Radiant Sword Tomb (1)

The Sucheon Association was now in complete chaos, as though someone had stirred up a hornet’s nest.

They should have first focused on restoring order internally, but the anxious Association Leader Mak Ujeon had recklessly ordered his subordinates to pursue the eccentrics.

As a result, the Sucheon Association’s defenses were now riddled with glaring holes.

Seonu Jin immediately became a shadow and infiltrated through one of those openings.

It was the easiest infiltration he had ever carried out.

Even infiltrating Na Manor, a mid-sized faction in Guizhou Province, had not been this simple.

‘Had I known it would be this easy, I could have brought Miss Tang along.’

Smiling leisurely, Seonu Jin soon located the prison where criminals were confined.

It was finally time to rescue Do Munseung of the Yeongnam Sword Sect, their original objective.

‘And gather some information while I’m at it.’

After rescuing Do Munseung, he intended to investigate Mak Ujeon’s secret as well.

They did not even seem to have properly assessed the damage yet, so surely they would not notice if one or two more people disappeared.

A short while later, Seonu Jin found Do Munseung inside an outdoor cell within the prison.

Surprisingly, he appeared unharmed as he lay atop a pile of hay.

His face was clouded with worry as though he were thinking about something, but contrary to expectations, his body did not seem injured at all.

While concealed within a nearby shadow, Seonu Jin sent him a voice transmission.

—Brother Do. Do not make a sound. Listen to me.

Do Munseung, who had been idly moving his foot, froze in surprise.

—I am the man who tried to help when Brother Do was taken away this morning. I knew you had been wronged, so I came to rescue you.

Upon hearing the voice transmission, Do Munseung slowly sat up.

He cautiously surveyed his surroundings, leaned his face toward the outside, then slowly shook his head.

‘Huh?’

Seonu Jin frowned at the sight.

That gesture appeared to mean that he did not want to be rescued.

It was extremely strange for someone facing execution, who had even fled because of it, to refuse rescue.

Seonu Jin decided he needed to speak with him directly.

Remaining concealed, he stealthily moved around the prison.

A short while later, he had struck the sleep acupoints of not only the guards watching the prison but also everyone confined in the nearby cells.

Naturally, none of them would have noticed anything.

Do Munseung stared blankly at Seonu Jin, who had silently put everyone nearby to sleep before appearing in front of him, and asked.

“Are you perhaps the Dark-Blood Fragrance?”

The Dark-Blood Fragrance was an unidentified assassin counted among the Thirty-Six Stars of the World alongside Gi Eum, the Nine Abyssal Yun Demon.

Seonu Jin chuckled and answered.

“No. I merely learned concealment arts as a hobby. More importantly, why are you refusing to escape? Were you not facing execution?”

Do Munseung gave him an apologetic expression and first bowed his head in gratitude.

“First, I deeply thank you for coming all this way to save someone you have met only once.”

He then explained the following.

He had originally believed he would be executed as well, but what he had been told after being captured today was somewhat different.

Seonu Jin frowned and asked.

“Different how?”

“Yes. They told me that if I entered a certain cave and retrieved what they wanted, they would neither execute me nor detain me, but immediately send me home. However, if I refused, they said they would execute everyone in the Yeongnam Sword Sect as accomplices who aided my escape.”

Enter a cave and retrieve something they wanted….

Seonu Jin’s eyes gleamed upon hearing that.

Somehow, this seemed directly connected to Mak Ujeon’s secret.

It might be the secret that had killed numerous martial artists in the north, and perhaps even the secret that would turn him into one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World several years later.

‘If that is the case….’

After quickly forming a plan in his mind, Seonu Jin asked Do Munseung another question before explaining it.

“Do you believe them? Their claim that they will let you live and return home if you bring them what they want?”

Do Munseung shook his head with a bitter expression.

“I do not believe that. What I do believe is their threat that if I refuse their offer, they will execute the members of my sect as well.”

Seonu Jin let out a deep sigh.

In the end, he had decided to sacrifice himself to avoid endangering the members of his sect.

As Seonu Jin had first thought, Do Munseung truly was an exceedingly upright man.

It was unfortunate.

However, from Seonu Jin’s present perspective, his decision was also something to be grateful for.

