Book 13 Chapter 5

Second gateway!

- Scarecrow (劫痕壁)

To everyone's surprise, the old man made it across the rope bridge safely, despite Yindo's worries and predictions, and he surprised everyone by showing off his speed, which was no match for the other young people. It was clear that this was no ordinary old man.

It bothered me that his identity was still as obscure as the foggy maze, but I couldn't leave anyone who knew of the existence of a real master other than "Tai Chi Talent" and Bi Ryuyeon out in the open.

The mountains grew higher and more rugged. Long, majestic, beautiful trees lined the path, exuding a fresh, woodsy scent that lightened their steps, and with each step, the forest grew thicker, shading them from the rising sun. Slivers of sunlight peeked through the lush green foliage, drawing white trails of light from the shadows.

There was no road at all. They walked, rising and falling as they went, and where they went became the road. In some places, the grass was knee-deep and billions of years old, while other places were rocky and barren, with not a blade of grass growing. It was still autumn, so there were no waves of red plum blossoms to dazzle the eye, the volcano's pride and joy.

I didn't have to look very hard to find the second gate. When they asked him where it was, he smiled and said that they would find out when they went up. True to his word, they would find it when they got there.

That was the place to be.

It was a wide open field.

It was so flat and wide that it was impossible to imagine a space in the middle of such a steep peak. Those who had traveled over the rough road, which was only for beasts, intuitively knew that this was the second gateway.

"Is anyone there? That's an uncomfortable silence."

Yeomdo was bouncing around.

Obviously, the second gateway, like the first, was supposed to have an administrator, but no matter how much I looked around, I didn't see any sign of him.

It was then that Bi Ryuyeon raised her hand and pointed straight ahead. She didn't say a word, but her gaze followed the tips of her fingers.

It was a wall. A wall as inky black as the darkness of night.

People were drawn to that black wall like a magnet.

It wasn't until they approached the black wall, within arm's reach, that they realized it was polished like a mirror.

"Oh, my God!"

The words came out of the mouth of Bi Ryuyeon, who rarely lost her center in panic or surprise.

Despite my extreme restraint, it was impossible to control even the slightest tremor in my arm as I reached out to touch the wall.

"Why is this here……."

Bi Ryuyeon's eyes sank into the depths of the abyss as she felt the cold texture of the black, icy rock under her fingertips.

The wall seemed to be able to maintain its pride, form, and appearance against all natural forces. The wall was imposing, marvelous, and solidly constructed. It seemed that no external force could dare to make a scratch on it.

But now, the pride of the dark rock was torn to shreds by the countless scars carved into it. Its once exalted black sheen was now marred by countless scars.

The flat, black walls were dotted with fine lines, like spider webs, centered on Bi Ryuyeon's hand.

At times it looked like hundreds of tortoise shells glued together, and at other times it looked like a spider's web reflected in a smooth, black polished mirror.

'What is it that makes him so agitated?'

He was always so lighthearted and overly jovial. Na Yerin had never seen him look so serious before. Bi Ryuyeon and Dong Yao, the more she thought about it, the more they didn't go together.

Even with her unwanted but taken dragon's eye, Bi Ryuyeon's mind was usually unreadable, but now she could clearly see the agitation growing in his heart like an iris. As the shadows of suspicion piled up, so did his agitation. It was almost frightening.

Unaware of her gaze, Bi Ryuyeon continued to stare at the black wall.

"It can't be!

She never wanted to admit it.

The line was thin and sharp, but it carried an intangible sword energy that was impervious to the weathering of time. If it was not the work of a god, it was the devil's handiwork, carving despair into the hearts of men.

Binggum found himself unwittingly stepping closer to the wall, his gaze fixed on the glyphs carved into the front of the black wall.

"Father? "

Behind him, Guan Xueji, the daughter of the Ice Sword, called out to him, but he didn't even pretend to hear, his gaze focused on the black wall.

Namgung Sang, Yongtian Ming, Qinghun, Jang Hong, Maha Ling, and Xinyue joined the ranks, as if drawn by an intangible energy. Several more joined them.

Two groups emerged. There were those who approached the wall and stared at the glyphs, and those who stood some distance away and watched with a "what's wrong with them?" stare.

They approached the wall, Bi Ryuyeon leading the way, and stared at it as if trying to find and solve some mystery hidden within the black stone. But even a rock wall has a sense of pride, and nothing so outrageous as a hole in their focused and relentless gaze could happen.

They approached the wall and stood there in silence for a while, staring at the mark.

"umm……."

Heavy silences erupted from everyone's mouths simultaneously.

The silence was broken by a nurturing voice.

