Geumryeong’s sudden reaction made me stop walking and ask,
“Why? What is it?”
At my words, Geumryeong slipped out from inside my sleeve, glanced around, and wiggled its backside.
It looked unbelievably excited.
As far as I knew, the only time Geumryeong got this worked up was when…
No way.
In my previous life, they said they’d searched this place top to bottom and found nothing.
But when it came to things like this, Geumryeong was more reliable than anyone.
If that was the case, then it was worth checking out.
It wasn’t like I was pressed for time.
“Is there treasure here or something?”
At my question, Geumryeong nodded and swished its tail as if telling me to follow.
It scampered ahead, leading the way.
I didn’t need to worry about setting off a Trap Formation by accident.
As far as I knew, the only Trap Formation anywhere near here was the single Night Pearl up above.
Of course, the Night Pearl itself was real. It wasn’t the thing activating the Trap Formation.
The mechanism was the ornament wrapped around it.
The second entrance I came through could basically be considered the exit connected to the entrance the warriors had been guarding.
Now then, imagine it.
Pitch-black darkness where you couldn’t see an inch ahead.
The only things waiting for those who came in chasing sudden wealth or a lucky encounter were brutal traps.
Because of those traps, they lost comrades, lost family, and barely managed to reach this exit alive.
Then they confirmed that, unlike the rest of the place, there were no traps here threatening their lives.
Only then did they finally let out sighs of relief and lie down on the ground to rest, but the thought of leaving empty-handed after all that had to be crushing.
Especially in the Demonic Cult’s case, didn’t they say failing a mission meant atoning with your life?
Then, in the darkness, they spotted a brightly shining Night Pearl.
Wouldn’t they naturally think they should at least take that with them?
Contrary to Blood Staff Star Monk’s intentions, they said another fight broke out over that Night Pearl back then.
Anyway, someone touched the ornament surrounding the Night Pearl, and that was how the Trap Formation was triggered.
The trap didn’t spring right away. It simply exploded after a short delay.
They said it was horrific.
Apparently, the damage from that one blast was far worse than everything that had happened before it.
If they’d just left the Night Pearl alone and quietly walked out through the exit, they probably would’ve lived.
Either way, I was planning to use that Night Pearl to blow up this Sword Tomb.
And even now, I was getting a lot of use out of it.
It lit up the surroundings so well.
That alone told me just how large and high-grade the Night Pearl was.
Before long, Geumryeong came to a stop and pointed at one spot with its forepaw.
“Here?”
Geumryeong nodded.
It was a spot where one wall met the floor.
I pulled a dagger from my chest and lightly tapped at it.
Rattle.
The dirt wall crumbled away, and behind it, a new stone wall appeared.
There really is something inside, isn’t there?
As I gradually broke away more of the dirt wall around it, a hollow space came into view.
It was about one cheok wide on each side.
Tap.
I stuck the dagger into the opening, and it hit something hard.
“There’s something in there.”
“I’ll take it out.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu bent down and retrieved the object.
What came out was a black iron box.
Even Seo Wu and Escort Guard Jin Yu visibly tensed at the sight of it.
“My lord, just in case, I should open it.”
“It’s fine. I’ll do it.”
When I carefully opened the box, inside were ten yellow-gold ingots and something wrapped in cloth.
There really was something hidden here?
I picked up the cloth-wrapped item first and examined it carefully. My instincts told me this was the more important one.
When I unfolded the cloth, a single book appeared.
[Disciple Hye Jin respectfully presents this to Shaolin]
That meant Disciple Hye Jin was offering it to Shaolin.
Come to think of it, wasn’t Blood Staff Star Monk’s dharma name Hye Jin?
Then this was something Blood Staff Star Monk had left behind for the Shaolin Temple?
Maybe the book had been made from good materials, because it still wasn’t all that worn.
And on top of it, there was also a letter.
The front of the envelope read [To the one who finds this]. Then it really was a letter left for whoever discovered it.
I carefully unfolded the letter.
[If you have found this, then perhaps my earnest wish has finally reached someone.
This is a book containing my heart of repentance.
Please deliver it to the Shaolin Temple.
The gold enclosed with it is your payment. It may not be enough, but I would be grateful if you would grant this old monk’s request.]
This is… a book containing his repentance?
I started to open the book, then stopped.
Something told me that if I opened it now, I’d be stuck here reading for who knew how long.
