Sichuan. To be honest, Sichuan was not a place I went to very often.
As I said before, since the Sichuan martial world was not on good terms with the Martial Alliance, almost no missions were given from the Martial Alliance.
Even when I occasionally perford missions that required to go to the Sichuan region, I almost always ca back after doing what I had to do, so it would be no exaggeration to say that I knew almost nothing about the Sichuan region.
"Manager-nim, you go to Sichuan often, don't you?"
"To be precise, it would be correct to say that I used to go often. After the Eungnam rchant Guild grew in earnest, I almost never went in person."
When the Eungnam rchant Guild grew in earnest.
Perhaps that was from the ti when the Wudang Sect and the Eungnam rchant Guild had properly signed a sponsorship agreent.
To be more precise, it would have been after driving out the main culprit who was secretly ruining the Eungnam rchant Guild.
Jin Tae-jin.
At that ti, Wang Hyeon-seong had been gloomy for a while. Of course, he would be.
Because he had found out that Jin Tae-jin, whom he had thought of as a lifelong friend, had actually betrayed him and was even thinking of killing him.
However, he fortunately stood up again, and now that the obstacles blocking the Eungnam rchant Guild's path were gone, and he even had the wings of the Wudang Sect, he had been on a winning streak since then.
"But you still went often until a few years ago, didn't you?"
"To be honest, would it be just that I went a lot? At that ti, I spent much more ti in Sichuan than outside of Sichuan. Breaking into new business partners, pioneering new markets, negotiating prices... It was probably more difficult than establishing the Eungnam rchant Guild."
"I heard that the people of Sichuan are very wary of the people of the Central Plains, so was that why?"
"Yes. Of course, it's not as severe as with the martial artists, but still, the people of Sichuan had the impression that the people of the Central Plains could not be trusted. It seed it was because many swindlers from the Central Plains had a history of swindling in the Sichuan region and running away. So gaining their trust was the biggest problem more than anything else."
Sichuan Province itself is composed of a large basin surrounded by rugged mountains.
That ans it is a natural fortress bestowed by the heavens, but on the contrary, it also ans that if one succeeds in escaping from there, it is not easy to pursue.
So many swindlers from the Central Plains flowed into Sichuan, and half of them were caught and killed or imprisoned, but the other half succeeded in escaping.
There are also matters between martial artists, and since things like this often happen, the emotional rift between the people of Sichuan and the people of the Central Plains can only deepen.
'But why couldn't they reconcile in my past life?'
As I thought about Sichuan, a question suddenly arose.
The fact that my master had return these tokens to the Sichuan sects is an act that contains the will of the orthodox martial world to restore its relationship with the Sichuan martial world.
This is not a future that has changed because of my actions, nor is it sothing that only I can do.
But not only have I never heard that the orthodox martial world had attempted to restore the relationship, but in the end, such a thing did not happen.
'If we had been on good terms with the Sichuan martial world, we would have been able to find out about the Demonic Cult's invasion a little sooner. And in the first place, we would have helped them not to be taken over by the Four Evils Alliance.'
But in the end, the fact that they failed to restore the relationship with the Sichuan martial world made think that they had made a peace proposal like this, but it was not accepted at all, or that the Sichuan martial world itself had already been taken over by the Four Evils Alliance to the point where they couldn't even try to make peace.
"Manager-nim. Then you wouldn't know much about the recent atmosphere in Sichuan, would you?"
"The atmosphere in Sichuan? What kind of atmosphere are you talking about?"
"By any chance, what the Four Evils Alliance bastards are doing, and which sects they have taken over to what extent. Things like that."
"Ah...! Are you talking about that evil faction sect that started in the western part of Sichuan Province?"
"Yes. That's right. Them."
"Hmm... I'm sorry, but I don't know much about them. To be precise, I don't know much about matters related to the Sichuan martial world."
"Really? I thought that even rchants were quite sensitive to the martial world's situation."
Wang Hyeon-seong nodded his head greatly and opened his mouth.
"That's right. In fact, we have to be sensitive. Because if you want to do business in a certain area, the easiest way is to join hands with the strongest person in that area."
"But you said you don't know much about the Sichuan martial world?"
"The Sichuan martial world is a little peculiar. No one has ever yelled at us for doing business, or demanded protection money. So at first, we tried to find out who had the most power in that area and negotiate things like tribute, but... now we just understand that the world where martial artists and ordinary people live is different in the Sichuan region, and we're just watching the situation."
"Really...?"
Looking at Wang Hyeon-seong, who was speaking with so difficulty, I noticed a few things.
'The Sichuan martial world right now... is in a really tense power struggle.'
It would probably be a power struggle between the various sects of Sichuan and the Four Evils Alliance.
Martial artists are not interested in the world of rchants?
That is almost an impossible thing.
To be honest, martial artists are those who just do unproductive sword fights.
The reason they can eat, dress, and enjoy themselves as they do now is partly because of the wealth they have inherited from their ancestors, but in the end, it is possible because there are rchants and ordinary people who make money so that they can live like that.
But they are not interested in rchants? That doesn't an they are not interested in money, but it is no different from saying that the situation is so urgent that they cannot be interested in money.
'In that situation, even if the orthodox martial world returns such tokens, they wouldn't be very impressed. Or they might have thought that they should deal with it after resolving the matter of the Four Evils Alliance.'
