Book 23 Chapter 7

Find your lost money

-just…….

The room was dark without a single light. The Namgungsang squatted in the corner of Sacaman's chamber, his palms shaking as much as his heart.

"What shall I do? What shall I do? What shall I do? Alas, I was foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish. Didn't you owe them a huge sum of colostrum, fifty thousand in one night, and now how are you going to pay it back?'

Although some of their emissaries were the children of great families, they were not so great as to be able to pay a debt of fifty thousand talents. Besides, there was no way he could be ashamed to tell his family and priesthood of such a thing, not as a disciple of Bai Dao, who cherished honor like his life.

"I shouldn't have done that after all……."

What happened that night? Where did I leave my usual composure and patience? On that day, my first day in Ganghorando, I couldn't have regretted stepping into the gambling hall 'Jungjeongjeon' more.

At first they were winning. They were winning and winning, and the joyous shouts of the Celestial Academy's emissaries echoed high throughout the gambling hall. They were all shouts of triumph. There were occasional losses along the way, but they were quickly made up for by other victories.

"Hao, I win again."

"I won!"

"Me too! Me too!"

and other pleasant conversations. The gambling establishment "Static Electricity" was serving free alcohol to its patrons, and they clinked glasses as they got into the spirit. It was after midnight when a subtle shift in the tide occurred. The delegation, still drunk on the sweet taste of victory, continued to sit at the gambling tables. Nothing seemed impossible to them today. In their triumphant drunkenness, they could not hear the sound of doom approaching without a rumor of noise.

After midnight, one by one, the losses began to increase in frequency. At first, the losses were small, and no one cared, but then the number of defeats increased, and the amounts became larger and larger. Like clothes soaked in a drizzle, they slowly became soaked in defeat. Before they knew it, they had lost more than they had gained. Everyone sobered up. But none of the men got up from their seats. It was the only thing on their minds. It seemed that they could not only recover what they had lost, but multiply it by a dozen. They wanted to believe that their current defeat was just bad luck. It never occurred to them that their earlier victory had been a fluke.

Suddenly, they were all in debt to the tune of twenty thousand water jars. The men of the Heavenly Martial Academy were in disarray. The more they panicked, the deeper their blushes grew. Then someone from the other side offered them a bout of one-on-one combat. If they won, they would not only recover the twenty thousand yuan they had lost, but also win another twenty thousand yuan. If they lost, however, they would owe fifty thousand yuan, a huge sum. But the thought of losing had not entered their minds.

Namgungsang was seated as the representative.

"No… I'm talking about this……."

I refused, but to no avail. I was told that our fate rests on both of your shoulders.

"Here we go."

And so the great battle began, and the envoys of the Heavenly Academy for the Southern Palace were defeated, and their debt grew from twenty thousand to fifty thousand in one fell swoop.

At dawn the next day, as they walked out of the gambling hall, two words were written on their faces: despair.

"It was a trap!"

But it took too long and too many sacrifices to realize that.

After that, Namgungsang wondered how he could clear the debt, but he couldn't find a solution.

"Haha… do I really need to sell my body……."

As a man, I might not be as valuable as a woman, but I'm proud of my strong body and martial arts skills, so I wonder if I could make money as a head of a large family or as a manor martial artist? In terms of earnings, it seemed like a manor soldier would be better. I had heard somewhere that specialized jobs such as personal bodyguards for manor masters earned many times more than ordinary manor servants, but because there was no honor involved, disciples of prestigious schools were reluctant to take such jobs. It's a good thing that they don't do it, and most of them despise it as 'selling your body for a pittance', so very few people would go no matter how much money they were offered.

And those who traveled to such places were usually only disciples of the most prestigious schools, and often the lowest rungs of the ladder. As such, the presence of a Southern Palace merchant in such places would be rare. It wasn't a bad business to be in if you could sacrifice yourself to get your peers out of debt. After all, he was their captain, willingly or unwillingly. Even if it meant sacrificing his own body…….

Namgungsang, who had been developing his delusions wholeheartedly up to that point, shook his head in disbelief.

'Alas, I'm really going mad now, what am I thinking, how can I treat the spirit? I'm falling into bad habits again, courtier, what can I do now that I've already given up? Don't give up hope, even if I'm bitten by a tiger, if I keep my wits about me…….'

Bam!

Just then, the door swung open and a man barged in.

"Captain Southern Palace, are you there?"

