Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Digging a Trap
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As he cleared away the fur clothing, the dying embers flared back to life. But the hole was big enough to fit a fist through. Heuk Do-san paid it no mind and draped it over himself anyway.
"What should I do?"
"I told you that if you focus your mind, you can see things invisible to the eye. The stronger the target's energy, the clearer it becomes."
"You're talking about spiritual power."
"That's right. Keep watch for that old man approaching. It'd be best if you sense him while he's climbing the snowy mountain, but at the very least, detect him when he steps into the cave. Can you do it?"
"I'll give it a try."
While Bing-seol sank into a trance, observing the world outside the cave, Heuk Do-san lit the lamp and wandered around the stone chamber.
In the corner of the roughly fifty-pyeong chamber lurked another small space. Like a wart clinging to the edge, and there Heuk Do-san witnessed an astonishing sight.
"What the hell is all this?"
It seemed to be the monster old man's living quarters. Scattered about were all sorts of household items, including a bed laid with Blood Wolf hide.
"The stench is overpowering here too."
Having lived in a sealed space amid countless corpses, the smell of death had naturally seeped into his body.
How desperate must his desire to grow stronger be to flee to this remote corner of the world and cultivate demonic arts?
Preparing for any contingency, Heuk Do-san searched the surroundings without disturbing the items too much, so the monster old man wouldn't notice.
He had no specific target in mind. Anything useful for setting a trap would do.
But there was nothing worthwhile—just household goods. Even a chamber pot was among them.
"Guess even a monster shits like a human?"
In frustration, Heuk Do-san unwittingly kicked the chamber pot with his foot.
At that instant, with a click, one wall slid smoothly aside, revealing another stone chamber that had been hidden until now.
"What the hell is this?"
His jaw dropped.
Compared to the sleeping area, this chamber was several times larger, filled haphazardly with weapons of all kinds—from common swords, blades, spears, and bows to unrecognizable oddities.
The common thread? They were all caked in dust or rusted. Moreover, most bore shapes uncommon in the Central Plains martial world.
"Where the hell did he scrounge all these from?"
Questions piled up, but now wasn't the time to ponder riddles leisurely.
After rummaging through the chamber for a good while, Heuk Do-san found tendon ropes and various items needed for a trap. Then, at some point, a familiar axe caught his eye.
It was Old Man Mu's Thunderclap Axe.
"You stashed it here, huh."
No need to hesitate—he snatched the axe and tucked it into his belt. Nearby lay his own bow made from a demon deer's horn, alongside bows of various foreign designs.
Among them stood out a small, gently curved bow. With its string slack, it bent backward in the opposite direction—astonishingly, it was a Joseon horn bow.
"Why the hell is this here?"
They say the continent's spears, Japan's swords, and Joseon's bows—and Joseon horn bows were rare treasures due to their portability and powerful elasticity.
Heuk Do-san had firsthand experience of a horn bow's might on the battlefield through a certain mercenary.
Yet how had it drifted all the way to this distant place?
"Grab it first, figure it out later."
Heuk Do-san took the horn bow and selected about twenty relatively intact arrows.
"This should be enough."
Armed with axe and bow, he felt as secure as if heading into battle. Satisfied, as he turned to leave, something bumped his instep.
Looking down, he saw a yellowish bamboo staff lying across the floor—common enough anywhere.
But that was a tale for warmer southern lands. In this frigid northern steppe, bamboo didn't grow.
First the Joseon horn bow, now a bamboo staff.
Drawn by curiosity, Heuk Do-san picked it up without a second thought. Instantly, a heavy weight transmitted up his arm—like gripping an iron rod.
"What is this?"
Examining its material closely, it was astonishingly a genuine iron rod.
At first glance, it appeared forged from a bronze-brass alloy, colored to mimic sun-dried bamboo. The nodes were intricately carved to perfection, imitating bamboo form.
Over time, rust, wear, and patina had given it the feel of naturally aged bamboo.
"An incredibly exquisite piece."
Undoubtedly crafted by a master artisan. But why go to such lengths to shape it like bamboo?
He swung it through the air with a whoosh.
About five and a half feet long, it reached just below his chin when stood on end. Too short for a staff, too long for a cudgel.
Short sticks and long cudgels existed in the jianghu, but they weren't Heuk Do-san's preference. Crucially, being solid iron, it was far too heavy.
"Why the hell make something like this?"
Heuk Do-san tossed the iron rod aside without regret.
Clang!
It hit the floor with a thud. In that moment, something incredible happened—a fine crack appeared in the center.
"An iron rod breaking?"
He picked it up again and inspected the crack. It was just a hairline fracture, not fully broken. Sensing something off, he gripped both ends and twisted.
Creak, creak.
Absurdly, the two halves rotated in opposite directions around the crack before snapping apart cleanly.
In an instant, the five-and-a-half-foot rod became two separate cudgels.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Heuk Do-san examined the joint closely. One end had a spiral groove, the other a matching spiral ridge.
The concave-convex threads meshed perfectly, locking into a single solid rod.
He'd never seen anything like it.
"What a bizarre contraption."
He wasn't fond of middling rods, but one that could instantly become twin cudgels changed everything.
Weight remained an issue, though. Plus, he already had axe and bow. Lugging an iron rod too would just be a burden of weapons.
Just then, Bing-seol's voice rang out.
"Someone's coming."
Startled, Heuk Do-san hurriedly grabbed the iron rod.
Back in the first chamber, Bing-seol sat with an anxious expression.
"What's all that?"
"Too complicated to explain now. How far along is he?"
"He just entered the cave. He's probably passing through the cavern by now."
"No, there's a long passage between the cave and cavern. Crossing that, then the cavern to this chamber takes about half a gak. Not much time left."
