Chapter 43: Still, the Murim Alliance is the Best

“…If you get caught sneaking through the path we maintained without paying, you’ll have to pay 1000 times the original toll.”

The man’s words made Kim Mun and Ha Ryang feel uneasy, and they nodded repeatedly.

“Ah, understood.”

“We will keep that in mind.”

“As long as you heed that warning…”

“Then, may we go inside?”

“Of course. As long as you have a Pass Permit, you can freely use our Pavilion. Ah, before that, may I ask if you are injured?”

The man pointed at Ha Ryang, who was in a disheveled state, and Ha Ryang showed his scratched body.

“I fell on the mountain path before coming here…”

“In that case… Hey, Youngest. Bring that from inside.”

“Yes, Big Brother.”

At the man’s command, the young man went inside and brought something out. When they saw what it was…

“Golden ointment?”

“Yes, it’s golden ointment. Your wounds seem severe, so apply it before you go in.”

…it was indeed golden ointment.

Seeing the golden ointment, the two men were moved and smiled warmly.

“Wow… such kind-hearted young men.”

“I will never forget this kindness.”

As Ha Ryang reached out to receive the golden ointment…

“Haha, you can forget my kindness, but you have to pay. It’s 1 Tael of Silver.”

“What…?”

…the man dodged Ha Ryang’s hand and smiled as he spoke.

The price was 1 Tael of Silver.

“What is this…!”

“1 Tael of Silver…! It doesn’t even look like top-grade golden ointment! With 1 Tael of Silver, you could buy three of those!”

As merchants, their calculations were accurate.

It was medium to low-grade golden ointment.

With 1 Tael of Silver, they could easily buy three of those.

Outraged by the excessive price, the two merchants protested…

“Hey, middle-aged men. If this were flatland, I wouldn’t sell it at this price. But this is a mountain. You wouldn’t be able to get golden ointment here without us, right?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Wow, and you’re really hurting my feelings. We paved the path, built the Pavilion, and even offered you golden ointment out of concern, and you’re complaining about the price? I’m really hurt. Just return the Pass Permit and go back the way you came, down that steep path.”

“Ah, no. Sorry. We’ll pay now.”

…the man played the victim, making the two merchants seem petty.

He even suggested returning the Pass Permit, so they had no choice but to open their wallets.

Having grown accustomed to the comfortable path, they couldn’t imagine going back down the steep mountain path.

After spending another Tael of Silver on the golden ointment, they stepped inside and saw people enjoying drinks and snacks.

Having missed meals due to the detour, the two men couldn’t take their eyes off the people drinking and eating meat.

Gulp-.

The sight made their mouths water, and they felt an unbearable hunger.

“Excuse me… do you sell the drinks? How much for a bottle?”

“We don’t sell drinks individually. We sell two bottles of Bamboo Leaf Liquor and a bundle of wild boar meat for 1 Tael of Silver.”

“…What-?!”

Kim Mun and Ha Ryang were shocked once again.

Selling two bottles of liquor and meat for 1 Tael of Silver! How many times the normal price was that?

Moreover…

“…We only wanted one bottle of liquor. Why sell everything as a bundle?”

They only wanted a bottle to stave off their hunger, so they were taken aback by the forced bundle.

“Haha… Selling items in bundles is our… I mean, our business policy. Please understand.”

“Well… even so, isn’t it too much to charge 1 Tael of Silver for two bottles of liquor and wild boar meat?”

“Sigh… I guess I have to explain to first-time visitors.”

The man’s expression was full of confidence as he approached and whispered.

“Actually, we are closely connected with the Lower Filth Gate.”

“Lower Filth Gate…? Why bring that up…”

“You know they run a brewery, right? All the Bamboo Leaf Liquor here is from their brewery.”

The Lower Filth Gate, being a sect with all sorts of people, naturally owned a brewery.

“The liquor from their brewery is incredibly delicious. Look at that man enjoying his drink. Wow, he’s really savoring it.”

“……”

Coincidentally, a man at the front table was drinking with a blissful expression, making the man’s words more convincing.

“Selling such delicious liquor at a low price would be disrespectful. And do you want to know about our wild boar meat? We catch boars that have absorbed the essence of Mount Muak and roast them whole…”

“Alright, alright. Just bring us the Bamboo Leaf Liquor and wild boar meat.”

