Chapter 089: In the Gray Area Between the Truth and the Lie (3)
Translator: hwarang
Editor: Kidyeon
When Chu Do Chi arrived the next day, I asked him without hesitation, “I need some money.”
“What’s this about?”
“Now that I think about it, I feel like I’m taking care of the c.r.a.p that you’re giving me.”
“This punk!” However, despite his response, his stare was different than before. He knew what my purpose was, and was treating me differently.
“Since things have come to this, I want to become a proper hero.”
“And what does that have to do with you needing money?”
“Why wouldn’t it involve money? I need to get a good sword and some decent clothing. And to do that, I need money. Looking back, I think that I wasted that money going to that entertainment house.”
“It sounds to me like you want to do your part to serve lord Ma. So, how much do you need?”
“Give me twenty thousand nyang.”
“What?!” He frowned.
“Are you crazy? Do you think that we can simply toss out twenty thousand nyang?”
“No, but I know you can. That’s why I asked you. Go tell Lord Ma for me.”
He left the restaurant with an angry expression. I laughed as he left.
I knew what they were planning to do with me, so I was going to play with them a bit.
Sure, I’ll become your hero. However, you’ll have to heavily invest in me.
Since this had to do with the successor’s seat, Ma Ryung In wouldn’t refuse easily.
There were currently twenty days until the Grand Festival of Gold.
I had until then to find out what was inside that room, what sort of experiments they were doing, and how they were creating the Devil’s Spirit Pill of No Regret.
I need to find out these things so that I can set up countermeasures against them.
***
“That crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s demanded twenty thousand nyang.” Chu Do Chi said in an angry tone.
“Give it to him.”
“...What?”
At first, he thought that he’d misheard.
“I said, give him the money.”
Chu Do Chi exclaimed, “You mustn’t!”
Even though they might need him, investing twenty thousand nyang into him was too much.
“That’s too much money. You should, at most, only give him a couple thousand nyang.”
Ma RYung In smiled and said, “Isn’t this the first time you’ve dealt with someone like this?”
“What do you mean sir?”
“Someone that’s about to become a sacrifice getting their worth before they’re sent off.”
Ma Ryun In believed this to be a test of fate; a test he needed to pa.s.s in order to become the next mengju. His sacrifice would be that he’d pay the offering himself. It was worth it to invest at least this much.
“But twenty thousand is still too much!”
Chu Do Chi was against it. It didn’t matter how much they had, this was still too much to invest in a sacrifice.
This was something that he, a loyal subordinate, didn’t even welcome.
He was angry about it. No, it would be more appropriate to say that he was greedy.
“The more that we invest in him, the more that we should use him. Trust me on this.”
Chu Do Chi decided that he wouldn’t reject it anymore.
He sighed deeply, then said, “Yes.”
***
The next day, Chu Do Chi returned with the twenty thousand nyang I’d asked for.
I’d expected them to cut the amount in half, but they’d given me the full amount.
That Ma Ryung In was quite difficult to understand.
Combined with the reward I’d received, I now had a total of thirty six thousand nyang. I’d been able to gather quite a large sum of money in a short amount of time.
But there was one thing I was dissatisfied with, which was that the money was traceable. All of the money I’d received—from both the Alliance and Ma Ryun In—could only be used by the Nameless Warrior, not by Byuk Lee Dan. With this in mind, I planned to use it without hesitation.
As such, I rushed towards the Shrouded City Merchant. Since this was a big city, the Shrouded City was also quite large.
The person that greeted me was a middle-aged man. “I heard that you’ve come here to buy some cultivation medicine.”
“Yes. Do you have any?”
“I’m afraid not. It seems that someone has been buying it all up. It’s difficult to acquire any right now.”
I knew times were difficult, but for someone to be buying up all the cultivation medicine…. He must be monopolizing the cultivation medicine to use himself, or be using it for experiments.
If Ma Ryung In is the tail, then the hand and the foot must be the ones buying all the medicine.
“There are other things here that’re just as good as the medicine you’re looking for. Would you like to look around?”
“Sure.”
Since I planned to spend all the money I’d received, I decided that I’d follow him and buy some weapons.
This place was definitely bigger than the one in San Dong.
“There are great swords here, are you not interested in them?”
“Swords are too expensive.”
“True, swords can get pretty expensive.”
I looked around, but nothing caught my attention. Thus, I asked him, “Where do you sell armor?”
He showed me some armor.
Bulkier armor cost around nine thousand nyang, while armor that was smaller and more concealable cost around fifteen thousand nyang.
“Fifteen thousand nyang? Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Isn’t your life worth that much?”
I looked around again, then something caught my eye. There was a fishing rod leaning against the wall.
“What’s that?”
“It’s the fishing rod that was used by the Fisherman of the East.”
The Fisherman of the East was a person who was pretty close to me. He’d stood by my side and aided me in my fight against the Demon Alliance.
“Are you selling it?”
“Would we put it here if we weren’t selling it? However, there’s something I must tell you.”
“What?”
“Unfortunately, the line has snapped. Originally, it would’ve been worth fifty thousand nyang, but now, it’s only worth ten thousand nyang.”
I nodded and stared at the rod.
