Chapter 16

How much time had passed? The pain that made a single minute feel like an hour vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

“Ugh…”

Yuwon, who had lost consciousness, struggled to regain his senses.

His vision was still blurry from just waking up. Through his hazy sight, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.

‘Damn, my vision…’

Lying flat on the floor, Yuwon closed his eyes and waited for his sight to recover while sinking into thought.

‘Hah, so this pain just comes and goes without warning? This is worse than any torture.’

For the first time, Yuwon had personally experienced the agony Yurion had been enduring. The intensity of it left him speechless.

‘If he’s endured this for years, it’s a wonder he didn’t lose his mind completely rather than just become a wastrel.’

It was an agony so fierce that even Yuwon, who had faced death itself, shuddered. He couldn’t help but pity Yurion, who had lived with such torment.

‘If I could ease his pain, I’d take not just drugs, but the grandfather of drugs if I had to. This Yurion fellow… he’s got more grit than I thought.’

Suddenly, Yurion appeared in a different light.

After some time, Yuwon opened his eyes again. His vision had finally returned to normal.

Still lying down, he turned his head to check his surroundings — and a strange glint flashed in his eyes.

‘Wait, where is this?’

He had assumed earlier that his blurry vision had simply made it hard to see, but now that he could see clearly, this wasn’t the library.

Startled, Yuwon pressed his hand to the ground and stood up, scanning the area more carefully. His suspicion turned into certainty.

‘This isn’t the library!’

The place where Yuwon now stood was not the Imperial Library.

Alarmed, he quickly heightened all his senses, staying alert to any danger.

It was a large, dome-shaped cavern that bulged upward, and Yuwon stood at its very center.

‘Someone moved me while I was unconscious. Was it the enemy?’

If it hadn’t been the enemy, then he would have been taken to the Fifth Prince’s Palace. But no matter how he looked, this was not it.

‘But to think the enemy was behind this… it feels too peaceful for that.’

The surroundings were far too calm. If the enemy had gone through the trouble of moving him, it made no sense for them to just leave him free like this.

If they had wanted to harm him, there wouldn’t have been a better opportunity than while he was unconscious.

‘But I woke up perfectly fine like this… what kind of trick is this?’

It didn’t seem like the work of an enemy. Still, Yuwon couldn’t let his guard down. His wariness sharpened as he analyzed the situation critically.

‘Doubt, and doubt again.’

He had been ambushed just the night before.

In an unknown place like this, relaxing his guard was not an option.

Keeping himself ready for an attack at any moment, Yuwon did a few light stretches to loosen his tense muscles.

Once he was as prepared as he could be, his eyes slowly took in the scenery around him.

‘There are so many doors… am I at the center?’

Even at a glance, he could see several doors leading who-knew-where, all connected to the cavern where he stood.

The layout suggested the entire space had been designed around this central point.

‘Let’s take a look around.’

Keeping his body taut and senses heightened for any sudden attack, Yuwon began to cautiously inspect the interior.

Although there didn’t appear to be any immediate threats, he made no move to lower his guard.

‘Even a stone bridge should be tested before crossing. No need to rush. Safety first.’

The floor, ceiling, and walls were all neatly built from polished marble, and at regular intervals, magical lamps illuminated the area brightly.

‘What was this place made for? It’s so vast… and yet completely empty…’

It was a space large enough to hold several hundred people comfortably, yet Yuwon was the only one there.

As he carefully explored, he walked, hopped, and even jogged a little to test the ground’s stability.

Eventually, deciding it seemed safe enough, he tried running a full circle before returning to the center.

“Hah… it’s ridiculously huge.”

Catching his breath, Yuwon squinted toward the doors connected to the cavern.

‘So those doors are all that’s left… what’s behind them…’

There was truly nothing else inside — not even dust, thanks to the traces of preservation magic.

He couldn’t even see what might count as an entrance or exit. If there was one, it had to be behind one of those doors.

To get out, he’d have to open them one by one.

Many doors, but only one possible way forward.

“Guess I have no choice but to open one.”

Resolute, Yuwon took slow, deliberate steps toward a door. His senses sharpened like a blade.

‘I’m not about to die in some trap in a place I don’t even know.’

He didn’t know what lay beyond, and while the condition of the chamber didn’t suggest danger, Yuwon assumed the worst.

‘If a blade flies out the moment I open it, I’d better be ready to react.’

He stopped before the largest door. Among all the doors lining the curved inner wall, this was the most imposing — a massive black gate.

It was wide enough for a carriage to pass through, and on each handle was carved a crow.

