Chapter 5. A Third-Rate Warrior Who Gathers Spiritual Medicines (3)
The character cheon, which had lately vanished from between Hong Sa-ryeon’s brows, was engraved there once more.
After Gye Yeon-seung was driven out and a new Hall Master entered Busaeng Hall, Gye Cheol-yeong had remained quiet for a time. Now, however, he had returned to his original self and begun boasting again.
“What is the Snow Plum Pill? Even within Mount Hua, it is second only to the Purple Firmament Pill in its effect of increasing internal energy. In particular, when it comes to laying the foundation of the body, its efficacy far surpasses Shaolin’s Small Reversion Pill. It is a precious spiritual pill that even a true disciple of Mount Hua can scarcely hope to receive.”
And then would come the words, ‘My father and my uncle, who is a disciple of Mount Hua Sect, obtained such a precious spiritual pill for my sake.’
Hong Sa-ryeon could predict the next words without even hearing them.
He had been saying the exact same thing in the exact same way for several days already, so much so that it felt as though a martial art formula she had never tried to memorize was now floating through her head.
“……Yes. That is truly remarkable.”
“Is it not? So, you see……”
In her heart, she wanted to shout at the top of her lungs, ‘And what do you expect me to do about it, you fool?’ But the person before her was the precious son of a household that provided patronage.
It was not that Hong Sa-ryeon did not envy Gye Cheol-yeong.
She, too, was born a Warrior, and her longing for a spiritual pill was no less than anyone else’s.
Yet she had too much to bear as the Sect Leader’s only daughter to sink into gloom over a sense of relative deprivation.
“Senior Sister! Senior Sister! What will happen to Senior Brother Jin, then?”
“Senior Sister! Senior Brother So-un will not leave the sect, will he?”
“Senior Sister! If I only eat two meals…… will Senior Brother come back?”
The chick-like junior disciples were all waiting for the senior brother who had left home to return, while Senior Brother Jin, who was like a youngest brother to her, was apparently doing something somewhere, though even the Outer Hall Master knew nothing when asked.
‘That cursed man.’
Sa-ryeon’s patience with the tyranny of Gye Cheol-yeong and Gye Yeon-seung had already been nearing its limit.
If Senior Brother Jin had not stepped forward, she would have done so herself.
No, in truth, it was something she, not her senior brother, should have done.
In the end, the next Taeul Sect was something she would have to bear upon her own shoulders.
Gye Cheol-yeong was only an opportunist who had entered the sect for the sake of the Murim Academy, and among the younger junior disciples, half would eventually inherit their family trades or, if fortunate, find work as armed escorts and consider themselves well settled.
There was Senior Brother Jin So-un, but Sa-ryeon was not shameless enough to pass this burden to him despite knowing the bleak future of the Taeul Sect.
Sa-ryeon had carried that heavy heart since she was very young.
That was why she had been blaming herself for failing to step forward in time, because she feared Gye Yeon-seung’s martial arts and Gye Yeon-seok’s retaliation.
‘How in the world did he win?’
Even setting aside the question of how he had defeated Mount Hua Sect’s Plum Blossom Sword Art, after that day’s incident, he had left the Taeul Sect every day without being noticed by Gye Yeon-seok, who came striding into the sect with his trouser hems fluttering. That, too, was probably Senior Brother’s consideration.
Everyone knew how petty and persistent Gye Yeon-seok was.
For that reason, Jin So-un had deliberately gone outside the sect.
“Senior Sister! Senior Sister! Please try this!”
“Senior Sister! This meat is truly delicious!”
At the sight of the young junior disciples, like puppies, holding out rice cakes and meat before her, Hong Sa-ryeon forgot that she had been deep in thought and stroked their heads.
To commemorate the arrival of Mount Hua masters at the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, a small feast had also been held in the Taeul Sect.
Of course, Gye Yeon-seok and Gye Yeon-seung were busy entertaining the Mount Hua masters and had no leisure to visit the Taeul Sect. Thanks to that, the people of the Taeul Sect could enjoy the food among themselves in comfort.
“But where has Senior Brother Jin really gone? Senior Brother Jin loved these rice cakes.”
“Senior Sister! May I save this meat for Senior Brother Jin?”
A junior disciple whose bright eyes shone as he repeatedly swallowed his saliva asked in a voice full of strained patience.
It must have been so long since he had seen meat, yet he was trying to give it up.
For some reason, Hong Sa-ryeon’s heart ached, and she ruffled the child’s hair wildly.
“By the time he returns, the meat will probably be spoiled and impossible to eat. So do not hold back. Eat it.”
