“It wasn’t me!”
The man jumped up and vehemently denied it. But anyone could see that the person in the painting looked exactly like him.
Geom Mugeuk looked at the painting again.
“Do you know what I thought when I first saw you? I should give the person who painted this a special reward and a vacation too.”
“No, it’s a misunderstanding!”
He stomped his feet, looking unbearably wronged. When they still didn’t believe him, he thumped his chest in frustration.
“It isn’t me. Surely there are people in the world who look alike? I need to hurry back and save my brother first. Please, let me go!”
Tears welled up in the man’s eyes. Just looking at him, it truly seemed like a misunderstanding.
Seeing that, Geom Mugeuk pointed to a part of the text written beneath the painting.
“Ah, look here. I missed this part while reading your information earlier. It says you act well and can deceive others perfectly, right?”
That was exactly what was written there.
“Didn’t you see when you searched my body earlier? I don’t have the treasure map.”
“I know. You already burned it, and it’s in your head. Wasn’t that written in what I showed you earlier? That you have excellent memory. You probably have an even greater ability for memorizing terrain.”
“No, why on earth are you doing this!”
“Why? Because it’s you.”
Geom Mugeuk grinned and poked his side in rapid succession.
Thwack! Thwack!
The next moment!
Pfff.
His body began to grow larger, as if air were entering it. His frame, previously as small and frail as a boy’s, became that of an ordinary man.
Geom Mugeuk had poked him playfully, but it was no joke. His Bone Shrinking Technique was undone, and he returned to his original body.
“Nice to meet you, Taesu.”
He was Taesu, the son of the great thief Taegon. He was surprised that the other had seen through his identity, but he was even more surprised that his Bone Shrinking Technique had been undone in an instant.
The surprise was not his alone.
The old man and woman accompanying this young fellow had not been particularly surprised even when his true form was revealed as the Bone Shrinking Technique was undone.
“Give me some water.”
At Hyeolcheon Doma’s words, Geom Mugeuk set down his pack and took out a bamboo container from inside.
“You should drink lots of water for your skin to get even better. Now that your skin has improved, you need to take care of it.”
Swoosh.
At that very moment, Taesu launched his body. His martial arts were mediocre, but he prided himself on having faster qinggong than anyone.
Having escaped that place in an instant, he leaped again. The distance would already have exceeded twenty *jang*, and by the second leap, fifty *jang*; by the time he landed after the third leap, he should have already vanished from their sight.
‘Just who are those people?’
To think they knew his identity so precisely.
Just as he landed after the third leap.
“Ugh!”
Taesu let out a groan and opened his eyes wide.
They were standing right in front of him.
Geom Mugeuk was handing the bamboo container he had taken out of his pack to Hyeolcheon Doma. Hyeolcheon Doma opened the lid again and drank water.
‘How on earth?’
For a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming. Or perhaps seeing an illusion?
But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
Swoosh!
He stomped the ground and launched his body again. He moved at the fastest speed he could muster.
When he landed, the three people were before his eyes once more.
“Give me some too.”
This time, Ilhwa Geomjon was extending a hand.
Geom Mugeuk took out the bamboo container for Ilhwa Geomjon as well. Their actions were continuing exactly as they had been before he ran.
Taesu stood in a daze. He felt as if they were standing in front of the original cave and only the surrounding scenery kept changing.
But that wasn’t the case. He had clearly fled using his qinggong, and this was a different location.
They hadn’t chased after him quickly. They had arrived first and were continuing what they had been doing.
‘Just how fast are they?’
And Geom Mugeuk was even carrying that large pack, wasn’t he? But that wasn’t the only question.
‘How did they know I would flee in this direction?’
Geom Mugeuk put the bamboo container back into the pack and shouldered it.
“You… what are you?”
Taesu’s voice trembled involuntarily, as if he had seen a ghost.
The youngest ghost smiled and walked up to him.
“People get sensitive for no reason when they’re hungry, right?”
Geom Mugeuk waved his hand lightly and suppressed Taesu’s internal energy.
“Stop running and let’s eat first.”
* * *
A campfire blazed in a forest far from the Manhyeol Cave.
While Geom Mugeuk prepared the food, Taesu sat with his internal energy suppressed, watching him.
‘He’s preparing for torture.’
They wouldn’t be eating while leaving him at such an important moment.
They’d probably mix a confession drug into the food. Or poison him to threaten him.
They could force-feed him, but then he might attempt suicide or die from emotional shock without talking, so they must be trying to make him eat naturally.
‘Just who are these people?’
He had never heard of three such experts existing in the martial world. It was such a unique combination that rumors couldn’t help but spread.
Geom Mugeuk began stir-frying vegetables and mushrooms. He added salt and a secret seasoning as well.
