Chapter 365

Thump!

The boat docked at the pier.

Namgung Wol’s party slowly disembarked and looked around.

Yingtan was incomparably smaller than the shores of Poyang Lake where they had been. Even the pier had a palpable air of decay.

Yong Hasang frowned.

It was because of the fishy stench wafting from the pier.

Perhaps because he was unaccustomed to such a foul odor, his face contorted on its own. It was the same for Yeom Huisu.

She could not smooth her brow, furrowed by the repulsive smell.

No matter how renowned a heroine she was in the Murim, smelling such a foul odor was an ordeal.

Yeom Huisu asked Namgung Wol.

“Where should we start?”

“This is the only pier here, so there must be someone who saw them.”

“So we need to start by asking around.”

“That’s right.”

“Then we should move separately.”

“Yes! Let’s split up to ask around for now, and meet back here after we’ve gathered some information.”

“Understood.”

Yeom Huisu nodded.

Yong Hasang didn’t answer, but he understood well enough.

‘I don’t feel good about moving according to that man’s intentions, but there’s no other choice right now.’

It wasn’t as if Pyo Wol had asked for their help.

They were the ones who had secretly boarded the boat.

They were in no position to complain that Pyo Wol was acting on his own.

If they were to voice their complaints and withdraw now, they would be the only ones to lose face.

Somehow, they had to achieve something here.

That was the only way to save face.

The three of them scattered and began asking around if anyone had seen the people in blood-red robes.

Namgung Wol, at least, had plenty of experience with this sort of thing and was able to blend in with the people naturally. But Yong Hasang and Yeom Huisu had no experience moving about and doing this themselves.

They were supposed to talk to people naturally, but since they approached with intimidating expressions, everyone avoided them.

Because of that, they couldn’t even get a single word in.

In the end, the two of them failed to obtain any information and only managed to stir up the pier.

＊＊＊

Mount Longhu was a famous mountain.

Its landscape, a harmony of rocky mountains and cliffs, strange rock formations and caves, and a dense forest, was a delight to the eyes of the people.

What made Mount Longhu most famous was its moniker as the foremost sacred mountain of Daoism.

Though it had declined significantly now, it was said that in its heyday, there were eighty-one Daoist Temples and thirty-six Daoist Monasteries here. However, after experiencing two Martial World Wars, many of the Daoist temples suffered calamities and fell into ruin.

Because of that, the spiritual energy of Daoism had greatly waned, and at one point, it was even called a masterless mountain.

Recently, people had begun to enter the empty Daoist temples again, but compared to its prime, it was as if there were none.

Pyo Wol stood at the entrance of Mount Longhu and looked around.

Perhaps because the mountain terrain was so rugged, not even the shadow of a person could be seen.

Places that were once paths were now overgrown with grass and trees, as people no longer used them.

An ordinary person would have been at a loss as to where to begin, but Pyo Wol was different.

Pyo Wol first examined his surroundings.

No matter how thick the undergrowth or how dense the trees, a place frequented by people was bound to leave traces.

That was exactly what Pyo Wol was looking for.

The only difference was that Pyo Wol was not looking for a path used by people, but one that animals would likely use.

Generally, all mountain paths used by people were first forged by animals.

A path easy for animals to travel is also easy for people to travel. When the paths of animals and people overlap, it is the animals that are pushed away.

Animals, avoiding humans, are bound to forge new paths, and such paths were mostly out of people’s sight. On the other hand, they were convenient for monitoring the paths people used.

The animal instinct to fear humans is what creates paths in such optimal locations.

Pyo Wol quickly found a path used by animals.

On the small path, droppings from wild boars and deer were visible.

Pyo Wol touched the droppings with his hand.

They were bone dry and crumbled easily.

It meant a long time had passed since the droppings were left. The absence of recent droppings meant that animals had not used this path for a long time.

There was only one reason an animal would not use a familiar path. It was when its territory had been invaded by humans.

