Chapter 385

“Huuuuuu.”

A hum anyone could hear.

But none of those who listened to the hum could enjoy it.

“So this…”

In the fingers of Chung Myung was a shining object the size of a child’s fist. The rusted object, as if carved from jade, emitted a different color each time light passed through.

“That…”

Gye Hyung, who had been a bit restless the whole time, approached Chung Myung.

“G-Give it back…”

“Stop moving.”

Flinch.

“Back off.”

As soon as he said that, Gye Hyung stepped back.

“Sit down.”

Thud.

“Hand…”

“Stop! You idiot!”

Puak!

Baek Cheon kicked Chung Myung, making him fly up like a ball and land on the ground, causing him to scream.

“Why!”

“Are you training some dog!? You bastard! You can never do something a human needs to do!”

“Because it is fun.”

“Ugh. You are seriously….”

Baek Cheon turned and looked at Gye Hyung.

‘Somehow.’

Looking at the man, who was sitting in a state of dismay with the face of a loyal man, Baek Cheon felt pity.

Even if things went wrong in the world, there was a pattern to it.

All of a sudden, the will was handed over to that bastard. It was a terrible thing, as close to disaster as it could be.

The disciples of Mount Hua ended up participating in creating this disaster and groaned at the sight of what they had done.

“Huhuhuhuhu.”

However, whether or not he knew their feelings, Chung Myung just smiled, looking at the jade in his hand.

‘What is this?’

A Sect Leader’s Will…

A single piece of stone that symbolized the authority of a clan but… what could be done with this? Either way, it was good.

‘This happened because of the people problem.’

All kinds of tests and evaluations. And even the sect leaders who have been picked through personality assessment over decades often end up in a mess when the person who can stop them vanishes.

It wasn’t known if there was a place like Mount Hua where elders could dissuade their sect leader and such, but in most sects and especially clans, the elders were normally chewed out by the authority of the sect leader.

Then, in the end, an uncontrollable absolute power struggle would occur due to that.

This will stone was created to prevent that.

Most of them were placed in a place like a council room where they could keep the sect leaders in check; that way, sect leaders obsessed with power could be handled…

‘The intentions were good.’

But wasn’t it human nature to use things made with good intentions for bad uses?

No matter what their intentions were, once someone held this object, they decided that the life and death of a clan depended on them.

In other words, it was a treasure that gave one immense power. And now, in the end, the leaders of each sect and clan wanted to hold theirs.

And that treasure of the Ghost Clan’s was in Chung Myung’s hand.

“Smack.”

Chung Myung smacked his lips.

“It is nice to have this in my hand… but a clan is no Beggars Union, so is there anything worthwhile in this safe house?”

Hearing this, Gye Hyung looked like his entire world had just collapsed.

‘Because he seems like a person who would touch even a beggar’s bag.’

What?

What are you doing by giggling and stealing items that belonged to someone else’s clan?

Money?

Moneyyyyy?

‘The heavens are indifferent to this.’

What the hell did the Ghost Clan do to deserve such a thing?

They walk around pretending to be ghosts, but in the other neighboring clans, there aren’t many who live as well as those from the Ghost Clan.

Maybe living a good life was not enough; they were blessed.

“So.”

“… Yes.”

Chung Myung asked Gye Hyung, and he shook the stone in his hand.

“Want to curse?”

“…”

Should he curse?

“There is nothing wrong with doing that. After all, it is your fault that you didn’t take care of such an important item and placed it in such a place. In other words, what kind of clan would do such a thing?”

The Shaolin Abbot’s Will would stay in his hand; it would never leave his grasp.

When a Sect Leader needed to stow away their jade, it was stored in the deepest parts of the sect or clan, and in the case of Shaolin, in the deepest cave.

But here, it was placed in an area with no escorts or guards.

“… we have a couple of ongoing situations.”

“Sure, there has to be. And now there is a need for this again, right?”

“Yes.”

Gye Hyung nodded his head with a sad face as if he had given up on everything.

“Well, there is no reason for me to know the situation.”

Chung Myung held the jade in his hand and waved it in front of Gye Hyung’s eyes.

“What do we do?”

“… Uh?”

“I am also having a hard time, so why don’t I give it back?”

Gye Hyung’s eyes widened, and his face turned red.

Return?

Still, it seemed that this devil wasn’t really a devil. It looks like he wants to give it back.

But the hope which bloomed from one sentence popped like a bubble in his next words,

“How much will you pay?”

“… uh?”

“I am asking how much will you pay for this?”

“…”

Chung Myung pointed at the deep pit.

“We still ended up digging this place for a long time with our bodies. Think about the labor they had to do. This only happened tonight because they are strong, and look at my face.”

“We look fierce!”

“And how handsome he is!”

“Baek Cheon Sasuk is here. Do you have to speak with your face?”

The accusations exploded in an instant, but Chung Myung heard those words from one ear and out of another.

“Look, I am also a taoist who serves the heavens, and it will sting my consciousness to swallow the home of someone else.”

“Conscience? Did he just use that word?”

“Eh, Sasuk. Why would he use such a ridiculous word? We must have heard him wrong.”

“What is with you bastards!”

Chung Myung widened his eyes, but Mount Hua’s disciples were angrier.

‘What. What?’

He stared.

“…”

Ah, their heads worked too well.

Try catching me once…

Well.

“So.”

Chung Myung smiled as he looked at Gye Hyung.

“How much will you pay? I can come up with a number that works for this.”

“… money?”

“Yes.”

