The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 706

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

The Youngest Son of the Eun Hae Trading Company Chapter 706

Chapter 706. Whereabouts (3)

A sudden tremor seized my attention, and I tensed immediately.
This vibration surely came from a formation array.
While I was immune to formation arrays, one could never be too cautious.
– Squeak! Squeak!
But observing Geum Ryung-i’s reaction, it didn’t appear to be a trap.
I suppressed the flames with the power of the Taiyin Ice-Sea Divine Art and moved toward where Geum Ryung-i pointed, discovering a child inside.
The child sat within a large water barrel, their face covered with a water-soaked cloth.
I was somewhat surprised that the child knew to do such a thing.
I approached the child carefully.
“Let’s go! I’ve come to rescue you!”
I lifted the child into my arms and rewetted the cloth with water, draping it over the child’s head.
As I exited the house, I sensed something amiss.
The flames within the house were gradually extinguishing.
The fire was dying in places I hadn’t passed through to suppress it.
Simultaneously, I realized something was absorbing my inner energy.
Since absorbing another’s energy typically indicated ill intent, I couldn’t help but remain vigilant.
Yet a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Why had I only now noticed my energy being drained?
Examining the energy flowing from me more carefully, I understood the reason.
It was absorbing only the yin energy contained within my inner power, not my inner power itself.
That’s why I hadn’t noticed.
First, I needed to get out.
Even if the flames were weakening, a collapsed ceiling or wall would be catastrophic.
“Whoosh!”
I rushed outside and set the child down on the ground.
“Oh, Ik-i!”
“Mother!”
Mother and child embraced each other, then repeatedly bowed toward me.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“We’re so grateful you could save the child.”
My Guard Warriors and the villagers arrived with water. Though I hadn’t emerged slowly, the villagers’ response was remarkably swift.
“At least this time it turned out well.”
“Indeed. Last time, the whole place burned down.”
From the villagers’ words, it seemed fires had occurred here before.
In any case, the fire had been extinguished.
While I had suppressed the flames from within and water had been sprayed from outside, it was ultimately the mysterious force that had snuffed out the inferno.
Fortunately, it seemed we could salvage at least some of the household belongings.
Just then, I spotted two men rushing frantically toward us from a distance.
There was something familiar about them… Ah, they must be Yeom Elder’s Second Son and Third Son.
They bore a striking resemblance to Master Yeom and his wife.
“Is… is everyone safe?”
At his question, the Child’s Mother answered.
“Yes. Ik-i and I are both unharmed.”
“Thank heavens! Elder Brother’s Wife!”
“This person here saved Ik-i.”
At her words, one of the men bowed respectfully to me.
“I am truly grateful. I shall never forget that you saved my son’s life.”
He asked carefully.
“If I may ask, what is your name?”
Just as I was about to answer, Palgap introduced me first.
“My young master is Eun Seo-ho, the Small Guild Master of the Eun Hae Trading Company. He is also known as the Immortal Chivalry Beauty!”
At those words, the crowd stirred with excitement.
“Oh! The Immortal Chivalry Beauty!”
“As expected!”
“I thought I’d seen him somewhere before! So it was the Immortal Chivalry Beauty!”
Among them were disciples who appeared to belong to the Jongnam Sect, and they gazed upon me with eyes full of admiration.
Palgap, you…
I sighed inwardly and spoke.
“I am Eun Seo-ho, Small Guild Master of the Eun Hae Trading Company. Master Yeom once asked me to convey his regards, and as I happened to be passing through the area, I stopped by briefly.”
“Ah, I remember now. Father has spoken of you often—how grateful he is that you prepare medicinal tonics for him every year. And now you’ve saved my son’s life as well… I truly cannot thank you enough.”
“Saving a life is simply the natural thing to do.”
I offered my modesty and turned to look at the house beside us.
“However, your home has burned down…”
“It is no matter. Since fires occur so frequently here, we did not construct it with great care.”
Indeed, a blacksmith workshop deals with fire constantly, so such incidents were not uncommon.
“I noticed earlier that the child was inside a water bucket with a wet cloth covering his face.”
“Ah, he did exactly as I instructed. I told him that if a fire ever broke out, he should do precisely that.”
“Thanks to that, the child was able to remain safe. And it seems Master Yeom anticipated such an occurrence and asked me to stop by this place.”
With that, I withdrew gold coins from my pouch and offered them.
“Please use this money for reconstruction.”
“No! You’ve already saved my child—I cannot possibly accept such a thing…”
“Please do not refuse. This is not a gift given freely.”
“I beg your pardon?”
I smiled and spoke.
“I would like to request a small dagger for self-defense as a gift for my wife.”
“Of course. I should make one for her regardless.”
“Not now—I’ll ask you later.”
As we were conversing, a middle-aged man approached us.
Upon seeing him, Yeom Elder’s Second Son introduced him to me.
“This is our village chief. He has inherited the position across generations.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Eun Seo-ho, Small Guild Master of the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“I am Chief Jang Po of Ongok Village. I am truly grateful that the Immortal Chivalry Beauty has visited our village and prevented such a calamity.”
“I merely happened to help by chance while passing through.”
“They say it was the work of fate.”
Chief Jang spoke.
“If you’re not busy, please stay the night at my home.”
I was about to decline with a wave of my hand when I recalled what Yeom Elder had said.
The chief was the one who had delivered Uncle Sbaek’s letter.
And he had inherited the position of village chief across generations.
“If it’s not too much trouble, I would be grateful to impose upon your hospitality for the night.”