Pyo Wol followed the animal trail upwards.

The animal trail led deep into Mount Longhu.

At a certain moment, Pyo Wol’s eyes glinted sharply.

‘This is the place!’

He saw two paths intersecting.

One was the animal trail he was on, and the other was a fairly wide path. It was a path used by people.

It was clear that when the two paths overlapped, the animals had moved elsewhere to avoid the humans.

Pyo Wol moved from the animal trail to the newly discovered human path.

The path was so overgrown with undergrowth that it was hard to believe people had used it. At a glance, it looked like ordinary undergrowth, but to Pyo Wol’s eyes, the traces of human passage were distinct.

Pyo Wol followed the traces.

The faint traces led deep into Mount Longhu. But at a certain point, the traces vanished as if by magic.

The traces weren’t cut off by geographical features like cliffs or waterfalls. It was clearly ordinary terrain, yet the traces had completely disappeared.

Unless a person had wings, they could not disappear without a trace.

If a person passed through, there must be a trace.

He just hadn’t found it yet, but the trace definitely existed.

Pyo Wol climbed a nearby tree and chewed on the beef jerky he had prepared.

Sometimes, impatience can disrupt the senses, so he was calming his mind by taking a rest.

After resting sufficiently, Pyo Wol moved again.

Pyo Wol combed the area, but the traces were still nowhere to be seen.

Pyo Wol felt a strong sense of unease.

It was clearly an ordinary landscape, but something about it was grating on his nerves.

Pyo Wol pondered what the reason could be. And he soon figured it out.

‘There’s no sound coming from that direction.’

From where Pyo Wol stood, he could hear the chirping of birds, the cries of insects, and the sound of leaves rustling against each other. But from the direction opposite Pyo Wol, no such sounds could be heard at all.

Under normal circumstances, this was something that could never happen.

‘A formation?’

What lay before his eyes was clearly a high-level formation.

A formation so elaborate that it could completely deceive Pyo Wol’s senses was spread across the area.

‘A formation that obstructs a person’s perception and confounds their senses.’

Pyo Wol was not a complete novice when it came to formations.

An assassin had to know a certain amount about formations, and Pyo Wol had not been lazy in his studies. Yet, the formation before him was so exquisite that even he could not recognize it.

A place where a formation of this level was deployed could not be ordinary.

As of now, he knew nothing about the formation.

If he entered recklessly, the enemies might find out immediately.

Pyo Wol observed the formation while in stealth.

One of Pyo Wol’s specialties was observing with patience.

There were times when, through persistent observation, he would discover an unexpected flaw.

Pyo Wol observed the formation for nearly two shichen without moving a muscle.

‘Perhaps…’

A possibility surfaced in his mind.

For now, it was just an inspiration, but Pyo Wol exercised his extreme imagination to build a framework and add flesh to it. As he did so, it seemed a path was slowly beginning to appear.

Pyo Wol stared at a certain point.

It was a massive tree that stood out even in the dense forest.

He didn’t know how long it had taken root and lived, but the tree’s branches and leaves completely covered a radius of over ten zhang.

The enormous tree, so large that three or four adults encircling it couldn’t touch hands, was the center of the formation.

A strong flow of qi was all concentrated on the tree. To Pyo Wol’s senses, the flow of qi was clearly felt.

Pyo Wol watched the tree without the slightest movement.

‘There will definitely be a change.’

This was not a thought without basis.

If Mount Longhu was truly their base, it was impossible for them not to know that Namgung Wol and the others were stirring things up in Yingtan.

Namgung Wol’s party was the bait. Namgung Wol knew this fact as well.

Only Yong Hasang and Yeom Huisu were being used by Pyo Wol without knowing why.

Given their personalities, they might even turn the area around the pier upside down. That was the kind of situation Pyo Wol was hoping for.

What Pyo Wol needed now was patience. And what Pyo Wol did best was to endure and persevere.

