Chapter 483
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 483
Chapter 483. The Hundred-Year-Old Demon (2)
Jeong-ho tilted his head at my question.
“What did you eat?”
“Did you eat anything else besides what I sent you?”
Jeong-ho nodded.
“I ate this and that. The thing I ate the most was mushrooms, right?”
“Mushrooms?”
My brother nodded in response to my question.
“The guy who delivered the letter to me brought someone with him. Oh, there he is.”
My brother pointed to a certain spot, and I noticed a furry creature standing stiffly next to a tree.
Huh? A raccoon dog?
Why is it here? They usually live in the east of the empire.
Looking closely, unlike ordinary raccoon dogs, the fur on its chest was pure white.
Ah, it's a spiritual beast.
But it looks like it's in a state of high alert.
“But why is that raccoon dog here?”
“That raccoon brought me some mushrooms. It showed me how it eats them and gave them to me, as if to say, ‘Eat these.’”
“I see...”
“Just in case, I checked to make sure they weren't poisonous before eating them.”
Well, Jung-ho is the captain of the Eunhae Trading Company, so he knows a lot about medicinal herbs.
“But honestly, how could a couple of mushrooms fill your stomach? So I pretended to be hungry, and the raccoon shook its tail as if to tell me to follow it. I followed it, and there were lots of mushrooms that looked just like that one.”
“Where is that?”
“There.”
Hyung led me to a place.
“Here.”
There were quite a lot of purple mushrooms growing there.
At that moment, I heard Kim-ryung's telepathy.
- Kwi!
You were going to tell me later?
Yes, that's good.
I put my hand inside my sleeve and stroked Kim-ryung, then said to my brother.
“Brother, do you know what this is before you eat it?”
“It's my first time seeing it, so how would I know? We're about to starve to death, so as long as it's not poisonous, we should be grateful.”
To be honest, I had only seen this once in my entire life, and that was in my previous life.
“Brother, this is expensive.”
“What is this? Isn't it just a mushroom?”
“It is a mushroom, but not just any mushroom. It's a hundred-year mushroom.”
A hundred-year mushroom.
It blooms once every hundred years.
“One hundred-year mushroom can give you a year's worth of inner arts training.”
“Huh? So it's an elixir?”
“That's right.”
“Strangely, there was nothing else to eat around here except grass. If that raccoon hadn't told me about this, I would have starved to death.”
That is one of the characteristics of the hundred-year mushroom.
It absorbs almost all the nutrients in the surrounding area, so no other plants can grow nearby.
Seeing the century-old mushrooms, I understood why Ho, who was knowledgeable about various medicinal herbs, had become dehydrated.
There was almost nothing else to eat.
Seeing that he wasn't particularly surprised that he had eaten the elixir, I guessed that he had guessed as much.
“So how many did you eat?”
“I ate a lot. About fifty? Strangely, even if I ate just a few, I felt full.”
“...”
I was speechless.
Fifty means that he gained nearly fifty years of training.
So... Jung-ho's inner arts, which had been mediocre, became on par with a first-class warrior.
In fact, consuming elixirs is dangerous, so one must be careful.
The only thing that was fortunate for Jung-ho was that the energy contained in one mushroom was equivalent to a year's worth of training.
Normally, elixirs increase one's training by several decades at a time.
The blue plum I ate right after I returned increased my training by a decade.
However, the hundred-year-old mushroom only takes a year, so it doesn't put as much strain on the body.
And since your brother's body was in such an exhausted state that his life was in danger, his body must have absorbed all of the energy from the hundred-year-old mushroom without any resistance.
“Wait a minute. Then this child also ate the mushroom?”
“That's right. A little less than me, but he ate dozens of them.”
I quickly bent down and said to the child.
“Excuse me, may I hold Mister's hand for a moment?”
At my question, the child looked at Hyung, and when Hyung nodded, the child nodded as well.
I held the child's wrist and measured his energy.
"...
Approximately the inner arts level of a second-rate warrior.
I stood up and smiled bitterly.
“Being swept away by the rapids turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”
Anyway, I can't just leave this treasure here.
I need to ask for permission first.
- Geum-ryung.
