By Zephyria Enlightenment (4)
Jang Han-soo bent down and touched the body of a nearby corpse.
“It’s still warm. It hasn’t been long.”
He turned to Seong Mu-yeon.
“Was it really Young master Jegal who passed through here just now?”
Seong Mu-yeon nodded with a stiff face. A heavy silence descended.
Jang Han-soo walked around the pool of blood, closely examining the corpses. Some martial arts leave behind unique sword marks. This was especially true for martial arts that had been passed down through generations and become fixed. Jang Han-soo was trying to deduce which martial arts had been used from the traces left on the corpses.
Seong Mu-yeon also bent down and examined a nearby corpse. The dead Wudang martial artist was covered in blood, but it was difficult to find the wound that had directly caused his death.
“Young master? Are you alright?”
Bang Gyeom asked when Seong Mu-yeon, who was examining the corpse, pulled his hand away with a sharp pain. He had been cut by something sharp, and blood was flowing from his palm.
Seong Mu-yeon nodded roughly and examined the corpse closely. When he tilted his head and changed the angle, he saw a metal blade deeply embedded in the chest, glistening as it soaked up the blood. The lamplight was too dim, and he hadn’t noticed it before.
Jang Han-soo, who had quickly approached, carefully pulled the blade out of the corpse. It was a rod thinner and sharper than a needle.
“Young master Jegal’s iron fan.”
With this, it became almost certain that Jegal Un was the one who had killed them.
Seong Mu-yeon wrapped his bleeding palm and remained silent.
“We should go inside. …Yang Ha-gakju, where are you going?”
“Yes, yes?”
When they all turned their heads at Jang Han-soo’s question, they saw Yang Ha-gakju already halfway up the stairs.
“Ah. I, I need to inform the people! I was just going to be right back…”
Seong Mu-yeon would bet his entire fortune that he was trying to run away because he didn’t want to get involved in anything dangerous.
Jang Han-soo grabbed him.
“Pavilion Lord, you know the structure of this place well, so you should guide us.”
Yang Ha-gakju’s face turned ashen, but Jang Han-soo didn’t care and then said to Seong Mu-yeon.
“Young master Seong Mu-yeon, send your subordinate to call the people.”
Seong Mu-yeon nodded with a stiff face and approached Bang Gyeom, who was standing there dumbfounded.
“Bang Gyeom, did you hear? Go and tell the people about this.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Seong Mu-yeon hesitated for a moment, then, after confirming that Jang Han-soo wasn’t looking at them as he was busy wrapping up the blade, he gently grabbed Bang Gyeom’s sleeve as he was about to turn around.
‘Don’t come back.’
Bang Gyeom’s eyes widened at Seong Mu-yeon’s silent instruction. Seong Mu-yeon stopped him with a stern look before he could react.
The situation was not normal.
Jegal Un had killed people and left them without even trying to hide them. No traces of any martial arts could be found on the corpses. If they hadn’t found the iron fan rib that Jegal Un had accidentally left behind, anyone could have become a suspect, and the first people to be suspected would naturally be Seong Mu-yeon and Bang Gyeom.
‘I can somehow get out of it even if I’m suspected, but Bang Gyeom…’
It was uncertain whether even Jang Han-soo, who had witnessed the corpses with them, would step forward to defend Bang Gyeom. Bang Gyeom pursed his lips and glared at him rebelliously. But Bang Gyeom, too, seemed to have realized that things were going in an unusual direction, and he was stiff.
“There’s no time. Go quickly!”
Only after Seong Mu-yeon urged him and pushed him towards the stairs did he reluctantly take a step. Bang Gyeom dragged his feet, which wouldn’t fall, and then started running as if he had made up his mind.
“The door won’t open.”
When he turned around, Seomun Yuha was clinging to the door, struggling. He had tried to open the door that Jegal Un had entered, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Is it locked?”
As Seong Mu-yeon approached the door, Yang Ha-gakju, who was crouching in the corner, shouted.
“It’s no use! The Central Hall is thoroughly managed with the Jegal Clan’s secret techniques. Especially the back door, it’s designed so that no one can open it! You can’t get in that way anyway, so go to the main entrance…”
Before he could finish speaking, the sturdy door opened with a thud.
“It’s not a hinged door, it’s a sliding door?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Jang Han-soo clicked his tongue as if he was pathetic, and Seomun Yuha scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Only Yang Ha-gakju was in shock, his jaw dropped.
“H, how did you open it?!”
“It just opened? It seems Young master Jegal forgot to lock it.”
Seong Mu-yeon shrugged.
