Chapter 22 – Kidnapping

Chapter 22 – Kidnapping

Time flowed quickly.

Before long, only about ten days remained until the Assembly of the Five Great Families.

The Tang Clan Castle was in a state of great bustle due to cleaning and decorating the guest halls of the outer and inner castles, as well as the dining hall, tea room, and manor to prepare for receiving the guests.

“Young Master, are you going to practice today as well?”

“Yes. There is something I want to practice before the guests arrive.”

After clashing with the heterodox bandits near Chengdu some time ago, I started attempting new things. It was because of the thought that the offensive techniques I had previously used mainly with hidden weapons could be applied to swordsmanship.

Since it was a martial art that did not exist before, there were various ways to fail.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the young master who had run away from a prestigious swordsmanship family frequented the annex as if it were his own home, so finding a sparring partner was not difficult. The fair-faced joraengi rice cake was a fierce swordsman whose expression changed the moment he gripped a sword.

‘Not much time is left.’

The time limit was before the assembly began.

The reason was simple. A direct descendant of the Tang Clan and a direct descendant of the Namgung Family training together to create a new martial art.

It was because if the elders of each family saw it, they might have been thrown into an uproar.

While I was lost in thought for a moment, a familiar voice was heard.

“Young Master, did you have a peaceful night?”

Tang Jae-shin had dropped by the annex on purpose on his way out of the Tang Clan Castle.

“Brother Jae-shin. You've been busy lately, and it seems you're going out today as well.”

“Yes. There is some work I need to finish before the guests arrive.”

Even though ten days remained until the assembly date, guests usually arrived several days prior, so the final preparations were in full swing. Suddenly feeling curious about the reason for his outing, which I could somehow guess, I asked back.

“Ah… By any chance, is that work cleaning up the heterodox bandits?”

“It's similar. How did you know?”

…A heterodox bandit who hadn't been fully cleaned up yet told me so.

“Well, I overheard what the other brothers were saying. But by cleaning up, how…?”

“For the street thugs, we stop at giving warnings, and we are handing over the malicious ones among those who disturbed Chengdu to the government office.”

“Seeing that you're going out today too, there must still be more left?”

I asked as I recalled the guy called the Ghost Shadow and his companions. It seemed his words about the vicious poison-users cleaning them up as if sweeping them away were true.

“Yes. They are called the Red Blood Sect, the most dangerous bastards in Sichuan lately, but because their sect leader has gone into hiding, it is difficult to find their hideout. However, it will be finished before the assembly, so do not worry too much.”

‘The Red Blood Sect… Could those guys from that time have been from the Red Blood Sect? Tsk, I should have asked.’

However, since eight of them were injured, even if it was them, they wouldn't be much of a threat. I waved my hand, ending the conversation, so as not to interfere with Tang Jae-shin's patrol any further.

“What is there for me to worry about when you, brothers, are working so hard? Then, please go safely.”

Before I knew it, Sawol, who had approached, also waved his hand from the side to say goodbye. After Tang Jae-shin walked out the door like that, Sawol tilted his head and asked.

“But Young Master, Young Master Namgung Yeon is late today, isn't he? Normally, he would have knocked on the door early in the morning.”

Come to think of it, the joraengi rice cake was unusually late today.

The annex, which would have been noisy from the morning with him making a fuss calling me "Brother, Brother," was exceptionally quiet.

“He's young, so maybe he's just oversleeping.”

Responding indifferently, I packed my sword and hidden weapons and made my way to the Small Training Ground.

‘He did help me a lot lately. He seems tired, so I shouldn't bother waking him up.’

Thinking that I should wrap up the things I was practicing before Namgung Yeon arrived, I began to train alone.

***

‘I feel like I'll get the hang of it if I try just a little more…’

I muttered to myself while fiddling with the sturdy scabbard.

Namgung Yeon's sword was heavy, but it was by no means sluggish. Rather, it was close to a swift sword. As he unleashed the profound principles of a heavy sword loaded with weight through swiftness, its power was extraordinary. It was too fast to avoid, and far too heavy to block.

A sword as suitable for training as it was tricky.

The martial art I had recently been practicing with Namgung Yeon was one that started from the fact that there were many swordsmen in the martial world, so there was no better training partner than him.

‘It's a pity to miss this opportunity.’

The martial arts of the Tang Clan were fundamentally more suited for assassination than sparring. The poison arts and hidden weapon techniques were representative examples, and the movement and sword techniques were the same. Thus, without killing intent, their power was reduced to less than half. After all, a hidden weapon that had left the hand could not be retrieved.

However, I wanted to find a way to gain the upper hand without cutting off the opponent's windpipe.

What I came up with through that thought was a method to suppress the opponent's attack itself.

‘Tracing the sword path in reverse is first. Making them drop their weapon is next…’

To do that, the hidden weapons released at once had to possess different speeds and weights of power.

I fell into thought, looking alternately at the sword and the flying dagger in my hands.

“Sigh… Can I finish this before the assembly?”

Letting out a soft sigh, I threw and embedded a flying dagger into the target.

*Pwoosh! Phut!*

The flying dagger that flew lightly embedded itself precisely in the center of the target.

Subsequently, two flying daggers flew in, adding force to the same spot, and the target split in half with a cracking sound.

“Tsk, as expected, it doesn't work well alone. Is he still sleeping?”

Since it was a martial art that reacted precisely to the opponent's speed and strength, there was a limit to practicing alone.

