Chapter 17 : Yakssobang (2)
Traces of time were felt everywhere.
It didn't look like anyone was living there.
'Is there... no one here?'
Just by looking at the exterior, he had no choice but to feel that way.
But it was possible that someone was inside, unlike the appearance.
Cheon Myeong cautiously entered the building, maintaining his vigilance.
"..."
First, in order to check if anyone was living there, Cheon Myeong looked around the entire interior of the building.
However, even after looking into all the rooms, he could not find any sign of a person.
'There are no traces at all.'
Just like the appearance from the outside, the inside also showed no signs of anyone having lived there recently.
At least for more than a year.
It was clear that no one had lived in this building during that period.
'It seems that even in this era, Yakssobang could not avoid its destruction.'
After exploring the interior, Cheon Myeong judged so.
If so, there was no need to hesitate any longer.
Now that he knew that there was no one here, all that was left was to take everything that was useful, as was his original purpose.
"Hmm..."
But Cheon Myeong stopped in his tracks, showing some hesitation.
In fact, he had just looked around all the rooms, but he hadn't seen anything that looked plausible.
Before that, they were all ordinary-looking rooms, to the point where he wondered if this was really Yakssobang.
"..."
Yes, hadn't he just looked around to check if there were any people?
If he investigated more carefully, he would surely be able to find something.
"Good."
With that expectation, Cheon Myeong began to move again.
* * *
"..."
Cheon Myeong was at a loss for words for a moment as he looked at the things in front of him.
There were things of unknown shape in front of Cheon Myeong's eyes.
These were all things that Cheon Myeong had brought while investigating the interior of the building.
He had definitely tried to take only what he thought was useful... but looking at what he had brought, he didn't think so at all.
'What on earth is this...'
A pill with a blackish tinge.
Most of the things in front of Cheon Myeong's eyes were in that state, as if they had gone bad.
At first, he had brought them because they looked like pills on the outside.
But looking at them all together, he couldn't tell if they were pills or rabbit droppings.
Grab-.
Well, since it was in Yakssobang, it probably wasn't droppings.
Thinking so, Cheon Myeong picked up one of them with his hand.
And after examining it closely, he cautiously smelled it.
"..."
It smelled to the point where he doubted his previous thought.
What on earth was this smell?
Since it was a smell he had never smelled before in his life, Cheon Myeong couldn't say for sure what it was.
But since it was by no means a pleasant smell, Cheon Myeong immediately put what he was holding back on the floor.
'It doesn't seem like an elixir.'
If it were an elixir, it wouldn't smell like this.
Rather, it would be normal for it to have a fragrant smell that would make one want to keep smelling it.
So Cheon Myeong was sure that all the things placed here were not elixirs.
'What on earth is it?'
There was a good reason why Cheon Myeong had no choice but to collect only these things.
Because there were no other useful things to be seen.
In fact, he had initially thought these were trash and had thrown them away, but after searching and searching, he couldn't find anything good, so he had eventually brought them back.
'Could it be that this wasn't Yakssobang?'
No, that can't be.
If this wasn't Yakssobang, there would be no reason for the Wind and Wave Fog Circle Formation to be spread out in Musan, and there would be no reason for rare medicinal herbs to be nearby.
'If not, does that mean the Martial Alliance also got nothing from here?'
If he thought that they hadn't announced anything to the public for that reason, everything fell into place.
It wasn't that they had hidden it, but that they had really told the truth.
As that thought suddenly came to him, Cheon Myeong couldn't help but feel his strength drain from his whole body.
'Then was my coming here a waste of effort?'
No, had he wished for something big?
He would have been satisfied if he could have just obtained one elixir.
Of course, even one elixir was precious, but compared to the fame of Yakssobang, it was a level that could be called insignificant.
So he had come here thinking that he would be able to obtain at least one elixir... but when he opened the lid, there were only things that he couldn't even tell if they were droppings or soybean paste scattered everywhere.
'Are you kidding me right now?'
He felt like he had been deceived by the Martial Alliance.
As that thought came to him, Cheon Myeong began to get angry.
"..."
But Cheon Myeong soon regained his composure.
Nothing would change even if he got angry at the Martial Alliance here.
'That thing that looks like droppings might be an elixir...'
Of course, he had been sure that it wasn't an elixir before, but it was not impossible that there was an elixir in the world that smelled bad.
If it was an elixir made by Yakssobang, it could be special, unlike ordinary ones.
With that in mind, Cheon Myeong lifted the pill again.
"..."
Thwack-.
An elixir, my foot.
Cheon Myeong threw the pill he was holding on the floor.
Then, the pill shattered into pieces and its original shape became unrecognizable.
That appearance seemed to represent Cheon Myeong's feelings.
'Forget it... what if I eat it wrong and get a stomachache?'
It would be fortunate if he only got a stomachache.
In fact, if that was poison, he could die if he ate it wrong, couldn't he?
It is a rule not to eat something you are not sure about carelessly.
'Yes, let's search a little more.'
If he had been the leader of Yakssobang, he would have hidden the precious things away.
There was a good chance that there was a secret space somewhere here that was not visible on the outside.
Of course, that was just Cheon Myeong's last hope... but if he didn't bet on that possibility and search again, he didn't think he could go back easily, even if it was just because it was unfair to have come this far.
