[No title provided]
Wang Yi Sam swallowed hard.
—Make an enemy of the Jegal Clan?
The Jegal Clan was one of the most renowned orthodox sects among the Five Great Families of the Central Plains, having produced countless talents.
During their journey to the main hall, they had passed through several mechanism formations. Warriors lurked hidden in every corner of the grounds. There were the hypnotic spells of Qimen Dunjia, and more besides.
And now, they were being asked to start a fight right in the heart of the Jegal Clan?
This wasn't just walking into the tiger's den—it was already inside the tiger's mouth. Starting a brawl now would be nothing short of suicide!
Wang Yi Sam tried to calm Seo Baek with a sly suggestion.
"Can't we just pretend we didn't see anything and head to Shaolin Temple? Or at least get out of here first before we fight…?"
"No."
Seo Baek shot down Wang Yi Sam's proposal in a single word.
"We're heading to Shaolin to stop the revenant outbreak. You want to let someone who exploits that outbreak just walk away? Even if Shaolin finds a solution, these people will bring the revenants flooding back into the Central Plains."
"Tch, guess you're right…."
Wang Yi Sam smacked his lips and fell silent.
Seo Baek and the man in blue robes were both the type whose logical arguments left no room for rebuttal once they started talking.
He couldn't voice it, but Wang Yi Sam felt like he was going mad with frustration.
'Then just leave me out of it… Should I at least ask?'
At that moment, Seo Baek fixed him with a serious gaze.
"Senior Brother, you'll fight with us, right?"
"O-Of course! You bet!"
Overpowered by Seo Baek's intensity, Wang Yi Sam choked down his reluctance like mustard with tears in his eyes.
It was astonishing nonetheless.
These weren't peak masters of the righteous sects, but figures whose names carried real weight in the martial world—and now they were revenants.
Even more shocking was why they were haunting the underground of the Jegal Clan.
Then a thought flashed through Wang Yi Sam's mind.
"Wait! Those revenants… don't tell me…."
"You seem to have figured something out?"
"Those revenants—they're people who've gone missing from the martial world one by one over the last ten years!"
At Wang Yi Sam's words, the usually impassive eyes of Seo Baek and the man in blue sharpened with focus.
"From what I know, they all have something in common."
Wang Yi Sam began explaining to Seo Baek and the man in blue.
The martial world Wang Yi Sam inhabited wasn't dominated by the righteous sects and Five Great Families—it was the gritty underworld of sword-for-hire mercenaries who lent their skills and handled the dirty work.
Naturally, sword-for-hires like him had sharp ears for the underbelly rumors. Wang Yi Sam was no exception.
Making enemies was the fate of every martial artist.
If someone vanished for a year or two, people assumed they were hiding from foes.
If they were gone for several years, the common assumption was they'd been stabbed by an enemy—or punished by a righteous sect master for being a lowlife.
Yet none of the revenants in these underground passages had any rumors of their deaths.
In other words, they shared the common thread of vanishing without a trace from the martial world.
Who could have dreamed they'd end up as revenants wandering the Jegal Clan's underground?
After hearing Wang Yi Sam's explanation, the man in blue spoke up.
"I've been living in seclusion in Yunnan for several years now, so I'm not up on current martial world affairs, but what you say certainly rings true."
"Told ya. They all cut off contact out of nowhere one day."
"The Jegal Clan captured them."
"But why…."
"I don't know that either."
As their conversation dragged on, Seo Baek cut in.
"We don't need to know the reason."
Seo Baek's eyes were colder than usual, sunk in icy resolve.
Wang Yi Sam knew well that when Seo Baek turned this frigid, it meant he was truly furious. He kept his mouth shut.
Without another word, Seo Baek turned and started moving down the passage.
Wang Yi Sam and the man in blue followed behind.
"Your junior can't hold back his rage when revenants are involved."
Wang Yi Sam shrugged at the man in blue's comment.
"Looks harmless, but once he snaps, he's terrifying."
"So it seems. That will be the boy's strength—and his weakness."
"…."
'Strength if it's a strength, weakness if it's a weakness—what the hell does that even mean, both at once?'
Wang Yi Sam didn't reply aloud, grumbling inwardly instead.
How long had they walked through the darkness?
Suddenly, Seo Baek at the lead halted and spoke.
"There's a tube in the ceiling. This must be the one that carries voices to the lion statues in the main hall."
"…!"
Wang Yi Sam looked up and saw an iron tube like bamboo embedded in the ceiling.
Seo Baek raised the oil lamp to illuminate the tube snaking along the ceiling.
"Follow this, and we'll reach where the lion statue is."
As Seo Baek said, the tube ran straight down the corridor.
"But Junior, it might lead somewhere else?"
"No. We're heading due south right now. If it runs straight, it'll connect directly to the lion statue."
"…."
Wang Yi Sam shut his mouth again.
Not because he doubted Seo Baek, but because he was floored.
Navigating the pitch-black underground while calculating directions….
And the man in blue's silence suggested agreement.
It was like a third-rate warrior caught between two masters exchanging subtle cues, utterly baffled.
"Once we reach the lion statue, there should be a hidden exit to the surface. We'll go up and warn the martial artists staying in the buildings about the Jegal Clan's plot."
