Chapter 146

Though several months had passed since he arrived in Chengdu, Soma’s appearance remained unchanged.

While children his age grew differently every day, Soma’s appearance was fixed at around six or seven years old.

Any other child would have been terribly sad, but Soma calmly accepted his reality.

‘Well, it has its advantages.’

The appearance of a bright, innocent child was the ultimate weapon for lowering an opponent’s guard and making them careless.

Yu Gicheon, standing before him now, was one of those who had fallen for Soma’s appearance.

He had been charmed by Soma’s looks when they met by chance and had doted on him. Whenever they met on the street, he would give him pocket money or mooncakes.

It was by sheer coincidence that Yu Gicheon learned of Soma’s true nature.

While returning to his mansion with his guards, he was attacked by Wanderers. They killed all the guards and were about to take Yu Gicheon’s life as well. It was then that Soma suddenly appeared and killed all the Wanderers.

The one who had instigated the Wanderers was a former Subordinate of Yu Gicheon. He had hired the Wanderers, coveting Yu Gicheon’s wealth.

While he was at it, Soma tracked down the former Subordinate who had instigated the Wanderers and cleaned up the mess neatly.

Only then did Yu Gicheon realize what a truly fearsome being Soma was.

Even after that, Soma would occasionally visit Yu Gicheon’s mansion for a delicious meal. But Yu Gicheon could no longer treat Soma with the same ease as before.

He knew of the cruelty and terrifying skill hidden behind Soma’s cute face.

Above all, behind Soma was the man who had terrified everyone in Sichuan Province.

Yu Gicheon couldn’t believe how shocked he was when he first learned that fact.

Pyo Wol was synonymous with terror within Sichuan Province.

He was an object of fear, especially for powerful men like Yu Gicheon.

Until then, the powerful figures of Chengdu and Sichuan Province had all aligned themselves with prestigious sects like the Emei Sect and the Qingcheng Sect. They had joined hands with the great sects to protect their wealth and power. But their connections were brutally crushed by Pyo Wol alone, forcing the sects to become Closed-off.

Naturally, the influential figures tried to establish a connection with Pyo Wol. But not a single one succeeded in making direct contact with him.

So some said that Pyo Wol must have left Chengdu. But Yu Gicheon knew that Pyo Wol was staying in Chengdu, and in a mansion on Sincheon Road at that.

The one who told him this was none other than Soma.

Soma genuinely liked Yu Gicheon. At the very least, he was someone who had been good to him without any ulterior motives.

Even if it was because he had been deceived by his adorable appearance.

Even now, Soma was smiling brightly. But Yu Gicheon could not smile.

Now that he knew Soma’s true nature, he could no longer treat him as comfortably as before.

Soma stared intently at Yu Gicheon.

“Grandpa, you’re a really good person.”

“Me?”

“He was someone you just met yesterday. You had no reason to warn him, but you did.”

“He is a good person. Although his nephew made a big mistake…”

“You have to distinguish between a mistake and an attempt. He climbed over the wall with impure intentions. You can never call that a mistake. Grandpa!”

“I’m sorry. I made a mistake. In any case, I thought it was too harsh a price to pay for his nephew’s wrong choice.”

“I understand your choice, Grandpa. But don’t get involved in things like this next time. You could get hurt because of it.”

“Alright! I’ll be careful.”

“I’m sorry, Grandpa. For saying this…”

“It’s alright.”

Yu Gicheon shook his head.

“See you next time, Grandpa!”

“Alright!”

Soma launched his body into the air.

His figure vanished from sight in an instant.

“Hoo!”

Left alone, Yu Gicheon let out a deep sigh.

Soma returned to the Red Pine Manor. Go Chonggwan greeted him.

Originally, Go Chonggwan had a very sharp impression. But after Soma and the children came to the Red Pine Manor, his impression had softened considerably.

Soma asked.

“Uncle Steward! Where’s Guian?”

Go Chonggwan pointed a finger toward the mansion’s basement.

“He’s cooped up in there again?”

