Episode 29: For the Grand Plan
Yun Yeopja crouched down and ran his hand along the smooth cut surface of the statue. With that melancholic face of his, he looked like a page out of a pictorial.
Well, I guess I’m handsome too, at least for now.
Anyway. Yun Yeopja stood up and walked over to me. Then, without a word, he cupped his fists in salute. I reflexively returned the gesture. In his eyes, I could see a burning desire, like a yearning for something profound.
“Thank you, Young Hero.”
“Why the sudden thanks?”
“Thanks to you, I’ve been enlightened. I can see now how much effort you must have put in to achieve this level of martial prowess... I realize now that I’ve grown too complacent, training within the safe bounds of Kunlun.”
“Same for me, Sir!”
Tang Siyuk raised his clenched fist high with determination.
“When I return to my clan, I’ll train even harder!”
It seemed… a rather huge misunderstanding was forming.
Do they think I’m the one who cut down the statues?
[You didn’t do it, after all.]
As Skybreaker said, the statues were destroyed not by me, but by the mechanisms of the ruin itself.
Let’s just stay quiet.
No reason to correct a misunderstanding that worked in my favor.
“Are you alright?”
Tak Horak came over to ask. I simply nodded in silence. He, too, began mumbling things like, “As expected, Sir is amazing...”
Saweol, on the other hand…
What’s with her now?
I thought I’d shaken her mental clarity a bit with recent events, but she was staring at me coldly—as if she had sorted out her thoughts.
In Return of the Murim, when Saweol wore that expression, it was said to be because she was hiding intense emotions.
Something had shifted inside her, but I didn’t know what.
Still, I felt oddly calm. I had Blink now. If things went south, I could teleport away.
Even so, I’d need to be more careful.
No matter what, I had to keep Saweol on my side.
“Then, is the ruin finished now?”
Someone from Treasure Hoarders asked.
Usually, the guardians of a ruin protect its central treasure. Since I’d already absorbed the Blink Orb, the core item of this ruin, it wasn’t wrong to say we were done.
“The altar? Wait, that means there was a relic or mystic object here.”
“What?! Seriously?”
“So where’s the treasure that was here?”
Before their sentences were even complete, all eyes turned to me.
Damn, I didn’t think of that…
Treasure Hoarders’s purpose was to explore ruins and collect treasure. Since I’d claimed the central treasure, it wasn’t strange for their anger to turn toward me.
No wonder Paeng Soso was staring at me like her eyes could shoot fire. She must’ve been pissed that I’d taken the ruin’s loot. Her twitching fingers made it clear—she was on the verge of drawing her blade.
I casually inched closer to Yun Yeopja.
“Where’s the treasure?”
“Let us at least see what it looks like! We can’t go home empty-handed!”
Sure, in the Martial World, “first come, first served” was the rule when it came to ruins. But it didn’t change the fact that the optics of this weren’t great.
If I admit I took the jade orb, they’ll ask me what it was.
And Blink Orb had to remain a secret. No one else could know it wasn’t a movement technique, but a function of the orb itself.
Then it happened.
“Everyone, stop.”
The scholarly-looking man behind Paeng Soso, Jo-yang, spoke. She said nothing, which meant Jo-yang likely held the position of second-in-command in Treasure Hoarders.
“There is no mystic object here.”
“What do you mean, none?!”
“What, did we come all this way for nothing?!”
The mood among Treasure Hoarders members soured quickly. For all the grandiose name, Treasure Hoarders was largely made up of wandering mercenaries that Paeng Soso had picked up off the street.
And mercenaries hated losses more than anything. Their sense of identity as a “band” was weak—they were more rogue than loyal.
That’s probably why Paeng Soso always used harsh language: to keep them in line.
“What’s going on, Boss?”
“Care to explain?”
“We came all the way from Guangdong to Qinghai—don’t tell me it’s another bust?”
Then Jo-yang loudly clapped his hands.
“Let me finish! That altar was fake. The real one is up ahead.”
He pointed toward a specific spot.
When did that get there?
Just moments ago, the wall had been bare, but now a small arched passage, wide enough for two people, had appeared.
“Oh, that explains it!”
“Of course! Like we’d come all this way for nothing!”
The Treasure Hoarders members, quick to switch moods, chuckled and nodded.
Simple folks.
But Treasure Hoarders wasn’t what concerned me.
[Something’s off.]
“You’re right. It is off.”
Jo-yang.
These people came here expecting a treasured relic. That was clear from what Paeng Soso and I both knew.
But Jo-yang had just referred to it as a mystic object.
Relics and mystic objects are collectively called treasures, but they’re fundamentally different. No professional ruin hunter—especially someone with formation expertise—would mix up the terms.
So he knew all along that a mystic object was here?
And yet he pretended he didn’t?
Why? For what reason?
Don’t tell me—he’s a member of the Heavenly Demon Cult? Is that the twist?
[Surely not.]
“‘Surely not’ has killed more people than anything else.”
But I couldn’t confront him directly. He wasn’t a character from Return of the Murim, which made him unreadable.
“If we pass through that passage, we’ll reach the hidden part of the ruin. The real treasure lies beyond.”
