Chapter 136: Chapter 136

Dan Woo-hyun went out alone for the first time in a while and headed toward Changsha. Considering his nature of resolving everything in Luoyang, his departure for Changsha was a highly unusual event.

There were also no guards accompanying him.

It was as if he had slipped out alone without telling anyone.

Although it was a considerably long distance, he moved in a single breath. He traveled so fast with each step he took that it made one wonder if this was indeed the shrinking earth technique.

“It is quite bustling.”

several hours after leaving the manor.

Even though it was not a distance that could ever be reached in that amount of time, Dan Woo-hyun was standing there blankly, looking around at his surroundings.

It had a different feel from Luoyang.

First of all, it was wide.

Or rather, should it be called large?

The number of people also seemed several times greater than in Luoyang. Was the castle visible ahead the property of the prince who ruled Hunan Province? It could be considered quite large and grand, but it was too insignificant to draw Dan Woo-hyun’s attention.

He looked around.

Shall he head to the marketplace first?

He was not walking without thought, but looking around was not bad either. The first thing that caught his eye was the sweet syrup pastry being sold at a street stall.

Is the taste different from Luoyang’s? Wondering this, he bought one to eat, but the taste was not as good as he had expected.

Those who bought and ate this must have terribly regressed palates.

He threw the pastry he was eating onto the street and moved on.

His head turned busy this way and that, as if searching for something. However, when what he wanted did not appear even after looking around for a long time, he sighed with a bored expression.

“He definitely said it was here?”

Dan Woo-hyun looked around his surroundings once again. He looked even more carefully than at first, wondering if there was a place he had missed.

Thus passed about an hour.

After searching the entire streets of Changsha, he discovered a shabby manor located in the most secluded area. Should it be called a manor, or a merchant group?

The plaque clearly read ‘Gold Ring Merchant Group,’ but perhaps because it was shabby and had few people coming and going, people did not even glance at it.

A place like this is a merchant group?

Ordinary people would have gone to a more reputable place. However, it made no difference to Dan Woo-hyun. It only had to be a merchant group, and the fact that he was acquainted with them was the key point.

Gold Ring Merchant Group.

It was the merchant group of Geum Eun-hak, the merchant he had met on the way to Anhui.

Dan Woo-hyun recalled his face, which he could barely even remember, and stood before the main gate. As if there was not even a gatekeeper, no one blocked him.

Dan Woo-hyun opened the gate and stepped inside.

Screeech.

With a sound that made it seem like it would collapse at any moment, the shabby gate opened.

Inside, several wagon-pullers were lounging with quite bored expressions, but when Dan Woo-hyun entered, they quickly stood up and pretended to work.

It seemed that if they did not show at least this kind of appearance, work would not come in.

“Welcome! Thank you for visiting our Gold Ring Merchant Group… Huh?”

And then, a familiar person appeared before his eyes, rubbing his hands. Perhaps thinking it was a customer visiting after a long time, his face was infinitely bright.

However, the moment he realized that the opponent was Dan Woo-hyun, his face lost all color and his mouth fell open in a stutter.

“It has been a while. Were you in such a secluded place? There was a reason I couldn’t find it despite wandering around for a long time.”

“Great… Great Hero, is that you? W-Why are you at our merchant group…?”

Geum Eun-hak stammered and took a step back.

Just how much money had been extorted from him solely because he had saved him? There was a reason he had run a deficit despite conducting a long-distance trade after a long time.

The very culprit was right before his eyes.

What is he trying to extort this time?

A wary light flickered in Geum Eun-hak’s eyes.

“Does this place keep guests standing outside?”

“A g… guest?”

“A guest.”

“Please come inside!”

In an instant, Geum Eun-hak’s expression brightened. He quickly corrected his attitude and guided Dan Woo-hyun to the guest room.

The guest room he led him to was also shabby. Because it was a place to receive guests, the interior was quite clean, but looking only at the exterior, it was a ruin that would not be strange if it collapsed right away.

Geum Eun-hak sat there facing Dan Woo-hyun.

He served tea and refreshments and waited for him to speak.

Sip.

Dan Woo-hyun took a sip of tea and looked around.

“It is shabby. Is this really a merchant group? A ghost might appear.”

“Ha… Haha. That, it is because our business is not doing very well…”

Barely scraping by.

Had he not said those words?

Just mobilizing this and that connection to earn enough to pay the wagon-pullers’ salaries and buy their own food was the entirety of it. If even that was cut off, they would no longer be able to run the merchant group.

“B-By the way, I heard… that you came to give us work?”

“Did I say that? I only said I was a guest…”

Geum Eun-hak’s face fell.

His head ached at the thought of being tricked by Dan Woo-hyun once again.

He thought of the cost of the refreshments and tea he had served.

With this much, it was money to live on for a day…

As he lowered his head with a tearful face, a chuckle was heard.

“It seems being a merchant group doesn’t always bring in money.”

“T-That is because Hunan is already held in the hands of the Myriad Gold Merchant Group. The reality is that the merchant groups under the Myriad Gold Merchant Group are stretching their hands to most of the trading partners. If one cannot enter under the Myriad Gold Merchant Group… most are in this situation.”

“Myriad Gold Merchant Group… It definitely belonged to a man named Man Hu-ryang, right?”

“Y-Yes. Well…”

“How many merchant groups under his influence are there in this Hunan?”

