Moon-Shadow Sword Emperor

Episode 61:

Reporter Cheon’s secret movement.

Originally, this place was discovered five years from now.

One day, a herbalist who climbed Snow Mountain to collect medicinal herbs as usual had a mysterious experience.

After finishing his meal on the side of the mountain, he set foot on a rough road he did not normally travel on, and soon felt a sense of discomfort.

I had the feeling that the scenery I had seen before was being repeated.

The herbalist carved marks on nearby rocks and trees just in case and then resumed his movement.

just as expected.

It wasn’t long before he saw the mark he had engraved before his eyes.

I was clearly looking around carefully and only moving in one direction, but when I came to my senses, I found myself back at the starting point.

The herbalist who felt afraid immediately went down the mountain and reported what he had experienced to the people around him. As the story spread through word of mouth, the existence of the Jinbeop spread out on Mt. Seoldu became known to the martial arts community.

It became clear from the crowd of Jinbeop practitioners that it was not a naturally unfolding Jinbeop, and eventually the existence of Bidong, where Gija Cheon spent his last years, became known.

The entire midfield became noisy.

In particular, in the case of the Zhuge family, he even showed decisiveness by mobilizing all of his family’s elite and going on an expedition to Zhejiang.

To conclude, it was the imperial palace, not the Zhuge Dynasty or the Murim Alliance, that robbed Bidong.

The martial arts people who had come after Bidong ended up fighting, and in the process, residents of nearby villages were involved and sacrificed, creating a justification for the government to intervene.

The imperial palace said, “What are you doing?” and dispatched scholars.

Jegal Sega became like a dog chasing chickens and had no choice but to watch them attack Bi-dong.

‘In this life, I preempt it.’

Looking up at the sky through the window on the side of the carriage, I had a pleasant smile on my face.

The weather was clear, as if blessing my future.

‘I’m already looking forward to seeing what kind of facial expression they will make when I present the Jinbeop map left by Reporter Cheon to someone from the Zhuge family in the future.’

* * *

Fenghua, Zhejiang Province.

After reaching our destination, my group and I unpacked our bags at a nearby guesthouse and took a rest.

Because it was late, we decided to climb the mountain early the next morning.

“Whoa.”

After eating a late dinner, I sat on the roof of the guesthouse and looked down at the dark street.

It was a village with not a very large population.

Unlike Hangzhou, the faces of passers-by were shadowed.

This was because they were directly affected by the aftermath of the Japanese invasion.

The hostess of the guesthouse said that things were better around here.

Since it is the territory of Sosalbang (笑殺幫), a branch of Heukdo Island, there is at least no need to worry about bandits or bandits running amok.

Although a considerable amount of money is taken from them in the name of protection tax, at least their lives are not threatened, so they can focus on their livelihood with peace of mind.

It is said that the neighboring village, located about 30 ri (里) away from here, was recently attacked by a group of bandits and suffered terrible devastation.

It seemed that property was taken away, women and girls were kidnapped, and there were many deaths and injuries.

‘The situation is more serious than I vaguely thought. I understand why the owner of Hwayang Sangdan was against it.’

I remembered a conversation I had with the owner of Hwayang Sangdan not long ago.

[This time, I am thinking about starting a charity project for the residents of Zhejiang who have been harmed by Japanese pirates.] [

Charity project…?]

[However, I have no experience in doing this, so I asked the owner of the merchant for advice. I want to…]

[I wish you could be a little more specific. How exactly are you going to relieve the residents of Zhejiang?]

[I plan to invest half of the profits from selling spices this time.]

[Really?]

[If you’re going to make a big deal, wouldn’t it be better to do it big?]

[ Isn’t that too much?]

[Money is there to be spent. What’s the point of saving money? It’s not something you can take with you to the afterlife, so you have to use it when you use it.] [

I didn’t know you had that kind of character as a wise man.] [

It’s not exactly an act of good faith. I’m just trying to make some kind of investment for a goal I want to achieve in the future.]

[……?]

[To put it simply, I want to gain a reputation.] [

It’s good that you’re honest about that.] [I will

release the money and give it to the residents of Zhejiang. I plan to show affection, but keep the identity of the donor hidden without revealing it.]

[Isn’t this a contradiction? If you want to gain fame, you will have to appear in front of the front page.]

[You probably know that the Murim Alliance is planning the Yongbong branch.]

[I know. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but officials are roughly guessing the time.]

[I will be the winner of the competition.] [

You’re talking as if it’s natural that you’ll win.] [

You don’t think you can? ]

[With your skills, it would be more than enough.]

[It turned out that the winner of the Yongfeng Branch and Hu Jie, who donated a huge amount of goods to the residents of Zhejiang, were the same person. Wouldn’t this be a good picture?]

[I think I know what you want to say. Are you trying to kill two birds with one stone?]

[I recently realized this. There is a trick to gaining fame.]

