Chapter 519

Chapter 519

Returning to the lodging in Dunhuang’s city area, Jin Ja-gang felt frustrated.

He had definitely thought there would be traces.

He hadn’t thought there would be no traces left like this.

As Tang Qing said, how could such a large organization suddenly disappear?

“What on earth…”

Yeong-hwi’s expression also became very serious.

If they said now that it wasn’t Dunhuang after all, they had no idea how to find the Hungry Ghost King again.

“What if the Hungry Ghost King isn’t in Dunhuang?”

“They were concerned about the fact that the Bright Demon God knew. If it’s not related to the Hungry Ghost King, there’s no reason to worry.”

“But we didn’t discover anything unusual at Crescent Moon Spring either.”

That was the problem.

Unless they attacked Crescent Moon Spring and captured the leadership to torture them, they wouldn’t be able to find out. But if that happened, the Hungry Ghost King would hide before they could even find him.

“We can’t waste time like this. Rather than stay like this, returning to Sichuan to plan the next step would be…”

Soon the martial arts tournament would be held at the Baek Li Estate in Huguang.

If they couldn’t accomplish anything in the meantime, it would be no better than attacking the Baek Li Estate as Tang Qing said.

“Just one more… I need to look around more.”

Jin Ja-gang left Yeong-hwi behind and went out alone from the inn, wandering around Dunhuang’s city area.

There had been something bothering him from when he first entered Dunhuang.

He wanted to confirm that before leaving.

Jin Ja-gang headed to the trading post. At the trading post, many merchants gathered, having loaded goods heavily on horses, mules, camels, and were trading with each other.

They weren’t conversing in clumsy foreign languages. They quickly proposed quantities and prices of trade goods using established sign language, and if conditions didn’t match, they negotiated several more times before ending the transaction. If conditions matched, they completed the trade with bright faces. However, even when negotiations failed and trades didn’t happen, there was rarely any anger or cursing. In that time, they went around looking for other trading partners.

Jin Ja-gang moved to a street where restaurants were visible.

The same at restaurants.

At shopping districts too.

At teahouses too.

Transactions were happening everywhere in Dunhuang. It wasn’t just haggling down prices; sometimes the selling side even added more bonuses.

At a glance, it seemed natural.

Similar cases could be seen anywhere in the Central Plains.

However, this wasn’t a transaction between people who could communicate.

They were people seeing each other for the first time, with different languages and customs and even different ways of thinking. Such people negotiated as much as they wanted without particular quarrels and made transactions that produced maximum profit for each other.

Jin Ja-gang suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Here, ethnicity, religion, language, ways of thinking, even national laws used in each country were unnecessary.

Meaningless.

Only then did Jin Ja-gang realize what he hadn’t been able to find in this Dunhuang.

The order within chaos that Dunhuang possessed.

Its source.

The reason merchants crossed the harsh desert to seek distant Dunhuang.

The reason many ethnic minorities could live together harmoniously without discomfort.

It was because the only means and only purpose used and shared here was money alone.

Whoever the person before them was, they came to Dunhuang with difficulty for trade, and making profit from trade was the sole maximum purpose…

Wasn’t this the most fitting place for the Hungry Ghost King!

Jin Ja-gang rose from his seat.

He walked around in all directions and began asking something. He mainly asked older people and paid money as compensation.

Then he suddenly looked at the sky and sighed long.

Yeong-hwi, who had been secretly following Jin Ja-gang from afar, approached in surprise.

Jin Ja-gang looked back at Yeong-hwi.

Then he said.

“The Hungry Ghost King is here.”

Yeong-hwi’s eyes widened.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang inquired about the fastest courier to the Central Plains and wrote and sent a letter to the Tang Family.

Then he immediately returned to the lodging and entered qi circulation meditation.

“You don’t need to prepare meals for me. When a reply comes from Sichuan, let me know then. I requested a reply at the highest rate, so it will come within a few days.”

Yeong-hwi had no time to even ask the reason and was dying of frustration, but had no choice but to endure and stand guard.

Jin Ja-gang fell into deep meditation for five whole days without even eating.

Then when a reply really came from Sichuan’s Tang Family, he got up as if it were a lie.

Yeong-hwi urged the cook to hastily prepare a meal.

When Jin Ja-gang ate and seemed to have gained some leisure, Yeong-hwi could finally ask.

