Treasure Hunters. (4)

Taoist disciples of Wudang Mountain were gathering one after another in one place.

The Sect leader watching them had a face full of solemn resolve.

At one moment an elderly elder approached his side and spoke.

“Senior Sect leader. The Taiji Swordsmen have all assembled, and preparations to deploy the Great Sword formation are complete.”

The Wudang Sect’s Great Sword formation is a powerful formation comparable to Shaolin Temple’s One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation.

This sword formation, mobilizing over three hundred people, is famous for never having been broken in history.

But the Sect leader still shook his head as if he could not be reassured.

“They say the Yin Monster’s martial skill has reached the stage of bodily transcendence; the Great Sword formation won’t be enough.”

“Sigh. Her very existence is a calamity. So what should we do?”

“We’ll open the way when they arrive. The Great Sword formation will only be used afterward to block their retreat.”

“Understood. But can Lord Gwang Neung, stationed at the Wall, really face the Yin Monster?”

The Sect leader sighed with a dark expression.

“Probably in a one-on-one….”

At that moment someone behind the Sect leader answered for him.

“Do not worry. Whoever the opponent is, Gwang Neung hyung will not be defeated.”

When they turned, three white-haired elders full of wrinkles were walking up.

Dressed in white robes with elegantly grown white beards, they looked like immortals.

They were Gwang Hye, Gwang Cheon, and Gwang Hyeon, the core elders of the Wudang Sect.

Their arrival alone changed the atmosphere around them.

As they drew nearer, the Sect leader first raised his salute.

“I pay my respects to the former masters.”

Among the three elders, elder Gwang Cheon, who held the highest rank, nodded and asked.

“I’ve heard. Who dares to invade our Wudang? This place was something even the Demonic Cult couldn’t covet.”

“They are the Yin Yang Twin Monster. They roam the martial arts world committing butcher-like acts—utter scoundrels of the realm.”

“To think such villains still exist in the world is truly lamentable. What on earth is the Murim Alliance doing?”

Elder Gwang Cheon had once served as the Murim Alliance leader over sixty years ago. He looked as if he could not fathom the current state of affairs.

“Even the Murim Alliance cannot handle them. And it was those very fiends who killed Elder Mu-jin.”

Gwang Cheon sighed with lament.

“If a child like that was struck down, they must hardly be ordinary. Is it true you’ve lured them to Wind Wall?”

“Yes. I feared for the Master’s remains, but there was no other way.”

“So it’s true. Then why have you summoned us?”

The Sect leader, not understanding, tilted his head.

“……Yes?”

“Isn’t Gwang Neung hyung there?”

“B-but shouldn’t we prepare to attack together?”

Another white-haired elder nearby quietly called the Sect leader.

“Mu-jeong.”

“Yes, Elder Gwang Hye.”

“Gwang Neung hyung’s martial skill has reached the level the Master attained; how could mere demon head men dare to touch him?”

To say his skill compared to the sect’s founder Jang Sam-bong?

It was nothing short of astonishing.

“Th-then has Gwang Neung elder obtained the Taiji Heart Sword that the ancestor left behind?”

“We personally confirmed it, so there’s no doubt. But regrettably, his fragmented mind has not returned.”

The Taiji Heart Sword, devised by Jang Sam-bong upon attaining enlightenment before his death, is a flawless sword technique.

It’s a higher-dimensional art than the Taiji Grace Sword, but no one could master it, so it remained unknown to the world.

They say the mentally fractured Gwang Neung elder has revived it now.

At that moment a disciple came running up breathlessly from afar and shouted.

“The Yin Yang Twin Monster are arriving!”

The Sect leader, Mu-jeong, cautiously asked the elders.

“What will you elders do?”

“We likely won’t intervene, but since we’ve come this far, we should at least watch.”

Mu-jeong bowed once and then turned back to start commanding the disciples again.

Meanwhile, the Yin Yang Twin Monster who had arrived at the Wudang Sect entrance looked around.

“Wow~ They came in such numbers because of us?”

Faced with such a crowd, Yu Seol couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

They were all disciples dressed in white robes bearing the Taiji symbol.

The sight of them all gripping swords in the same motion was truly spectacular.

“Ah. You’re receiving quite a grand welcome.”

The scale here was on a different level from the Southern Edge Sect or Emei Sect heard of earlier.

Indeed, they were a force worthy of ranking among the higher echelons of the Nine Hidden Factions.

Then Yu Seol pointed her index finger at the highest peak.

“That looks like the place where my treasure is hidden.”

Wind Wall was said to be the highest spot on Wudang Mountain, so finding it shouldn’t be hard.

Yu Jinsan tilted the Dragon Slaying Spear in his hand at a diagonal and replied.

“So it seems. But first we’ll have to break through these fellows.”

He strode forward shoulder to shoulder with his granddaughter.

The Wudang Sect had never been a place he liked.

They were the ones who had relentlessly pursued him when his clan was wiped out and he was fleeing.

How much trouble he had endured with his aged body back then.

There was no reason to show them mercy now.

Wooooosh-!

Like a snake flicking its tail, the tip of the Dragon Slaying Spear vibrated. He was ready to move out.

Yu Seol grinned and tossed the Dragon Flower Spear over her shoulder.

“Surely you don’t intend to fight my sister, do you?”

“……”

The Yin Monster’s small murmur contained tremendous internal qi, enough to pierce every disciple’s ears.

Those who met the Yin Monster’s smile felt their tension reach a peak.

As the distance closed, more and more people began to break into cold sweat.

Nearly a thousand disciples were being intimidated in momentum by just two people.

And when the gap between them narrowed to about ten paces,

Clomp-! Clomp-!!

