That One Must Be Kept Alive
At the heart of the Jamryong Continent lay a region where endlessly massive mountain ranges stretched on without end. People called it the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
It had a special name as well: the Celestial Realm of the Sky's Center.
The Celestial Realm was ringed by an abyss too deep to fathom — a chasm so wide it spanned hundreds of zhang from edge to edge.
The only way to cross that abyss on foot was a bridge known as the Immortal's Cord. And with keepers guarding the bridge, those who lacked the qualification were never given even the chance to try.
Even if heaven's fortune smiled upon someone and they managed to cross, even the mightiest warriors of the mortal world found it hard to survive within those mountains. Every fold of the wild, layered peaks harbored not only savage beasts but also demon creatures that prowled the shadows at every turn.
"It's the kind of terrain that looks like one colossal mountain split apart and scattered into countless ranges," Yeo Gwi explained. "From a distance, the whole thing reads as a single mountain."
At the very center of the Celestial Realm stood a peak so tall it seemed to pierce the heavens. It was said that the strongest immortal in the world lived there.
But because even the great sects regarded the Seongdo Seonjong — a sect the high sects themselves considered mere legend — that guarded the place, no cultivator could enter carelessly. It was a rumor whose truth no one could verify.
Yi Yeok had been listening to Yeo Gwi's explanation in silence. Outwardly he kept his composure, but there was a glint of excitement in his eyes. They were going to rob a sect that even the apex predators of the mortal world couldn't so much as look at.
"So, how are you planning to get into the Celestial Realm? It's not like we can just walk the Immortal's Cord."
"It'll work out somehow. There's a saying, isn't there — even a virgin groom finds his way once he's in the bridal chamber."
Yeo Gwi tilted his head at Yi Yeok's breezy confidence. Had such a saying ever existed?
"How much farther to the Celestial Realm?"
"A few thousand li at least. We haven't even started moving."
"What?"
Yi Yeok's eyes went round as saucers.
"Damn it. Why is everything so far away?"
"Seriously? You're planning to raid a sect, and you didn't even know where the Celestial Realm was?"
"I hate walking."
"Walk? Walk where? You're sprawled out in a carriage being hauled there."
They had procured the carriage the moment they left the Maple Forest. Yeo Gwi was driving it, and Yi Yeok rode inside. Since it was Yi Yeok who had 'procured' the carriage, there was nothing to be done — though, of course, he hadn't acquired it by paying fair price.
"There's no way to go any faster?"
"They say the sects have something called a transmission formation that can take you to the Celestial Realm in an instant. Of course, we don't know where one is, and we don't know how to use one. And even if we could use it, it would only drop us off near the Immortal's Cord. Trudging along is the only option we've got."
Yi Yeok grumbled and flopped back down inside the carriage. Yeo Gwi looked at him and said, "Don't you think it's about time you took a shift?"
"Aren't you getting to ride easy thanks to me procuring the carriage?"
"You shameless bastard, have you no conscience at all? I've been driving this thing alone for two days and nights now."
Yi Yeok propped his head on one arm and oozed flattery.
"Come on, turtle. That teal robe and that red feathered headdress of yours — honestly, your sense of fashion defies human imagination. You know that dressing like that isn't for your own sake, right? It's for the audience."
"...So?"
"Before long, that bizarre outfit of yours will become the very symbol of the Number One Sword Immortal under heaven. So you might as well start getting into people's eyes early, no?"
Yeo Gwi mulled it over for a long moment before speaking.
"Something about that feels like I'm being conned... but strangely, I can't come up with a single rebuttal."
Several hours later, Yeo Gwi brought the carriage to a halt. From inside came the sound of Yi Yeok snoring.
It was a narrow mountain road, long and winding. Ahead of the carriage, broad-bladed blades in hand, a group of burly men blocked the way. Their eyes were fierce and their faces were crowded with scars.
At their head stood a one-eyed man who seemed to be their leader, and he spoke.
