Book 22 Chapter 10

Where's the money?

-Where people congregate, money congregates

Ganghorando was divided into four districts, east, west, south, and north, each called the East District, the West District, the South District, and the North District, and the harbor from which the Tianmu Academy members had arrived by boat was located in the South District. According to Bai Xiaochun's terse instructions - he considered even talking to others to be unclean - if you head east from the harbor, you'll find yourself in the East District, which is where the sex and gambling establishments are located. A few male guandos' eyes glistened when he mentioned that the red-light district was also located here, only to be met with stern glares from the female guandos: it was a nocturnal city where the lights never went out at night. It seems to be a place where hardworking people gather to work day and night.

The lodgings were located in the northern part of the city, meaning that guests arriving at the port could not reach them without passing through a dense area of nightlife and gambling houses. It was a calculated arrangement, of course, and they were told that they would be left to their own devices to discover what was in the West if they were bored. Though I suspect it was more that he didn't want to talk about it at length anymore than he wanted to entertain me.

There was a small waterway between the east, west, north, and south sections, and they had to cross a cloud-shaped bridge to get from one to the other. The first bridge they crossed was called the Namdongun Bridge, which simply means the cloud bridge connecting the south and north. Thanks to this waterway, the districts were pretty clear.

"You are free to spend your gift at any gambling house in the East District."

Baekyeon spoke with minimal words. He didn't want to talk any longer than necessary with the filthy humans; he was the kind of person who made you gasp for air just by being around him.

"If it's a gift, you mean 'it'?"

Namgung Sang asked Yong Tianming, Maha Ling and Bi Yantai in a low voice.

"Maybe it's a challenge (賭錢), something you can only use to gamble? Let's play along, I don't know what you're up to yet, but it doesn't look like you're going to do any harm."

I kept my senses open and scanned my surroundings, but I didn't feel any particular sense of being followed or ambushed.

"Maybe they're just trying to impress us with how much money they have?"

This was an unrelated comment.

"I don't think so."

Yong expressed skepticism about that opinion.

"So how do you want me to move?"

"We still don't have any evidence that this isn't a trap, do we?"

Namgungsang asked.

"That's right."

"Right."

Long Tianming and Maha Ling nodded at the same time.

"We can't completely rule out the possibility of being attacked, so I think we'll go with that white dude as far as he takes us, and after that, we'll split up because we don't know what's going to happen."

This would minimize damage in the event of an attack, and would allow me to raise an emergency signal to come to their aid. If necessary, they could counterattack. However, they had to stay in close contact with each other in case they were attacked individually.

"That's a good idea."

"I vote yes."

"I don't care."

All three agreed to distribute the flares they had brought to each group in case of an emergency. However, the executive team would stay together in case of an emergency. With just the four of them, they were confident that they could handle any situation immediately.

"That's how you know, then, Captain."

"I'm going to try to set up a group with Ma Sojae, okay?"

"No problem."

"Then please."

Namgungsang bowed his head slightly and made his case. Yong Tianming and Maha Ling put their heads together and began to think about group formation. Three or four groups seemed about right.

It was then that he heard a woman's voice behind his back calling him.

"Is that…… South Palace Captain?"

Namgungsang looked at the voice that had called him. He flinched for a moment (not knowing why he should). It was Yan Bi, and she looked very pale and weak in complexion.

"Ah, Yeonbi, moo, what's up?"

This man was somehow difficult to deal with, and not just because he had been knocked out by a blow before, but because his instincts were warning him that there was no good in knowing more, and that he shouldn't tell.

"Alas, I see you are not feeling well due to seasickness, I would like you to go to your cabin and rest first, may I?"

He said in a weak voice, his forehead the color of fuel flies.

"Oh, you are, I'm sure, and if so, then so be it. You don't need to push yourself when you're sick."

It seemed unlikely that someone who had defeated him with a single blow would suffer from anything more than seasickness… but everyone has a weakness. And maybe it just happened to be seasickness. Namgungsang refused to probe too deeply. She was certainly a striking beauty, but even so, his instincts kept warning him to stay away from her. He'd never felt this way about anyone other than his brother-in-law.

"But are you sure you'll be okay on your own? This isn't a safe place yet."

"Oh, thank you for caring so deeply, Captain South Palace!"

As Yunfei spoke, the king felt a little smug. It was always an honor for a man to be praised by a beautiful woman.

"Oh, no, I was just doing my job."

And this humble refusal would make him an even better man. But when his eyes locked with a nearby spirit, he quickly dismissed his delusions and coughed in vain.

"Uh, uh-huh. Do you want me to give you an escort?"

If the escort was such a beauty, there would be a line of applicants, with the catch being that there was no guarantee that the escort would be safe.

"You don't have to, I'll come with you."

