“Are you feeling a bit calmer now?”

At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Hwangin nodded and replied,

“Yes, thanks to you.”

But despite his words, Hwangin’s heart was still pounding wildly.

In the heat of the crisis, it hadn’t trembled this much—it had passed in a frenzy.

Now that everything was over and he truly realized how close he had come to death, his heart was beating like crazy.

Unable to return to his usual state of mind, he was drinking water in Geom Mugeuk’s room.

He gulped down the water but then started choking. After coughing several times, he finally settled down. The events that had just occurred felt like a dream. He still couldn’t quite believe he had almost died.

“The martial art you displayed at the end… No, it’s nothing.”

He closed his eyes, so he hadn’t seen it directly, but he kept his mouth shut, feeling it wasn’t his place to ask recklessly.

Recalling how the Jeongwi had died earlier made his breath quicken again.

Though he didn’t know much about martial arts, he understood one thing: those people were not ones to die easily.

The martial art this man had displayed before his eyes must have been the peerless divine art of the Sinbise family.

“What should we do now?”

With Jeonnak dead, a new worry fell upon Hwangin.

“If Jeonnak’s death becomes known, the terrifying man he spoke of will be the first to come for me.”

Jeonnak had been frightening enough, but how much scarier must be the man who frightened him? He might just soil his pants.

Should he just run far away?

He briefly considered it, but he couldn’t. What could he do after abandoning Hwangdo Trading Company?

“Please stay with me. We must not be apart even for a moment.”

“That’s impossible. Every moment now is precious for me. I have no time to spend with you.”

“What will you do if that man comes? Jeonnak’s death will have to be reported, so he won’t come immediately. Or will he? If unlucky, he might just suddenly show up while passing by.”

At that moment, Geom Mugeuk suddenly asked,

“Is only that man scary, but I’m not?”

Hwangin flinched. Come to think of it, this was the man who killed Jeonnak and the Jeongwi in a single move.

If anyone should be feared, it was this man.

For some reason, he had felt comfortable and had briefly forgotten how terrifying this person truly was. He was not someone to whine or beg like this.

“I’m sorry.”

Hwangin bowed his head. Seeing his discouraged demeanor, Geom Mugeuk said,

“If anyone comes looking for you, bring them to me.”

Hwangin’s expression brightened. He had been so afraid that Geom Mugeuk would say this was not his problem.

Now, this was the only person he could trust.

“By the way, what about the remaining Jeongwi?”

“We’ll take care of them, don’t worry.”

Those words inspired trust.

Through the window, the courtyard was visible. The corpses that had been scattered earlier were all gone. Not a drop of blood remained on the ground.

Just as the Jeongwi who had entered the building had disappeared, so too had the corpses—all cleaned up quickly and thoroughly by Hui. People who handled things like this were trustworthy.

Feeling reassured, Hwangin spoke cautiously.

“I hope the deal I mentioned earlier can continue.”

He did not want to miss this opportunity no matter what. Now that he had confirmed how powerful the martial arts were firsthand, he was even more reluctant to let it go.

“You said your dream was to become the owner of the Cheonhajeil Trading Company?”

“Yes.”

“Is that sincere?”

“If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have joined hands with someone like Jeonnak.”

Geom Mugeuk stared into his eyes and asked,

“So it wasn’t because it wasn’t sincere that you joined hands?”

Struck at the core, Hwangin remained silent as Geom Mugeuk continued.

“I don’t know much about the trading world, but I know this: to become the owner of Cheonhajeil Trading Company, you must be a person worthy of that position.”

Hwangin listened quietly.

“I believe your dream must exclude Jeonnak, me, your father, and that terrifying man coming later.”

Hwangin couldn’t understand what he meant.

“Then what must be in that dream?”

“There must be a merchant. A merchant capable of leading Cheonhajeil Trading Company. A merchant with trust and honor, negotiation skills and crisis management abilities, intelligence and leadership, insight into the world, and the ability to read people. Is there room for anything else? Is there room for the stench of blood and this cold sword?”

