First, the ‘Five Poisons Sect’ was no longer the ‘Five Poisons Sect’. While the name might remain for a while, it was highly likely to be fragmented into its original roots: the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace and the poison sects of each clan. In that situation, Zhuge Rin had stepped in and immediately absorbed the Five Poisons Medical Pavilion.
Simply absorbing the medical pavilion was amazing enough, but the practical meaning it held was even greater.
‘The right to monopolize all the rare medicinal herbs of Yunnan.’
That was an enormous privilege. The reclusive Yunnan, in particular, rarely explained even what they possessed to outsiders. To have consumed all of that—the entire list of those medicinal herbs, the manpower to gather them, and the physicians who could utilize them.
Medicine saves people, but it can also kill. The White Dragon Medical Pavilion could now compete on an equal footing with the Hwaju Medical Pavilion, whose specialty could be said to be medicine.
‘That’s an enormous achievement. His main specialty was already acupuncture, but he also established a firm domain in surgery different from the Dark Palace Medical Pavilion, and now pharmacology.’
In particular, the emergency trauma treatment method his brother had spread was saving many martial artists even at this very moment. Escort agencies had begun to request that a physician from the White Dragon Medical Pavilion be dispatched for any large-scale mission of over 100 gold nyang. When an escort is injured during a mission, how quickly they can be treated determines their life or death. It wasn’t just about life and death, but also whether the function of their limbs could be fully preserved, which was a major issue for a martial artist. The one who had first opened that path was his brother.
‘And he’s adding pharmacology to that. Hmm…’
Sama Hyeon did not know what the Divine Doctor White Dragon was building. But he knew that there was nothing to lose by getting a piece of the action.
‘Money is always right~’
As Sama Hyeon entered the temporary Golden Blood Chamber branch, everyone bowed in unison. “Lord Silver Hall Head, you have arrived–!”
As befitting merchants, their voices were loud and clear. “That’s enough, everyone back to work~”
As Sama Hyeon waved his hand, everyone returned to their posts as if accustomed to it. While his brother had been unconscious, Sama Hyeon had been busy with his own work. His senior sister had, fortunately, not betrayed him and had brought mercenaries, medicinal herbs, and other personnel. And she had not forgotten to bring the members of the Silver Blood Hall.
‘The land is bound to be fertilized by the blood and flesh of martial artists~ And after that, flowers will grow, and fruits will form~’
Those flowers would surely be golden. The Golden Blood Chamber was a flower that grew by feeding on the blood of martial artists, and its fruit was coin.
The Golden King had approved the Yunnan branch as if it were a familiar routine. She was a harvester of fruits. And when a basket was filled to the brim with fruit, she would share the basket with those who followed her. Since Sama Hyeon’s contribution was the greatest in this affair, he would receive the largest basket.
“Wealth that even the feudal lords would not envy. I can’t believe it.” His senior sister pressed her temples.
In that moment, Sama Hyeon thought that his senior sister, Lim Woon-hyeon, might betray him. Of course, that would be a betrayal of righteousness, but the two of them were from the Unorthodox Faction, and they had seen the dregs of humanity together. So, if only Sama Hyeon were to disappear, she could become the next head of the Silver Blood Hall.
Sama Hyeon did not trust people. There was only one person in the world he could trust. And since that person was a strange human being who was both extremely self-destructive and self-loving, the chivalry and righteousness he displayed were different from what ordinary people thought. And that was both a fatal weakness and a strength.
Therefore. For that one person, Sama Hyeon had thrown the yoke of money at his senior sister.
‘Senior Sister, did you know that the origin of the word for marble comes from the Dali Kingdom~?’
Before it was incorporated into the empire in the past, there was the Dali Kingdom. Of course, that was a very, very long time ago, so it was a story no one remembered.
‘Anyway, it seems the stone that came from that Dali Kingdom was that expensive and plentiful. So people started calling it marble, as in, the stone from the Dali Kingdom~ Isn’t that fascinating~?’
