The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 35

[ … words ]

***

The destination is an unconfirmed area at the end of the map.

The person who had wandered around the cave said he saw Mi-ta-seong-su beyond this unconfirmed area and returned.

The cave confused people more in the form of rooms of various sizes connected.

In particular, there were many cases where, after fighting in a room and retreating, they wandered around the room incorrectly, met the enemy from a moment ago again, and were killed.

“A fight has broken out in front. We will turn back.”

I turned and turned to avoid the battle as much as possible and moved toward the destination.

“……You heard this already?”

Seong Mo-ran, who had been sticking to my side at some point, listened for a moment and said with a surprised expression.

“How much internal energy do you have?”

Since the ability of the five senses is influenced by internal energy, the expanded five senses were also proof of vast internal energy.

But because I couldn’t tell her everything, I gave a rough excuse.

“Perhaps it is because the internal energy is pure. Isn’t the Tae-eul Internal Energy Method (Tae-eul-sim-beop) famous for its purity? The thing you gave me last time also helped.”

“Ah…….”

Saying ‘That’s fortunate’ and nodding, she was following me without any more words.

As a result of moving forward while examining the entire cave, I was able to roughly grasp the aspect of the battle.

But at the same time, it was not easily convincing that 500 people died here.

Sporadic fights continued to happen, but it was not desperation enough to kill and silence the injured, and because they were people who knew that their own damage would not be small the more the fight became excessive, there were many cases of stopping at a moderate nerve war.

“……This.”

Thinking this and that, I stopped at a fork in the road.

At my appearance of being at a loss, the warriors all started to tighten their swords.

“Why are you like this?”

“One place is having a fight for a while, and one place is a group of people waiting.”

“And?”

“The blood scent on the waiting side is quite thick.”

“……!”

“What shall we do?”

“We didn’t come here to keep avoiding people.”

As Nam-gung Seon-hwa drew her sword, the Nam-gung-se-ga warriors exuded a rough aura.

Bringing them to prepare for such a situation was a good thing.

“I will take the lead.”

The Iron Sword Sect, including Seong Mo-ran, took charge of the rear, and the Nam-gung-se-ga moved forward.

“We have to go to the left, right?”

“Yes.”

As we entered the room, inside the cave, three men in fancy clothes and a dozen men in red martial arts clothes were standing in the middle of a sea of blood.

‘Nine-Ground Divine Sword (Gu-ji-sin-geom) Ma Go-san, Golden Horned Copper Man (Geum-gak-dong-in) Sa Mu-in, Paradise Boy (Geuk-rak-dong-ja) Seo Hyeon-jae.’

Among the Black Path people I saw on the street of Akyang, masters I had to be especially wary of were occupying the cave.

“My, my, the young lady of the Nam-gung-se-ga has come all the way to a rough place.”

Seo Hyeon-jae, known as the Yin Demon (Um-ma), said while licking his lips.

“Didn’t you come in to find Mi-ta-seong-su? Even if you are Black Path, is it okay to commit such meaningless slaughter?”

“Actually, we didn’t want to spend time in a place like this either. However, we also had unavoidable circumstances.”

“What is that?”

“The map disappeared during the battle.”

“……That wouldn’t be it.”

It was clear that they had lost it while fighting the opponent or it had been damaged.

“Anyway, you would need a map to find Mi-ta-seong-su. If it stays like this, I’m so disappointed that I can’t get Mi-ta-seong-su…… I might keep killing people.”

Seo Hyeon-jae, opening his eyes wide and licking his lips.

“It seems you find the Nam-gung-se-ga funny.”

All three of them belonged to the Blood Snake Room (Hyeol-sa-bang), a giant Black Path force based in Gui-yang, Gui-ju province.

But even so, they wouldn’t be able to face the Nam-gung-se-ga, the main axis of the Murim Alliance. I was quite curious about what kind of confidence they had to act like this.

“How could that be? Moreover, we are shabby like this because we lost quite a number of personnel on the river path. That’s why we have something prepared separately.”

The guy took out a sphere the size of two human fists from his bosom.

Someone among the warriors spat out the identity of the object as if groaning.

“Thunderclap Bomb (Byeok-ryeok-tan)……!”

“!”

“!”

Nam-gung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran’s two eyes also widened and couldn’t hide their surprise.

Thunderclap Bomb is an item of the military, so it is not an item that can be easily obtained even in the black market.

Let alone, it was an item that should not have gone into the hands of the Black Path even more.

“If you use that, you won’t be safe either.”

“It would be better to die here if we cannot obtain Mi-ta-seong-su and go out.”

“Even so, did you think the Nam-gung-se-ga would succumb to threats?”

I tilted my head while looking at the appearance of the Thunderclap Bomb.

When the Thunderclap Bomb first appeared, I was quite surprised and wondered if it was an item responsible for the 500 deaths, but in reality, I had no choice but to be suspicious after enhancing my vision and seeing its size.

Although the destructive power of the Thunderclap Bomb is great, it couldn’t collapse the entire cave with that size.