With a lighter heart, Seonu Jin spoke to Do Munseung.

“Since you have decided that, may I make you a proposal?”

Do Munseung’s eyes widened.

“A proposal?”

“Yes. It may be a proposal that saves Brother Do and prevents many more people from dying.”

As Seonu Jin continued explaining, Do Munseung’s gaze gradually became more solemn.

Mak Ujeon, the Rising-Heaven Swordsman and leader of the Sucheon Association, hounded his subordinates until late at night in their search for the Blue-and-Red Twin Swords.

However, despite even mobilizing hunting dogs, they could not find any trace of them.

He did not want to admit it, but it seemed they had completely lost them.

“Grrr!”

Mak Ujeon ground his teeth in rising fury, then suddenly remembered what the eccentric in blue had said.

‘After sacrificing so many lives for your selfish desires, do you still deny that you are Sichuan’s greatest villain? You are truly shameless beyond measure.’

Mak Ujeon’s expression twisted as the memory surfaced.

How had they found out?

And how much did they know?

As Mak Ujeon pondered, something suddenly crossed his mind.

It was Do Munseung, who should have been confined in the prison.

‘No way?!’

Mak Ujeon abruptly turned and raced toward the Sucheon Association’s prison as though flying.

If those people had toyed with him to this extent, there was a possibility that they knew about that matter as well.

‘No. Surely not.’

Mak Ujeon’s heart pounded madly.

Do Munseung himself did not know it, but he was an extremely important person to Mak Ujeon.

If those bastards knew even about him, and had drawn Mak Ujeon away so they could extract Do Munseung in the meantime, there could be no greater disaster.

However, when he hurriedly arrived a short while later, what he saw were the guards and prisoners sleeping soundly, along with Do Munseung asleep inside his cell.

“Hah, hah.”

Mak Ujeon breathed heavily and watched Do Munseung sleeping for a moment before slowly turning away.

Of course, rage surged within him at the sight of the guards sleeping without maintaining any vigilance.

However, if he vented his anger on them now, he felt as though he would be unable to stop himself.

He might end up killing his subordinates.

After leaving the prison, Mak Ujeon looked down at his hands, which were still trembling with rage.

‘When did it become this bad…?’

He could no longer control the inner fire boiling within him.

It felt as though the flames burning in his chest might swallow all his reason in an instant.

Clenching his teeth, he slapped both cheeks hard with his hands.

Slap!

‘No. Get a hold of yourself, Mak Ujeon!’

Mak Ujeon desperately restrained his mind from being swept away by the inner fire.

Fortunately, he could still do so for now.

“Huuu.”

After taking a deep breath, Mak Ujeon ground his teeth and thought.

All of this was because of the Radiant Sword Tomb.

Mak Ujeon’s inner demon.

The death of his son Mak Seryeol, once called the future of the Sucheon Association.

Everything had been caused by it.

Therefore, if only to end this cursed situation, Mak Ujeon absolutely had to break the seal of the Radiant Sword Tomb.

By any means necessary….

Mak Ujeon stopped briefly and turned to look toward the prison where Do Munseung slept.

Do Munseung was now the entirety of Mak Ujeon’s remaining hope.

If even the man rumored to be the most upright gentleman in the surrounding region could not break the seal of the Radiant Sword Tomb, then the only remaining option would be to collapse the entire mountain.

Early the next morning, Do Munseung received a visit from the warriors.

“Get up, Do Munseung. It is time to move.”

The sun had not yet risen. Glancing at the eastern sky, which was only beginning to brighten faintly, Do Munseung asked them with sleepy eyes.

“Already?”

One of the highly irritable warriors immediately snapped.

“If we tell you to come out, then come out! Why do you have so much to say?!”

Another warrior beside him tried to restrain him.

“Hey, calm down. We were told to bring him respectfully.”

“Hmph! Respectfully, my foot!”

Do Munseung sharply examined their expressions.

For some reason, they also seemed extremely tense.

Several horses had already been prepared outside the prison.

Mak Ujeon, leader of the Sucheon Association, was mounted on one of them.

He spoke to Do Munseung with exhausted eyes.

“Come, Young Hero Do. You must be tired, so I apologize for calling you out so early. We do not have much time to spare.”

