novelraw Chapter 101 : Chapter 101
Chapter 101 : Chapter 101
Chapter 101 Stone Cavern (3)
“……What is that?”
Looking at the A-frame carrier lying on the grotto floor, the man asked.
“Tha-that is…….”
The supervisor stuttered with a panicked face.
Since the workers often brought in snacks or such things, he had not actually paid much attention to that carrier.
However, the sound that just rang out was clearly the sound of weapons clashing.
Worried that he would be questioned for failing to manage things properly, the supervisor's mind began to race quickly.
“Isn’t that the thing Un-ja and Yong-gwang-i used to carry around?”
The workers whispered, and the man frowned.
“Open it.”
The supervisor, who stopped thinking at the man’s words, let out a sigh and began to run quickly toward the carrier.
[What? Just what is going on?]
Mad Dragon’s telepathic message reached Jaun’s ears.
Jaun looked around and replied via telepathic message.
[These people…… belong to the Demonic Cult. As we expected, this is a space created by the Blood Cult for the invasion of the Central Plains.]
[Are you sure? It’s not just a performance hall?]
[Yes. Since there is no time, I will explain in detail later. But it is certain that the Blood Cult is involved.]
Mad Dragon frowned at Jaun’s answer.
Jaun also quickly informed Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong and Ban Cheol-hwi of the situation via telepathic message.
[For now, please stay still until I give the signal.]
Jaun, who had requested the group to wait by sending the telepathic messages, quickly organized his thoughts.
‘The best way is to destroy this grotto without our identities being discovered. Since there are many eyes watching right now, I must get through this situation without overdoing it.’
The best method was to first report the existence of such structures to the Murim Alliance and the Sado Alliance, then quickly find similar structures and collapse them all at once.
If they weren't handled all at once, the Demonic Cult members would become wary, making it inevitably difficult to search for the remaining structures.
Therefore, he had to somehow get through the current situation well.
If he gave them unnecessary alarm, it was obvious that there would be inconveniences in their future actions.
‘Since the workers are here, I can't silence everyone by killing them.’
He had also thought of a way to eliminate all the Demonic Cult members, but news would inevitably flow to the Demonic Cult through the surviving workers and the supervisor.
‘The only way is to try to pass it off as something trivial as much as possible.’
The supervisor approached and untied the cloth that had been tied to the carrier.
Once the cloth was undone, several books, a wine bottle, and something long wrapped in another cloth were revealed.
The man slowly approached and picked up a book first.
“Wisdom of the Immortals Managing Scholar's Caps……?”
The man tossed the book aside with a flick.
When Ban Cheol-hwi bristled and tried to stand up from his seat, Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
“Introduction to Architecture, Basics of Military Strategy, Essence of Five Elements Formations from a Different Angle?”
The man, who checked the books one by one and threw them back on the ground, now reached his hand toward the wine bottle.
After opening the cap and smelling it, the man put the wine bottle down when there was nothing special about it.
Following that, the man's hand eventually moved toward the weapons.
Having confirmed that, Jaun stood up and walked forward.
As Jaun approached closely, the man raised his hand to stop him.
“Stop. Is this…… your stuff?”
“That’s right. There is a 60th birthday banquet for an acquaintance soon, and these are decorative weapons to be given to that person. I am sorry for causing unnecessary concern. You don't even have to bother unwrapping them.”
“Enough. Stop right there. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
The man, who scanned Jaun with suspicious eyes, began to unwrap the remaining cloth.
Jaun quickly scanned the energy of the Demonic Cult members.
The woman called Muhyang appeared to be a first-rate master who had learned sound arts, and the other two were also people with martial prowess around the first-rate level.
In the first place, they were people who were no match for Jaun, and as long as Mad Dragon and Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong were together, it was a situation where there were no variables.
‘……If I can't pass through quietly, the only way is to use martial force.’
Since they were at a level he could sufficiently handle even without a weapon in hand, Jaun decided to watch how things unfolded a bit more for now.
The cloth fell down, and Jaun’s Mangru Blood Sword and Mad Dragon’s long saber were revealed.