“Then when will Senior Brother Jin come back?”
“He will be back soon.”
Hong Sa-ryeon pretended it was nothing and stole a piece of meat and a rice cake from the young junior disciples.
‘Where in the world are you, and what are you doing, you hopeless fool?’
“I will give you ten taels of silver for it.”
I had cursed this memory throughout my previous life, but it was not without its uses.
For example, it was very useful at times like this, when striking the back of the head of a shameless merchant who tried to slash prices under the pretext of changing market rates.
“Hah, what are you talking about? I hear they are frantic in Zhejiang Province because they cannot obtain tiger pelts like this. Over there, the starting price is thirty silver taels.”
Zhejiang Province, represented by Hangzhou, was a place where goods gathered in abundance, and it influenced market rates in nearby provinces as well.
Even so, it made no sense for the price to differ by twenty silver taels merely across one province.
“That would be the price for a proper tiger pelt.”
“Look at this. There is not even a common arrow mark on this tiger pelt. Saying you will give only ten silver taels for such a thing is the sort of matter you would have no answer for even if dragged before the authorities.”
“Young man. Are you blind? Does this look like a proper pelt?”
The man spread the tiger pelt wide as he spoke.
“What in the world did you do for the pelt to dry and shrivel like this? It is only because I am the one buying that I am giving you ten taels. Anywhere else, you would not even receive half that!”
“……”
No matter how thoroughly I searched through the memories in my head, there was no method for restoring a pelt that had dried and shriveled.
I accepted that boldly and received the ten silver taels.
To begin with, obtaining the tiger pelt had not been part of the plan.
After absorbing the Human-Faced Spider’s inner core, I had fallen into serious concern.
“At this rate, I am unquestionably a demonic practitioner.”
One of the Ten Forbidden Arts designated by the Murim Alliance was the Great Star-Absorbing Art.
Even among the Ten Forbidden Arts, the Great Star-Absorbing Art was separately classified as one of the Four Evil Arts, a demonic art that made the Murim Alliance gnash its teeth.
When I looked at the process by which this Azure Dragon Bracelet absorbed inner cores, it appeared to be none other than the Great Star-Absorbing Art. Therefore, dealing with it was my foremost priority.
“As expected, there was no way a relic of that Blood-Drinking Demon bastard could be ordinary.”
Fortunately, if it could be called fortunate, it did not absorb everything indiscriminately.
It could not draw any energy from things such as plants or rocks.
But it did draw energy from beasts like deer and rabbits.
It was not simply a matter of absorption. It converted a living creature’s vitality into true qi and absorbed it.
This was at the same level as the Blood-Drinking Demon, and without question, it made me a target for execution by the Murim Alliance.
Still, I wondered if there might be some difference, so I went deep into a mountain where a great tiger had been sighted and risked my life to test the Azure Dragon Bracelet. But as the result showed, it was the birth of Jin So-un, the Star-Absorbing Young Master.
Well done, Jin So-un. To think the thing you gained after going to the trouble of returning to the past was a demonic art.
The absorbing power of the Azure Dragon Bracelet, in particular, exceeded my imagination entirely.
Because the great tiger charged so savagely, I failed to control my strength and activated the Azure Dragon Bracelet. As a result, I drained every trace of moisture from the tiger and turned it into a crisp, dried-out thing.
“Well done! Jin So-un. To think the thing you gained after going to the trouble of returning to the past was a demonic art. Splendid. Truly splendid.”
My immediate concern was not only my own life. The moment this fact reached the Murim Alliance—
Not only I, but Father, the Sect Leader, the Hall Masters, and everyone in the Taeul Sect would be dragged to the Murim Alliance and subjected to cruel torture.
The basement of the Murim Alliance was a place where torture was so vicious that it made people confess even to crimes they had never committed.
The young junior disciples would not last three days before confessing that they had followed me in learning the Great Star-Absorbing Art.
“If I die this time as well, will there be another chance?”
Rather than placing hope in something uncertain, I began researching the Azure Dragon Bracelet.
First, the Azure Dragon Bracelet followed my will fairly well.
It absolutely could not suddenly emit light without warning like last time and arouse people’s suspicion.
Even that did not reassure me. As soon as I entered the village, I went into a cloth shop and wrapped a dark cloth round and round my wrist.
And the decisive reason I did not cut off my perfectly sound left hand was that, whether it absorbed vitality or internal force, it turned that power into internal energy, and the energy itself was identical to the Taeul Heart Method I possessed.
To be precise, it was absorbed in a purer form and quickly merged with the Taeul Heart Method.
