Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Spending the Night Together
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Everyone leaped to their feet, friend or foe alike. Even Hong Gong-tak had drawn his sword.
"What's there, exactly?"
Gong Cheon-ak asked.
"L-Look over there."
Yeom Jin-sang pointed toward the depths of the cave, his face pale as a ghost. The others followed his trembling finger, tense with anticipation.
But no matter how hard they strained their eyes, all they could see was pitch-black darkness.
"What's there? Nothing!"
"It's weird. It was definitely there."
"You're not just making it up because you didn't want to go poking around, are you?"
"Argh, this is driving me crazy."
At that moment, Heuk Do-san picked up a pebble and flung it into the cave's depths.
Crack!
With the sound came a sudden flare of eerie blue lights from deep within.
Thousands of tiny, faint glows, paired in twos—like stars twinkling to life in the night sky.
Everyone flinched back.
"What the hell is that?"
Gong Cheon-ak asked.
"Bats hanging from the ceiling."
Heuk Do-san replied.
"Bats? In this freezing high altitude? No way. They'd turn into icicles in less than half a shichen."
"You think the Central Plains are the only place people live? They survive in the ice-covered Northern Sea and the scorching deserts too. Why wouldn't beasts thrive in extreme environments?"
"Is that so?"
Gong Cheon-ak's voice trailed off.
But then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he whipped around at Heuk Do-san.
"You're talking big, but this is your first time seeing bats in a place this cold and high up too, right?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Thought so."
Only then did Gong Cheon-ak look satisfied. He'd been irked by Heuk Do-san acting like he knew everything going on in the world.
But just like how he hadn't foreseen the avalanche spilling into the valley, the guy was ultimately just an ordinary human. Confirming that over and over felt as refreshing as dislodging a dumpling stuck in his throat from ten years ago.
The tension eased, and everyone settled back down.
Gong Cheon-ak glared at Yeom Jin-sang.
"Did you find anything to burn?"
"Nothing at all."
"You didn't even go deep because you were scared of the bats, did you?"
"Who said I was scared..."
"If you weren't scared?"
"I was just startled for a second."
"Same difference."
"Anyway, there's nothing to burn."
"You're sure?"
"I felt around the floor and walls with my hands. No chance there's anything. It's not like trees grow here."
Yeom Jin-sang grumbled as he sat.
He wasn't entirely wrong, so Gong Cheon-ak couldn't press further and just found a spot to sit.
A deathly silence fell.
No one had words left, or the energy to speak. They huddled like insects, straining to block out the wind.
But the wind wormed into their clothes anyway, plummeting their body heat. Soon, teeth chattered everywhere.
There was a reason for it.
On the way here, they'd endured a brutal blizzard. Snow had infiltrated their clothes with the wind, melting from their body heat into water.
No one said it, but by now, everyone's garments were soaked.
Heuk Do-san fell deep into thought.
The situation was dire. Judging by the sky, dawn was breaking, but even at the shortest estimate, it'd be a full shichen before sunlight reached the cave. The problem was few seemed able to hold out that long.
'What to do...'
Gong Cheon-ak seemed to share his thoughts.
He spoke up.
"If we just sit here like idiots, I guarantee we'll all freeze to death before dawn even breaks."
"But there's no way around it."
Dang Yak-ran said.
"I've got a good idea."
"What is it?"
"Everyone, take off your fur cloaks."
The abrupt command to strip their fur cloaks—lifelines against the cold—put everyone on high alert. Hong Gong-tak subtly gripped the sword at his side. Yeom Jin-sang palmed a stone up his sleeve. In this desperate situation, they suspected the bastard meant to steal their furs.
But Gong Cheon-ak's next words were utterly unexpected.
"The women sit in the middle. Men shoulder-to-shoulder around them. Then pile the furs on top like a blanket. We share body heat until dawn. Sound good?"
In other words, friend or foe, huddle together and endure the cold.
