CHAPTER 136: Secret History
Never had I felt such a surge of urgency.
Too many plot hooks had been dropped all at once.
Fine, so Yak-seon was the First Heavenly Demon's alt account? Sure, I could buy that. Back in my original world, it was trendy to split identities between main jobs and side gigs.
Humans living over two hundred years? That tracks too. Martial artists who reach high realms often rejuvenate and live long lives. Someone like the First Heavenly Demon could plausibly last even longer.
But then, what the hell was this 'gate'? No matter how I racked my brain, it felt like some kind of passage linking this world to the one I'd come from.
As a self-proclaimed veteran of Murim Return, I'd never encountered even a hint of such a concept.
Of course, now I actually have reason to believe I can return.
The secret history of the Heavenly Demon Blood Saga was another piece of info I didn't know.
Cheon Yu-hak, the Fourth Heavenly Demon, was explicitly described as exploding from an overload of his own power.
Yet the truth left by the Muhonjibyeok said otherwise.
And even—
The First Heavenly Demon split the Heavenly Demon Divine Art into two?
What's more, he spoke of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art as if it were some living entity.
I'd sensed it before, but this world was twisted. It looked almost identical to the one I knew, but there were definite differences.
I gazed at the spiritual medicines placed atop the altar formed as the Muhonjibyeok shifted.
Some were in pill form, others unidentified liquids.
These elixirs reinforce innate essence?
A memory surfaced.
Ma Ui's face as he asked how the hell I was still alive.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art's energy eats away at innate essence.
It wasn't all that surprising, really. Demonic arts typically cultivate by defying heaven through bizarre methods to gain reverse-heavenly power.
Especially something like the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, king of all demonic arts. Fine, that checks out.
What shocked me was the First Heavenly Demon claiming these elixirs could reinforce innate essence.
Innate essence was life force itself—the limit of a human lifespan.
Nothing short of reversal of aging could defy that fate. Even then, reversal didn't increase the amount of innate essence; it just made it more efficient to conserve and use.
Yet here the First Heavenly Demon was saying a mere elixir could reinforce it.
In other words, medicine could alter fate itself.
Did that university he attended have a pharmacology grad program or something?
I tried lightening the pressure with a silly thought, but it didn't help much.
Pa Cheon asked what was written on the wall, and I relayed it verbatim.
Even he reacted with disbelief. If it hadn't been left by the First Heavenly Demon, he'd have dismissed it as nonsense.
The others asked what it said too.
I skipped everything else and only mentioned the elixirs' effects.
Then.
"Mm..."
Dang Mugi let out a low groan.
"I see why Sa Wang Castle had their eyes on this ruin."
"Why is that?"
Dang Mugi answered Dang Si Hyeok's question.
"The Castle Lord of Sa Wang is well over a hundred. I don't know how he got info we didn't, but he might've been after these elixirs to overcome his lifespan's limit."
One might think the young castle lord gave up too easily, but—
Sa Wang Castle Lord and the young lord don't get along.
In the Murim Return world, father-son or brotherly bonds were often worse than enemies.
Pa Cheon was one such case, and so was Dang Si Hyeok.
Even if he'd secured the elixirs, the young lord probably wouldn't hand them over easily. Blood ties or not, it was the man who'd killed his father.
I suspected he'd planned to use them as a trump card in some deal or scheme.
Dang Mugi, his face grave, said to me,
"As I mentioned earlier, this old man from the back room is content just seeing the elixirs' true nature."
"Grandfather!"
Dang Si Yul called out urgently, his mute acupoint apparently released, but—
Swish!
It was sealed again. He seemed to get hit with it constantly compared to his debut, but his opponent was Dang Mugi.
"Disobey my order to stay quiet again, and I might make it so you never speak another word."
A true Poison King, unrivaled under heaven—grandson or not, he wouldn't tolerate defiance.
"And this as well."
Dang Mugi rummaged in his robes and offered me something.
"Having received grace from Yak-seon's heir, it's only right to repay tenfold. But I don't know what the heir desires right now. So take this token."
It was a Tang Clan command medallion. From the Poison King, no less—its weight was immense.
I shook my head and refused.
"I already have one from the Tang Clan."
"Really?"
"Yes."
I pulled one from my robes.
The Minor Tang Medallion.
Used by Tang Clan heir candidates in young lord tournaments.
Dang Si Hyeok had given it to me, of course.
Dang Mugi burst into hearty laughter. "Haha!"
