The sled sped across the white snowfield.
They didn’t expect much from a dog-drawn sled, but seeing the sled run faster than they expected was incredible.
“Sago. They’re really good at running.”
“You’re right.”
Yoo Iseol, oblivious to everything, watched the dogs run with curious eyes the entire time.
However, some were unconcerned.
“Ugh. I’m dying!”
“….”
“No! If it’s windy like this, you should put on some tents! Why do you ride a sleigh without a tent?”
“….”
Song Won’s face twitched with annoyance.
He wanted to ask why that young martial artist was exaggerating so much, but when he saw Chung Myung shaking nonstop, he couldn’t.
‘What a mysterious man.’
Except for this guy, everyone else was riding a sled with determination. This guy isn’t anything special.
“We are almost there, so be patient.”
“Do you know how many times you’ve said that?”
When Chung Myung’s annoying reply returned, Song Won, who couldn’t stand it anymore, screamed.
“If you ask me five times even before one day has passed, I have no choice but to say the same thing! Be patient!”
“I’m freezing right now!”
“Ughhh!”
Song Won suppressed his anger and gritted his teeth.
‘What kind of guy is this?’
At this rate, he was about to fall into madness before they even arrived at the mine.
In addition, the fact that each time Chung Myung or something was swearing at him, the marten also held out his head and hissed at him made his stomach even more upset.
Song Won clenched his teeth and rushed the dogs.
The only solution was to arrive as soon as possible.
“… It’s getting colder and colder?”
“The place where Ice Crystals are produced is also the place with the strongest yin energy in the North Sea. Of course, it’s cold.”
“Isn’t it colder the further north you go? I don’t think the direction we’re going now is north.”
“It’s a little different.”
Song Won’s mouth twisted slightly.
“You’ll find out when you see it.”
It was then.
“Chung Myung, there!”
Yoon Jong, who was riding a sled from the side, shouted loudly and pointed ahead.
“Huh?”
Chung Myung stuck out his head and looked ahead. Then he opened his eyes and mouth wide.
“Wow, what’s that?”
What came into his sight was a huge hole in the ground.
No, that cavity was too big to be called a hole. It was close to a huge valley that could fit a few large pavilions.
The disciples of Mount Hua were stunned with their mouths wide open at the sight of the void as if they were in the entrance to hell.
“That’s the mine we get the Ice Crystal from.”
Song Won’s mouth twisted cynically.
“…I thought you guys were taking us to a mountain because they said it was a mine.”
Chung Myung’s words represent everyone’s minds. He didn’t know that this was the form of the mine Ice Crystals were dug up from.
Hwiiiing!
From the depths of the wide hole, the sound of the chilly wind flowed continuously.
“Are you digging Ice Crystals down there?”
“That’s right.”
“It looks dangerous.”
“It’s very dangerous and hard work. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to.”
Song Won gestured his chin towards the bottom of the valley.
“The lower you go, the lower the temperature and the stronger the yin energy becomes. Ice Crystals can only be dug in such extreme conditions.”
Mount Hua’s disciples looked at the ice-covered area with curious eyes. Armed with thick fur coats, they were diligently moving around.
Chung Myung spoke in a calm voice.
“Let’s go.”
“Hm.”
The rest of Mount Hua’s disciples and Hye Yeon followed him.
“…I can see why Ice Crystals are so expensive.”
“I know right.”
Even anything other than Ice Crystals would inevitably have a high price if it were to be mined in such an environment.
“Please come this way.”
Song Won led them toward the front of the valley.
As they got closer, the wind grew stronger. Eventually, as they stood in front of the steep valley, the deep hole vomited darkness as if about to devour them.
“We’re going down. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Be careful as you have to go down the cliff on a rope. If you make a mistake and fall, we won’t even be able to pick up your bones.”
These words were meant to scare them away, but Mount Hua’s disciples only nodded with indifferent faces.
“… I’m not kidding.”
“Yes, we know.”
“….”
Song Won frowned at the different response than he expected.
‘Did everyone lose their heads of fear?’