“Then…”
The members of Treasure Hoarders exchanged glances, trying to decide who would go first. The path was bound to be full of traps.
“You bunch of chickens.”
Paeng Soso stepped forward.
“I’ll go first, so stop eyeballing each other. And hey, Brother Kim.”
She turned to me.
“You come with me.”
“…Why?”
“Why? Because you’re ridiculously strong. Can’t you protect a delicate lady like me?”
Excuse me, but one hit from your “delicate” arms and I’m dead.
It was ridiculous hearing such words from someone of the Paeng Clan, known for being born with monstrous strength.
But I couldn’t say that out loud—not when everyone else was nodding in agreement.
“I’m still recovering from internal injuries…”
“No problem. I’ll block everything for you.”
“…In that case, there’s no reason for me to come along?”
“Tsk! Why do you talk so much for a man?!”
She approached, clearly intending to drag me along. I stepped back and called out.
“Saweol.”
She appeared silently by my side, like a ghost. Paeng Soso flinched.
She could feel it.
To experts, personal space wasn’t just physical—it was spiritual. Letting someone inside that space meant deep trust. Or the desire for it.
“As I said, due to my injuries, my bodyguard will accompany in my stead.”
“Tch, playing hard to get. Fine. All three of us can go. That’s okay, right?”
Not really. But I had no valid reason to say no.
“Let’s go.”
Saweol simply bowed her head silently.
As we stepped through the archway, the torches on either side lit themselves automatically. There was no electricity in this world, of course, but it was the kind of ruin logic you just had to accept.
“No traps so far.”
We advanced cautiously, only to find the corridor was disappointingly short and uneventful.
And then—three paths.
It wasn’t strange. The front section of a ruin always had simplified versions of the traps and structure in the back. Just like the two paths from the entrance, three now awaited us.
“Ugh. Another fork,” Paeng Soso muttered.
“You should wait here.”
There were definitely traps ahead. Sure, with her and Saweol, we might be safe—but it was still dangerous.
The real problem was Jo-yang. He definitely had something hidden. I just couldn’t figure out what.
But Paeng Soso was as headstrong as ever. The ultimate brute-force heroine.
“Huh? What’s that?”
She pointed at something. I stepped closer to check. Saweol followed quietly.
And in that moment—
Paeng Soso stepped forward.
The moment her foot touched the passage—
Rumble—!
A loud roar echoed as a stone wall slammed down behind us. Our escape route was sealed.
“Aha… well, that’s a problem.”
“What did you just do?”
“You weren’t moving, so I tried to help. Didn’t think a wall would drop. My bad.”
She looked genuinely sorry. And a little embarrassed.
I sighed.
This was the world of Return of the Murim. A world crafted by the author. The Paeng Clan was defined as simple-minded muscleheads. No point in getting mad.
If anything, her feeling guilty was already a big deal for someone from her family.
I touched the stone wall. The tattoo on the back of my hand glowed faintly.
I can pass through. Must be thinner than 5 meters.
If I used Blink, I could get past it. But if I did, everyone would know I’d absorbed the jade orb.
Crossing the wall would be a last resort.
“Move aside. I’ll break through it.”
Paeng Soso had already drawn her massive saber. Her expression had turned serious.
Chzzzt—!
A red current crackled around the blade like lightning. Blade force had been activated.
[That’s not Five Tigers Break the Gate Saber…]
It was the Five Tigers technique—the Paeng Clan’s signature art, famous for being as fierce and overpowering as tigers breaking gates.
But it had been modified using the sword arts of Samnak Blade Saint—the legendary master whose sword art Heaven’s Three Joys Saber had been uncovered in a ruin.
Its signature trait: red lightning—just like the one crackling along Paeng Soso’s blade.
“Take this!”
She slashed. The red lightning-infused blade force crashed into the wall.
Rumble—!
Dust billowed. I shielded my eyes and nose with my sleeve.
“Didn’t work. Must be the same material as those statues.”
The wall was scratched, but still intact. Normally, that kind of attack would have reduced stone to powder.
“Can’t you do it? You were amazing earlier.”
“I told you. I’ve suffered internal injuries.”
“I guess it’d be weird if you weren’t injured after something like that.”
Their misunderstanding made the excuse easier.
“What about your guard? Can she break it?”
Saweol quietly shook her head.
“Let’s just move forward. I’m sure Jo-yang can handle it later. He gives me the creeps sometimes, but his ruin-breaking skills are decent.”
***
Meanwhile…
The others arrived to find the first passage blocked by a stone wall. Two options remained.
“Looks like the boss went into the first path.”
Jo-yang, appearing to analyze the scene, made a show of inspecting the ruin’s structure.
“Judging by the layout, all three paths will converge. The traps along the way may differ, though.”
“Then there’s no need to hesitate. Our leader is in there. Let’s go, everyone!”
“Yes, sir!”
Tang Siyuk led the Tang clan martial artists into the second path, with Yun Yeopja tagging along.
“Let’s go! We won’t lose to them!”
Treasure Hoarders took the third passage.
And then—
Sssmirk—
Left alone in the chaos, Jo-yang let a cold smile creep across his lips.
In his hand, he held a jade orb that emitted an ominous, bone-chilling gray-white mist.
“For the Grand Plan…”