Chapter 4
Make amends.
You can turn things around.
You can overturn it.
That’s how the world works.
Helping is not difficult. Giving money is not difficult. The Everlasting Snow Palace is powerful and wealthy.
But teaching someone how to gain strength and earn money is different.
That is something one must decide for themselves.
No one can help with the first step.
That was something he hadn’t understood. He regretted not knowing it sooner.
Nevertheless, there were those who had supported Yawoon Sang.
Those two, at least. Maybe more, but for now, it didn’t matter. He was confident he could weed them all out.
Seol Unhui, lost in thought for a moment, continued speaking in a calm tone.
“The Cheongun Merchant Guild. It may not be the biggest guild in all of Zhongyuan, but in a rural place like Seolap, it’s significant. There’s no way Yawoon Sang controlled it alone. Judging by your faces full of discontent toward me, the one who killed him, and your desperate defense of him, I can put the pieces together.”
A chilling smile spread across Seol Unhui’s lips.
“Did you embezzle money with him?”
“……That… that is…”
“Seems like I was right.”
There was no need for further discussion.
“That’s enough.”
With lightning speed, Seol Unhui drew the dagger from his waist.
Puk!
He plunged it into Kang Sang’s side.
The Flash Void Needle Technique (閃虛一針術).
It was a martial art unique to Unhui, an adaptation of the Ghost Gate’s Phantom Dagger Technique (幽魂一匕術).
The original Phantom Dagger Technique was an assassination skill that concealed one’s intent to kill, moving like a shadow to strike at vital points. However, it required extensive preparation.
First, suppressing one’s killing intent consumed unnecessary inner energy. Second, there was no guarantee of a fatal strike in one attack. Third, mastering the concealment technique took time. Fourth, its complex forms created a high barrier to entry.
Unhui simplified it to the extreme.
Instead of concealing intent, he focused entirely on sudden ambushes. He explosively channeled his inner energy to achieve near-peak physical speed in the blink of an eye. He minimized preparation movements.
The dagger placement was precise.
Three chi (about 9 cm) to the left from the lower back.
Four chi (about 12 cm) to the right.
No ordinary warrior could possibly block such an attack.
“Urgh… khh…”
Kang Sang groaned in pain.
A little deeper, and it would pierce his heart.
Unhui asked calmly.
“Does it hurt?”
“M-my lord…”
Kang Sang wanted to live. Clutching Unhui’s arm in desperation, he pleaded with tearful eyes, begging for mercy.
Unhui’s lips curled into a gentle smile.
“Do you want to live?”
“Khh… Yes… Yes…”
“Yet, despite embezzling money and challenging my authority, do you think you deserve to live?”
“Everything… khh… it’s in the storage… please…”
Storage?
“So kind of you to tell me where you stashed the money. Turns out, you’re dumber than I thought.”
Whether it was truly in the storage or not didn’t matter.
Unhui could search every possible location.
He pushed the dagger deeper.
Puk.
“Khh…”
Kang Sang’s heart was pierced.
His body slumped to the ground. Unhui grabbed his hair, yanked the dagger from his heart, and drove it into his neck.
Puk.
Blood sprayed.
With a twist, a cracking sound echoed as Kang Sang’s neck snapped.
Unhui withdrew the dagger and turned.
A bald man trembled violently.
Usang Hyeon.
Unhui, holding the blood-dripping dagger, stepped toward him.
With each step Unhui took, Usang Hyeon took one backward.
“M-my lord… I… I really had no intention… It was all Yawoon Sang’s orders…”
“Oh? So you thought you could defy my authority, take over the guild, and get away with it? Quite the talent you have there.”
“B-but… the Ice Snow Sword Trace will come for you. I know all of Yawoon Sang’s secrets. I have spoken with him privately. I can persuade them.”
Unhui chuckled.
“Ah, so you were worried about me? How considerate of you. I’m touched.”
Backed into a scarecrow in the training ground’s corner, Usang Hyeon found himself face-to-face with Unhui.
They were about six chi apart (about 180 cm). Though Unhui was slightly shorter, it didn’t matter.
A perfect distance to pierce a throat with a dagger.
“Any last words?”
“…Y-yes… I do.”
“Save them for the afterlife.”
“…Huh?”
Puk!
Unhui’s dagger punctured Usang Hyeon’s throat.
Silence filled the training ground.
He didn’t care what they thought of him.
He wasn’t going to live his life worrying about their opinions. There was no reason to.
A position exists for a reason.
This was how it should be.
Especially in a backwater village like Seolap, only one person needed to be in charge.
More than one would only cause trouble. Now, things were back to normal. What else was needed?
Surveying the onlookers, Unhui pointed at a man.
“You. Two steps forward.”
A burly man gulped and stepped forward.
“Your name?”
“…Cheonpung.”
“You have a task. Select five subordinates and loot the residences of Yawoon Sang and those two.”
Yawoon Sang’s name was clear in his mind, but the other two? He had already forgotten.
It was natural. Forgettable men didn’t deserve space in his memory.
Cheonpung clasped his hands in a salute and quickly picked five men.
They seemed uncertain. Perhaps their rank wasn’t significantly lower than Cheonpung’s.
It didn’t matter.
Though Unhui’s current cultivation level was only at the Jucheon stage, he could recognize potential worthy of Five Qi Foundations.
Soon, the five subordinates dashed off. Cheonpung approached Unhui.
“I instructed them to retrieve everything from their residences. Also, there’s a ledger.”
“A ledger?”
“Yes. Yawoon Sang kept a personal record. It should be there.”
“In his residence… Are the five men reliable?”
“…Uh… probably?”
Unhui sighed.
“The first step in any task is identifying the priority. What’s the most crucial thing right now?”
“…The ledger.”
“That ledger contains all his dealings, names of his accomplices.”
“…”
“I chose you because I saw potential in you. This is an opportunity, and you know it. So, what will you do?”
Cheonpung swallowed hard.
“…I’ll retrieve it personally.”
“Ensure it remains intact.”
“Of course.”
“And next time, don’t make me say something so obvious. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Go.”
Cheonpung sprinted off.
Unhui glanced around.
“The rest, follow me.”
Their destination—the Cheongun Merchant Guild.