A black stone door with black crows.

Among all the doors, it seemed to stand proudly, almost inviting him to open it first.

‘If one of these is the exit, this one’s the best candidate.’

Having made up his mind, Yuwon reached out and pushed open the heavy stone door.

Ku-gu-gu—

With his inner power flowing through his arms, the heavy door began to move slowly outward.

Beyond the stone door lay another, smaller chamber. It was of a similar shape but much smaller than the central one.

‘This is… going to be troublesome if it keeps going like this.’

There was no attack, thankfully, but the new chamber was bothersome in its own way.

On the opposite side from where he entered, Yuwon spotted three more doors.

‘I hope I won’t be trapped repeating this until I dry up and die here. For now, I’ll check this chamber first, then open the smaller doors one by one.’

Since he had come this far, he couldn’t leave it unexplored.

Unlike the main chamber, which had been completely empty, there was something in the middle of this smaller one.

‘What’s that… a box?’

At about waist height, a small chest sat atop a low pedestal.

Something finally worth inspecting piqued his curiosity.

Standing still with his hand on the door, Yuwon moved forward after examining the room with his eyes.

Step—

Whoosh—!

The moment Yuwon stepped forward, the ground trembled.

No—perhaps it wasn’t the floor itself moving, but rather the thick layer of dust covering it that was stirred up by his step. Within moments, the narrow chamber was filled with swirling dust.

“Ugh!”

Yuwon hastily covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve. He had never seen so much dust in his life.

‘So much dust… maybe they didn’t bother putting preservation magic here. Or maybe they didn’t need to?’

He didn’t stand around waiting for the dust to settle.

Cautiously, Yuwon continued walking deeper into the chamber.

‘Dust aside, this place is better off than the last one.’

At least there was something to inspect in the center — a small comfort amidst confusion.

‘If there had been nothing but doors again, that would’ve been maddening. I suppose this is a small blessing.’

Avoiding as much dust as he could, Yuwon moved slowly toward the chest. Soon, he stood before it.

‘I wonder what’s inside… if it’s been kept this carefully, there must be a reason. Hopefully a good one…’

Though everything about it was suspicious, it made no sense to stop now. Filled with both curiosity and caution, Yuwon carefully opened the wooden chest.

Click—

The dust-covered chest opened easily, revealing its contents without resistance.

“Hm?”

Inside the chest lay another box — a glass case, protecting something within.

The problem was what rested inside that glass case: a single book.

‘What…?’

Yuwon’s eyes widened.

The book, carefully preserved within the glass, immediately caught his full attention.

‘Wait, could that be…?’

Though time had dulled the outer box, a faint layer of dust covered the glass.

Through the hazy surface, Yuwon could make out familiar markings.

They were Chinese characters.

He couldn’t see them clearly, but the letters on the book’s cover were unmistakably ones he recognized.

‘Ah…! It’s definitely Chinese characters!’

Yuwon’s heart pounded violently, as though it might burst. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but there was no mistake.

As he squinted through the dust-coated glass, he could almost make out the words. Though he couldn’t read them yet, one thing was certain — they were Chinese characters.

‘The contents don’t matter. I have to see this book!’

Chinese characters — that alone made the book priceless to him. Whatever it contained, he couldn’t let it slip away.

Thoughts of traps were forgotten. If this place had been meant as a trap, he’d already had plenty of chances to die by now.

Suppressing his rising excitement, Yuwon carefully lifted the dust-covered glass lid and took the book into his hands.

The moment he held it, he worried his heart might actually explode.

‘Sichuan Tang Clan (四川唐門)!’

How could he ever forget that name? The cover bore the name of Sichuan itself.

He couldn’t even muster a proper exclamation or gasp.

Shocked, Yuwon forced himself to stop his trembling hands.

Holding the book with both hands, he slowly opened to the first page.

The moment he did—

Thud—

“Ah…!”

A small gasp escaped him.

The precious book slipped from his hands.

The shock drained all strength from his body; it was all he could do not to collapse.

Yuwon stood frozen, unable even to pick the book back up.

Time itself seemed to stop the instant he read the first three characters on the first page.

He had thought nothing could surprise him more than the words Sichuan Tang Clan written in Chinese — but there was something that did.

A man once known as the disgrace of the Sichuan Tang Clan, a liar and storyteller.

And the same man who was the father of Tang Yuwon, the illegitimate son.

‘Author: Tang Seogyeom.’

A father’s legacy had found its way to his son, traveling a long, fateful path to do so.