Reincarnated Sword Ghost-Chapter 37 : The Divine Physician's Tomb

The Divine Physician's Tomb
The journey to Nokmun Mountain was, quite literally, over in a flash.
Martial artists were swift-footed as it was, and now, risking their lives by exerting their full lightness skill, they filled Nokmun Mountain with their figures in an instant.
"Damn it, it's gone completely crazy."
Baek Il-gang, who was climbing the mountain alongside, grumbled harshly. He already had his hand gripping the sword and its scabbard together.
No matter where you turned your gaze, you caught sight of martial artists with menacing faces.
"They're just itching for a sight to dig up like dogs if they see even so much as a burial mound."
"A burial mound, you say!"
A martial artist wandering not far away suddenly rushed at Baek Il-gang.
Baek Il-gang took a few steps to maneuver behind the man and struck the back of his neck with the hand holding the scabbard.
Thud.
The man collapsed face-first, eyes rolling back. The incident happened so quickly that Jo Gwang flinched and shouted.
"Are you planning to beat down every guy that rushes at us like that?"
"Seems you forgot, but that's exactly what our mission is."
When Baek Il-gang answered calmly, Jo Gwang trembled and looked at Tang Yerin.
Tang Yerin shrugged and spoke up.
"This time, young hero Jo Gwang isn't wrong. If you keep brandishing your sword recklessly, we'll be surrounded by martial artists in no time."
"That would speed things up and make it easier for us, wouldn't it."
Despite his nonchalant reply, Baek Il-gang lowered the hand holding his scabbard just a bit.
Nokmun Mountain was filled with giant, old trees, making the terrain rough and the foliage so thick that even sunlight struggled through.
Getting surrounded by armed martial artists in such a place would make for a hard fight.
"News that the Divine Physician's tomb is on Nokmun Mountain spread across all of Yangyang in a snap. Someone's clearly behind this."
"And the problem is, even knowing that, we have no choice but to play along."
That was the most annoying part. Jeong-un muttered to himself quietly.
Just as Tang Yerin pointed out, it was obvious someone was manipulating things.
That someone had discovered the Divine Physician's tomb and then spread the news publicly?
That didn't make sense. If anything, they would have tried their utmost not to let anyone find out.
"Hey, you lot."
At that moment, someone blocked their way and made the group stop.
Jeong-un had already sensed the martial artists moving about nearby.
But none of them had dared to approach when they saw the black martial robes.
Likewise, the group never drew their swords unless someone attacked first.
Their assignment was still to subdue martial artists causing trouble, and just wandering on the mountain was not reason enough to strike first.
"You must know something."
It was a middle-aged man with a long cut running from his brow, down his cheek, all the way to under his neck.
Two swordsmen flanked him, both with several facial scars of their own.
All three had fierce, wild gleams in their eyes that gave off a strange madness.
"And what makes you so sure?"
Jeong-un asked in a flat tone.
If there was any misunderstanding, they could just clear it up.
He was still uncertain if the Divine Physician's tomb was even really here.
By now, other teams or even a corps leader might have arrived.
If so, they would issue new instructions and bring order to this chaotic situation.
Until then, all they needed to do was keep the martial artists from making too much trouble.
"Don't play dumb. It's well-known in the martial world that news always passes through you people. Where exactly are you heading?"
"......"
He was asking with his own answer already in mind. Jeong-un recalled Peng Mu-gyeol's earlier words.
'They said everyone would be watching Heavenly Martial Hall's movements.'
Perhaps the unusually high number of martial artists here was for that reason.
He'd thought it was simply because so many were crowding onto Nokmun Mountain.
"We don't have any particular destination. We're just patrolling to keep people like you from making trouble."
"Then you'll be stuck here forever. I'm not leaving until that tomb is found."
"Then wander around as much as you like. We'll just keep doing our job."
"The way you're trying to slip away makes it clear you're hiding something. Confess now, and I'll be merciful and just cut off one arm each."
Conversations with martial artists were always this difficult.
Why did they have to twist every word like this?
Srrng!
As if certain now, the men drew their swords without hesitation.
But the swords they revealed were peculiar: the blades were curved—almost a perfect half-moon.
"A long scar and a demon-curved blade...! That's the Demon-Faced Three Hounds of Yangyang!"
Jo Gwang shouted from behind. Apparently, they were quite notorious in the Yangyang region.
Judging by their nickname, they didn't seem to be gentle men either.
"Do you memorize stuff like that on purpose?"
"If you want to survive long in the martial world, you need to stay well-informed!"
Baek Il-gang and Jo Gwang could be heard chattering behind as the distinctive sound of sword-drawing joined in.
"Let's finish this quickly."
"And overwhelmingly, at that."
Jeong-un replied simply to Baek Il-gang's words.
He was sure there were plenty of eyes watching through the gaps in the leaves.
They had to end this before any fence-sitters decided to get involved over what they had just overheard.
Plus, they needed to show overwhelming force, so no one else would dare to rush them.
"Hold on."
At that moment, one of the enemies smirked at Tang Yerin, then glanced at his companion.
"So there's a woman with them. Let's not kill her—keep her alive. We'll get the tomb's location from her. And then..."
He trailed off, licking his lips suggestively.
