Chapter 28
Chapter 28
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Lighting the Beacon Fire
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The one bursting out of the forest was none other than Heuk Do-san. He was dragging along a massive bundle of thick fresh logs and mugwort bushes uprooted by the roots, tied tightly with rope.
He was the source of all that racket.
A moment later, Heuk Do-san hauled them over to the bonfire pit and untied the ropes. The wood came tumbling down in a huge pile.
The fresh logs were about a zhang long—straight as bamboo, as thick as a child's wrist. They were paulownia trunks.
The mugwort bushes, on the other hand, looked perfect for use as switches at a schoolhouse. Either way, they were too damp to burn well as firewood.
"What's all this?"
Dang Yak-ran asked.
Instead of answering, Heuk Do-san yanked the axe from his left waistband and handed it to Hyeon-gak.
"Make whatever weapons you can with this."
In other words, carve something usable out of the paulownia logs he'd brought.
Everyone stared in stunned silence.
This was the guy who'd treated his dagger and axe like his own life, and now he was suddenly feeling generous? Handing over the axe would shatter the fragile balance between the righteous and demonic factions in an instant.
Seventh Star Lord Gong Cheon-ak's eyes gleamed coldly.
Hyeon-gak looked back and forth between Heuk Do-san and the axe, utterly bewildered.
"You serious...?"
"Paulownia lasts a thousand years even after death—it's that tough. Not as good as iron, but carve it right, and it'll be plenty usable. What are you waiting for? Time's short."
Hyeon-gak hesitantly took the axe. The air in the group grew tense in a heartbeat. Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang clenched their fists, bracing for a surprise attack.
Sensing the shift in mood, Hyeon-gak chuckled softly. He picked up a suitable paulownia log, stood it vertically at his feet, hacked off the side branches roughly, then sliced off the end at eye level.
And that was it.
Hyeon-gak gripped the paulownia staff that reached up to his eye height, his face filled with emotion.
"At last, I've got my staff in hand."
The staff—jemigan—was exactly that: a short rod reaching from the ground to the eyebrows when stood upright. In Shaolin, where killing was forbidden, the staff was both the beginning and end of all weapons arts. Hyeon-gak was the current master who'd perfected it to the highest realm.
"Feels like just yesterday I started bashing demon spawn with this thing... and now it's been ten whole years. Still got at least three more to smash before I die..."
At the end, Hyeon-gak's gaze swept over Gong Cheon-ak, Yeom Jin-sang, and Bing-seol scanning the forest from the hillside in the distance. Then he swung the staff dramatically through the air.
Whoosh!
Even a casual swing produced a sound like tearing a drum skin.
What fearsome power.
Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang flinched and retreated six paces, dropping into counterattack stances.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Jumpier than I thought."
"Who's jumping?!"
Gong Cheon-ak bellowed.
Truth be told, he had been a little startled.
'That monk's got some reputation with the staff, sure.'
On the ship, they'd clashed with bare fists, so he'd held the edge. But with a staff in hand, he couldn't guarantee victory.
"Here."
Hyeon-gak tossed the axe back.
It spun end over end straight at Gong Cheon-ak's forehead. Gong Cheon-ak hurriedly thrust out his left hand and snatched it midair.
Caught off guard as he accepted the axe, Gong Cheon-ak was baffled. He hadn't expected the monk to hand it over so easily.
Meanwhile, Hyeon-gak tightened his grip on the staff. If that demon spawn changed his mind and charged with the axe whirling like a storm...
'Just try it.'
Gong Cheon-ak hesitated a moment, then—like Hyeon-gak—selected a suitable paulownia log, trimmed the branches, and cut it to just over eight chi. He sharpened one end to a point. Crude, but it was a spear nonetheless.
"To think I'd have to fight with something like this..."
The Demonic Cult called him Seventh Star Lord, but the righteous sects dubbed him Star Lord or "Not-a-Spear."
Not-a-Spear: stab first, calculate later.
The axe passed to Yeom Jin-sang next. He cut a paulownia log to the length of one arm. Then he pulled out a sharply split stone from his bosom. Translucent with a grain like ink embedded in it—black and glossy.
