Chapter 459: You're a Woman Blessed with Good Food

TL: FoodieMonster007

Geum Arin's first impression of Geom Mugeuk was simple.

He's much younger than I thought.

It was unbelievable. That Jeon Nak had been defeated by such a young opponent. And that the Money Ghost had been taken down with him?

It wasn't just his age. He was completely different from what she'd imagined, handsome and possessing an unidentifiable air of dignity. She had expected someone rough and overflowing with killing intent.

Geum Arin combined his age, her first impression, and his accomplishments to reach a conclusion.

He's a practitioner of advanced martial arts!

The way he so confidently appeared before her alone suggested as much. The problem was whether he was stronger or weaker than her. She couldn't tell just by looking.

"I was passing by the inn and saw Director Hwang through the window, so I came in."

Geom Mugeuk walked over with a friendly greeting, acting like someone who had just dropped by coincidentally.

"You have a guest with you."

As if he didn't know who she was, Geom Mugeuk greeted Geum Arin with a clasped hands greeting.

"If a place has someone as beautiful as you, I should advance to the upper echelons myself."

He greeted her with pleasant words, but Geum Arin showed no particular reaction.

At that, Hwang In cautiously stepped forward.

"Watch your words. The person here is not someone you should speak of so carelessly."

He seemed to be speaking out of respect for Geum Arin, but it was actually a warning to Geom Mugeuk.

This is the woman. The scary person who was said to be coming down is her! Don't get captivated by her looks and ruin things!

Hwang In was anxious, worried that Geom Mugeuk would be captivated by Geum Arin's appearance.

However, even without his warning, how could Geom Mugeuk not know it was her? He had already noticed that her skills were anything but ordinary.

Her achievements are great for her age.

Whether it was through deadly effort, talent, immense support, or a miraculous encounter, her skill was not something one could commonly see.

And one more thing.

Since someone like Jeon Nak perceived her as a scary person, it meant she was by no means someone who showed mercy. Moreover, he could sense a master hiding in her vicinity.

She's not of ordinary status.

Those who are masters and have also learned concealment techniques are not common. Such people mostly take on the job of protecting someone. A master of this level is protecting her?

This woman must be a blood relative of the Golden Dragon Clan's master.

Hwang In would never know just how much he had figured out in that short moment.

Geom Mugeuk spoke with a surprised expression, as if he had just belatedly recognized her.

"Ah! Is this that person?"

Geum Arin reacted to his words.

"How did that man introduce me?"

Geom Mugeuk answered her.

"He said a very scary person would be coming."

Hwang In tensed internally. She could have had a neurotic reaction like, 'He introduced me in such a way?' His heart pounded faster than usual.

Please, don't let today be the day I die!

He looked at Geom Mugeuk, his eyes filled with desperation.

Geom Mugeuk introduced himself to Geum Arin.

"I am called Geom Yeon. Not the 'Yeon' for fate, but the 'Yeon' for smoke. After meeting you, I will disappear like smoke."

"I didn't ask."

Geum Arin responded coldly without revealing her own name.

"You're the one who killed my subordinates, I hear?"

She asked bluntly, and Geom Mugeuk didn't bother to hide it.

"I unintentionally had a conflict with your people. I apologize for that."

"More than one or two people died. This isn't something that can end with an apology."

"Is there something else you want?"

She said in a tone as cold as her gaze.

"A life for a life."

Geom Mugeuk stared at her and said.

"If you can take it, then try."

A tense atmosphere instantly filled the air.

Geum Arin desperately suppressed the desire to draw her sword and cut him down. She was not an amateur who would draw her sword at the moment her opponent wanted. Her sword would be drawn at a moment of her own choosing.

The one who broke this suffocating tension was Geom Mugeuk.

"I can't give you my life, but I can buy you a drink."

In this situation, he fearlessly turned his head toward the waiter and had him bring a new bottle of alcohol.

When Geom Mugeuk turned his head back after ordering the drink, a sword was already aimed at his throat.

It was a truly fast move that didn't even make the faint sound of wind.

To Hwang In, who was sitting beside them, the situation had unfolded in the blink of an eye.

Geom Mugeuk looked at her with a completely unsurprised expression. At his reaction, Geum Arin's gaze grew even colder.

He could have lost his life to that one move just now.

A master strong enough to kill Jeon Nak would have reacted somehow, wouldn't he?

Could it be that he knew the sword was aimed at his throat and didn't block it? Was he confident I wouldn't kill him? Or is he not as skilled as I thought? If so, then he wouldn't be the one who killed Jeon Nak and the Money Ghost.

