Chapter 379: Chapter 379

The one who broke that peaceful atmosphere was none other than Hong Won-chang. For whatever reason he had come to Changsha, while passing through the marketplace, he discovered Dan Woo-hyun and came running in a hurry.

Running with all his might, he stopped in front of Dan Woo-hyun and simultaneously gasped for breath to an unbearable degree.

“Hah, hah…”

“…….”

“Ah…”

Dan Woo-hyun stared intently at Hong Won-chang’s face without a word. No emotion could be felt in his expression, but rather, that felt like pressuring the opponent even more.

On the contrary, Dan So-mi pinched the bridge of her nose.

Generally, when Hong Won-chang showed this kind of appearance.

“It’s an incident!”

It was because he often brought things he couldn’t solve to Dan Woo-hyun.

Dan Woo-hyun looked with a dumbfounded expression.

If it is an incident, it is an incident, so why tell it to him? Looking with an incomprehensible expression, Hong Won-chang slowly turned his head with an awkward face.

“T-That is, Lord…”

“Do you know him?”

Dan Woo-hyun glanced at Dan So-mi and asked. This clearly meant he would pretend not to know Hong Won-chang.

Dan So-mi swallowed a groan for a moment and spoke.

“No. It is the first time I see him.”

“I see.”

“Aigo! Why are you like this, really! A truly major event has occurred!”

Looking at the two pretending not to know, Hong Won-chang had an expression as if he would burst into tears right away.

In his haste, he tried to grab Dan Woo-hyun’s collar without realizing it, but the collar slid out of Hong Won-chang’s touch as if possessing a will.

Frustrated, Hong Won-chang slumped down.

“Heuuuung…”

“…….”

“Ah…”

Unlike an adult, he burst into tears.

Whether this time was a considerably major event unlike other times, he clung to Dan Woo-hyun like crazy and would not let go.

“Please! Please help me! If this goes on, I will die!”

“Absurd.”

“…It is a sight I want to show Jin-rang too.”

Dan So-mi shook her head.

To Hong Jin-rang, her father was the coolest person in the world, a grand person who solved any task with ease.

If she showed such a sight to that child, what on earth would she say?

She became highly curious.

“Since there are people’s eyes, it would be better to change places for now.”

Only then did Hong Won-chang snap to his senses and look around.

Not to mention those who were watching the mask dance, even passing people were watching Hong Won-chang with expressions wondering what was going on.

Under those gazes, Hong Won-chang let out an awkward smile and broke into a cold sweat.

* * *

They sat in a teahouse fairly far from downtown Changsha.

Expensive tea and snacks filled the table, and Dan So-mi was eating them up with an excited look, wearing a happy expression.

On the other hand, however, Hong Won-chang could not do so.

His figure continually breaking into a cold sweat was indeed not good to see. It looked clear that something had occurred, but looking at his appearance, it did not seem like the kind of thing that could be easily solved.

Dan Woo-hyun drank tea and asked.

“So what is it?”

“That is… do you perhaps know the one called the Golden Lion?”

“The Golden Lion?”

Dan Woo-hyun shook his head as if he didn’t know. Even if someone’s moniker was mentioned, from Dan Woo-hyun’s perspective, who had no reason to know such people, it was merely unfamiliar.

At that moment, Dan So-mi, who was nibbling on the snacks, spoke.

“Ah, I know. Surely a very bad person, right?”

“Y… Yes, you know well.”

“Jin-rang told me about him before. Saying the beard on his face looked just like a lion’s mane…”

“Indeed… he is such a person.”

Hong Won-chang let out an awkward laugh with a ‘haha’.

The Golden Lion was counted among the fairly famous. Although his name had vanished after being captured now, he once occupied one of the spots of the Five Emperors, and upon his capture, Jeok Mu-seong newly listed his name.

Since that time was twenty years ago, it would not be strange if it felt distant.

“So what about that fellow called the Golden Lion?”

“He is also famous for having accumulated immense wealth. To the extent that the word ‘Gold’ is attached to his moniker.”

Dan Woo-hyun looked at Hong Won-chang with an indifferent expression.

Whether he accumulated wealth or not, what on earth did such stories matter now, and why did the Golden Lion pop up in the major event Hong Won-chang spoke of; he wished he would explain that a little.

Did he notice Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze?

Hong Won-chang hurriedly bowed his head.

“Anyway, that Golden Lion committed a heavy crime against the Imperial Court twenty years ago and fled. He plundered the Imperial Treasury and ran away with everything that would turn into money.”

“A funny fellow. To rob the Imperial Court because there was no place to rob…”

“Since he was someone with that level of skill, he must have had confidence. However, he was soon discovered and in the end a wanted order fell. Not to mention the Eastern Depot, even the Brocade Guards stepped forward, and clashing together with martial world experts, they ultimately succeeded in capturing him.”

Dan Woo-hyun merely chuckled.

Since a fellow called one of the Five Emperors under heaven not only robbed the Imperial Court but was even captured, a laugh arose for no reason.

“The… one who captured the Golden Lion was precisely Elder Sa Do-hak.”

“Really?”

“Yes, lest you might not know… they say he captured him after fighting a fierce battle for nearly two hours.”

To Hong Won-chang as well, it was merely rumors heard. The fierce battle between the Golden Lion and the Demonic Emperor Sa Do-hak was a story like a legend still on people’s tongues.

Those who watched by the side at that time evaluated that a fight only to be seen in dreams had occurred.

“Not the orthodox martial world but the Demonic Cult… that is also interesting.”

“At that time, the Imperial Court was trying to push out the Demonic Cult, but as a condition to withdraw that, they ordered to capture the Golden Lion. His Majesty, that is.”

