Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: It Wasn't Just Us
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“The dead eagle’s eyes were bloodshot, and its tongue was charred pitch-black. Classic symptoms of Five Barbarian Poison poisoning.”
“Five Barbarian Poison?”
“It’s a poison made by mixing five toxic substances from the Mongol desert regions. Just one drop can bring down a bull. It’s easy to obtain and highly effective, so the nomadic horsemen of Mongolia commonly use it to hunt beasts.”
“A Mongol poison, then?”
“It could be, or it couldn’t.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“It’s so infamous that it spreads everywhere through merchants traveling between Mongolia, the Central Plains, Arabia, and even the Western Regions. That’s why I said it’s easy to get.”
Dang Yak-ran was the heiress of the Tang Clan of Sichuan, known as masters of poison manipulation. Her expertise in toxins was only natural. But the information she’d uncovered wasn’t particularly useful.
At least not yet.
Heuk Do-san asked again.
“That’s not all, is it?”
Dang Yak-ran placed something she’d been holding in her hand before the group.
It resembled a gauntlet, but protrusions like iron spikes bulged at every joint, making its exact purpose unclear.
Hyeon-gak and Gong Cheon-ak tilted their heads, apparently seeing such a thing for the first time.
“What is it?”
“It’s a type of combat gauntlet made by soaking iron shark skin in oil for a thousand days. It’s so tough that even the eagle couldn’t tear through it.”
“A combat gauntlet? Doesn’t look all that impressive.”
“The human hand has fourteen joints. Iron nails are embedded in the protrusions at each one. When you clench your fist, all fourteen nails shoot out at once. For some reason, every single nail is missing here.”
“Hit someone’s face with that, and it’d turn to shreds in one blow. Strike the neck, and blood would spray from fourteen spots in an instant. Terrifying weapon.”
Gong Cheon-ak spoke with childlike curiosity. Unlike the clueless man, Heuk Do-san and Hyeon-gak’s expressions hardened. They had read something into Dang Yak-ran’s words.
Heuk Do-san asked.
“What’s the real point you’re trying to make?”
“The people of the Northern Martial World call this a Porcupine Box.”
“Northern Martial World...?”
“It’s hard to make, and few martial artists use it, so it’s classified as an exotic weapon. But it’s definitely something from the Northern Martial World. More precisely, those who practice mounted combat use it mainly to protect the hand holding the reins from enemy swords and arrows. In close-quarters melee, it becomes a lethal weapon that doubles the power of a fist strike.”
The Northern Martial World referred to the martial society north of the Yangtze River. Naturally, it encompassed half of the Central Plains martial world.
Why was the Northern Martial World being mentioned at this moment? No matter if they died and came back to life, this place could never be north of the river.
“Why would a Northern Martial World weapon be here?”
Gong Cheon-ak belatedly grasped the situation, his face registering shock.
“What in the world is going on?”
Hyeon-gak muttered.
“They say customs differ every ten li, and language every hundred li. It’s impossible for something even a wandering monk like me or a Seventh Star Lord doesn’t know—like this Porcupine Box—to flow all the way here through merchants.”
Heuk Do-san said.
“What if it didn’t?”
Gong Cheon-ak asked.
Instead of answering, Heuk Do-san turned his gaze to Dang Yak-ran. As if to say, you explain it.
Dang Yak-ran added gravely.
“It seems the people who vanished from the Shandong coast that night weren’t just us.”
The group’s shock was beyond words. They didn’t know if this was Dalan or Arabia. They’d assumed any locals were just foreign hunters nearby.
But martial artists who’d vanished alongside them on the night of the final battle of the Righteous-Demonic Great War?
Hyeon-gak and Gong Cheon-ak licked their lips repeatedly. Bing-seol scanned each person before her gaze settled on Heuk Do-san.
Heuk Do-san stared silently at the vast forest ahead, lips pressed tight, lost in thought.
That was when Yeom Jin-sang cautiously asked.
“If the people who lit a campfire here last night were among those who vanished from the Shandong coast with us, are they Demonic Cultists... or Righteous Faction members?”
Yeom Jin-sang’s words froze the already chilly air solid.
Everyone’s minds grew complicated, depending on their own positions. If allies, it’d be like gaining a heavenly host. If enemies, utter disaster.
Were they truly from the Northern Martial World?
If so, Righteous Faction? Or Demonic Cult?
“What do we do now?”
Dang Yak-ran asked.
Hyeon-gak and Gong Cheon-ak couldn’t answer hastily. If allies, they should rush to join them. If enemies, better to keep distance.
They had a Porcupine Box, likely other weapons too. And most importantly, far greater numbers.
Heuk Do-san answered.
“We meet them first.”
“How do you know who they are?”
Gong Cheon-ak immediately objected.
“No time to nitpick right now. One of them might know the way back to the Central Plains.”
“Is that true?”
Hyeon-gak asked in surprise.
“How should I know? But with over a dozen people transported here at once, something’s up, right? And for whatever reason, they’re moving fast in a straight line.”
The group let out low exclamations.
Regardless of anything else, moving swiftly in one direction meant they had some confidence.
“As always, no forcing it. I’m going. Those who want to come, follow. Otherwise, part ways here and good luck.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Bing-seol declared without hesitation. Dang Yak-ran squinted sidelong at her.
Hmph, that girl has no shame.
“To find out if they’re friend or foe, we have to meet them anyway. I’m going.”
She spoke as if she’d go alone if needed, but it meant tagging along with Heuk Do-san.
Hyeon-gak and Gong Cheon-ak looked at Bing-seol, Dang Yak-ran, and Yeom Jin-sang in bewilderment.
They’d followed Heuk Do-san’s decisions before, but never this quickly. Deciding something this crucial without consulting them?