Those who saw this cliff for the first time usually had numbness in their knees and could not stand properly. However, although there was a sign of wonder, there was no sign of fear.
Mount Hua’s disciples held their heads out and muttered as they looked down the hole.
“It looks like half Mount Hua’s cliff?”
“Ei. It looks like that because it’s pitch black, it’s not even half.”
“Is that so?”
“….”
The absurdity in Song Won’s eyes looking at them was clear.
How would he know? These people have been training by climbing a cliff carrying stones on their backs.
This cliff was like a front yard for Mount Hua’s disciples.
“… … Uhm. Anyway, be careful.”
Song Won frowned, grabbed the rope installed on the cliff, and started going down.
The movement of holding the rope with both hands and the feet firmly attached to the cliff was very careful.
Song Won, who had gone down for a while, suddenly frowned and raised his head. The disciples of Mount Hua did not follow him but were staring down at him from the top of the cliff.
“What are you doing, not following me down? There are several ropes ready, so you can grab the other rope and come down.”
“…Do we just have to go down?”
“Yes! If you don’t look down, there’s no problem, so come down!”
Then Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung.
“Go?”
“Sure thing.”
With a nod, Baek Cheon grabbed the rope in front of him.
“Everyone, follow me.”
“Yes!”
Then, he literally flung himself toward the cliff.
“Wha- What!”
Song Won was so freaked out that he almost missed the rope. Even more surprising was that not only Baek Cheon but also the other disciples of Mount Hua and the monks were flying down the cliff, holding the rope roughly in one hand.
Tatatatat!
They ran down the cliff like flat ground and started going down and again. It was truly a tremendous speed.
“….”
Song Won looked at Mount Hua’s disciple running far away with blank eyes. But then, a blunt voice came from right next to him.
“Go down a little faster. Have you boiled and eaten a snail?” (굼벵이를 삶아 드셨나?”)
“….”
“Tsk.”
Chung Myung, who said these words, was running down the cliff without holding on to the rope. As he passed by him, he even showed the leeway to talk.
Watching Chung Myung disappear down him, Song Won looked up at the sky with a blank face.
‘I can’t do this, really.’
A little later.
“Hoiyotto.”
“…Well, it takes a long time.”
“You need to practice a little harder.”
On the bottom, Song Won desperately ignored the words coming from his left and right. Normally, he would have retorted a word, but he had nothing to say in this situation even if he had ten mouths.
“…This is where the Ice Crystal is mined.”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Stop it. He must be ashamed.”
‘I hate the guy who said the last word.’
‘That damn thing…….’
Then Jo-Gol shuddered with his hands between his armpits.
“Sasuk. This place is no joke. I’ve been feeling a bit chilly since earlier.”
“…I see.”
It wasn’t just cold. Not only does the biting wind take away their temperature…… It felt like unknown gloomy energy was rushing into their bones.
‘This is what they mean by having a strong yin energy.’
The body will be damaged instantly if a person is constantly exposed to such an environment.
“The Ice Crystals is here…….”
When they looked up, the sky looked very small as if they were looking from inside a well. Hundreds of large and small holes were drilled to the left and right of the long divided valley.
‘It’s a man-made mine.’
Digging through burrows in such an environment to find Ice Crystals…
It’s harsher than they imagined.
“Everyone is working hard.”
Among the workers wearing animal skins, those dressed in the Ice Clan robes went back and forth like custodians. Those workers and martial artists seemed to be working together to dig up the Ice Crystals.
“Oh! There!”
Looking around, Jo-Gol hurriedly pointed to somewhere as if he had found something.
One of the workers heading towards the cave staggered in exhaustion and fell to the ground. Then one of the warriors of the Ice Clan, who was in charge, hurriedly ran towards him.
“We need to help…….”
Baek Cheon, who was speaking with a worried face, opened his eyes wide for a moment.
“This guy!”
Chwaaak!
The martial artist of the Ice Clan suddenly unfolded the whip he took out of his sleeve and began to beat the fallen worker mercilessly.
“Wha- What did you do!”
Baek Cheon was speechless in shock.
