Chapter 6. Reckless (1)
The moment those words ended, Moyong Cheon headed straight for the main gate.
“A debt?”
Debt collectors had come knocking in the middle of the night.
“Don’t tell me… it’s because of me?”
The first person that came to mind was that guy, Janggu.
Those damned Yeomwangchae bastards lent out a mere hundred nyang and, in less than ten days, tried to squeeze out over a thousand. Absolute lunatics.
They had even tried to beat him up despite knowing that this body’s owner was the eldest son of the Moyong family.
That alone showed just how far the family had fallen. Hadn’t they even dared to talk about the Moyong family’s situation so casually?
But—
“Please… let it be because of me!”
If the debt belonged not just to this useless descendant but to the entire family, that would be far worse.
“Young Master?!”
Ignoring the startled Kwak-no who rushed out after him, Moyong Cheon strode straight to the gate.
“Won’t you open the door? At this hour, shall we make a spectacle of—!”
Clank! Creeeak!
Throwing the gate open, Moyong Cheon saw about a dozen men standing outside.
At the center stood a burly man in his thirties. With a beard like a chestnut burr and a large blade strapped to his back, he looked intimidating even in broad daylight.
The man, Ga Hang, grinned.
“Well now, long time no see.”
The moment he heard that, Moyong Cheon understood.
“So it is because of me.”
He glanced to the side.
At the far left stood Janggu. When their eyes met, the man flinched for a moment, but perhaps trusting in his group, he forced his shoulders back.
Still, this was a relief.
“I didn’t expect you to open the door yourself. May we come in?”
“No.”
“…?”
“We don’t let debt collectors into the main house.”
At his calm reply, the men’s expressions twisted.
Meanwhile, Ga Hang burst into laughter, clearly amused.
“A debtor exists, so the collectors come—doesn’t that make sense?”
Yeah, no kidding.
“If the time has passed and you still can’t repay, that means you lack the ability. In that case, shouldn’t we look for someone else to pay on your behalf?”
At that moment, Kwak-no asked,
“Young Master, did you really borrow money from them?”
Moyong Cheon gave a bitter smile.
“Apparently, a hundred nyang.”
“A—a hundred nyang?!”
“Kwak-no, step back.”
“Young Master!”
Moyong Cheon stepped outside.
“Whatever it is, let’s go somewhere else. Isn’t it a bit late for this?”
He hadn’t even seen Sujeong yet, let alone spoken to her. He couldn’t cause a scene at home—at least not right now.
Ga Hang smirked.
“If we were going somewhere else, we would’ve told you to come. Why would we come here ourselves?”
Fair point.
“And one more thing—if not here, do you even have a way to repay? If you did, you would’ve already paid, right?”
Sharp bastard.
This was why you couldn’t judge moneylenders by appearance alone. They were smarter than they looked and would chase their money to the ends of the continent.
You think they’d go that far over just a hundred nyang?
Even ten nyang—they would. Because in the long run, it paid off.
And more importantly, they weren’t aiming for a hundred—they wanted a thousand.
As long as it didn’t destroy their organization, they would collect no matter what. That was Yeomwangchae.
But Moyong Cheon had a method.
A way to resolve this without paying.
“I do have a way. So stop making a scene.”
Ga Hang’s eyes gleamed.
“Calm, huh.”
The young master he remembered had been irritable, pessimistic, and cowardly.
But now…
“Even a mutt can bare its teeth on its own turf.”
A blatant insult.
Kwak-no shouted in anger,
“You bastards! How dare you speak such nonsense to the young master of the Moyong family!”
Moyong Cheon raised his hand.
“Kwak-no, go inside.”
“Young Master! You mustn’t!”
“I said go inside.”
Just then—
“You’ve worked hard coming all this way at such a late hour.”
The clear voice rang out.
Moyong Cheon turned—and his eyes shook.
A young woman was approaching with an older man. Her presence alone was extraordinary.
“My niece-in-law?!”
No… not quite.
He could see both Daehho’s features and his wife’s. Their beauty blended perfectly in her face.
“It’s Sujeong!”
Emotion welled up in Moyong Cheon’s eyes.
“That tiny baby… already grown this much…”
He still remembered the infant who had gripped his little finger.
Moyong Sujeong didn’t even glance at him. Her gaze was fixed entirely on Ga Hang.
