Those Who Touch My Things All Die! (4)
The corridor beyond the stone chamber was brighter than Chung Myung had expected.
Hong Dae-gwang kept glancing upward, narrowing his eyes.
They’ve set moonstones into the ceiling.
This place hadn’t been built for ordinary people to use in the first place. And yet they’d gone so far as to embed moonstones here, which meant the person who made this place had been absurdly wealthy.
Crunch. Crunch.
"Yak Seon wouldn’t be strange if he had money overflowing from his pockets. His Honwon Dan was said to be traded for a fortune…"
Crunch. Crunch.
"What the hell are you mumbling about?"
Hong Dae-gwang twisted around.
Then his eyes flew wide open.
"…"
Chung Myung, clinging to the ceiling like a spider, was ripping the moonstones out with both hands.
"W-what are you doing, Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
"Can’t you see? Making money."
"…No, wait."
Hong Dae-gwang, seeing red, pointed a finger at Chung Myung. Hadn’t he said he’d take the lead and let them follow behind him? What the hell was that thing he was doing?
"Now of all times, that’s what you’re looking at?"
"This stuff is worth a fortune! If you don’t grab things like this, you end up living like a beggar!"
"You think I’m a beggar because I don’t have money?"
"Then what?"
Huh?
…Well. Yeah, actually. You were a beggar because you had no money.
Chung Myung stuffed the pried-out moonstones into his robe. From the way his chest bulged, it looked like he’d taken every moonstone he could reach.
"Must be nice, making a lot of money."
"Saving money is how you live well. Do you have any idea how many mouths are hanging off Mount Hua?"
"…Fair."
Hong Dae-gwang shook his head. The more he learned about this brat, the less sense he made.
"What if Wudang already got the Honwon Dan ahead of us?"
"Probably not."
"How do you know that?"
"Because they’re still moving."
Hong Dae-gwang’s face stiffened in an instant.
He can sense their qi?
Hong Dae-gwang couldn’t feel anything at all. He had a vague impression that there was a group ahead, but even that was little more than an indistinct feeling, nothing certain.
And yet Chung Myung was speaking as if he could clearly sense the people who had gone before them.
How sharp does his sense of qi have to be for that?
Hong Dae-gwang looked at Chung Myung with renewed awe. Since meeting this boy, there had been nothing but surprises.
"Still, isn’t it true they got here first?"
"Yeah."
Chung Myung shrugged.
"That makes things easier for us."
"Huh?"
"You’ll see when we get there. Oh-ho! There’s a moonstone here too!"
Watching Chung Myung leap back up toward the ceiling, Hong Dae-gwang covered his face with both hands.
Can I really trust this bastard?
This might turn into a gamble with his life. Hong Dae-gwang was already regretting how recklessly he’d agreed to this.
"But doesn’t this corridor seem like it’s getting narrower?" Yoon Jong asked.
Baek Cheon nodded.
"It does."
When they’d first come through the doorway, it had been wide enough for five grown men to walk side by side. Now it was so narrow that three men had to press shoulder to shoulder just to get through.
"I don’t think there’d be any reason to make it this way on purpose."
Baek Cheon’s brow furrowed.
But their question disappeared almost immediately, because something far more important had come up.
"Wait."
"This?"
The entire group’s faces hardened.
Blood smell?
A thick stench of blood began to drift toward them from ahead.
"Chung Myung!"
"Hm. Shall we take a look?"
Chung Myung sprinted ahead in the lead. The disciples of Mount Hua and the Beggars’ Sect members all increased their pace and followed him. Before long, they came face to face with the source of the bloody stench.
"…This is..."
Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong clamped their mouths shut as they looked past Chung Myung, who had come to a stop, at the corpses beyond him. Several bodies lay sprawled on the floor, bleeding out.
One detail stood out above all the rest: the blood leaking from their mouths was not red, but almost black.
"Poison? Is there someone among those ahead who uses poison?" Hong Dae-gwang asked, his face stiff.
When people thought of poison, the Tang Family came to mind immediately, but there were plenty of martial artists in the jianghu who used it.
"No. It’s a mechanism."
"Huh? A mechanism?"
"Look."
Hong Dae-gwang narrowed his eyes and examined the body Chung Myung pointed at.
"Ah?"
Fine needles, so small they were easy to miss unless one looked closely, were packed densely into the corpses. And they hadn’t come from a single direction either—the bodies had been struck from every side.
These came out of the walls?
He broke out in gooseflesh.
At a glance, no one would have imagined there was a mechanism set up in this place. Only by focusing carefully could you notice the tiny holes drilled all over the walls.
If Hong Dae-gwang had gone through here first, he would have had no chance of escaping unscathed.
"…I never thought Yak Seon would set up such vicious mechanisms."
