Chapter 454: To Persuade My Father

TL: FoodieMonster007

Ju Hyangwol returned home. As expected, her mother was waiting for her.

"How did it go?"

Before answering, Ju Hyangwol asked her mother a question of her own. "Did you know that Hwang In was bringing the agreement today?"

"I didn't."

Did she really not know? Doubt was the first thing to creep in. This was the reality of the relationship between her and her mother.

"So? Did you sign the agreement?"

From this reaction alone, she could tell how rushed her mother was.

Normally, her mother should have said something like this. "He presented you with an agreement? Without sending it to us beforehand?" Then she should have asked with worry, "You didn't sign that agreement, did you?"

But now, her mother was looking at her with a worried expression. It was a look that seemed to say, "You didn't fail to sign it, did you?"

She thought of the paper she had tucked away. Following Geom Mugeuk's advice, she had written down everything she needed to say to her mother. She had anticipated various scenarios and even wrote down how to respond to each. This current situation was one of the cases she had prepared for.

"No, I postponed it."

A look of disappointment crossed her mother's face. She had anticipated this and had written down what to say.

Fortunately, her mother had a predictable personality. That was why they fought so much, and also why she could never truly hate her. It was for this reason that she had written one thing at the very top of her notes.

Don't ever shout! Speak softly!

Whenever she raised her voice with her mother, their discussions never finished properly. She knew a low voice carried power and that her feelings were better conveyed when she spoke calmly. Yet with her mother, it was just so difficult.

But today, she was doing well.

"Because it's something that needs to be handled carefully."

Even if she explained what happened at the inn, her mother would never accept it. Entrusting the agreement to someone she had just met would make her mother throw a fit.

"We need to find out more about the Yellow Road Trading Company. We should also have an expert review the agreement to see if there are any unfavorable conditions for us."

In the past, she would have definitely added, Did you even look into it properly? No, you didn't, did you? It's always like this. It would have been the prelude to a fight. But those words weren't on the paper she had written today.

The mention of an expert seemed a little unexpected. Her mother asked with a surprised expression, "What expert?"

"I'll tell you when the results are out."

She said what she needed to say more calmly than ever before. "I know the family's situation is difficult right now. I think we need to be even more careful at times like this."

The emotion in her mother's puzzled gaze was clear. Since when were you so careful? Since when did you care about the family's difficulties?

In the past, she would have reacted sharply. But instead, she spoke even more softly. "I'm grown up now, aren't I? I'll do my best to help you from now on, Mother."

She bowed to her mother and went outside. Her mother, slightly flustered by her changed demeanor, couldn't say a word.

Outside, Ju Hyangwol let out a sigh. She took the paper out from her clothes. She hadn't said even a quarter of what she had written, but the conversation was definitely different. There was a clear difference between having written it down and not.

Ah! I forgot to say this.

She had even underlined the part about telling her mother not to worry and to eat well, but she had just walked out.

In any case, we didn't shout at each other today.

Hwang In had been trained since childhood not to reveal his emotions. He was taught that it was the most important skill for a merchant. However, in this moment, it wasn't easy to hide his feelings.

Especially when he stood before Jeon Nak.

He was the demon he had joined hands with.

He remembered his father's dissuasion. "He is too dangerous. You must not join hands with them."

To that, he had said, "I don't want to live the rest of my life as the Director of some backwater Trading Company."

He didn't want to live that kind of life. He had the ambition to make the Yellow Road Trading Company the number one trading company in the Central Plains. That was why he had joined hands with this man, Jeon Nak.

After joining with him, he knew for sure that he was the same kind of person as Jeon Nak. Jeon Nak held a sword while he held an abacus. Jeon Nak glared coldly while he smiled. Those were the only differences. He and Jeon Nak were ultimately the same.

That must have been why the Yellow Road Trading Company grew so rapidly after they joined hands.

And he learned one more thing. This Jeon Nak was also nothing more than a subordinate taking orders from someone else. He found that out naturally through their conversations.

He worried about what he had gotten himself swept into, but it was already too late. The only choice left was to become the world's number one trading company or be killed by Jeon Nak.

"The agreement fell through?" Jeon Nak asked in his usual polite and low tone.

But hearing his voice always gave Hwang In goosebumps.

He knew the man was a butcher with no blood or tears. He felt that even if they were on the same side for thirty years, Jeon Nak wouldn't hesitate for a second if the moment came to kill him.

"That's right."

