Book 13 Chapter 17

Find your whereabouts…

Early Jiaxi (ca. 2300), Hua Hua County, Shaanxi Province, Open West Bunta

I woke up in a panic.

OPEN It was a dry day for Ogae in Taju, Seoakbunbun. It was an unexpected visitor.

As an open field that screams that there is no place in Gangho that is not stained with their stains and smells, there was naturally an open field here as well.

The name Westak Bunta comes from the fact that it is a bunta that manages only the volcanic waves and their surroundings.

Bunta didn't even have a fancy building, just a crude thing made of branches haphazardly woven together under a scenic bridge, with a big stick on top, and it was a wonder it didn't collapse in the wind, but the stick was stuck sideways and forward, and now it occupied a pretty big place.

This is the territory of the Hwasan faction (?), which is one of the old Daedae factions, so the battles were small. The actual power was also proportionally small. Still, it has been maintained because it has been a kind of liaison with the volcano and a place for information exchange. It did not intervene in the affairs of the volcano at all, so its status was much lower than that of other bunta.

Wu Kai glared at Luo Hak with a very unpleasant gaze. He still didn't like being beaten out of his sleep, but he couldn't complain, as his quality was actually higher than Buntazu's. He felt very, very sorry for himself.

"Maybe they wanted to avoid human eyes. They couldn't have spent a long time moving a striking beauty like her, because she's an eyesore!"

Bi Ryuyeon looked around and said. He had suddenly become the leader of this rescue team. Everyone listened to him, and then they acted. It happened so naturally.

"They most likely used a horse-drawn carriage!"

"That's right!"

Jang Hong agreed. There was nothing too flawed about their deductions so far. Above all, their greatest enemy now was time. There was no time to waste on bickering.

"The latest sunset time was around 1800. That narrows the target even further. Do you have any information on the movement of the wagons here?"

When Bi Ryuyeon looked at Luo Hak, he looked back at Ogae. Wu Kai was puzzled for a moment. Wasn't he asking something so obvious…….

"Yeah, well, you never know!

Ogae said.

"Where do you think we are?"

"Open."

The answer was obvious.

"Not much can escape the hungry gaze of our beggars here."

Of course I do. Bi Ryuyeon nodded in satisfaction.

"Get me all the information on wagon routes after midnight, especially those that moved after sunset today, ASAP!"

It was a race against time. We were losing time. We had to get back up to Tianmubong before dawn. If we were late for the sunrise inspection, we would be punished.

The beggars who were nesting in the shadow of the volcano that day were forced to spend the most breathless half-hour of their lives.

Immediately after the order was given, a beggar came with a report on today's wagon movements.

It was a report, but it wasn't a report written in the language of the world.

When Yun Junho glanced over his shoulder at the report the beggar had brought him, it was filled with unrecognizable symbols, but that wasn't because the material was of a high jade grade, requiring the use of a password to record it.

In the open, to be gifted in writing, or to be intelligent, was to be able to tell the difference between white and black on a piece of paper; in other words, to be literate. Above this level, there is a level called "Confucius' manifestation," which is a group of people who can not only read, but surprisingly, write.

In the open world of Sobunta, literate people were an extremely rare commodity. Being able to read was a special ability of the Chosen.

At least on the volcano side, I've gotten a little less black-eyed from the rigors of training, but I can still see fifty paces in the jargon.

This is why most information is written in symbols whenever possible. This is to make it accessible to a large number of people. Of course, information that doesn't need to be seen by a large number of people is recorded and categorized separately by special methods.

In order to become an open buntaju, one must pass a literacy test, which is the test that most beggars take with the greatest trepidation, and is often referred to as the final hurdle. Since information is not possible without the written word, it is imperative that the buntazu, who is in charge of overseeing local information, be literate.

Exceptions to this are the occasional skeletal beggars who climb upwards by sheer force of will. In such cases, they are usually assigned to manual labor.

Ogae was also an intellectual beggar who passed the literacy test with flying colors.

"The record of carriage movements in the prefecture today is 45 high-grade carriages, 63 intermediate carriages, 123 low-grade carriages, 89 upper-weight carts, 130 medium-weight carts, and 204 lower-weight carts, totaling 231 carriages and 423 carts."

Everyone was stunned by the five reports. Indeed, the information power of openness was astonishing.

Buntazu's shoulders slumped in pride.

"Do you have any information on pre-dawn movements? "

"Of course. Wagon surveillance is in operation at twelve o'clock every day, especially at night, when travel is so rare that it's rather easy to keep an eye on them with just a few people."

She nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"Okay. So how many carriages have left the Windmaker's Cup between midnight and the start of this drinking session?"

asked.

"Are you referring to the wind chimes?"

"Of course you do, right? "

"Of course."