It was the sound of disciples simultaneously stepping back to the left and right.

As they split like waves to make a path, Yu Seol’s eyes widened.

“Ooh? They’re just letting us pass?”

Even Yu Jinsan had expected fierce resistance.

He hadn’t expected them to be allowed through so obediently.

Whatever the reason, it spared them a nuisance, so it was a good thing.

“What does it matter. Let’s be on our way.”

The two walked for a while along the path the disciples had made.

Their destination was set, so there was no reason to hesitate.

After walking in silence for some time, Yu Seol chuckled and asked.

“Don’t you think there’s something fishy here?”

Yu Jinsan looked at his granddaughter with an expression of admiration.

“Your grandpa thought the same. You’ve grown really sharp, child.”

“Heh heh. Of course I know. I’m a treasure hunter, after all.”

“But why do you think that?”

At that moment, the pair’s steps stopped dead in the middle of the Wudang Sect.

Yu Seol then mimed drawing a bow, and released the string toward somewhere on the left.

“Bang bang!”

“……?”

In the direction Yu Seol had mimed shooting, three white-haired elders stood.

They were masters so great that one could not guess their level at a glance.

“Grandpas, stay exactly where you are, okay? Before I injure my waist.”

Yu Seol was full of composure, but Yu Jinsan looked somewhat tense.

Because he recognized their faces.

‘Hmm. Those old men are still alive?’

They were legendary masters famous since the days when he had been active, men he would not have dared face.

But now there was no reason to cower before past reputations.

Then someone behind them spoke up.

“Yin Yang Twin Monster! For what reason do you dare invade the Wudang!?”

It was Mu-jeong, the Sect leader of the Wudang Sect.

His voice was deep and resonant, as if booming from the heavens.

Ordinary intruders would have been frightened by his internal energy, but the Yin Yang Twin Monster did not bat an eye.

Yu Seol met the Sect leader’s gaze with a serious face.

“We’ve come to collect money.”

It was a confident answer, as if someone had come to collect entrusted funds.

Mu-jeong did not believe Yu Seol.

“The Yin Monster of the world goes around collecting payments? The world would laugh. I know you have another purpose. What is it you truly covet in our Wudang!?”

Yu Seol thrust her left hand, thumb folded, forward and shouted.

“Forty thousand coins!!”

There was no hesitation in her response.

The elders and senior members of the Wudang Sect were dumbfounded and could not speak.

They thought the Yin Monster was joking.

Then Mu-jeong narrowed his brow and replied.

“Even with all your nonsense, the Wudang does not have such funds.”

“That’s fine. We’ll take care of it and turn it into treasure ourselves.”

“How dare you!”

The Sect leader, unable to contain himself, moved forward, but a white-haired elder grabbed his arm.

It was elder Gwang Cheon, the highest-ranked among them here.

“Remain still. How can you, as Sect leader, so easily fall for the enemy’s provocation?”

“I got a little excited, master.”

“That Yin Monster intended to lure you and kill you first. Truly, his wickedness surpasses imagination.”

Then Yu Seol placed both hands on her waist and asked them as if cross-examining.

“Yes? What of it?”

The Sect leader no longer replied.

Because he saw the Dragon Flower Spear coiled above the Yin Monster’s head.

Elder Gwang Cheon, watching the Spear Control Technique, casually raised a hand and answered.

“The treasure you seek is up there. Go and take it all.”

At that moment Yu Seol’s expression instantly brightened.

It was because she had been given official permission.

“Really? Grandpa definitely told me to take it.”

Now all that remained was to find out what it was.

The grandparent and grandchild resumed their walk toward Wind Wall.

Unlike the excited Yu Seol, Yu Jinsan’s expression was not bright; he couldn’t shake an inexplicable unease.

“How strange. Those slippery fellows wouldn’t back down so easily. There’s surely something up there.”

“Grandpa. There are always traps where treasures are. Scared?”

What is there to fear when accompanied by an undefeatable granddaughter?

A faint smile rose on Yu Jinsan’s face.

“Of course not. Let’s hurry and see what they’ve prepared.”

Yu Seol couldn’t contain her curiosity either.

Wind Wall, the sacred place where the Wudang Sect’s sage Jang Sam-bong entered nirvana.

Just thinking about what treasures might be here made her heart race.

The hill to the destination was very steep, but it was no problem.

After a short while, upon reaching the summit, Yu Seol finally spoke.

“I think this is it!”

A sacred cliff shrouded in thick mist spread out before them.

A sign forbidding approach was planted there, but the Yin Yang Twin Monster paid it no mind.

Such things were not their concern.

“The entrance is probably hidden somewhere nearby.”

“Yeah, let’s go find it!”

The grandparent and grandchild scattered and began searching the cliff.

It was not visible to the naked eye, as if a welcoming formation had been laid out.

After about half a k’ak of looking around.

As Yu Jinsan scanned about, he caught sight of his granddaughter.

“Child, what are you standing there for?”

In the pale mist, about ten paces away, Yu Seol stood motionless and rigid.

She looked as if she had turned to ice.

What on earth was happening?

As Yu Jinsan slowly approached that spot, a chill ran down his spine.

‘W-what is that? Who is he?’

A white-haired, tousle-headed old man stood opposite his granddaughter, drooling; he looked as if possessed.

Just seeing him made the hair on Yu Jinsan’s body stand on end.

“Grrr.”

A sound like a beast’s growl erupted from his mouth.

What on earth was this situation?

Yu Jinsan urgently examined his stiffened granddaughter.

Was she tense before the opponent? Fortunately, it did not seem so.

For the corners of her mouth were slowly lifting.

“Found a treasure.”