Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 73

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#073

The Haenam Sect martial artist pointed west.

“The path is treacherous with rocks, full of dead trees, and most importantly, there are no beasts to hunt, so everyone avoids it. Haha, there’s no reason to go there and starve ourselves, is there? After all, here the beasts swarm around like we’re doing a rabbit drive.”

Behind him, other Haenam Sect martial artists whispered.

“That idiot. What’s so good about saying unnecessary things to the Boatman…”

The martial artist who heard that muttering quickly covered his mouth in realization, but I didn’t particularly mind.

“….”

No, rather, seeing those reactions made me judge that the credibility of this information was certain.

I asked.

“Did you search the waterways too?”

“Of, of course! We went up along the valley stream by the book and combed through both sides like hunting lice. But we didn’t see a single mouse.”

“Thank you. Lastly, did you report this information to other leadership?”

“…Pardon?”

The Haenam Sect martial artist looked puzzled.

“The beast distribution, I mean. Like how beasts are particularly concentrated on this ridge, and so on.”

“Ah, no we didn’t. What’s so important about that information? We just talked among ourselves about where the game was…”

“Thank you.”

I turned around.

The martial artist said urgently.

“Boatman! Where are you going?”

“Northwest ridge.”

“What? There are no beasts there and it’s just treacherous with nothing…”

I tucked the map into my chest and answered briefly.

“I’m just going to check quickly and then head somewhere else.”

Before the young man could say anything, I calmly set off.

After walking slowly for a few steps, the moment I escaped the scouts’ view and entered the forest shadows.

-Crack!

I kicked off the ground and frantically increased my speed.

‘There’s no time.’

My spine felt cold.

The earlier composure was an act.

I could tell by instinct.

The monster holding the hexagonal iron mace in the Baekdo Alliance tent, Ha Song.

And especially Sword Master Hwirong Seo Ganghyeok.

Those two would be beings whose level of thinking differed from ordinary people like me, beyond just martial arts.

The clue I just noticed?

Those monsters could catch on before long, or perhaps even right now.

Once they start moving, it’s over. I absolutely must find it first.

-Snap!

I stepped on a branch and bounced off.

Even while running through the wind, my mind worked ceaselessly.

A place with many beasts simply means there’s plenty of food.

When people live together, food scraps and waste are produced.

Where would they dispose of it?

No one would dump it close to their residence just because it’s convenient.

Especially if they’re concerned about hiding, humans would naturally dispose of it as far from their residence as possible.

‘Then this ridge is absolutely not it.’

Especially since Guiryeongseuui was said to care for the wounded.

Dumping garbage near a hermitage is something only those free to leave at will, or predators who don’t fear attacks, would do.

Since they’re not predators, they would never act that way.

I boldly exclude this vast ridge from the candidates.

I cross the ravine to the ridge on the other side.

Without reducing speed, I passed through the area reeking with smells.

After running for some time, I suddenly felt something out of place.

I stopped walking.

“This is where it starts.”

A place without beasts.

All conditions are almost identical to the ridge across the way.

But no matter how much I look around, there are no traces of any animals.

There are no traces of wild boars rubbing their tusks on trees as there should be, no signs of digging up the ground, and most importantly, bird sounds have drastically decreased.

For beasts to just cut off with only a ravine between? There’s a reason.

I lowered my stance.

Facing the wind, I took slow, deep breaths.

The smell of dry grass.

The smell of earth thawing as winter ends.

The smell of fallen leaves.

The smell of wet mud.

And.

I happened to discover some foreign powder on the ground.

I carefully picked it up with my finger and smelled it.

“…A sweet and spicy fragrance… A pungent sulfurous smell that stings the nose, no, a fishy smell like burning metal… Cinnamon and realgar perhaps.”

There’s an old saying that even beasts won’t eat a physician’s corpse, and in lean years, even wild dogs will search everywhere else but won’t ransack a pharmacy.

To prevent attacks from mountain beasts, those skilled in handling medicine are known to carry pouches mixed with various medicinal materials like cinnamon, realgar, and borneol, not just for themselves but for their subordinates as well.

Since that smell comes from carrying it on one’s person, it wouldn’t be felt in the surroundings after just one or two trips,

But if someone carries it and travels back and forth dozens, hundreds, thousands of times, it would naturally seep into that place along with human scent, knowingly or unknowingly.

A scent so extremely subtle that humans could never detect it, but beasts could feel it permeating the entire area.

And this place has had that much frequent traffic.

Whether it’s herbalists helping Guiryeongseuui collect medicinal herbs, or exchanges with rural villages across the ridge, whatever it may be.

I examined the surroundings for a long time.

I discover a torn piece of pouch fabric caught on the corner of a tree branch.

“As expected.”

I stared intently at the direction the torn fabric pointed along with the broken branch.

Swaying leaves and branches.

What initially appeared as one unified landscape began to separate into individual elements as I concentrated.

After about ten breaths, I could see traces of human passage, faintly, very faintly.

It was such a faint trace that it could only be seen if one was absolutely certain it would be there and searched for it.

‘Found it, a clue…!’

I leaped upward.

I quickly rolled my eyes to survey the surrounding terrain.

In my mind, I simultaneously repeated and ruminated on what the scouts had said earlier.

I didn’t stop moving.