"What do you think? Is it worth seeing? "

A voice suddenly rang in their ears, and they looked around to find the source.

"Here! Here! "

At first, I thought it was just a black stone beak against a black wall, but then I realized it was moving and talking, and even more amazingly, upon closer inspection, it had eyes, a nose, and a mouth, although it was hard to tell from the bushy beard. It was tempting to exclaim, "Oooh, this is the legendary talking face stone!" but I had my suspicions that it might be human.

"Huh? The stone is talking? "

Yeomdo said curiously. The answer came quickly.

"Are your eyes ornaments, you're a man, man!"

It certainly seemed like it.

The old man, whose age was impossible to guess, was dressed in black, with black hair and a black beard that grew haphazardly like grave-side weeds. It was hard to believe that he was human from the first sight. He looked like he hadn't thought to groom himself in a hundred years.

Mossy weeds wrapped around his body, so it wasn't unreasonable to think he was a rock at first.

"Senior Noh says……?"

Yeomdo asked cautiously. He was thinking of Zhongqing's case. This old man's status couldn't be ordinary.

"Pleased to meet you, redheaded friend, Nobu is the examiner of this second gateway!"

'Of course!'

You guessed it.

"Well, let's see how strong the material is!"

The old man, who had been seated like a rock rooted in the earth, sprang to his feet. The old man was very tall and massive. At first glance, he seemed to be bigger than Yeomdo.

'Huh!

At that moment, Yeomdo was stunned by the sensation of hundreds of intangible dao qi ovipositing his body, and he quickly stepped back. In his panic, he backed away so quickly that it was difficult for him to hold onto Xin Xing for a long time. The scatterbrained old man's gaze changed slightly as he looked at Yeomdo.

"Ho-ho, redhead, you're pretty good for a guy with hair that looks like it's covered in blood! You're pretty good, too, reacting to my flesh and trying to get out of the way of my sword."

The old man seemed to be having a lot of fun, but Yindo didn't take the compliment well.

Of course, the old man wasn't perverted or depraved enough to be interested in her log-like waist; he was only interested in her mourning red flame, which held a unique aura around her waist.

"Good road! "

"It's my alter ego."

"By the way, I've seen this road a lot……."

Suddenly, the old man's scruffy face lights up. It seems he's overcome aging and dementia to remember.

"Indeed it was, my red-headed friend, you were his disciple!"

He wondered why so many people knew who he was these days, and Bing'er, who was watching from the sidelines, didn't feel good about it either. He couldn't help but be reminded of his master's words.

"What is the identity of this old man?

"What is the status of Senior Noh's dignity?"

Yin Dao asked politely again. He had a feeling that even his family's sword qi was far inferior to this old man's.

'That flaming piece of shit is losing momentum!'

People were going to live a long time.

The Yeomdo seemed to be a problem, too.

There was no guarantee of victory within the lily pads. I had been trying to break the intangible pottery emanating from the old man's entire body for a while now, but in vain.

"Yes?"

The entire delegation's eyes widened, not to mention their ears. The old man's name sounded familiar.

Yeomdo called out in a slurred voice.

"Xu, is that the one-sworded apprentice, Long Jingyue? "

Apprentice Yong Jing's "One sword cuts two cliffs" [一刀斷崖] insignia alone should tell you what a fearsome and accomplished swordsman he is.

"Oh, no……."

If it weren't for my immunity to the shock of passing through the first gate and the unceremonious end, I would have asked him where he was lying. My vow to never be surprised by anyone again after the first gateway had been flushed down the toilet.

He was one of the few people Yong Gyeong-yu respected.

"I heard he's also missing after the thousand blood tax……."

To be missing was to be dead, but unfortunately, the body was not recovered. It was a time of blood and death, and the situation was not so peaceful that it was easy to assume that the missing person was well-fed and well-lived somewhere.

The apprentice's dry lips curled into a crisp line as if he'd been expecting this reaction.

"Why but, can't you believe how ugly it looks?"

His right sleeve fluttered in the wind from his shoulder blades. The two legs of the First Lord of Heaven, the right arm of the First Lord of Heaven. The delegates knew what that meant now.

Boom!

Dry saliva trickled down the delegates' throats, but it only increased their thirst.

However, the apprentice misunderstood their nervousness and thought they were still not sure who they were.

"Looks like the apprentice has no choice but to speak again."

Boom!

Suddenly, the old man's left hand dug deep into the cobblestone cushion he was sitting on. He pulled out what could only be described as an elongated stick of dirt, with withered weeds clinging to it in places, and a patch of nameless weeds in other places, and from the stick came a rain of "hoodoo" dirt.

"What is it?

They were clueless. They could only sit back and watch the old man's unpredictable behavior.

