Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Endless Shoveling
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Geon Cheon-hwi sat in front of the annex, staring blankly up at the sky.
The sun rising from the east slowly crossed over the mountains to the west.
Slowly, slowly...
It moved so agonizingly slow, yet inevitably reached the west.
"Ah..."
A stifled groan escaped Geon Cheon-hwi's lips.
His pupils trembled violently, slowly tracking the setting sun.
His sunken, almost blackened eyes spasmed with cloudy irises.
"Ugh!"
As the sun dipped toward Cheon-gong Mountain in the west, Geon Cheon-hwi's convulsions grew worse.
'No... nooo...'
He didn't even have the strength to cry out loud, so he groaned inwardly, but there was no stopping the laws of nature.
Gazing at the sun endlessly sinking westward, Geon Cheon-hwi made a miserable face.
Once the sun set, he would have to head to Cheon-gong Mountain again.
The thought of endless digging already made his body recoil in strong refusal.
Lowering his eyes, Geon Cheon-hwi saw his scraped and cracked palms.
The wounds from swinging a sword for ten years were nothing compared to the deeper gashes from digging these past few days.
"Hey... get up. Circulate your qi."
Geon Cheon-hwi forced his mouth open, but his throat kept hacking with ragged breaths.
Tak Hyeok-dong, lying there like a corpse, merely turned his head to the side.
He looked just like a bear carcass with a broken neck.
Tak Hyeok-dong's eyelids fluttered as he asked in a low voice.
"F-Fuck... just how long do we have to keep digging?"
"I don't know."
"Why... are we digging?"
"Don't know."
"Are we looking for something real?"
"I said I don't know."
Geon Cheon-hwi spat out a ragged breath, his voice distant and forlorn.
At that despairing tone, Tak Hyeok-dong's face twisted.
"No, there's a limit to this shoveling bullshit..."
Having never experienced such grueling labor in his life, Tak Hyeok-dong snapped.
"What the hell are we warriors doing with shovels?!"
"Don't know."
Geon Cheon-hwi muttered in a dazed stupor, then turned his head.
His eyes met those of Jang Woong, who had been leaning his head against a pillar, shoulders shaking.
Jang Woong was sobbing silently.
"Hey... that guy's crying."
"Fucking idiot, a grown man's bawling."
"Then why are you crying?"
"...Fuck."
Geon Cheon-hwi let out a deep sigh at Tak Hyeok-dong's cursing, then froze.
He had spotted Nangong Ryong shuffling past.
Drag, drag...
With slumped shoulders and a hunched back, Nangong Ryong dragged himself along.
Like a snail inching forward, he pulled his feet limply, chewing jerky with a lifeless face.
Munch, munch.
The long strip of jerky slowly shrank with each movement of Nangong Ryong's jaw.
He flopped forward onto the ground with a thud.
The usual Nangong Ryong would never have fallen forward like that, and even if he did, he would have regained his balance instantly.
But he wasn't his usual self now.
Nangong Ryong collapsed face-first into the dirt like a rotten log.
Thud!
"Y-Young Master!"
Geon Cheon-hwi, who had been staring blankly, widened his eyes.
"A-Are you alright?!"
Geon Cheon-hwi rushed over to help Nangong Ryong up, then froze.
"Ah..."
A small sigh escaped his lips.
Nangong Ryong had face-planted into the dirt but was still working his jaw with that lifeless expression.
Munch, munch.
He sluggishly got back up and kept chewing diligently.
Geon Cheon-hwi gaped in stunned disbelief.
Wow...
He's chewing jerky like that.
There was even a tragic air about Nangong Ryong chomping away while sprawled out.
"I'm... fine..."
Nangong Ryong muttered weakly as he pushed himself up.
Geon Cheon-hwi stared in bewilderment at Nangong Ryong's receding figure, dragging his feet away.
'They're all losing their minds.'
In just a few days, not only the Thunder Dragon Squad but even Nangong Ryong had reached peak exhaustion.
Had he ever dug dirt like this in his life?