After bursting through the door unannounced, In-young looked around for the Namgungsang, but it was still dark in the room, and his posture in the corner made it difficult to spot him.

"Captain Southern Palace, are you in your room?"

The pretense was definitely being felt, so InYoung looked around once more.

"Here you go, Bi-yeon-tae."

In a hoarse, weak voice, Namgungsang replied with difficulty. A very large, very fat man turned his head toward him and smiled.

"Oh, you were there, yeah. I didn't recognize you for a second because you were so fancy."

"Yeah, but what happened to……."

In fact, he didn't want to see anyone right now. The sunlight outside that door was too blinding for him right now.

"Ah, rejoice!"

Biyeon-tae said, spreading her arms wide.

"Rejoice?

He'd been so busy despairing that he'd forgotten joy even existed. To ask him to rejoice was a ridiculous request. Unless he could find a way to repay the debt in one fell swoop. But that was impossible…….

"I have a way to pay off my debt!"

Flames burst forth from the cloudy eyes of the Namgung Sang.

"Is that true?"

Namgung Sang's head snapped up.

"Of course," I said, "how could you bluff your way through such a serious matter?"

That would have been too much for even the most benevolent of men.

"Zee, is it real? If it's not real, I'm not……."

The madness he'd been suppressing would explode in an instant, and he'd have no one to blame but himself.

"Don't worry, it's real. Look at this!"

He held out a piece of paper with a thick hand. Namgungsang took the paper, still in doubt, and carefully unfolded it, calmly beginning to read. But his calm was short-lived. Soon his eyes widened. It read

Memorandum of waiver of physical rights (身體權利抛棄覺書).

"What is this, what is this?"

"Can't you tell? It's a waiver. Otherwise known as a slave document."

"Well, why would you do that to me?"

"Huh? You said you'd do anything to pay off your debt, right? I've been digging through all my sources, and this is the fastest way to do it. Luckily, I've recently made some connections in this powerhouse city. I'm willing to pay a pretty penny. I was able to convince him that a man of your stature would bring in a lot of customers. I'm told you're in high demand these days and in short supply. Well, the Society considers you to be an outright heretic and an adulterer………."

"Customer? Demand? Supply? Heresy? Infidelity?"

Bi Yantai's words were so fast that Nan Gongsang couldn't understand them.

"Oh, that's about selling yourself to 'Dongin', the famous giru of Kang Ho-lando."

The nonchalant tone of her remarks startled Namgungsang.

"What's the point of buying a guy like me, who's not even a girl, from Giru, he's not going to be of any use to you?"

"Oh, don't worry. They specialize in men."

That casual comment was a huge culture shock for Namgungsang.

"Woman, does a woman buy a man?"

"Men buy women, so why shouldn't women? I hear sometimes men buy men, too. Did you know that if you're popular with middle-aged ladies and get a lot of nominations, you'll be out of debt sooner than you think? You'll need to practice entertaining constantly. It's a very competitive world out there. Don't dip your toe in the water, Cancer."

At that point, the story was already unacceptable to the Southern Palace.

"Is this really the only way?"

I thought about selling myself, but at least it wasn't like this.

"Maybe, that's what I thought."

Bi Yantai replied calmly: He and his faithful members of the Society had little interest in gambling, and had separated from the envoys on a pilgrimage to explore the famous courtesans of Kanghorando. Of course, the Society's methods don't involve buying a courtesan with money. Instead, their method is to observe top-notch courtesans selling song and dance, and then record their information. In any case, he was able to be so nonchalant because he was out of the debt trap.

"Are you really… are you really saying there's no other way?

He held the quill that Bi Yantai had silently handed to him and thought hard. His hand was trembling as if he were about to write, but even so, he could not muster the courage to sign the blank signature line.

"I can't do this!"

After pondering for a while, Namgungsang lowered the hand holding the brush and said, "I'm sorry.

"Is it? If so, I can't do it."

Bi-yeon-tae was convinced without argument.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. You don't have to be sorry."

At that moment, the door burst open and another man walked in, calling out. It was Yong Tianming.

"Hey, South Palace Captain, I'm sure you've heard the news, we finally have a way to pay off our debt!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

Namgungsang replied with a puzzled expression.

"What? You mean I didn't even hear about your speculative tournament, with a prize pool of 500,000?"

This time, Yong Tianming asked in surprise.