Go Chonggwan smiled and nodded. Soma sighed.

“What’s so great about that smelly basement?”

Soma sighed and walked toward the entrance to the basement.

Go Chonggwan watched Soma’s retreating back with a smile.

The sight of Soma walking away, the ring around his neck jingling, couldn’t have been cuter.

With Soma and the children’s arrival at the Red Pine Manor, Go Chonggwan’s burden had also been greatly reduced. The children shared his work, allowing Go Chonggwan to focus on his primary duties as a Steward.

Soma stood at the entrance and shouted.

“I’m coming in.”

It was a shout for Guian to hear.

If he entered without announcing himself like this, the Mechanisms would activate.

Guian had decorated the basement of the Red Pine Manor as a space just for himself.

The entrance was plastered with all sorts of traps and Mechanisms, reminiscent of an impregnable fortress. Because of this, even Soma and Eun-yo had to announce their arrival beforehand so Guian could disable the Mechanisms and traps.

Perhaps because he heard his voice, the Mechanisms and traps did not activate. Thanks to that, Soma could easily enter Guian’s space.

The basement was truly vast.

In the vast space, there was an enormous number of bookshelves, and each bookshelf was filled with many books. Although there were still many empty spaces, Soma thought they would be filled soon enough.

In the middle of the bookshelves was a large desk, and on the desk were mountains of paper and books. And in front of it sat Guian.

Guian had an old, yellowed book open and was writing something.

Soma didn’t want to disturb him, so he just watched from the side.

Only after a long time did Guian’s work finish.

“All done.”

Thud!

Guian closed the book and stretched.

Soma asked.

“What’s that?”

“I was organizing the list of Trading Companies and Escort Agencies that entered Chengdu yesterday.”

Guian answered as if it were nothing.

But Soma knew well how difficult a task it was.

Guian, who had followed Pyo Wol to the Red Pine Manor, soon discovered his aptitude.

It was grasping and collecting the flow of information.

For him, who could see the flow of qi, grasping the flow of information was as exciting as a fish finding water.

Guian took over the work Go Chonggwan had been doing and let his talent bloom as if he had found his true calling.

It was also Guian’s idea to take over Chengdu’s underworld.

He used Soma and Eun-yo to bring the underworld under his control.

After that, everything went smoothly.

He built a surveillance system in his own way, making it possible to immediately grasp what was happening in Chengdu.

Originally, the one who presided over Chengdu’s information was the Hao Clan. But Guian slowly chipped away at the Hao Clan’s information network.

By the time the Hao Clan realized it, most of the control had already passed to Guian.

At least in Chengdu, the Hao Clan was powerless. The information system Guian had built was more powerful than the Hao Clan’s.

Superiority in information was superiority in power.

Countless pieces of information flowed into his basement space every day.

Most of it was useless information, but Guian grasped the hidden truths behind it and reprocessed it into something useful. The reprocessed information was then delivered to Pyo Wol.

Soma asked.

“Aren’t you going to go outside?”

“What would I do out there?”

“Don’t you feel suffocated? You were trapped in the Small Thunder Sound Temple, and now you’re cooped up in a basement here too.”

“That wasn’t my choice, but this is, so it’s different. I like it here.”

Guian spread his arms wide.

He was the master of this vast underground space filled with bookshelves.

There was no reason to go outside when he could sit here and grasp the entire situation in Chengdu.

Soma shook his head.

“You’re like a shut-in fetishist.”

“Stop with the nonsense. Why are you here?”

“Ah! The Somyeong Escort Agency matter was resolved well.”

“I just got a report about that. It said they left Chengdu just a moment ago.”

“That was fast!”

“Their lives were on the line.”

“Good thing they had some sense. If they were still here by tomorrow, I was planning to kill them all.”

Soma clicked his tongue with a look of regret.

Guian looked at Soma with an expression that said he was hopeless.

Soma had a childlike appearance and an unusual way of thinking. Those who knew his true nature might feel a sense of dread at his appearance, but to Guian and Eun-yo, he felt dependable.

