3
4
7.
“…….”
“Don’t you learn fine energy manipulation at Shaolin?”
“I learned. Of course, I also achieved good grades.”
Then why can’t you solve it!
Gak said as if he felt wronged.
“Isn’t this way too complicatedly tangled? Moreover, uh… it’s buried in the flesh of the Millennium Earthworm, so it’s hard to pull out.”
Solving that is what true skill is!
“Th-then, Master Jin… no, Master Jin, please give it a try.”
“Damn it, can you still say that after seeing the state I look right now?”
I showed my hands, which were worn out from catching the Mannyeontoung.
“……
Not that badly injured…
“what?”
“Ah, never mind. Why won’t this work? Ugh…”
Oh my fate.
I appointed him as the head of the household, but to think he’s struggling so hard he can’t even unravel a silkworm cocoon.
“Honestly, considering you charged at Mannyeontoung with bare fists, you look quite decent.”
Come to think of it, when did my wound fully heal?
Do you think I jumped at it because I wanted to?
Still, it is a relief. That you are alive… The members were really worried. We barely managed to stop them from coming with us.
If I told you to run away, you should have just run away hard. Why are you coming back?
Since when have we been that close?
“Then hurry up and untie this! If we run into a monster, you’re planning to abandon me and run away again, aren’t you?”
“You mean, ‘Leave me behind and run away…!’ Wait, wasn’t it Jin Danju who gave the order in the first place!”
“You’re really going just because I told you to? You disloyal bastards.”
A corner of the scalp turned bright red, even redder than when it was covered in blood.
“Ah, no! Obedience to superiors……. Wow……. Master Jin…….”
Just hurry up and solve it!
Il-gak, who had been sweating profusely under my intimidation, finally managed to untangle the tangled silk of the Flying Dragon Bird only after two hours had passed.
I gazed at the moment I was catching my breath.
“Don’t go around telling people you know how to manipulate energy. It would only tarnish the name of Shaolin.”
However, there was a corner that remained silent despite my reprimand.
What’s wrong? Are you sulking?
Hmm, even so, mentioning Shaolin was a bit too much…
“Jin Danju. Why don’t you think about yourself a little more?”
What on earth are you talking about all of a sudden?
“Sometimes, it seems so precarious. Like a candle trying to burn itself out to illuminate the darkness.”
Il-gak’s expression held a more pitiful look than ever before.
I feel anxious.
You’re anxious? What on earth…
The flames are so strong that I feel like they will disappear soon, so I am worried.
I felt momentarily dazed by what he said.
Sensing the somewhat gloomy atmosphere, I chuckled for no reason and patted the guy on the shoulder.
“Isn’t that better from Jeong Do-hoe’s perspective?”
Someone might want that.
I was just joking.
It hurts a little to think there’s actually someone who wants that.
That’s a bit harsh…
“But I don’t want that. I sincerely hope that Jin Danju stays by our side for a long time.”
His face becomes extremely serious.
Eventually, he met my gaze with unwavering eyes.
Because I’ve come to want to see. What kind of path Jin Dan-ju will forge in the future.
I get goosebumps from the sudden, embarrassing remark.
I turned my head for no reason and blurted it out.
“Then just do the job you were told to do properly. If you had caught the Millennium Earthworm, I wouldn’t have had to risk my life.”
“No, it’s strange that Jin Danju would catch such a monster in the first place………”
“it’s okay.”
When pausing for a moment to survey the front once again.
What are you doing?
He tried to support me with a sullen expression.
“Isn’t it hard to walk? I’ll carry you.”
“No, it’s not that I can’t carry it. But there is something I need to do before that.”
“What…….”
I pointed at the Millennium Earthworm.
“???”
A corner of a look that still doesn’t know.
Did you grow up in abundance at Shaolin and not know what to take care of?
Anyway, I’m telling you, guys who grew up without any lack are hopeless.
“I went through all that trouble hunting, so I should make sure to collect my inner core.”
“What are you doing.”
Are you telling a monk to cut open an animal’s belly?
Ah, is that a bit much?
But what can I do? I simply don’t have the strength to move.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Right now, isn’t it not just a corner of the Jeongdohoe, but a corner of the Sahwaldan One vs. the Daeju?”
“Then hierarchy comes first, right?”
“Earlier again…….”
“Just think of it as lending a hand in my place. The inner core is mine anyway.”
I can’t tell you how fortunate it is that a moment has passed.
If someone else had come, he would have surely asked for a share.#No inner core came out of Mannyeontoung’s belly.
