Chapter 584: I Won't Work Without Meat
Chapter 584: I Won't Work Without Meat
The dismantling of the mechanisms began in earnest that afternoon.
The hall members gathered in front of the Iron Wall. The labor was well-organized through a strict division of roles, and those currently assembled were primarily responsible for scouting the traps.
Hong-in took charge of the operation.
"The mechanisms here are expected to be even more sensitive than the previous ones. From this moment on, the use of internal energy is strictly forbidden except in extreme circumstances. As you all know, if we trip even one wire by mistake, we’re all dead!"
Hong-in strove to keep the men's tension high. A single slip-up meant certain death.
"Begin work!"
The hall members started their task with bated breath. Using long, needle-like iron tools, they began probing the ground in front of the Iron Wall. Their movements were exceedingly cautious.
Geom Mu-geuk stood a short distance away, watching them work. Hong-in gave him no instructions, knowing that the Sword King treated him differently. Even putting that aside, he couldn't entrust such a critical task to someone participating in the operation for the first time.
After some time had passed, one of the hall members found something.
"I think it's here."
At his call, other members brought over chisels and hammers and began to carefully excavate the spot. Since more than half the floor was stone and they had to dig without using internal energy, progress was agonizingly slow.
Geom Mu-geuk watched the process in silence. At this rate, it would take ten days just to clear the entrance. He glanced at the Sword King. The man remained silent, his gaze suggesting Mu-geuk should handle things as he saw fit.
"I'll lend a hand."
When Mu-geuk stepped forward, Hong-in looked toward the Sword King. The Sword King gave a slight nod—a signal to let him work.
Hong-in didn't like the situation. Entrusting such dangerous work to Mu-geuk, who had just arrived! Even if he was a master, this job required experience. Unconvinced of Mu-geuk's reliability, Hong-in repeatedly warned him to be extremely careful.
"Don't worry!"
Mu-geuk looked ready to start swinging his hammer wildly at any moment, leading Hong-in to pray fervently in his heart: Please! Just don't cause an accident!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Mu-geuk’s movements were swift and practiced. Hong-in and the other hall members were stunned by the sight.
"Stop! You can't—!"
"It's fine!"
Mu-geuk’s hands moved even faster. In desperation, Hong-in looked to the Sword King for help. However, the Sword King merely watched in silence.
With Mu-geuk involved, the pace of the work became incomparably faster. At a glance, it looked like he was digging haphazardly, but Mu-geuk’s technique was far from careless.
He was channeling Qi through the tip of his chisel to sense what lay beneath the ground as he dug. Sensing objects through the earth with Qi was several times more difficult than emitting it into the air. Yet, he was performing this feat with effortless skill.
After digging for some time, a portion of a mechanism finally revealed itself. Hong-in called over another hall member who had been waiting in the back.
"A mechanism has been exposed."
The man approached. Mu-geuk sensed it immediately.
This man isn't a member of the Yellow Dragon Martial Arts Hall.
He was hiding a specific aura that was different from the regular members. He might have fooled the others, but he couldn't escape Mu-geuk’s eyes.
It made sense. Regardless of the other labor, they would need a proper mechanism expert to actually dismantle the devices. Since the Yellow Dragon Martial Arts Hall was so large and saw so much traffic, the average hall member likely wouldn't even know if this man was the Sword King's direct subordinate or not.
After examining the exposed device, the man reported to the Sword King.
"It's a mechanism designed to prevent anyone from trying to force the wall open or tunnel inside."
He then turned to Hong-in.
"Expose as much of it as possible. My team will handle the rest."
"Understood."
Hong-in reflexively looked at Mu-geuk. As if he had been waiting, Mu-geuk walked over to a hall member working across from him.
"I'll take over here. You finish up my section."
After switching places, he began digging through that side with rapid speed. The skeptical looks from the hall members began to change. The amount of work Mu-geuk had already completed would normally have taken several days.
Mechanisms were revealed on the other side as well. He wasn't just digging blindly. On this side, the mechanisms were installed at a different depth than the previous spot, yet he had excavated them perfectly without leaving a single scratch.
Hong-in couldn't hide his astonishment.
"You're... pretty good."
Normally, he should have said "You're amazing," but he felt that if he praised this newcomer, the kid might get excited and put too much force into his hammering.
"I've always had sensitive hands. I'll handle that side too."
Moving around the four sides of the emerging mechanism, Mu-geuk began hammering with expert precision. He focused entirely on the task. He didn't think about what might be behind that wall, what the hall members would do, or what was on the Sword King's mind. He immersed himself in the hammering as if in a trance.