The man’s persuasive words enchanted them… and before they knew it, the two men were making an unplanned purchase.

“We’ve run out of water. Do we have to pay for water too?”

“We fetch water from the Mount Muak spring, which is infused with the mountain’s essence…”

“……”

…and so, their wallets were emptied.

**

“Haha, please come again! Spread the word to other merchants about this great place!”

“Haha! Will do! We’ll be back!”

Initially skeptical, the two merchants left with happy expressions, drunk and satisfied.

In the end, they would visit this place every time they passed through Honam. They would become our loyal customers.

For merchants enduring arduous journeys, this place was an oasis in the desert.

They might hesitate at the high prices, but they couldn’t resist coming back.

“Youngest.”

“Yes, Big Brother.”

“Did you write down everything I did and said today?”

“Yes, I wrote it all down.”

“Use that as a manual and have everyone follow it. Ugh, these mountain bandits are terrible at dealing with customers…”

When I first planned this business, I didn’t intend to work directly. But the mountain bandits couldn’t handle the customers properly, and the place was deserted.

So, until the business was established, I decided to work and set an example for them.

“We need to sell hard to make money! Just collecting tolls barely covers the costs.”

“Still, more people are visiting, and sales are steadily increasing. But, Big Brother.”

Youngest, who had been optimistic, suddenly looked worried.

“…Our methods are less violent than before, but… will this be enough to attract the Murim Alliance’s attention?”

“Youngest. I can say with my hand on my heart. I’m doing the most conscientious work of my life right now.”

“…It’s hard to call it conscientious when we’re making several times the profit.”

“If it were the old days, we wouldn’t be thinking about profit. We’d take everything.”

“Ah…”

I pointed to the silk merchant drinking comfortably in the distance.

“Do you know how frustrated I was all day? If I had taken everything that silk merchant had, we could have built three of these Pavilions. But I held back and only took 5 Taels of Silver. Do you understand my feelings?”

“…You’ve worked hard.”

“I’m holding back and running an honest business, even paving the mountain path, while keeping an eye on the Murim Alliance. If they come to subjugate us…”

“If they do…?”

“…Then we’ll become gangsters. We’ll just charge in.”

“Wow… I really hope the Murim Alliance doesn’t come.”

“Yeah, let’s pray every night that those guys don’t come.”

We looked at the sky for a moment and then cleaned up the tables left by the customers.

**

Anhui.

The center of Gangnam Murim and the gathering place of the world’s goods. The Murim Alliance Headquarters is located there.

In that place, where hundreds of martial artists come and go daily, the busiest place is… the Intelligence Hall, which collects information and constantly monitors the world’s situation and conducts intelligence activities.

The Intelligence Hall also had many other tasks, such as torture, counterintelligence, and selecting spies. They also updated the Murim Public Enemy list based on the collected information, so the members had no rest.

Mayu, the military officer in charge of the Intelligence Hall, was also busy sifting through the mountain of documents.

“Wow… there’s so much…”

The information coming into the Intelligence Hall was vast, as it was sent by the widespread branches of the Beggar’s Sect.

Mayu was responsible for reviewing and recording major incidents.

“A dispute between Shenyue Sect and Myeong-an Sect in Shaanxi… This is within the jurisdiction of Mount Hua and Zhongnan, so they’ll handle it… The head of the Kunlun Sect caught a cold… This is nothing important…”

Having already reviewed the top and high-priority information, only the less important ones remained.

Exhausted from several nights of overtime, Mayu skimmed through the information, but…

“Mountain bandits uniting in Honam… What is this?”

…one piece of information instantly woke him up.

“A mountain bandit who appeared like a comet quickly unified the surrounding bandits. Merchants call this bandit the Bandit King… Ha! Have the Beggar’s Sect members gone mad? They put this in the medium to low-priority information?”

If this was true, they should dispatch an expeditionary force immediately.

The unification of Unorthodox Sects was not something to be taken lightly.

However…

“I need to add this Bandit King to the Murim Public Enemy list right away. And form an expeditionary force… Oh?”

…Mayu flinched at the next piece of information in the document.

“…But these guys didn’t do anything wrong. They paved mountain paths and built Pavilions, creating rest stops for merchants?”

…Are these really bandits?

Moreover, the next sentence stated that merchant satisfaction had increased.

“This is a bit ambiguous…”

Mayu was deep in thought.