Chapter 296: Tangent (8)

Choi Yangsu, the Nakryeong branch manager of Jangheung Trading Company, was extremely uncomfortable, as if sitting on pins and needles, or in Central Plains terms, as if lying on a log bed.

Even if news travels slowly in the Central Plains, how could it be slow in a neighborhood densely packed with merchant estates?

Moreover, merchants are fundamentally the type to keep their ears wide open, alert for any profitable opportunities.

It’s already a chance that comes once every ten years or so.

Hasn’t the time come when grain turns directly into gold?

At such a golden opportunity, he heard news that a serial relief demon was approaching, knocking down merchant companies one by one, so of course he was restless, unable to sit comfortably and anxious in various ways.

Still, he had made quite a lot of preparations.

Unlike the small merchant companies in Nakryeong, they were the great Jangheung Trading Company, a huge merchant known throughout the world as the number one company in Shaanxi province.

So unlike other hole-in-the-wall shops, their connections with the authorities were extremely close, to the point where the Nakryeong County Magistrate himself agreed to lead soldiers to block the gate.

“Branch Manager!”

“Yes, did she turn back? That bitch, did she turn back?”

“Well, she’s broken into the estate-“

“No! How!? The County Magistrate agreed to guard the entrance!”

“The County Magistrate is still guarding the entrance, but because that woman broke down the wall and came in…”

The branch manager’s composure shattered.

Breaking down the wall to enter, isn’t that something only real bandits would do?

No, even bandits don’t break down walls, they break through entrances or climb over walls, not smash through walls to charge in.

“Wait, you’re saying the County Magistrate is still guarding the entrance? Even now?”

“Yes. Because he said he would keep guarding the entrance as promised…”

The branch manager’s composure shattered twice over.

He asked them to guard the entrance, but even now when thieves have invaded inside, they’re only guarding the entrance?

It was silent pressure to pay strictly for the request that was fulfilled anyway.

It was a trick to boldly demand payment for guarding the entrance while just watching the thieves they were supposed to stop, so the merchants’ old adage not to associate with government officials didn’t come down for nothing.

As the branch manager just pounded his burning chest, a subordinate comforted him:

“But we gathered all the first disciples of the Nakryeong Martial Arts School. They can’t disregard the Nakryeong Martial Arts School in Nakryeong land.”

“Branch Manager!”

As soon as he finished speaking, another employee rushed in urgently.

The branch manager knew the content without hearing it just by seeing the employee’s expression.

“Haah. Why did the bandits just pass through?”

“Well. It seems they were originally acquainted.”

“What. This countryside martial arts school. I didn’t expect much to begin with. They only know how to wag their tails when someone with a bit of fame visits.”

Still, to do business in Nakryeong land, giving gold and silver to the Nakryeong Martial Arts School was the most effective method, so they had just borrowed the prestige of Nakryeong’s top martial arts school from the start.

Rather, their real trust was in something else.

“What about the Elder?”

“He should be facing that woman by now.”

“Right. If the Elder steps in.”

The Elder is a master of the Unrestrained Realm, a peerless master whose name is widely known throughout the Central Plains.

One arrogant, evil, outrageous and ignorant young girl is no match at all.

The branch manager’s expression became relaxed.

In the Central Plains, there’s a saying “one against ten thousand.”

It means one person facing ten thousand, originally referring to the famous Xiang Yu, the greatest and unparalleled war machine of the Central Plains.

Xiang Yu wasn’t just superior in individual martial prowess, but was a true god of war who reached the ultimate in strategy and tactics.

He just had terribly poor judgment and tried to solve everything through war until he was ruined.

Anyway, this situation is exactly what brings to mind the phrase “one against ten thousand.”

The momentum exuded by one absolute master extinguished the heated enthusiasm of the excited crowd like candles in the wind.

Qing carefully examined the old master’s face to see what number came to mind, and while he wasn’t particularly good, he wasn’t evil enough to be called a villain either.

Qing is originally kind to people.

Because beings with high evil karma aren’t people to begin with, Qing was always kind only to people.

She’s one of the few cultured people of the medieval era who knows basic courtesy, as long as the first impression isn’t extremely rude.

Qing clasped her hands and bowed.

“Hello. This girl is Ximen Qing. May I ask your name, Elder?”