‘We don’t matter anymore.’
“I’ll go with the larger group.”
Yeom Jin-sang said.
Heuk Do-san chuckled inwardly.
From their first meeting on the ship before the wreck, Yeom Jin-sang had chosen the bigger crowd regardless of identities. That choice had him pretending to be a Demonic Cultist ever since.
‘Cunning bastard.’
Heuk Do-san finally turned to Hyeon-gak and Gong Cheon-ak.
“What about you, monk and demon?”
“Amitabha, this monk will join as well.”
“Fine, let’s go then.”
Hyeon-gak thought.
‘If they’re Demonic Cultists, we take Bing-seol hostage to ensure our survival. As the Demonic Cult’s Divine Maiden, they won’t dare harm her.’
Gong Cheon-ak thought.
‘If they’re Righteous Faction remnants, just wipe them out. I’m a Seventh Star Lord of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—backing down now would be absurd.’
“We need to hurry if we’re to catch them.”
Dang Yak-ran said.
“Too late for that.”
Heuk Do-san said. Then added.
“Darkness falls in about two hours. Move now, and we’ll run into a blood wolf pack in the middle of the forest with no defenses. That’s why the ones ahead camped here. Ended up losing three anyway.”
“Blood wolves aside, if we don’t hurry, we might never cross paths with them in this vast, unfamiliar foreign land.”
Dang Yak-ran said again.
“You didn’t understand me.”
“What... do you mean?”
“This morning on the beach, I saw the same tracks. According to Bing-seol, one came to the shore last night, watched us all night, then vanished into the forest at dawn.”
Gong Cheon-ak, Hyeon-gak, Dang Yak-ran, and Yeom Jin-sang turned shocked looks to Bing-seol. As if asking if it was true.
Bing-seol nodded lightly in response.
Heuk Do-san continued.
“As I said before, wolves don’t travel alone. At least six or seven, up to twenty in a pack for hunting. The one watching us from the beach last night was probably a scout.”
“You mean...”
“They’re targeting us this time.”
The group hurriedly scanned their surroundings.
But no wolves in sight.
Their gazes naturally shifted to the white birch forest at the base of the hill marking the shrubland’s edge. Green leaves swayed in the wind like a blanket laid out. Beneath lay hollow darkness. No expert could pierce it.
“But why nothing while we crossed the forest?”
“They’re waiting for night.”
Faces hardened once more. The over ten martial artists who’d passed through earlier had fought a brutal battle with the blood wolves, losing three lives.
This was no mere mountain beast. They might lose a few here too.
“So we’re giving up on meeting those martial artists ahead?”
“There might be a way for that too.”
“Really?”
“Bing-seol, here’s the spyglass—light a fire before sunset. Hyeon-gak, Gong Cheon-ak, Yeom Jin-sang, gather as much firewood from the forest as you can. Dang Yak-ran, collect stones and build a hearth half a chi high. Everyone, move.”
* * *
The men’s method for gathering firewood was simple. Enter the forest, kick over dead trees, and drag them back whole.
Yet somehow, Gong Cheon-ak and Hyeon-gak got competitive over felling the biggest ones.
No two trees are the same size, so Hyeon-gak hauled the larger one, beating Gong Cheon-ak’s by the length of an arm.
But Gong Cheon-ak insisted his had denser branches, claiming victory by total volume. Hyeon-gak replied, “Fine, you win. Happy now?” only stoking Gong Cheon-ak’s rage further.
Yeom Jin-sang was shrewd. He knew such pride contests were pointless. Surviving to the end mattered more than winning or losing. So he conserved energy.
Spotting early that bigger trees were harder to drag, he brought a decent one that wouldn’t draw ire.
Thanks to the three men, they had more than enough firewood for the night.
Meanwhile, Dang Yak-ran gathered scattered stones and built the hearth as instructed.
Once piled half a chi high, it looked more like a chimney. Then the men started breaking the firewood and stuffing it in haphazardly.
Thick logs don’t snap on their own.
Dang Yak-ran unleashed the Tang Clan’s secret art, Blue Eagle Eighteen Strikes, without restraint.
Techniques for breaking limbs and joints are collectively called Capturing Hand in the martial world. The Blue Eagle Eighteen Strikes infused those principles with fist and palm power, a pinnacle of martial arts.
Using such feared supreme techniques to split firewood was laughable.
‘Father would scold me if he knew.’
Still, she had it better.
Recalling Gong Cheon-ak and Hyeon-gak cracking clams last night with Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and Shaolin supreme arts made her cheeks burn even now.
Lost in such thoughts, a sizable bonfire soon blazed in the hearth.
‘If only I could set a pot here and stew some chickens...’
Hunger was one thing, but the real issue loomed. As evening neared, the cold returned. Once the sun set and night deepened, bone-chilling frost would begin.
Even daytime hadn’t been warm.
But incomparable to night. Without fire, no enduring it.
Finishing up, Dang Yak-ran warmed herself by the flames and thought.
‘Rain would be disastrous. Tomorrow, gather dry grass for a shelter? But how do you make one? Oh, ask him.’
Him was Heuk Do-san, naturally. Realizing she now relied on him for everything, Dang Yak-ran blushed unwittingly.
‘You crazy girl.’
She shook her head vigorously. Then spotted Bing-seol atop the distant hill.
She was peering through the spyglass at the forest beyond the cliff. Heuk Do-san had handed it to her with instructions before vanishing somewhere.
“Assigns hard labor to some, lookout to others. Jerk. Likes old women. Pervert, lecher...”
Suddenly, Dang Yak-ran’s expression hardened.
A loud crash shook the entire forest as something approached.
Gong Cheon-ak, Hyeon-gak, and Yeom Jin-sang sensed the presence and tensed instantly.