Chapter 183: Entering the Martial Emperor's Tomb
Chapter 183: Entering the Martial Emperor's Tomb
The interior of the Emperor's Tomb, entered through a collapsed gap in the cliff, was pitch black without a single speck of light.
Unlike the Light Sword Tomb of the Broad Hero Sword Ghost that Seonwoo Jin had entered before, no light sources had been installed inside the Emperor's Tomb.
Naturally, the only people who could move without trouble in this complete darkness were Seol Pung, Seonwoo Jin, and the Black Panther, which for some reason kept sticking right by Seonwoo Jin's side as it followed him.
Bi Sa-yeong had also trained his mind's eye to a considerable degree, but his level was still insufficient to move freely in darkness of this depth.
So Jeung Chil and Ya Un-hyang were even more hopeless.
Thud!
Jeung Chil lightly bumped his head on a stone wall and grumbled quietly.
"Ugh! How are we supposed to move around in here without even lighting a torch?!"
That grumbling came out of habit, but his point was clearly valid.
The problem was that they couldn't light torches just because they couldn't see ahead.
Lighting a torch inside this pitch-black cave would make the light far too bright.
Everyone knew how clear of a marker a single ray of light was in the darkness, so they couldn't risk lighting torches and being discovered by the enemy.
It was a troubling situation.
But Seonwoo Jin had anticipated that something like this might happen from the moment he'd set the Emperor's Tomb as his target.
He immediately opened his backpack and took out an item he had packed just in case it was needed.
It was a Night Luminous Pearl.
Wooong!
As the pearl's faint green glow dimly illuminated their surroundings, the group let out sounds of admiration.
"Ooooh! That's...?"
"A Night Luminous Pearl? You little punk, where did you get your hands on something this expensive again?"
This Night Luminous Pearl was one Seonwoo Jin had grabbed from the collapsed ceiling of the Light Sword Tomb before he met the Broad Hero Sword Ghost.
He had brought it along just in case, since he was aiming for the Emperor's Tomb anyway, and it seemed to have been a wise choice.
Seonwoo Jin spoke to his companions in a low voice.
"The light from the Night Luminous Pearl is very faint, but anything brighter would risk exposing us to the enemy. And I believe that for the people here, this level of light is more than enough to distinguish your surroundings."
Everyone nodded at his words.
The Night Luminous Pearl's green glow was extremely faint, so trying to find the way with it would be impossible for ordinary people, but for the current party, it was more than sufficient.
Seonwoo Jin stroked the neck of the Black Panther beside him and continued speaking.
"I will carry this at the front, and if I sense anyone's presence, I will immediately put it away. We'll also switch back to telepathic transmission for all future communication. If you have any questions, I'll take them now."
Perhaps impressed by Seonwoo Jin's preparedness in bringing the Night Luminous Pearl, even Jeung Chil had no questions this time.
The party soon began advancing forward without a sound.
Within the pitch-black passage, only the sound of dripping water echoed.
'Drip! Drip!'
The passage was far too silent.
A silence so deep that not a single footstep could be heard, aside from the sound of water droplets.
But in truth, Seonwoo Jin wasn't feeling the silence at all right now.
That was because Mukrang was continuously pouring complaints into his head while looking at the passage.
- This is truly the worst. To give such a shoddy structure the name Emperor's Tomb... I don't know if this Emperor is the Emperor I once knew, but if he saw this place, he would weep in sorrow even from hell.
Mukrang seemed to possess considerable expertise not only in martial arts and medicine but also in architecture and array formations.
No, honestly, I was more curious if there was anything he couldn't do.
And to his eyes, this Emperor's Tomb appeared to be a complete and utter mess.
Ever since entering this place, he had been pouring out criticism in an acidic tone.
- From start to finish, everything is a complete mess. Materials, surveying, aesthetic sense, durability. Not a single thing is done properly. It's a hastily cobbled-together structure built with nothing but malice intended to kill people any way possible. Truly fitting for the likes of the Blood Cult.
Seonwoo Jin didn't know much about architecture, so he couldn't quite understand his contempt.
He even internally debated whether he should ask him to be a bit quieter.
However, it didn't take long for him to realize that Mukrang's ceaseless architectural commentary was an enormous help.
Mukrang suddenly spoke.
- Jin, stop the party. It's a mechanism.
'What? A mechanism?'
Startled by his words, Seonwoo Jin immediately raised his palm and stopped the party.
The Black Panther understood immediately just from touching the scruff of its neck and recalling the intention.
Then Mukrang began to explain about the faintly visible stone wall ahead.
- One zhang ahead, look closely at both walls. Do you see the evenly spaced grooves between the bricks? That's the firing port for hidden weapons. And the trigger mechanism is... that thing. It's that largest floor stone there, on the same line as the firing ports. Stepping on it seems to trigger the hidden weapons. Do you see the same structure repeating at three-step intervals behind that? All five rows are the same mechanism.
Following his words, Seonwoo Jin examined the grooves in the walls and could only marvel.
What would have happened if he hadn't met Mukrang?
He couldn't even imagine it.
He had always respected him, but now he felt like he could confidently say the Sword God was the most respected figure in history if asked.
Seonwoo Jin conveyed his sincere gratitude to him.
'Truly, thank you, Elder. So I can just tell the party to avoid that spot and go around.'
Mukrang replied.
- No, don't do that. Show the party what happens when you step on it. Especially that fellow Jeung Chil, I think there's a particular need to show him. That way he'll follow your orders better in the future, won't he?
At those unexpected words, Seonwoo Jin paused to think and then asked.
'Won't it cause a pointless commotion?'