Hong Dae-gwang realized he had been badly mistaken about something.
Of course, this was the Sword Tomb.
But Hong Dae-gwang was one of the people who knew that Talgeom Muheun’s true identity had been Yak Seon. He had never imagined that Yak Seon, who had devoted his entire life to human righteousness, would place such cruel traps in his own tomb.
"If he hadn’t meant for this, he wouldn’t have built a tomb this deep in the first place," Chung Myung said.
"I suppose not."
Hong Dae-gwang looked back and forth between the wall and the corpses, still thoroughly unsettled.
Maybe this whole expedition will be more ill-omened than fortunate.
While Hong Dae-gwang hesitated, Chung Myung kept on walking forward as if none of it mattered.
"Ch-Chung Myung."
"What?"
Only when Chung Myung turned his calm gaze back did the Mount Hua disciples themselves become flustered.
There are corpses there.
Even though they lived in the martial world, this was the first time they had seen dead bodies this close, this plainly.
Even Baek Cheon, who had occasionally seen corpses while traveling the jianghu, couldn’t shake the faint unease in his chest.
But for Chung Myung, it was all commonplace.
He had seen enough corpses during the war against the Demonic Sect in his previous life to last him a hundred lifetimes. Wasn’t it normal to finish a battle, then sit down and eat where corpses lay everywhere?
So there was no reason to make a fuss over seeing a few now.
"If you stay here, you’re just increasing the chance of getting poisoned for no reason, so keep moving. And don’t touch anything around you for no reason. It’s dangerous."
"R-right."
Baek Cheon swallowed hard and hurried after Chung Myung.
Even so, he could not tear his eyes away from the corpses lying on the floor.
So this is the jianghu.
It struck him all over again.
They were now in a place where they could no longer be protected by the name Mount Hua. One mistake, and your head could come right off your shoulders.
Baek Cheon steadied his heart anew and moved in close behind Chung Myung.
Carefully, he stepped over the bodies and pressed onward.
"Do you think they’ve installed a lot of these mechanisms?"
"No clue."
Chung Myung shrugged.
"I don’t know what kind of person Yak Seon was, but one thing’s certain."
"What?"
"This place isn’t just a treasure vault."
Chung Myung wore a meaningful expression.
If the place had merely been meant to hide divine weapons or serve as a tomb, there would have been no need to install traps like these. The intentions of the one who built this tomb were hidden here.
The danger level depends on what those intentions are.
Just as Chung Myung’s expression had grown slightly more serious, Hong Dae-gwang suddenly pointed toward the ceiling.
"Oh? That one over there looks different from the others."
"Hm?"
Chung Myung looked up.
Sure enough, the moonstones he’d been ripping out so far had all glowed blue, but the one Hong Dae-gwang pointed at was red.
"Looks expensive."
Before Chung Myung could say a word, Hong Dae-gwang suddenly sprang into the air and pulled the moonstone from the ceiling.
Thwack!
Landing on the floor, Hong Dae-gwang turned the moonstone over and over in fascination.
"I’ve never heard of a red moonstone before. Maybe this is a treasure…"
"…What the hell do you think you’re doing?"
"Huh?"
Hong Dae-gwang grinned at Chung Myung.
"You said to grab anything valuable if I don’t want to live like a beggar. Surely you don’t mean all the moonstones here are yours. I can take one, can’t I…"
"I…"
Chung Myung’s eyes flashed wildly.
"Didn’t I tell you not to touch strange things?"
"Huh?"
Hong Dae-gwang looked around, a little flustered.
"No, I mean, there shouldn’t be any problem—"
That was when it happened.
Rumble.
It was a very small sound.
Heavy and dull, but not loud.
"Uh…"
Rumble-rumble.
Then the sound grew a little louder. Cold sweat began beading on Hong Dae-gwang’s forehead.
"N-no way…"
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
Now the sound was close enough to make out clearly. Everyone’s eyes turned toward its source.
The corridor they had just come through.
Something massive was rolling toward them from there. At the same time, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently.
"Hoo."
Chung Myung exhaled once, then smiled.
"What are you doing?"
"Huh?"
"Run! If you don’t want to die!"
At those words, Chung Myung shot forward like a streak of light. The Mount Hua disciples, having instantly grasped the situation, sprang after him at full speed without a word of protest.
"R-run! Run, you beggars! Hurry up, you idiots!"
When Hong Dae-gwang shouted, the Beggars’ Sect members, still not understanding a thing, also took off at top speed as if their tails were on fire.
The reason they had to run became obvious almost immediately.
Crash-rumble-rumble-rumble!
The cavern was collapsing. The ceiling was going down from the far end first, all at once. And from the place where it had fallen, dirt and rocks began pouring out like water.
