Chapter 874: You’ve Saved Up a Lot of Money, Right?

Where the water had receded, only mud remained.

Some houses had collapsed, while others had their interiors filled entirely with mud. People were clearing the area, sinking waist-deep into the sludge.

Children and adults alike were shedding tears. The women struggled desperately to salvage whatever household belongings had been buried in the mud.

A short distance away, two figures watched the scene unfold. One of them was a woman: Geum Arin of the Golden Dragon Family.

“The embankment collapsed during last night’s flood and swept over the village. Quite a few people died before they could escape.”

At the report from the Golden Dragon Family’s Chief Steward standing beside her, Geum Arin let out a sigh.

“Have new houses built for those who lost their homes.”

The Chief Steward looked startled as he asked,

“All of them?”

“Yes, build all of them anew. Also arrange temporary shelter for them, and send relief supplies.”

The head of the Golden Dragon Family, Geum Cheonbang, had stepped down from the front lines after entrusting the family affairs to Geum Arin. Now, every decision of the family was made by her.

“It will cost more money than you expect.”

Though the Chief Steward showed hesitation, Geum Arin remained firm.

“Even so, we can’t just stand by and watch those people suffer, can we?”

This village was not far from the Golden Dragon Family’s territory.

“I will request cooperation from the Martial Alliance and handle it together.”

“This is our area. Those people are ours to take care of.”

“Didn’t you already spend a hundred thousand nyang for people in another region last time?”

She understood his concern.

“Are you worried I’ll squander the family’s wealth?”

“That’s not it, but…”

Though he said that, he was indeed worried.

“I’m someone who loves money too. But this is something that must be done.”

The Chief Steward looked at her as if asking why she had changed so much, but she did not explain.

“Proceed at once.”

“Yes, understood.”

She stood there for a moment, watching the restoration efforts. Not only the villagers, but also martial artists carrying swords had come to help.

The men cleared heavy debris, while the women retrieved belongings from the houses. Some took care of the children. On one side, a fire was lit to cook food and feed the children. The young ones, unaware of the situation, ran around laughing.

At that moment, someone spoke from behind her.

“Looks like the Golden Dragon Family has been making quite a lot of money these days.”

Startled, she turned around. Standing not far away was a middle-aged man. His round face and stout build gave him an easygoing appearance, yet in stark contrast to that impression, the presence and aura he exuded were incredibly sharp.

Geum Arin was an expert. She had once led the secret organization operated by the Golden Dragon Trading Company. Although she had recently neglected martial training after taking over family affairs, she still possessed the keen perception to gauge an opponent’s strength at a glance.

‘An expert.’

A master who forced even her to tense up.

The moment she laid eyes on him, she knew. He had not come with good intentions.

Srrrk.

In front of her, a man with snow-white hair revealed himself from concealment.

He was Lim Hyuk, her personal bodyguard. She had deliberately brought only him to avoid drawing attention.

Through voice transmission, Lim Hyuk warned her.

—He is a master. Be careful.

After rumors spread in the business world that her father had stepped down, many incidents had followed.

People assumed she was naïve and tried to manipulate contract terms, or attempted to take advantage of her in any way possible.

Many had tried schemes like this before, but no one had ever approached her so directly.

Lim Hyuk drew his sword, but the man showed no fear at all. From that alone, it was clear that his strength surpassed Lim Hyuk’s.

Geum Arin gestured for Lim Hyuk to step back. If the man had intended to kill her, he would have ambushed her rather than appearing like this.

She politely asked,

“May I ask for your esteemed name, Senior?”

“People call me Blood Money Sack.”

At the name, Lim Hyuk’s expression hardened. If the rumors about his strength were true, even if they joined forces, they would not be able to handle him easily.

Geum Arin had also heard of Blood Money Sack.

A man known throughout the business world, bearing the name “Bag of Blood Money.”

He was infamous for latching onto trading companies across the Central Plains like a leech, extorting money from them.

One might think that someone who resorted to such methods couldn’t possibly be that strong, but the martial world was never lacking in exceptional cases.

They said even ghosts could be commanded with money, and in a world overflowing with wealth, the fact that he survived while extorting money from others proved just how formidable he was.

He enjoyed wielding influence over the business world and took pleasure in squeezing money out of them. The money he extorted was squandered on alcohol and gambling. At brothels, he would spend tens of thousands of nyang in a single night.

“A renowned figure has come.”

Blood Money Sack grinned and replied,

“Renown? Compared to yours? I hear the Golden Dragon Family has been saving the world these days.”

