༺ Third Chapter – Together to Ghost Valley (2) ༻
Aside from Hwa-seo’s unease, Mok Riwon was in high spirits throughout the journey to Blood Valley.
It was inevitable.
To him, Blood Valley was not simply a location from the Bloodied History, but where his master’s footsteps remained. It was only natural that he would be more talkative than usual.
“I heard that the seniors who went to the battle for Blood Valley and survived, all rose to fame. No, it would be strange if they hadn’t! After all, didn’t they defeat the Unholy Blood Fiend? One of the Five Fiends of the Blood Cult!”
Drunk on whatever it was, he even let out a ‘Kuh!’ as he continued.
Tang Hwa-seo now felt a throbbing headache and replied casually.
“Yes, it was also the moment the name ‘Sword Star’ emerged in the martial world.”
Tang Hwa-seo was well aware of him as well.
Sword Star, Mok Seon-oh.
The one called ‘Unrivaled Under the Heavens’ of the previous generation, who had vanished without a trace.
And the first martial artist in the Central Plains to be honored with ‘Star’ in his title.
‘It was said that he received that name because of his sword qi that was like starlight. The Four Stars originated from masters who admired the Sword Star and wanted to imitate him.’
She recalled that they all became absolute masters and pillars of the Orthodox Faction.
As Tang Hwa-seo absentmindedly walked, thinking about that, she suddenly felt Mok RIwon’s mouth shut tight and turned around.
“…What are you doing?”
What appeared before her eyes was Mok Riwon, his face flushed red, puffing up his shoulders as though he were proud of something.
Wondering what it could be this time, Tang Hwa-seo guessed the reason after a bit of thinking.
‘Ah, right. He must be a follower of the Sword Star.’
He was someone whose eyes practically flipped inside out and went berserk at the mere mention of a martial hero.
To him, who took care of ‘Tales of the Martial Heroes’ as though it were some absolute truth, it would indeed be odd if such a person had no interest in the Sword Star.
Tang Hwa-seo wanted to let him indulge in his admiration, but time was running out.
“Enough of that, follow me. We need to reach the entrance of Blood Valley before the sun sets.”
“Ah! Understood!”
Mok Riwon quickened his pace to walk alongside her.
At least he was obedient, which was a relief.
Tang Hwa-seo couldn’t decide whether to feel happy or sad about this.
Ghost Valley.
At last, they had arrived at Blood Valley, a place that truly deserved such a name.
Tall trees densely obscured the sky.
Below, in the shadows where sunlight failed to reach, an abundance of mushrooms and mold flourished in the gloom. The damp and dreary surroundings only served to heighten that eerie endlessness.
“Wow, there’s corpses everywhere.”
Mok Riwon stated, observing the scattered skeletons all around.
Tang Hwa-seo nodded in agreement.
“Yes, we will be seeing them tirelessly from now on until we leave Blood Valley.”
To refer to them as skeletons seemed almost disrespectful.
And for good reason, as the bones had yellowed from the dust and ravages of time, with unidentifiable weeds growing thickly over them.
‘The death qi is slowly rising.’
Tang Hwa-seo frowned as she felt the death qi tear through her insides with every breath, then seep into her dantian and change into a minuscule inner qi.
“Young Hero Mok, please put the blood poison pill into your mouth.”
“Not yet…”
“Quickly.”
Mok Riwon sullenly reached into his bundle, then took out a small pill and put it into his mouth.
“Eurgh…”
It would indeed be a superhuman ability if one could speak properly with a pill in their mouth.
Tang Hwa-seo smiled in satisfaction now that he had finally quieted down.
“Let’s get moving, we have a long way to go.”
“Eugh…!”
Mok Riwon drooped, nodding his head.
Despite being in Blood Valley, where echoes of his master’s legacy lingered, he was saddened that he couldn’t talk about the true greatness of this place.
The death qi of Blood Valley grew denser the deeper one ventured.
