Chapter 26
‘I’ll show you directly.’
In response to the question about what kind of ability he had, Gilnang undid a knot and began pouring out all sorts of things from within.
Shoooosh!
By sheer volume, it was enough to fill an entire warehouse.
The fact that such a tiny creature, no bigger than a palm, had been carrying that much was already astonishing.
But even more noteworthy was that among what spilled out, quite a number of things didn’t look ordinary at all.
In that sense, finding this pouch and gaining treasures for free was great—
But still, it was something I needed to confirm.
“Don’t tell me you swallowed up the things that were in the vault?”
That would be a problem.
Because the quantity was far too much.
But Gilnang hopped about, denying it furiously.
‘I’ve looked at the treasures stored here before, but I never secretly took any!’
According to Gilnang, the treasures before me were ones entrusted to him for safekeeping by his former master.
That master was likely one of my ancestors.
‘If it was someone who possessed a divine object like Gilnang, then it wouldn’t be strange for them to own this much treasure.’
The real question was whether to regard these treasures as part of Gilnang himself, or simply as part of the Jin family’s vault.
But then again—why bother pretending to be noble?
‘I was the one who discovered Gilnang.’
Which meant the treasures were mine.
Having reached that decision, I stopped fussing and accepted them gratefully.
That was when I saw it.
Among the things Gilnang had spilled out was a single book.
And the title of that book was—
“The Annals of the Fire Mountain Divine Dragon?”
Since the word Fire Mountain was in the title, it seemed to be about the Huashan Sect, but I had never heard of such a book.
The real issue was that the book was in such good condition. At most, it couldn’t have been more than a few years old.
To check more closely, I reached out for it—
Only then did Gilnang reveal a hidden truth.
‘Actually, there are also some things I’ve recently collected from outside and stored here! Like that book!’
Hearing how that was possible, I was stunned.
And the one who had made it possible was right next to me.
Piii?
It was Geumdu. While going in and out, he had been bringing things to Gilnang.
And not only that—
‘Geumdu became my eyes and ears, as well as my hands and feet.’
It wasn’t just a metaphor.
Through Geumdu, Gilnang had been able to experience the outside world without leaving this place.
That was Gilnang’s second ability.
Aside from storing objects, he had another power.
I decided to hear the full story slowly, later.
“For now, let’s get out of here.”
It was time to leave the Jin family’s treasure vault.
Gilnang and Geumdu.
In the end, I left behind countless treasures and only brought the two of them out—
But I didn’t regret it at all.
The treasures Gilnang carried weren’t any less valuable than those inside the vault.
In fact, many of them were far more interesting.
The one concern was that most of the items had been stored 400–500 years ago.
I worried they might have deteriorated or become unusable.
Fortunately, that issue was easily resolved.
Upon checking, I found Gilnang also had the ability to preserve whatever he stored.
That alone placed him among the very top tier of divine objects.
And though it wasn’t all that important, Gilnang apparently tasted treasures.
The better the treasure, the better the flavor, or so he claimed.
Treasures infused with divine energy especially tasted delicious.
He could even draw on a little of the divine energy within them.
“Should I test that out to see if it’s true?”
For a moment, I wondered about letting him taste the Destruction Sword.
Uuung.
The sword vibrated briefly, voicing its refusal.
If it didn’t want to, I couldn’t force it.
After leaving the vault, it was already late, so I spent the night at my quarters before returning to see the head of the clan.
It was to return the key to the vault to Geum Danmok.
When I handed it over, he carefully tucked it into his robes and asked me,
“Did you find anything to your liking?”
“Yes. There were more useful treasures than I had expected.”
Though not exactly the truth, that was my answer.
Geum Danmok gave a very satisfied smile.
“So you managed to find the hidden place after all.”
I had suspected it, but hearing him say it confirmed it.
Geum Danmok had been testing me.
‘Perhaps to check if this changed son was really his own blood, or simply to gauge my ability.’
Either way, it didn’t matter.
I had gained a remarkable divine object, Gilnang, and the spirit mole Geumdu.
