Chapter: 313
Slap.
It was a dark road with no light whatsoever.
The only sound was the squelching of footsteps on the wet path.
I tried to spark a flame with my fingertips, but the flame humorously failed to illuminate anything ahead.
It seemed that something special was blocking the light.
“What is this?”
“Can’t see anything, huh?”
It appeared that the sleeping dragon was equally invisible.
How long had I been walking?
Is this really the right path to Vigo in the first place?
I continued walking, but the irritation bubbling within me was unavoidable.
‘Why does every gold and silver coin I come across look like this?’
The same goes for the notes from Geumcheonyeon-ga.
They were all strange.
Thanks to a peculiar formation in Shinryonggwan, I managed to break through.
It was a story I couldn’t be entirely sure of.
“I haven’t asked yet. What are we looking for?”
The sleeping dragon asked me belatedly, which was rather early to be asking this.
“Well, it’s for me to find, you see.”
“Is it a bit too much to draw the line now?”
The sleeping dragon chuckled and remarked.
How did he even find this place? Why did he come along?
What was my purpose?
He didn’t ask any questions. He never did.
If something piqued his interest, I suppose he was the type to jump right in.
If not, most of the time he looked half-dead.
Sleepless or.
Feeling lazy, or just vague.
‘The problem is that there are clearly very few intriguing things.’
Would this sleeping dragon even be called a sleeping dragon otherwise?
To be honest, I was more accustomed to this current version of him than the former.
Slap.
‘Hmm.’
With each step, it felt like the water on the floor was rising.
What is this?
‘Is this water?’
I bent down to touch the liquid.
It seemed indeed to be water.
Colorless and odorless.
I didn’t have the guts to taste it, so I decided to just go with that assumption.
Why was this water flowing? Where was it coming from?
That was the only thing that piqued my curiosity.
While walking like this for a while…
“Hm.”
“I see an end.”
At the end of a long corridor, a faint light appeared.
It looks like that’s where it ends.
Thank goodness; it didn’t seem to go too far underground.
As I moved forward, I glanced around.
How far had I come down?
It didn’t feel like it, but it was definitely longer than I’d expected.
‘Is it spatial distortion?’
That was likely due to the formation.
When I went down the corridor to Geumcheonyeon-ga, too…
The path leading down felt strangely long.
That must have been a similar phenomenon.
‘… The fact that one’s formation could accomplish something like this…’
Even then, it raised questions.
Who on earth.
Would be able to unfold such a formation, and who had set it up?
‘Speaking of which, what will happen to him?’
I was anxious about the sleeping dragon trailing behind.
If this path I was walking really led to Vigo.
Would it be acceptable to bring the sleeping dragon along?
That seemed a bit troublesome.
Or not?
Maybe I could just give him something when we get there…
And suitably silence him?
As I pondered, I found myself shaking my head.
‘Why should I share that with him?’
If I found it, it’s mine. Why should I share it?
‘I guess it might be best to just knock him out and go.’
If he was likely going to say something afterward…
I might as well place a ban on him.
‘What does it mean to have good friends?’
It’s not quite the right moment for such a statement.
I’ll let it slip now.
‘Now that I think about it…’
That little rascal had a habit of getting around these things in his last life.
-You bastard…! Didn’t I tell you not to put on a ban?
-If you want to be stubborn, just come out yourself.
Whenever he’d try to go to a moderately dangerous place…
He’d tie me up and prevent me from moving.
I understood the intention, but the semi-forced solution had me quite annoyed.
Moreover, the ban I used had been created by the sleeping dragon.
It emerged long after the time we were in now.
‘Even if I place a ban, he’ll eventually lift it on his own.’
Even if it’s transformed, it’s something he created.
The sleeping dragon would eventually undo the ban.
Still, he would probably fumble around for a while.
‘So, it seems I have to first knock him out…’
Considering a sneak attack, I looked back.
Thud.
“Huh?”
Knock knock!
The sleeping dragon was standing behind me, punching the air.
He was even making sounds.
“What are you doing?”
In this delicate situation, I couldn’t help but ask.
[Oh, this is a disaster.]
The sleeping dragon grinned and muttered something incredible.
Seeing that had me widening my eyes slightly.
I had an inkling of what I had stumbled into.
‘Layered formation?’
Was there a formation mixed within another formation?
‘If that’s the case…’
How did I just manage to pass through it?
It must be designed so that only one person can go through.
It appeared to involve some special device.
There was no way I could have known that!
‘…I’m absolutely hopeless at formations.’
In the end, I had to ask the sleeping dragon behind me.
[Can’t break through? Try finding a way, like you did before.]
It looked like the sound was totally blocked, so I had to read his lips.
Naturally, the transmission didn’t get through.
The sleeping dragon looked dumbfounded at what I said.
[Do you think it’s that simple?]
[From what I can see, it looks simple when you do it.]
[Then why don’t you just give it a shot?]
[If I knew how to do that, would I have brought you here?]
