Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: Find the Dragon Subduing Blade (2)
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Woo So-reung and I moved to a thicket a short distance away from where my Eon younger siblings were setting up the altar.
It was to change into night travel attire.
As we changed clothes, Woo So-reung asked me,
"Since you told me to follow you, that Soviet-style vengeful spirit must have said the young lord's token is in the Dragon King's Temple, right?"
I silently nodded, and Woo So-reung shuddered on his own.
"Wa-water drowning is supposed to be incredibly painful, so the grudge is enormous. It won't stick to me, will it?"
"With me here, you're worrying needlessly. What did you find out?"
At my words, Woo So-reung pulled out a map depicting the layout of the Dragon King's Temple buildings.
"The buildings are laid out like this. The building in the north shaped like the character is that watchtower visible from here. Beneath it are two storage vaults where donated items are kept. The places guarded by imperial soldiers are marked with red dots. They change shifts at the second watch."
"What about the Hundred Household Officer?"
People vaguely say, "The Dragon King's Temple on Poyang Lake is guarded by the Imperial Guard."
But the actual organization stationed there was a Hundred Household Office, the smallest unit with about a hundred men.
'Not all hundred soldiers are Imperial Guard.'
However, the commanding Hundred Household Officer was someone affiliated with the Imperial Guard.
"He was a spear instructor in the Imperial Guard who came here upon reaching retirement age."
The discipline and atmosphere of the Hundred Household Office at the Dragon King's Temple depend on who the commanding Hundred Household Officer is.
From what Woo So-reung said, it seemed we needed to pay extra attention.
"The security must be tight. We might need to stay on our toes."
As I furrowed my brow,
Woo So-reung and my master spoke in turn.
"Hm? He's someone nearing retirement, so even if his subordinates mess up, he just admonishes them without whipping—do you think the security is really tight?"
- That's right. No strong soldiers under a good-natured general. You're scaring little So-reung too much, and he's faint-hearted as it is.
I replied to them both.
"If a young Imperial Guard officer is assigned as the Hundred Household Officer at the Dragon King's Temple, it's a clear demotion. He's got no future and will just drink himself silly, so his men will slack off too. But if someone nearing retirement is sent here, it's different."
"Isn't it the same for someone nearing retirement?"
"No. It means they've recognized his past achievements and sent him here to spend his final years comfortably. Even if he's mild-mannered, his mindset is worlds apart from someone demoted. Plus, with connections built up in the Imperial Guard and palace over the years, even if he himself has few days left, his subordinates eager for recommendations will work hard on their own to catch his eye."
- ...Your reasoning makes sense.
"We, we should be careful."
"If we're caught, it'll get troublesome, so yes, we should."
Woo So-reung swallowed dryly at my words.
Clashing with imperial soldiers, especially those connected to the Imperial Guard, would lead to all sorts of headaches.
That's why I said we couldn't let our guard down.
As my master said, little So-reung was faint-hearted and looked spooked.
I patted Woo So-reung's shoulder.
"No need to tense up too much. Aren't you the sole inheritor of the Thunderbolt Robe elder's blood and vision, who treated the palace like his own home?"
"That's true, but..."
"I believe in you."
Woo So-reung nodded firmly with a resolute expression.
"Yes! Brother Eon!"
"Let's hurry. The second watch is almost here. We need to exploit the chaos of the shift change."
"Yes!"
* * *
Dang-
The bell announcing the second watch began tolling from the shrine.
At the sound, the soldiers guarding the Dragon King's Temple started their shift change.
Woo So-reung and I scaled the wall during that gap.
At first, there were no hitches.
Daeng-
The bell tolled, masking our footsteps.
[Brother Eon, ahead!]
[Stick behind me!]
The Shadow Assimilation black magic, cast in the enveloping darkness, concealed us from soldiers whose senses weren't particularly sharp.
Saak-
"Nothing going on?"
"What would be? We're just suffering because of the company banners eager to impress the new Hundred Household Officer for a recommendation."
"Isn't it true that black path gangs have been banding together and stirring up trouble around here lately?"
"Even they have brains; they won't touch this place. Anyway, good luck. The company banners' eyes are sharp, so the squad banners are doing spot checks too."
"Yeah?"
"I say that, but I'm slacking off big time."
"Right. Good work. Go on."
