The Reason of a Hero (6)
***
Seomun Hwan parted ways with the Seomun merchants and moved alone.
The merchants’ only task had been to deliver the Jang Bo Do to Mubul Tongji. That was the end of it.
Since his older brother wasn’t the type to covet such a thing, he would likely be heading straight home by now.
Seomun Hwan blended light footwork with the art of instant movement, racing toward the mountain where the Phantom Demon’s hidden cave was said to lie.
There, he met the Hao Gate operatives who had been waiting after receiving his prior message.
“We greet the young master!”
More than a dozen Hao Gate members, their identities concealed beneath black night suits, bowed with crisp discipline.
Seomun Hwan scanned them slowly before speaking.
“Is everything ready?”
“Of course, young master. Our operatives are stationed without a single gap. Not even a rat could slip past our eyes.”
“Good.”
He needed to find out exactly who had dared to borrow his name for this farce.
That was why he had contacted the Hao Gate the moment he learned the true nature of the Jang Bo Do.
“And the cave?”
“It remains quiet. No one has entered or exited so far.”
“People will start swarming in soon. Make sure your men stay hidden and aren’t discovered.”
“We shall obey.”
Seomun Hwan began moving in earnest as well.
Since he had arrived first, he could have gone inside immediately to scout, but he had no idea what might be waiting within.
If the entire mountain collapsed, even at his current level it could prove dangerous.
So he waited patiently, without the slightest hint of impatience.
Before long, a throng of martial artists descended like a swarm of enraged hornets.
“Out of my way! The treasure is mine!”
They shoved, pulled, and trampled one another. A few even tumbled off the cliffside rocks.
Hands already resting on sword hilts was the bare minimum. Some had completely lost their minds and drawn their blades.
“Stop this! If we fight here now…!”
Schlick!
“Argh!”
Blood sprayed. Someone trying to intervene had his shoulder sliced open, and his furious comrade immediately drew a sword in revenge.
The moment the metallic stench of blood filled the air, the crowd instinctively recoiled.
But the silence lasted only a heartbeat before curses erupted again.
“That bastard drew first! It’s self-defense!”
“Listen to you spout nonsense! If not for the treasure, I wouldn’t even waste breath on scum like you!”
Those trying to force their way deeper into the ravine seized the cave entrance, while the groups fighting to claim it first tangled together in a chaotic brawl.
Swords clashed. Fists and kicks flew. Blood splattered against the cave walls from wounds caused by smashing into rocks.
“That guy! That guy hid something inside! Kill him!”
“Get in there! First one inside takes it all!”
Even while bleeding and injured, everyone scrambled desperately toward the entrance.
People screamed as they fell, only for others to leap over their bodies. The cave mouth was already slick with mud and gore.
In the chaos where it was impossible to tell who had cut whom, the single delusion of “treasure” was the only thing driving them forward.
“Wow. They’re really going at it.”
Seomun Hwan adjusted the steel mask on his face and slipped into the cave like a shadow.
The first thing he felt against his skin was an eerie chill.
The cold air seemed to seep deep into his lungs. Mixed within it were the scents of old blood, stone dust, and rotten mildew.
The cave appeared naturally formed—rough and uneven, with curves carved over thousands of years by wind and water. Yet human touch was unmistakably present.
Artificially flattened floors. Strange patterns engraved on the walls. And above all else…
[Those who enter this place without permission, prepare for death.]
The first thing that caught the eye upon entering was a massive stone wall covered in blood-red warning letters.
The characters, which looked as if they had been written in blood, remained vivid even after decades. They carried an oppressive pressure that seemed to squeeze the viewer’s heart.
“Hmm. Quite the dramatic staging.”
Someone impatient ignored the warning and charged forward.
“I’m first!”
The moment his foot touched the ground, the floor sank. At the same time, dozens of iron needles shot out from the left wall.
“Tch! Something like this—!”
He seemed fairly skilled. He twisted his body sideways in an instant and dodged.
“Kwahahaha! As if I’d fall for a trap like—”
But it was too early to celebrate.
As if anticipating that exact reaction, the ceiling directly above where he had dodged opened with a clunk, and a long spear dropped straight down.
Clang!!
The spear that fell pierced cleanly through the man’s skull.
Crunch!
The skewered man died instantly without even time to scream, dangling limply from the spear.
A gruesome death right from the start.
