Chapter 631
Chapter 631
Chapter 631. The Will Passed Down (3)
I asked Geumryeong.
* What is the problem? (MC)
* Kkui. Kku! (Geumryeong)
Ah…….
So that was left for the descendants living here, so he must not eat it?
No one even said they would give it to him…….
That aside, Geumryeong was right.
The treasure that should be at the place marked on this map was left to the descendants by the ancestor who settled in Chungyeong Fortress.
At first, I thought it had no owner.
The Emperor had told me to bring back anything expensive and good before anyone else could touch it, but the circumstances had changed.
It would be like snatching away the inheritance a father had prepared with difficulty and left to his son or grandson.
However, there was one more problem.
Whether Chungyeong Fortress could protect this well.
Why else would there be a saying that maintaining a family is harder than raising one?
But that is a problem for later, and first, we have to find the treasure.
All of that will only be a problem once the treasure is found.
By the way, what we saw earlier, [Do not look upward, but look downward. We were always at the bottom, and that place is the truly comfortable place], meant this.
To examine the bottom of the box.
We left the sword tomb and immediately summoned people.
The people gathered that way totaled thirty.
Only those who could be trusted and whose mouths were heavy were chosen.
I gathered all my escort warriors, and Young Master Yeon Yu-mun also gathered only the warriors he could trust.
We moved quickly, and soon arrived at the place indicated by the map drawn on the silk.
That place was a shrine inside Chungyeong Fortress dedicated to Marquis Wuxiang.
Marquis Wuxiang does have ties with the Yunnan region.
He captured Meng Huo, who ruled this place, seven times and released him seven times, and in the end, Meng Huo was moved by him and surrendered.
And he left this place cleanly without leaving behind soldiers or officials.
Thus, here in Yunnan, they respect Marquis Wuxiang quite a bit. Enough to build even a shrine like this.
* Kkui! Kkui! (Geumryeong)
Seeing Geumryeong happily swaying his rear in a little dance, it seems there must be an enormous amount of wealth.
* You cannot eat it anyway, so are you still happy? (MC)
* Kkui! Kku! (Geumryeong)
He says he knows, so I should read the room. Hahaha.
Yes. There are things that are good just to look at.
“Are you certain this is the place?” (Captain Kwon)
At Captain Kwon’s question, Young Master Yeon Yu-mun nodded.
“Yes. I am certain.” (Yeon Yu-mun)
He continued.
“I can also guess why my ancestor stored the wealth here. He must have thought the people here respected Marquis Wuxiang and would not tear this place down. In truth, that is also a taboo in this Yunnan region.” (Yeon Yu-mun)
“Then let us go inside.” (Captain Kwon)
And so we entered Marquis Wuxiang’s shrine.
First, we should observe propriety.
We bowed our heads before the portrait of Marquis Wuxiang and paid our respects.
Then I lifted Marquis Wuxiang’s hanging scroll, rolled it up carefully, and placed it to the side.
In the meantime, Young Master Yeon Yu-mun moved as written on the silk.
He turned the sturdy-looking wood where the large hanging scroll painting Marquis Wuxiang had been hung two times to the left, two times to the right, seven times to the left, and three times to the right.
Drrrrk.
Then the wall itself where the hanging scroll had been mounted began to lower, and behind it, an earthen brick wall appeared.
I touched it carefully, then lightly struck it with my fist.
Thump, thump.
It was hollow inside.
“Let us break this earthen wall.” (MC)
At my words, Captain Kwon nodded, and we rushed in and broke the earthen wall.
Since it had not been made sturdy to begin with, the earthen bricks broke easily.
And the door hidden inside came into view.
Captain Kwon pulled the handle to open that door, but the door did not budge.
“I think it may be different if Young Master Yeon Yu-mun opens it.” (MC)
“Ah! That could be.” (Captain Kwon)
At my words, Captain Kwon stepped back, and Young Master Yeon Yu-mun stepped forward.
When he pulled the handle, the door opened easily as though it were a lie.
When the inside was revealed, our eyes widened.
It was because of the wealth piled up inside.
It was an enormous amount of gold and silver, enough to make Geumryeong wiggle his rear.
There was so much that the space inside seemed to glow yellow.
It will not be easy to move all of this.
At that moment, something caught my eye.
Something that did not suit this space at all, namely a scroll stained with blood.
Young Master Yeon Yu-mun picked it up and unfolded it.
What was written there was the language of the Empire, and everyone could read it.
[This wealth is for our descendants. Noble one who has obtained this, if you return this wealth to my descendants, we will repay your kindness even if we must bind grass after death.]
Perhaps because of the bloodstains on the scroll, its contents looked even more sorrowful.