Having finished cooking skillfully and quickly, Geom Mugeuk divided the stir-fried mushrooms into four bowls.
He brought one of them to Taesu.
“Here, eat.”
Geom Mugeuk released one of his hands so he could move it.
“I have no appetite.”
“Eat now so you don’t say you’re hungry later.”
He set the bowl of food down in front of him and walked to the pack.
Geom Mugeuk took out something wrapped in paper from the pack. He unfolded the paper to reveal moss inside.
When a unique scent wafted out, Taesu was startled.
‘Could this scent be? Jongyu Seontae?’
Geom Mugeuk divided the Jongyu Seontae and placed it only atop his own bowl and those of the two Demon Venerables.
“It’s too tasteless to eat on its own. But if you eat it like this together, it should be fine.”
Taesu’s eyes grew even wider. Those words were also true. Jongyu Seontae was known to be too tasteless to eat plain. Could it be? Was it real?
‘It can’t be. No matter what, they wouldn’t put Jongyu Seontae in a mushroom dish, would they?’
But its appearance and scent were exactly that of Jongyu Seontae. How much could a thief have studied elixirs?
‘No, it can’t be.’
Jongyu Seontae was truly a legendary elixir. Yes, it couldn’t be real. For starters, it made no sense for three people to divide and eat something so precious.
‘Ah! They’re trying to bait me.’
He could tell it was bait. If they pretended it was Jongyu Seontae and all three ate, wouldn’t he want to eat it too?
‘It must be fake Jongyu Seontae laced with poison or a confession drug.’
They must have already taken the antidote.
Geom Mugeuk looked at him and asked, picking up the Jongyu Seontae on his own bowl.
“Should I give you some of this too?”
Taesu inwardly sneered.
‘As expected! They don’t deviate an inch from my prediction.’
Taesu shook his head.
“I’m fine.”
Geom Mugeuk said with a surprised expression.
“To think you’d refuse this, impressive. You’ll regret it later, pounding the ground in frustration.”
Taesu snorted. It couldn’t be real. If it were real, they wouldn’t share Jongyu Seontae.
Hyeolcheon Doma compared the Jongyu Seontae in his own bowl with that of the other two and spoke.
“Mine looks like it has the most?”
His bowl had the most Jongyu Seontae piled on it.
“You’re mistaken.”
Of course, Hyeolcheon Doma could tell that Geom Mugeuk had given him the most.
Ilhwa Geomjon, seated across from him, gestured with her eyes as if to say, “Just pretend you don’t know and eat.”
“Come, eat quickly.”
“I truly never thought I’d eat something so precious with mushrooms.”
“Isn’t food that’s delicious going into your mouth better for your body?”
The three began to eat the dish.
“It’s tastier than I thought.”
Ilhwa Geomjon was satisfied with the taste, and Hyeolcheon Doma nodded as if in agreement.
And so the three finished all the Jongyu Seontae.
After consuming it all, without anyone saying who should go first, they sat down and circulated their energy.
After finishing their breathing exercises, the eyes of the three grew even deeper. Jongyu Seontae was known to restore the consumer’s vitality and grant a long, disease-free life.
“You look younger than before you ate.”
“Really?”
Geom Mugeuk drew his sword and used it as a mirror again.
“I can’t really tell.”
But there was definitely a difference.
The two elixirs consumed today had been a great help to Geom Mugeuk as well, but they had been truly tremendous help to Hyeolcheon Doma and Ilhwa Geomjon.
Hyeolcheon Doma, quietly gazing at his reflection in the blade, suddenly spoke. When in his life had he ever said these words? No, had he ever?
“This is fun.”
Ilhwa Geomjon looked at Hyeolcheon Doma with a surprised expression. Because she knew he wasn’t someone who said such things in his life, she well understood how much meaning those words held.
What would Geom Mugeuk answer?
Geom Mugeuk’s answer was simple.
“I am having fun too.”
Ilhwa Geomjon didn’t speak either, but she was enjoying this situation. It was a joy she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Taesu, watching the three, felt a strange emotion.
‘What the hell are these people!’
They were really acting as if they had eaten Jongyu Seontae. And without paying him any mind at all.
Taesu cautiously asked Geom Mugeuk.
“What are you going to do with me now?”
Then, an unhesitating reply flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.
“We have to go find the Geomchong together.”
Who asked you! Taesu was inwardly speechless, but he continued his act.
“It’s truly a misunderstanding. I was there by chance.”
Taesu denied it to the end.
“I was training. Training to find my way in that complex cave, and training in the Bone Shrinking Technique.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled and took out from his bosom the portrait he had shown earlier.
