Chapter 18 :

Third-Rate Warrior Who Saves a Girl (5)

After finishing his daily work, Wang Geumsan passed through a long corridor and headed toward the enormous mansion at the center of Wangbu, the Wang family’s village.

Tall watchtowers had been built in all eight directions around the mansion, and inside them on all four sides were quarters where the guard units who could mobilize at any moment resided.

Though they could not be seen, vigilant gazes were strict between the gardens and buildings spread around the halls.

Wang Geumsan passed through all of that and entered Wang Soso’s room.

“Father! You’re here!”

The room was cool, as if the North Sea had been brought into it.

Even so, the heat coming from the child’s body was unusual.

Just as heat shot out from a blazing fire fed with a great amount of firewood, an enormous amount of heat poured out from Wang Soso’s body.

‘Poor child.’

When one was in contact with Wang Soso, heat rose through the entire body, making it difficult to endure.

As if Wang Soso also knew her own condition, she moved away from Wang Geumsan, and the cold energy quickly cooled his body.

“Did you have a fun day today?”

“Yes. I embroidered a new design today.”

Wang Soso smiled as she showed him the embroidery she had been working on.

At that sight, Wang Geumsan felt as if the fatigue of the day melted away in an instant.

She was a child who gave him such strength, and yet Wang Geumsan’s eyes were filled with sorrow as he looked at her.

The child’s fever, which had begun around the age of ten, would continue endlessly once the heat rose, making her suffer weakly for days on end.

No matter how many famed physicians and precious medicinal ingredients he used, this heat did not subside. Instead, it only grew stronger, and the child began to wither day by day.

The money he scattered throughout all under heaven just to learn the name of the illness amounted to tens of thousands of nyang.

Only after paying that enormous sum did he finally learn the identity of the illness.

“How fascinating. To think solar energy would appear in the body of a girl.”

“Can it be cured?”

“How can I cure something that is not wrong?”

“What?”

“…The heat coming from the young lady’s body is innate. If she had originally been born in the body of a boy, her name would have resounded throughout the entire murim world.”

“Explain in detail.”

Wang Geumsan also knew of bodies born with innate talent.

“Do you know of the solar physique?”

“Those with the solar physique emit fire energy that has boiled from the very beginning throughout their entire body. This is a natural and proper phenomenon.”

“Then why does she suffer so much in daily life?”

“That is because a girl’s body cannot accept the energy of the sun.”

“…Are you saying the energy is instead attacking her body?”

“In general, it is natural order for the lunar physique to manifest in a woman’s body and the solar physique to manifest in a man’s body. Because that natural order has been reversed, she suffers so much in daily life.”

“What is the treatment method? What must be done for her to recover?”

The physician spoke even more cautiously.

“That is…”

“How frustrating! Speak quickly!”

“Since nothing is wrong, there is no treatment method.”

“What!”

“If someone was born with a body that allows them to live a long life, could that be considered an illness?”

“…”

“A person who lives every day full of vitality and energy cannot be called ill. That is a blessing bestowed by heaven. No one would think that a body capable of easily reaching the peak realm by learning a martial art that can properly contain the energy suited to the body should be cured.”

“…”

Wang Geumsan’s face twisted in a way that could not be described with words.

The physician quickly read the room and opened his mouth.

“Gather many treasured items that emit cold energy, make the inside of her room as cold as midwinter, and have her live only within it. If you do that, much of the suffering and hardship from the rising heat can be reduced.”

“…If I only do that, will there be no problem with her living?”

“…”

When the physician hesitated, Wang Geumsan made a grinding sound with his teeth.

“I hope there will be no occasion in the future where I must mention your name because of something I did not know.”

“…The power of the solar physique becomes even stronger after one passes twenty. And once the power of life begins to fade, the body will find it difficult to accept the power of the solar physique…”

“…”

“If you take the utmost care of her, I believe she can live… until twenty-five.”

After that, he sought out every famed physician and herbalist said to be skilled, but they all said the same thing.

Among them, some confidently claimed they could treat her, but because of their incorrect procedures, Wang Soso was even driven into critical condition.

