Book 10 Chapter 17

The Collapse of Hwanmadong

"Hmph!"

Long Tianming's face was bloodlessly pale as he had just emerged from the illusion.

He felt very nervous. Unbeknownst to him, a sword was in his hand.

Judging from the sword marks on the rocks everywhere, he must have swung his sword unconsciously, as if he were eating fifty thousand different kinds of herbs at once.

"You will have to use all of your skills to the utmost to get through this ordeal safely.

Suddenly, Mazinger's speech popped into my head.

Mazinger didn't call it a test, he called it an ordeal. That alone gave me an idea of how difficult the test would be, but I had no idea it would be this difficult.

It was a dingy, gritty feeling, like, "I've never felt anything like this before." And there was a real sense of dread here. He was still reeling from the horror he had just felt. Even when he had risked his life to challenge the Shaolin Seventy-two Gates for honor and belief, he had never felt such a threat, such a gut-wrenching fear. Yes. The precarious feeling that was now blooming in Long Tianming's heart, as if he were standing in front of a giant cliff, was definitely "fear." There was no other word to describe how he felt right now. An invisible hand was grabbing for his breath. Long Tianming's sixth sense was clearly sensing it.

"Shit. I don't think I've ever been this scared before, not even when I broke through the descent gate of the Chulso Forest… damn it!"

For the first time in a long time, a swear word came out of his mouth. It wasn't a word he would ever use again. The situation wasn't good, but the problem was, he couldn't let it stop him in his tracks. He couldn't bear to imagine people calling him a coward.

"Are they the shadows of the terrible spirits in my heart… that I should feel such terror at a mere illusion of my own making, and cower like a frog before a snake……."

Suddenly, I felt pathetic.

"I used to think I was unbeatable in my age group… but you still don't study enough… still!"

He stroked his beloved sword, the Nephrite Goddess Sword, once more. The Nephrite Goddess Sword, it was his honor, his responsibility, and the proof of his existence. He could feel the courage and determination gradually returning to his heart.

Long Tianmeng gathered his courage again and stepped forward. Of course, while being fully concerned about the unseen enemies around him,…….

But then a dazzling sunlight rose in the cave, dispelling the darkness, and it engulfed Long Tianming's body in an instant.

It happened so quickly. A blinding white flash, a deafening roar, and a hail of stones that must have been a thousand miles across, crashing down with a roar!

Quack! Quack!

The binge swept through the entire Phantasmagoria with ferocity, blowing away all illusions in an instant. The enormous explosion had instantly distorted the Qi of the entire cave.

"Ouch!"

Junho Yun grimaced and crouched on the floor, covering his ears, the sound bouncing off the narrow cave, fierce and savage enough to tear a man apart.

"Was it… an earthquake?"

To his embarrassment, Namgungsang was no different.

"Prize!"

The djinn beside him clung urgently, almost instinctively, to his arm. Sensing danger, he hugged her tightly. It was no exaggeration to say that if the cave collapsed here, neither Guan nor the others would survive. All of them lay prostrate on the wildly shaking ground, waiting for the vibrations of the explosion to die down.

Whoosh! Quack!

A steady rain of rocks fell from the black stone ceiling. Hail of coarse pebbles mixed in with the rain.

With a sense of urgency that they would be buried if they stood still any longer, they began to run forward.

"Gah!"

"This Sojae!"

Hyo-ryong urgently called out to Lee Jin-sul. Iris was following him at some distance. The entire cave was shaking as if it had been hit by an earthquake.

Tut-tut!

Hyorong's eyes widened. The ceiling above Yi Yun's head was cracked, as if a divine pen had drawn a line on a piece of calligraphy paper. The ceiling of the cave was about to collapse. At any moment, a falling rock would crash down. There was no time to dodge.

"Danger……!"

Sensing danger, Hyo-ryong didn't hesitate to throw himself at Lee Jin-sul.

Quack, quack, quack!

A large boulder came crashing down on top of him and her.

"Ouch!"

"Ugh!"

The impact of the fall knocked them both out cold.

Urrrrgh!

The cave was still churning like crazy.

In the moment of the white flash that lit up the darkness, Jang Hong could hear someone's voice screaming.

"No, no, no, I'm sozzling!"

It was a blood-curdling cry.

"This voice is……?"

It was the voice of a man he had clearly heard somewhere, but he couldn't recall the face. Jang Hong was unable to continue his train of thought. The situation wouldn't leave him alone.

