I had no choice but to ask them.
“Where are the others? I was told there were five of you.”
At my question, the disciples’ expressions darkened.
“Ah, In-bong and Geum-bong are down below the cliff.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…”
One of the disciples explained what had happened.
“Geum-bong is absolutely terrified of spiders. And of all things, one ended up crawling onto him. He panicked and started thrashing around, then fell over the cliff.”
“What?”
“In-bong saw him fall and tried to grab him, but he ended up falling with him. Fortunately, there’s a small ledge right beneath the cliff, so they didn’t fall all the way down, but…”
“They still haven’t been able to climb back up.”
“Yes. There’s nothing we can do to get them out ourselves…”
I see.
I turned and looked down over the cliff.
Sure enough, I could see two people pressed tightly against the rock face on a narrow ledge below.
“Taoist In-bong! Are you all right down there?”
Taoist In-bong must have heard my voice, because he raised his head and shouted back.
“Yes! We’re fine!”
“Hold on just a little longer.”
We took out the rope we had prepared, tied it around me, and I personally descended the cliff.
“Taoist Geum-bong.”
“…It has been a while.”
His memories of our previous encounter probably weren’t very pleasant. Perhaps that was why he seemed uncomfortable even looking at me.
I held out the rope.
“You should go up first.”
“All right.”
Taoist In-bong climbed up after him, and I went up last.
“In-bong!”
“Thank heavens you’re safe!”
The other three disciples greeted Taoist In-bong with tremendous relief.
They were completely ignoring Taoist Geum-bong and fussing over Taoist In-bong alone.
That’s quite a change from the Murim Grand Assembly.
Is it because of what happened back then?
Taoist Geum-bong stood awkwardly off to one side, visibly embarrassed.
I stepped forward to address them.
“As I understand it, you still haven’t reached the Wind Cultivation Pavilion.”
“Ah, yes… that’s right.”
“We intend to keep clearing the path to the Wind Cultivation Pavilion. That being the case, what would all of you like to do?”
They had already been stranded here for several days.
Naturally, the proper thing would be to send them back down and have them recover, but I had a reason for asking.
“We…”
Taoist In-bong answered with determination in his eyes.
“We would like to help clear the path as well.”
“Understood. Then do that. Taoist In-bong and Taoist Geum-bong, please remain here and fill the sacks with stones.”
“Understood.”
“The rest of you can carry the filled sacks away.”
“Yes.”
We kept ourselves busy like that until, before I realized it, the sun was already setting.
“That will be enough for today.”
“We can keep going.”
I shook my head at Taoist In-bong’s words.
“It’s true that we need to hurry with the rescue effort, but if we push ourselves too hard, we’ll exhaust ourselves first or cause another accident. If someone collapses from exhaustion or gets injured while trying to rescue others, we’ll have defeated the whole purpose.”
“Now that you mention it, Great Hero, you’re right. Then we’ll go and rest.”
“Before you do…”
I smiled and spoke gently.
“Your Sect Leader has been extremely worried about you. I think it would be best to see him first.”
“Understood.”
We all returned to the Qingcheng Sect together. After parting ways with the disciples, I called Escort Guard Jin Yu over.
– Did you call for me?
– Keep an eye on that martial artist.
* * *
Geum-bong entered the tent that had been assigned as his quarters.
He sat down on the makeshift cot and let out a sigh.
“Whew…”
Yet no one paid him any attention.
Only a few months ago, he had lived surrounded by fellow disciples who constantly flattered him and told him whatever he wanted to hear.
Now, everything had changed.
Those dreamlike days when he had basked in his father’s favoritism and gone through life without fearing anyone were gone.
His mind drifted back to what had happened several months ago.
Bound hand and foot in the gloomy Underground Prison, he had shouted at the top of his lungs.
“What is the meaning of this?! Do you really think my father will let you get away with this once he finds out?! I will never let this insult go unanswered!”
His senior uncle had merely sneered at him.
“Tsk, tsk. The man who ordered this was your father, the Sect Leader.”
“What? Th–that’s impossible! Don’t try to deceive me! My father would never do this to me!”
Smack!
“Silence! You were brought here as a criminal!”
Geum-bong could only stare in stunned disbelief after his senior uncle slapped him across the face.
“A criminal? What crime have I committed?”
“You dared use a wicked drug to cloud the Sect Leader’s judgment! Do you have any idea how grave a crime that is?”
“…!”
At those words, Geum-bong realized that what he had done had been discovered. He also understood why his father had ordered him imprisoned and interrogated.