The bond the three children felt for each other was beyond imagination. Having been kidnapped and raised together in the Small Thunder Sound Temple from a young age, their solidarity was so strong that no outsider could dare to interfere.

Soma thought of Eun-yo and Guian as more than his own blood relatives. Because of that, he showed an unimaginable level of aggression in matters related to them.

If not for the existence of Pyo Wol, the Somyeong Escort Agency would have disappeared from this world last night.

Soma asked.

“Where’s Eun-yo?”

“She’s probably with Hyung.”

“Learning the geum again? She’s persistent.”

“Persistent, yes. The problem is she doesn’t have the talent for it…”

Guian shook his head with a fed-up expression.

Soma stood up from his seat and said.

“Want to come with?”

“No!”

Guian refused.

He had no intention of leaving his personal space.

Soma clicked his tongue and left the basement.

The place he headed for was Pyo Wol’s residence.

Twang, tang, tang!

As he got closer to Pyo Wol’s residence, the sound of the geum grew louder.

Soma furrowed his brow deeply.

The sound of the geum should have been clear and elegant, but it was a bizarre noise, like scraping metal.

The closer he got to the room’s door, the worse the noise became.

Soma eventually had to cover his ears with both hands.

“Hyung-ah, it’s me, Soma! I’m coming in.”

He spoke loudly and entered the room.

Inside the room, Pyo Wol and Eun-yo were sitting facing each other.

A geomungo was placed in front of Eun-yo, and her white hands were diligently plucking the strings. Each time, an unpleasant sound echoed.

At the sound, like fingernails scratching a steel plate, Soma’s frown deepened.

‘My god!’

Hearing it from inside was several times more terrible than hearing it from outside.

What was even more amazing was Pyo Wol.

He even felt a sense of respect for Pyo Wol, who sat there without a single twitch while listening to Eun-yo’s playing right in front of him.

Finally, Eun-yo’s playing came to an end.

Eun-yo lifted her head.

Her unfocused eyes held a faint sense of anticipation.

At that moment, Pyo Wol opened his mouth.

“It seems the geum does not suit you.”

“Ugh!”

“You can run a Brothel without necessarily playing the geum, so just give it up.”

At Pyo Wol’s firm words, Eun-yo hung her head low.

“Kekek!”

Soma burst out laughing at the sight of Eun-yo.

“Don’t laugh!”

“I told you to give up sooner. Do you want to ruin the business?”

“Hmph! I’m not giving up. I won’t.”

Eun-yo shot up from her seat.

She glared precisely at Soma before heading outside. Despite being unable to see, she perceived him accurately with her other senses.

Soma chuckled and sat down in front of Pyo Wol.

“Hyung-ah, you’re really amazing. How can you keep listening to that noise? I couldn’t stand it for a single moment.”

Just as Guian had found his aptitude, Eun-yo had also found a place she liked.

It was the Brothel owned by Pyo Wol.

Eun-yo had never once in her life dressed up lavishly.

She was captivated by the splendor of the Brothel and the Courtesans.

Although she couldn’t see with her eyes, she loved wearing fancy clothes and dressing up.

Although she had no desire to become a Courtesan and sell her body, she wanted to run a Brothel.

She thought that in order to run a Brothel, she needed to know what a Courtesan does. That was why she was learning the geum.

But unfortunately, she had no talent for it.

The heavens had given her a beautiful appearance, but they had not given her a talent for music.

She was sent to the Celestial Music Hall where Pyo Wol had learned music to study under Master Yuedu, but her skills did not improve at all.

On the contrary, she wore out the great Master Yuedu with her terrible sounds. In the end, she couldn’t last two months and was kicked out of the Celestial Music Hall.

After that, she came to Pyo Wol so frequently, saying she would learn the geum* from him. Of course, the result was always the same.

Soma was envious of Guian and Eun-yo. Because at least the two of them had found something they liked.

He had not yet found anything.

Something he liked.

Or the direction he should go.

He had escaped the Small Thunder Sound Temple, but his wandering had not yet ended.