It was one of the top ten treasures of the city's beggars. As one of the essential stops on the begging trail, it was impossible not to know about it.

"So are there any wagons or carts that traveled from the fortune-teller's cup from midnight to sunrise today?"

I say midnight because that's about the time Hanno and Eunseulan infiltrated the Feng Ming's cup.

"Umm…, no! "

Ogae, who itemized the report, replied.

"That's good, they probably avoided the wagons that moved at dawn because they didn't want to attract attention, but what about the ones that started at sunrise?"

We can't rule out the possibility that they were on the move as soon as the sun came up.

"Yes, 25 wagons have been reported to have traveled from Feng Mingzhuang since sunrise. No wagon movements have been reported, as the Zhongyuan Bureau has borrowed the whole place."

"Do you know if any of those wagons went outside? "

"Of course. The outer carriages are always under surveillance. Hmm, let's see……."

Again, Wu Kai's hand flicked to the report. If there was a carriage outside, it might cause trouble. He didn't want to think of such a horrible thing as Silver Snow Lanes riding in it. Everyone looked at him nervously.

"Umm…, no! "

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"Perhaps there wasn't enough time to get the defendant out."

If so, the search is narrowed down to this area. That alone is a big win for now.

But 25 wagons was still too many.

"Minus the carriage to the giraffe or the tavern?"

Ogae hurriedly skimmed the report and replied.

"Eh…, 15 units."

From over 600 carriages and wagons to just 15. But it was still an overwhelmingly large number.

"Do any of them have private carriages? "

She asked again.

"A private carriage would be……?"

"Yeah, well, if he's leading a kidnapping, he's not going to take a business carriage driven by a coachman from the Carriage Association, that leaves too many traces."

The old man exclaimed excitedly.

"Hmm, there are 8 in total, and 3 of them are headed to one place, so I'd say there are 6 places."

"Three in one place?"

Bi Ryuyeon's eyes widened.

"Do you also have information about where each wagon moved?"

"Yes, of course."

The five eyes turned back to the report. All the places that had moved were marked with numbers.

It was categorized as bhunta, then volcanic, then kanga, and so on. There seemed to be a separate recorder. The reports were written using a combination of symbols and numbers. They were written in a combination of symbols and numbers.

"Where did those three wagons go?"

"Umm…, huh?"

The five eyes widened.

"Is there something special about this? "

Yeomdo asked.

"Oh, no, it's just a bit of a surprise."

"Where is it? "

"Eh…, two and three. All three are volcanic waves."

Suddenly, disappointment washed over everyone's faces. No sane kidnapper would leave their victim in the care of a volcanic wave.

"Since you're here, you've probably stopped by to say hello to the Volcano Clan, the old guard."

It was that it was customary. There were five gnomes who said it.

"All three of you were traveling in a private carriage provided by Feng Shui."

It makes me even more suspicious. Luo Hak turned and looked at Bi Ryuyeon. His eyes were asking what to do now.

Six was too many for them now. Even one was overwhelming.

"Should we split the headcount?

Mo Yonghui thought nervously.

But Bi still had questions, and not only that, he was smiling.

"Yerin, do you know what they say about a thief in the night?"

"Yes!"

Na Yerin nodded. Then she understood.

"Ah!"

Bi Ryuyeon nodded. Then she turned to Ogae and said

"If any of those six places suddenly had increased security today, you'd know about it, right?"

"Oh, sure. But to do that, I'd have to find another report, and I'd have to bring in people."

Bi Ryuyeon smiled and nodded.

"I need it right now, and I'd like to get it done in about an hour (enough time to eat a bowl of rice - about 30 minutes)."

"Because if you don't, you might never eat again."

Yeomdo said in an eerie voice.

"Yes!" he shouted and ran off to one side of the room, and for a while there was quite a commotion outside.

It was exactly one meal later that Ogae returned.

"What a great sense of time. You're going to live a long time!"

Yeomdo chuckled and thanked him. Of course, Ogae was not pleased at all.

asked.

"Have you looked into it? "

"Yep, I did it! "

"You've got your results, right? "

"Yep, it's out! "

Almost immobilized by Yeomdo's momentum, Ogae replied.

"There was only one place, one place like that."

All eyes were on Ogae for a moment.

"What's the name of the place?"

"Yep, it's Hua Ping Zhuang."

"Hwapyeong?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, it's a pretty old manor house on the outskirts of town……."

Ogae paused for a moment, then spoke again.

"The private carriage that was headed there apparently belongs to Hwa Pyung-jang. The carriage was said to have gone in there and not come out."

"Hmmmm……."

"It's a fairly well-established manor house here, too, but……."

She replied.

"Whether it's normal or not, we'll know when we get there! "