"From now on, I won't miss a single one…!"
Sama Yuryeon steeled her resolve. True to her word, she scanned the surroundings far more quickly than before, meticulously picking out the traps.
As she'd said, she succeeded in detecting every single mechanism trap in advance.
…However, she only detected them.
For instance, she could tell that something would pour out as a gap opened in the floor—but she had no way of knowing that something would be cockroaches.
Tang So-wol, startled, scattered poison around us, and I too unleashed killing intent wildly to keep them from approaching.
But whether they crawled along the ground or flew through the air, we could kill the cockroaches or drive them off—yet we couldn't push them back in the opposite direction.
In other words, Sama Yuryeon, who was at the front, had to take the brunt of it.
In the end, Sama Yuryeon had no choice but to stand there, unconscious for about three seconds.
Aside from that, there was the time she barely crawled out of a narrowing passageway (I hadn't expected her to be that slow).
And while she was catching her breath after crossing a mechanism trap that required stepping only on the correct floor tiles, she was so startled by the sight of a ridiculous scarecrow placed in the corner of her vision—as if on purpose—that she fell over backward (I'd actually noticed it beforehand, but it didn't look dangerous, so I didn't warn her).
There were a few twists and turns, but after passing through the endless series of forks in the road, we finally arrived before a massive stone gate.
The door bore the words "Sin-tu Secret Vault" in large letters, just like the one we'd seen at the fake entrance.
This was probably the real entrance to the vault.
Realizing that the trap-filled path had finally come to an end, Sama Yuryeon, her tension released, plopped down on the ground and let out a string of curses.
"That Gwiyeong Sin-tu fellow is clearly some kind of mad pervert who gets off on tormenting people."
"Well, that's roughly right. Though strictly speaking, the difference is that he tormented people to draw attention."
"…You speak as if you'd met him personally."
"Hm? You didn't know? Tang So-wol and I had a connection with the late Elder Gwiyeong Sin-tu before he passed. It was through that connection that we received the complete Jang Bo-do."
"Ah."
"For the record, half the reason I came here was to retrieve the items in the vault, but the other half was to hold a proper funeral for him."
"Then aren't we robbing a tomb? Is this really alright…?"
As Sama Yuryeon trailed off with a hesitant look, Tang So-wol opened her mouth with a faint smile.
"It was what the late elder wished for. To stir up the entire Central Plains, to bring the items he had carefully hidden away back out into the world, and to watch over all of it from the deepest resting place."
"That sounds almost like…"
"More like a festival than a funeral, isn't it? I think so too. …Which is why we need to end it before it gets too out of hand. A drinking party is fine, but getting drunk and causing a scene is just unsightly, wouldn't you agree?"
"I see. So you're saying that since this has grown bigger than expected, you want to put an end to this commotion before it turns into a full-blown conflict. I knew the Tang Clan was sensitive about Karmic Debt, but I didn't expect you to move this quickly to repay it."
What? So Tang So-wol had a plan like that all along?
I had only wanted to see Gwiyeong Sin-tu off at the end, since he was dead. I hadn't given much thought to the unrest slowly intensifying across the Central Plains.
Just when I think I've gotten used to her, she shows me a new side like this.
As I nodded inwardly, Tang So-wol shook her head with an awkward expression.
"To bestow a favor first, you say. I was merely doing what any member of the Orthodox Sects should do, trying my best to be of help to the Tang Clan. It's no different from the choice any martial artist of the Orthodox Sects would make. If it had been someone else in my place, they would have made the same choice."
"That may be true. But what matters is that the one standing here right now is the female hero of the Flying Butterfly Poison Peak."
Sama Yuryeon wore a sly smile, as if she were plotting some scheme. But I knew better. That was the smile she wore when she was being sincere.
It was strange. The Sama Yuryeon I knew was a twisted one, who would have answered such an orthodox remark with nothing but cynicism.
Seems she wasn't that twisted yet. Come to think of it, her reaction when breaking through the mechanism trap had been a bit naive as well.
It was true that she was more bold than her martial level suggested, but compared to the Sama Yuryeon before the regression, who never revealed a single weakness, she was full of openings in every way.
…If that was the case, couldn't we bring her to our side?
