Chapter 296 - Who on Earth Did You Lend Money To?

Ju Yang stopped on his way back to the Money Exchange.

His heart kept pounding so hard he wondered whether it might burst. Geom Mugeuk’s gaze haunted him, and he could not shake the image of the coins on the table punching through his palm.

One of the swordsmen accompanying him asked, "Aren’t you coming?"

"Go on ahead. And not a word about what happened today."

"Yes, sir!"

Ju Yang sent the swordsmen ahead and sat by the roadside for a while. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He was angry, his pride was wounded, and he was afraid.

Working at the Money Exchange was his true calling.

Watching people bow and scrape before him to borrow money gave him the thrill of being an unrivaled martial master. Nothing was more entertaining than coaxing them with sweet words.

And what about the sight of them weeping and begging because they could not pay a paltry sum in interest? Other people’s misery reassured him.

Controlling someone’s life, bending it to his will—this work made him so happy.

Yet for the first time, he sensed a threat to the life he had lived with utter disregard for others. More frightening than the prospect of a hole through his hand was the fear that he might no longer be able to do this work.

'How do I deal with this?'

He had to resolve this before word reached Jeok Pae, the head of the Money Exchange. If Jeok Pae found out... Ju Yang shook his head. Jeok Pae always made someone answer for a loss.

Geom Mugeuk might put a hole through his hand, but Jeok Pae would put one through his neck. That was the sort of man he was.

Just then, he met the eyes of some passing villagers. They flinched, bowed in greeting, and hurried on. Their hasty steps told him how afraid they were of him.

Had punishment finally come for a lifetime of evil spent ruining other people’s lives?

But Ju Yang was not a man given to such reflection. If he had been, he would never have ended up in this situation in the first place. His thoughts ran along these lines instead:

'I have to get rid of that bastard, whatever it takes.'

Thinking of someone suited to the task, he sprang up and set off, shooting everyone he passed even more irritable looks than usual.

* * *

The next day, Ju Yang did not come to collect the money.

"I told him I’d come looking if he didn’t show up."

Geom Mugeuk went straight to the Money Exchange. Today, someone else was lending money in Ju Yang’s place.

When he asked where Ju Yang was, he was told that the man was ill and had not come in.

Geom Mugeuk stepped out onto the training ground and shouted, "Ju Yang! I’m here to pay my interest, so come out! Ju Yang! Master Ju! Great Hero Ju!"

The commotion drew the Money Exchange’s swordsmen out to watch. He had come to pay interest? A debtor, when all they ever did was desperately run away?

Nothing like this had happened since the Money Exchange opened, and everyone watched with fascination.

"Ju Yang! Come out!"

On hearing the news, Ju Yang hurried out of the building.

"You!"

Unlike his cold demeanor yesterday, Geom Mugeuk greeted him with a cheerful smile.

"They said you were sick, but you look perfectly fine."

"Do you know where you are, making this racket?"

"Didn’t I tell you I’d come looking if you didn’t show up?"

Even so, Ju Yang had never imagined he would actually come here and cause a scene. Did he have any idea who might be here? This place handled enormous sums of money. Did he think they did not have even one master capable of killing him?

And so, regardless of how skilled the man was or what he intended, Ju Yang’s first thought was this:

'This bastard is insane.'

Geom Mugeuk held out his hand.

"Here. Take your interest."

There was no other explanation for such behavior.

The watching swordsmen murmured among themselves. Those who had been at the inn yesterday stood tensely a step back, while the others snickered, delighted by the entertaining spectacle.

It was then that a deep voice spoke.

"Is that him?"

A man appeared, dragging a blood-soaked man behind him with one hand.

As he appeared, the swordsmen all bowed in greeting. This was Jan Hak, who could be called the Money Exchange’s real swordsman.

He was the man who stepped in whenever trouble arose with martial artists, and the first person Ju Yang had sought out on returning yesterday.

One fact was enough to explain what sort of man he was: everyone joked that his name was short for "cruel and lawless." Some even believed it really was.

That was how vicious Jan Hak was. Everyone who had exposed or opposed the Money Exchange’s crimes had died at his hands.

"Yes, that’s him."

At Ju Yang’s answer, Jan Hak flung the man he had dragged out forward. The man rolled helplessly across the ground.

Geom Mugeuk approached and examined him. His entire body was battered beyond recognition, and he barely managed to open his eyes.

"... Please kill me."

Those were his first words.

How terrible must his pain have been for him to say that before anything else, without even knowing who stood before him?

Jan Hak, who had reduced him to this state, was utterly at ease.

"He was full of swagger at first, just like you. Sailed over that wall and landed right in the middle of the yard. Quite the grand entrance for a hero."

