Chapter 95
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Infernal Mechanisms
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It was a nauseating sight.
“This is……”
The brief respite after overcoming one crisis didn't last long. Nang Cho-un and Gu Chil led the warriors as they all furrowed their brows.
But there was no time to sigh amid the thick stench of blood.
Shwaa―
The organ mechanisms of the Ghostly Crevice, writhing like living creatures around the cavern walls, snapped everyone's vigilance back to attention the moment their tension eased.
Shwaaa―
As the arrow rain ceased, a certain sound echoed.
“They won't even give us time to catch our breath, huh.”
It was the sound of rippling waves.
“You want to lie down next to those corpses?!”
Seo Mun-ha seized the warriors' gazes, redirecting them to the rear.
Shwaaaa―
The water surging through the cavern was approaching at a rapid pace.
“Get your heads straight!”
In truth, from the moment they'd reached Gu Ung Island, there had been no path of retreat.
“I'll carve open the way ahead! Not a single one of you lags behind!”
His resounding voice stirred the warriors' resolve.
He'd hoped to pass through quietly if possible.
They had to be cautious of shocks that might collapse the unstable cavern walls, and he'd paid meticulous attention even to his words. But it was all futile now.
“I'll leave the rear to you, Lady Baek Ri.”
“Yes! Got it!”
With the bluish boundary between life and death closing in moment by moment...
Shring.
Seo Mun-ha drew his sword and kicked off the ground.
Tat!
Water from the slick floor splashed in all directions.
Seo Mun-ha effortlessly leaped over the sea of blood and corpses, empty eye sockets on either side brushing past his gaze.
Shuuuk!
Arrows that had momentarily fallen silent spat fire once more.
Crack! Snap!
Suspended in midair, Seo Mun-ha frantically swung both arms.
Slash!
They felt like living people, but the arrows' trajectories were consistent.
Having already pinpointed all thirty-four launch points, he pierced the arrow rain with ease.
Thud.
The moment he passed through.
Papapapa!
The second wave assaulted him.
Hand darts, throwing knives, poisoned needles, iron pellets, caltrops, iron balls, darts, flying spears, and javelins.
A barrage of hidden weapons in every variety flaunted their firepower.
‘Master Dang would be flabbergasted if he saw this.’
Though devoid of personal qi, their quality and quantity were enough to rival the pinnacle of the Ten Thousand Golden Flowers Rain technique.
Swoosh.
Seo Mun-ha drew his arm in an enveloping motion, then exploded his true qi in an instant.
Pak! Papapapak!
With a single sword swing.
This defense, employing the Golden Section of the Mountain Shattering Heavenly Spirit Sword to adapt the Across Mountains Strike Cow technique, repelled the glittering onslaught of projectiles.
Plip plop. Plip plip.
Stepping forward over the scattered hidden weapons, Seo Mun-ha cleared his field of vision.
He had long adapted to the brightened view, and the straight path ahead was remarkably orderly.
Kuuung!
The moment he entered the passage, the ground caved in deeply.
“Young Master Seo Mun!”
Seo Mun-ha's form plummeted along with the collapsing floor.
In the bottomless pit, spear tips gleaming with sharp menace rivaled even the Black Spirit Stone in ferocity.
Swish.
Dozens of razor-sharp spearheads were more than sufficient to shred tender flesh, yet Seo Mun-ha pushed off with his heel and plunged into the blood-soaked trap.
Whirl!
Twisting his body in rotation, his upward maneuver restored the posture of a fallen cavalryman.
Thud.
There was no horse, of course.
Balancing on a spear tip, Seo Mun-ha leaped again, vaulting over the massive pit.
Splash! Splash!
The sound of water grew nearer.
As they followed one by one in Seo Mun-ha's wake, mist suddenly seeped out.
Ssssk―!
The torches on the left and right walls flickered out, but Seo Mun-ha deflected the ceaseless incoming projectiles and abruptly hurled two arrows.
Thud! Thud!
Drawing the character for eight in the blank canvas of the air.
Ssssk―
The device's exhaust vents were sealed shut.
It wasn't mere mist but poison gas, with lingering traces, though not enough to harm them.
Gurgle gurgle!
Just then, the seawater chasing close behind began filling the previous pit.
Gaining a brief reprieve, Seo Mun-ha eyed the next mechanism when Baek Ri-seol suddenly burst in ahead of him, her eyes blazing.
“That was too reckless!”
Lately, he seemed to be hearing her scoldings more often.
“There was no other way.”
The mechanisms they'd passed were littered with countless corpses, so it wasn't surprising that she clutched her chest in shock.
“More importantly……”
Setting aside the lecture, Seo Mun-ha pointed to the spongy wall.
Crunch! Crunch crunch!
A wall riddled with countless pores.
From the natural holes protruded literal threads.
“Wh-what are those?!”
Gu Chil shuddered, hands trembling at the threads' movements.
Crunch crunch!
They were hundreds of centipedes.
“……So-so would love these.”
Poisonous insects with antennae and legs.
Hundreds of palm-sized venomous bugs blocked their path.
Roar―
Without hesitation, Seo Mun-ha unleashed his Fiery Yang Qi.
Poison bugs were weak to fire.
Though, what creature wasn't vulnerable to flames? A heat incomparable to the Threefold True Fire soon rose.
His hand, infused with the scorching energy, swept over the blade, leaving trails of Fiery Yang Qi lingering on the pale sword like afterimages.
Shishishik!
The troublesome process yielded certain results.
The bugs didn't dare approach, frantically avoiding the fire and invading each other's territory.