“Remember you said the Hungry Ghost King is here?”

“I remember.”

“Is it true?”

“It is.”

Jin Ja-gang’s tone was full of conviction.

“Then we couldn’t find him? We searched all of Dunhuang.”

“The method of searching was wrong.”

“Perhaps…”

Yeong-hwi asked suspiciously.

“A few days ago, what you asked people, was it by any chance whether the Hungry Ghost King was there?”

“No.”

“Ah, I thought so…”

Yeong-hwi felt sheepish.

“The people here don’t even know who the Hungry Ghost King refers to.”

“Then what did you ask?”

“I asked whether Taoist Haewol had ever come to this area in the past. They said he stopped by several times in the past. The Taoist also seemed to have found Dunhuang suspicious.”

Yeong-hwi shook his head.

“The Taoist could see through people with the Golden Aperture. If the Hungry Ghost King was there, he would have found him.”

“No. He was there but couldn’t find him.”

“Why?”

Jin Ja-gang said.

“The Taoist could confirm whether one speaks falsehood or truth with the Golden Pearl.”

“Right.”

“But if the Hungry Ghost King is someone whose outside and inside are the same, someone who doesn’t need to hide their outward appearance, then you can’t find the falsehood with the Golden Pearl.”

Yeong-hwi muttered, “Surely not.”

“Outside and inside are the same? You mean he’s openly revealing his ambition to devour jianghu?”

“No.”

Jin Ja-gang paused briefly then continued.

“I’ve been doubting the Hungry Ghost King’s intentions all along. Whether he’s really trying to conquer the martial world.”

“If not that?”

“Because it wasn’t that, the Taoist couldn’t find him. I now understand why the Taoist couldn’t find the Hungry Ghost King even after traveling throughout the Central Plains.”

“I don’t understand.”

Yeong-hwi still had an uncomprehending face. While listening to Jin Ja-gang’s words, he became more frustrated.

“Let me organize this for a moment. The Hungry Ghost King never had the intention to unify jianghu and take it in the first place. And because that heart was revealed outwardly, even the Taoist couldn’t know… That’s what you’re saying. Then what on earth is that heart?”

“We all knew it. However, everyone knew and passed it over.”

“So what is it!”

“What the Hungry Ghost King has been doing to jianghu until now, and what he will continue to do because of it. Yeong-hwi knows it too. Just too obvious so you didn’t think it was that.”

Yeong-hwi’s frustration now reached up to his throat, making even his words short.

“I don’t know!”

Jin Ja-gang inadvertently smiled slightly.

Yeong-hwi felt somehow embarrassed, his face reddened and protested.

“Can’t you say it in an easier way to understand? Do you have to tease people like that to feel satisfied? I’ve been holding back for five days!”

Jin Ja-gang answered.

“Profit.”

Yeong-hwi thought he had misheard.

“Pro… what?”

Jin Ja-gang put down his chopsticks and stood up holding the reply from the Tang Family.

“Let’s hear the rest from the Hungry Ghost King.”

Yeong-hwi turned his head.

At the entrance of the lodging, a small boy was standing.

Jin Ja-gang and the boy were acquainted. The boy from before who said he would do courier work because he was fast.

The boy bowed his head toward Jin Ja-gang.

* * *

“Mingsha Mountain Crescent Moon Spring…”

Yeong-hwi let out words like a groan.

The place the boy guided them to was Crescent Moon Spring.

Yeong-hwi bit his lip.

“There was definitely nothing at Crescent Moon Spring…”

“Right. There wasn’t then.”

But now it was different.

He could feel an enormous presence mixed within the sandstorm.

Not just one or two, but dozens, hundreds.

“How could masters of this caliber have deceived your and my attention?”

“They weren’t there then and appeared now. Because I gained the qualification to meet the Hungry Ghost King.”

Jin Ja-gang showed the reply from the Tang Family.

Crescent Moon Spring itself looked no different from before on the outside. However, it exuded an atmosphere that made it difficult for ordinary people to even approach.

The closer they got to Crescent Moon Spring, the sharper qi senses the masters emitted, poking at Yeong-hwi’s skin.

“At that pavilion…”

Yeong-hwi stared at the pavilion with tension. Masters were gathered at the four-story pavilion used as an inn. Many horses were also tied in front of it.

However, the boy guided them not to the pavilion but to the estate.

“This way.”

