Treasures Of Emei Sect. (3)

Grand Elder Myung-hwa Satae.

Fiery-tempered, she was the highest-ranking figure in the Emei Sect.

As befit a crone who had lived a full hundred years, her skin was mottled with liver spots and wrinkles.

Her joints might have faltered, yet her movements were keener than those of young disciples—fast and supple, like a torrent, deploying lightness skill.

‘How dreadful. No wonder I can’t retire with a clear conscience.’

The one who had been tearing through Mount Emei finally discovered something.

They were the Emei Sect’s elites who had chased—and then lost—the trail of the Yin Yang Twin Monster.

Watching them, Myung-hwa Satae bounded forward and yelled.

“You wretched brats! What have you done to the sect to leave it in this state!”

Startled, the four elders clasped their hands and kowtowed.

“We… lost their trail and were searching.”

“Their martial skill is so high that we alone couldn’t…”

Myung-hwa Satae looked at them with disdain as they made excuses.

Then she suddenly screamed as if her throat would split.

“Then you must find a way! A way!!”

“S-sorry.”

The Grand Elder pointed at Geum-hee Satae, the highest-ranking elder present, and said.

“If the Sect Leader learns of this, she won’t leave you be, you know?”

“I no longer have the heart to curb that child’s impiety.”

The Grand Elder was the only one in the Emei Sect who could call the Sect Leader ‘the child.’ For some reason, the other elders seemed to fear the Sect Leader.

This was rare in a sect that prized rank.

“…Benefactor.”

“Enough, you may ascend. I’ll step in and resolve this.”

Fitting of the great elder, she spoke sharply and moved to handle the incident.

But the other elders were full of doubt.

No matter how exceptional the Great Elder’s martial skill, the idea she could face the Yin Yang Twin Monster alone was unthinkable.

They knew this from experience.

Geum-hee Satae, sensing something, asked cautiously.

“Are you perhaps going to seek out Toad Spirit?”

“Not him — even the demon must be sought. If we can catch those mad ones and retrieve the stolen items.”

Geum-hee Satae trailed off in a worried tone. It seemed not a simple matter.

“What harm is there in sacrificing one old body for the sect’s sake? Do not follow; all of you ascend.”

Having spoken, the Grand Elder turned and set off.

Mount Emei’s Nanhwa Peak.

Though scenic, the peak wasn’t a place for casual climbers; sheer cliffs encircled it on all sides.

Yet now an old woman was scaling the cliff with bare hands at tiger-like speed.

‘Damn it. At my age, climbing cliffs.’

She spat curses, but the summit soon came within reach.

A moment later she stepped onto the summit.

“What a sight. What brings you here, old woman?”

Beneath a tree, an old man sat leaning against the trunk, watching.

But his appearance was anything but normal.

Bumpy pustules covered his face, and yellowed pupils made his features grotesque.

“Talk with me a moment.”

The old man laughed hoarsely in response to Myung-hwa Satae.

“Finally you return my feelings?”

“Shut your mouth. Before I tear it off.”

“Does a pretty bhikkhuni need such a coarse tongue? For over fifty years I’ve yearned for you, yet you don’t know my heart.”

Myung-hwa Satae ignored his jest and glanced around.

Her gaze fell on an artificially dug pit nearby.

Countless snakes and venomous toads writhed there—a sight that made one retch.

“Still living off those things?”

“It cannot be helped. It’s the fate of one who masters Explosion-Slaying Fierce Strike.”

“Your death is not far off, yet you still do not cease training, it seems.”

“Well, that aside, they actually taste fairly good. If you want, old woman, try one…”

He stopped mid-sentence and twisted in alarm.

At the same moment the tree he’d been leaning on cracked.

Myung-hwa Satae had launched a surprise attack.

In a blink she drew her sword and executed techniques at astounding speed.

“Your skill hasn’t rusted. One-Hand Poison Emperor, Gwang Cheon-il.”

The earlier move had been a test of the old man known as Gwang Cheon-il.

He scowled and grumbled, displeased.

“Never pull that stunt on me again. If you weren’t an old woman, I’d have broken your neck.”

Unfazed, Myung-hwa Satae got to the point.

“The sect is in trouble. Help me.”

“Myung-hwa Satae of Mount Emei asking me for help? Well, this is a long-lived day indeed. Tell me the matter first.”

“Some crazy brats called the Yin Yang Twin Monster stole the Emei Sect’s items.”

Gwang Cheon-il tilted his head.

“Yin Yang Twin Monster? What bold fellows are they?”

“They aren’t from the active ranks of our era.”

“Hm. If you say that, they must be tremendous masters. But why come to me? What about that crazy nun who doesn’t know up from down?”

“That child isn’t in Sichuan now. She’s become a Murim Alliance leader and is at Chunga.”

Gwang Cheon-il doubled over laughing.

“Heh heh. The funniest thing in my life. A bhikkhuni born under the light of the Heavenly Killing Star became the Sect Leader and on top of that the Murim Alliance leader?”

“That’s none of your concern. Just say whether you’ll help.”

