Chapter 29 For the Grand Scheme
Un Yeop Ja crouched down, running his hand over the smooth cross-section of the statue. With his handsome face filled with admiration, he looked just like he belonged in a photoshoot.
Right. My face is pretty handsome right now too.
Anyway, Un Yeop Ja stood up and walked over to me, then clasped his hands in a formal salute. I reflexively returned the gesture. I could see a burning hunger in his eyes.
"Thank you, young hero."
"What's this all of a sudden?"
"Thanks to you, young hero, my eyes have been opened wide. I can see just how much effort you've put in to achieve such prowess... I've been reflecting on how I've trained too comfortably within the shelter of Kunlun all this time."
"Me too, brother. When I get back to the family, I'll train even harder!"
Dang Si Hyeok said, clenching his fist.
Some massive misunderstandings seemed to be flying around.
They think I sliced those statues, huh?
[Wasn't it you who did it?]
As Pa Cheon said, the statues had been dismantled not by me, but by the ruins' mechanisms.
Just stay quiet.
No need for me to step in and correct them when they were kind enough to jump to conclusions on their own.
"Are you alright?"
Tak Horak came over and asked me. I just nodded silently. He started babbling on about how impressive I was, as expected. Sa Wol, on the other hand...
What's her deal now?
I'd thought the recent shocks might have clouded her judgment a bit, but she seemed to have sorted her thoughts out. She was staring at me with a cold expression. I recalled the description from Murim Return: Sa Wol's icy face was her way of hiding intense emotions.
I had no idea what change of heart she'd gone through. At least I felt secure knowing I could blink away if things got dicey.
I need to pay more attention to her.
No matter what, I had to make Sa Wol my ally.
"So, is the ruin done now?"
Someone from the Blue Cloth Group spoke up then.
The guardians of ruins usually protected the core treasures. I'd gobbled up the Blinking Jade they were defending, so there was no reason to stick around anymore.
"The altar? Hold on. Doesn't that mean there were supposed to be treasure artifacts or relics here?"
"What? For real?"
"Then where'd the treasures go?"
The moment the words left their mouths, all eyes turned to me.
Ah, didn't think of that.
The Blue Cloth Group's goal was to explore ruins and snag treasures. I'd taken the main prize, so it wasn't strange for their anger to turn my way.
No wonder Paeng So So's gaze had sparks flying at me. She must've been pissed that I'd stolen the ruin out from under her. Her twitching fingers suggested she might draw her blade if things went south. I subtly sidled closer to Un Yeop Ja.
"Where's the treasure at?"
"At least let us see what it looked like! Can't leave empty-handed!"
Ruins worked on a first-come, first-served basis anyway. Me taking it wasn't an issue per se... but the justification was iffy.
Plus, if I admit I ate the jade, they'll demand to know what kind it was.
The Blinking Jade had to stay secret. No one except me could know it wasn't some Illusory Body Swap technique but just the jade's function.
That was when it happened.
"Everyone, stop."
The scholar-dressed man standing behind Paeng So So—Jo Yang—spoke up. The fact that Paeng So So stayed silent even as he stepped forward suggested he was second-in-command of the Blue Cloth Group.
"There's no relic here."
"No?"
"What? Did we just waste our time?"
The Blue Cloth Group's mood turned ugly. Despite the grand name, they were mostly ronin Paeng So So had scraped together off the streets.
Ronin moved strictly by profit, so they hated losses with a passion. Their ronin nature overrode the group's fledgling identity. Paeng So So's rough speech was probably her way of keeping them in line.
"What's the deal, sis? Er, boss."
"Explain yourself."
"We came all the way from Guangdong to Cheonghae—months of travel—and it's another bust?"
Then Jo Yang clapped loudly.
"Hear me out! That altar was fake from the start. The real one's behind it."
With that, he pointed somewhere.
When did that appear?
A small archway tunnel, wide enough for two people, had appeared on the wall that had been empty just moments ago.
"Oh, so that's it?"
"Makes sense. No way we'd come this far for nothing."
The Blue Cloth Group nodded and grinned like it was nothing, their earlier grumbling forgotten. Simple folk.
The problem wasn't them.
[Suspicious.]
Yeah. Very suspicious.
Jo Yang.
They clearly knew there was a treasure artifact in the cave. Paeng So So did, and so did I.
Yet Jo Yang had just called it a relic.
Treasure artifacts and relics were both treasures, but distinct concepts. No professional ruin explorer—especially one versed in formations—would mix them up, amateur or not.
This guy knew there was a relic here for sure.
So why play dumb?
Why? What reason?
Not that he's a Divine Cult spy or some twist like that, right?
[No way.]
"No way" has killed many.
Couldn't just confront him outright. He clearly had ulterior motives, but since he wasn't a Murim Return character, I couldn't predict his intentions.
"Passing through that tunnel will reveal the hidden ruin. The real treasure artifact is there."
"Then..."
The Blue Cloth Group exchanged glances. With traps everywhere, they were deciding who to send as the vanguard.