The Sword King watched Mu-geuk in silence as the young man displayed a terrifying level of concentration. The worried gazes of the hall members had long since turned into admiration. Currently, Mu-geuk looked less like a laborer and more like an artist carving a masterpiece.
By the time the surrounding earth had been cleared and the hidden mechanism was largely exposed...
"That's enough for today. It's time to eat."
At Hong-in's voice from behind, Mu-geuk finally set down his hammer.
"Is it that time already?"
The hall members crowded around Mu-geuk. When engaged in life-or-death work, the person they liked most wasn't the one with a good personality or the one who treated them well. They liked the person who was good at the job. They were doing work where one person's mistake could kill everyone. If the work progressed well, they could leave this hellish place even one day sooner.
In that regard, there was no telling how much time Mu-geuk had saved them today. On top of that, he had a pleasant personality.
"I'm starving! Give us meat! Meat! If you don't give us meat, I'm not working tomorrow!"
Mu-geuk sat down with the hall members to eat. They actually served meat. Several men came over to introduce themselves. Since they were originally from the martial arts hall, they weren't inherently bad people.
The first thing they were always curious about was this:
"Why did you come down here?"
He looked strong and had great manual dexterity. No matter how they looked at it, he didn't seem like the type of person who belonged in a place like this.
At the question, Mu-geuk’s gaze drifted toward the Sword King, who was eating across from them.
"I heard I could get stronger if I came here."
The hall members nodded. They didn't deny it. Many of those who had survived this long had become masters capable of emitting Sword Qi.
"I heard you're a match for a hundred men?"
"Is there an end to human greed? I want to be a match for a thousand, or even ten thousand. What about you, seniors? What brought you down here?"
Mu-geuk naturally mingled with them, and thus, his first day in the underground came to an end.
*
That night, something unexpected happened.
The Sword King brought several large bundles and distributed them to the hall members.
"Everyone, take one."
When the bundles—which had been tightly compressed with internal energy—were opened, they puffed up like blooming flowers. They were, surprisingly, cotton blankets. Even if he had compressed them, he must have traveled up and down several times to move this many.
Mu-geuk cheered joyfully.
"New blankets!"
He immediately grabbed a blanket, spread it on his cot, and threw himself onto it.
"Whoa! It's so soft!"
Because this behavior was so out of character for the Sword King, the hall members stared at him with startled faces.
"The difficult work has begun, so I provided these so you can sleep comfortably. Take them."
Only then did the hall members relax and take the blankets. Who would refuse a new blanket? Everyone was delighted. Of course, the newcomer's voice was the loudest.
"The smell of new blankets is the best!"
*
In the early hours of the morning when everyone was asleep, Mu-geuk met the Sword King at the site where they had worked during the day.
The Sword King was sitting fearlessly atop the exposed mechanism, staring blankly at the wall. He knew Mu-geuk had arrived without having to look back.
"Why were you making such a fuss about blankets when you weren't going to sleep anyway? It wasn't for your sake, was it?"
"The work is hard enough; people should at least sleep properly."
Without turning his head, the Sword King asked, "Tell me the real reason."
He was certain Mu-geuk had another motive. In fact, he had brought the blankets specifically to hear that reason.
"You might be offended if you hear it."
"It's fine. I've lived a life full of insults."
"You, Instructor? Who would dare insult you?"
"Aren't you preparing to do just that? So speak freely."
Mu-geuk revealed his reason.
"Everyone looked so exhausted."
The Sword King turned his head to look at Mu-geuk. His expression seemed to ask if that was something to be offended by. Mu-geuk continued calmly.
"If I were their father, I would have cursed you to your face, Instructor."
The Sword King remained unmoved, as if he understood even that sentiment. But then, Mu-geuk added a remark as sharp as a needle.
"But you only chose hall members who have no families for this place, didn't you?"
"!"
It was as if Mu-geuk’s hammering had begun again, this time chiseling away at stone.
"I heard they call you 'Big Brother' here?"
The Sword King turned his gaze back to the wall, his expression stiffening slightly. The term 'Big Brother' certainly carried a sense of closeness akin to family, beyond just meaning a superior. That was why Mu-geuk’s words hit home.
You are called 'Big Brother' by people who have no families, yet you are doing things that would earn you curses from their parents.
"I told you that you'd be offended."
"I'm not offended. They all chose this for themselves. It's a job where they earn a lot of money."
"That's probably why it feels even worse. Their children were hooked by money, of all things."
The Sword King snapped his head back toward Mu-geuk.
"Of course, the one who planned and executed this was likely the Yellow Dragon Martial Arts Hall Master."
Mu-geuk offered a carrot, then immediately swung the whip.
"But you knew, didn't you? You knew what kind of hall members he was gathering."
