Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: The Beggars' Sect's Famous Sword
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Two women and one man couldn't help but be startled.
They could sense that Han Ibi was quite an odd fellow, but who could have guessed he would resort to such a bizarre method?
Wang Qinglin muttered.
"What... what are you doing right now?"
Hanging from the wall, Han Ibi thought to himself.
'I figured something like this might happen, so I paid close attention to the trajectory of those tracking needles. The launch ports hidden in the gaps between the wall stones—four on the left and four on the right...'
Still clinging to the wall, Han Ibi suddenly swung his Hanjo Sword backward with a flick, then smashed it straight into the wall.
"Ah!"
"What is it?"
The cries of those still on the ground reached his ears.
At the same time, the wooden needle launchers cleverly concealed on the wall shattered with a crack, tumbling to the floor.
Wang Qinglin, Baek Mi-hu, and Mun Won-bi exchanged bewildered glances, unable to hide their astonishment.
But it wasn't over yet.
Han Ibi channeled his internal energy downward, then kicked off the wall.
Using his Falcon Claws, he propelled himself forward again and smashed the wall once more.
This time, with a louder crash, fragments of the shattered launcher rained down with a pat-pat-patter.
Like some kind of Spider-Man, he pushed off the wall again and leaped forward.
Clang!
Crunch!
Pat-pat-patter.
Shattered devices.
Clang!
Crunch!
Pat-pat-patter.
Shattered...
Finally, he leaped away from the wall he had been clinging to and landed cautiously on the floor.
A dry click-click echoed, like an empty magazine being triggered. But in the end, nothing happened.
Han Ibi grinned and said,
"Good. It's working."
Wang Qinglin, still baffled, asked,
"What about the right side?"
Han Ibi scratched his head with the hilt of his Hanjo Sword for a moment before replying,
"Well, you could probably just go around the left side. But to be safe..."
He suddenly dashed toward the right side.
Stepping on a pressure point in the floor unleashed a barrage of needles, like a starving beast lunging for prey.
Han Ibi analyzed their trajectories, deflecting some with his Hanjo Sword and others with sweeps of his Falcon Claws.
Then he stuck to the wall again, methodically smashing the launchers one by one in the same way as on the left.
Clang!
Crunch!
Pat-pat-patter.
After demolishing the final device, he unleashed the Zhongli Swift Leopard Step, showing off with flair as he spun through the air and landed gracefully on the floor.
Bowing slightly like an inn waiter welcoming guests, he said,
"Right this way, please."
Baek Mi-hu finally let out a giggle and carefully stepped forward.
Nothing happened.
"Young Master Zhongli, you're more entertaining than I expected."
Mun Won-bi also stepped inside, saying,
"Ah! Brother Zhongli, I'm impressed. How did you even think of that?"
Han Ibi smiled casually, as if it were no big deal.
"Isn't it basic? If you're under arrow fire, you take out the archers first. That works for people, so why not for mechanisms?"
"Ah! That's a level I could never hope to reach."
At that moment, Wang Qinglin, who had been stepping forward with a dissatisfied expression, grumbled,
"Isn't this breaking the rules?"
Han Ibi shrugged.
"As far as I know, the rule is just to 'escape.' Isn't it?"
Wang Qinglin had no retort and could only grimace.
The four of them thus escaped the first trap and moved on to the next challenge.
That was when it happened.
A rumble echoed.
One of the slate tiles slid open, and two men emerged from the space beneath.
The one who spoke first was a man with a distinguished mustache.
"Well, I'll be. Never thought I'd see a lunatic like this."
The gaunt man replied,
"Tell me about it. When that guy called out to us earlier, I almost answered."
The mustached man chuckled.
"At least one guy appreciated all the hard work we put in here all day."
The gaunt man glared with fiery eyes.
"What good does that do? He smashed it to pieces. Ah, how are we supposed to fix this...?"
The mustached man scurried over to examine the broken device on the ground and continued,
"Dear me. This was a precious relic that let us glimpse Demonic Cult technology. What a loss."
"We should report it first."
It was a conversation between two disciples of the Morning Sun Sect, staring mournfully at the wrecked mechanism.
A dark corridor stretched ahead for a short while.
Wang Qinglin shone the luminous pearl diligently ahead and said,
"But... is there no way to do anything about this stench?"
Mun Won-bi replied,
"The air doesn't circulate well from the outside, I suppose."
Wang Qinglin grumbled,
"Seriously, why build these ridiculous traps? With that kind of money..."
Then Baek Mi-hu spoke up.
"A new door has appeared over there."
Wang Qinglin said,
"Yeah. But I have no idea why they'd carve something so creepy on it."
Indeed.
The stone door leading to the next trap was adorned with a relief of something resembling a goblin.
Han Ibi remarked,
"Hmm. Quite the twisted taste."
Mun Won-bi chimed in,
"That's why people call it the Demonic Cult."
The goblin had a broad, flat nose like a cow's, with a round iron ring pierced through it.
Baek Mi-hu said,
"Looks like that's the handle. I'll give it a pull."
Mun Won-bi cautioned,
"Be careful, Lady Baek."
Baek Mi-hu took a deep breath, gathered her internal energy, and began tugging on the goblin's nose ring.
Rumble-rumble-roar.
The door creaked open with a deafening noise.
Mun Won-bi asked,
"What's inside?"
Peering cautiously within, Baek Mi-hu answered,
"It's eerily quiet."
Han Ibi said,
"The quieter it is, the more careful we should be."
A classic cliché from wuxia novels.
Baek Mi-hu nodded lightly and stepped inside bit by bit.
