C 365
Thud!
The boat docked at the pier.
Nam Gung-Wol and his companions slowly disembarked and looked around.
Eungdam was much smaller than Poyang Lake, where they had been before. Even the pier looked old and worn.
Yong Ha-sang frowned.
It was the fishy smell wafting from the pier.
His face scrunched up involuntarily because he was not used to such a strong odour. The same was true for Yeom Hee-soo.
She couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the repulsive smell.
No matter how famous a warrior she was in Kangho, smelling such a stench was an embarrassing ordeal.
Yeom Hee-soo asked Nam Gung-Wol,
mymtlnoveltranslations
"Where shall we start?"
"There's only one pier here, so there must be someone who saw them."
"So we have to start asking around."
"Right."
"We'll have to split up to do that."
"Yes! Let's split up, ask around and then come back here after we get some information."
"Understood."
Yeom Hee-soo nodded.
Yong Ha-sang didn't answer, but he understood well enough.
Although I don't feel good about going according to his intentions, there is no other choice at the moment.
Pyo Wol hadn't asked for their help.
They were the ones who had sneaked onto the boat.
It was not for them to complain about Pyo Wol acting on his own.
Withdrawing after complaining would only damage their own reputation.
They had to produce results here, no matter what.
It was the only way to save face.
The three of them scattered to ask if there were any witnesses against the Blood Ant Chamber members. akhi buy me a coffee
Nam Gung-Wol had a lot of experience in this area, so he could naturally get along with the people. However, Yong Ha-sang and Yeom Hee-soo had never conducted such an investigation before.
Of course, they had to talk to the people. But everyone avoided them when they approached them with intimidating expressions.
As a result, they couldn't even start a real conversation. akhi buy me a coffee
In the end, they didn't get any information and just wandered aimlessly around the dock. mymtlnoveltranslations
***
Dragon Tiger Mountain was a famous mountain.
The scenery of cliffs and rocky mountains, strange rocks, caves and lush forests was a harmonious blend that pleased people's eyes.
Above all, what made Dragon Tiger Mountain famous was its reputation as the highest Taoist mountain.
Although it had diminished greatly, at its peak it was said to have 81 Taoist temples and 36 Taoist institutions. However, after experiencing two major wars, many of the temples were destroyed and fell into ruin. akhi buy me a coffee
As a result, the glory of Taoism declined greatly. At one point, the mountain was even said to be abandoned.
Recently, the empty temples began to fill up again, but it was almost nothing compared to when it used to thrive.
Pyo Wol looked around at the foot of Dragon Tiger Mountain.
Perhaps because of the steep terrain, there was not even a shadow of a person to be seen.
Where there used to be paths, the grass and trees had grown thick due to the lack of human traffic.
Ordinary people might have despaired of where to begin, but Pyo Wol was different.
First, Pyo Wol surveyed his surroundings.
No matter how dense the bushes and trees were, there was always a trace of humans wherever they passed. akhi buy me a coffee
What Pyo Wol was looking for was such a place.
The only difference was that Pyo Wol was on the lookout for a path that would probably be used by animals, not humans.
After all, the paths used by humans were first made by the beasts themselves.
The paths that were easy for the beasts to travel on were also easy for the humans to travel on. The beasts were the ones to be displaced when the paths of beasts and humans overlapped.
Beasts would naturally avoid humans and make new paths, and these paths were usually out of sight of humans. On the other hand, it was easier to monitor the paths taken by humans.
The beasts' instinct to fear humans led them to make paths in the most optimal places.
Pyo Wol quickly found the path the beasts were using.
He saw the droppings of wild boar and deer on the small path.
Pyo Wol touched the dung with his hand.
The dry droppings quickly crumbled.
This meant that the droppings had been there for a long time. The lack of fresh droppings meant that the beasts hadn't been around for a while.
There was only one reason why the beasts wouldn't use their familiar path - their territory had been invaded by humans.
Pyo Wol followed the beasts' path. mymtlnoveltranslations
The beasts' path led deep into the Dragon Tiger Mountain.
At some point, Pyo Wol's eyes shone sharply.
"This is the place!"
He saw two paths crossing in front of him.
One was the path of the beasts he was following, and the other was a fairly wide path. It was a path used by humans.
It was clear that the beasts had moved elsewhere to avoid the humans when the two paths crossed.
Pyo Wol moved from the animal path to the newly discovered human path.
The path was overgrown with bushes, making it hard to believe that humans had been here. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary thicket. But Pyo Wol's eyes clearly saw the traces of human passage.
Pyo Wol followed the faint tracks.
They led deep into the Dragon Tiger Mountain. But at some point, the tracks disappeared like a lie.
The tracks weren't broken by geographical features like cliffs or waterfalls. The tracks had completely disappeared in a seemingly ordinary terrain.
It was impossible for a person who did not have wings to disappear without leaving any traces behind.
If a person had passed through, there would be tracks.
He just hadn't found them yet. But the tracks were definitely there.
Pyo Wol climbed a nearby tree and chewed on the jerky he had prepared.
Sometimes impatience can cloud one's senses, so he took a rest to calm his mind.
Having rested sufficiently, Pyo Wol moved again.
He searched the area thoroughly, but the tracks still didn't appear.
Pyo Wol suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.
It was an ordinary landscape, but something was on his nerves.
He wondered why and soon found out.
"There is no sound coming from over there.
Where Pyo Wol stood, he could hear birdsong, insect cries and the sound of leaves colliding.
But there was no such sound coming from the other side of him.
It was something that could never happen in a normal situation.
"Is it a formation?"
