Chapter 153
Translator: uly
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Into the Tomb of Western Xia's Strongest Assassin
“…….”
Ak Muyoo gazed quietly at Hwe Ong.
“Do I resemble him?”
“No. You don’t look alike at all, and your auras are completely different. If he was a lofty crane, you’re a venomous viper.”
“Damn, you sure know how to make everything sound so damn unpleasant. Should I just kill you right now?”
Ak Muyoo scowled.
“I merely stated the facts.”
“Me too, you bastard. If I’d been born into a good family and raised quoting Confucius and Mencius from childhood…… Never mind.”
“You are absolutely not Master Jumu Yu.”
“What was his name?”
“Who do you mean by ‘him’?”
“The child’s mother.”
“Do you mean Ak Juryeong?”
“Her name was Ak Juryeong?”
Suddenly, Ak Muyoo recalled Ak Gun Jo, the head of the Shandong Ak Clan, mentioning that his younger sister was named Ak Juryeong.
‘I can ask her if we meet again.’
“Yes. Now give me the water.”
“Drink.”
Ak Muyoo handed over the waterskin.
Hwe Ong gulped it down greedily.
“Continue.”
“I don’t know who you are, but abandon your revenge.”
“That’s my decision to make. So you just spill everything you know. Every last bit.”
“If I do, will you kill me?”
“You’re not going to beg for your life?”
“…….”
Hwe Ong silently stared at Ak Muyoo.
“I have no feelings for you one way or the other.”
“Will you really let me live?”
“Talk first.”
“Understood.”
Hwe Ong nodded and poured out what he had kept secret for the past thirty years. His tale was a long one.
An incense burning’s time later, Hwe Ong’s story came to an end.
“Do you want to live?”
Ak Muyoo stared straight at him.
“I want to live.”
“Swear one thing, and I’ll let you.”
“Tell me.”
“Swear that you’ll gladly die for me.”
“…….”
“It’s not for any special reason. Not because I need a subordinate, either. There’s only one reason I’ll spare you: you know the Beiping situation better than anyone. Of course, Myo Yo, who’s helping me now, will assist too, but as the head of the Eastern Depot’s spy network, he won’t reveal everything he knows. He’ll only share what benefits him, and only selectively.”
“Are you heading to Beiping?”
Hwe Ong raised his words deferentially.
It was an indirect expression of his intent to follow.
“At first, I just wanted to clear my name. But after hearing you out, I’m thinking that might not be enough.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“I don’t know yet. So, what’ll it be? If you want to die, I’ll make it painless.”
“Of course I’ll live.”
“You’ve lost everything because of me, and you’ll still follow?”
“In this world, isn’t staying alive the most important thing? You have to live first.”
“Ha! I like you. Keep drinking until you’re pissing it out.”
Ak Muyoo chuckled and stood.
“Let’s go.”
He approached Yo Pung and said,
“I need to make a quick stop over there.”
Yo Pung pointed ahead.
“Where?”
“The Helan Mountains.”
“What’s there?”
“My ancestor’s tomb.”
“You’re not going to pay respects, are you? Did one of your successful forebears head there?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s swing by.”
“Thanks.”
“Nothing left to do here anyway. What about you?”
Ak Muyoo glanced at Hwe Ong.
“What do you mean…….”
“Are you going back to wait, or staying here?”
“I’ll wait here.”
“Do as you like.”
Ak Muyoo tossed down water and food.
“I’ll be back.”
Hwe Ong bowed his head.
“Oh, right! That Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise—they screamed when they died. It was weird seeing assassins scream like that. Let’s go, boy!”
Ak Muyoo lightly flicked the reins.
Ak Muyoo and Yo Pung vanished into the darkness.
“What if he runs?”
Yo Pung asked.
“No choice.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just kill him?”
“No point in killing him when there’s no gain for me.”
“What if he tells someone about you?”
“Hwe Ong never even told his own brother, who carried out the commission with him. That means no one else knows. Who’d believe him if he blabbed about something like that?”
“True.”
Yo Pung nodded.
Truth be told, even she found it so shocking she could hardly believe it—others wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Not only would no one believe him, he’d end up getting silenced.”
“The best thing for him is to run and live alone?”
“He’d end up like me.”
“Tsk!”
Yo Pung clicked her tongue.
The two rode through the darkness. An hour later, they reached the Yellow River. The way across was a raft. At the narrowest point, a thick rope was strung across, and the raft was tied to it, ferrying back and forth. Ropes hung from the raft so it could be pulled from either side.
They pulled the raft over, loaded the camels, and crossed.
“Let’s camp here and go tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.”
Ak Muyoo unloaded from the camels and set up the ger. It was something he always carried on long journeys. With things settled enough for one person, Yo Pung prepared food.
It was jerky porridge.
They shared the porridge and spread two layers of woolen cloaks inside the ger for blankets and mats—items prepared just for that.
