Chapter 453
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 453
Chapter 453. The Holy Body (6)
At that moment.
Haechul was in his office.
He had created his office simply because the other chairmen had offices, but he rarely used it.
He left most of his work to the chief administrator.
He ate when he wanted to eat, played when he wanted to play, and lived a life of idleness.
The reason he was in his office was because of the box on his desk.
Inside the box was something black.
“Is this the elixir?”
He gave the elixir to the person who approached him, saying he would repay his debt.
However, it was clear that they had no idea how much elixir was in the box.
It wasn't a few pills, but a whole lump.
Elixir is expensive.
Therefore, he became greedy and took half of it, and the person who approached him accepted it without any suspicion.
“Hmm...”
He thought about selling it to get money, but quickly gave up on the idea.
If he sold this elixir and got caught, he would be hunted by Shaolin Temple.
Moreover, if those who approached him found out, they might demand that he return the money.
“Hmm... What should I do with this?”
Come to think of it, that was what the person who gave it to him had said.
He said that if he ate it, he would gain the power of a martial artist and even those who did not know martial arts would gain inner arts.
Since it was a village near Shaolin Temple, he often saw monks from Shaolin Temple and other martial artists.
He used to envy them as he watched them fly through the sky and run faster than horses.
Of course, he knew that those abilities did not come easily, but through years of grueling training.
However, he wanted to use martial arts without going through that process.
“Yes, they said that if I eat this, I will gain inner arts!”
He had heard that one needed inner arts to use martial arts.
Finally, he made up his mind.
“Yes! I'll eat it!”
Having made up his mind, he ordered his attendants not to let anyone enter, and began to eat it secretly.
Originally, elixirs required considerable caution when consumed, but he was already filled with greed and didn't give it a second thought.
“What's this taste?”
It tasted strange, but he thought it was probably because it was an elixir.
If he had asked his bodyguard if it was real elixir, he would not have eaten it.
***
The monk Jong-o of Jikakdang asked me to wait a little longer.
I readily agreed.
I didn't know why it was taking so long, but I wasn't in a hurry.
I was happy to stay here.
I had dealt with the black-clad men who were after the body of the Grand Master of the Blood Moon Sect, but that did not solve everything.
I also had to finish the business with Hae-chul, the uncle of the monk Jigak.
There is a saying, “kill two birds with one stone.”
I planned to deal with Hae-chul and at the same time prevent them from laying a finger on the body of the Grand Master of the Blood Moon Sect.
***
Two days passed, then three.
However, those who promised to bring 30,000 nyang were nowhere to be found.
As the debt repayment date approached, Haechul began to panic.
“Damn it! Damn it! Why aren't they here yet?”
At that moment, his servant came to see him.
“Chairman, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor? Who is it?”
“Just tell him it's for the 30,000 nyang, and he'll know who you mean.”
“...!”
Hearing this, he jumped up from his seat and said,
“Bring him in immediately!”
“Yes, sir.”
He hurried to the reception room and waited for a moment, and then a man entered.
However, it was not the same person who had come before.
“Are you Master Jang?”
“Yes, I am. But why is Master Dae-hyung not here?”
“He is dead.”
“What?”
“You failed to do your job properly. You did not notice that half of the elixir that came out of Hyeokgon Seung's body was missing.”
“....”
“That's why I'm here. No matter how I look at it, it seems that you are the one who swallowed half of the elixir.”
Ha-chul's eyes began to tremble under the calm gaze of the man.
“He noticed that I stole the elixir!”
According to him, the man who approached him died because of him, but Ha-chul did not feel sorry about it.
“I was stupid, so he found out! Damn it! If you wanted to die, why did you drag me into this!”
The unidentified man in black armor and a hood spoke coldly.
“Looking at your face, I knew it was you.”
“That's...”
“You were the one who broke your promise first. However, we are merciful. Therefore, I will give you one more chance. Bring me the elixir. But if you waste this last chance, your life will be forfeit.”
Now, it was no longer a matter of 30,000 nyang.
His life was in danger.
“Wait a minute. Now that I've taken the elixir, shouldn't I be able to use some martial arts?”
If so, he could defeat the man in front of him!
With that in mind, he took out a beautifully decorated dagger and rushed at him.
“Ugh!”
Bang!
But his dream was too ambitious.
Before the dagger could even reach the man wearing the bamboo hat, he was kicked in the leg.
Kung!
“Guh!”
He was kicked in the stomach and hit the wall, vomiting blood from the impact.
“Chairman!”
The guards standing at the door heard the cry and rushed in, but they couldn't even draw their swords before they were thrown back out the door.
The man wearing the bamboo helmet pulled Hae-chul to the floor and threw him down. Then he stepped on his head and said,
“You're not afraid of anything.”
“Please spare my life. I must have lost my mind for a moment.”
“I understand the situation. I was wondering why you suddenly attacked me with such confidence, but you ate that magic potion.”
“...”
“You fool. It takes at least a month for that potion to take effect. Anyway, this is a problem...”
He continued.
“Should I cut open your stomach and take out the magic potion? That potion takes a month to digest and slowly dissolves in the stomach.”
Hae-chul's face turned pale at those words.
“Please, spare my life! I'll do anything. Please spare my life!”
Hae-chul was beside himself with fear.
“All right, let's do this. I don't want to go through the trouble of cutting open your stomach to get the potion out. So, you can replace it with a potion of the same grade.”
“What? The same grade?”
“Something like Geumjin or Guyeopja... That should do. It's not that common to find a potion that can raise one's rank by ten levels in one go.”
“...”
“I'll give you two days. If you bring me the potion within that time, I'll let you live. But... if you don't bring me the potion, I'll cut open your stomach and take it out myself.”
