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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Jeon Hu-dam, the sect leader of Tong-i Gate, was a seasoned information broker who had worked in Sacheon for over a decade.
Jeon Hu-dam took pride in the fact that Tong-i Gate was one of the top five information organizations within Sacheon.
Although the true nature of information organizations was not easily revealed, having lived in this field for over a decade, he was able to obtain enough information to grasp the outlines of his competitors.
The request from the Hwang Gold Clan was a big deal even for Tong-i Gate.
[Bring information on a Sacheon outcast named Ho Cheon-an!]
Was there any information broker who didn’t know that the Hwang Gold Clan was overflowing with gold?
The rewards were also exceptionally generous, so regardless of being the sect leader or not, he had no choice but to do his best.
“Hmm.”
First, Jeon Hu-dam decided to trace back the events from the beginning.
The information about Tang Do-gyeong and Yeo Il-ye stopping by the Outcast Inn and leaving was not very meaningful.
Whether it was Tang Do-gyeong or Yeo Il-ye, they must have visited the Outcast Inn because they had business with the outcast who played the shell game.
‘Let’s skip this and next is…’
It was widely known that Bu-rin of the Hwang Gold Clan worked as an intermediary.
An information broker would have to deliberately try not to know about the sorcery performance that took place in front of the Hwang Gold Clan.
So Jeon Hu-dam realized that the outcast named Ho Cheon-an, whom the Hwang Gold Clan had requested information on, was the very outcast who had conducted that sorcery performance.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for the Hwang Gold Clan to specifically demand information on an outcast named Ho Cheon-an.
And it wasn’t difficult to track the movements of the person named Ho Cheon-an.
Because recently, he had been moving together with a female Sacheon outcast.
Jeon Hu-dam began to trace Ho Cheon-an’s movements in reverse order.
‘This is quite an easy job compared to the pay. Should I have given it to the underlings?’
The work of Sacheon outcasts tended to cause a commotion wherever they went, so most of their movements were recorded.
If he just rummaged through the documents, it wouldn’t be difficult to find Ho Cheon-an’s movements.
Although he was personally compiling the information due to the large sum of money, compared to the determination he had mustered based on the amount, it was a dull job that drained his energy.
Despite being called underwater contact, Sacheon was a place where sects supported by huge forces called the Five Great Clans of the Nine Great Sects gathered.
How could Sacheon be easy?
In order for martial arts sects to survive in Sacheon, information was essential.
Could there be any other region where the flow seen from the outside and the inside of the water were so deceptive?
Sects that had grown in size and dipped their toes in the water even a little were divided into two.
Either they were swept away by the absurd undercurrents flowing inside the water and disappeared without a trace.
Or they detected the whirlpools flowing inside the water and tried to come up with countermeasures.
The latter sects were bound to knock on the doors of information brokers first.
The first thing those sects sought was information about Sacheon outcasts.
After all, it was a completely different ecology of martial arts sects compared to other regions.
And the most peculiar among them would be the Sacheon outcasts.
Ripping off the latter nascent sects was the true delight of being an information broker in the Sacheon industry.
Since the ecology of Sacheon was so deformed and twisted…
Wouldn’t it be possible to somehow utilize the information on outcasts to seize hegemony?
The nascent sects, with their eyes rolled back, would offer gold with such thoughts.
And the information companies eagerly sold the information on those outcasts.
For example, a person named Jeong Sam of the Half-Moon Blade entered as a Sacheon outcast.
Jeong Sam of the Half-Moon Blade did such and such in the outcast industry in Hanam and is an outcast who uses the Half-Moon Blade Technique.
And so on, personal information.
The sects that had been ambitiously importing the personal information of outcasts while burning with ambition would eventually realize as they lived in Sacheon and gained experience.
That if the identities of the outcasts were revealed, they would be the only ones to suffer. Even if they became the loser of Sacheon by driving out or using the Sacheon outcasts…
They would realize that the next step could only be a bloody struggle of washing blood with blood.
‘Those idiots who cross the line can be eliminated, that’s all.’
Nevertheless, there were occasional sects that were truly blinded by greed and had the ambition to turn Sacheon upside down.
Then the information brokers would sell that information to Yu Sa-yeon.
Then Yu Sa-yeon would issue a challenge letter and dismantle that sect.
The information brokers of Sacheon would once again prey on the nascent sects that were born in the peaceful Sacheon.
Those who knocked on the door of Sacheon with confidence…
Those who couldn’t see through the inner workings would die, and those who saw through it would be busy holding their breath and living.
“Tsk tsk. You must have taken Sacheon lightly.”
