The information Nosanggae had was more extensive than he had thought.

The information he had shared so far was already quite a lot, but the books containing the investigation on the merchant association were a veritable mountain.

As expected of the Beggars' Sect.

He could see why they would be sad to be called second in the world when it came to digging up dirt on others.

But as he listened and read, the dirty tricks the merchant association had played to become the center of the commercial world, the dirty tricks they had played while in a relationship with the Yin Hand Chamber...

It was amazing.

They were truly guys who would stop at nothing for profit.

Was that all?

If they thought something was harmful, they would thoroughly destroy it.

With their vast capital.

Now that he looked at it, there was a reason why the Yin Hand Chamber's Okru-dang had taken over Saemgol.

The master brewer, Lee Ikhwan, who had opposed the merchant association and created a separate organization.

The merchant association had used the Yin Hand Chamber to oust him.

Because no matter who ran it, the profit the merchant association collected was the same.

And at the center of it, of course, was Go Hyeon.

Of course, it went without saying that he was directly or indirectly involved in the downfall of the Mandeok Estate.

Although it wasn't specified in the Beggars' Sect's investigation, that was Cheonyeong's strong suspicion after reading all the contents.

"So you're saying Go Hyeon manipulated the Ganyang commercial district as he pleased?"

"Well, that's about it."

"That's surprising for the sinister Yin Hand Chamber Master. He wouldn't have been unaware of the merchant association's doings."

"That's what money is."

"..."

"Unlike us martial artists, they know how to make money. And that money is the same as our swords."

"Hmph."

Cheonyeong, who had been thinking with a nod, stood up from his seat.

"Then we can just fight with money."

"Huh? What are you going to do?"

"Fight with money."

"..."

Nosanggae stared blankly at Cheonyeong, who answered calmly.

"Fight... with money? With merchants?"

"Yes."

"Are you mad?"

"I'm sane."

"You're sane... so why are you doing that?"

"What?"

"No, you're going to fight with money? Are you some kind of merchant?"

"I'm a martial artist."

"Then with what money are you going to fight?"

"Because they've picked a fight with me in that way."

Nosanggae raised his voice at Cheonyeong's answer, which was as if it were a matter of course.

"Nonsense! You are a martial artist! You have already declared yourself a martial family!"

"So what?"

"Don't you know the saying that a pine caterpillar must eat pine needles?"

"I do."

"And you're still saying that?"

He didn't know what kind of saying that was.

Isn't it common sense to fight with a sword if the opponent holds a sword, and with money if they hold money?

And I'm not a pine caterpillar.

"Look here, a martial family is a martial family. A merchant family is a merchant family."

"So?"

"A martial family does not fight with a merchant family!"

"Then we can just fight as a merchant family."

"Huh?"

"Is there a need to draw a line?"

"..."

"Even decent martial families run escort agencies, don't they? There are many places run by the vassal families of the Nine Sects."

"Well, that's true, but... an escort agency and a merchant group are..."

"Different? What's different?"

"..."

It was this way again.

This punk was surely about to say something that would leave him speechless.

Since he was a naturally smart punk.

Nosanggae, burning with the will not to lose the war of words this time, glared fiercely at Cheonyeong.

"In the end, it's all about people living."

"..."

"The Beggars' Sect also sells information to make money, don't they?"

"How is that and that the same?"

"What's so different? Whether you sell something tangible, something intangible, or sell martial arts for money. Everyone sells what they have and gets a fair price for it."

"..."

"Are Shaolin or Wudang different? How do they live? Do Shaolin monks live naked? Where do the robes they wear come from?"

"..."

"Nothing comes from nothing. They sell respect. Of course, they say they give help without compensation. While talking about doing the right thing... but in the end, because of that action, people make donations, and the vassal families that were taught martial arts come down from the mountains and offer the money they earned as tribute."

"..."

"There is no such thing as something for nothing."

He was at a loss for words.

He had been swayed again.

According to Cheonyeong's logic, there was no big difference between a martial family and a merchant family.

