Namgung Il looked over Gwangcheon's prone body.
"..."
Gwangcheon was still unconscious.
As Namgung Il remained silent with a serious expression, Tang Wol-yeong asked worriedly.
"Young Master, is Gwangcheon going to be okay?"
"..."
At her question, Namgung Il finally opened his mouth.
"He's fine for now."
In truth, it was a miracle that it had ended with just this.
Normally, he would have died the mont the iron ball hit his head.
But to take not just one, but a total of five iron balls fired from the cannons with his bare body... It was only because of Shaolin's martial arts that it ended at this level.
"That's a relief."
"..."
"...Young Master?"
Tang Wol-yeong called out to Namgung Il, puzzled.
He had just said with his own mouth that he was fine, so why was Namgung Il's expression so serious?
Just then, Tang Wol-yeong realized she had missed a part of Namgung Il's answer.
"The words 'for now'... does that an he'll be in danger as ti passes?"
Namgung Il nodded silently at Tang Wol-yeong's question.
Thanks to Shaolin's martial arts, Gwangcheon had miraculously avoided a fatal wound, but that didn't an he was unhard.
It wasn't a fatal wound now, but if left without proper treatnt, no one could know what would happen to Gwangcheon's condition.
"He needs to receive proper treatnt as soon as possible."
"..."
"There's no ti to dawdle. We move imdiately."
Namgung Il said and tried to help Gwangcheon up.
Even this action could be dangerous for Gwangcheon, but leaving him here was even more dangerous.
There were no ans to treat Gwangcheon here, so escaping this labyrinth quickly was the only way to save him.
"Help ."
"Ah... yes."
As if she understood Namgung Il's intention, Tang Wol-yeong helped lift Gwangcheon's body from the side.
Gwangcheon was carefully settled onto Namgung Il's back.
Since he was still unconscious, they had no choice but to move forward with him on his back.
"..."
Thanks to Gwangcheon, the path to the next section was already open.
A path made of soone's blood... Looking at the result, they couldn't avoid the prophecy written on the stone monunt after all.
'No, not yet.'
If they could escape this place safely and save Gwangcheon, the inscription would be proven wrong.
He didn't know what else lay ahead, but Namgung Il had no intention of giving up.
'Gwangcheon, just hold on a little longer.'
There had been a similar situation in the past.
Back then, he ultimately couldn't save Namgung Jeong-ung, but this ti would be different.
"...Let's go."
With a voice full of resolve, Namgung Il stared at the next door and spoke.
***
Namgung Il and Tang Wol-yeong passed through the door and headed to the next section.
'The Labyrinth of Sacrifice... I think I have a rough idea of how this labyrinth is structured now.'
Based on his experiences so far, Namgung Il interpreted the structure of the labyrinth in his own way.
Passages and rooms.
If one were to divide the labyrinth broadly, it could be divided like that.
"..."
The passage was where they were currently walking.
It was a path connecting rooms, and since it was a single path, they had no choice but to move forward.
'The passage seems safe.'
It didn't seem like there were any particular traps here.
It could be called a safe place, except for the fact that the door automatically closed to prevent them from going back.
The problem was not the passage, but the rooms.
'I can't say that the room with that kind of trap is the only one.'
Namgung Il thought that a room identical to the one with the inscription might appear ahead.
A space that forced soone's sacrifice, just as Gwangcheon had opened the next door while being hit by flying iron balls.
No, such a room would definitely exist.
"..."
Then, did soone have to be sacrificed this ti as well?
Namgung Il didn't necessarily think so.
He who chooses the right path can pass through the gate without sacrifice.
He who chooses the wrong path will have to offer soone's blood.
The basis for this was in the very first inscription he had seen.
The right path, wasn't this the path to the exit?
Inferring from the following words, "can pass through the gate without sacrifice," it seed that if they just chose the correct path, they could escape the labyrinth without anything happening.
'Conversely, if we choose the wrong path...'
He had just experienced the result.
A room with a trap installed so that one could only pass through with soone's sacrifice.
In other words, the rooms were divided into those with traps and those without.
"..."
If they kept choosing trap rooms, not only Gwangcheon but everyone would be in danger.
No, in the first place, didn't entering a trap room itself an they were heading down the wrong path?
Accumulating fatigue and injuries. On top of that, the pressure of not being able to find the exit.
It was easy to think that the situation would beco increasingly disadvantageous for them as ti went on.
"Young Master, over there..."
Just then, Tang Wol-yeong spotted sothing and said.
At that mont, an iron door ca into Namgung Il's sight as well.
The passage had ended, and the iron door leading to the next room had finally appeared.
"Young Master, will there be a room with so kind of trap beyond this?"
"...Probably not."
Considering the structure so far, the area beyond this was not a trap room.
Whether to choose the right path, or to choose the wrong path.
Namgung Il predicted that the place to decide that fork in the road would appear first.
Kkiiik—.
As Namgung Il had predicted, when he opened the door, multiple doors stood before them.
Including the door they had just passed through, there were a total of four.
There was, of course, no way of knowing which door was the right path.
"...Young Master, where should we go?"
"..."
At Tang Wol-yeong's question, Namgung Il silently examined the three doors.
Could there be so special mark on the door connected to the exit?