"Hiiiiiiik!"
Hong Dae-gwang screamed and threw every ounce of strength he had into his legs.
If he got swept up in that, he was dead! There was no surviving it!
"Aaaah! Run! Run, you beggars! Run like your lives depend on it! You’ll die! You’ll die if you don’t! Aaaaah!"
"This is why I never wanted to deal with beggars in the first place!"
Even while running, Chung Myung was cursing up a storm.
"What, did you eat a fried frog? I told you not to touch it and you had to touch it anyway, and now look at this mess! A man who’s been rolling around the jianghu this long!"
Hong Dae-gwang, of course, had no possible retort.
"Aaaah! It’s collapsing! It’s collapsing back there too!"
"Run, you filthy beggars! Fall behind and you die!"
"My God! What kind of nonsense is this, meeting a branch leader like this!"
The Beggars’ Sect members’ complaints rose to the heavens as well. The one who had caused this entire disaster simply kept his head down and ran like hell.
How was I supposed to know?
Truly, heaven had no conscience.
That idiot had been yanking out moonstones left and right without a problem, and then the moment Hong Dae-gwang touched just one, this happened. Was that even reasonable?
But there was no time to curse heaven. The collapsing ceiling was still gaining on them.
To make matters worse, the passage had become narrower and narrower, until now they could only run in a single line.
Chung Myung, temper flaring, dropped back toward the rear.
"Don’t look back, just run!"
"Mount Hua Divi—"
Bang!
Hong Dae-gwang’s instincts made him try to look back, but Chung Myung’s foot kicked him in the butt and forced his gaze forward, tears springing to his eyes.
Serves me right.
If he was told not to look back, why the hell had he tried to look back?
Why am I like this? I wasn’t like this on the surface.
Rumble-rumble-rumble! Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The sound of the ceiling collapsing seemed to be right behind them. Dirt and debris poured down, the dust it kicked up tickling the backs of their necks.
"Aaaahhhhh! We’re all going to die! Run, run, run!"
Hong Dae-gwang practically lost his mind as he ran so hard his feet burned. Whenever he stumbled, he dropped to all fours, then staggered upright again and again.
"There’s light!"
"Get out! Now!"
The end was in sight. Those who saw the corridor’s exit with their own eyes poured every last bit of strength into their light-footwork.
"Aaaah!"
As the people in front all leaped outside, Hong Dae-gwang practically hurled himself into the light as well.
And then—
Rumble-rumble!
The surging dirt brushed against the tip of his foot as he pitched forward.
Thud!
Hong Dae-gwang sprawled onto the ground and reflexively twisted back around.
Made it!
He didn’t know exactly where they had come out, but at least this far hadn’t collapsed. The cave-in had stopped at the corridor.
But then…
"Chung Myung!"
"Damn it!"
Hong Dae-gwang scrambled back to his feet.
If dirt had brushed his foot, that meant he was the last person out of the corridor.
"Mount Hua Divine Dragon!"
Terrified, Hong Dae-gwang spun around. As expected, there was no one behind him. Which meant Chung Myung had not escaped the corridor and had been buried under the dirt.
Hong Dae-gwang’s eyes shook like he’d been caught in an earthquake.
No matter what kind of impossible talent someone had, surviving while buried under that much earth was impossible.
Because of me…
Hong Dae-gwang trembled as guilt flooded over him.
A young swordsman who should have become a pillar of the jianghu had met his end in a place like this because of his mistake. If he were being honest, he felt like biting off his own tongue and dying on the spot.
"Mount Hua…"
That was when it happened.
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, the front suddenly exploded outward and dust billowed in every direction.
"Chung Myung!"
"Damn it! You had me worried, you brat!"
Hong Dae-gwang’s face lit up.
He’s alive!
Of course he was. There was no way the Mount Hua Divine Dragon would die in a place like this!
He was so relieved that he wanted to run over and hug him right then and there.
But that joy was soon swept far away.
"…Where the hell is the beggar?"
On the far side of the settling dust, Chung Myung stood covered in grime from head to toe, his eyes rolling viciously as though he might kill several people on the spot.
And the moment he found Hong Dae-gwang, a grinding sound of teeth scraping together leaked through his twisted lips.
Hong Dae-gwang’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.
"N-no, Mount Hua Divine Dragon. This is…"
"You’ve got a lot to say, huh?"
Cracking his neck with a series of savage pops, Chung Myung started walking toward Hong Dae-gwang.
"But do you know something?"
"…Know what?"
"If talking solved everything, then there wouldn’t be wars in this world!"
"…"
"Let’s start with a beating."
With his mind completely flipped over, Chung Myung lunged at Hong Dae-gwang with a face like a demon’s.