Chapter 21
Even though I had been sad, I felt that feeling disappear in an instant.
After that day, we became much closer and discussed how to solve the problem of Mohwa Mountain Manor together.
Yeon Cheongha and I told them about the pawnshop run by the informants of Mohwa Mountain Manor.
Danli Yeonmuk asked if I knew where it was, and I shook my head and said.
"But I heard that the structure of that pawnshop is peculiar. It seemed to be connected to another building, and the building next to the pawnshop was attached to it."
That memory was something that had come to me later as time passed.
No one knew the place even after hearing my words, but a few people left, saying that they could look for it if it was that specific.
It seemed that there might be some results, as they would first look for pawnshops near the places where people had disappeared intensively and look for a place similar to what I had said.
Danli Yeonmuk repeatedly urged them to come back without doing anything once they found the pawnshop.
Thanks to having experienced the monsters of Mohwa Mountain Manor, he now seemed to think that the safety of his comrades was more important than being greedy for results.
* * *
A few people came and went from the manor lord's residence in the depths of Mohwa Mountain Manor.
The manor lord was old and frail, and it would not have been strange if he had died at any time, but his close associates did not let him die peacefully.
It was not because of any lingering affection or pity for him.
Only he knew how to propagate the Blood Flesh Herb.
He was lying sick without telling them, so the elders were very worried.
Even when they asked him to tell them how to obtain the Blood Flesh Herb, he just kept his mouth shut and stared into the air.
Thinking that they had to open his mouth and listen to him somehow, the elders used all sorts of methods.
They even tried to find someone who could perform a technique to read minds without speaking.
Then, knowing the elders' plan, the manor lord spoke.
"Do you really have to know that?"
The elders were his fellow disciples who had practiced martial arts with him and led Mohwa Mountain Manor.
The manor lord, facing his end, had a face full of regret.
"Where does the power of Mohwa Mountain Manor come from? How can Mohwa Mountain Manor be maintained without the Blood Flesh Herb? If we don't train martial artists with the Blood Flesh Herb right away, it will be difficult to even guard Mohwa Mountain Manor. Try to bring in a master of martial arts and entrust that to him. I don't know how much it will cost in just one year, so who are you telling to bear that?"
"That's right. I don't know if Manor Lord Brother is trying to turn a blind eye to such a realistic problem because he thinks it's time for him to go, but don't we still have the responsibility to live this life? We have to lead the family of Mohwa Mountain Manor and make sure they don't starve."
The words were plausible.
The manor lord no longer wanted to hear such stories.
It was all his fault.
It was something that had been done by his own hands.
How happy he had been when he discovered the Blood Flesh Herb, and when he found out how to grow it and how to use it to make people stronger.
At first, he didn't just catch anyone and do that.
He used it as a way to punish the wicked and saved and helped the good.
But as time went on, he had no choice but to compromise.
The Blood Flesh Herb was withering away, but there was no wicked person in sight to provide it with nutrients.
So, even if it was someone who had not committed a great wrong, he would take them and bury them next to the Blood Flesh Herb.
He buried them alive and heard their dying sounds.
But later, he became more and more numb to it.
He even thought, 'It wasn't a great life anyway, so what's the problem if it ends a little early?'
He filled his belly that way and raised Mohwa Mountain Manor that way.
He found out that the Blood Flesh Herb obtained more nutrients from children and kidnapped them.
He had come to this point and was facing death.
He hoped that the Blood Flesh Herb would naturally disappear as he died.
He couldn't help what he had been growing so far, but only he knew how to grow new ones.
The manor lord was in great trouble as he looked at the elders.
If he could die with his mouth shut, he wanted to.
But they didn't seem to be willing to let him close his eyes peacefully.
"I understand. In five days, I will tell you. I can't tell everyone. I will only tell three people, so discuss among yourselves who is most suitable and let me know. In five days, if the three people who have been decided on come here, I will tell them."
The elders accepted his words.
They also agreed to some extent with the words that not just anyone should know the method.
Everyone in that place thought that they could be among those three people.
The number three was so exquisite that it gave each of them faith and confidence.
With that thought, they left the manor lord and left the room.
The five days was just a way to buy time, and the manor lord earnestly hoped that he would die in that time.
If only the Blood Flesh Herb could disappear with him that way, he felt that he would have nothing more to wish for.
The manor lord knew countless ways to kill himself, and he tried to commit suicide after the elders left.
It was then that he realized that he couldn't move his body at all.
He couldn't even move a finger, as if someone had done something to him.
'Did they know in advance that I would try to kill myself?'
