CLS-Chapter 55

Chapter 55

At the same time, at the Guangdong Wei Family estate.

The firmly closed main gate of the Guangdong Wei Family estate opened weakly.

The man and woman who entered through the gate were in terrible condition. Seeing the pair enter covered in dust and looking utterly disheveled, everyone present lowered their heads with pitiful expressions.

“Master, Madam! Have you returned?”

Someone quickly ran over and offered them water-soaked towels.

Wei Jeong-han silently extended his hand to receive the towel and wiped his dust-covered face.

“Was there any trouble?”

“There were no particular incidents, Master.”

“I’ve been foolish, frequently leaving my post, causing you all much hardship.”

“That’s not the case, Master.”

The servants looking at Wei Jeong-han had expressions filled with pity.

“Where is General Manager Cho?”

“He’s handling business matters inside.”

“Hoo…”

Wei Jeong-han looked up at the sky with a hardened expression.

“This time too…”

Han Sang-ah let out a deep sigh.

Hoping against hope, this time they had thoroughly searched through Sichuan, but couldn’t find even a trace of Wei Yan-ho.

Not only had they put out wanted notices through the Hao Clan and made requests to the Beggar’s Sect, but they had personally scoured the entire realm, yet nowhere could they find any trace of Wei Yan-ho.

“Yan-ho…”

“Sang-ah.”

Wei Jeong-han couldn’t bring himself to comfort Han Sang-ah.

How could one comfort a mother who had lost her child?

Five years.

Five years had already passed since Wei Yan-ho disappeared.

Time enough for the landscape to change by half had passed, but Han Sang-ah still couldn’t give up on Wei Yan-ho.

Han Sang-ah opened her mouth with a forlorn expression.

“He must be alive somewhere.”

“That must be so.”

“If only I hadn’t sent him to that martial academy back then…”

Wei Jeong-han sighed deeply.

If only Wei Jeong-han hadn’t decided to send him to the martial academy that day, Wei Yan-ho would be lounging in his room right now.

‘That would have been better.’

Though Wei Jeong-han’s heart would have been eaten away with worry, at least it wouldn’t be torn to pieces like this. How could one compare laziness to not knowing whether someone was dead or alive?

Scolding him for being lazy, trying to send him to an academy to cure his laziness—all of it now seemed like vain ambition.

What would it matter if he was a bit lazy? As long as he grew up healthy.

The guilt was unbearable, feeling as if his desire to raise his child properly had driven his child to death.

“If I had known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have scolded him when he was being lazy.”

“…”

“That young child, how much suffering he must be enduring.”

“Sang-ah.”

Wei Jeong-han patted Han Sang-ah’s shoulder. Then he raised his head to look at the sky.

‘Are you still alive, you rascal?’

Wei Jeong-han already knew the answer. If he were alive, why would there have been no contact for five years? Though it was heartbreaking, Wei Jeong-han thought the time had come to finally accept reality.

But Han Sang-ah still seemed unwilling to let go of Wei Yan-ho.

“Next time, let’s go to Hainan.”

“Sang-ah.”

“Let’s just go there one last time. Please?”

Though the conclusion was already obvious, considering the heart of a mother who had lost her child, he couldn’t bring himself to say it was useless. Wei Jeong-han silently nodded.

Knowing that Han Sang-ah had been soaking her pillow with tears every night since that day, he couldn’t utter the cruel words to stop.

“Let’s do that.”

“He’ll be there, won’t he? Won’t he?”

Wei Jeong-han couldn’t answer.

“To go to Hainan, shouldn’t you rest a bit now? You look terrible.”

“When I don’t know what state my child might be in…”

“You need to have strength to find the child, don’t you? Let’s wash up and eat first. You need to rest for a few days before you can gather the strength to go to Hainan.”

“…I’ll do that.”

“Let’s go quickly.”

Wei Jeong-han supported Han Sang-ah.

Feeling Han Sang-ah’s emaciated shoulders through his fingertips, Wei Jeong-han swallowed his grief. Due to severe mental anguish, she couldn’t eat properly, and the long journey had left her greatly weakened.

At this rate, Han Sang-ah would collapse before they could even find Wei Yan-ho.

‘I need to find a way.’

Now was the time to give up. Wei Jeong-han hid these inner thoughts and supported Han Sang-ah as they entered the main gate with weak steps.

“Ma-Master! Master!”

At that moment, Wei Jeong-han frowned seeing Cho Bang running toward him at full speed.

Cho Bang was such a composed person that he would actually restrain Wei Jeong-han whenever he tried to act in anger or handle urgent matters. It was because he was such a person that Wei Jeong-han could entrust him with the household’s affairs and go outside.

But that person was showing such urgency?

“What’s the matter?”

“A-a letter! A letter has arrived! Master!”

Wei Jeong-han bit his lip slightly.

“What’s so important about that? What great matter makes you act so recklessly!”

“The person who sent the letter!”

“Person?”

“Se-se-se-second…”

“Speak properly, man.”

“Se-second young master…”

“What?”

In an instant, Han Sang-ah rushed toward Cho Bang at lightning speed. Anyone seeing this moment’s speed would never believe that Han Sang-ah wasn’t deeply skilled in martial arts.

Han Sang-ah grabbed Cho Bang’s shoulders and shouted.

“Yan-ho?”

“Yes! That’s right, Madam!”

“Th-the letter?”

“I was so nervous I couldn’t bring it out, so I left it in the Master’s study for now…”

Before he could finish speaking, Wei Jeong-han rushed to Han Sang-ah, lifted her up as if carrying her, and ran toward the study.

