Chapter 6. A Third-Rate Warrior Who Gathers Spiritual Medicines (4)
After the Gyeryong Merchant Guild had its Snow Plum Pill stolen, all traces of the Soul-Chasing Guest vanished cleanly.
There was nothing particularly surprising about thieves living under several identities. The question was why no one who seemed to have taken the Snow Plum Pill ever appeared.
This was not some other treasure. It was a spiritual pill.
Even if it was precious enough that one could not obtain it with money, and even if he could have sold it, no rising master who appeared to have consumed the Snow Plum Pill ever emerged.
The Snow Plum Pill and the Soul-Chasing Guest had both disappeared without a trace.
“It makes no sense.”
As I searched through the mission reports in the library, two names caught my eye.
Gu Il-mu of the Diancang Five Swords.
Jang Han-gi of the Diancang Five Swords.
The Diancang Five Swords, who had originally traveled together as five, had gradually begun taking missions split into groups of three and two. The mission completion rate of Gu Il-mu and Jang Han-gi, who formed the pair, was far higher than that of the other three.
“So this was where the tragedy of the Diancang Twin Swords began.”
This was the beginning of the incident that would later split Diancang in two and lead it to destroy itself.
‘The person who assigned the mission that brought them to Hefei was also a member of Diancang Sect. I should assume that this matter was planned long ago.’
In any case, now that I had grasped the inner truth of the incident, the problem was how to seize the pill.
Even if I knew Diancang Sect’s martial arts, including Jegal’s Three Forms, I could not face two members of the Diancang Five Swords alone.
So the answer I thought of was traps.
No matter how great a master was, moving while watching one’s own feet was no easy thing.
“Foolish wretch. Did you think we would be taken so easily?”
Jang Han-gi’s feet floated into the air.
It was the Grass-Skimming Flight, one of the finest movement arts.
Indeed, if it was the Grass-Skimming Flight, the traps might not activate.
However.
“What Warrior in the world can fight while executing the Grass-Skimming Flight? Have you already earned a place among the Hundred Greatest Masters under Heaven?”
Without any need for proper techniques, I filled the Three Powers Sword Art with internal energy and struck. Jang Han-gi, unable to move his feet carelessly, twisted his body strangely in an attempt to maintain his balance.
“You know who we are.”
“Of course I do.”
“Do you not fear the vengeance of our great Diancang and the Murim Alliance?”
“Can the Diancang Five Swords report another robber they met while committing robbery themselves?”
“……”
Gu Il-mu barely shattered the trap and spoke.
“Only he knows where the traps are. Han-gi. Use palm force and overturn the surroundings.”
“Yes, Senior Brother.”
At those words, the two men met each other’s eyes, nodded, and leapt at the same time.
THUD THUD THUD THUD.
CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.
The Falling Petal Palm erupted with fierce force, overturning the ground’s surface wildly, and the traps that had been aiming for their ankles appeared, broken and exposed.
Because of the Falling Petal Palm, leaves and branches tangled together in chaos, and the area completely lost its former appearance.
“Now he does not know where the traps are either.”
The two men stepped on the broken traps and launched themselves forward, and the Sun-Shooting Sword Art poured out from their hands.
I did not dare think of responding directly to the Sun-Shooting Sword Art and retreated several steps.
“How!”
They could not hide their shock at the fact that, even after retreating several steps, I had not stepped on a single trap.
“Step only where he steps!”
“Yes!”
After throwing the surroundings into confusion, they advanced only by stepping on the places their opponent had stepped.
They truly did possess excellent minds, worthy of men whose names belonged among the Diancang Five Swords.
“Aaagh!”
This time, Jang Han-gi screamed and forcibly broke the trap that had bitten into his ankle.
“Did you not consider that a trap might activate over a difference of a single footprint?”
Even if we stepped in the same places, I was one person, while they were two. Naturally, one of them had no choice but to be caught in a trap.
“You bastard! I will uncover your identity and tear all your kin to pieces!”