The man first picked up Mad Dragon’s darkish saber.
“Hmm. You say this is a decorative saber?”
With an expression of disbelief, the man turned toward Jaun.
Mad Dragon’s saber was quite worn out and its edge was not even properly sharpened, so it was completely unsightly even in Jaun's eyes.
“Tsk tsk. I can tell the level of it.”
Having confirmed that Mad Dragon’s expression distorted for a moment, Jaun calmed him down with a telepathic message.
[Mad Dragon!]
[Tha-that ignorant bastard. He doesn’t even know what a famous craftsman made that. How dare a guy who knows nothing evaluate this old man’s saber?]
Jaun calmed the huffing Mad Dragon with difficulty.
The man, who put Mad Dragon’s saber down with a thud, now picked up the Mangru Blood Sword.
The man, who looked at the scabbard for a moment, grabbed the hilt and slightly unsheathed the sword.
─ KEEEEING
The Mangru Blood Sword, being pulled from its scabbard, made a strange noise.
Having confirmed the blood-red light flowing from the blade, the man was startled and pulled the sword all the way out.
─ WOOOOONG
When the man swung the sword once in the air, the blade trembled and vibrated.
The man, who was looking at the sword here and there with startled eyes, turned his head toward Jaun.
The man's expression was frozen hard.
“You, what is your relationship with the Sado Alliance?”
Jaun’s expression froze.
[Mad Dragon. Is that sword famous enough for the Demonic Cult guys to recognize it?]
[What’s the point of saying it twice? It is one of the Five Great Treasures of the Sado Alliance. There is only one craftsman in the Jianghu who can make a blade as blood-red as that. It is a work created by the Master of the Yu Family Ironworks, who supplies weapons to the Imperial Palace. No, but my saber was also made by that Master guy, so why can’t he recognize my saber? That, that guy who only knows how to look at the surface…….]
Ignoring Mad Dragon’s continuing telepathic message, Jaun’s mind raced quickly, but no suitable answer came to mind.
“That…… Actually, it is just a decoration made exactly like a famous sword, and not a proper sword…….”
“Ridiculous.”
The man flicked the sword with a finger, infusing internal energy.
─ KEEEEEEEEING
The sword, imbued with internal energy, burned and cried in a vivid red color.
Watching that sight, Jaun was also startled.
It was because he had never properly used the sword and had not thought it would be such a remarkable artifact.
[The Alliance Leader gave you that sword to try and seduce you, so how could it be an ordinary sword?]
At the telepathic message that came through, Jaun turned his head toward Mad Dragon.
He saw Mad Dragon letting out a deep sigh.
“This sword is probably the Mangru Blood Sword. There are not many swords in this Jianghu that are red even to the blade. There is no mistake. I definitely heard that this sword is one that the Sado Alliance Leader treasures quite a bit.”
The man looked at Jaun with a hardened expression.
“I will ask again. What is your relationship with the Sado Alliance?”
Muhyang and another man stood and surrounded Jaun in an instant.
The men glared at Jaun, and Muhyang slowly took out the Seven-stringed Zither from behind her back and unwrapped the cloth.
‘Tsk. Things have become annoying.’
Jaun frowned.
Now, it seemed there was no way out no matter what excuse he made.
To think the sword he received from the Alliance Leader would be such an object that clearly reveals his identity.
When Jaun failed to provide any answer, the man's face became increasingly serious.
“Sado Alliance, what does that mean?”
“Un-ja belongs to the Sado Alliance?”
“That can’t be. Why would a martial artist from the Sado Alliance be working here with us for over two months?”
He could hear the workers whispering.
Meanwhile, the three people looked at Jaun while slowly raising their energy.
Since the Demonic Cult was also in a situation where they were creating this space in secret, they wouldn't want to make things big.
At the workers’ words that Jaun’s group had been working here for over two months, the Demonic Cult members were also unable to grasp the situation and just kept glaring at Jaun.
“I will ask for the last time. What is your relationship with the Sado Alliance?”
“I have no relationship. Actually, I stole that.”
