Chapter 315
Come to think of it, that's right.
Since a thousand martial artists came here at once, it wouldn't have been that difficult to break through the Cheonhwamok Formation.
Was there not a single person among the thousand who had a similar thought to me? No, I'm sure there was.
So, if each person had cut down just a few trees, the formation would have been devastated.
And it was said that the path from the place where the Cheonhwamok Formation was to this pavilion was also full of numerous traps and formations.
What they had broken through while sacrificing many people must have been the path to this place.
In the end, the place where the martial artists arrived was here...
No matter how outstanding Yu-hoe's martial arts were, it was impossible for him to block a thousand martial artists.
He must have had no choice but to take his family and flee for a while, rather than fighting back when the martial artists were searching this house thoroughly.
'Then they discovered the thousand taels of gold that were here... and they happily divided it among themselves...'
Suddenly, a corner of my heart feels uncomfortable.
Yu-hoe, who got so angry just because I destroyed the Cheonhwamok Formation, how must he have felt when a thousand martial artists came and trampled all over his home?
And one more thing.
Since that day, rumors have spread that the treasure in the tomb of the Meteor King has already been taken by the martial artists, so no one would have come here again.
That means that the descendants of the Meteor King would have guarded the relics here, waiting for a martial artist who would never come for the rest of their lives.
I, jumping up from my seat, said to Yu Su-yeong, "Su-yeong. Don't worry. I'll find that relic for you somehow. I have to see what kind of relic it is."
"Really?"
"Yes. I was already thinking that I had to do it, but now it's a must. Just trust me."
Yes. I have to see what the relic of the Meteor King is, by any means necessary.
Although I was sincere from the beginning, now I feel like I can rush at it with several times more desperation than that sincerity.
Yu Su-yeong, with tears in his eyes, thanked me.
Come to think of it, how much must that little kid have wanted to go out into the outside world to do this?
"Now, just trust us, go to your room and wait quietly. It would be a big problem if your father came while you were doing this."
"Yes, big brother! I'll just trust you."
Yu Su-yeong, unlike when he had come in hesitantly, walked out with strength when he left.
After he left, I looked at the gold lying on the floor.
Thinking that so many martial artists had come and trampled this place just for such a lump of gold, for some reason, I feel angry.
I feel that it was a really good thing that I decided to come here today.
Because if I had come after more time had passed, Yu Su-yeong's disappointment would have been even longer.
"But still..."
I stealthily took the gold in front of me and stuffed it into my bundle.
Still, what's given is given, and money is money.
It would be more comfortable for Su-yeong's heart if I accepted this.
I stealthily turned my head to see what my senior brothers were doing, and my senior brothers, who had also been staring at the gold, hurriedly stuffed it into their respective bundles as soon as I took the gold.
"Ehehehe."
"Hahaha!"
I laughed like a fool without realizing it.
And my senior brothers also laughed along.
Somehow, I feel like I've become a worldly person.
***
A little while later, as I had expected, Yu-hoe came to our room.
He had a very tense expression.
No, to be precise, the expression 'resolute' would be more fitting than 'tense'.
"I've thought a little after hearing your story. It really seems that if it weren't for you, our Yu clan would never be able to go out to the Central Plains again."
"That's right. Do you have to think about it to know that? It's so obvious."
"Now... I'm trying to help you, so stop interrupting me like that."
"Alright. When I see your face and hear your tone, I just get angry. Is it because you tried to kill me and my senior brothers out of the blue?"
"That's...!"
"Alright, alright. I won't do this anymore, so speak slowly."
He, about to burst out in anger, eventually let out a deep sigh and stopped talking, and soon, he composed himself and began to speak again.
"First of all, to get to the point, I don't know what the relic is, and what kind of traps and formations are lurking."
I was about to say to him, 'Then what on earth are you going to help with?', but I barely swallowed my words.
Then, fortunately, he continued, "But there is one thing that has been passed down. Do not doubt."
"Do not doubt?"
"Yes. This is as far as I can help you. The challenge for the relic will start early tomorrow morning. Until then, rest a little and prepare."
He, as if he were indifferent, stood up from his seat and, looking at us, said, "The meal... will be taken care of here. So don't worry about that."
He said that and left the room.
Senior Brother Un Cheol cautiously approached me and said, "Hwi-ya."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
"I feel a little anxious. Should I say it feels like I'm reaching for something I can't handle..."
"To be honest, I think so too. But how can we give up now that we've come this far? And they have a thousand taels of gold piled up in that room, so aren't you excited to see how amazing the real relic will be?"
"That's true, but..."
"And what can't the five of us do? So don't worry too much."
I patted Senior Brother Un Cheol's broad back.
If anyone saw, they would think I was his older brother.
"For now, I think I need to circulate my qi a little. The internal energy I consumed earlier was quite large."
"I understand."
I quietly went to a corner and began to circulate my qi.
Things I hadn't expected are happening continuously, and unknown things are unfolding.
But the more that happens, the calmer my heart becomes.
'That's right. Nothing goes my way anyway.'
Come to think of it, that's right.