The old man’s aura softened a bit at her extremely polite attitude.

“This old man is called Yu Ladal.”

At this, there was a sound of people drawing in breath.

Is he a famous person? I don’t know…

But even if you don’t know, there’s a way to handle not knowing.

Qing also drew in breath and then exhaled in time with the others.

“Yu Ladal!” “One of the Five Wanderers Under Heaven!” “Nine-Sectioned Wanderer!”

If you don’t know, you can pretend to know just by shouting the name.

It’s impolite not to recognize famous people, so while Qing had no idea who he was, she pretended to know for now.

She was a bit unsure if he was at the end of the Transcendent Realm or above the Unrestrained Realm, but seeing the reaction, it seems he’s Unrestrained Realm.

Even if Qing doesn’t know, Yu Ladal the Nine-Sectioned Wanderer is originally a very famous figure.

More for his background than his skill, his title indicates he’s a wandering warrior.

The Five Wanderers Under Heaven refers to the five known strongest among wandering warriors, so even being last among them means he’s ranked fifth among Central Plains wanderers.

However, Qing doesn’t know.

All she knows is that the old man is a famous master that everyone seems to know by name.

And she just found that out now.

And his evil karma is 36 points.

For a swordsman, 36 is very good, so he’s not a bad old man.

So Qing tried to start a conversation, or rather, open her hellish mouth first.

“Elder, a great disaster has befallen the city-“

“Enough. This old man knows nothing of such matters.”

Yu Ladal, who unknowingly achieved the great feat of preemptively blocking Qing’s hellish mouth, continued:

“As you know, this old man is a wanderer. A wanderer is a sword used for a price. Does a sword discriminate against people? This old man has already received ample payment, so I’m just a sword to be wielded in hand.”

It was exactly the kind of thing an old wanderer would say.

It was also words full of pride that could be said because he had lived long as a wanderer.

“I was asked not to let anyone pass, so that’s what this old man will do. If you really want to pass, shouldn’t we resolve this in the way of martial artists?”

As he said this, he grasped the sword hilt at his waist and drew it out with a swoosh, but something kept endlessly clattering out.

What spilled onto the ground was a strange weapon called the nine-sectioned whip, nine iron rods linked together.

It was the unique weapon that gave Yu Ladal the name Nine-Sectioned Wanderer.

Martial artists in the martial artist way.

Of course, that’s correct, but.

Qing asked in bewilderment:

“Elder? Haven’t you already surpassed the Unrestrained Realm? I thought you might say something like yielding ten moves.”

“Keke. Was this old man born in the Unrestrained Realm? What reason is there to deliberately accept a disadvantage just because I’ve lived long and grown old?”

“I see…”

Is it because he’s a wanderer?

It’s correct, but somehow it feels extremely petty.

In fact, if asked whether she’s confident or not, of course she’s confident.

She caught a Peak Realm, so there’s no reason she can’t catch a Transcendent Realm now.

Of course, back then the Unrestrained Realm received some great technique and was as hard as a rock but quite slow or something like that.

Now I can use sword force too.

Qing made a salute and said:

“Ximen Qing, outer disciple of the Divine Maiden Sect, a novice in the martial arts world, requests instruction from the Elder.”

“By the way, how much hospitality do we need to offer to have a master like the Nine-Sectioned Wanderer Elder as a retainer?”

A subordinate suddenly asked the now relaxed branch manager, as if curious.

Originally, merchants have the disposition of preferring to be the head of a snake rather than the tail of a dragon.

Rather than working under others, they want to eventually become independent and open even a small shop.

Of course, the best situation is to work under others and then take over in reverse, but that’s not even a grain of sand to a huge company like Jangheung Trading Company.

So when working under others, you need to learn as much business as possible, hence the question of how much money it takes to employ an Unrestrained Realm master.

“To employ a master known throughout the world, gold and silver isn’t nearly enough. Why would a master who has gold and silver rolling in wherever they go particularly need money?”

“Then, how did the Elder…”

“Ahem. Benevolence. Benevolence. In the past, a woman came to the company carrying a sick child and boldly said that if we cured this child of the Nine-Sectioned Wanderer’s bloodline, we could earn great favor.”

“No, did such good fortune just roll in on its own?”

