The Reincarnated Hunter Sweeps Up All Fortunes - Chapter 48

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 48
48
Click—!
As Im Gang stared blankly at the skeletons, a mechanical sound echoed from above. The entrance that had fallen closed shut.
The light pouring down from above vanished, and the space plunged into perfect darkness.
Im Gang calmly drew his sleeve up with one hand to cover his nose and mouth, while the other reached into his robes and withdrew a Night Luminous Pearl. Soft light bloomed through the darkness.
He exhaled weakly and sniffed. No foul odor—good. Rather than lowering his sleeve immediately, he circulated what little Internal Energy remained in his body.
Time Poison could work through breath alone, so he had to be doubly cautious.
While waiting, footsteps sounded from above.
The Demon Beings chasing him.
The footsteps faded rapidly into the distance.
Im Gang exhaled a quiet breath of relief.
He waited roughly five minutes more.
Once he confirmed his body showed no unusual symptoms, he lowered his sleeve.
“…Phew.”
His breathing had quickened slightly. He lifted the Night Luminous Pearl and swept its light around the chamber. Apart from the skeletons, there was precious little to see.
The walls weren’t lined with towers of bone or anything of that sort.
It was simply that the pearl’s light was too weak.
‘In the novels they always described it as eye-dazzling.’
A small object, then. That must be it.
The size of two thumb joints—yes, that counted as small. It was ridiculously expensive even at this size.
In any case, he couldn’t just sit here playing bone games. He had to move.
He opened the map first to survey the terrain.
Where the passage before had been narrow and winding, stretching long and thin, this space was absurdly vast—vast enough to call a plaza.
This meant a different area. A different level.
‘No traps…’
He moved slowly, checking. Even when he verified with his Treasure Detection skill, no traps appeared. The ceiling, however, had begun to lower gradually.
At first it had been high enough to stand several people upright. As he progressed, his head drew nearer and nearer to the stone above until his scalp nearly grazed it, and eventually he could barely move forward without bending his waist nearly double.
‘The structure’s strange.’
He was about to continue moving, waist bent, when—
“…What?”
His legs gave way and he staggered badly. Had he bent any lower, he would have lost his balance and fallen outright.
He sat down roughly and checked his condition.
‘Not good.’
The dimness of the pearl’s light had prevented him from noticing until now.
His vision swam slightly.
Thinking back, there was nothing strange about his state.
In an arena where enemies surrounded him on all sides, he’d unleashed the Biao Ying Shen Fa at full power, bounding about like a fool, swung his sword earnestly, and even clung to the ceiling using the Shuai Long Sha.
For hours, no less.
On top of that, barely a shred of Internal Energy remained.
The moment he grasped this reality, exhaustion and vertigo crashed down on him at once.
Part of him wanted to heave a sigh, but closing his eyes felt dangerous—he might not get up for a long time.
If a Demon Being showed up during that, he’d become its meal for the day.
‘I need to practice Yun Qi Tiao Xi.’
Im Gang found a suitable spot and settled into a cross-legged position. A few skeletons nearby would serve as company for now.
As he began Yun Qi Tiao Xi, his Internal Energy started flowing through his body along the designated meridians.
Since he’d already mapped out the Xiao Zhou Tian pathway, he could circulate his energy freely without relying on the skill. Still, he preferred the automatic method.
Auto or manual made no difference in effect, and there were no drawbacks—only benefits.
One benefit was that practicing Yun Qi Tiao Xi automatically left his mind free for idle thoughts. Martial artists trained the orthodox way said forcing an interruption caused Internal Injury, but with automation there was no such risk.
If he slowed the circulation sufficiently, he could even speak.
“…Ah. I’m starving.”
Could he eat while doing Yun Qi Tiao Xi? If “Tiao Xi” meant “early meal” instead of “regulating breath,” that would be perfect. How much dried meat had he packed?
As these random thoughts wandered, his mind naturally turned to the present situation.
‘How long have these Demon Beings been here?’
Bidong was first discovered roughly ten years ago. Investigations began shortly after. Not a single person has returned alive since then.
It could be said that Bidong was effectively occupied by Demon Beings.
Which raised an unanswered question: how could ten years of traffic in and out of Bidong produce not a single eyewitness?
The answer to this doubt was simple.
‘There’s a collaborator among the Demon Beings!’
The problem was not knowing who that collaborator was, or how deep the conspiracy ran.
First and foremost, Hao Wen had an internal collaborator. He was certain of that much, whatever the case elsewhere.
Otherwise, Hao Wen wouldn’t have failed an investigation twelve times over.
‘Not a city of pleasure, but a city of shadows.’
Im Gang exhaled slowly.
After a moment.
Having finished his Yun Qi Tiao Xi meditation, Im Gang rose and loosened his muscles.
His Internal Energy had recovered nearly halfway.
Complete recovery would take considerably more time. But remaining here longer was dangerous when he couldn’t be sure whether the Demon Beings knew of this level’s existence.
He consulted the map again and began moving through the chamber.
The skeletons were truly countless.
Though this level’s space wasn’t particularly cramped, there was nowhere without bones.
