Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Owners of the Campfire
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Even on flat ground, it wasn't uniformly level like a field—there were gentle hills and valleys. No matter the terrain, there was nowhere without white sandalwood trees. Thanks to that, sunlight didn't pierce the forest even in broad daylight.
It felt as if they were passing through a massive underground cavern.
After drinking water once midway, Heuk Do-san didn't rest.
Having realized the usefulness of the shell gourds, no one discarded theirs; they tucked them into belts or hung them from their waists.
They arrived at an unnamed hill as the sun began to set. The flat expanse of land that had stretched on evenly until then abruptly ended, as if sliced by a giant kitchen knife.
Far below the sheer cliff stretched another vast colony of white sandalwood. Bluish leaves rippled like waves in a wind from who-knew-where.
"How much farther do we have to go?"
Bing-seol asked, breathing heavily.
No one answered. Everyone wore strange expressions as they gazed distantly beyond the vast forest.
Bing-seol widened her eyes and followed their gazes.
Something was there.
Spanning the entire visible range from left to right, or right to left, it was a massive wall. It looked like a single enormous white dragon lying along the forest's edge.
"What is that?"
"It looks like a cloud at a glance."
Gong Cheon-ak said.
"Clouds don't form attached to the ground."
Hyeon-gak said.
"Then what is it?"
"Most likely fog..."
When the sun beats down at midday, water vapor rising from the forest can blanket the low areas, resembling clouds.
Hyeon-gak's explanation seemed plausible, so Dang Yak-ran, Yeom Jin-sang, and Bing-seol nodded unconsciously.
That only provoked Gong Cheon-ak further.
"Ridiculous nonsense. Even at a glance, it stretches at least a hundred li— what fog blankets a hundred li?"
"Well, clouds don't come down to the ground."
"Fog doesn't spread a hundred li."
Here they go again.
It was tiresome, friend or foe. Dang Yak-ran, Bing-seol, and Yeom Jin-sang turned to Heuk Do-san. No matter how much Gong Cheon-ak and Hyeon-gak argued, Heuk Do-san would settle it in one go. Until then, he had been examining the white wall through his monocular.
Finally tearing his eyes away, Heuk Do-san spoke.
"That's a snow-covered mountain range."
Gong Cheon-ak and Hyeon-gak's bickering stopped dead.
"That's a mountain range?"
Dang Yak-ran double-checked. Led by her, everyone's gazes turned to the white wall beyond the vast forest.
Now that he mentioned it, its majestic extension resembled a mountain range. They'd failed to associate it due to the blanket of white snow, but it was unmistakably one.
"Impressive."
Yeom Jin-sang said.
"What mountain range is that?"
Bing-seol asked.
"The Greater Khingan Range?"
Dang Yak-ran said.
The Central Plains had plenty of towering peaks piercing the heavens.
But this wasn't the Central Plains, and even there, no range was perpetually capped in eternal snow outside deep winter. Moreover, since Heuk Do-san had mentioned Dalan, she blurted out the Greater Khingan, which she'd heard lay northeast of Dalan.
"I heard the Greater Khingan is deep inland. We walked only half a day from the sea, so it can't be."
Heuk Do-san said.
"Then what is it?"
"I don't know where, but one thing's clear. The land we're standing on isn't an island."
"Ah..."
Low exclamations escaped the group.
If it was mainland, it connected somewhere to the Central Plains, and there would surely be a way back.
"If my guess is right, the light we saw last night was nearby. Scout for huts or thatched cottages around here."
"No need."
Bing-seol pointed somewhere.
Trees grow shorter higher up mountains. Even on the same slope, trees on one side can differ vastly in size from the other.
This is largely due to wind exposure. Strong winds stunt tree growth. Higher elevations without obstacles also offer good vantage points.
That was the spot Bing-seol had found.
There were traces of a campfire backed against a hill. Beside it lay three human corpses and what looked like at least fifty vultures sprawled about.
The human bodies had clothes and flesh torn haphazardly, bones gleaming white; entrails were ripped apart and scattered randomly. Faces were so mangled that even skulls showed, unrecognizable.
The area was a hellscape of bloodstained rocks and ground, churned earth, and chaotic footprints.
"Amitabha..."
"What happened here?"
Hyeon-gak and Gong Cheon-ak said simultaneously.
Everyone frowned.
Ten years since the Righteous-Demonic Great War erupted, they'd never seen such a gruesome murder scene.
Hyeon-gak approached to inspect the bodies.
"Don't touch them."
Dang Yak-ran shouted urgently. Pointing to the dead vultures scattered everywhere, she added,
"They ate the corpses and suffered blowback."
"Poison?"
"Most likely."
"Who would...?"
"There's only one reason to poison enemy corpses already dead: to hide the killer's identity. Even then, they use Bone-Melting Powder to dissolve flesh and scorch bones. But here, leaving them would've let the vultures do the job—why bother?"
"It's a trap."
Heuk Do-san said.
All eyes turned to him. He continued.
"Someone poisoned their dead comrades' bodies. Targeting whatever came to feed on them. But a flock of vultures took the bait instead."
"What were they targeting?"
"The owners of these footprints."
Heuk Do-san pointed downward.
A small pool of blood had formed in a depression where it flowed along the ground, with clear footprints stamped in it. Fist-sized, with four sharp claw marks.
