Chapter 194. Black Heart (1)

At the furious Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader’s shout, the gazes of the gathered people turned towards him.

The Danmok Clan martial artists who were still standing fine tried to argue.

“Wh, what does that mean? Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader!”

“How can you be so rude to our Clan Head!”

However, that attitude only fueled the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader’s anger further.

“Just what was your intention! For what purpose did you hinder our trade all this while! The damage we suffered because of you bastard. No, what sin did our group’s porters and escorts who died because of you bastard commit!!”

At this, the Great Cloud Merchant Group’s martial artists revealed surprised expressions.

A young woman shouted in a surprised voice.

“Father!? Wh, what are you saying? That they hindered our trade?”

Judging by the attire she was wearing, she seemed to be the daughter of the Great Cloud Merchant Group scheduled for the wedding today.

Instead of answering the daughter’s question, the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader looked at Danmok Hocheong with eyes that could kill.

Danmok Hocheong rolled his eyes here and there as if he wanted to make some excuse.

However, because his paralysis and mute acupoints were suppressed, he couldn’t do anything.

I answered the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader’s question on behalf of the guy.

“You are asking the obvious. Isn’t it to devour the Great Cloud Merchant Group through the wedding?”

“……What does that mean? How can the Danmok Clan devour us with just a wedding?”

“In the case where a grandson is born through the wedding. Furthermore, consider who the Great Cloud Merchant Group would be passed on to if all the Merchant Group Leader’s bloodline except that grandson disappeared.”

For some reason, the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader frowned.

“Even so, that seems like a bit of an excessive conjecture. How can they kill all my bloodline without being caught?”

It was a deduction with its own reason.

If they massacred the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader’s family openly, it would be difficult to inherit the merchant group even for the only remaining bloodline.

However, there was a way to do it without being caught, even if it was a trick.

“Among the letters there. Wasn’t there something strange?”

“If it is something strange……. Surely!?”

Perhaps noticing something, the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader’s eyes widened.

“That is correct. How could the Danmok Clan side grasp the Great Cloud Merchant Group’s schedule and route so accurately and in detail?”

One of the sheets in the bundle of papers Junior Sister Choyeon brought. There, the Great Cloud Merchant Group’s schedule and route were written very accurately and in detail.

It meant there was someone leaking information from the inside.

“I do not know whether it is a spy or a traitor. However, after holding the wedding with the Danmok Clan, the Danmok Clan side probably planned to give power to that person.”

In the first place, the biggest reason the Great Cloud Merchant Group decided on the wedding with the Danmok Clan was to gain martial power.

After holding the wedding, some of the Danmok Clan martial artists would flow into the Great Cloud Merchant Group under the pretext of ‘to give help’.

If that spy or traitor carried those Danmok Clan martial artists on their back, it wasn’t impossible for them to gain power.

After seizing the merchant group to some extent like that, if they attempted moderate poisoning or something to kill everyone and treated it as death by illness, that would be it.

Perhaps the Merchant Group Leader could also infer that much, his face turned pale.

“H, how could they wear a human mask and do such terrible…….”

And a moment later, the pale face was dyed even redder.

“You bastard Danmok Hocheong!! Not only hindering our group’s trade and causing the porters and escorts to die, but to try to kill off all my bloodlines completely!! Did you think the Heavens wouldn’t know your evil deeds and pass over it!”

Despite the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader’s shout, Danmok Hocheong could not say anything. Because his acupoints were suppressed.

Instead, the remaining Danmok Clan martial artists shouted something.

“This is a misunderstanding!”

“That guy over there plotted this!”

Nodding my head, I gave instructions to my colleagues.

“From now on, those resisting are the ones who plotted this together with the Danmok Clan Head. From now on, just cut them down.”

“O, okay. Hyung-ah!”

“I will do so. Senior Brother.”

Then the guys who were in the middle of listing arguments all shut their mouths.

The Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader, who was glaring at those martial artists, took a clasped hands greeting towards me.

“Ghost Sword Great Hero. It is presumptuous, but may I ask one favor?”

“Please speak comfortably.”

“Could you leave the task of executing those involved in this matter, including Danmok Hocheong, to us?”

He added with a very serious look in his eyes.

“I am concerned that unnecessary rumors might follow if the Ghost Sword Great Hero kills that person directly. Also, just as the Great Cloud Merchant Group did not intervene in the Adamant Sword Great Hero and Young Master Danmok’s matter, it seems appropriate for us to take responsibility for this matter.”

Anyway, the Danmok Clan had acted as a somewhat prestigious orthodox sect until now.

It meant he would take the scandal of attacking that place upon himself instead.

In a way, it was the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader’s own consideration.

“If the Merchant Group Leader’s will is truly so, I will accept.”

As soon as my answer ended, the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader walked over in long strides.

Reaching Danmok Hocheong’s vicinity, the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader pulled out his sword boldly.

