WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 10: Silver Dragon Mine (3)
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The night patrol worker led him not somewhere else, but to the Spiritual Stone warehouse.
It was an annex built right beside the residence of Seok Gongju, the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
The space, which had clearly been tightly locked and barred from all entry or approach, now stood wide open.
Ise stared at the broken warding barrier for a long while, his expression strange.
Cultivators had already gathered nearby, and those who had been resting were coming out one after another.
“...The Spiritual Stones have been stolen.”
Unable to understand the situation, Ise asked the worker again.
“Spiritual Stones?”
“Yes. All fifty thousand or so Spiritual Stones produced during spring and summer have disappeared.”
“Is that even possible?”
“...”
“The culprit?”
“It was probably Old Man Shin... He was the worker on duty immediately before me. When I went to find him after discovering what happened, he had vanished without a trace.”
Old Man Shin. The oldest of the cultivators assigned here, a fourth-star Qi Condensation Realm cultivator.
The old man who was said to be nearing death because a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment remained far beyond reach had stolen fifty thousand Spiritual Stones and fled.
Ise examined the warehouse's warding barrier again. A strange sense of unease rose inside him.
Goe Tong arrived belatedly, their face stiffening.
“What is this...?”
“Goe Tong. Fix your clothes first. You're an eyesore.”
Only then did Goe Tong cover their half-naked body and get properly dressed.
“They say Old Man Shin stole the Spiritual Stones and ran. How could he do that?”
Goe Tong pressed a hand to their forehead. Old Man Shin was someone who could certainly have done such a thing.
“...Because he's the sort of person who could.”
“How?”
“Old Man Shin has taken this Silver Dragon Mine assignment three times. The terrain, the mine’s inner workings, the warding barrier's structure, even Senior Seok Gongju's daily habits. He's an old man who knows this place better than anyone.”
Ise immediately began sorting through the situation. He questioned the worker again.
“Where is Seok Gongju?”
“Senior Seok Gongju finished processing the first half of the year's output two days ago and entered seclusion. Cultivator Chu has gone to bring them out.”
Ise fell silent for a moment.
He had heard that Seok Gongju entered seclusion twice a year after finishing official duties. Old Man Shin had targeted that exact time.
This had not been an impulsive theft. It was a deliberate, carefully planned crime.
Perhaps even the way the old man had pretended to be detached from the world, wandering around without a destination, had all been an act.
Ise and Goe Tong met each other's eyes.
Two emotions took turns crossing Goe Tong's face.
Relief that Goe Tong was not the supervisor. Annoyance that this had happened right after the handover was complete.
“What about tracking his location? I heard there is a spell on our wrists that can use the Message Talisman to determine the location of Great Exorcist Order disciples.”
“We sent a Message Talisman as well, but there was no response.”
“Don't tell me. His wrist?”
“Yes. It seems he cut it off before fleeing.”
Ise's eyes cooled.
A spell was engraved on the back of every Great Exorcist Order formal disciple's hand. It proved their affiliation and transmitted their location to the Message Talisman.
Old Man Shin had even severed that connection.
“Have you contacted headquarters?”
“Not yet. The rule is to report to Senior Seok Gongju and the supervisor first whenever something happens at the mine, then receive instructions on what to do next.”
Ise said he understood and looked around the warehouse. The security measures, the warding barrier, even the interior.
“Wait here.”
After ordering Goe Tong to guard the place, Ise immediately climbed to the summit.
He narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze through every corner of Silver Dragon Mine.
Soon, he found the source of his strange unease.
Ise stared fixedly at one spot.
‘Surely not...’
An ominous, almost sacrilegious thought rose within him.
Just then, he sensed Seok Gongju's presence and turned around.
Seok Gongju appeared about seven or eight minutes after the incident came to light.
The Qi Condensation Realm cultivators lowered their heads with troubled expressions.
