Chapter 27 :

Chapter 27

Act 4: The Bamboo-Tube Beauty (8)

Upon hearing that the requested items had arrived at the herbal-medicine shop, Yise immediately began performing alchemy.

It was merely a minor skill he had recently learned, but he intended to use every resource at his disposal.

He took out the five remaining spirit stones after subtracting the five he had spent in Azure Mountain Capital.

He poured all five of them into the process.

He could not use the one he had made into a necklace and kept as a sort of memento... so in effect, he was investing all ten spirit stones he had received as his allowance into this mission.

Of course, he had not used the finished medicine yet.

Seol Ryeong’s eyes shone as she watched the alchemical process.

“That looks fairly convincing. When did you learn alchemy?”

“I didn’t learn alchemy. I merely memorized the recipes for a few pellets. They aren’t even good enough to be called medicinal pills.”

“So what are you making?”

“An antidote.”

Seol Ryeong considered questioning him further but quickly changed her mind.

The process of decocting the pellets in a double boiler with spirit stones looked more arduous than she had expected.

She merely assumed that Yise was preparing for the possibility of being poisoned during their encounter with the cultivator.

‘An antidote needs to be prepared for a specific type of poison... But there’s no need to discourage him...’

In any case, even a general-purpose antidote would be useful.

“Seol Ryeong.”

“Hmm?”

“Instead of wasting time like that, go outside and buy a gift if you have nothing else to do.”

“A gift? What kind?”

“You never know. The senior cultivator might invite us inside. It would be good to offer some token of sincerity.”

Of course, whether they would be treated as guests or regarded as robbers remained to be seen.

***

“Buy a new cauldron before you use this place again.”

After moving his arms continuously for an hour and completing the antidote he wanted, Yise advised the physician to discard the cauldron. He then headed toward the area where the independent cultivator’s cultivation cave was believed to be located.

Finding the cultivation cave was easier than expected.

In the deepest part of the mountain indicated by the proprietress, they discovered a shabby cabin that looked as though a mountain keeper might live there.

It happened on precisely the seventh day, just as Seol Ryeong had proposed.

“Do you possess some ability to read the secrets of heaven? I didn’t expect us to find it in exactly seven days.”

“Hehe. I’ve often been told that I have the potential to become an exceptionally gifted shaman. Why? Would you like me to tell your fortune?”

“Just tell me whether I’ll still be alive after today.”

“Let me see... You’ll be alive and perfectly intact! You have nothing to worry about.”

“I’ll pay your divination fee if I survive.”

“Oh my. Delaying payment brings bad luck, you know?”

Yise muttered that she was a miserly shaman before tossing her a coin.

Instead of moving hastily, the two observed the independent cultivator’s cave from as far away as possible.

There was not a human in sight, let alone a single rat.

Unless someone was already certain that a cultivation cave existed here and deliberately searched for it, the scenery was so ordinary that they would simply pass it by.

A sophisticated barrier that could completely conceal its appearance would have been difficult for an independent cultivator to obtain.

His best option would have been to disguise the place as a cabin occupied by an ordinary mountain keeper and erect a low-grade barrier that prevented the accumulated spiritual energy from being sensed outside.

As a result, the spiritual energy appeared to flow naturally when observed from outside, with nothing particularly suspicious about it. However, if one began with the assumption that a cultivation cave existed somewhere on this mountain, this was the only possible location.

However...

‘Something is strange.’

What disturbed Yise was a certain energy mixed in with the concealed spiritual energy.

Since he was not certain, he did not bother explaining it to Seol Ryeong.

Instead, he stored another hypothesis in his mind.

The two had arrived around dawn and waited until twilight began to fall.

They had hoped to encounter the independent cultivator outside his cave, but it appeared that his cultivation session would continue for some time.

Once cultivators immersed themselves in cultivation, they sometimes remained secluded for days or even months. No matter how long the two waited, there was no telling when he might emerge.

“What should we do?”

Yise had already more or less decided on an answer, but he wanted to confirm Seol Ryeong’s resolve one final time.

If they advanced any farther, Kim Siwon would notice their approach.

There would be no turning back.

“Guess what this is.”

Seol Ryeong held up a talisman between her index and middle fingers.

Yise recognized the design from the Grand Martial Path outpost several days earlier.

“A Message-Transmission Talisman?”

“That’s right. I received one as tribute from Chong Sadeuk.”

“You’re rather ungrateful.”

“What are you talking about...? I only accepted it because we might need it. Let’s send our location to Chong Sadeuk and tell him to report to the main sect if we don’t return.”

“You want to confront him directly.”

“You understand quickly.”

Seol Ryeong was suggesting that they approach the cultivation cave, identify their affiliation, knock on the door, and bluntly inform him that his spiritual object was waiting for him.

Their cultivation realms might be low, but from an independent cultivator’s perspective, harming two disciples of the Grand Martial Path would bring more disadvantages than benefits.

