Chapter 53 :

Chapter 53. This Is How False Rumors Spread (3)

I looked at the Personal Guards.

At my gaze, they shook their heads.

“Our top priority is the young lord’s safety.”

“I know.”

But how could a person simply turn their back and walk away from the voice of a child pleading to be saved!

It’s not as though I lack the ability.

“Even so, I want to save that child.”

At my earnest plea, they nodded.

“Understood.”

“But young lord, you must think of your safety first. We will be the ones to rescue the child.”

“I have a good idea.”

I told them my plan. The two warriors hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

“That might be best.”

“The Merchant Lord said the young lord’s martial arts are at least first class, so we’ll follow your words, but still, you mustn’t overdo it.”

“Understood.”

Soon, we headed toward the place where the child’s voice was coming from, and came face-to-face with a group of men.

“A band of the dark sect.”

As expected, they were dark sect members.

The disgust still gnawed at me, but compared to before, it was bearable.

Come to think of it, Master had said it would get easier as my Internal Energy grew.

Their number was four.

But none of them were especially strong.

Then it’s doable.

A child who looked about seven or eight was resisting their touch, refusing them.

“I don’t want to! Where are you trying to take me?”

“To a very nice place.”

“No! Please save me! Save me!”

“Hehehe, no matter how much you shout, no one will hear. Hardly anyone passes through here.”

That much was true.

That was why I deliberately came this way.

But suddenly, a doubt struck me.

His speech, his looks, everything showed he was from a wealthy household, well-raised.

Then why was he wearing clothes made of coarse cotton, the kind commoners wore?

And they weren’t clothes put on him by force.

And how could a child that age have come alone into this deep forest?

At that moment, Yeo Eung-am whispered softly in my ear.

“There, beside him, a woman lies dead.”

Following his finger, I saw a woman sprawled on the ground.

She seemed to have been killed by a blade to the back. Unlike the child, her clothing was luxurious.

At last, they succeeded in subduing the child, binding him tightly with rope made of tough cloth.

“Ah, if only we had paralysis powder or sleeping powder.”

“What can we do? The brat’s body doesn’t react to that stuff, they said.”

“Fine. Let’s go then.”

“Hurry up. If we’re late, those bastards will throw a fit.”

“They really are shameless. To think they’d work with the likes of us.”

“How else can they pull off a kidnapping out in the open?”

“Well, this sort of thing is our specialty.”

“Still, they’re paying handsomely for our silence, so let’s look forward to it.”

They turned their heads toward the dead woman.

“Before that, let’s deal with her.”

“True, thanks to this wench, it was easier to get the young master.”

They dug a pit, dragged the woman’s corpse over, and cut the tie of her jeogori with a sword.

Watching them, I thought, a dark sect is a dark sect indeed.

Unable to stomach it anymore, I turned my head, only to see my two warriors’ eyes grow even colder.

They were waiting for the chance.

So, in the martial world, one must also be cold-blooded to survive.

When the bandits, distracted by their task, let their weapons slip from their hands, the warriors struck.

Swoosh!

Swish swish!

First, Lee Pil hurled hidden weapons at them, wounding them.

The projectiles embedded themselves precisely in their throats and wrists. His skill with hidden weapons was greater than I had expected.

“Damn it!”

“We’ve been discovered?”

“The Tang Family must have noticed!”

But their reaction to the projectiles was strange.

The Tang Family? What did they have to do with this?

Regardless, that was the signal.

The two warriors charged, and soon the clash of steel rang loudly.

I took the chance to dash toward the carriage with Palgap.

The plan I had devised was simple: while the guards distracted the dark sect members, I would rescue the child.

Palgap quickly carried the child away to safety.

Meanwhile, before I could even join in, the two guards had subdued all four dark sect men.

They were more skilled than I thought.

So that’s why Captain Jo had sent them with me.

“It’s done.”

“Thank you for granting my reckless request.”

“You give us too much credit.”

“To tell the truth, we also found it hard to turn away.”

I turned my head toward the child. At some point, Palgap had untied the ropes and gag that bound him.

“Are you all right?”

At my question, the child asked,

“Who are you, and what is your relation to those men?”

As expected.

From his speech, it was clear he was a young master of a noble house.

“My name is Eun Seoho, I work with the Eunhae Merchant Group. And as for my relation to those men…?”

I glanced at the dark sect members, bound and unconscious against the tree, and grinned.

“I’m the one who thrashed them. Does that answer you?”

“Then, you’re the one who saved me?”

“That’s right. You cried for help, didn’t you? I came because I heard it.”

At my words, the child clasped his fists in a polite bow.

“If your words are true, then I am truly grateful you saved my life. My family will reward you.”

I let out a small laugh.

“That won’t be necessary. I didn’t do it for a reward. I just thought you were being kidnapped, so I saved you.”

“What?”

“When someone’s in danger, if you have the power to help, then isn’t it only right to act?”

“Ah…”

The child seemed flustered by my words.

“Still, I should repay you…”

“If you really want to repay me, then when you grow up, if you see someone in danger and have the ability to save them, don’t turn away. That will be enough repayment.”

The child’s eyes sparkled as he looked at me.

Wha—what’s this?

Why is he looking at me like that all of a sudden?

“Anyway, we need to inform the authorities.”

Then, the child walked slowly somewhere. He stopped in front of the woman’s corpse.

He stood there in silent prayer.

I waited, then asked,

“Was she someone you knew?”

“She was my nanny. They killed her right in front of me.”

“…”

“Today, she dressed me in these commoner’s clothes, telling me to experience the life of the lowborn firsthand, and brought me out here.”

Now I understood what had happened.

The dark sect had ordered the nanny to dress the child in inconspicuous clothes and bring him out.

But normally, if he had a nanny, there should also have been guards.