“If you can leave this place alive.”
Gu Il-mu began unfolding the Sun-Shooting Sword Art to its utmost.
He clearly seemed to have decided that it no longer mattered what happened to the traps, and I unfolded the Shattering Form of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art at the same time.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG.
The moment we clashed through six exchanges in an instant, Gu Il-mu’s face twisted, and he looked at his own sword.
“What in the world……”
A Shattering Form was not merely a defensive form meant to block an opponent’s martial art.
It was a method of blocking the path of a martial art and twisting its energy so that the opponent could not properly exert his strength.
Naturally, when one faced a Shattering Form, one would feel one’s internal energy cut off and one’s body refuse to move as intended.
Ordinarily, he might have forced his way through with sheer ferocity, stubborn resolve, and internal energy, but the current situation was one in which he did not know where the vicious traps lay buried.
“Do you have the leisure to stand there in a daze?”
Gu Il-mu, pushed backward by the Shattering Form, stepped on a trap with his other foot.
“Aaagh!”
“Senior Brother Gu!”
Immediately after, Jang Han-gi rushed in while unfolding the Platinum Sword Art. I threw a stone at the trap installed where his foot would land and activated it, causing Jang Han-gi’s footwork to twist strangely.
“Ugh!”
“You should not take your eyes away.”
And, as though I had been waiting for this, I thrust my sword in.
The Ascendant Form of the Minor Heaven Sword Art.
It was inferior to the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, but the speed of the Minor Heaven Sword Art, which formed the basis of a swift sword, was not something one could easily evade while flustered.
SWISH.
THUNK.
“Guh.”
Red blood burst from Jang Han-gi’s mouth, and he collapsed to the ground with bloodshot eyes wide open.
“Han-gi!”
As though Jang Han-gi’s death had shocked him, Gu Il-mu’s body trembled violently.
After a short while, Gu Il-mu regained himself, threw the wooden box and the secret manual he had tucked into his robes onto the ground, and spoke.
“If you let me go like this, I will forget everything that happened here.”
“Good. Then I shall let you go.”
I readily nodded and made as though to pick up the wooden box. At that moment, Gu Il-mu unfolded the Formless Fist and the Seven Severing Hands.
At the same time, as though it had been waiting, my sword crossed through the shapes of his fist and hand techniques and left a deep wound across Gu Il-mu’s throat.
“How……?”
“I experienced more than enough in my previous life to know how little you people keep your promises.”
Gu Il-mu collapsed onto the cold ground with an expression that seemed to say he did not understand what I meant.
“Haa, haa.”
My breathing barely settled, and I stared at Jang Han-gi and Gu Il-mu for a long time.
Their corpses lay there miserably.
“I won……”
It was a dreadful sight of dead men, and once this scene entered my eyes, I would never forget it. Even so, I did not want to turn away.
Because it was the first time I had seen chosen men like them die, rather than third-rate Warriors like me.
Without even thinking of taking the Snow Plum Pill or the secret manual, I spent time imprinting this scene in my memory even more clearly.
“The Taeul Sect of Hefei?”
Jegal So-myeong wondered if such a sect existed, then soon nodded with an ‘Ah.’
“Is it not one of the One Hundred Eight Peaks?”
“Are there not many powerful martial sects in Hefei as well? It is about time it was replaced with a new Peak.”
A martial sect expanding its influence in Hefei would be…… the Iron Sword Sect. I heard Namgung Tae-won had recently been backing the Iron Sword Sect, so that must be the reason.
Jegal So-myeong looked steadily at the Elder before him, who was feigning innocence and elegance as he drank tea.
“Did the Taeul Sect commit some wrongdoing?”
As a rule, once a sect’s name was placed among the One Hundred Eight Peaks, it was not replaced unless it committed a grave offense.
That was the meaning of a blood alliance.
“Wrongdoing…… Is it not also a grave offense, as a blood ally of the Murim Alliance, to regress day by day without any development?”
Jegal So-myeong delayed his answer and merely drank his tea.