Time flowed endlessly. And finally, the moment Pyo Wol had been waiting for arrived.

Chiiii!

Suddenly, the area around the giant tree began to shimmer.

At that moment, Pyo Wol moved.

Without a sound or a presence, he approached the immediate vicinity of the tree.

In a situation where one couldn’t know what would happen, acting as Pyo Wol did was extremely reckless. But there was no hesitation in Pyo Wol’s actions.

He used the Breath Concealment Art to completely hide his existence.

At that moment, a group of martial artists abruptly appeared from the side of the tree.

It was as if they had dropped from the sky.

The place where they appeared was the one and only Gate of Life in the formation.

They were wearing the same attire as the blood-robed men who had died at Poyang Lake.

“Some bastards have shown up at the pier asking about us, so we need to identify them.”

“Yes, sir!”

The martial artists conversed, completely unaware that Pyo Wol was concealed right next to them.

Pyo Wol realized that Namgung Wol and the others were moving just as he had planned.

“Let’s go!”

The martial artists ran towards Yingtan, where the pier was located.

Even as they ran over the undergrowth, not a single blade of grass was bent.

They were all Experts capable of using the Grass Glider.

They disappeared from sight in an instant.

Immediately after, the space where they had appeared shimmered again and began to close.

Pyo Wol, who had been hiding with the Breath Concealment Art, leaped into the Gate of Life.

In that instant, the surrounding scenery changed.

The dense undergrowth was gone without a trace, and a sheer cliff appeared.

‘Incredible!’

Pyo Wol marveled in spite of himself.

He had experienced quite a few formations until now, but this was the first time he had seen one so elaborate and spread over such a vast area.

A formation this large and intricate could never be made in a day or two.

It was a masterpiece that could only be completed with a considerable amount of manpower and time. Furthermore, to maintain a formation of this level, a skilled formation master would have to reside here and continuously maintain it.

It was a task that could never be done by just one or two people.

Pyo Wol hid himself near the Gate of Life and heightened his senses. Then, he felt human presences in various places.

There were lookouts hidden nearby. But they too had not predicted that Pyo Wol would leap inside when the Gate of Life briefly opened. So they were completely unaware that Pyo Wol had slipped in.

Pyo Wol looked at the cliff while concealed.

If that cliff was what they tried to hide by deploying such a massive formation, there was definitely something inside it.

Approaching the cliff while avoiding the watchful eyes was by no means an easy task.

The human presences Pyo Wol’s senses detected numbered over a dozen. The number itself might not seem like much, but the problem was their positions.

They occupied positions that left no blind spots.

Just approaching the cliff while avoiding their eyes was not easy. But that was for ordinary martial artists.

Pyo Wol was a martial artist more adept than anyone at hiding himself and approaching stealthily. If he set his mind to concealing himself, no one could find him.

Pyo Wol performed Synchronization.

He perfectly matched his breathing and life signs with those of the hidden lookouts.

In that state, he used Serpentine Steps.

He moved forward without a sound, as if a snake were slithering.

Human concentration has its limits. No matter how wide one’s eyes are, attention is bound to wander, and as time passes, one is bound to do other things.

Even a martial artist who had undergone harsh training could not escape this.

Furthermore, with the formation as a primary line of defense, their concentration was bound to drop.

Pyo Wol knew the psychology of such lookouts better than anyone.

He walked between the lookouts as naturally as someone out for a stroll.

It was a very strange sight.

Over a dozen lookouts were in hiding, yet even as Pyo Wol passed right through their midst, no one noticed.

Their eyes were by no means rotten knotholes. Yet not a single one of them noticed Pyo Wol passing by.

Pyo Wol finally evaded all the lookouts and arrived at the bottom of the cliff.

There, Pyo Wol saw it.

A massive, vertical cave with no visible end.

The cave of unknown depth reminded Pyo Wol of the underground cavern where he had been born as an assassin.