“Quickly!”

“I know!”

A sturdy door came into view, but Wei Jeong-han wasn’t calm enough to leisurely open the door. As Wei Jeong-han reached the door, his leg stretched out without hesitation.

Crash!

The door shattered, and the letter placed on the desk came into view.

Wei Jeong-han set Han Sang-ah down and opened the letter with trembling hands.

To Mother and Father.

It’s me.

Somehow I’m contacting you after five years. First, please forgive my unfilial conduct. I couldn’t contact you due to circumstances beyond my control, so I’m only now able to reach out.

Before writing this letter, I had so much to say, but now that I’ve taken up the brush, I don’t know what to write.

Let me first explain the situation—after being separated from elder brother, I encountered a demon. I was trapped in a cave for five years learning martial arts from that demon.

Just when I thought I was finally released, that demon placed a prohibition on my body, so I can’t return home now.

I think I’ll need to wander the world a bit more. So I’m sending regards through this letter.

I want to come home right now, but it seems I’ll have to endure a bit more hardship. Once I safely complete my training, I’ll come home immediately, so please don’t worry too much.

I have so much to say but don’t know where to start.

So I’ll just send this for today. I’ll send another letter next time.

Please stay healthy until we meet again.

Yan-ho.

Wei Jeong-han’s hands trembled violently.

The news that Wei Yan-ho was alive was so joyful it brought tears to his eyes, but the following content made his heart burn with rage.

“Who!”

Wei Jeong-han shouted in fury.

“Who dares to place a prohibition on my son!”

Wei Jeong-han’s thunderous shout was so loud it seemed to shake the entire roof.

“How dare they!”

Wei Jeong-han, known in the martial world as the Righteous Hero Sword, unleashed fury unbefitting his title. But even amid that rage, a thread of relief could be felt.

Han Sang-ah clutched the letter and wept endlessly. Wei Jeong-han embraced her and said.

“He’s alive! That rascal Yan-ho is alive! Sang-ah!”

“Yan-ho…”

Wei Jeong-han turned his head to look at Cho Bang.

“Who brought the letter?”

“It came from the Hao Clan…”

“Hao Clan?”

“It’s a letter delivered from the Hao Clan’s Kaifeng branch. They said the second young master visited there personally and wrote the letter.”

“Kaifeng!”

Wei Jeong-han nodded.

“When did the letter arrive?”

“Well, it was already a month ago…”

“Then you should have informed us!”

“I had no way of knowing where you two were.”

“Hmph!”

Wei Jeong-han waved his hand dismissively.

“It doesn’t matter. First! First! Um… so first! Let’s go to Kaifeng. No, San-ho! We need to inform San-ho first! And Su-ryeon too… No. First, let’s go to Kaifeng!”

“Please calm down, Master.”

“Do I look like I can calm down right now!”

Seeing Wei Jeong-han shout angrily, Cho Bang couldn’t help but smile broadly.

“This is exactly when you need to stay composed.”

“Right, that’s right. Yes, I need to be calm. General Manager Cho, send letters to Su-ryeon and San-ho immediately.”

“Yes!”

“And I’ll now… that is, ah! This won’t do. I need to calm down first!”

At that moment, Han Sang-ah sprang up from her seat.

Then she ran toward her quarters.

“Sang-ah? What are you doing?”

“I need to pack.”

“Pack?”

“We need to go to Kaifeng!”

“That’s right! Look at my scattered mind. Packing! It’s packing! General Manager Cho!”

“Yes, I’ll prepare everything immediately!”

Wei Jeong-han took a deep breath and read the letter once more.

“…This demon bastard.”

Seeing that the gentle Wei Yan-ho had described someone as a demon, it was obvious he had encountered an evil demon lord. Not only that, but the demon had placed a prohibition on Yan-ho’s body.

“This demon bastard! Not satisfied with imprisoning my son, you put a prohibition on him too? I’ll tear you apart! Even if you’re dead, I’ll rip your corpse to shreds!”

A strange misunderstanding was taking root.

Then, a sharp voice was heard.

“Aren’t you going to pack?”

“That’s right! Look at my scattered mind! General Manager Chooo!”

“Yes, Master. I’m preparing it now!”

“Let’s go to Kaifeng, to Kaifeng! Right now!”

Thus, a great commotion erupted at the Guangdong Wei Family estate. The Guangdong Wei Family, which had been quietly holding its breath in Guangdong, was now charging toward the Central Plains with terrifying momentum.

Unfortunately, from the Central Plains’ perspective, this was not particularly welcome news.

***

Knock knock!

Jin Ye-ran raised her head at the sound of knocking on her door.

‘Who could it be at this late hour?’

Though she wondered if it might be a thief, a thief wouldn’t politely knock on the door. It could be a robber, but if a robber had any sense, they wouldn’t come to rob the Sacred Hand Shop.

Jin Ye-ran carefully opened the door.

“Hm?”

But there was no one outside the door. As Jin Ye-ran tilted her head in puzzlement, she discovered items placed below the doorway.

“Ah…”

Jin Ye-ran let out a short exclamation. Then she raised her delicate hands to cover her mouth.

“This is…”

Jin Ye-ran reached out with trembling hands toward the items on the ground.

Three promissory notes and a necklace placed on top of the notes.

Seeing her mother’s keepsake, which she thought she’d never see again, tears naturally formed in Jin Ye-ran’s eyes.

“Who could have done this…”

Jin Ye-ran looked around, but no one was visible.

The moon only smiled serenely, offering no answer.