I continuously faced dozens of situations unfolding before my eyes, and each time I quickly eliminated options based on accumulated experiences and information from my past life, then focused on my choices.

I face another crossroads.

On the left is a valley with flowing water, on the right is a mountain range dirt path.

The scout bastards already said they searched along the waterway.

Even so, I wouldn’t have overlooked variables that even those scout bastards could think of when building a hermitage.

I boldly turn my body to the right.

As I leaped up onto the cliff, I thought.

I didn’t underestimate the scouts and the White Dao Alliance.

They may look clumsy and stupid, but they’re still at least trained martial artists.

They would search following their own proven doctrines and wouldn’t do things haphazardly.

Despite mobilizing many people, they still haven’t found it.

A week should be enough time for some clue to emerge, yet they still can’t even get a grasp.

That means there’s only one answer.

It’s the opposite of orthodox methods.

-Pabat!

I leaped up onto the ridge.

I raised my head and surveyed the mountain terrain.

“In this area, a high place that could avoid people’s sight while also avoiding the fierce winds of the highlands would only be a sunken basin.”

Before my eyes, I could see gaps between walls and a total of seven places where basins were presumed to exist at the peaks.

Going up to check each one would take several days and still not be enough.

Can I narrow it down further?

I can narrow it down.

It’s not just one or two people living there. Therefore, there are two things absolutely necessary for human habitation,

The first of which is vessels, and soil to build houses.

I examined the seven ridges.

There were peaks where rock faces jutted out sharply and peaks that rose in rounded shapes with thick layers of soil.

Among these, I exclude places that protrude as rocky areas.

I narrow it down to three places that are rocky but mixed with soil.

Among these, I exclude places with no trees at all.

Two places remained.

From here, I check directly.

I began leaping up to one of them.

-Pababat! Tat!

Using the assassins’ ultra-high-speed movement technique, Phantom Divine Steps, to its limit, I traveled through the bushes.

Even while running, my gaze constantly swept the ground.

‘If it’s a place where people live, there’s definitely no way it wouldn’t be there…!’

At some point, the sensation under my feet changed subtly.

The crumbling soil sound became dull.

The surrounding vegetation was the same.

Among the dried and withered bushes, I saw weeds with particularly wide leaves and thick stems.

“Is this it?!”

Without reducing speed, I lowered my body.

I extended my right hand toward the ground. I turned the blade attached to the back of my hand to face my palm.

-Kwajik!

I pierced through the hard topsoil and scraped out a handful of subsoil.

Without stopping my lightness skill, I pressed the soil in my hand firmly with my thumb.

It doesn’t crumble away.

It clumped together stickily and emitted cool coldness between my fingers.

“No, it’s still not enough.”

I climbed up another ridge.

I dug into the ground once more.

This time it was even clearer than before – not rainwater, but sticky moisture seeping up from deep in the earth.

“Found it.”

The second thing absolutely necessary for human habitation is water.

Especially in such high places, water is absolutely essential.

Someone living with a sick person couldn’t break through solid rock to draw up water, and I thought there had to be a place where spring water bubbled up enough to thoroughly soak the nearby area.

My gaze now focused on just one place – behind the ridge, toward a basin that was carved small as if crouching.

All conditions pointed to that place.

‘It has to be there.’

I quickened my steps even more.

My heart felt like it would burst out of my mouth.

I steadied my labored breathing.

‘My body really isn’t normal.’

There’s no way I should be this out of breath.

I gritted my teeth.

‘Just in case. Just in case.’

Regardless of the truth about whether Guiling Deity is a cult member or not,

If I’m spotted or attacked by the White Dao Alliance while receiving treatment.

Or while staying together, the situation would become the worst.

“Damn it. That bastard Seo Ganghyeok pretends otherwise, but his eyes go crazy every time cult members are mentioned.”

Thinking he would be necessary in the distant future, I prevented his poisoning,

And though I certainly received help briefly, they say everything in this world has both yin and yang simultaneously.

Right now, he’s a risk factor.

The pressure of feeling like Ha Songi and Seo Ganghyeok were chasing right behind me tightened around my throat.

Had I run for about another hour?

I began entering the basin where the ridge dipped inward.

“…!”

My breath caught.

A small village.

Nestled against a massive ridge, in the center of a concave basin, a very small hermitage was located there.

Five or six mud huts were clustered together, and clear spring water flowed on one side.

I stopped my movement.

Guiling Deity’s hermitage.

The place that the entire White Dao Alliance couldn’t find even after a week of searching, I had found alone in less than three days.

My mind is complicated.

What should I do?

How should I persuade them?

I deliberately release the tension from my stiff shoulders.

I lower the mental walls I had built up while continuously facing martial artists.

If I approach with my guard up, the other party will hide even more and refuse to cooperate.

“…Then I’ll go check on the others and return, so stay here.”

A voice came from one of the mud huts, followed by stirring sounds of people.

-Creak.

The door opened, and an old man appeared.

White beard and a gaunt frame.

The old man wearing worn and tattered clothes stood there blankly for a moment.

Then suddenly, as if sensing my presence, the man turned his head in startled surprise.

“Who, who are you?”

Unfocused, cloudy eyes groped through the air.

“Elder Guiling Deity, is that you?”

“Th… That’s right.”

“I’ve been searching for you desperately.”

I spoke respectfully to him with a cupped fist salute.

“Elder, please cooperate with me so that I may save your life.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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