At the end of the Righteous-Demonic Great War, the So-jeong-dae, which had truly become desperate, robbed the military warehouse and dealt with the guys with Thunderclap Bombs, so I knew for sure.

Moreover, the stone quality of the cave in Ma-ryeong-go-won was quite solid, so it didn’t seem like the collapse of one place would lead to another.

“Prepare the sword formation.”

At Nam-gung Seon-hwa’s cool words, Seo Hyeon-jae took out a flint from his bosom and lit it.

And at that time, I intervened.

“Is it true that you came here looking at the map?”

Seo Hyeon-jae frowned and glared at me.

“Who are you?”

The guy, as expected of a rootless Black Path person, was choosing people and keeping manners.

“I am a party of these people. The person who manages the map.”

“Why are you curious about that?”

“If you came looking at the map, you would know that not much is left from here to the destination, so that’s why.”

“……Hmm, was it so? I couldn’t check because the guy burned the map while dying.”

“By any chance, did you lose the map in the process of betraying? Because of that, you lost the path you saw on the map?”

“……!”

The guys exchanged gazes with each other without a word.

“It seems you did.”

“Shut up. If you don’t want to die here too, it would be better to hand over the map you have in your bosom.”

“I understand.”

The astonished gazes flew from Seong Mo-ran and Nam-gung Seon-hwa’s party.

I ignored that, took the map out of my bosom, and threw it to them.

“It is a map marked up to the destination. Do not ask where this is.”

“Hmph! We also know where it is.”

Seo Hyeon-jae, who said that, licked his tongue with an expression of regret and put the Thunderclap Bomb back into his bosom.

“It’s regrettable, Miss. Even so, I hope you don’t follow us closely. Because we don’t know when the Thunderclap Bomb will explode.”

Seo Hyeon-jae and his party slowly took a guard posture and entered the leftmost fork among the three forks.

“Jin Gong-ja, what on earth are you doing!”

Nam-gung Seon-hwa approached with a face that had turned pale.

“Ah, don’t worry. Anyway, there is no way they will approach Mi-ta-seong-su.”

“What does that mean?”

“The map they took is a fake map.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t it clear that there will be a fight over the map inside the cave? Of course, I didn’t know there was a crazy guy who even brought a Thunderclap Bomb to a place like this, but anyway, I made a few more maps on purpose for that.”

I said while showing a few scrolls from my luggage, and Nam-gung Seon-hwa, Seong Mo-ran, and Yu Ji-ryang looked at the scrolls hidden in their bosoms with eyes that couldn’t believe it.

“Ah, those are real. You don’t have to worry.”

“By the way, is it true that we have reached the destination?”

“That is correct.”

“Then let’s go quickly.”

As we started moving again, this time Nam-gung Seon-hwa stuck closely to my side instead of Seong Mo-ran.

“Jin Gong-ja, by any chance, can I ask you one favor?”

“Favor…… you mean?”

“Yes. If you hear the story and don’t want to, you can refuse.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“By any chance, if Jin Gong-ja obtains Mi-ta-seong-su, can you sell the rest to me excluding Jin Gong-ja’s share?”

“If we move together, isn’t the possibility higher for So-jeo? Why are you saying such things?”

“For some reason, I feel like Jin Gong-ja will obtain Mi-ta-seong-su.”

Although I prepared a water container to hold Mi-ta-seong-su separately, I know how the ending of this Mi-ta-seong-su ends in my past life.

In this incident that caused 500 casualties, Mi-ta-seong-su did not end up showing its appearance.

“Why do you think so?”

Nam-gung Seon-hwa pointed to my water container.

“Because Mi-ta-seong-su has the nature of extreme yin, it must never be grabbed by a human body. Because it freezes everything around it, you must not carelessly put it anywhere. But while coming this far, I haven’t even seen ten people who prepared a water container like this.”

It seems she kept glancing at me throughout the way because she was guessing the use of this water container.

“I will refuse.”

“Yes? Why?”

“I intend to give it to a suitable child among the children of my sect.”

“Ah……. By any chance, is there something going on?”

“I intend to take the Murim Academy regular exam.”

“At the Tae-eul-mun?!”

“…….”

Only after Nam-gung Seon-hwa let out a sigh did she realize she had made a mistake.

Because asking if the Tae-eul-mun would take the exam was no different from saying she looked down on the other party.

“Ah…… I. I am sorry.”

“I understand.”

After saying that, I started walking a few steps ahead.

Her reaction was not new at all, but just because it was familiar didn’t mean it didn’t bother me.

As we passed a few caves like that, a party with tremendous aura was approaching from one path.

I stopped the party for a moment and went ahead.

Since it was certain that we could reach the destination only if we passed this place, I intended to examine the opponent and let them pass first.

*Swoosh, puck.*

At that moment, the wind of fingers (Ji-pung) was shot at the side of my face right next to me, and a few stones that were smashed on the ceiling fell to the floor.

At the same time, Yong So-a and the Wudang Sect Taoists approached in an orderly manner.