I didn't mean bringing her to the Tang Clan. A talent like Sama Yuryeon, to properly unfold her abilities, would be better off somewhere problems constantly arise, like the Black Alliance, rather than a stable place like the Tang Clan.
Though still somewhat inexperienced, Sama Yuryeon was Sama Yuryeon. Even if she went to the Black Alliance right now, she would not only secure a position for herself, but would one day rise to the rank of Chief Steward.
And since the current Lord of the Black Alliance had taken a liking to me, if I used that to bestow a favor upon her now…
That would put both the Alliance Lord and the Chief Steward of the Black Alliance in a position of goodwill toward me.
Surely, when the time came to build a coalition of the righteous forces before facing the Demonic Cult, this would be of great help.
Well, it wasn't something I needed to decide right now. I only had to make up my mind before parting ways with Sama Yuryeon after this matter was concluded.
I nodded inwardly and placed both hands on the firmly sealed stone door.
"Now then, let's see what's inside."
"Hehe. I'm a little excited, young hero Cheon."
"Please, let it be a good martial art. Please, let it be a good martial art…"
Leaving behind Tang So-wol's voice, filled with pure anticipation, and Sama Yuryeon's muttering—she knew there was no martial talent, yet couldn't let go of her lingering attachment—I put strength into my arms.
Kreuk-
It didn't feel like I had pushed very hard, yet the stone door opened smoothly.
What greeted us inside was… a heavily flattering portrait of Gwiyeong Sin-tu.
"…Even if this were his younger days, I doubt he looked like that."
"If the elder Gwiyeong Sin-tu didn't paint it himself, he must have hired a painter. And a hired painter naturally has to make the person paying look good, so… yes, well. Isn't that how it is?"
I and Tang So-wol, who had both seen Gwiyeong Sin-tu in person, shook our heads and headed toward the portrait.
Surprisingly, the painting was large enough to fit a person's full height. Because I had grown taller, I hadn't noticed it right away, but looking at it now, it seemed to have captured Gwiyeong Sin-tu's size exactly as he was.
…No, wait, he looked a bit taller than I remembered?
Well, compared to the face beautification, this was a trivial matter.
What mattered wasn't the painting, but the large stone tablet engraved beneath it.
"This is… a boast."
"My goodness. I didn't expect it to be this bad. If I were him, I'd want to brag at least once before dying too."
What filled the stone tablet was a list of the places Gwiyeong Sin-tu had robbed and the items he had stolen over the years.
At the very top was, of course, the Imperial Court. And the stolen item… was the current Empress's undergarments.
I had heard about it before entering, but seeing it in person was somewhat absurd. It was because I realized he had truly snuck into the Imperial Court to steal something like this.
Below that, the names of the Five Great Families and the Nine Great Sects and One Gang were listed in a row, and beneath them were those who belonged to prestigious houses but were of somewhat lower standing.
Further down, the aliases and names of individuals, not groups, were written in a long line.
Every single one was an extraordinary name, but the contents felt somewhat peculiar.
Still, I hadn't expected there to be this many… Some groups still remained, but many had also disappeared.
As for individuals, most of them were probably dead.
In other words, there were more ownerless items that didn't need to be returned than I had thought. I'd have to check how many of them were useful from now on.
"Well, I know there's a lot to see, so where should I start looking?"
"That's obvious."
Behind the portrait of Gwiyeong Sin-tu and the stele engraved with his achievements, two large passageways branched off, each with two rooms.
Above the entrance of each room, a classification was written.
The left side held items stolen from groups like sects and clans. The right side appeared to hold items stolen from individuals.
Among them, the rooms deeper inside seemed to hold the more valuable items.
"Let's start with the Tang Clan's belongings. The Sama Clan back then must have been far more powerful than it is now, so we might be able to gather everything in one go."
"I think so too. Sama Yuryeon. You remember the conditions, right?"
"Yes. The Sama Clan's martial arts. And if you take a reasonable amount of Gold Coins, that will be more than enough."
"You've seen what Gwiyeong Sin-tu prepared, so you probably have a rough idea… but there may be no Gold Coins here, or very few even if there are."
"But you promised to give them to me, didn't you?"
"Right. If it's not enough, I'll have them sent through the Tang Clan. …Or perhaps I could offer something else in their place."
"Something else…?"
At the unexpected turn in the conversation, Sama Yuryeon narrowed her already sleepy eyes even further.