The Taegyeong Sect was one of those who didn’t even notice the flow of the water and threw themselves into it.
Jeon Hu-dam clicked his tongue while reading the Gyeongsu Market incident report.
“Well, it’s not like they had no reliable backing… Yunnan’s warlord? Gyeongsu? Does it make sense to try to establish themselves in Sacheon with only the capital of a rural mountain villa?”
The Taegyeong Sect leader, who had nothing but a martial arts manual and his bare body, received a large sum of money as an investment, so it was natural for his ambition to be ignited, but the heart was the heart, and reality was reality.
A frog in a well acted up without knowing the fearsome nature of Sacheon.
Those who lacked the basics hired outcasts, so of course there would be trouble.
Since Bu-rin had cut ties with the Taegyeong Sect, the only thing left for the Taegyeong Sect was to wither away in Sacheon.
“Hmm… The fact that Yeo Il-ye visited the Outcast Inn bothers me.”
It was quite a topic among information brokers that Yeo Il-ye, the outcast crusher, had entered the Outcast Inn and left without causing any incidents.
Since then, she had been causing a stir in the Sacheon martial arts world by displaying the prowess of a transcendent.
So the information about what had happened inside the Outcast Inn, the starting point of that stir, was enough to pique curiosity.
‘There were also rumors that an outcast gave enlightenment to Yeo Il-ye.’
Come to think of it, it made sense that Yeo Il-ye had given Ho Cheon-an a gratitude plaque at that incident.
Because at the shell game in front of the Hwang Gold Clan, Ho Cheon-an had bet Yeo Il-ye’s gratitude plaque, and the only opportunity to receive that gratitude plaque was when Yeo Il-ye had barged into the Outcast Inn.
“Ha, of all places, they had to meet in the Outcast Inn and cause a scene…”
Even for Jeon Hu-dam, an information broker, it was difficult to obtain information about the inside of the Outcast Inn.
In the first place, those who frequented the Outcast Inn, whether intermediaries or outcasts, were basically in high-income occupations.
If information leaked out in that small, closed space, it would be immediately identified who had leaked the information, so they wouldn’t open their mouths even for a considerable amount of money.
Moreover, the servants and maids working in the Outcast Inn were handpicked by Yu Sa-yeon and lived in the Outcast Inn all the time, so it was difficult to contact them as well.
If Yeo Il-ye and Ho Cheon-an were clearly connected, it would make things easier, but having to rely only on guesswork was frustrating.
“Ho Cheon-an, Ho Cheon-an…”
Anyway, it was true that the outcast named Ho Cheon-an was at the center of all the incidents.
‘Hmm, it’s suspicious.’
Although it was impossible to fit the causality in the rational domain…
There are moments when something connects in the instinctive or unconscious domain the moment one accesses information.
Somehow, the moment he accessed the information about the shell game, Jeon Hu-dam was reminded of the gambling table at Gae-hwa Pavilion.
There was a time when a huge reversal occurred at a tremendous game where over 100 gold taels were at stake, and the gambling table was abuzz.
Thanks to that, a person named Do-gwi became known as the best gambler in Sacheon.
And his opponent had mysteriously disappeared somewhere.
‘A gambling master who can deceive a transcendent master… Is it this Ho Cheon-an?’
The connection between Ho Cheon-an and the gambling master of Youngsang Pavilion was hazy.
One was a master of the shell game, and the other was a master of dice.
Generally, gamblers have their main games, so it was doubtful that a shell game master who could deceive a transcendent master would be so good at dice betting.
‘The information purchased from Gae-hwa Pavilion… Let’s see…’
The owner of Gae-hwa Pavilion had also spent a considerable amount of money to buy information.
While examining the classified request records, Jeon Hu-dam discovered the name Ho Cheon-an.
“This was lucky…”
Since Sacheon outcasts were also human, there were cases where they occasionally leaked fragmentary information about the inside of the Outcast Inn.
It seemed there was information about Ho Cheon-an among the bits of information picked up that way.
“It’s not meaningful information, but this much is sufficient as a preliminary investigation.”
“Damn. He’s really good at gambling.”
Jeon Hu-dam felt a chill down his spine.
It was a captivating voice that sounded like jade beads rolling on a tray.
However, if that voice was heard right next to his ear without sensing any presence, anyone would feel a chill down their spine.
Especially if it was inside the archive room, the innermost part of an information organization where request information was gathered.
‘How?’
Only then did a subtle fragrant scent waft into his nostrils, but rather than feeling enchanted, Jeon Hu-dam broke out in a cold sweat.
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this dudes screwed so uh hope he has a will written
Black cat got him