It was Na Yerin who said she couldn't let her sick husband go alone.

"Ah, yes, that's a good idea. It would be reassuring to have someone of your caliber, like me, Sojae, with you."

Namgungsang quickly agreed.

"Hiying, are you coming in? I wanted to play with you……."

Lee Jin-sul grumbled in a very regretful voice.

"Why don't you play with that guy over there?"

Na Yerin pointed her finger at Hyo-ryong, who was standing a short distance away with Jang Hong and Yun Junho.

"Old, you mean me?"

Stunned by the unexpected surprise, Hyorong asked. He hadn't expected Na Yerin to point directly at him and say such a thing.

"Oh, come to think of it, there was a way to do that."

Lee Jin-sul's tone, as if he had forgotten, hurt Hyo-ryong's feelings.

'Black and white, I totally forgot about me…….'

His sagging shoulders said so.

"Come on, don't look so dead. There's no room for a man in a woman's friendship. It's a different kind of love."

Jang Hong, who was standing next to him, pitied him and patted his shoulder, but it was no consolation at all.

"Then have fun."

Na Yerin and Yeonbi stayed behind, and the rest of the group continued on their way to follow Baekyeon. Until the final moment of parting, Lee Jin-sul was sad, but it didn't matter. Now it was just the two of them.

"Are you done?"

Yunbi, who was sitting slumped in her chair with a pale complexion, narrowed her eyes and asked.

"Yes, they're all gone, Yeonbi."

"Great!"

Suddenly energized, Yunbi jumped out of her seat. His pale face was suddenly full of life.

"Okay, let's go, shall we?"

Yunbi exclaimed excitedly, throwing herself into Na Yerin's arms.

"Going? Where? Are you okay, Yeonbi?"

"I'm all better now that I'm alone with Rin, ho-ho-ho!"

Yunbi chuckled happily. Na Yerin couldn't help but smile along with him.

"So, in short, you're a bully?"

"Something like that."

Yeonbi is a bit tongue-in-cheek.

"Oh no. I was blindsided, but where do we go?"

"Anywhere. I just wanted to hang out with Rin, just the two of us."

Of course, I knew he had other intentions. He wanted to be less constrained in his behavior.

Right now, she felt like she was in a bit of a bind, and she needed her help.

"Okay, so what do we do first?"

"Hmm… shall we start with the yangguan (羊肉串: grilled lamb skewers)?"

It had a unique flavor that was unparalleled among the foods sold at these stalls, and so began their street food adventure.

Yunbi and Na Yerin went from street vendor to street vendor, buying and eating all sorts of odd-looking foods with a spirit of experimentation and challenge. There was no sign of the serious, anguished child from earlier. It was Na Yerin who grew rather impatient as Yunbi continued to linger and play but did not take any action.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Winner! Yay! Take it easy, you see things you don't normally see when you're relaxed. Yum, that looks good, let's go for that one this time."

Then he pulled Na Yerin into a sprint toward the grasshopper stand.

There was a game where you threw a ring next to it and if it went in, you got a prize. Yunbi grabbed the ring and threw it. There was nothing she couldn't throw in. When she won so many that the owner became upset, she returned the rest and took the one doll she liked. Then she took Na Yerin's hand and walked away, never looking back.

"I've always wanted to do something like this with Rin."

Yeonbi hasn't slowed down.

"It's been a decade in the making, but I've just never gotten around to it."

"Yeonbi……."

It's hard not to be touched by the sincerity of his words, and I'm overwhelmed with emotion as I recall the events of a decade ago.

"I guess it's hard to get rid of disappointment once you've left it behind, so today was kind of like a revenge game."

Smiling, Yeonbi said.

"Revenge?"

Playing as a revenge game… I thought it was Yeonbi.

"Yes, revenge. Decades apart. A revenge war that doubles as market research. Let's get to work, shall we?"

"Where?"

The Yeonbi replied.

"Sometimes you have to stop to get a feel for the flow, so let's go, shall we?"

Before Na Yerin could say anything, he grabbed her hand and started walking away at a fast pace. Na Yerin had no idea where she was being taken.

"Where are we going?"

The Yeonbi replied.

"Follow the money!"

Unfortunately, money doesn't just fall out of the sky. Even though Na Yerin had grown up without much trouble with money, she knew this as a matter of common sense. They say that to make big money, you have to let money make money, but that also emphasizes the need for significant upfront capital. How could she suddenly come up with the eye-popping sum of N300,000 in the middle of nowhere with no connections? He didn't even have a clue what the process would be to earn that money, but he had already done all the math and was ready to take action.

"Come on, we have to hurry."

He seemed to be in a real hurry. Na Yerin had no choice but to follow, unable to argue with the seriousness of his demeanor. Yunfei's face was set in determination, like a warrior going to battle.