“The one with the greatest influence is none other than the Hunan Merchant Group, which broke off from the Myriad Gold Merchant Group. And besides that, there are about three or four others…?”

Just those came to mind. Most of those he could not remember were small merchant groups whose names were not even known, but had entered under the Myriad Gold Merchant Group using connections.

“Hmm.”

Dan Woo-hyun nodded and asked.

“What is needed to make a merchant group large?”

“M-Money, of course… And having trading partners with whom one can conduct steady trade.”

“If you were to run a merchant group in Luoyang, what is the very first thing you would do?”

Although it was an out-of-the-blue question, Geum Eun-hak did not have any suspicion. He simply thought he was asking out of pure curiosity.

“I would sell alcohol that could become a specialty in Luoyang.”

“Alcohol?”

“Yes, since Dongting Lake is nearby, there are many people who drink alcohol. To target those people, I would open a trade with the Hoyen Clan.”

“The Hoyen Clan?”

“It is a place famous for brewing alcohol. In the past, that is. Now they are pushed back by the Chu Gate Family and no longer do it, but if they brew and sell alcohol again, it will make money. Because there are still many wealthy men who cannot forget that alcohol. Of course, it requires the premise that the taste has not changed…”

“I see… Then what next?”

“…Excuse me, may I know for what reason you are asking?”

“Just answer what you are asked.”

“Ahem!”

Geum Eun-hak cleared his throat.

Although he could not know the reason, Dan Woo-hyun was quite serious. Looking at his eyes, he was absolutely not answering because he felt intimidated and could not ask back.

Absolutely not.

“…It is not easy to break into other things because the existing merchant groups are already trading them. Things that make money like silk, rice, salt… But there is one thing that is possible.”

“What is it?”

Geum Eun-hak wore a full smile.

This was his goal that he had thought of since childhood.

None other than…

“Spices from the Western Regions and goods used there. These are items that only the Myriad Gold Merchant Group trades a few times a year to possess, and they sell for an enormous price.”

Dan Woo-hyun nodded.

Certainly, if it were those things, it seemed they would make enough money. But this man did not see reality. Where was the guarantee that he, a small merchant group crawling at the bottom, could do what only the Myriad Gold Merchant Group could do?

However, it was interesting.

Human challenge is endless, and if one does not challenge, one will always stagnate. Furthermore, in Dan Woo-hyun’s view, this man named Geum Eun-hak.

Though he was bowing before him, he was not someone without grit.

Dan Woo-hyun took out a purse from his robe and threw it before him.

Clink!

The moment it fell onto the table, the opening parted and gold and silver coins poured out.

“What… What is this?”

“It is an advance payment. Wrap up the merchant group here and move to Luoyang. I will give you ten days.”

“Eh?”

“Did you not hear me?”

“N-No, I heard you… But what on earth are you talking about…?”

“It means stop gasping with a dying merchant group in a place like this and come to Luoyang. I will provide the money. Try to create a merchant group that surpasses the Myriad Gold Merchant Group.”

“…Eh?”

A merchant group that surpasses the Myriad Gold Merchant Group?

Is that a joke or what?

Considering that many merchant groups had struggled to surpass that place until now, but not a single one had achieved it, the Myriad Gold Merchant Group was the best merchant group in the Central Plains, and its power was to the extent that it could not be estimated.

Surpass that place?

Are you trying to kill someone?

“N-No, no, no! It… It is impossible. Great Hero!”

“Are you afraid?”

“Eh… Ah. T-That is also true, but how can a humble fellow like me do such a thing…”

“It is the humble fellows who grind their teeth and climb up. Because they do not want to be humble.”

“…!”

“And you do not have to worry. Accepting the work I ordered means you are my person. I protect my people no matter what happens.”

“Gr-Great Hero…”

“I shall become your strength.”

With a clack, Dan Woo-hyun set down the cup in his hand and stood up from his seat. Without even thinking of retrieving the purse he had thrown down, he stood still and looked down at Geum Eun-hak.

“I will leave the money. If you intend to do it, come over to Luoyang within ten days. If you have no intention… leave the money with the magistrate of Luoyang.”

“Th-The magistrate, you say?”

Seeing him nod, Geum Eun-hak’s heart pounded.

His way of speaking and his behavior were all manly. Shall he say it was without hesitation? The boldness of trusting and coming to find him to propose such a thing, despite having only a single connection.

It was the first time in his life, though he had met many people until now.

Therefore, his heart fluttered even more.

Thump, thump.

His overwhelmed chest would not calm down.

“Do you… trust me?”

“If I did not trust you, I would not have come to find you.”

“You have only seen me once.”

“Are my eyes so untrustworthy?”

“…”

Geum Eun-hak looked into Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes for the first time. Considering that it had been impossible to even look because he was afraid of those eyes until now, it was a surprising thing.

And he felt it.

His own reflection visible in those eyes.

Even so, he could not know what Dan Woo-hyun was thinking, but one thing was certain: Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze undoubtedly trusted Geum Eun-hak.

Geum Eun-hak smiled with a bitter expression.

“Are you not even giving me time to think?”

“Your precious time is only shrinking endlessly.”

With a chuckle, Dan Woo-hyun turned his back and stepped out of the guest room. His single comment became a spit that pierced his chest, and that gaze stuck in his head and did not disappear.

Geum Eun-hak looked up at the invisible sky.

“Is this… an opportunity given by heaven? I do not know.”

He shook his head side to side.

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