With that thought, Namgung Il carefully examined the iron doors, but as expected, he couldn't find anything particularly special.
'Where on earth should we go?'
If they chose the wrong path this ti, a trap room like the one before would surely appear.
Understanding the structure of the labyrinth made the choice much more difficult than before.
Namgung Il agonized and remained silent, but it wasn't as if an answer would just appear.
"...Young Master, let's go there!"
"...?"
"That door looks good for so reason."
Just then, Tang Wol-yeong pointed to the iron door in front and said.
'I can't let the Young Master bear all the burden.'
Tang Wol-yeong had also roughly grasped the structure of this labyrinth.
That's why she was fully aware of how important choosing a door was right now, and she knew the pressure that ca with it was enormous.
Looking at Namgung Il's expression, he also didn't seem to know which was the right path.
So, Tang Wol-yeong was trying to reduce Namgung Il's burden by choosing the door herself.
"...Tang Wol-yeong."
"I have a good feeling about things like this. So how about we try the path I chose this ti?"
"..."
Namgung Il nodded silently.
Perhaps thanks to Tang Wol-yeong's consideration, his head felt much clearer than before.
Namgung Il, with a light smile on his lips, said to Tang Wol-yeong.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I've realized what's most important right now."
This hesitation itself was a trap set by the labyrinth.
Now was the ti to move forward, not to hesitate.
Namgung Il expressed his gratitude to Tang Wol-yeong for making him realize that.
Hwaak—.
As Namgung Il said that, Tang Wol-yeong's face turned red.
Without seeing that, Namgung Il approached the door in front.
"I-I'll open it!"
Namgung Il was currently carrying Gwangcheon, so he was not in a state to open the door.
As if she had belatedly realized that, Tang Wol-yeong hurriedly ran over and pushed the iron door with both hands.
Kkiiik—.
With just a little force, the iron door opened easily.
A clear difference from when Gwangcheon had pushed it from the other side.
If the room ahead was a trap room, the door they had just opened would also automatically close soon.
'Would it be better for one person to hold the door here?'
Even if the room ahead was a trap room, if this door remained open, wouldn't they be able to go back to the other side?
Namgung Il had that thought for a mont, but he soon shook his head.
'No, that's too risky.'
The creator of the labyrinth would have fully anticipated that thought of his.
Recalling the traps he had seen so far, it was unlikely that the labyrinth was made to be so easily overco with such a trick.
A rash choice could lead to the group being split up.
Namgung Il judged that the group being split up was a worse situation than the room ahead being a trap room.
"..."
In the end, Namgung Il passed through the door with Tang Wol-yeong.
As they moved along the narrow passage, another door appeared before them, as it had until now.
From now on, no one knew whether the room ahead was a trap room or not, so there was bound to be much more tension than when they had opened the previous door.
"Young Master... I'm opening it."
Tang Wol-yeong said with her hand on the door.
She seed to have tried to speak as calmly as possible, but a tension she couldn't erase was묻어 in her tone.
Nod—.
Namgung Il slowly nodded his head.
Confirming the signal, strength entered her hands.
Just like before, the door opened easily.
"...!"
As the door gradually opened, the inside began to be visible.
How should he describe this... Namgung Il was at a loss for words for a mont at the sight before him.
'What on earth is this...'
The previous trap room also had a very unique structure, but this room imdiately gave off a bizarre feeling the mont he saw it.
The first thing he saw was a staircase. It continued so high that he had to tilt his head all the way back.
"..."
At the point where the stairs ended, a door was visible.
Since there was nothing else particularly visible, he could tell that that was the entrance to the next area.
'If that's the entrance to the next room... then where on earth does that lead?'
There were a total of two staircases here.
One was a staircase that led to a place so high he had to tilt his head all the way back. And the other was a staircase that led deep underground.
"..."
Namgung Il went closer to see just how far the stairs led down.
Fortunately, it was a depth that could be confird with the naked eye, but that by no ans ant it was a level where it was okay to fall from here.
'Why this structure...'
A room where extres coexisted in one place.
Namgung Il, of course, did not know what this structure ant.
Hwik—.
Just then, Namgung Il hurriedly turned his head as if looking for sothing.
If this was a trap room, that would surely exist.
The mont he turned his head back, Namgung Il imdiately found what he was looking for.
Kung—!
At the sa ti, the iron door suddenly closed.
Neither Namgung Il nor, of course, Tang Wol-yeong had closed the door.
"...?"
At this unexpected turn of events, Namgung Il and Tang Wol-yeong couldn't help but be bewildered.
Why was the door to this room closing on its own, and not the one to the passage?
Before they could even resolve that question, another strange event occurred in the room.
Shiiik—.
The sound of sothing flowing was heard in his ear.
It sounded a bit like a stream, and at a glance, it also sounded like soone was farting.
"...!"
The one who first realized the identity of that sound was Tang Wol-yeong.
Tang Wol-yeong hurriedly covered her nose with her sleeve and shouted at Namgung Il.
"Young Master! Hold your breath imdiately!"
"...?"
While Tang Wol-yeong was shouting, Namgung Il's gaze was directed at the stone monunt placed by the door.
He who goes up will be able to head to the next.
He who goes down will stop here.
As if to say that this was a trap room, it was written so on the inscription.
(End of Chapter)
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