novelraw Chapter 55 : I Have to Eat This.
Chapter 55 : I Have to Eat This.
"The Ghost Tomb."
"The tomb of a ghost. What a brutal name."
After interpreting the treasure map, the name roughly came out.
The Ghost Tomb.
According to the treasure map, it was the place where everything that the Red Blood Sword Demon had left behind was.
"But. Is the interpretation this easy?"
"It's not difficult."
"No, I don't know even if I look at it."
"Because you looked at it."
"Shit."
Although Neung-heo's face contorted, he could not refute it.
He had been the first to step forward, saying that he would try to interpret the treasure map, but he had given up before even half a quarter of an hour had passed.
He could not interpret it because various symbols and signs, and the characters that were used 400 years ago were mixed together.
"Even when I was young, they said I was a genius, or that I was gifted, but I didn't know this."
"You're getting more and more shameless."
"Well, what about my lord? Who was it that beat someone up and shamelessly took the treasure map, saying it was fair?"
"You must have a tough bone. Seeing you crawling up again."
"Oops, I've received a report about the Blood Demon Sect from the Im Hong branch master. Please wait a moment. I'll bring it."
"You've gotten better at slacking off too."
Cheon Mubaeck smirked and looked at the treasure map again.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at the treasure map.
"It's not that difficult of a treasure map."
It was not an impossible level.
At least if those who were bright in mechanism diagrams or formations put their heads together, they could solve it within four days.
But Cheon Mubaeck had solved it by himself in just one hour.
"No matter how I look at it, it's not a fake."
But after interpreting the treasure map, Cheon Mubaeck's mind felt a little more complicated.
At first, he had thought it was just a well-made replica.
Because there was no such thing as a treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon.
But after interpreting the treasure map, no matter how he thought about it, it was not a replica.
"This is real."
It was a real treasure map.
"But it's not the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon."
Of course.
Cheon Mubaeck had never left a treasure map, and he had not left a descendant during his time as the Red Blood Sword Demon.
He had not left any martial arts, and hadn't all the divine weapons he had used been completely broken and disappeared during battle?
"Are they trying to scam people by saying that someone else's treasure map is that of the Red Blood Sword Demon? Or did it spread, thinking that this was really the one of the Red Blood Sword Demon?"
At this point, Cheon Mubaeck could not help but be confused.
"Here are the reports from the Hao Faction. They are the whereabouts of the Blood Demon Sect. These are the recent documents related to the treasure map."
Neung-heo had come with well-organized documents.
In fact, Neung-heo was quite smart.
Considering that there were many black-way martial artists who did not know how to read, Neung-heo's level of being able to look at the documents and judge and organize them by himself was quite outstanding.
"Look at this?"
Right. This is it.
Cheon Mubaeck's eyes flashed as he quietly read the reports.
"Neung-heo."
"Yes."
"I think the half a silver tael I set for the treasure map was a fair price."
"Sigh. You have to say something that makes sense..."
Neung-heo shook his head as if it were hard to even retort now.
Cheon Mubaeck looked at Neung-heo and said straight.
"Look."
"Eum? You mean this? What about it? More treasure maps have been discovered, so more martial artists are gathering... ah!"
"Not just one or two identical treasure maps, but several are being released? Does this look normal to you?"
"That's true. Are treasure maps originally discovered in several sheets?"
"There are such cases. But there are no cases where they are discovered at the same time."
Neung-heo stroked his chin.
"Then that means someone is spreading the treasure maps?"
"Right. The real one would be one or two. The one I have."
"Is that the real one?"
"If this is a fake, the guy who made it should be given an award by the country and be treated as a master craftsman."
At Cheon Mubaeck's firm words, Neung-heo nodded his head.
"Then if they make replicas based on that and spread them, wouldn't the people who find them realize that they are fakes?"
"The guys with pretty good eyes would."
"Then is that effective? And, why are they gathering martial artists by spreading a lot of fake treasure maps?"
"It could be that they are intentionally inducing this mess."
"A mess. It's hard for him to eat it all by himself, so he intentionally spreads it to make a mess and seize it in the gap?"
"That could be."
The reasoning was quite plausible.
If there are a few strong competitors, it is difficult to break through them and seize the treasure.
So they make a complete mess.
By spreading the treasure maps and gathering all sorts of martial artists, from the peak to the third-rate, and making a mess, no matter how powerful a master is, it is difficult to move properly because of the people.
But Cheon Mubaeck was sure that it was not that.