Cheng—!
Just then, a silver flash zipped past Jeong-un.
The man licking his lips barely had time to react, raising his curved blade just as his face changed expression.
"You crazy bitch...!"
He growled, wiping blood from his face. Another deep cut had appeared on his cheek in the blink of an eye.
He'd barely managed to deflect the thrown weapon with his blade, but it still left a gash across his face.
"Looks like, for all his bluster, a martial artist's still a martial artist if he can at least block it," came Tang Yerin's voice from behind, unnaturally calm for having just been insulted.
"I don't think you even saw it coming... Is that some kind of animal instinct at work, since we called you a dog?"
"Kill them!"
Egged on by Tang Yerin's perfectly composed teasing, the man snapped.
Thwack!
At that signal, Jeong-un leapt forward, dashing up to the nose of the man in front.
In an instant, true ki surged through his acupoints to the hand holding the sword guard.
'Demon-Faced Three Hounds, he said.'
He'd never heard the nickname before, but the meaning was clear enough—killing them wouldn't be amiss.
They had, after all, drawn their swords and picked this fight. Cutting them down here would be justified.
As Jeong-un assessed, he noticed the other two by the man's sides begin to move as if they meant to slip past him.
He'd expected a two-sided attack, so he found this a bit surprising.
'Are they underestimating me?'
It seemed the one at the very front believed he could deal with Jeong-un alone, leaving the other two to target the rest.
'... How strange.'
He realized he felt a twinge of anger and smirked inwardly.
He'd endured insults ever since his days at the Yu household, never caring much.
But after joining Heavenly Martial Hall and mingling with other martial artists, that buried pride seemed to be resurfacing.
Whoosh—
Unconsciously, Jeong-un gripped his sword guard tighter.
He drew his blade and swung horizontally toward his opponent's neck.
"Hmph!"
The man assumed a vertical block with his curved sword. Then Jeong-un realized why such an oddly shaped weapon was used.
'He's hoping to deflect the attack.'
If the sword landed on the curve, his opponent expected the blade would slide down and away instead of cutting through.
It was a plausible idea. If, and only if, one could block properly.
Clang!
Jeong-un struck the curved blade head-on, true ki brimming in his cut.
He saw the man's lips twitching upward in a mockery—then it ended in a flash.
Crack!
The curved sword began shattering from the blade out, like glass breaking—even though it was clearly forged from solid metal.
Just like what happened with the Five Star Gate Leader's sword.
"Y-you maniac!"
And that wasn't the end.
The man dropped his ruined weapon and staggered back, then stared at his tingling palm in disbelief.
"What the...!"
Jeong-un stepped forward, closing the gap.
He had no intention of talking further. Just as he'd done countless times, he lunged and thrust.
His blade pierced cleanly through the man's brow and then slipped out again.
Shunk!
A half-beat later, the man's eyes fixed on Jeong-un through the hole in his forehead, then he collapsed forward in disbelief.
Death was instant.
Thud.
Silence fell all around.
The other two, who had begun to attack Baek Il-gang and Jo Gwang, froze in place.
"... Are you angry?"
Baek Il-gang asked in a low voice after eying Jeong-un for a moment.
Just then, one of the two let out a fierce yell and charged at Jo Gwang with their sword drawn.
"Why—why's it always me?!"
Jo Gwang shouted in dismay and blocked the attack.
Clang!
The man's curved sword slid down Jo Gwang's blade and stabbed upward from below—a feint that had probably been planned from the start.
"What the—!"
Jo Gwang cried out in alarm but didn't look especially panicked.
The movement was unpredictable, but not particularly fast.
Thwack!
In truth, it wasn't Jo Gwang who bled from the shoulder, but the man who had stabbed in.
Jo Gwang blocked the strike, and then—gritting his teeth—swung from below, landing his own strike first.
His reaction and speed were honestly surprising.
"... There's three of us here, so why me?"
Jo Gwang muttered, looking at his blood-stained sword as if talking to himself.
Behind him, Tang Yerin was watching with a somewhat exasperated look.
"Hah."
Baek Il-gang let out a laugh of disbelief and dropped his sword hand.
"Ghk... grrk...!"
The man who'd attacked Baek Il-gang was clutching his throat and shaking violently.
He fell to his knees and soon collapsed entirely, black foam oozing from his mouth and his eyes rolling back.
On closer inspection, he'd suffered a wound from a thrown weapon—the skin around it had turned from red to pitch black.
"You weren't caught off guard by that, were you?"
As everyone turned their gaze to her, Tang Yerin shrugged.
"... How many of those hidden weapons do you carry on you?"
Baek Il-gang asked, a shiver running through him.
"You really don't want to know,"
Tang Yerin replied.
Baek Il-gang, shaking briefly, approached the man rolling on the ground and delivered the final blow.
A mercy for one who would die soon anyway.
"That should be enough to keep anyone else from daring to mess with us,"
Baek Il-gang said, wiping his bloody sword and sheathing it.
"In any case, this is a real headache. Where are the other warriors and what are they doing...?"
At that moment, a thunderous shout echoed across the mountain.
The sound startled birds from the high branches, sending them flying.
"Here lies the Divine Physician's tomb—!"