Hwangin’s face reddened with shame. When he asked himself what he possessed among the qualities Geom Mugeuk had just listed, he could not answer confidently with any.

After a long moment of reflection, Hwangin made up his mind.

“I want to start anew and join hands with the Joo Sword Clan. May I send them a new agreement?”

Geom Mugeuk could tell that Hwangin was not a hopeless man.

So he nodded. It was not really a permission for Hwangin, but for Joo Hyangwol of the Joo Sword Clan.

She must still be worrying about how to handle this matter. The Joo Sword Clan still faced difficulties and needed to be reborn through this opportunity.

Thus, this one phrase was meant for Joo Hyangwol.

“I will be watching.”

He knew well what that meant: don’t mess around. Hwangin bowed respectfully.

“Thank you for your permission. Then I will take my leave.”

Walking out into the courtyard where corpses had lain just moments ago, Geom Mugeuk gave one last piece of advice.

“Don’t let dreams blind you to reality. Your world is not here but there. I will vanish like smoke, but the Joo Sword Clan will remain.”

The next morning, I headed to my father’s quarters.

“Father, may I come in?”

“Come on in.”

Inside, he was reviewing several letters.

They were dispatches from Sima Myung sent from the main branch. These urgent letters concerned matters requiring my father’s approval.

“Are you still working even after coming out?”

“You should sit in my place someday.”

I waved my hand exaggeratedly.

“I don’t want to. Please leave it to me much, much later.”

“You expect me to keep enduring this hardship?”

After a moment, I asked my father,

“If I take over, will you go on outings? If you promise that, I’ll consider it.”

He said nothing.

Not wanting to prolong the awkward silence, I smiled and changed the subject.

“Alright then, let me practice a bit. Is there anything I can help with?”

My father handed me one of the letters. It contained recent developments of a certain family.

Finally, my father revealed our target.

“We’re heading to Shanxi because of the Geumryong Family.”

The name was far more grand than I had expected.

Geumryong Family.

They were among the top five wealthiest families in the Central Plains—a symbol of immense riches.

They were not just rich but powerful in martial arts as well. Geumryong Family’s head, Geum Cheonbang, was well-versed in commerce and a supreme master of the family’s secret martial art, Geumryong Divine Art. Consequently, many strong warriors followed him.

“For some time, the Geumryong Family has been covertly absorbing trading companies and running them.”

It was not unusual for wealthy families to secretly take over trading companies. The problem lay beyond that.

“The Hwangdo Trading Company was one of those.”

My father nodded.

“They expanded the trading companies forcibly using martial artists and made a lot of money. But that money didn’t go to the Geumryong Family.”

“So that huge money was siphoned off somewhere else.”

Sima Myung, having sensed the strange movements of the Geumryong Family, began an investigation and found clues linking them to a hidden power.

Considering what the hidden power had shown so far, it would have to be a family like Geumryong to handle it.

“The person coming this time must be the one secretly responsible for the Geumryong Family’s external affairs.”

Since it was ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ conducted secretly, the dead Jeongwi were probably not Geumryong’s direct martial artists, but hired from outside.

Except for Jeonnak, they likely didn’t even know they belonged to Geumryong.

“Since this involves large financial support, the head of the family must approve. That means this hidden power is either someone who can persuade the head or…”

After a pause, he added,

“…has already grasped the power of the Geumryong Family.”

Joo Sword Clan’s head, Im Sohwa, entered her daughter’s quarters.

Her daughter, Joo Hyangwol, was sitting at her desk, looking at something. Surprisingly, it was a book. When was the last time she had seen her daughter reading a book?

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, you’re here?”

Since the day she met the successor of Hwangdo Trading Company, her daughter had shown a different demeanor than usual.

“I was reading a book detailing the contract.”

“Why?”

“Hwangdo Trading Company sent a new agreement in advance.”

“Let me see.”

Im Sohwa read the agreement.