It seemed that her recent good deeds had reached this money-obsessed man’s ears.

“There is a reason behind those deeds.”

“Oh? What reason?”

“I made a promise. To live a good life.”

“With whom?”

Originally, she was not someone who helped the needy or gave charity like this.

But after becoming the successor of the Golden Dragon Family, she spared no expense in doing good.

She was living to atone for her past mistakes.

Following the will of the one who had helped her become the successor.

“There’s someone who used the character ‘Yeon’ in his name. It’s a promise with that person, who disappeared like smoke.”

Of course, Blood Money Sack had no way of understanding her words.

“Why keep someone in your heart who vanished like smoke?”

Because he hadn’t been ordinary smoke.

Even now, she would occasionally think of Geom Yeon and the incredible things he had accomplished. It would be nice to see him just one more time, but that was something that would never happen.

“Why have you come to see me?”

In truth, Geum Arin already knew better than anyone why he had come, but she asked anyway.

“I’ve come to make a deal with you.”

“Please, go on.”

He pulled a sheet of paper from his chest and handed it to her. As she read it, she saw that it was a contract stating that, in exchange for protection from an enemy, she would pay three hundred thousand nyang. It was far from a trivial sum; it was an outrageous amount.

“Who is this dangerous enemy written here?”

At her question, he slowly approached her. Lim Hyuk tried to stop him, but she signaled that it was fine.

Since he had presented a contract, nothing would happen until she placed her seal on it.

Blood Money Sack came to her side and looked out over the area where restoration work was in full swing. A man covered in mud passed before them, pushing a cart filled with sludge and broken household items.

Watching the scene, Blood Money Sack spoke of someone.

“I’ve heard there’s a particularly vicious bastard in the business world. They say he’s so greedy for money that he won’t be satisfied until he’s taken everything his target possesses, including their life. A true madman. Just like the flood that swept through this place, they say he’s a natural disaster that no merchant can hope to stop.”

He turned his head and looked at Geum Arin.

“I’m offering to protect you from him.”

Geum Arin understood.

The vicious bastard he was talking about was none other than himself.

In other words, if she didn’t hand over three hundred thousand nyang, he would take everything she had and kill her. A shameless threat.

He had even prepared a contract so that later, if the Martial Alliance raised an issue, he could claim it had been a legitimate transaction.

Geum Arin recalled a recent incident in the business world.

“I heard that the head of the Nine Dragons Trading Company had one of his arms cut off not long ago. Was that also the doing of that vicious man?”

To the outside world, it had been reported as an accident. But seeing Blood Money Sack, she was certain he had been responsible.

As if confirming her suspicion, he spoke in that man’s defense.

“I’d say that vicious bastard showed mercy. He let it end with just one arm.”

While her father was still the head of the family, Blood Money Sack had never once visited the Golden Dragon Family. It was widely known that her father had close ties with the Martial Alliance Leader.

And now that she had taken over the family, he had appeared, almost as if he had been waiting for this very moment.

Even so, the fact that her father was still alive made his presence here all the more telling.

It proved that he was not only powerful, but also possessed the audacity of a man teetering on the edge of madness.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have that much money right now. If you come back later, I’ll give it to you then.”

“You have money to build houses for those people, yet not for this?”

He had overheard her earlier conversation with the Chief Steward. That was why he had said the Golden Dragon Family must be making a lot of money these days.

“Fine, let’s do this. I’ll first take only the money needed to build their houses. As for the rest, I’ll consider it a loan to you. The interest will be just one percent per day.”

He proposed terms that were impossible to accept.

This man relished such games. The amount of money was never what mattered. What truly interested him was the reaction of his opponent.

When Geum Arin gave no reply, another threat followed.

“Oh, right. You probably haven’t heard that rumor. Before that vicious man cut off someone’s arm, he also cut off the head of the guard protecting the head of the White Dragon Trading Company. You didn’t hear that, did you? People like you only care about money. That head of the White Dragon Trading Company had boldly refused to pay because he trusted his guard. In the end, only that poor guard suffered. I hear he even had a family.”

It was a threat to kill even Lim Hyuk. He would take their money and mock them—Blood Money Sack was behaving utterly arrogantly.

His threat led to him drawing his sword.

Srrrng.

“I’ll also ease our Young Mistress’s worries. Usually, once a subordinate’s head is cut off, decisions are made rather quickly.”

As he moved to kill Lim Hyuk, Geum Arin spoke coldly,

“If you touch us, the Martial Alliance will not stand idle.”

But Blood Money Sack was certain she would not report this matter to the Family Head.

