Chapter 63 - Act 10. Silver Dragon Mine (4)

Yise calmly raised his hand axe and took a cautious step forward. Resignation and fear alternated across Old Shin’s face.

“There was a space in an out-of-the-way corner of the mine where no spiritual energy flowed.” Yise’s voice was even. “It wasn’t obvious at a glance, but it certainly looked unnatural to me. Like a barrier meant to hide someone.”

Old Shin’s lips trembled. “Just... from that alone...?”

Yise took another step closer. The disparity in their realms made a fight unlikely, but an old man who had pulled off something this big might have a trick hidden up his sleeve.

“The storehouse barrier wasn’t something a fourth-star Qi Refining Cultivator could handle. It wasn’t breached. Someone opened it for you. An accomplice on the inside.”

Old Shin’s eyes wavered slightly.

“With an accomplice inside, you could pinpoint exactly when the mine would be unguarded and delay your escape until then. While the other Cultivators scoured the routes toward the Jeong Empire, you simply strolled out in the opposite direction.”

Yise looked past Old Shin. “That would be safer than trying to outrun pursuit in your aging body.”

A figure stood leaning in the shade of an elm.

“Isn’t that right?” Yise asked the figure. “Seok Gongju. No—”

The shadow slowly stepped forward, as though peeling away from the tree.

“Senior Shin Hyeon.”

Hearing the name he had never once disclosed to those on mission duty, Shin Hyeon gave a faint sigh.

“You shut down the barrier briefly. And seeing as the mine’s strongest defender, who ought to protect it to the last, has abandoned his post and followed us here, my suspicions weren’t wrong.”

“You looked into my background?”

“Too many things were suspicious to let it pass.” After that brief answer, Yise recalled the message he had requested and received from Daemudo’s Registry Office a short while earlier.

Seok Gongju’s name was Shin Hyeon. Old Shin’s was Shin Gang. The two must have been family. Shin Hyeon had supported his poorly gifted father with every resource he could muster, but Shin Gang had failed to overcome even a minor threshold. Then, with death drawing near, they must finally have crossed a line they should never have crossed.

To save a parent.

Having been abandoned at birth and lost even the people who had raised him, Yise did feel sympathy. But he belonged to Daemudo. They had thrown all of Silver Dragon Mine into an uproar. He could not simply let it go.

Through his Dokkaebi Senses, Yise detected killing intent seeping from Shin Hyeon’s face. He spoke in a threatening tone.

“If you kill me, there will be no turning back. Cultivators from the Law Enforcement Hall are already on their way.”

Shin Hyeon’s fingertips trembled slightly. His Foundation Establishment spiritual energy rippled briefly, then subsided. Killing a single Qi Refining Cultivator would be nothing. He knew that, too. But murdering a formal disciple would bring the main mountain’s pursuit down on him. It was a grave crime of an entirely different order from abetting the theft of spirit stones.

Just as Shin Hyeon’s expression seemed to surrender everything, Shin Gang spoke.

“My inadequacy... has caused you trouble.”

The old man’s voice was astonishingly calm. The desire he had shown before spotting Yise was nowhere to be found. Before Yise could react, he added one more word.

“Father.”

Yise’s thoughts stopped for a beat. While he stood speechless in confusion, Shin Gang continued.

“Your aged son was blinded by greed in his old age. I deceived my father, Seok Gongju, and tried to steal the spirit stones. Since you have come in person to punish my crime, I will not resist. Do what you must.”

Then he turned back to Yise and added, “Cultivator Yise. I acted alone. Why would someone with such a promising future commit a grave crime out of personal attachment?”

Still stunned that the old man was the son, Yise stood unable to speak. Seok Gongju’s face was expressionless. No, too many things overlapped upon it to be read as any single expression. One thing was certain, however: father and son, Shin Hyeon and Shin Gang, wore the same look. It was like... the expression etched on his adoptive parents’ faces as they looked at him hiding in the wardrobe on the day the Wadu-Scholar attacked.

Suddenly recalling that Daemudo’s Law Enforcement Hall was already on its way, Yise spoke.

“... Senior, order me to execute the traitor who attempted to steal Daemudo’s resources.”

It was an act of consideration. The best that a young Cultivator, who had lived over a century less than he had, could offer. He would keep silent about Shin Hyeon’s complicity in the crime to save his son. He would not let him be implicated as an accomplice. But Shin Gang had to die here in accordance with the rules. Only then would there be room for leniency toward the father. It was the most he could do.

It took no time to understand his meaning. The answer came from Shin Gang.

“... Thank you. Even if I were taken alive, I would only die soon as a laborer... Do not hesitate.”

Grateful that he could protect his father, the old man bowed his head deeply. Yise raised his hand axe.

“Turn away, Senior.”

Shin Hyeon did not answer. He only closed his eyes tightly. With his fists clenched, his shoulders trembled once, ever so slightly.

“Any last words?”

“Forget this terribly unfilial son, and may you attain Immortality. Your unworthy son has caused you grief to the very end. I shall repent in the Abyss.”

Yise waited until Shin Gang had finished bowing to Shin Hyeon. The next instant, the axe blade flashed. Shin Gang’s head fell cleanly from his neck. It was a clean blow, one that would have left him no time even to feel pain.

“I have carried out the execution on Seok Gongju’s orders,” Yise told Shin Hyeon. “Now return to the mine. You cannot leave your post for long. I will take care of the body and his belongings.”

Shin Hyeon turned away without answering. To the very end, Yise could not properly read his expression.

* * *

And so the spirit stone theft at Silver Dragon Mine came to an end. The culprit was summarily executed, and every last spirit stone was recovered. Seok Gongju, Shin Hyeon, was escorted to the Law Enforcement Hall for investigation on suspicion of aiding the crime. Rather than undergo questioning, Yise submitted a brief incident report.

