Chapter 276
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 276
Chapter 276. What We Gained (4)
Looking outside the inn, it was raining heavily, as expected.
Yoon Haeng-soo looked at me in admiration.
“How did you know it would rain this much?”
Unable to tell him the truth, I made up a story.
“I read it in a book. It's a sign that it will rain heavily.”
“It was a good decision to withdraw early, as you said, Captain. If we hadn't, I can't even imagine what would have happened.”
He shook his head and looked as if he had aged ten years.
At that moment, the head of the trading company staying at the same inn smiled and added,
“I am also grateful to you. Thanks to your advice, we are alive. If we had made a mistake, we would have suffered considerable losses.”
Jin Yoon, head of the Jinsu Trading Company in Guangxi Province.
The “Jinshu” in Jinshu Trading Company is the name of the great-grandfather who founded the company.
Ranked 89th in the current trading company rankings, the company's main product is candy.
Candy, like fish bone powder and lime powder, is a product that is vulnerable to moisture.
That is why they are relieved that they took our advice.
In fact, candy sells as well as fish bone powder and lime powder.
The more inner arts one masters, the less effort it takes to move, but even so, one must move a lot to use martial arts.
When one uses muscles continuously, one instinctively craves sweet things, and sweet foods are especially popular during duels, when one must exert all of one's strength while in a state of tension.
“By the way, I'm worried about when the rain will stop.”
Everyone nodded at my father's words.
I said cautiously.
“In my opinion, it should stop by tomorrow morning.”
In fact, it doesn't rain for very long. The problem is that it rains a lot in a short period of time.
That's why the drainage system couldn't keep up, and the water rose to our ankles.
In fact, this inn was also nearly flooded, but thanks to my advice, the waiters quickly gathered wooden boards and built a barrier in front of the door, preventing the inn from being flooded.
The food in front of us is a token of gratitude from the innkeeper.
You didn't have to do that.
But since you've already prepared it, we enjoyed it very much.
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The next morning.
The rain had stopped, and people were repairing the damage caused by the heavy rain the night before.
However, our Eunhae Trading Company and a few other trading companies that had already dismantled their temporary shops the night before only had to set up their tents again, so the work was much easier.
At that moment, the head of one of the trading companies approached us and said, "We've decided to withdraw.
“We've decided to leave.”
“Already?”
He smiled bitterly at my question.
“The rain last night ruined the tea leaves.”
“...”
“I should have listened to you yesterday. I'm sorry I didn't believe you.”
“Then you won't watch the duel?”
“Of course not. I have to watch. Isn't today the final round?”
With that, he said goodbye and returned to the shop that was being dismantled.
Those around me who had heard my words and avoided loss looked at me with gratitude once again.
At that moment, Pal-gap returned.
He had gone to check on the situation with the other trading companies.
“Young master, I'm back.”
“Yes, how is the situation?”
“Half of the merchants are withdrawing, and some are trying to sell the goods they managed to get... That's how it is.”
“I see.”
“But there's something else.”
“...?”
Pal-gap continued with a look of disbelief on his face.
“Baekcheon Trading Company is selling fish bones and lime powder, and the price has gone up a bit.”
“I guess they got some good stuff. But how much did the price go up?”
“Fifteen times the original price.”
“What? Fifteen times?”
The people around me reacted to my words and laughed in disbelief.
I couldn't help but laugh too.
Fifteen times? Are they crazy?
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Although we were a little late due to the damage caused by the heavy rain, the dragon and phoenix duel proceeded as planned.
We headed to the duel, and the captain of the Gwangjun Trading Company thanked us.
“The Young Master's words were a great help. Thanks to you, our products were not damaged.”
“Trading companies should help each other. Hahaha.”
“First, you saved my son's life, and now you saved my wife and I, and prevented us from suffering losses. I don't know how I can repay you.”
“What do you mean, repay? You're being too polite.”
Watching my father and Captain Kwang-joon talking, I smiled happily.