"Looking at the recent movements of the Blood Demon Sect, there are more than one or two things that are bothering me."
The Hao Faction Shaanxi branch had a deep grudge against the Blood Demon Sect.
Because they had caused serious damage to their business.
Perhaps because of that, they had thoroughly dug into the back of the Blood Demon Sect, and there were quite a few suspicious movements.
"They had been struggling to take control of the gisaeng houses, the back alleys, and the pharmacies, but at some point, they have been disappearing."
"Well, they must be scared."
"Scared?"
"To be blunt, my lord has been breaking everything in Henan, so wouldn't it have entered their ears? Or, since Shaanxi is already a mess due to the plague, they might have withdrawn."
"No. The movement has been strange since the time the treasure map was discovered."
As Cheon Mubaeck said. The timing overlapped.
"Then are you saying that the ones who are spreading this treasure map are the Blood Demon Sect?"
"Right."
The attraction that the treasure map gave to the martial artists was that great.
Moreover, Cheon Mubaeck knew that this was not the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon, but the treasure map of another person.
So the need to look into it had arisen.
"Who on earth could it be..."
Cheon Mubaeck's eyes, which were carefully examining the treasure map again, suddenly widened.
"Huh. Look at this...?"
When he reinterpreted the treasure map, there was a part that caught his eye.
A kind of symbol that he had just regarded as a symbolic picture and had passed over.
But when he looked closely, it was not a symbol but a character.
And a very old character.
Cheon Mubaeck jumped up from his seat.
"Let's go, Neung-heo."
"Pardon?"
"The treasure map. We'll take it."
"Huh? Were you coveting such a thing?"
Neung-heo was startled.
Cheon Mubaeck nodded his head as if it were natural.
"The Blood Demon Sect is truly foolish. To lie that this is the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon, not knowing what it is."
Foolish things.
Do they even know what this is?
"Let's go. To find the sacred object of the The Complete Truth Sect.
Cheon Mubaeck's eyes flashed.
* * *
"Were there this many martial artists in Shaanxi?"
The elder of Mount Hua, the Guardian Sword Cheonghyeonjin, looked around and let out a deep sigh.
The Plum Blossom One Sword Gukbo, who was famous as a successor among the first-generation disciples of Mount Hua, who was next to him, answered.
"It can't be helped. Isn't it the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon?"
"That's not certain either. The main stage of the Red Blood Sword Demon was Hubei Province. To think that the place where the Red Blood Sword Demon was buried was discovered in Shaanxi Province. No matter how I look at it..."
"That's right. It's strange."
Cheonghyeonjin looked around again.
Treasure maps had appeared simultaneously.
Anyone with a little deep thought would realize that this was not a common situation.
Even the treasure map that Mount Hua had obtained was clearly a replica of something.
"Instead of being engrossed in such a treasure map, we should be tracking the Blood Ghost Valley as soon as possible."
Cheonghyeonjin lamented.
The important thing now was not the treasure map. Was Mount Hua so idle as to be engrossed in just a treasure map? That was not it either.
"The orthodox martial world should all cooperate to track and block them..."
"Are those guys that great?"
Gukbo tilted his head as if he did not understand.
Cheonghyeonjin just sighed.
This was it.
The difference between Cheonghyeonjin, who had fought directly with the Blood Ghost Valley guys, and those who had not.
Cheonghyeonjin had returned to Mount Hua and had argued for the cooperation of the orthodox martial world, explaining what had happened at Shaolin, but the reaction had been very lukewarm.
40 years ago, after the righteous-demonic war, the martial world had actually maintained peace.
Even Cheonghyeonjin had been just a child of about ten years old when the righteous-demonic war had ended.
So the people who were leading the martial world now were people who had not experienced the righteous-demonic war and had enjoyed 40 years of peace.
Even the Gukbo in front of him did not feel a great sense of crisis.
On the contrary, the young martial artists of the Plum Blossom Division were filled with a fighting spirit.
"You shouldn't underestimate the opponent. Gukbo. While our orthodox martial world was recovering from the wounds of the last great war, those guys have become stronger."
"Eum. I see."
Although Gukbo answered so, his gaze was not one of agreement.
Cheonhyeonjin swallowed his saliva as he saw the heat burning in Gukbo's eyes.
"Although Shaolin was greatly damaged, our Mount Hua is different. We have almost recovered the power we had at the time of the righteous-demonic war."
"..."