He had no idea how it had happened, but his father had clearly regained his senses.
“The Sect Leader ordered us to uncover the truth by any means necessary.”
“…”
“So, where did you obtain that drug?”
“What drug? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“So words alone won’t be enough to loosen your tongue. Don’t worry. You are still the Sect Leader’s son, so I won’t do anything that leaves lasting damage.”
Tap tap tap! Tap tap!
The moment he finished speaking, he struck several acupoints in rapid succession.
“Guh! Uuurgh!”
The pain was beyond anything Geum-bong could have imagined, and in the end, he had no choice but to confess everything.
The Heavenly Inquiry Council that followed sentenced him to lose every privilege he possessed as a Core Disciple and spend three months cleaning the latrines.
If he refused, the only alternative was to have his Dantian crippled and spend his days imprisoned in the Underground Prison.
Left with no real choice, he had been forced to accept the punishment.
At first, he had thought the other disciples were avoiding him because the stench from constantly cleaning latrines clung to his body.
But even now that his punishment was over, none of them came near him, so clearly that hadn’t been the reason.
And they weren’t merely keeping their distance.
Some of them treated him as though he didn’t even exist.
Even today, when he had reported his safe return before the Sect Leader, his own father had barely acknowledged his presence.
The only person who still treated him with any warmth was…
“You must be exhausted today, right? I’m glad you made it back safely.”
“Uh…”
“We have to keep clearing the path to the Wind Cultivation Pavilion tomorrow, so get some sleep.”
“…Leave me alone. I can take care of myself.”
“Fine, then.”
In-bong.
Yet even that wounded Geum-bong’s pride, so he coldly rejected the concern.
It felt too much like pity.
Once, In-bong had been someone Geum-bong tormented whenever he pleased. Now, he had become a disciple cherished and loved by everyone in the sect.
“By the way, did you thank the person who rescued you from the cliff today?”
“…”
He hadn’t.
Being around that man was uncomfortable, so he had avoided him.
“Failing to show even that much basic courtesy brings shame to Qingcheng’s name. Even I can’t overlook that.”
“And what are you going to do if you don’t overlook it? Hit me?”
“Why? You think I won’t? Want to find out?”
“…”
Geum-bong could only hesitate.
In-bong had reached the Peak Realm.
Despite his young age, his cultivation was already so advanced that people were discussing him as a future Elder.
Geum-bong, meanwhile, was barely a Second-rate martial artist.
He remembered all too clearly that he was no match for In-bong.
In the past, his father had always been his shield, but now there was no one left to hide behind.
“A–all right. I’ll thank him tomorrow. Happy?”
“Make sure you do it properly.”
“I said I will.”
Suddenly overwhelmed by how pathetic his situation had become, Geum-bong angrily threw himself onto the cot.
The makeshift cot inside the tent was terribly uncomfortable, but he had nearly died today and spent the entire day exhausted, so he quickly fell into a deep sleep.
.
.
.
The tent grew dark.
Someone moved silently within.
The figure pulled something from his clothes and lit it with a fire striker.
Fwoosh!
Incense soon began spreading throughout the tent.
After lighting it, the figure immediately approached one of the sleeping men and drew a needle from his clothes.
Seeing his target sleeping soundly, his lips stretched into a long grin.
Then, just as he was about to plunge the needle into one disciple’s neck…
Clang–!
Someone’s sword intercepted the needle.
‘What? I didn’t sense anyone at all.’
His surprise lasted only a moment. He immediately hurled the needle in his hand toward whoever had interfered and clapped his hands.
Clap!
Crack!
The thrown needle shattered into fragments and shot forward.
It was his secret technique, using True Qi to shatter a needle into countless pieces and inflict fatal wounds on his opponent.
Clatter!
But the fragments struck a wall of Qi before they could travel any farther and dropped harmlessly to the ground.
“H–how…”
“How did I know? Exploding Needle Poison is your specialty. Of course I was prepared for it.”
The man could only stare in horror.
“Y–you! Who the hell are you? How do you know about…”
“That’s none of your concern.”
As the inside of the tent brightened, the man finally recognized the person who had seemingly appeared from nowhere, and his eyes widened.
“Handsome Young Hero!”
“Just as I expected. Now then, why were you trying to kill Taoist Geum-bong?”
* * *
I was currently confronting one disciple inside the tent where several disciples of the Bong generation were staying.
Taoist Eom-bong.
I had found him suspicious from the moment I rescued him earlier.
I could sense Unorthodox Qi from him.
That was why I hadn’t sent the five rescued disciples back down immediately. Instead, I had them help with the work until it was time for me to return as well.