Strangely, however, those who witnessed the scene didn’t retreat. They surged forward even more eagerly.
“Move! He triggered the trap, so now’s our chance!”
“The treasure is right in front of us! If you’re late, you won’t get in!”
Those who believed they had avoided the traps shouted like battle cries and rushed ahead.
But that too was underestimating this place far too much.
Clack!
“Huh? What is this… Aaaargh!!”
The floor opened with a heavy thunk, swallowing people whole.
A bottomless pit like an abyss devoured them.
When another man turned in shock, a boulder falling from the ceiling smashed his shoulder and crushed him against the nearby rock.
“Damn it… What the hell is this…!”
Only then did a few hesitate, but most did not. Instead, they pushed even deeper.
Some lost their minds completely. Others deliberately lured rivals into traps to eliminate the competition.
The faces of friends and the blood of brothers vanished beneath their feet.
“Uwaaaah! This place is hell!”
“If you stand still you’ll die too, you idiot! Move!”
Some wailed. Some laughed mockingly. Some trembled as they drew their swords…
The cave had become an altar of blood and greed.
“As expected, it turned out this way.”
It was exactly the scene he had predicted.
Human greed was faster than any sword and sharper than any trap.
The strange formations and mechanisms were merely tools. The true prey was the human heart itself.
Watching them, Seomun Hwan clicked his tongue in disdain.
“Tsk tsk. Like moths to a flame.”
Without hesitation, he stepped deeper inside.
In the darkness that lay like fog, the path was broken and the ground felt strangely slick.
Deeper in the cave, a pale dust like mist and a bone-chilling dampness pierced the skin.
Every step he took carried an unpleasant energy, as if someone’s malicious intent lingered in the air.
Seomun Hwan’s footsteps remained quiet and light. But the floor he walked on was anything but silent.
Tap.
The moment his toe pressed down absentmindedly, a black protrusion sank inward.
Shiiiing!
Dozens of needles shot out from every wall at once.
The needles, coated in lethal poison, sliced through the air.
But Seomun Hwan was no longer there.
Swish!
His shadow twisted in an instant.
He spun half a turn on his heel, lowered his head, twisted his arm behind him, and dropped his stance.
The needles passed without touching even a single strand of his hair and embedded deep into the opposite wall.
Without even letting out a breath, Seomun Hwan took his next step.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Along the descending staircase-like path, massive iron hammers shot out alternately from both walls.
Their weight and speed were enough to pulverize a person’s upper body. Ordinary experts would have needed to hold their breath, time their movements, and search for gaps.
But Seomun Hwan was different.
He didn’t stop. He continued forward at a leisurely pace.
Whoosh!
The instant one enormous hammer shot out, the tip of his foot brushed the ground and his body rose lightly like a falling leaf.
At the exact moment the hammers from both sides collided, he twisted at the waist in midair and slipped through the gap.
Even as the spinning hammer grazed the edge of his sleeve, he landed on the next surface as if he hadn’t felt even the wind it carried.
After landing lightly, he used his right hand to straighten his clothes.
“Quite the interesting toy.”
With a faint chuckle, he moved forward again.
The next section appeared completely open. Yet that was precisely where the real danger lay.
Kwaaaaang!!!
Suddenly the floor beneath him collapsed. The entire surface began to tilt.
The ceiling came crashing down. Iron needles and pillars of flame shot out from all directions, crisscrossing one another.
The traps moved at a speed so blinding that ordinary people couldn’t even follow them with their eyes.
But Seomun Hwan moved as if he already knew every single motion.
The moment the floor tilted, he spun and threw his body forward. He read the trajectory of the incoming needles perfectly, twisting his waist with zero margin for error.
When a pillar of flame erupted right before his eyes, he lowered his center of gravity and slipped through the gap.
‘The core of the formation lies in rotation and momentum. Any prearranged trajectory has gaps.’
Once a gap was seen, it had to be exploited immediately.
Seomun Hwan’s toes kicked off the empty air.
The instant he left the final zone, the space he had just passed through completely collapsed.
Boom! Rumble!!!
Someone following behind screamed as they were impaled by iron spikes. Another was swallowed by flames before he could escape.
Throughout it all, Seomun Hwan hadn’t torn even a thread of his clothing. There wasn’t a speck of dust on the ground where he landed.
“Not a bad warm-up.”
Seomun Hwan walked forward with the same composure as when he first entered.