Yeong-hwi stopped walking.

“I’ll stay here.”

Between the estate and the pavilion. A position where he could immediately see if masters burst out from the pavilion. And if there was a trap at the estate and Jin Ja-gang was caught, he could also help from outside.

Yeong-hwi, who didn’t forget what he had to do until the end, even though he must be very curious about the Hungry Ghost King.

Still, Yeong-hwi was quite curious, biting his lips while saying.

“You must tell me later, okay?”

“I understand.”

Jin Ja-gang smiled and nodded, then followed the boy and entered the estate whose main gate was wide open. Yeong-hwi watched Jin Ja-gang’s retreating figure then turned his head to be on guard toward the pavilion.

* * *

On the path from the main gate to the inner courtyard, an old man in black clothes with terribly sharp eyes stood.

Jin Ja-gang saw the old man and said.

“Nameless Slave.”

The scarred old man grimaced. His expression was very displeased. He couldn’t figure out how Jin Ja-gang knew him.

However, he made no move.

The child who brought Jin Ja-gang stared at Jin Ja-gang and held out his hand. When Jin Ja-gang handed him a coin, he pocketed the money and immediately ran inside. The black-clothed old man stepped aside.

Jin Ja-gang also passed the black-clothed old man and entered inside.

From within the estate, the bright and cheerful laughter of children could be heard.

And there, an elderly white-haired old man was surrounded by children. An old man who looked exactly like the Nameless Slave standing outside, but wore the finest bright-colored silk, so the feeling was completely different.

The child who guided Jin Ja-gang also ran to the white-haired old man.

“Lang-ah, you worked hard running errands. You’ll become an excellent courier later.”

The white-haired old man took out snacks and coins from his sleeves and gave them to Lang-ah.

“Thank you, Lord!”

“Now that I think about it, are you ready to become independent?”

“Yes! I’ve almost saved the money I need.”

“Well done.”

The white-haired old man took out coins again.

“This is a reward. Those who live diligently should always have compensation.”

The children beside him cheered and shouted.

“We’ll also earn a lot of money like Lord Wang later and become wonderful people!”

The white-haired old man, Lord Wang, was pleased and took out snacks from his sleeves and distributed them to the children.

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Returning to the lodging in Dunhuang’s city area, Jin Ja-gang felt frustrated.

He had definitely thought there would be traces.

He hadn’t thought there would be no traces left like this.

As Tang Qing said, how could such a large organization suddenly disappear?

“What on earth…”

Yeong-hwi’s expression also became very serious.

If they said now that it wasn’t Dunhuang after all, they had no idea how to find the Hungry Ghost King again.

“What if the Hungry Ghost King isn’t in Dunhuang?”

“They were concerned about the fact that the Bright Demon God knew. If it’s not related to the Hungry Ghost King, there’s no reason to worry.”

“But we didn’t discover anything unusual at Crescent Moon Spring either.”

That was the problem.

Unless they attacked Crescent Moon Spring and captured the leadership to torture them, they wouldn’t be able to find out. But if that happened, the Hungry Ghost King would hide before they could even find him.

“We can’t waste time like this. Rather than stay like this, returning to Sichuan to plan the next step would be…”

Soon the martial arts tournament would be held at the Baek Li Estate in Huguang.

If they couldn’t accomplish anything in the meantime, it would be no better than attacking the Baek Li Estate as Tang Qing said.

“Just one more… I need to look around more.”

Jin Ja-gang left Yeong-hwi behind and went out alone from the inn, wandering around Dunhuang’s city area.

There had been something bothering him from when he first entered Dunhuang.

He wanted to confirm that before leaving.

Jin Ja-gang headed to the trading post. At the trading post, many merchants gathered, having loaded goods heavily on horses, mules, camels, and were trading with each other.

They weren’t conversing in clumsy foreign languages. They quickly proposed quantities and prices of trade goods using established sign language, and if conditions didn’t match, they negotiated several more times before ending the transaction. If conditions matched, they completed the trade with bright faces. However, even when negotiations failed and trades didn’t happen, there was rarely any anger or cursing. In that time, they went around looking for other trading partners.

Jin Ja-gang moved to a street where restaurants were visible.

The same at restaurants.

At shopping districts too.

At teahouses too.

Transactions were happening everywhere in Dunhuang. It wasn’t just haggling down prices; sometimes the selling side even added more bonuses.

