Chapter 214
Chapter 214
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: The Blood Tree's Sapling
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“Ugh, you...!”
Remembering how he'd been subdued in one move last night, the Wudang Taoist eyed me warily as I approached.
I let out a small snort at how he was treating me like some kind of monster and spoke up.
“Still going on about demons or whatever nonsense?”
“What...!”
“If we were really demons or something, don't you think you'd be dead by now?”
“......”
My words left the Taoist speechless. He scanned the faces of the people who had entered the room with me.
Seeing his anger slowly turn to doubt, I explained the situation again.
“This is one of the rooms in Cheonhyang Pavilion, a brothel. Hong here rescued you from the brink of death on Wudang Mountain and brought you here.”
Even after hearing the explanation, the Wudang Taoist remained confused. It took quite a bit of convincing before he finally accepted that he had truly escaped the mountain.
“I'm sorry.”
As soon as he grasped the situation, the Wudang Taoist bowed deeply and apologized.
He seemed especially remorseful toward me and Cheong, having swung his sword at his lifesavers.
“I truly have no face to...”
“Enough. We're not here for apologies—we want to hear what happened. What went down on Wudang Mountain? Why were you looking for your senior brothers?”
“Ah...!”
Only then did he remember his senior brothers, and his expression grew urgent.
“R-right! What about my senior brothers? Did you see Hyun-un, my senior brother, or Hyun-seong, my junior brother? Or any of the other juniors? They were definitely nearby...!”
“No, you're the only Taoist I found.”
Despair flickered across the Taoist's face at Hong's headshake.
“Th-then... my senior brothers are still trapped in that mountain...?”
Looking out the window at the ominous aura shrouding Wudang Mountain, the Taoist rose from his seat with a hardened expression.
“I'm sorry, but I have to go back to Wudang Mountain. I'll repay this life debt someday...”
“You go alone in your current state, and you'll just end up dead for nothing.”
“But...!”
I raised a hand to calm the protesting Taoist.
“First, take a breath and tell us what happened. Then we can figure out how to help.”
“...A-alright.”
The Wudang Taoist slumped back into his seat with a weary nod.
“...Come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Hyunjin, a second-generation disciple of the Wudang Sect.”
And so the story began.
About ten days ago, Hyunjin and his senior brothers had descended the mountain to exterminate bandits plaguing the area.
“The bandit hunt itself went off without a hitch. They were smaller in number than we'd expected, so we wrapped it up much faster than planned.”
The trouble started after the extermination, with the sudden transformation of Wudang Mountain.
Word had come that a sinister blood-red aura had erupted from deep within the mountain, shooting toward the sky.
Three days ago, Hyunjin and his brothers had hurried back toward Geunhyeon, worried about the sect.
“We didn't waste any time and headed straight up the mountain. And then...”
Hyunjin trailed off, his face draining of color in an instant.
His fists trembled as if reliving the terror.
After several deep breaths, he continued.
“...We'd barely taken a few steps when the surroundings warped, and a demonic realm unfolded before us.”
Demonic realm.
I couldn't help glancing at Hong beside me.
-Wudang Mountain has already turned into a demonic realm. Anyone who goes in carelessly—ordinary folk or even most martial artists—will end up dead.
Hong had said something similar in the proprietress's room yesterday.
She'd even given a detailed explanation afterward, but it had still sounded too fantastical to believe.
“The trees, rocks, even the animals on the mountain—all twisted into grotesque shapes. And everything turned hostile, lunging at us with murderous intent.”
Inanimate objects like trees and rocks came alive to kill the Wudang Taoists, while docile animals turned feral, howling and slashing with fangs and claws.
It was as if the entire mountain was charging to slaughter them.
“...It was hell on earth.”
“......”
I fell silent, lost in thought.
Hyunjin's account matched Hong's explanation from yesterday almost perfectly.
When two people told such similar stories, even the outlandish details became hard to dismiss.
And if it was true, the path to the Wudang Sect would be far more perilous than we'd imagined.
Looks like this job won't be easy either.
I swallowed a sigh and stood up.
“...Understood. For now, Master Hyunjin, focus on recovering your strength.”
“B-but my senior brothers...!”
“That's why you need to recover. We'll be heading back up soon.”
“...Thank you!”