Instead of an instruction left for the descendant who obtained this, or a warning sent to enemies, it was a request like this.
Perhaps the ancestor of Chungyeong Fortress who stored this here may have known that these things would fall into the Emperor’s hands.
That must be why he left a letter with such contents.
“What shall we do now?” (Yeon Yu-mun)
“Moving this will also be a problem. There is no guarantee it will not be touched along the way…….” (Captain Kwon)
If such a thing happened, Captain Kwon would be reprimanded by the Emperor.
We had discovered treasure like this, but it was not a situation where we could simply rejoice without thinking.
This must be the weight a person in charge bears.
I said to Captain Kwon.
“Captain, let us first call the Magistrate. I think it would be best to discuss it with him.” (MC)
“That would be good.” (Captain Kwon)
A little while later.
The Magistrate arrived at Marquis Wuxiang’s shrine after receiving word from Young Master Yeon Yu-mun.
“What is the matter? I heard it was urgent.” (Magistrate)
“Yes, that is correct.” (Captain Kwon)
Captain Kwon spoke on our behalf.
“This matter requires the Magistrate’s help and the Magistrate’s decision. Before that, I should explain from the beginning.” (Captain Kwon)
He caught his breath and said to me.
“From here on, Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Group Leader, you explain.” (Captain Kwon)
“Yes. I will explain.” (MC)
I explained the whole story to the Magistrate.
“……And so we came here following the map drawn on that silk.” (MC)
“I see.” (Magistrate)
“And inside, we discovered this.” (MC)
I escorted the Magistrate inside.
“…….” (Magistrate)
Thud.
When the Magistrate saw the gold and silver piled up inside, his legs seemed to give out, and he sat down where he was.
“Oh my! Are you all right?” (MC)
“……It is real, is it not?” (Magistrate)
“Yes. Of course. Head Escort Cha confirmed it.” (MC)
“I cannot believe it.” (Magistrate)
I brought one of them over and handed it to him.
“Try biting it once.” (MC)
At those words, the Magistrate cautiously bit it, then stared blankly at the clear tooth marks left behind.
“I see. It is real gold.” (Magistrate)
The Magistrate collected himself and calmly asked.
“So why did you call me?” (Magistrate)
“We must move this to Beijing.” (MC)
I continued.
“This was left behind by the Magistrate’s ancestor. Therefore, I will make certain that these things can be used for Chungyeong Fortress.” (MC)
At my words, the Magistrate shook his head slightly.
“You need not try so hard.” (Magistrate)
“Pardon?” (MC)
“To tell the truth, I was pleased when I first saw those. But…….” (Magistrate)
The Magistrate looked at one of his empty sleeves and spoke.
“If those things are here, Chungyeong Fortress will have to suffer that terrible ordeal once again.” (Magistrate)
The Magistrate clenched his remaining hand into a fist.
“Because countless people will target this land for the sake of that gold and silver. If this Chungyeong Fortress can be safe, we can do without things like that!” (Magistrate)
“…….”
The last incident must have remained as an extremely deep wound for the Magistrate.
That was why he was refusing even this enormous amount of gold and silver.
Well, knowing what happened in my previous life, I could not deny the Magistrate’s choice.
Still, if there was one thing that helped the Magistrate after he went through that incident, it was that he became able to face reality.
“And did you not say it? That the letter left by our ancestor told us to make survival our top priority.” (Magistrate)
“Yes. That is correct.” (MC)
“It seems these things will not help us survive. Rather, the opposite.” (Magistrate)
“Understood.” (MC)
I nodded.
“I will accept the Magistrate’s will. Instead, please help us take these things safely all the way to the imperial palace.” (MC)
“Understood.” (Magistrate)
We put our heads together for a while and fell into thought, and the Magistrate came up with a clever idea.
“Ah! We can do it this way.” (Magistrate)
.
.
.
After finishing everything, we each returned to our quarters.
Warrior Jin Yu had returned to my quarters.
“What happened?” (MC)
“As my lord commanded, I followed them and found out their headquarters. It was here in Yunnan.” (Jin Yu)
“How strong are their forces?” (MC)
“As I saw it, they were not that impressive. There were about twenty of them, and around two were first-rate warriors.” (Jin Yu)
“With that much, we can resolve it on our own.” (MC)
“I think it will be sufficient.” (Jin Yu)
I rose from my seat.
“Then let us go deal with it.” (MC)
Now we have to escort the gold and silver discovered in Marquis Wuxiang’s shrine to Beijing.
And if they learn of it, things will become troublesome, so we have to deal with them as quickly as possible.
Night came.
