Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jang Baek-san, the headache of Hunan, was captured.

As such rumors began to circulate, the entire province of Hunan was thrown into a massive stir. Numerous commoners who had been tormented by the bandits raised their cups in a celebratory toast.

The name of County Magistrate Hong Won-chang spread throughout Hunan, and he gained the great trust of the Prince's Residence, being praised as a hero by the commoners.

“Oh my, County Magistrate! You have worked so hard.”

Walking through the village marketplace, Hong Won-chang could not help but smile at the voices of the people coming from here and there.

He was not an incorruptible official, and there was no way the people did not know that either.

Yet, now it was as if such things did not matter at all. That was how much profound trust numerous people were sending him for capturing the bandits and Jang Baek-san.

Hong Won-chang awkwardly accepted the people's greetings and returned to the government office.

The moment he entered his office and closed the door.

“Aaaargh!”

Hong Won-chang let out a bizarre scream.

It was a stark contrast to the solemn expression he had worn in front of the people just moments ago.

“I keep… thinking about it.”

Hong Won-chang swallowed a tear.

There were two problems.

One was the fact that the terrifying power shown by that existence beyond logic, Dan Woo-hyun, remained deeply embedded in his mind and would not disappear.

Whether walking the streets, reviewing lawsuits, or sleeping, it occurred to him from time to time.

Those falling covered in blood from iron fragments, and that divine power subduing the fleeing Jang Baek-san in a single strike… it was terror itself.

And the second problem was that the trust of the Prince's Residence had become burdeningly deep.

“A golden Buddha statue… What kind of crazy bastard robbed the Prince's Residence?!”

Letting out a deep sigh, he leaned back.

Though it was not publicized, the Prince's Residence had recently been robbed. To rob that place, which had strict security, ordinary stealth skills would be far from enough.

If so, it must be a martial artist who learned martial arts, so how on earth was he supposed to catch such a person?

“Stupid thief, if you stole it, you should have hidden it until the end…”

Capturing Jang Baek-san became the source of trouble. Since the Prince's trust had deepened, the Prince also trusted the county magistrate and reluctantly opened his mouth about the thief.

However, that story turned into a burden and heavily pressed down on the county magistrate's shoulders.

“Phew…”

Nothing but sighs came out.

* * *

At that time, Dan Woo-hyun and Hwa So-mi had entered the marketplace. For them to leave the manor and come to a bustling place was quite unusual.

In fact, Dan Woo-hyun had brought her here on purpose.

Even if he was fine, Hwa So-mi was young. He thought she would only grow uprightly if she bumped into and met more people.

The two of them just walked the street.

It was not that they wanted to do something or go somewhere. He wanted Hwa So-mi to see how people lived and develop a dream of wanting to do something herself as well.

To prepare for the day he would leave her side in the future.

“Mmm…”

All throughout their walk in the marketplace, Hwa So-mi kept looking around.

Watching the children playing, she would show a bright smile, and at times, she would drop her head with a gloomy expression.

Her expression, changing from moment to moment, was very diverse.

Dan Woo-hyun also lightly looked around.

Many people were coming and going.

Although the shabby scenery of the past had already disappeared and did not exist, in Dan Woo-hyun's eyes, it was as if everything of the past overlapped with the present.

“…”

This Yueyang, where Dongting Lake lay, was also a fairly special place for Dan Woo-hyun.

It was the place where he had been abandoned in his childhood, and using the event of being beaten black and blue by someone as a trigger, he had resolved to become strong.

Therefore, when he first opened his eyes, was that perhaps the reason he had sought out this place and not left?

At the fragments of the past stimulating his eyes, Dan Woo-hyun smiled without realizing it.

Since his own situation of still chasing after such things felt laughable.

In this space where the past and present overlapped, only one person was staying by Dan Woo-hyun's side.

Fascinated by that warmth, Dan Woo-hyun smiled unconsciously before realizing something.

Hwa So-mi's gaze was fixed on one spot.

He followed her gaze.

A tiny young child was strolling down the street holding their mother's hand. Looking at that, Hwa So-mi's eyes had an somehow empty and somewhat lonely feeling.

Dan Woo-hyun reached out and grabbed Hwa So-mi's small hand.

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden warmth, Hwa So-mi opened her eyes wide and looked up at Dan Woo-hyun. However, Dan Woo-hyun was just staring straight ahead without any expression.

Yet, that warm heart was definitely felt.

“Hehehe.”

Unsure what made her so happy, this child shook Dan Woo-hyun's large hand with her two small hands and smiled brightly.

‘Come to think of it…’

Feeling her arm shaking, Dan Woo-hyun scanned the surroundings. Parents who had come out with their children would often buy them something, unable to overcome their child's whining.

He saw the expressions of the happy-looking children as they ate sugar candies or stuffed other snacks into their mouths.

However, Hwa So-mi did not whine at all.

She must surely want to eat snacks like them.

Yet, perhaps knowing that they had no money, she did not nag or throw a tantrum. The thought occurred to him that she had a slightly more mature side than other children.

‘Indeed, it would be more troublesome if she whined about wanting to eat.’

Dan Woo-hyun scratched his cheek.

Honestly, if he only had money, he wanted to buy her everything. He wanted to dress her in better clothes than other children and feed her delicious food.

