67 CHAPTER 61

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[David Lance POV]

Hiding behind the safety of some trees, I waited for the night to fall before setting off toward Mount Paektu, the tallest mountain in North Korea. While on paper, this mission was simple, I had to be careful; if anyone saw me, they would without a doubt alert the government, and if possible, I wanted to avoid that.

With the moon finally shining above the starless sky, I started to move, creeping through the forests at high speed, following in a straight line towards Mount Paektu, which according to my map, would not be seen for the first three hours of my trip.

Based on the route I had picked, I would have to cross several rivers and some small villages here and there, which is why I had decided to only travel in the dead of night, as it would make it easier not to be seen, as everyone would more than likely be fast asleep in their beds.

After a few hours of silent travel running through the forests of North Korea, I arrived at the first river I had to cross, jumping across it in a single leap, landing on the other side before I quickly resumed running.

A few minutes or so later, around ten miles after the first river, I found myself face to face with the first village, where I quickly ducked behind some bushes in order to survey the area for any sign of movement, confirming after a minute or so that apart from a few dogs barking in the distance, there was no one out.

Without a second thought, I started to move again, this time at a faster pace than before, as I weaved my way out of the village's nearby forest, trying my best not to make any noise as I went, knowing that the dogs would hear it.

Eventually, I made it out of the village's radius, going back to my normal pace of one hundred and seventy-five miles an hour so as to not waste too much energy.

I continued like this for the next two hours, jumping over rivers as I found them and ducking through villages until I finally arrived at the foot of Mount Paektu, where I stopped to take a quick look around before starting the final ascent up the mountain.

I still had nine hours before the sun came out, but even then, using the road to reach the mountain's top was out of the question, as that was bound to have more surveillance, meaning I had to climb through the back, so to speak.

Cracking my knuckles, I stretched out my muscles for a bit before I started to make my way up, climbing through the back of the mountain, being extra careful not to make any noise as I did so. After a few minutes or so, I reached a small plateau, where I stopped to take a quick look at my map, confirming I was on the right track before continuing on.

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The next following hours of my climb were spent in a similar fashion, with me slowly but surely making my way up the mountain, stopping every so often to take a quick check of my map before continuing, until finally, around three hours before the sun started to peek over the horizon, I managed to arrive at the summit.

Now, it was all a matter of finding where Kirigi was; the top of the mountain was quite vast, and from a quick glance on the map, it had many places to hide. But, seeing as the man I was looking for had a Dojo somewhere around here, then it was safe to assume his hiding place had to be big in order to accommodate him and his students.

With that in mind, I marked a few spots on the map I considered likely for a Dojo to be hidden before I started to move again, as I carefully looked around for any signs that could indicate the presence of people.

After checking some of the spots I had marked on the map, I found a small cave entrance partially hidden by some bushes, with what looked to be recent tracks leading inside.

Having no idea what awaited me there, I approached the entrance cautiously, listening for any sound coming from within, but apart from the sound of water dripping somewhere in the distance, there was nothing.

As I continued deeper into the cave, the sound of dripping water got louder and more constant, until eventually, I reached a small underground stream, where I stopped for a moment to take a look around.

The cave continued on ahead, but there was also a small tunnel leading off to the side, which was most likely where the water was coming from; on the ground, there were also clear signs that the cave was used regularly, meaning I had either found what I was looking for or something similar enough.

Making my decision, I decided to follow the tunnel, soon enough arriving at a small underground lake, with the sound of dripping water coming from a small hole in the ceiling.

The lake itself wasn't too big, maybe half a mile across at most, but it was deep and, from the looks of it, quite cold. At the end of the lake, I could clearly see a small cave entrance, which made me smile.

I mean, a cave inside a cave; I had no idea why, but for me, it was hilarious.

Taking a moment to survey the area, I considered swimming across to the other side, but after some thought, decided against it, considering the possibility of people being inside that cave and the clear chances they would most likely be on guard and ready for an attack.

I didn't want to start a fight while on the water, as I would be at a clear disadvantage, so instead, I decided to go around the lake, hoping to find an alternative path.

After a few minutes of looking around, I eventually found a small ledge leading around the side of the lake, which I promptly started to follow, soon enough arriving at the other end of the lake, finding myself face to face with the entrance I had seen a few minutes ago.

From a closer look as I kneeled on the ground, it was easy to see the entrance had been used recently multiple times, having a path that was forged by constant use that led inside, so without any further hesitation, I stood up, and started to make my way inside, hearing some voices as I advanced through the narrow tunnel.

Finally reaching the other side, I was met with the sight of a small group of people gathered around a fire talking amongst each other a few hundred meters away, monks from what I could gather from a simple glance from afar, seeing as they were still talking, it was safe to assume they hadn't spotted me yet, so I took the opportunity to hide in the shadows and observe them for a moment, before doing anything.

For the next following minutes, I kept my eyes and ears fixed on the group until I heard someone coming through the same path I had taken; moving around a bit in my hiding spot to hide from that angle of view as I focused on the cave entrance to see who was coming.

An old monk soon came into view, followed by a few other monks, as they walked towards the group that was gathered around the fire, soon enough reaching them before sitting down and joining in on the conversation.

Everything appeared to be going well at first, with them just having a seemingly pleasant conversation, even though I had no idea what they were talking about from where I was hiding but could gather as much from afar.

However, after a minute or two after the new group of monks had arrived, joining the other, the whole group rose at once in alert save for the old monk, all of them scanning their surroundings as if searching for something, for someone.

I didn't have to be a genius to know they somehow had managed to know I was here. And, considering the old man was sitting, it was safe to assume he had been the one to find out I was here.

"There's no need to hide, young man. I know you're here." The old monk spoke, his words confirming my initial suspicions.

Seeing the cave only had one exit, and they already knew I was here, as well as counting the limited space I had at my disposal to act, I came to the conclusion there was no point in hiding anymore, so I decided to come out of the shadows and show myself to them, walking toward the group with my hands up as a sign of peace.

Hopefully, these were the kind of monks that didn't believe in throwing hands first and asking questions later.

I really didn't want to beat them.

Taking a deep breath, I started nearing the group, noticing they didn't look all that happy to see me, but they also didn't look like they were going to attack me anytime soon either, so everything was going fine for the most part.

Before reaching them, I made a gesture to tell them I was mute and that I couldn't speak but could communicate through notes, and from what I could gather from their reaction, they seemed to understand what I meant easily enough.

Finally reaching the group, I saw the old monk who had been sitting down the whole time finally stand up, walking towards me as the rest of his group stayed where they were.

"What are you doing here?" The old monk asked in a calm voice.

I grabbed my pen and paper from my pocket before quickly scribbling down a response and showing it to him. -I'm looking for Kirigi.-

The old monk looked at the note for a second before responding back, "And why might that be?"

I scribbled down another note and showed it to him. -To train with him.-

"And why should I train you?" The old monk asked with a raised eyebrow, a hint of amusement reaching his eyes.

So, he was Kirigi. -You are the master, you tell me.-

The old monk looked at me before chuckling softly, "Well, that's one way to answer that question. I like your attitude, young man. It's... refreshing."