Chapter 300 - The Black Flame Dragon Reveals Himself (4)

SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!

The blades the warriors drew all at once made the noisy, bustling area sink into silence as though cold water had been thrown over it.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

Wang Soso, who had gone inside first, tried to stride out boldly, but a guard blocked her.

“Soso.”

I raised a hand to Wang Soso, signaling that she should come no closer, then quietly looked at the warriors.

“The fact that you drew your swords...”

The warriors glared at me as if they wanted to kill me.

“Means you took me for an intruder or a ruffian, doesn’t it?”

The eyes of the warriors holding their drawn swords trembled.

Their faces said, Oh, no.

“But what are you doing? If you drew your swords, you should fight.”

“...”

But of course they couldn’t.

Because, damn it all, I was a guest invited by the Leader of the Silver River Merchant Group.

“Do the Silver River Merchant Group’s guards not rush in even when a band of bandits attacks?”

At my words, the people lined up in a long row began whispering one by one.

This one act alone would not crack the merchant group’s credibility, but humans were, by nature, astonishingly fond of tearing others down.

You could tell just by how they whispered about an upright person like me using the nickname Black Flame Dragon.

And this situation was absolutely not one the Silver River Merchant Group wanted.

STEP! STEP! STEP!

From inside the Silver River Merchant Group, a group of men approached the entrance with footsteps that carried military discipline.

THUNK!

At the sight of them driving their spears into the ground all at once, the murmuring people could not hide their astonishment.

“It’s Suseong Hall!”

“They say they subjugated that Soul-Chasing Stronghold all on their own.”

“Then where is Meteor Spear?”

Even as the people’s voices grew louder, the members of Suseong Hall merely looked around the scene with unwavering eyes.

The man at the very front swept an arrogant gaze over me, then looked at the warriors who had drawn their swords and asked,

“What is the meaning of this!”

“H-Hall Leader. W-Well, that person... that bastard suddenly resorted to violence...”

The Hall Leader’s eyes stabbed coldly into my face.

“Who do you think you are, daring to do this on the Silver River Merchant Group’s joyous day... Hup! What is this!”

I reached out to seize his throat.

The Hall Leader, who had been speaking, widened his eyes and stepped back.

TAP-TAP, TAP-TAP-TAP!

My hand, which had been about to choke his neck, moved like a snake again and pursued the nape of his neck.

“Stop th...!”

Perhaps deciding he could allow no more, the Hall Leader of Suseong Hall used a grappling hand technique of his own.

I didn’t know about his spear skills, but his grappling hand technique was nothing special.

Then again, even if he was the Hall Leader of a merchant group’s martial force, he couldn’t be compared to a Hall Leader of the Murim Alliance, so was that only natural?

Then how did he subjugate Soul-Chasing Stronghold?

I used White Phoenix Hand to knock his hands away twice, pressed his paralysis acupoints, then seized him by the throat and lifted him high.

“Ghk, ghk—”

At the repeated sight, the Silver River Merchant Group’s warriors looked as though they might faint.

“This crazy...!”

SWISH— SWISH—

The members of Suseong Hall all launched themselves at once, taking positions in every direction and surrounding me.

They aimed their spearheads close, as if ready to pierce holes through my entire body at a single order.

“Take your hand off him this instant!”

“Let go of the Hall Leader!”

No matter what nonsense they barked, I held the trembling Hall Leader by the throat and drew up my internal energy.

Then I shouted at the ringleader who had to be somewhere inside the merchant group.

“Does the Silver River Merchant Group treat its guests like this!!!”

My voice was so loud that my own ears hurt from shouting.

Among those waiting, a few could not endure it and collapsed while clutching their ears.

It must have reached inside the Silver River Merchant Group.

I didn’t know for certain, but quite a few people’s faces had probably stiffened.

Weren’t there at least five people who wanted to kill me right now?

Even so, I could not stop here.

Because right now, I had to be a simple, ignorant Underworld man who lived however the hell he pleased.

Yes.

Right now, I was the Underworld’s Divine Star acknowledged by the leader of the Underworld Alliance, the Underworld’s joint successor, Black Flame Dragon.

It wouldn’t do to look merely furious because my pride had been wounded.

I had to act as if I would itch to death unless I acted according to my true feelings.

Just as Underworld figures did by nature.

“I came here at the Merchant Group Leader’s invitation!!! Does the Silver River Merchant Group treat the Merchant Group Leader’s guest like this! Do you look down on me, Jin Sowoon, that much!!!”

When I shouted while shaking the Hall Leader in my hand like a bundle of straw, even those who had been frowning at me began to look as though they had no idea what was going on.

If I were someone who had come to throw ash on another man’s celebration, it would have been such a lawless act that being skewered on spears on the spot would not have been enough, yet not one of them stepped forward boldly; they merely pointed their spears at me.

That was how the world worked by nature.

When things did not fall neatly into the picture people expected, from then on, they started wanting to give even absurd behavior some justification, wondering if there was some reason for it.