As more trading companies become friendly with our Eunhae Trading Company, our status will rise and we will become safer.
I decided to proceed with this matter because the current captain of the Namgung Trading Company has to be cautious of his superiors.
Furthermore, I am revered as a hero because of what happened last time. In such a situation, how could anyone dare to mess with me and Eunhae Trading Company?
That is why I went ahead with this even though I knew it would make me unpopular.
At that moment, the emcee appeared.
“Today! Finally, today! A new young hero of Murim will be born. Introducing the eight prodigies who have risen through fierce competition!”
Among those who stepped onto the duel stage was Jaegal Yoo-ah, Miss. She waved at me.
The crowd cheered even louder, but I knew why she was waving, so I smiled and nodded.
They came down from the duel stage and drew lots to determine the matchups.
This was the last time they would draw lots. From now on, there would be no byes, so the matchups would be based on the numbers drawn.
After the fourth round, there would only be four people left, so it was practically meaningless.
“The first duel is...”
And so, the duels began.
Perhaps because only the most skilled remained, the duels took longer than expected.
Most of the duels were nail-biting, and even though some of the participants were covered in wounds, they refused to give up until the end, forcing the referee to stop the match in several cases.
After lunch, the duels resumed, and the fourth round ended.
Soon after, the fifth round began.
Only two of the four remained in the duel.
Jaegal Yoo-ah's opponent in the sixth round was stronger than expected, and she had a hard time.
However, she remained calm and fought hard, and in the end, she managed to win. She defeated her opponent by a narrow margin and won the duel.
“The winner is Jaegal Yoo-ah!”
“Wahhh!”
“This will rewrite the history of the Jaegal Clan.”
“That's right.”
People refer to the Jaegal Clan as the “Shin Gi Jaegal.”
This means that they are intelligent, but it can also be interpreted to mean that they are weak in martial arts.
And until now, no one from the Jaegal Clan had ever advanced past the third round of the preliminaries.
However, something unexpected happened this time.
A member of the Jaegal Clan made it to the final round.
Looking over there, the head of the Jaegal Clan was so happy that he didn't know what to do.
A talented person with both strategic thinking and martial arts skills was born.
The atmosphere of the duel became more and more heated.
The audience was getting a little too excited, and the two fierce fighters needed a break, so a half-hour rest period was called.
“Shouldn't you go see Miss Jaegal?”
I shook my head at Lee Pil's question.
“If I go, I'll just get in the way.”
“But you know her...”
“If I were just a captain of a trading company, I would naturally go to cheer her on. But because of what happened last time, I've become a hero who is the center of everyone's attention.”
“Ah!”
Lee Pil-mu nodded.
“I see. I understand.”
Someone like Miss Jaegal Clan would understand the situation, so she wouldn't feel disappointed.
The break ended, and it was finally time for the final match.
Although they were a little tired from earlier, the crowd still cheered enthusiastically for the two contestants.
The final match was between Miss Jaegal and Master Peng of the Peng Clan.
Dong!
The gong sounded, and the duel between the two martial artists began.
They slowly circled each other, looking for openings.
To be honest, I was secretly impressed by Master Pang.
Usually, when facing a young woman, people would openly laugh at her or look down on her.
Even if they weren't blatant about it, their feelings would inevitably show.
However, Master Peng was different. From the beginning, he had a cautious look in his eyes. As I had expected, I could tell that he had been through countless battles.
There is a saying in the martial arts world.
In the martial arts world, be careful of children, women, and the elderly.
This means that those who appear weak may actually be formidable masters.
In an instant, the two martial artists' swords clashed.
Kaang!
The ensuing duel was impossible to take your eyes off. It was a tense battle where it was impossible to predict what would happen next.
With each strike, the battle continued for more than a moment, and both martial artists quickly became exhausted.
The longer the duel continued, the more mental strength became the deciding factor.
What if their mental strength was equal?
