Chapter 50: Close Than Ever (3) (2/2)
“She must be a very bad person then.”
Jokingly, Ma Jung Soo replied with a smile, “Something beyond that. She is as dangerous as a viper. You know how the saying goes, ‘If a man meets the wrong woman it will ruin his life
forever’.”
“Yes I understand”
Even with my response, I could sense some annoyance in his face. I could tell that there was some enmity between the two. So I decided to change the subject.
After some time Ma Jung Soo told me the real reason why he called me..
“The thing is, I need some money…”
“I heard from my master that he would be providing you with some a.s.sistance in this matter.”
Just to appease him, Jung Yeo gave him ten thousand nyang. Since I was going to get it back with
interest I told him to not be too stingy in lending him the money.
“The money that he lent me is a bit lacking.”
“How much do you need sir?”
“One hundred thousand nyang.”
I acted surprised. Since no one was supposed to know what truly happened.
“When do you need it by sir?”
“The earlier the better, but I need it within five days.”
“You need to get hundred thousand nyang in five days?”
With a surprised yet worrisome and careful expression, I said “There is a solution”
“What is it?”
“Have you heard about the Dark Merchant Guild?”
“The Dark merchant? Of course, I heard of them. Don’t they lend you money with high interest? I heard that they were greedy and nasty people.”
“Yes. They are people who shouldn’t be approached.”
So I continued to lead him this direction, “Yes, they are nasty and greedy people. If they wanted someone dead they wouldn’t have a second thought about it. They even use the forbidden techniques that are banned in Kang Ho.”
As the martial artists of the Murim Alliance kept their dignity and honor, they didn’t use any techniques pertaining to releasing compressed killing intent or using a poison-tipped weapon. If they were caught using these they would immediately be sentenced.
“So you want to borrow money from them?”
“That is the only way to get one hundred thousand nyang in five days sir”
After giving it some thought he said, “Do they have that much money?”
“From what I heard, through their last transaction, they were able to get a mountain load of money. They should be able to satisfy your financial problems.”
“Alright. Let's say that they have the money. Will they allow me to borrow it so easily? Since I don’t have any deposit.”
“Why do you need a deposit?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“What better deposit then your reputation and face.”
“My reputation and face?”
“You are one of the successors to the Heavenly Dao Gate. What deposit would you need?”
There was a grin on Ma Jung Soo’s face. It was easy to manipulate him like this since he was driven into a corner the last few days.
However, it was unwise to push everything to him at once. It was more effective to take things one step at a time.
“I am sorry. I I had a slip of tongue. Please disregard what I said sir.”
“No. Your words have some value”
Since being driven into a cornerl he saw this as an opportunity for him to get out.
“Can you get in contact with them?”
“Of course, sir”
He and I refres.h.i.+ngly emptied the bottle of wine.
I am sorry to say but this would be his final drink.
The Dark Merchants received a message.
“Ma Jung Soo contacted us saying he will visit us soon.”
Hearing Ya Chun’s words Koo Chul was surprised.
“Could it be that he figured out that we killed Si Gon?”
“It could be”
But no one expected Ma Jung Soo to come here himself.
“You must first hide!”
“What is going to happen if I hide?”
“I will take all the blame and meet him.”
“Stupid punk! What can you do?”
“I am sorry sir.”
Ya Chun was disciplining Koo Chul, but it seemed as if he was in a good mood. Even though Koo Chul was greedy and had a nasty character his loyalty was second to none.
“So what will you do sir?”
He couldn’t just run away without knowing the full reason why Ma Jung Soo was here for. He built up his face and reputation through out the years so he couldn’t just throw it away like that in front of his subordinates. Since they were coming into his turf he had nothing to be afraid of.
With a fierce gaze he was prepared for what was to come.
“Gather everyone who is skilled. We must be ready for anything that could happen. If something happens we must eliminate him. Running away is only going to come after that.”
The next day, we left for the Dark Guild headquarter in a carriage.
The only people on the carriage were me and Ma Jung Soo. The mysterious woman saw us leave but didn’t come with us. Though I a.s.sumed that she was trailing us. I didn’t think she would want to miss anything that happened to Ma Jung Soo.
“Do you think he will let us borrow money?”
It seemed that he was uneasy. He would be acting differently if Si Gon and Old Man Flower Fan were by his side but now things were different.
“You must be aggressive.”
“Be aggressive?”
“The thing about these people who live their life in the dark is that they are weak against the strong while they are strong against the weak. They are just wild dogs that don’t know their place. Even though they are Black Merchants they are just country b.u.mpkins in this rural city. There is nothing for you to be afraid of sir.”
It seems Ma Jung Soo gained some courage after listening to my pep talk.
“I feel better with you being here.”
“No need for compliments. Please entrust this task to me.”
I showed him the firmness in my eyes.
“Alright” Ma Jung s...o...b..lieved that this was for the best. Since then he could place the blame on me if things went wrong.
The carriage finally arrived at their headquarter.
<script>