Not a drop of blood was on Yong So-a’s body, and there were no traces of a big fight on the Taoists’ attire.

However, the party of Ha Min-jung, Ak Mu-heon, and Yang In-soo, who followed them, had been reduced to half, moreover, their condition also didn’t look very intact.

“You had petty tricks, so did you survive alone?”

Yong So-a scanned me and said so, and at the same time, the Ha Min-jung party was giggling from behind as if what was so funny.

I ignored Yong So-a and shouted toward the back.

“Please come out. It doesn’t seem like an enemy.”

As the Nam-gung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran party started to come out one by one from the back cave, a faint crack appeared on Yong So-a’s face, and the faces of the Ha Min-jung party distorted as if they had chewed on feces.

“It is fortunate that I didn’t follow that side after all.”

“…….”

At my words, Yong So-a glared at me with cool eyes.

“……I will watch until the end.”

Ha Min-jung and his party looked at the Nam-gung-se-ga party like cows being dragged to the slaughterhouse, then followed Yong So-a.

As we finally reached the destination, a huge cavern that I had never seen before appeared.

In the cavern where hundreds of people could enter, not even one person was visible.

That was not the only strange point.

Unlike the rooms of other caves that were circular, this giant cavern was positioned as if one side had been cut off, and in the cut-off part, a dark shadow was firmly positioned instead of a wall.

“It seems everyone went inside here.”

Yu Ji-ryang put his hand into the black shadow.

Then, his hand was completely hidden by the shadow and could not be seen.

“Fortunately, the formation installed does not seem that dangerous. It also feels a bit like a natural formation…….”

“Is there anything strange?”

“It is not that, but the energy it is forming is quite powerful. No matter how much it is a formation that has been maintained for three or four hundred years, it is too powerful.”

“Will that be a problem?”

“I calculated for the case of an emergency. Because it is in the form of a natural formation, it will collapse easily with ordinary destructive power.”

Whether he was listening to Yu Ji-ryang’s story together, Yong So-a moved his steps right away.

Nam-gung Seon-hwa stopped him in astonishment.

“Great Hero Yong So-a! How about waiting a little longer and entering after the analysis is finished?”

“It is a formation that even a herbalist escaped, so there is no way a martial artist cannot pass.”

With that word, Yong So-a and the Wudang Taoists slipped inside, and subsequently, the Ha Min-jung party also entered the formation one by one.

“It may be that there is no big problem just as Great Hero Hyeon-cheong said, everything is just in case.”

But at that time, a sound that rang through the cave echoed.

“Nam-gung-se-ga! That name is a waste, how dare you play such a trick!”

It was the voice of Seo Hyeon-jae whom I had met just a moment ago.

“Unfold the Long Bow Sword Formation (Chang-gung-geom-jin)!”

Warriors who started moving all at once at Nam-gung Seon-hwa’s shout.

Inside that, the three sorcerers of the Mo-san Sect quickly put their hands in to grasp the formation, and were busy calculating while writing pictures and numbers on the floor.

“You bastard who handed over the map! I will definitely pull out your eyeballs and eat them!”

The voice started to be heard closer and closer.

At that time, Yu Ji-ryang rose up and said,

“Calculation finished. It is okay to enter.”

“Move quickly!”

This time, Yu Ji-ryang stood at the very front, then I, and then Seong Mo-ran and Nam-gung Seon-hwa started to enter in order.

It was a place full of only pitch-black darkness where one couldn’t see an inch ahead, but Yu Ji-ryang, who walked to the left and right for a long time, found an exit where a subtle light came out at some point.

The moment I crossed the exit.

At the sword blade that suddenly rushed in, I quickly kicked Yu Ji-ryang’s back of the knee to knock him down and simultaneously drew my sword.

*Clang!*

The moment the swords collided, I realized that it was an opponent without much internal energy and simultaneously pulled up the internal energy of the eight-star level to cut the guy’s throat.

*Swoosh!*

“Cough!”

The Black Path person scattered, spraying a blood fountain.

The scene that appeared beyond the formation was a scene where people were fighting while spraying blood fountains inside a huge cavern of the same size as the cavern I had just passed.

“Maintain the sword formation!”

“Iron Sword Squad! Unfold the Nine-Heavy Sword Formation (Gu-jung-geom-jin)! Remove the blind spots.”

We were standing on one side watching the aspects of the battle.

The aspects of those who were divided into two sides and fighting fiercely were strange.

In particular, those who entered with us and those standing on the opposite side were all wearing dirty clothes as if they hadn’t changed their clothes for days on their skinny bodies.

“Miss Nam-gung!”

At that time, Yu Ji-ryang called Nam-gung Seon-hwa with excitement for the first time.

“It is a big deal!”

“What is it?”

Nam-gung Seon-hwa, who was watching the aspects of the battle, answered instead of looking.

“It seems they are trapped.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know what you mean. Explain it simply.”

“The formation on the inside and the formation on the outside are different from each other.”