There wasn’t even a fingernail-sized inner core.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Unable to believe it, I had all the internal organs pulled out and searched again from the beginning, but in the end, the inner core did not appear.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it.”
I suspected that perhaps Ilgak had secretly eaten the inner elixir, but…
“Namu Amita Buddha…….”
Some saw no change.
Besides, both arms were covered in blood, so if I had eaten it secretly, there would have been traces left.
Amitabha Buddha.
“Shut up!”
“Jin Danju is the louder one. Please stop the swearing. A person’s habits are shaped by the words they repeatedly utter…….”
“Wouldn’t you feel wronged if you were me? I risked my life to capture the Millennium Earth Woong, and to think not even a tiny inner core came out. Is this even remotely reasonable!”
“It is all the Buddha’s profound meaning…….”
“Don’t talk about the Buddha right now! I feel like even the real Buddha would resent it.”
In fact, I wanted to examine it even if it meant staying up all night, but I couldn’t delay any longer.
If I drift any further away from the group, I don’t know what might happen to the Sasaengdan.
“Jin Danju, please get on my back.”
It wasn’t difficult to chase because the life and death group opened the way.
In the first place, if there hadn’t been a road, Il-gak wouldn’t have been able to come alone.
Even though I am walking at a fairly fast speed, it does not shake much.
You might expect it to move up and down, but it is smooth, as if gliding on ice.
I never knew the Diamond Immovable Body Technique had such utility.
As expected, is it the Big Dipper of the Central Plains martial arts world?
I couldn’t help but admire the Shaolin martial arts, but then the speed slowed down slightly.
“What? Are you already tired?”
A serious voice is conveyed through the sparkling hair.
Who could they be?
Why was I worrying about that right now of all times?
This is why you shouldn’t give anyone time to think on the battlefield, tsk.
“Danju Jin, who do you think they might be?”
“Well… is that important?”
It’s quite comfortable being carried right now, so I don’t want to shake his composure.
but.
“Isn’t getting back alive more important right now?”
As expected, some of the new models are shaking a little.
My body, which had been at ease, also starts to sway a little.
To think that one’s heart is revealed in one’s steps—that is why Shaolin martial arts are so tricky.
A voice trembling as much as his wavering heart is heard.
“Jin Dan-ju… knows, doesn’t he?”
“If I had known, I would have kicked them a long time ago.”
Jin Dan-ju does not handle things this way.
I thought he was just a clueless monk, but as expected, he is no ordinary person.
Some people’s words are conveyed calmly.
“I identify the cause, twist the result, and create an answer. And not just any answer, but the best answer I want.”
The best answer… … .
“So, acting without knowing the cause or who the opponent is is not like Jin Danju.”
When did you figure me out like this?
Even though he acted like a dimwit, he was actually thinking his mind fast.
I gently pressed down on his vibrating shoulder.
There are times when you need that, and times when you don’t.
Il-gak accepts my strength and asks softly.
Are you saying that now is not the time to need it?
Just because they know, it’s not like they’re going to go easy on you.
I intended to just let it slide, but the new model in one corner begins to shake even more violently.
Seriously, I’m getting seasick even though I’m not on a boat.
“Stop daydreaming, okay? I’m injured, you know?”
The vibration has subsided a little, but the gait is still unsteady.
Why are you so worried?
Wasn’t this not your original personality?
In his previous life, he was nothing more than a puppet who moved exactly as Jeong Do-hoe ordered.
“Could it be… because of the Murim Alliance?”
What on earth is this nonsense?
Are you worried that the Murim Alliance might use them for their own gain?
Although overshadowed by Il-myeong, Il-gak was also an indispensable key figure in the Jeongdohoe.
Also, he was an existence that moved exactly as Jeong Do-hoe ordered.
However, recently he has started to have disrespectful thoughts toward the Jeongdohoe, to which he belongs.
Why on earth.
“There is no way Jin Dan-ju wouldn’t have felt what I felt.”
“Speak in a way I can understand…”
“Magi.”
“……!”
“What they used was indeed demonic energy, right?”
Some of you probably haven’t met Mine before.
The footsteps of a corner, which had been slowly slowing down, eventually come to a halt.
“Every time I face them, the uncomfortable feeling refuses to go away. Even though I did not intend it, I find myself reciting the Yijinjing in my head before I know it, and when I look at them, all I see is them completely stained in black from head to toe.”
“There is no way Danju Jin, who has cultivated the Jade Blue Heavenly Power, would not sense this.”
I’m telling you, he’s a fox pretending to be a bear.
Or did it turn into a fox?
“Those people… they must be members of the Demonic Cult, right?”
I wondered what reason there was to hide it any longer now that it had already been noticed to this extent.