But in the end, the winner in this Sichuan martial world was the Four Evils Alliance.
So after the initiative was completely pushed to the Four Evils Alliance, they would not have even noticed the peace proposal of the orthodox martial world.
Since they were in a situation where they were busy just managing their own sect, they would not have had the leisure to sort out so old feelings and get along with the distant Central Plains martial world.
'Then in the end, it's because of the Four Evils Alliance, isn't it?'
While talking with Wang Hyeon-seong, I felt that many things were being sorted out at once.
And I knew for sure what I had to do first when I went to Sichuan.
For now, I have to think about how I can weaken the Four Evils Alliance bastards even a little.
'Wait, co to think of it, Dokgo Ju-gwak was taken by the Demonic Fire Hall Master then, right? Then does the Demonic Fire Hall Master get to eat the Four Evils Alliance? Or did Dokgo Ju-gwak quit being the master of the Four Evils Alliance and follow the Demonic Fire Hall Master?'
Although I thought both were very bad situations, I hoped that if I had to choose between the two, it would be the latter.
Although Dokgo Ju-gwak, who had gone under the Demonic Fire Hall Master, is also a very troubleso existence, for now, if Dokgo Ju-gwak leaves the Four Evils Alliance, it is a huge loss of strength.
The Four Evils Alliance, like a typical evil faction sect, has a remarkably small number of absolute masters.
However, it is tricky to deal with them because of the large number of first-rate masters who seem to keep coming out even if you kill them.
Among so many first-rate masters, if one or two masters like Dokgo Ju-gwak, who can break the ga, are mixed in, that nurical superiority can be utilized even more greatly.
But the fact that Dokgo Ju-gwak has left is no different from saying that he cannot create that much of a big influence.
'And if the Four Evils Alliance goes under the Demonic Fire Hall Master... I can't carelessly provoke them either.'
If that happens, attacking the Four Evils Alliance becos no different from attacking the Demonic Cult.
In particular, the Demonic Fire Hall Master is keeping a close eye on , and if I directly harm him, then promises and what not, he might suddenly appear and punish .
"Dojang Unhwi? By any chance, am I doing sothing wrong?"
At my serious expression, Wang Hyeon-seong asked with a serious face.
I waved my hands and answered, "No! It's not that. I was just wondering. I'll have to go to Sichuan quickly to find out what's going on."
We walked without much talk after that.
As I was seriously thinking about various things, the other people also suddenly beca quiet.
Although I felt a little sorry for creating that atmosphere, I still had to organize my thoughts quickly, so I couldn't easily open my mouth, and we gradually got closer to Sichuan.
***
And so, we proceeded smoothly to Sichuan without any particular hindrance.
In fact, we could have t mountain bandits or groups of thieves on the way, but fortunately, we didn't et a single one of them.
"Fortunately, there were no problems on the way, were there?"
"Yes. Fortunately, after signing an agreent with the Wudang Sect, there is almost no one who targets our rchant guild."
"Really?"
"Dojang Hyeon-yang stayed with our rchant guild for quite a long ti, didn't he? At that ti, the thing that Dojang Hyeon-yang was most certain about was the thorough punishnt and retaliation against those who touched the rchant guild. It seems that since then, a rumor has spread among the thieves that our rchant guild should never be touched."
"Then it ans that they are not gone, but are still hiding sowhere?"
"Yes. Probably so."
Although I really wanted to root them all out, I decided to endure it for now because I didn't have ti.
I also thought that when I don't have any urgent business later, I should pretend to be an ordinary rchant guild and exterminate them once.
Because I thought it was ridiculous no matter how much I thought about it that rchants couldn't go around properly because they were afraid of thieves.
And so, how far did we head west? It was when I asked Wang Hyeon-seong, and he said that we would be able to arrive in Sichuan in about three days.
If it were normal, we would have reached it in a day by performing our movent techniques with my senior brothers, but since there was also a carriage loaded with the goods of the Eungnam rchant Guild that Wang Hyeon-seong had, and there were also several servants pulling the carriage, it took that much longer.
Just then, the loud sound of horse hooves began to be heard from a distance.
The sound of the horse hooves seed to get closer and closer, and then it ca right in front of our noses and stopped.
The owners of the sound of the horse hooves were about five or six people, and they all had fierce impressions, and from the way they were roughly wearing clothes made of animal skins, they looked exactly like a group of thieves.
I, thinking that what was supposed to appear had finally appeared, drew my sword and was about to step forward.
"Dojang Unhwi. Would you mind waiting for a mont?"
Because Wang Hyeon-seong stopped , I had no choice but to step back again.
He went forward and said calmly, "Do you heroes have any business with our rchant guild? We are the Eungnam rchant Guild of Hubei Province."
Then the n turned their heads and looked at each other, and then, nodding their heads, they opened their mouths.
"We've co to the right place. We've co for the Eungnam rchant Guild."
"What is it?"
The man who seed to be the leader among them led his horse closer to us and then jumped off his horse.
He looked at us for a long ti and then suddenly...
Thud—
He knelt before us, bowed his head, and shouted, "I heard that among the dicines that the Eungnam rchant Guild carries, there is a special dicine that is particularly effective for wounds. Our leader is dying right now. Please show rcy and save our leader...!"
(End of Chapter)
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