“So what about that fellow?”

In the end, Dan Woo-hyun asked crookedly.

Without telling the main point, the introduction was too long. Talking about that fellow Golden Lion’s personal profile did not particularly raise his interest.

At most, was a story likely to be of interest that he had a lot of money?

However, since that money would naturally have no reason to remain if he was captured, there was not a single thing to draw Dan Woo-hyun’s interest.

“The… Golden Lion… has escaped from prison after twenty years!”

“Did they not destroy his dantian?”

“I heard that after the fight with Elder Sa, he could not use internal force at all. Isn’t that how they could lock him up?”

Hong Won-chang cast a gaze asking why he would ask such a natural thing. When Dan Woo-hyun, flustered by that climbing-like gaze, let out a snort, Hong Won-chang’s gaze sank stealthily.

“So, what does that fellow reclaiming his internal force and escaping have to do with you?”

“T-That is…”

Hong Won-chang swallowed dry saliva.

Whether he still could not forget the event of that time, his face was pale blue.

“Even after suffering all kinds of torture for twenty years, he did not confess where the treasure was hidden, but they say he died while being tortured recently.”

“Didn’t you say he escaped just now?”

Dan So-mi looked at Hong Won-chang with a dumbfounded expression. Saying that a person who escaped died, she frowned, unable to make sense of what that meant.

Dan So-mi was increasingly resembling Dan Woo-hyun.

“He pretended to be dead. Is it the Tortoise Breathing Method?”

“Y… Yes. Afterwards, they say he subdued all those trying to move the corpse and vanished.”

“So an order to capture him fell…?”

“Y… Yes! As expected of the Lord! To grasp the situation in a single breath.”

“No need for flattery. But… he is an interesting fellow.”

He lost his dantian and endured all kinds of torture for twenty years. In such a situation, he reclaimed his strength, and ultimately even succeeded in escaping, so it seemed there could not be a more remarkable fellow.

His interest was slightly raised.

The point that he possessed the treasure without having it snatched away until now, perhaps?

“Wow! Then that person must have a lot of money.”

“I… I suppose so.”

Dan So-mi also asked, her eyes shining brightly.

Because she was asking with such innocent eyes, Hong Won-chang broke into a cold sweat despite himself. Even though in truth it was not a problem of money or such things.

“But why are they looking for that fellow in Changsha?”

“That is… because the place he was last captured was precisely this Hunan.”

At that single statement, Dan So-mi opened her eyes roundly.

Soon, chewing on the snacks with crunching sounds, she let out a bright smile.

“There are indeed many events in Hunan. It seems all the hidden mysteries of the Central Plains are hidden in Hunan. Right?”

When she turned and sought agreement from Dan Woo-hyun, Dan Woo-hyun had to nod his head despite himself.

Dan Woo-hyun was also of the same mind.

* * *

Jang Sam-tae and Sa Do-hak, who were returning to Hunan, were using deserted paths and mountain roads, perhaps to avoid being discovered by the Blood Heaven crowd.

Therefore, it could not be but somewhat slow, and that was something that did not fit the personalities of Sa Do-hak or Jang Sam-tae.

“Can we not just go swiftly? What is so scary about those fellows that we hide and wander like this?”

“It is not that it’s scary. It is merely bothersome.”

Sa Do-hak also thought the same. However, considering the numbers of the opponent, it was not that good of an option. Also, he had no desire to let them know the path either.

Because going while killing all the fellows who blocked the way by laying formations wherever they went was not a very good feeling.

That was also the reason why Jang Sam-tae’s words, filled with complaints, did not enter his ears.

“Ah, come to think of it. There is something I’ve been curious about since before.”

“What is it?”

“You know, that story passed down as a legend.”

“Ask the Dan Family Head fellow for such things.”

“No, not that, you know? The story of Elder and the Golden Lion.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Sa Do-hak nod his head as if he understood. At that time, if not for the condition with the Imperial Court, he would not have even thought of competing with him.

If he had not ended up that way, there would have been no way Jeok Mu-seong would become one of the Five Emperors.

“Is that man really that remarkable?”

“His martial arts are also grand. His personality is a madman to the extent that the name Golden Lion fits him.”

“How is he compared to that Sam-gwang?”

“Both are madmen.”

Sa Do-hak frowned.

His face was still vivid in his head.

Especially the words he spoke during the fiercely unfolding battle were rehashed one by one.

“How about twenty thousand taels? Just let me go!”

“No? Let’s settle it with five hundred thousand taels. Aigo, how tiring…”

“Fine, fine. Let’s make it exactly one million taels! With this amount, neither you nor I lose out, right? Give me a break, you beggar bastard.”

Sa Do-hak chuckled at that fellow’s words lingering in his ears. Did he think he could buy off the opponent with money during a fierce battle where life and death were at stake?

Even the upper hand was held by Sa Do-hak.

In a situation where he had to flee desperately or win, spitting out such words was itself looking down on Sa Do-hak.

‘In the first place, it was not a situation to be resolved with money anyway, right?’

Sa Do-hak had such thoughts.

Where in the world would there be a martial artist to whom recommending to resolve with money in a situation where each other’s lives were at stake would work?

“Ah…”

“Why is that?”

“There is one.”

“Yes?”

“No, it is nothing.”

Sa Do-hak chuckled in disbelief after recalling one person for a moment. Since there was actually no way the two would meet, there was no worry.

Moreover, was there not someone they should meet even less?

‘However, it is not completely impossible. Since they didn’t destroy his dantian in the first place…’

However, that was already twenty years ago.

If he had not been able to break it until now, there was no possibility in the future.

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