Because a martial family was as good as selling their strength in exchange for a price called donations.

"The Tang Family's estate will become the master of this Ganyang."

"...That's already."

"Not just the martial world, but the commercial world as well."

"Uh, uh?"

"That's a true master. Should I be wary of the merchant association while calling myself the master of Ganyang?"

"But that's not right. There's no logical problem with your words, but the world's view is not like that. The domains are strictly different. If you, who have declared yourself a martial family, touch the commercial world..."

"Let's just try breaking the domain once."

Nosanggae frowned at Cheonyeong's words.

"Look here. You're right. Whether it's a martial family or a merchant family, they all sell something. But, they don't do it as openly as you."

"...Then I'll be the first."

"What did you say?"

"I don't care who curses at me. Because the Tang family has decided to follow interests, not justification."

"How can a martial artist be such a snob..."

"A snob? That's right."

Lacking culture, narrow-minded, and only concerned with worldly profits...

"Still, it's not bad. I'd rather be evaluated as a snob. If that's the direction the Tang Family's estate is heading. It seems better to be a snob and live rich than a stupid pine caterpillar."

How could he not know what Cheonyeong meant by his words?

The direction he was heading seemed clear, without any room for confusion.

But he would not be acknowledged.

All the martial artists would point their fingers at them and treat them with contempt.

"They will consider you an Unorthodox Faction. You will be criticized."

"Then let them."

"..."

"In the end, it's just the gazes of others."

Cheonyeong smiled brightly, and Nosanggae just stared blankly.

Well, this kid was that kind of character.

"Hah, I really don't understand your thoughts. Where on earth are you planning to lead the Tang Family's estate?"

"Huh? You're a Beggars' Sect Branch Leader, and you still don't know that?"

"What?"

"Of course, the number one family under heaven!"

"Uh! What did you say?"

"Well, it's still a vague, dream-like story. Before that, we have to become the number one in Sichuan..."

Winking and smiling, Cheonyeong stood up.

"Now then, shall we try to become the number one family in Ganyang first?"

"..."

"Come visit later. I'll have a dog caught for you."

"Huh?"

"Our kids, perhaps because they lived as vagrants, are really good at catching dogs."

Cheonyeong waved his hand and left the Beggars' Sect branch.

An unpredictable punk.

He always tried to go his own way.

"Is his path a new path? Or, a path that will disappear?"

Tang Cheonyeong.

Even for Nosanggae, who had been through thick and thin, he was a type he had never experienced before.

Perhaps he was a type of warrior, and a family, that had not existed in the current martial world.

* * *

"Pardon?"

"What are you so surprised about?"

Cheonyeong spoke as if it were nothing, and everyone nodded, but one person was different.

"Family Head, it's reckless."

"What is?"

Ahn Chilgang, who had once belonged to the commercial world because he ran a business called Ahn-ga Mokhyang in the past, spoke with a worried voice.

"Yes, we can fight. I know well the tyranny of the merchant association."

"Then that's settled."

"It is. But, we have no money."

"..."

"Think about it. What is the most important thing to win a fight between martial artists?"

At Ahn Chilgang's question, the members of the Tang family said one by one.

"Hmm, martial arts?"

"A good weapon?"

"Innate strength?"

"That only applies to you!"

"Shut up! What's wrong with our Yongcheon? If you're so salty, you should have been born with strength too!"

Hwangsama frowned and added a word, but was scolded by Sanghui.

"Yes, that's right. As the retainers said, martial arts, weapons, strength, all are needed. And in a fight between merchants, all of those are money. So you need a lot of money. To have an equal fight with them."

Cheonyeong nodded at Ahn Chilgang's words.

"I know."

"Pardon?"

"So, I'm going to try to make some money from now on."

"Money... how?"

"By selling medicinal herbs and leather."

"Pardon?"

At Cheonyeong's words, Ahn Chilgang looked at the things the Hoyeon Brigade and the family members had brought back as a side income while doing survival training.

To think he would fight the merchant association by selling that.

The person who had learned the scariness of the world earlier than anyone else...