Thump- thump-.
Thinking so, Cheon Myeong immediately headed somewhere.
The place Cheon Myeong arrived at was the largest room in the building.
Since there were traces in the room that suggested that the leader of Yakssobang had used this room in the past, Cheon Myeong came here first.
'Generally, if you hide it, it would be the floor or the wall.'
Since it was a place protected by the Wind and Wave Fog Circle Formation, it didn't seem like there would be a sophisticated device.
Even if it was hidden, it would be a very simple device.
Cheon Myeong carefully walked around, tapping the floor with his foot.
'...It's not here.'
Then there was only one place left.
Since there was nothing suspicious on the floor, Cheon Myeong immediately began to investigate the wall.
And at that moment.
Cheon Myeong, who was investigating beyond the wallpaper, seemed to feel something suspicious and kept tapping that place with his hand.
Thump- thump-.
It's empty.
The moment he was sure of that, Cheon Myeong drew his sword and swung it at the wall.
Slash-.
Sword marks crossed diagonally and appeared on the wall.
And when he lightly kicked the point where the sword marks crossed, the wall easily fell away, and the space beyond it was visible.
'As expected...'
A smile appeared on Cheon Myeong's lips as soon as he discovered the hidden space.
As expected, the Martial Alliance had not returned empty-handed.
It was clear that they had also taken something beyond this.
'Shall I check? What on earth did the Martial Alliance get at that time?'
Thinking so, Cheon Myeong entered the hidden space.
But something... was empty.
He had thought there would be elixirs, but all that was there were a few books.
"..."
As the result did not meet his expectations, the smile on Cheon Myeong's lips immediately disappeared.
Cheon Myeong showed a disappointed look and picked up the book on the floor with his hand.
'Medical Supplement Manual...?'
That's what was written on the cover.
Cheon Myeong still opened the book with a puzzled face and looked at the contents inside.
And a moment later.
Cheon Myeong's face was instantly filled with surprise.
'This is...!'
The contents of the book he had opened casually were truly amazing.
It wasn't that some great martial art was written in it.
The manufacturing methods of the medicines that Yakssobang had researched so far were written in detail in here.
'If this is really a secret manual with the secrets of Medical Supplement Manual written in it...'
It was a gain that could be said to be truly amazing, more than just obtaining elixirs.
Because elixirs would be gone once eaten, but the knowledge written in this secret manual would remain in Cheon Myeong's head forever.
'Yakssobang is a place that is rumored to be able to make a panacea or a medicine of immortality.'
If he mastered all the contents of this secret manual, he might be able to have a skill comparable to Hua Tuo.
Of course, that wouldn't help his immediate skill improvement.
But even without that, it was clear that it would be helpful to Cheon Myeong in many ways.
"..."
Cheon Myeong put down the book he was holding and looked at the others.
The others were also written with the manufacturing methods of medicines or explanations of medicinal herbs.
Of course, he couldn't check them all on the spot, but considering the circumstances, it would be safe to think that they were all authentic.
'I've unexpectedly obtained something amazing.'
The knowledge of Yakssobang.
Cheon Myeong himself could not dare to estimate the value of how much this knowledge would help him in the future.
* * *
Cheon Myeong left Yakssobang with a bundle on his back.
What was in the bundle was the Medical Supplement Manual, divided into several volumes.
Cheon Myeong's steps were careful, lest he drop them.
'First, when I go back, I have to make all the knowledge in the Medical Supplement Manual my own.'
He would burn the secret manual after memorizing all its contents.
Of course, it would take quite a while to memorize all the contents of several volumes.
But Cheon Myeong was planning to burn the Medical Supplement Manual after memorizing it perfectly, no matter what.
'Only I need to know this knowledge.'
Just imagine if the existence of the Medical Supplement Manual was exposed to the outside because he lost the secret manual.
If that happened, the Medical Supplement Manual would lose a considerable part of its value.
The more others don't know about knowledge, the greater its value becomes.
After Cheon Myeong erased all the contents of the Medical Supplement Manual, unless someone read Cheon Myeong's thoughts, the knowledge would not leak to the outside.
In other words, Cheon Myeong could monopolize the knowledge of Medical Supplement Manual forever.
'The Martial Alliance did it, so there's no law that says I can't do it.'
Thinking so, it was quite outrageous.
To think that the Martial Alliance had monopolized the knowledge that Yakssobang had accumulated so far.
No wonder the power of the Martial Alliance grew stronger day by day, and he didn't think that the reason was completely unrelated to Yakssobang.
'Now that knowledge has become mine.'
He was already starting to get excited at the thought of reading the Medical Supplement Manual carefully when he got home.
Cheon Myeong, who was about to return to the place where Soyeon Sang was with a light heart and light steps.
But at that moment, a strange cry was suddenly heard from somewhere.
Kiyaak-!
The sharp sound of a beast.
And it was heard quite nearby.
As that sound was suddenly heard, Cheon Myeong looked at the place where the sound came from with a face that had completely wiped the smile from his lips.
'What on earth is this sound?'
Thinking so, Cheon Myeong stared at the bushes.
And at that moment.
Something suddenly popped out from the place Cheon Myeong was staring at.
"..."
A monstrous bird and a large snake of a size he had never seen before in his life.
Cheon Myeong's pupils shook violently.
(End of Chapter)