「Qi Refining Cultivator Shin Gang took advantage of Seok Gongju’s absence to break into the spirit stone storehouse, steal the stones, and flee toward Tiger Ridge Market Town. After apprehending the culprit, all fifty thousand spirit stones were recovered, and the culprit was summarily executed on Seok Gongju’s orders.」

Not a single line was untrue. There were merely things he had left unwritten. He worried that he might be interrogated as well, but there was no further action, perhaps because he had personally caught the culprit.

The Law Enforcement Hall’s investigation lasted several days. Shin Hyeon received a light sentence: five years of confinement in the Cave of Repentance, and a soul-binding contract prohibiting him from ever leaving the area designated by Daemudo. The charge was that he had neglected to supervise the culprit because they were family, thereby allowing the crime to occur. Complicity was omitted from the charges.

Perhaps the main mountain knew the truth. No, it surely did. If a Core Formation Cultivator had used a mind-reading art, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator like him could not have concealed it. But the spirit stones had been recovered, his motive had been desperation for his son, and they would not have wanted to lose a Foundation Establishment stonecrafter with such a valuable skill over this. Given Daemudo’s emphasis on ability above all else, that conjecture was all but certain.

Yise sank into thought as he sorted Old Shin’s effects and Seok Gongju’s belongings. He was told that Seok Gongju had fathered Old Shin with an ordinary woman when he was around thirty. But his son’s meager talent had kept him from reaching the path to longevity. Having long since lost his partner, what had Seok Gongju thought as he watched his son age ahead of him and approach death? What had Cultivation meant to him?

Cultivators lived long lives. The higher their realm, the further they strayed beyond their heaven-appointed lifespan. If he reached Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation and lived for nearly a thousand years, most of the people with whom he now had ties would already be gone. The path of Cultivation was a path without parting, and yet a path of partings. What meaning was there in longevity if one survived alone? For someone like him, whose purpose in Cultivation lay more in gaining strength than in living longer, it was a difficult question to answer.

He did not fear death. No matter how desperate the situation, he had never felt terror at the prospect of dying. That was only natural. Around the age of ten, after losing his family, Yise had tried to end his own life. His driving force for living had been almost entirely revenge for his family and repaying the master who had taken him in. Since coming to Daemudo, however, he had gradually begun to discover the joys and sorrows of life.

He had discovered the joy of being with others his age. Felt anger toward those who had murdered his fellow disciples. Learned affection for his companions. Enjoyed eating, growing stronger, and experiencing new things.

He realized anew that, at least now... he was truly living his life. Once he acknowledged that fact, astonishingly, death became frightening.

Yise folded the pine paper and tucked it into his storage pouch with the effects. These were things he would have to give Shin Hyeon someday.

Peace returned to Silver Dragon Mine. Now that a major incident had used up their share of bad luck, he should be able to devote the remaining five months to cultivation in comfort. Or so Yise thought.

But then—

“Cultivator Yise.”

Just before leaving, the Law Enforcement Hall Cultivator dispatched from the main mountain called him over.

“The main mountain is short of personnel, so we cannot send anyone immediately. We’ll send a stonecrafter as soon as one is available. Until then, you are to take over Seok Gongju’s duties.”

“Me?” Yise asked. “But I don’t know stonecrafting.”

“We aren’t asking you to process spirit stones. Just keep managing the mine as you have been. We’re currently at war in northern Tabaro with a demonic-path sect that crossed the border, so we’re short of Foundation Establishment Cultivators.”

“War? I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“It’s practically an annual event. They must think Daemudo is a pushover. Whenever they fail to gain a foothold in the Jeong Empire, they come across the border. It isn’t enough to cause a stir at the main mountain. It’s just...”

Apparently, the invading force was not particularly powerful. Feeling much more reassured, Yise listened.

“We need every pair of hands we can get, even a child’s, to look after every production site like this. It’ll only be a few days.”

“That is far too great a responsibility...”

Yise meant to refuse. The affair with the Shin father and son had already taught him how heavy the burden of being in charge could be. This was a valuable site that produced a hundred thousand spirit stones a year. It was not a place a seventh-star Qi Refining Cultivator should be responsible for.

“Oh, right.”

As though he had forgotten, the Law Enforcement Hall Cultivator held out a wooden box.

“This is for you from the main mountain.”

“From the main mountain?”

Yise accepted the box. Apart from spirit stones and contribution points, the only time he had received anything from the main mountain was when he had first become a novice disciple.

As he opened the box, a brilliant glow spilled out, accompanied by the acrid scent of mugwort and a pure spiritual energy.

“This is...”

That smell. That color. Yise knew what this was: an elixir pill. Specifically, one that increased internal reserves. Its color alone made clear that its quality was beyond comparison with any pill he had ever taken.

“A mid-grade Qi-Condensing Pill. Fourth grade, at that—the very finest of the middle grades. Cultivators from late-stage Qi Refining to early-stage Foundation Establishment seek these pills desperately.”

“A mid-grade Qi-Condensing Pill...!”

“It will advance your cultivation by at least several years. Hall Master Hong Mihui refined it personally, so it has the greatest efficacy of any pill of its grade and leaves almost no pill toxins behind. It is extremely precious.”

“I see...!”

“It is both a reward for catching Shin Gang and resolving the incident, and a benefit for entrusting you with another weighty assignment. Now, what were you about to say?”

Yise nodded readily.

“I was going to say, ‘It is a weighty responsibility, but since you have entrusted it to me, I shall fulfill my duty even at the cost of my life.’”

“Such an upright young talent is rare these days. I’m counting on you. I’ll press them to send a replacement as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, sir. Have a safe journey back.”

It was only a few days. Surely nothing much would happen.