Every day, his finger joints felt like they were falling off—it was pure hell.
'Surely there's a reason for it.'
Even if Nangong Hyeok seemed carefree, he had learned over time that wasn't the case.
There must be a reason for this shoveling too.
Whatever it was, the fact that they had come all the way to the Hebei Peng Family meant it was extremely important.
The problem was that there was no end in sight.
Digging endlessly for days on end with no deadline...
'No, no!'
Geon Cheon-hwi shook his head vigorously.
Harboring needless doubt would earn him a harsh scolding from Nangong Hyeok.
He had to trust him.
Trust.
'It'll end soon.'
Geon Cheon-hwi gazed longingly toward Nangong Hyeok's quarters.
* * *
"...Fuck, why isn't it coming up?"
Nangong Hyeok sat on the bed, pressing his temples.
"We've dug eight feet deep."
They had dug like mad for days—something had to turn up by now, right?
A pit, a marker, even a plank Gou-mok had tossed aside...
Nangong Hyeok's eyes flickered like candle flames.
"Did I dig in the wrong spot?"
...Man, I hope that beautiful theory stays just a theory.
No, wait.
'Maybe the direction's off.'
They had overturned hundreds of square feet of earth.
The starting point might have been wrong.
It was time to consider that possibility.
'I'll switch to expanding from the center outward.'
Nodding, Nangong Hyeok muttered.
"Need to double-check the Black Spot's info."
It was a tale from over seventy years ago.
The righteous faction had fled into the main peak of Cheon-gong Mountain from the demonic forces, and the place they fought to the bitter end before escaping was somewhere below the cliff.
Somewhere below the cliff.
He needed to pin down that vague, frustrating info more precisely.
By tracing the battle traces, he could better pinpoint Gou-mok's hidden lair.
Even if the Black Spot had no info, it didn't matter.
Turning the whole area upside down would turn up something eventually.
"...Am I gonna end up flipping an entire peak?"
The ominous thought made Nangong Hyeok flinch.
From afar, the main peak of Cheon-gong Mountain looked like a mere booger, but now that he thought about digging it, it felt vaster than the entire Cheon Mountain range.
Frustrating, so frustrating.
"But what can I do? Gotta dig. Even if I have to peel the whole peak bare, I'll do it."
Unyielding resolve burned in Nangong Hyeok's eyes.
If the Thunder Dragon Squad outside heard that, they would foam at the mouth and faint.
Or resurrect their long-dormant escape plans.
"I'll see it through, even if it takes a hundred days."
He could spend a whole year stripping the mountain bare.
Gou-mok's final insights on pill refinement were worth that much.
No, he was certain they were worth several times more than he imagined.
Simply put, if he had to choose between the Heaven-Cleaving Bright King Art... no, scratch that.
Between the Imperial Sovereign Divine Art and Gou-mok's secrets, Nangong Hyeok would pick the latter, obviously.
If he could, he'd negotiate a straight trade with Shaolin.
Of course, that wouldn't happen, but that's how he felt.
Nangong Hyeok clicked his tongue and stood up.
'First, off to the Black Spot.'
As Nangong Hyeok rose, Geum Cheom-sang burst into the room.
"Young Master, Young Master!"
"Why the fuss? Perfect timing, actually. I'm heading out for a bit, so..."
"Young Master, Lady Peng Yeon-hwa is here."
"What lady?"
"Lady Peng Yeon-hwa!"
"Who's that?"
"Pardon?"
Geum Cheom-sang blinked at Nangong Hyeok in bewilderment.
"She came to the Peng lady's birthday banquet, but if you don't even know her name, what am I supposed to say..."
"Oh. The Peng daughter."
"You saw her at the gathering."
"Didn't know her name."
"Ah, yes."
Geum Cheom-sang looked resigned now as he snapped back to attention.
"That's not the point—Lady Peng from the Peng Family is in the annex right now!"
"Why?"
"She wants to see both young masters."
"Huh?"
No, why?
Did they have business?
