Chapter 317
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 317
Chapter 317. In Lanzhou (4)
Following the Boss's orders, they each grabbed their weapons and rushed to the place the Qing officer had told them.
However, when they arrived, all they could see were still-warm charcoal embers and the remains of a deer.
“Where did everyone go?”
“Didn't they say they were here?”
Then someone shouted.
“There are footprints leading this way.”
“Does that mean they ran that way?”
“Maybe they knew we were coming?”
“Who do you mean?”
“That guy, Dao.”
“No! He's not the type to sow discord in two places at once. He's too timid for that.”
After thinking for a moment, Boss said.
“Judging from the traces, there are only about ten people. Just as the blue-robed man said. And no matter how fast they run, they can't go far with these rugged mountains. If we catch them, we'll find out who the traitor is.”
He made his decision.
“Let's follow their footsteps.”
“Yes.”
*
I approached the mountain keep.
I confirmed that about a hundred people had left the keep.
I raised my senses and looked inside the keep. There were about a hundred people left.
The person named Cheong-gwan probably told them not to let their guard down, so they brought as many people as possible.
Thank you.
Currently, only my party and I are in this mountain keep.
The Elder and Seok-baek are non-combatants, so they had to be accompanied by their guards to protect them.
That means the eight of us have to rescue four people.
Based on what Bang No-sa told us about the five men in the safe house, one of them must be Cheong-gwan.
So, there are four men we need to rescue.
“What shall we do?”
“We will enter as quietly as possible and aim to get out without being noticed.”
Myeongjong Musha asked me.
“Are you saying we should avoid conflict as much as possible?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“Of course, I would like to kill them all. I have the ability to do so. However, we must not endanger the lives of the Royal Guards. Don't forget. Our primary objective is to rescue the Royal Guards.”
“I understand.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
I gave additional instructions.
“If we happen to get separated, please pair up with me, the female warrior Yeo-eung-am, the warrior Lee Pil, the warrior Seo Woo, the warrior Myeongjong, the warrior Jin-yu, and the warrior Chang-woon. After the rescue, come to the place I mentioned earlier.”
“Understood.”
“And although our goal is to rescue the Royal Guards, the most important thing is your lives. To be honest, I feel sorry for involving you in this just because you are my bodyguards.”
“Don't think that way.”
“Thank you for saying that. Take care of yourselves. Let's go.”
At my signal, we entered the mountain keep.
Jin-yu Musha took the lead, and Seo-woo Musha brought up the rear.
Thanks to his experience as an assassin, Jin-yu Musha was able to move stealthily and was also excellent at sensing his opponents' movements.
He moved like the wind and broke the necks of the black-clad men in front of us, killing them.
He then placed their bodies against the wall so that they looked as if they were leaning against it.
In that instant, we entered the mountain keep.
I concentrated my senses and searched for the aura of those who had mastered the Imperial Martial Arts.
The Imperial Martial Arts had a unique aura, and since I had also mastered it, I was able to find that aura easily.
“I found it.”
I led my party into the basement of the mountain keep. As we descended the stone steps leading to the basement, a plausible underground space appeared.
No, it wasn't underground.
A mountain keep had been built at the entrance of a cave connected to the ground below.
Fortunately, the cave wasn't very large.
And its structure was complex, making it perfect for a game of hide-and-seek.
It was a prison.
I saw young children staring blankly into space with eyes full of resignation.
They must have been kidnapped children.
I was sorry, but I couldn't save them now. It would be difficult to take them with me and escape safely.
We turned our heads away and hurried on. Soon, we arrived at the place where the Royal Guards were.
Cha-ak! Cha-ak!
“Kuk!”
We heard the sound of whips and groans.
“It's useless. You won't get a word out of me... Huh! I can't talk.”
“You cruel bastard! Is this what the Royal Guards are like?”
His voice was hoarse, but the intonation was familiar. It was Master Jin.
“Ugh! Let's see how long you can hold out!”
Chiik!
“Kuh!”
We couldn't let them be tortured any longer. We quietly approached them.
Four people were hanging on the wall.
To be honest, it was difficult to tell if they were even human.
How could someone be reduced to that state!
Anger welled up inside me, but I forced myself to remain calm and surveyed the area, counting the number of enemies and assessing their strength.
Deciding that we could rescue Master Jin-yeong if we attacked now, I immediately sent a telepathic message.
“Now!”
At my signal, we moved in unison, and in an instant, all of the enemies were struck down.
Thud!
Splash!
With a few simple movements, we took their lives and laid them down without making a sound.
“Master Jin, are you all right?”
“You!
”Shh! Be quiet."
He nodded at my words. Seo Woo cut the iron chains holding the Royal Guards hanging from the wall with his sword.
Perhaps because his sword qi was more natural than before, he cut through them quite easily.
The others were startled, but Master Jin, who knew Seo Woo's abilities, remained calm.
We applied the medicine we had prepared in advance to their bodies and wrapped them in cloth.
This was to prevent their wounds from getting worse and to prevent blood from leaving traces.
Then, as we had discussed earlier, we paired up and took one Royal Guard Master each and moved on.
We moved cautiously again.
It would be troublesome to stir up trouble unnecessarily.
However, if we had no choice, we would have no choice but to kill our enemies.
We escaped from the cave and looked around.
Fortunately, it seemed that those who had gone out to catch us had not yet returned.
We hid under a cliff and left some traces to disguise ourselves.
They would have a hard time searching under the cliff later.
We escaped from the mountain keep and headed for the place we had agreed upon in advance.
It was a house I had purchased for this purpose.
It wasn't easy to find a house in a remote mountain area in such a hurry, but we were able to get it more easily than expected by paying a little extra.
This was also for official business, so I'm sure His Majesty the Emperor won't mind.