"Even if we do, they're all third-rate warriors. Think that'll help?"
"Even if they can't help directly, it's not a loss. Better than them siding with the Jegal Clan."
The man in blue nodded in agreement.
"I think the same."
Wang Yi Sam grumbled inwardly as he listened.
'Of course you do! Yeah, I'm just a scrub, so I can't read the snakes in your heads!'
"This way, then."
Seo Baek led on, head tilted up at the ceiling, oil lamp in hand.
Then the man in blue frowned and barked.
"Stop!"
Seo Baek froze like a puppet on strings.
But it was too late.
The passage floor beneath Seo Baek's feet yawned open downward, robbing him of footing.
Clunk.
Another of the Jegal Clan's mechanism formations!
Seo Baek's body floated in midair.
But he didn't plummet straight down.
In the instant the floor gave way, he spun his body like a gale. Using the momentum, he kicked off the wall hard.
An improvised escape, rebounding off the wall to evade the trap.
But the mechanism formation didn't end with the dropping floor.
From the now-open ceiling poured a shimmering spiderweb.
Shwaaaa.
It was a net of silver wires.
Seo Baek gripped his sword hilt, but there wasn't room to swing the greatsword.
Yet he improvised again.
Instead of drawing the full blade, he pulled just enough for a handspan of edge and pressed it against the falling silver net.
The net, unable to withstand the descent, would tear on the blade, and he'd slip through the gap.
But Seo Baek's plan failed spectacularly.
He hadn't known the Jegal Clan's custom-forged silver wires were tough enough to withstand even a strike infused with supreme inner power.
Clang.
The wires didn't slice—they repelled the blade.
Seo Baek ended up draped head to toe in the silver net.
Seeing his junior trapped, Wang Yi Sam charged with broad dao raised, consequences be damned.
But a whoosh of wind beside him—and the man in blue was gone.
Whoosh.
Before Wang Yi Sam could even grip his dao, the man in blue had launched himself, drawing his sword midair from his waist.
In that split second, he'd confirmed the silver wires wouldn't yield to a sword.
Sensing this, he thrust the sheathed sword toward Seo Baek without unsheathing it.
"Grab this!"
Unable to cut the net, he'd at least halt Seo Baek's fall.
Seo Baek reached for the sheath.
…Or he would have, but something else happened first.
The Jegal Clan's mechanism had one final stage.
Clank.
Iron bars dropped from the ceiling.
The man in blue thrust with all his might, but the bars fell faster, blocking the way.
Thud.
The bars stabbed into the floor, forming a prison wall between Seo Baek and the man in blue.
Undeterred, the man in blue reached through the bars.
But the silver net yanked Seo Baek downward, binding him tight.
The net wasn't just dropped from above—its end connected below, designed to reel in captures automatically.
Shwaaaaack.
Like a spider dragging prey in its web, the silver net wrapped Seo Baek completely and sucked him into the underground darkness.
"Junior!"
Wang Yi Sam arrived too late, blocked by the bars and useless.
Then, the man in blue shouted something inexplicable at Seo Baek.
"Second Young Master!"
But Seo Baek vanished into the dark without response, whether he'd heard or not.
* * *
Falling into pitch blackness where he couldn't see an inch ahead, Seo Baek twisted his body midair.
The silver net bound him tight, restricting free movement.
Landing on his feet was impossible.
In the instant before impact, he improvised, twisting to face downward with his back.
Thump. His back hit the floor.
Instantly, he curled into a ball, rolling like a squirrel on a wheel.
An application of the lightness skill Great Peng Wing Turn, using spin to slow his fall for a safe landing.
Unable to use limbs freely due to the net, he'd rolled his whole body instead.
With that one move, Seo Baek landed unscathed.
The oil lamp had gone out during the spin, leaving the underground in utter blackness.
Seo Baek crawled backward on the floor.
Soon his back hit a corner where walls met.
'Good.'
This underground he'd fallen into was prowled by revenants.
Fighting revenants in open space was most dangerous—they swarmed from all sides, impossible to evade once surrounded.
Back to a wall improved things; only frontal assaults to handle.
Best was a corner like this.
With walls on two sides, attack angles halved.
Securing his position, Seo Baek next circulated the Shika Heart Method.
Fwoosh.
His eyes gleamed like lit candles, piercing the dark.
Something writhed far off in the shadows.
The revenants haunting the underground!
But no fear of detection.
Controlling breath and expression was second nature, even in sleep. And he'd taken no wounds on the fall—no blood scent.
Seo Baek slowly worked free of the silver net binding him.
It had detached during the drop, so it came off easily.
As he went to set the net on the floor after freeing himself, he paused. Then, with a thought, he folded it neatly and tucked it into his sleeve.
A net of silver wires unbreakable even by his blade.
Made by the Jegal Clan—it might prove useful later.
'Thanks for the gift.'
Keeping watch on the revenants' movements in the dark, Seo Baek planned his next steps.
First?
'Escape this revenant den.'
Then?
'Shatter Jegal Hyeok's ambitions.'
Jegal Hyeok, who dared exploit revenants, would pay dearly. Very dearly.
Swish.
Seo Baek slung his greatsword from his shoulder and stepped into the darkness where the revenants roamed.