It was shockingly bold coming from Gong Cheon-ak, a Demonic Cultist who'd normally grind his teeth at the idea.
But contrary to his hopes, no one budged easily. They were loath to surrender their precious furs.
Then Dang Yak-ran stood boldly.
"Good idea."
Yeom Jin-sang rose stealthily too.
"Ahem. Better than freezing to death."
Pleased to take the lead for once, Gong Cheon-ak beamed. At last, he could show the dignity and leadership befitting a Seventh Star Lord of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
While Yeom Jin-sang and Gong Cheon-ak scouted a sheltered spot, Dang Yak-ran sidled up to Heuk Do-san and whispered.
"You sit behind me."
"Why?"
"What if someone gropes my butt?"
"Groping your chest is fine, though?"
"Hmph, try it and see."
She flashed the gauntlets hidden in her bosom. Heuk Do-san shook his head.
"No need."
Gong Cheon-ak bristled.
"No need? So you're saying we just sit and wait for dawn, then freeze?"
"From now on, everyone go into the cave depths and scrape up every bit of bat guano you can find. Even with the draft, it'll be bone-dry in this cold. We'll make a bonfire with it."
"A bonfire from bat shit?"
"Move it."
No telling how long bats had lived in this cave.
Thousands of years, probably.
Otherwise, how could the floor be layered in strata of their droppings?
They chipped and broke the rock-hard guano like wooden planks. Soon, heaps of dry bat dung piled in the cave's center.
"My god. This'll burn for half a day."
Dang Yak-ran grinned.
Heuk Do-san struck flint from obsidian against his dagger, sparking a blaze.
Blue flames rose, illuminating the surroundings. After half a day like frozen fish, the sudden warmth had them floating on air.
"Finally, feels like living."
Dang Yak-ran warmed her numb hands.
"Never knew fire could be this precious."
Yeom Jin-sang thawed his feet.
"Fire makes it better, sure. But what's that smell since earlier? Ahem."
Gong Cheon-ak said.
He wasn't wrong—a foul stench crept in. It thickened as the flames grew. They'd never smelled anything so vile; it made their skin crawl.
Still, better than freezing.
Heuk Do-san glanced at Seop Dae-gang's group, still huddled in the corner.
"Why don't you come warm yourselves?"
"We'll handle our own affairs."
Hong Gong-tak said.
"Suit yourselves."
Heuk Do-san didn't ask twice.
Dang Yak-ran stared at Mo Yong-ak for a while before turning away with a bitter look.
Gong Cheon-ak leaned close to Heuk Do-san and whispered.
"Can we trust those guys?"
"What?"
"They've got real swords. Three of them. We've only got your axe and dagger."
"Seop Dae-gang said there'd be no trouble. You think a Righteous faction leader—no, the head of the Ten Ghosts of the Soul Chase—would go back on his word?"
"You know nothing about the jianghu. 'Honor' and 'justice' only matter when there are witnesses. With no eyes on you, or if you erase all traces with a massacre, jianghu folk hesitate at nothing."
"Even Demonic Cultists?"
"Human nature doesn't discriminate between righteous or demonic."
"Interesting."
"What if they ambush us?"
"Then you die, I die."
Yeom Jin-sang cut in.
"Shut it. Sticking here, then there, now back here? You bat-brained fool."
"Sorry for the deception, but even after joining the Righteous Alliance, I didn't fight that hard. I killed fewer than twenty Demonic Cultists, and only low-rank grunts at that. True story."
"Shut your trap."
"Don't be too harsh. If I hadn't spotted the bats, who would've thought to gather guano for a fire?"
"Who was it that grumbled there'd be no fuel in a godforsaken place like this and shoved me to go look?"
"Fine, you got me there, Seventh Star Lord. Truly visionary."
Knowing arguments gained nothing, Yeom Jin-sang backed down quick.