Unexpected things have always unfolded before me.
And each time, I somehow managed to solve them and come this far.
So it will be fine this time too.
It's not that I'm just thinking positively.
I am trusting the time and experience of training that I have accumulated so far.
I can do it. I can do it no matter what comes my way.
That was my belief.
***
Until the next morning, Yu-hoe served us a lavish meal on a quite large table.
I was curious where they got such ingredients in a mountain village like this, but they said they often go down to the nearby village and buy enough.
Since the martial arts skills of Yu-hoe and his brothers are quite outstanding, they can go and come back quickly if they perform a movement technique, and since they have more than enough money, there would be no need to worry.
"I hope this is not the last meal I serve you."
Yu-hoe's expression seems to be getting better and better the more he comes here.
At first, he seemed to hate me a lot, but now, he seemed to be pinning his hopes on me.
"It can't be the last. If I get the relic and come back, you have to prepare an even more sumptuous feast than this."
"Why should I?"
"Since you don't have to live here anymore, isn't it okay to use up all the ingredients you've bought? Let's eat up everything you've bought and go out to the Central Plains together."
"You talk... so easily."
While answering like that, his expression was not that bad.
He, after we had eaten a hearty breakfast, took us somewhere.
It was a place a little away from the pavilion where we had stayed until a little while ago, and he began to push, pull, and turn the rocks there.
Gu-gu-gu-gu—
Then, as the rocks were pushed aside little by little, a cave began to reveal itself.
It seems to be a mechanism that reveals the entrance of the cave if you move the rocks in a set way.
'So that's why no one could find it.'
I could guess why the martial artists in the past couldn't find the real tomb of the Meteor King and thought that the money in the pavilion was the relic.
Since it's hidden so complicatedly, it might be natural that they couldn't find it.
It seems that what the treasure map of the Meteor King was pointing to was not this place, but the house where his descendants lived.
Perhaps the reason he had his descendants guard this place until the end was because he needed someone to guide the people who came with the treasure map to this place.
"If you follow this cave inside, you'll get there. On the way, of course, there will be countless formations and traps installed. And the relic is said to be at the very end of the cave."
"So I just have to bring out the relic. Is there a separate way out?"
"The good thing is that I know there are no forked paths in the cave."
"Good. So I just have to break through straight ahead, and then come back the way I came, right?"
"That's right."
"Alright. Then go back home and take a nap. I'll find it and come back soon."
"You're bluffing..."
Yu-hoe, while saying that, chuckles.
Just before we entered the cave, Yu-hoe called me.
"W-Wait."
"Why?"
"I'm telling you this because it might be helpful... if you really come back safely, I'll give you a gift separately."
"What gift?"
"I'll tell you that when you find the relic and come back. So... you must succeed."
"I understand."
His expression as he said he would give me a gift somehow overlaps with what Yu Su-yeong said.
Although I have a feeling that what he will give me is money, I didn't pretend to know.
"Then, senior brothers. Let's go in."
"Let's go."
I entered the cave with my senior brothers.
***
When I first entered the cave, I naturally thought it would be dark inside.
But the inside was bright enough to distinguish objects.
I looked around, wondering if there were night-luminescent pearls embedded, but unfortunately, it wasn't bright thanks to night-luminescent pearls.
There were small holes that led to the ground, and the light leaking from them seemed to make the inside of the cave quite bright.
This must be why Yu-hoe said we had to start early in the morning. Because if it gets dark, we won't be able to distinguish the surroundings at all.
"Stop!"
I, who had been walking forward for a long time without thinking, shouted at Senior Brother Un Cheol, who was walking a step ahead of me.
Senior Brother Un Cheol, who was about to take a step, balanced himself and stepped back, and I, stepping forward, said to my senior brothers, "Do you see this here?"
Where I was pointing, there was something like a very faint, thin thread.
"This is the most basic of the most basic traps."
I, from a little distance away, lightly threw a small sword qi and cut the string.
Pyu-ung!!
Then an arrow shot from the left wall and stuck in the right wall.
Although there was only one, it was thick and long.
Moreover, it is powerful enough to be stuck in a stone wall. If we had walked forward without thinking and been hit by that arrow, we would not have been able to avoid a serious injury, or at worst, we could have died instantly.
"We have to be careful of things like this and move forward slowly. We don't know where the end is... but if it gets dark, we can just sit down and spend the day, and then do it again when it gets bright, so there's no need to rush."
Senior Brother Un Cheol, who had almost been hit by that arrow just now, nodded his head with a pale face.
"And one more thing. We're going to search this area ahead as thoroughly as possible, trigger all the traps, and break what we can. And the same goes for the formations. We have to break everything we can. Anyway, we have to come back this way, right? So even if it's a little hard on the way there, let's make it easy on the way back."
I, looking at my senior brothers who were nodding their heads with their lips tightly sealed, continued, "There's no need to feel guilty. Probably, from now on, we just have to make sure no one else enters this cave. So... let's find the relic."
I, turning my back on my senior brothers, began to search the surroundings thoroughly.
(End of Chapter)