‘Just how many people died here?’
They weren’t from a Bidong investigation team.
He had reason to believe that.
The known number of Bidong investigations was twelve—at least for Hao Wen alone. Counting other factions, the total would reach dozens.
That meant roughly several hundred had entered and perished here, yet the visible skeletons numbered in the hundreds, easily surpassing even that figure by the dozens.
Given that this level alone spanned several hundred meters…
‘The count might well reach into the thousands.’
Even so, he picked his way carefully between the remains. It had been a peaceful time, however brief, and he had no wish to crush these bones beneath his feet.
Then his footstep halted abruptly. Something within the ribs of one skeleton caught the light of the Night Luminous Pearl, gleaming.
The skeletons wore no garments. Whether their clothes had rotted away over the long years or they had died naked, he couldn’t say—but any object still intact after all this time was either worthless or valuable, nothing in between.
Im Gang’s instinct insisted on the latter.
In the same moment, he realized something: since falling to this level—no, since entering Bidong at all—he hadn’t once used his Treasure Detection skill.
Gulp.
Im Gang swallowed hard. Then he activated Treasure Detection.
“…Yes!”
From this day forward, this place was no longer a graveyard of skeletons.
It was a treasury.
Countless points of varied colors sparkled across the map.
* * *
The Demonic Cult’s Enforcer, displeased, burst the heads of two lowly Demon Beings.
“I ask again: you let the intruder escape?”
“Yes.”
Two more heads exploded.
“I ask again: you let the intruder escape?”
“Yes.”
Two more heads burst—and again. Yet the Enforcer’s question and its answer repeated with absolute uniformity.
Only the Demon Beings standing nearby trembled at the approach of death.
The Enforcer’s questioning ended only after forty Demon Beings had lost their heads.
“I, this Enforcer, crossed the continent to punish the Traitor. Yet upon arrival, the Traitor was already dead, the secret stronghold compromised a decade ago… How amusingly the situation unfolds.”
“……”
Ma Jol Chasa, commander of the Demon Beings, said nothing.
He answered only when questioned.
It was the only way to keep as many of his subordinates alive as possible.
“What have you learned of the one who eliminated the Traitor?”
“Name: Im Gang. Age: estimated in his prime years. Martial Rank: minimum high First Rank. A Wanderer known throughout the martial world has instructed him in the martial arts. He has formed connections with various sects in Hangzhou and the Wudang Faction.”
“Where is this Wanderer?”
“Last sighted in Sichuan ten days ago. His whereabouts have since become unclear.”
“Where is Im Gang?”
“……”
“…Interesting.”
The Enforcer reached toward two Demon Beings. Ma Jol Chasa, who had been frozen in silence, suddenly threw himself down in prostration and cried out.
“He—he’s inside the stronghold!”
“Which part of the stronghold?”
“Here… right here!”
“…?”
The Enforcer’s mind seized at Ma Jol Chasa’s answer.
At that instant.
A figure appeared and shouted.
“Terror and spectacle for all you dolts!”
“That’s him! That’s Im Gang!”
Ma Jol Chasa, who had been lying prone, shot to his feet upon recognizing the figure.
He’d vanished without a trace—no way to track him down.
For whatever reason he’d chosen to show himself now, it was a stroke of luck.
The Enforcer’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“…Him?”
“Yes!”
“He’s throwing something strange?”
“…Yes?”
Clang—!
A crisp burst accompanied the spread of Poison Mist.
And then.
“Explosions are art! Pow! Der! Dust! Blast!”
Boom—!
In the beginning, there was explosion.
* * *
Im Gang was deliriously happy.
As he examined the legacy left behind by the skeletons, tears of joy began to fall.
It pained him that he couldn’t carry most of it.
“I’ll just kill every last one of them and take what I want anyway!”
His happiness circuits reignited, doubling his joy.
Those cowardly Demon Beings relied on numbers to overwhelm—he could feed them bitter medicine twice over, knowing that even if one of their two operatives died, they’d never know the difference.
With that in mind, he prioritized items useful for fighting Demon Beings.
Among the skeletons’ legacy, there were many Poison Vials. Poison degrades over time, certainly, but if stored properly, there’s no issue.
In his past life, he’d eaten combat rations from a hundred years prior and they’d been perfectly fine.
Sorting them wasn’t difficult.
The fact that they registered as treasure and were deemed legitimate was proof they were still sound.
But as he cheerfully gathered Poison Vials, a new concern surfaced.
‘What if poison doesn’t work?’
Warriors with deep Internal Energy don’t fall to poison easily. Among the Demon Beings he hadn’t yet encountered, there might well be one with similarly profound Internal Energy.
So he set aside the cheap poisons separately. If toxins wouldn’t work, he had another excellent tactic suited to a narrow cave like this.
And that was.
“Explosions are art! Pow! Der! Dust! Blast!”
Powder Dust Explosion.
A power that made the legendary Thunder Stone look ordinary.
And if the cave collapsed?
‘I’ll just go back down again.’
He’d already found the exit.
All that remained was to dispense justice.

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