Looking closely, such prints littered the area, tangled chaotically with human footprints. As if humans and beasts had clashed in a pack war.
"Looks like wolf prints..."
Hyeon-gak said.
"Wolf prints this big?"
Gong Cheon-ak said.
"Hexagonal shape with four claws—only dogs and wolves have that. No packs of dogs roam dense forests like this, so wolves, obviously."
"What wolf has paws this huge? Pads this size mean horse-sized bodies—that make any sense?"
"Deer grow horse-sized; why not wolves?"
"What is this, land of giants? Everything horse-sized. A monk deluded by mere beasts."
"Then what?"
"Could be leopard or tiger."
"Tiger prints are pentagonal."
"Wolf prints aren't this big."
"Ignorant demonic scum."
"Foolish monk scum."
"Both of you, stop it!"
Dang Yak-ran yelled sharply. Turning to Heuk Do-san, she asked,
"What do you think?"
"Seems like wolves."
"See?"
Hyeon-gak crowed triumphantly.
Gong Cheon-ak immediately bristled.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Thought you were sharp, but not this time. Wolf prints can't be this big. If they are, it's not wolves—it's..."
"Blood Wolves."
"What?"
He'd heard tales of wolves with blood-red fur inhabiting eternal frozen tundra. Their fur so dense no needle could pierce, bodies twice ordinary wolves' size to withstand cold. Ferocious beyond measure—even tigers fled at the sight. Apex predators.
"Blood Wolves actually exist?"
Gong Cheon-ak said.
"Not one or two—they attacked in a pack. Tigers and leopards hunt solo. Pack hunters in forests are only wolves and hyenas. No hyenas grow this big, so Blood Wolves it is."
Gong Cheon-ak was left speechless by Heuk Do-san's airtight reasoning.
Everyone nodded.
To sum up: Last night, a group of hunters camped here. Blood Wolves attacked, killing three.
At dawn, survivors, fearing pursuit, poisoned their dead comrades' bodies as bait and fled, hoping to take down a few more wolves.
How many Blood Wolves must there have been to sacrifice comrades as traps?
"But why no wolf corpses? They camped deep in this forest, so likely foreign hunters. Hunters who take tigers couldn't fell even one Blood Wolf?"
Dang Yak-ran asked Heuk Do-san.
"There was an old mercenary from Arasa who wore Blood Wolf fangs around his neck. He said for some reason, Blood Wolves drag off dead comrades into the forest."
"Amitabha, no ordinary beasts."
Hyeon-gak said.
"Hmph, cunning or not, just oversized mutts. Pity. If we'd arrived sooner, I'd have slain them all myself."
Gong Cheon-ak boasted.
"Ever done a post-mortem?"
Heuk Do-san asked Dang Yak-ran.
"Corpses? Sick of handling them."
"You know that's not what I mean."
"I get it. Give me a quarter-hour."
"Half that."
Heuk Do-san turned to the group.
"Under Dang Yak-ran's lead, examine the bodies. Poison type, victims' origins, cause of death—uncover everything possible. Meanwhile, Yeom Jin-sang, track footprints for their movements. How many were here, where they went. Everyone, hurry."
The group scattered quickly.
Bing-seol approached Heuk Do-san.
Heuk Do-san said.
"Your prophecy was right."
"What now?"
"First, identify the dead. If Arasa hunters as Dang Yak-ran guesses, this is Arasa land. If so, we'll head south."
As he spoke, Heuk Do-san stared at the vast white sandalwood forest below the cliff. Beyond it loomed a massive range stretching east-west. To reach the Central Plains, they'd cross the forest and scale those peaks.
"Find anything?"
Heuk Do-san asked.
"These vultures left nothing. Clothing scraps shredded and gone—no judging origins by garb. Some flesh clings to bones, but that's no use without skin."
Hyeon-gak said.
"All three bigger than Central Plains folk by a head. Thick bones, flared ribs—suggest martial arts training. But not enough to confirm Arasa."
Gong Cheon-ak said.
"Cause of death?"
"Multiple puncture wounds on shins, shoulders, thighs, skulls—sharp objects, likely Blood Wolf fangs..."
Hyeon-gak said.
Heuk Do-san turned to Yeom Jin-sang.
"How many?"
"About fifteen?"
"That many?"
"Ten, maybe?"
"What are you doing?"
"Earth's covered in prints—how should I know? No numbers on them."
"So you don't know?"
"Roughly ten to fifteen. Three dead here, so seven to twelve left."
Something's off.
Central Plains hunters usually go solo. Sometimes pairs against beast counterattacks.
Rarely more than three—too many spook the prey.
Foreign hunters different?
"Where'd they go?"
"Five li from here, cliff edge has a steep slope. Treacherous, but better than straight drop. They descended into the forest."
As expected.
Hyeon-gak was a Shaolin 18 Arhats monk revered by all Central Plains martial artists, Gong Cheon-ak the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Seventh Star Lord, Yeom Jin-sang former Blood Sea Gang leader ruling the eastern ports.
Yet these three gleaned only that ten to fifteen big, possibly martial-trained folk fled into the forest after Blood Wolves.
'Calling these warriors...'
Pathetic.
Then Dang Yak-ran finished her examination and approached. Her face was frozen like she'd seen a ghost.
"Problem?"
"Saw something strange. Doesn't make sense... but evidence is undeniable..."
"What is it?"