Chapter 300: Chapter 300

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The sword blades the warriors drew all at once plunged the noisy, bustling area into silence, as though cold water had been poured over it.

“What do you think you are doing?”

Wang So-so, who had entered first, tried to step forward boldly, but a guard blocked her.

“So-so.”

I raised a hand to signal Wang So-so not to come any closer, then calmly looked at the warriors.

“The fact that you drew your swords……”

The warriors glared at me as though they wished to kill me.

“Means you consider me an intruder or a rogue, does it not?”

The eyes of the warriors holding their swords trembled.

Their expressions seemed to say they had realized their mistake.

“Then what are you doing? If you have drawn your swords, you should fight.”

“…….”

But they could not do that.

Damnably enough, I was a guest invited by the Master of the Silver River Merchant Guild.

“Do the guards of the Silver River Merchant Guild not charge even when a band of thieves attacks?”

At my words, the people standing in the long line began whispering one by one.

A single action like this would not crack the merchant guild’s credibility, but human beings originally loved tearing others down to an astonishing degree.

One could tell just by seeing them whisper about an upright person like me with a moniker like Black Flame Dragon.

And this was certainly not the situation the Silver River Merchant Guild desired.

STEP! STEP! STEP!

From inside the Silver River Merchant Guild, a group of men approached the entrance with footsteps that carried military discipline.

THUD!

At the sight of them driving their spears into the ground in unison, the murmuring people could not hide their surprise.

“It is the Mercury Hall!”

“They say he subdued the Soul-Chasing Stronghold alone.”

“Then where is Meteor Spear?”

Even as the voices of the people rose, the Mercury Hall members merely swept their unwavering gazes over the scene.

The man at the very front examined me with arrogant eyes, then looked at the warriors who had drawn their swords and asked,

“What is happening here?”

“H-Hall Master. Th-that man…… that fellow suddenly used violence without warning…….”

The Hall Master’s gaze pierced coldly into my face.

“Who dares, on this joyous day of the Silver River Merchant Guild…… Gasp! What is this!”

I stretched out my hand to seize his throat.

The Hall Master, who had been speaking, widened his eyes and retreated.

TAP, TAP TAP!

My hand, which had been reaching for his throat, moved like a snake again and pursued the nape of his neck.

“Please stop……!”

Perhaps deciding that he could not allow it to continue any longer, the Mercury Hall Master also unfolded Seizing Hands.

I did not know about his spear art, but his Seizing Hands were poor.

Well, even if he was the Hall Master of a merchant guild’s armed group, it was natural that he could not compare to a Hall Master of the Murim Alliance.

Then how had he subdued the Soul-Chasing Stronghold?

I unfolded White Phoenix Hand, struck away his hands twice, pressed his Numbing Acupoint, then seized his neck and lifted him high.

“Ghk, ghk─”

At the repeated sight, the warriors of the Silver River Merchant Guild looked as though they might faint.

“This mad……!”

SWISH─ SWISH─

The Mercury Hall members all launched themselves at once, occupying the eight directions and surrounding me.

They pointed their spearheads close, as though ready to put holes through my entire body at any moment with a single order.

“Release him at once!”

“Let go of the Hall Master!”

No matter what nonsense they spat, I held the trembling Hall Master by the neck and raised my Internal Energy.

Then I shouted toward the instigator who had to be somewhere inside the merchant guild.

“Is this how the Silver River Merchant Guild treats its guests!!!”

My voice was so loud that even my own ears hurt.

Among those waiting, a few could not endure it and collapsed while clutching their ears.

It must have been heard even inside the Silver River Merchant Guild.

Though I could not know for sure, quite a few faces must have stiffened.

There were probably at least five people who wanted to kill me right now.

Even so, I could not stop here.

Right now, I had to be the Black Path: simple, ignorant, and living however I pleased.

Yes. Right now, I was the Rising Star of the Black Path, the Joint Successor of the Black Path, the Black Flame Dragon recognized by the Black Thought Alliance Leader.

It was not enough to look merely angry because my pride had been wounded.

I had to act as though I would itch to death unless I behaved exactly as my mood demanded.

Just as those of the Black Path did.

“I came here by invitation of the Guild Master!!! Does the Silver River Merchant Guild treat a guest of its Guild Master in such a manner? Does Jin So-un seem so laughable to you!!!”

As I shouted while shaking the Hall Master in my hand like a bundle of straw, those who had been frowning at me one by one began to wear expressions of confusion, as though they could not understand how events had unfolded this way.

If I were someone who had come to ruin another person’s celebration, then this would be such an outrageous act that being skewered by spears would not be enough. Yet among them, there was no one who stepped forward courageously, only those who aimed their spears.

This was how things in the world originally worked.

When events did not unfold neatly according to the picture one had expected, people began wanting to assign justification even to abnormal behavior, wondering whether there must be some circumstance behind it.

