CDBW 04

Chapter 4

“Stop!”

A sharp voice cut between the two.

Zihan and Wenling turned their heads at the same time toward the source of the voice. Yoonseol stood there holding a wooden chair, glaring at them as if she might throw it at any moment.

“What are you two doing right now?! I’m going to get angry! This is someone else’s branch office! You broke the windows and started fighting! What are you doing?!”

As if trying to threaten them, Yoonseol swung the wooden chair a couple of times.

However, because her voice trembled slightly, the threat lacked conviction.

Zihan stared at her for a moment, then lightly snapped his fingers.

“Fine. Let’s stop here. I didn’t come here for anything that serious anyway. Besides, if brothers start fighting in a place like this, people will talk.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the ropes and characters binding Wenling’s body melted away and disappeared.

Zihan gently cut through the air with the tips of his fingers as if conducting something.

“‘The river flows and flows, returning to the spring where it was born.’”

Red glowing characters flickered between Zihan’s fingers.

The characters slowly seeped into various parts of Yoonseol’s wrecked office. In an instant, the shattered window returned to its original state.

“Well, that wraps things up. It’s tiring using character arts after such a long time.”

Zihan stretched lazily and sat down on a nearby chair.

Then he ordered Yoonseol in a commanding tone.

“Since we have a guest, go bring us something to drink. I prefer something sweet.”

* * *

Cangjie (倉頡).

The god of writing who was said to possess four eyes.

When heaven and earth first opened and human history was just beginning, he suddenly appeared on earth.

Cangjie possessed extraordinary observation skills along with his four sharp eyes.

While traveling across the world, he happened to discover the footprints left behind by birds and animals.

Within those footprints, Cangjie found patterns.

Eventually, he transformed those patterns into systematic shapes.

Thus, the first writing in the world was created.

When the primordial writing was completed, ghosts and dragons wailed and fled far away.

They realized that with writing now existing in the world, they could no longer hide within ignorance and illusion.

At the same time, the heavens rejoiced and scattered the seeds of the five grains like rain.

Because with writing, knowledge could be accumulated, allowing humanity to fight hunger.

Writing drove away ignorance and illusion, and brought prosperity and knowledge.

That was the power of writing.

Cangjie spread the primordial characters he created to the people. The people praised him and began building civilization using those characters.

But the power of the characters he created did not end there.

Cangjie also mastered a technique where, by transforming the appearance of a specific object into a written character, he could completely subjugate that object.

However, this was an extremely dangerous technique.

So he only taught it to his own children whom he trusted.

His children, following their father’s wishes, carefully passed down the art of character magic only to their blood descendants.

As time passed, the descendants of Cangjie formed a clan.

In later generations, the clan was granted the surname Hou (侯) by the king they served.

After that, they introduced themselves not as descendants of Cangjie, but as scribes of the Hou clan.

Of course, that didn’t mean they forgot their respect for their ancestor, Cangjie.

They embroidered the symbol of Cangjie—four eyes—onto their clothing and writing tools.

It was another source of pride for those who had inherited character magic for generations.

Following their ancestor’s will, they carried out countless achievements throughout history.

“And among them, the elite is none other than me!”

Zihan confidently declared as he set his tangerine tea down on the table.

Yoonseol could only stare at him in disbelief after his long speech.

“Why are you telling us that here?”

“Well, because I like bragging about myself. I’m just that amazing.”

Zihan kept talking excitedly, completely oblivious to how she felt.

If the concept of narcissism were turned into a human, it would probably look like the person sitting in front of her, Yoonseol thought.

“Please don’t listen to him.”

Wenling frowned while looking at Zihan.

“This man is a notorious grave robber who is currently wanted. He is the culprit behind this incident. I came here to arrest him.”

At those words, Zihan responded with a hurt expression.

“Wow, is that something you say to your older brother? You were just getting beaten one-sidedly a moment ago.”

“Ability and personality are not proportional.”

Wenling replied bluntly.

Zihan flared up.

“You brat! Do you need another beating like when you were younger to come to your senses?”

“If I had known my older brother would turn out like this, I would have stopped being your younger brother much earlier.”

“Really? Judging by the way you look, it seems like you already got beaten up before coming here. Instead of quitting as my little brother, maybe you should just quit life altogether.”

Yoonseol watched the two brothers bicker in front of her and had no idea how to process the situation.

She had heard that the scribes of the Hou clan were all extraordinary people.

But looking at the two men in front of her—arguing while drinking instant tangerine tea—it felt like that reputation might just be a rumor.

“How did you find this place?”

Still tense, Yoonseol asked Zihan.

Branches of the Great Museum were usually disguised as ordinary buildings to prevent theft or terrorist attacks.

The Jeju branch she managed was also officially listed as a normal office.

“Simple. I heard my younger brother was going to Jeju for work.”