At a glance, it seemed natural.

Similar cases could be seen anywhere in the Central Plains.

However, this wasn’t a transaction between people who could communicate.

They were people seeing each other for the first time, with different languages and customs and even different ways of thinking. Such people negotiated as much as they wanted without particular quarrels and made transactions that produced maximum profit for each other.

Jin Ja-gang suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Here, ethnicity, religion, language, ways of thinking, even national laws used in each country were unnecessary.

Meaningless.

Only then did Jin Ja-gang realize what he hadn’t been able to find in this Dunhuang.

The order within chaos that Dunhuang possessed.

Its source.

The reason merchants crossed the harsh desert to seek distant Dunhuang.

The reason many ethnic minorities could live together harmoniously without discomfort.

It was because the only means and only purpose used and shared here was money alone.

Whoever the person before them was, they came to Dunhuang with difficulty for trade, and making profit from trade was the sole maximum purpose…

Wasn’t this the most fitting place for the Hungry Ghost King!

Jin Ja-gang rose from his seat.

He walked around in all directions and began asking something. He mainly asked older people and paid money as compensation.

Then he suddenly looked at the sky and sighed long.

Yeong-hwi, who had been secretly following Jin Ja-gang from afar, approached in surprise.

Jin Ja-gang looked back at Yeong-hwi.

Then he said.

“The Hungry Ghost King is here.”

Yeong-hwi’s eyes widened.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang inquired about the fastest courier to the Central Plains and wrote and sent a letter to the Tang Family.

Then he immediately returned to the lodging and entered qi circulation meditation.

“You don’t need to prepare meals for me. When a reply comes from Sichuan, let me know then. I requested a reply at the highest rate, so it will come within a few days.”

Yeong-hwi had no time to even ask the reason and was dying of frustration, but had no choice but to endure and stand guard.

Jin Ja-gang fell into deep meditation for five whole days without even eating.

Then when a reply really came from Sichuan’s Tang Family, he got up as if it were a lie.

Yeong-hwi urged the cook to hastily prepare a meal.

When Jin Ja-gang ate and seemed to have gained some leisure, Yeong-hwi could finally ask.

“Remember you said the Hungry Ghost King is here?”

“I remember.”

“Is it true?”

“It is.”

Jin Ja-gang’s tone was full of conviction.

“Then we couldn’t find him? We searched all of Dunhuang.”

“The method of searching was wrong.”

“Perhaps…”

Yeong-hwi asked suspiciously.

“A few days ago, what you asked people, was it by any chance whether the Hungry Ghost King was there?”

“No.”

“Ah, I thought so…”

Yeong-hwi felt sheepish.

“The people here don’t even know who the Hungry Ghost King refers to.”

“Then what did you ask?”

“I asked whether Taoist Haewol had ever come to this area in the past. They said he stopped by several times in the past. The Taoist also seemed to have found Dunhuang suspicious.”

Yeong-hwi shook his head.

“The Taoist could see through people with the Golden Aperture. If the Hungry Ghost King was there, he would have found him.”

“No. He was there but couldn’t find him.”

“Why?”

Jin Ja-gang said.

“The Taoist could confirm whether one speaks falsehood or truth with the Golden Pearl.”

“Right.”

“But if the Hungry Ghost King is someone whose outside and inside are the same, someone who doesn’t need to hide their outward appearance, then you can’t find the falsehood with the Golden Pearl.”

Yeong-hwi muttered, “Surely not.”

“Outside and inside are the same? You mean he’s openly revealing his ambition to devour jianghu?”

“No.”

Jin Ja-gang paused briefly then continued.

“I’ve been doubting the Hungry Ghost King’s intentions all along. Whether he’s really trying to conquer the martial world.”

“If not that?”

“Because it wasn’t that, the Taoist couldn’t find him. I now understand why the Taoist couldn’t find the Hungry Ghost King even after traveling throughout the Central Plains.”

“I don’t understand.”

Yeong-hwi still had an uncomprehending face. While listening to Jin Ja-gang’s words, he became more frustrated.

“Let me organize this for a moment. The Hungry Ghost King never had the intention to unify jianghu and take it in the first place. And because that heart was revealed outwardly, even the Taoist couldn’t know… That’s what you’re saying. Then what on earth is that heart?”

“We all knew it. However, everyone knew and passed it over.”

“So what is it!”