The outcome of the trial seemed favorable, judging by Geum Danmok’s unshakable smile.
That was enough.
“By the way.”
There was something I had meant to ask him.
“Was it the Black Pavilion that emptied the warehouses?”
I needed confirmation before reclaiming what was stolen.
Geum Danmok slowly nodded.
“They looted the Jin family’s warehouses, but as you saw, the real treasures were hidden and left untouched. So it is fine.”
His tone was calm, but his face betrayed unease.
For a man who had lived his life as a merchant, losing such wealth by force could hardly be “fine.”
Which made it easier for me to ask for what I wanted.
“I’ll retrieve them.”
“You will?”
“Yes. But in return, I’ll keep half of what I recover.”
Geum Danmok’s eyes widened slightly.
I understood why.
Even one of those empty warehouses was vast, so the wealth inside couldn’t have been small.
But that wasn’t what shocked him.
“Now that I think of it, you wouldn’t know where that wealth ended up, would you?”
“Didn’t the Black Pavilion take it?”
Geum Danmok nodded.
“They did. More precisely, they offered it elsewhere.”
Offered it elsewhere?
The answer was unexpected, though soon I realized it made sense.
“To the Nine Heavens Assembly?”
That was who backed them, after all.
Even Doosanbaek, who was on his way here, had them as his higher authority.
But Geum Danmok’s reply was far beyond my guess.
“To the Prince of Zhong.”
“The Prince of Zhong?”
“Yes. The residence of the current Emperor’s son.”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
Royalty? Out of nowhere?
But as Geum Danmok continued, the picture grew clearer.
“In Hunan, there is hardly a merchant house that doesn’t send gifts to the Zhong Prince’s residence. Our Golden Flower Merchant Group is no different.”
So in plain words—they had been paying bribes.
I could accept that much.
But—
‘If they take the money, they should at least give something in return.’
I had never heard of the Zhong Prince’s residence doing anything for the Golden Flower Group.
That was odd.
And soon, the truth became apparent.
“The Black Pavilion stole the warehouse’s wealth and delivered it to the Zhong Prince’s residence, in exchange for them turning a blind eye, didn’t they?”
Geum Danmok’s bitter smile was his only answer.
Clearly, that’s what he believed.
And I could see the picture as well.
‘The proud Prince’s residence wouldn’t lower itself to ally with bandits.’
They had simply tolerated and ignored them.
“In the end, that makes them accomplices to those thieves.”
That was my conclusion.
Geum Danmok was horrified.
“Careful! Don’t speak such words! What if someone hears?”
“There’s no one around, so don’t worry.”
I had already checked the surroundings the moment we began speaking.
Even Jegalmyung had gone to the apothecary to prepare medicine for the evening, so no one else could hear.
But still, Geum Danmok refused to speak further about the Zhong Prince.
‘That just shows how powerful the Zhong Prince’s influence is in Hunan.’
If even greedy bandits like the Black Pavilion willingly offered bribes, then their power was truly formidable.
But that wasn’t a reason for me to bow my head.
Not unless they had at least done something for the Golden Flower Merchant Group.
My mind was made up.
‘I’ll have to pay the Zhong Prince a visit.’
Naturally, my goal was to reclaim my money.
After finishing with Geum Danmok, I went straight to Elder Noh.
If it was about money, he would know the most after the clan head.
And indeed, he did.
“These are the records of everything that was in the now-empty warehouses.”
He had already documented everything.
Thanks to that, I could see at a glance what had been stolen.
The sheer amount was staggering—even after having just seen the Jin family’s vault.
“No wonder the master couldn’t hide his bitterness, no matter what he said.”
Now I understood why Geum Danmok had looked so sour even while insisting it was fine.
Thieving bastards.
When I asked Elder Noh about the Zhong Prince, he said,
“In truth, it isn’t the Prince himself who covets wealth, but his consort, Lady Seol.”
So if I wanted to resolve this through conversation, I would need to deal with her rather than the Prince.
