Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: Chapter 13 - Sichuan, Conclusion (6)
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After the policy was set, the Dragon-Phoenix Squad remained silent for several days.
The only thing they did in that time was cut off all communication with the Tang Clan, as if they intended to camp out here indefinitely until they heard from Su-lak, holing up inside their quarters.
There was no discomfort in the process.
The training grounds needed for practice, the dining hall for meals, and all other conveniences for daily life were within the quarters, and there was even So-hyang to assist with chores.
And so, they killed time until today, when they returned.
“This should do it.”
They began preparing to move.
In the largest room of the quarters.
Dang Hwa-seo scanned the squad members seated around the table and spoke.
“By now, they must think we're just hiding in our quarters. There won't be a better night than tonight to move under cover of darkness.”
“Finally, we're moving! To be honest, I was getting suffocated staying cooped up in here!”
“You've had a hard time. Young Hero Mok. And everyone else too.”
The squad members' spirits ignited noticeably.
It was inevitable excitement from heading to a place with spirit beasts.
Jegal San chuckled and asked.
“So, how do you plan to get in and out of the forbidden area?”
“It's a dark night with a new moon. We can slip out the back of the main hall and proceed from there.”
“No guards?”
“There are people guarding the entrance to the forbidden area, but how vast is this mountain range? If you look, it's full of gaps.”
At those words, Mok Ri-won tilted his head and asked.
“It's a forbidden area, but the security is that lax?”
It was a natural question.
Dang Hwa-seo chuckled and shook her head.
“Of course, they wouldn't rely solely on people to guard it. The reason no one can enter the forbidden area is something else entirely.”
Tok.
Dang Hwa-seo tapped the desk.
“There's a formation.”
Seeing the squad members nodding in agreement here and there, Dang Hwa-seo continued.
“It's an illusion-type formation. If you enter carelessly, it drives intruders to their deaths in the wilds. It's a intricate formation, not easily broken.”
“It looks like you have a way in. Am I right, sis?”
“Yes.”
The squad members' attention sharpened.
Dang Hwa-seo recalled a distant memory.
When she was still a child not yet ten years old, she had been led by the hand into the forbidden area just once by the clan leader.
“…There's a safe path.”
“A safe path means….”
“If you advance in a specific direction with fixed strides, you can escape the land blocked by the formation. Jegal San, isn't this a type you know?”
“Hmm… It's a formation I've encountered quite often.”
Jegal San's expression wasn't good as he said that.
“It's a troublesome formation.”
That was exactly right.
People each have their own rhythm, breathing, stride length, and habits.
Yet the formation ignored all those elements and demanded uniform steps, so one misstep could lead straight to death.
“How far is the safe path?”
“Roughly this angle.”
“It'll be quite fatiguing too….”
Jegal San fell deep into thought.
His extensive knowledge of formations meant he had many factors to consider.
However, Dang Hwa-seo wasn't too worried about that part.
“I'll lead the way. You guide the squad members.”
Jegal San had many unreliable aspects, but his knowledge of formations was truly profound.
Even if he grimaced like this, when the moment came, he'd quickly grasp the safe path.
Jegal San nodded.
“…Got it. I'll give it a try.”
“Good. Then there's no need to delay. Let's head out now.”
Dang Hwa-seo rose from her seat.
The sky visible through the window was already pitch black.
It was the perfect time.
*
Leaving the quarters was easy.
In fact, it was laughably so, for a ridiculous reason.
Their realms were higher than the occasional guards they spotted.
Why wouldn't it be?
What group would station pinnacle realm experts in a mere patrol within the estate?
Moreover, the forbidden area they were heading to was in the opposite direction from the central clan leader's hall.
The more important personnel among the guards were all concentrated there, so no one noticed their movement.
In any case, after navigating that process, the squad members passed the Tang Clan's halls and reached the mountains.
“This place is….”
“Yes, the Tang Clan's forbidden area.”
Mok Ri-won stared blankly ahead with a surprised face.
The other squad members were the same.
Dang Hwa-seo urged them on sternly.
“From now on, you must not lose focus.”
Ahead lay fog.
Not enveloping the surroundings, but artificially spread only in front, like a transparent barrier.
Truly, not even an inch ahead was visible.
This was why one would die without knowing the safe path.