Further ahead, a blocked wall appeared. In front of it sat a single, highly suspicious-looking box.
It looked so blatantly like a treasure chest that it felt even more suspicious.
“Doesn’t seem to have any obvious traps…”
Doubting it, he opened the box. Inside was something truly astonishing.
The moment the lid lifted, a refreshing fragrance wafted out.
It was a spiritual medicine carefully wrapped in silk.
“The Soul Fire Spirit Pill? Why would something like this be here…”
This was an elixir created using the secret methods of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
While it couldn’t compare to Shaolin’s Great Rejuvenation Pill, it was a priceless treasure said to rival even Wudang’s Purple Radiance Pill.
He would have been less surprised if the box had contained a horrific trap or curse instead.
“There really is treasure?”
Of course there had been horrific traps, but there were treasures worthy of them as well.
Moreover, this was merely one of the maze-like passages.
The chances that other paths also held treasures were high.
Only now did Seomun Hwan seem to grasp the full picture. A hollow laugh escaped him.
“Hah! So this is the trick they used?”
He slowly examined the Soul Fire Spirit Pill in his hand.
This wasn’t simply a battle over treasure.
All the pieces clicked together perfectly in his mind. This hidden cave wasn’t merely a collection of traps.
“They wanted to show the real thing.”
From the beginning, the plan had been to prove the existence of the Phantom Demon’s hidden cave to the entire murim world.
The legacy of the Phantom Demon, the Jang Bo Do, the hidden cave—once all of them revealed their true forms, people’s doubts would vanish and be replaced by blind faith.
“Even though Mubul Tongji said it was fake… treasure still appeared, didn’t it?”
In the end, Mubul Tongji had been wrong.
Now, no one would be able to believe anything.
No matter how many experts stepped forward and shouted that it was all fabricated, no one would listen.
“From start to finish, every single detail was perfectly prepared.”
Someone had moved even the Murim Alliance.
Someone had spread countless Jang Bo Do maps.
Someone had hidden the real article deep within this cave.
Enormous funds. Specialists in strange formations. Treasures and spiritual medicines. And countless shadows to carry out the covert operations.
“There is only one group capable of executing a plan this meticulous.”
Seomun Hwan carefully placed the Soul Fire Spirit Pill into his pocket and murmured softly.
“The Heavenly Demon Cult.”
He had suspected it, but it really was their handiwork.
“So they’ve finally begun to move?”
It seemed the Heavenly Demon Cult was breaking twenty years of silence and beginning to act.
“Well, they were never the type to stay quiet forever… Hm?”
While muttering to himself, Seomun Hwan suddenly sensed a strange yet familiar energy. His eyes widened in surprise.
The rich fragrance of the Soul Fire Spirit Pill had spread subtly through the air, but something far thicker stabbed at his chest.
It was a dark energy that even Seomun Hwan found ominous.
“This energy… could it be…”
In that instant, Seomun Hwan’s body melted silently into the darkness.
Without leaving a single footprint or trace of presence, he raced at tremendous speed toward the source of the energy.
He arrived at the deepest part of the cave.
It was already a living hell.
Countless corpses were piled like mountains. Blood flowed across the floor like a river.
Someone stood motionless atop that river of blood.
A figure wearing clothes soaked in crimson blood. Black film covered what should have been clear eyes.
Every ounce of energy boiled violently. A cruel aura rippled across the skin.
Even from a distance, the aura of death was unmistakable.
Shockingly, it was not human. It was a jiangshi.
And not just any jiangshi…
“Asura Jiangshi.”
A low groan escaped Seomun Hwan’s lips.
It was a horrific jiangshi that could only be created by harvesting the vital essence of a thousand virgin boys and girls.
Far stronger than ordinary jiangshi, it possessed such tremendous durability that even the qi of a Peak expert couldn’t pierce its skin.
It seemed everyone here had met their end at the hands of this Asura Jiangshi.
Only three people in this place were still alive.
Not far from the corpse mound, two figures lay unconscious on the blood-soaked floor. Only one remained barely standing, on the verge of collapse.
The unconscious pair were Hwangbo Gi-mun and Paeng Do-yoon.
That alone was surprising enough, but the real reason Seomun Hwan narrowed his eyes was someone else.
The person standing alone with a sword, facing the Asura Jiangshi, was none other than…
“Brother?”
To his astonishment, Seomun Jin-gang was there.