Chapter 584: No Meat, No Work

TL: FoodieMonster007

The full-scale dismantling of the mechanisms began that afternoon.

In front of the iron wall, the officials assembled. Their duties were clearly divided, and this particular group was responsible for investigating the mechanisms.

Hong In was in charge of directing the operation.

"The mechanisms here are probably even more sensitive than the last ones," he warned. "From now on, you're forbidden from using inner arts unless it's a special case. You all know what happens if you touch the wrong thing. We all die!"

Hong In's words were meant to keep the officials from letting their guard down. A single mistake meant death for everyone.

"Begin the work!"

Tense, the officials started their task. They used tools like long, thin iron rods to inspect the ground in front of the iron wall. The hand movements of the officials were extremely cautious.

Geom Mugeuk stood a short distance away, observing them. Hong In had given Geom Mugeuk no instructions, knowing that the Sword King treated him as a special case.

Even if that weren't the reason, he couldn't entrust such an important job to someone participating for the first time.

After some time had passed, one of the officials found something.

"I think it's here."

At his words, other officials brought over a chisel and a hammer. They began to carefully dig at the spot. Since the ground was more than half stone and they had to dig without using inner arts, the work progressed very slowly.

Geom Mugeuk watched the work in silence.

He thought that at this rate, it would take them ten days just to remove the gate to this entrance.

Geom Mugeuk glanced toward the Sword King. The Sword King said nothing, as if telling him to handle it himself.

"I'll help too."

When Geom Mugeuk stepped forward, Hong In looked at the Sword King, who gave a slight nod. It was a clear signal to put him to work.

Hong In did not like this situation at all. Entrusting such dangerous work to Geom Mugeuk, who had just arrived, felt wrong. Even if he was a master, what this job required was experience.

He didn't trust Geom Mugeuk, so he repeatedly told him that he must be extremely careful.

"Don't worry!"

It looked as if Geom Mugeuk might start swinging the hammer wildly at any moment. Hong In prayed inwardly, Please! Just don't cause an accident!

Geom Mugeuk's hand movements were both fast and skillful.

At the sight, not only Hong In but the other officials were also startled.

"Don't!"

"It's fine!"

Geom Mugeuk's hands moved even faster.

Hong In urgently looked to the Sword King, silently asking for help.

The Sword King, however, just watched in silence.

With Geom Mugeuk joining in, the speed of the work became incomparably faster. At a glance, it looked like he was digging carelessly, but Geom Mugeuk's handiwork was far from it.

Geom Mugeuk was digging while emitting ki from the tip of the chisel to check what lay beneath the ground. Checking something underground with ki was several times more difficult than emitting ki into the air, yet he performed the task skillfully, as if it were nothing.

He dug down until, finally, a part of the mechanism revealed itself.

Hong In called to another official who was waiting in the back.

"The mechanism has been exposed."

Then, one of the officials came over.

Geom Mugeuk could feel it.

This person is not an official of the Yellow Dragon Academy.

The man was concealing a special aura, one different from that of the general officials. He might have been able to deceive the eyes of others, but he could not deceive Geom Mugeuk's.

It made sense. For other tasks it might not matter, but to dismantle a mechanism, they would need a proper expert. Since so many people came and went through the Yellow Dragon Academy, the general officials probably wouldn't even know that this man was the Sword King's direct subordinate.

After examining the exposed mechanism, the man reported to the Sword King.

"It's a mechanism to prevent attempts to break the wall by force or dig through the ground to enter."

Then he turned to Hong In. "Please expose as much of it as possible. Our team will take it from there."

"Understood."

Hong In found himself looking at Geom Mugeuk. As if he had been waiting, Geom Mugeuk went to an official working on the opposite side.

"I'll take this side. Please finish up my side."

After switching with the man, he began to dig that side out quickly.

The gazes of the officials, who had been watching with concern, now changed. The amount of work Geom Mugeuk had already completed was an amount that should have taken several days.

The mechanism on the other side was also exposed. He wasn't just digging randomly. The mechanism on this side was installed at a different height from the previous spot, yet he had excavated it precisely without a single scratch.

Hong In couldn't hide his surprise.

"Not bad."

Normally he would have said, "That's amazing," but he felt that if he praised the rookie, the kid would get excited and put too much force into his hammering.

"My hands have always been sensitive. I'll do that side too."

Moving around the four sides of the exposed mechanism, Geom Mugeuk began to hammer skillfully.

Geom Mugeuk focused on his work. He didn't think about what might be beyond the wall, what the officials would do, or what the Sword King was thinking. He concentrated on his hammering as if he had entered a state of selflessness.

