The Granddaughter of Manhyang Escort Bureau Hides Her Magic - Chapter 61

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 61

Twenty-some days after Shin Ah and Mugyeol disappeared, Biwongak was as silent as if a funeral had been held.

So Cheonrim entered the courtyard of Biwongak, which felt dreary to the point of being ominous. So Cheondo, who had been pacing around the courtyard the entire time, rushed over hurriedly.

“Father, what did the Lord of the Nation say?”

Cheonrim smiled bitterly and gripped Cheondo’s shoulder.

Seeing Cheonrim only show signs of exhaustion without giving any particular answer, Cheondo understood So Hyeokho’s intentions.

Cheondo’s hopes came crashing down.

.

.

After learning that poison had been released into the valley, Cheondo had wandered all over the mountain searching for the supervisor.

However, unable to find the supervisor, Cheondo had no choice but to return to the escort agency.

Though he was worried about the children, as an escort warrior of Manhyang Express and a descendant of the So family head, he had the grave responsibility of reporting this matter to his superiors.

‘Leave this matter to me and return to the examination hall.’

After reporting the situation to Cheonrim, Cheondo returned to the mountain and searched everywhere for the children.

But nowhere on the mountain could Shin Ah and Mugyeol be found.

His heart sank, but knowing they were clever children, he didn’t worry too much.

Cheondo pushed away his anxiety with the hope that the children had just gone to find something to eat, and searched every corner of the mountain.

But in the end, he couldn’t find the children. Instead, just before the exam ended, he discovered traces of Mugyeol and Shin Ah.

It was a cliff.

A piece of Shin Ah’s clothing was caught on a tree branch that jutted out from the cliff.

What this implied was one thing.

That Shin Ah had fallen down the cliff.

Cheondo left a marker at that spot and headed to the escort agency, holding back his tears.

When he reported the facts, the escort agency was turned upside down.

‘Form search teams.’

So Hyeokho, the head of the escort agency who had been busy dealing with the poison spread in the valley, personally organized the search teams.

A total of 10 teams of 20 people each were formed, with Cheonrim, Ok Chifung, and the escort leaders of Manhyang Express becoming the search team leaders.

They devoted themselves to finding Shin Ah, not minding sleeping outdoors in wind and rain. They thoroughly searched even below the cliff where it was difficult for people to descend.

However, no traces of Shin Ah and Mugyeol could be found.

‘Whether they soared to the sky or sank into the ground… it’s enough to make ghosts weep.’

What Ok Chifung said while closing his eyes deeply was exactly right.

The children had vanished without a trace.

As more time passed, talk began to emerge from the search teams.

‘If they were alive, they would have returned by now. Wild beasts must have taken them.’

Even if it’s just a rumor, when many people say it, it becomes truth.

Before long, it was concluded that Shin Ah and Mugyeol had been attacked by wild beasts.

The search teams’ enthusiasm waned, and the search was conducted only formally.

And two days ago, So Baekrim, who had silently cooperated with the search until now, finally spoke up.

‘Father, all the capable escort leaders have been assigned as search team leaders, making it difficult to operate the escort agency. Shin Ah is… regrettable, but shouldn’t we also keep the escort agency alive? Please have the escort warriors return. Cheonrim, don’t take this the wrong way.’

Cheonrim clenched both fists tightly. If he thought about the escort agency, doing as Baekrim said would be right, but Shin Ah was his daughter.

Even if Baekrim and Hyeokho criticized him for being emotional, Cheonrim could not back down.

‘Father! Not even a month has passed yet. Shin Ah is definitely alive. Weren’t there too few people in the search teams? Even now, please increase the numbers and conduct a large-scale search.’

If they brought in even the porters who had briefly been connected to the escort agency, up to 500 people could be mobilized.

It would cost a lot of money, but wasn’t this about finding a child? This wasn’t a matter of calculating gains and losses.

But that was the position of a father whose child was missing, and Hyeokho, who led the escort agency, thought differently.

Hyeokho, who had been contemplating with his eyes closed the entire time, reached a conclusion.

‘We can no longer keep the escort agency in emergency operation mode. We can’t stop the search either. So tell everyone to return except for two search teams.’

He meant to leave only the search teams led by Cheonrim and Ok Chifung.

Cheonrim immediately objected and tried to persuade Hyeokho, but the order was never reversed.

For the next two days, Cheonrim and Ok Chifung continued the search with reduced personnel.

‘This won’t do, Father!’

‘I agree with Cheondo’s thinking. When we need to increase people, how can we reduce them!’