“Daaamn it!!! Who is in charge here!!! Tell the person in charge to come out!!!”

The faces of the warriors aiming swords and spears around me twisted like people who had unwillingly tasted dung.

That was why they should not have provoked someone who had his eyes lit up, looking for a reason to find fault.

“What is this commotion!”

The necks of the Silver River Merchant Guild warriors turned in unison.

Then, as if they had met their savior, they called out to him desperately.

“Young Guild Master!!!”

“You have arrived! That outrageous man dared, in the Silver River Merchant Guild……!”

Before the warriors could continue speaking, the man raised a rigid hand and clenched it into a fist.

Then, as though all their mouths had been sewn shut, they pressed their lips tightly together.

Without taking his gaze from me, the Young Guild Master spoke in a low voice.

“Who are you?”

This rude bastard, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, did not even introduce himself first and immediately began questioning me.

“And who are you?”

At my informal speech, veins rose on the man’s broad forehead.

“Did you not just hear? I am Jeong So-gun of the Silver River Merchant Guild.”

When Jeong So-gun revealed his name, murmurs quickly spread through the crowd.

“Meteor Spear Jeong So-gun!”

“Do they mean Jeong So-gun, the Great Hall Master of the Black Tortoise Pavilion?”

“They say it only took him ten years to rise to Great Hall Master, do they not?”

“I heard he could have risen even higher, but returned to inherit the merchant guild.”

The people were more interested in meeting a famous person than in the serious situation before them.

Well, it could be fascinating.

After all, for the spectators, this was not such a serious situation.

Jeong So-gun himself was busy glaring at me.

Even though he had revealed his identity, I took no action. More precisely, I did not lower myself, and that seemed very displeasing to him.

“Do you not intend to state your name?”

“Your ears must be strange. I just shouted loudly enough to shake the Silver River Merchant Guild.”

“……Must be strange?”

The corner of Jeong So-gun’s eyes trembled.

“It seems the Academy nowadays does not even teach basic manners.”

I feigned innocence.

“Do you know me?”

“I have long heard the rumor that the Rising Star of the Black Path, the Black Flame Dragon, is serving as Academy Representative. In our time, such a thing would have been unimaginable.”

He subtly reminded me that he had also come from the Academy, emphasizing the relationship between senior and junior.

It was far too shallow, and his intent was plainly visible.

At his laughable attack, I snorted.

He had probably never experienced a gambling den where all sorts of mind games and schemes ran rampant over a missing one silver tael, with people threatening to kill and spare one another.

Truly, flowers raised in greenhouses were sloppy.

“Ah! So you were my senior.”

When I scratched my head and put on an innocent expression, a smile quickly appeared on his lips.

“The mistake you committed today will be conveyed to my classmates in the Murim Alliance…….”

“But how did the warriors of the Silver River Merchant Guild not know my identity, when even you, the Young Guild Master, knew it, senior? How did they create this mess?”

“What?”

“Is this the extent of the Silver River Merchant Guild’s standards, when it is called one of the Four Great Merchant Guilds under Heaven, senior?”

If he attacked me, I would attack the Silver River Merchant Guild, which was his pride.

And at that attack, Jeong So-gun’s face flushed bright red.

But Jeong So-gun did not merely suffer in silence.

His gaze turned toward my hand.

“……Do you intend to kill the Hall Master of the Mercury Hall?”

There, the Hall Master had foam at his mouth and his eyes rolled back.

Tsk. I had not intended to go this far.

Because of that bastard Jeong So-gun, the man’s condition had ended up like this.

“If you do not intend to kill him, return him.”

At his words, which sounded as though he was asking for an object, I threw the Hall Master in my hand toward Jeong So-gun.

Jeong So-gun received him like a piece of luggage, quickly assessed his condition, and pressed his Acupoint to wake him.

“……K-khak, Y-Young Guild Master. I-I apologize.”

“Can you stand?”

“Pardon? Ah! Yes! I-I can stand now.”

The Mercury Hall Master, who had regained his senses in Jeong So-gun’s arms, hurriedly rose with staggering steps as though trying to perform his role.

Then,

THUD THUD THUD THUD!

“Guhahk!”

In an instant, four punches left clear marks on the Hall Master’s Vital Acupoints, and the Hall Master, who had only just managed to stand by his own strength, collapsed while vomiting blood.

From the nearby people to the warriors, everyone’s eyes widened.

“How dare you cast a shadow over the Silver River Merchant Guild’s commemorative event! Can you call yourself the Hall Master of the Mercury Hall when you could not even prevent such an incident!!!”

At that stern roar, the Hall Master, who had vomited a handful of blood, forced himself to rise once more.

With a battered appearance that made him look as though he might die at any moment, the Mercury Hall Master bowed his head deeply.

“I-I apologize, Young Guild Master!”