The manor lord looked up at the empty air with a miserable heart.
What should he do with this karma?
Tears welled up in his dry eyes.
* * *
Suddenly, Pae Maseong came to visit.
He said that he had been in closed-door training after taking the elixir and had come to see us first after coming out.
The people of Danli Yeonmuk would have been amazed to see Pae Maseong, but because of the whirlwind of events, they couldn't even pay attention to him at that time.
Since we were about to go to the pawnshop to find the informants of Mohwa Mountain Manor, I thought it couldn't be better.
The people of Danli Yeonmuk had searched the area I had mentioned thoroughly and had finally found the pawnshop.
They seemed to have found it themselves, and when they asked if we wanted to go and see it together, I don't know how surprised I was when I went with Yeon Cheongha.
The description that had passed by in the novel was exactly right.
What was even more amazing was that while looking at the place, the description from the novel came to mind even more vividly.
Before, when something suddenly came to mind, I felt as if the surrounding memories were being pulled up in succession, and it was the same this time.
So I was convinced that it was the pawnshop of Mohwa Mountain Manor.
Even before I spoke, the martial artists of the Danli family seemed to have already realized that they had found the right place just by looking at my expression.
They seemed to think that they could attack right away, but Yeon Cheongha and I said that we should be a little more cautious.
They accepted our words when we said that we should gather as many people as we could, recover our internal energy, and attack in our best condition.
It was during that time that Pae Maseong came, so it couldn't have been better.
Danli Yeonmuk's group might have been a little disappointed.
Since Pae Maseong was a person who had a place in the Cho family, they would have thought that if the work was successful, they would have to share the credit with the Cho family.
But what was more important was safety.
Pae Maseong nodded after hearing our plan.
He was not very tense, nor was he overly confident.
He asked when we were going and then recovered his internal energy by circulating his ki accordingly.
Pae Maseong was grateful to the people of the Danli family after hearing that they had taken good care of us.
When he heard that they had helped when people from Mohwa Mountain Manor came out, he thanked them again and again.
When he said to tell him whatever he needed help with in the future, the people seemed to realize that Pae Maseong really cared for us.
After the preparations were over, we made a plan.
The sight of numerous people in martial arts uniforms heading to the pawnshop might have looked strange to people.
If the people inside had known, they might have run away, but everything happened in an instant.
Even if they had known, they probably wouldn't have had time to run away.
The people inside seemed flustered to see us, but they probably hadn't even thought that we had come knowing their relationship with Mohwa Mountain Manor.
"What kind of item are you here to pawn? Did you all come together?"
When he asked as if he couldn't understand the situation, Yeon Cheongha said.
"You'll have to take us to Mohwa Mountain Manor."
When the words Mohwa Mountain Manor came out of his mouth, the people at the pawnshop could not hide their surprise.
Since they had been active as informants until now, they would have been used to hiding their expressions, but since he had brought up the name so directly, it seemed they had no choice.
"We want to be nice if possible, but the situation is not like that. If you say you don't know where Mohwa Mountain Manor is or that you've never heard of it, we'll have no choice but to use rough methods."
"But we can only say that we don't know what we don't know, can't we?"
At that, Yeon Cheongha laughed.
"It seems you don't care if your family dies. Just because we look nice, you shouldn't think that we're only nice."
Not saying much seemed to increase the fear even more.
"We also came knowing about the Blood Flesh Herb. We also know that you took children to grow the Blood Flesh Herb, and we have also figured out that you make people temporarily strong with the Blood Flesh Herb grown that way. Do you think it would be difficult for us, who have found out these things, to find out the location of Mohwa Mountain Manor? We're just trying to do it a little easily, but if you don't tell us, it will be difficult for the people here to survive. You've treated other people's lives carelessly, so you wouldn't say that only your own lives are precious, would you?"
But the decisive story came after that.
"To the person who tells us where Mohwa Mountain Manor is first, we will give one root of the Blood Flesh Herb."
At Yeon Cheongha's words, the eyes of the people there lit up.
Since he spoke as if he knew the Blood Flesh Herb so well, they seemed to think that we really had it.
They had most likely just been doing menial work at Mohwa Mountain Manor.
If so, they probably hadn't seen the Blood Flesh Herb themselves.
Yet, since they had heard how amazing the Blood Flesh Herb was, they couldn't help but be greedy.
"I'll tell you!"
"No. I'll take you there."
"I can do lightness techniques."
They said they would talk, and then, as if they thought it was important to speak first, someone even revealed the location of Mohwa Mountain Manor on the spot.
(End of Chapter)