Even though the worker who fell to the ground collapsed and twitched, the Ice Clan martial artist kept whipping him without mercy.
“How dare you be lazy!”
Chwaak! Chwaak!
Every time the whip cut through the air, the worker’s clothes were ripped and soaked in red blood.
“That…!”
When Baek Cheon tried to rush in, Song Won reached out his hand and blocked him.
“Don’t act rashly.”
Baek Cheon glanced at the hand that was blocking him and looked at Song Won with a fierce face.
“What are you doing all of a sudden! I don’t think that person did anything particularly wrong!”
“That’s not up to you to judge.”
Song Won lightly clicked his tongue when Baek Cheon still did not loosen his expression after hearing the answer.
“You don’t seem to understand me. Didn’t tell you that ordinary people can’t work here.”
“… … What does it mean?”
He pointed his chin at the workers.
“They’re not ordinary workers. They sinned against the Ice Clan and are paying the price for their sins through labor.”
Baek Cheon took a closer look at the workers.
He didn’t know from a distance, but when he looked at it properly, everyone looked haggard.
“What sin have they committed….?”
“Treason.”
The short answer that came out without delay left Baek Cheon silent.
“Other than that, they have committed various crimes.”
Mount Hua disciples and Hye Yeon’s eyes are on the workers……. No, it headed for the prisoners.
The pale face, weak eyes, and thin body hidden in thick clothes were now visible.
Everyone was moving with a body that looked like they were about to collapse at any moment.
At the time when Baek Cheon was at a loss for words, Chung Myung opened his mouth.
“They’re all martial artists.”
Then, Song Won’s eyes widened as he looked at him. Chung Myung just shrugged.
“Though their internal art is sealed.”
“…Exactly.”
“Right.”
Chung Myung looked around with interest.
‘Treason.’
Rather, it was the current Clan Leader who committed treason. This means that those who work here are followers of the former Clan Leader.
Either they were defeated and captured on the day of the rebellion, or they were suppressed in a subsequent rebellion, or could also be both.
‘When he said the Ice Clan was completely in control, it seems that it meant they have pushed all the opponents here.’
Those caught will be here, and those who fled like Han Yi-Myung will always be hiding and wandering the North Sea.
Yoon Jong opened his mouth in a dark voice.
“No matter how guilty they are, aren’t you being too harsh?”
“You don’t understand.”
But Song Won said firmly and bluntly.
“These people should have repaid their sins with their lives. But the Clan Leader has shown mercy, allowing them to repay their sins through labor.”
“….”
“So there’s no reason to sympathize.”
Yoon Jong tried to say more, but eventually shook his head when he saw Jo-Gol pulling his collar.
It was certainly not polite to say this and that about the affairs of other sects.
“Do we look cruel?”
“Honestly, yes.”
Song Won smirked when Yoon Jong replied firmly.
“Ice Crystals are objects that need to be dug up after overcoming the extreme yin energy. Otherwise, it will be difficult to find.”
“But….”
Song Won grinned as Yoon Jong tried to refute.
“Aren’t you also here to get Ice Crystals?”
“….”
“It’s funny. Those who have come this far to the North Sea in need of Ice Crystals have sympathy for those who dig it. If people don’t want Ice Crystals like you, wouldn’t they be released?”
The blatant sarcastic remark stiffened Jo-Gol’s face.
“That….”
But he couldn’t find the right words to reply. Song Won shook his head and said.
“If they seem so pitiful, please help their hard work. Because of the reduced production of Ice Crystals, their labor hours have increased. They might be a little more comfortable if you dig out even one more Ice Crystals.”
Then Chung Myung, who had been listening quietly, smirked.
“How much do we need to dig?”
“…what did you say?”
“A man wouldn’t say two things with one mouth, would he? Go get the person in charge. I’ll have to hear how much we should dig to give these people a break.”
Chung Myung rolled up the corners of his mouth.
“I’ll make the Ice Crystal go extinct here.”
At the voice of confidence, Song Won frowned unknowingly.
![Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]](https://cpunovel.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/arcane-sniper.jpg "Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]")