"My vision was narrow, and I misjudged you. Well done, Si Hyeok."
Dang Si Hyeok teared up, speechless. Being chosen over the Poison King's medallion? He'd be moved, no doubt.
[You wouldn't do that without thinking. Why refuse the Poison King's medallion?]
The Poison King is just that—an old back-room fart. He might matter now, but he won't lead the Tang Clan forward. I'm investing in the future, not the present.
Of course, part of it was securing a loyal ear for my cushy future too.
With the Poison King's seal of approval, Dang Si Hyeok's path ahead looked brighter.
Meanwhile, Paeng So So clicked her tongue bitterly.
"If I'd found those elixirs first, they'd be mine."
Paeng So So was straightforward, not lacking greed. Without it, she couldn't have formed the Relic Hunters.
"By custom, they should've been."
"Exactly. Though there's a way to make them yours by custom too."
"What's that?"
"Marry me."
"Did hunger make you eat poison or something?"
"What do you take me for?"
I shrugged.
Either way, I had to consume these elixirs. They'd form the bare minimum foundation to fix this body.
Not here and now, though.
I took a poison pouch from Dang Si Hyeok and carefully packed the 'Yak-seon Elixir 10-Piece Set'.
Tang poison pouches were far safer for storing drugs than ordinary ones.
[Easier than expected.]
Ah.
[What's wrong?]
You just raised a flag.
This world was ruled by clichés.
A place where you never uttered lines like 'Did we get 'em?'
That was when it happened.
Screeeeech—!
Mu-geok-i's high-pitched cry echoed.
I'd told it to cry if anyone suspicious approached.
Dang Mugi had been hiding here already, so that didn't count. Which meant someone was coming from outside.
The instant that thought hit.
Fwoooosh!
White smoke suddenly filled the cavern.
Heh heh heh~!
A laugh rang out—man, woman, child, or elder, impossible to tell.
"G-Ghost?"
"Hah—."
I knew exactly what was happening the moment I heard it.
No direct experience, but plenty indirect via text.
[What the—wait. The jade's power isn't working!]
Yeah, figured.
I sighed and stepped right up to Dang Mugi. He eyed me curiously, wondering at my intent.
Instead of explaining, I held the elixir pouch visibly.
A brief moment passed.
The second I felt a breeze—
It was gone.
The pouch with Yak-seon's elixirs.
Even though I'd gripped it tightly moments ago. Clichéd as hell, but it felt like I'd been possessed.
In its place on the floor: a note reading THIEF.
"?!"
Dang Mugi's eyes bulged like saucers.
No surprise. Hidden weapon masters trained their eye techniques to the limit, like archers.
Even with that dynamic vision, he hadn't caught it.
[Monster! What happened?!]
You raised the flag.
[...You're oddly calm. You know something?]
Dang Mugi and Pa Cheon spoke almost in unison.
"What sorcery is this?"
"Simple. Someone stole the elixirs."
"...Without escaping my notice."
That's why I'd stood in front of him—to avoid suspicion.
I'd earned the elixirs fair and square, but no need to seem in cahoots with the thief.
Dang Mugi stayed composed.
"You deliberately used our clan's poison pouch. It carries the Thousand-Li Tracking Scent."
Thousand-Li Tracking Scent.
A special aroma trackable up to a thousand li—about four hundred kilometers. Ordinary folk couldn't smell it, but special arts could.
All Tang poison pouches were coated in it.
"Just in case."
"Impressive foresight. But we must hurry. As you know, it has limits."
The scent faded over time, and its effective range from Sichuan was about four hundred kilometers—not endless.
Most pouches were scented before leaving home.
That's why I'd casually taken Dang Si Hyeok's.
"That's fine too. I applied the scent myself."
Lie, of course.
I just knew the thief's identity—and location.
"...Indeed. I'd forgotten you're Yak-seon's heir. But you seem to know the thief."
"I have a hunch. Thick smoke, eerie laughter, a thief who appears and vanishes like the wind, toying with us."
It wasn't prime time for their full debut yet. But the timeline was already a mess, so no issue if they stirred now.
And no worry about the elixirs being wolfed down.
This nut never used or consumed stolen goods.
"Who is it?"
"Not widely known yet, but the world will call him this."
I showed the note with THIEF and said,
"The thief who leaves no shadow: Muyoung Sintu."
And that Muyoung Sintu was—
The Nine Great Sects and Eight Great Families' representative.
The paragon of the murim world.
At the Shaolin Temple.