The Sword King just watched Geom Mugeuk silently as he displayed a frightening level of concentration.

The worried gazes of the officials had at some point turned to admiration. Right now, Geom Mugeuk looked like an artist carving a sculpture.

Just as the ground on all four sides was carved away and the hidden mechanism was fairly well exposed, Hong In spoke from behind.

"That's enough for today. It's time to eat."

At his words, Geom Mugeuk put down his hammer.

"Has it gotten this late already?"

The officials gathered around Geom Mugeuk.

Since they were doing a job where their lives were on the line, their favorite person was not someone with a good personality or someone who was nice to them.

The person they liked most was someone who was good at their job. They were doing work where one person's mistake could kill many. If the work went well, they could leave this hellish place even a day sooner.

In that respect, there was no telling how much time Geom Mugeuk had saved today. On top of that, he had a good personality.

"I'm starving to death! Give me meat, meat! If you don't give me meat, I'm not working from tomorrow!"

Geom Mugeuk sat around with the officials and ate. They really did get meat.

A few came over to his side to introduce themselves. Since they were former martial arts academy officials, they were not fundamentally bad people.

The first thing they were always curious about was this.

"Why did you come here?"

He looked strong, and he was skilled with his hands. No matter how they looked at it, he didn't seem like someone who would come to a place like this.

At someone's question, Geom Mugeuk's gaze turned toward the Sword King, who was sitting opposite him and eating.

"I came here because I heard I could get stronger."

The officials nodded. They didn't deny his words. A good number of those who had endured until now had become masters capable of emitting sword qi.

"Aren't you already a match for a hundred?"

"Is there any end to a person's greed? I want to be a match for a thousand, a match for ten thousand. Senior, what brought you down here?"

Geom Mugeuk naturally blended in with them. And so, the first day's work since coming underground came to an end.

That night, something unexpected happened.

The Sword King brought several large bundles and distributed them to the officials.

"Everyone, take one."

As the bundles, which had been tightly compressed with inner arts, were released, they puffed up like blooming flowers. They were, surprisingly, cotton blankets.

No matter how tightly the blankets had been compressed, he must have gone up and down several times to move so many of them. Geom Mugeuk cheered with joy.

"New blankets!"

He immediately took a cotton blanket, spread it on his bed, and threw his body onto it.

"Aah! It's so soft!"

The officials stared at the Sword King with surprised faces, as this side of him was so sudden.

"Difficult work has begun, so I prepared these so you can sleep comfortably. Take them."

Only then did the officials relax and take the blankets. Who would say no to a new blanket? Everyone was delighted.

Of course, the rookie's voice was the loudest.

"The smell of new blankets is the best!"

In the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, Geom Mugeuk met the Sword King at the place where they had worked during the day.

The Sword King was sitting fearlessly on the exposed mechanism, staring blankly at the wall. He knew Geom Mugeuk had arrived without even looking back.

"You weren't going to sleep anyway, so why the fuss about the blankets? It wasn't for you, was it?"

"The work is hard. They should at least get some proper sleep."

The Sword King asked without turning his head.

"Tell me the real reason."

He was convinced that Geom Mugeuk had another reason. He had brought the blankets in part to hear that reason.

"You might be offended if you hear it."

"It's fine. I've lived my life being cursed at a lot."

"You, Master? Who would dare curse at you, Master?"

"Aren't you preparing to curse me right now? So just say it comfortably."

Geom Mugeuk revealed his reason.

"Everyone looked so exhausted."

The Sword King turned his head to look at Geom Mugeuk. His gaze seemed to ask if that was something to be offended by, and Geom Mugeuk said calmly.

"If I were their parents, I would have cursed you out, Master."

As if he understood even that, the Sword King showed no agitation.

But a piercing remark was added to it.

"But you only chose workers who have no family."

"!"

Like a chisel carving stone, Geom Mugeuk's hammering began.

"I heard they call you Big Bro here, right?"

The Sword King's expression hardened slightly as he turned his gaze back toward the wall.

The term Big Bro certainly had a familial feel that went beyond just meaning a superior. So to him, it must have sounded like this.

While being called Big Bro by people with no family, aren't you doing something that would earn you curses from their parents?

"I told you you'd be offended."

"I'm not offended. They all chose this themselves. It's also a way to earn a lot of money."

"That's why their parents would have been even more upset. Because their child was lured by money, of all things."

The Sword King whipped his head back to look at Geom Mugeuk.

"Of course, the one who planned and executed it was probably the Yellow Dragon Principal."

Geom Mugeuk dangled a carrot, then swung a whip.

