Chapter 203: Chapter 203

The teahouse at the entrance of Chengdu, Sichuan, was the largest in Chengdu.

Although it did not have water flowing around it like the teahouse in Yueyang, the flowers blooming everywhere created a colorful, eye-catching sight.

Dan Woo-hyun and Dan So-mi were sitting there.

A fragrant tea was set on the table in front of them.

“Amazing.”

Dan Woo-hyun looked around the teahouse. It was nice, but the fact that there was no one inside was even more surprising.

It felt as if they had rented the entire teahouse.

No, rather than a feeling, that was likely the correct answer.

“I am glad you like it. I did not really know your taste, Mister.”

Ji-yak smiled slightly.

Having lived in Hunan, she had met many people, but Dan Woo-hyun, Dan So-mi’s father, was the one she could not figure out.

It was because he had a expressionless face every day, but it was closer to the truth to say that his temperament was unpredictable.

“Wow… there is a place like this in Sichuan.”

Dan So-mi drank the tea, though she did not even know the taste. It tasted somewhat bitter, but since it was said to be expensive, she seemed to think she should drink it for now.

“Yes! It is the most famous teahouse in Sichuan. We came here specially for So-mi.”

“But why are there no people? If it is famous, shouldn’t there be a lot of people?”

Ji-yak looked slightly startled. In the first place, before coming here, she had sent someone to send all the customers out, and because she had rented the entire teahouse at a considerable cost, no one could enter.

That was the reason why it looked like business was bad.

“To… today there are just no people. Normally, you have to wait for a ve-ry long time in a line…”

“I see…”

Dan So-mi nodded and agreed.

It did not seem like Ji-yak was lying. She was sweating a little, but Dan So-mi let it go, thinking that the weather today was probably a bit hot.

“But why are you in Sichuan?”

“Hmm… why are you here? It is quite dangerous here.”

Ji-yak asked, frowning her pretty eyebrows.

Sichuan was the territory of the orthodox sects, and it was a place where the forces of the Nine Great Sects and One Association and the Eight Great Families, including Mount Qingcheng, Mount Emei, and the Sichuan Tang Clan, gathered.

Strictly speaking, it was no exaggeration to say that there was no safer place in the Central Plains than Sichuan.

But it was not so now.

The Eight Great Families had withdrawn from the Martial Alliance and formed the Heavenly Sword Association, and Mount Qingcheng and Mount Emei looked upon this unfavorably. Thus, these three entities clashed whenever they had a chance, and an invisible grimness overflowed everywhere.

Those who followed the Nine Great Sects and One Association, and those who followed the Eight Great Families.

The fights between such people did not cease.

“Sightseeing with Dad! Hehe, he said we are going to a further place!”

“I, I see… that must be nice…”

Ji-yak cast a glance at Dan Woo-hyun and let out an awkward laugh. He was still drinking his tea without changing his expression at all, and just looking at him made discomfort well up.

“Ah… by the way, who is that boy…?”

Dan So-mi let out an awkward laugh and glanced to one side. There, a boy and guards were seen, who had knelt down a moment ago along with the guards, holding buckets filled with water with both hands raised.

His arms were trembling.

Ji-yak smiled brightly.

“It is fine. That is martial arts training. They do that for several hours every day.”

“Yes… it looks hard.”

Dan So-mi nodded as a cold sweat trickled down. No matter how she looked at it, it only seemed like they were being punished. Even the look those people cast at Ji-yak was full of fear.

The question of why on earth that was did not easily go away.

“But what business brings you to Sichuan? From what I see, it does not look like you came alone.”

Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze met Ji-yak’s.

Even though he must have known she was about the same age as Dan So-mi, a very young child, the gaze looking at her was considerably cold.

Ugh! Ji-yak let out a small groan.

In Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes, it felt as if he was reading not only the boy and the guards over there, but even the hiding shadows.

“That… you see, Mister. Ji-yak did not come here to do anything bad.”

“I know.”

‘So please do not look at me with those eyes.’

She wanted to say that, but Ji-yak held it in.

Perhaps it was more difficult than being with her father or uncle.

“Actually, we came for a tre… treasure hunt…”

“Treasure hunt?”

Ji-yak hesitated and fumbled in her bosom to pull something out and hand it over. As she slowly unfolded the neatly folded object, a large map revealed itself.

It pointed to somewhere in Sichuan.

“I found it at my uncle’s house! There must be something incredible sleeping there!”

With her eyes sparkling, Ji-yak banged the table with both hands and stood up from her seat. Looking at her expression full of adventure, Dan Woo-hyun forced a smile and looked at the map on the table.

It certainly seemed to point to somewhere in Sichuan.

No, to be more precise, it meant that this doodle-like drawing, which was roughly sketched, looked as if it had depicted the vicinity of Chengdu, Sichuan.

“Did you come all the way from Hunan to this place to find this?”

“I, I also… followed my father’s sightseeing trip.”