“What are you all doing? Remove this man and everyone who failed to prevent the incident!!!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the thunderous order, the Mercury Hall members who had been standing by led the warriors who had been blocking the entrance and the Hall Master inside.

Jeong So-gun spoke to me with an indifferent expression, erasing even the faintest sign that he had been agitated a moment ago.

“I apologize for the shortcomings in the management of the event.”

As he said that, Jeong So-gun merely inclined his head.

I had expected him to at least cup his fist.

‘An interesting bastard.’

He had identified what the problem was, and seemed to know where the cause lay as well.

Yet Jeong So-gun did not reprimand the warriors for failing to recognize me until the end.

He only reprimanded them for failing to stop the “incident” I had caused.

I could hear the sound of his head turning all the way from here.

“However, even if there was a problem, you must also know that your conduct, lowering the other party’s honor to the ground through such outrageous behavior, was clearly wrong.”

In doing so, he subtly rebuked me for acting excessively.

‘So he did not rise to Great Hall Master merely because of his father’s support?’

These were aspects that had not been written in Mantongbu’s documents.

“Furthermore, officials from Beijing have come here by invitation of the Guild Master. How do you intend to take responsibility for causing such a disturbance?”

The more I listened, the more this bastard kept crossing the line.

Did he think I was a stone-headed fool just because I had imitated the Black Path a little?

“Why should I take responsibility?”

“……Your voice is loud.”

Because this is not something I am saying for you to hear.

I infused a little more Internal Energy into my voice, in case anyone failed to hear.

“You sent your own younger sister all the way to Taeul Sect and invited me again and again, three times. Then you told me I was not on the list and ordered me to enter through the side gate. Was that truly because the Silver River Merchant Guild was incompetent?”

I swept my gaze once over the assembly, then fixed my eyes on Jeong So-gun’s face and raised the corner of my mouth.

“Or was it to insult me?”

“…….”

“Am I truly the one who must take responsibility?”

Jeong So-gun glared at me silently for a long while before barely opening his mouth.

“……How rash. To exchange your future for a moment’s pride.”

What was he talking about?

As though there was nothing more to see, Jeong So-gun turned away.

He strode to the scholar at the entrance and slapped him hard across the face.

SMACK!

Before the scholar who had been struck like a bolt from the blue could even rise, Jeong So-gun went inside.

“Receive the guests properly!”

“Yes, sir!”

Only then did the warriors who had drawn their swords bow their heads all at once and line up before me.

With courteous posture and hostile expressions.

As though it were only natural, I followed that path into the Silver River Merchant Guild.

Wang So-so also began walking close beside me.

Within the Silver River Merchant Guild, which had been noisy and bustling, silence flowed, and the uncomfortable gazes of the people gathered toward us.

Perhaps those gazes made her uneasy, for Wang So-so asked in an anxious voice,

“Brother Jin. The Silver River Merchant Guild has deep ties to High Officials and Nobles in Beijing……. Far beyond what Wang Estate can compare to.”

I knew what she was worried about.

The law of Jianghu was that government and Murim did not interfere with each other, but whether one operated a merchant guild or a sect, one could never be completely free of the government’s influence.

If the government determinedly set out to interfere, one could not know how troublesome things would become.

However,

“Do not worry. In the end, no one will move unless the Master of the Silver River Merchant Guild steps forward.”

“Pardon?”

“If people of higher standing than the Guild Master had come, the Guild Master would have come out long ago. That Young Guild Master fellow would not have used violence against his subordinates as though trying to create an atmosphere of fear either.”

A one hundred eightieth anniversary commemorative event?

It was not the two hundredth anniversary, nor the hundredth, but an ambiguous event. One might call a troupe, but one would not call a superior whose mood one had to watch.

If one made a mistake, someone else could act as the host at an event where I was supposed to be the protagonist.

“To put it the other way around, most of the officials participating in this event are people who need to look good before the Guild Master.”

“Ha…… Could it be that you calculated all of this from the beginning?”

“I predicted some of it, and calculated some of it in real time.”

Wang So-so looked up at me with eyes filled with shock.

“Wow…… just as Senior Sister Sa-ryeon said, your petty schemes really do work well.”

“…….”

What was this? Was that praise?

It could not be an insult, could it?

“This way.”

The warrior guiding us pointed to a hall crowded with people.

At a glance, it seemed like a place where five or six people were grouped into each room.

They had truly prepared all sorts of things.

To go to such lengths to break my spirit.

It seemed I was a greater person than I thought.

“Surely this is not where we are supposed to stay?”

“……Pardon?”

The warrior’s eyes shook violently.

I did not know how elaborate a stage they had arranged to mock me, but the Silver River Merchant Guild had made a major mistake.

“I came here by invitation of the Guild Master!!! Yet you are telling me to stay in lodging like this?!!!”

No matter what stage they had prepared, I would turn it all into a complete mess.

“Daaamn it! Who is in charge here!!! Tell the person in charge to come out!!!!”