NOVEL NEXT WORLD It was quite a tiring day for Hwang Geum-seon too.
Suddenly, Fighting Dog Tang Do-gyeong came, and amidst that, Miss Yeo Il-ye showed up out of the blue. With two bomb-like people ready to explode, a strange outcast was causing a commotion outside.
Well, it was just bad luck that Tang Do-gyeong showed up. It wasn’t a surprise that the famed fighter had come racing over to challenge Miss Yeo Il-ye to a match. The unfortunate part was that he used a letter from the Hwang Gold Clan as an excuse to enter Sacheon City.
It was also bad luck that both Tang Do-gyeong and Yeo Il-ye arrived at the same time, but Hwang Geum-seon was prepared for the day when Yeo Il-ye would someday visit the Hwang Gold Clan. Recently, Yeo Il-ye’s movements had been quite unusual.
Still, both Tang Do-gyeong and Yeo Il-ye were manageable matters for Hwang Geum-seon.
However, what on earth was that random Sacheon Outcast’s sorcery performance?
Why was the outcast suddenly causing trouble in front of the Hwang Gold Clan? To understand this incomprehensible situation, Hwang Geum-seon summoned Hwang Geum-go Bu-rin.
Hwang Geum-go Bu-rin, called to Hwang Geum-seon, was trembling.
Among the outcasts, an intermediary was not someone one could treat lightly, and outside their clan, the Hwang Gold Bu-rin would bow in deference to the clan’s prestige.
As an intermediary, he had earned a fair amount of money within the outcast community, but inside the Hwang Gold Clan, he was just a weakling with nothing to boast about.
He was from a branch clan of the Hwang family, deemed unworthy and useless, living off the clan’s honor. That was how the Hwang Gold Clan viewed Bu-rin.
Bu-rin had no choice but to spill every piece of information he had in front of Hwang Geum-seon. Who the outcast named Ho Cheon-an was, what incidents he’d been involved in, the event where Yeo Il-ye barged into Outcast Inn to give Ho Cheon-an a Gratitude Plaque, the confrontation with Yu Sa-yeon, and the recent incident involving the newcomer Black Cat stealing commission fees in Gyeongsu Market.
Bu-rin trembled and vomited everything out.
“Ho Cheon-an…”
Hwang Geum-seon muttered while stroking his beard.
‘Recently, Yeo Il-ye’s movements had been unprecedented. Did she attain realization and undergo inner change?’
Having gained realization from Ho Cheon-an, Yeo Il-ye began to dig deep into the essence of the incidents, abandoning her previous habit of capturing only formidable outcasts.
Who was the shadow that had destroyed Yeo-ga Mountain Villa?
She had started searching for the true enemies of the villa.
Although it had already been over fifteen years, Hwang Geum-seon always felt uneasy whenever he thought of Yeo-ga Mountain Villa. Back then, Hwang Geum-seon was just the unremarkable third son of the Hwang Gold Clan. The clan and the merchant group itself did not hold the same status they do now, so what power could a wealthy merchant clan’s third son have?
During the time they were busy seizing control over the Hwang Gold Clan, any aftermath concerning Yeo-ga Mountain Villa could only be put on the back burner.
‘Because of those foolish people, karma is coming back to bite me.’
Upon hearing the news that Yeo Il-ye had joined the Jeomchang Faction, Hwang Geum-seon’s heart sank. However, the partners from that time no longer wanted to touch Yeo Il-ye, who had already entered the shadows of Jeomchang. They believed that the young Yeo Il-ye couldn’t unravel the events concerning Yeo-ga Mountain Villa.
They merely exerted effort now and then to erase any traces of the incidents at the villa.
‘After fifteen years of steady work, there shouldn’t be any traces left of Yeo-ga Mountain Villa…’
Hwang Geum-seon was confident there was no evidence to prove he had a hand in the destruction of Yeo-ga Mountain Villa, yet it’s possible, however small the chance.
Fortunately, due to the years of ongoing work, Yeo Il-ye had no evidence. Her reaction yesterday had assured Hwang Geum-seon there was no evidence. It was clear she had come to probe him without any solid intent.
“People are all alike.”
Bu-rin flinched, but Hwang Geum-seon didn’t glance at him and fell into contemplation.
How foolish humans could be, often deceiving themselves. It wasn’t just Yeo Il-ye. To accomplish major matters, one must make thorough preparations, and merely preparing is still not enough.
Yet, despite being in such dire need of preparation, there were plenty who deceived themselves into not preparing at all, rushing headlong into situations as if they could make something impossible possible.
Just as it is impossible to build a mountain overnight, it is equally impossible to bring one down in an instant, yet foolish individuals think they can.
Yeo Il-ye was merely one of those arrogant fools in Hwang Geum-seon’s eyes.
To truly bring a mountain down overnight, what was necessary was not a historian but a crowd.