I answered without delay.
“Yeah. I think so too.”
“!”
Ilgak suddenly turns his head toward me.
With eyes wide open like a rabbit.
You said you expected it, so why are you so surprised?
I slowly turned his head forward, feeling burdened by his gaze.
“But so what? Does knowing their true identities really change anything?”
“B-but…….”
“Why? If I tell the academy students that the Demonic Cult, which has been hiding for five hundred years, has set out to hunt us as sacrifices, will the kids be filled with courage?”
A corner of the scalp twitches.
He must be thinking about it.
Still, I wish you would start again now.
I’m also worried about my companions.
However, he was quite a persistent person.
That’s not what you’re really worried about, is it?
A voice from one side is cast out heavier than ever.
Do you really have no faith in the Murim Alliance?
Murim Alliance, Murim Alliance… …
Ha, listening to you for a while now, I really can’t stand it anymore.
“Why are you crushing it all with the Murim Alliance?”
“If you want to face reality, do it properly. Or just pretend you don’t know and live like a doll like you’ve always done. Why don’t you just pick one?”
It is contradictory.
To think I have to say such harsh words to someone who is borrowing my back right now, to someone who is receiving help.
Nevertheless, because my memories never fade.
He cannot control his emotions as his past self overlaps with his current self.
“What I care about is the Jeongdohoe. It is also the Baekdohoe, and the Twelve Peaks are the same. After all, it was always them who used their enemies for political purposes.”
Not all Jeongdohoe are like that.
“If you were so confident, you shouldn’t have used the word ‘Murim Alliance’ instead of ‘Jeongdohoe.’”
Even after seeing the slumped shoulders and dejected head, he does not stop talking.
Because cowardly people who do not make a choice will eventually just be swept away by the majority opinion.
It was Jeomchang who committed wicked deeds in Akyang while wearing the mask of the ‘Demonic Cult.’ Of course, it was known to the public as the fault of some secular sects.
At the truth flowing from my mouth, Il-gak could not say a word.
“Even when the ‘real’ didn’t exist like this, such things were commonplace…….”
He has doubts about the Jeongdohoe, but he still cannot escape from it.
So, I have no choice but to just make them face reality.
“What will happen if the ‘real’ one appears?”
The exact same chaos as in my previous life.
And the politicians who will see that chaos as an opportunity.
The Murim Alliance, unable to respond properly because of this, and the countless powerless who are sacrificed.
I have put in all that effort so far to avoid repeating the same past.
“Then…… are you planning to hide it?”
“Who said I’d hide anything? At the very least. There is no way words that would invite confusion would come out of my mouth. Besides, I have no intention of letting anyone who tries to use this chaos as an opportunity get away with it.”
I’ve been comfortable so far, but you’re asking a useless question.
I suppose it would be a bit awkward to keep borrowing your back in a situation like this, right?
Let me down. I’ll walk now.
“Ah, no. I will walk again.”
Once again, a new model moves.
It still rattles.
I try to act like nothing happened, but I guess you could say it feels incredibly awkward.
I felt like I was going to throw up if things continued like this, so I finally blurted out a remark.
“Just like when you joined the Sahwaldan, think of only one thing. Not what benefits the sect or the group, but which choice can save the most people.”
Isn’t that ultimately what you want?
There was no answer, but somehow the faint vibration disappeared.
Anyway, I told you it takes a lot of effort. Whether we had delayed too long or the group had walked diligently, it took quite a while longer to join up with the Sa-Hwal-Dan.
“Let me down now.”
“No. My body hasn’t fully recovered yet…”
“If Danju can’t even walk properly, do you think his fighting spirit will last?”
“ah…….”
Ilgak, who carefully lowered me to the floor, examined my body thoroughly.
Then he opens his eyes wide.
“What is this…….”
“Why? Do you have a big wound somewhere?”
I looked around my body, wondering if there were any wounds I didn’t know about.
“That’s not it… your wound has healed.”
You’ve recovered?
He parted the torn martial arts uniform to examine the wound.
The severe wounds near the arms, which had been in a terrible state, had almost completely healed.
I continued to practice the Yosanggyeol through exercise, but there wasn’t enough time to recover.
Even if there had been time, it was only enough to follow behind the life-and-death group.
Bizarre regenerative power.
This is just… … ‘Eternal Earthworm… …’ That monstrous regenerative power came to mind.
Did it recover while using the Blue Dragon Pill?
Il-gak asked with a worried look on his face.
“Isn’t something wrong?”
I pretended nothing was wrong and changed the subject.
“I secretly ate bear bile just in case, and it looks like it worked.”
