Episode 162

Heo Gong trembled while holding the wooden box.

'This, this box holds the….'

He was also an elder of the Wudang Sect.

He wasn't some idiot that couldn't guess what this box contained after seeing this situation. The fact that he had finally gotten his hands on this prize made his heart flutter.

At that moment, Heo Sanja retreated and stood next to Heo Gong.

"Come here!"

"Yes!"

Heo Sanja received the wooden box, and Heo Gong immediately drew his sword to guard the front. Even if Chung Myung rushed in now, they would have no problems.

Strangely, Chung Myung just looked at the two elders with a disappointed expression. His face seemed to say that he had no intention of attacking them at all.

Heo Sanja clasped the wooden box with a trembling hand and sighed.

'After all the trouble we went through….'

Although it was horrifically more difficult than he had anticipated, the thought of finally being successful in the end gave him strength.

Of course, they still had work to do. They needed to secure a safe escape from this place, but nothing else seemed troublesome after achieving their main goal.

'I have to check it out.'

Heo Sanja grabbed the lid of the wooden box.

Inside this box, he would find the Soul Vitality Pill and how to make it.

It would be a small achievement befitting the work done here if the latter was inside and an outstanding achievement if it was the former. Of course, it would be best if it was both.

Heo Sanja gulped and opened the lid at once.

Suddenly his eyes widened and seemed as if they would pop out.

"This…"

Heo Sanja's body trembled.

He shook so violently that even Heo Gong, who had his back to him, took a step back to check on his condition.

And Heo Gong glanced and asked.

"…Sahyung?"

Heo Sanja had such a rare and complex expression on his face that even Heo Gong, who had known him for decades, couldn't decipher it.

"What is…"

Heo Sanja's trembling hand fumbled through the wooden box. The shaking of his hand continued to grow more intense…

"Why!?"

Eventually, he yelled.

"Why is it empty!? Why is there nothing here!?"

He turned the box upside down and shook it violently, desperately checking for anything he might have missed. But there was nothing that fell out.

Heo Sanja wondered if the box had some secret compartment, so he kept inspecting it repeatedly. But alas, the box in his hands seemed completely ordinary.

What else could he think?

Heo Sanja's eyes quickly turned bloodshot. He was so angry that it felt like the blood vessels in his eyes were starting to burst.

"Yak Seonnnnn! You… fucking bastard!"

Heo Sanja threw the wooden box to the floor, and it shattered and splintered into pieces.

Just in case, he even scanned the shattered remains to see if anything had come out, but not even a sheet of parchment could be found.

It was literally just an empty box.

"Haaa…."

'Why?'

Did they come all the way here for an empty wooden box? Even the 'divine weapons' rusted and crumbled.

So, what the hell was this Sword Tomb even created for?

Just then, right when Heo Sanja could not control his overflowing emotions.

"Hey…!"

Chung Myung, who was frustrated, beat his chest.

"My god! You don't even know how to act your age!"

"…"

"

"Even after being fooled by the tricks on the way here, you're still able to act like this? Are your eyes just for decoration or what? You people are supposed to let go of any desires and greed, yet you behave like this?"

Heo Gong tilted his head.

'What is he talking about?'

Desire? Greed?

The elders wondered just what he was suddenly talking about.

Both were unable to understand, so Chung Myung scratched his head in frustration.

'That's why I was so anxious.'

What he felt while proceeding through the Sword Tomb.

Yak Seon showed malice to those who entered the tomb rather than goodwill.

A test?

Yeah right.

'Who the hell tests someone like this?'

Collapsing ceilings that crush others to death, blood-sucking bats, and even kangshi that hid in wait.

It was more meaningful as an assessment if it was judging whether or not someone could even survive the damn test.

What kind of test existed where any one mistake led to certain death?

Chung Myung gnashed his teeth.

So then, what about the wooden box?

Wouldn't that wooden box also be rigged with a trap?

"Did you touch it knowing that something would come for us!? You fucking dim witted bastards! Ahh, I'm so angry that my stomach hurts!"

Tak!

As Chung Myung let loose a waterfall of curses at the two elders, the Wudang and Mount Hua disciples arrived on the scene one after another. They were determined to fight a grand war as soon as they finished climbing the cliff, but they were left breathless by the strange confrontation unfolding in front of them.

"What are you talking about?"

Heo Gong, who couldn't hold back, asked.

As if waiting for that question, Chung Myung screamed.

"IF YOU HAVE A HEAD, THEN FUCKING THINK! THERE IS NOTHING HERE!"

"Right."

"Then what's left now!?"

At that moment…

Dududu

Everyone turned their heads toward the source of the sound.

'Rock?'

The rock that had previously held the wooden box was shaking.

"…No… It couldn't be."

Heo Sanja, who was half-delirious from anger, looked at the stone with a bewildered face. It was as if he had suddenly come to his senses and realized what was happening.

The trembling grew bigger and bigger.

"W-what!"

"No! Why suddenly…"

After finally climbing the cliff, Baek Cheon immediately grasped the situation once he saw the wrecked wooden box and the shaking rock.

And he exhaled.

"… even this is a trap?"

"Ahhh."

Chung Myung rubbed his face with both hands.

'Right, this isn't the time for this.'

The Soul Vitality Pill was definitely important but surviving took priority.

Chung Myung quickly looked around.

'There!'

Light was pouring in.

'That is…'

"Huh?"

But at that moment, Chung Myung saw something.

The tremor that began with the rock climbed the walls and reached a crack in the ceiling.