One might wonder how many had died here, as bones would be trodden upon every ten or so steps while walking.
But, no, that was not the only problem; something else was torturing Tang Hwa-seo, who had attained Poison Immunity.
‘This stench is too strong.’
Stench.
A foul odor as though the air was trapped and rotting was rising from all over the place.
But was that all? It was so humid and sticky that it added weight to the stench, intensifying the discomfort.
Tang Hwa-seo had always particularly deposed foul smells.
Thus, she was all the more eager to leave this place as soon as possible, but regrettably, such a wish did not come true.
‘The center of Blood Valley is still far away.’
Blood Valley was once a village where farmers lived. In other words, they couldn’t even say they had properly entered the Valley since no village was in sight.
It was getting real irritating.
Tang Hwa-seo’s expression was growing darker by the minute, but amidst all this, Mok Riwon remained cheerfully oblivious.
‘Traces of Martial Arts!’
Mok Riwon giggled while closely examining the scars on the rocks, bones, and trees around him.
Just looking at them brought to mind certain associations.
As foolish and naive as he appeared, he was ultimately the Heaven-Slaying Star, born with a natural talent for martial arts bestowed by the heavens.
He could roughly grasp the nature of the battle that had taken place here by connecting these traces.
‘Considering the passage of time and the growth of the trees…’
The battle must have been fiercer than what met the eye now. The skull before him bore a long scar stretching from the lower left jaw to the eye, undoubtedly resulting from an upward slash.
Given the unstable end of the sword wound, the one who inflicted this injury must have also lost their life at the same moment.
It was a clear case of both the attacker and defender perishing together.
And what about the sword stuck in the tree?
The design of the sword was somewhat different from those of the Central Plains, likely wielded by a martial artist of the Blood Cult.
The angle and depth at which the sword was embedded indicated that the trajectory was altered by an external force.
That meant the individual wielding that sword must have also met their end in that momentary accident.
“Young Hero Mok.”
Tang Hwa-seo urged Mok Riwon, who kept pausing and looking around the surroundings.
“Curiosity is good, but we have a long, long journey ahead of us. Please stop this and follow me.”
“Eugh!”
“Do you feel any qi? Perhaps from someone still alive…?”
“Eummpph!”
Mok Riwon shook his head.
His qi detection had not sensed any human’s inner qi nor any killing intent directed towards them.
That was why he indulged his curiosity, but even Mok Riwon had noticed something strange.
“Eumph!”
Unable to speak because the Blood Poison Pill was in his mouth, Mok Riwon resorted to using his body to communicate. He flailed his arms in all directions, making weird and incomprehensible gestures.
Tang Hwa-seo only became increasingly confused.
“Yes?”
“Eumphhhh!”
Mok Riwon spread his arms wide, then poked straight into the air with his index finger.
Tang Hwa-seo’s mouth shut tightly, a dumbfounded expression appearing on her face.
‘What is he trying to say?’
Utterly incomprehensible actions.
Tang Hwa-seo sighed deeply and said.
“Please try speaking without the Blood Poison Pill. Can you endure for just a moment?”
“Mm! Understood! There’s something prickly touching my skin!”
“What?”
“It’s not the killing intent of a human! But simply saying it’s the flow of air doesn’t capture the life I feel from it!”
After finishing his explanation, Mok Riwon put the Blood Poison Pill back in his mouth.
His eyes were sparkling as if something had piqued his curiosity again.
Tang Hwa-seo would have normally dismissed that look as nothing important, but she couldn’t do so now.
‘Is something here?’
This place was known as Blood Valley for a reason.
Within this Ghost Valley, were secrets that resonated with the words Mok Riwon had uttered just moments ago.
Something alive.
Something not human.
And a place filled with death qi.
‘…Let me see.’
Tang Hwa-seo let out a hollow laugh.
The circumstances were too convincing to say otherwise.
And then she salivated.
“…There were rumors surrounding Blood Valley.”
“Eup!”