But why hadn’t I heard anything about this in my previous life?
Was it never found, or did someone find it and keep quiet about it?
There was no way to know that now, but one thing was certain – this had to be delivered to the Shaolin Temple.
If I wanted to keep these gold ingots, then I had to grant the great master’s request.
Looks like I have a reason to go to the Shaolin Temple now.
I stored it in my secret pouch and stood up, then spoke to Escort Guard Seo Wu and Escort Guard Jin Yu.
“All right, let’s get out of here.”
Geumryeong looked up at me with bright, sparkling eyes. Since it had found something good, it clearly wanted its share.
“Not now. I’ll give it to you later.”
“Kui!”
Geumryeong obediently slipped back into my sleeve, and we headed for the exit.
Then, once we’d put a fair bit of distance between us and the place, I picked up a nearby stone and threw it at the ornament surrounding the Night Pearl.
Smash!
The ornament shattered, and at the same moment, the Night Pearl popped free and dropped downward.
Uuuung–!
I focused my Qi on the Night Pearl, and it stopped in midair before it could hit the ground.
Telekinesis.
I’d been able to use it in earnest ever since reaching the Profound Realm, but this was my first time using it like this.
“Hup!”
Guided by my Qi, the Night Pearl floated toward me, and I lightly caught it.
Thud!
No way was I leaving this behind.
It was the largest Night Pearl I’d ever seen, so it had to be worth a fortune.
“Come on, let’s get out of here!”
“Yes!”
And just like that, we sprinted away at full speed using our Lightness Skills.
Then, just as we were nearly back to the tents.
KWA–GWA–GWA–GWANG!
A deafening roar burst out from the Sword Tomb, loud enough to make it feel like heaven and earth were splitting apart.
Then clouds of dust slowly billowed upward.
No one in the martial world could’ve slept through a noise like that. Everyone woke up and rushed out of their tents.
“Huh…”
“Ah…”
Everyone stood there speechless, staring at the place, and some even collapsed to the ground in a daze.
“N–no. My merit…”
Elder Gyeong Sanja muttered blankly to himself.
So I was right after all?
If this mission ended successfully, it seemed the Murim Alliance had promised to back Elder Gyeong Sanja in some way.
Don’t look so devastated.
In my previous life, Elder, your ending was far more miserable.
The Murim Alliance shoved all the blame onto you, and you were forced to destroy your own dantian.
But this time, it was sudden. An unexplained accident.
So things probably wouldn’t turn out the same way they had before.
Once everyone had calmed down a little, they all headed toward the Sword Tomb.
The other two factions arrived around the same time we did.
“It was you bastards, wasn’t it? You messed with this place so nobody else could find what was inside, didn’t you?”
At the shout from an Unorthodox Sect warrior, a Murim Alliance – no, an Orthodox Sect warrior snapped back.
“You bastard! Are you really throwing fuel on the fire right now? You think we’re insane enough to pull something like this?”
Hm, but I’m the one who did pull something like this. Does that make me insane too?
I ended up clearing my throat without thinking.
“Have you caught a cold, sir?”
At Palgap’s words, I let out a small laugh.
“What cold? There’s just so much dust my throat feels rough.”
Watching the argument start to heat up, I stepped forward.
“Now, now, calm down. Sigh… what can we do, now that it’s happened? It was an old structure, after all. Collapse was always a possibility.”
“That’s true enough.”
“Hmm…”
I continued explaining.
“And if you think about it, this may actually be a blessing from heaven. If the Sword Tomb had collapsed while we were inside… ugh. Just imagining it is horrifying.”
At my words, the others seemed to picture it too, because every last one of them either went pale or shuddered.
“Now that you put it that way, maybe we were lucky?”
“Wait… then we almost died?”
“Oh heavens! Mother!”
I went on.
“But after coming all this way, wouldn’t it be a little embarrassing to leave empty-handed?”
“That’s true.”
“Then how about this – just like we discussed before, we divide the area with clear boundaries and excavate it? Who knows. Maybe there’s still something left.”
The biggest reason I made that suggestion was because of their lingering attachment.
Attachment was a tougher emotion than people thought. It clung and lasted.
If they couldn’t let go of this here and now, it could cause trouble later.
Second, I wanted them to see for themselves what had been inside this place.