While scratching my head and contemplating whether or not to wake Namgung Yeon up, someone knocked on the door of the Small Training Ground.

*Knock, knock!*

Following that, the closed door opened slightly, and Sawol peeked his head through the gap.

Since Sawol never entered when I was training under normal circumstances, I gestured lightly to come in.

“What's the matter?”

“Um, Young Master. I'm sorry to interrupt your training. It might be nothing, but…”

“It's fine, so tell me.”

“I ran into a maid from the guest hall earlier and asked if Young Master Namgung Yeon had woken up yet.”

“Yes, and?”

Wiping the sweat flowing down my cheek with my sleeve, I waited for Sawol's words.

“But they said he didn't return to the guest hall last night…”

“…”

“Since he stayed at the annex so often, they thought he might sleep here. They also said there was no sign of him coming in today either.”

An ominous feeling for unknown reasons crept over me.

The joraengi rice cake, who followed right behind me wherever I went…

“Where did they say they last saw him?”

There was no way he would stay out overnight without saying a single word.

***

Of all times, now, when most of the family's martial artists were away.

I quickly checked the Tang Clan Castle and stepped outside the outer castle.

‘He didn't seem to have any place to go.’

Although Namgung Yeon had acted boldly, claiming he would find Lady Dark Flower, that was only for a moment; from some point, he just settled down at the annex, chattering or training together with me.

Half of my mind believed it would be nothing, just as Sawol said, while the other half was filled with doubt.

If he had gone out without a word, that would be a relief, but the name of the bandits I heard from Tang Jae-shin weighed on my mind.

‘…He said they were the Red Blood Sect.’

Chewing on that name, I began to think of places Namgung Yeon might go.

‘First, the market.’

Hurrying my steps, I headed toward the market I visited last time.

With the upcoming assembly, the bustling street where the number of merchants had increased accordingly was already packed to the brim. Quickly scanning the crowded people with my eyes, I searched for a familiar face.

However, even after looking around the market from start to finish, Namgung Yeon was nowhere to be seen.

Though I went around from the poultry market where he had watched rabbits, to the paper shop where he had fiddled with paper, and to the silk shop where he had selected expensive silk like a direct descendant of a prestigious family.

‘Why on earth is that conspicuous guy not visible?’

Sighing, I scanned the surroundings once again.

Just then, I heard a voice I had heard once before touting for customers.

It was the owner of the tavern where Namgung Yeon had cleared the plates of spicy chicken at the cost of his tongue. Since he had eaten a surprising amount, I approached the tavern, thinking the owner might remember.

“Excuse me, tavern keeper. I have a question to ask.”

“Hic! Oh, my. Young Master, have you come to eat?”

The tavern keeper startled when he saw me.

My expression chilled unconsciously at his attitude, which was distinctly different from last time.

Quieting the thoughts that suddenly rushed in, I spoke in the calmest voice possible.

“…Where is he?”

“Yes? I, I really, really don't know!”

It was an answer that could not have come if he did not know what I was asking. But if it was an incident that would evoke such a reaction…

“Just tell me what you saw. I request of you.”

“Young Master, please do not ask. If those guys find out, they will not leave me in peace. Yes?”

…It was definitely nothing good.

The anxiety I had tried to suppress surged up in an instant. The tavern keeper headed inside as if fleeing to avoid me. He was the one who knew the whereabouts of Namgung Yeon, whom I could not find even after searching the entire market. I, who had to hear the answer by all means, also strode inside and spoke.

“Do not worry. Such a thing will not happen.”

“You only say that because you do not know, Young Master. Once they hold a grudge, they will chase you to the end, they are very, very vicious…!”

As if he was too scared to even speak of them, the tavern keeper's body trembled as he constantly looked around.

I gripped and pressing down on the tavern keeper's shoulder, I said in a low voice.

“…Keeper. How long have you been doing business here?”

“Yes? What on earth does that mean all of a sudden… I-It has been a full ten years this year.”

“Then I believe you know what this means.”

I said as I pulled down the collar of my robe. As the long robe I had worn as an extra layer fell to the floor, the dark green robe inside was revealed. The tavern keeper's shaking gaze swept along the edge of the dark green robe's sleeve and stopped at the chest.

The Great Sichuan Tang Clan.

In Sichuan, no… in the entire Central Plains, there was no one who did not know what that emblem meant.

A family that repaid kindness twofold and returned grudges tenfold.

The masters of poisons and hidden weapons who ensured that one wouldn't even know death was approaching until the moment they died.

The dark green robe with heavy sleeves proved that what he saw was the truth.

“…T-This… then, Young Master, are you a warrior of the T-Tang Clan?”

I nodded at the trembling tavern keeper's question and spoke.

“Now, please tell me. I have been searching for a long time because my companion is missing.”

“…”

Only after persuasion and proof did I finally hear where Namgung Yeon had gone.

A grinding sound of teeth escaped my mouth as I dashed in the direction the tavern keeper had pointed out. Just as I had suspected, the culprits were the bastards of the Red Blood Sect. Hearing the details, they said the guy named Ghost Shadow was also a member of that place. If so, it would not be unrelated to the incident from last time.

‘Of all things they could do, how dare they target that single child…’

In the first place, if they drew their swords and even initiated an ambush in the martial world, aren't they the ones who prepared to lay down their necks?

In that case, since a guy like the joraengi rice cake sent them back with all their limbs intact, they should have been grateful and behaved quietly.

‘How dare they kidnap a child from the front yard of his temporary guardian?’