"By the way, Yeonbi, can I ask you something for a second?"

I'm happy to follow along, but I wanted to clear up any questions beforehand.

"Sure, feel free to ask."

With an attitude of having nothing to hide, Yunbi replied. He didn't slow down.

"But how are you going to make money here, gambling?"

From what I'd heard earlier, it was a paradise of drink, pleasure, and gambling. We had only walked a short distance, but I could feel the decadence and hedonism in the air. Then Yunbi turned to me and said.

"No, I don't gamble, I've bet a lot, but I don't gamble, and I'm not a big fan of stepping into other people's pots."

Yeonbi said it all.

"Gee, Yeonbi, who are we talking about?"

Na Yerin asked in surprise and disbelief.

"Who? That's a pretty loose and broad statement."

The Yeonbi replied, unwillingly removing the hour hand.

"I know someone who does. I'll be sure to introduce you later."

Na Yerin said, smiling.

"I think I might be able to talk to him."

Yunbi replied with a nonchalant face.

We tend to see only what we want to see, which sometimes means we miss a lot. But what if you had someone who could freely shift their perspective as needed? You never know, he might discover a lot more than the average person. What Yunbi needed now was a path to money, and it was relatively simple to figure out how to get there. He'd been practicing a lot, so it was even easier for him to find it. A path makes sense when it's one you can walk. A path that someone else can walk doesn't mean anything to you.

"Where are we going?"

There was no hesitation on Yunbi's face as he made his way through the crowd, his expression one of someone who knew where he was going and was confident in his steps.

"To make money."

Yeonbi replied without hesitation.

"Has the Yeonbi been here before?"

"Nope. Today's the first time, of course."

"But how can you walk down the street without hesitation? How can you be so sure that this is the way to go and make money?"

Long'an wasn't all-powerful either. Even though she was the owner of a dragon eye, she was almost a blank slate when it came to money. Until now, money had been something that others gave her, not something she had to earn.

"Rin, money is a tool, a simple tool that has no power, no goodness, no will. At the end of the day, it's people who use it, and where people gather, money gathers. The flow of money and the flow of people are never separate."

"Ah!"

Only then did she understand the Yeonbi's behavior. Either way, it seems that if you don't care about something, you can't question it, and if you don't question it, you can't find an answer. In her words, her "survival" is at stake in this work, so it is inevitable that her level of interest and focus is different from his.

"This is where most of the foot traffic is going, so if you go this way, you'll find something that could be called a 'money center'. It doesn't look like a red-light district or a gambling house……."

But I wasn't going to sell my body to make money, and I wasn't going to rely on gambling, which isn't my area of expertise.

He knew from experience that doing what he was best at always yielded the greatest benefit. Even if the experience wasn't so pleasant.

How far did she walk through the waves of people? As time passed, Na Yerin could distinctly feel a certain discomfort. The more she walked, the more she realized that the number of people around her was increasing.

"Did you notice?"

Yeonbi smiled back.

"Then again, maybe……."

"Was it intentional? Absolutely."

"Why?"

Just because we understood the phenomenon didn't mean we understood the meaning.

"You know what they say, you only see what you know, and it's the same with money, if you're interested in it, you can see the path of money, the flow of money, and it can be wider or it can be narrower depending on how interested you are. If you don't want to study, don't want to make money, if you're thinking old school, you're never going to make money. Well, you're going to be poor for the rest of your life, that's your choice, but I would ask them not to drag me into it."

With that, Yunbi started walking towards the most crowded places. He stood in front of a building that was sucking people in like a giant abyssal hole. It was a very peculiarly shaped building, made of large stones stacked in a circle, and the sound of cheering was coming from beyond its massive circular stone walls. Na Yerin knew nothing else, but she knew this: this was not the place for her.

As I approached the large front gate, I saw a gatekeeper standing guard to keep order. He was gruff, but I didn't mind, and he asked me about my Yeonbi.

"Where am I?"

"You mean you don't even know where this place is?"

The look of disbelief on the man's face was palpable.

"You're asking because you don't know, why would you ask if you did?"

Well, that was one of them.

"This is an arena."

The gatekeeper replied in a blunt voice.

"That arena where people fight people?"

"Yes, that's the arena."

"That arena where you bet money on people fighting people?"

"That's right, the arena, and it's called the Cylinder."

The gatekeeper knew that if she wasn't beautiful, he wouldn't have bothered to ask her this question. By the way, cylindrical is a really cheesy name.

"There's a prize for winning, right?"

"Sure."

"I see, thanks."

Then he turned and spoke to Na Yerin.

"So, shall we go in, Rin?"

"That arena?"

Yeonbi got the nod.

"To… watch?"

"No, I'm joining."

Yeonbi replied with a broad smile.