He crossed his arms and replied indifferently.

“You want me at my age to go out and fight youngsters? I said I’d never return to the world, didn’t I?”

Myung-hwa Satae knew him well.

Once known as the One-Hand Poison Emperor, he had been powerful enough to stir a gale across the martial world.

His technique, Explosion-Slaying Fierce Strike, was invincible—no one had ever matched a single strike of his.

But that did not last.

After his face had been ruined by the side effects of that brutal art, disillusioned, he left the Jianghu and took residence here more than fifty years ago.

“Will you really not help?”

Gwang Cheon-il dodged the question with a sly expression and said, “Hmm. I can’t do it for nothing.”

She knew what he wanted.

Myung-hwa Satae hesitated, then spoke in a trembling voice.

“Perhaps I have something to offer in return.”

“Be specific, old woman. What can you give me as payment?”

“That we… might get a little closer?”

His indifferent eyes brightened.

Thinking it a jest, he laughed.

“How am I to believe that?”

She was prepared to do anything for the sect.

Suppressing shame, she forced the words out.

“I promise it in the name of Emei Sect.”

Having easily evaded the Emei Sect’s elites, the grandchild and elder settled in a secluded, quiet spot.

“How is it? Not opening?”

Yu Seol strained, gripping the box with bare hands.

Whatever it was made of, its strength was astonishing.

“Hold on, grandpa. I can open it soon.”

“I said cut it with steel—why are you doing it the hard way?”

“No. If you do that the treasure inside might be damaged.”

Yu Jinsan watched and muttered in frustration.

“This isn’t something you can open by force. Without the key…”

Suddenly a thunderous shout erupted from his granddaughter.

“Kyaaaaah!!”

At that shout, the previously immovable box began to crack.

Crack—!

“…I, it can’t be! Put a little more strength into it!”

Her arm muscles bulged as the gap widened.

It was truly superhuman strength.

Tear—!

The lid flew off.

Yu Seol cried out in joy.

“It’s open!”

Yu Jinsan was curious. What could be kept in such a box to warrant this?

“Quick, let’s see. What’s inside?”

What she pulled out was, unexpectedly, a rough-looking necklace.

At its center sat a single large prayer bead.

It was the sort you’d buy at a street stall for a few coins.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Yu Seol’s smiling face immediately fell into a pout.

“What is this… What kind of treasure is this!”

Though shabby in appearance, Yu Jinsan thought differently.

The Dragon Slaying Spear would not have reacted to something as trivial as this.

“Grandpa thinks there’s some secret hidden. Otherwise why keep it in such a place?”

Yu Seol’s pout softened.

“Now that you mention it, Grandpa, you might be right. There’s definitely something.”

Yu Seol examined the prayer bead.

She rubbed it, shook it, and even breathed qi into it.

Watching, Yu Jinsan asked seriously, “What do you think is inside the prayer bead?”

“Yeah, I think something’s in there. Shall I try breaking it?”

If she smashed it by force and damaged the contents, it would be a disaster.

There was no hurry anyway.

“Hmm. Just in case, let’s have an expert with insight examine it.”

Yu Seol nodded and hung the necklace around her neck, tucking it into her clothes while grumbling.

“Ah, they’re here again.”

“Bhikkhuni chasing us again? Even after warning them so.”

“This time two of them. Much stronger than those earlier.”

After a moment, Yu Jinsan felt it too.

Two intense auras rushed toward them like gusts of wind.

They must have heard Yu Seol’s shout.

“Annoying rascals. They haven’t learned; this time teach them a lesson.”

“…Me?”

Yu Jinsan wore a puzzled expression.

He expected his granddaughter to be pleased, but her reaction was lukewarm.

Only after turning around did he see the reason.

“Yin Yang Twin Monster!!”

Two hunched old men, their ages impossible to guess, glared at them.

They were so decrepit it wouldn’t be surprising if they died by morning.

Given that martial masters age slowly, they were likely well over a hundred.

‘They seem to have been active in an era even before mine.’

Yu Jinsan understood his granddaughter’s instinct to show respect to the elders.

So he stepped forward alone.

“Old codgers with few teeth left—have you gone senile? I don’t know where you get your confidence, but I won’t let this pass.”

Myung-hwa Satae signaled the grotesque-faced old man.

“I am One-Hand Poison Emperor, Gwang Cheon-il.”

He stepped toward Yu Jinsan.

“I heard on the way. So you must be the Yang Monster.”

“If I’m indeed the Yang Monster, then you should die here.”

A cold smile crept across Gwang Cheon-il’s face.

“How amusing. The murim world has changed entertainingly.”

At that moment his robe billowed.

A whirlwind of qi suggested a depth that might surpass even Tang So-cheon of the Tang family they’d seen earlier.

But the depth of internal qi does not always equate to outright strength.

Yu Jinsan was not one to be cowed by such a show; rather, his fighting spirit flared.

Leaving his hesitant granddaughter behind, he gripped the Dragon Slaying Spear and stepped forward.

“Will this still be fun after a while?”