Danmok Hocheong glared at the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader with his eyes wide open.

If only his acupoints weren’t suppressed, he was an opponent who wouldn’t last three exchanges.

But the current him could not offer any resistance.

Even while the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader aimed the sword at Danmok Hocheong, the martial artists were shutting their mouths while looking at our mood.

The ones shouting fine were exactly two.

“Clan Head!”

“G, Grandfather!!”

Young Master Danmok Hwan. And his son Danmok Cheong.

Ignoring their shouts, the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader lifted his sword and slashed down just like that.

Slash!

Danmok Hocheong’s head was cut off.

It was the end of an old man full of greed who tried to steal a perfectly fine merchant group by slaughtering innocent people.

***

After organizing the Danmok Clan’s manor to some extent. We headed to the inn where the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader was staying.

We dragged Danmok Hwan and Danmok Cheong, along with a few major figures of the Danmok Clan, with their qi centers destroyed and acupoints suppressed.

It was to weed out the spy or traitor and grasp the detailed situation.

Leaving that task to the merchant group martial artists, the Merchant Group Leader arranged a seat with us first.

“I thank you once again.”

When the Great Cloud Merchant Group Leader took a clasped hands greeting towards us, his wife and daughter also took a clasped hands greeting.

This side also expressed courtesy with a clasped hands greeting and answered.

“We only did what we ought to do.”

After exchanging simple greetings and sitting down. The Merchant Group Leader asked.

“By the way, how on earth did you know about this matter? Did you come to the Danmok Clan suddenly to buy time for Lady Cold Flower to find these letters?”

Perhaps because he was a Merchant Group Leader, it seemed his head worked quite well.

Since a clumsy lie had a risk of being caught, I decided to reveal only up to where I could reveal appropriately.

“First of all, we didn’t come here because of this matter. At first, we just came for Nam Geon’s revenge.”

Then we heard bad rumors about the Danmok Clan from a drunkard, and while investigating this, a certain possibility came to mind.

In reality, I guessed it more easily because I knew the future, but I couldn’t reveal up to there.

“I entrusted the infiltration to Junior Sister Choyeon just in case, but I myself was not sure that there would really be such things.”

“Ho-oh. I heard rumors about the Great Hero’s chivalrous acts a few times, but I didn’t know your wisdom was also this outstanding.”

Because it was a compliment that made me feel embarrassed for some reason, I changed the subject hurriedly.

“Rather than that, what do you plan to do from now on? As you know, the guys dealt with today aren’t everything.”

There were guys operating secretly outside in the Danmok Clan.

The ones who hindered the Great Cloud Merchant Group’s trade were exactly those guys.

If we were the main agents, those guys would target us, but now the possibility of them targeting the Great Cloud Merchant Group was high.

“While weeding out the spies and traitors, I plan to prepare thoroughly against those guys as well.”

After looking at the Merchant Group Leader who answered firmly for a while. I raised my body just like that.

“Then we will try leaving now.”

“A, are you saying you are going already when I haven’t even repaid the grace properly yet?”

The Merchant Group Leader showed a flustered reaction, but it wasn’t particularly important.

“In the first place, it wasn’t an act done hoping for a reward. Since there are still many things to do, it seems we have to go now.”

It wasn’t the Merchant Group Leader who stepped forward hurriedly at my answer.

“Wait a moment!!”

The Merchant Group Leader’s daughter, Gung Seola, shouted hurriedly and stepped forward.

“Take, take me too!”

“Se, Seola. What does that mean? Take you?”

At the Merchant Group Leader’s question, Gung Seola turned her body and shouted with a very serious expression.

“Father. I am a body that has already failed while trying to hold a wedding. No matter if it is due to the Danmok Clan’s evil deeds, no one in a famous family will accept me. So this time, I want to make an engagement with someone I want.”

“Wh, what does that?”

The Merchant Group Leader made a flustered expression and looked at me going ‘Surely?’.

Why he was looking at me was a mystery.

At the Merchant Group Leader’s reaction, the colleagues also showed strange reactions.

“Hy, Hyung-ah making an engagement?”

Nam Geon’s bizarre question.

“Yo, you want to make an engagement with our Senior Brother?”

The flustered expression of Junior Sister Baek Hyang.

“…….”

Keeping her mouth shut, but Junior Sister Choyeon looking uncomfortable somewhere.

“Wa, wake up. Lady Gung. Th, this crazy guy isn’t the kind of guy to live together with a woman.”

Even the Tang Clan bastard’s nonsense at the end.

However, Lady Gung’s subsequent remark was something I also didn’t expect.

Gung Seola, who turned her body, looked straight at Nam Geon and spoke.

“Adamant Sword Great Hero. Will you accept my heart?”

Silence lingered momentarily.

Nam Geon stared at Gung Seola blankly with those clear eyes.