"Oh, half a million?"

It was an unbelievable amount of money that made my eyeballs roll.

"I see. That's a lot of money to pay off your debts, let alone cure you!"

Suddenly, a blinding beam of light pierced the darkness that filled his mind. It was a call for challengers to the Cylindrical Arena's dueling system.

"Hey, if I win this……."

Then all his cares would be scattered to the wind and sand. Then his shoulders would be much lighter, weighed down by his responsibilities.

"If we win there, we won't have to sell out to Giroux!"

"Giroux? What's that supposed to mean?"

With a dumbfounded look on his face, Yong Tianming asked, and then Namgungsang told him the story of his encounter with Bi Yantai earlier. With a look of disbelief on his face, Yong Tianming looked at Bi Yantai and said, "I'm sorry.

"Senior Bi, did you not tell him about the speculative system?"

And this time, Namgungsang was stunned.

"Seo, you mean Bi-yeon-tae knew about the competition?"

"You know, it was you who told me about it."

Nangong Shang looked at Bi Yantai with an incredulous expression.

"Oh, I forgot."

In a deep tone, Bi Yantai replied.

"Is that something to forget!"

In a growling tone, Namgungsang protested fiercely. He must have been willfully ignorant. The only pity was that there was no proof, no evidence.

"Crrrr!

It took a great deal of energy to suppress the flesh that boiled at the bottom of his chest. Besides, there was no point in killing him now. He hated the man, but his ability to gather information was unrivaled.

Nangong Shang jumped to his feet and looked at Long Tianming.

"Let's go sign up for intake right now!"

Yong Tianming nodded.

"Sure. But… before you do that, I need you to change your clothes. You smell like you haven't washed in days. Yeah, you haven't washed in days?"

Namgungsang was unable to give an immediate answer, as his concept of dates was foggy.

"How many days have passed since then?"

"It's been two days."

Namgungsang nodded as if he understood.

"Two days, then."

Yong Tianming frowned and asked.

"Please don't make it three days."

* * *

Lately, there was only one thing to be heard here and there. Wherever two or more people gathered, all they could talk about was the tournament, and the rest of the world, the diversity of life, seemed to have been forgotten for the time being. The ripple effect of the prize money, totaling 500,000 yuan, was just as great. Not only did it affect Jianghuolandao, but the entirety of the neighboring Heavenly Pavilion was shaken. In everyone's wide-eyed delusions, the owners of the prize money were themselves.

But the strongest of them were to be frustrated by a single line of text appended to the letter.

However, you cannot participate if you are a Captain of the Tower!

Immediately, there were protests from some of the warlords, who were capable of doing so, but King Don, who had seen the dark underworld, the battlefields, and the skies, was not so easy to please. He flatly refused their request.

"Please don't be offended. As you know, it's not our call; it's the Lord of the Rings himself who demanded that this last phrase be added. If you have a problem with this rule, please take it up with him directly. As for me, a mere propagandist, what power do I have?"

You can't go to the masters and ask them to collect!

"……."

The men who came to protest the king's words were as tight-lipped as clams. No matter how strong and prestigious they were, as captains of the Thirteenth Generation, they were not powerful enough to overcome the displeasure of the highest authority in the land. In fact, there were very few people who knew the true capabilities of a martial artist. Most of those who had seen them in action were no longer in this world. As such, there were few left who knew the depths of his martial prowess beyond the few who survived the last war, and even then, what they did know was outdated information from a hundred years ago. It was also said that there would never be anyone who knew his secret technique, which meant that those who sampled it would soon die.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I still have a few things to settle."

The elite of the Temple of Heaven, who had stormed into King Don's residence, were forced to turn back with grim faces.

Ever since the Heavenly Blood Tax had been enacted a hundred years ago to prevent the reissuance of the Heavenly Spirit, the footnotes here had never changed. It was a stark contrast to the Heavenly Martial Hall, which had changed hands several times, but that was Black Dao's logic: as long as he remained a powerhouse, no one could unseat him unless time corroded and weathered his strength.

Stay strong!

It was an inexorable iron law that made blackness blackness. Unless you had the courage to challenge this iron law head-on, it was wise to obey orders, and a single line of rules added at the end drastically reduced the number of participants.

This was very fortunate and desirable for Namgungsang, who was relying on a sudden ray of salvation at the bottom of a dark hellhole to give him a chance at a one-shot knighthood.