Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The stolen golden Buddha statue from the Prince's Residence could be found!

Believing solely in those words, Hong Won-chang personally led the guards to the place Dan Woo-hyun had told him.

‘If this is true, it is a huge hit! Beyond comparison to someone like Jang Baek-san!’

Thump, thump!

His heart pounded loudly. Since there was no way Dan Woo-hyun would lie, retrieving the golden Buddha statue would be a foregone conclusion. Wearing a grin, Hong Won-chang stood in front of an inn.

‘To think it was actually this place.’

It was a fairly famous inn in Yueyang.

With its antique atmosphere and the taste of the food being quite extraordinary, it was a place Hong Won-chang also frequented.

Yet, he had never dreamed that a black market merchant and the thief who stole the Buddha statue would be conducting a transaction here.

Hong Won-chang gave a wink to one of the guards.

The guard, moving swiftly, kicked open the inn door.

Boom-!

Soon, Hong Won-chang's voice echoed through the surroundings.

“Apprehend everyone!”

“Yes, sir!”

Ring-!

As the command fell, the guards moved. With swift movements, they broke into the inn at once and began binding everyone inside.

They could not let a single bastard escape.

Even if they were just simple customers, surely there would be those among them who came to dispose of stolen goods.

The guards who swarmed in occupied the inn in an instant.

Clatter-!

“What is this?!”

“Aaagh!”

“R-Run away!”

Sure enough, those who had committed crimes attempted to flee from all over. However, since he had already deployed a substantial number of guards in the vicinity, he was confident of not letting a single one escape.

Hong Won-chang scanned the inn, which had turned into a scene of chaos, with flashing eyes. He saw several men quickly climbing toward the upper floors.

Hong Won-chang gestured to the guards.

A few of the most skilled guards followed Hong Won-chang to the upper floors.

Thud, thud-!

“Keugh!”

“Cough!”

They subdued and subdued again.

Stepping over the fallen men, they advanced.

Finally, the moment he opened the door of the room at the very top of the inn, where the black market merchant was likely to be.

“Oh, you managed not to run away.”

“Haha, guards are deployed in all directions, so how could I possibly escape?”

The black market merchant let out a long sigh with an expression of complete resignation.

As Hong Won-chang gave a sidelong glance to the guards, two of them approached and dragged him out by force. Bound and dragged away, the black market merchant's eyes flashed.

“Tell me who informed on us.”

“There is no need for you to know.”

“I, Hwang, will not end so easily.”

“Hahaha, do not worry. Since you will certainly not get out easily.”

Looking at the black market merchant whose eyes gleamed like a blue blade, Hong Won-chang spoke resolutely.

Since he was a guy who tried to dispose of the Prince's Residence's treasure, he would never come out of prison alive.

Even if he used bribes, this time he could not help him.

Because in the first place, it was a command akin to a request from Dan Woo-hyun.

Letting out a sigh of relief once the black market merchant was dragged out, Hong Won-chang scanned the surroundings. On the table lay the golden Buddha statue he had been looking for.

“Truly, this Buddha statue is here…”

With trembling hands, Hong Won-chang pointed at the golden Buddha statue. It was the item the Prince's Residence was searching for so desperately.

If he returned this, not to mention the Prince's Residence, he might even receive the trust of the Emperor.

Swallowing hard, he reached out his hand.

At that moment, he felt someone's gaze.

Unconsciously raising his head, he sought the owner of the gaze.

It was Dan Woo-hyun.

Sitting on the window frame, unsure of how long he had been there, he was staring quietly at him with a smile. At that meaningless smile, Hong Won-chang felt goosebumps all over his body.

“The guards must be chasing the one who fled.”

“I know.”

“Is there anything else you wish to order?”

“That I was involved in this matter…”

“I will not speak of it even in the grave.”

Whoosh-!

Suddenly, the wind blew. At the sudden gust of wind, the guards standing behind as well as Hong Won-chang squeezed their eyes shut.

Soon, feeling the wind subside, they opened their eyes, and Dan Woo-hyun's figure was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah…!”

