Whispers of Autumn Wind (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 86

Dae Woon slowly regained consciousness. His head felt like a giant hollow wooden barrel—dull, resonant pain throbbed as if someone were pounding it with a club. He was also desperately thirsty.

I wasn’t sure whether it was the headache or the thirst that woke me, but at least I was awake—and that was fortunate. Even after regaining consciousness, Dae Woon kept his eyes shut for a long while. He didn’t want the people who’d done this to him to know he was awake.

He sharpened his senses and strained to hear any sounds around him, but heard nothing. Dae Woon cracked his eyes open slightly and surveyed his surroundings. He saw nothing at all.

He was in total darkness. He couldn’t tell whether it was nighttime or whether he was underground—or simply in a space completely sealed off from light.

He felt no sensation in his hands or feet. His arms and legs were bound tightly with something like tape. Dae Woon tried slowly sitting up. Though he didn’t seem injured, his arms were pulled taut behind him, making it difficult to keep his balance.

He had no idea how long he’d been here. It seemed the people who kidnapped him had simply left him behind. He had no way of knowing whether they might return.

One thing was certain: the kidnappers hadn’t intended to kill him—at least, not yet. Though what might happen later remained uncertain.

The fact they’d kidnapped but not killed him clearly meant he still held some value to them—at least, to those who took him. It wasn’t his body they wanted; rather, they wanted something he possessed—or needed to learn something he knew.

All he had was money—but even that, the kidnappers likely already had, assuming they were who he suspected they were.

Whoever had kidnapped him was probably the one who feared the truth behind his father’s death coming to light. They’d spared his life only to find out how much he knew—and what evidence he’d gathered.

He hadn’t been blind to the possibility they’d attack him. In fact, that fear had been the main reason he decided to go to China—to provoke them into striking, and thereby distance himself from Ga Eul and her family.

He couldn’t keep exposing Ga Eul’s family—the family he’d never had, who, even in their hardest moments, cherished one another and lived in peaceful harmony—to ongoing danger.

For the safety of Ga Eul’s family, he had to appear vulnerable—so he traveled to China without bodyguards and left Yang Gi Tae back in Korea to protect Ga Eul, Gyeo Wool, and Grandmother.

Thinking of Ga Eul’s family made him desperately miss her.

Would she even know he’d been kidnapped? He hoped she remained unaware of his peril until he escaped this crisis. He couldn’t bear the thought of her grieving or worrying over him—even for a moment.

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