What lay before him was undoubtedly a highly advanced formation.
A sophisticated formation had been used in this area, one that could fool Pyo Wol's senses.
"It's a formation that hinders human perception and shakes their senses."
Pyo Wol was not completely ignorant of formations.
As an asssassin, he had to know some formations, and he had not been lazy in studying them. Still, he couldn't recognise the formation in front of him because it was so advanced. mymtlnoveltranslations
It was impossible for an ordinary place to have such a high-level formation.
For now, he knew nothing about the Formation he wanted to enter.
Entering it recklessly might alert the enemies.
Pyo Wol watched the formation from his hiding place.
One of his specialities was patient observation.
Sometimes unexpected weaknesses were discovered through persistent observation.
Pyo Wol watched the formation for almost two hours without moving.
"Maybe..."
A possibility flashed through his mind.
It was still just an inspiration. But Pyo Wol used his vivid imagination to build a framework and flesh it out. Gradually, a path seemed to emerge.
Pyo Wol stared at one point.
It was a huge tree that stood out even in the dense forest.
No one knew how long it had been.
Although no one knew how long the tree had lived, its branches and leaves perfectly covered an area of about ten plots.
The massive tree, so large that it could not be reached even if several adults surrounded it, was the centre of the formation.
A strong flow of qi was concentrated in the tree. Pyo Wol's senses could clearly feel the flow of qi.
Pyo Wol watched the tree without moving.
Surely there will be a change.
It wasn't an unfounded thought.
If the Dragon Tiger Mountain was indeed their base, then there was no way that they wouldn't have known about the news that Nam Gung-Wol and the others had been stirring up trouble in Eungdam. mymtlnoveltranslations
Nam Gung-Wol and his group were the bait. Nam Gung-Wol knew this too.
Only Yong Ha-sang and Yeom Hee-soo were unknowingly used by Pyo Wol.
Given their personalities, they could have turned the dock area upside down. Pyo Wol had expected such a situation.
What Pyo Wol needed now was patience. And what he did best was patience and waiting.
Time passed endlessly. And finally, the moment Pyo Wol had been waiting for came.
Zzzz!
Suddenly, the area around the massive tree began to ripple.
At that moment, Pyo Wol moved.
Without making a sound or a trace, he approached the vicinity of the tree.
To act like Pyo Wol in an unpredictable situation was extremely reckless. However, Pyo Wol did not hesitate.
He unleashed the Ghost Stealth Technique and completely concealed his presence.
At that moment, a group of martial artists appeared from the side of the tree.
It was as if they had fallen from the sky.
The place where they appeared was the only weak point in the formation. It could be called the vital point.
They were dressed in the same clothes as the blood-stained members who had died in the ambush.
"Someone appeared at the dock and interrogated us, we must find out their identity."
"Yes!"
Unaware of Pyo Wol hiding nearby, the martial artists continued their conversation.
Pyo Wol realised that Nam Gung-Wol and the others were moving as planned.
"Let's go!"
The martial artists ran towards Eungdam, where the dock was.
Even as they ran and trampled the bushes, not a single blade of grass was broken.
All of them were high-ranking experts capable of using qigong.
In an instant, they disappeared from sight.
Immediately afterwards, the space where they appeared started rippling again, trying to close.
Pyo Wol, who had been hiding using the Ghost Stealth Technique, jumped into the vital point.
At that moment, the surroundings changed.
The thick bushes disappeared as if they never existed, and a sheer cliff appeared instead.
Amazing!
Pyo Wol couldn't help but be astonished.
He had seen many formations, but this was the first time he had seen one so intricate and so vast.
A formation of this size and complexity could not have been created in a day or two.
A considerable amount of manpower and time must have been invested to create such a masterpiece. Furthermore, a skilled Formation Master had to remain and continually repair a formation of this level in order to maintain it.
It was not a task that could be done by one or two people.
Pyo Wol hid near the vital point and sharpened his senses. Then he felt the presence of people here and there.
There were guards hiding nearby. But they didn't expect Pyo Wol to jump when the vital point opened. As a result, they didn't notice that Pyo Wol was hiding.
Pyo Wol stayed hidden and stared at the cliff.
If the cliff was trying to hide such a massive formation, there must be something inside.
Approaching the cliff while avoiding the gaze of the guards was no easy task.
Pyo Wol could sense the presence of more than ten people. It might not seem like much to count, but the problem lay in where they were positioned.
They occupied places that could not be seen from any angle.
It was not easy to approach the cliff while avoiding their eyes. But that was true for ordinary warriors.
Pyo Wol was a skilled warrior at hiding and approaching targets stealthily. When he decided to hide nobody could find him.
Pyo Wol used synchronisation.
He precisely matched the breathing and vital reactions of those who were hiding.
In this state he used the light-foot technique.
He walked without making a sound, like a slithering snake.
Human concentration has its limits. No matter how much they stared, their attention would eventually waver and they would engage in other activities.
Even the most rigorously trained warriors couldn't avoid this.
And with a formation as their primary line of defence, their concentration could only decrease.
Pyo Wol understood the psychology of the guards better than anyone.
As if he was going for a walk, he casually walked through the guards.
It was a strange sight.
Although more than ten guards were hiding, none of them noticed Pyo Wol walking through the middle of them.
Not one of them noticed Pyo Wol passing by, even though their eyes were not rotten or useless.
Pyo Wol finally arrived at the foot of the cliff, avoiding all the guards.
There, Pyo Wol saw it.
A colossal vertical cave with no visible end.
The depth of the cave was unfathomable and reminded Pyo Wol of the underground chambers where he was born as an assassin.