The guards and Hong Won-chang gasped. Since a person vanished in the blink of an eye, how could they express it in words?

They truly did not want to be associated with that human anymore.

Hong Won-chang picked up the golden Buddha statue with trembling hands.

Once again, thanks to Dan Woo-hyun, he had laid the stepping stone to rise higher.

* * *

“Pant… Pant… Pant!”

“Chase him! Do not let him get away!”

Hearing the voices coming from behind, Jang Sam-tae spat out a curse. The number of guards was truly vast. Just when he thought he had shaken one off, other bastards appeared before he knew it.

It was as if they already knew where and how he was trying to move.

Were they predicting it?

‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’

He could not get caught like this.

He knew that if he were caught this time, it could not be settled with money. He would be dragged straight to the Prince's Residence, undergo all kinds of torture, and have his head chopped off.

Therefore, he was even more desperate.

The skills of the guards chasing him were impressive. Although he put considerable distance between them with his lightness art, they pursued his tail to the very end.

‘If not for the weight!’

Grit!

He should not have accepted gold pieces. It would have been better if he received everything in bills.

The weight was one thing, but since the gold clinked inside, it kept distracting him and disrupted his lightness art.

‘Pull yourself together! If you get caught, it is over.’

It was truly the crisis of a lifetime.

Jang Sam-tae ran, gnashing his teeth. As he unfolded his lightness art while even drawing up his True Origin Qi, he shot forward swifter than an arrow.

‘Just a bit more!’

Just a bit further would do. Over there lay a cliff that was not very high. Since the slope was steep, it was the perfect place to shake off the guards who could not use lightness arts.

His appearance, running with gritted teeth, was truly desperate.

Soon, the voices of the guards chasing from behind became inaudible, and the moment he arrived at the pre-determined location, Jang Sam-tae unconsciously opened his eyes wide and let out a shriek.

“Later than expected. I thought you would arrive at least a quarter of an hour ago.”

“Huh?! Ugh!”

There was a man at that place. Sitting on a small boulder, he was looking at Jang Sam-tae with a lukewarm expression.

Indeed, with a blank face that showed neither interest nor emotion.

“H-How…”

“What do you mean how?”

Just his gesture of asking back with a somewhat crooked expression was sufficiently threatening.

Jang Sam-tae clenched his fist. He did not escape with the stolen goods just to get captured by Dan Woo-hyun in a place like this.

Even if he could not win in a fight, he could run away.

He bolted again. He flung his body ruthlessly toward the cliff. Fortunately, Dan Woo-hyun, who had not made any preparations until then, did not seem to chase after him immediately.

“Pant, pant!”

He descended the steep cliff rapidly. His clothes were torn and frayed. He even rolled several times, losing his balance as he went down.

As he protected the cloth bundle containing the money, his wounds gradually increased, and the strength naturally drained from his body.

Soon, his feet touched the ground.

However, it was not the time to take it easy and compose himself. He had to run right now to put as much distance as possible from this place.

Because he had realized that the guards were no longer the issue.

Something more threatening than them.

“Damn it!”

There was Dan Woo-hyun.

“My, you should descend the cliff carefully. Look, your clothes are all torn.”

Although he had not even seen him move, Dan Woo-hyun was standing right before his eyes. Without even a sleeve being disheveled, how on earth did he descend the cliff!

Jang Sam-tae gnashed his teeth.

The Prince's Residence or whatever was no longer the issue. This was the feelings of Sun Wukong wanting to escape the palm of the Buddha.

“You son of a bitch! I will never be caught!”

“Haha.”

Spitting out curses, he ran blindly.

He was so angry that he did not even seem to realize what he was doing.

Even amidst that, perhaps knowing that running straight ahead would be futile, he hurriedly dashed to the left.

His darting speed was also completely different from before.

It was a moment that proved his pride in being able to rank within the top three in the Central Plains with just lightness art was by no means empty words.

He knew the geography around here better than anyone. Since he had completed a preliminary investigation over several months before robbing the Prince's Residence.

