Chapter 15: Tomb of the Martial Emperor
“Become a true Best Under Heaven, not a fake like me.”
Uncle’s words about becoming a true Best Under Heaven, rather than the story about the cave, left a deep impression on my heart.
Whoosh…… Whiz……
The sight of four hundred young martial artists performing light-body techniques was truly spectacular.
Among the hundreds of members of the Four Divine Units, there was no one who couldn’t perform light-body techniques.
I, too, was running with light-body techniques at the end of the Black Tortoise Unit.
“We’ll camp here tonight!”
As Unit Leader Yang, who was running ahead, raised his voice and stopped, not only the unit members but also the members of the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and White Tiger Units following behind stopped their light-body techniques.
As soon as they entered the wide open space, the experienced members of the Black Tortoise Unit began gathering branches.
The rookie members also helped them gather branches and start a fire.
Even though the Unit Leaders of the other Four Divine Units didn’t give any orders, the members found their own tasks and moved about.
The members took out rice and metal bowls from their small bags as if they were about to prepare a meal.
Smack……
I watched them and smacked my lips.
This was because neither the members nor the Unit Leader told me to take rice and a metal bowl.
Of course, I could have squeezed in and gotten something to eat, but no one even glanced at me.
‘Should I just barge in shamelessly?’
As I was thinking about that, one of the members happened to meet my eyes, frowned, and quickly turned his head away.
‘Ah…… I’m the uninvited guest.’
It seemed like even this wouldn’t work if I barged in now.
I had no choice but to go into the forest inside the open space.
If they don’t give me food, I can make it myself.
Yeon Ja-ryong sat by the fire and secretly observed Kang Dong-jae.
None of the Black Tortoise Unit members tried to include him, and no one paid him any attention.
Even Unit Leader Yang was busy paying attention to the other rookie members.
He wasn’t a bad person to the point of ostracizing his own unit member.
But he was busy taking care of the other rookies.
If the Unit Leader is busy, the Vice Unit Leader should help, but the Vice Unit Leader was currently patrolling the perimeter with several members.
Kang Dong-jae, who was alone, building a fire and looking around, eventually went into the darkening forest.
Tsk……
Yeon Ja-ryong, who was secretly watching him, clicked his tongue in disapproval.
‘He’s a loner, a loner.’
Getting rice, dried meat, and a metal bowl was a simple task that could be done from the warehouse near the lodging.
But neither the members nor the Unit Leader and Vice Unit Leader said a word to that crow.
“Is something going on? The Unit Leader has been acting strangely anxious lately.”
Vice Unit Leader Jang Ryong casually spoke as he placed a metal bowl on the fire.
Sigh……
“I’m frustrated. Frustrated.”
Yeon Ja-ryong replied with a long sigh.
Jang Ryong’s curiosity grew even more.
“What’s making you so frustrated? What happened?”
“I found a very rare jewel. But it already had an owner. You know what’s funny? The owner of the jewel doesn’t even know that what he’s holding is a rare jewel.”
Most martial artists in the world of Jianghu know how to s*oot a bow.
Even many scholars who studied academics knew how to s*oot a bow.
However, although there were many who knew how to s*oot a bow, very few knew how to s*oot it properly.
Even in the Four Divine Units, where only talented individuals from Jianghu gathered, there were quite a few who were good at archery.
But even all of them combined were no match for Kang Dong-jae.
There was no one in the Four Divine Units who could pierce a small leaf like a willow leaf from a distance of over a hundred paces.
Moreover, he pierced a falling leaf, not one attached to a branch, so it was truly a divine skill （神技）.
“Then you can just buy the jewel at a bargain price, right?”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Yeon Ja-ryong’s face began to contort.
“Anyway, I can’t. I can’t have it until the owner throws the jewel away.”
Jang Ryong stopped prying.
The Yeon Ja-ryong he knew wasn’t someone with such a strong obsession.
No, rather, his lack of obsession was a problem.
The only things Yeon Ja-ryong showed obsession towards were his friends and unit members.
So it didn’t make sense that he was obsessed with a jewel.
He must have been referring to a talented individual as a jewel.
‘Who is he so coveting?’
While Jang Ryong was thinking that, the rice and dried meat had cooked into porridge.
An Azure Dragon Unit member scooped the porridge into bowls and handed them to Yeon Ja-ryong and Jang Ryong.
Yeon Ja-ryong, who received the small bowl, was about to bring a spoonful of porridge to his mouth when he suddenly burst out laughing.
Cackle……
“Is it not that a hundred people ostracized one, but that one ostracized a hundred people? How interesting.”
Jang Ryong quickly turned his head and looked around.
And his eyes fell upon a man.
The man was just placing a skinned rabbit on the fire.
‘Who is that man?’
The gazes of the unit members were piercing.
I ignored their gazes and waited for the meat to cook.
“Didn’t you bring rice and dried meat?”
Unit Leader Yang asked as he approached.
“Yes.”
“Then why are you hunting instead of eating with the members?”
I was slightly annoyed but tried to brush it off.
“I’ll do that next time.”
This was because he didn’t seem like a bad person, even though he was a bit frustrating.
When I responded nonchalantly, Unit Leader Yang just stared at me blankly for a moment before going back to the members.
Perhaps because of the smell of the cooking meat, the members’ gazes wouldn’t leave me.
As soon as the meat was cooked, I tore off a leg and put it in my mouth.
Munch munch……
It didn’t taste great because I hadn’t even brought salt, but I was hungry, so it went down my throat easily.
After I finished off the roasted rabbit, I gathered some leaves and lay down on them.