But Elder Noh couldn’t hide his unease, worried I might storm the Zhong residence.
I only added to his anxiety.
“Do you know how many experts the Zhong Prince’s residence employs? At least the number of guards?”
“What?”
He blinked, stunned.
One hand even moved to his chest, as if afraid he might drop dead if I pressed further.
“Forget it. You didn’t hear that.”
After leaving Elder Noh, I went straight out of the estate.
At first, I had planned to head directly to the Zhong Prince’s residence.
But along the way, I reconsidered.
“Going straight there might be too rash.”
They wouldn’t simply hand over the wealth.
I would likely need to take it.
But if I went in without knowing how many experts they had, things could get messy.
“Better to act at night than during the day.”
Which meant I needed more information.
So I turned my steps elsewhere.
Before long, I reached a great river, wide like a lake.
The same ferry was there as before—only one boat.
But today, there were two people: the young ferryman and a woman I had never seen before.
The woman spotted me first, even before the ferryman, and with a strange smile, beckoned me closer.
I walked toward them without hesitation—
Even if she hadn’t called, that was where I was headed.
The ferryman, Sogeom, looked briefly startled to see me, but quickly covered it with a polite smile.
“What brings you to the Hao Clan so soon, young master? I thought there were still days left before the date we agreed upon.”
He was clearly trying to gauge the situation.
But even the world’s best intelligence group couldn’t know what had just happened.
Taking advantage of that, I played it calm.
Eventually, Sogeom conceded first.
“In fact, we had finished preparing the information and were going to visit you later today. I didn’t expect you to come to us first.”
Already prepared, so quickly?
‘As expected of the Hao Clan.’
Even I, who knew their reputation well, was impressed.
They truly deserved their title as one of the top intelligence networks in the world.
But I didn’t need to show it.
Besides, that wasn’t the reason I was here.
“I’d like to hear about that later. For now, there’s something else I need. Is that possible?”
Sogeom’s expression said, What now? But he asked carefully,
“What do you mean by something else?”
Instead of answering, I turned my gaze to the woman by his side.
She had been watching me with curiosity.
When our eyes met, she gave a bewitching smile.
She looked like she was about to speak, but didn’t.
Sogeom introduced her.
“She works with me. She’s from the Hao Clan as well, so you can speak freely.”
I nodded slightly.
Her enchanting smile was memorable, but that was all.
She didn’t hold my interest.
A woman of the Hao Clan?
‘Makes me recall someone’s words—that aside from breathing, everything else they do is a lie.’
That someone was Jinchun, and the one he said it to was not me, but Yu Maeng, an ancestor of the Yu family.
Jinchun had half-joked those words to Yu Maeng, who had once fallen in love with a courtesan.
But I knew he had meant them sincerely.
He hadn’t said it out of hatred for Hao Clan women.
But because he knew what kind of life they lived.
‘Funny, really.’
A chuckle escaped me.
Yu Maeng had ignored those words back then.
Yet here I was, hundreds of years later, remembering them and keeping my distance.
“W-why are you laughing all of a sudden?”
Sogeom looked baffled, while the woman continued to eye me with curiosity.
I waved it off and swallowed my remaining laughter.
‘What matters is that I need them now.’
That was all that counted.
So I got straight to the point.
“I came for information on the Zhong Prince’s residence. If possible, I’d like the layout. If not, then at least the number and level of experts stationed there.”
Again, those same wide eyes.
Geum Danmok, Elder Noh, and now Sogeom too.
“W-what are you saying…?”
He even stammered.
Clearly, even the Hao Clan found talk of the Prince’s residence intimidating.
It made sense.
According to Elder Noh, the Zhong residence wasn’t just any royal estate.
It ranked among the greatest powers vying for supremacy in the world.
So his reaction wasn’t strange.
But the woman beside him—
Her reaction surprised even me.
Not only was she still brimming with curiosity, she said,
“In that case, I might be able to help you. Why not speak with me instead of Sogeom?”
And then she made me a bold offer.
“I won’t ask for money. Just answer one question for me in return.”