At the same time, the entire Sword Tomb began to shake like an earthquake.

"Eikkkk!"

"W-wwhat! Why!?"

"No way!?"

No one could say anything else. What would happen was obvious to everyone, but they were shocked that it would really happen after making a fuss for so long.

Chung Myung slowly looked up.

Before he knew it, Mount Hua's disciples were standing side-by-side behind him and following his gaze to the top of the cave where the light was pouring in from.

Finally, Chung Myung spoke.

"Sasuk."

"Yes?"

"Do you think it's going to collapse?"

"If my eyes aren't playing tricks, it will."

"Then what will happen to us?"

"We're going to die."

"Right?"

Chung Myung smiled brightly.

Then, as if a different personality took over him, he shouted.

"No! Even though you had to do it, this is too much! Yak Seon! You crazy bastard!"

Yak Seon was a fucking asshole!

What sort of mad man gave that idiot a gentle name like 'Immortal presence' to Yak Seon? He should be a 'Devil healer' or something instead! Huh? Maybe a drug junkie…Uh, no, that doesn't sound right.

Rumble.

It was then…

An ear-piercing sound echoed as the Sword Tomb violently shook.

And….

Crack

Crack

Everyone heard it clearly as they bore witness to the sight.

The ceiling began to crack, long and continuous. The cracks spread out like a spider's web.

Chung Myung shouted as if he was going to explode in frustration.

"If I manage to get out of here, I'm going to kill all you fucking Wudang bastards! Agh, dammit! Your eyes must only be for decoration! Even a three-year-old wouldn't do such a foolish thing!"

Heo Sanja just lowered his head.

It was incredibly shameful to be told all this by such a young man, but he couldn't object or refute it.

They had lost sight of their teachings for a moment and took the bait. Because of that, everyone here would die.

"Wu-Wudang! What did you do? I don't know what the situation is, but you messed up!"

"I-It is collapsing! We will all die!"

"What do you want me to do?"

Such an ugly sight.

The people who had just climbed the cliff started to blame and curse the Wudang, completely forgetting that they were alive thanks to them.

It seemed as though they had forgotten everything the Wudang had done for them before and were ready to attack.

Of course, that didn't mean the Wudang were staying still.

They were trying to solve the situation.

But…

Rumble!

Sadly, there wasn't enough time.

With a thunder-like roar, the cracked ceiling finally started to collapse.

'Oh, my god! This is bad!'

Baek Cheon had these panicked thoughts.

They were in a round, cylindrical space. Everyone had climbed up here, and there was no way they could go back down to escape.

"Untraceable Seizing Sword! You crazy bastard!"

It was clear that Yak Seon's intention was to kill everyone that gathered here from the very start.

How malicious must a man be to have such evil intentions?

"Chung Myung!"

"Don't worry! I am Chung Myung!"

Chung Myung grabbed his sword and stared at the collapsing ceiling.

"Even if the sky collapses, there should be a hole to survive. If the ceiling collapses, surely…."

'What?'

Chung Myung tilted his head.

"Sasuk."

"Huh?"

"I don't see any holes."

"…"

Baek Cheon's cheeks trembled.

"What do we do if there are none, you bastard!"

"No, what can I do if there is no hole! Look at that!"

Rocks the size of a small garden were falling down. In the first place, nobody could make holes through such rocks with just their swords. Chung Myung is only a third-class disciple; there was no way he could do it. It was doubtful if even the Plum Blossom Sword Saint could do it.

"I'm not the Heavenly Demon! How am I supposed to do that!?"

"Still, don't we have to do something?"

"Sasuk, you know what?"

"What?"

"Everyone has to go through life anyway. Throw away your obsessions."

"… Hey, you son of a bitch…."

Baek Cheon's voice was slowly changing; his growing desperation seemed to represent everyone's feelings. Despair began to creep onto their faces.

"Cut it down!"

At that moment, a thunderous voice resounded.

"Wudang's disciples, do your best to cut them down! Right now!"

"Yes!"

At Heo Sanja's signal, the Wudang disciples began to stand in a line.

'Taiji Sword formation!'

Instinctively, Chung Myung felt like he was looking at something with amazing power.

But…

'At least do something that makes sense here!'

Would there be anything impossible for a swordsman if those boulders could be cut with a sword? They could not only rule these lands but even the central plains would be conquered.

'Think about it, seriously.'

Chung Myung's face went stiff.

It was foolish to jump into the sky while it was collapsing. This was the Sword Tomb. Everything here followed Yak Seon's intentions.

So, did that evil healer really want to kill everyone who stepped foot in here?

'No, there must be a way, for sure!'

'Think, think, think….'

"Ahhhhhh! Damn it! Since when did I start relying on my brain!?"

'That isn't my role at all!'

"No, why is this place so crazy…."

Chung Myung's body shook as if he had been struck by lightning.

This absurd place.

It was a place full of deformities that lacked reason.

Through the entrance, they fell into the depths of the earth. Then, the path narrowed and merged through many hardships until it eventually led here.

Climb and climb, and finally…

Chung Myung's eyes lit up.

'A way out?'

Maybe that was the goal. No! Achievement! No…. whatever.

"There is one!"

Not the top! If this was really done by Yak Seon. There was no way there would be a lackluster ending.

Then what was left?

Chung Myung's head snapped downward.

All he saw was the ground.

"Jump oooffffff!"

Chung Myung's shout resounded so strongly that it seemed to threaten to bring the cave down around them.