In response, I shrugged my shoulders at her instead of answering and headed deeper inside.
The space was crude, as if simply carved out of stone. But the fairly spacious room held altars arranged in neat rows and columns. On those altars sat stone boxes of various sizes.
I examined the nearest altar and found, just like the inscription on the stele I'd seen earlier, a record of where and what had been stolen from whom.
Emei Sect, Radiant Divine Nun's Love Letter
"A love letter?"
"As far as I know, the Radiant Divine Nun is the Sect Leader of two generations past. She rarely involves herself in external affairs, but she is still alive and well, though…"
Together with Tang So-wol, who tilted her head in confusion, I opened the stone box. Inside was a small wooden box, and when I opened that as well, there was a neatly arranged bundle of letters.
I skimmed through the contents.
"Hmm. This is… quite bold. But I thought the Emei Sect allowed its members to grow their hair, yet required them to return to secular life in order to start a family."
"The Radiant Divine Nun is still a member of the Emei Sect. Uh… well. It would be best to return these, wouldn't it?"
I carefully folded and tucked away the letters—half of them obscene jokes, the other half embarrassingly sweet confessions of love.
Well, at the time, the Radiant Divine Nun would have been young too, so it's not hard to understand.
Beyond that, I examined the altars one by one, starting from the nearest.
The shoes of the then Assassin Valley Lord, stolen from Assassin Valley, along with an unfinished secret manual on footwork he had been crafting himself.
A statue carved by the then Namgung Clan head, taken from the Namgung Clan.
An old Spiritual Medicine stolen from the Wudang Sect's shrine, and love letters exchanged between one of their elders and the Radiant Divine Nun.
And even the sword scabbard of the Zhongnan Sect that I had once heard about firsthand.
Since the bundle's size was limited, I repeated the process of carefully checking each altar—taking what needed taking, leaving what needed leaving—how many times, I wonder.
Finally, on the next altar, one of the names I had been waiting for was written.
The Sama Clan. The Soul-Returning Pill and the manual of the Lightning Soul Sword.
"Ah! The Lightning Soul Sword was my grandfather's! The Soul-Returning Pill only has limited uses since it aids in the achievement of sorcery rather than martial arts, but it's also the most precious spiritual medicine in the Sama Clan!"
"Good. What's inside belongs to you, Sama Yuryeon, so you open it."
"Thank you."
Sama Yuryeon opened the stone box with a face that brightened instantly. Inside, there was a smaller wooden box set apart.
When she opened the small wooden box first, what came into view was a dan pill emanating a strange, ash-gray energy. That was probably the Soul-Returning Pill.
Sama Yuryeon examined it closely, then nodded with satisfaction and tucked it into her bosom.
And finally, she checked the manual of the Lightning Soul Sword.
"…Huh?"
"What on earth is in there that has you so stunned? …Ah?!"
Sama Yuryeon wore a blank expression, while Tang So-wol, who had peeked over her shoulder, froze on the spot.
Curious, I leaned in for a look myself.
"Oh."
It was a spring painting, full of flesh tones. And a well-drawn one at that—though a bit exaggerated.
Coming to her senses, Sama Yuryeon muttered in disbelief.
"Why of all places would my grandfather's spring painting be hidden here…?"
"Isn't that better than having the Sama Clan's secret art stolen?"
Sama Yuryeon wore a rare, dazed expression. It didn't seem to offer much comfort.
Though somewhat disgruntled, I passed by Sama Yuryeon, who had salvaged the honor of the Brain Soul Sword, and continued examining the next altar.
And finally, I found the Tang Clan's altar.
However, I couldn't help but be shocked when I read its contents.
- Sichuan Tang Clan. Golden Dragon Hundred Victory Whip Technique, Green Horse Demonic Poison, Cheon Hwi's clove oil, Tang So-wol's hairpin.
"Hah, really."
A hollow laugh escaped me involuntarily.
Clove oil is used to maintain swords, and a hairpin is something Tang So-wol uses often—hard to steal, yet not too painful to lose. It fits the criteria perfectly.
"So she didn't just lose it—someone stole it."
I never would have thought she'd rob me, her savior, and Tang So-wol.
No matter how I look at it, that Gwiyeong Sin-tu is out of his mind.