"Didn't you say you were confident about this matter?"

"The Sword Family brought in an outsider."

"Who?"

"Gansu's Western Blade Sect. They say the Sect Leader of the Western Blade Sect was once indebted to the deceased Sword Patriarch."

As Geom Mugeuk had predicted, Hwang In didn't move directly but investigated their identity through an informant. He found out faster than he thought because the informant already had information on them.

When Hwang In realized the opponent was the Western Blade Sect, he felt a sense of relief.

The people he met at the inn had given him a strange feeling. An inexplicable composure had bothered him the whole time, but now he could guess its source.

So they're the family that produced a winner in the Young Dragon Tournament, is that it?

That incomprehensible composure came from that. That was why he was actually relieved.

If that's all it is?

They were an opponent he could handle with confidence.

"I understand. I'll handle things from here on out," Jeon Nak said in a dry tone.

Hwang In knew what kind of "handling" he meant. He would kill the three from the Western Blade Sect and retrieve the agreement. Jeon Nak always liked to handle things cleanly.

However, Hwang In wanted to handle this matter himself.

"The Western Blade Sect is just a regional sect, but they've formed a connection with the Murim Alliance by producing a winner in the Young Dragon Tournament. If we touch them carelessly, the Murim Alliance might intervene. This matter must be handled with caution."

This was why Geom Mugeuk had chosen the Western Blade Sect for his disguised identity. He wanted to make the opponent choose a different method instead of force. Geom Mugeuk intended to figure out who was behind them through this.

"Please lend me the Money Ghosts."

Money Ghosts. That was what Jeon Nak called the experts he had with him.

They were truly ghosts when it came to money. So far, whenever they moved, every problem was solved. Those who had been stubborn changed their minds. Those who had drawn their swords met with accidents. And those who had cursed them disappeared. If they got involved, a signed contract would be in his hands the next day.

"I believe this matter requires a merchant more than a martial artist. If things don't work out after I try to persuade them, it won't be too late to handle it your way."

Finally, Jeon Nak opened his mouth.

"How many do you need?"

"Enough to subdue the Western Blade Sect's Sect Leader."

Hwang In looked at him, asking for trust. "Don't worry. What merchant would ever make a losing deal?"

That evening, Hwang In came to see Geom Mugeuk.

Geom Mugeuk's group was staying in a small manor they had rented a short distance from the marketplace. From Hwang In's perspective, it was fortunate they weren't at an attention-grabbing inn.

He wanted to see Geom Mugeuk beg. Telling him to pay the inn fee? Saying a merchant should do his math properly? He had been humiliated when he called the innkeeper to pay the bill. How dare he discuss a merchant's calculations in front of him!

He wouldn't kill the man, but he planned to mock him to his heart's content. When leaving the inn, he had told the man that he was someone who always repays his debts.

When he entered the courtyard, guided by Hwi, Geom Mugeuk was in a grove of trees, making something.

"Welcome!" Geom Mugeuk greeted him warmly. Anyone watching would have thought they were close friends, as if he had forgotten what happened at the inn.

"You've come at a good time. Please hold this rope for me."

Caught off guard, Hwang In took the rope Geom Mugeuk offered. Geom Mugeuk then tied the other end to a tree. In the middle, secured on both sides, was a net large enough for an adult to lie in.

"It's a hammock. It's a temporary bed made for sleeping in areas with many poisonous insects."

Another one was already made a short distance away.

"That one is my father's. I plan to lie here side-by-side with my father tonight and look up at the night sky." Geom Mugeuk smiled pleasantly, as if the thought alone made him happy.

"Master, you seem to really like your father."

"Of course. Father doesn't trust me, but I like him more than anyone in the world."

Geom Mugeuk said this loudly on purpose, so it could be heard inside. His father could probably hear even whispers from here, but no answer came from the building.

"Alright, now that it's done, let's try lying down."

Geom Mugeuk lay down in the net. As he swayed his body, the net moved gently between the trees. "It's so comfortable and nice."

Hwang In looked down quietly at Geom Mugeuk.

He had felt it at the inn, but this was not a common man. That must be why he was asking such a question in this situation.

"How is your father?"

Hwang In was inwardly flustered by the sudden question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, does your father not surprise his son? I was so surprised back then. I didn't know my father would step up for that woman."

Hwang In didn't know what to say about his father.