“You probably don’t know how many people’s efforts are contained in this single sheet of paper before it came to my hands? Information imbued with the labor of dozens who have devoted their lives to one task. People several times smarter than you or me.”
The two Demon Venerables listening thought inwardly. It was all true, but.
“Not smarter than you.”
That was why the two were inwardly curious how Geom Mugeuk would find out the location of the treasure map.
“Denying the situation like this is the worst of the worst strategies. Ah, so this guy only uses worthless methods. He only looks foolish to the opponent. You’re not that kind of guy, are you? It’s written here that you’re not.”
Taesu stared at Geom Mugeuk for a moment and finally changed his strategy. Seeing his opponent, he realized that blindly insisting wouldn’t work.
“You’re right. I have the location memorized. Not just the location, but how to enter through the real entrance rather than the fake ones, and how to avoid the internal traps. Only I in this world know.”
It was only half true.
Because in his life before the regression, Geom Mugeuk had entered the Geomchong.
But back then, it hadn’t been because of a treasure scramble, so he hadn’t known much about the interior of the Geomchong. He had gone there to meet one person.
Geom Mugeuk gazed at Taesu in silence.
Taesu put strength into his stomach and eyes, not avoiding that gaze.
He felt a strange emotion from the clear eyes looking at him.
‘Why is he looking at me with those eyes?’
Hyeolcheon Doma, watching the two, sent a telepathic message to Ilhwa Geomjon.
—If we just beat him up, he’d spill everything.
Ilhwa Geomjon added:
—Or cut off his fingers one by one.
Hyeolcheon Doma spoke with a strange smile:
—The Young Cult Leader doesn’t know you’re someone who says such things, does he?
—It’s something only the two of us do.
Hyeolcheon Doma gave a slightly pleased smile at her words.
Geom Mugeuk neither beat him nor cut off his fingers.
Srrrung.
Geom Mugeuk drew the Heukmageom and spoke.
“Yes, a place like the Geomchong might be better off remaining a secret of the martial world forever.”
Geom Mugeuk raised his sword with a flash.
Shiiiiik.
Without hesitation, Geom Mugeuk brought the sword down toward Taesu’s neck.
“Wait!”
At Taesu’s cry, the sword stopped just before it cut his neck.
Trickle.
Blood flowed from the shallowly cut wound.
‘This crazy bastard really tried to kill me.’
Taesu spoke to Geom Mugeuk with eyes mixed with fear and shock.
“If you kill me, you die too.”
“Why would I?”
“You know who my father is, don’t you?”
Taegon, the greatest thief of the era.
“If I die, my father will definitely take revenge. My father has never failed to find someone or break into a place. He will silently enter your residence while you sleep. No matter how deep you hide, it will be useless.”
The corners of the two Demon Venerables’ mouths rose. They wondered how his expression would change if he knew where that “deep place” was.
Geom Mugeuk met threat with threat.
“Then I’ll have to take care of your father first.”
Taesu flinched in surprise for a moment. But he soon showed composure.
“You’ll never find my father’s whereabouts.”
“Yes, it won’t be easy. But it’s not impossible. First, I’ll spread rumors. That the one who has the Geomchong’s treasure map is Taegon. Then countless people will rush to find your father.”
Geom Mugeuk held up the portrait he had shown earlier.
“I’ll use my information network to find out everything about your father. I’ll find out his face as well and spread it throughout the Central Plains.”
“!”
“If your father, angered by this incident, comes to find you, I can deal with him then.”
Geom Mugeuk made his threat very specific and detailed, and it worked on Taesu.
When Taesu couldn’t offer any rebuttal, Geom Mugeuk withdrew the sword aimed at his neck.
“I told you to eat, didn’t I? Your stomach is empty, so your head isn’t working, which is why you’re making such clumsy threats. At times like this, you shouldn’t threaten, you should negotiate. ‘What will you give me if I tell you the location?’”
Taesu, lost in thought for a moment, asked.
“What will you give me?”
“That depends on what’s there.”
“How can I trust that you’ll save me when we get there?”
Then, unexpected words flowed from Geom Mugeuk.
“I believe that one who dreams of becoming the greatest thief of the era must not think that stealing is only about taking objects.”
Taesu inwardly flinched. Those were words his father had often said to him. They had come out exactly the same, not a single word wrong.
“To become the greatest thief, you must know how to steal people’s hearts as well.”
“!”
Surprise crossed Taesu’s face.
‘A coincidence?’
But it wasn’t a coincidence that Geom Mugeuk had said the exact same thing.
Because in his life before the regression, they were words Geom Mugeuk had heard directly from his father, Taegon.
The person he had met at the Geomchong back then was none other than Taegon.
“So try to steal my heart while we make our way there.”