Boom!

The old man, who conscientiously declared himself to be a super-famous man who no one knew about a hundred years ago, swung an earthen mallet with his left hand and smashed it against a solid boulder.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Every time the brown dirt mound and the gray rock collided, a "whoosh" of hardened dirt, moss, and grass fell away.

"Huh? Are we there yet?"

Bam! Bam!

Only after the old man struck the stick a couple more times did they see what it was hiding. Like a chick hatching out of an egg, it broke through the tightly packed mud shell to reveal, to their surprise, a sword.

Judging by the wide hilt and distinctive dragon-shaped handle, it was clearly Apprentice Long Jing's Mourning Dragon Heaven Sword.

A hundred years after its reputation as a sidewalk that could slice through iron and tofu, it had festered so badly that it was doubtful that a junkyard would give me a decent price for it.

Judging by its condition, it must have been buried in the dirt for years, maybe decades, so I'll forgive it for holding its shape.

'You're not rotten to the core…….'

The scabbard should have been ground to powder, but it had survived the blow. A wooden scabbard could not have done such a reckless thing. It must have been made by hammering a piece of iron on an anvil.

"Now that's something to look at."

But because it had been so haphazardly turned, there was still dirt in places, evidence that it had once been part of the land.

"Oh well, it'll have to do!"

He looked back at the delegates and chuckled.

"……? "

Until then, the delegates hadn't realized the old man's intentions.

Boom!

Puck!

A sound like the beating of a small drum rang out.

"Kuck!"

At that moment, as if on cue, Yoon Junho grabbed his belly button and folded his waist in half.

"Bam, I can't get away with this!"

Boom!

Again, the misplaced item in the apprentice's left hand moved at an invisible speed.

Puck!

The echoing sound again!

This time it was Baek Moo-young. His past should have warned him, but it didn't. Tears stung in his eyes.

"Well, well, well, if you can't see it, you can't dodge it!"

The old man shakes his head in pity. It was a sign of disappointment.

Apparently, that wasn't interesting enough.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what use are you young fellows without a pulpit, entertain this old man some more!"

Boom!

Again his sword moved swiftly in the wind, along with its scabbard.

Boom!

This time, instead of a drumming sound, it was a clanging sound.

Mo Yonghui raised the old man's scabbarded sword at his waist to block it as it flew toward him, and used the recoil to step back.

"Ho-ho?"

The old man seemed to be getting more and more intrigued by this first reaction.

"Then where?"

Boom, the sheath is snaking around again.

"Ouch!"

Kakakang!

A stalemate! Neither the man who drew his scabbard nor the man who blocked it with his scabbard were able to move.

Mo Yonghui pressed down on his scabbard with his left hand, and it didn't bounce back.

His shaky feet had been pushed back about half a step from where they had been.

"Ohhhhh!"

It seemed to say, "Now this is getting interesting.

There was mischief in the old man's eyes, hidden beneath his shaggy hair and thick, bandit-like eyebrows.

"Let's see your skills, shall we?"

With a flick of his wrist, he pushed his sword away from the two opponents. It was a small gesture, but it packed a punch.

Mo Yonghui didn't resist the force that was pushing toward him, but instead flexibly pulled back the sheath he was holding and let it flow through him. Resisting at this point would have resulted in his sword being taken from him, and he would have lost his advantage.

This time, the old man pulled the sheath back slightly.

If he fell backward, he would lose his grip and the blockade he had just made would be useless, allowing his opponent's sword to break free. If I missed the current block, I honestly had no hope of blocking the next one.

He moved forward, obeying the direction of the force, not trying to fight it this time.

"Twice!

The apprentice seemed to find this very amusing.

"Then where?

This time, he spun the sword to the left with the force of his wrist. Like a log caught in a whirlpool, Mo Yonghui's sword was caught in the spin.

Whether it was being thrown out completely or pressed against his own sword, both were unfavorable to Mo Yonghui. Even if he tried to resist with force, it would be impossible due to the difference in strength. Furthermore, there was no way to stop the downward force.

Bang!

Finally, Mo Yonghui's sword sheath bounced out, leaving his chest completely empty.

"Oops! "

Mo Yonghui unleashed the terminal blow, but the apprentice's sword, or rather, its sheath, was still at his throat, sneering at him. Mo Yonghui couldn't help but feel his entire body's nerves dilate as a chill passed through the tip of the sword. Intentionally or unintentionally, his body suddenly began to tense up.

The old man's mouth twitched, buried beneath a beard that sat as white as brown frost. It was a smile, but it was awkward because he couldn't remember smiling in a hundred years.

"There were some quality ones in the mix!"