Sama Hyeon pointed at the ground beneath his feet. ‘Senior Sister, listen well. This is all money~. So you have to be sure to tell the Golden King, and while you’re at it, if things go well, you have to take a stake for yourself, too~ right?’
That was right. The fact that the walls and buildings of the Five Poisons Sect were all made of marble, and also that Wannong, which was relatively close to Yunnan, had so many marble buildings, meant that the marble produced in the Dali Kingdom was so plentiful it was practically rotting away. Funnily enough, when the Five Poisons Sect closed its gates, the marble trade naturally dried up.
‘It’s a truly interesting thing. That closing themselves off is more important than money.’
Sama Hyeon couldn’t understand it, but he did think that ignorant fools were also fearless. And so, time continued to flow, and hundreds of years passed. It was enough time for humans to forget something. And in the end, the Central Plains naturally began to use marble that was more expensive yet of inferior quality than the marble of Yunnan.
His senior sister’s eyes were literally sparkling with intelligence. “I’m buying up the land, and it seems everyone is in a hurry. They’re selling it cheap; it’s a frenzy.”
The first to sell were the Snake Clan members. They had decided to escape this detestable place for the sake of ‘one household, one inn’. Interest-free. But compared to the value of the land Sama Hyeon was planning to buy, he could afford that much. They did not know the true value of this marble.
‘Well~ what’s good is good. If they still had an attachment to the land, things would get bothersome, but. The leader of the Five Poisons Sect must have a stomachache~’
The Snake Clan members would soon enter the Golden Blood Chamber and scatter to various regions. They would open inns, gather and sell information, and sometimes use poison or hidden weapons to earn money.
‘It’ll take a few months to learn inn management skills, but. For a new life, that’s a cheap price to pay.’
As the Snake Clan sold their land and left, the other clans also began to sell their land. Sama Hyeon instructed them to buy without discrimination. The reason was simple.
‘On the surface, it looks better to act as if we are ignorant about the marble~ If a rumor were to spread that the Golden Blood Chamber instigated discord in the Five Poisons Sect to get their hands on the marble, it would be troublesome.’
He wasn’t very angry about the rumor itself. But he couldn’t give the Orthodox Faction riffraff a pretext to “reclaim the land of the Five Poisons Sect.” That was something that wouldn’t make any money.
That was why Sama Hyeon and Zhuge Rin had played their second move.
“The leader of the Five Poisons Sect said he wants to start over as the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace… so we must give him our unsparing support.”
“Hoh, so you will conclude your grudges that way?”
“If he doesn’t like it, he can have a life-and-death duel with the leader of the Five Poisons Sect, or not.”
Although they were reclusive, couldn’t the in-laws’ eighth cousins of the Five Poisons Sect come with swords and pick a fight, asking why they had dismantled the sect? That was not right.
His senior sister narrowed her eyes. “You really… do you need to be this meticulous?”
“Ha… Senior Sister… listen. What if my delicate hands get scarred while dealing with a bastard like that~?” he said, striking a pose with his slender, jade-like hands, and for some reason, a wave of nausea washed over his senior sister. It was because she remembered how Sama Hyeon had smashed the heads of his competitors with those very slender★jade-like hands.
“Right… preserve them well. Your slender, jade-like hands.”
“Of course~ These hands are for touching money and plucking the bipa. They are precious hands~”
While his brother had been unconscious and the situation was in a lull, the martial artists had arrived. In that chaotic time, Sama Hyeon had smashed quite a lot of the heads of the Five Poisons Sect kids. And after smashing them, he had always won them over with money.
Fear, and money. That was the essence of the Unorthodox Faction and what Sama Hyeon did best.
“Well, I’ve gotten my share, and it seems the White Dragon Medical Pavilion has also secured some marble mines.”
