WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 10: Silver Dragon Mine (4)

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Ise calmly raised his hatchet and took a careful step forward.

Resignation and fear passed over Old Man Shin's face in turn.

“There was a place deep within the mine where no spiritual energy flowed.”

Ise's voice was calm.

“You wouldn't notice at a glance, but it looked unnatural to me. Like a warding barrier meant to hide someone.”

Old Man Shin's lips trembled.

“Just... from that alone...?”

Ise took another step closer.

The difference in their realms made a fight unlikely, but the old man had orchestrated something this elaborate. He might still have a hidden trick prepared.

“The warding barrier around the Spiritual Stone vault was not something a fourth-star Qi Condensation Realm cultivator could break. It wasn't breached. Someone opened it for you. An accomplice inside the mine.”

Old Man Shin's eyes shook faintly.

“With an inside accomplice, you could know exactly when the mine's surveillance would lapse and delay your escape. While the other cultivators searched every inch of the route toward the Zheng Empire, you calmly walked out through the opposite direction.”

Ise looked past Old Man Shin.

“It would be safer than trying to outrun pursuers with an aging body.”

A figure stood beneath the shade of an elm tree.

“Isn't that right?”

Ise directed the question at them.

“Seok Gongju. No...”

The shadow slowly stepped away from the tree.

“Senior Shin Hyeon.”

Shin Hyeon let out a faint sigh when Ise spoke a name never revealed to the mission team.

“You stopped the warding barrier once. And seeing how the strongest cultivator who should have remained at the mine left their post and followed us all the way here, I know my suspicion was correct.”

“Did you investigate me?”

“There were too many suspicious points to simply overlook.”

After answering briefly, Ise recalled the message he had requested from the Great Exorcist Order's Registry Pavilion.

Seok Gongju's name was Shin Hyeon. Old Man Shin's name was Shin Gang.

The two had to be family.

Shin Hyeon had given every resource he could to his father, whose talent was poor, but Shin Gang had failed to overcome even the minor realm boundary.

Then, with death approaching, he must have crossed a line that should never be crossed.

To save his parent.

Ise did feel sympathy. He himself had been abandoned by his parents at birth, then lost even the people who had raised him.

But he belonged to the Great Exorcist Order.

Silver Dragon Mine had been turned upside down by this incident. He could not simply let it pass.

With Dokkaebi Senses, Ise caught the killing intent seeping from Shin Hyeon's face.

He spoke as if threatening Shin Hyeon.

“If you kill me, there will be no turning back. Cultivators from the Law Enforcement Pavilion are already on their way here.”

Shin Hyeon's fingertips trembled slightly. The spiritual energy of the Foundation Establishment Realm flickered for a moment, then settled again.

Killing a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator would be effortless. Shin Hyeon knew that.

But killing a formal disciple would bring the pursuit of headquarters. That was a grave crime entirely different from being complicit in the theft of Spiritual Stones.

Just as Shin Hyeon seemed ready to give up everything, Shin Gang spoke.

“My inadequacy... has caused trouble for you.”

The old man's voice was startlingly calm. The desire he had shown before spotting Ise had vanished without a trace.

Before Ise could react, Shin Gang continued.

“Father.”

Ise's thoughts halted for a beat. While he stood there, too stunned to speak, Shin Gang went on.

“This old son of yours was blinded by greed. I deceived my father, Seok Gongju, and tried to steal Spiritual Stones. You came here in person to punish my crimes, Father. I will not resist. Do what you must.”

Then he added, directing his words at Ise.

“Cultivator, this was my crime alone. How could a person with such a bright future commit a grave crime over private feelings?”

Ise could not respond. He was still reeling from the fact that the old man was the son.

No expression appeared on Shin Hyeon's face. Or rather, too many emotions overlapped there for Ise to read any single one.

One thing was certain. Shin Hyeon and Shin Gang wore the same expression.

It resembled the look on his adoptive parents' faces as they watched him hiding inside the wardrobe on the day the Snail-Headed Scholar attacked.

