Chapter 177
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 177
Chapter 177. Traces of Seolpungung (4)
“Young master! I'm coming in.”
Hearing a voice from outside, I hurriedly closed the book and put the inkstone back in my pocket.
Clang.
The door opened and Pal-gap entered.
“...
Pal-gap, who was staring at me, asked.
”Young master, did you eat something without me knowing?“
”What are you talking about?“
”It seems like you're hiding something."
Yes, I do have a lot to hide.
Like the fact that I'm living a second life.
That it was Seolpunggung's plan.
But I couldn't tell Pal-gap that.
He would definitely call the physician with a worried look on his face.
He's really quick to notice things.
I thought I was good at controlling my expressions, but he noticed that too.
Could that be one of Salwang's talents?
I smiled wryly and said, “No, it's nothing like that.”
We went down to the first floor.
“What would you like to order?”
“Do you have any recommendations?”
“If you've come to the North Sea, you should try the frozen tofu dish.”
“Then I'll have that...”
We ordered various dishes and sat down at a table in the restaurant.
After ordering various dishes and sitting in the inn for a while, more and more customers continued to enter.
The composition of the customers, which included young girls, made it clear that they had come to enter the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
After a short wait, the food was served.
The female servant who brought the food asked with a smile.
“I thought you had left, but you came back?”
“Yes, I just went out for a bit.”
I made up an excuse and changed the subject.
“By the way, how long will the Northern Sea Ice Palace be open?”
“Only a few more days. When autumn comes, it's difficult to come here because of the snowstorms.”
“Then will this place also close until then?”
She smiled and shook her head.
“No, we'll continue to operate. This is the only place of rest for those who come through the snowstorms.”
“I see.”
I nodded.
“So, do we follow the guide every morning at dawn? I remember you said you left early in the morning before.”
“Yes. We have to leave early because we have things to do when we arrive in order to keep to the schedule.”
At that moment, another customer called her, and the conversation was interrupted.
“Let's eat.”
“Yes.”
While they were eating, Yeo-eung-am asked, “By the way, is that rock you saw earlier the one you were looking for?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“Was it just a rock standing there alone?”
The others also looked puzzled.
I wondered what to say, but Seo Woo spoke first.
“In my opinion, I think it was probably used to convey something to your Liege through the Great Law.”
I looked at Seo Woo with a slight surprise.
His guess was close to the truth.
“Why do you think so?”
“Otherwise, there is no way to explain the Liege's reaction at that time.”
Jinyu Musha nodded in agreement with Seo Musha's opinion.
I smiled, and Palga, who saw my face, said,
“Is it as Seo Musha said?”
“Yes, that's right.”
I continued.
“But we can't say that lightly, so please understand.”
Jin-yu agreed.
“That's not something we can say lightly.”
“Let's eat. This is quite delicious.”
The recommended dish here, made with frozen tofu, was quite tasty.
The texture was especially good.
After finishing our meal, we went up to our rooms.
That day, I went to bed early.
To be honest, I was too tired.
I had been practicing martial arts for a long time in the dormitory, and my body and mind were exhausted.
When I get home, I'll have to make some medicinal herbs to drink.
With that thought, I fell asleep.
.
.
.
“...!”
I was startled awake by a sudden feeling of intense murderous intent.
What was that?
It was the first time I had ever felt such intense murderous intent, so I was confused.
But I couldn't just stand there in shock, so I immediately grabbed my sword and woke up Pal-gap.
“Pal-gap! Wake up! Pal-gap!”
“What? Why are you doing that?”
Pal-gap asked in surprise when he saw me holding a sword.
Pal-gap had the talent of a sword master, but he was not yet at a high level, so he did not seem to sense the killing intent.
Bang!
At that moment, the door opened and Seo Woo rushed in.
“My lord! Ah! You were awake.”
“Yes! You came because of this killing intent.”
“That's right. We need to leave quickly.”
We gathered our weapons and went down to the first floor.
“What's going on?”
A disciple on the first floor asked in surprise when he saw us.
“It's an attack! There's a group of people trying to attack this inn.”
“What? What do you mean...?”
The disciple opened the window and looked outside, then closed it quickly in surprise.
“What should we do...?”
“Quickly, call the others.”
“Yes!”
She immediately rang the bell.
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
As soon as the loud bell rang, the disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace who were working or resting in the inn gathered around.
“What's going on?”
The disciple who rang the bell replied.
“It's an attack by spiritual beasts.”
“What? Why are spiritual beasts attacking this inn?”
I asked her.
“That's not important. Do spiritual beasts attack?”
“Yes. They often attack travelers in groups, but this is the first time they have attacked an inn like this.”
Then there must be a reason why those spiritual beasts are coming here.
At that moment.
“They're coming!”
At the same time as someone shouted, a spiritual beast resembling a giant bear rushed over and pounded on the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At this rate, the door will break soon.
Furthermore, more spiritual beasts will come in through the windows.
“My Liege, what should we do?”
I replied to Jin-yu's question.
“Do your best in your respective positions. Our top priority is survival. As long as you are alive, I will heal you somehow, so please survive.”
“Yes!”
Krak!
The door broke, and spiritual beasts poured in.
Kraaah!
“Everyone, block the ones coming from the front!”
“Yes!”
One of the disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace shouted, and the other disciples calmly blocked the spiritual beasts rushing toward them.
The window in front of me was quickly broken, and spiritual beasts poured in from that side as well.
I pointed my sword at the spiritual beasts.
This was my chance to use the sword skills I had learned from my master in one-on-one lessons.
A true merchant must be able to sell rice cakes to a tiger, even if he encounters one, right?
Huh?
But something was strange.
The spiritual beasts looked at us, then slowly avoided me and rushed toward the other side.
