Chapter 153
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 153
Chapter 153. Keep Your Valuables in the Warehouse (4)
Seeing Pal-gap's reaction, I asked again.
“Can't you see this?”
But Pal-gap just looked at me strangely.
“Then what color is this inkstone?”
I pointed to the inkstone, which had turned white, and Pal-gap replied.
“It's black.”
“....
”I think we need to call the physician.“
So, am I the only one who can see these things?
I stared at them blankly.
”Please wait a moment."
“Wait, wait... I'm fine. I'm not hurt.”
But before I could stop him, Pal-gap left the room to call the physician.
Oh no...
It seemed that my movements had become faster as I had been practicing the secret techniques that Salwang had left behind.
“Huh...”
I sighed and looked behind me.
The white door was still visible, and the inkstone was shining like white jade.
I slowly approached, and when I was about two steps away,
squeak.
The door opened by itself.
It was as if it was inviting me to come in.
I looked inside, but I couldn't see anything.
Should I go in?
Just as I was hesitating, Geum-ryeong, who was in my sleeve, poked her head out and jumped inside.
“Hey!”
I moved to grab Geum-ryeong and ended up going inside.
The moment my feet touched the floor, the scene in front of my eyes changed completely.
“Huh?”
I blinked my eyes.
It happened in an instant.
It felt moderately cool, and there were shelves all around me.
“A storage room?”
Then Geum-ryung appeared from somewhere with a book in her mouth.
“Don't move around.”
“Kui.”
Geum-ryung put the book on the floor and tapped it with her front paws.
“You want me to read this?”
I picked up the book.
“How to Use the Secret Storage.”
I didn't need to read it. The moment I opened the book, its entire contents were engraved in my mind.
“Was this really a warehouse?”
In other words, the place I was in was called a secret storage, and the step ladder was the key to the secret storage.
And when certain conditions were met, I would be qualified to open this warehouse.
Those qualifications were: to have owned Dan-gyeon for at least three years.
To master the inner arts of Yin.
To have reached a level of skill beyond the peak.
These were the three qualifications.
Now that I had fulfilled these qualifications, the secret warehouse appeared before my eyes, and I was able to enter.
And when I put my energy into the step ladder and think strongly about the warehouse, the entrance to the Bigo will open.
I must have unknowingly let my energy escape while grinding ink on the inkstone earlier.
Anyway, I needed a warehouse, and now I have a secret and spacious one!
I felt like the heavens were helping me.
On top of that, the inkstone was a bonus.
I wondered if I should tell the old man at the general store, but it had already been more than three years.
And even if I did, he would probably just say, “Oh, really? Well, use it well,” and that would be the end of it.
Besides, the more I practiced martial arts, the larger the warehouse would become, so I had one more reason to train hard.
I picked up Geum-ryeong, who was looking around the warehouse, and put her in my sleeve.
“Let's go back now.”
“Okay.”
I opened the warehouse door and went out.
As soon as I opened the door, the scenery around me changed in an instant, and I returned to my room.
I glanced back, and the white door was still there.
I tapped the inkstone on the desk with my hand, and it returned to its original state, and the white door disappeared.
I got some good equipment.
I can store the night pearls and the thousand-scented wine in here. The same goes for any equipment I get in the future.
At that moment, I heard Pal-gap's voice.
“Young master, I brought the physician.”
“....
No, I'm really fine.
* *
The next morning.
I woke up early to practice.
Seeing me, Pal-gap looked worried.
”Why don't you take today off?“
”I'm fine.“
”But yesterday, the physician said you should rest for a few days."
The physician that Pal-gap brought yesterday took my pulse and asked me a few questions, then diagnosed me with slight exhaustion.
The report was immediately sent to my father, and I was forced to rest from yesterday afternoon.
Thanks to that, I was able to lie down on my bed and rest, but I knew that the more I rested, the harder it would be in the future, so I couldn't relax.
Even though my body was resting, my mind was constantly thinking about the things I had to do, and I couldn't relax at all.
Pal-gap worries too much about me.
“Pal-gap, there's a saying that hardships that don't kill you make you stronger. So you won't get stronger by lying there complaining about the pain.”
“What does that have to do with work?”
“Work is also a kind of hardship. There's no one in this world who likes their job. So all work is hardship.”
“Then you don't like working either?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“I don't like working either. But if I don't work, I can't become strong.”
“Then you're saying that working makes you strong, but that doesn't make sense. Working is hard on the body, but it doesn't make you strong.”
“No, you have to work to survive. And it's not the strong who survive, but the survivors who are strong. So, it's a harsh reality that you have to work hard enough to survive in order to become strong.”
Pal-gap thought about my words for a moment, then clapped his hands and said,
“Those are very impressive words. I must tell Head Escort Kwak when he comes later.”
At that moment, I broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it.
If it were Master, he would say that it was a very good saying and make me train so hard that I wouldn't die.
“No! That's not it!”
“Huh?”
“That's not what I meant.”
“....”
I let out a deep sigh and said.
“Actually, when I said that hardship that doesn't kill me makes me stronger, I meant that in order to become stronger, I must avoid hardship so that it doesn't kill me.”
“Young master.”
“Yes?”
“...Nothing.”
Did you just curse me with your eyes?
As soon as I finished my breathing exercises in the courtyard, my master entered my annex.
“Master, did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes, good morning.”
I looked at my master and tilted my head. For some reason, my master's prayer felt different from usual today.
Before, it felt like looking at something sharp and hard, like ice, but today, it felt like looking up at a huge ice canyon.
My master must have noticed my expression.
“Why?”
“Yes?”
