last, the martial artist left the room.

The office was on the top floor of a four-story pavilion anyway, so she could not escape by jumping.

Time passed briefly.

The martial artist’s anxiety grew until he called out.

“Have you finished changing?”

His tone had shifted into respectful speech.

No reply came.

A deeper unease shadowed his face.

“I’m coming in.”

“……”

In the next instant—

He pushed open the door in a panic.

The room was empty.

He frantically searched every corner.

The window was shut. Which meant she had not jumped. Not that she could have, from such a height.

But she was nowhere.

As he grew restless—

“You wretched bitch!”

Sa Ryeong-geuk stormed into the office, his face flushed crimson. Behind him, the General Manager’s cheek was swollen as if he had been struck.

The martial artist’s heart plummeted.

“……”

Sa Ryeong-geuk’s eyes swept the room.

Realizing the situation, his gaze fell on the martial artist, brimming with killing intent.

“V-Vice Leader, sir! It’s not like that, the wench—she tricked me with her sly tongue—”

Slash!

The martial artist’s body was cleaved in half.

Blood splattered across the office walls.

In Sa Ryeong-geuk’s hand gleamed a sinister-colored straight saber.

The General Manager moved cautiously.

Behind the desk, he groped along the wall. A section sank inward, revealing a hidden passage.

It was only natural for a power the size of Hwa-un Trading Company to have such devices.

The General Manager sighed.

“This is why I said to guard her inside the room…”

A night of torrential rain.

Hwa Yeon-seol ran with all her might through the streets.

Her rain-soaked clothes weighed on her like lead.

If someone comes to kill you, come to Deyang Inn.

It was the secret voice transmission Seo Yu-gyeom had sent from the rooftops earlier that day.

Hwa Yeon-seol did not understand herself.

He was the one who had killed her father. She felt foolish, running of her own accord to such a dangerous enemy.

Yet her instincts screamed endlessly: If she wanted to live, she had to go to Deyang Inn.

.

.

.

Bang, bang, bang!

She arrived and pounded on the inn’s door.

Her hands hurt from striking so hard, but the fear of Unorthodox Path pursuers coming was far greater.

As she waited in nervous tension, the door opened after a short pause.

“What bastard in the middle of the night—”

Pickpocket Jang Hong trailed off. His lips puckered as he looked her up and down.

For an instant, disgust flared in Hwa Yeon-seol, but she endured and spoke.

“Yu-gyeom called me here.”

“Yu-gyeom…?”

Jang Hong’s dull mind froze. Before him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, drenched in rain.

While he stood stupefied, someone solved his problem for him.

Smack!

Seo Yu-gyeom struck Jang Hong’s head with a sharp blow. Jang Hong’s eyes nearly popped out.

“Ugh!”

Clutching his head, Jang Hong fell to the floor.

Seo Yu-gyeom clicked his tongue at him.

“Your eyes—”

Guessing the unsaid words, Jang Hong instantly pretended to be dead.

Paying him no more attention, Seo Yu-gyeom admitted Hwa Yeon-seol inside, glanced warily outside, and firmly bolted the inn door shut.

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