Dang Hwa-seo said in a stern voice.
“Jegal San, stick right behind me. Everyone else, follow Jegal San closely.”
The squad members lined up in a single file.
Dang Hwa-seo memorized the order.
‘Jegal San, Young Hero Mok, Il-un Monk, White Phoenix, Sword Dragon.’
Dang Hwa-seo's eyes narrowed.
“Il-un Monk, take the very rear.”
She said it because having Namgung Jincheon at the end made her uneasy.
Fortunately, Il-un caught on and smiled awkwardly as he moved to the rear.
Namgung Jincheon just tilted his head, clueless.
“…Good. Let's go now.”
Dang Hwa-seo faced forward and took her first step.
The fog swallowed her figure.
*
Surrounded entirely by hazy fog.
Mok Ri-won focused all his nerves on Jegal San right in front of him, mimicking his movements.
‘Right foot turned outward, toward southeast.’
Tak—
‘Left foot tip inward, north.’
Tak—
Mok Ri-won had no idea how much time had passed since entering.
‘Vicious.’
The formation was so vicious that it immediately explained why the forbidden area's security was weak.
Direction sense twisted first.
He followed Jegal San's steps—southeast, north, and so on—but Mok Ri-won couldn't tell if they were truly heading that way.
He could only estimate based on the direction when they entered the formation.
But was direction sense the only issue?
No.
As if some sleep-inducing incense had been scattered, Mok Ri-won kept feeling overwhelming drowsiness.
Not just any drowsiness, but the intense sleepiness felt after sleepless nights for days.
‘…Right foot straight ahead, northwest.’
His current realm was peak realm.
Yet even so, his sense of direction was vanishing inside the formation, making him think no one short of transcendent realm could properly navigate this place.
Suddenly, worry arose for those behind him.
Namgung Jincheon was decent at physical tasks, so aside from him, the two monks worried him most.
Turning his head risked missing Jegal San's movements, but pushing on blindly left him uneasy.
‘Hard to sense their energies….’
For some reason, the energy flows here were strangely mixed, making it hard to identify squad members.
Mok Ri-won felt like he had regressed to his childhood body, when he hadn't properly learned martial arts.
Struggling like that for a while as he moved.
“You must be even more careful from now on!”
Dang Hwa-seo's shout rang out.
Mok Ri-won tensed further, recalling her warning.
‘Hallucinations start from here, right?’
She said they began around the 70% mark through the formation, so he could gauge progress.
Mok Ri-won clenched his fists.
He plugged his ears and focused on Jegal San's feet.
The hallucinations began soon after.
“Young Hero Mok, could you help me for a moment?”
It was Dang Hwa-seo's voice.
Laden with sobs.
Mok Ri-won felt his heart tighten with sorrow.
‘I, I won't listen!’
He gritted his teeth.
Dang Hwa-seo had said no one should speak from now on, so this was definitely a hallucination.
“Young Hero Mok… Can't you hear me?”
The next voice carried even deeper sadness.
It sounded soaked in betrayal.
His conscience pricked sharply.
But Mok Ri-won overcame it.
As he took another step, a different voice came.
“Won-ah….”
It was his master Mok Seon-o's voice.
Flinch—
Mok Ri-won's eyes wavered.
Even knowing it was a hallucination, that voice nearly made his feet move on their own.
The power of that longed-for voice was immense.
“Won-ah, come here. Hm? Your master misses your face.”
‘No, I won't go! This is a hallucination!’
“I'm always worried. You're so kind and naive, Won-ah. I can't sleep thinking you might get bullied somewhere. Will you just leave your master like this?”
“You little punk! Your big brother is calling—get over here quick!”
The accompanying bellow was Beggar King Ma Il-seok's.
“Hey~ Ungrateful brat! I knew your type when you snuck my drumstick!”
The realism was absurd.
Mok Ri-won almost doubted if it was really a hallucination from that bellow.
Had it not mentioned the drumstick, he surely would have stepped toward it.
‘The drumstick was a perfect crime! Even on the day I left to become a monk, the Beggar King didn't know!’
A ploy to prick his conscience.
No chance.
Mok Ri-won hardened his expression further.
“Hup!”
He took a deep breath and paused.
Then stepped again.
“Young Hero Mok….”
“Won-ah….”