“What about the guards?”

At my question, the child shook his head.

“I don’t know either.”

I sighed, then walked toward the four dark sect warriors.

Then I lifted my foot and kicked one hard in the stomach.

“Guh!”

“Are you awake now?”

“W-who are you?”

“You don’t need to know who I am, I just want to ask you something.”

I had saved the child, but I couldn’t just let him wander off alone when I didn’t yet know what dangers still lurked.

At the very least, I needed to ensure his safety to the end.

“Hmph! As if I’d answer—”

At that moment, Yeo Eung-am drew his sword and drove it straight into the man’s thigh.

Puuuk!

“Arghhh!”

Yeo Eung-am smiled brightly.

“For scum like this, pain works best.”

Perhaps the sting of the blade loosened his tongue, for the dark sect warrior broke out in a cold sweat and stammered,

“Ask me anything, I’ll tell you.”

“How did you buy off that child’s nanny?”

“Th-that… we kidnapped the nanny’s child… Gyaaah!”

Yeo Eung-am twisted the blade still lodged in his thigh.

Honestly, I wanted to do that myself…

“Well done.”

I praised him, then turned back to the dark sect warrior—no, the kidnapper.

“Then how did you get rid of the child’s guards?”

“Th-they, they deliberately caused a distraction…”

“You mean they created a diversion so the guards would lose sight of their charge?”

“Y-yes, that’s it. Hehehe. Now, if I’ve answered everything, please, get this sword out—”

“One last question.”

“A-anything, I’ll answer anything.”

“Who ordered this job? Who’s behind you?”

“What?”

“It seems you’re working on someone’s orders…”

At my words, he only sweated buckets, unable to answer.

“Looks like we’ll need more blood.”

Since he delayed, Yeo Eung-am mercilessly twisted the sword buried in his thigh.

“Gyaaaahhh!”

Finally, unable to endure the pain, he blurted it out.

“Hy-Hyeonginmun…”

What?

Hyeonginmun?

That name I remembered.

To be sure, I turned to the child.

“Are you by any chance a child of the Sacheon Tang Family?”

The boy answered warily,

“Y-yes, but how did you know?”

“A little reasoning, that’s all.”

In Sacheon, when one says “Tang Family,” it refers to the Sacheon Tang Family.

A martial house unmatched in hidden weaponry.

That was why, when Lee Pil threw hidden weapons, the men cried, “The Tang Family must have noticed!”

They guessed it right away.

And the other symbol of the Sacheon Tang Family was poison.

The west, where the Tang Family resides, is covered in dense primeval forest.

Thanks to that, they mastered the harvesting, study, and use of poisonous creatures and herbs.

They were famous for poisons like Three Steps to a Ruptured Gut, which kills within three steps.

That was why they couldn’t use paralysis powder or sleeping powder on the child.

Using poison presumes you can harm others without harming yourself.

From a young age, Tang Family children are raised with immunity to toxins.

So of course such poisons would have no effect.

If they were strong enough to work, they’d also endanger the child’s life, which would defeat the purpose.

Still, the boy hadn’t dropped his suspicion.

As expected of a young master of a great martial clan.

I remembered what Zhuge Yua once told me: they are raised never to drop suspicion, no matter what.

Then, a fact I knew came to mind.

The children of great martial clans all have a mark engraved inside their arm when very young, so their bloodline can be identified later if needed.

“When I saved you earlier, I saw it. The tattoo inside your arm. That mark means you’re from the Sacheon Tang Family, doesn’t it?”

“Ah…”

“That’s how I was sure.”

Only then did the boy drop his suspicion and bow his head.

“I see. Forgive me for doubting you.”

“No need. That was the right thing to do.”

Inside, I sighed.

It was certain now: the boy was indeed a child of the Sacheon Tang Family.

Kidnapping.

Sacheon Tang Family.

And Hyeonginmun.

The three combined, and I realized I had stepped straight into a case I already knew of.

One day, the Sacheon Tang Family’s most precious child had gone missing.

The missing child was none other than the family lord’s late-born youngest son.

The Tang Family scoured all of Zhongyuan, and at the same time sent cooperation requests to every Merchant Group.

[T/L: 중원 → Zhongyuan (Central Plains / Martial World Heartland)]

That was how I had first heard of the incident.

Five years passed.

The boy was not found, and everyone grew exhausted, until the Murim Alliance raided a sect called Hyeonginmun.

The charge: involvement in human trafficking.

They were a sect of dark sect members disguised in orthodox colors, guilty of countless crimes including trafficking.

And there, the Murim Alliance found the long-missing youngest son of the Sacheon Tang Family.

He had been kidnapped by them.

The Alliance returned the boy and also funneled wealth and privileges to the Tang Family to make up for the resources they had lost.

It was natural the Tang Family became zealous supporters of the Murim Alliance.

But later, the truth came out.

Hyeonginmun had actually been founded by the Murim Alliance itself.

Later, when investigating the White Heaven Merchant Group, I confirmed it for certain.

The White Heaven Merchant Group and Hyeonginmun were connected.

In other words, Hyeonginmun was a sect secretly created by the Murim Alliance.

So this kidnapping had been staged by the Murim Alliance itself to win the Tang Family’s support.

Then, had I just ruined their staged play?

Somehow, it felt exhilarating.

I decided I would personally escort the boy home.

I had planned to hand him over to the authorities, but now that I knew the criminals were the Murim Alliance, I couldn’t trust them.

If they learned the kidnapping had failed, they would try again.

I couldn’t allow that.

So, I had to deliver him safely to his home.

The fact that they had coerced the nanny to cooperate showed they had not yet completely seized the Tang Family.

So at least his household should be safe.

And it was on my way anyway.

Looking at the child of the Sacheon Tang Family, I said,

“Then, let’s go home.”