We made our way to Chief Jang’s house and received quite generous treatment.
“I heard that the Immortal Chivalry Beauty does not enjoy alcohol, so I prepared tea instead.”
“Thank you. Please join me.”
We shared a meal, drank tea, and engaged in pleasant conversation.
“It’s truly fortunate that the blacksmith workshop fire wasn’t severe.”
“Indeed. Now that I think about it, from what I recall, there hadn’t been a single fire there for over twenty years… I should probably give them a stern warning about fire management.”
“Please don’t do that. This fire nearly cost them their son. They won’t be negligent with fire management without your warning. Besides, it’s unavoidable in a blacksmith workshop.”
As I dissuaded the chief, I noticed something peculiar.
“You say there were no fires for over twenty years?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
From what I knew, it was nearly impossible for a blacksmith workshop to operate without experiencing fires, large or small.
Since it’s a place where fire is constantly handled, there’s always the risk of fire whether during work or when unattended.
Yet not a single fire occurred… There’s something odd here.
“I heard that back then, it was operated by someone different from the current owners.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
He nodded.
“I remember as well. The owner had quite a fiery temperament. In contrast, his younger brother, whom I occasionally saw visit, was rather gentle.”
What?
How terrible must his temperament have been for Yeom Elder’s teacher to be described as gentle?
Yeom Elder himself said his own temperament became so difficult because of his master.
“However, his skill was truly exceptional. Once you used the farm tools he made, you couldn’t use anything else. And disciples of the Jongnam Sect would line up to obtain swords he crafted. But now he has passed away…”
His expression turned regretful.
“Are the current blacksmiths not skilled?”
“Of course, the current craftsmen are skilled enough, but compared to that master, it’s inevitable that they fall short.”
I spoke with a smile.
“That’s only natural. He was among the top five blacksmiths in the entire Empire.”
“…Is that so?”
Seeing his eyes widen, it seemed he hadn’t known that.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“I heard that Chief Jang’s Spring Commander delivered a letter to Master Yeom when he came to organize that master’s belongings.”
“Ah! You’re talking about that.”
He nodded his head.
“I still remember it clearly. That Deceased Master Blacksmith came to find my father, entrusted him with that letter, and said he would close the blacksmith workshop four days later.”
Chief Jang continued.
“And he passed away about five days after that.”
“I see.”
“It seems you know quite a bit about that old story, so you must be quite close with his younger brother.”
“Of course. He’s the finest blacksmith in our village. And the two men who operated that blacksmith workshop where the fire broke out earlier are also the sons of Master Yeom.”
I continued speaking.
“By any chance, did he do anything particularly unusual before he passed away?”
“Hmm, there doesn’t seem to have been anything special…but! Now that I think about it, he did frequent the Great Mountain often back then.”
The Great Mountain?
“Could that Great Mountain be….”
“Yes. Zhongnan Mountain.”
“….”