An Elder of the Murim Alliance.
To occupy one of the thirty seats in a decision-making body that existed within the Alliance meant not only that the person possessed ability, but also that his background was not insignificant.
It was not that Jegal So-myeong was inferior to anyone in martial force or background, but in order to repel such an unreasonable demand from an Elder, he needed a certain degree of justification.
After finishing the arrangement in his mind, Jegal So-myeong opened his mouth.
“If the One Hundred Eight Peaks are regressing, that must also be the fault of the Murim Alliance. Hm, in that case, the current Murim Alliance…… No, I must be doing something wrong.”
Namgung Tae-won’s face twisted slightly.
“That is not what I meant.”
Namgung Tae-won revealed his true intentions so quickly.
Watching him, Jegal So-myeong could not help but feel doubt.
‘Why did that fellow Tae-ha entrust an Elder seat to this man?’
Originally, it was a seat that should have belonged to Namgung Tae-ha, the head of the Namgung Clan.
Though Namgung Tae-won was of the same bloodline as the Namgung Clan, he was still clearly from a collateral line. It was not a seat he could easily occupy.
“I, too, know that the influence of many among the One Hundred Eight Peaks is gradually declining. However, the One Hundred Eight Peaks were not created by the Murim Alliance to rank sects in a line. They were created to carry on the meaning of having fought together in the most dangerous and difficult days of the past.”
“Urgh……”
Namgung Tae-won seemed to think the matter had already failed. He smacked his lips, then opened his mouth.
“Even so, if the One Hundred Eight Peaks remain only in stable positions that never change, will they not stagnate and rot?”
“That is why they are continuously managed, even if irregularly.”
“Hmm…… I understand. By the way, I heard that the Taeul Sect is doing business with its right to the ‘special admission track.’”
“……”
It was a problem that had continued for a very long time.
However, there had been no great side effects, and since the One Hundred Eight Peaks were burdened with obligations, he had left it alone, thinking that such benefits might be necessary.
“Ah, well, I am only saying I heard such a thing. It is not as though I wish to put some particular place into the One Hundred Eight Peaks.”
“Hmm. Is your business finished?”
“The Iron Sword Sect Leader of Hefei is holding a banquet to mark his sixtieth birthday. Since it is his sixtieth birthday, he sent an invitation, wondering whether the Grand Strategist might attend.”
“Ha ha. Ha.”
Since when was the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance such an idle position?
“Of course, I know very well that you are busy. But Grand Strategist, you should rest a little as well. At this rate, you will fall ill. What do you think of going to the Iron Sword Sect together while also investigating the ‘special admission’ corruption case I just mentioned?”
How much money had the Iron Sword Sect fed Namgung Tae-won to have the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance invited?
This must have been Namgung Tae-won’s purpose from the beginning.
Naturally, Jegal So-myeong could have come up with about a hundred reasons to refuse, but he soon stopped himself.
No matter how much he spoke to this fool, the fool would not listen. To set matters right, he had to deal with the one who had placed such a man in this position.
“Hmm. That is not a bad idea. So, when is this sixtieth birthday?”
The Great Righteous-Demonic War was hell itself.
There were demonic cultists, each one a monster in his own right, and low-ranking Warriors who charged toward them and were ground down without end.
There were no countermeasures or strategies.
The Murim Alliance used its absolute dominion over the martial world to gather Warriors, then drove them onto the battlefield.
The low-ranking Warriors, pushed into war with vague hopes of rendering merit and rising within the Murim Alliance, realized their own innocence as they watched their swords shatter helplessly. By then, however, it was far too late.
Was there compensation for the Warriors who were ground down like that?
There was none.
At least those who had already been registered as members of the Murim Alliance could have death notices sent home.
But even that belonged only to the early days of the Great Righteous-Demonic War.
There were countless people who had belonged to the Alliance, yet in the end, no one had any way of knowing where they had died.
And by then, the Murim Alliance that should have been held responsible had already moved to Bukhae.