Quack, quack, quack!

"Huh!"

He had to fight the raging storm with all his might, because the ferocious shockwave and storm that followed the explosion ravaged his entire body. He had to face the raging storm with all his might.

"Crunch!"

"Ughhhhhh, help!"

"Cough, cough, no!"

"Hmph!"

Frantic cries, gasps, sighs, and screams came from all directions. The cave had literally turned into an abysmal hell.

"This… this can't be happening. This can't be happening……."

Barely out of the blast's range, Wei Zichen was devastated. His skeleton was torn and tattered beyond recognition.

"This… this can't be happening! This is a dream!"

He hadn't expected that Na Yerin would see the grenade and run to save her. Despite the threat of the grenade exploding at any moment, she rushed to save Bi Ryuyeon. Her behavior was the worst thing Wei Zichen had ever seen.

He had inadvertently buried his idol, his everything, Na Yerin, in the flash of a massive explosion, and now even her life was in doubt. He was driven into a frenzy.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!"

He sat back in his seat and stared at his hands in a daze. His hands were trembling violently, like those of a man with epilepsy, and he hadn't even realized it.

Suddenly, as he stared, red blood began to trickle from his hand. The blood trickled down, filling the floor and eventually reaching his head. Of course, the flood of blood was an illusion that only he could see, and it was revealing of his current plight.

"My… what did I do?"

But no one was left to answer.

Ding!

Following a sudden accident in Hwanma-dong, the entire hakwan was put on emergency alert. It happened in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, and in a dry sky. No one expected such a major accident to happen. Above all, we were worried that Hwanmadong was a very difficult place to search.

"What's all the fuss about?"

Mazinger asked, and his aide, Jegal Nosa, who had gone to hear the news, came rushing back.

"There's been an accident."

"Accident?"

"Yes, it's an accident."

Majinga's face darkened slightly.

"Are you talking about loss of life? Isn't that what you've already committed to, and isn't that too much fuss?"

His hands were trembling, but he held them in check, not wanting to show his weakness. He desperately wanted the others to see him as a calm leader.

He was not a ruler, but he was a leader. As one who stood above others, he had obligations and was responsible for what happened. But this incident was far greater than he had anticipated.

"Accidents are much bigger than you realize."

It was something he didn't want to say, but he couldn't help but say it, his face gravely set.

"What's all the fuss about? You don't seem to be the calm, collected person you always are."

It was a no-brainer.

"The hwanmadong has collapsed."

Woozy!

With those words, the rosewood desk in front of the majinga for so long - and so expensive - would never serve its purpose again.

"What the hell, is that true?"

Mazinga jumped to his feet with an exclamation, his face now a mask of disbelief. But while good news sometimes went wrong, bad news rarely did. Apparently, the God of Fate was a cobbler.

"It's true, there was an accident in Hwanmadong, the testing site for this year's Volcano Code Conference."

The aide, Jegal Nossa, reported to the end, still gasping for breath.

The world suddenly seemed to tip out of balance as the shock swept through Mazinga's entire body. He staggered, barely able to keep himself upright. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his men.

"What kind of accident is that, after 18 years of quiet?"

"It's called an explosion."

"What, an explosion, no way?"

It could not be. The gleam in the old man's eye was as sharp as his reason.

"I think it's a contrivance, otherwise there wouldn't be a bomb going off in the hall, and it's not a vision within a vision, a cheap plaything that anyone can pick up anywhere."

"I agree with you completely. But who? Who would dare to commit such a despicable act against the Heavenly Martial Academy? Who would dare?"

An ominous shadow flashed through Mazinger's mind. With a chill, he glanced at Elder Jegal, whose face showed that he had already thought the same thing.

"You mean… those demons have risen from the depths again?"

His tone was somber.

"It's an undeniable possibility."

Mr. Zegal nodded.

"Call an emergency meeting, and immediately begin rescuing the children trapped in Hwanmah-dong, and report on the casualties!"

At Mazinger's command, the Temple of Heaven began to move quickly.

An emergency meeting was called. Everyone's complexion was grim as they had all heard the news of the Hwanma-dong collapse. There was already a lot of discussion, but everyone had one thing on their minds.

"Then does the Mighty Lord also consider this to be the handiwork of the Heavenly Thunderstorm?"

The old man stood up and asked.