Catching my implication, Hyunjin bowed his head, his face full of emotion.
I turned from him and gave Ye So-ha a look.
“One moment.”
“Yes. You two, bring some food for Master Hyunjin?”
“Got it.”
“Yeah.”
I followed Hong and Cheong down to the first floor at a leisurely pace and spoke up.
“Are you still set on heading into Wudang Mountain?”
“That's what I should be asking you.”
Ye So-ha spun around to face me, having taken the lead by a step.
I stopped walking and shot back.
“What do you mean?”
“You heard about the situation on Wudang Mountain. Shouldn't we at least rethink the original plan?”
Ye So-ha pressed on in a fairly serious tone.
“A second-generation disciple of Wudang Mountain is no lightweight anywhere in the jianghu. Yet even he barely escaped after wandering in a death trap.”
“You think we might end up the same?”
“Of course not. My worry isn't for us—it's for the Wudang Sect.”
“......”
“The sky over Wudang Mountain turned blood-red eight days ago. Do you really think nothing's happened to the sect by now? In the worst case, they might have already been wiped out.”
It was a hypothesis I couldn't outright dismiss.
We might climb all the way up just to find the Taoists' corpses.
But,
“I'm going up. I'm not backing down over some unconfirmed what-if. Hwa-ryeon wouldn't either, at least.”
“You seem awfully confident. Mind sharing why?”
“Her stubborn streak is one of Hwa-ryeon's charms—doesn't break easily.”
Ye So-ha made a face like she couldn't believe it at my casual reply.
“If you don't buy it, we can make a bet.”
I shrugged and headed down the stairs first.
*
“We're going to the Wudang Sect. We're not giving up without even checking, just because of a maybe.”
Back in the proprietress's room, I relayed Hyunjin's story and subtly checked with Hwa-ryeon.
Her response was just as I'd expected.
Master and Seol-i nodded in agreement as well.
Seeing that, I shot Ye So-ha a 'told you so' look. She raised both hands in surrender and stood.
“I get it, your decision's made. If you're climbing as planned, when do you plan to set out?”
“After hearing from the maid and Master Hyunjin, it doesn't feel like we can afford to drag our feet. How about heading to the Wudang Sect today?”
Ye So-ha nodded readily at Hwa-ryeon's words.
“Sure. We don't want to waste time either. We've got the basics prepped, so we can go anytime.”
“Perfect.”
And just like that, we quickly settled on departing for the Wudang Sect today.
“Before we head out, let me share what else I've learned.”
Hong had appeared at some point and spoke up.
We all nodded, and she cleared her throat lightly before beginning.
“First off, the sudden environmental shifts on the way up are probably due to the Nine Nether Phantom Dream Formation, something the Blood Tree Cult uses often. Looks like they've spread a massive array centered on the mountain's core.”
“Nine... Nether Phantom Dream Formation?”
Ye So-ha gave a simple explanation for those of us puzzled by the unfamiliar formation name.
“Simply put, it's an array that hides changes inside with illusions. For example, even if the whole mountain were ablaze, outsiders wouldn't notice.”
“Wow... huh?”
Seol-i, who had been impressed, suddenly tilted her head.
“But isn't that weird? If the Nine Nether Phantom Dream Formation is active, why let that blood-red aura leak out?”
She had a point.
If the formation was working properly, it should have perfectly concealed the blood-red energy surging from deep within Wudang Mountain.
What was going on?
All eyes turned to Ye So-ha, who let out an uncharacteristically heavy sigh.
“The answer's simple. Something inside the formation unleashed that massive aura and disrupted the array itself.”
“Something inside the formation... What?”
“A tree.”
“...A what?”
Massive aura.
So the source of that blood-red energy spewing from Wudang Mountain was just... a tree?
Ye So-ha elaborated as we stared in confusion.
“Not just any tree, of course. It's a sapling—an offshoot of the Blood Tree, the object of the Blood Tree Cult's worship.”
“The Blood Tree's... sapling.”
“Yeah. That sapling is our Hao Gate's top priority right now. That's why I'm here—I destroyed one at Poyang Lake and learned another was on Wudang Mountain.”
The Blood Tree that had turned Chilji into a massive tree monster.
And this sapling...
“So, you're saying that sapling is behind this whole mess?”