“What the Hungry Ghost King has been doing to jianghu until now, and what he will continue to do because of it. Yeong-hwi knows it too. Just too obvious so you didn’t think it was that.”

Yeong-hwi’s frustration now reached up to his throat, making even his words short.

“I don’t know!”

Jin Ja-gang inadvertently smiled slightly.

Yeong-hwi felt somehow embarrassed, his face reddened and protested.

“Can’t you say it in an easier way to understand? Do you have to tease people like that to feel satisfied? I’ve been holding back for five days!”

Jin Ja-gang answered.

“Profit.”

Yeong-hwi thought he had misheard.

“Pro… what?”

Jin Ja-gang put down his chopsticks and stood up holding the reply from the Tang Family.

“Let’s hear the rest from the Hungry Ghost King.”

Yeong-hwi turned his head.

At the entrance of the lodging, a small boy was standing.

Jin Ja-gang and the boy were acquainted. The boy from before who said he would do courier work because he was fast.

The boy bowed his head toward Jin Ja-gang.

* * *

“Mingsha Mountain Crescent Moon Spring…”

Yeong-hwi let out words like a groan.

The place the boy guided them to was Crescent Moon Spring.

Yeong-hwi bit his lip.

“There was definitely nothing at Crescent Moon Spring…”

“Right. There wasn’t then.”

But now it was different.

He could feel an enormous presence mixed within the sandstorm.

Not just one or two, but dozens, hundreds.

“How could masters of this caliber have deceived your and my attention?”

“They weren’t there then and appeared now. Because I gained the qualification to meet the Hungry Ghost King.”

Jin Ja-gang showed the reply from the Tang Family.

Crescent Moon Spring itself looked no different from before on the outside. However, it exuded an atmosphere that made it difficult for ordinary people to even approach.

The closer they got to Crescent Moon Spring, the sharper qi senses the masters emitted, poking at Yeong-hwi’s skin.

“At that pavilion…”

Yeong-hwi stared at the pavilion with tension. Masters were gathered at the four-story pavilion used as an inn. Many horses were also tied in front of it.

However, the boy guided them not to the pavilion but to the estate.

“This way.”

Yeong-hwi stopped walking.

“I’ll stay here.”

Between the estate and the pavilion. A position where he could immediately see if masters burst out from the pavilion. And if there was a trap at the estate and Jin Ja-gang was caught, he could also help from outside.

Yeong-hwi, who didn’t forget what he had to do until the end, even though he must be very curious about the Hungry Ghost King.

Still, Yeong-hwi was quite curious, biting his lips while saying.

“You must tell me later, okay?”

“I understand.”

Jin Ja-gang smiled and nodded, then followed the boy and entered the estate whose main gate was wide open. Yeong-hwi watched Jin Ja-gang’s retreating figure then turned his head to be on guard toward the pavilion.

* * *

On the path from the main gate to the inner courtyard, an old man in black clothes with terribly sharp eyes stood.

Jin Ja-gang saw the old man and said.

“Nameless Slave.”

The scarred old man grimaced. His expression was very displeased. He couldn’t figure out how Jin Ja-gang knew him.

However, he made no move.

The child who brought Jin Ja-gang stared at Jin Ja-gang and held out his hand. When Jin Ja-gang handed him a coin, he pocketed the money and immediately ran inside. The black-clothed old man stepped aside.

Jin Ja-gang also passed the black-clothed old man and entered inside.

From within the estate, the bright and cheerful laughter of children could be heard.

And there, an elderly white-haired old man was surrounded by children. An old man who looked exactly like the Nameless Slave standing outside, but wore the finest bright-colored silk, so the feeling was completely different.

The child who guided Jin Ja-gang also ran to the white-haired old man.

“Lang-ah, you worked hard running errands. You’ll become an excellent courier later.”

The white-haired old man took out snacks and coins from his sleeves and gave them to Lang-ah.

“Thank you, Lord!”

“Now that I think about it, are you ready to become independent?”

“Yes! I’ve almost saved the money I need.”

“Well done.”

The white-haired old man took out coins again.

“This is a reward. Those who live diligently should always have compensation.”

The children beside him cheered and shouted.

“We’ll also earn a lot of money like Lord Wang later and become wonderful people!”

The white-haired old man, Lord Wang, was pleased and took out snacks from his sleeves and distributed them to the children.

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