And after watching him throughout the day, I realized what he was after.
He had been paying far too much attention to Taoist Geum-bong.
They had said Geum-bong had panicked because of a spider and nearly fallen from the cliff, but that incident was probably this man’s doing as well.
So I asked Escort Guard Jin Yu to keep watch over him, and just as I expected, he made his move to kill Taoist Geum-bong.
“Then where is the real Taoist Eom-bong?”
“Hah! Can’t you tell from this Human-Skin Mask? He’s been dead for quite some time.”
He readily admitted that he was an impostor.
“So why were you trying to kill Taoist Geum-bong?”
“Who knows?”
“Were you trying to silence him?”
“…!”
The assassin flinched.
So I was right. He was trying to silence him.
Taoist In-bong’s father had secretly told me before that the person who gave Taoist Geum-bong that suspicious drug had a red leaf tattoo.
But aside from several important figures within the Qingcheng Sect, no one else knew that information yet.
From the Asura Blood Cult’s perspective, they must have believed Taoist Geum-bong still hadn’t told anyone about that person, so they had decided to silence him before he could.
Or perhaps Taoist Geum-bong knew something he himself didn’t realize he knew.
If so, does that mean the Asura Blood Cult still hasn’t managed to infiltrate the Qingcheng Sect very deeply?
That would be fortunate.
Either way, subduing this assassin came first.
The tent was cramped, so I had the other Escort Guards protect the disciples while Escort Guard Jin Yu and I went after him.
But the assassin slipped around our attacks with remarkably agile footwork.
For someone with his level of martial prowess, his movement art is incredible.
Escort Guard Jin Yu and I are both Profound Realm martial artists, yet he’s managing to evade our combined attacks.
– I’ve heard about this man before. When it comes to sheer agility, he’s exceptionally difficult to catch.
– I can certainly see that.
– Be careful not to get hit by his needles. They’re coated in poison.
He dodged most of our attacks while repeatedly drawing poisoned needles and launching counterattacks.
That forced us to move constantly.
Truthfully, even if one of the poisoned needles struck me, the poison wouldn’t affect me. And even if it did reach me, my Protective Qi Barrier would simply deflect the needle.
The problem was what happened after it was deflected. If the poisoned needle ricocheted toward someone else, we’d have a serious problem.
That meant I had to intercept every single needle and neutralize it.
– Why aren’t these people waking up? With all this noise, they should’ve been awake by now.
Escort Guard Jin Yu frowned as he spoke.
– He must have used some kind of sleeping poison.
And the assassin was clever enough to realize that we were deliberately fighting while protecting the sleeping disciples.
“Hehehe! That’s it! So this is your weakness! In that case…”
He reached into his clothes and pulled out another handful of poisoned needles.
There were quite a lot of them at a glance, and all of us immediately tensed.
“Stop them!”
“Yes!”
The Escort Guards protecting the disciples shouted as they prepared themselves.
But then…
Thud!
The assassin’s eyes widened as though he couldn’t understand what had just happened. Then his body went limp, and he collapsed unconscious.
Thump.
Huh?
The rest of us could only blink, equally unable to understand what had happened, when…
– Tsk! You dare throw poisoned needles at my son, you worthless bastard?! I ought to beat you to death!
Ah, it’s Taoist In-bong’s father.
I turned toward the direction I sensed his Qi and sent him a Voice Transmission while giving a fist-and-palm salute.
– Thank you for the help.
– Don’t mention it. I only stepped in because I didn’t want my son getting hurt.
The Qingcheng Sect’s disciples came rushing over a moment later, apparently drawn by the commotion.
I briefly wondered why they had taken so long, but now that everything was over, perhaps it was better that they had arrived late.
If they had tried to help without knowing what they were doing and ended up poisoned, that would only have made things more troublesome.
Of course, with members of the Sichuan Tang Clan here, treating poison was certainly possible, but if it had been an especially lethal poison, they could have died instantly.
“Please call the Sichuan Tang Clan. It seems these four disciples were poisoned with some kind of sleeping poison.”
A short while later.
The Sichuan Tang Clan members who hurried over quickly identified the sleeping poison.
“There’s no need to worry. This sleeping poison only prevents the victim from waking. They should regain consciousness on their own in two to four hours.”
“That’s a relief.”
Just as they said, the four eventually woke up and stared blankly at all the people surrounding them, completely bewildered.
I approached Taoist Geum-bong with a grave expression.
It seemed the two of us needed to have a serious conversation.
–TL Notes–
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