“T, that can’t be…”
Yang Ha-gakju was visibly flustered, as if he really didn’t expect the door to open.
“…If the Young master is really a spy and killed these people, aren’t we too few in number? Wouldn’t it be better to wait for the others?”
“The Young master might destroy the evidence in the meantime.”
“I, I haven’t recovered from my injuries yet…”
Jang Han-soo grabbed the back of his neck, who kept backing away, and mercilessly pushed him through the door. He frowned as if he couldn’t understand Yang Ha-gakju, who was frightened and cautious.
“Are you two coming with us?”
He asked, surprised, as Seomun Yuha and Seong Mu-yeon then stepped inside.
“Of course. How could we come all this way and just turn back? Right, Young master Seong?”
“It might be dangerous. Especially Young master Seong Mu-yeon…”
“I’ll protect Young master, so don’t worry!”
Seomun Yuha retorted sharply, feeling offended. Then, he instantly changed to a friendly and affectionate expression and turned to Seong Mu-yeon.
“Young master Seong Mu-yeon, you trust me, right?”
His sparkling eyes fluttered his lush eyelashes with anticipation. Seong Mu-yeon couldn’t betray his expectations and nodded.
“O, of course.”
“Then it’s settled! Let’s go!”
Jang Han-soo approached the mechanism as if he didn’t care. Seong Mu-yeon was also dying to know why Jegal Un had done this. If Seomun Yuha, the Flowering Bone, was there, he could avoid most dangers, so there was no reason to refuse.
But… The danger that was immediately in front of them was the kind that Seomun Yuha couldn’t do anything about.
Seong Mu-yeon and Seomun Yuha’s eyes widened at the sight before them.
The underground was wider than they had thought. An endless grid pattern reminiscent of a Go board covered the ceiling, and various mechanisms that looked threatening at a glance were placed on the floor with the same pattern. To enter the very center where the Spirit Pill was stored, they had to pass through the mechanisms.
They felt an oppressive force that made it difficult to take even a single step with a casual attitude. No one knew where or what would fly out, whether it would be an arrow, a hidden weapon, or a scorpion with deadly poison. That fact added to the fear.
Seong Mu-yeon swallowed hard.
“Pavilion Lord, I hope you know something about the Jegal Clan’s mechanisms.”
Jang Han-soo pushed Yang Ha-gakju forward. He muttered something and squatted in front of the mechanism, examining it closely.
“Is there any trace of anyone passing through?”
Jang Han-soo impatiently asked the back of his head, who was fidgeting for a long time.
“The mechanisms…”
“What about the mechanisms?”
“They’ve all been disarmed.”
Yang Ha-gakju said with conviction.
Hearing that, Jang Han-soo carefully stepped onto the grid within the range of the mechanism. He waited for a moment, but nothing happened.
The devices were really all disarmed.
“It seems safe. Let’s go quickly.”
Jang Han-soo dragged Yang Ha-gakju and stepped inside without hesitation. Seong Mu-yeon and Seomun Yuha followed him.
“The Spirit Pill will be stored in the center. We have to catch the Young master before he runs away with it.”
The interior had a complex, maze-like structure. As they moved forward, they were invariably blocked by walls that soared to the ceiling or sharp blades, forcing them to keep turning around. As a result, they would quickly lose their sense of direction and get lost if they were not careful.
Even in this situation, Jang Han-soo moved forward without losing his way, as if he had a compass installed in his body.
Seong Mu-yeon suddenly felt that the surroundings were too quiet. It was as if they had entered the eye of a storm.
An eternity passed, and finally, an open square space greeted them. The Spirit Pill was enshrined in a dark wooden box on a narrow pillar that stood tall in the center.
And…
Yang Ha-gakju groaned.
It was because he had just witnessed Jegal Un taking out the box.
“Young master, please return the Spirit Pill to its place.”
Jang Han-soo strode forward and raised the sword he had been holding down all along. Jegal Un, still holding the box, only rolled his eyes and looked at Jang Han-soo.
“Now that you’ve been caught, let’s not waste our energy and surrender peacefully.”
Jegal Un’s gaze left Jang Han-soo and reached Yang Ha-gakju, Seomun Yuha, and Seong Mu-yeon. Seomun Yuha tilted his body to block Seong Mu-yeon from his view.
A brief confrontation ensued. Seong Mu-yeon frowned, feeling a sense of alienation from Jegal Un.
Despite the exposure of his scheme, Jegal Un was not agitated, but rather calm. No, he was expressionless, as if he couldn’t feel any emotions at all.
Just as he was thinking that, Yang Ha-gakju turned around and started running away.