If he displayed hostility, they would warn him that the Grand Martial Path had already been informed of the cultivation cave’s location.

They would force him to choose between two options.

He could kill them to silence them, abandon his cultivation cave, and flee—or he could suppress his displeasure and agree to speak with them.

“If he agrees to talk, what exactly are you going to confirm?”

“First, I’ll ask him to tell us the truth. If he really did abandon her... I may ask him to lie.”

He would tell the Bamboo-Container Maiden that he had never abandoned her.

He had simply been unable to visit her because of unavoidable circumstances.

Then he would call her by her name.

They would ask him to tell a compassionate lie.

Of course, even that might not stop the Bamboo-Container Maiden’s corruption.

It was merely what they hoped would happen.

However, true to the meaning of a spirit-consoling rite, it would at least offer her a small measure of comfort.

At the very least, she could die as a spiritual object without leaving behind any lingering regrets.

“Let’s do that.”

Yise met Seol Ryeong’s eyes and slowly approached the cultivation cave.

“Prepare a defensive ritual implement, just in case.”

Seol Ryeong nodded.

Yise also prepared to immediately draw up his spiritual energy and protect his body if necessary.

It was commonly said that among those in the same cultivation realm, cultivators were more frightening than demons.

When facing a cultivator, one should never lower one’s guard simply because the opponent was two or three steps higher.

Viewed from the opposite perspective, that also meant it was possible to hunt a cultivator who stood two or three steps above oneself.

Yise advanced one step at a time, with Seol Ryeong following behind him.

He kept his Dokkaebi Senses stretched to their absolute limit.

When they approached the immediate vicinity of the cabin, he suddenly felt himself enter a formation.

As expected, it was merely a formation intended to deceive the eye.

Yise took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

“Is anyone inside?”

There was no response.

However, he could sense them.

Yise and Seol Ryeong stood outside the door, waiting tensely.

Inside, the independent cultivator Kim Siwon stood upright and stared at them.

All three were aware of one another’s presence and were observing each other through their Spiritual Eyes.

Clearly.

‘Judging by the amount of spiritual energy, he is at the Fourth or Fifth Star of the Energy Refinement Realm.’

He was either trapped at the minor bottleneck or had only recently broken through it.

The amount of spiritual energy matched precisely the cultivation realm they had predicted.

“We are Daoists from the Grand Martial Path. We did not come here to harm you, Cultivator. Could we speak with you for a moment?”

There was still no response.

“Cultivator Kim Siwon?”

Yise thought that the man would be unable to continue ignoring them once they called his name.

Click.

The door opened, something dropped onto the ground, and the door immediately closed again.

It was a pellet-shaped ritual implement.

Yise immediately moved Seol Ryeong behind him, raised a round shield, and extended it toward the object.

He wrapped as much spiritual energy as possible around the parts of his body the shield could not protect.

An explosion followed.

When the smoke cleared, Yise’s fiercely shining eyes focused on the cultivator’s silhouette beyond the shattered door.

So he intended to launch a preemptive attack without even exchanging a word.

“Are you all right?”

Seol Ryeong’s worried voice came from behind him.

Fortunately, he had not suffered any serious injuries.

“Your hand...”

“I’m fine. It’s only slightly torn.”

Blood flowed from the palm he had failed to reinforce with spiritual power.

The shield made from black iron had not been penetrated, but the force of the impact had split his skin.

The attack had not been intended to kill, but it had clearly possessed enough power to threaten them.

“It was only a warning. Conceal your hostility unless you want this to become a real fight.”

At Yise’s murmur, Seol Ryeong slowly took a deep breath.

Cultivator Kim Siwon stared at them through the broken doorway.

“You entered another man’s cultivation cave without permission. Surely you were prepared to surrender your lives.”

Cultivator Kim Siwon appeared to be an ordinary man in his fifties.

He possessed such an unremarkable appearance that one might pass one or two men who looked just like him wherever one went.

He stared tensely at the two of them before relief gradually appeared on his face.

He had probably finished estimating their cultivation realms.

Judging by the fact that he had only now determined their cultivation realms, it seemed that even his Spiritual Eyes had not properly awakened.

The two younger cultivators, despite having lower cultivation realms, had accurately identified his cultivation realm from beyond the barrier.

“Cultivator Kim Siwon.”

“Call me Senior. How dare brats hovering around the Second Star of the Energy Refinement Realm attempt to address me as equals?”

“Yes, Senior.”

“How did you learn my name? And how did you find the location of my cultivation cave?”

“We are introductory disciples dispatched by the Grand Martial Path. We learned about you by chance while carrying out a mission. If you cooperate with us, we will also keep the location of your cultivation cave confidential.”

His chilling gaze swept over every inch of them.

Should I kill them or let them live?

His eyes appeared to be weighing their lives and deaths.