"Benefactor!"
Yong Ja-myeong shot up from his seat.
A thrilling shiver ran through his entire body.
It was the first time in his life he had ever been so surprised.
'The Benefactor was the Demon Cult Master?'
His heart pounded violently.
Not just anyone, but the Demon Cult Master? It was truly unbelievable.
'Could I be mistaken?'
But he wasn't.
The image of the Benefactor he saw that day and the appearance of the Heavenly Demon he met today merged perfectly, as if they were one person.
They were clearly the same man.
Geom Mugeuk, who had been looking at the sketch, looked up at Yong Ja-myeong.
Geom Mugeuk could tell.
He had realized that the person who saved him in the past was his father.
Yes, it would be impossible not to recognize a man like his father.
Geom Mugeuk carefully folded the paper with the drawing of his father in his younger days and wrapped it in silk.
He held it out to Yong Ja-myeong again.
"I have seen it."
But Yong Ja-myeong did not take it.
"You should have that, Young Cult Master."
Geom Mugeuk feigned ignorance and asked him.
"Why are you giving this to me? Isn't this drawing precious to you, Division Lord?"
Then came the reply that confirmed Geom Mugeuk's guess was correct.
"From now on, it may become an even more precious item to you, Young Cult Master. Now, let us return to your quarters."
Geom Woojin was drinking tea in his quarters.
"Father, I have returned."
Geom Mugeuk and Yong Ja-myeong entered.
Geom Woojin sensed that the look in Yong Ja-myeong's eyes as he gazed at him was different from before.
Although he knew well where the intense emotion came from, Geom Woojin pretended not to know and asked his son.
"Did you have a good talk with the Division Lord?"
"What story could be more interesting than one about money? I even heard stories of the Division Lord's youth."
Geom Woojin looked at Yong Ja-myeong and spoke calmly.
"How was it for you, Division Lord?"
"It was a more precious time than any other."
Yong Ja-myeong had been staring only at Geom Woojin's face since entering the room.
Just a short while ago when they met, this would have been an absolutely impossible act.
"Cult Master."
Yong Ja-myeong's voice trembled.
He had been through all sorts of things as the Silver River Merchant Group rose to the top, but he had never trembled as much as he did at this moment.
"Do you remember me?"
His father looked at him for a moment without a word.
From that reaction, Geom Mugeuk could tell.
'Father knew.'
Come to think of it, he must have known.
Yong Ja-myeong could never have imagined that the person who saved him was the Heavenly Demon, but his father was different.
When he heard about what happened that day from Yong Ja-myeong, he said his father had seen the contract that Yim Hyul-gwi and Man So tried to force him to sign.
At that time, his father must have realized that the person he had saved was the young Division Lord of the Silver River Merchant Group.
Since that day, the Silver River Merchant Group had grown while maintaining a balance between the Demonic, Righteous, and Unorthodox Sects.
If he had wanted to, his father could have revealed, 'I am the one who saved you,' and made the Silver River Merchant Group one that followed the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, but his father never revealed such a fact.
Even though he must have received reports that he was desperately searching for the benefactor who saved him.
The richest man in the world searches for you to repay a debt, and you don't contact him?
That's just like Father.
How could I not respect him?
Yong Ja-myeong asked about the events of that day long ago.
"Do you perhaps remember the day in your youth when you punished the evil-doer, Yim Hyul-gwi?"
Even at his trembling question, Geom Woojin still gave no answer.
On the contrary, because of that, Yong Ja-myeong was certain that the benefactor from that day was the Cult Master before him.
If he wasn't, he would have said, 'I have never done such a thing,' or shown a reaction like, 'I don't remember.'
But Geom Woojin was just listening to his words without any change in expression.
And the gaze that silently looked back at him.
'That's the gaze.'
It was definitely the gaze from that day.
Come to think of it, on the day he saved him, he hadn't said a single word.
He had only left that gaze.
"On that day, you, Cult Master, saved me who was captured there. If not for you, I would have died that day."
It would have been such an unjust death.
Not because his entire fortune was stolen, but because he would have lost his life over a single warehouse being emptied for a lustful demon's escape funds.
He probably wouldn't have been able to close his eyes even in death.
Yong Ja-myeong slowly prostrated himself on the floor and bowed.
"First, please accept my bow."
He bowed with all his sincerity.
After the Silver River Merchant Group reached the pinnacle, had there ever been a time he bowed his head to someone?
"I finally get to see you... I have longed to see you all these past years."
In truth, until now, he had felt dazed, fearful before the Heavenly Demon, and even had a sliver of doubt that it might not be him.
He was truly in a state of complex emotions.
It was at that moment.
Geom Woojin rose from his seat and walked towards him.
Then he bent down in front of him, took Yong Ja-myeong's arm, and helped him up.