Do Munseung had no desire to show courtesy to the man who had captured him and threatened the lives of the Yeongnam Sword Sect’s members.

Thus, he merely bowed his head silently.

Mak Ujeon’s eyes twitched at his attitude, but he did not prolong the conversation.

Do Munseung and the warriors soon departed from the Sucheon Association.

They moved covertly, remaining alert in all directions and avoiding the eyes of others, clearly placing great emphasis on secrecy.

Bound and left to the movement of the horse they led, Do Munseung glanced backward once before slowly closing his eyes.

He appeared as though he no longer cared where they took him or what they did.

However, it was not because he had given up.

Although his nose could detect no scent, his body had been marked with the tracking fragrance Seonu Jin had applied the previous day.

It was a colorless and odorless tracking fragrance from the Sichuan Tang Clan, and Seonu Jin had assured him that no one except its users could detect it.

Therefore, that man was probably following behind him.

The chivalrous hero who had come all the way to the Sucheon Association’s prison to rescue him after only a single encounter.

The reassurance that he was not alone brought a renewed sense of calm to Do Munseung’s heart.

It was then.

Mak Ujeon suddenly spoke to him.

“You do not ask anything. Are you not curious about where we are going?”

Do Munseung slowly opened his eyes, looked at him coldly, and answered.

“There is only one thing I wish to know. Whether the Association Leader will keep his promise not to harm the members of the Yeongnam Sword Sect.”

Mak Ujeon silently stared at Do Munseung for a moment.

Eventually, he smiled bitterly and spoke.

“You truly are different from the others. You might actually succeed.”

Then he nodded and spoke to Do Munseung.

“I swear upon my honor—no, upon my life. If you cooperate with us, not so much as a hair on the Yeongnam Sword Sect will be harmed. You may trust me.”

Do Munseung’s gaze softened slightly, and he asked again.

“Then what about me? Will I also be able to return safely?”

At his sudden question, Mak Ujeon seemed lost for words and could not answer.

He merely looked at Do Munseung awkwardly.

Do Munseung nodded.

He felt he knew the answer without needing to hear it.

It apparently meant that they had never intended to send him back alive.

It was a despairing answer, but Do Munseung merely nodded calmly and spoke.

“So that was how it was. There was never a path for me to survive.”

Mak Ujeon could not help admiring how calmly he spoke, as though discussing someone else.

Do Munseung truly seemed worthy of being called the most righteous man in southern Sichuan.

Perhaps this man might genuinely be able to break the seal of that cursed Radiant Sword Tomb.

While Mak Ujeon briefly sank into that thought, Do Munseung asked him another question.

“Then could you at least explain exactly what I must do? If I am to die, I would like to know why.”

Mak Ujeon remained silent briefly, then sighed and opened his mouth.

“Very well. If you have already accepted the situation, there is no need to hide it.”

The story he then told was completely beyond Do Munseung’s expectations.

“Have you ever heard of Jeong Myeonggang, the Radiant Chivalrous Sword Eccentric, who was one of the absolute masters of the martial world roughly fifty years ago?”

“…The Radiant Chivalrous Sword Eccentric, Jeong Myeonggang?”

The absolute masters of the martial world generally changed every twenty or thirty years. Therefore, unless a previous generation’s absolute master possessed a legendary name like the Thunder God or Sword God from a century ago, it was only natural not to know much about them.

Only after searching through his memories for some time did Do Munseung barely recall the name.

“Ah, I remember hearing of him. You mean the unruly eccentric who killed people or performed chivalrous deeds depending entirely on his mood that day.”

Mak Ujeon chuckled at Do Munseung’s words.

“Correct. That is how he is remembered. Because of his capricious personality, he killed countless people and accumulated endless grudges. Yet because of his extraordinary martial prowess, no one could stop him. He was an astonishing swordsman. That is why he was commonly called the Radiant Sword rather than the Radiant Chivalrous Sword Eccentric.”

“I see. But why suddenly speak of him…?”

Mak Ujeon’s expression suddenly brightened.

He looked delighted, as though merely thinking about it made it impossible to suppress his smile.

His face suddenly resembled that of a child proudly showing off a toy as he answered Do Munseung.

“We discovered the tomb of the Radiant Chivalrous Sword Eccentric. A tomb we believe contains his legacy.”