"The mountains are green, the waters clear, no? All of it, tended by our own hands. Pay the viewing fee."
Yeo Gwi asked with languid indifference, "How much?"
"Nothing's been set. Hand over enough to satisfy this elder, and we'll let you pass unharmed."
Yeo Gwi glanced around and confirmed that archers were emerging from among the boulders rising on either side of the road. Then he said, "So this was your land, was it? The mountains were all barren waste, and the rivers were running with filth. Give me enough to soothe this elder's displeasure, and I'll simply pass on by."
Instead of flying into a rage, the leader threw back his head and laughed.
"Got some spine on you, don't you? I like that."
Then he ordered his men, "Don't kill them. Take them alive — I want to have some fun with them."
A faint flush of excitement crept up the leader's face, which was as homely as a turnip gone wrong.
"The absolute—!"
Yeo Gwi recoiled in disgust, killing intent flashing across his face. He called toward the inside of the carriage.
"Hey! Get up!"
Yi Yeok emerged from the carriage. He yawned, swept one look around, and immediately grasped the situation. Yeo Gwi said,
"Special discount today. Ten nyang of silver per head, and I'll dispose of them. That one-eyed freak I'll do for free."
"You maniac. Your answer to everything is just 'kill them,' isn't it? And where exactly am I supposed to have money?"
With a servile smile plastered on his face, Yi Yeok bowed low to the leader.
"Oh dear, forgive me — I failed to recognize you at once. Now that I look, it's clear you are the master of this land, my lord. No wonder I thought the scenery here seemed out of the ordinary. Were it not for the labors of you, my lord, and all these fine men, how could anything be so beautiful?"
It was a groveling performance far beyond what anyone had expected. Contemptuous smiles crept over the faces of the leader and his men alike.
"Ah, so you're one who reads the room. Far sharper than your driver there."
"Ah, this fellow may look sound enough at a glance, but in truth he's simple-minded, my lord. Surely you can tell just from how he's dressed? He used to wander the streets begging, and when his fortunes turned dire, we took him in and set him to driving."
"So that explains it. I knew something was off about him from the start."
"But my lord, as it happens, your humble servant has not a single coin of silver on him. That greedy driver ate through every last piece — feeding that wretch swallowed it all, you see."
"And?"
"What a blessing that you've taken a liking to the driver, my lord. Please, take him with you. He has a gentle heart, so do be tender in caring for him. Enjoy yourself for a few pleasant days, and should you grow tired of him, you may send him back whenever it suits you."
Yeo Gwi stood there, mouth hanging open, staring at Yi Yeok.
Yi Yeok winked at him.
"Go on and enjoy yourself for a few days. If your heart happens to stir, I've no objection to you settling in at my lord's side, either."
Yeo Gwi still could not find his tongue.
The leader burst into laughter.
"Good, good. Ah, but a shame it is. That driver alone isn't enough to cover the viewing fee."
"You say it isn't enough, my lord?"
"That's right. You there — you're a pretty one. A face you'd rarely see in a backwater village like this. You come along too."
Yi Yeok, too, made the same dimwitted expression Yeo Gwi had worn.
"Ah... your humble servant would rather die than pay with his body, my lord..."
"Fear nothing. This elder will see to everything himself. You need only relax and leave your body to me."
The leader's face flushed ever hotter. On Yi Yeok's face, disgust and killing intent slowly began to coil.
"Turtle."
"What."
"I'll pay you twenty nyang of silver per head. In exchange, keep that one-eyed one alive. Make him sing until he begs us to kill him."
Yeo Gwi leapt down from the carriage and drew his sword.
"You heard my young master? Twenty nyang a head. Line up, single file — we've got to count how much the total comes to."
The leader roared with laughter.
"Don't kill them! The eyes I don't care about, but otherwise — try not to rough them up too much."
Yeo Gwi bared his canines and swept his blade in a wide arc. Save for Yi Yeok, there was not a man alive whose eyes could follow that blade — a fast sword if ever there was one.