Returning Immortal

Chapter 10 : Stealth

Not even half a shichen after Academician Yu left, Adjutant Cheok entered the stone chamber.

Fortunately, the Thunder Cloud Sword was in his hand.

"Why is this small sword so heavy?"

Adjutant Cheok asked, flicking the Thunder Cloud Sword up with his fingers.

The way he snatched the sword as it spun and fell in the air was quite skilled.

"I heard it has profound iron inside."

"What! Puhahaha! What idiot in the world would mix profound iron into such a shabby sword that doesn't even have a scabbard? A passing dog would laugh at that."

"..."

When Gwi Seongjin didn't answer, Adjutant Cheok spoke again.

"Why don't you just say it was made from meteoric iron that fell from the sky...?"

Adjutant Cheok held out the sword to Gwi Seongjin with a face full of ridicule.

"Aren't you greedy for the sword?"

Gwi Seongjin asked as he thrust the Thunder Cloud Sword into his waistband.

"Hmph! I would have refused that kind of sword even if it was given for free. I wonder if you can even properly peel fruit with its dull blade."

'Huh!'

At Adjutant Cheok's words, Gwi Seongjin let out an inward sigh.

To denigrate the Thunder Cloud Sword, which was called a divine sword, as a fruit knife...

If the ancient immortal craftsman who made this sword had heard that, he would have beaten the ground and wailed.

"Still, it's an important item to me. By the way... when are we departing?"

Gwi Seongjin asked, sensing a hint of urgency from Adjutant Cheok.

"We will move right now. If you're ready, follow me immediately."

Adjutant Cheok, who had shouted loudly, stepped out of the door.

There was a bundle outside the door, and Gwi Seongjin, quick-witted, tied it to his back.

Judging by its shape, it seemed to contain some clothes and food.

The place Adjutant Cheok headed after leaving the stone chamber was downwards.

It was strange to keep going down into the ground, but Gwi Seongjin didn't bother to ask why.

Adjutant Cheok, who had been continuously descending into the basement, suddenly stopped walking.

Then, he took out a small pouch from his pocket and shook it in front of Gwi Seongjin's eyes.

"I almost forgot. Do you know what this is?"

When Gwi Seongjin made a face that said he didn't know, Adjutant Cheok opened the pouch and took out the item inside.

A blue pill.

It was what he had shown Gwi Seongjin before.

"Academician Yu gave me this and said that if you don't take this medicine, you will vomit blood and die, so you must take one every three days."

Adjutant Cheok, who had put the pill back into the pouch, threw it to Gwi Seongjin.

"Hmm."

Gwi Seongjin, who opened the pouch and checked inside, showed a surprised look.

It was because there were ten pills in the pouch.

Not only the antidote pill, but the pouch itself was not ordinary.

Gwi Seongjin, who received the pouch, noticed that it was made of animal hide and was even waterproofed.

The string that sealed the pouch was also made by twisting animal sinew.

When Gwi Seongjin put the pouch containing the antidote into his pocket, Adjutant Cheok started walking again.

While following Adjutant Cheok, Gwi Seongjin never once used his spiritual sense.

It was to avoid revealing the fact that he had practiced immortal arts as much as possible.

The day the Luminous Cult invaded the Ghost Valley Sect.

The one who had attacked and killed his father, who was at the fourth stage of Qi Refinement, was likely not a martial artist but a cultivator with high spiritual power.

That meant a cultivator with high cultivation was lurking here in the Luminous Cult.

This was the reason Gwi Seongjin hesitated to use his spiritual sense.

The place Adjutant Cheok led Gwi Seongjin to was deep underground.

Judging by the people who checked their identities along the way, it was an organization with a different system from the Dark Spirit Council.

After passing through three such places, Adjutant Cheok's footsteps finally stopped.

"We're here, go inside."

"You mean go in through the door in front?"

"That's right. The people who will go with you are waiting for you inside. After you go in, you just need to follow their instructions."

"Then what about you?"

"Me? My role ends here."

"...I understand."

After confirming that Gwi Seongjin had entered the door, Adjutant Cheok slowly turned around.

'Kekekek. Arrogant brat! You act smart, but you don't know that the door you're entering now is the maw of hell. Don't even think about coming back alive.'

A cruel, sinister smile hung on his lips.

* * *

Thud!

As the stone door closed, a sense of anxiety washed over his whole body.

He couldn't understand why.

"Gekekeke. Are you Gwi Seongjin?"

Gwi Seongjin was startled.

He had thought no one was there, but a voice suddenly came.

He looked towards where the voice came from, but there was no one.

"Behind you, you fool!"

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.

In the eyes of Gwi Seongjin, who was slowly turning around, a bizarre-looking old man came into view.

A horse-faced old man with a face full of liver spots was looking at him, carrying a large leather sack on his back.

The clothes he was wearing were incredibly loose, covering the floor...

He was even leaning on a dragon-headed staff in one hand.

"I am, but who are you, old sir?"

Gwi Seongjin asked in a trembling voice.

"Gekekeke. What's a man about to die going to do with someone else's name?"

"Are you saying I'm going to die soon?"

"That's right. You're breathing, but you're no longer among the living."

"Then what about you, old sir? To my eyes, it doesn't look like you have many days left to live..."

"What!"

Boom!

At Gwi Seongjin's counterattack, the old man struck the ground with his dragon-headed staff, and the stone chamber shook greatly as if an earthquake had occurred.

The floor shook, and dust rose fiercely and scattered.

Fine dust also fell from the ceiling.

