Chapter 174: v7c24 - The Second Day
Volume 7 Chapter 24 – The Second Day
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Lower stream of the Valley of Sin, near the temporary command tent.
The morning sky was clear, to the point that last night’s disaster felt like a lie.
“Argh.”
Gong Dam-ung, who sat slumped under the morning sunlight, groaned as he felt his entire body aching.
“Huh?”
At that moment, the armor straps that were barely holding his giant-like build burst all at once, and the entire armor slid down to the ground.
Watching that sight, the rest of the Four Heroes of Hwangho chuckled.
However, because they were equally exhausted, the laughter soon subsided.
Having experienced a turmoil they had never faced in their lives, they no longer even had the strength to laugh.
Watching the smoke rising thinly here and there after the fire was put out, they merely felt the lingering warmth of satisfaction that they had accomplished something.
“….”
The same was true for the twenty members of the Emei Sect sitting near them.
As they sat blankly, their gazes turned toward the side of the temporary command tent.
“Transfer this patient to the next area.”
“Can you make a sound? Give it a try.”
The physicians of the House of Benevolence and Love were examining the patients.
Assistant medical personnel, their faces covered with cloth, were devotedly caring for the patients, feeding them porridge and such.
On the other side, those boiling washed bandages were sweating profusely.
There were also those carrying corpses.
Without exception, they all looked unkempt after going through last night’s ordeal, and their faces were filled with fatigue.
Yet, their eyes were still shining brightly.
The sweat they shed reflected the morning sunlight and glowed golden.
Watching that sight, the Emei Sect’s superintendent nun recalled her memories from yesterday evening.
It was the message of the Eldest Young Master, which she had heard when the deputy manager nun and administration nuns were being detained by the warriors of the Luoyang Sword Family.
‘He explained that it was a task requiring your deep Buddhist faith, as well as the compassion and pity welling up from the depths of your hearts.’
Compassion and pity.
She felt as though she now understood what those words meant.
“…It seems we have rested enough now.”
The superintendent nun pushed off her knees and stood up.
Without exception, the other nuns also raised their bodies from their seats.
The armor, which they were wearing for the first time, was incredibly uncomfortable and cumbersome, but they had now grown somewhat used to it.
“Haha, we heroes cannot lose!”
When Gong Dam-ung sprang up, the rest of the Four Heroes of Hwangho also stood up with eyes shining.
The day that had not ended began once again.
* * *
The Eldest Young Master and Fourth Young Master’s Valley of Sin Joint Project Field Headquarters.
Because the fire devil had rushed close, it was a headquarters building that had been almost abandoned with only a rough firebreak constructed around it.
“Fortunately, thanks to the quick suppression, the headquarters is safe.”
“If even this building had been completely burned down, we would have lost all the stored documents, so what a relief.”
It did not matter that the smell of burning was deeply soaked into every corner.
When the scholars opened the door and entered, they saw the Fourth Young Master standing tall among the people busily coming and going.
His manner of receiving reports and giving directions was highly adept.
“Moreover, to see our Lord commanding so reliably in his very first field…!”
“And what about the display the Eldest Young Master showed last night? Wherever you go in this valley right now, it is entirely filled with stories about him.”
“Haha, why speak of it. Even now, those who want to feel the martial prowess the Eldest Young Master displayed, even indirectly, are lingering around the footprints left in the temporary command tent…”
At that moment, a sharp voice flew at them.
“You two over there! Where are you idling about so leisurely?! Get over here this instant!”
It was Tang Ye-rin, glaring with furious eyes.
“Oops!”
The scholars hurriedly ran to her, who was operating the general situation board.
When the door burst open, an agent of the Crescent Moon Pavilion rushed in.
“Fourth Young Master!”
Bypassing the Crescent Moon Pavilion’s Valley of Sin field leadership, she ran directly to the Fourth Young Master and reported.
“It is urgent news from the Luoyang Sword Family!”
Without even having time to catch her breath, she quickly continued the report.