The watching swordsmen burst out laughing.

"Then he stood there giving us a long speech. Justice this, chivalrous righteousness that. Called us money-grubbing vermin and trash. Didn’t even know who the real trash was."

The man reacted to the word "trash."

"... I’m trash. I’m trash."

Jan Hak had forcibly drilled those words into him. The brutal torture had driven the man half out of his mind.

Geom Mugeuk examined his body.

His dantian had been shattered, and the tendons and meridians in all four limbs severed. He would have to spend the rest of his life bedridden. Even the Demon Physician could not restore this body. That bastard had done something no human being should ever do.

While Geom Mugeuk examined the man, Jan Hak approached without a sound. Ju Yang had already told him yesterday what his opponent had done with the coins. If that account was true, this was a highly skilled master.

Jan Hak decided to subdue him with a surprise attack, then use him as his plaything for a while in place of the other man.

Now was the time, while he was defenseless, preoccupied with that dying piece of trash.

'Fucking idiot! What good are affection and moral duty? I’ll cure you of that mindset once and for all!'

At the very instant Jan Hak launched himself forward to strike down with his palm—

WHIZZ!

THUNK.

A streak of wind and the sound of something being pierced were followed by another impact.

BANG!

Something lodged in the wall of the building behind him.

CRAAACK.

The impact was so great that cracks spread like a spiderweb around the embedded object.

When Ju Yang saw what was embedded there, he recoiled in horror.

It was a coin.

Blood dripped from it and ran down the wall.

'Blood? Why is there blood? Don’t tell me...?'

He reflexively looked at Jan Hak.

Jan Hak was still standing in the same spot, touching his forehead as though it itched. He seemed to be trying to say something, but his mumbling was unintelligible.

Then his body slowly toppled.

THUD!

Blood ran from the forehead of the already dead man.

The coin had pierced Jan Hak’s forehead, passed through the back of his head, and flown on to lodge in the wall.

Everyone was horrified by his death.

How often had they watched Jan Hak at work? How many martial artists had he killed and tormented?

Yet he had died with a coin through his forehead, without even getting to swing his sword once? It felt so unreal that he might have been staging an act with that young man.

Tears welled in the tortured man’s eyes at Jan Hak’s death. He had endured with a single thought: one day, he would escape and kill that bastard.

"You may want to repay him with the same torture, but he isn’t worth it. Wouldn’t that mean treating him as a human being?"

As always, Geom Mugeuk assigned no significance whatsoever to an evildoer’s death. Only that way could he confront the endless ranks of wicked men—as though moving a stone out of his path and continuing on his way.

But he did assign significance to this man. Though they had never met and he did not even know his name, the man’s actions told Geom Mugeuk who he was.

"No one else crossed that wall for the sake of others. Not the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon, not the Unorthodox Alliance, not even the Orthodox Martial Alliance. They would all say they either had no interest, had joined hands with these people, or considered them an unavoidable necessary evil."

Geom Mugeuk held the man’s hand tightly.

"You have lived an admirable life. Thanks to you, many people will be freed from suffering."

A faint smile formed on the man’s lips. With his eyes, he made one last request to be killed, and Geom Mugeuk granted it as a mark of respect.

"Go in peace, great hero."

He placed his hand on the crown of the man’s head.

There was no pain in that touch. The man breathed his last with a peaceful face.

After laying him down, Geom Mugeuk rose.

Everyone who had been snickering only moments earlier stood holding their breath.

It had seemed he might erupt in stormlike fury and sweep them all away, but he was calm. That frightened Ju Yang even more.

Geom Mugeuk held out the remaining coin to Ju Yang.

"There’s one left. Shall I send it to you, or will you come and take it?"

Ju Yang understood that sending it meant another coin would end up embedded in the wall.

"No. I’ll take it myself."

Ju Yang rushed over and held out his hand. His heart pounded, and he felt dizzy.

With everyone watching in tense silence, Geom Mugeuk slowly placed the coin in his hand.

This time, his hand really might be crushed...

But once again, the coin settled lightly onto his palm.

"... What is it you want?"

As though that was not something he would explain to the likes of Ju Yang, Geom Mugeuk picked up the man’s body and strode away.

"Make sure you come to collect the interest tomorrow."

* * *

Ju Yang went straight to Jeok Pae, the head of the Money Exchange.

If he wanted to survive, he had to report in person before word reached his superior. Unless he took the first beating now, the later one would cost him his life.

Jeok Pae did not live at the Money Exchange. He did not consider a place with so many people coming and going every day safe.

Instead, he lived in a fortresslike manor in a secluded location. Martial masters guarded him in layer upon layer, and deep within the inner grounds lay a lavish palace full of beautiful women. He certainly knew how to spend the money he earned.