He had even fully scouted out the escape routes.

If he descended the cliff, turned left, and ran, Dongting Lake would appear. There was a place where boatmen docked their boats, and if he took one of those boats along the river, he would be able to get far away quickly.

He ran.

Once again, he rushed like the wind.

Cold sweat drenched his entire body, and by now his throat was dry, exuding a sweet smell of exhaustion.

Because Jang Sam-tae was pushing himself to his limit, it was clear he would collapse helplessly if he could not escape within at least two quarters of an hour.

Therefore, he put even more strength into his feet.

He rushed, and rushed again.

Barely correcting the balance of his staggering body, he bolted like an arrow and finally arrived at the place where the boats were.

However, he could not bring himself to board a boat and hastily turned his body.

“Why the fuck is that bastard over there?!”

Dan Woo-hyun was at that place again.

Unlike Jang Sam-tae, who was panting and catching his rough breath, he showed the leisure of even waving his hand with an extremely nonchalant face.

The moment he saw that face, irritation surged wildly.

He ran again.

He ran because he had to.

It seemed he was just running blindly toward some unknown place to open up distance.

However, that dream was far too futile.

For over half a double hour like that, Jang Sam-tae fled. Although he surpassed his limits and even drew upon his True Origin Qi, no matter where he went, Dan Woo-hyun was always waiting for him.

“Pant… Pant… Pant… Pant.”

Lying flat on the ground, Jang Sam-tae exhaled a rough breath.

Now he truly did not have the strength to move even a single finger. Rolling his eyes, a very familiar scenery came into view.

It was that damned manor he thought he had escaped.

He realized that all the efforts he had made to shake off Dan Woo-hyun were ultimately just dancing on the palm of his hand.

“I must have told you several times, but you still seem not to understand. The palm of the Buddha…”

Dan Woo-hyun smiled as he tapped his left palm with his right fingers. It was an action showing that no matter where or how he went, or what he did, it was of no use.

At the surging sense of helplessness, Jang Sam-tae's rage flared up.

“Damn it…”

Dan Woo-hyun's hands were merciless. He searched the chest of the lying Jang Sam-tae and retrieved the bundle containing gold and bills.

Two million taels, that astronomical sum passed into someone else's hands in an instant.

“Since it has doubled as promised, that is four million taels. Even if you pay off the two million with this, two million still remains.”

“Aaargh! You goddamn bastard!”

Jang Sam-tae sprang up from his seat. Perhaps having lost his mind, he squeezed out his last ounce of strength and threw a punch at Dan Woo-hyun.

However.

Crack-!

“Keugh!”

With a crisp sound, he sprawled out.

The last thing he saw was Dan Woo-hyun's faint smile.

‘F… Fuck…’

Dan Woo-hyun looked down at the unconscious Jang Sam-tae and packed the money away. Since this had been his objective from the start, he no longer needed this human.

“Hmm…”

Killing him was one thing, but casting him aside felt like a waste.

Because although he did not know about other things, the man's cooking was superb. While it did not matter to Dan Woo-hyun himself what he ate, he wanted to feed only good things and dress only good things on Hwa So-mi.

If so, this human was absolutely necessary.

Unless he was to seek a new chef, that is.

Since he had no intention of actually receiving four million taels in the first place, it would have been fine to release him like this, but he could not help but be concerned about Hwa So-mi.

Scratch, scratch-

Dan Woo-hyun, scratching his head, let out a soft sigh.

Then, grabbing Jang Sam-tae's hair, he slowly headed toward the manor. In the end, Jang Sam-tae preserved his life thanks to Hwa So-mi, and ultimately became a member of the manor's family.

At any rate, he had also secured the money he so desired.

Since it was a substantial sum, it seemed he can live without worrying about money for the next few years. As if pleased just by the thought, a smile did not leave Dan Woo-hyun's face.

Then, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

“Come to think of it…”

He had not received the bounty placed on Jang Baek-san's head.

Was this the heart of a parent raising a child?

It was Dan Woo-hyun, who was gradually beginning to realize the importance of money.