At the words Jaun spat out with a half-desperate heart, Mad Dragon let out a hollow laugh as if it was absurd.
“You’re not even trying to joke.”
The man looked at Jaun with cold eyes and signaled to the side, then Muhyang placed her hand over her Seven-stringed Zither.
‘Tsk. Sound arts are…… annoying.’
Jaun felt Muhyang’s energy moving and gritted his teeth.
He was even thinking of letting himself be captured for a while if it was said that they were only attacking him.
However, if that woman used sound arts in a space like this, even the innocent workers could be harmed.
‘It can’t be helped. For now, I have to suppress these three people.’
The moment Jaun made up his mind, a clear sound—ting-a-ling—filled the grotto.
Muhyang’s hand, which she lightly flicked, created a melody, and when the melody containing internal energy spread out, the entire grotto shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
Jaun and Mad Dragon simultaneously extended their energy to block the energy spreading in all directions.
As if there was no intention to harm people, the energy of the sound arts was easily controlled.
“There are people who have mastered martial arts!”
Muhyang, who quickly turned her eyes while observing the surrounding reactions, shouted.
Jaun, who met Muhyang’s eyes, let out a small sigh and spoke toward his group.
“Let’s suppress them.”
As Jaun clicked his tongue and turned his body at the same time, Mad Dragon stood up abruptly from his seat.
“That bastard is my share.”
Mad Dragon lunged toward the man holding the Mangru Blood Sword.
“For now, just suppress them!”
Jaun, who moved to the side in an instant using the Demon Shadow Step, pressed down on Muhyang’s Paralysis Point and Mute Point in succession.
“?!”
Muhyang could not feel Jaun’s movement at all.
‘He was clearly in front of me until a moment ago……!’
The child who had been standing in front of her vanished like smoke, and at the same time, her body froze.
‘He was a master.’
Muhyang stared straight ahead with panicked eyes.
Along with some flashing light, the two men who had been standing in front also soon collapsed powerlessly on the spot.
Like that, the situation was settled in an instant.
Muhyang, who was standing stiffly on the spot with her Mute Point and Paralysis Point struck, and the two men sprawled on the floor.
As Mad Dragon, who possessed the prowess of a Transcendental Peak Realm, and Jaun, who was already stepping on the edge of the Peak Realm, moved with determination, the three people couldn't even get a chance to move.
The complexions of the workers and the supervisor, who belatedly escaped the aftermath of the sound arts, turned pale.
“Yo-you guys.”
Chu Pal spoke with difficulty, and the supervisor and the surrounding workers stood close against the stone wall with startled expressions.
“By any chance, those people…… are they dead?”
Looking at the two men collapsed on the floor, someone muttered.
Fear began to fill the workers’ faces.
“Tsk. It was somewhat fun.”
Mad Dragon, who was looking at the workers with a bitter expression, spat on the ground and kicked the bodies of the two men sprawled on the floor.
“Because of you bastards!”
─ THUD! THU-UD!
“Mad Dragon!”
At Jaun’s shout, Mad Dragon stopped his feet and spat on the ground once more.
“I’m not killing them. I also have a brain. But I can't let these damn bastards just lie down comfortably like this.”
One side of the ribs of the men who were kicked by Mad Dragon’s feet were all crushed.
Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong sighed and slowly walked forward.
“Young Master Jaun. Just what in the world is going on? Please explain properly.”
Jaun quietly whispered the current situation in a small voice to the group who approached closely.
“In the end, it was indeed the Demonic Cult's scheme.”
Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong let out a deep sigh and bit her lip hard.
“Then…… what should we do now?”
At Ban Cheol-hwi’s question, Jaun also let out a sigh.
“Indeed. What should we do about this?”
Jaun, who sighed, looked back at the fallen martial artists and the workers who were pressed against the wall, filled with tension.
The inside of the grotto was filled with silence.
“Tsk. What do you mean, what should we do? We have to splurge money.”
“Pardon?”
At Mad Dragon’s words that broke the silence, Jaun tilted his head in confusion.