"How many things do you think there are in the world that have that kind of explosive power?"

Without waiting for his answer, Mazinger spoke up. His tone was furious.

"It's just one of Sichuan Tang Family's seven great golden lava tubes, the Wanjian Shaking Thunder, and the 'Salt Thunder' used by those damn feathered bastards! There's no way Sichuan Tang Family would dare to leak the seven great golden lava tubes, is there?"

"Let me reach out to the home office right away and see what they have in stock."

Musketeer Tang Zhi Ming from the Sichuan Tang Family stood up and said. The Seven Great Gold Lava Stones could only be taken out with the approval of the patriarch and the Council of Elders. There could be no leakage that neither rats nor birds would know about.

Checking and managing the quantities of the Seven Great Recitations and the Seven Great Disciplines was one of Jia Zhu's most important tasks, and he had to do it himself, not entrust it to anyone else. But the chances of the Sichuan Tang Family's memorization being leaked were too slim, so there was only one possibility!

"No way……."

It was the honest sentiment of everyone in the room that they wanted to rule out that possibility. They'd been hiding their identities for so long that they'd almost forgotten their names, and then something happened that seemed to show them they were still alive.

"But there's one problem."

Mr. Zegal cautiously rhymed. He swallowed dryly and stammered, unable to get to the point. He seemed to be talking about something quite challenging.

"What the heck is wrong?"

Mazinger interrupted to get Jegal Nosa to speak. The old man's complexion was so agitated that it was almost pitiful. He had clearly come here with a difficult message to deliver to Mazinger. He was a soldier and a schemer, but he was not good at hiding his feelings.

"Are you telling me that there are still problems that will bother me more?"

With a self-deprecating laugh, Mazinger said.

"As you say."

Mr. Zegal did not smile.

"What could be worse for this town, with its collapsed hippodrome and injured people? Tell me without pause. I don't think I'll be surprised by anything you say now, or if anything else happens."

But the moment Jegal's mouth opened, Maginga was forced to break his own oath he had just spoken.

"What… what, is that true?"

Master Jegal nodded in silence. Mazinga felt like the sky was falling.

"Are you… are you really saying that the child went missing in there?"

Mr. Zegal chose to use the word missing, but the chances of death were too high in this situation.

"If this is known to the Martial Masters……."

That seemed to worry Mr. Zegal.

"It's only a matter of time, then……."

"It's probably not going to end quietly."

The love of the Martial Lord Nabaxian for his daughter was well known. No matter how old Jiu is, he will not stand idly by if his daughter is wronged. Mazinger knew all too well that when it came to Na Yerin, the man who was normally so dignified and full of majesty became a changed man. When he heard the news of his daughter's disappearance and imagined the faucet suddenly turning off, Mazinger felt a chill run down his spine and a shiver run down his spine.

"There's another problem."

It seemed that Mr. Zegal still had something left to say, and Mazinger was afraid of what would come out of his mouth this time.

"What problem?"

"It's just a matter of… who's going to tell the Martial Lord about this."

For a moment, Margin's eyes widened, and then he frowned.

"Oh no, I forgot about that important thing!

Mazinger suddenly felt sorry for himself: how could he forget such an important task?

"I think it's better to tell them about the accident before they find out about it from a personal source. It's not like hiding it is going to solve anything anyway, is it?"

It was a matter for serious consideration. Mr. Zegal continued.

"And you must also think about who will calm His anger. His daughter, Love, is already famous in Jianghu, and He will not be mollified when He learns that His own Golden Jade Leaf has been sacrificed by the Feathers' conspiracy."

"You're right. Hiding it won't solve the problem. The only question is who will go and calm his anger."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd draw his sword without hesitation, given his personality."

Majinga nodded.

"It's not time yet."

Master Jegal did not make the mistake of being swept up in the situation and losing his prudence. Mazinger agreed with him, but he did not believe that his mind alone could quell the fury of the martial artists.

"We haven't had an incident of this magnitude in nearly 30 years. I want you to put your branches on high alert and do your best to gather information."

"Fuck!"

The laborers gathered at the Heavenly Pavilion all agreed on Maginot's swift and appropriate actions to clean up the accident, but the matter of sending a courier to Nabaxian was not so easy for Maginot to decide.

That wasn't the only thing he had to worry about right now.

"And as soon as possible, get a count of the casualties and missing and report it to me in writing!"

That was one of the first things that had to be done.