Chapter 35: Transaction
“I didn’t come all this way to spout nonsense.”
At Yul Han’s coldly delivered words, the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor froze. Yul Han continued, looking at him.
“We have something we need, and we judged that Golden Flower Manor could supply that part. There are many possible methods, but rather than the Bright Cult’s traditional approach, I decided that a transaction would be better. However, if you do not desire it……”
“N-no. I desire it. Absolutely—without question—a transaction is better. Yes. Of course.”
Yul Han spoke while quietly observing the ashen-faced Lord of the Golden Flower Manor.
“Then will you accept?”
“I must. I think I was momentarily out of my mind. With the Vice Cult Leader coming here personally, what right did I have to question anything…… Golden Flower Manor will respond to this transaction with its utmost effort.”
“That is fortunate.”
At Yul Han’s reply, the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor secretly let out a sigh of relief and asked,
“As for us, what we desire is to reopen the Silk Road, but what is it that the Vice Cult Leader wishes for……?”
“Rice.”
“Rice…… you say?”
“Yes. The procurement of the rice our cult consumes over the course of a year. If you take responsibility for that, the Bright Cult will guarantee the safety of Golden Flower Manor’s trading caravans as they cross the Heavenly Mountains through Xinjiang.”
“A safety guarantee as well?”
“Yes. A safety guarantee as well.”
The danger of silk trade with the Western Regions did not stem solely from natural obstacles such as lofty, treacherous mountain paths or wastelands.
What truly terrified merchants heading into trade with the Western Regions were the ever-shifting attitudes of the sects and interest groups scattered along the trade routes, changing according to their own interests and positions.
The place where such sects, changing faces overnight, were tangled like a spider’s web was Cheonghae.
That was precisely why the traditional Silk Road passed through Yumen Pass and led directly into Xinjiang.
It was not merely because Cheonghae’s routes were harsh.
That was also why Golden Flower Manor—counted among the five greatest tycoons of the Central Plains—had even offered up a daughter in hopes of forging a relationship with the Temple of the Mad Gale that went beyond a mere transaction.
They had wanted to bear the name of the Temple of the Mad Gale not only within its own sphere of influence, but also across the territories of other sects and organizations positioned along the Western Regions trade routes that passed through Cheonghae.
At the very least, within Cheonghae, there was no place that could ignore the Temple of the Mad Gale’s influence.
And yet, the Bright Cult—who treated the Temple of the Mad Gale as little more than a child’s toy—was now declaring that the Vice Cult Leader himself would personally guarantee their safety.
Considering the Bright Cult’s location in the Heavenly Mountains, that guarantee applied not only to Cheonghae, but to Xinjiang, and even up until the very moment they crossed the Heavenly Mountains.
If the Bright Cult’s martial artists—most of them masters of the martial world—lent their aid, it was obvious that crossing the Heavenly Mountains, which was said to have only a fifty percent survival rate, would become far easier.
“How many martial artists does the Bright Cult have?”
“Roughly around one hundred thousand. Including auxiliary personnel, about one hundred twenty thousand.”
As he answered and glanced sideways, Cold Blade Blood hurriedly nodded his head.
Flashing Light Blood, who had wondered why Yul Han suddenly asked about the Bright Cult’s numbers on the road to Lanzhou, realized there must have been a use for it after all. In his ears, he heard the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor muttering as he calculated something in silence.
He was likely estimating—at least roughly—the amount of rice that number of people would consume in a year.
After a short while—
“When our silk trade with the Western Regions reached its peak, we sent out caravans about twice a month. Each time, there were ten wagons, and baggage loads equivalent to one hundred people.”
Of those, only three-tenths—three wagons’ worth, and baggage for thirty people—made it safely across the Heavenly Mountains.
The rest were plundered or lost before reaching the Heavenly Mountains, or in the midst of crossing them.
‘If only that could be reduced…….’
Having organized his thoughts, the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor spoke with gleaming eyes.
