Chapter 39: Black Spirit Valley
The owner of the voice was Jin Gwangung.
I hadn't sensed his presence at all, yet somehow he was already standing behind us.
Jin Gwangung swept his sharp gaze over every member of the search party.
“Looking at you lot, you'd think this was a picnic group instead of a search party.”
That one sentence instantly killed the noisy atmosphere.
Everyone fell silent and lowered their heads.
“Does this mission look like a joke to you?”
“We've lost contact with both the scouting team and the investigation team.”
His voice hardened.
“Do you understand what that means?”
“It means if you make one wrong move, you might lose your head.”
"..."
Myeongjeon swallowed hard.
Hyeongwon bit his lip.
Yu Seola quietly nodded.
I remained silent as well, carefully considering his words.
Jin Gwangung's gaze eventually stopped on me.
“Especially you, Han Mujin.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Winner of the Elders' Lecture Gathering. Successor of True Immortal Cheongun.”
His voice grew even heavier.
“If you go into this mission drunk on useless titles like those, you'll be the first one to get your head cut off.”
“Do you understand me?”
Unlike his usual self, Jin Gwangung sounded completely serious.
I cupped my fists.
“I will remember that, Master.”
Jin Gwangung looked back at the rest of the search party.
“You only need two things.”
He raised two fingers.
“Cold eyes that can judge a situation.”
“And legs that move the instant you've made your decision.”
He lowered his hand.
“Remember only those two things.”
“They're the only things that will keep you alive.”
“Yes!”
Everyone answered at almost the exact same time.
Jin Gwangung gave a small nod.
“Looks like you understand well enough.”
Then he turned.
“Let's go.”
We grabbed the luggage prepared beforehand and immediately left the training ground.
We followed Jin Gwangung out of Kunlun.
He seemed extremely familiar with the route to Black Spirit Valley and moved through the mountain paths without hesitation.
While leading the way, he glanced back.
“It'll be troublesome if too many people see us.”
“From now on, we're taking routes where nobody will notice us.”
“Move quickly.”
Whoosh!
Before he had even finished speaking, Jin Gwangung shot forward through the damp forest air.
His movement technique was so fast that I couldn't even hear his footsteps.
The rest of us immediately used our own movement techniques at maximum speed to follow him.
The cold mountain wind tore past our clothes.
Everyone ran like mad, pushing their movement arts as hard as possible.
At first...
we somehow managed to keep up.
But expecting that pace to last forever was asking too much.
As time passed, everyone except Jin Gwangung gradually began slowing down.
After three or four double-hours...
they finally started reaching their limits.
Thanks to the enormous amount of internal energy I had gained from the Frost Ice Snow Lotus and the other fortuitous encounters I'd experienced, I could still endure reasonably well.
But the others weren't in the same condition.
“Haa... haa... haa....”
“Huu... huu... khh....”
The search party members behind Jin Gwangung were gasping wildly.
Myeongjeon was especially bad.
“Khaa... agh... khh...”
His voice barely came out between breaths.
“At this... rate... someone's... going to die....”
His face had gone beyond pale blue.
He looked almost as white as a corpse.
It was probably because he had the weakest internal energy among us.
We're going to make a corpse before we even reach Black Spirit Valley.
I shook my head inwardly while glancing at him.
Then...
Jin Gwangung suddenly stopped.
Only then were the rest of us finally able to rest.
Hyeongwon and Yu Seola practically collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.
Jin Gwangung looked at them and let out a deep sigh.
“Haa.”
“What a bunch of snails.”
He clicked his tongue.
“You're already dying from this much?”
“If I keep matching your pace, it'll take us three days to reach Black Spirit Valley.”
Then he looked at Myeongjeon, who was sprawled on the ground.
“And I'm supposed to conduct a search with people like this?”
Hyeongwon struggled back to his feet.
“Haa...”
“W-We can do it... Elder....”
Jin Gwangung shook his head.
“Sit down.”
“Watching your legs shake is making me dizzy.”
He looked around at the nearby ridge.
Then he grumbled.
“Now I even have to manage rest breaks for a bunch of children....”
He sighed.
“You people really are a handful.”
"..."
After another long sigh, Jin Gwangung pointed toward the ridge with his chin.
“We're not going any farther today.”
“Even in the mountains, it'll be dark soon.”
He looked at all four of us.
“We're resting here.”
“None of you move from this spot.”
His words were harsh.
But his eyes were carefully checking our physical condition.
He looked over each of us one by one, then shook his head again.
“Haa....”
“I must've lost my mind when I agreed to take responsibility for a bunch of kids like you.”
He turned toward the ridge.
“I'll check the surroundings.”
“Stay here and don't do anything stupid.”
Then he lightly pushed off with the tips of his feet.
But right before leaving...
I noticed his gaze sweep across all of us one more time.
It almost felt like he was making one final check to ensure that everyone was all right.
Then he vanished over the ridge like the wind.
The moment Jin Gwangung disappeared completely from sight...
Myeongjeon let out a long breath.
“Good grief.”
“I seriously thought I was going to die.”
He wiped the sweat from his face.
“Why is First Elder Gwangung in such a hurry?”
Hyeongwon answered in a low voice.
“Probably because of Black Spirit Valley.”
“Of all places, that's where the disciples disappeared.”
Myeongjeon tilted his head.
“Because of Black Spirit Valley?”
Hyeongwon sighed.
“You really came here without knowing anything, didn't you?”
“W-Well...”
Myeongjeon scratched his cheek.