“As expected, even his actions are unpleasant.”
“That’s what crows do.”
I fell asleep listening to the members’ unpleasant voices.
As soon as we entered Suzhou, the city was already swarming with martial artists who had gathered from all directions, perhaps because the rumor had already spread.
However, they seemed unaware of the tomb’s location as well, as they only chattered loudly.
“I heard it’s in Yangsu Mountain.”
“No, they said the tomb was made of rocks by the river, so it must be near Hansu.”
“I heard it’s a stone tomb in a field.”
As they were each insisting that their own words were correct, they quickly made way when the Martial Alliance’s Four Divine Units entered.
“Since even the Four Divine Units have arrived, it’s certain that the Martial Emperor’s tomb is here.”
“If we’re lucky, we might even get the Martial Emperor’s secret manual.”
The martial artists, filled with hopes, focused their attention on every move of the Four Divine Units.
This was because they believed that the Four Divine Units would know the location of the tomb.
However, even the Four Divine Units didn’t know the location of the tomb.
The Unit Leaders of the Four Divine Units sent out their members to find the location of the tomb first.
Yeon Ja-ryong assessed the atmosphere without sending out his members.
“Judging from the martial artists chattering all over the place, it seems they don’t know the location of the tomb either. So, it’s best to settle down first.”
Jang Ryong, who seemed to have the same thought, asked the members, looking around.
“Who’s from Suzhou?”
It was a member of the White Tiger Unit, not the Azure Dragon Unit, who answered his question.
“My family is not far from here! Let’s go to my house!”
Hahaha……
Baek Mu-ho, the Unit Leader of the White Tiger Unit, burst out laughing when his member answered the Vice Unit Leader of the Azure Dragon Unit’s question.
“Ah…… Now that I think about it, your family is here, Jin-chung. Let’s go there!”
Providing lodging and food for four hundred young martial artists was a considerable burden even for a family.
However, families in Jianghu considered it an honor and a source of pride to have the Four Divine Units stay at their house.
Moreover, the Martial Alliance would compensate them later, so the burden wasn’t that great.
Rather, the concern was whether there were enough rooms for four hundred people to use for several days.
However, seeing Jin-chung smile, it seemed that the family was quite large.
The White Tiger Unit moved first, and the rest of the Four Divine Units followed.
Yeon Ja-ryong and Jang Ryong also moved along with the members.
But then Kang Dong-jae’s voice reached his ears.
It was a noisy street, so there was no way only his voice could be heard, but perhaps it was because he was paying attention.
“Unit Leader, do you know where the Huisu River Valley is?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I just want to take a look.”
Yeon Ja-ryong stopped walking when he heard the conversation between Unit Leader Yang and Kang Dong-jae.
However, he soon started walking again as if nothing had happened.
There were too many martial artists watching around them.
As expected, the Head of the Jin Family in Suzhou welcomed the Four Divine Units with open arms.
It was a natural course of action since a blood relative of the family had visited with the Four Divine Units.
He called out all the blood relatives of the family to greet the Four Divine Units and even held a grand feast.
However, before the martial artists of the Four Divine Units could even choose their seats, urgent news arrived.
“It’s said that the Martial Emperor’s tomb has been discovered in the Huisu River Valley!”
A female martial artist of the Jin family shouted as she ran inside.
“Jin-chung, you lead the way.”
“Yes, Unit Leader.”
Baek Mu-ho, the Unit Leader of the White Tiger Unit, gave the order, and the members of the other Four Divine Units also got up.
“As if they were waiting for us to arrive, the location of the tomb was revealed right away.”
Yeon Ja-ryong took the current situation seriously.
The other Unit Leaders, upon hearing his words, also had their faces harden.
In any case, the Four Divine Units set off towards the Huisu River Valley.
‘We should have gone straight to the Huisu River Valley without stopping at the Jin family.’
Yeon Ja-ryong regretted his decision.
If they had run to that place as soon as he heard the words Huisu River Valley from the young man named Kang Dong-jae, the chaos that would unfold wouldn’t have happened.
‘But why did that man pinpoint that place?’
He only learned that a place called Huisu River Valley existed in Suzhou after the man named Kang Dong-jae mentioned it.
The place called Huisu River Valley had never been mentioned by martial artists before.
The Huisu River Valley was a mountain with a winding river flowing through it.
Clang…… Clang……!
Ugh…… Ugh……
The Four Divine Units increased their speed even more upon hearing the faint sounds of weapons clashing and people’s mixed screams.
The Four Divine Units, arriving at the entrance of the Huisu River Valley, couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
Thousands of martial artists were entangled in a fight, and the ground was already covered with corpses and soaked in blood.
“Stop!”
Yeon Ja-ryong shouted as he jumped forward.
His voice, amplified with internal energy, was loud enough to echo through the Huisu River Valley.
A momentary silence fell upon the battlefield where fierce fighting with weapons had been ongoing.
Yeon Ja-ryong, seizing the opportunity, shouted again.
“Why are you shedding each other’s blood!”
Then, a ferocious-looking man stepped forward and responded to his words.
“How can we seize the Martial Emperor’s treasure without shedding blood?”
The martial artists who had been fighting nodded their heads in agreement with his words.
“Have you seen the Martial Emperor’s treasure with your own eyes?”
At Yeon Ja-ryong’s question, the ferocious-looking man hesitated and couldn’t answer.
Yeon Ja-ryong then shouted towards the martial artists.
“I will enter the tomb and retrieve the Martial Emperor’s treasure, so fight then! The Martial Alliance’s Four Divine Units are not interested in the Martial Emperor’s treasure!”
