Chapter v18c7

“Nanchang? Are you talking about Nanchang, next to Lake Payang?”

Yoo Gyeong-Yeong asked, unable to believe his ears.

“Yes. Nanchang.”

It was natural for the boy to be shocked.

Nanchang was incredibly far from Sichuan. It was a perilous journey for two young siblings. They would have to cross multiple provincial borders. It could take two, even three months, who knew? It was a journey beyond their current comprehension. And that was assuming they didn’t encounter any threats along the way.

“I-I don’t understand, Father!”

The most logical place to seek refuge was the Emei Sect. It was only a day’s journey away. But why Nanchang? Even at his young age, he couldn’t comprehend the disparity. Yoo Jae-Ryong shook his head resolutely.

“You can’t go to the Emei Sect!”

He understood his son’s concern, but he had no choice but to guide him towards the more treacherous path.

“Why not?”

“Those who attacked us are meticulous and ruthless. They wouldn’t have come without knowing our connection to the Emei Sect. The paths leading there are probably blocked. You’ll be caught if you try to go there. No animal walks into a trap knowingly.”

“But…”

“No matter how clever they are, they won’t expect two young children to travel all the way to Nanchang. We’ll exploit that blind spot. Do you understand?”

The boy finally understood his father’s intentions.

“Yes, Father. I understand.”

“I’m sorry, son, that I can only offer you a treacherous path. But the only way to survive is through Nanchang. You have to endure, no matter how difficult it may be.”

Yoo Gyeong-Yeong nodded, his face grim.

“What should we do when we get to Nanchang?”

“Take that pouch and seek out Iron Fist Ma Jin-Ga.”

“Ma Jin-Ga? The ‘Unrivaled Iron Fist,’ the ‘Two Fists Are Unnecessary’… ?!”

Despite his young age, he recognized the name. As a young martial artist, he had heard much about Cheonmu Academy, the dream destination for every martial artist.

“Yes. Headmaster Ma Jin-Ga of Cheonmu Academy.”

Yoo Jae-Ryong took a jade pendant from his robes and handed it to his son.

“Take this token and seek out the Headmaster. Cheonmu Academy’s influence will protect you.”

He had never heard of his family having ties to such a prominent figure. But there was no time for questions, and his father didn’t answer them.

“Oh, and take this too.”

Yoo Jae-Ryong removed the necklace he was wearing and placed it around his son’s neck. A large, golden key hung from the center of the necklace.

“This key is…?”

Yoo Jae-Ryong nodded.

“Yes. The ‘Yellow Dragon Key,’ which unlocks the secret vault of the Blue Dragon Manor.”

He took the glittering gold key in his hand, infused it with his internal energy, and started rubbing it. Smoke rose from the key as the gold plating began to flake off, revealing the iron beneath. Pure gold was too soft to be used for a key, so it was naturally made of iron. The Yellow Dragon Key instantly transformed into the Iron Dragon Key.

“Gold can sometimes blind people. You’re still too young to protect its brilliance. Build your strength, so you can protect your wealth. And someday, rebuild the Blue Dragon Manor. When that day comes, this key will once again gleam with gold.”

Creak!

Yoo Jae-Ryong turned a candlestick on the wall, and the bookshelf behind him split in two, revealing a secret passage. The boy and girl gasped.

“T-to think such a valuable mechanism was hidden in our house…”

Yoo Gyeong-Yeong, ever the merchant’s son, voiced his appreciation. He had been trained to assess the value of goods since he could walk, and it wasn’t difficult for him to gauge the worth of this mechanism. Secret passages operated by intricate mechanisms were notoriously difficult and expensive to build. Even in this desperate situation, the boy couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Come! Follow me!”

* * *

The screams subsided. The weapons that had been roaring like thunder fell silent.

Creak!

The door opened with an earsplitting screech. A man dressed in black walked inside. Yoo Jae-Ryong stood with his sword drawn, his back to the bookshelf, his eyes radiating a chilling aura.

“Well, well… if it isn’t the esteemed Owner Yoo of the Blue Dragon Manor! Where are all your men? Standing guard all alone?”

The masked man at the front of the group asked, his tone mocking. He was pleased to be the first one inside.

“Let’s introduce ourselves first. I can’t reveal my real name due to the nature of my job, so you can call me ‘Blood Mark.’ My rank is Chief Commander.”

“Silence, fiend! I’m not interested in the false name of someone who hides their face behind a mask. What grudge do you hold against us?”

“Grudge? There is none.”

Blood Mark’s answer was honest, in a way. And it also discouraged Yoo Jae-Ryong.

“Then what’s the reason for this carnage? Why attack us so brutally if you hold no grudge?”

“Are you serious?”

Blood Mark sighed theatrically.

“Humans are perfectly capable of committing atrocities without any personal grudges. Look at wars between nations. Do you think powerful nations invade weaker ones out of some deep-seated resentment? No. They do it because they happen to have something the weaker nation needs. Purely by chance, of course! And the ‘justice’ they proclaim? It’s all a smokescreen, a convenient excuse to rile up their people. A businessman like yourself doesn’t understand this simple truth?”