- Kwi?
- Do these mushrooms have an owner or something?
- Kui?
- I asked because I thought they might be food for your subordinate, the raccoon.
- Kui! Kui!
When Geum-ryung said something to the raccoon, it raised both hands and shook its head frantically.
- Kui! Kui!
- You mean we can pick them all?
For some reason, the raccoon's reaction seems to be saying, “You can pick them all, but please don't look at me again...”
Well, it doesn't matter. We got permission...
“Let's pick them!”
“Yes!”
If my brother and the child were in bad condition, moving them would be the priority, but thanks to this elixir, they are fine.
So we could spare some time to pick these.
These mushrooms are quite rare, and besides increasing one's power, they have other useful uses.
That's why they're so expensive.
We picked a lot of mushrooms.
“Aren't you going to pick those mushrooms?”
I nodded in response to Pal-gap's question.
“Yes, it's in return for protecting my brother and child. Out of conscience, I should leave half for the raccoon to eat.”
Then he smiled lightly at the raccoon.
It must have been my imagination that he looked moved.
“Let's go.”
I looked at Dao. Dao looked overwhelmed by the fact that the child was alive.
“Everyone will be so happy to know that you are alive. Thank you so much.”
He bowed his head repeatedly with his hands clasped together.
“Are there any members of the Mingming Trading Company searching in this area?”
He shook his head at my question.
“I don't think they would have come this far... I don't think so.”
“I see. Then let's build a fire nearby and rest while warming ourselves.”
“Yes.”
There were no inns in the vicinity, so we had no choice but to spend the night there.
As we were looking for a suitable place to spend the night, Jung-ho grabbed my sleeve.
He must have wanted to tell me something in secret.
I sent the others ahead and stepped back, whispering to Jung-ho.
“What's going on?”
“Is that Dao Jo-jang a trustworthy person?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I'm talking about when Yoo-jin and I fell into the river. How do you know about that?”
Yoo-jin? Oh, the captain's grandson, Sung Yoo-jin.
“Ah... Captain Sung sent a letter.”
I told him everything I knew. But when he heard the story, Hyung-nim shook his head.
“No.”
“What? No?”
“It's true that I fell into the river trying to save Yoo-jin, but Yoo-jin didn't fall in while playing around.”
“What? It wasn't a game?”
“Yes. Someone pushed Yoo-jin off the boat.”
Someone pushed him?
“It's not that I don't believe the child, but...”
“I saw it.”
“...”
You saw someone push a child?
“And the rope that was tied around Yoo-jin for safety in the rapids was untied at some point.”
.
.
.
Tac, tac, tac.
The bonfire burned brightly, and the sound of wood crackling could be heard.
Thanks to Pal-gap, who cooked some warm soup, they were able to satisfy their hunger with emergency food such as rice cakes.
Jeong-ho and Yoo-jin hadn't eaten properly in a long time, so they ate rice porridge instead of a meal.
I brought ingredients for rice porridge so I can feed Jung-ho when we find him.
Perhaps relieved, Jung-ho and Mister Yoo Jin were asleep.
Mister Yoo Jin was nestled in Jung-ho's arms.
In this place where they couldn't let their guard down for a moment, Jung-ho must have been the only person Mister Yoo Jin could rely on.
He may have felt sorry for falling into the river with him while trying to save him, but that made him rely on him even more.
By the way, someone tried to kill Mister Yoo Jin by pushing him into the river...
As the grandson of the Trading Company, he must have been tied up tightly with a rope.
But not only was the rope untied, someone pushed him into the river...
Who could the culprit be?
No, more than that, isn't this too much? What crime did a child commit to be pushed into the water and killed!
I don't know who it is, but they won't die a peaceful death.
The next day.
We cleaned up the place.
“My bodyguards and the Trading Company must be very worried.”
Jeong-ho said with a worried look on his face.
At that time, not only Jeong-ho's bodyguards but also several employees of the Eunhae Trading Company were on the ship.
“That's why we have to hurry back.”
But there was something we had to do first.
Jeong-ho is basically a kind and compassionate person. That's why he risked his life to save a child.
