New Threat (4)
Seo Baek had already suspected people were hiding underground.
The bamboo breathing tubes were proof enough.
But he'd only imagined them digging hasty pits for ambushes, not a proper underground shelter.
The bizarre name Underground Hall wasn't arbitrary—it truly existed below.
No wonder the ambush signs were so faint.
The Underground Hall warriors hadn't merely burrowed into the earth. They'd emerged from a real hideout.
No surprise they'd encircled him and Song Hyeon the instant they noticed.
Gil Sang-baek descended the passage first.
The vertical shaft to the surface featured a sturdy bamboo ladder woven and fixed to the wall.
Seo Baek followed close behind.
The rest of the group came down one by one.
Wang Yi Sam grumbled in his usual fashion at every novelty.
"Tch, more bamboo? Spears, ladders—they really get their money's worth outta that stuff."
At the bottom, a long earthen tunnel stretched into the gloom.
Tunnels branched every which way.
Seo Baek's position was the crossroads of a perfect cross-shaped network.
Is the (metal) passage the center one?
If the four arms pointed east, west, south, north, the hub was naturally (center).
Soon everyone from above had descended. The last Underground Hall warrior sealed the passage with a wooden lid.
Darkness didn't claim the depths. Torches flickered in the walls.
Gil Sang-baek offered another fist salute.
"To enter the Underground Hall, we must check for revenant bites. It's rude, but please bear with us."
"Of course."
Seo Baek agreed without hesitation.
At Gil Sang-baek's glance, Gang Pyo and his men approached with torches, inspecting the group.
They focused on napes, hands, feet. No bites on any of the four. Gang Pyo nodded to Gil Sang-baek.
"All clear. This way to the Underground Hall."
Gil Sang-baek led with a torch.
Wang Yi Sam cocked his head, muttering.
"Huh? That's it?"
He was thinking of Wang Family Fortress. There, he and Seo Baek had stripped bare for the check.
This? Kid stuff by comparison.
Seo Baek got it, though.
"This is ground zero for the outbreak. Reaching here means dodging hordes."
"Yeah?"
"Revenants blanket the land. Face a horde, and bites are the least worry—you'd be dead or turned."
"Hmm. Skip it then?"
"Wasn't bites. They checked for neck scars."
"……!"
Wang Yi Sam finally caught on, gulping.
Back in Sichuan, first meeting Seo Baek—he'd beheaded Yi Hyeol Bang's Jin Seok Pyeong in one stroke. Spotted the neck scar, knew he was revenant.
Checked without a whisper of suspicion...
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
Gil Sang-baek guided them straight down the tunnel.
Unexpectedly, he halted soon.
"Gang Pyo."
Gang Pyo knelt, revealing a massive stone slab with a mechanism.
Waterwheel-style, like Wang Family Fortress's gate. Turn it, lift slab, passage below.
Tunnels don't dead-end.
Seo Baek was right.
Gang Pyo cranked the handle turns. Griiind... clunk. Slab rose, another passage yawned.
Double-sealed entrances were standard. But wood lid first, thick stone second?
Mindless Blood Ghosts wouldn't spot the lid easy.
Not impossible. If one pried it open?
Stone slab blocked that.
No ghoul spins a crank.
True hideout started now.
Seo Baek reassessed.
Can't underestimate them.
Mismatched garb from shortages, bamboo spears improvised.
Yet richer revenant lore than anyone met, solid counters.
How they've endured epicenter.
New puzzle.
This scale? Impossible now. No supply lines post-outbreak.
Meant:
Pre-outbreak build.
Underground Hall foresaw, prepared before full rampage.
Or other motive than hiding from revenants?
Plausible.
Shelter in epicenter? Flee, fortify elsewhere smarter.
Gil Sang-baek descended.
First shaft vertical. This: spiral stone stairs, coiling circle.
Downward screw, endless turns.
Two loops in, Wang Yi Sam griped.
"Dizzy as hell. Why the pointless spin?"
"Against invading martial artists."
"What? Not revenants?"
"Spiral uses terrain tactics."
"Tactics? Not just dizzying?"
"Pretend you're intruder descending. How fight?"
"Swing dao down."
"Try."
"Here? Now?"
"Mimic only."
Wang Yi Sam drew dao to chest. Tilted head.
Swing? Central pillar cramped space.
"Pillar blocks dao swing."
"Yes. Right-handers: dao, sword same."
"……!"
Wang Yi Sam got it.
Descending: right-side pillar cramps swings.
Defenders below: free rein.
"Right-handers disadvantaged—cramped space, vision. Absolutely."
"R-Right."
"Spears worse. Can't level on curve."
Stairs neutered intruders.
Terrain tactics pure.
Not flawless.
Lefties immune. Left-sword styles too.
Experts switch hands on insight.
But panics vanguard in pinch-point.
Hideout engineered top-to-bottom.
Hunch confirmed.
Not mere revenant dodge. Anti-martial too.
Pre-outbreak reason clear:
Block rival sects.
Spiral ended. Hideout proper.
Travel time: deep down.
Oil lamps dotted walls; corridors roomy. Earth-pressure crushed.
Gil Sang-baek pointed to a side room.
"Grain storage."
Sacks ceiling-high.
"Grains plus radish, veggie pickles from underground crops."
"Stream flows."
"Potable, latrines."
"Livestock viable."
"Pigs, chickens. All meat gone? Rations hold three months."
Pride swelled Gil Sang-baek's voice. Sky-high.
Seo Baek admired, bittersweet.
Shika Manor with this? All survive?
Fantasy.
Shika Manor: remote Sichuan west mountains. No neighbors, news scarce.
No warning, horde hit. Master, wife, brothers trapped by millions.
Sole survivor: him.
Info decides.
His Shaolin risk: deliver extinction intel.
Then, Song Hyeon's transmission from rear.
[Pre-outbreak build.]
[Agreed.]
Seo Baek whispered back.
[Heard Alliance prepped these against Western Frontier Guryun Temple. First sight today.]
Fit perfect: Ambush Shaolin foes from here, strategic win.
Underground Hall: Alliance stronghold.
[Still loyal?]
[Doubtful.]
[Why?]
[Would've said outright.]
They hadn't.
Corridor opened wide: space for dozens. Table, chairs—meals, meetings.
"Sit."
Gil Sang-baek head seat; group sat.
Warrior boiled water, tea served.
Tea in famine era? Prep stunned group.
Mid-sip:
"Main topic, guests."
Here we go.
Seo Baek expected angles.
Why bare secrets to randos?
Gil Sang-baek's bombshell? Unforeseen.
"Underground Hall seeks the Shaolin monk dispatched by Murim Alliance."