“…What?!”

Mak Ujeon’s abrupt emotional change was unsettling, but even Do Munseung could not maintain his composure upon hearing those words.

The discovery of a tomb containing the legacy of a former absolute master was a fortuitous encounter for which any martial artist would gladly risk their life.

Mak Ujeon appeared pleased by Do Munseung’s astonishment and continued with a smile.

“That tomb is precisely the place you must enter.”

“…Me?”

Mak Ujeon’s subsequent explanation was as follows.

The entrance to the tomb was an artificially constructed underground cave, but everyone who entered it lost their sanity and went mad.

“To be fair, it was written at the cave entrance. It said that only one with a righteous heart could enter.”

That was why they had forcibly brought Do Munseung, who was reputed to be the most righteous person in the surrounding region.

Do Munseung frowned in confusion and asked.

“I do not understand. If the problem is that people lose their inner calm and go mad for some reason, could masters not enter instead? Masters such as yourself, Association Leader?”

However, Mak Ujeon shook his head and let out a deep sigh. The pleased smile that had adorned his face moments earlier was now covered by a dark shadow.

It was yet another excessively abrupt emotional change.

“Why would we not have thought of that? Of course we did. That is why… my son Seryeol entered first. We thought a pinnacle martial artist would be sufficient.”

Deep regret filled Mak Ujeon’s face as he spoke.

Seeing his expression, Do Munseung could guess what had happened.

Thus, he said nothing and merely watched him.

After remaining silent for a while, Mak Ujeon muttered again with a heavy expression.

“We were arrogant. We dared dismiss the arrangements left behind by an absolute master, even one of the previous generation, when we ourselves had not even stepped into the Supreme Realm.”

Mak Seryeol, the young pinnacle master in his thirties who had once been called the hope of the Sucheon Association, confidently entered the cave and emerged as a madman.

And the situation had not ended there.

“I should have remained calm, but after seeing Seryeol become a madman with my own eyes, I could not. I intended to enter myself. However, the Vice Association Leader, Ga Yuak, stopped me and entered the cave first. And… he also went mad.”

For Mak Ujeon, who had been celebrating the discovery of a former absolute master’s legacy, it had been nothing less than a nightmare.

However, the greatest nightmare happened immediately afterward.

The maddened Ga Yuak brutally slaughtered Mak Ujeon’s son, Mak Seryeol.

It happened near the cave entrance, directly before Mak Ujeon’s eyes.

“It happened in an instant. At the time, I could not believe what I was seeing. So I immediately tried to rush into the cave as well.”

However, the instant Mak Ujeon took a single step into the cave, he felt it.

An inexplicable impulse was seeping into his very soul.

Thus, Mak Ujeon had no choice but to exercise superhuman restraint and retreat.

It had been all too obvious that he would suffer the same fate if he continued.

After finishing his story, Mak Ujeon’s unfocused eyes remained fixed on empty space as though once again watching that scene.

Do Munseung, who had listened silently, spoke with a sigh.

“For a man called the Radiant Sword, that is an extraordinarily malicious trap. Are you even certain his legacy is truly inside?”

Mak Ujeon smiled weakly and answered.

“I do not know. But… surely you understand that I cannot give up now.”

Do Munseung said nothing further.

He did not ask why he had been dragged into something Mak Ujeon himself could not abandon, nor why Do Munseung had to risk his life for it.

Within Mak Ujeon’s eyes, as he stared ahead with a dark expression after even losing his son, an unmistakable flame of greed was flickering.

Do Munseung could see it clearly.

By the time Do Munseung’s group reached their destination after riding for a long time, the sun was already beginning to set.

Do Munseung finally saw the place known as the Radiant Sword Tomb.

It was an isolated cave beneath a mountain in the middle of a deep forest.

Mak Ujeon pointed toward the cave, which numerous martial artists were guarding, and spoke to Do Munseung.

“That is the place I mentioned. The place you must enter. However, darkness will soon fall, so rest today and enter tomorrow.”

Do Munseung glanced at Mak Ujeon, who spoke as though granting him a favor, then looked back toward the cave entrance.

Two crimson eyes belonging to someone within the cave shone from the darkness, which looked like the entrance to hell.