Saaak-
[...All sorts of security tricks. Brother Eon, aren't you actually an immortal in disguise?]
[Hanging with Hwasung must've rubbed off that nonsense. Anyway, let's go.]
[Yes!]
That way, we reached the watchtower over the storage vaults without much trouble.
[Brother Eon. Opening this door will definitely make noise, right?]
The problem was the hinges on the main door used to enter the tower were so old that we couldn't slip in undetected.
But Woo So-reung quickly found a way.
[There's a window midway up. If you climb with Non-Shadow Heaven-Splitting Step, your footsteps on the wall will echo, so I'll go first and drop a line.]
[Let's do that.]
With my permission, Woo So-reung leaped like a swallow toward the window three jang up.
'Your lightness skill makes you look more like an immortal.'
While I thought that,
Chalruk- A silken thread line unfurled.
I grabbed it and swiftly ascended the watchtower.
Once inside through the midway window, Woo So-reung and I began preparing to descend to the underground storage vaults.
[The stairs are rickety too. They'll creak.]
[Skip the stairs then. Tie the silk to that beam up there and drop straight down.]
[Yes!]
Whirlic!
The spiral wooden stairs were too worn, so we looped the silk thread over a main beam.
Woo So-reung went first, but instead of hanging normally, he crossed his legs to clamp the line between his feet and hung upside down like a spider.
[......? Why hang like that?]
[It's a storage vault even if it's a temple; there might be traps.]
Woo So-reung prefaced, then pulled out what looked like a powder puff women use, slipped them onto both hands, clapped them together with a pang, and continued.
[This way, I can detect thread-triggered traps with the silk. And counter them.]
[...As an expert, you come prepared.]
[...Pardon?]
[Nothing. Let's go.]
[Yes!]
As Woo So-reung and I descended slowly upside down on the silk,
Kiggeok-
The watchtower door opened with the creak of old hinges.
[!]
[!]
No words were exchanged, but Woo So-reung and I moved in perfect sync.
He reached back to hand me a puff while reeling in the lowered silk,
And I cast Shadow Assimilation.
A perfect duo, one might say...
Suk-
But at that moment,
The iron coin necklace, a gift from my maternal grandfather that I always carried, slipped from my neck.
[!]
[!]
- !
It happened in an instant.
I shifted the puffs to one hand and lunged to grab the necklace.
But I was a fraction too late.
[Hey!]
At that instant,
Little So-reung sent a short transmission and untwisted his legs from the silk.
I grabbed one of his legs,
And in that moment, he snatched the iron coin necklace with his teeth and grinned at me.
[Did good, right?]
[The guy scared of water ghosts has guts.]
The man who entered was a low-ranking squad banner officer.
He had a sturdy build,
Perhaps hating the stairs or because the soldiers on watch above were visible outside,
He just glanced at the basement and left.
[That was the squad banner doing a spot check. He's gone, so he won't come back for a while. Hurry.]
[Yes!]
We lowered the silk again and descended faster to the basement.
As Woo So-reung predicted, there were thread-based traps, but we had an expert.
[I could disarm them, but it'd give us away. I'll hold this thread taut, so go first, Brother Eon.]
[Alright.]
The basement matched the intel: two storage vaults.
[Left vault has treasures, right has commoners' donations...]
[Right one.]
[Huh? That's just rice, wheat, scrap metal, right? Aren't we here for the young lord's token?]
[The Dragon Subduing Blade, the young lord's token, isn't some legendary treasure sword.]
I answered Woo So-reung's question as I headed to the right vault.
As he said, the vault for commoners' donations had no traps, just ordinary locks.
[I, is that so?]
I easily unlocked it with blood manipulation.
Inside, rummaging through piles of donated scrap, I replied to Woo So-reung.
[Yeah. If it were a great sword, rumors would be everywhere, and the young lord wouldn't be searching the lake bottom.]
[Makes sense?]
[Not even made of fine steel or patterned steel—just an ordinary kitchen knife.]
[A kitchen knife?!]
[The first to think black path folks should unite was the founding Haomun Lord, who was also the first Sa Do young lord. That guy was originally a chef at a brothel. But the courtesan he secretly loved was...]
Mid-sentence, I found it: a crudely made kitchen knife with a pointless dragon mouth gaping at the handle.
"Found it."