“But it’s quite late. No household welcomes guests at this hour.”
“….”
“Please return for today and come again tomorrow.”
Calm. Cold.
Even Ga Hang and his men flinched unconsciously.
Her beauty alone could have drawn lecherous looks, but none dared. That was her presence.
Ga Hang recovered first.
“You’ll really let us come tomorrow? The debt will grow, you know.”
“How much does my brother owe?”
“A total of one thousand eighty nyang and seventy mun.”
Sujeong’s brows furrowed slightly.
“One thousand eighty?”
“Don’t forget the seventy mun.”
“That’s quite the interest. What was the principal?”
Ga Hang answered shamelessly.
“One hundred nyang.”
Seok Woong’s face hardened with anger.
No matter how long it had been, a hundred didn’t become over a thousand like this. These people were the worst kind.
“That’s quite the interest rate.”
“He knew the terms before borrowing. Our Black Tiger House is known for honoring contracts.”
“Black Tiger House…”
Both Sujeong and Seok Woong showed unease.
Black Tiger House.
Unlike most Yeomwangchae groups that hid themselves, this one openly operated under its name—a major underworld force controlling the back alleys of Wuhan.
Ga Hang crossed his arms smugly.
“And your young master beat two of my men half to death when they came to collect. Borrowing money and then attacking collectors—what kind of behavior is that?”
Sujeong turned to Moyong Cheon in surprise.
“Normally we’d double the interest for that, but out of respect for the Moyong family, we’ll let it slide this once.”
“…I see.”
“But it’s obvious he can’t repay. If he could, he would’ve. Instead, he resorted to violence. Isn’t that clearly an attempt to dodge the debt?”
Sujeong’s face returned to calm.
“Don’t worry. We will repay it.”
Ga Hang grinned.
“As expected, very straightforward. This is why dealing with the head—”
“So please return for today.”
“Return?”
“We need time to prepare that amount.”
“The contract states compound interest daily. By tomorrow, the amount will increase.”
She didn’t waver.
“Return. The acting head of the family has given her word.”
Ga Hang sneered openly.
As if the word of an “acting head” meant nothing.
Kwak-no trembled in anger, and Seok Woong glared coldly.
“Very well.”
Ga Hang stepped back.
“We’ll return at noon tomorrow. Be ready.”
That meant exposing the Moyong family publicly.
Sujeong shook her head.
“We’ll come to you.”
“Heh. I hope you can.”
With that, Ga Hang and his men left.
Once the gate shut, Seok Woong sighed.
“Young Master, how could you—”
He stopped as Sujeong raised her hand.
“Biya.”
So this body’s name is Moyong Bi.
“Come. Let’s talk.”
Moyong Cheon followed her, calming his emotions.
They stopped by a small garden near the office.
“Are you alright?”
He was startled.
The imposing Sujeong now looked full of worry as she touched his face.
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Uh… no…”
“That’s good.”
She sighed in relief.
“You’ve gotten involved with dangerous people. If you needed money, you should’ve told me.”
Only concern—no anger.
“What you needed it for, I won’t ask.”
“….”
“You must’ve had your reasons.”
Then she said gently,
“Go rest. I’ll handle this.”
“It’s not—”
“Don’t worry. Our family still has strength. We can repay this much.”
She was more like a mother than a sister.
Emotion rose in his chest.
“It’s cold. Wear thicker clothes from tomorrow.”
Then she suddenly coughed.
Moyong Cheon’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Not just pale from the moonlight.
“An illness?!”
He instinctively tried to check her pulse, but she stepped back.
“Go rest.”
She turned and walked quickly away, coughing softly.
Her cough echoed in his ears like thunder.
Left alone, his face turned expressionless.
“This reality is… heavy.”
Heavy.
But somehow, also fortunate.
“That young girl is holding up the entire family while sick…”
Something boiled inside him.
It rose like magma—then cooled into ice.
“Moyong Bi… while your sister suffers like that, what were you doing?”
Anger rose toward the body’s original owner.
But now wasn’t the time.
“No matter the illness, the mind must be stable first.”
He couldn’t just distance himself now.
This was his responsibility.
He turned toward the gate.
“Black Tiger House… openly running their business, huh?”
That makes them easy to find.