"If those guys come to Mount Hua, they will learn that there is a genius greater than the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero not only in Henan but also in Mount Hua."
At Gukbo's confident tone, Cheonghyeonjin did not answer.
The young martial artists of Mount Hua were rather pleased with the fighting spirit, rather than worried.
Although Gukbo was a successor that Mount Hua was proud of as the Plum Blossom One Sword, it was a reputation that he had obtained by just beating up the black-way.
They admired the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, who had saved Shaolin from a crisis, but at the same time, they were somewhat envious.
That was a natural thing. The successors, including Gukbo, also had excellent skills, but they had not been able to make a name for themselves because the opportunity had not come. Gukbo thought so, and in fact, it was true.
'But... can Young Master Cheon be seen as a successor?'
Cheonghyeonjin shook his head inwardly.
It was unreasonable to judge the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero as just a successor. He had clearly seen a martial prowess that far surpassed that.
A worried feeling suddenly arose.
Although Gukbo could develop further with a fighting spirit by appropriately being jealous of the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, if things went wrong, he might have the wrong thoughts.
"And it will be Mount Hua that will occupy the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon."
Gukbo said confidently.
Cheonghyeonjin just swallowed his saliva and turned his gaze to one side.
Taoists similar to Mount Hua were standing with swords and sharp gazes.
In fact, Mount Hua was in the middle of doubting the truth of the treasure map.
The problem was that in the meantime, the Zhongnan sect had moved directly, saying that they would occupy the treasure map.
A treasure map was originally like that.
Ninety-nine out of a hundred treasure maps that appeared in the martial world were fake.
But the reason why martial artists gathered was because of the thought that suddenly came to them, 'What if that's the real one?'
"We can't let the Zhongnan sect occupy the treasure map of the Red Blood Sword Demon. If the records left in history are correct, Zhongnan will stand tall as a sword sect just by learning the martial arts of the Red Blood Sword Demon."
The Zhongnan sect had its main sect in the Zhongnan Mountains of Shaanxi Province.
Coincidentally, both Mount Hua and Zhongnan were Taoist sects.
And after they had intervened more deeply in the martial world, they had made a name for themselves as sword sects.
Although their relationship was the same orthodox martial world, they were no different from rivals.
Mount Hua could not prioritize the tracking of the Blood Ghost Valley as Cheonghyeonjin had intended.
The important thing was not Zhongnan, but for Mount Hua to occupy the treasure map.
That was the most important thing.
'I'm sorry. Young Master Cheon... you have no connection, but you must be tracking, risking danger all the way to Shaanxi to save the sentient beings.'
He sighed and looked around.
The martial artists with bloodshot eyes were digging up the spot that was suspected to be the Ghost Tomb.
It was then.
"I found it!"
At someone's shout, the gazes of the crowd were focused all at once.
Cheonghyeonjin quickly looked at the martial artists of the Zhongnan sect.
They were already flying their bodies.
"We're moving too!"
Cheonghyeonjin and the disciples of Mount Hua also jumped over the space in one go, their Taoist robes fluttering.
"Kkeuaaak!"
"Eum!"
At the scream that was heard, Cheonghyeonjin swallowed his saliva.
The martial artist who had been closest to the entrance of the Ghost Tomb had fallen, screaming tragically.
He had been killed by a powerful palm strike that had flown from somewhere.
And in that place, what had appeared was.
"It's the Old Tiger Ghost!"
The Old Tiger Ghost, one of the scariest masters in Shaanxi, shouted, scattering blood.
"Everyone, get lost! The treasure map is mine! All the guys who come near me will be turned into a pool of blood!"
The martial artists of the Zhongnan sect and Mount Hua, who had been rushing at him with a good momentum, flinched.
Because the Old Tiger Ghost was an opponent they could not dare to look down on.
While a brief silence descended.
Cheonghyeonjin sighed and took a step forward.
"While I deal with the old ghost, Gukbo, you move first."
"I understand. Elder."
"Alright, then... huh?"
At that moment, Cheonghyeonjin's eyes widened.
"Kkeuaaak!"
The confident Old Tiger Ghost let out a terrible scream and flew dozens of feet, and was buried in the ground.
And following that...
"Shit. Why is that yours?"
A man who stood in front of the entrance, scattering a white radiance.
Cheonghyeonjin shut his mouth for a moment.
The person who should have been tracking the Blood Ghost Valley for a long time...
'Why is Young Master Cheon here?'
(End of Chapter)