Considering that one of the characteristics of the Great Star-Absorbing Art was that the absorbed internal forces remained separate, this meant that unless I was caught absorbing an opponent’s qi before someone’s eyes, simply examining my dantian would leave no trace proving that I had practiced the Great Star-Absorbing Art.
In any case, so long as I was not discovered, this was no different from having an extraordinary hidden weapon.
No, in truth, I simply decided to think of it that way.
The future of being dragged into the Murim Alliance’s basement was too dreadful even to imagine.
“Do you perhaps handle traps as well?”
“Hm? Did you not come here knowing that from the beginning? Are we not Hefei’s finest hunter’s supply shop?”
“Then please give me traps for tigers and bears.”
“Huh? You are going to hunt with traps? The pelt will be badly damaged, and you will not receive a proper price for it. In that case, a shriveled pelt like this one would be better.”
“I am not trying to skin anything.”
“Hmm. I suppose bear gall does fetch a good price these days. How many shall I give you?”
“About…… thirty, please.”
“Huh?”
“The beasts I must hunt are no ordinary cunning creatures.”
Recently, the Gyeryong Merchant Guild had held a banquet more lavish and lively than any in memory.
Whatever the reason, a visit from Mount Hua masters was an excellent opportunity to publicize the relationship between the Gyeryong Merchant Guild and Mount Hua Sect.
They even posted notices within ten li in every direction and served wine and food to all guests without discrimination.
Those who usually traded with him were offended by the sight of a man who had always been so miserly toward them suddenly hosting such a generous banquet, and did not attend. However, the drunkards in the vicinity came while bringing one another along, and at the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, the lights did not go out and the music did not cease all night.
The height of the banquet was the song and dance of Wolhyang, the finest courtesan in Hefei.
Even the drunkards who had stubbornly kept their seats as long as possible to avoid losing them began gathering at the center of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild for a single glimpse of Wolhyang’s famously difficult-to-see face.
“Pay your respects. These are the finest warriors of Mount Hua Sect.”
As Gye Yeon-seok puffed himself up and elevated the two Mount Hua masters, Wolhyang slowly lowered her veil and smiled faintly.
“I am called Wolhyang.”
Gye Cheol-yeong, who sat beside Gye Yeon-seok, and even the Mount Hua masters themselves—few among them could keep their facial muscles under control.
In particular, whenever her pale skin could be glimpsed through the gap in her skirt as she danced, an indecipherable groan settled heavily over the hall.
And at the moment when everyone’s attention was wholly focused on Wolhyang, the Soul-Chasing Guest hid himself between the lamps and their shadows, leapt over the wall of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, and was noticed by no one.
‘Success!’
The Soul-Chasing Guest thought.
With this, his detestable life of thievery would finally be over.
At the age of twenty, he had been thrown into the martial world without receiving proper instruction, and after being tossed from place to place, he had picked up several skills on the margins.
Among them, his thieving arts were the greatest, and so he had become a thief. Yet this was never the life the Soul-Chasing Guest had desired.
Then, by chance, the secret manual of the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm had fallen into his hands.
It was the final ultimate art of the Radiant Heaven Divine Sovereign, who was said to have vanished without leaving a successor.
He had obtained the secret manual of the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm, but the manual contained no vital internal energy method. It contained only the palm art.
Yet the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm, befitting its legendary destructive power, required an enormous amount of internal energy. To the Soul-Chasing Guest, it had been no more useful than a horseshoe on a dog.
‘But now it is different! The martial world will now witness the return of the Radiant Heaven Divine Sovereign.’
The Snow Plum Pill in his robes, and the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm.
With those two things alone, there would be no need to fear anyone any longer.
“Heh heh heh.”
The moment he unknowingly let out that laugh—
“See? I told you he would come here.”
“Hah. He truly did steal it.”
At the sudden voices, the Soul-Chasing Guest felt as though his heart had dropped with a thump.
“……”
The Soul-Chasing Guest quickly tried to deploy his movement art and flee, but the range of killing intent the two men were spreading was far too wide, and he could not tell where he should run.
“Usually, in a situation like this, does one not say, ‘Who are you?’”
“Indeed. He seems quite tight-lipped. He would do well working for our Murim Alliance.”
The two men appeared while exchanging words that held not the slightest tension.
A single sword, and a cloud pattern drawn upon their robes.
The Soul-Chasing Guest soon realized that they were not people he could face.
‘Diancang Sect.’
The Soul-Chasing Guest’s thoughts moved in an instant.
Should he suggest dividing the spiritual pill?
They had spoken of the Murim Alliance or something like it, so they would not kill him.
Should he swallow it quickly and flee?
