I’ll Show You What Real Ruthlessness Looks Like (2)
The end of the cave opened into yet another cave. The only difference was that, unlike the passages they had come through so far, this one had night pearls embedded in the walls again.
“...Doesn’t this feel a little repetitive, Sahyung?”
“Mm. It does seem that way. And though I can’t be sure yet, it looks like this space with the night pearls is safe as long as you don’t do anything stupid. As long as you don’t do anything stupid.”
At Baek Cheon’s pointed look, as if he were subtly glancing at himself while he spoke, Hong Dae-gwang let out a low sigh.
“...People do make mistakes sometimes.”
“I didn’t say anything, Great Master.”
Yes, Great Master. He was still being called Great Master. How touching. How deeply, tearfully touching.
As Hong Dae-gwang observed the Mount Hua disciples on the way here, he had noticed a few strange things.
The first was that, unlike Chung Myung, who seemed to keep his soul tucked away in some unknown corner of the world, Mount Hua’s disciples actually knew manners like proper elite sect disciples should.
Of course, now and then one could catch a glimpse of speech or behavior that resembled Chung Myung’s, but with Chung Myung himself skulking around right beside them, that level of roughness hardly stood out at all.
And they’re incredibly strong.
While making their way through the cave with the Marah Bloodsucking Bat, the Beggars’ Sect disciples had suffered injuries of all sizes. The paralysis poison had seeped into those wounds, leaving them in no state to move freely.
Their lives weren’t in danger, but it was impossible to avoid slowing down as they tried to get out of the cave. And yet Mount Hua’s disciples had not suffered so much as a single scratch in that urgent struggle.
Was it luck?
Of course not.
One or two times might be luck. But if that luck kept going, then it could only be skill.
“I have a question for the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua.”
“Please call me Baek Cheon. That epithet is rather embarrassing.”
“Very well. Then, Young Hero Baek Cheon.”
“Yes?”
“Are the martial abilities of the brothers and sisters at Mount Hua similar to those of the people here?”
Baek Cheon hesitated slightly before answering.
“That would not be the case. Yoon Jong and Jo Gul are among the best of the third-generation disciples, and Yu Sago and I are among the stronger second-generation disciples. But that does not mean the other brothers and sisters remaining at Mount Hua are significantly below us.”
As he said that, Baek Cheon glanced toward Chung Myung.
Those skills had been forged under torment from that beast-like bastard. There was no reason any of them should fall far behind.
“...I see.”
Hong Dae-gwang’s expression turned slightly grave.
The branch he led was the Luoyang branch of the Beggars’ Sect. Luoyang was one of the great cities of the Central Plains, and as such, the beggars stationed there were men of no small ability.
Of course, true to the Beggars’ Sect’s nature of relying on quantity over quality, the beggars under him were not on par with the elite disciples of other sects. But no matter how one looked at it, they were not the sort of people who got beaten up anywhere they went, either.
And yet the Mount Hua disciples here were clearly stronger than the crack beggars of the Luoyang branch, weren’t they?
If the other disciples of Mount Hua truly matched these people’s abilities, then just how strong did that make Mount Hua as a whole?
And there’s that monster too.
The sword strike he had seen a moment ago would not leave his mind. No—perhaps he would never forget it for the rest of his life. He had never once seen a sword so astonishing in all his years.
And if that Chung Myung grew further, led Mount Hua, and the sect’s disciples grew alongside him to support his back...
There would be nothing at all strange about calling it a true revival.
In its heyday, Mount Hua had been counted among the strongest of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang. If its strength had not been badly damaged in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, and if its main sect had not been destroyed by the Demonic Sect’s final frenzy, it would never have fallen to its present state.
But if Mount Hua’s disciples kept growing like this, restoring the sect’s former prestige no longer seemed impossible. Especially if that Chung Myung kept rampaging around with that same momentum.
“Branch Leader...”
Hong Dae-gwang, who had been lost in thought, frowned slightly at the Beggars’ Sect disciples gasping and panting with exhaustion.
“Mount Hua Divine Dragon. I know you’re in a hurry, but could we rest for a little while? I need time to check on the disciples’ condition.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
When Chung Myung unexpectedly agreed so readily, Hong Dae-gwang flinched instead.
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? You’re agreeing way too easily for once.”
“A person’s hurt, isn’t he?”
“...Thank you.”
Hong Dae-gwang looked at Chung Myung with renewed eyes.
Does he actually have the spirit of a great hero?
Not every person called a great hero had the same temperament, but if there was one thing they had to possess, it was the heart that put people before profit.
And yet from Chung Myung, who had seemed like the last person to say such a thing, came words that put people first.
The more I look at him, the less I understand him.
Hong Dae-gwang tilted his head and walked over to the Beggars’ Sect disciples.
Even so, Chung Myung kept his gaze fixed ahead, his brows slightly furrowed. His attention was focused far off in the distance.
Qi is spreading all over the place.
From somewhere quite a distance away, murderous intent and battle spirit were surging wildly. It meant that a fierce battle had broken out, or that someone had fallen into a trap and was fighting something.
No need to rush over and help.
If they waited patiently, the path would be opened for them. Wasn’t that the whole reason the stronger ones had been deliberately sent inside?
Those people got to enter the Sword Tomb. Chung Myung got to take the easy road.
No one knew what other traps might still be lying in wait in here. If the same kind of monsters as the Marah Bloodsucking Bat kept appearing, then even Chung Myung would eventually run himself dry and collapse.
Years of combat had taught him that the way to survive a place like this was to save every last drop of strength until the very end. Chung Myung knew that better than anyone.