“You seem puzzled.”
“Oh, that... It may be my imagination, but your prayer seemed different from yesterday.”
“...How so?”
When I told him exactly what I felt, his expression changed slightly and he nodded.
“It is as the King said.”
“Yes?”
“While studying the secret manual the King gave me yesterday, I had a small realization.”
“Congratulations.”
I clasped my hands together and congratulated my master, who looked slightly embarrassed.
I had rarely seen him look like that, so it was very refreshing.
“It is all thanks to His Highness.”
“I believe that heaven thought of you and returned the secret manual to you through me.”
My master stared at me blankly, then opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“I will study that secret technique a little more and then pass it on to the king.”
“I will wait for that day.”
“Then let's begin training.”
* * *
Time passed, and November 11th came and went without incident, and I turned nineteen.
It had been four years since I had returned from death.
And this Dongji, I was ranked 49th among the 100 best trading companies announced by the imperial family.
Now, I was close to my goal.
Once I become one of the top ten trading companies in the world, I plan to start a full-scale battle with the Baekcheon Trading Company.
Right now, I am only working behind the scenes to interfere with the Baekcheon Trading Company and the Martial Alliance.
Since we are still a small trading company compared to the Baekcheon Trading Company, they could easily put us in danger.
Of course, we have some plans in place, but we must not reveal them, as they are our daggers.
I was on my way to my office in Hyungpung.
Creak, creak.
I heard the sound of wheels rolling in the distance. I turned my head and saw Heo Un.
“Ah, you're going to work.”
“Yes.”
Heo Un was moving around on a chair with wheels, which I had asked Gongmil to make for me.
It could be pushed by someone else or rolled by the user.
As soon as Sang-yu saw it, his eyes lit up and he called out to me.
“Your Highness! Let's sell this!”
The wheeled chair was named “Uiryeonui.”
It means “a wheelchair that serves as a will,” and it was named by my father.
As expected, my father is more talented than me when it comes to naming things.
In any case, as Yeon Gak-ju wished, preparations were underway to sell the wheelchairs.
There were many people in the world who had difficulty moving around like Heo-woon Gakwon, so there would be a high demand for them.
However, I had no intention of exploiting their discomfort for profit.
I said to Heo Un-gakwon,
“You seem to have gotten used to the wheeled chair.”
“Yes, it's very comfortable.”
“I'll push you to Sangyugak.”
“No, I can go by myself.”
“I just need someone to talk to on the way.”
I tried to push Heo Un-gak's wheelchair myself, but Pal-gap stopped me.
“I'll do it.”
“Okay, go ahead.”
I guess Pal-gap couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Clatter, clatter.
As we were heading toward Sangyugak, talking about this and that, Heo Un-gak brought up another topic.
“Did I tell you before? I remember all the accounts of the Baekcheon Trading Company.”
“Yes, I heard you.”
“And I remembered something that caught my attention in the recent records.”
“What is it?”
“A considerable amount of money from the Baekcheon Trading Company flowed to Yeoncheon Village in Hubei Province.”
Yeoncheon Village?
I racked my brain to remember where Yeoncheon Village was, and soon I remembered.
There... It's next to Moo-Dang Mountain, right?
“So I looked for records related to that, and I found a record of purchasing a miracle drug.”
“A miracle drug? Hmm, it's a little unusual, but couldn't it have been purchased for trade?”
It is not uncommon for people to obtain elixirs and use them as currency in trade.
“That's right. But what caught my attention was that the records also included the cost of acquiring nearby Trading Companies.”
Those words made me think deeply.
Then, the moment I looked at Seo Woo, a thought flashed through my mind.
.
.
.
After taking Mister Heo to the Seo-yu-gak, I returned to my office in Hyungpung-guk.
Then I closed the partition between my office and the other offices.
I had something to think about alone.
In this life, I was the one who saved Bok-shin-ryeong, and because of that, Seo Woo-musa was able to get out of his sickbed.
However, in my previous life, the Deokheung Trading Company was destroyed because of Bokshiryeong, whom Sect Leader Gong saved.
And it was someone other than Bokshiryeong who ate it.
It was a member of the Blood Cult who had been imprisoned.
And the place where he was imprisoned was the Wudang Sect.
At that time, the Wudang Sect suffered tremendous damage at the hands of the member of the Blood Cult who had recovered.
The Blood Cult destroyed and killed everything in sight, plunging the Hubei region into chaos.
When the threat became too great, the Martial Alliance finally stepped in.
Shortly after they took action, the Blood Cult was defeated.
Come to think of it, it was the Martial Alliance that benefited from that incident.
By taking care of the Blood Cult, the Martial Alliance's reputation grew even higher.
At that time, the Baekcheon Trading Company absorbed the trading companies around Hubei Province that were on the verge of bankruptcy, and grew even larger.
As a result, the Baekcheon Trading Company rose to become one of the three largest trading companies.
Could it be that... what happened back then was a plot by the Martial Alliance?
If so, we must stop this.
The atrocities committed at that time were so horrific that words cannot describe them, and it was easy to see why the Blood Cult was called the Blood Cult.
However, that person was a formidable master, so there must be someone else who can stop him... Huh?
Something is strange.
The Wudang Sect is one of the most prestigious sects in the Central Plains.
How many masters do they have that they couldn't stop that Blood Cult member?
It must have been the masters of the Wudang Sect who imprisoned him.
I have to go there.
I need a reason to go to the Wudang Sect without arousing suspicion...
That's it.
I have the title of Xian Xie Mi Lang, and if I say I'm donating to the Wudang Sect, they'll welcome me with open arms.