Then he pointed at himself with his right index finger and asked back.

“Are, are you talking about me?”

“That is correct.”

Only then did the Merchant Group Leader, who came to his senses belatedly, intervene hurriedly.

“Se, Seola. What does that mean! You want to make an engagement with the A, Adamant Sword Great Hero?”

“Tha, that’s right! Wh, why are you suddenly doing this to me?”

At Nam Geon’s question, Gung Seola answered very confidently.

“I fell in love at first sight.”

“…….”

“Seeing that majestic and manly appearance of breaking the Danmok Clan’s door and entering, how could I not fall in love.”

The Merchant Group Leader only opened and closed his mouth.

Indeed, it was a vague situation in many ways.

Nam Geon and we were benefactors who saved the Great Cloud Merchant Group’s crisis.

Whether he liked it or not, it looked difficult to utter words about Nam Geon in front of us.

Instead, the one who opened his mouth was the party involved, Nam Geon.

“I, I am stupid.”

“What do you mean. Orabeoni.”

Baek Hyang took Nam Geon’s side.

Gung Seola was the same.

“The Adamant Sword Great Hero is just upright and honest!”

When did she see him to shout with such certainty.

“Seeing Young Master Nam engaging in a life and death fight with that person Danmok Hwan, I became certain. That appearance of advancing constantly even while dealing with Danmok Hwan’s cowardly sword art. The unwavering eyes.”

At some point, the title calling Nam Geon changed from Adamant Sword Great Hero to Young Master Nam.

“Above all, even that last single sword strike with all his might. I can know! Young Master Nam is a man harboring the qualities of a king! How can I not fall for such a man as a woman.”

Listening to it, laughter burst out unknowingly.

“Hahahahaha.”

It was laughter that came out because I felt good.

I didn’t know about the qualities of a king, but that woman was seeing Nam Geon’s strengths properly.

Because I laughed feeling good, tears were even trickling a little.

Wiping the tears that flowed out moderately with my hand, I asked Nam Geon.

“What will you do?”

“Wh, what does that mean Hyung-ah?”

“Nam Geon. Your revenge is over. If you want to hold a wedding and live peacefully from now on, I won’t bother stopping you.”

I would continue to travel the Jianghu because my temper was dirty, but there was no law that Nam Geon had to do so as well.

Since he finished revenge too, a life living happily with a woman wouldn’t be bad.

Nam Geon misunderstood my intention and answered while being startled.

“Do, don’t abandon me. Hyung-ah!”

“I’m not abandoning you.”

“I, I will continue to go together! I, have to scold bad guys! Ca, can’t hold a wedding!”

Nam Geon, who was shouting diligently, looked at Gung Seola and bowed his head deeply.

“So, sorry…….”

***

Leaving the slight commotion behind, Jin Yuseong and the party left Lu’an.

“Even if not now, come back anytime if you have a change of heart! I will be waiting for Young Master Nam continuously!”

Perhaps because of Gung Seola’s shout coming from far away.

Nam Geon was unfolding movement arts with full power as if fleeing somewhere.

A few days after Jin Yuseong and the party left like that.

An old beggar visited Lu’an.

For some reason, the beggars who were in Lu’an were expressing maximum courtesy to that old beggar.

“Tut-tut. You bastards, what if someone sees. Courtesy among beggars my ass.”

The old beggar, who refused their courtesy firmly, lifted the gourd bottle at his flank and drank a mouthful.

He looked thirsty from the long journey, but the alcohol smell wafting from the gourd bottle was piercing the nose.

The old beggar, who drank strong liquor coolly, asked.

“Rather than that, I heard the guy called Ghost Sword or something visited the Danmok Clan and came here, but does he remain in Lu’an even now?”

“The Danmok Clan has already disappeared.”

“The Danmok Clan disappeared? What does that mean?”

To the old beggar whose eyes went round, the Beggar’s Gang beggars conveyed the events that happened recently.

“And the Ghost Sword already headed to Sahong in Jiangsu Province. It seems he went to find the Black Heart Ghost Claw.”

At those words, the old beggar drank again with a face full of annoyance.

“Tsk. It’s not like he’s boasting about being young, just what kind of guy goes around the entire Jianghu day after day.”

Having said that, the old beggar moved his steps as if he had no more business here.

It seemed he was walking unsteadily with a relaxed gait, but every time the old beggar took a step, he advanced at tremendous speed.

One of the beggars who was seeing off the old beggar expressed courtesy and shouted.

“Have a safe trip. Clan Leader!!”

At that shout, the Beggar’s Gang Leader who had already moved far away spat out a curse.

“Hey you beggar bastard! Are you planning to spread rumors all over the neighborhood!!”

Even amidst spitting out curses, the Clan Leader’s figure was continuing to advance forward.

Toward Sahong in Jiangsu Province where the Ghost Sword was said to have headed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep