Professional Documents
Culture Documents
“What is it?”
“Hear what?”
“The merchants of Hua-Um, who Mount Hua was indebted to, turned out to be Mount Hua’s
representatives in the past. All their businesses belong to Mount Hua.”
“I see.”
“There’s a riot in Hua-Um. Officials are occupying and confiscating their property!”
“Oh my god! Why are you so calm? Haaa! This is why I shouldn’t talk to people who want to
“It is. It’s an amazing thing! Do you know how much money it will be if all the businesses are
confiscated? Putting aside the wealth, just their businesses alone, we won’t have to worry about
making ends meet in Mount Hua for generations.”
“So…?”
Yoon Jong was someone who was aiming to become a Taoist in Mount Hua. There seemed to be a
difference between what he saw as essential and what Jo Gul considered a huge deal.
He heard the rumors, but he didn’t think too deeply about them. He merely thought that being able
to avoid paying the debt was a blessing, but it seemed like there were much more profound
implications for others.
“But how did this happen so suddenly? Why did the sect leader endure such humiliation until
now?”
“Th-that…”
“Huh?”
“Ledgers?”
“Right. Ledgers related to the business of Mount Hua. They found it a few days ago, so they….”
Jo Gul seemed to trail off as he quietly ended it there. Seeing that Yoon Jong couldn’t understand,
Jo Gul began again.
“Huh?”
“The ledgers were found a few days ago. And the ledgers had to be some sort of book, right?”
“Right.”
“It is fortunate that we happened to see some books get discovered just a few days ago, right?”
“… yes.”
Jo Gul and Yoon Jong couldn’t say anything more and exchanged subtle glances.
‘That box!’
It was too perfect to be a coincidence. Besides, wasn’t the reaction of the sect leader who checked it
too extreme?
–No! My god! This isn’t a stone! Why did someone bury this here? So weird? Hehehehe. Very
weird.
–Should I dig? Is it fine if I dig*? Hahahaha. Hahaha.* What could be buried here? Such a strange
thing. It couldn’t be a treasure.
‘If you want to deceive someone, at least act properly. Damn it.’
He couldn’t forget that awkward voice. Even a three-year-old would do better than him.
‘Ah, he is up to something.’
“As expected?”
“Right?”
“Yeah.”
There were too many strange details. Even if he didn’t pay attention, everything seemed
suspicious.
Nevertheless, Yoon Jong isn’t very wary of Chung Myung because his sincerity towards Mount Hua
is evident.
This situation was no exception. Didn’t Mount Hua benefit from Chung Myung finding those
ledgers?
“Anyway.…”
“Why him?”
“Sect leader is looking for him, but we can’t seem to find him. He isn’t even in his room.”
“…. Hmm?”
Yoon Jong, who tried to remain calm, went stiff, and soon his expression turned dark.
“Not there?”
“N-No!”
Yoon Jong jumped up and started to run towards Chung Myung’s room.
He burst through the door, slamming it open, quickly scanning the room. He even inspected the
closet.
“… isn’t here.”
“Huh?”
“It’s missing.”
Yoon Jong pointed to the open closet. Resting peacefully inside the closet was Chung Myung’s
uniform.
The uniform was taken off and placed in the closet. Then the clothes which were missing were.
The black clothes which Jo Gul brought to him previously were missing.
“…”
The two of them really couldn’t tell if Chung Myung was a boon for Mount Hua or a bane.
“Huh….”
A group of men stood looking at their carts with a bewildered face. The carts contained a fraction
of the wealth they had gathered.
Each one was filled with wealth to help them survive. For someone with no money, it would be a
startling amount. But for those here, looking at this wealth left them with an indescribable feeling
as they recalled memories of what led to their current state.
As soon as they scurried down from Mount Hua, they saw their workplaces already occupied by
government officials. They were armed and surrounded their businesses with the official order to
confiscate everything.
They only heard shouts from the officials ordering their men to confiscate their things.
It was shocking and seemed unfair. Who would have thought that the businesses being run for
generations belonged to Mount Hua? Since it was operated by their fathers, they thought it was
theirs.
But in one day, it was taken away, and they were kicked out of Hua-Um. Where else in the world
could there be such an unfair situation?
When they saw one another dragging their carts, their hearts began to break as they looked truly
destitute.
They were exiled, but since Mount Hua informed the officials to let them take a cart full of
belongings, they were given some time to gather everything. Even if they wanted food, they had to
leave Hua-Um and buy it elsewhere.
“Protest?”
The owner of Plum Blossom Inn, Jin Yi-San, looked at Jo Geum-Myeong in anger.
“Are you saying that even after watching what just happened in front of our eyes? We are the
thieves! Thieves! If the sect leader hadn’t shown mercy to us, we wouldn’t have even had the
chance to leave; we would have been imprisoned! How do you intend to argue their proof!?”
“Damn it!”
“I am leaving!”
“A-already?”
“Didn’t you hear that we would be imprisoned if we didn’t leave within an hour!? We need to get
out of here first!”
In the end, they all nodded helplessly. Those who watched him slowly followed.
After traveling for some time, they were able to get out of Hua-Um with their carts. They briefly
pulled their cats into the shade beneath some trees to rest.
“The officials who were monitoring behind us have returned too. Maybe we can get a moment of
peace now.”
“Peace?”
As they got past one issue, other problems began to come into sight.
A few of the men looked at Kong Mun-Yeong. Seeing that he hadn’t said a single word, they were
tempted to make the man speak and take responsibility for what happened.
“Owner Kong!”
A sharp voice.
“Say something!”
“Didn’t you say that we only needed to trust you? How did this happen?”
“We believed in you, and now we have turned into scammers and thieves. How are you going to
take responsibility for this?”
“…”
Everyone who saw his eyes went silent. Kong Mun-Yeong’s eyes, which had always been soft, were
no longer glistening.
“…”
Hearing the cold voice, they were all suppressed by his momentum and backed away.
As everyone flinched, Kong Mun-Yeong, who was overwhelming the crowd, further bolstered the
momentum.
“…”
“….”
“It wasn’t as if we were hoping to have a good relationship with Mount Hua! Is there any one of
you who thought otherwise? Everyone must have realized this to some extent, didn’t you?”
Those who still knew shame bowed their heads, but most didn’t.
“No need to make a fuss. For now, just endure; however, this isn’t going to end like this.”
“…”
“W-what….”
“You must know that, with Mount Hua’s connections, manipulating the authenticity of the ledgers
isn’t very difficult! He must have decided to share the wealth with the province officials.!”
“Ah!”
“Then?”
“Let’s go to Luoyang for now. We can take care of matters there. If they try to suppress us with
such power, we will have to push back with greater power! I will surely punish the wicked Mount
Hua and that sect leader!”
“Ohhh!”
“Right! It doesn’t make sense for them to suddenly have a bunch of books from a hundred years
ago!”
It didn’t matter if the ledger was real or fake. As Kong Mun-Yeong said, if they can utilize great
enough power, even real books would become fake.
“So, you have nothing to worry about. I will take care of everything, so just trust and follow me.”
‘Pathetic bastards.’
They were trash, but he still needed them. It was better to have people who would follow his words
than to be alone. Once he reached Luoyang, the situation would be reversed. He had a strong
backer, which could give him strength…
“What bullshit.”