Zihan said casually while sipping his tea.

Wenling raised his voice in surprise.

“You heard I was going to Jeju? From who? Was there a spy inside the Shaanxi branch?”

“No. Mom told me.”

“What?”

Wenling stared in disbelief.

Zihan explained calmly.

“I’m serious. I called her last week, and she spent an hour worrying that Wenling might end up taking all the blame if he went to Korea alone because he’s so rigid and inflexible.”

As soon as he heard that, Wenling glared.

“How much is that woman telling the son who ran away from home?”

Zihan immediately scolded him.

“Watch how you talk about Mom.”

“I’d rather not hear that from someone like you.”

Here they go again.

If Yoonseol hadn’t been here, the two would have already started fighting physically.

“Anyway, I got here a little earlier by taking advantage of the situation. My dear little brother was chatting with the branch curator here without even realizing his big brother was tailing him.”

Zihan snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, red characters sprang out from Wenling’s back.

“And without realizing that I secretly planted a tracking character spell on your body.”

“W-when did you do that?”

Wenling asked in shock.

Zihan shrugged.

“You still have a long way to go if you couldn’t notice that.”

He laughed loudly.

Seeing Wenling’s trembling face, he looked like he might explode at any moment.

Yoonseol quickly changed the topic.

“So in the end, why did you come here? Are you here to turn yourself in?”

Zihan was, after all, a notorious grave robber.

There had to be a reason he came here so boldly.

“First, I want to clear up a misunderstanding.”

Zihan placed his teacup down.

“I know the Great Museum is chasing me right now. That’s probably why they sent this idiot of a younger brother. But I’m in trouble too. Someone stole the artifact my client asked for.”

“That’s a lie!”

Wenling shouted immediately.

“Your accomplice already confessed everything. We found out you were hired by a Japanese alchemist to smuggle dangerous artifacts!”

“But someone else stole it from us!”

Zihan replied in frustration.

Yoonseol looked shocked.

“So you’re saying… you don’t have any artifact right now?”

“That’s right. And I’ve been chased on top of that. It’s been hell.”

Zihan sighed and looked between his brother and Yoonseol.

“You both know what artifact disappeared from the Shaanxi branch, right?”

“Two items. The Ring of King Solomon and the Philosopher’s Stone.”

Wenling answered flatly.

Zihan nodded.

“Right. The Ring of King Solomon is famous enough that it doesn’t need explanation. The real problem is the Philosopher’s Stone. More precisely, an imperfect Philosopher’s Stone.”

He sighed again.

“An imperfect Philosopher’s Stone accidentally created by a Song-dynasty alchemist. Anything that touches it is reconstructed imperfectly. If that thing gets released in Jeju, something terrible will happen.”

Zihan spoke with a serious expression.

Wenling immediately replied.

“That’s exactly why I came here to stop it.”

“Hah, big words for someone who got beaten up by his older brother.”

Zihan mocked him.

Then he turned to Yoonseol and spoke gently.

“Anyway, Ms. Curator of Jeju. What I’m trying to say is this: that dangerous artifact is currently in the hands of people who know nothing about it. I may be a grave robber, but I’m not a murderer. I want to prevent a disaster.”

Yoonseol fell into thought.

Then she questioned him.

“…Then why aren’t you dealing with it yourself?”

She continued calmly.

“You’re strong, Mr. Zihan. It wouldn’t be hard for you to take the artifact back and defeat us too.”

“To be honest, I don’t need to anymore.”

Zihan yawned lazily.

“My client contacted me and said he’s giving up on the artifact. So I’m planning to withdraw from this job. No reason to fight anymore. But shouldn’t we still stop a catastrophe?”

Yoonseol looked at him skeptically.

“Really?”

“Of course. Otherwise why would I come all the way here? I could just hide somewhere.”

Zihan said casually.

But Wenling was merciless.

“There’s no need to hear more. This man is a criminal wanted by the public security bureau. Not a single word he says should be trusted.”

Zihan looked exasperated.

“Wait! Seriously? I only came here to stop innocent people from getting hurt!”

Wenling raised his voice.

“After living decades as your younger brother, I’ve learned only one thing. Never trust Zihan. Never trust Zihan even if you die. Never trust Zihan even if his body is chopped into pieces!”

“Oh yeah? Maybe you need to see that happen before you learn!”

The two glared at each other again.

Finally Yoonseol shouted.

“Stop! Both of you stop fighting! Please! Do you enjoy fighting or something?!”

She held her forehead.

Ever since she got caught between these two brothers, her head had been pounding.

“Fine, Hou Zihan. If what you’re saying is true, you must have evidence.”

Zihan smiled.

He seemed satisfied that his words had worked.

“Wimi Port. That’s where the artifact stolen from the Great Museum is.”