She called back,
"It's fine. Everyone, come in."
Han Ibi and the others slowly followed her through the goblin door.
Having been burned once by the pressure traps, every step was cautious to the extreme.
Baek Mi-hu said,
"Qinglin, light up the interior."
At her words, Wang Qinglin swung the luminous pearl around, illuminating the stone chamber.
The walls on both sides were finished as smoothly as marble.
Wang Qinglin scanned up and down carefully.
Then...
"Oh no!"
Wang Qinglin jumped in fright, nearly dropping the pearl.
Mun Won-bi hurried over to her.
"What is it?"
In a slightly trembling voice, Wang Qinglin said,
"Look at this... this right here."
Baek Mi-hu frowned and said,
"Looks like bloodstains."
Mun Won-bi rushed over and touched the mark.
"Still sticky."
He brought his finger to his nose and sniffed.
"The fishy smell confirms it's blood."
Wang Qinglin wrinkled her face in disgust.
"Ugh. It can't be from another trainee, can it?"
In that instant, their three gazes intertwined.
Mun Won-bi said,
"No way..."
Baek Mi-hu said,
"The Crushing Chamber?"
Clank.
In the blink of an eye, the stone wall they had entered through sealed shut.
Wang Qinglin panicked and rushed toward it.
Seeing this, Han Ibi shouted urgently,
"Don't touch it!"
But Wang Qinglin pounded on the wall frantically, wailing,
"What is this?! Open up! Right now!"
That was when it started.
From the moment she struck the door, a loud clank-clank noise began echoing.
Han Ibi grimaced and said,
"A trap that masterfully exploits primal human fear. Well played. You've finally triggered the Crushing Chamber."
The clank-clank grew louder.
At the same time, the walls on both sides began slowly closing in on Han Ibi and the others.
Baek Mi-hu said,
"Save the talk for later. We need to run the opposite way—now!"
She grabbed the nearly hysterical Wang Qinglin by the wrist and bolted.
Mun Won-bi quickly followed with lightness skill, calling to Han Ibi,
"What are you doing? Hurry!"
At that moment, Han Ibi was crouched on the floor, staring at something.
"There are swarms of termites crawling around here."
Mun Won-bi shot him an incredulous look.
"Are you seriously looking at bugs right now? Come on!"
Following Mun Won-bi and the two women, Han Ibi sprinted with all his might toward the opposite entrance.
However...
Baek Mi-hu, who arrived first, let out a sharp cry!
"It's blocked! The front is sealed—a stone wall. There's just... some strange writing on it."
Mun Won-bi dashed up and examined the wall.
It was true.
Only indecipherable characters—Western script or Demonic Cult markings—were carved there.
"Does anyone know how to read this?"
Mun Won-bi's voice trembled, but no one could possibly read it.
The three began flailing about in panic.
Now the space between the walls had shrunk dramatically, barely taller than a person's height.
Suddenly, Mun Won-bi shouted as if struck by inspiration.
"Weapons! Jam weapons between the walls!"
But he soon realized that meant nothing to the women of the Ami Sect.
Their weapons were Falcon Claws in the form of gloves, not swords or blades.
With no choice, Mun Won-bi drew his sword alone and wedged it between the closing walls.
The gap was now so narrow that even a moment's delay would have made it impossible.
Mun Won-bi yelled at Han Ibi, still crouched.
"Young Master Zhongli! Draw your weapon and help block it!"
But Han Ibi, still facing away with his gaze fixed on the floor, raised his left hand and said,
"Just a moment! Brother Mun, just a moment."
Mun Won-bi shook his head in disbelief and shouted to the two women,
"Ladies, secure an escape route! There has to be a way out. Check every wall quickly!"
Baek Mi-hu and Wang Qinglin, though flustered, began slamming their Falcon Claws into the walls, searching for an exit.
Now the width between the walls had narrowed exactly to the length of Mun Won-bi's sword.
His blade was tightly jammed in place.
"This sword is the Beggars' Sect's famed Haenang Sword, passed down by my master. Forged from Gu'an Iron, found only in the southern regions, its durability is unmatched in the world..."
Ting-clang.
A clear, resonant sound pierced through the mechanism's din.
Yes.
The sound of the indestructible Haenang Sword—forged from rare southern Gu'an Iron—snapping in two.
For a brief moment, Mun Won-bi felt the stares of the two bewildered women...
There was no time. No time...
The relentlessly closing walls instilled utter terror.
Then, in a voice like a desperate scream, Wang Qinglin yelled at Han Ibi,
"You lunatic! We're all about to die, and you're just sitting there?!"
Han Ibi pressed a finger to his lips and whispered,
"Lady Wang, best not to curse. Attitude points might be at stake. Or maybe team harmony score. They might not seem like it, but they're watching everything."
Wang Qinglin was on the verge of foaming at the mouth, eyes bulging.
"What did you say? You... you...!"
Suddenly, Han Ibi rose from his crouch and raised his Hanjo Sword high.
Wang Qinglin recoiled in shock.
"What... what are you doing now? Just a few curses..."
Han Ibi gathered his full internal energy and slammed the Hanjo Sword down into the floor.
Nothing happened.
But he struck the spot repeatedly.
Finally, with a crunch, part of the floor shattered.
Mun Won-bi jumped in surprise and hurried over.
"Stone floor... how could a stone floor break...?"
Han Ibi said,
"It's not real stone. It's incredibly sturdy, but it's just wood covered in stone powder."
Then Han Ibi peered into the broken hole and muttered,
"Just as I thought."
(To be continued next time)