The next day.
I made my way to the Blacksmith Workshop.
Since the burnt remnants had been cleared away, only the floor remained.
“The floor is… granite, I see.”
Granite is quite durable. And since granite is common in this area, it’s typically used as flooring material.
But the granite flooring was… double-layered.
One layer would have sufficed, so I was wondering why it was deliberately laid in two layers when I heard a familiar voice from behind.
“Welcome.”
“Ah, yes.”
They were the two sons of Master Yeom.
“My apologies. I can’t seem to recall your names.”
“How could you know names we haven’t told you? My name is Yeom Ui. And my younger sibling is Ye.”
Righteousness (Ui), Propriety (Ye)?
Yeom’s Blacksmith, the second son, explained with a smile.
“As you may have guessed, our father took one character each from Loyalty-Righteousness-Propriety-Wisdom-Faith to name us siblings.”
“I see. Actually, I was just wondering about something—the granite flooring of this workshop is double-layered, which struck me as unusual.”
“Ah… that’s been the case from the beginning. According to the village elders, when our father’s late Uncle Sbaek first established this place, he brought that stone with great care.”
“I see.”
I nodded and stepped up onto that stone.
Hum.
The vibration I felt again.
Certainly, the vibration I had sensed yesterday was no illusion.
And only yin energy was being absorbed from my qi.
As I focused on the movement of that yin energy, I could discern where it was being absorbed.
It was this very floor.
I think I understand why the granite flooring is laid in two layers.
There’s a formation array between the two layers of flooring.
That formation didn’t merely absorb yin energy. It transformed that yin energy into yang energy and dispersed it throughout the entire structure.
So this was the true nature of the force that had suppressed the flames.
Now that I think about it, the Village Chief had said as much.
Even twenty years ago, there had never been a single fire in this blacksmith workshop.
Comparing then and now, there were two differences in this workshop.
The ownership changed because Master Yeom’s Uncle Sbaek passed away, and that Uncle Sbaek disposed of the ice stone, so there is no ice stone here now.
Then the reason no fires occurred before becomes simple.
It must have been because of the ice stone.
The formation array transformed the ice stone’s energy into yang energy, which enveloped the structure, making fires impossible.
And Master Yeom’s Uncle Sbaek, sensing his own death, disposed of the ice stone.
It appears the ice stone was passed down through generations, but why didn’t he give it to his younger brother?
According to Yeom’s Blacksmith, the new master of this workshop, he brought this granite flooring with great care when first establishing this place.
Then perhaps… he originally lived elsewhere but fled here after facing difficulties because of the ice stone.
Ice Jade is the greatest treasure of all treasures.
So much so that the Northern Sea Ice Palace holds it sacred.
That being the case, he must have handled it himself to spare his younger brother from trouble.
Despite his foul temperament, it seems he cared quite deeply for his brother.
Since he frequently climbed Zhongnan Mountain before his passing, he surely hid it somewhere on the mountain.
Then I must recover it if at all possible.
According to what my Master told me, one of Seolpung Palace’s duties is the management and protection of Ice Jade exported from the Northern Sea.
In other words, I must ensure that Ice Jade is not used for improper purposes.

I stepped away from that place and asked Palgap about Chang-un Warrior’s whereabouts.
“Chang-un Warrior is currently meeting with the Jongnam Sect disciples.”
“Is that so?”
I headed toward where Chang-un Warrior was meeting with the Jongnam Sect disciples.
Chang-un Warrior seemed to be asking about the current state of his sect, when one disciple responded curtly.
“Honestly, Senior Brother is no longer even a resident disciple of Jongnam Sect but an outer disciple. So why are you so curious about all this?”
At those words, Chang-un Warrior looked flustered.
“You brought great shame upon the sect and left it. If you’re going to do that, shouldn’t you just keep your distance? I don’t understand why you’re clinging to curiosity about us.”
Wait, is this really what you should be saying to Chang-un Warrior?
No matter how the circumstances turned out, Senior Brother is still Senior Brother.
– Squawk!
See, even Geumryeong-i doesn’t approve.
I approached them and spoke.
“There is a saying: ‘The heart yearns for its roots.’ Even beasts turn their heads toward the cave where they were born when death approaches. How much more so for people?”
“Oh! Seonhyeop Mirang Great Swordmaster.”
“Though Chang-un Warrior has left Jongnam Sect, it remains like his hometown. Is it the way of the Tao for those who claim to walk the path to scorn Chang-un Warrior’s longing and curiosity for such a place?”
This won’t do.
I need to correct their behavior while I have this opportunity.

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