Just then, another person's voice came from the opposite side of the old man.

"Hoho! Hall Master! What crime has that child committed for you to cover him in such a deadly poison? There will be many opportunities to use poison in the future, so please use it a little more sparingly."

This time, the voice came from a place where Gwi Seongjin had clearly confirmed no one was there when he entered the stone chamber.

For a voice to come from there meant that these people were masters skilled enough to deceive or surpass his senses.

It probably wasn't to the extent of escaping his spiritual sense, but Gwi Seongjin focused his attention on something else instead of his spiritual sense.

Among the words he had just heard, it was the passage that the liver-spotted old man in front of him had poisoned him.

First, holding his breath, Gwi Seongjin drew his internal energy from his dantian and began to circulate it while standing.

But there was nothing wrong.

The minor heavenly cycle was almost complete, but he couldn't feel anything particularly wrong.

"Hahaha! Who is the Ghost Medicine Hall Master that a mark would be left on the body? If he put his mind to it, a brat like you would melt like water in an instant."

"Gekekeke."

At the voice praising him, a thin smile formed on the lips of the liver-spotted old man, the Ghost Medicine Hall Master.

It was a strangely distorted, hideous feeling.

Gwi Seongjin, who had confirmed that there was nothing wrong with his body, turned his head and looked behind him.

As expected, he couldn't find a person where the voice had come from.

This time, the person was found in front.

The ones standing shoulder to shoulder with the Ghost Medicine Hall Master were, surprisingly, not one, but two people.

One was a short old man with a back hunched like a hunchback.

The other was the red-robed man with a huge build whom he had seen a few days ago.

But the red-robed man's gaze was somehow unusual.

He was glaring at him with a gaze full of hostility, as if looking at a mortal enemy.

Gwi Seongjin, who was about to speak to the red-robed man to ask the reason, was startled.

It was because his tongue had stiffened and no words came out.

He looked at the Ghost Medicine Hall Master, but there was only that same smile.

The reason came from the mouth of the hunchback next to him.

"The Ghost Medicine Hall Master has given you a lesson to be careful with the root of your tongue in the future. Remember! Most of a human's poison comes from the tip of the tongue..."

Seeing the Ghost Medicine Hall Master's smile deepen, it seemed it wasn't wrong.

Thud!

Just then, the door of the stone chamber opened and two people entered.

A refined middle-aged man in a white robe and a black-clothed young man with a sharp impression, honed like a single sword.

When the white-robed middle-aged man entered, the heads of the three people in the stone chamber bowed slightly.

The white-robed man, who accepted it with a smile, this time turned his gaze to Gwi Seongjin.

"Are you Gwi Seongjin? You look smart."

He wanted to answer something, but Gwi Seongjin's tongue was stiff and he couldn't even reply.

Gwi Seongjin could well guess that the three people he had met after entering the stone chamber were not ordinary people.

They would all be the head of an organization like the Ghost Medicine Hall Master, or in a comparable position.

If he was a person who received respect from such people...

There was no need to even open his mouth.

As long as he had decided to survive here in the Luminous Cult, he was an existence he had to make a good impression on unconditionally.

But the reality was that he was poisoned and couldn't even speak.

When Gwi Seongjin looked at the Ghost Medicine Hall Master with a resentful gaze, he secretly winked one eye.

It was disgusting to look at, but Gwi Seongjin was not one to fail to infer its meaning.

'In such a short time...?'

It wasn't a 'could it be'.

His tongue, which had been as stiff as a stone and couldn't even feel anything, had softened before he knew it.

"I am grateful for your kindness, my lord."

At Gwi Seongjin's answer, a thin, strange light flashed in the eyes of the white-robed middle-aged man.

It was certain that the white-robed man's intention in speaking to Gwi Seongjin was not bad.

The moment he entered the stone chamber, he had grasped that Gwi Seongjin was poisoned, and it was also a clear fact that he had spoken to Gwi Seongjin to pressure the Ghost Medicine Hall Master.

The problem was that he hadn't revealed this fact to Gwi Seongjin.

Yet, to have judged the truth from the falsehood and inferred his goodwill... he thought that the child named Gwi Seongjin might be much wiser than he had thought.

"You are more brilliant than I heard. The success or failure of this operation depends solely on you. I have high expectations, so do your best."

"I will not disappoint you."

"I'll trust you."

The white-robed man, who had turned his head from Gwi Seongjin, his gaze now turned to the hunchbacked old man.

"Vice Director! How about we depart now?"

"I will do so."

Gwi Seongjin's gaze, who was listening to the two's conversation, turned to the hunchbacked old man.

He had only now realized that he was the Vice Director of the Dark Spirit Council.

The person with the highest status among the group was the white-robed middle-aged man.

Even the Ghost Medicine Hall Master and the red-robed old man were extremely cautious of him.

Despite that, it seemed he was not the person in charge of this operation.

Surprisingly, the person in charge of this operation was the Vice Director of the Dark Spirit Council, Ne Jinja.

At Ne Jinja's command, the six people in the stone chamber finally began to move.

They threw themselves into the cave that was open on one side of the stone chamber.

The person in the lead was the Raging Fire Divine Lord.

Whoosh.

As the Raging Fire Divine Lord disappeared into the cave, Ne Jinja and Gwi Seongjin followed.

Behind them, the white-robed man and the black-clothed young man followed, and the Ghost Medicine Hall Master performed his movement technique last.

His clothes were cumbersome and the leather sack on his back was not small, but his body movements were as agile as could be.

(End of Chapter)