After such things repeated, Wang Geumsan gave up on further treatment as well.

He decided to be satisfied with spending every precious day together with his daughter.

“What a wonderful bamboo. Seeing how it grew so upright, I can feel its grand spirit.”

“I want to make Father’s clothes with this.”

“They will become very wonderful clothes.”

“Yes. Please look forward to them.”

At Wang Soso’s innocent, clear smile, Wang Geumsan’s heart broke again.

To relieve such feelings, he always asked his daughter,

“Is there anything you want?”

“I already have beautiful hairpins, ornaments, accessories, mirrors, clothes, and silk.”

“Still, if you are bored, shall I call a troupe for you? How about Peking opera?”

“Hmm…”

“Tell me anything. Your birthday is coming soon, is it not?”

“I want to see the scenery of the marketplace.”

“What?”

“I want to draw it, but I have never been to a market with many people, so I do not really know what it looks like.”

“Ah…”

“You do not have to force it if you are worried.”

Was it said that a kind child observes her parents’ expressions?

Wang Soso, who quickly read Wang Geumsan’s expression, blurred her words with a smile.

Only then did Wang Geumsan change his expression and speak.

“I was not planning to tell you until it was ready…”

“What is it?”

“In truth, I am preparing a carriage for you.”

“Pardon?”

“Yes… I am having a carriage made, one that will not be difficult for you to ride in and that you can stay in for a long time. Once that is completed, you will be able to go outside as much as you like.”

“Really? Thank you so much, Father!”

Wang Soso threw herself into his arms.

Once again, he felt the scorching heat.

After leaving Wang Soso’s residence, Wang Geumsan was walking down the corridor again.

At that moment, a man dressed in black stealth clothes dropped from the ceiling and walked beside Wang Geumsan.

“Estate lord, how about refraining from going out for a while?”

“Why do you say that?”

“That threatening letter we received this time bothers me.”

“You worry about all sorts of things.”

The threatening letter someone had left behind.

It contained an arrogant and absurd story, saying they dared to target Wang Soso in this Wangbu.

By now, Wangbu was not quite at the level of the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Families, but it possessed power comparable to the sects occupying the leading seats of the One Hundred Eight Peaks.

In addition, its connections with the government built through financial power gave Wangbu even more absolute strength.

Who could possibly break into such a Wangbu?

It was certain there would be none aside from the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Families.

“Then may I increase the guards further?”

“…Do so.”

He forced himself to erase his anxiety, calling it a useless worry, and went to sleep, but the first report he received in the morning was despairing.

“The young lady… seems to have been kidnapped!”

“T-The Murim Alliance! Contact the Murim Alliance!”

“The branch leader is already rushing here immediately.”

The warriors who rushed over with the branch leader searched every corner of Soso’s room, but they could not find any trace.

“Have you received any contact from the culprit?”

At that moment, the threatening letter suddenly came to mind.

“…A bold bastard. To openly send a letter saying he would kidnap her like this. First, we will begin by searching the surrounding area.”

“You must rescue her quickly.”

“It may be inappropriate to say this in such a situation, but please do not worry about the young lady’s life. In cases of kidnapping like this, most are after money, so contact usually comes soon.”

“No! No! That is not the problem! Soso has an illness!”

A thunderbolt had struck the Murim Alliance’s Hefei branch, and the news immediately spread throughout all of Hefei.

#

Among the members of the Sojeong Unit, there was a fellow called the Traceless Death God.

It was not that I had known from the beginning that he was the legendary Traceless Death God. It was only when the Righteous-Demonic War had been going on for quite some time, and we were in a situation where there was absolutely no path of escape, that he revealed his identity.

Since a fellow whose internal energy and techniques were both unimpressive said such a thing, he was cursed at and punched in the jaw for saying something useless in the middle of a crisis, but we were stunned speechless by the move he showed us.

Even though he was clearly visible before our eyes, we could not feel any presence from him at all.

Even while he moved and swung his sword, we did not get any sense that a person was moving.