When Seok Gongju swept their gaze over the group, everyone instinctively hunched their shoulders.
The anger of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
A pressure unlike anything they normally showed weighed down the entire space.
Only Ise looked at them with a calm expression.
Seok Gongju's eyes settled on Ise.
“I will not blame you for your failure.”
Their voice was even.
“But if the Spiritual Stones have been stolen, you and I will bear the greatest responsibility. The other cultivators here will also shoulder a debt equal to fifty thousand Spiritual Stones. So.”
Seok Gongju took a moment to steady their breathing, then spoke with force. Unrestrained spiritual energy leaked out, making it hard to breathe.
“Resolve this before headquarters finds out.”
Maintaining a respectful manner, Ise asked Seok Gongju a question.
“Wouldn't it be faster to contact headquarters and track his location?”
“If he cut off his wrist before fleeing, contacting headquarters will not reveal his location. It will only make matters worse. Even if we find the criminal, we won't escape punishment.”
“What about the soul-binding contract? He has harmed the Great Exorcist Order, so surely something can be done.”
“That oath only lets us determine whether a disciple is alive or dead. There is no spell that uses the oath to manage the locations of more than ten thousand disciples.”
A memory from the day of the entrance ceremony flashed through Ise's mind.
‘Do not commit any act that betrays the Great Exorcist Order.’
The declaration he had made when he became an entry disciple and formed the soul-binding contract.
When he had asked what would happen if he broke it, Kang I-tae had answered, “Nothing will happen immediately.”
At the time, Ise had felt no particular doubt.
Kang I-tae had said someone would come to punish him one day, and Ise had thought that was warning enough.
‘...Was it only an empty oath?’
If there had been a restriction that immediately punished anyone who broke the oath, Old Man Shin would never have even attempted the theft.
But no such thing had happened.
Ise hid his thoughts and put the matter aside. It was not important right now.
“He likely headed for the Zheng Empire. Search every route leading from here toward the Zheng Empire. At the fourth star of the Qi Condensation Realm, he cannot have gone far. Cultivator Ise, you will lead them.”
Ise gave a brief bow.
It would be much faster for Seok Gongju, a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, to act personally. But they were the final line of defense and could not leave the mine.
The moment Seok Gongju left, there would be a gap in the warding barrier's maintenance, opening the mine to a possible external attack.
The mine itself was more important than the Spiritual Stones.
In the end, the search fell to Ise.
Ise accepted the map Seok Gongju handed him and spread it across the ground. The cultivators gathered in a circle.
He drew countless straight lines from Silver Dragon Mine toward the Zheng Empire border and assigned each person a search route.
With such a thorough pursuit, they should not miss Old Man Shin easily.
The problem was... would someone who had planned this crime so carefully really have made no preparations to escape?
Of all the mines, Silver Dragon Mine was located closest to the Zheng Empire.
Even if they scattered and gave chase, they could already be too late.
“Move quickly.”
At Ise's urging, the cultivators immediately dispersed. Yet Ise himself did not move.
As he stood there holding the map, Seok Gongju stared at him and asked,
“Are you not going?”
“I have a few questions to ask before I leave.”
“Time is short.”
“They are related to this matter. Please allow it.”
Seok Gongju watched Ise for a moment, then replied briefly.
“I allow it.”
Ise asked his first question.
“Can you tell me Old Man Shin's exact age? I heard he has come here several times.”
“He is around one hundred and forty.”
“Fifty thousand Spiritual Stones would be quite heavy. Could he carry that much alone? No matter how long he has lived, it would be difficult for an early Qi Condensation Realm cultivator to possess a storage pouch with that much capacity.”
Seok Gongju did not understand the intent behind the question, but they answered readily despite their furrowed brow.
“All the processed Spiritual Stones are mid-grade Spiritual Stones. One mid-grade Spiritual Stone contains the spiritual potency of one hundred ordinary Spiritual Stones, so the actual quantity is five hundred mid-grade Spiritual Stones. They would easily fit inside his robes.”