“They say an agenda has been raised from the Luoyang Sword Family’s Business Support Group demanding a reconsideration of the Valley of Sin project plan from the very beginning, and is currently under discussion!”
The complexions of those who heard that turned pale.
No, a reconsideration of the project plan at this point…?
“Had this matter not already passed the review?”
“If the Business Support Group blocks the project plan, there will be no way out…!”
Elder Gwak, the Fourth Young Master’s closest aide, shouted in a booming voice.
“Quiet!”
She slammed her staff onto the ground.
“Did you not already know that the Second Young Master’s side’s sabotage would begin in earnest from today?!”
At her scolding, everyone fell silent.
It was correct, but they had no choice but to be flustered when the name of the Business Support Group, which held immense authority, came up.
They felt the gap with the Second Young Master’s power anew.
“Indeed. We knew it.”
The Fourth Young Master laughed softly.
At that laughter, the gazes of everyone present gathered on him.
“Everyone, keep this in mind.”
Standing with his hands behind his back, the Fourth Young Master looked around the assembly and spoke.
“This will only be the beginning.”
“….”
Everyone swallowed dry saliva.
Some held their foreheads, while others massaged the back of their necks.
Exhausted by the heavy workload that went beyond standard duties after staying up the entire night, they were currently feeling their limits both physically and mentally.
“Tsk tsk.”
As if displeased by those sights, Elder Gwak clicked her tongue, and Tang Ye-rin snorted with crossed arms.
“But it is not something for the headquarters to worry about right away.”
The Fourth Young Master continued speaking.
“We only need to wrap up the aftermath of the fire and do our work as usual.”
He raised a finger.
“In the future, you may ignore all the enemies’ sabotage directed toward this Valley of Sin.”
“Does that mean…?”
At a scholar’s question, the Fourth Young Master nodded.
“Trust Eldest Brother.”
“…!”
No further words were needed.
At those words, the headquarters began to move once again.
They immersed themselves in their respective duties as if nothing had happened.
Rather, a sense of ease seemed to have appeared on their faces.
Looking around the headquarters which had regained its vitality, the Fourth Young Master smiled.
‘In less than a single day, Eldest Brother has established himself as a massive pillar that can support everyone’s hearts.’
He asked the Crescent Moon Pavilion agent.
“So, from which department of the Business Support Group did that agenda rise?”
The Crescent Moon Pavilion agent replied.
“Department One of the Support Group.”
“Department One of the Support Group…”
Mulling over the agent’s report, the Fourth Young Master’s face suddenly turned strange.
‘Come to think of it, that is the department where my older sisters are.’
The faces of the Third Young Lady and the Fourth Young Lady, twin sisters who were one year older than him, rose in his mind.
* * *
At the same time, Luoyang Old Downtown.
“Eldest Young Master, I will guide you this way.”
A priestess of the House of Benevolence and Love guided Yeon So-hyeon and Jeong-ah.
‘It has been a truly long time since I was here.’
Yeon So-hyeon, who walked following behind her, raised his head and looked around.
It was the scenery of a normal House of Benevolence and Love branch that could be seen in any slum, but if there was a difference, it was that the scale of this place was slightly larger.
“It is dark and the ceiling is low. Please watch your head.”
The priestess lifted a lantern hanging on the wall.
They walked down a path leading to the basement surrounded by solid granite.
Those granites were not natural rocks, but had been processed to construct the passage.
It was unmistakably an artificial underground structure that had gone through human hands.
A legacy of a past dynasty that could easily be found underground in the old downtown of Luoyang.
It was the Underground Grand Waterway.
Yeon So-hyeon was currently walking through a section of that Underground Grand Waterway.
“It is just ahead.”
The priestess, who was not permitted any further access, bowed her head with excessive politeness.
“I will wait here until you come out.”
Once Yeon So-hyeon and Jeong-ah turned the corner, a wide passage was revealed where they no longer had to worry about their heads bumping against the ceiling.