“But the ability is in grasping the fortune that rolls in. Ahem.”

The branch manager looked around and lowered his voice to continue:

“If a ragged prostitute suddenly came and said her child was the offspring of a peerless master, would you just say ‘I see’ and provide treatment? Moreover, it wasn’t even a stranger. It was a cheap prostitute even the doorkeeper recognized.”

“Hmm. But how much could the treatment cost? Isn’t it an extremely profitable business if you can employ a peerless master for that small change?”

“Tsk tsk. You say that because you’ve already heard, but if a prostitute whose face you clearly know comes and insists her daughter is actually the offspring of a peerless master, would you believe it? Are scammers coming to merchant companies rare? Would you accept them all because it doesn’t cost much? Are you doing charity? Not doing business?”

When a child is sick and there’s no way, mothers don’t hesitate to deceive others.

All sorts of scammers come to merchant companies anyway.

From medicine peddlers saying they’ve refined good medicine, to those claiming to sell family heirlooms, or those with good business opportunities.

What about prospectors demanding funds saying they’ve found a gold vein?

Scammers claiming they’ve obtained treasure maps but lack the ability to use them come at least once a month.

“So the branch leader’s discerning eye shone in distinguishing truth from lies. Or.”

Or even if it was a lie, since it was a girl who was sick, he thought he could sufficiently recover his investment later.

The branch manager swallowed the rest of his words.

Anyway, there was a time after that when the Nine-Sectioned Wanderer appeared in Chang’an and met his alleged daughter.

Whether it was paternal instinct, or he had some other way of knowing, or he just decided to adopt a daughter in his old age out of loneliness, she went from being a so-called daughter to becoming a real daughter.

And then Yu Ladal said-

‘This old man was foolish not to know he had his own flesh and blood, and moreover, almost lost her forever to a mere trivial fever. I received the price of my daughter’s life in advance, so as a wanderer I’ll continue to repay it.’

-or so they say.

“Ooh. What a wonderful story.”

“Isn’t it? Moreover, it’s been over five years since he settled in the company as a retainer like that. Yet he still says the price of his daughter’s life remains, so I can only envy the branch leader’s virtue.”

So the branch manager was somewhat at ease.

Surely he wouldn’t betray the favor of saving his child’s life.

Yu Ladal hesitated.

“Wait. Did you say Divine Maiden Sect? How can a Divine Maiden Sect disciple wander around alone? Aren’t they a mysterious sect that completely cuts ties with the secular world once you enter and never comes down?”

“This girl merely took Ximen Surin as my master without officially joining the Divine Maiden Sect, but even if that weren’t the case, disciples who can protect themselves can receive permission to come down the mountain.”

The Divine Maiden Sect wasn’t that closed off.

First-grade disciples can just ask for permission and go out when they want to.

How else would Divine Maiden Sect disciples occasionally fall in love with men and take on names?

They can’t meet men on the sacred Divine Maiden Peak where men are forbidden, so they all go out to play and end up matching eyes, lips, and bellies.

Yu Ladal’s expression hardened further.

“Wait. Just now. Did you say you’re Senior Ximen’s direct disciple?”

A direct disciple refers to a disciple taken in by a master but kept at a distance from the sect.

Of course, they shouldn’t be taught the sect’s secret techniques.

It means they were taken in despite some reason for not being able to enter the sect, so direct disciples were usually especially close to their masters.

Other unique types of disciples include lineage disciples and named disciples.

Lineage disciples refer to successors who inherit everything from the master completely.

In contrast, named disciples are fraudulent.

The master only lends their name to the disciple.

You might wonder what that means, but in Buddhist or Daoist sects, it was common to enter through donations, learn basic skills for half a year or a year, and come down with a Dao name or Dharma name.

If Qing had heard, she would have exclaimed “Wow, temple stay!” in Western words, and in fact it wasn’t much different from that concept.

Anyway, at the words “Senior Ximen,” Qing’s eyes widened.

No way, a connection premonition here?

“Ah. Do you know my master?”

“Ahem. No. I should have said that first.”

Yu Ladal said this and swung his nine-sectioned whip in a stylish pose, and somehow that long weapon coiled up with a clatter and neatly stored itself at his waist, leaving only the handle.