Then Ise remembered that the Great Exorcist Order's Law Enforcement Pavilion had already set out for this place.

He spoke.

“...Senior, please order the execution of the traitor who attempted to steal the Great Exorcist Order's resources.”

It was consideration.

The greatest consideration a young cultivator, more than a hundred years Shin Hyeon's junior, could offer.

He would remain silent about Shin Hyeon's complicity in trying to save his child. He would not let Shin Hyeon be treated as an accomplice.

But Shin Gang had to die here according to the rules. Only then would there be room for leniency toward Shin Hyeon.

It was the best arrangement Ise could make.

It did not take Shin Gang long to understand.

“...Thank you. Even if I were captured alive, I would only live as a laborer before dying soon after. Do not hesitate.”

Grateful that he could protect his father, the old man bowed deeply.

Ise raised his hatchet.

“Please turn around, Senior.”

Shin Hyeon did not answer. He only closed his eyes tightly.

With his fists clenched, his shoulders trembled once.

“Any final words?”

“Forget this deeply unfilial son, and please attain immortal cultivation. This lowly child troubled his parents until the end. I will repent in the Bottomless Abyss.”

Ise waited until Shin Gang finished bowing to Shin Hyeon.

The next moment, the hatchet flashed. Shin Gang's head fell cleanly from his neck.

It was a clean strike, so swift he likely never felt pain.

“By Seok Gongju's command, I have carried out the sentence.”

Ise addressed Shin Hyeon.

“Return to the mine now. You cannot leave your post vacant for too long. I will handle the body and his belongings.”

Shin Hyeon turned away without answering. In the end, Ise never properly understood the expression on his face.

* * *

The uproar over the theft of Spiritual Stones from Silver Dragon Mine came to an end that way.

The culprit was executed on the spot, and every Spiritual Stone was recovered without loss.

Seok Gongju, Shin Hyeon, was escorted to the Law Enforcement Pavilion for questioning on suspicion of complicity.

Instead of undergoing questioning, Ise briefly wrote and submitted an incident report.

「Qi Condensation Realm cultivator Shin Gang took advantage of Seok Gongju's absence, broke into the Spiritual Stone vault, stole Spiritual Stones, and fled toward Horyeong Marketplace. After capturing the culprit, all fifty thousand Spiritual Stones were recovered. By Seok Gongju's order, the culprit was executed on the spot.」

Not a single line was false. There was simply much he had not written.

Ise worried that he might be questioned as well, but perhaps because he had personally captured the culprit, there were no further measures against him.

The Law Enforcement Pavilion's investigation continued for several days.

Shin Hyeon's sentence was light.

Five years confined in the Cave of Repentance, followed by a soul-binding contract that prevented him from ever leaving the area designated by the Great Exorcist Order.

The charge was that, because Shin Gang was family, Shin Hyeon had failed to supervise him properly and thereby enabled the crime.

The charge of complicity was absent.

Perhaps headquarters knew the truth.

No, they certainly did. If a Core Formation Realm cultivator used a mind-reading art, a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator like Shin Hyeon could not hide the truth.

Still, the Spiritual Stones had been recovered. Shin Hyeon's motive had been a desperate desire to save his child, and they likely did not wish to lose a Foundation Establishment Realm spirit-stone artisan with such valuable skills.

Given the Great Exorcist Order's focus on ability above all else, it was nearly a certainty.

As Ise sorted through Old Man Shin's belongings and Seok Gongju's possessions, he sank into thought.

Old Man Shin had said he was the child Seok Gongju had with a mortal woman when Seok Gongju was around thirty.

But the child had little talent and could not reach the path of longevity.

Seok Gongju had lost his spouse long ago. What had he thought as he watched his child grow old before him and approach death?

What had immortal cultivation meant to him?

Cultivators lived long lives. The higher their realm, the further they escaped the lifespan granted by Heaven.

By the Nascent Soul Realm or Spirit Transformation Realm, one could live nearly a thousand years. Most of the bonds he had formed now would have vanished by then.