[…]
Sigh.
Although I couldn’t hear any sound, I could tell the sleeping dragon was laughing somewhat helplessly.
Tap tap.
I reached out and tapped the wall preventing the sleeping dragon from advancing.
It didn’t look very thin.
In that case…
[Step back a bit.]
[Huh?]
Once I said that, I took a deep breath.
Whoosh—!
[…!]
I clenched my fist.
The sleeping dragon jumped in surprise and stepped back.
He seemed to have caught on to what I was about to do.
I immediately used the momentum from my waist to throw a punch at the barrier.
Kaboom—!
The moment my fist met the barrier, a violent sound erupted and vibrations spread through the area.
Thud…
Dust tumbled down the corridor from the impact.
[It didn’t break.]
The barrier remained unscathed.
At this point, it seemed I couldn’t shatter it with brute force.
[Are you out of your mind? You’re going to hit this?]
The sleeping dragon reacted very strongly to my actions, which was unusual.
Why the fuss?
[I have to try it out at least, right?]
[… If you understood even a bit about formations, you wouldn’t resort to such a reckless move. Especially with a formation like this, you would need to be extra cautious.]
[I mentioned it before, if I had known, I wouldn’t have brought you here, okay?]
Thump thump.
When I poked it again with my hand, it felt like not a crack had appeared in the barrier.
‘What a shame.’
The reason I tried that was purely this.
I never had the intention to break the barrier and take the sleeping dragon with me.
‘If it’s this tough to break, he won’t be able to get through either.’
I just wanted to check if the sleeping dragon could break through this barrier.
If it could be broken this easily, the sleeping dragon might get through too.
[Can’t you resolve it like you did before?]
Before entering this formation, just as the sleeping dragon had done.
My question was whether it was possible to infiltrate the gap and dismantle it.
The sleeping dragon shook his head at what I had asked.
[I can’t. I can’t hear anything. This is a different formation from before.]
Who’d be stupid enough to solve a formation by listening to it?
But the sleeping dragon was clearly doing that, so I couldn’t argue.
[… So you’re saying you can’t solve it.]
Nod.
Well, then it seemed just leaving it like that would be fine.
Had the sleeping dragon noticed that too?
Suddenly, he just plopped down on the floor.
Wasn’t there water pooling on the ground…?
[What are you doing?]
[Rather than fainting, this is better. I’ll wait here.]
It was a surprise to see the sleeping dragon say that.
That rascal… He figured out that I intended to knock him out and go.
He was quite sharp.
From my perspective, it was a blessing he said he’d wait by himself.
[Why not just go wait outside instead?]
If so, why not just wait at the entrance?
The sleeping dragon looked back at the entrance we came through, then turned to me and said.
[Can’t go out.]
[What?]
[Blocked at the moment.]
I tilted my head at the sleeping dragon’s words.
The entrance is blocked? My confusion prompted the sleeping dragon to elaborate.
[Something needs to be resolved inside for it to open. This kind of formation usually works that way.]
Listening to the sleeping dragon’s explanation.
I felt like everything was going awry.
‘How much time do I have left?’
The situation was such that Geom-hu was currently confronting Cheonghae Il-geom.
Things were already urgent. What else was I going to have to do inside?
Everything felt way too messed up.
‘… Since when did I have any luck at all?’
Is it the first or the second time everything I did ended up going wrong and failing?
Since I had to do something first, I resolved to leave the sleeping dragon and head toward the exit.
I was worried about the sleeping dragon left all alone.
But if he couldn’t go anywhere, there was nothing I could do.
I had to go in first and think things through.
After all, they said there was no other way.
Slap.
The sound of water was still present.
As I approached the door, it only grew more pronounced.
Should I say the water level had risen?
‘It feels like it’s hit my thighs.’
Initially, the water had just been up to my ankles.
Now, it was up to my thighs.
I needed to figure out what this liquid was.
As far as I know, there shouldn’t be a lake around Shinryongwan.
Could it be groundwater?
With that thought in mind.
I moved closer to the entrance.
‘As for the inside…’
The environment beyond the entrance was not clearly visible.
Could this too just be the effect of the formation?
First, I reached out.
Wump.
Once my fingertips touched, the ripples spread out like waves.
Without any feeling of obstruction.
My hand passed smoothly over the entrance.
There apparently wasn’t another formation like the one blocking the sleeping dragon behind me.
But if something felt even slightly off…
‘It feels like I’m entering water.’
The sensation of crossing through the entrance.
It felt somewhat uncomfortable, perhaps because it resembled entering water.
Woosh.
I breached the entrance, pushing my body through.
Fortunately, I was able to shake off that uncomfortable feeling just now.
Swish.
Upon stepping through the entrance.
I had to squint my eyes at the sudden brightness.
Taking mere seconds to adjust.
I fought to adapt my squinted eyes to the light.
Making an effort to pry them open.
“…!”
With my eyes open, the atmosphere inside the formation was.
