Im So-Byeong kept his word.
They crossed the Yangtze River like a seal... no, like a dog, and during a whole day’s travel the Heavenly Friends Alliance party saw not only no surveillance from the Four Sects Alliance, but not even the shadow of a person.
By being in the mountains, Im So-Byeong had definitively proven his boast that it wouldn’t be just the Four Sects Alliance but anyone in the world who ca would fail to find their trail.
As if to prove he hadn’t won the Green Forest King title by a fluke, he knew the mountain paths of the Southern lands as clearly as the palm of his hand, and thanks to that the Heavenly Friends Alliance party was breaking through the south without eting anyone.
Of course... that is, if you could truly call the path they were taking a ‘path.’
Krrrrack!
From above, rocks of considerable size tumbled down a sheer cliff that would make even the bravest man feel his knees go weak and want to back away.
It was fortunate that no one traveled these deep mountains with such steep cliffs; had anyone been below, they would have suffered a terrible fate.
But if there had been soone below who luckily dodged the falling stones and looked up in alarm, they might have seen them.
A dozen small sothings clinging to that sheer cliff.
“Eek!”
Namgung Do-Wei instinctively looked down at the falling rocks, scread, and clung to the cliff.
Considering his august position as the scion of the fad Namgung Family, his frog-like flailing and clinging to the cliff might seem shaless, but there was no room in his head for dignity at the mont.
“Wh-why... why! Whyyy!”
Namgung Do-Wei yelled in a frenzy.
“Why do we have to go this wayyy!”
The cry echoed pitifully.
“Tch, tch, tch.”
Im So-Byeong, hanging beside him, gripped a rock with one hand and leisurely fanned himself with the other.
“Quiet down. Soone is going to hear us!? We’re on a covert mission right now.”
“Who’s going to hear us, who! There’s not even a single bird in sight, let alone a person.”
Namgung Do-Wei scread as if having a fit.
Indeed, clouds were passing below their feet. No matter how many wings a bird had, would it co up this high?
“Tch, tch, tch.”
But Im So-Byeong didn’t even bother to listen to Namgung Do-Wei.
“For the man who will beco lord of the Namgung Family to make such a fuss over nothing more than a cliff...”
“Nothing more than a cliff? If you fall from here even Zhang Sanfeng would be a goner!”
“Dying by falling off a cliff or by being cut with a sword is still death. If you’re that afraid to die, how could you wield a sword?”
“Is that the sa thing? Is it!”
“What’s different about it?”
Im So-Byeong snorted and clicked his tongue.
“Anyway, you look ridiculous, so be quiet, quiet.”
“Ugh...”
Namgung Do-Wei’s face went crimson; he ground his teeth and peered down.
Shudder.
At that mont he felt acutely what it ant for his knees to go weak; he hurriedly snapped his gaze upward, squeezed his eyes shut, and cried out.
“T-Tang hyung!”
“...What.”
“Ar...are you ok?”
“...Do you think I’d be okay?”
When he squinted and looked back, Tang Pae’s face was almost ashen. Tang Pae forced a deep breath and said.
“Ah, don’t look down. It’ll be a bit better if you imagine this is flat ground.”
“How can I think it’s flat when it’s not?”
“Just do it, you idiot!”
“...”
Then, another pile of stones thundered down above their heads.
“Eeeeek!”
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
They clung tightly to the cliff in terror as fist-sized stones poured down just behind their heads.
“Th-this is insane!”
Namgung Do-Wei, eyes bulging, glared at Im So-Byeong again.
“Why! Why must we go this way! Why!”
“Ah, stop whining so much. Everyone else is perfectly composed.”
“Who! Who’s composed!”
“Can’t you see over there?”
“Huh?”
When they looked where Im So-Byeong’s fan had pointed, their eyes t soone. Namgung Do-Wei’s mouth dropped open.
“....... “
Jo Gul, holding onto a protruding rock with one hand and chomping on a rice ball with the other, awkwardly tucked the rice ball behind him.
“Ah, sorry. I was a bit hungry...”
“...”
“And, well, I was a little bored.”
He wasn’t even the only one.
The Mount Hua fellows following behind him stared with blasé expressions as if this sheer cliff were just a pronade.
As if to silently complain, ‘Ah, that guy really blocks the way all the ti.’
“A-aren’t you scared?”
“Here?”
“...Yes.”
“Why?”
Jo Gul shrugged nonchalantly. Seeing him shift his body, Namgung Do-Wei nearly fainted and almost wet himself.
“Well, it’s sowhat high... but compared to Mount Hua this is practically flat.”
“Pheww, at Mount Hua even soone who’s been in the sect for two months can climb this easily.”
“Why go all the way to Mount Hua? Even a kid from Hwa-Um village could co here and play ball.”
“Co on, hurry up. First ti climbing a cliff?”
Tears welled up in Namgung Do-Wei’s eyes.
“...Yes, that’s right.”
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“H-Hefei.”
“Huh?”
“Hefei has no... there are no mountains there...”
“...”
“Sob.”
For so reason, everyone beca solemn.
“Ugh...”
“...”
“Ughhhh...”
“...”
In a small cave in the middle of the cliff, Namgung Do-Wei lay with his head in his hands. They had wanted to go further, but night fell, and they had found a cave even wild birds rarely entered, so they ca in.
The others sighed deeply as they watched Namgung Do-Wei keep moaning.
“...That the fad Namgung Do-Wei has acrophobia.”