Blood Mark sighed again, his tone a mix of exasperation, amusement, and perhaps even boredom.

“Is it money you want?”

Blood Mark shook his head.

“I’m not interested in money. Even if we were, it would only be a secondary motive. Do you really think powerful nations go to war over a lack of funds? What they truly seek is not money itself, but the potential for profit, a resource that can generate wealth for decades to come.”

Yoo Jae-Ryong seethed, irritated by his condescending lecture. He was doing this on purpose.

“Then you’ve come to the wrong place. This small manor doesn’t possess such riches.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Owner Yoo. We know everything. So, give us ‘it,’ and we’ll leave peacefully.”

His dismissive tone finally pushed Yoo Jae-Ryong over the edge.

“Leave peacefully? You bastard! You’ve piled up a mountain of corpses, and you think you can just walk away?”

Fury fueled his outburst, making him forget his status, spewing vulgarities. His composure had shattered like a mirror dropped from a rooftop.

“That’s unfortunate. But what can we do if you’re being stubborn? And thanks to your little trick – I never thought you’d actually set your own manor on fire – I had to speed things up a bit. Planning to raise the alarm, Owner Yoo? We couldn’t let that happen. It was an unavoidable measure.”

Blood Mark remained infuriatingly calm. But he had been surprised by the sudden fire.

They hadn’t set the fire. It was part of Yoo Jae-Ryong’s plan. Setting a fire in the dead of night was like shouting, “Hey, look! I’m up to something!” It was the last thing they would have done. But their initial attempt to extinguish the flames had failed miserably. The fire had spread with incredible speed, which meant there had been some sort of mechanism in place, a trap prepared beforehand.

“It caused unexpected delays, and increased casualties. A most regrettable situation, indeed.”

But it had bought Yoo Jae-Ryong some time. However, he had miscalculated his opponent’s efficiency. At this rate, they would be wiped out before receiving help from the Emei Sect. In fact, they were practically wiped out already. He was the only one left.

“But what is this ‘it’ you’re talking about? We don’t have any such thing.”

Yoo Jae-Ryong, trying to regain his composure, asked. He needed more time. It wasn’t worth dying yet.

“Don’t play dumb, Owner Yoo. We know…”

Blood Mark’s voice trailed off. He looked around, as if searching for something.

Yoo Jae-Ryong felt a sense of dread creeping in. And his premonition was right.

“Where are your children? I don’t see them.”

He spoke with confidence, as if he knew everything.

‘Did they even investigate my children?’

Thankfully, they had already escaped through the secret passage.

“That’s strange. I assumed they would be with you…”

He had already ordered his men to capture them. He couldn’t afford to kill valuable hostages.

“They’re not here.”

Blood Mark’s expression darkened. It was evident even behind the mask.

“That’s not good. Well, no matter. I can guess where they are. Probably scurrying off to the Emei Sect, poor things. They’ll be caught soon. My condolences.”

“You bastards! What have those children ever done to you?! Leave them alone!”

Yoo Jae-Ryong shouted, pretending to be more agitated than he felt. Of course, he secretly hoped the opposite.

‘Please, please, please …’

He prayed silently, putting on an act. He hoped the attackers would shift their attention to the Emei Sect.

Blood Mark gave orders to a few of his men. He must have been reinforcing the blockade to the paths leading to the Emei Sect. Yoo Jae-Ryong felt a tremor run through his body as he sensed some of them leaving the burning manor.

Blood Mark glanced at him.

“Don’t worry. You’ll see them again soon.”

And it probably wouldn’t be in this world.

“What do you really want?!”

He didn’t seem to care about money, and judging by his actions, he didn’t seem to be motivated by glory, either. But he was too professional to be a bloodthirsty maniac.

“Owner Yoo, are you serious? Or have you lost your mind? Let me be frank: we need a key. Just a simple key.”

Yoo Jae-Ryong felt as if the ground beneath him was crumbling, as if he was falling into a bottomless pit. He struggled to regain his footing.

‘H-how do they…?’

How did they discover his most closely guarded secret?

“I refuse! I’ll never hand over the heart of the Blue Dragon Manor, the vault that holds everything I’ve built, to fiends like you! Never!”

Blood Mark clicked his tongue, his tone almost patronizing.

“Now, now, Owner Yoo! You know what kind of key I’m talking about, don’t you? We both do.”

“I-I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”

Yoo Jae-Ryong stammered, pretending confusion.

“That’s unfortunate. You might verbally deny it, but I can hear the tremor in your voice, Owner Yoo. Men!”

“Yes, sir!”

His lieutenants, ranked third and fourth in command, answered.

“Find those children immediately! He might regain his senses if he witnesses his children being torn limb from limb! “

“But… where should we start searching? “

Thud!

The masked man punched his incompetent lieutenant, enraged by his stupid question.

“You fool! They were with their father. Do you think they sprouted wings and flew away? Or burrowed into the ground? There must be a secret passage! Find it!”

“Yes, sir!”

Twenty men echoed the order.