The chamber walls were solid rock, but the floor—for some reason—was laid with white sand. Likely spread deliberately to cushion falls during training.
A stroke of luck.
Heuk Do-san fashioned a noose from the pilfered tendon rope and placed it in a suitable spot. He wrapped the long trailing end around a distant stalagmite, connecting it back to his original seat.
Then, he carefully covered it with sand, completing a simple trap.
Next, hide the weapons.
Calculating distances for the trap, the monster old man's reactions if triggered, and paths for combat, he buried the separated twin cudgels in an ideal spot.
The bow would be useless in close quarters, so no need or time to bury it in the sand.
He rushed to Gong Cheon-ak, pried open his buttocks, and roughly laid the bow and arrows on the floor beneath.
Finally, preparations complete, Bing-seol whispered breathlessly.
"He's at the chamber entrance."
Heuk Do-san scrambled to his original position, laying the axe on the floor without time to hide it. Then he grabbed the tendon rope that had originally bound him and began wrapping it tightly around himself again.
"Now."
Bing-seol clenched her throat once more.
Heuk Do-san gripped the rope's end behind his back and lay down flat.
After a tense silence like death, a faint breeze heralded the intruder's entry into the chamber.
Peeking through slitted eyes toward the entrance, Heuk Do-san glimpsed the intruder's lower body shadowed by a massive stalactite.
Sword drawn and hanging low.
Why draw his sword upon returning home? Did he suspect uninvited guests lying in ambush?
'For a mad killer, he's awfully timid.'
As the intruder advanced slowly, his full form emerged. The moment Heuk Do-san saw his face, he nearly shouted.
'Why the hell is that bastard here...!'
The sword and build had seemed familiar—the intruder was none other than Seop Dae-gang.
'Didn't he go down the mountain? No, more importantly, where's Mo Yong-ak? Why's he coming in alone?'
Upon entering, Seop Dae-gang scanned the surroundings, stepping even more cautiously—like probing for traps. His stealthy movements, cat-like, radiated tension.
'What the hell is this guy's game?'
[What do we do?]
Bing-seol's sound transmission reached him.
Heuk Do-san, untrained in inner qi arts, couldn't transmit back. He stayed silent.
If he didn't move first, neither would she.
Perhaps sensing ill intent from Seop Dae-gang, who entered sword drawn from the start?
Heuk Do-san decided to observe a bit longer.
Moments later, reaching the center, Seop Dae-gang eyed the bound figures one by one. At Gong Cheon-ak's side, he even waved his sword tip before the man's eyes.
Checking if he was hypnotized.
Now Seop Dae-gang approached Heuk Do-san. Heuk Do-san relaxed his pupils, blurring his focus—as if passed out with eyes accidentally half-open.
Soon, the bastard was right upon him. Then the sword tip hovered at his nape.
'Crazy son of a bitch!'
The tip trailed down his neck, stopping abruptly at heart level. A slight push, and it was over.
'......!'
Heuk Do-san wavered. Strike the sword and counter now, or wait to learn his intentions?
Then Seop Dae-gang spoke.
"Pathetic sight."
Heuk Do-san nearly responded. Had the words not continued, he might have cursed and leaped up.
"I'll claim your life after I'm done."
Then, abruptly, he picked up the lamp and prowled the chamber just as Heuk Do-san had.
Soon, discovering the monster old man's bedroom in a corner, Seop Dae-gang began searching frantically.
Heuk Do-san pondered.
What of Mo Yong-ak and Hong Gong-tak?
Earlier, Bing-seol said the monster old man seemed to be pursuing Seop Dae-gang's group.
Her words rang true—otherwise, why hadn't the old man appeared for so long?
In other words, Seop Dae-gang used Mo Yong-ak and Hong Gong-tak as bait to lure him away, confirmed his departure, then returned to the cave.
But why return?
'No way—he's after the manual?'
It fit. No other reason to come back. He wasn't here to rescue them.
Part absurd, part rage boiled in Heuk Do-san's veins.
'I went out of my way to tell him to flee, and he returns for the manual? A demonic arts tome that righteous folk despise?'
Things had gotten complicated.
He'd prepared meticulously, even setting a trap for the monster old man—yet the target didn't show, and this bastard Seop Dae-gang was meddling instead.
Worse, once he stole the manual and fled, he'd surely kill everyone here, including Heuk Do-san. Sparing them now was just to save time for the search.
The more he thought, the angrier he grew.
'She loved a bastard like this.'
Suddenly, Mo Yong-ak seemed pitiful.
Did she even know she was bait to lure the old man?
[What now?]
Bing-seol transmitted again.
Heuk Do-san shook his head toward her.
'Watch for now.'
Seop Dae-gang flipped the bed, rummaged through furnishings relentlessly. Finding nothing, he patted the walls ceaselessly, checking for hidden passages.
But he never touched the chamber pot. Some subconscious revulsion, perhaps.
'That's why they hid a mechanism in the chamber pot.'
How much time passed?
Seop Dae-gang, like a man possessed, rushed out, replaced the lamp, then suddenly dashed across the narrow chamber. He scaled the wall like flat ground, reaching five or six up before kicking off abruptly.
Whoosh! A gust echoed briefly. Seop Dae-gang vanished behind a massive central stalactite pillar on the ceiling.
A man climbing walls like floors and disappearing into the ceiling—Mount Hua Sect's Wall-Climbing Steps were that formidable.
'Why the hell's he doing that all of a sudden?'
Then it hit.
A foul stench wafted from somewhere, tickling his nose. Heuk Do-san's hair stood on end. Through slitted eyes, he shifted gaze to the entrance.
Incredibly, a shadow was just entering the chamber—not Hong Gong-tak or Mo Yong-ak, but a stranger he'd never seen.
'The real one's here.'