In that case, the one with more practical experience would have the advantage. It was impossible to fight without making mistakes, and in actual combat, it was important to know how to recover from mistakes.
Just like now.
Miss Jaegal Yu-ah's foot slipped slightly. The rain that fell last night had been absorbed by the trees, making the ground slippery.
Master Peng did not miss this opportunity.
He instantly stepped behind her to throw her off balance, and Jaegal Yu-ah fell backward.
Then, he aimed his Dao at her neck.
Jaegal Yu-ah sighed and said,
“I lose.”
Thus, the final winner was decided.
“Wahhhhh!”
But didn't Master Peng just step on Young Master Jaegal's head when she fell?
He could only say that it was to protect her head.
He reached out his hand to help Young Master Jaegal get up.
He is quite considerate and polite.
The emcee came out and announced the final winner.
“The winner of the 36th Dragon and Phoenix Duel is Master Pang Gang-woon!”
“Wahhh!”
“The runner-up is Miss Chegal Yu-ah!”
“Well fought!”
“Well done!”
The audience also gave generous applause to the runner-up, Miss Chegal Yu-ah.
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The festival began the next morning.
The winner and runner-up of the Dragon and Phoenix Duel rode around the Martial Alliance in an open carriage.
People cheered once again as they stood on the carriage in their colorful clothes and waved to everyone.
That afternoon, a banquet was held at the Martial Alliance.
Those who opened temporary shops were given the right to attend the banquet.
This was one of the reasons why the Trading Companies paid a lot of money to open temporary shops.
It was because attending the banquet would give them easy access to those who had performed well in the Dragon and Phoenix Duel.
The 40 winners of the first round of the Dragon and Phoenix Duel were eligible to attend the banquet, but as far as I could tell, only those who had already been noticed by the masters and were considered prodigies were allowed to attend.
I approached Hyang-ok first.
“Thank you for all your hard work.”
“You did a great job too.”
“Are you going back tomorrow?”
My sister nodded in response to my question.
“Yes! I'm going to train hard! Ugh! I'm so angry!”
It seemed that she was still angry about her narrow defeat.
I quickly said goodbye and left.
For some reason, it's really hard to deal with my sister when she's angry.
Meanwhile, my father returned from congratulating Master Pang Gang-un and Miss Jaegal Yu-ah and told them about his support.
Of course, it was impossible to have a deep conversation with so many people standing around.
So, he decided to visit them later and left.
“Did you greet the Jegal Family and the Sichuan Tang Clan?”
“There were too many people earlier, so I couldn't get close to them. I should go greet them now.”
And so, the night grew late.
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The next morning, we busily packed our belongings.
It was time to return to our home.
My father and mother, in particular, had been away from home for a long time, so we couldn't delay any longer.
Still, perhaps because she had seen the dragon and phoenix duel she had wanted to see, my mother's expression was very bright.
“We are very grateful.”
“Not at all! Please visit us again!”
Finally, we said goodbye to the waiters and the innkeeper, and we left for our headquarters in Hubei Province.
Although there was work to be done in Beijing, I had to see my family, whom I had not seen for a long time.
And
the newly recruited Myeongjong Musha and Chang-woon Musha had to undergo training at Eunpungdae before officially serving as my bodyguards.
As was the case last time, I gained a lot of unexpected things from this trip to Luoyang.
First of all, Myeongjong Musha and Chang-woon Musha are two promising first-class warriors with bright futures ahead of them.
And then there's the title of hero and the things the Alliance Leader promised to give them in exchange for accepting that title.
And the trust we gained in the Silver Sea Trading Company thanks to the Baekcheon Trading Company's blunder.
Just thinking about it makes me feel full.
As I was thinking about this, I looked over at Pal-gap, who was looking at a book.
“What's that book?”
“You mean this?”
It's titled Thirty-Six Dragon and Phoenix Duel: New Heroes.
“It's a hot new release. And the names of you and Seo Woo are in it.”
“...”
Damn, I didn't think of that.