Then they went to the river to wash and launder clothes.
“Wring them out and hang them inside the ger.”
Yo Pung said.
“Let’s go naked.”
“No one around—what’s the harm?”
“Why not.”
They wrung out the clothes, slipped on only shoes, and dashed to the ger. They hung the clothes and slipped right between the woolens. Ak Muyoo offered his arm.
“How do you feel?”
Yo Pung asked.
“About what?”
“You know everything about me now.”
“Hmm…… Knowing my background doesn’t change the past, or my current life. I was Ak Muyoo before, I am now, and I will be. Right now, clearing my name is what matters most.”
“I see. Still, it doesn’t feel great, does it?”
“There’s no good feeling or bad.”
“Say it feels bad.”
“Why?”
“Then I can comfort you.”
“…….”
“You’re quick on the uptake elsewhere…….”
Yo Pung shot Ak Muyoo a glare.
“Fine, I get it.”
Ak Muyoo pulled Yo Pung close.
“Have I gained weight?”
“Not sure?”
“Don’t they feel bigger?”
“What?”
“Breasts and hips. Waist’s thicker too.”
“Are they?”
“Look properly.”
“What’s to look at properly? It’s too dark to see anything.”
Whoosh!
Yo Pung threw off the woolen cloak. Her naked body was revealed starkly in the glow of the luminous pearl. It was explosively breathtaking.
“See now?”
“Hmm! More voluptuous than before.”
“Better?”
“Much better.”
“You like them voluptuous?”
“Seems like it.”
“Your voice sounds so soulless.”
“I haven’t been with many women.”
“I’m not the first, right?”
“Probably was.”
“…….”
“Why?”
“You said you’re thirty-three.”
“Yeah.”
“You expect me to believe a man that age never slept with a woman? You didn’t train some evil virgin功 art…… No, without a dantian, you couldn’t have. Were you really a virgin with me?”
“Struggling to survive left no room for women…… Couldn’t afford one, and none wanted me anyway.”
“Poor thing.”
Yo Pung stroked Ak Muyoo’s head.
“But is virgin功 really an evil art?”
“What else would you call an art that turns a healthy man into a eunuch?”
“I’m not a eunuch.”
“It’s not just physical impotence. Mental issues count too. Think about it: rendering something this fine unusable—normal art?”
“Sounds absurd, but weirdly convincing.”
“I don’t lie. Anyway, you should’ve told me sooner.”
“What would you have done?”
“Taught you all about the joys of lovemaking in detail. Still not too late—I’ll teach you slowly.”
“Do I have to learn that?”
“Of course. You men have no idea how barbaric it is to just charge in wildly. Some lunatic even thinks women like it rough—that’s dead wrong. From now on, just do what I say.”
Yo Pung smiled brightly and burrowed into Ak Muyoo’s arms.
Soon, a hot wind whipped through the ger.
Having stayed up all night wide-eyed, the two headed for the Helan Mountains the next day.
Around noon, they arrived where small peaks clustered thickly.
“These peaks look weird.”
Ak Muyoo tilted his head.
The peaks rose over ten zhang high, shaped like overturned giant eggshells. They could pass for dunes or odd peaks.
“Not peaks.”
“A graveyard?”
“Yeah.”
“Can’t tell from outside.”
“Exactly.”
Yo Pung scanned the tombs as she headed inward. Past a massive one, a smaller appeared. Small, but still five zhang high.
Its scale matched nearby tombs, but half-collapsed, it looked like a ruined building. She turned back to check the distance to the large tomb.
“The big ones must be kings’ tombs.”
“Yeah.”
Yo Pung nodded.
She circled the tomb base, then stopped before a flat rock. Patterns like writing were carved on it.
“This is it.”
“Writing?”
“Yeah. Western Xia script.”
“Whose tomb?”
“Master Yo Hwan’s.”
“Your ancestor who assassinated Seong Gil Sa Han?”
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t you say he was branded the one who ruined Western Xia Kingdom and chased out?”
“The tomb was prepared before death. The king had it made alongside his own.”
“So he might not even be inside?”
“Mom said he entered secretly, unknown to all.”
“Why not come before?”
“At my level then, I’d die before reaching him.”
“Traps?”
“Guess so.”
“How to enter?”
“Turn this.”
Yo Pung gripped the edge of the inscribed rock and pushed.
“Pfft!”
She chuckled.
“Why?”
“Pulled up one gye of qi, but it won’t budge.”
“Maybe it’s not a trap—maybe that’s the key to open it.”
“Hope so.”
Yo Pung gathered more qi. One gye, then three. Still nothing. Finally, she squeezed out all her qi.
Nearly five gye.
Grind!
At last, the rock shifted.
Rumble!
The ground shook, the tomb split left and right, revealing stairs descending.
“Let’s go in.”
The two descended the stairs.