Wearing an unreadable expression, Ise asked the next question.
“Was there a security spell where the Spiritual Stones were stored?”
Seok Gongju slowly met his gaze.
“There was.”
“Was it at a level that a fourth-star Qi Condensation Realm cultivator could break through?”
“I do not know. But the security spell itself is not particularly remarkable. If someone planned and prepared for it, there is no reason they could not breach it.”
“Why?”
Seok Gongju tilted their head as if asking what he meant, and Ise continued.
“Was there a reason you kept such a large amount, fifty thousand Spiritual Stones, under such lax security?”
Silence fell.
A seventh-star Qi Condensation Realm cultivator was interrogating a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Under normal circumstances, such insolence would have been enough to get his tongue torn out.
Yet Seok Gongju did not waver.
“Are you blaming me now? Or do you suspect me?”
“I only have a question.”
“There is no need for one.”
Their answer was concise.
“The warding barrier surrounding Silver Dragon Mine already provides sufficient security, and no one expected an insider from the Great Exorcist Order to betray us. There have been many cases of Spiritual Stone mines suffering external attacks, but this is the first time a formal disciple has committed theft.”
Ise changed the subject as though satisfied.
“What should we do if we find the culprit?”
“Recover every Spiritual Stone and execute the traitor on the spot.”
“Understood.”
Ise bowed and turned away.
There were clearly suspicious points, but instead of investigating within the mine, he immediately circled down its southern side and sent a Message Talisman to the Great Exorcist Order's Registry Pavilion.
* * *
Two hours after Silver Dragon Mine had been thrown into uproar and every Qi Condensation Realm cultivator had left to chase the thief.
Flicker.
The warding barrier that firmly protected Silver Dragon Mine vanished for an instant.
Old Man Shin emerged from Silver Dragon Mine only then. His empty right sleeve fluttered in the wind.
A moment later, the warding barrier was restored as though it had never disappeared, radiating spiritual power.
Old Man Shin walked calmly onward.
He wore an unhurried expression that no one would expect from a man fleeing after stealing the Great Exorcist Order's Spiritual Stones.
The direction he was heading was even the complete opposite of the north, where the Great Exorcist Order disciples had begun their pursuit. He was heading south.
His destination was Horyeong Marketplace.
It was a marketplace managed by Horyeong Sect, a lay branch of the Great Exorcist Order.
Lay-branch sects were relatively free from the Great Exorcist Order's oversight.
Gathering spiritual herbs, which was forbidden in principle, was quietly tolerated there. Even when caught, the punishment was no more than a light fine.
That was why medicinal-pellet trading was more active in lay-branch marketplaces than within the Great Exorcist Order itself. He would be able to obtain as many medicinal pellets as he needed, especially something like a Longevity Pellet.
Crossing into the Zheng Empire would come after that. Once he disguised himself and changed clothes, then took a long detour at a leisurely pace, they would be no better than dogs chasing chickens.
He looked around once, then took something from his robes and ran his fingers over it.
A pouch of Spiritual Stones. It held no fewer than fifty thousand Spiritual Stones.
With this... he could continue his immortal cultivation.
First, he would take a Longevity Pellet at Horyeong Marketplace and extend his lifespan. Then he would cross into the Zheng Empire, obtain medicinal pellets with the remaining Spiritual Stones, and consume them like water. It would surely be possible.
He could keep living.
For the first time, the desire that had been suppressed for so many years bloomed freely across his face.
Old Man Shin was walking lightly toward his goal, as if out for a stroll.
“Where are you going in such high spirits?”
At the sudden voice, Old Man Shin jerked his head up and looked toward its source.
A shadow dropped from a tree.
“Old Man Shin.”
It was Ise.
He landed before Old Man Shin.
All color drained from the old man's face in an instant.
“...H-how?”
Footnotes:
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