Ok Chifung and Cheondo burst out in indignation. Since Cheonrim shared their thoughts, he had just returned from Wolhwa Hall to persuade Hyeokho once more.

‘Lord of the Nation, no, Father! Please help me search for Shin Ah for just one more week.’

He knelt down and begged, pleaded.

However, Hyeokho never said to reinforce the search teams. Instead, he gave his private funds. It meant to buy people with money to supplement the search teams.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful, but it was far from enough money to conduct a large-scale search.

Chief Go and other key figures of the escort agency closed their eyes deeply and kept their mouths shut.

Cheonrim regretted bitterly.

That he hadn’t built up forces within the escort agency to support him, that he hadn’t accumulated sufficient wealth for Biwongak.

Cheonrim looked up at the sky and let out a deep sigh.

Reading the lamentation and self-reproach from him, Cheondo carefully spoke up.

“Father… this is all my fault. If something happened to Shin Ah… please punish me severely.”

Cheondo knelt before Cheonrim.

Since Shin Ah and Mugyeol’s disappearance, he had felt like dying, but he couldn’t bring himself to express those feelings in front of his father.

Cheonrim helped his son stand up and patted his shoulder.

“Don’t say such things. This isn’t your fault.”

Someone had deliberately put Shin Ah in danger.

Bandits, poison, and the cliff.

None of it felt natural.

Right now finding Shin Ah was urgent so he had buried everything, but if Shin Ah’s life or death became certain, he would definitely find the culprit and make an example of them.

“Cheondo, Shin Ah wouldn’t have given up. So let’s not give up either. Pack your things.”

It was time to go search again.

* * *

Fifteen days had passed since Shin Ah and Mugyeol ate the Ten Thousand Year Ultimate Blood Treasure they received from the Vermillion Bird.

Shin Ah and Mugyeol, who had no way of knowing what chaos had erupted at the escort agency, opened their eyes simultaneously.

The gazes of the two children sitting facing each other naturally met.

In the quiet silence, Shin Ah was the first to speak.

“You too?”

“Yes.”

Shin Ah smiled brightly.

“Me too.”

Finally, both of them had completed absorbing the energy of the Ten Thousand Year Ultimate Blood Treasure.

The spirit medicine contained energy that far exceeded Shin Ah’s expectations.

Naturally, it was impossible for the two children, still young and inexperienced, to absorb the spirit medicine’s energy all at once.

So the two children spent each day with cultivation and Qi Circulation and Breathing, slowly accepting the spirit medicine’s energy.

Shin Ah rose from her seat and stretched her body that had been sitting in lotus position for more than half a day.

“Mugyeol, how is it? Do you feel like your internal energy has increased?”

Mugyeol placed his hand on his dantian.

“Yes.”

Though he answered briefly, Mugyeol’s achievement was remarkable.

In fact, Mugyeol had absorbed the energy of the Ten Thousand Year Ultimate Blood Treasure before Shin Ah.

While Mugyeol was circulating energy, Shin Ah used magic to draw cold energy for him, so in a way it was natural.

Due to the limitations of his still young body, he couldn’t digest it all, so he first made about 30 years’ worth of internal energy his own, leaving the remaining energy in his body.

He planned to slowly make the remaining energy his own as well.

Thus, Mugyeol’s body contained a full 40 years’ worth of internal energy, plus energy that hadn’t yet been converted to internal energy but would soon be digested and made his own.

However, having power doesn’t mean you can use it all.

Mugyeol was still growing, and though he had trained hard, his body wasn’t yet sufficiently conditioned.

If he used internal energy recklessly, his physical body wouldn’t be able to support the internal energy and he would surely be severely injured.

‘I need to meet my teacher quickly.’

He needed to train his body and cultivate more diligently.

And he would get revenge on the bastard who had dropped him and Shin Ah below the cliff.

Mugyeol burned with determination.

“How about you, young miss?”

Shin Ah placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin high toward the sky.

With the help of the fire-energy-filled Ten Thousand Year Ultimate Blood Treasure, Shin Ah had surpassed the 3rd Circle and reached the 5th Circle.

‘Now I can even use Short-Range Teleport!’

Of course, she would need to know the exact coordinates, but she could move anywhere she had been before.

And the duration of her Flight Magic had increased dramatically.

She didn’t know exactly where this place was, but if she went up first, wouldn’t she be able to gauge their location?

“We can get out of here now!”

Shin Ah, shouting confidently, was like heaven and a god to Mugyeol.

Without questioning or doubting, Mugyeol followed Shin Ah’s lead and smiled.

They could get out.

Now it was time to return to the Escort Agency.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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