Geom Mugeuk, who was watching, was startled.
He hadn't expected his father to help him up.
So how surprised must Yong Ja-myeong have been?
But his surprise was just beginning.
"I remember you."
"!"
At that single phrase that struck his heart, Yong Ja-myeong's eyes widened.
'It really is the Cult Master! He remembered me!'
His whole body trembled uncontrollably.
The person who helped him up was the person who saved his life, and at the same time, the Heavenly Demon of this era.
"Then you knew it was me from the beginning?"
Geom Woojin nodded.
"You knew that the person you saved back then was me!"
Then, the words Yong Ja-myeong had wanted to hear his entire life flowed from Geom Woojin's lips.
"I have been hearing news of your success in the merchant world."
"Ah! You knew!"
Yong Ja-myeong's chest swelled and his throat tightened.
He did not ask why he hadn't sought him out.
How could the Heavenly Demon be an ordinary person? Would he be the type to visit the person he saved just because he became the master of the greatest merchant group in the world and take credit for it? What was important now was this.
'My benefactor remembered me.
He knew I had become the greatest merchant in the world.'
A true joy finally washed over him.
The refreshing feeling of everything being clearly revealed enveloped Yong Ja-myeong's entire body.
What felt best of all was that the past years had not passed in vain.
Because he knew he had kept his promise.
Because he had been watching over his life.
A precious word from Geom Woojin to him.
"You've endured much."
At those words, he could no longer hold back.
Tears welled up in Yong Ja-myeong's eyes.
He had lived a life of steel, never showing tears, but he could not endure the intense emotion surging from the depths of his heart.
Even when he heard all kinds of praise from those around him, a corner of his heart always felt empty.
Yes, now he could clearly see it was because he wanted to be acknowledged by this man.
"... I really wanted to see you."
You will never know how much I wanted to tell you that I kept the promise I made that day.
"Now, I can die with no regrets."
Finally, tears streamed down Yong Ja-myeong's eyes.
He had two lifelong wishes.
To become the master of the greatest merchant group in the world, and to find his benefactor and repay his kindness.
This was the moment he fulfilled his second wish.
Yong Ja-myeong took something out from his bosom.
What he had carefully kept was an ornate key.
At a glance, it was no ordinary key.
It was a key made of ten-thousand-year cold iron.
The object itself was of immense value.
"This is the key to a secret vault where I have collected things I intended to give you when I found you, Benefactor."
Yong Ja-myeong respectfully offered it to Geom Woojin.
His father refused at once.
"I need no reward."
The reason for refusal was also just like his father.
"The heart with which you have tried to find me until now is repayment enough."
Because of that, Yong Ja-myeong could give it to him with an even lighter heart.
"It is precisely because you are the Cult Master that my heart is at ease in giving you this. After all, you are someone who can obtain anything you desire in this world. So please, accept it comfortably. To you, Cult Master, these are but meager things."
Geom Mugeuk could tell just from this that Yong Ja-myeong was no ordinary person.
Where could one find a person who wished to repay a kindness for so many years?
Moreover, a person who had prepared so much for the day they would meet again was even rarer.
A person like this was surely able to achieve great success.
"If Father doesn't want it, I'll take it instead."
As Geom Mugeuk went to take it, his father took the key a step ahead of him.
"No, I said give it to me! You have a son who is the Incarnation of Greed right here!"
Geom Woojin put the key in his bosom with a look that said 'not a chance'.
Watching this, Yong Ja-myeong smiled faintly.
He could tell that Geom Mugeuk had deliberately stepped in to help Geom Woojin accept the key.
"If you look for a man named Jung Song, who gathers herbs below Jade Flower Mountain in the Central Capital, he will guide you to the secret vault."
"I will gladly accept your heart."
Geom Mugeuk asked Geom Woojin.
The Central Capital was between Shaanxi and the Main Sect anyway.
He could stop by on the way there or on the way back.
What could possibly be in the secret vault that this key opens? From the atmosphere, it seemed like a gift that had been prepared for a long time.
'I am definitely more worldly than Father.
I want to run there right now and see what's inside.'
Then again, what would his father, the master of the Heavenly Demon Treasury, be curious about?
And for his father, the greatest gift would not be that key.
It was the fact that Yong Ja-myeong knew his father was his benefactor!
The Silver River Merchant Group had been walking a tightrope with the Demonic, Righteous, and Unorthodox Sects until now, but now it had become a merchant group that followed the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
Yong Ja-myeong did not deliberately reveal such a resolve.
Just as Geom Woojin did not come to him and demand something, he did not express his heart with words.
In the future, he would still operate his merchant group as if he were walking a tightrope with the Demonic, Righteous, and Unorthodox Sects, but he would treat his father with a deep loyalty that no one knew of.