“Yes, about a spirit beast.”
Mok Riwon jumped up and down, pointing his hand in a direction slightly different from where they had been heading so far.
However, Hwa-seo did not stop Mok Riwon.
“It’s a ridiculous idea, but…”
She stroked her chin gently as she continued pondering.
Spirit beasts were said to be created only after absorbing the same qi in the same place for hundreds to thousands of years.
Therefore, it did not make sense for them to be in a place that had only been filled with death qi for about twenty years.
Even so, Tang Hwa-seo was undeniably a martial artist, so she could not dismiss the possibility that lay before her.
After all, the inner core of a spirit beast was like a heavenly spiritual elixir to a martial artist. To let that go, she would certainly feel regretful.
Tang Hwa-seo focused her attention in the direction Mok Riwon was pointing.
‘There’s a rock wall. If something exists, then there has to be a cave somewhere over there.’
She quickly calculated everything in her head.
If they moved hastily, stopping by would be no problem at all. All she had to do was make sure Mok Riwon did not stray off the path by grabbing onto his collar.
But was that all?
Mok Riwon had reached the Realm of Sword Intent, and she was a martial artist with Poison Immunity, capable of converting nearly every poison in the martial world into inner qi.
‘Blood Valley is a land overflowing with death qi, a young land where that qi has been present for less than twenty years.’
If there really was a spirit beast here, it would either be a young one that had not been around for long, or had moved in and was still adapting to the environment.
“It’s uncertain if it truly exists, but we’d be fools to not go.”
“Euph!”
“Yes, let’s go. Young Hero Mok, you’ve done a great deed.”
Mok Riwon blushed and smiled.
Seeing this, Tang Hwa-seo thought.
‘He’s so charming like this when he keeps his mouth shut.’
Not saying bullshit and only fully expressing himself when necessary was truly admirable.
Indeed, the saying that a man should be tight-lipped was right.
After making that decision, their steps quickened.
Mok Riwon’s eyes were practically bulging out in excitement at the thought of possibly encountering a spirit beast, and he kept his eyes straight ahead.
Tang Hwa-seo, too, had shaken off her irritation from the stench and humidity, thinking about how she might have encountered an unexpected fortunate.
As they arrived at the rock wall relying on Mok Riwon’s senses, they searched here and there until they found a fairly large cave entrance.
“Huh, it really exists.”
‘Euph!”
Mok Riwon’s face lit up innocently.
He had expended his qi to fight off the surge of poison that he inhaled, but even that fatigue could not stop his enthusiasm.
“Do you feel anything still?”
Mok Riwon spat out the Blood Poison Pill for a moment before answering.
“Certainly! The strange sensation I’ve been feeling on the way here has intensified. It’s definitely from a living creature!”
“Good, now let’s proceed with caution.”
Tang Hwa-seo had fallen into a delightful dilemma.
‘What kind of spirit beast is it…’
The land was full of death qi so the spirit beast might even use poison.
No, considering its home was inside this cave, the likelihood was over ninety percent.
‘Poison.’
Even if there was no inner core, it would still act as a spiritual elixir for her.
Tang Hwa-seo cracked her knuckles and sharpened her qi detection in preparation.
Similarly, Mok Riwon retrieved a small paper soaked in paper from his bundle and promptly lit it.
Crackle–
As the light illuminated the darkness, the two people stepped inside the cave.
Upon reaching deeper into the cave, what they saw was.
Saaaaa–
Eight legs.
Above an insect’s head and voluminous stomach was a face that eerily resembled a human wailing.
The creature before them was a giant spider, rivaling the size of a massive wild beast, crouched on its web with multiple eyes staring at them.
“A Man-Faced Spider.”
It was also a species known to spew poison.
A poison that would seep into her lungs and threaten to corrode her insides, but would instead transform into a source of nutrients that invigorated her body.
It was too good of a nourishment.
“We’re in luck.”
Tang Hwa-seo smiled with a face as though she were drooling.
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