Gong Cheon-ak was dumbfounded.
How could a man switch faces so fast?
'If that's a skill, it's a damn good one. Bastard.'
Heuk Do-san watched Dang Yak-ran's face in the firelight. She still looked sullen.
Because of Mo Yong-ak and Seop Dae-gang shivering by the entrance. Over a decade of fellowship as senior and junior made it hard to hog the warmth alone.
Heuk Do-san shoveled more guano onto the fire. The blaze roared higher, heat spreading through the cave.
'This should warm them up too.'
* * *
Heuk Do-san woke to cold droplets on his cheek.
Around him, Dang Yak-ran and Yeom Jin-sang sprawled by the fire under furs, dead asleep. Their bodies had given out without them realizing.
'As expected.'
Only Gong Cheon-ak stayed propped on a long stick jabbed into the ground, wary of a Seop Dae-gang ambush.
But even he couldn't fight the sleep crashing over him; his head had lolled long ago.
'That'll choke him.'
Sure enough, snores mixed with gurgles. And that stick looked familiar.
Heuk Do-san checked beside him. Sure enough—the spear shaft he'd left out last night was gone.
'That bastard took it without asking...'
Nearby the entrance, Hong Gong-tak and Mo Yong-ak leaned against the wall, asleep.
But Seop Dae-gang was missing.
'Where'd he go?'
Dawn's light flooded the cave just then, auspicious energy filling the space.
A shadow appeared at the entrance. Silhouetted against the rising sun stood Seop Dae-gang.
Stepping outside, a vast white snowfield stretched before them. Last night's gale was gone; only clear skies blanketed the earth.
"Nice weather."
Heuk Do-san began scanning the snowfield with his spyglass. Serpentine snow peaks stretched endlessly under the piercing blue sky.
"How long you been up?"
Heuk Do-san asked without lowering the spyglass.
"Didn't sleep."
"You could've struck."
"You knew and slept anyway."
"Trusted Gong Cheon-ak. Coming back was the betrayal. Useless bastard."
"My goal is killing you?"
"Isn't it?"
"For an ordinary scholar back then, maybe."
"You kill the worthless outright but give the worthy a chance to fight? Is that your idea of righteousness?"
"Could be."
"I don't mind a fight. But don't act like your path is the only right one. You know it's not."
"Never claimed the righteous path. Just aimed high. The rest is secondary."
"Refreshing honesty."
"Nothing to be ashamed of."
"I regret the Ten Ghosts of the Soul Chase business."
"Not your fault."
"Of course not. I didn't kill them."
"But it happened chasing you and the witch. Don't forget that."
"I'll handle it."
Still, nothing through the spyglass. Heuk Do-san kept surveying.
"Sun Tzu said: Wu folk hate Yue folk like enemies, but if they board a boat together and hit a storm at sea, they have no choice but to help each other."
"...?"
"As you see, survival's tough right now. Forget wars—how about teaming up until we reach the Central Plains? At least no freezing or starving."
"What do you get from me?"
"You've got three swords. That's plenty. We're all empty-handed, as you know."
"And if I refuse?"
"Is that your answer?"
"...?"
"There's a saying in the jianghu: every ten steps, a new vista. Among battlefield mercenaries, they say killing isn't just swords. Hunger, cold, plague, straggling, wounds... Nine in ten soldiers die that way."
"..."
"But maybe today, more die by blade. Think it over. I won't ask twice."
Seop Dae-gang turned and stared Heuk Do-san down. The "proposal" hid a declaration of war.
It was no suggestion—a threat. Refuse, and only four would descend this snow mountain; no more pursuit tolerated.
Hard to believe this chilling killing intent from the old White Deer Academy drunkard.
'What the hell happened to him?'
Then Mo Yong-ak came running from the depths, pale-faced.
"Come in quick."
"What's wrong?"
"Something's inside the cave."
"What now?"
"See for yourself. Hurry."