“Look at that fellow’s mind working.”
“Hey. The moment you move so much as a finger, I will cut your throat. Know that.”
The moment he heard those words, the Soul-Chasing Guest immediately gave up everything.
‘Yes. Rather than die like a dog here, it would be better to seek another chance.’
The Soul-Chasing Guest quickly knelt down.
“This wretch was blinded by wealth and did something foolish. Please spare my life.”
The Soul-Chasing Guest took a small wooden box from inside his robes and prostrated himself flat.
Once they retrieved the Snow Plum Pill, he would likely be imprisoned by the Murim Alliance. Even so, he held the hope that if these two men coveted the Snow Plum Pill, he might at least avoid imprisonment there.
“Is this the Snow Plum Pill?”
“Check the contents. There is no trusting a thief.”
“Let us see.”
The man who took the Snow Plum Pill opened the wooden box.
POP.
With the sound of air filling the box, a fresh fragrance reached even the nose of the Soul-Chasing Guest, who was lying prostrate.
“It is real.”
“Is that so?”
“Great Heroes, this lowly one wishes to offer a word.”
“Hm?”
“What if we say that I saw nothing?”
“What is he talking about?”
“I know that the master of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild is usually greedy, arrogant, and incapable of gratitude. Even if the great heroes find and return the Snow Plum Pill, would that man reward you? Rather, it would be better for the great heroes to……”
“Ha ha, look at this fellow.”
“Good grief. What does he take us for?”
Their words said one thing, but after seeing the look the two men exchanged, the Soul-Chasing Guest was certain.
He could escape safely from this place.
“Then this lowly one shall take his leave……???”
As the Soul-Chasing Guest tried to rise, he found, for some reason, that his feet would not obey him.
“Fellow, did you think we would leave a witness alive?”
“For a man of the Black Path, you are rather innocent. How did you ever make the name Soul-Chasing Guest famous?”
With the word ‘damn it’ as his last, the Soul-Chasing Guest collapsed to the ground.
“Let us dispose of him quickly and leave.”
“Wait. Fellows like this often keep their most precious treasure inside their robes. Look at this.”
The man pulled a secret manual from the Soul-Chasing Guest’s robes.
“We can check it later. They will probably notice soon that the Snow Plum Pill has disappeared.”
THUD.
When the man sent palm force into the ground, a deep hole barely large enough for a single person appeared.
The men kicked the Soul-Chasing Guest’s corpse into the hole, roughly covered it, and were about to leave.
RUSTLE.
At that moment, a sound neither of them had made rang in their ears.
“Who is there?”
“Come out, or I will take your head.”
Before long, a figure emerged from the forest. It was a young man who did not appear to be twenty yet.
“Wh-who are you?”
“What about you? What are you doing here at this hour?”
Had he perhaps seen it?
But there had been a gap in time, had there not?
As the men’s gazes tangled in complexity—
“I heard the Gyeryong Merchant Guild was holding a banquet and that I could drink free wine, so I was on my way there. But then I lost my way……”
“Did you perhaps see anything?”
“What do you mean?”
“……”
The man who had asked the question looked at his companion, and the companion gave a small shake of his head.
“Come here. I will show you the way to the Gyeryong Merchant Guild.”
“……I am sorry, but you seem suspicious, so could you not simply continue on your way?”
“……”
“……”
There was no longer any reason to hesitate. The fellow had clearly seen it.
The instant their eyes met, the two men kicked off the ground and appeared before the young man as if by unspoken accord.
“Your luck was poor. Do not blame us.”
The moment they moved to send their swords flying in a single stroke—
The young man’s face, which had looked flustered, changed into that of a yaksha.
“You damned bastards are shameless beyond belief. Is that how Diancang teaches you?”
“Gah!”
Though they had swung without hiding Diancang’s swordsmanship in order to cut him down at once, absurdly, their blades were blocked.
The moment the swords clashed, he felt terrible pain in his joints and retreated two or three steps.
SNAP.
“Aaaaagh!”
A sensation like sharp teeth digging into his ankle, as though they would sever it.
Though he knew stealth was life itself, Gu Il-mu of the Diancang Five Swords screamed despite himself.
“Who are you? Do you know who we are?”
He was drawing up the internal force throughout his body to block the trap digging into his ankle, but because the trap’s teeth had already begun to bite in, he could not properly exert his strength.
A cold smile spread across the lips of the young man, who had been speaking with such an innocent face and voice.
“Who else would you be? Thieves of Diancang.”
“……What is your identity?”
“The new master of the Snow Plum Pill.”
Jin So-un smiled brightly.