The Sword King was the man who had told Yeon Baek-in that villains walk their path while being cursed at. But now, he couldn't summon that same brazenness.
"Don't strike that spot just because you're angry. It'll explode."
The Sword King, who had been sitting still, suddenly threw one of his shoes at Mu-geuk.
"What do you know about parents at your age!"
Mu-geuk caught the flying shoe with ease.
"Don't I have a rather unique father-son relationship myself? I know a thing or two about a parent's heart."
Mu-geuk could tell. The Sword King didn't say he was sorry, but by losing his composure and throwing his shoe, he was offering an apology. Mu-geuk walked over and placed the shoe next to the mechanism where the man sat.
"Still, thank you for the blankets."
The Sword King looked down at his shoes placed side-by-side and replied, "I didn't give them because of you. Didn't you say you heard a voice from beyond that wall? Asking for blankets."
At his joke, Mu-geuk smiled and walked to the wall, pressing his ear against it again.
"I hear a voice again."
"What is it saying this time?"
Mu-geuk closed his eyes tightly. After a moment, unexpected words flowed from his lips.
"It says the hall members want to see the stars."
The trace of a smile vanished from the Sword King's face.
"That's nonsense!"
"Why is it nonsense?"
Mu-geuk pulled his ear away from the wall and turned to the Sword King.
"Are you worried they'll run away if they go out? Are you worried their hearts will waver?"
Mu-geuk paused for a moment before adding, "So what? Those were your words. When I asked what would happen if the hall members spread rumors about this place, you said, 'So what?'"
The Sword King said nothing.
"So what if someone runs away? So what? You're the kind of person who would release them even after they see what's inside. Or do you have no intention of letting them go?"
"Why are you going this far to show kindness to the hall members? It's something they didn't ask for and won't even appreciate."
The Sword King picked up his shoe again. It was a gesture that he would throw it again if he didn't like the answer. This time, it wouldn't be an apology, but anger.
Mu-geuk answered calmly.
"Because for some of them, it might be the last sky they ever see alive."
The shoe did not fly from the Sword King's hand. However, he didn't put it down either.
"And this isn't a favor to them. It's a favor to you, Instructor."
To the Sword King's questioning look, Mu-geuk said, "I'm giving you a chance. A chance to do what you should have done, even if it's late."
One shoe flew toward Mu-geuk again.
"You... I told you that you were too sentimental, didn't I?"
Holding the remaining shoe, the Sword King asked, "So? What do you gain if I become a better person?"
Mu-geuk smiled as he answered.
"You told me last time. Even if you win, it's more prideful to beat an Eight Star than a Seven Star, and even if you lose, it's less shameful to lose to an Eight Star than a Seven Star. I feel the same way. I want to fight someone who is at least a slightly better person."
In the end, the Sword King couldn't throw the remaining shoe. To think he would be exchanging such jokes with Mu-geuk after only one day.
"Hey! Can't you just go back up already?"
*
The Fist Demon's eyes widened as he asked back.
"He bought what and went inside?"
The person who answered him was Lee An.
"Blankets, apparently."
The One Flower Sword Venerable, who was listening to the report alongside him, double-checked.
"Blankets? You mean the blankets we know?"
"Yes, the kind you sleep under."
The master that even Geom Mu-geuk was nervous about had gone out to buy blankets?
Currently, the top warriors of Tongcheon Pavilion and Eun-wol were keeping the Yellow Dragon Martial Arts Hall under intensive surveillance. They were especially monitoring the entrance to the sparring arena that led underground. It was there they spotted the Sword King emerging to buy a large quantity of cotton blankets from the marketplace. He reportedly made no effort to hide his movements.
That wasn't the only strange report.
"And they say dozens of people came out of there last night."
"Dozens? And then?"
Did they move somewhere? Were they carrying out some kind of mission? Or something else? However, Lee An's answer was incomprehensible.
"They gathered at the sparring arena for a while and then went back down."
In truth, Lee An, who was reporting this, couldn't understand it either. That was why she had asked the Tongcheon Pavilion warrior several times if that was really what happened.
"They just... went back down?"
"Yes. They stood there looking at the night sky for a while, and then they went back down."
The Fist Demon looked at the One Flower Sword Venerable, but she was equally baffled. This was a report as bizarre as the one about buying blankets.
"And the Young Cult Leader was among them?"
"Yes. It's said the Young Cult Leader and his instructor were with them."
At the mention of Mu-geuk being there, the One Flower Sword Venerable smiled. She couldn't imagine exactly what was happening, but one thing was certain.
"Didn't I tell you at the beginning? No matter who the enemy is, no one can spend ten days with the Young Cult Leader and remain unchanged."