* * *
Having found the Dragon Subduing Blade, Woo So-reung and I slipped out of the Dragon King's Temple without a trace.
My Eon younger siblings rushed over, asking after our safety.
They were curious about the Dragon Subduing Blade.
But when I showed it, they all reacted similarly.
"...This is the young lord's token? You sure you didn't get it wrong, Young Master Eon?"
"Even a beggar's eyes can see how shoddy it is."
"...As Jang-ho says, it does look that way."
"Not even heavy enough. Can't use it as a sinker."
"There must be a story behind it becoming a token. You can't judge people or things by appearances."
Of course, Chun-aeng recognized the Dragon Subduing Blade and dropped to one knee.
"To find the Dragon Subduing Blade on the very day you promised... Did the young lord's resentful spirit truly guide you? But you haven't even performed the rite yet?"
"That's my secret technique. Point is, we found it, right?"
"Y-yes. So, great hero, what now? Shall we signal the young lord's flagship?"
I shook my head at Chun-aeng's words.
"No, we need to stall a bit."
"Stall?"
"Baek Gwang-ho is famous for being suspicious. We prepare for contingencies too."
"Ah."
"I'll hold a rite for a few days, then pretend to search for a few more."
Endure seven or eight days, and Jeon Jeok's reinforcements would arrive.
As planned, I held a grand rite for the first few days.
"Go to a good place."
The thick, eerie fog over the Dragon King's Temple waters thinned, soaked with resentful energy.
The turbulent currents calmed somewhat.
I toured Poyang Lake's scenic spots on a small boat.
After six days total,
"Brother Eon! The young lord's ships are heading this way!"
The Sa Do Alliance fleet began surrounding us.
I instructed Mo Yong-rin and my Eon siblings.
"No matter what conversation passes between me and the young lord, or what he says, don't act rashly. Stay calm."
Meanwhile, the Sa Do fleet closed in to arm's reach.
Baek Gwang-ho appeared at the prow and spoke to me.
"Still? We gave everything you asked... The world's dragon hero won't say you still haven't appeased the young lord's ghost, right?"
I smirked at Baek Gwang-ho.
"They call you Dongting Lake's Chief Tiger, yet you nag after six days? For a crouching tiger, your patience seems a bit short."
"I have plenty of patience usually, but word came that the Murim Alliance's naval formation in Wuchang has started sailing down the Yangtze with their fleet."
"Oh. Is that so?"
"Yes. My instincts are sharp; seems headed here. Time to decide whether to kill or spare you. Care to help?"
At that point, I pulled the Dragon Subduing Blade from its box.
"!"
"!?"
All the black path martial artists of the Fierce Tiger Sword Company lining the fleet, except Baek Gwang-ho, dropped to one knee.
'Works like a charm.'
At the sight,
My master chimed in from my waist.
- Why not just take them under your wing?
'If only. They're just showing respect to the token they see before them.'
Black pathers don't offer blind loyalty just because you hold the Sa Do young lord's token.
'Baek Gwang-ho himself backstabbed the young lord who had the Dragon Subduing Blade to become alliance leader, right?'
- True.
Having the Dragon Subduing Blade just sparks the Orthodox-Demonic War.
It's really nothing more than an ugly kitchen knife.
"Here."
I tossed the Dragon Subduing Blade to Baek Gwang-ho.
Whirl!
Chak!
Baek Gwang-ho caught it.
But he immediately let out a hollow laugh, staring at me.
"Ha?"
He'd noticed I'd removed one of the jade pieces embedded in the dragon fragment's eye.
I replied nonchalantly.
"It was like that when I found it."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"True or not, as long as the other black pathers believe it? You have the power to make them."
"......"
"Lowly murim dropouts like me are cowardly; we need such tokens for peace of mind when talking long-term."
"Kuhahaha."
Baek Gwang-ho laughed uproariously for a moment.
Then, choking back, he said,
"Heh. Long-term? Seems too far-sighted to me. Confident you can survive the immediate?"
...Of course it won't be easy.
But I had my own backup.
As I hid my anxiety and feigned leisure,
A strong gust rose,
And from the eastern waters, a fleet led by sharp-bottomed warships appeared in formation.
The flagship at the front bore the fluttering characters: Seated Observation a Thousand Li, Zhuge Hui.