Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Nom nom nom!

Nom nom nom nom nom!

The scene couldn’t be adequately described with the word ‘eating’.

Phrases like munching or inhaling seemed more appropriate.

The issue was that more than one person was now inhaling the food.

“Bring the duck meat here!”

“Bring me alcohol, please!”

“How dare this fool touch my meat?”

“Who said it’s your meat! The one who eats first claims it!”

Plates were flying, and food was disappearing in the blink of an eye. Then, a new plate would replace it.

“Ahuu! Yes, this is the food that people eat!”

“Now that I’ve transitioned from grazing on grass to eating meat, I think I’m going to live a little better now!”

“Alcohol! I need more alcohol!”

Song Tae-Ak just stared at the scene with a blank expression on his face.

‘Did I hear all this correctly?’

These swarming creatures were coming in and devouring his food.

Regardless, if one was human, shouldn’t they have some manners? Even if they came to sell their wealth, it wasn’t polite to eat like this.

And if Song Tae-Ak was his usual self, he would have never allowed this to happen.

Yes, his usual self.

But this was…

“Mister! Are you saying that we’re running out of alcohol?”

“Huh?”

“Alcohol! I said alcohol!”

“Alcohol! Ah? Right, I understand! You people! Shouldn’t he have more alcohol!”

Song Tae-Ak shouted with his eyes lit up. Mo Wan, shocked by the shouting, hurriedly ran over.

“M-master! We’re out of alcohol.”

“What? Are we out of alcohol? We’re running out of alcohol from the warehouse! Does that make sense?”

“I-it’s not that. All the alcohol we took out for consumption is gone. All that’s left now is for sale…”

Song Tae-Ak closed his eyes tightly.

It would be a different matter if he didn’t know this, but there surely had to be more than 50 bottles of alcohol that weren’t taken for sale. Could that much alcohol not even last half an hour?

‘Even a cow wouldn’t drink this much alcohol.’

Was a person drinking this, or a ghost?

“W-what should we do?”

“… isn’t there some left for delivery?”

“Yes, that’s true, but….”

“Bring all of it!”

“M-master. Those are very expensive ones. If we give them now, we would suffer a loss….”

“You!”

Song Tae-Ak gritted his teeth.

“Do you realize who these people are? They are the heroes and warriors who defeated the bandits! If rumors spread that we, the Golden Boat Merchants representing Hubei, were not treating the heroes of Hubei properly, what shame would we have to face!”

“T-that….”

“Stop your nonsense and bring them right away!”

“I-I understand!”

“Hurry up!”

“Yes!”

Song Tae-Ak’s cheeks trembled.

‘Shame my ass!’

The financial situation of the merchants wasn’t good, and if they wasted alcohol, they might have to tighten their belts for a while.

But Song Tae-Ak was their master.

As a merchant, one had to be bolder when it came to being bold. If they went to buy alcohol from a nearby shop, they wouldn’t be able to win the hearts of their customers.

When it came to giving, one had to give until they had nothing left.

“I will bring the alcohol right now, so I hope the heroes of Mount Hua will be patient.”

“Who is this guy?”

“No idea.”

“…”

Song Tae-Ak was on the verge of tears.

‘Are these really from Mount Hua?’

Of course, their black uniforms and the plum blossom engraved on them clearly showed that they belonged to Mount Hua…

No.

No matter how much he looked, they seemed like bandits?

“Ohhh! Monk Hae Yeon downed a whole bowl!”

“Woah! You drank that in one go, without stopping!”

Song Tae-Ak gave up thinking anymore when he saw the bald-headed man in the corner just gulp down a large bucket of alcohol. This was something he couldn’t understand by thinking or worrying.

“Kuak.”

A short exclamation of satisfaction came from behind. Song Tae-Ak turned around. He saw Chung Myung gulping down a bottle of alcohol while sitting next to the elders of Mount Hua.

Song Tae-Ak, who rushed over to him, moved as if he had no bones in his body.

“Oh my, Taoists! I didn’t know what food you would like, but please try these.”

Hyun Sang cleared his throat and smiled softly.

“We just came here to sell goods and leave. We didn’t expect you to be this welcoming. I am grateful, lord.”

“No, no! What are you even saying!”

Song Tae-Ak responded with a straight face.

“If Mount Hua hadn’t taken down those bandits, the people of Hubei would still be trembling in fear. So how could I not look after the people of Mount Hua?”

This wasn’t something he said lightly.

The situation was the same even without considering the people of Hubei. Because of the mountain bandits who lurked in the outermost mountains of Hubei, the merchant alliance didn’t dare cross the mountain for business.

This alone would bring them an enormous financial boom if they could now use the path. So compared to that, this amount of spending was nothing.

Right. Surely this was nothing…

“Kya, this is such a fine alcohol.”

“…”

But he couldn’t help but feel sick at the sight of Chung Myung, who was gulping down the expensive alcohol-like water.

“Haha.”

Hyun Young smiled happily.

“My heart is filled with joy because the lord of the merchant union is looking after Mount Hua like this.”

“Not just me, but all the people of Hubei wouldn’t even think twice about praising Mount Hua. I might not dare represent Hubei, but I would like to take this chance to thank you all again.”

Song Tae-Ak lowered himself again and bowed.

“Hmm.”

“Haha.”

The Mount Hua elders sitting at the top of the table blushed slightly.

When had they ever been treated like this?

They had longed for this since their childhood. They had hoped that somehow all of Mount Hua’s troubles would be solved and the name of Mount Hua would become known to the world.