Even a historian, who could easily lift hundreds of kilos of dirt, was less effective than hundreds of people moving just one kilo each.
The Jongnam Sect, which had arrogantly defeated any expert, chose voluntary closure before the anger of the people of Sacheon.
If it were known that an outcast had committed wrongdoing while hiding under an alias in Sacheon, it wouldn’t matter if it was the Hwang Gold Clan or the Hwangbo Clan; they would face destruction.
“Ho Cheon-an… Ho Cheon-an…”
He had already heard about the bizarre performance through the martial artists. A sorcerer wielding the power of the ghost of the underworld? How significant was that to be just a setup? Bu-rin claimed that Ho Cheon-an created this trouble to spit out commission fees, but Hwang Geum-seon had different thoughts.
To him, it felt like an accusation against the very essence of the Hwang Gold Clan.
“Bu-rin, how much did you pocket from this?”
“U-uh, it’s 30 nyang. It’s customary for an intermediary to keep about 20-30 percent of the commission! What I’ve kept is a very standard amount!”
Bu-rin hurriedly spilled unsolicited information, fearing he might get caught, but Hwang Geum-seon gave him a warning glance to shut him up.
‘30 nyang…’
It wasn’t a trivial amount.
But to stir up trouble in front of the Hwang Gold Clan for such a small sum? Especially while violating the intermediary’s taboos?
This was practically a deliberate provocation.
If the sole purpose was money, then Ho Cheon-an, being an outcast, could have simply kidnapped Bu-rin, hung him up, and given him a taste of pain to get the money more easily.
A merchant’s weapon is their face.
A thick face and a talking mouth are indeed a merchant’s weapons.
A martial artist’s weapons are pain and fear.
Leaving no evidence behind and lightly teaching Bu-rin a lesson would be an easier approach for extracting money than causing chaos in front of the Hwang Gold Clan, and it was a method a martial artist would consider.
‘Sorcery, huh…’
Hwang Geum-seon couldn’t help but chuckle. To think that such trivial trickery would make him feel threatened.
The crowd gathered today was only a few hundred, but how many would gather in front of the Hwang Gold Clan if this performance continued tomorrow and the day after?
Strange flyers, snacks, sleight of hand; the methods of gathering people were utterly ridiculous, yet the results they could produce were anything but laughable.
‘It gave realization, did it?’
Most martial artists would be tempted by such information, but Hwang Geum-seon was a merchant. What drew his attention was not the fluffy rumors but the fact that Ho Cheon-an and Yeo Il-ye were connected through the Gratitude Plaque.
That ultimately meant that the person named Ho Cheon-an could command Yeo Il-ye.
A person grasping both the crowd and history.
If Ho Cheon-an truly bore animosity and attempted to stand against the Hwang Gold Clan, he would be a formidable threat.
‘However… I don’t understand the grudges.’
The mere fact that he caused a commotion in front of the Hwang Gold Clan indicated an aggressive stance, making it highly likely he harbored a grudge. Yet Hwang Geum-seon had no idea what Ho Cheon-an was about.
Hwang Geum-seon let out a sigh. What part of the Hwang Gold Clan did not have skeletons in the closet? While it may not have been as grand as Yeo-ga Mountain Villa from fifteen years ago, the layers of deceit accumulated since then were certainly significant.
He had consistently erased evidence of those incidents, manipulated public opinion, and spread gold among the martial artists to maintain friendly relations, yet how the grudges remained in the hearts of the victims and bloomed was something even Hwang Geum-seon had no way of knowing.
‘Should I face him directly…’
Hwang Geum-seon briefly pondered whether he should meet Ho Cheon-an directly but shook his head. As the head of the Hwang Gold Clan, he was already hesitant to allow an outcast to enter, let alone the rumors that would spread if the head met an outcast.
“Bu-rin, keep a neat relationship with Ho Cheon-an. And report every move he makes.”
“Yes, Honor!”
Hwang Geum-seon shot a doubtful glance down at Bu-rin. He didn’t have high hopes, but since they were so attached, he figured he might gather some bit of information.
To deal with something, you must first understand the opponent.
Hwang Geum-seon decided to investigate Ho Cheon-an.
With Hwang Geum-seon’s determination, the three letters spelling Ho Cheon-an began to flow through the darkness of Sacheon.
What is fate?
It is something mixed with passing coincidences, inevitable encounters, and accumulated karma.
The coincidence of Yeo Il-ye meeting Ho Cheon-an, the inevitability of Tang Do-gyeong coming to Sacheon City to duel Yeo Il-ye, and the karma built up by the Hwang Gold Clan and Hwang Geum-seon.
All of these converged and became fate. So, Ho Cheon-an, who was caught at every intersection of those connections, couldn’t help but be swept into that destiny. Whether Ho Cheon-an was caught in that fate was a matter of whether it was good fortune or not.
Where the results of that luck led was something that would only be known at the end of Ho Cheon-an’s journey.