If they were members of the Diancang Five Swords, they would likely hold a rank of fifth or sixth grade within the Murim Alliance.
Their disappearance would be taken seriously within the Alliance, and Alliance members would be dispatched throughout Hefei to search for their traces.
So, not far from the place where the Soul-Chasing Guest was buried, I dug a deep hole and buried the two of the Diancang Five Swords. Afterward, I placed an animal I had caught in the mountains on top of them and packed down the ground.
At the very least, their corpses would not be discovered because of the smell.
To recover my body, which had grown exhausted from the battle against the Diancang Five Swords, and to absorb the Snow Plum Pill, I took a room at an inn and stayed there for several days.
Whenever I came down to the dining hall to eat, the people were busy talking about the Snow Plum Pill that the Gyeryong Merchant Guild had lost this time.
Just as in the past, the Master of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild and Gye Cheol-yeong wept bitterly, and the masters of Mount Hua shifted the responsibility onto Gye Yeon-seok before returning to Mount Hua Sect.
The matter of where the vanished Snow Plum Pill had gone was fine drinking talk for the people.
Even if they could not possess it themselves, who would not be interested in the disappearance of such a precious treasure without an owner?
They simply could not imagine that someone upstairs, above the very place where they drank, was struggling with all his might to absorb that Snow Plum Pill.
“Hoo.”
When I quietly opened my eyes, deep darkness had settled around me.
My eyes, adapted to the darkness, had become so keen that I could see even the dust piled in one corner of the small room where not a single ray of light existed. When I moved my arms and legs, not even the faintest sound of muscle and sinew brushing together could be heard.
Because I had been absorbed in circulation for several days, my insides were empty, but I did not feel hungry.
‘It is a little over half a gapja.’
The internal energy I sensed in my dantian had grown from the size of one finger to the size of two fingers.
It was the level of internal energy I had gathered over my entire life in the previous life.
I had gathered it abruptly, but every bit of it had come from precious spiritual medicines and spiritual pills. Moreover, because it had been gathered through the pure Taeul Heart Method, much of the turbid qi had been purged from my body.
“Ugh. The smell.”
When I rubbed my skin with a finger, black grime quickly rolled away. Shocked, I immediately headed for the bathhouse.
“You have come out?”
The young waiter who had been watching the dining hall all night had been nodding off, but he soon came to his senses and shook his head.
“You had not come out for several days, so I thought something might have happened.”
To avoid being disturbed while absorbing the spiritual pill, I had paid the lodging fee in advance and even given a tip, so the waiter’s conduct was exceedingly polite.
“Is there anything I can eat now?”
“Plain noodles and dumplings are possible.”
“I will have those, then.”
A short while later, steaming plain noodles and dumplings were set before me.
“By the way, are there usually so few people at this hour?”
The inside of the dining hall was extremely quiet.
“No. Until a few days ago, because the Gyeryong Merchant Guild suddenly canceled its banquet, more people than usual gathered here.”
“Ah……”
“You know what happened, do you not?”
“I heard something was lost.”
“Yes. Whoever it was, that person was truly remarkable. To steal a spiritual pill so silently in a place filled with so many people. An investigation team from the Murim Alliance came out, and they tracked the culprit, but they said the trail was soon cut off and they could not find him.”
“Is that so? That is truly unfortunate.”
“Is it not? In any case, thanks to that, I thought we might recover some of the customers we had lost. But now the Iron Sword Sect is holding another banquet.”
“The Iron Sword Sect?”
“Yes. This time, the Iron Sword Sect Leader is turning sixty, so they say he will hold a banquet for seven days and nights and host all sorts of events. The drunkards from nearby villages are all heading to Hefei.”
“Ah, has it already come to that?”
“You did not know?”
It was impossible for me not to know.
The Iron Sword Sect Leader’s sixtieth birthday banquet.
In a place where countless people had gathered, my father and I had knelt down and apologized to the Iron Sword Sect Leader.