“At least it makes him human, doesn’t it? Up until now he’d seed so proper and distant, like you couldn’t draw a drop of blood from him.”
“Yeah. Honestly, he felt like a sasuk before soone cracked his skull.”
“Why do you always pick on !”
The Five Swords clicked their tongues at Namgung Do-Wei. Indeed, his face was as pale as soone who’d barely escaped hell.
“Is it really that terrifying?”
“...I told you, Hefei has no mountains. It’s all flat there.”
“This is why kids from well-off families...”
“Well, by that logic the Acting Sect Leader is also from a well-off family, isn’t he?”
“Co on. Make a proper comparison. Compared to the Namgung Family, Southern Edge Elders’ households are like local beggars.”
“...The truly beggar-born ones are sahyung and Chung Myung, though.”
“And this guy?”
The Five Swords looked at Namgung Do-Wei with a mixture of understanding and disbelief. They knew he wasn’t one to fake it, so he must be truly terrified to act like this, but...
On the other hand, understanding soone afraid of such cliffs was too difficult for them.
Those afraid of cliffs get filtered out before they even reach Mount Hua’s gate, so to them Namgung Do-Wei was an odd specin they’d never t before.
“But it seems he’s not just putting it on. Even Tang Pae’s gone pale.”
“That fellow’s strange too. Sichuan has plenty of mountains, after all.”
“W-who in those places with mountains walks along cliffs like this!”
Tang Pae, who at least still looked like a person compared to Namgung Do-Wei, lost his temper and shouted.
“If people go there, is it a cliff? It’s a cliff because people don’t go there!”
“Tch tch. Murim Tactician once led a great army along that treacherous Shu road.”
“Only Zhuge Liang could do that! If anyone could do it, would they be rembered in history?”
“...That actually sounds plausible.”
Im So-Byeong nodded, and Tang Pae burst out again.
“No! Couldn’t you just go over the top of the cliff? Or go under it! ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Why, why on earth are we traversing the middle of the cliff! We’re not baby spiders!”
“I’ve told you. We must avoid people’s eyes.”
“Why would anyone be up on a cliff! In a remote, secluded valley like this!”
Im So-Byeong silently tugged Jo Gul forward and said.
“Say it again.”
“...Ah.”
There they were... not just on the cliff, but building Taoist halls on the cliff and living there.
Co to think of it, aren’t those guys completely mad?
Im So-Byeong said.
“Why would anyone in the know say that? No people in remote valleys? If you want to avoid people, they’re the very places you mustn’t go! Why else are the world’s fad mountains filled with Taoist halls and temples!”
“...”
“At least Taoists and monks are better; they build structures that say ‘I’m here.’ But when soone finds a cave and decides to build a mountain hermitage from it, do you know how often a hundred-year recluse pops out and wipes out the whole place?”
“...What recluse are you talking about, why would soone suddenly jump out from there?”
“Exactly!”
The problem is the people of the central plains.
Chung Myung’s frequent remark that ‘no one with a sword is normal’ didn’t seem entirely wrong.
“To try to make a living in the mountains you have to consider so many things! What if a Taoist or monk loiters here! What if so crazed recluse has been training in a deep cave for decades! What if soone expelled from a Justice faction has set up shop and is sharpening knives with a grin.”
“...”
“And even if you find an empty spot and build a hermitage, what then? If so magic herb is found nearby, all the local knife-wielders co rushing up the mountain...”
Baek Cheon patted Im So-Byeong on the shoulder.
“Don’t cry, just tell it.”
“...Sorry. I got a bit carried away.”
“Why did you take up banditry in the first place...”
“I was born to a bandit father, what am I supposed to do about it!”
“So you should have run away from that life.”
“...”
Im So-Byeong fell silent and stared blankly at Baek Cheon. At this point one would seriously need to consider who was more of a scoundrel.
“...Palace Lord Seol, are you all right?”
Tang Pae, breaking his gaze from the bickering fools, asked Seol So-Baek. Those mountain brutes weren’t a worry, but Seol So-Baek was at least sowhat ordinary, wasn’t he?
“Ah. Thank you for worrying. I’m fine.”
Seol So-Baek answered with a bright smile.
“I was a little scared, but since I just hung on and ca, it didn’t take much effort.”
“...”
“And surely Taoist Chung Myung wouldn’t fall here, so how can I, right? If he died like that, it wouldn’t even be sothing to pity. Worse than being struck by lightning from a clear sky.”
We’d call that being ‘pitiful’... what on earth is his way of thinking?
Then Namgung Do-Wei suddenly sat up as if he’d found hope.
“C-could soone carry a bit...?”
“Lie down, lie down!”
“Think before you speak. You’ll be mocked for life.”
“Think of your late father!”
“Ugh...”
Namgung Do-Wei collapsed back down, groaning. Everyone shook their heads.
They had braced for hardship when they decided to cross the Southern lands, but who could have imagined it would be like this?
Tang Pae sighed deeply.
“Anyway, now that we have a mont to rest, let’s at least check our provisions...”
“Heave-ho!”
At that mont a voice ca from outside the cave, and sothing thudded inside.
Tang Pae gaped at the wild boar and deer that suddenly appeared in the cave. Chung Myung followed, clapping his hands as he entered.
“I’m hungry! Cook!”
“at!”
“Let’s eat!”
As the Five Swords rushed forward gleefully, Tang Pae squeezed his eyes shut.
‘These guys would adapt even if thrown into the middle of hell...’
At least they wouldn’t go hungry on the way. A small rcy among a thousand misfortunes.
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