She lost focus quickly after a few lines. Martial arts manuals were fun to read all night, but this kind of writing was truly dull.

“So I was looking up words I didn’t understand.”

She hadn’t expected Hwangdo Trading Company to send a new agreement.

She wondered what scheme this was.

“This time, they sent an agreement with no poison clauses.”

“Do you understand it?”

In the past, she would have snapped at that question, feeling it was dismissive.

But now, in her hands was a paper with the words “Don’t get angry” written at the top.

Was it because she was trying not to get angry?

From her mother’s point of view, it was understandable. Yes, it was possible.

Below “Don’t get angry” was the phrase:

Yes, it is possible.

“Don’t worry. I won’t sign it like this but will verify it again.”

“With whom?”

“With someone who knows about these things. I’ll tell you after I return.”

Im Sohwa was angry. She wondered why her daughter would investigate such things without understanding them.

But she had no chance to scold her. Somehow, her daughter’s attitude toward her was different from usual.

The usually sharp-tongued daughter now spoke softly and calmly, making it impossible to burst out in anger suddenly.

“I’ll be back! Oh, and please eat well!”

Im Sohwa was most surprised by her daughter’s last words. When had she ever heard her say to eat well? Had she ever? Now, she was worried about her daughter.

Joo Hyangwol’s expression was bright as she left the Sword Clan.

Since she had ended the conversation with her mother without raising voices again, she felt proud.

By speaking gently with the intention to endure, there was no reason to fight.

Of course, she still felt the tension that it might all erupt once properly.

“You may sign the agreement.”

At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Joo Hyangwol was pleased. She had asked him to check the agreement sent by Hwangin, and the results matched what she had found.

“They changed their mind all thanks to you.”

“No. It is because Joo Sojae asked me for help.”

Had she not sought Geom Mugeuk’s help at the inn that day, her fate would have been different.

“My relationship with Mother has improved too. So I’m rather uneasy. I worry that all the built-up feelings might explode at once.”

Geom Mugeuk asked casually,

“What if it explodes?”

His solution was simple.

“Ten explosions have been reduced to one.”

“What if it builds up and explodes?”

When she worried about the explosion being tenfold, Geom Mugeuk cut the fuse cleanly.

“Endure, and endure again. If it explodes, it might explode big. Did you endure today with your mother?”

Recalling the conversation with her mother, she shook her head.

She hadn’t suppressed her feelings harshly but had tried to see her mother differently. That was also possible.

“Then it will be alright. What you worry about is an illusion.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a common misconception. People think that when relations are good and then break, the explosion will be big.”

“Isn’t that true?”

“On the contrary, if you keep having small fights, eventually there will be a big one. Even small fights, though seeming trivial, leave scars on hearts and raise tension. Conversely, if you keep good relations, any big explosion will be smaller. Don’t doubt the power of the good words exchanged moment by moment.”

The last words especially resonated with her. She still felt good about ending the conversation with her mother without raising voices.

Joo Hyangwol looked at him intently as if her eyes said,

“How can you say such things so well?”

“It would take a very long time to learn. I spent my whole life becoming who I am now.”

“Then I’ll be going. Thank you very much today.”

At her farewell, Geom Mugeuk said,

“Since you’re here, go see the safest vault in the martial world before you leave.”

He sensed she wanted to see her father but couldn’t bring herself to say so.

“Father is taking a walk in the backyard. Let’s go.”

As they walked toward the backyard, she stopped suddenly.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll just go today. Please give him my regards later.”

“Very well.”

Her steps quickened unconsciously as she turned away. It wasn’t because seeing him reminded her of her father, but because she felt she shouldn’t meet him.

Watching her figure disappearing into the distance, Geom Mugeuk muttered softly. Though his gaze was on her, his words were meant for someone watching from afar.

“How good it feels to come out to the Central Plains. And to see such popularity. Father, when we go to Shanxi, let’s have a popularity contest.”

Though he couldn’t see his father’s face now, he could imagine it.

His proud expression refusing such a contest.