“Fuuuck!!! Who’s in charge here!!! Tell the person in charge to come out!!!”

The faces of the warriors aiming swords and spears around me twisted like people who had unwillingly tasted shit.

That’s what you get for messing with someone whose eyes were blazing for an excuse to pick a fight.

For messing with me.

* * *

“What is all this commotion!”

The necks of the Silver River Merchant Group’s warriors turned all at once.

Then they called him desperately, as if they had met their savior.

“Young Leader!!!”

“Y-You’ve arrived! That lawless man dared to, in the Silver River Merchant Group...!”

Before the warriors could continue, the man raised a rigid hand and clenched his fist.

And just like that, everyone pressed their mouths shut as if their lips had been sewn together.

The Young Leader kept his eyes fixed on me and murmured lowly.

“Who are you?”

This rude bastard, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, was conducting an interrogation right off the bat without even introducing himself first.

“And who are you?”

At my casual speech, a vein rose on the man’s broad forehead.

“Did you not hear just now? I am Jeong Sogun of the Silver River Merchant Group.”

When Jeong Sogun gave his name, whispers quickly spread through the crowd.

“Meteor Spear Jeong Sogun!”

“You mean Jeong Sogun, the Grand Banner Chief of the Black Tortoise Pavilion?”

“They say it took him only ten years to rise to Grand Banner Chief, right?”

“I heard he could have risen higher, but returned to inherit the merchant group.”

The people were more interested in meeting a celebrity than in the grave situation.

Well, it could be fascinating.

Because to the onlookers, it probably wasn’t a serious situation.

Jeong Sogun himself was busy glaring at me.

He seemed quite displeased that even after revealing his identity, I showed no reaction—more precisely, no attitude of yielding.

“Do you intend not to give your name?”

“Your ears must be strange. I just shouted loudly enough for the Silver River Merchant Group to fly away.”

“... Must be?”

Jeong Sogun’s eyes began to tremble.

“It seems they no longer teach even basic manners at the academy these days.”

I played dumb deliberately.

“You know me?”

“I’ve heard plenty of rumors that the Underworld’s Divine Star, Black Flame Dragon, is serving as an academy representative. In my day, such a thing would have been unthinkable.”

He subtly reminded me that he was from the academy as well, emphasizing the relationship between senior and junior.

The trick was too shallow, and his intentions were plainly visible.

At his laughable attack, I snorted.

He must never have experienced a gambling den where every manner of mind game and scheme ran rampant, with people threatening to kill each other over one missing nyang of silver.

Hothouse flowers were always sloppy.

“Ah! So you were my senior.”

When I scratched my head and put on an innocent expression, a smile soon appeared at the bastard’s lips.

“The mistake you made today, I shall inform my classmates in the Murim Alliance...”

“But how is it that even you, the Young Leader, know who I am, yet the Silver River Merchant Group’s warriors did not, and created this mess?”

“What?”

“Was this all the level of the Silver River Merchant Group, called one of the four great merchant groups in the world, Senior?”

If he attacked me, I would attack the Silver River Merchant Group, which was his pride.

And at that attack, Jeong Sogun’s face turned bright red.

But Jeong Sogun did not simply sit back and take it.

His gaze turned to my hand.

“... Do you intend to kill the Hall Leader of Suseong Hall?”

There, the Hall Leader’s eyes had rolled back, and froth was bubbling at his mouth.

Tsk.

I hadn’t intended to go this far.

That son of a bitch Jeong Sogun made the poor bastard end up like this.

“If you don’t intend to kill him, give him back.”

At his words, spoken as if he were asking for an object, I threw the Hall Leader in my hand toward Jeong Sogun.

Jeong Sogun caught him like a piece of luggage, quickly checked his condition, and pressed his acupoints to wake him.

“... G-Ghkh, Y-Young Leader. M-My apologies.”

“Can you stand?”

“What? Ah! Yes! I-I can stand now.”

Regaining his senses in Jeong Sogun’s arms, the Hall Leader of Suseong Hall quickly rose to his feet on unsteady legs, as if trying to fulfill his role.

Then.

THUD THUD THUD THUD!

In an instant, four punches left clear fist imprints on the Hall Leader’s vital points, and the Hall Leader, who had only just managed to stand on his own, collapsed while vomiting blood.

Everyone from the people nearby to the warriors widened their eyes.

“You dare cast a pall over the Silver River Merchant Group’s commemorative event! You call yourself the Hall Leader of Suseong Hall when you could not even prevent an incident like this!!!”

At the stern rebuke, the Hall Leader, who had vomited a handful of blood, forced himself up again.

The Hall Leader of Suseong Hall lowered his head deeply, looking so battered he seemed likely to die at any moment.

“M-My apologies. Young Leader!”

“What are you all doing! Remove this man and everyone who failed to prevent the incident!!!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the thunderous order, the waiting members of Suseong Hall led the warriors who had blocked the entrance and the Hall Leader inside.