Father…

His father had joined hands with Jeon Nak according to his son's wishes. Was it a choice made for his child? Or did his father also have the same ambition as him? Hwang In couldn't know exactly what his father was thinking.

"Isn't a father the easiest person in the world to understand, and also the hardest?"

Hwang In said nothing in response to Geom Mugeuk's words.

Just then, Geom Mugeuk suddenly sat up in the hammock. "You should try lying down too."

"I'm fine."

"I insist, try it."

He made Hwang In lie down against his will.

"Look up at the sky from there. How is it?"

It was his first time lying in a bed like this, and it was more comfortable than he thought. Then it occurred to him that this wasn't the time for this, and he sat up. He swayed and was about to fall, but Geom Mugeuk caught him.

"Thank you."

"It's because you're not used to it."

What he wasn't used to was Geom Mugeuk's attitude. He was treating him much more friendly than he had at the inn.

"Acting like this won't make me just let this matter go."

Hwang In looked up at the wall. Three men were now standing there with their arms crossed, looking down at them.

They were the Money Ghosts he had brought with him. Among them, they were the ones Jeon Nak cherished. They were experts who could easily handle a regional sect leader like the one from the Western Blade Sect.

"You said you were just a merchant, but you're not just a merchant."

"There are many people who look down on merchants and try to solve things with force, so sometimes I have no choice but to ask for help."

"If that's the reason, you could have come alone. As you can see, I'm a person who prefers conversations with words over conversations with swords."

Hwang In stared at Geom Mugeuk.

What in the world are you trusting in?

Even though he had brought experts who could kill his father, he wasn't intimidated at all. Did he not even know what was happening?

"On my command, they will take the agreement by force if necessary."

Then, unexpected words came from Geom Mugeuk's mouth. "Will three of them be enough? To make my father draw his sword, you'd need about three hundred men like them."

At that, the Money Ghosts burst out laughing.

They were experts, but not expert enough to see through Geom Mugeuk's true nature. More importantly, they already thought they knew their opponent's identity. The heir of the Western Blade Sect. Since they thought of him that way, it was just laughable. They had also heard from Hwang In that his eloquence was extraordinary.

"If you obediently hand over the agreement, apologize politely, and leave, nothing will happen."

"Father will never hand it over. He made a promise to that woman."

"If you want to save your father, you go and persuade him."

Geom Mugeuk sighed and replied, "That's impossible. To persuade my father, you'd need at least five years."

Five years? What on earth was he talking about? Hwang In gave him a puzzled look, but Geom Mugeuk remained at ease.

The three men on the wall, who had been watching, leaped down.

"Once they start moving, I can't stop them. This is your last chance. You go persuade your father and get the agreement."

One of the three Money Ghosts stepped forward. "There's no need for all three of us. I'll go get it. I'll bring your father's throwing knife and toss it into that hammock for you."

Even as the man strode toward the building, Geom Mugeuk lay peacefully in the hammock.

"Aren't you worried about your father?"

"I could worry about everyone in the world, but he's the one person I don't need to worry about."

Hwang In guessed the source of this composure.

Is he perhaps trusting the Murim Alliance to protect him?

The confidence that no one would dare touch a family that produced a winner of the Young Dragon Tournament. Yes, that must be the only thing the Western Blade Sect could rely on.

That clumsy pride has ruined you!

Some time passed. The Money Ghost who went inside showed no sign of coming out. Yet, there were no sounds of struggle or fighting from within. Only silence flowed from the building.

Tired of waiting, the second Money Ghost stepped forward. "I'll go check."

He walked into the building. His skills were no less than the first's, and he had a calmer personality. But there was no news from him either.

The remaining Money Ghost's expression hardened. He realized something had gone wrong. They should have all gone in together from the start.

"It could be a trap!"

To Hwang In's attempt to stop him, the third Money Ghost said coldly, "Then do you think it's safe out here?"

The third Money Ghost drew his sword and cautiously entered the building.

Three ferocious men had gone in, but it was even more frightening that not even the sound of a chair falling over could be heard. There was no news from the third Money Ghost either.

Hwang In, who had been staring at the building with a fearful heart, turned his gaze to Geom Mugeuk.

Finally, Geom Mugeuk sat up in the hammock. In the distance, the sun began to set. A red hue spread across the world like ink on paper, and the sky looked wider.

With a mysterious gaze that held the sunset, Geom Mugeuk asked calmly, "If you are truly a merchant, shouldn't you be making a deal instead of resorting to swords and threats?"