Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Cold Iron
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Moyong Bi's guard stepped forward, blocking my path. His eyes burned with blatant wariness, utterly unshaken.
"What are you trying to pull here?"
His voice was low and menacing. He knew I was a physician, yet his guard remained ironclad. For a martial artist of the jianghu, baring one's head was tantamount to offering up one's life. Even a healer couldn't expect blind trust on that score.
How should I play this off? As I mulled over excuses in my head, Moyong Bi's quiet voice cut through.
"That's enough. Stand down."
He waved lightly at his guard. The man, who had moments ago seemed ready to cleave me in two, instantly reined in his aura and bowed respectfully, as if nothing had happened. He approached me without a word and presented his forehead. Completely unguarded.
Impeccable discipline.
Absolute loyalty to his master. The epitome of a servant's virtue.
The problem lay elsewhere.
Moyong Bi was gazing at me with deep, moist eyes that defied easy description.
Damn it. A chill ran down my spine. Staring down that look from a middle-aged man made my skin crawl. Did it have to come to this? Doubt gnawed at me.
A retching sound came from beside me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Byeok Cheonwi grimacing at Moyong Bi's expression, mimicking a full-body heave.
"Don't look at me like that. It's creepy."
I couldn't hold back any longer. Moyong Bi smirked, lifting the corner of his mouth theatrically.
-Understood.
He nodded in satisfaction, but his eyes didn't change a bit.
Haa. I let out a long sigh. No point dragging this out—it would only wear me down. I placed a hand on each of their foreheads, feigning a diagnosis as naturally as possible.
Then I focused my mind and sent the suggestion rippling out.
Feel the surging power. Forget your weary body and reclaim your iron will. Focus on the sensation of your latent potential exploding forth.
The moment it pierced their minds, a storm of miscellaneous memories flooded my head. Memories of honing the sword, clashing with foes, laughing at a young daughter's antics... I skimmed past them, concentrating solely on implanting the suggestion.
Enhancing two peak experts at once—one possibly beyond that—was a burden beyond imagination.
"Cough...!"
My vision went white, and my mental energy drained away like the tide. Already depleted from the wide-area suggestion, it hit rock bottom again. Thanks to the gains from empowering the blood vessel guests during the delve, the total capacity had increased, so it didn't fully empty—but nausea surged like bile rising in my throat.
Soso caught my staggering body firmly.
"Senior Brother! Are you okay?"
"Not hurt, not hurt at all... Our Senior Brother isn't hurting one bit..."
She patted my back gently, whispering it like a mantra. Burying my face in her chest, I felt her warm, soft embrace steady my dizzy mind bit by bit. My depleted mental energy slowly, steadily refilled.
A moment later, I lifted my head and glanced back.
Moyong Bi murmured in deep admiration, 'Hoo...' as he clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly. His eyes shone with awe. His guard, meanwhile, stared at his hands in disbelief, trembling. Our eyes met—his wide with shock.
"How... how in the world did you do that?!"
He rushed toward me, unable to contain his excitement, but Moyong Bi grabbed his shoulder, holding him back. Moyong Bi shot me a meaningful glance but asked nothing.
I buried my head back in Soso's soft chest. Right now, I didn't want to think about anything.
Afterward, while I and the exhausted Righteous-Unorthodox Alliance warriors rested, Moyong Bi and his guard stood watch. The two carved through the demonic beasts crawling from the Secret Cave's depths with an entirely new aura.
"Kahaha! This... this is power!"
His guard, intoxicated by his temporary leap to super-peak realm, dove into the waves of beasts, swinging his sword wildly in open thrill. Moyong Bi played the refined part outwardly, but he couldn't hide his sharpened, swifter strikes or the flickers of excitement.
With those two mountains holding the line, we fully recovered our strength. After a suitable time, Byeok Cheonwi bellowed the order, and the expedition pressed on. A few sharp-eyed warriors noticed the drastic change in Moyong Bi and his guard's auras, but fortunately, they seemed clueless about the cause.
At last, we reached the Secret Cave's farthest end—a colossal entrance. It had looked like a narrow passage from afar, but up close, it dwarfed imagination. A massive iron door sealed it perfectly.
"This is... Cold Iron!"
A rogue from the unorthodox faction gingerly touched the door and cried out in horror.
Gasps erupted everywhere. Cold Iron. Even from tales picked up in pleasure quarters, I knew its worth. Steel mined solely from the North Sea Ice Palace's ocean depths, harder than any famed sword—prime material for the finest weapons. An entire door of that magnitude made from it.
Burly warriors charged in, shoving with all their might, but the door didn't budge. Sword experts unleashed sword qi, but their blades cracked with a clang, leaving not even a scratch on the Cold Iron.
"Everyone, stand back!"
Byeok Cheonwi stepped up, watching. He drew the massive greatsword slung across his back—man-sized. A storm of aura exploded from him, blue qi shimmering along the blade. Sword qi, hallmark of peak experts. But Byeok Cheonwi's was far denser and sharper than most, proving his super-peak mastery.
"Hup... Haap!"
With a short shout, he brought the greatsword down.
Kwaaaang-!
The deafening blast shook the entire cave. Dust choked the air. As it slowly cleared, everyone swallowed hard at the revealed door.
A super-peak master's full-force strike. The result: a single, fingernail-sized shallow scratch.
In the silence, groans rippled through the group.
If even Azure Dragon Squad Leader Byeok Cheonwi—the alliance's top fighter—couldn't breach it, no one here could. Despair settled on every face.