She couldn't be certain of either possibility. That made it even more unsettling.

This man, he's hard to read.

Geom Mugeuk's gaze followed the blade of the sword up to her.

"I cannot die."

"Why is that?"

Then, after a brief pause, Geom Mugeuk said.

"It wasn't like this before, but now my death… will become my father's justification."

The moment he died, his father would wipe out the entire murim. The sorrow of losing a child would become the justification, and the murim would become a battlefield.

Naturally, Geum Arin couldn't understand what he meant by that.

"Are you asking me to spare you because your father will take revenge if I kill you?"

"Well, something like that."

"Where is your father?"

"He's at the manor. He's with my uncle."

She had heard from Hwang In that there were three of them in total. She had a feeling that this man's father and uncle were no ordinary people either.

"I just came out to do some shopping. Father said he'd be making a special dish today. Young Lady, you're blessed with good food. Let's go together. Father's cooking isn't something you can eat easily. You can brag about it for the rest of your life anywhere you go."

Geum Arin had to admit at least one thing. Whether it was an act or real, displaying such composure at the tip of her sword was no easy feat.

Geum Arin withdrew her sword with a light flick of her hand and said.

"I can't very well kill someone who's out shopping."

Geom Mugeuk rubbed his neck and expressed his gratitude.

"Thank you for sparing me."

Seeing that, Hwang In felt a sense of dismay. His heart began to pound even more fiercely.

What? Why are you showing such a weak side? Don't tell me you're weaker than this woman?

That can't be right. He was definitely there when Jeon Nak and the Money Ghost were all killed at once. Wasn't he? Stop joking around, hurry up and cut this woman down in a single strike, and tell me. Tell me I don't have to worry anymore.

However, the situation unfolded in the complete opposite way of his wishes.

HWIK. HWIK.

She fired a finger qi bullet and suppressed Geom Mugeuk's inner qi.

Geom Mugeuk couldn't dodge in time, but his composure remained.

"It's fine. I don't need inner qi for shopping anyway."

Geum Arin looked at Geom Mugeuk with an expression that said, 'What kind of guy is this?'

Don't tell me you're a master skilled enough to release the acupoints I've sealed.

Now that she had suppressed her opponent's inner qi, his life was hers. And yet he was showing such composure? His behavior was beyond her comprehension.

"Father must be waiting."

Geom Mugeuk said as he rose from his seat.

"Now, let's go shopping together."

A single carriage was traveling.

Although it looked like an old, ordinary carriage on the outside, it was made of a material sturdy enough to withstand swords and blades. It was pulled by fine horses that could run all day without tiring.

Naturally, the person riding inside was not ordinary either.

He, who was extraordinary and exuded an air of nobility, was none other than Yong Jamyeong, the owner of the Milky Way Trading Company.

Yong Jamyeong, the owner of the Milky Way Trading Company.

He could be described in many ways, but the most effective and certain description would be this.

The person with the most money in this world.

For that reason, not only the coachman but also the people riding in the carriage with him were no ordinary masters. They were the top masters of the Milky Way Trading Company, the ones Yong Jamyeong trusted the most.

This was a secret journey for the man so busy it was said you had to make an appointment months in advance just to see his face.

Including the coachman, a total of three masters had come along as his bodyguard. This had never happened since the Milky Way Trading Company became the number one Trading Company in the Central Plains. Even then, Yong Jamyeong had only intended to bring one.

Of course, considering the skills of these three, this journey could be considered safe. They were the people Yong Jamyeong trusted most in the Milky Way Trading Company, and at the same time, they were the three most skilled.

In particular, Baek Chong, sitting across from him, was the man who had built the Milky Way Trading Company with Yong Jamyeong, sharing life, death, and hardships with him his entire life.

"It's not too late. Shall we turn the carriage around?"

Yong Jamyeong smiled and asked him.

"Are you scared too?"

To that, Baek Chong answered honestly.

"I am scared."

"This is the first time I've heard you say that. That you're scared."

Baek Chong wasn't scared that he himself would die. He was scared that he would lose Yong Jamyeong on this journey.

"This is too dangerous a choice."

"Is it more dangerous than refusing the Demonic Cult Leader's request?"

Baek Chong couldn't say anything. He had been through all sorts of trials and tribulations while growing the Trading Company with Yong Jamyeong, but the most dangerous opponent among them all was the Demonic Cult.