“You’re the one leading the family, yet you can’t even handle your own affairs and have to run to your father? Fine. Go ahead and tell him.”

Even invoking the Martial Alliance didn’t work.

“Even if the Martial Alliance comes to investigate, I’ll give half of those three hundred thousand nyang as a bribe to the investigator. Let’s see whether he chooses justice or money.”

Blood Money Sack grinned, thoroughly enjoying the situation. There was nothing more pleasurable than taking away what mattered most to someone.

“I’ll kill this one and take one of your arms.”

He mocked her.

“Though, even without an arm, someone else will count your money for you. Feed you, wash you… That’s the nice thing about being rich.”

Geum Arin’s expression hardened. If there was no guarantee they could win this fight,

“I’ll stamp the seal.”

She couldn’t lose Lim Hyuk over three hundred thousand nyang.

“If you kill him, then you’ll have to collect that seal from my father.”

It meant she was prepared to die here as well.

“Then I’ll just take one arm from this one.”

Just as Blood Money Sack raised his sword to cut off Lim Hyuk’s arm,

Geum Arin drew her sword and stepped in front of him. He had protected her since childhood.

“You won’t touch even a single hair!”

Lim Hyuk stepped forward again to shield her.

“I am fine, Young Mistress.”

If she could remain safe, he was willing to give not just an arm, but his life.

“Seeing you act so devoted like this, how can I not kill you? I’m curious what kind of reaction I’ll get.”

Just as he raised his sword high,

Thud.

Something flew toward Blood Money Sack.

Thinking it was a hidden weapon, he was startled and looked down at himself, only to discover that it was nothing more than a clump of mud.

When he raised his head, he saw a young man pushing a cart full of debris. The man had thrown a lump of mud from the cart at him.

“What are you doing? Everyone’s working here, and you’re busy fighting?!”

For a moment, Blood Money Sack was dumbfounded. Not only had someone intervened, but he had actually been struck by a clump of mud. It must have been because there had been no trace of killing intent whatsoever.

He looked at the young man. Though he carried a sword, there was no trace of martial training.

More than anything, the reason he felt no tension was because the young man’s face and entire body were covered in mud. A true master wouldn’t be doing restoration work like this.

Blood Money Sack burst out laughing.

“Lost your home and now you’ve lost your senses too?”

At that moment, Geum Arin’s eyes widened as she stared at the young man.

“No way…?”

At first glance, his face had seemed vaguely familiar. But covered in mud, she hadn’t recognized him immediately. Hearing his voice, however, she knew.

“Geom Yeon!”

To her astonishment, the man pushing the cart was none other than Geom Mugeuk.

Never before had Geum Arin felt such joy upon seeing someone. She was truly glad—so much so that she nearly let out a cheer.

“Why are you here?”

“I was on my way to see you, but I couldn’t just pass by these people, so I was helping.”

“You were coming to see me? Why?”

“Have you already forgotten? I said I’d introduce you to my friends next time.”

That was right. Geom Mugeuk had said that. That he had pure-hearted friends, unlike his own position, and that he would introduce them to her.

Geum Arin had taken those words differently. To her, they meant that her position as the Young Mistress of the Golden Dragon Family was nothing so remarkable, and that she should stop making a fuss and simply live with kindness.

She had thought he meant it in that sense, but he had truly come to introduce his friends.

Blood Money Sack’s expression stiffened. The fact that this man knew Geum Arin bothered him. That meant he had approached her intentionally.

And then, Geom Mugeuk asked him an unexpected question.

“You’ve saved up a lot of money, right?”

“Why do you ask?”

“My friends have very sharp ears. They heard everything. I may have also added a little explanation.”

It meant they had heard his entire conversation with Geum Arin.

“They all want to cut off your arms.”

“What?”

“There are five of them besides me. At this point, it’s not just your arms that have been claimed, even your legs are spoken for. You’ll probably spend the rest of your life lying in bed while others feed you. I trust you’ve saved up enough money for that.”

Blood Money Sack’s expression hardened completely. It sounded like the ramblings of a madman, yet something about it felt strangely unsettling.

“One of them, in particular, is very angry. You shouldn’t have mentioned the Martial Alliance. I’ll do my best to hold him back, but during this journey, he’s been returning to his true nature. He’s a very rough and violent fellow. At this rate, he might even defect to the Unorthodox Alliance.”

Blood Money Sack couldn’t understand what this mud-covered young man in front of him was talking about.

Geom Mugeuk turned to look behind him, where the restoration work was still underway.

“Well then, let me introduce my friends.”