Chapter 29 (1/2)

Translator: Hong | Editor: Darling

The entire Biho special forces were a casualty. It wasn’t simple wounds but a whole-body injury from continuous beatings and seemed like they would need to receive rehab treatment continuously to recover to their original forms.

The only reason they hadn’t ended up dying was that they were the Jong clan.

Had the black thieves wholeheartedly unleashed their vented frustrations they may have all died off, but considering the aftermath, it wasn’t wise to go that far.

Even so, the Biho special forces were now benchwarmers of the Jon clan’s military force. And it appeared it would remain that way for some time.

Excluding the Biho special forces, there were two others.

They were also a part of the main military forces, excluding these two there were still plenty of warriors.

The bigger the numbers, the higher the cost of maintaining them.

So far the cost had been covered by exploiting the black thieves, but the black thieves had caused an uprising just when it was the time to collect the taxes putting them in a tough position.

The head of the Jong clan, Jong Richun looked at his chief guard in disbelief.

“Is it really that serious?”

“Yes.”

He reported that in ten days’ time, they would run out of food supplies.

“You must quickly put together a strategy.”

Jong Richun frowned.

“We should have devised the golden wall strategy sooner.”

Had they absorbed the golden wall can this situation would never have occurred.

No, if so they would have wiped out the black thieves already.

Since the fact of their tax exploitation was never to be publicly known.

The best solution was to kill them all.

“Do we really have no spare funds?”

“We have depleted our funds with our ongoing golden wall strategy.”

Jong Richun shook his head.

“How could the situation be so devastating.”

“I apologize, sir. I should have paid more attention….”

“No. It is not you to blame. We all knew that our financial situation wasn’t looking too good to start with.”

Jong Richun comforted the head of the guards and suggested the next step.

There were a few ways.

It was to liquidate his current assets.

But this was detrimental to the Jong clan’s reputation.

The other was to ask Cheon Geum Ryeong for help.

But this had a high likelihood of being used against him in the future.

It would most likely be unfavorable when they split up the golden wall clan’s assets.

They couldn’t possibly use their future prosperity as a mortgage just to resolve a current issue.

“The only other way is to cut off the black thieves for causing an uprising.”

“But you should look into the cause first. They seem to have an outsider supporting them.”

“I’m sure.”

Had they not those scums would never have been able to have caused so much harm to his warriors.

Even if they were advantageous in numbers there was no way a dog would beat a tiger.

“First…let’s take it one step at a time. I doubt they will come together and face us now.”

“Then I will do some preparation work. So that they don’t come together. “

“Yes do that. It’s always good to be sure.”

The head of the guards bowed his head and left.

Jong Richun was left alone to calm his rage.

“These…scums dare stab my back?”

All this while he had been the one to stab others in the back, but the tables had turned.

So it aggravated him more. He owed them a favor ten times worse.

“There’s no going back now.”

Once he emptied the pockets of the black thieves, there was no going back.

The Jong clan could no longer stoop to the level of mere thieves to steal.

So it was critical to expediting the golden wall strategy while they still could.

“I have to act on it at once.”

He had to act fast and swiftly by maximizing his forces. Failure was not an option.

***

“My prince, since when did you have connections with the Dongho foundation?”

Tassan and Gyeongwan were currently staying in one of the central pavilions at the Dongho foundation.

The people of the Dongho treated the two with the best hospitality and services.

They emptied out this small but grand pavilion for them and provided them with plenty of servants to accommodate to their needs.

While carrying out Taesan’s orders seamlessly as well.

The owner of the Dongho foundation did not argue nor suspect the orders of Taesan.

He simply did as he was told.

Not only that. He voluntarily provided him with information he had gathered ever since he established his foundation.

With that Taesan and Gyeongwan were able to know the background on the Jong clan and what they had done since they established themselves in the city.

They were able to gauge how much power and influence had been passed down through the Jong generation and come up with a carefully planned strategy.

The first milestone was achieved.

“I guess we can head back now.”

“What? Already?”

Taesan laughed at Gyeongwan

“Why? Are you feeling too comfortable to go back?”

“No. I just thought you still had some unfinished business you needed to attend.”

“I’m sure the rest will finish things on their own.”

“But…the opponent is the Jong clan. In anticipation of the future isn’t it better to lend them your strength now?”

Taesan laughed at Gyeongwan’s suggestion.

“Are you confident you can win the owner if you take him on right now?”

“What? Well, I’m not sure? I guess I’ll only know once I try…but don’t you think we are on par?”

“Then what about the guard leads here at the foundation?”

“I am slightly better than them.”

“You’re wrong.”

“What?”

“You may be better than the guards, but compared to the leads you’re still far off. The owner is definitely way better than you.”

Gyeongwan’s eyes enlarged. He couldn’t acknowledge what he just heard. When he met the guard leads he had tested out their skills. What he had sent to Taesan was him being humble; he was confident that he was much stronger.

“Don’t take things at face value.”

Everyone here including the owner were followers of Cheonma.

Although within the foundation there was a mixture of those who weren’t as well.

Those who had infiltrated as the black thieves on this quest were all followers of Cheonma.

Those that weren’t were eliminated from the job. Those on this quest kept it strictly confidential.

For future battles with the Jong clan, confidentiality was key.

The reason why Gyeongwan had failed to gauge their power accurately was due to their vast experience.