As the mood settled into rest, the group leaned against the wall and sank down where they stood. Even then, they remained wary, clearly afraid of accidentally triggering some mechanism.
“Aigoo.”
Yoon Jong, sitting on the floor, let out a deep sigh and said ruefully,
“In a place like this, even ten lives wouldn’t be enough.”
“What an exaggeration.”
When Chung Myung snorted, Yoon Jong raised his head and looked at him.
He looks awfully used to this.
No matter how bold someone was, if it was their first time in a place like this, they would have no choice but to be flustered.
Moving step by step through a place where light hardly reached, a place where any number of traps might be lurking, exhausted the body in ways people often failed to anticipate. You had to stay tense, stay sharp, without letup.
And yet Chung Myung remained completely composed.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“What did I do to be tired? We’ve only just started.”
“...Only just started?”
“If someone like Yakseon, or Talgeom Muheun, had really set out to make traps properly, this would never end at this level. Unless he left nothing at all behind.”
Yoon Jong’s brow furrowed.
He wasn’t objecting to the statement itself. What had caught his attention was the phrase set out to.
“Why would Talgeom Muheun, that is, Yakseon, make a place like this?”
“Hm?”
“...If he wanted to leave behind the Honwon Dan, he could have simply left it behind. If he wanted to leave behind divine weapons, he could have done the same. So why make all these traps and put those who entered his tomb in danger?”
“How should I know?”
Chung Myung gave a faint laugh.
Yoon Jong’s question continued.
“At first I thought nothing of it, but the more I think about it, the stranger it seems. Especially when I consider the name Yakseon. He was a saintly man who treated countless patients and created even more divine pills. That’s why he was called Yakseon.”
“Right.”
“And yet that Yakseon was also Talgeom Muheun, and I cannot understand why that Talgeom Muheun would make a tomb like this...”
“You don’t need to understand.”
“Huh?”
Smiling faintly, Chung Myung said,
“There’s only one thing I’m absolutely certain about when it comes to people.”
“And what’s that?”
“That people are never predictable.”
“...”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“Even someone you think you know inside and out can suddenly show you a side you’d never expect. So how could we possibly know what was in the mind of someone from two hundred years ago? We just need to take whatever we can get from here and leave. His intentions or whatever else? Who cares.”
It was a practical answer.
But it was also a very cold one.
Chung Myung said that, but Yoon Jong found it difficult to dismiss the thought that Yakseon’s intention was buried somewhere in this tomb.
What exactly was Yakseon trying to tell the people who entered this tomb?
Just then, Chung Myung, who had glanced at him and noticed his troubled expression, said,
“That’s not it.”
“Huh?”
“The beginning isn’t here. If you really want to get to the bottom of it, you have to start with why Yakseon became Talgeom Muheun in the first place.”
“...Ah.”
Yoon Jong looked slightly startled.
He had not thought that far back.
Yakseon was a man who had built a world-class legacy through alchemy. Even without ever stepping out into the world as Talgeom Muheun, he would already have been someone crowned with fame and glory.
So why had such a man chosen to mask himself and take up the sword?
Yoon Jong quietly looked at Chung Myung.
It felt as though Chung Myung had some guess already. This troublesome junior was younger than anyone, yet at times he revealed a depth no one could keep up with.
“What?”
“No, I was wondering if you had some idea.”
Chung Myung gave a snort.
“And what would that matter?”
“Huh?”
“If Yakseon had some other intention, do you think he’d just neatly set down the Honwon Dan and walk away?”
“...No, I don’t suppose he would.”
“Then that settles it. I’m not interested in the circumstances of some old dead guy. What matters is that there might be an alchemical method for the Honwon Dan in here.”
“Hmm.”
“And I’m going to get my hands on it, even if it kills me. No matter what!”
Watching the fire burning in Chung Myung’s eyes, Yoon Jong let out a small sigh.
Simple really is nice.
Sometimes he envied Chung Myung’s personality. He never seemed to worry himself to death over every angle.
Though whether that was simple-mindedness or merely the surface appearance of it, no one could say.
At that moment, Yu I-seol handed Chung Myung the waterskin she had been carrying for him. Chung Myung took the water she offered without another word and drank. Then he suddenly asked Hong Dae-gwang,
“Hey, old beggar! Are we getting close?”
“Looks like the antidote is working.”
“You brought an antidote for the paralysis poison?”
“More precisely, it’s the antidote for Ma-bi-san. We don’t know what kind of bastard we might run into in here, so I thought I’d try it just in case. And it seems to neutralize it.”
“Oh-ho.”
Chung Myung looked at Hong Dae-gwang with new appreciation.
“What’s that supposed to mean! What do you take this old Hong Dae-gwang for! In the martial world, I am known as one of the Beggars’ Sect’s wise men!”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
“Hmph.”
When Chung Myung’s response was far too halfhearted, Hong Dae-gwang shook his head. Well, what did his words matter to this bastard anyway?
“If you’ve mostly finished with the antidote, let’s move.”
“But just how far does this Sword Tomb go? We’ve already come a long way.”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“The cave curves gently, so the actual distance we’ve traveled probably isn’t that much.”
“...Really?”
“Even so, there’s a limit to how much space can be built underground like this. We should start seeing the end soon.”
“Hmm. Right. That’s enough for now.”
The group got back on their feet and began preparing to move again. Watching them, Chung Myung’s expression turned faintly peculiar.
The part about the end coming into view soon was not a lie.
The problem was that there would almost certainly be others reaching that end besides them.
How malicious.
At the thought of Yakseon, Chung Myung’s mouth slowly curved upward.
“Now then, let’s see what else you prepared.”
Chung Myung smiled a wicked smile.