Geom Mugeuk looked at his father.
'Father, did you perhaps anticipate this outcome? Is that why you introduced me to this man? In the hope that his loyalty would be passed down to me.'
The words that he would introduce him were truly unexpected.
Building a good relationship with Yong Ja-myeong would be a great strength in leading the sect.
When introducing him, his father had said this to Yong Ja-myeong.
-It won't be a bad thing for you either.
It was in the hope that his relationship with Yong Ja-myeong would continue, because he knew this situation would arise.
"Father, would you like to take a look at this?"
Geom Mugeuk took out the paper with the sketch he received from Yong Ja-myeong and showed it to his father.
"This is you from back then."
His father, who rarely showed his emotions, had a spark of interest in his eyes at this unexpected sight of his younger self.
Yes, how could his father not long for his past youth?
"Division Lord Yong misremembered and said you were more handsome than me."
At that, his father said firmly.
"As befits the greatest merchant, his memory is excellent."
"His eyes might be getting old."
At the two's conversation, Yong Ja-myeong smiled and looked at the faded drawing.
"I truly miss those days."
His father's gaze did not leave the drawing for a long time.
A moment later, Geom Mugeuk took the drawing back from his father and folded it neatly.
"This is mine. I can concede the key, but not this."
A faint smile appeared on Geom Woojin's lips.
For Geom Mugeuk, it was a smile more precious than the treasures of the secret vault.
That night, Yong Ja-myeong was strolling in the front yard.
His mind was restless, and sleep would not come.
"Can't you sleep?"
When he turned, he saw Geom Mugeuk walking out.
"Perhaps because my heart is stirred up, I cannot sleep."
The gaze with which he looked at Geom Mugeuk was incomparably gentler than when they first met.
Now, with a much more comfortable heart, Yong Ja-myeong asked.
"May I ask why the Cult Master summoned me this time?"
He sensed that he had been called for a reason unrelated to the past.
Geom Mugeuk revealed the reason for their visit.
"The reason my father and I came here was because of the Golden Dragon Clan."
"I thought so."
Yong Ja-myeong was not surprised at all, as if he knew something.
"We've been keeping an eye on them after receiving intelligence that the Golden Dragon Clan has been secretly operating a secret organization lately."
The information battles that took place in the merchant world were no less intense than those in the martial world.
As the greatest merchant group, their intelligence on rival groups would be formidable.
"Yes, we've come out to investigate after finding evidence that the money earned through that organization has flowed into a martial world organization that threatens the Martial World."
Where would their intelligence be proficient only in the merchant world?
"The three-party meeting was also related to them, wasn't it?"
At Yong Ja-myeong's quiet question, Geom Mugeuk nodded.
"The woman we saw during the day seems to be the one leading that secret organization."
"The reason you called me here was also because of that woman."
"That is correct. They will consider our meeting with you, Division Lord, as significant intelligence. Since the Division Lord of the Silver River Merchant Group came in person. I plan to use this fact to enter the core of the Golden Dragon Clan."
"Is there anything else I can do to help?"
"Your personal visit was more than enough help."
"I want to help more."
He was reluctant to return just like this.
"It could be dangerous."
"Do you think I only walked safe paths to create the greatest merchant group in the Central Plains?"
Yong Ja-myeong did not want to go back just yet.
How long had it been since he met his benefactor again? He wanted to spend even a little more time with him.
If he wasn't really the Heavenly Demon, he would have wanted to ask him to come to the merchant group and stay with him for a month, or even a year.
"Very well. Then please stay for three more days and help me. You will be of great help to me."
Yong Ja-myeong's expression brightened.
In truth, Geom Mugeuk was confident he could handle the woman and create an opportunity even without Yong Ja-myeong.
That was why asking him to stay was a gesture for Yong Ja-myeong's sake.
Because he fully understood his desire to be with his father a little longer.
You've waited for decades, so enjoy three more days.
Yong Ja-myeong, as a man who had lived as a merchant for a long time, was quick-witted.
"Thank you."
"What are you saying?"
"I know this decision was for my sake."
Geom Mugeuk smiled and replied.
"Honestly, it's for my sake. When else would I get to spend time with the greatest merchant in the world?"
Yong Ja-myeong wanted to say this.
'From now on, anytime.'
He was no longer just the Young Cult Master of the Demon Sect, but the son of his benefactor.
The fact that his benefactor was the Demon Cult Master made him even happier.
It made him feel that he hadn't become the master of the greatest merchant group just by luck.
It felt like he had become another destiny created by a greater destiny.
"Now, just say the word. What should I do now?"
These three days with the Heavenly Demon and the Young Cult Master would be an unforgettable time for the rest of his life.
As if to prove it already, the Young Cult Master before him smiled and asked.
"Pardon my rudeness, but do you have any money?"