“If you want it, we could sell it to you for seven thousand nyang.”
Considering that it had been used by the Fisherman of the East, it was too cheap of a price. However, because it didn’t have the string, it was practically useless, as the Fisherman of the East had used the string to execute his techniques.
“Good, I’ll buy it for seven thousand.”
“Wise choice.”
He was extremely happy that he’d finally been able to sell the fishing rod that he hadn’t been able to sell for a long time.
I bought another pair of items afterwards as well. They were the best bracer on display.
“They was used by the previous Fight King Kw.a.n.g Yoong, and are called the Dragon Scale Wristguards. They’re extremely light and durable.”
I’d heard about them long ago. They could easily withstand an ordinary attack. Even though they might not be able to withstand the attack of King Shura, they could still withstand an attack from the Heavenly Origin Sword. Of course, that was without the addition of Sword-ki.
“How much are they?”
“Each wristguard is two thousand nyang. So, four thousand nyang total.”
“Good. I’ll buy them.”
“Wise choice.” It seems that the owner was happy to sell these items that had remained unsold for quite a while.
But I was even happier, as they held a secret that no one else knew.
When I got back to the inn, I closed both the door and the window.
Afterwards, I went straight to work.
First I took out the fish rod. Using my internal energy, I tugged on the handle of the rod. The handle, which had originally looked quite st.u.r.dy, instantly came apart. Afterwards, a new fishing string fell out. I knew that it would be there because I’d personally seen him put it in the rod.
I unraveled the string then attached it to the rod. With a new string, it had been reborn into its former glory. This was the entire reason that I’d bought the fishing rod for.
“Hahaha...” I was extremely satisfied with it.
And now that I had the Dragon Scale Wristguards, I had a perfect item for my White Crane Art. If I hid them under my robe, n.o.body would even know that I had them on.
After obtaining these results that I’d wanted I walked over to the window and looked out.
All I had to do now was find out what was in that bas.e.m.e.nt.
If I could enter while Ma Ryung In and his eighteen guard entourage were away, would I be able to find out?
Finding the manor and going down wouldn’t be a problem. The problem lay in the pulleys and the corridor.
There were four pulley mechanisms, thus there’s a high chance that I’d be discovered.
And it seems like they’d been created my a master craftsman, so it wouldn’t be easy to force my way through either.
If I couldn’t trespa.s.s, what could I do?
***
Jung Ju was busy preparing for the Grand Festival of the Gold.
Stages were set up at various places. During the ten days that the festival took place, there were all sorts of performances, events, a black market, and more.
As I was overlooking one of the stages being built, someone said to me, “That’s where the mengju will make his speech.”
When I turned around, I saw that it was Ma Ryung In with his eighteen guards. It was as I’d expected; they were all experts on the same level as Sim Hw.a.n.g.
“Why did you say the murim term mengju? You should’ve said father.”
“I must respect his t.i.tle.”
“Is it that you don’t talk to each other much?”
He didn’t seem to want to continue talking about this, and changed the subject, “You look good.”
“Well, the money that you gave me was a pretty large amount. Thank you for the twenty thousand nyang. Even though I asked for it, I didn’t expect that you’d give it to me so easily. Now I see you in a different light.”
Ma Ryung In gave a little smile, “Now that you know how I feel, I must give you my thanks. But where are you going to use that money?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t even know if I’ll live past a year.”
He rea.s.sured me, “You will.”
He said it so confidently that it didn’t even sound like a lie. If I hadn’t known the truth beforehand, even I would’ve been fooled by his lies.
He had truly been born with the ability to fool people.
“Do you know about the Grand Festival of gold?”
“I’ve heard about it before.”
“It’s something that people from all over the Kang Ho come to take part in.”
“It sounds like a grand sight.”
It would take place in fifteen days, and Ma Bong Gi would stand on-stage to give his speech. Thinking about this put me in a sour mood, since I’d never done something like that despite giving my life to fight for the Alliance.
“I have a question. Do you mind if I ask you?”
“Pray tell.”
“What’s in the room?”
“Are you curious?”
“Of course I am. And I also want to know what ingredients you’re gathering. Are you doing something illegal in there?”
He lightly smiled.
“And who’s the man that didn’t allow me to enter that room?”
His face became a bit serious. One could instantly tell that the relationship between the two wasn’t the best.
“Why do you ask?”
“I just wanted to ask if he was your superior or subordinate. I’ve never seen someone act that way.”
His frown deepened and he said, “You don’t need to see what’s in the room. There will be many things to see here.”
To get what you want you have to know when to take a step back as well. Especially against someone that’s extremely smart or prideful. If you try to push things, they’ll only get stronger. Thus, it’s better to take a step back and let them show an opening.
I chose the indirect method of attacking his pride.
“I thought about our meeting again from the beginning. Although it might sound a bit weird, I think our meeting was fated. I’ll see you around later.”
I said farewell and turned around.
Now that I’d touched his pride, I just needed to wait. He’d come out in a certain way.
Hey look, you aren’t the only one who know how to manipulate people. In fact, you’re like a child in front of me, who’s manipulated multiple people at once.
I’ll do anything to get that door to open.