“You punk….”
At first, those three.
Soon, more voices piled on to torment his ears.
“Great hero!”
Gwak Chil-pyo, author of Tales of the Jianghu Heroes.
“Ah, Mokryong.”
White Sword Unit Leader Golden Sword Gwon Pyo-wol.
“Benefactor!”
Seon-u, the young servant of the merchant house master from Shaanxi.
“Mokryong Great Hero!”
True Origin Unit Leader Gyeon Dong.
After that, countless others with whom he had forged bonds called to Mok Ri-won.
Ignoring them all and pressing on.
“It's all because of you, Heavenly Slaughter Star.”
A man's voice, full of amusement.
Mok Ri-won's eyes widened.
‘…Fist Demon.’
Persuasion failing, now blame?
Even as the thought arose, the voice continued.
“The star you were born with drove the escorts to their deaths. Your existence cut their lives short. A cursed Heavenly Slaughter Star daring to mimic a human—that's the tragedy.”
Something pierced his heart.
Then another voice.
Full of resentment—the owner was Flame Demon O Gang-ak.
“A trash parasite on some star, what's so proud about? Lucky fate. Just you being alive plunges countless into grief.”
It didn't stop.
Sword Demon Yeon Ri-geon's voice followed.
“Bearing the karma of Heavenly Slaughter leads only to ruin.”
They cursed in unison.
The fate of one bearing this star, and the bloodbath ahead.
Mok Ri-won's expression began to waver at the hard-to-ignore words.
Then the wedge drove in.
“…I shouldn't have saved you.”
Mok Seon-o's voice, filled with grief.
“Won-ah, I shouldn't have saved you.”
Laden with hatred.
In that instant, Mok Ri-won's heart plummeted.
Whether hallucination or not no longer mattered.
Just hearing resentment from a loved one wounded his heart deeply.
Mok Ri-won's lips trembled.
“Young Hero Mok, have you hidden such ugly thoughts until now?”
“Brother Mok… no, I don't even want to call you brother. How can a killer ghost be so brazen….”
“I knew it. No wonder a wretch like you could stand against Namgung's sword.”
The squad members' voices overlapped.
Then, the bonds that had tried to persuade him now poured out resentment.
They sounded like the dying.
“How dare a killer ghost eye a hero!!!”
“You! The merchant house fell because of you! If not for that star you have, the demons wouldn't have come to the Central Plains! Killer ghost! Die!”
“I never thought the Murim Alliance had a monster like this. You should've died in the tournament!”
Then they screamed.
The screams faded.
Their deaths.
‘This is….’
Not mere hallucination.
Only then did Mok Ri-won realize.
‘…A formation that touches on my fears.’
This hallucination shoved before his eyes what he had avoided facing.
It etched into his body what he had occasionally imagined while bearing this star.
What if his bonds learned he was born the Heavenly Slaughter Star?
He hated even imagining it, yet it relentlessly prodded him.
Mok Ri-won felt his eyes heat up.
‘No….’
Those he had met wouldn't do that.
They had grown so close—no mere star would make them threaten him.
The reaffirmation was self-hypnosis.
A wall blocking looming fear.
But too thin.
“Won-ah, if not for you, I'd still be in the Central Plains jianghu.”
His insides twisted.
Like someone slashing his chest.
He still followed Jegal San's steps, but it grew burdensome.
“Don't stay behind me? I'm worried the killer ghost might stab me anytime.”
The hallucination, sounding right in front, tormented him.
As his breath grew ragged.
“Gaaaaah!!!!!”
A fierce roar erupted right behind.
Mok Ri-won jolted in shock.
‘This isn't a hallucination!’
Namgung Jincheon's genuine bellow.
Even Jegal San ahead flinched.
“I'm not a loser! I'm not!!!”
Mok Ri-won clamped his mouth shut.
The shout cleared his mind, bringing his senses back.
Stabilizing breath, calming heartbeat.
After a moment, Mok Ri-won felt the negative thoughts vanish completely.
‘…That was close.’
Without Namgung Jincheon, would his step have faltered then?
Gratitude welled up.
‘What hallucinations is Sword Dragon brother hearing….’
He could guess.
Out of respect, Mok Ri-won didn't dwell on it.
Right after, Mok Ri-won emerged from the fog.