I left my quarters together with my escort warriors.
And when we neared the place Warrior Jin Yu had mentioned, I took out the smiling masks from the secret storehouse.
“Today, let us wear these masks.” (MC)
“Understood.” (Jin Yu)
“It has been a long time since we wore them.” (Escort Warrior)
We put on the smiling masks and finished preparing for the attack, and Warrior Jin Yu asked.
“Shall we capture them alive?” (Jin Yu)
“No.” (MC)
I shook my head.
“We only need to find out a few pieces of information, so leave only the one from whom we can obtain that information and clean up all the rest.” (MC)
The Emperor had said, “While exploring the sword tomb, uninvited guests will intrude. Among those uninvited guests, there is a high probability that the mastermind who carried out the scheme to take Chungyeong Fortress will also be present. So find out about them.”
He had only requested information about them, not their persons.
The Emperor knows too.
That bringing them back alive would be difficult.
While bringing along those captured alive, the forces behind them would attempt to kill them and seal their mouths, and preventing that would be very difficult.
An innocent person might be needlessly sacrificed, or a situation could arise where someone had to take responsibility.
The Emperor wanted his own people to be free from that sort of responsibility.
He truly is a good person.
Though he works me that much harder. Damn it.
The aura of the dark path mixed with the scent of blood was growing thicker. It meant that the place over there was indeed the headquarters of those who had intruded into the sword tomb this time.
We approached that place.
A place disguised as an inn.
I closed my eyes and focused on my senses.
I could not feel the presence of any ordinary guests inside.
Well, there would be no ordinary guests coming all the way here to stay.
* I will explain the operation. (MC)
While Warrior Jin Yu and I dealt with the first-rate warriors, the other five warriors would deal with the rest.
By the way, to deploy two first-rate warriors!
It meant the matter regarding the sword tomb was that important.
* Let us go. (MC)
* Yes. (Jin Yu)
Warrior Jin Yu and I dashed forward like arrows. Then we began sending out sword winds to extinguish the lights.
The inn instantly darkened.
Those inside panicked and fell into chaos, but we, who had already adapted to the darkness, moved naturally.
And once one reaches the Supreme Peak level, one can move without difficulty simply by sensing energy.
Warrior Jin Yu and I found the first-rate warriors there and headed toward them.
---
Hwang Gu is a first-rate warrior.
He held quite a high position in the organization as well.
Because he had the skill for it.
The place he had been dispatched to this time was Yunnan.
Thanks to that, he could carry out operations freely without watching the higher-ups’ moods.
However, his position had weakened greatly of late.
A year ago, he had carried out an operation with the envoys of Chungyeong Fortress, the Royal Guards, and the Eastern Depot to devour Chungyeong Fortress.
But that had failed.
On top of that, this time, troops had been dispatched from the imperial palace to explore Chungyeong Fortress’s sword tomb.
When his superiors learned this, they naturally pressured him.
“Find out everything you can from them! Including how they learned there was a sword tomb in Chungyeong Fortress!” (Superior)
Because he had to properly carry out that order, he sent the subordinates he trusted the most, but…….
“The soul sleeping in the sword tomb must have grown angry.” (Subordinate)
“We clearly heard it. It said it would not leave us alone!” (Subordinate)
“It was truly terrifying!” (Subordinate)
Since they were acting like this, he could only be dumbfounded.
But he could not report such a story to his superiors.
The reaction was obvious.
Instead, he sent a letter saying they had found the hidden room, as his subordinates had reported, and received a reply.
The order was to snatch those things away when they headed to Beijing.
Therefore, he was in the middle of planning an operation for that.
If this failed, his life was as good as over.
With his skills, they might not kill him immediately, but he would lose all of his current power and standing.
And he would be assigned under those who had once been beneath him, which was no different from being told to die.
Because his pride would not allow it.
“So, would it be better to poison the stream water and poison them when they pass through this place?” (Hwang Gu)
While he muttered that and scribbled on paper with a brush.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the light went out. And soon, a cold sensation touched the nape of his neck as he panicked.
When he swallowed hard and turned his head, he saw a smiling mask glowing white in the moonlight amid the darkness.
“So you are the one who tormented my descendants!” (MC)
“Wh-Who are you?” (Hwang Gu)
“I have come to drag the one who tormented my descendants to the underworld.” (MC)
At those words, his body trembled.
“Were my subordinates’ words true?” (Hwang Gu)
If it were a living person, they would not be giving off such a cold aura.
“It must be the aura of the underworld…….” (Hwang Gu)
In the end, Hwang Gu fainted.
Thud.
“Um, excuse me? No, how can you faint just because I made a little joke?” (MC)