The path of immortal cultivation was a path without farewells, yet also a path of farewells.

What meaning was there in longevity when one survived alone?

For Ise, whose purpose in immortal cultivation lay more in gaining strength than in longevity, it was a difficult question to answer.

He did not fear death.

Even in desperate situations, he had never felt afraid of dying.

That was only natural. Around the age of ten, after losing his family, Ise had tried to end his own life.

What drove him onward was little more than revenge for his family and repaying the master who had taken him in.

But since coming to the Great Exorcist Order, he had gradually begun to understand life's joys and sorrows.

He had learned the joy of being with people his own age.

He had felt rage toward those who murdered his fellow disciples.

He had learned affection for his companions.

He enjoyed eating, growing stronger, and gaining new experiences.

At least now... he realized anew that he was truly living.

Once he admitted that, death became frightening.

Ise folded the Burial Map and stored it in his storage pouch with Shin Gang's belongings.

It was something he would have to deliver to Shin Hyeon someday.

Peace returned to Silver Dragon Mine.

They had suffered through a major incident and paid off their bad luck. Surely they could spend the remaining five months focusing peacefully on cultivation.

That was what Ise thought.

Then...

“Cultivator.”

Just before the Law Enforcement Pavilion cultivator dispatched from headquarters departed, they stopped Ise.

“Headquarters lacks manpower, so it cannot send someone immediately. We will send a spirit-stone artisan as soon as one is available. Until then, you will take on Seok Gongju's role.”

“Me?”

Ise asked.

“I don't know how to work spirit stone.”

“I am not telling you to process Spiritual Stones. Just continue managing the mine as you have been. We are at war with demonic sects that crossed the border in northern Tabaro, so there is a shortage of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.”

“War? I haven't heard anything about that.”

“It is practically an annual event. Whenever they fail to establish themselves in the Zheng Empire, they often cross over, as if they think the Great Exorcist Order is easy prey. It is not serious enough to trouble headquarters. Still.”

Apparently, no powerful force had crossed over. Ise listened with much greater relief.

“Even a child's hands would help right now. We do not have enough people to look after every production site. It will only be for a few days.”

“It is an extremely heavy responsibility...”

Ise was about to refuse. The incident involving Shin Hyeon and Shin Gang had already taught him the crushing burden borne by the person in charge.

This was a valuable site that produced one hundred thousand Spiritual Stones each year. It was not a place a seventh-star Qi Condensation Realm cultivator should be responsible for.

“Ah.”

As if they had forgotten something, the Law Enforcement Pavilion cultivator held out a wooden box.

“This is something headquarters is giving you.”

“From headquarters?”

Ise accepted the box. Aside from Spiritual Stones and contribution points, headquarters had given him nothing since he first became an entry disciple.

When he opened the box, a brilliant light shone out alongside the pungent scent of mugwort and a clear aura of spiritual energy.

“This is...”

He knew this smell and color. A medicinal pellet. One that increased internal qi.

The quality was obvious at a glance. It could not be compared to any medicinal pellet Ise had taken before.

“It is a mid-grade Qi-Condensing Pellet. A fourth-grade pellet, the very best among mid-grade pellets. It is the kind of medicinal pellet usually sought by late Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.”

“A Qi-Condensing Pellet...!”

“It will shorten your cultivation by at least several years. Hall Master Hong Mi-hee personally refined it, so its effects are the best among pellets of the same grade. It is also extremely valuable because it produces almost no pill toxin.”

“I see...!”

“This is both a reward for capturing Shin Gang and resolving the incident, and compensation for giving you another weighty duty. By the way, what were you about to say earlier?”

Ise nodded readily.

“I was going to say that although it is an extremely heavy responsibility, since you have entrusted it to me, I will devote my life to fulfilling my duty.”

“You are an upright talent rarely seen in these times. I leave it to you. I will urge headquarters to send a replacement as quickly as possible.”

“Yes. Travel safely.”

It would only be a few days. What could possibly happen?

Footnotes:

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