Jeong Sogun erased even the slightest sign that he had been excited just now and spoke to me with an impassive expression.

“I apologize for the shortcomings in the event proceedings.”

As he said that, Jeong Sogun gave a little dip of his head.

I’d thought he would at least give me a fist-and-palm salute.

‘Interesting bastard.’

He seemed to have grasped what the problem was and where the cause lay.

And yet Jeong Sogun never reprimanded the warriors for failing to recognize me until the end.

He had only reprimanded them for failing to prevent the “incident” I caused.

I could hear his mind working from here.

“However, you must also know that even if there was a problem, your conduct was clearly wrong as well, for lowering another’s honor to the ground with such lawless behavior.”

As he said that, he subtly reprimanded me for overreacting.

‘So he didn’t rise all the way to Grand Banner Chief only because of his father’s backing?’

This side of him had not been written in the Mantong Bureau’s documents.

“Moreover, honored officials from Beijing have come here at the Merchant Group Leader’s invitation. How do you intend to take responsibility for causing such a commotion?”

But the more I listened, the more this bastard kept crossing the line.

Did he think I was a blockhead just because I had put on a bit of an Underworld act?

“Why should I take responsibility?”

“... Your voice is loud.”

Because this wasn’t something I was saying for you to hear.

In case there were people who might not hear, I added a little more internal energy to my voice.

“You sent even your younger sibling all the way to the Taiyi Sect, inviting me over and over three times, then told me I wasn’t on the list and should enter through the middle gate. Was that truly because the Silver River Merchant Group is incompetent?”

I swept my gaze once around everyone present, then fixed my eyes on Jeong Sogun’s face and curled up the corners of my mouth.

“Or was it to humiliate me?”

“...”

“Am I truly the one who should take responsibility?”

Jeong Sogun, who had been glaring at me silently for a long while, finally opened his mouth.

“... How rash. To trade your future for a moment’s pride.”

What the hell is he talking about?

Jeong Sogun turned away as if there was nothing more to see.

He strode over to the scholar at the entrance and slapped him hard across the cheek.

SMACK!

Before the scholar, struck by the sudden blow, could even get to his feet, Jeong Sogun went inside.

“See that the guest is properly received!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Only then did the warriors who had drawn their swords all lower their heads at once and line up before me.

With polite attitudes and hostile expressions.

As if it were only natural, I followed that path into the Silver River Merchant Group.

Wang Soso also began walking close beside me.

Inside the Silver River Merchant Group, which had been bustling noisily, silence settled, and people’s uncomfortable gazes gathered on us.

Perhaps finding those gazes uncomfortable, Wang Soso asked in an anxious voice.

“Jin oppa. The Silver River Merchant Group has deep connections with high-ranking officials and nobles in Beijing... Far more than our Wangga Manor can compare to.”

I knew what she was worried about.

The law of the Jianghu was that the authorities and Murim did not interfere with each other, but whether one operated a merchant group or a sect, no one could be completely free from the authorities’ influence.

If the authorities set their minds to obstructing us, there was no telling how much trouble we would have to go through.

However.

“Don’t worry. In the end, unless the Silver River Merchant Group Leader steps forward, there will be no one who moves.”

“What?”

“If someone of higher standing than the Merchant Group Leader had come, the Merchant Group Leader would have come out long ago. That Young Leader bastard also would not have assaulted his subordinates as if creating an atmosphere of terror.”

A 180th-anniversary commemorative event?

For an event as ambiguous as that—not the 200th anniversary, nor the 100th—they might invite an entertainment troupe, but not a superior whose mood they would have to watch.

If one careless move was made, someone else might end up acting like the host at an event where I was supposed to be the main character.

“Put the other way around, most of the officials attending this event are people who need to curry favor with the Merchant Group Leader.”

“Hah... Don’t tell me you calculated all this from the start?”

“I predicted some of it, and calculated some of it in real time.”

Wang Soso looked up at me with astonishment in her eyes.

“Wow... Just like Senior Sister Saryeon said, your scheming mind really does work well.”

“...”

What was that?

Was it a compliment?

It wasn’t an insult, right?

“This way.”

The warrior guiding us pointed at a hall packed with people.

At a glance, it looked like a place where five or six people were grouped into a single room.

They really had prepared all sorts of things.

To go to this much effort to break my spirit.

I must be an even more impressive person than I thought.

“Don’t tell me this is the lodging we’ll be staying in.”

“... What?”

The warrior’s eyes shook violently.

I did not know how elaborate a trap they had prepared to toy with me, but the Silver River Merchant Group had made a grave mistake.

“I came here at the Merchant Group Leader’s invitation!!! And you’re telling me to stay in lodging like this?!!!”

Because no matter what board they set up, I was going to make a complete mess of it.

“Fuuuck!!! Who’s in charge here!!! Tell the person in charge to come out!!!”