But at the same time, he is a cautious and trustworthy person, enough for me to willingly give up my position as captain of the trading company.
He told me that someone tried to kill Mister Yoo Jin.
In that situation, it would be dangerous to send Mister Yoo Jin back to Myeongnam Trading Company.
Yoo Jin-gong could be in danger again.
But we couldn't just keep Yoo Jin-gong with us.
The only person who could resolve this situation was Dao Jang.
I quietly called him over.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Yes.”
“This way.”
I took Dao Jo-jang with me and went into the woods a little way away. Seo Woo, Jin Yu, and Lee Pil, who had been informed in advance, followed behind us.
“What is the matter?”
“How much should we ask for Mister Yoo Jin's ransom?”
“What do you mean?”
I deliberately smiled maliciously.
“Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. It seems that the Trading Company's captain cares a lot about Young Master Yoo Jin, so I'm thinking we can make a big profit. How about 5,000 nyang?”
The captain was furious at my words.
“How could you think such a despicable thing! You've misjudged me!”
“It seems you still don't understand. Does this look like I'm asking for your cooperation?”
Swoosh.
My guards drew their swords and aimed them at him.
Dao hesitated for a moment, but soon drew his sword and swung it at us.
Clang!
Clang!
We exchanged a few blows, but he was only a first-class warrior and was no match for us.
“Kuh!”
In an instant, he was disarmed, subdued, and forced to kneel on the floor.
“Well, what will you do? If you cooperate with us, we can let you take half of it.”
“Shut up! I am an honorable warrior who protects the family of the Trading Company's captain! I would rather die than do anything to harm you!”
With that, he took out a dagger and tried to stab himself in the chest.
Thud!
However, his dagger did not reach his chest. I grabbed the blade.
“...?”
Seeing the panic in Dao Jo's eyes, I changed my expression.
“I'm sorry for testing you, Dao Jo.”
“Test? What do you mean?”
He was still full of distrust.
I took the dagger from him, handed it to Seo Woo, and bowed politely to Dao Jo.
“I apologize. I had to test your loyalty, so I acted rudely.”
“What on earth for...?”
“Now that you have proven that you will not betray Mister Yoo Jin, I will tell you.”
I continued.
“This incident was not an accident. Someone pushed Mister Yoo Jin off the ship.”
“...!”
He looked at me with a shocked expression.
“Is that true? Are you sure?”
“Yes. That is what Mister Yoo Jin said. My brother also witnessed the scene. He said that the rope that was tied to the railing for Mister Yoo Jin's safety had been untied.”
“....”
“It seems dangerous to send Mister Yoo Jin back to the Ming Trading Company right away. The person behind the attack will target him again.”
“I see.”
“And I cannot let Mister Yoo Jin, whom my brother risked his life to save, die in vain. If my brother saved him, then he must live to repay my brother's efforts, right?”
I continued.
“So, we plan to take Young Master Yoo Jin to the Sichuan branch of the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“That is why you needed my cooperation.”
“Yes.”
“I am only following your orders, Young Master.”
It was the answer I expected.
“That is enough.”
With that settled, I returned to where my companions were waiting.
“I heard the sound of swords earlier. Was everything all right?”
I smiled and nodded at Jung-ho's question.
“Yeah, I just felt a little stiff, so I stretched a little.”
“I'm glad to hear that.”
I said to Jung-ho and Mister Yoo Jin.
“We're going to Chengdu now. First, we have to take Mister Yoo Jin to the Trading Company.”
At my words, Mister Yoo Jin's expression changed, and he grabbed Jung Ho tightly.
“But Mister Yoo Jin seems to need some rest…”
I looked him in the eyes and asked gently.
“Mister Yoo Jin. What do you want to do?”
“Um...”
“You said you were ten years old, right? Then you are old enough to make your own decisions. Whatever you choose, I will respect your choice. What would you like to do?”
“I want to see my family. But it's not safe there right now.”
He spoke quite maturely.
“I want to stay with Mr. Jeong-ho. Being by his side is the safest place for me right now.”
“I understand.”
I stood up and said to Dao, the leader of the group.
“Let's go to the Sichuan branch of the Eunhae Trading Company.”