A rogue broke the hush.
"Wait... Didn't that door look absent from afar earlier?"
Murmurs exploded. People dredged up memories. True enough—if such a massive iron door existed, it would've been visible from a distance.
That meant the beasts had closed it after we entered, or it shut on its own.
But the beasts we'd fought showed no such intelligence. Ruled by demonic energy, they were mere instinct-driven engines of destruction and slaughter.
Two possibilities remained: an intelligent being inside, or intricate mechanisms or formations controlling the door.
Byeok Cheonwi, thinking the same, slung his greatsword over his shoulder and scanned the surroundings.
"Anyone here versed in mechanisms or formations?!"
His voice echoed through the cave.
The Zhuge family—one of the orthodox great sects—excelled in both. Yet, inexplicably, not a single Zhuge member joined this expedition.
No reply from the orthodox side. Silence fell. Then, from the unorthodox group, a man quietly raised his hand.
"I know a little."
All eyes turned to him. Gaunt build, plain sword at his waist—no raw edge typical of rogues. He looked almost like a commoner. How had he survived this far?
Ignoring the stares, he introduced himself calmly.
"I'm from the Lower Filth Sect."
It clicked. Lower Filth Sect. Spiders' web of intelligence spanning the Central Plains—beggars, errand boys, courtesans, coachmen, no status too low. Their info network sometimes outstripped even the Murim Alliance. Surviving this hellhole meant hidden depths beneath the unassuming facade.
The Lower Filth Sect man approached the Cold Iron door, stroking it, inspecting the surrounding walls meticulously. After a thorough search, he shook his head.
"Nothing. No mechanisms."
"Then a formation?!"
Byeok Cheonwi pressed. The man nodded silently. The cave air grew heavy again. Mechanisms might be workable, but formations were another league. No one here knew them.
Hope turning to despair unleashed pent-up frustrations.
"Should've never come! What about the guys who died here? Just dog meat?!"
The rogue who'd amputated his own demonic-energy-infected arm vented. His cry ignited others. Even orthodox warriors, silent, wore dark dissatisfaction. The mood turned ugly fast.
The blood vessel guest stepped forward to calm them.
"Hold on. There must be a way."
But even his voice lacked conviction. He knew there wasn't.
Byeok Cheonwi murmured to Moyong Bi.
"What about remote power transfer?"
"Don't be daft. You trying to kill someone?!"
Moyong Bi snapped incredulously. Remote power transfer—forcing one's inner energy into another for a temporary boost—was a taboo technique with dire side effects, avoided unless desperate.
As everyone stared blankly at the Cold Iron door, a rogue shouted in alarm.
"Wha—what...! The door!"
Wuuuuung-
A heavy rumble vibrated as the massive Cold Iron door began rising slowly upward. No clue why, but it was opening.
"It's opening! The door's opening!"
"No telling when it'll shut again! Rush in!"
At the cry, everyone surged through the gap like a dam burst. I followed in their wake.
But something felt off.
The familiar warm presence and soft touch beside me was gone. I glanced sideways—Soso, who should have been there, wasn't.
"Paeng Daesan! Where's Soso?!"
I grabbed the collar of Paeng Daesan, who'd been guarding my side, and shook him.
"Huh? You mean sis-in-law?"
This dimwit. I'd drilled him to watch her closely, and he slacked? I'd deal with him later—but not now.
I had to find Soso.
I immediately self-suggested to heighten my sense of smell to extremes. Sniff sniff. Amid the sweat, blood, and cave mustiness from countless people, a faint, familiar scent wafted.
Soso's unique warmed-milk aroma.
It came from the rear, the way we'd come.
"Go in first!"
I barked at Paeng Daesan and leg-powered back through the darkness, tracing our path.
Soon, I spotted Soso crouched in a corner, searching for something. Closer than expected.
"Soso! How can you wander off alone like this—it's dangerous!"
Her shoulders flinched. She looked up, face tear-streaked.
"Sorryyy... Senior Brother..."
"As long as you're unhurt. Let's go."
I tried pulling her up. But Soso stayed put, holding out her empty ring finger.
"The ring... my ring's gone..."
The crude wooden ring I'd bought her at the market last time. Seeing her bare finger and near-tears face tugged at my heart.
"Stay right there."
I self-suggested, sharpening all senses to the limit. Heightened sight, hearing, touch scoured every detail. Amid the dirt, I spotted a glinting wooden sliver.
I picked up the ring and slipped it back on her ring finger.
"There. Good as new? Now let's go."
"Heehee..."
Soso finally beamed.
I piggybacked her and raced back to the Cold Iron door. Fortunately, it hadn't shut yet.
But something was wrong.
As distance closed, the open door was descending—slowly, but unmistakably. No idea why, but at this rate, it'd seal before we slipped through.
"Soso, hold tight!"
I swung her around from my back to a princess carry. Clueless, she clung to my neck.
I doubled down on leg power. Whipped the maxed-out muscles again. Zzt. They screamed in protest.
The narrowing gap.
I hurled myself at the nearly shut door.
Shraaak-!
A horrific scrape as my back skidded across rough stone—I slid just inside. My back burned like fire.
Kwaang-!
The door slammed shut behind me.
Soso was fine. I set her down and looked ahead.
An unimaginably vast plaza stretched out.
And that plaza... was pure pandemonium.
Hundreds, no thousands of demonic beasts mingled with the Righteous-Unorthodox Alliance warriors we'd just fought beside, locked in frenzied melee.