Only after learning the true nature of this Sword Tomb would they realize how idiotic it had been to try to enter it in the first place.
And besides, the truth needed to come out so Monk Jeong Myeong, who had listened to me and persuaded the Shaolin Temple, wouldn’t lose face.
Lastly, I still hadn’t clearly determined whether the Embroidered Guard stationed here was truly connected to the Murim Alliance.
Since they operated under the Emperor’s orders, I needed to be certain.
There was nothing more troublesome than doing sloppy work and giving the Emperor an excuse to come after me.
Just imagining the Emperor calmly questioning me one point at a time was enough to bring out a cold sweat.
At my words, everyone gathered here nodded in agreement.
By the time we came back after breakfast, long red lines had already been drawn across the debris of the Sword Tomb.
Ah…
So they’d divided the area by faction.
I was the one who suggested it, but doing it this way really would help cut down on pointless disputes.
And so, we began the excavation.
Since the martial artists gathered here were all highly skilled, the work progressed smoothly.
In no time, the debris piled up behind us and formed a mountain.
Why did I have the feeling that once this story got passed around enough, it would turn into a tale about masters from the three great powers of the martial world crushing the earth and building mountains?
That was when it happened.
“Aaaagh!”
Shushushuk!
A scream rang out, followed by arrows shooting up into the air!
It was so sudden, and they’d fired from incredibly close by.
“Did these bastards just ambush us?”
“N–no, we didn’t!”
“What do you mean, no?”
Since I’d already been standing by near where I expected a Trap Formation to be, I stepped in at once.
“Where exactly were those arrows fired from? I was watching from a distance, and it clearly looked like they were launched from the ground.”
“From the ground?”
“Yes. And if this were really an ambush, wouldn’t they have aimed at people instead of shooting arrows up into the air like that?”
“N–now that you mention it…”
“Then what was it?”
“Why would arrows come out of the ground…”
With the sudden incident, each faction immediately halted the excavation and began investigating.
And when the shocking truth came to light, they couldn’t hide their horror.
“This is supposed to be Blood Staff Star Monk’s Sword Tomb, so how could there be traps like this…”
“And arrows firing upward from beneath your feet, no less. If those arrows had gone off while someone was inside…”
“Hmm…”
Watching them, I smiled bitterly to myself.
Why are you all so shocked already?
This is nothing. There are traps far crueler than these still waiting to be uncovered.
The excavation resumed, and one by one, the traps revealed themselves.
A trap where the floor suddenly collapsed and impaled people on iron spikes below.
A trap where a massive log studded with blades flew in from the front and injured anyone in its path.
A trap where arrows flew in from the side.
A trap where arrows rained down from above.
A trap that spread poisonous smoke.
A trap where flames suddenly erupted and burned everything in sight, and so on.
Each time they found one, the reactions from the different camps varied a little.
The Murim Alliance and the Orthodox Sect lamented, “Such cruelty! Can this truly be the Blood Staff Star Monk’s Sword Tomb?”
The Demonic Cult sneered, “I told you, ever since he oppressed our Demonic Cult followers, that bald donkey’s cruelty was already obvious!”
The Unorthodox Sect lot grumbled, “Ah, fuck! Again?”
Even so, they all had one thing in common.
They were deeply relieved that the Sword Tomb had collapsed before anyone went in.
And so two days, three days, four days, five days… time passed, and the excavation was nearly complete.
But no treasures or secret manuals appeared at all.
Because I’d already found what had been here.
That was when it happened.
“Gasp! L–look here! There’s something here!”
“We found something!”
At the warriors’ shouts, people rushed over in a flood.
“What did you find?”
Elder Gyeong Sanja hurried down, then flinched and stopped.
Because there, seated in the lotus position, was the dried remains of an old monk who had passed into nirvana.
Blood Staff Star Monk’s remains.
Even after that explosion, the structure above that spot had somehow stayed intact, so Blood Staff Star Monk’s remains were unharmed.
On the wall beside him, the words [I, Hye Jin, will watch from this place] were carved.
“It appears to be Blood Staff Star Monk’s holy body.”
“What should we do?”
As the discussion over the remains continued, I looked at them in silence.
Then I muttered inwardly.
Things have changed quite a lot from my previous life.
So, what do you think?
Maybe you hate me for ruining your plan, Hye Jin.
But…
Hm? Wait.
Did he just… smile?
–TL Notes–
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