- It will be fine. There are absolutely no human presences nearby, and judging by the scale of the mechanism, it appears to be a simple, one-dimensional independent trap. It won't be linked to other areas, so it won't cause a major disturbance. Also, looking at the firing ports, the projectiles themselves will be very tiny. They'll probably make only a very small noise.
After hearing that explanation, Seonwoo Jin resolved to follow Mukrang's words.
By now, there was absolutely no reason to distrust what Mukrang said.
Seonwoo Jin sent a telepathic message to Seol Pung and Bi Sa-yeong, who had stopped behind him with puzzled expressions on their faces.
It was exactly the same as Mukrang's explanation.
- It seems there is a mechanism installed one zhang ahead. It looks like stepping on that large floor stone triggers hidden weapons from the left and right walls.
The party members, with surprised looks, first raised their thumbs to acknowledge the message and then examined the spot Seonwoo Jin had indicated.
But to a non-expert's eyes, it all looked exactly the same.
Unable to hold back, Jeung Chil was just about to frown and send another telepathic message to Seonwoo Jin.
As if he had expected him to do just that, Seonwoo Jin smiled faintly, picked up a fairly large stone rolling around at his feet, and threw it onto the large floor stone.
The stone, which had risen lightly into the air, drew a parabola and fell heavily onto the floor stone.
Kung!
Pshushushuk!
Jeung Chil couldn't help but be startled.
The moment the floor stone took the impact, hidden weapons poured out from the walls on both sides.
They were so fine and swift that in this darkness, they would have been plenty threatening even to peak-level masters and above.
Witnessing the hidden weapons with his own eyes, Jeung Chil had no choice but to shut his opening mouth tightly.
His startled eyes were blinking incessantly.
Seeing his expression, Seonwoo Jin grinned and sent another telepathic message to the party.
- There are four more rows of the same mechanism behind that. Everyone, follow in single file, stepping exactly where I step.
Having said that, Seonwoo Jin took the Black Panther beside him and slowly began crossing the hidden weapon zone.
Now, no one in the party could doubt his instructions.
The party, including Jeung Chil, began following quietly behind Seonwoo Jin just like baby ducklings following their mother.
And that pattern repeated itself after that.
- Hmm, that's also a mechanism. Stepping on that might cause a bit of noise, so avoid it.
- Hah, to think they'd make a cheap trick like that and call it a trap. Truly the worst architectural work of my entire life. Well, not exactly my entire life, but you know.
- Just break that one down as we go. It's an eyesore.
It went swift and smooth, truly.
Though it was a little noisy.
***
The five people wandered inside the passage for almost half a day.
During that time, Seonwoo Jin's mind continuously mapped out the interior of the Emperor's Tomb.
And now, having completed a rough map of the outer area, Seonwoo Jin was finally able to reach a conclusion.
'This place was nothing more than a trap designed to corral and kill people.'
- Mm, that seems to be the case.
According to the map Seonwoo Jin had drawn in his head, this Emperor's Tomb was structured with its exterior and interior separated, just like the white and yolk of an egg.
And there was only one passage leading from the exterior to the interior.
It was the single tunnel connected toward Ghost Laugh Valley, the one they had first discovered.
So this entire massive outer space was nothing but an exitless maze intended to make people wander, trap them, and kill them.
It was an excessively malicious design.
'So in the end, there was no such thing as the Emperor's Tomb. It was merely a structure built by the Blood Cult bastards to deceive people.'
- Hmm, that might be so.
Another thing they'd discovered was that the original entrance to the Emperor's Tomb wasn't on the Ghost Laugh Valley side.
The original entrance was located in the opposite direction, toward the outside of the mountain, but it was now completely collapsed.
'Of course, people knew that the Emperor's Tomb had collapsed, and everyone inside had been crushed to death. It might have been the obvious thing to do to collapse the entrance, just to sell the deception.'
So now the party was hidden in the dark passage, looking at the spot connected to the Ghost Laugh Valley tunnel, the sole entrance to the inner area.
The sound of murmuring voices drifted from that direction.
It was the voices of the Demon Heads guarding the passage.
"Hyaaahm! Time is dragging so slowly. If only someone would supply us with a woman for every guard shift, that'd be perfect."
"Huehehehe! I'd prefer liquor."
"You booze-crazed bastard, just wait until you get caught holed up in a corner drinking like last time. Elder Shi Ma will personally turn you into a living corpse."
"Kehihihihi! This guy would probably still crave alcohol even as a living corpse."
"Keuhehehe, you're right. A living corpse thirsting for liquor more than blood, now that'd really be a sight, keuhehehe!"
Just like the ones guarding the outside entrance earlier, the ones guarding the inner passage were also six peak-level masters.
Six outside, six here—that meant already twelve peak-level masters were merely standing guard.
Jeung Chil sent a telepathic question.
- What are you going to do? If even the sentries are at this level, there must be an enormous number of peak-level Demon Heads further inside. There'll definitely be a few transcendent peak masters too.
Faced with enemies who were using a full twelve peak-level masters as mere sentries, even Jeung Chil, who seemed to fear nothing in the world, appeared slightly daunted.
But Seonwoo Jin also had no answer.
Unless there was a side path inside the Emperor's Tomb, they had no choice but to break through those guards, but infiltrating blindly would be far too reckless.
Seonwoo Jin bit his lip and fell into deep thought.
'If only I could get some intel on the interior...'
As he pondered and looked around to see if there was any other way, Seonwoo Jin's eyes suddenly fixed on something.
It was in Jeung Chil's direction.
Jeung Chil asked with a bewildered expression.
- Wha, what? You punk, why are you suddenly looking at me like that?
At that, Seonwoo Jin's lips curled into a sudden grin.
It was the kind of smile that inexplicably sent a chill down Jeung Chil's spine.