“Don’t! Not my children!”

Yoo Jae-Ryong shouted, leaping towards a wall, drawing his sword. He glared at them, as if daring them to come near.

“Not my children!”

Blood Mark’s eyes narrowed, and a smirk played on his lips.

“Gotcha, Owner Yoo!”

“…!!”

“Hah, looks like the secret passage is hidden somewhere around there. Interesting.”

“You…”

A strangled gasp escaped Yoo Jae-Ryong’s lips. It was obvious that he was distraught, horrified that his slip had provided them with a crucial clue.

“Swift Shadow! Iron Fist!”

Two masked men charged at Yoo Jae-Ryong as he spouted the order. Blood Mark, who had been standing with his arms crossed, added,

“We still need answers! Don’t kill him!”

The two men, Swift Shadow and Iron Fist, were clearly of a higher caliber than the other masked men who had fallen before Yoo Jae-Ryong’s blade. Their movements were fluid and coordinated as they relentlessly pressed their attack. They were the second and third in command among the twenty men present. Swift Shadow, the man wielding a single-edged sword, aimed for his left arm, while Iron Fist, the burly brute with a mace, targeted his right.

“Found it!”

One of his men, a specialist in detecting mechanisms, shouted.

“Good!”

“No!”

One celebrated, the other screamed. But the specialist ignored the scream and pulled the lever he had discovered.

“Such a simple mechanism! How foolish!”

It was like asking him to find it. Discovering such a basic mechanism was child’s play for a professional like him.

Rumble!

The mechanism, following its pre-programmed instructions, couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe. As the mechanism activated, a previously concealed passageway groaned open, revealing a dark maw.

“You shall not pass!”

Yoo Jae-Ryong shouted, rushing to block the passageway.

“Out of the way!”

Swift Shadow and Iron Fist’s relentless attacks prevented him from reaching his goal.

“After them!”

A dozen masked men, thinking that two of their strongest were enough to handle Yoo Jae-Ryong, rushed into the secret passage.

“I look forward to what happens next, Owner Yoo!”

Blood Mark said, his voice mocking. Yoo Jae-Ryong replied,

“Me too. I’m looking forward to what happens next.”

A genuine smile appeared on Yoo Jae-Ryong’s lips. The despair in his eyes was gone, replaced with an unwavering certainty. Blood Mark’s eyes widened in shock.

Just then,

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”

“Gwaaaaaaaaaaagh!”

The remaining masked men wondered if they had stumbled into hell itself, not a secret passage. The screams echoing through the darkness were unlike anything they had ever heard. It was a symphony of agony and terror, so horrific it seemed to transcend the realm of the living.

“….”

Silence descended upon the hall, heavy and suffocating, as the screams subsided. Even the fall of a single hair could be heard in the stillness.

“It seems you’re the one who has been deceived, Commander Blood Mark!”

Yoo Jae-Ryong returned his mockery with a smirk.

Swift Shadow and Iron Fist, who had been pressing him so relentlessly moments ago, lay dead at his feet, their bodies severed at the waist.

* * *

“Huh?”

The boy let out a puzzled sound. Yoo Gyeong-Yeong’s bewilderment was understandable. His father was leading them in the opposite direction of the expensive secret passage.

“What? Father?”

There was no reply. Yoo Jae-Ryong strode towards an ordinary wardrobe.

“This is…? ”

“Hurry!”

Yoo Jae-Ryong opened the small door of the wardrobe, pulled out some clothes, and then squeezed himself through the narrow opening. He started fiddling with something inside. He was done in a few seconds.

“Now, quickly, get in here! Hurry!”

“Wh-what is this?”

Yoo Gyeong-Yeong asked, confused. This time, he received an answer.

“That mechanism is a fake. Well, the mechanism is real, but it’s not a real passage.”

“What?”

“This is the real secret passage.”

“Th-this is?”

The wardrobe was only about waist-high, and the small door looked flimsy and insignificant. The passage behind it looked just as unimpressive. Like…

“What? Does it look like a dog hole?”

His father read his mind.

“W-well… y-yes… ”

He blushed, embarrassed that his true thoughts had been exposed. He knew this wasn’t the time to be picky, but his father didn’t reprimand him.

“Son, let me give you one more piece of advice: never be fooled by appearances, no matter how expensive or impressive something might look. What matters is not outward show, but true value. A merchant doesn’t concern himself with superficiality. What matters is true profit. Never forget that.”

There was no time for a leisurely explanation. Yoo Jae-Ryong added, omitting any sentimental farewells – efficiency was key.

“Take care of your sister.”

With a powerful embrace, he pushed his children into the wardrobe. They scrambled inside, their faces streaked with tears.

The wardrobe devoured the children whole, returning to its original state as if nothing had happened.

“Gyeong-Yeong! Seon-Ah! I’m counting on you!”

He closed the wardrobe door with a heavy heart. There was no lock.

“You must… you must survive.”

He didn’t cry, but there was no time for them to escape yet. He had to buy them more time.

“This is my final transaction.”

He saw even this as a business