It was as if they were afraid of me.
Come to think of it, when I met Jikansul before, he also looked at me and ran away frantically.
The difference was that now, instead of running away, they were avoiding me and rushing toward the other side.
I moved toward the creatures rushing around me to avoid me.
Since they were all agile spiritual beasts, I used the fourth technique of the Jinseolshik Sword Technique, Seolpung.
Seolpung is a fast sword technique, but it is not a simple one.
It is a fierce wind that even hunters who have lived in the North Sea for a long time and the disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace fear.
I learned Seolpung again from the investigator of Seolpung Palace and realized its true power.
I swung my sword quickly sideways, and the sharp wind tore the spiritual beast's neck apart.
Then I struck again with my sword to finish it off.
I swung my sword sideways again at the spiritual beast next to me and did the same.
That was when it happened.
“The spiritual beasts are entering the foggy gate!”
“Damn it! How did they get in there?”
There was an uproar among the disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
The Gate of Fog referred to the wall of fog that prevented the men they had seen earlier from entering.
They desperately chased after the spiritual beasts, but many of them had already entered.
“What should we do? Those who were supposed to enter the palace half an hour ago have already left!”
“Damn it! The disciples who are in good condition, hurry inside! The rest of you, get yourselves together!”
Half an hour ago, those who left earlier would have arrived at the Ice Palace before those who left later caught up with them.
It was clear that this situation was planned.
As far as I know, there are only two disciples who are guiding them. Perhaps there is no particular danger inside.
The situation of the disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace who remained here was not good either. Even if a few disciples who were in good condition gave chase, it would be insufficient or too late.
If things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before the young girls who had entered to become disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace were torn to pieces by the spiritual beasts.
I bit my lip.
What should I do?
Seolpung Palace considers protecting the Northern Sea Ice Palace to be its mission.
I recalled the contents of the letter left for me in the cave I had entered through the remains of Seolpung Palace.
The investigator said that he had established martial arts for Seolpung Palace and the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
If so, as a disciple who had learned the martial arts of Seolpung Palace, I knew what I had to do.
I told the bodyguards to guard this place and quietly slipped out of the inn.
Then, without any interference, I entered the fog and ran.
I ran through the fog for about an hour.
The fog was so thick that I couldn't see even an inch in front of me, but strangely, I knew where I was going.
Soon, I arrived at an area without fog and saw footprints on the snow.
This is the way.
As I ran, using my extreme footwork, I could feel a strong killing intent.
“Kaah!”
Then, I heard the screams of women.
Without hesitation, I ran toward the sound. There, I saw a spiritual beast mercilessly attacking the disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, who were covered in blood.
“Haah!”
Maintaining my extreme footwork, I rushed forward and slashed the spiritual beast from its head to its groin.
Thanks to me, she was saved and expressed her gratitude with a dazed look on her face.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“I'll take care of this place, so please protect those who wish to enter the palace.”
“Yes.”
I immediately rushed toward the red-eyed spiritual beasts with my sword raised.
There were a considerable number of red-eyed snow rabbits.
Each one wasn't very strong, but there were many of them.
A wide-ranging sword was perfect for these creatures.
As I swung my sword, sword qi spread out in a fan shape.
It was like an avalanche.
The scary thing about avalanches is that once you're caught in one, it's over.
As I frantically swung my sword, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Could it be that the reason why I was called to the North Sea and taught martial arts by the investigator himself was for today?
Was that too far-fetched?
“...!”
I quickly turned my head away from the spiritual beasts and looked at the girls hoping for the Ice Palace.
That was because I sensed killing intent coming from that direction.
Ta-!
Without hesitation, I kicked off the ground and flew toward them.
As I concentrated my senses, I sensed a faint killing intent coming from one of the girls.
At the same time, I sensed the disgusting aura of a black sword.
My sword rushed toward her.
“Kaah!”
“Huh!”
“Kya!”
When I suddenly rushed forward with my sword, the girls were startled and screamed, then sat down.
The disciples of the Northern Sea Ice Palace were confused and tried to stop me, but their swords couldn't reach me.
That's how fast I was.
And just before my sword reached one of the girls.
Clang!
The girl struck my sword with her own sword. It was a powerful blow, but she managed to block it.
“So it was you. You were behind this.”
She asked me.
“How did you know?”
“I just knew.”
“Nonsense!”
Her eyes turned purple, and she shook the bell on her wrist.
The sound of the bell made the spiritual beasts attack even more fiercely. Now I was sure.
She was controlling the spiritual beasts.
But as long as I was there, the spiritual beasts were not a big threat.
They strangely felt fear toward me and avoided me.
Thinking that she had no chance of winning, she began to attack me directly.
Kaang!
“Ouch!”
I blocked her attack.
“Now you're finally showing your true colors.”
“I think I'll have to kill you first.”
“That won't be easy.”
This is the second life that the investigator gave me in exchange for his own.
I couldn't let her get away with it so easily.
“Die!”
“Who do you think you are?”
I responded calmly, but her martial arts skills were quite strong.
If I hadn't been trained by Investigator Seolpungung a short while ago, I might have died.
It seems that the investigator's prediction was correct.
In any case, there was no point in continuing the fight. After all, I had more people to protect.
I had to make a quick decision.
I raised my sword.
White night.
A white night that froze the sun spread out before us.
.
.
.
Chuck!
My sword touched her neck.
“I've lost.”
She dropped her weapon and surrendered, but the disgust I felt from her warned me not to let my guard down.
It was rare for a Daoist to surrender and not resort to dirty tricks.
“Spare me. There's a reason for all this. So...”
I chuckled and cut her off.
“I'm not interested in your story. Just tell me what your purpose was.”