Chapter 68: Robbing the Robbers (2)

After the commotion had subsided, Jegal Tan, still bewildered, asked, “How did you know?”

“Know what? Ah, the sleeping drugs?”

Jegal Tan nodded.

Everyone was curious. They hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Judging by their expressions, the other three were just as clueless.

Cho Un-hwi replied nonchalantly, “You learn these things after being poisoned enough times.”

Poisoned enough times?

He pulled out a small medicine bottle from his pocket and lined up several vials.

“I found these in the kitchen. They’re commonly used by the dark path, so it’s helpful to remember their scents and tastes.”

“Hmm…”

Indeed, after sniffing and tasting them a few times, Jegal Tan could detect a subtly nauseating scent and flavor. It wasn’t easy, but…

“Well, this time, the signs were pretty obvious. We were targeted as easy marks from the moment we stepped into the tavern.”

“I thought I handled the situation well.”

Had he missed something?

Cho Un-hwi tapped Jegal Tan’s wrist, and he looked down at his sleeve in shock.

A thin needle was dangling from the cuff.

The sight of the yellow-tinged needle tip sent shivers down his spine.

“Why is this needle in my sleeve…?”

“Some people have a habit of adjusting their sleeves while eating. I put it there so you’d get pricked.”

“So, the reason you were provoking me and getting on my nerves was…”

“To distract you so I could plant the needle. It’s a simple trick.”

A simple trick, he said.

It was easier said than done. He hadn’t even noticed the subtle attempts to belittle him and distract him with Mo Yong So-hye.

“I thought hidden weapons were just for throwing…”

“Hehe, everyone fights differently depending on their situation.”

“It’s quite different from what we learn at the academy, isn’t it?” Cho Un-hwi added, then turned to Namgung Yun-ho and growled.

“Yun-ho, are you just going to keep your back to the wall?”

“The walls are paper-thin! What if someone stabs you from behind?”

“And feel the floorboards. They’re hollow! What if someone hides under the floor and ambushes you?”

Cho Un-hwi’s relentless criticism finally stopped when the waiter, looking thoroughly chastised, brought them a new bowl of noodles.

“Here’s your new bowl of noodles.”

“Oh!”

Cho Un-hwi stopped talking and slurped down the noodles.

“See? I told you this place was good.”

The taste didn’t matter anymore.

***

After the meal, Cho Un-hwi left the tavern alone.

He wanted to give his students some time to reflect on the day’s events.

Simply cramming knowledge into their heads wouldn’t be helpful.

“Lalala.”

He hummed a cheerful tune as he walked down the street.

He saw a small shop ahead.

It was a dilapidated building that looked like it was about to collapse.

He sat down at a rickety table outside the shop.

An old woman, presumably the owner, appeared.

“Welcome, customer.”

“I’d like some tea.”

“I don’t have any expensive tea.All I have is coarse tea.I’m not sure if it will suit your taste.”

“Bring me the cheapest tea on the bottom shelf.”

The old woman paused, her hand hovering over the dusty table.

“Right away, young customer.”

She returned with a cup of dark tea and a plate of roasted rice cakes.

“Here you go.”

She left without another word, and Cho Un-hwi picked up the teacup.

There was a small piece of paper underneath it.

*- Hao Clan.*

He slurped down the tea and unfolded the paper.

He scanned the contents and muttered, “That thieving bastard got lucky.”

It seemed that the Hidden Moon Flying Thief had left his hideout.

‘It would have been nice to run into him.’

Fighting an injured expert would have been a valuable experience.

“It’s a bit disappointing, but… let’s see.”

As expected of the Hao Clan.

They had managed to track the Hidden Moon Flying Thief’s movements with remarkable accuracy.

Even with the Shadowless Silk and the Thousand Li Tracking Incense, it was a impressive feat to follow the elusive thief’s trail.

The paper crumbled to ash in his hand.

He scattered the ashes in the wind and muttered, “It’s time to end this.”

***

The next day, he gathered his students.

They all had dark circles under their eyes.

They hadn’t slept well.

“I couldn’t sleep because I was worried something might happen.”

What could possibly happen?

“We didn’t have to stay right next to the dark path’s headquarters.”

He chuckled.

They were making a fuss over nothing.

“You were all sleeping soundly on the dirt when we were in the mountains.”

“I’d rather be in the mountains.”

“It was physically tiring, but mentally relaxing.”

“And there were no drunken idiots singing all night.”

Cho Un-hwi grinned.

“Well, you’re in luck. We’re going back to the mountains.”

He looked at their pale faces and said, “Pack your bags.”

***

They left Muam Village and traveled for half a day until they reached a rugged mountain range.

“This is a treacherous mountain.”

The steep cliffs would have been challenging if they hadn’t already adapted to the wilderness.

Fortunately, thanks to their forced survival training, they could now climb even the most difficult rock faces with ease.

“Ah!There’s a snake den here!Let’s take some.”

“Sister, we don’t need to find food anymore.Stop it.”

“Should we leave these behind? These are rare rock tripe mushrooms.”

“…They have a chewy, nutty flavor.”

Their lingering survival instincts were more problematic than the mountain’s rugged terrain.

“Guys, let’s go.”

They couldn’t leave any traces if they were going to raid a hideout.

But then, he had an idea.

‘Maybe they’ll think it was a herb gatherer, not a martial artist.’

A proud martial artist wouldn’t be caught dead digging through snake dens or carefully harvesting herbs.

“Did I go too far?”