“We did it!”
When we entered the house, the housekeeper was waiting for us and welcomed us.
“Yes, we succeeded.”
“You are more capable than I thought!”
“Me?”
I couldn't forget the look in Bang No-sa's eyes when he looked at me last time.
Just like when the emperor's eyes lit up, my instincts sounded an alarm.
“How could I have saved the Masters on my own? It's all thanks to my bodyguards.”
I quickly gave all the credit to my guards.
“More importantly, we must get the Masters to bed.”
At that moment, Master Jin looked at Bang No-sa and greeted him with wide eyes and a laborious bow.
“Isn't that Minister Bang? The Royal Guards are here to see you.”
A minister was the head of one of the six ministries and held a high rank.
I didn't know he was such a high-ranking official.
Bang No-sa clicked his tongue and waved his hand.
“I'm just a retired old man, so no need for formalities. Hurry up and get them to rest. Tsk, tsk.”
We laid the four masters on the beds we had prepared in advance. Then we wiped their bodies with wet towels.
There were no servants, so we had no choice but to do it ourselves. Thanks to that, we realized
that they were barely alive.
They had been tortured terribly.
Of course, as skilled martial artists, they were able to survive wounds that would have killed ordinary people.
More than that, I admire the masters for enduring such torture. They did not take their own lives because they believed that someone would come to rescue them.
And because they had something important to convey.
“It will hurt, but you must endure it.”
Pal-gap and I stayed by Master Jin-yeong's side and wiped his body with wet towels.
Then we reapplied the medicine we had prepared in advance and wrapped his wounds with long bandages.
He had wounds all over his body, so we had no choice but to wrap his entire body.
* *
When the treatment was finished, Jin-yeong relaxed.
He realized that they had been rescued.
He quietly turned his head toward Bang Hyo-myeong.
He had served as Minister of War, but seven years ago, he submitted his resignation to the emperor and returned to his hometown.
Why was someone like him in a place like this with Eun Seo-ho?
“By the way, how did you end up here? I knew you were somewhere near Lanzhou, but...”
“Oh, that?”
Bang Hyo-myeong pointed at Eun Seo-ho and replied.
“That guy brought a letter. According to the letter, His Majesty the Emperor ordered us to rescue you.”
“What?”
“His Majesty the Emperor said so?”
The Royal Guards were shocked by his answer.
“As you all know, His Majesty the Emperor never abandons his own people.”
The emperor he had seen was very good at recognizing talent and knew how to make the most of it.
He had a knack for squeezing talent out of people, so even though it was physically and mentally exhausting, he had no choice but to follow such an emperor.
If he considered someone to be his own, he would trust them completely and support them.
And he never abandoned them.
But he thought he would die working in the imperial palace if things continued this way, so he returned to his hometown...
“Damn it! I can't refuse the emperor's order!”
Suddenly, he was overcome with anger.
But he couldn't show such an ugly side of himself in front of them.
“So, get yourself together. You have to stand before His Majesty and thank him, don't you?”
“Kuh!”
“Your Majesty!”
“Kuh...”
Their eyes were red, and they swallowed their tears.
To be honest, the Royal Guards endured those difficult times out of their loyalty to His Majesty.
Their pride also played a part.
As the emperor's hands and feet, they could not succumb to pain.
Even though the pain was so severe that they wanted to die, they did not take their own lives.
They had to convey what they knew somehow.
But that was all.
They did not trust the emperor completely.
To be honest, loyalty and trust are two different things.
However, they were moved by the fact that the emperor had sent a letter even to those who had left the capital to save them.
At that moment, they vowed to devote their bodies, minds, and souls to the emperor.
Meanwhile, Bang Hyo-myung was looking at Eun Seo-ho with relish.
He was a talented man among talented men.
“Is this how the emperor felt when he saw talented people?”
Anyway, with a little more training, he would be useful.
“Should I train him a little more and send him to the imperial palace in my place?”
Eun Seo-ho would be terrified if he heard that.
* * *
I suddenly felt a chill and rubbed my arms.
“Why are you doing that?”
I shook my head at Pal-gap's question.
“Nothing. I just felt cold all of a sudden.”
“What? You're cold, young master?”
It didn't make sense to me either.
I tilted my head at the way the Royal Guards were looking at the room attendant.
Their eyes were full of respect.
Of course, given his position as a minister, it was understandable that the Royal Guards would recognize him, but was it really necessary to look at him with such respect?
Anyway.
“I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“I don't know much about the martial arts of the others, but Master Jin-yeong's martial arts are top-notch. And when you use the Imperial Martial Arts, you can temporarily reach your peak power.”
“That's right.”
“Then why were you captured so easily?”
Master Jin-yeong gritted his teeth at my question.
“Cheong-gwan! It's all because of him!”
The Master learned that the Chief Minister had committed a crime and questioned him about it, which led to this incident.
He also told me that the Chief Minister had poisoned the Royal Guards, and as a result, they were easily defeated by the Black Swordsmen who had entered the mountain keep.
“I knew it! That guy was the problem.”
“Did you happen to meet the Chief Minister?”
“Yes, I did.”
At Bang No-sa's words, Master Jin-yeong tried to stand up, but he clenched his teeth in pain and said, “So... how... If they know about this place, it will be a big problem...”
“Don't worry.”
I smiled.
“They don't know about this place.”
“They don't know?”
"Yes.
Fortunately, Bang No-sa noticed that something was wrong as soon as he saw him, so we were able to take action.“
I explained how I had toyed with Cheong-gwan and the black swordsmen of the mountain keep.
”Huh...“
”Such a bold move!“
”By the way, the mountain keep must be in an uproar by now... Isn't Cheong-gwan having a hard time protecting himself?"