Ji-yak muttered, turning her head slightly.

It was true that she had followed behind her father.

However, seeing that the map was in the hands of this small child, she must have intended to find it herself without telling anyone.

When Dan Woo-hyun laughed in disbelief, Ji-yak lowered her head deeply.

“Bu… but Ji-yak will be able to find it alone.”

“You will cause an accident that way.”

Dan Woo-hyun stared at Ji-yak.

He felt he could understand that heart.

Since the place they were sightseeing was also Sichuan, she seemed to intend to find this to make her father happy.

Now as in the past, the reality was that the head who led a family could not help but neglect his children.

She had seemed like a fairly mature child, but looking at her now, she was undeniably a young child.

“I will help you!”

At that moment, Dan So-mi quickly approached and grabbed Ji-yak’s hand. So-mi, with her eyes shining brightly, was fully intent on helping.

It seemed she would not listen even if stopped.

Dan Woo-hyun stared at the map.

Past events stimulated his mind strongly.

Turning his head slightly, Dan Woo-hyun looked at the guard captain who was holding up his hands.

“There is someone I need to bring…”

* * *

“What did you say?”

Jang Sam-tae, who had been summoned before they knew it, tilted his head with a confused expression. At that action, the heads of the two young children turned along with him.

In particular, Ji-yak’s eyes sparkled as if they contained stars.

Jang Sam-tae’s bald head had stimulated the curiosity of this small child.

“I asked if it was yours.”

Looking at Dan Woo-hyun, who had dragged him here out of nowhere and was saying incomprehensible things, Jang Sam-tae frowned. However, since he could not think of anything he had done wrong yet, he quietly stared at the map, lost in thought.

Soon, a memory of the past came to mind.

“This is not it! Really! Please believe me!”

“…”

“I am telling the truth!”

He was terrified, shaking his head side to side.

Then, the heads of the two children also naturally shook. The sight of them moving along with the bald head was quite comical.

“Then is it from your predecessor?”

“No! Really! It has nothing to do with our sect!”

He knew very well that if something happened because of this map, not only his sect but he himself would be smashed to pieces.

In fact, it was a situation where just being alive after the last incident was surprising.

“I… I do not know which fellow it is… but it is very well made. And it seems quite old?”

Jang Sam-tae examined the map here and there.

It was so old that it would crumble if touched with force. Although it was partly because the quality of the paper was not good in the first place, the passage of that much time was the biggest cause.

“I have seen quite a few maps, but this is the first time I have seen one this old. It must easily be two or three hundred years old. Where did you get this?”

Jang Sam-tae looked at Dan Woo-hyun with a puzzled expression. Until this morning, he had left the inn with an expression as if he was just going for a walk, but out of nowhere, he had obtained a child named Ji-yak and a map that looked this precious.

He wondered if this man was perhaps luckier than Dan So-mi.

“At my uncle’s house…”

“No, how good is this uncle’s house that he kept it preserved so perfectly?”

“Ah… haha…”

Ji-yak slipped her gaze away.

In that house, there was more than one or two things that were hundreds of years old.

Furthermore, she did not even know how to preserve them.

Because the number of people hanging there would be too many to count even if she added up all her fingers.

“Where does it look like it is pointing?”

“How would I know that?”

Jang Sam-tae asked, his eyes widening.

In the first place, he did not make it, and he was not even given time to solve the riddle.

If a brain that could give an answer instantly was needed, they should have called Zhuge Un in Hunan, not Jang Sam-tae.

“Useless…”

“…”

Jang Sam-tae clenched his fist.

It was only for a moment, but a fist almost really flew. If he had done that, his head would have fallen off, so he endured it with extreme patience.

“Ahem! Then do you know, Mansion Lord?”

“I wonder…”

Dan Woo-hyun quietly stared at the map.

The shape certainly pointed to Sichuan. Whether it was a forest or a mountain, those things drawn in a messy manner made it impossible to know what they pointed to or what was hidden.

Just then.

Clack!

“Ah?!”

Dan So-mi, who had reached out for her teacup, made a small sound.

Because she had reached out too hard, the tea spilled. The liquid, which soaked the table in an instant, drenched the map before anything could be done about it.

At that moment, the appearance of the map began to change gradually. A strange pattern appeared on the upper part of the blackened map, and the map that had been drawn like doodles revealed clear markings as if pointing to something.

“Th, this is…?”

Jang Sam-tae’s eyes widened.

The first thing visible was the mark on the upper part.

It looked as if it pointed to some group, but he had no idea what it was.

It was the shape of a grim ghost swallowing Asura.

What made those looking at it even more terrified was that, although it was definitely drawn with a brush and ink, the moment the water soaked in, all the lines turned red.

A chill circulated to the point of giving goosebumps.

Even the two children who were watching turned pale.

Dan Woo-hyun quietly stared at it and opened his mouth.

“I will take this.”

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