"Obsidian..."
Hyeon-gak murmured softly.
Hard as diamond, yet splitting into razor edges when struck—a stone with unique properties.
'Where the hell did he find that?'
Yeom Jin-sang struck the obsidian vertically down onto the end of the paulownia log.
Crack! It split the wood and embedded deep. He hammered it in further with brute force.
Then he unraveled some of the oakum rope he'd grabbed during the ship escape, wrapping it tightly around the obsidian and log to secure them. He even infused inner energy to ensure it wouldn't budge.
"Done."
Yeom Jin-sang spun his creation, a satisfied smile on his lips.
"A stone axe..."
Hyeon-gak murmured.
Heuk Do-san chuckled.
The alias of Ha-gok-sang, master of the Sea Dragon Gate who ruled Shandong's eastern ports, was Mountain-Splitting Great Axe. It might not split mountains, but it cracked street toughs' skulls just fine. And now Ha-gok-sang finally had an axe in hand.
"Here you go."
Yeom Jin-sang belatedly handed Heuk Do-san's axe—passed from Gong Cheon-ak—to Dang Yak-ran.
She took it by reflex but had no idea what to do with it. Everyone else had made their weapons—a staff, a spear, an axe—but she was no good with any of them.
Her specialty was poisons and hidden weapons, but she couldn't make those from paulownia logs...
"What's wrong?"
Heuk Do-san asked.
"I don't know what to make."
"Well, the Tang Clan of Sichuan doesn't do weapons arts, huh."
"The Tang Clan's sword is the pinnacle of the martial world!"
Dang Yak-ran bristled.
She couldn't help getting angry when Heuk Do-san seemed to belittle her clan. Heuk Do-san tilted his head, as if wondering what she had to get so worked up about.
Realizing her outburst too late, Dang Yak-ran's face flushed red.
"First time I've heard that."
"No sword here, so I can't show you. Shame."
"Too bad."
"You think I'm lying?"
"Don't care. Got any poison or hidden weapons?"
Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang's pupils narrowed instantly. Whether Dang Yak-ran had poison or projectiles was a life-or-death matter for them.
Projectiles aside, poison meant they were done for. If they upset her even a little and she slipped some into the food, how could they cope?
Feeling their stares, Dang Yak-ran smirked.
"If I did, I'd have used it by now."
Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang sighed in relief.
"Then how about these?"
Heuk Do-san pulled ten large nails from his bosom and offered them. Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang's eyes bulged. Yeom Jin-sang's shock was indescribable.
"What... are these?"
"Ship nails—for building large ships. Think they'll do?"
"You're giving them to me?"
"You pull them out to show off?"
"Why?"
"No sword, no staff skills—gotta use something. Take 'em or not? I'm lending, by the way."
A sudden idea flashed in Dang Yak-ran's mind. She hurriedly pulled out her leather gauntlets from her bosom. Snatching a nail from Heuk Do-san's hand, she fitted one into a spike on the gauntlet.
The hole was a hair too small—lucky break. Channeling inner energy, she forced it in, and it locked tight like a riveted nail.
"No way...!"
Dang Yak-ran fitted four nails per gauntlet, tucking the last two at her waist.
Slipping them on both hands produced combat gloves with four long talons each.
"Not confident in hidden weapons?"
"Confidence and power are different. Fist arts aren't weak to projectiles anyway, and if needed, I can yank a nail and throw it."
"Good to know."
"Thanks."
"Nothing's free. Pay me back somehow later. Cash is best."
"You said it was a loan."
"So?"
"Never mind."
Tch. He wants to give them away but acts tough in front of everyone.
Otherwise, lending weapons and asking for money makes no sense. Guess he does care a little.
Dang Yak-ran felt a bit better.
"Where'd you even find these?"
"Captain's cabin of the ship that sank yesterday."
"No way. A cabin's not a treasure vault."
"It was."
'Look at these bastards making weapons from our stuff.'
Yeom Jin-sang seethed inwardly.
But he could only suffer in silence. Claim ownership rashly, and it'd come out he was the one who sank the ship—no bones left to pick.