“If you eat something like this alone, you get a stomachache. And it’s about time my brother launched a premium version of Blue Jade. Marble Blue Jade.”
His senior sister thought of the trashy drama Red Jade, but decided to keep her mouth shut. Officially, Jin Cheonhee wasn’t the creator of Red Jade, but she had a king-tier, god-level reasonable suspicion. Either way, there was no need to get on the bad side of this true-born crazy bastard, Sama Hyeon, so she decided to just take the money she could get.
‘Hah… I want to retire early and go back home.’
They say human greed has no end, but for some reason, she was starting to feel satisfied with what she had earned.
***
The reason his master had arrived so quickly was thanks to Yoo Ho.
‘I don’t know what trick Yoo Ho used, but he’s truly amazing.’
He didn’t ask what method he had used. But according to his master, Yoo Ho had many talents, and it seemed express delivery was one of them.
Although he had seen his master every day while he was lying down, Yoo Ho had been continuously busy since coming here and had barely shown his face.
‘Well, from now on, the chief attendant’s duties will be great.’
Yoo Ho here in Yunnan, and Mu-wol at the White Dragon Medical Pavilion. The two of them were assisting with future affairs on both sides.
All things must return to what is right. Looking at the Five Poisons Sect, that was the only thought that came to mind. All things were beginning to return to their rightful places. The favors the Five Poisons Sect had sown in Yunnan would flow as favors, and the grudges would flow as grudges.
The things Jin Cheonhee saw when he came outside, having begun to move his body, were a completely different landscape.
‘So many things can change in just twenty days.’
The sorting of those who remained and those who left was already over, existing buildings were being demolished or their owners were changing, and new things were beginning to be built.
Then, what Jin Cheonhee saw was the water purification pipe that had been introduced in the Martial Training City. It was nothing grand. Based on the principles used in the Roman era, they had built a sedimentation basin and a drainage tank, and on top of that, they used activated charcoal to purify it one more time. Since it was a place with many mountains and the water source was high up, they could use this to send water to distant places.
‘Given the terrain of Yunnan, there’s no need to use the inverted siphon technique.’
It was one of the techniques used to lay aqueducts since the Roman era, a construction method that used the drop in elevation to make the water shoot up from below when the aqueduct had to cross a cliff-like terrain such as a valley. It was U-shaped. It was a technology still used in some specific terrains in the modern era, but the construction cost was high to begin with, and water quality inspection was also difficult. It also broke easily, and the repair costs when it was damaged were not insignificant, so it was a technique that was gradually being avoided. Still, you use your gums if you don’t have teeth, so they had used all the techniques they could while building the Martial Training City. He had been worried that he would have to do another major construction project this time as well.
‘What a relief. It’s less work.’
What Jin Cheonhee was currently installing in Yunnan could be said to be a combination of modern appropriate technology and Roman-style water and sewage technology. Goodbye to that damn typhoid. When this is all complete, it will be a victory for human civilization. Mwahahaha!
‘I’m just making it while I’m making the Martial Training City, Branch Number Six.’
When one landmark is built, the surrounding area develops along with it. On top of that, with the creation of the marble mines, Yunnan was now scheduled for a redevelopment boom.
‘I never knew he would remember what I told him about the origin of the word for marble and use it until now.’
On Earth, the Dali Kingdom had been maintained for about three hundred years before it was destroyed by the Mongols. This Murim star also had a Dali Kingdom. Of course, it wasn’t destroyed by the Mongols, and the detailed history was different, but the core parts flowed similarly.
‘Rome also has a lot of marble.’
In a way, perhaps the best place to introduce the Roman-style aqueduct was right here in Yunnan, Jin Cheonhee thought.
‘Many things will change.’
He began to feel that the time to leave this place would soon be approaching. Before that, Jin Cheonhee went to greet another benefactor. The Six-Horned Spirit Poison Snake. The spirit beast that had moved to detoxify him even after taking the medicine. He had to express his gratitude to it.