This was an indescribable feeling of their lifelong dream, which they always assumed to be impossible, finally being realized in the last years of their lives.

But.

“It is done.”

There were bound to be people in the world who had hearts made of steel, so they would be emotionless and not feel anything, too.

“So, is the appraisal done?”

“Ah… are you talking about the wealth you brought?”

“Yes.”

Song Tae-Ak hesitated, looking a bit troubled.

“I am sorry to say this, but… the items which you have brought are so diverse and numerous that it isn’t easy to put a price on them at once.”

“Ahh.”

“If you could wait for a day or two, we will truly get it done…”

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung put down the bottle and contorted his face.

“Excuse me, merchant lord.”

“Uh?”

“Why do you think we came here?”

“…”

The voice was of disapproval.

“It would be much more convenient for us to take this to Shaanxi. So why did we come here?”

“Well, to quickly dispose of them and….”

“You know that. Then what? Two days?”

“…”

“Ehh. No use. I thought you were something special because you are called the best in Hubei. Guys, pack your bags! Let’s just head home!”

“N-No! Taoist! Please! Two days! When did I ever say anything like that! One day! Just one day is enough.”

“One day?”

Chung Myung tilted his head.

“Sahyung. Jo Gul sahyung!”

“Uh?”

“Is there any merchant union nearby?”

“Hmm. Hubei is at the center of commerce, so even if not them, there should be a couple more right.”

“The closest?”

“It is close by. Called the Great Bird Merchant.”

“Pack the bags then. Let’s go there!”

When Chung Myung got up, Song Tae-Ak was scared and quickly threw himself down.

“T-taoist! Ehh, why are you doing this!”

“Let go. Won’t you let go!”

Chung Myung shouted.

“No, I! I came here thinking that good ones are good, but who does this guy think he is? What emotions? Relax? Ah, is that so? We are heroes who took down the bandits, so why should we care about time and money? Ehh, spit! I won’t even pee in the direction of Hubei anymore! Oh my, let’s go home, people!”

“N-No, it isn’t like that!”

Song Tae-Ack began to sweat.

No matter how popular they were in Hubei, they had a name, but more importantly, they had a business to run. Because no one would want to do business with someone who only cares about money for the union and not the customer.

And if Mount Hua went out after saying all this, then what would happen to their name and fame, and what would people think?

Song Tae-Ak wouldn’t lose much from this, but he bit off more than he could chew by talking to them. How on earth would he have the guts to discuss money with those who just took down the most fearsome bandits?

‘I thought the God of Wealth had come.’

But this was a devil who came, and Chung Myung asked.

“So what now?”

“I-I will have it all done right away! Right away!”

“How much?”

Song Tae-Ak’s eyes trembled.

‘How much?’

How much should he say?

To be honest, he wasn’t doing this because he didn’t know how much the items cost. It was better to be certain and get this done than hold Mount Hua here.

‘I guess I can just give a bit more,’

These people weren’t bandits, so why would they hurt the merchants?

“T-them f-four hundred…”

“Uh?”

At that moment, Chung Myung’s eyes flashed in anger.

“F-four hundred and ten….”

“Huh. Still, you are someone in the top ten merchants and acting horribly!”

“… F-four hundred and twenty! Nothing more! We are at the lowest now!”

“Six hundred.”

“Uh?”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue.

“People need to have big hearts. So what now? Even the corner store merchant would spend more.”

“T-Taoist, we will be on the street if you take that much… I cannot accept that deal!”

“Is that so? Then seven hundred.”

“… Ah, no. What…”

“Instead.”

Chung Myung smiled.

“I will give you the exclusive rights to sell Yunnan tea in Hubei.”

The devastated expression on Song Tae-Ak’s face, as if he had seen a ghost, vanished.

“… Are you serious?”

Chung Myung smiled as he looked at Song Tae-Ak, who was now in his merchant mode.

‘Right, this is one of the top ten merchants in the Central Plains.’

“Ah, whatever. Actually, our merchants know how to transport tea, but selling them is quite difficult, so we are looking for a suitable one.”

“…”

“I heard that this is a famous place for tea. Right?”

Song Tae-Ak’s eyes shone.

‘They didn’t come here by accident.’

They didn’t come to the nearest place. This man came here for this chance to pop up.

‘I was wondering why Mount Hua was being called this famous.’

If there were people like this, he would naturally make a name for himself too.

“One thousand.”

“Oh?”

“Instead!”

Frowning, Song Tae-Ak opened his mouth.

“Beijing. I want a monopoly in Beijing. Everything else is fine. I will give you another three hundred in exchange for Beijing.”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung looked at him with strange eyes.

“If you go that way, Wudang wouldn’t like it, though?”

“I am a merchant.”

But Song Tae-Ak was firm.

“If you don’t know how to grab a chance when it comes for you, you cannot be a merchant. I chase after truth, not ties.”

Chung Myung nodded as if he liked this.

“Nice then. Let’s do that.”

“Hahaha! You thought, well…”

“Then let’s settle on twelve hundred.”

“… Uh?”

For a moment, Song Tae-Ak looked like he had been hit. Chung Myung grinned.

“Since you’re willing to go up to a thousand, it seems like we can negotiate further. What do you think? It seems like an amount we can both be satisfied with.”

“…”

“Your response?”

“…”

“Your answer?”

“…Could you please lower it a bit?”

“Well, a slight reduction is acceptable.”

Song Tae-Ak tightly closed his eyes. Despite this, he could only suppress his tears at the thought of having money saved.