“Don’t worry, I’ll be sending some others after you soon, so go on ahead.”

Cheonpung’s grip tightened.

Splat—!

Ya Seokmyeong’s head was crushed in an instant.

Cheonpung rose to his feet and shouted.

“Stop killing. Regroup.”

Just as Ya Seokmyeong had said.

They’d killed more than two-thirds, but not everyone.

The sheer number aside, with the weather in such a state, there were bound to be survivors.

But that was fine.

After all, the goal from the start was to ruin the caravan.

Cheonpung pulled out the dusk token he’d received from Unwi and stuffed anything of value from the wagon into it.

Unwi had ordered the deaths of a hundred, but he had no intention of stopping at a hundred.

The current time was chuksi—between 1 and 3 a.m.

And by today’s noon, a total of seven caravans were scheduled to pass through Jeogan into the inner region.

Of those seven, one had a tangled route and could be skipped.

Which left six.

The plan was to annihilate all six caravans passing today.

One was already destroyed. That left five.

“Let’s head to the next.”

Ju Soa, who had been washing the blood off her face in the rain, let out a faint laugh.

“Look at the bear bastard, acting all gallant now.”

“Tch.”

As if prearranged, the Bunta members began moving toward their next destination.

Soon, Jeogan would come to understand—

What kind of wrath came with crossing the Yangryeong Bunta Lord, Seol Unwi.

***

Seol Unwi headed toward the bunta compound.

He entered naturally, passed through the training grounds, and was on his way to the inner quarters when—

“Lord...! Lord!!”

A man came running toward him, hair flying.

Though too clean to be a true beggar, the man was Jang Seok, the current branch chief of Beggars’ Union in Yangryeong.

He pulled out a tightly rolled scroll from his robes and handed it to Unwi.

“This seemed urgent, so I compiled and brought it immediately.”

Unwi took the scroll and nodded.

“You’ve done well.”

He read through the scroll on the spot.

Partway through, his eyes stopped on a particular line.

At the same time, Jang Seok began to speak.

“...This was added in a rush to the intel your bunta members recovered.”

“This man is... there?”

“...Yes.”

Unwi let out a short sigh and said curtly,

“I’ll pay for the intel after the situation is resolved.”

“There’s no need, sir. You don’t have to pay.”

Unwi glanced at him with a questioning look.

“I’d like to form a deeper relationship with you, Lord. Think of this as a gesture of sincerity.”

“A gesture, huh... Fine. I’ll accept it that way.”

“I’ll take my leave, then.”

Jang Seok turned and left, and Unwi sat under the edge of the eaves.

In that brief moment, Unwi’s brow furrowed.

“So many guests today.”

A man was descending from the sky.

His feet touched the ground—but made only the faintest sound.

Seo Hyo of Cheonrim.

He gave Unwi a respectful cupped-fist salute.

“It’s been a while, young master.”

Unwi gave a nod, prompting Seo Hyo to smile.

“How cold. After so long, you won’t even greet me?”

Unwi gave a faint smirk.

“How have you been?”

“Quite well. Truly. I’m sure you’ve been well too... though, regrettably, it seems there’s been trouble.”

“You must’ve seen it on your way here. Why ask?”

The corpses of Sacheon Alliance members were on full display, and the blood-soaked wind that had swept through Yangryeong was still raging.

Wherever he had come from, Seo Hyo surely saw it.

“So what brings you here?”

“Straight to business. As expected.”

“Got a problem with that?”

“Not at all.”

Seo Hyo quietly sat beside Unwi.

“Starting with internal purges... You really are exceptional. To think you’d pick a fight with both Jeogan and the Sacheon Alliance. Remarkable.”

Unwi stared at him in silence.

“But there’s one thing you’re probably wondering.”

“A question?”

“Yes. For example, you might be wondering how things stand in Shinsamgok right now...”

It wasn’t a wrong assumption.

Though Unwi now ruled over Yangryeong, it was still only Yangryeong.

No matter how famed he’d become through the game of Go, that alone didn’t extend his reach.

Especially when it came to what was happening inside Shinsamgok—Unwi truly didn’t know.

And the question Seo Hyo was pointing out was exactly what had been sitting in the back of Unwi’s mind.

It had been five days since the sects of Jeogan entered Yangryeong.

He had a clear grasp on what they’d done here, but not what they’d done before—or what they were doing now.

Chances were, they were managing affairs in Shinsamgok.

But how? In what way? He didn’t know.

“Your guess is correct. Lee Jakyum of Jeogan redirected all of Shinsamgok’s mining quota, originally allocated to Yangryeong, back to Jeogan.”

“The Padmun?”

“You know better than anyone. That old man doesn’t care who’s mining what.”

He might not care, but it didn’t mean the rules of Padmun could be ignored.

More importantly—

“Bongnae and Saryang?”

“Before I answer... Are we still ‘friends’?”