The passage was bright to the point that the lantern the priestess had been holding was unnecessary.
At the end of the passage was a massive door.
“Everyone is waiting for the Eldest Young Master.”
The two gatekeepers standing in front of it wore armor over priestess robes filled with shamanistic patterns, and were armed.
At a glance, they were individuals who had achieved considerable stages of cultivation.
“Please enter.”
When they opened the door, a massive space was revealed.
“This place is…”
Although Jeong-ah had already grasped the interior with her Dragon Eyes, she let out an admiration unconsciously.
The ceiling was natural rock bedrock as it was, and because there were holes in various parts of that ceiling, beams of sunlight were shining down clearly.
Reflected on colorful fabrics containing shamanistic and religious meanings, that sunlight added a mysterious atmosphere.
And the massive walls were filled with Buddhist paintings depicting the Medicine Fairy.
Yeon So-hyeon spoke as if responding to Jeong-ah’s admiration.
“Yes. This is the very headquarters of the Fairy Cult, ‘The Lowest Hall’.”
Everyone who had been sitting in tiers along the circular wall rose from their seats.
The directors of all the House of Benevolence and Love branches in Luoyang.
And all the high priestesses.
In unison, they pressed their palms together and greeted Yeon So-hyeon.
“We greet the Eldest Young Master, the son of the Medicine Fairy, who is the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Medicine Buddha.”
In the middle of the hall, at the lowest place, the blind holy maiden who had been waiting for Yeon So-hyeon pressed her palms together deeply toward him.
“I greet the Leader.”
Yeon So-hyeon responded to the greeting with a deep palms-together gesture in return, and then spoke to them.
“Everyone, please be seated.”
Once everyone sat, Yeon So-hyeon got straight to the point.
“What happened to the land in ‘Walnut Village’?”
Yeon So-hyeon suddenly brought up the story of Walnut Village, but no one was flustered.
“I will speak on that.”
The one who rose from their seat was the old physician of the House of Benevolence and Love’s Walnut Village branch.
“We have completely recovered all the land that the Great Immortal Merchant Group of the Sword Family’s Second Young Master’s side had bought.”
At that report, Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
“Was it not difficult?”
“Far from difficult, it was easy.”
The old physician laughed.
“Because those people were only thinking of selling off the land they had mistakenly bought as quickly as possible to reduce their losses.”
“Good.”
“The Crescent Moon Pavilion cooperated more than sufficiently, handing over all the necessary transaction techniques and information, which made the task much easier.”
“Excellent.”
Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
By moving the House of Benevolence and Love, he had succeeded in buying back the land at a bargain price, which the Great Immortal Merchant Group had purchased for sabotage and holding out.
“Now, begin the relocation plan for Walnut Village.”
“Of course!”
In the past, when Yeon So-hyeon visited the House of Benevolence and Love branch in Walnut Village with the Fourth Young Master, he had spoken to the branch directors like this.
‘Later, I will provide you with a few scenarios, so establish feasible plans accordingly and practice them. Make sure there are no mistakes.’
His plan was proceeding steadily.
“And I will introduce those who will oversee the business plans of the House of Benevolence and Love from now on.”
At Yeon So-hyeon’s words, everyone’s gaze turned toward one side.
Those who had arrived earlier than Yeon So-hyeon and greeted the members of the House of Benevolence and Love rose from their seats.
“We greet you once again.”
A beautiful woman, who could not help but catch the eye anywhere, spoke as the representative.
“We are the Tea Fan Maidens. Following the Eldest Young Master’s instructions, we will oversee the business of the House of Benevolence and Love in the future.”
Exchanging nods with them, Yeon So-hyeon spoke to the assembly.
“With them as the main pillar, start the redevelopment plan of Walnut Village as the first step.”
The redevelopment of Walnut Village.
Because by now, it had become a project purely funded by the resources of the House of Benevolence and Love.
In a word, it was an area in which the Luoyang Sword Family’s Business Support Group could not interfere.