The Fire Section of the Mountain Shattering Heavenly Spirit Sword was a finicky technique.
Especially executing and maintaining one from the latter half demanded not only his steady progress and achievements but also revealed his profound knowledge of mechanisms.
“Young Master Seo Mun…… were you actually from the Zhuge Clan?”
In contrast, Nang Cho-un looked utterly dumbfounded.
Splash!
Forgetting even to feel the threat of drowning.
Splash!
Once they broke through the centipedes, the seawater posed no immediate danger for the time being.
It drained away through the minor pores each time they crossed a pit.
The warriors, having bought some breathing room, vented their exasperation at the world's most bizarre mechanisms and formations—and unanimously marveled at the one man who dismantled them so casually.
“Just something I picked up glancing over shoulders long ago. Can't compare to the Zhuge Clan.”
Gruffly replying, Seo Mun-ha finally reached the stone door.
The artificial stone door was man-made from top to bottom.
In terms of ingenuity, it paled against the prior mechanisms, so without further delay, Seo Mun-ha shoved it open.
Kuuung―!
Tension gripped him unusually.
Beyond the anxiety for those inside's safety, the mechanisms they'd endured were the real deal.
What incredible treasure warranted such gauntlets?
He couldn't deny his curiosity.
Soon, lights from both sides merged at the stone door.
“Wh…… who…… goes there……?”
A feeble voice pierced through the light.
Outside the Ghostly Crevice, the fierce skirmish dragged on relentlessly.
“Stop this at once!”
A clear, resonant voice unexpectedly cut through the tangled melee of warriors.
“Does Iron Fortress truly hold the officials and imperial court in no regard?!”
He was growing weary of his long tenure as a gatekeeper.
Iron Fortress's warriors, reveling in delight, thrashed about like fish in water, inflicting numerous severe wounds.
“Officials?”
Yet among all those casualties, not a single death owed entirely to the prestige of the White-Haired Sword Immortal.
“Imperial court?”
Bu Gong-yeon's desire to end the fight prompted Iron Fortress to gradually slacken their assault, lowered weapons dropping further.
The unorthodox warriors, typically viewed as brazen and shameless.
What gripped them firmly was the lord of Iron Fortress himself.
They feared neither officials nor the court, but the Iron Fortress Lord, whose might was absolute, terrified them.
The issue was his moderate temperament.
Though their martial prowess and dispositions differed, they weren't so ignorant as to disregard his potential wrath.
What now, Leader Chu!
The majority turned to the black-clad warrior with purple insignia.
“Damn it, why officials of all things?”
“Are you the commander?”
“Hmph! Cut the nonsense!”
They had been ordered to defend Gu Ung Island.
Strictly speaking, the Ghostly Crevice.
No matter the foe, the outcome was the same, and they had no intention of yielding meekly.
“None will escape alive anyway! Whether officials or court, do they care about a mere constable?!”
“Is that so?”
Not affirming easily, Bu Gong-yeon tucked away her faded badge.
“As expected, empty provocation……”
Then she undid her long hair.
“A woman? I thought you were some wench, but this is ridiculous! You're the one defying the officials, aren't you?!”
Despite the fierce rebuke, Bu Gong-yeon silently arranged her black hair cascading to her waist.
Tight.
At the battlefield's halted center, she drew not her badge, but her identity token.
“You may scorn a mere constable, but dare you scorn the pearl of the North Palace Clan?”
Though she hadn't wanted to flaunt it.
“This girl's name is Bu Gong-yeon. My grandfather holds the Prime Minister's seat. My father's the Junior Prime Minister while overseeing the Imperial Secretariat.”
“……”
“Ah, I'm just a worthless girl, though.”
She, who had never leveraged nor even revealed her status, now smiled brightly.
“So, shall we continue?”
Not perfect for silencing killings utterly.
Traces always remained somewhere, somehow—but as scion of the Imperial Capital's Ten Great Houses, it far exceeded what he could handle.
“Cunning wench……”
Eyes watching her surely reached even this distant sea.
“Glad reason prevails.”
Unlike those guarding the main ship, Iron Fortress warriors weren't mindless brutes.
Grinding.
Though he couldn't help grinding his teeth.
“No need to fear superiors' reprimand. We're just an ordinary inspection team. No intent to finish you off or hinder your mission.”
Their mission: exclude all from approaching Gu Ung Island.
Bu Gong-yeon knew it well, and she'd driven the wedge right into his heart.
“We'll see how long you strut! Watch and learn!”
The purple-clad Iron Fortress warrior finally turned away, blustering.
“Withdraw!”
Soon, more unorthodox forces would arrive with supplies.
Whether the superiors' hardliners would leave her be was unknown.
“Haaa.”
As the warriors vanished, Bu Gong-yeon collapsed in exhaustion.
Setting aside her constable title, she was still young.
The pressure from hundreds of warriors was a first for her, her limbs trembling faintly from drained strength.
“Well done.”
Baek Ri-jeong wiped her sweat, expressing gratitude for her efforts.
“Zero casualties is all thanks to this bold young lady.”
Further delay would have meant deaths.
Even one or two would shatter the fragile balance irreparably—she had preempted massive losses.
“No, it's thanks to the hero's aid.”
“Humble too, haha!”
Excessive humility bordered on vice.
Having ended the petty standoff with her status and circumstances, the pair tended the wounded before a new dawn broke, fatigue unrelieved.
“……That marking?”
Utterly unexpected, accompanied by the faces of the Three Yi Clansmen.