Of course, at the time, we were even more stunned by the fact that the Traceless Death God, who was practically a giant of the dark faction’s murim world, was working as a low-ranking warrior of the Murim Alliance.

In any case, Ghost-Breath Steps was a peculiar footwork technique that had given him the legendary title of Traceless Death God.

Ghost-Breath Steps made it feel as though one were using the Ghost-Breath Art while moving.

As long as one was not seen, even those with the sharpest senses could not feel that a person was there, and we had used this Ghost-Breath Steps to capture the Guardian Dharma King.

And now, while chasing Wang Soso and the Changgung Merchant Guild, I was making rather good use of it.

As I had expected, the fellows who moved from Wangbu to Hefei and from Hefei to Soho shook off the pursuit team hastily formed by the Murim Alliance and fled all the way to Yeogang.

After arriving at the abandoned house deep in the mountains of Yeogang, where a headless corpse had been found, the fellows seemed a little flustered, contrary to my expectations.

“This woman’s condition is strange.”

“What are you talking about? She was fine when we brought her out of the house.”

“Look at this. Her body is boiling like fire.”

The man who touched the bundle was startled and pulled his hand away.

“If this is the case, she has no value as a hostage. Unseal her mute point.”

“P-Please save me. Please save me!”

“Hey. Do you have some kind of illness?”

“Please save me! I want to go home.”

The man sealed Wang Soso’s mute point and put her back into the bundle.

“We still have to stay here for another day. What are we supposed to do if her condition is like that?”

“So what? Are you going to call a physician? Leave her alone. She’ll last a day or so.”

The fellows gathered in groups of three or four, lit fires, caught rabbits, and roasted them, continuing lax behavior that was hard to imagine from kidnappers.

‘That is better for me.’

Using Ghost-Breath Steps, I slowly approached their surroundings.

“Hic. Ugh, eating greasy food without liquor is… Huh? Who are y—”

I killed the first one, who had been about to relieve himself.

“Hey! If you’re going to take a dump, do it far away! If you do it around here…”

I killed the second one, who had come to stop the man taking a dump.

When the presence of two people disappeared at once, the warriors with good instincts each began to grab their swords.

“Someone is here.”

“Draw your swords!”

“Who are you? Come out right now!”

I released the internal energy and presence I had been hiding with Ghost-Breath Steps all at once, then kicked one of the fellows and threw him into the fire.

“Kuaaagh!”

The fellow scattered the campfire everywhere as he rolled around trying to put out the flames on his body, only to lose his life to my sword. As the campfire went out, the surroundings gradually sank into darkness.

“Reveal your identity!”

“Great Linked Sword Formation! Unfold the sword formation!”

“You crazy bastard! Shut your mouth! If our identity is exposed here…”

I once again slipped among the panicking fellows and cut off the lives of two of them, and the men who had been chattering without tension closed their mouths.

“W-Who are you?”

“Who are you to kill people so recklessly like this?”

“We are people of the Namgung Family. It seems there has been some misunderstanding. Let us resolve this with words.”

The fellows, desperately searching for me in the darkness, unleashed the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art with all their strength at the sound of the stone I threw, and all they sliced apart were fallen leaves and a few trees.

And I stood behind those fellows and said,

“I know well who you are. You are the fellows of the Changgung Merchant Guild of the Namgung Family.”

“Y-You know who we are and still dare do this? Are you not afraid of the great Namgung Family… Keuk.”

One of the remaining three collapsed.

“If I had feared the Namgung Family, I would not have started this.”

The remaining two unleashed the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art with all their might, but I suppressed their sword art with the sword-breaking form.

“W-What is this?”

“Impossible!”

And the end of it was their heads falling and rolling across the ground.

“Traceless Idiot, I never thought in my life that I would receive help from you.”

I honored his contribution with the nickname we used to call him, then approached Wang Soso.

“Our wealthy young lady from a rich family. It is time to go home.”

Wang Soso’s complexion outside the bundle had turned pale.

She looked as though she would stop breathing at any moment.

“P-Please save me.”

Wang Soso said it as if she were about to die.