He had living in the world until now, he had never paid much attention to something like money.

For a place to sleep, he only needed a space to lay his body down, and if he was hungry, hunting in the mountains was enough.

He had lived that way since childhood, and after learning martial arts, he had been too busy living as a fugitive to even have the leisure of time to make money.

Furthermore, he had not felt much discomfort even until now.

However, thinking of taking responsibility for and staying with someone else, he could realize that as a result, money was indispensable for living.

If so, he had to devise a way to earn money.

“Hmm… Let's head back for now.”

“Okay!”

Thus, they left the marketplace and set off on the road back to the manor.

The path to the manor was somewhat rough, making it a place people rarely visited. Therefore, there was no place more suitable than this to live quietly.

‘If it were just me, that would be true.’

If it were Dan Woo-hyun alone, it did not matter as long as any place was quiet. However, it might not be a very good environment for Hwa So-mi.

While deeply contemplating, he realized that Hwa So-mi's warmth felt from his hand had vanished. Glancing over, the child was running off somewhere in a hurry.

It was then that he felt something strange.

Dan Woo-hyun raised his eyebrows and quietly scanned the surroundings. There were traces of someone passing by. The footprints visible here and there were definitely someone else's.

They were not theirs.

Dan Woo-hyun slowly followed Hwa So-mi, sharpening his senses, which he had been intentionally ignoring.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to take this flower!”

Dan Woo-hyun chuckled without realizing it.

Before he knew it, Hwa So-mi was squatting in front of the flower. Then, holding a small stone, she began digging the ground diligently.

For a wildflower, it was quite beautiful, and the scent was also decent.

She was probably planning to plant it in the yard.

The strange thing was that the ground where the flower was located was dug up all too easily.

As if someone had dug it up once before.

And the flower, too, was blooming alone in a space empty enough to be called unnatural.

It also seemed to look like some kind of marker.

“Huh?”

It was at that moment.

Hwa So-mi, who had been digging the ground diligently, discovered something. Although she reached out in surprise, it did not come out easily with a child's strength as if it had considerable weight.

“Can you do it?”

“Ugh! I-I'm fine! So-mi is st… strong!”

Straining with all her might, she pulled it out.

Something that seemed like it would never come out slowly revealed itself. It was a large pouch. It looked extremely heavy as if containing something.

“Hehe, I can do it, right?”

“Yes, well done.”

Hwa So-mi's eyes sparkled with an expression of having accomplished something. Stroking her head, Dan Woo-hyun smiled. Truly, this child seemed to have a strange talent for making people smile.

“Anyway, what could be inside?”

“So-mi will open it!”

Since the one who dug it up was Hwa So-mi, opening it was also this child's right.

Dan Woo-hyun did not bother to stop her, and Hwa So-mi tried to slowly open the pouch with an excited expression.

The next moment.

“How dare you touch what is mine!”

A loud shout was heard from somewhere.

Naturally, Dan Woo-hyun's head turned. As if he already knew who had shouted.

A man was seen running toward them with a madly enraged expression.

In his gripped hand, even a dagger was held.

The target its tip was aiming at was none other than Hwa So-mi.

“Eh?”

Startled, Hwa So-mi opened her eyes wide in shock. The rapidly approaching man brandished his dagger threateningly.

Crack-!

“Argh!”

The sound of a bone breaking was heard clearly.

It was a tremendous sound, like swinging an iron club to crush a watermelon.

The body of the man who had been approaching Hwa So-mi spun several times in midair.

Thud-!

The resonance of his fall to the ground was also violent.

Greatly startled by the sudden situation, Hwa So-mi closed her eyes and went limp. Dan Woo-hyun carefully caught her as she was about to fall and gently laid her on the ground.

Soon, his gaze turned toward the man.

The man did not even twitch, as if he had lost consciousness. Froth was streaming from his mouth, and his eyes had already rolled back, showing only the whites.

His face, which had been struck squarely, was also gradually swelling.

However, the glare Dan Woo-hyun directed at the man was fierce. It was because the killing intent locked away in a corner of his heart had surged.

Rumble-!

The ground split and the wind whirled.

A martial prowess that created a natural disaster with just a single outburst of aura.

It was a sight showing that Dan Woo-hyun's power had already surpassed the human realm.

“Damn it…”

Dan Woo-hyun spat out a curse. It was the first curse he uttered since waking up from his thousand-year sleep.

That was how angry he was at the current situation.

He knew someone was approaching. However, he had not expected at all that they would charge aiming for the child Hwa So-mi.

He extended his foot and stepped on the man's head.

If he applied pressure like this, the life of this bastard, who deserved to die a hundred times over, would also end.

However, he endured it. If this guy had not just startled the child but had tried to harm her, he would not have held back.

‘Still, he seemed to have some sanity left…’

Suppressing his killing intent, he composed his breathing. If possible, he wanted to avoid committing murder in a situation where Hwa So-mi was by his side, of all places.

Dan Woo-hyun sighed and forced himself to turn his head.

It was time to find out what was inside that made him attack even with a dagger.

Dan Woo-hyun opened the pouch.

The moment he looked at what was contained inside.

Dan Woo-hyun smiled fiercely without realizing it.