“If you can ensure that seven-tenths of them cross the Heavenly Mountains safely, I will take responsibility.”
Though grain prices had soared due to recent poor harvests, if seven-tenths of their caravans could cross the Heavenly Mountains, the success rate of Western Regions trade—where one out of two attempts currently returned empty-handed—would skyrocket.
If that happened, the profits flowing into Golden Flower Manor’s hands would be laughably large compared to the costs incurred.
That was why the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor’s answer was so decisive. At that reply, Yul Han nodded.
“I accept. I will believe that with this, the promises of both sides have been established.”
Having said only that, Yul Han rose to his feet, but the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor hurriedly stopped him.
“Y-you’re just leaving like that?”
“Is there something more that needs to be said?”
“N-no, it’s not that, but…… we should draw up a contract…….”
“The Manor Lord has given his assurance, and I have given my promise. Is that not enough?”
“I-is that so……?”
To the anxious Lord of the Golden Flower Manor, Yul Han said,
“I believe that promises between people are founded on trust. One who betrays trust is worse than a beast. Manor Lord, could it be that you are someone worse than a beast?”
“N-no. Absolutely not! When it comes to trust, I pride myself on being none other than this Gaho-tae!”
“Then that settles it.”
Leaving only that reply behind, Yul Han turned his body once more to leave, but the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor stopped him again.
“T-then, would you not stay a little longer?”
“Is there a reason I should?”
“We still need to finalize the method of the transaction, and discuss when the rice should be sent…….”
“When our side is prepared, we will send people. Send the caravans under their guidance, and once they cross the Heavenly Mountains safely, send the rice you promised.”
“T-then what about the next caravan?”
“What the Manor Lord desired and what I promised was two caravans per month. In accordance with that, we will send guides from our side.”
“Th-thank you, Vice Cult Leader. Truly, thank you.”
Leaving behind the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor, who bowed so deeply it seemed his waist might snap, Yul Han left the room without a shred of hesitation.
Yul Han discovered Hwa-yeong still standing by the doorway and turned back toward the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor, who was following him out.
“Oh, right. I’ll take care of the matter with the Temple of the Mad Gale myself. So I will trust that, at the very least, Lady Yeonghwa will not be married off into the Golden Flower Manor.”
At Yul Han’s sudden words, the Lord of the Golden Flower Manor alternated his gaze between Yul Han and Hwa-yeong for a moment before hurriedly bowing deeply.
“How could that ever be otherwise?”
“Good. Then I’ll take my leave believing that.”
Leaving those words behind, Yul Han truly departed from the Golden Flower Manor.
Flashing Light Blood had only just finished parking the carriage in the manor’s stable and was in the middle of removing the horses from their tack, making it clear just how briefly Yul Han had stayed.
In any case, after receiving the message, Flashing Light Blood hurriedly drove the carriage again, picked Yul Han up, and left the Golden Flower Manor.
They did so while receiving the dazed Lord of the Golden Flower Manor’s and the manor staff’s respectful send-off.
Only Hwa-yeong’s gaze, standing among them, shimmered with an oddly radiant light.
Cold Blade Blood, seated atop the carriage, was just as dazed.
It felt as though beans had been roasted by a sudden bolt of lightning—no, as if he had been possessed by a ghost.
Since he had not even been able to attend the conversation because of the carriage, and Cold Blade Blood’s expression beside him looked like that, Flashing Light Blood—who had no idea how the conversation had unfolded—asked anxiously.
“What, did it not go well?”
“No.”
“Then what happened? Why did we come out so quickly?”
After realizing that even Mental Voice Transmission was useless with the Vice Cult Leader nearby, the two had been cautious even about conversation for a while.
But after learning that the Vice Cult Leader did not really involve himself in their exchanges, they now spoke openly like this.
Perhaps because of that, Cold Blade Blood answered plainly, aloud.
“A promise…… was made.”
“What promise? Ah! You mean Lady Hwa-yeong? They said they won’t marry her off to the Temple of the Mad Gale?”