"How are you going to sell that?"

"..."

"The leather merchants, the medicinal herb merchants, they are all on the side of the merchant association."

"I know that too."

"You know?"

"Yes."

"By any chance, are you planning to sell on the streets like before? Do you think you can fight the merchant association with just that? It's a reckless fight."

Cheonyeong grinned slyly at Ahn Chilgang's worried words.

He understood the concern.

Everything he said was for his own good.

But why would he have gone to the Beggars' Sect first for no reason?

And to get this information, he had even used a contract that he could have used over and over again.

"It seems the Divine Work Pavilion Master has been looking down on the Family Head."

"I-I never..."

"Of course, it would be possible to sell in Ganyang. I've done it before. But surely, I wouldn't have just set up a stall on the street, would I?"

"Pardon?"

"I didn't start this to make a few pennies."

"Then what on earth...?"

"The place where the Ganyang merchant association used to trade."

"...Pardon?"

"To make big money, you have to go to the big water."

"The big water?"

"Yes."

"...?"

Cheonyeong grinned and said.

"The capital of Sichuan, Seongdo."

"...!"

"I looked into it, and it seems the hunters' association belonging to the merchant association has been trading with a place called the Munjeong Merchant Group in the capital."

"If it's Munjeong, isn't it one of the three major merchant groups in Seongdo?"

"Yes. And the medicinal herb gathering association was called the Simcheon Merchant Group."

"..."

"I'm thinking of opening a trade with them."

"But, the merchant association won't just stand by and watch, will they?"

"They probably won't."

"...Seeing your confidence, you must already have a plan."

"Yes."

Ahn Chilgang exclaimed at Cheonyeong's confident answer.

The seventeen-year-old Family Head.

But the depth of his thoughts was already several times ahead of his own.

Since he was so confident, how could he, as a retainer, not trust and follow him?

"But will you be able to get a line to the merchant groups in Seongdo?"

"Of course."

"Pardon...?"

"The customers have already had a taste."

"A taste?"

"Yes."

Cheonyeong curled one corner of his mouth and smiled sinisterly.

The leather that the Ganyang magistrate had used as a bribe.

In whose hands was it?

The provincial lord, one of the most powerful people in Sichuan.

Since he was a high-ranking official on close terms with the castle lord, the rumor about the leather he had sold had spread far and wide in Seongdo, as was written in Nosanggae's report.

At the time, he hadn't thought it would be this helpful.

Because the purpose was different in the first place.

"Will they be interested in our goods, who are at odds with the Ganyang merchant association?"

"They will. Since you were a carpenter, you would know well."

"...?"

"Goods of superior quality at the same price. If you were a merchant, Divine Work Pavilion Master, what would you buy? Would you keep your loyalty and buy the inferior goods?"

"Ah!"

"The hunters' association's trade route is as good as mine. The same goes for the herb gatherers' association."

He was confident to the point of being worrisome.

But it was reassuring.

He wasn't using force, just trying to sell good products, so what problem could there be?

It wasn't as if he was breaking any commercial ethics...

"My concern has become ridiculous. It seems this old man has made a fuss over nothing. Family Head."

Whether it was concern or an apology, he was always sincere.

"Not at all. Everything you said was for the sake of the Tang Family's estate. More than that, we need to draw their attention so they don't interfere until we get a line..."

If they noticed he was moving towards Seongdo, the Ganyang merchant association would surely try to interfere with all their might.

So, he needed a plan to divert the merchant association's attention.

Just as a long period of deliberation was continuing.

"Is Family Head Tang here?"

"...?"

At the sound of someone calling, Cheonyeong and the members of the Tang family turned their heads.

The leather shop owner, Guhwang...?

"Family Head, no matter how much I thought about it, this was the only choice I could make. Although it is a small effort, I too will help the Tang Family's estate."

"Pardon?"

"If I can just atone for even a little of the sin I committed against the Mandeok Estate in the past."

Cheonyeong stared intently at Guhwang, who was scratching his head.

...I forgive your sins.

(End of Chapter)