"If it had been a simple request from the Demonic Cult, I would have bought time by making some other excuse. But this time, the Demonic Cult Leader sent a secret letter himself."

It was even a messenger pigeon written by the Demonic Cult Leader himself.

A handwritten messenger pigeon from the Demonic Cult Leader.

It was truly the first time such a thing had happened.

"Then I urge you to secretly inform the Murim Alliance and the Evil Alliance. If they know, they won't dare to have any foolish thoughts."

Yong Jamyeong knew better than anyone what Baek Chong was worried about. However, this matter was not something that should be handled that way.

"The Demonic Cult Leader himself emphasized the word 'secretly'. It means not to contact them."

"That's all the more reason to let them know. The Demonic Cult has never acted like this before."

This decision wasn't made on a mere hunch. It was a decision made by combining all his past experiences and the vast amount of information collected recently.

Yes, how could he not know? How rough and cruel the demonic practitioners were.

"We'll have to hope the information is true."

"Are you talking about the matter concerning the Young Cult Leader?"

Yong Jamyeong nodded. It was information that a new wind was blowing within the Demonic Cult. Because of it, even a tripartite meeting between the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions had taken place.

That's why he hoped the reason he was summoned this time was because of that Young Cult Leader. It felt safer than just being summoned by the Heavenly Demon.

"You know, don't you? That reality is always different from rumors."

"Don't worry too much. Everything will be fine."

Yong Jamyeong was this kind of person.

A person who tried to overcome any situation with positive thoughts rather than negative ones.

He didn't know if this would be an opportunity for the Milky Way Trading Company or if he would die because of it, but he would push through as he always had. He considered the Heavenly Demon's handwritten messenger pigeon an undeniable call of fate.

He believed he wasn't being summoned to be killed. The Demonic Cult Leader in the information he had heard and collected so far was not that kind of person. He trusted the information network of the Milky Way Trading Company.

He wouldn't just return empty-handed. He would give what the other wanted and take what he wanted. A trade is a give-and-take, after all.

When moments of crisis like this came, he would recall that time in his youth. The moment he had gone to the brink of death and survived. Other people didn't know how much that experience helped him in life.

It's a bonus life anyway, so let's live without regrets.

Sometimes bravely, sometimes more diligently.

Perhaps it was thanks to that, that he was able to become the owner of the number one Trading Company in the murim.

The carriage sped quickly toward the meeting place.

He's really going shopping?

Geom Mugeuk began to buy various ingredients at the market.

"For vegetables or fruits, you must choose ones with even and vivid colors. They must be firm, not mushy, and you should avoid ones with these kinds of spots."

Geum Arin watched in amazement as he shopped while even giving explanations.

At first, she suspected it was a trick to stall for time. However, he was truly buying ingredients for cooking with great care. He even had a piece of paper with a list of what to buy.

"Alright, now that I've bought the meat, we're all set!"

After he finished all his shopping, Geom Mugeuk tried to take her back to the manor.

"Did you think I would obediently walk into a trap you've set?"

"Are you scared?"

Geum Arin glared at Geom Mugeuk. Even in a situation where she had suppressed his inner qi, she still couldn't figure him out. What was this composure? Or was he just a madman?

Geom Mugeuk held up the ingredients filling both his hands.

"It will be a very delicious trap."

Geum Arin said to Hwang In, who was with them.

"You go and deliver the message. If he wants to save his son, tell him to come alone to the place I designate."

At that, Geom Mugeuk let out a sigh.

"Father won't come. He's not the type to come just because someone tells him to."

"Even if his son will die?"

"Even so, he won't come."

Geom Mugeuk said to Hwang In.

"If you happen to meet my father, don't make eye contact. Act respectfully. And tell him everything about the situation."

"I will."

As he nodded, Hwang In flinched. It was because Geum Arin was staring at him with a displeased look that seemed to say, 'Whose side are you on anyway?'

Geom Mugeuk said to her.

"Well, since I've bought all the ingredients, I'll cook dinner tonight. My cooking is also a delicacy that's hard to come by, so you are still a woman blessed with good food."

Geum Arin stared at Geom Mugeuk with a look of disbelief. In her entire life, no one had ever told her she was a woman blessed with good food.

"What is your identity? Who sent you?"

Geom Mugeuk smiled as if to say she would find out soon and started walking first.

"I'm hungry, so let's hurry up and eat."

Then he stopped and asked her.

"Oh, right, where should we go? Let's go somewhere we can cook."