“Yeah.”
“But is that really something to leave you this stunned?”
“No.”
“Then why do you look so out of it?”
At Flashing Light Blood’s question, Cold Blade Blood glanced toward the passenger compartment where the Vice Cult Leader was riding and answered,
“He pulled it off.”
“Pulled what off?”
“The rice deal.”
“A rice deal? What are you even talking about? Explain it so I can understand.”
At Flashing Light Blood’s irritation, Cold Blade Blood explained what he had heard and seen, still wearing a face that said he could not quite comprehend it himself.
After hearing the whole story, Flashing Light Blood asked with wide eyes,
“It really ended like that?”
“Yes. But Flashing Light.”
“What?”
“Is making a deal really that easy? That massive amount of rice we consume in a year—with just a few words…… Is that really possible?”
“Well…… I don’t really know much about trading either. But you saw it, right? The Lord of the Golden Flower Manor giving his word.”
“That’s true, but…… before, even when we spilled thick blood, slaughtered those Hundred Paths bastards, and handed over all the wealth we seized, the rice the Eighteen Demon Sects offered…… You know it. It wasn’t even half a year’s worth.”
He knew. That was why the remaining half had been extorted as tribute from the Eighteen Demon Sects.
Of course, since about five years ago—when the Vice Cult Leader went into seclusion and the Bright Cult’s external activities dwindled—the situation had been such that all of it was squeezed out of the Eighteen Demon Sects.
At least, it was common opinion that for the Bright Cult, whose overall master-class strength lagged behind the Hundred Paths, clashing head-on with them without the Vice Cult Leader was a losing proposition.
But before that, just as Cold Blade Blood said, the Bright Cult had had to spill enormous amounts of blood just to obtain rice.
Well, it was not as if wars were waged only when rice was needed.
Even so, even when wars were started because rice was needed, the amount obtained compared to the blood spilled was, as Cold Blade Blood said, barely enough to cover half.
That was because the rice consumed in a year by more than one hundred thousand people was that immense.
And yet, the Vice Cult Leader had concluded such a large-scale transaction in barely an hour.
Flashing Light Blood fully understood Cold Blade Blood’s astonishment. The only reason he himself did not look as stunned was a vague belief that if it were the Vice Cult Leader riding behind them, it must have been possible.
The Vice Cult Leader he remembered from fifteen years ago…… would certainly have been capable of it.
‘He has truly returned!’
Flashing Light Blood trembled secretly, overwhelmed by a surge of exhilaration rising from the depths of his chest. At that moment, Yul Han’s voice reached his ears.
“Let’s go to the Temple of the Mad Gale.”
“Yes, Vice Cult Leader!”
The voice with which Flashing Light Blood answered sounded more buoyant than on any other day.
After hearing from those who had returned alive about what had transpired with the Vice Cult Leader, the Lord of the Temple of the Mad Gale fell into grave contemplation.
Whether he should take his own life before the Vice Cult Leader arrived, to die without suffering—or flee in order to live.
Rebellion was not included in this conflict.
No matter that the Temple of the Mad Gale was the hegemon of Cheonghae, it could not wage war against the Bright Cult.
Even if the Lord of the Temple of the Mad Gale harbored such intentions, the martial artists of the Temple of the Mad Gale would not follow him.
If a decision were made to oppose the Bright Cult, by that very night, half—no, eighty percent—would have fled and vanished.
That was what the name of the Bright Cult meant within the Demonic Path. And moreover, if it involved none other than Emperor Salyejin, the Human Butcher…….
Before that internal struggle could even reach a conclusion, the Lord of the Temple of the Mad Gale was struck by news like a bolt from a clear sky.
“W-who is coming?”
“A-a carriage of the Bright Cult is approaching. It seems to be the very carriage carrying the Vice Cult Leader!”
At his subordinate’s reply, the color drained from the Lord of the Temple of the Mad Gale’s face.