Outside Jeok Pae’s quarters, Ju Yang took deep breaths to steady himself. Having worked under him for more than ten years, he knew exactly what sort of man he was. Jeok Pae was the most selfish person he knew. He valued other people’s lives no more than those of flies. That was probably what had allowed him to make this business thrive.

The madman claiming to be the Demonic Cult’s young lord had turned out to be a martial master.

If Ju Yang reported that, Jeok Pae would throw whatever lay at hand at him. If he happened to be peeling an apple, a paring knife would come flying. If he was painting, it would be an inkstone. He was the sort to throw the inkstone, not the brush.

Fortunately, Jeok Pae was studying his ledgers and working an abacus. He looked like a savage wolf, but when doing calculations, he became a fox.

It was wise to keep quiet while he counted his money.

The clacking of the abacus beads paused briefly.

"There has been an incident involving a martial master."

Jeok Pae was not particularly disturbed. It was hardly the first time a master from Murim had intervened in the Money Exchange’s affairs. He had always found a way to resolve things and weather the crisis.

"A young man borrowed ten taels—"

"Ten taels?"

Jeok Pae raised his head and looked at Ju Yang as though to say he surely had not come over a mere ten-tael problem.

"Jan Hak died because of it."

WHOOSH. THWACK!

The abacus flew at Ju Yang and struck him in the head. Unfortunately, its corner hit his forehead, and blood streamed down his face.

"Didn’t I tell you to identify the ones who’d cause trouble from the outset?"

"I’m sorry."

"You’ve lived off Hell King Debt for so long, and you still can’t handle even that properly."

Ju Yang bowed his head, repeating his apologies.

"What sort of bastard is he?"

"A madman claiming to be the Demonic Cult’s young lord."

THWACK!

Something else flew at Ju Yang and struck his face.

"How does a madman kill Jan Hak?"

Ju Yang apologized again and lowered his head deeply. But surely that did not mean the Demonic Cult’s young lord had killed him? He forced himself to swallow the words.

"How will you take responsibility?"

"I will accept whatever punishment you give me."

"You’re sure he’s not from the Demonic Cult?"

"The Investigator sent word that he isn’t. From what I’ve seen, he isn’t a demonic martial artist either."

Jeok Pae waved Ju Yang out as though he could not stand the sight of him. It was probably only because Ju Yang had been running the Money Exchange well lately, without any mistakes, that he got off so lightly.

Left alone, Jeok Pae spoke quietly.

"Look into it yourself and deal with him."

A brief "Yes, sir" came from behind the wall.

Jeok Pae took a fresh abacus from his desk drawer and resumed his calculations.

"Why won’t any of this add up?"

Some days, when keeping the books, the figures simply refused to balance. Wrong, and wrong again. Today was one of those days.

* * *

The next day, summoned by Jeok Pae, Ju Yang hurried back to his residence.

Jeok Pae stood in the middle of the courtyard with a grave expression.

A body lay before him. It was the trusted subordinate who had gone out on his orders just yesterday.

Ju Yang knew exactly how skilled that man had been. He could have disposed of someone like Jan Hak with ease—a subordinate who served as Jeok Pae’s right-hand man and whom he paid an enormous sum to retain.

Ju Yang also knew who had killed him.

Two coins rested on the corpse’s forehead.

It was as though the coins were saying:

—Today’s interest is paid too.

Ju Yang’s heart sank. The fear he had felt until yesterday had not been fear at all. Now a primal terror rose from deep within his chest.

He could not tear his gaze from the coins.

"What are these coins?"

Two coins that had now become the most frightening things in the world.

"Today’s interest."

Jeok Pae glared fiercely at Ju Yang.

"You... who on earth did you lend money to?"

Ju Yang had expected this response. Whenever a problem arose, Jeok Pae always looked for someone to blame.

You’re the one who sent a man to kill him!

Swallowing the words yet again, Ju Yang said, "I’ll go and find out what he wants."

"Can’t you tell even after seeing this? He wants our money. What other business could a master like this have with us?"

Jeok Pae was convinced that anyone who opposed him was after his money. Surprisingly, that categorical assumption was often correct.

"You said he claimed to be a demonic martial artist?"

"He boasted that he was the Demonic Cult’s young lord."

"You’re sure he isn’t?"

"Absolutely not."

Now that things had gone this far, Ju Yang was beginning to wonder whether the Investigator’s report might have been wrong.

But he had still added "absolutely" to his answer. Because it absolutely had to be false.

That settled Jeok Pae’s solution.

"We’ll have the real thing deal with the impostor."

He had spent all that money for a day like today.

"We’ll show him how frightening the real Demonic Cult is."