“Yes, I understand! I understand!”
Haechul nodded frantically.
All he could think about was sending the money and running away.
At that moment, the man wearing a hood pulled a dagger from his sleeve. He grabbed Hae-chul by the collar, put the dagger in his mouth, and pressed down on his throat.
Gulp!
The dagger went down Hae-chul's throat regardless of his will.
“This is a special tracking incense from our organization, so we will be able to find you no matter where you go.”
“...
”If you think I'm lying, try running away. But then, I won't just kick you in the stomach, I'll cut you open.“
Thud.
The man wearing the bamboo hat let go of Hae-chul, and his body fell limply to the floor.
”See you in two days."
***
I sent telepathy to the Yeongam warrior coming out of Hae-chul's house.
- Well done.
The Yeongam warrior did better than I expected. One of his specialties was voice modulation, so he was perfect for this job.
- I'll check if anyone is following you. Wait at the agreed location.
- Understood.
My companions and I searched Hae-chul's house. Hae-chul was completely lost in thought.
But what can I do? This is just the beginning.
I asked Jin-yu to keep an eye on Hae-chul and headed for the agreed-upon location.
Yeo-eung-am had already removed all his disguises and changed his clothes.
“Wow, your acting skills are truly outstanding.”
He chuckled at my comment.
“Actually, I was in a famous theater troupe when I was young.”
“A theater troupe?”
“Yes. My parents were members of a traveling theater troupe. I learned how to change my voice from the men in the troupe when I was a child. However, my parents didn't like me being in a theater troupe, so they sent me to a martial arts academy.”
“I see.”
I guess acting is in the Yeo-eung-am family.
Anyway, his acting was really creepy. The theater world lost a promising talent.
But I'm glad.
“By the way, why did you ask for the elixir?”
I made a bitter face at the question from Lee Pil, who was standing next to me.
“Because it's useless to a monk.”
Ha-chul must atone to the monk.
But will he sincerely apologize? That's unlikely.
And an insincere apology is tantamount to deceiving the other party.
Therefore, he must apologize with something of material value.
But the monk is a disciple of Buddhism.
They basically do not own any property and live on a small monthly allowance.
He even said that he saved that allowance and gave it to Hae-chul.
Wow...
He might as well have taken the liver out of a flea.
In any case, land and money are useless to a monk like that. Even if I gave it to him, he would just donate it, right?
That would be meaningless.
So I thought of an elixir.
One of the few things that Musung can keep for himself is his inner arts.
Of course, it is important to give him the elixir and help him afterwards, but that is a problem for later.
Right now, we must take everything we can from Hae-chul.
“By the way, Liege, was that really tracking incense you fed him earlier?”
“No. It was just mud.”
Horse dung and mud... He might get an upset stomach, but he won't die.
Honestly, he can't complain about being sick from that.
How many people have lived with heartbreaking pain because of him?
.
.
.
Two days passed.
According to Jin-yu's report, Hae-chul made a tearful effort to find the elixir.
However, he eventually found it.
As promised, two days later, Yeo-eung-am headed back to Hae-chul's house.
Unlike before, the house was very empty.
That was to be expected, as he had sold everything he could and sent everyone away to get the medicine.
He gave a small amount of compensation to those who had suddenly lost their jobs.
If they were hardworking, that should be enough to live on until they found new jobs.
I headed for the guest room through a gap between the roofs.
“Is that what you promised?”
“Yes, here you are.”
Haechul handed him the box politely.
Yeo Eung-am took the box and placed it on the table.
Then he opened the box.
It contained nine purple leaves.
It was guryupja-sam.
Unlike other ginseng, it grows between rock walls and produces one leaf every hundred years.
When it reaches ten leaves, it evaporates and returns to nature.
In other words, when it has nine leaves, its medicinal properties are at their peak.
Eating one root of this ginseng is said to give you the energy of a hundred years.
- Is this real?
- I think it is.
I looked closely at the ginseng and replied to Yeo Eung-am's telepathy.
The energy I felt from the nine-leaf ginseng was real.
This is very expensive.
People would sell all their household goods and even send away their children to get this.
“Hmm, it's the real thing.”
Yeo Eung-am closed the box and stood up.
“Then what about the 30,000 nyang?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn't you say you would pay the 30,000 nyang instead?”
“I did. But with you having stolen half of the elixir, that promise is already broken, isn't it?”
“What?”
“And I said I would spare your life if you brought back the elixir you stole or brought me an equivalent elixir, not that I would give you 30,000 nyang.”
“....”
Come to think of it, that was true.
He looked as if his world had collapsed.
“Then I'll be going. Don't ever deceive anyone again. You won't live long if you do. Hahahaha.”
“Wait, wait a minute…”
He tried to grab Yeong-eung-am, but Yeong-eung-am's footwork was quick.
He couldn't even grab Yeong-eum's clothes and fell forward.
“No....”
As he stood there in a daze, a group of people entered his manor.
They were dressed in green.
The color drained from Hae-chul's face.
“Are you Ha-chul, the chairman of this manor?”
“...”
“No, you don't have to answer. We already know who you are.”
They were called the Green-clad Men.
They were people who seized the property of those who borrowed money from the Geumsan battlefield and did not repay it.
.
.
.
On that day, the Green Armor Seized Ha-chul's entire property.
In a way, it was a natural consequence of his extravagant lifestyle, which was made possible by his sister's sacrifice.
He had spent all of his emergency funds to buy medicine, so he was now completely penniless.
He had said that he didn't even have a piece of land before, so it was like he was back to square one.
However, if he stayed here, Hae-chul would surely ask the monks for help.
That's why he had to get rid of him.
“Pal-gap, do you know where the Chairman's in-laws live?”