'And when did we even meet her?'
Nangong Hyeok looked puzzled for a moment, then waved it off.
"Then tell her the eldest young master will handle it. The guest should be received promptly, of course."
"..."
"Say I'm not here."
With the most annoyed face imaginable, Nangong Hyeok waved dismissively.
Geum Cheom-sang blinked at him.
"It's late."
"Late is the new early..."
"She's already inside the annex."
"...When did you let her in?"
Nangong Hyeok stared in disbelief, and Geum Cheom-sang looked wronged.
He shook his hands vigorously and shook his head.
"Not me. I didn't say a word."
"Didn't say anything, and she just waltzed in? Did the Thunder Dragon Squad boys bring her?"
"...The eldest young master received her."
"What?"
"He said the eldest young master let her in."
What nonsense is this?
Since when does Nangong Ryong receive guests?
"Unbelievable."
Nangong Hyeok stepped outside in exasperation.
There, at a table on the first floor of the annex, Peng Yeon-hwa in green robes sat facing Nangong Ryong in blue robes.
Nangong Hyeok's gaze fixed on Nangong Ryong.
Sunken eyes, pale face, gaunt cheeks.
It was Nangong Ryong's usual face, but...
'Why does he look like he's smiling?'
Nangong Hyeok could almost read his brother's thoughts.
'Our eldest young master is pulling a trick?'
Refusing to dig by receiving a guest?
Peng Yeon-hwa, no less?
More than why she was here, Nangong Ryong's scheme irked him.
Peng Yeon-hwa sipped her tea and rose from her seat.
"Young Master Nangong Hyeok, good to see you again. I'm Peng Yeon-hwa."
Nangong Hyeok asked with a reluctant face.
"What brings you here?"
His eyes remained locked on Nangong Ryong, who was sipping tea.
Nangong Ryong slyly averted his gaze and turned away.
"I was passing by and had something to tell you."
"Something to tell me?"
Nangong Hyeok eyed Peng Yeon-hwa suspiciously before sitting beside Nangong Ryong.
Peng Yeon-hwa sat back down, her face turning serious.
She glanced around before speaking quietly.
"Now that both young masters are here, I'll tell you."
"..."
"At my birthday banquet, be careful of the main family. My brother and father are plotting something."
Her tone was gravely cautious given the serious, dangerous topic.
Nangong Ryong caught the mood, furrowing his brow with a darkened gaze.
Peng Yeon-hwa nodded, then flinched upon looking at Nangong Hyeok.
He had the bored look of someone hearing the neighbor's dog bark.
His eyes, radiating utter boredom and disinterest, met hers.
Fiddling with his ear, Nangong Hyeok blurted out.
"So what?"
"...Pardon?"
Even Peng Yeon-hwa, who prided herself on composure, couldn't hide her shock at Nangong Hyeok's reaction.
The head and heir of the Hebei Peng Family were scheming against the Nangong Family—would anyone react like that?
Normally, you'd question why she was telling them or how to verify it was true.
Even the impassive Nangong Ryong looked a bit grave!
As Peng Yeon-hwa blinked in confusion, Nangong Hyeok said indifferently.
"The Peng Family's hated ours for more than a day or two."
...Well, true.
They had been rival clans clashing from the previous generation to now.
"But this banquet is..."
"Yeah, whatever."
Nangong Hyeok cut her off abruptly.
While Peng Yeon-hwa sat stunned, Nangong Hyeok's mind raced.
Having thought it through, he spoke.
"Let me ask you something."
"...Yes?"
"It's nothing big..."
Nangong Hyeok trailed off slyly, drawing Peng Yeon-hwa's unwitting attention.
"Do you know about the desperate unit that gathered in Hebei Province during the Demonic Blood Cataclysm?"
"Desperate... unit?"
"Yeah. Know anything?"
A glint sparked in Peng Yeon-hwa's shaken eyes at Nangong Hyeok's question.
"Yes. Of course!"
A smile crept onto Nangong Hyeok's lips.