“That… I am a bit embarrassed to say, but…”

“Uh?”

“Right now, the Ghost Clan is a lot poorer than the Beggars Union.”

“Eh?”

Chung Myung tilted his head,

“Do you think that makes sense? A clan with light footwork technique and the best stealth skills in the world has no money? You can make money by stealing.”

“We don’t steal!”

Gye Hyung screamed as if those words were horrible to hear.

“At the time when we were active, there were people who would accuse us when they lost things, so stealing is something that we feel offended by.”

“… Ah.”

Such a sad story, but…

“Then you shouldn’t be dressing like a ghost and acting like that!”

“O-our martial art is just like that. What do you expect us to do?”

“If you act like that while being smart and stuff, anyone would suspect you people first.”

“T-That is unfair.”

Gye Hyung beat his chest, protesting how unfair this was.

“It means that we have chosen to live a clean life. But of course, our martial arts are like that, so we end up coming out as ghosts!”

“…”

“Appearances aren’t everything!”

“… not everyone is like that.”

“But this taoist just said a moment ago that you would make money with that!”

“Uh… I am sorry.”

Chung Myung apologized right then.

“…The rumors that the unknown is a wilderness are true! Our Ghost Clan never lived to cause harm to others. We helped people! But people would constantly say that it was us when something happened.”

Gye Hyung had a long look like he was being unfairly prosecuted.

“Cheer up.”

“We came to know you are good.”

“Chung Myung is a bad guy.”

“Shut up.”

Chung Myung screamed and looked at Gye Hyung.

“Even so, this doesn’t make sense? You think using your footwork is worth you staying poor?”

“Surely our footwork is the best in the world…”

“Right! That is why…”

“Wouldn’t that be more useful when it is entrusted to someone who can use it?”

“…”

“Who would request us when the sound of a thief moving is also silent like ours? Who would want to depend on us? Who would leave a fish to a cat?”

“…”

Strange.

Why did his eyes feel bad?

When he heard this, it felt like he was listening to the story of Mount Hua, which was ruined; it felt like he could empathize with him.

“So you don’t have money?”

“… we don’t have money to eat or die. We are a poor clan, but recently we faced problems in the process of selecting a new leader. With the former passing away suddenly without deciding between the two successors, it has turned into a mess.”

“Then it is war.”

“…it isn’t large enough to call it war, but… it is a huge fight. And the fight ended.”

“So you are here for this?”

“Yes. If I showed up with it before the results came out, other problems would have risen, so.”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung looked at Gye Hyung with a complicated face.

“You aren’t lying, right?”

“I am speaking the truth. We are trying to keep our agreement in place. The only thing I’ve done lately is that I was so hungry that I picked a few pieces of meat from a place and ate…”

“… I forgive you.”

“Thank you.”

Chung Myung smacked his lips.

‘I can do nothing about the money.’

He wanted to ask for something in return, but what could he ask of a clan suffering?

And to harass them…

‘They are strangely innocent.’

After all, he did nothing wrong, just pretended to be a ghost. He had never attacked a disciple of Huayoung Gate who was traveling alone.

Of course, when Chung Myung ran into him… well, he didn’t get to hit back and got beaten down by the excited bastard.

As a result…

‘This is a new thing.’

Chung Myung looked at the jade plaque in his hand.

How could they use this against a clan that didn’t have enough money to run itself?

It wasn’t like they were strong, either. They only had that footwork as a move. And without money in their clan…

“Wait.”

Chung Myung suddenly raised his head and looked at Gye Hyung.

Flinch.

At the eyes which seemed to hold fire in them, he shuddered.

“It isn’t that you don’t want to make money, right?”

“Of course not. Is there any place in the world that hates money? Even if we depend on our martial arts, we need money to put food in our mouths and learn more. Doesn’t Disciple know that?”

“Ho…”

Chung Myung shook his head and then nodded.

Did it mean that a sect with the best footwork in the world lives in poverty because they have no means to earn?

He smiled.

“Yah.”

“… yes?”

“How long will it take you to bring your sect leader here?”

“… to be precise, the position of sect leader is still currently vacant… the new one will only be elected after I return with the Sect Leader’s Will.”

“Fine, I get it, okay. So, how long?”

“That…”

Gye Hyung looked a bit worried as he said,

“It would be around ten days at the latest.”

“Nice!”

Chung Myung nodded his head.

“Go and tell him to come here directly if he wants this. You will also come with him.”

“…D-Disciple! If I head back like this, I will be beaten to death!”

“It is fine. Just tell them one thing, you will not be beaten to death then.”

“Tell?”

Chung Myung nodded and said,

“You get to make a lot of money and ask him to come along.”

“… lot of money… you mean?”

“Ah. And it isn’t just some money, but a large sum of it.”

Gye Hyung looked shocked, but Chung Myung was already giggling.

And the others knew that this was something that involved money, and money made him act as such.

‘It is time to expand the business gradually.’

-Delivery is possible within ten days throughout the Central Plains. We will bring things at the speed of ghosts-

This had to be given!

This had to work out!

This pretty piece of jade stone now looked like gold to him.

“Ghost Delivery Service, hehehehe. I think that is good. Hehehe.”

All of Mount Hua’s disciples trembled as they watched scheming Chung Myung.

‘He is up to something again.’

‘Please, learn to live like a human, Chung Myung.’

When Chung Myung started to work, wasn’t it always Baek Cheon and others who had to handle it?

Everyone sighed, knowing they would have to suffer again.