'Just you wait.'
Yeom Jin-sang ground his teeth.
Spring and darkness arrive when you think they're still far off—right underfoot.
The forest was growing dim. Heuk Do-san looked up at the sky. The sun hung half a ruler above the western mountains.
He glanced at the hillside. Bing-seol was still scanning the distant cliffs beyond with her telescope.
'One more incense stick's time. No word by then, it's a bust.'
"Now what?"
Dang Yak-ran asked.
Her voice brimmed with energy, thanks to the edged weapons just for her.
"Pack dirt into the gaps between the fire pit stones."
"Why?"
"You'll see. Men—uproot all the shrubs around. Clear cover for the Blood Wolf Corps, secure sightlines. Hurry."
Everyone scattered quickly.
Heuk Do-san pulled the demon deer antler from his back. Time to make his weapon.
First, he overlapped the thick bases by a chi, then unraveled oakum rope from his waist—plenty grabbed during the escape—and bound them tight. The two prongs became one.
Then, bending the antler forcefully, he tied a strand of rope securely to both ends to hold the curve.
"What are you doing?"
Dang Yak-ran, patching the fire pit while stealing glances, couldn't hold her curiosity.
"Making a bow."
Good lord.
Just a deer antler picked up along the way, and he's crafting a composite bow? In under half a gak, no less.
What is this guy?
Finally, Heuk Do-san gripped the bow body left-handed, drew the string hard with his right, and released.
Twang!
Made from demon deer antler, the elasticity was unmatched. Heuk Do-san nodded, pleased.
"Good enough."
"What's a bow without arrows?"
"Who says no arrows?"
With that, he dragged over the bundle of uprooted mugwort. He selected the straightest stalks, stripped the bark with his knife, lightly toasted and dried them over the fire, and straightened them further.
'No way he's making arrows from those. Needs fletching, heads... Impossible.'
Mid-thought, Dang Yak-ran's eyes widened. Heuk Do-san was carving the mugwort roots into arrowhead shapes.
Absurd.
Not a toy arrow—even if carved like one, a root doesn't become a head.
Embarrassed himself, maybe? Heuk Do-san made the heads twice as big and long as real ones. Somehow even more ridiculous.
After the heads, he cut the shafts to just under three chi. Then he pulled eagle feathers from his bosom.
'When did he grab those?'
Must've plucked them from the scattered eagle nearby. Anything in sight, he pockets it.
Like a packrat.
Heuk Do-san cut the feathers to size, split them lengthwise, glued them to the nock ends opposite the heads, and bound with the thinnest oakum strands.
In a blink, a convincingly shaped arrow was done.
"All set."
"That's an arrow?"
"Yep."
"Pfft. Looks like you drew a sword to slay an ox."
"What?"
"Fletching aside, that head... You think carving wood makes a real arrowhead? If so, why do people forge steel ones...?"
Thwang! Clunk!
While Dang Yak-ran spoke, Heuk Do-san nocked, drew, and loosed. The arrow whistled past Yeom Jin-sang—uprooting shrubs some distance away—grazing dangerously close before embedding precisely in a paulownia log ten-odd zhang farther. Its tail quivered.
Gong Cheon-ak, Hyeon-gak, Yeom Jin-sang—all froze mid-motion, staring. They turned to stone. Dang Yak-ran nearly fainted.
"No... no way..."
"Mugwort roots are denser and tougher than the stalks. Heavier too. Wood's wood—two shots might be pushing it, but one's fine. Hmm, bow's twisted a bit? Aimed left tree, hit the right one?"
He pressed the bow against his knee, twisting it straight.
Yeom Jin-sang was dumbfounded.
Aimed left meant straight at his back.
But it flew ahead of him. He'd nearly died.
'That fucking bastard...'
Dang Yak-ran licked her lips repeatedly. Nothing to say. The man's a monster. Give him a dagger, he'll whip up anything.
Heuk Do-san made about ten arrows. Couldn't make more.
Bing-seol, scanning the forest from the hillside with her telescope, suddenly cried out in excitement.
"Found them!"