"You filthy beggars."
Paeng So So stepped forward.
"I'll go first, so quit rolling your eyes. And you, Kim guy."
She turned to me.
"You're coming with me."
"...Why?"
"Why? You're crazy strong. Can't protect a frail little lady like me?"
Erm, even if your arms are "frail," one hit from them would kill me.
The Paeng family was born with monstrous strength, making her words all the more absurd.
But I couldn't voice that. Everyone just nodded along for some reason.
"I've got some internal injuries..."
"No problem. I'll block everything."
"Then there's no point in me going with you."
"Tch! What kinda man talks this much?!"
Paeng So So approached me, but I backed away and said,
"Sa Wol."
Sa Wol appeared at my side like a ghost. Paeng So So flinched in surprise. She'd sensed Sa Wol's "personal space."
Experts had an innate bubble around them. Unless family, no one invaded it without warning. Letting someone in meant intimacy—or a desire for it.
"As I said earlier, due to my injuries, my guard will accompany me."
"Tch. Acting all high and mighty. Fine, all three of us go. That work?"
No, it didn't. But I had no grounds to refuse.
"Let's go."
Sa Wol nodded silently, as expected.
As we entered the tunnel mouth, the torches on either side lit up automatically. No electricity in this era, but ruins had their convenient "magic."
"No traps visible."
We advanced tensely, but the short tunnel ended anticlimactically. Nothing there.
Exiting it, three paths awaited us.
The ruin's entrance was a microcosm of its traps. We'd had a fork at the start, so three now wasn't odd.
"Ugh, another fork. Annoying."
Paeng So So muttered.
"Best to wait here."
Those paths surely had traps. With Paeng So So and Sa Wol, we'd manage, but danger was danger.
Plus, the biggest threat felt like Jo Yang. He had schemes, but I couldn't read them.
But Paeng So So was bullheaded. Classic endgame brute from the Paeng clan.
"Huh? What's this?"
Paeng So So pointed at something. I stepped closer to check. Sa Wol followed. And in that instant...
Paeng So So stepped right into the path.
The moment her foot hit the tunnel floor.
Rumble—
A massive boom echoed as a stone wall crashed down where we'd come from. Retreat cut off.
"Ahaha... This is a problem."
"What do you think you're doing?"
"It wasn't moving, so I figured... Didn't know the wall would drop. Sorry."
Paeng So So looked genuinely apologetic and embarrassed. I let out a small sigh. This Murim Return world was the author's creation.
Paengs were set as simple, brutish macho types. Getting mad wouldn't help. Her even apologizing was huge for a Paeng.
I touched the stone wall. The tattoo on my right hand glowed.
Can pass through. Thinner than 5 meters, I guess.
Blinking would get me through. Tempting to bail, but breaking the wall with martial arts was possible—passing through wasn't. Doing so would expose me swallowing the jade.
Wall-phasing was a last resort.
"Step back. I'll try breaking it."
Paeng So So had already drawn her blade. Erasing her playful grin, she assumed a serious stance.
Bzzzzt—
Red energy sparked around her blade like electricity. Blade qi manifested.
[Not the Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade, huh.]
Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade.
A saber art meaning "five tigers splitting a gate," the Paeng clan's hereditary technique from Hebei—fierce and tiger-like. Rumors said the Paengs' macho idiocy came from practicing it.
It is Five Tigers, just modified with Heaven-Earth-Falling Blade techniques.
The Paengs unearthed the Heaven-Earth-Falling Blade from ruins. Its hallmark was red lightning—like the energy now coursing through Paeng So So's blade.
"Hah!"
Paeng So So swung. The red lightning-charged saber wind slammed into the wall.
Drumdrumdrum—!
Intense vibrations kicked up dust. I covered my eyes and nose with my sleeve.
"Failed. Same material as those statues, probably."
Claw-like gouges marked the wall, but it held. That power should've pulverized normal stone.
"Can't you do it? You seemed amazing back there."
"As I said, internal injuries."
"Fair. Showing that level of skill without injuries would be weirder."
Thanks to their misconceptions, excuses came easy.
"What about your guard? Can't she break it?"
Sa Wol shook her head silently.
"Let's head forward for now. Jo Yang will figure something out eventually. He's a bit shady and off-putting sometimes, but decent at dismantling ruins."
The followers saw the sealed first wall. Two paths remained.
"Looks like boss took the first path."
Jo Yang said, examining traces and calculating.
"By the ruin's structure, all paths meet at the end. Traps differ along the way, though."
"No need to agonize then. Brother's there. Let's go, lads."
"Yes!"
Dang Si Hyeok headed down the second path with the Tang warriors. Un Yeop Ja tagged along unexpectedly.
"We gotta go too! Can't lose! Move!"
The Blue Cloth Group took the third.
And then.
Smirk—
Left alone amid the chaos, Jo Yang curled into a cold smile. In his hand was a jade emitting ominous, pale gray smoke.
"For the grand scheme..."
I Pretend to Be the Heavenly Demon