He had instilled survival skills into their souls for their own good, but it seemed to have backfired.

It was a minor setback.

***

They soon arrived at a small cave hidden between two cliffs.

It was so well-concealed that they would have missed it if they hadn’t been looking for it.

“Instructor, there’s a trap here.”

“There are hidden weapons buried in the ground.They seem to be poisoned.”

“Hmm, this looks like a pitfall trap.There’s a hollow space underneath.”

The traps were simple, consisting of poisoned needles and pitfalls.

The students, now accustomed to such obstacles, easily detected and avoided them.

Baek Ri-seol, who had been examining the entrance, straightened up and said, “Instructor, there seem to be a lot of traps hidden in the bushes.”

That was by design.

“He’s known for his swift, bird-like movement technique. He set the traps on the paths he’s less likely to use.”

“I see.”

Baek Ri-seol nodded, then ran over to the bushes and started digging in the dirt.

She leaped onto a tree branch with her agile movement technique and fiddled with something, then returned.

“What did you do?”

“I set some traps on the paths he’s more likely to use.”

“Haha, that’s a good idea.”

He hadn’t thought of that.

He wondered what kind of expression the thief would make when he fell into his own traps.

“Hehe, isn’t it a brilliant plan?”

“Yes, it is.”

I should do that too.

***

“How’s the entrance?”

“Nothing special.I was expecting a giant maze or a secret passage, but it’s just a small cave.”

Jegal Tan smiled at Mo Yong So-hye’s comment.

“It would be difficult to build something like that on his own.And even if he had help, it would be hard to keep it a secret.”

“That’s true.”

“Is that why he chose to use a natural cave as his hideout?”

Baek Ri-seol, who wasn’t on good terms with Jegal Tan, directed her question at him.

“Yes, the fewer people who know about a hideout, the better.”

“As expected of the instructor.You know everything.”

“Shall we begin?”

***

They crawled through the narrow entrance of the cave.

The passage gradually widened, and soon, they were able to walk with their heads bowed.

They arrived at a small chamber.

“Wow, this thieving bastard…”

Cho Un-hwi’s lips twitched as he saw the sight before him.

“He’s got a lot of loot.”

There was a bookshelf filled with books, several wooden chests, weapons leaning against the wall, and even piles of gold.

He had all this to himself?

“Hey, sharing is caring, you thieving bastard.”

He rubbed his cheek against a golden elephant, then turned to the others, who were staring at the chamber with wide eyes.

“Gasp!”

“Is this all stolen goods?”

“Wow, this is amazing!”

“What is all this stuff?”

Jegal Tan, dusting himself off, examined the bookshelves and gasped.

“The Nine Yin Manual… this is a secret manual of the Mount Cheongseong Sect…”

“Tan, there’s also the Wudang Sect’s Returning Wind Palm Technique and the Nine Palaces Sword Technique.They seem to be genuine, judging by the Wudang Sect’s seal.”

The bookshelves were filled with secret manuals from various sects.

They weren’t ultimate techniques, but they were still powerful enough to make someone a renowned expert.

Baek Ri-seol, however, was more interested in the weapons.

“I’ve been wanting to upgrade from three swords to five…”

“Ah, the brilliance of these blades…”

“Can we take these?”

Mo Yong So-hye was shocked.

“Sister, we can’t just take these stolen goods!What if the owners recognize them?!”

It was a valid concern.

They were clearly high-quality swords, and it would be troublesome if the original owners appeared.

“So-hye is right.It would be bad if the original owners recognized them and demanded their return.”

What if they were sacred relics or family heirlooms?

They could end up in a bloodbath if they refused to return the stolen goods.

“That’s why I’m going to teach you how to dispose of stolen goods.”

“Instructor!”

“It will be flawless. Even their own mothers won’t recognize them after I’m done with them.”

“Why do you even know how to dispose of stolen goods…?”

He answered Mo Yong So-hye’s tearful question simply,

“It’s good to know these things.”

He taught them how to switch out sword hilts and scabbards, and how to dull the blades with a strong acid.

Then, Jegal Tan asked, “Instructor, what about the manuals?”

“We can’t do anything about the manuals.”

He wanted to sell them on the black market or to the Hao Clan for a hefty price.

‘But I don’t want to risk getting caught.’

The righteous sects were strict about controlling their manuals.

They would go to great lengths to retrieve even the most insignificant manual if it belonged to their sect.

Disposing of the manuals wouldn’t be difficult, but dealing with the aftermath would be a pain.

“We’ll have to burn them.”

“All of them? The sects would be grateful if we returned them.”

“They’ll only be grateful with their words. And then the entire Murim will know that some Shinmu Academy brats robbed the Hidden Moon Flying Thief. The righteous factions would love that, wouldn’t they?”

“…We’ll dispose of them.”

In the Murim, blood was often spilled over a single sword.

Jegal Tan, who understood the dangers of possessing stolen goods, quickly bowed his head.

“But…”

He seemed reluctant to burn the manuals.

“How about we collapse this cave and make it look like it was discovered by accident?”

“That’s a good idea.”

Jegal Tan was always full of clever schemes.

“Let’s deal with this first.”

Cho Un-hwi picked up a wooden chest and opened it.

A refreshing scent wafted out.

The four students’ eyes widened.

“Don’t tell me those are…”

“Yes, elixirs.”

Cho Un-hwi grinned, revealing five elixirs inside the chest.

“You guys hit the jackpot.”

Open wide.