"But you knew, didn't you? What kind of workers he gathered."

This was the man who had told Yeom Baekyin that villains live on while being cursed. But now, he didn't display that same shamelessness.

"Don't hit that thing just because you're angry. It'll explode."

The Sword King, who had been sitting still, suddenly threw a shoe from his waist at Geom Mugeuk.

"What's a young punk like you doing talking about parents!"

Geom Mugeuk caught the flying shoe.

"Aren't we an exceptionally close father and son? I know a thing or two about a parent's heart."

Geom Mugeuk could tell. The Sword King didn't say sorry, but he apologized by breaking his composure and throwing the shoe.

Geom Mugeuk brought the shoe and placed it next to the mechanism where the Sword King was sitting.

"Still, thank you for the blankets."

The Sword King looked down at the neatly placed shoes and replied.

"I didn't give them because of you. You said you heard a voice from beyond that wall, right? Asking for blankets."

At his joke, Geom Mugeuk laughed, walked to the wall, and pressed his ear against it again.

"I hear another voice."

"What is it saying this time?"

Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes gently.

A moment later, unexpected words flowed from Geom Mugeuk's mouth.

"It says the workers want to see the stars."

In an instant, the smile vanished from the Sword King's face.

"That's ridiculous!"

"Why is it ridiculous?"

Geom Mugeuk pulled his ear from the wall and turned to the Sword King.

"Are you worried they'll run away if they go outside? Are you worried their resolve will waver?"

Geom Mugeuk added after a brief pause.

"So what if they do? Those were your words, Master. When I asked what would happen if the workers spread rumors about this place, you said, 'So what if they do.'"

The Sword King said nothing.

"So what if some run away? So what? You're going to release them anyway after they see what's inside. Don't tell me you have no intention of letting them go?"

"Why go to such lengths to show kindness to the workers? It's something they neither want nor will appreciate."

The Sword King picked up the shoe next to him. It was a clear sign that if he didn't like the answer, he would throw it again. This time, it would be out of anger, not apology.

Geom Mugeuk answered calmly.

"For some of them, it might be the last sky they ever see alive."

The shoe in the Sword King's hand did not fly. But he didn't put it down either.

"And this isn't a kindness for them. It's a kindness for you, Master."

To the Sword King's questioning look, Geom Mugeuk said, "I'm giving you a chance. To do what you should have done, even if it's now."

One shoe flew at Geom Mugeuk again.

"You, I told you you're too sentimental, didn't I?"

Holding the remaining shoe, the Sword King asked, "So? What do you gain if I become a better person?"

Geom Mugeuk smiled and replied, "You told me before. It's more glorious to defeat an eight-star opponent than a seven-star one, and less shameful to lose to an eight-star than a seven-star. It's the same for me. I want to fight someone who is at least a little better of a person."

In the end, the Sword King couldn't throw the remaining shoe. To think he'd be having this kind of banter with Geom Mugeuk after only one day underground.

"Hey! Can't you just go back up already?"

The Fist Demon's eyes widened as he asked again.

"He bought what and went inside?"

The one who answered his question was Lee Ahn.

"Blankets, sir."

The Flower Sword Supreme, who was listening to the report with him, confirmed again.

"Blankets? You mean the blankets we know?"

"Yes, the kind you cover yourself with."

The master who even Geom Mugeuk said was tense bought blankets?

Right now, the best martial artists from the All-Knowing Hall and the Hidden Moon were closely monitoring the Yellow Dragon Academy.

They were especially watching the duel ground entrance leading underground. The Sword King was spotted coming out of there and buying a large quantity of blankets from the market. He apparently made no effort to hide his actions.

That wasn't the only strange report.

"And last night, dozens of people came out of there."

"Dozens? And then what?"

Did they move somewhere? Did they carry out some kind of mission? Or something else?

However, the answer from Lee Ahn was incomprehensible.

"They gathered at the duel ground and then went back down."

In fact, Lee Ahn, who was reporting, couldn't understand it either. She had asked the All-Knowing Hall martial artist several times if that was really what happened.

"They just went back down?"

"Yes, they stood there, looked at the night sky, and then went back down."

The Fist Demon looked at the Flower Sword Supreme, but she was just as confused. This report was as bizarre as him buying blankets.

"Was the Young Cult Leader among them?"

"Yes, they said the Young Cult Leader and his master were there together."

Hearing that Geom Mugeuk was with them, the Flower Sword Supreme smiled and said. She couldn't imagine what was happening, but one thing was certain.

"Didn't I tell you at the beginning? No matter who the enemy is, it won't be easy for them to be with the Young Cult Leader for ten days."