[It’s not a bad idea, but there is a fatal problem with that plan.]

[Problem?]

[No matter how much money you pour in, the people of Zhejiang will not benefit from it. .]

[Why?]

[Bandits, bandits, bandits, and black swords. In conclusion, these are the ones who will be hungry. So to speak, pouring water into a bottomless pot.]

[…!]

I muttered, scratching the back of my head.

‘It’s a troubling problem.’

It was just as Hwayang Sangdanju said.

I wanted to carry out charity work for the residents of Zhejiang, but the obstacles of reality were not easy.

However, it was impossible to dry up the seeds of all the black thieves and thieves that had built their nests in Zhejiang.

No matter how great I was, I was ultimately just an individual.

‘It would be more realistic to expedite the period of subjugating the Japanese and have the government do its job.’

Of course, that did not mean he had any intention of surrendering himself to the government army.

Once you join the government, you cannot leave at will.

If I made a mistake and the war prolonged, I could have been unable to participate in the Yongbong branch.

‘Should I just give up?’

Even if I didn’t do any charity work, there was no harm to me.

Rather, if you use that money to secure rice and medicinal herbs, you can make huge profits.

However, I couldn’t help but feel regretful.

‘I’ll have to think about it slowly later. For now, let’s focus on attacking Reporter Cheon’s secret ward.’

I sighed softly and jumped down from the roof.

* * *

The next morning.

My group and I set foot on Seoldusan Mountain.

Because it was an untouched mountain, there was no path to follow.

All that exists is a small road created by wild animals passing by.

Nevertheless, the hike went smoothly.

I suggested a rough direction from memory, and Cheon Ga-ryeong took the lead and found the way.

Damun followed behind, breaking tree branches.

How far did it travel like that?

After taking a break and having a meal in a vacant lot on the side of the mountain, my group and I found a broken tree branch nearby.

Damun looked around with his eyes shining.

“Is it true?”

“I think so.”

“What kind of gin?”

“It looks like it’s some kind of labyrinth camp… Let’s move on first.”

“Shouldn’t you move as you please when you’re trapped in a formation?”

“It’s okay because it wasn’t created specifically to harm intruders. It will only hinder you from moving in a certain direction and it will be easy to get out of it. “For a group like this, you have to go around and look at its structure to find clues to its strategy.”

Cheon Ji-ryeong stepped back and Damun took the lead.

He didn’t break any more branches.

Instead, he took out a small sword and carved different marks on each rock.

How much time has passed like that?

Damun nodded and pointed in one direction with his finger.

“I guess we can go over there.”

“Have you found a way to unlock it?”

“I don’t think there’s any need to lift it. “If the exit had been blocked, we would have had no choice but to find the axis of the Jin and destroy it, but fortunately, the Jin spread here seems to be fine.”

“……?”

I couldn’t figure out how they found the exit.

There were many things I wanted to ask, but without hesitation, I moved in the direction he pointed.

Damun climbed a steep slope that was questionable as to whether it was a road or not, and squeezed himself into a crevice in the rock.

When I looked at it with the naked eye from a distance, it looked like a narrow gap that not even a small animal could pass through, but when I put my body in it, the space was surprisingly wide.

I, Cheon Ji-ryeong, and Tang Seo-yeon were able to get out of the gap without difficulty.

“It looked like a road that no one could pass through…”

“It was a trick using illusion. I didn’t know that Reporter Cheon was so meticulous in such details. “Thanks to you, it took longer than I thought to find the exit.”

Beyond the rock crevice was a sheer stone wall.

No matter where I looked, it didn’t look like a path for people to pass by.

However, Damun, who was moving his hand from left to right along the wall, suddenly thrust his hand into the middle of a huge rock.

I watched without thinking and then opened my eyes.

The rock was not drilled as a tribute.

The rock itself dispersed like smoke, creating a path for the hand to pass through.

Damwoon pulled his arm from top to bottom as if he was holding on to something.

Following the clanking sound of a machine, part of the wall was pushed away, opening a path.

An entrance large enough for one person to pass through appeared.

“How did you know there was a tracheal device there?”

“Just a rough feeling.”

“……?”

“Honestly, I was a little surprised too.”

The inside of the passage was immersed in pitch black darkness.

Cheon Ji-ryeong quickly unpacked his belongings and began making torches.

“It seems that when the engine activates, the illusion is canceled.”

The illusion disguised as a rock cleared away, revealing the switchgear hidden inside.

Damun, who was looking at the device here and there, muttered.

“Maybe we can attack Bi-dong easier than we think.”

“What does it mean?”

“Perhaps Reporter Chen was from the Sima family.”

“…!”

“I once heard something like that from my father. Even if Cheon Ji-ja had not betrayed the family, the Sima family would have become a great family on par with the Zhuge family by now. “At the time, I thought there must have been some kind of evil relationship between Qian Gija and Sima Se, but it seems that wasn’t the case.”