“For now, yes.”

“Then we will remain friends. I’ll answer your question. Bongnae’s quota has been halved. Saryang’s entire quota has been handed over to sects under the Sacheon Alliance.”

“What about the Shinsamgok Merchants’ League?”

Seo Hyo smiled softly.

“It’s been disbanded. Unfortunately, that means one of my cover identities—Chief Negotiator—has gone up in smoke.”

“Well, that’s too bad.”

Unwi’s dry remark drew a hearty laugh from Seo Hyo.

Seo Hyo wasn’t someone who laughed easily, but for some reason, conversations with Unwi always made him laugh more.

Maybe it wasn’t just similarity in thinking—but the fact that he’d glimpsed someone even greater.

And being treated with respect on top of that made it all the more enjoyable.

“I suspect I’m the only one in this world who can guess what you’re plotting.”

“Only one, huh... Confidence in yourself is admirable, but surely you understand: no matter how high you run, there are always those flying even higher.”

“That’s true. I wouldn’t deny it. But... in the current situation, predicting what you’ll do—that, I alone can do.”

A faint smile touched Unwi’s lips.

Interesting.

“Oh, but don’t tell me to guess out loud. If I say it first, it won’t be fun.”

“So, you came to propose a ‘deal,’ didn’t you?”

“Exactly.”

Unwi’s gaze sharpened.

“What do you want?”

“Cheongsu Village.”

His expression twitched.

“And what are you offering in return?”

“I’ll give you half the profits from the black market.”

Unwi’s gaze turned cold.

“When you say Cheongsu Village, you don’t mean just controlling it. You mean the land itself. Am I right?”

“I am. I plan to station Cheonrim personnel there, to handle security.”

“Of course, to protect the black market?”

Seo Hyo smiled faintly.

“Of course. Only the black market.”

“Seo Hyo.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Do I look like a fool to you?”

Surprisingly, Seo Hyo kept smiling.

“You know it’s just a proposal. Now I’d like to hear your terms.”

“My terms, huh...”

Unwi’s calm eyes locked onto Seo Hyo.

“Withdraw from Cheongsu Village.”

“...Pardon?”

“If that place isn’t cleared before sunrise, I’ll slaughter everyone there. I’ll burn down the warehouse. And if that’s not enough, I’ll bring down the entire cave.”

“...”

“If you understand, get out of my sight.”

Unwi began to rise—but stopped at Seo Hyo’s next action.

“...My apologies. I sincerely apologize for the disrespect.”

“Seo Hyo.”

“Yes, young master.”

“I don’t like games.”

“...”

“If you know what I’m planning, then you should know talk like that means nothing. It wastes time, wastes manpower—and wastes my time. Do you have anything else to say?”

Seo Hyo scratched his head.

“...Once more, I apologize. But it’s truly an urgent matter for me, so I had no choice.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘no choice.’ If you’re proposing a deal, you’re opening a table to seek mutual value. So why are you devaluing yourself?”

“...”

“If what you’re doing is that urgent, I’ll give you honest advice. Get a grip. If you push things that forcefully, backlash is inevitable.”

“...But you’re pushing things quite forcefully yourself.”

“Do you think I’m like you?”

“...”

“How can someone in control of the situation be compared to someone hoping for another’s decision? Seo Hyo... Were you always this small?”

Seo Hyo closed his eyes tightly, exhaled deeply, and gave a respectful cupped-fist salute.

“...One more time. I’d like to propose a new deal. Will you sit back down?”

“Are you confident this time won’t be a waste of my time?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then I’ll give you a chance.”

Unwi sat back down.

Seo Hyo, watching him silently, sighed again inwardly.

This man... I’d always known he wasn’t normal—but maybe even that was an understatement.

He had to get serious now.

“I want to expand the black market.”

“You mean you want to expand the warehouse?”

“Exactly. I intend to expand the warehouse—at least double the current size, no... three times, or more.”

Unwi’s gaze turned sharp once more.

“And?”

“...What I said before, yes, it did mean we wanted to control Cheongsu Village. But knowing your personality, I’m aware you’ve never once even visited the black market.”

The truth was, by this point, Unwi had already more or less handed control of Cheongsu Village over to Cheonrim.

But there was a clear difference between formalizing it in writing—deeding the land—and not doing so. Selling the land was something Unwi would never do.

He wasn’t the type to get his nose cut off while watching.

“The Yangryeong bunta—more precisely, the individuals you personally designated—can have full control of Cheongsu Village and issue orders to the Cheonrim members working there. Regardless of the cultivation levels of your bunta members, I’ll ensure they’re given absolute obedience. With one exception.”

Unwi already knew exactly what that exception was.

“The warehouse. The Cheonrim members working in the warehouse must be granted absolute freedom. They’ll obey only you.”

Now they were finally speaking the same language.

“And in return?”

“We’ll guarantee you half the black market’s profits.”