At a level that made me unconsciously inhale sharply.
‘What is this?’
Roots.
The roots of a tree enveloped the room.
Unlike the tunnel we traversed, it wasn’t dark in here.
Because of that, everything felt oddly out of place.
‘…There’s no torch.’
There’s nothing in this room to illuminate it.
Why was it so bright underground?
Moreover.
‘Water…?’
A small pool of water had risen to the floor.
It couldn’t pass through the entrance I came in from.
Something.
Something was amiss.
‘This.’
An inexplicable sense of alienation compelled me to kick the water on the floor into the air.
And just like that,
“…!”
It appeared like water droplets flew momentarily.
They just hung suspended in mid-air.
‘No way this is happening.’
This was a sensation I had felt before.
Somewhere similar, like this place.
In Shaolin, a little too distant to be called the same place.
A colleague of Shin Noya.
So-called heroes from the past.
It was the sensation I had when I encountered Hwang Ah-bul-yeong and Cheol-yeong.
That odd feeling, as if time had stopped.
The sensation from then matched the one I felt now.
That means.
‘Could this space also be tied to their affairs?’
I couldn’t be sure, but.
Such experiences weren’t typical, so I could make that guess.
The scope of this distortion was.
Most likely just this room that I entered.
‘What’s the state of the room?’
Contrary to the water in the passage that reached my thighs.
The water here barely wet my feet.
Among the roots that covered the room.
Some unknown cloth concealed the objects.
This has got to be it.
‘That assessment seems correct.’
If it looked like this, what else could it be if not a vault?
Moreover, in Geumcheonyeon-ga, there wasn’t a single thing.
It was claimed that there was even a sizable serpent dwelling there.
Additionally, the fabric looks.
Clean and doesn’t seem to have aged much.
Perhaps it was due to the current formation that time appeared to have halted?
‘Great.’
It wasn’t bad.
This meant that the condition of the items stored could be rather good.
I took a moment to swallow my breath.
I approached the piled items.
I couldn’t take everything, so I had to collect the necessary ones.
‘What is needed?’
It must be something I need.
Most likely high in elixirs.
I should take my time looking for what I could find.
‘… If time is halted, do I have a little to spare?’
While that thought crossed my mind.
Not knowing the exact situation outside, it wasn’t the time to hesitate.
‘Was it like this back then too?’
When Cheonma discovered this place in his previous life.
I didn’t think it resembled this.
Since I found this place.
And between Cheonma discovering it later.
What happened then?
That’s something even I didn’t know.
‘I need to find what Geom-hu asked for too.’
What did he say?
He mentioned something like a plum blossom stone.
I couldn’t remember its exact description well.
They claimed it was a volcanic artifact.
I didn’t understand why Kenhou thought it might be here.
So was Geom-hu’s objective to retrieve the volcanic artifact that might be buried here?
‘When I think about it like that, it does hold some plausibility.’
Yet it felt pretty vague to simply assert that.
It didn’t seem like a person like Geom-hu would go to such lengths for him.
‘What is a treasure?’
While it is often treated like a symbol.
In the end, it’s merely an object.
‘If we talk about things like the brain, it’s not that simple either…’
Some treasures do genuinely assist martial artists.
There are usually items that don’t offer such aid.
They were commonly referred to as symbolic treasures.
Even the treasures I presented to the volcano.
Most items stored in the Sega were typically like that.
‘I came here to get my hands on some treasures, so I can’t really lecture on that.’
It felt like I’d truly become a grave robber.
Isn’t it? I mean, isn’t this how it is?
‘There’s no master here. What’s mine is mine.’
I decided to just think like that.
It’d be much better if I took it instead of having Cheonma find it later and snatch it.
‘First, I need to see what there is.’
I reached out to check the closest part.
If I took off the cloth, I could know what was underneath.
So, just as I reached out to grasp the cloth covering the object.
-Stop.
Thud.
A voice echoed from behind me.
A deep, yet low voice.
I quickly went to cover myself and spun around.
Because the voice had come from behind me.
“…!”
Standing there was a human figure I had been unaware of.
No.
‘Should I really call this a human?’
To be more accurate, it would be appropriate to call it a human shape.
This was because the person before me was oddly too translucent to be fully human.
‘… What is this? Could it be a ghost?’
Before I realized, fear struck me, and I trembled a little.
The unknown entity before me opened its mouth to address me.
-You… what are you?
It seemed likely the being was just over thirty years old.
Its hair was a golden hue, reminiscent of Weseol-ah.
With a well-built physique, it resembled a martial artist like myself.
This indicated that, at least,
It wasn’t an ordinary individual.
That blond figure too.
He stared at me with a puzzled expression.
Who are you?
“… That’s what I wanted to ask?”
That was the question I wanted to pursue the most.
What is its true identity?
I was contemplating whether to assume a combat stance since it might be an enemy.
The figure looked me up and down momentarily.
With somewhat cold eyes, it spoke to me.
-You’re not Shincheol.
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