“W-you mean bear bile?”
It’s a bear. Of course I have to make sure to get bear bile.
Actually, I even had bear bile in my pocket.
With a look of disbelief, Il-gak kept muttering, “Raw food… and raw food from a freshly dead animal at that.”
Fortunately, the recovery of my wound went smoothly.
As I ran a little further, I began to sense a presence.
As Il-gak and I approached cautiously, the members of the Eighth Battalion, who were in charge of the rear guard, saw us and welcomed us.
“Da, Danju! Danju is back!”
“really?”
You actually bought this?!
“How did you do it!”
As if wishing for death, fervent greetings(?) from all sides
He returns.
“Don’t break the formation, you fools.”
I let out a shout, but the students surrounded me and showed no intention of letting go.
“Master! Are you alright?”
“I really thought you were dead this time!”
“Why on earth is the commander standing on the front lines……!!”
Those who return to the ranks only after saying a few words.
A chuckle escapes me for no reason at the sight.
Then, keep up the good work.
Just as I was about to move forward, a member grabbed my shoulder.
“Do you intend to move forward again?”
Because we have to open the way.
At my calm answer, the squad member tightens his grip.
Then take this instead.
He took a long robe out of his bundle and handed it to me.
“I can’t tell if what you’re wearing right now is a rag or clothes.”
Come to think of it, it’s strange to keep wearing this.
Dress well.
Then, as he twisted his body to pass through the ranks, the students stepped back one step at a time.
Then, whenever Il-gak and I passed by, he would say a word to me.
Just take command this time. Don’t let us nearly lose our commander twice.
“Without a commander, do you think we can fight with peace of mind!”
“I heard earlier that we’ve almost arrived. Now that we’ve passed the Demon Realm, you may stop pushing yourself. You have done more than enough to live up to your promise.”
Clearly, it is Samundo, and belongs to a different affiliation.
So, those who were wary of each other.
But now.
For some reason, it felt as if heat had filled the space between them.
I walked silently, feeling the heat enveloping my whole body.
Through those who speak to me like that, and those who merely send me a glance.
I reached the fifth base where the party was.
Everyone saw me, but they didn’t greet me like the other students in the dormitory.
However, the look in their eyes seemed so complicated that I couldn’t easily bring myself to speak.
In the end, what I chose was to leave.
My original position was also the vanguard.
Just as I was about to take a step.
Senior Brother.
Saryeon called me.
Please, do not let bad news be sent to the Head of the House.
“You can… do that, right?”
Anxiety and fear were conveyed through the faintly trembling voice.
This was all I could say right now.
“Don’t worry. That will absolutely never happen.”
Neither Saryeon nor the others added anything more.
Once again, let’s overtake the dormitory students and reach the front line.
Those who saw me let out a sigh.
“I’m telling you, he’s the worst commander.”
“I never want to be part of a unit like this again.”
“Why, if it were me, I’d want to do it again.”
Student dormitory students complaining for some reason.
And Yang Ja-pyeong welcomed me.
That is a relief, at least. I am glad to be able to deliver good news to the Director.
What do you mean by good news?
We’re almost there.
At those words, my eyes snapped open.
“If it’s an arrival?”
“Yes. This is the end of the Demon Realm.”
Finally, finally arrived.
After walking for about another meal, the energy of the spirit veins noticeably subsided.
Far from being a demonic realm, the energy of the spiritual vein is faint even when compared to a dark forest.
It has been a long time since natural jin disappeared.
When another meal had passed, we were able to escape from the thicket as well.
Finally, I escaped the Mukrim I had longed for, but there were no cheerers yet.
Our ultimate goal is to break out of the enemy’s encirclement.
You can only feel relieved after passing through the final gateway, Gourd Canyon.
“for a moment.”
I briefly stopped the procession of the life-and-death group in front of the alley corresponding to the middle neck area.
According to Michelle Yeoh, if the enemy is surrounding us, they would be right behind here.
I closed my eyes and examined the inside of my body.
For some reason, the more I walked, the faster my recovery became, and my body recovered more than halfway.
In a way, escaping across the demonic realm might have yielded good results.
“The problem is whether we can end with a good result until the very end. ‘We were fast enough. No matter how much those who returned after avoiding the Demon Realm hurry, they won’t be able to arrive before us.’ From the moment we entered the Demon Realm, their operation failed.”
In that case, rather than needlessly chasing us and amplifying the damage, it would be better for them to give up on us and turn back to hide their tracks.
“You’re so damn positive. Since when have I viewed the world this optimistically? Even I find it ridiculous.”
If they were rational bastards from the start, they wouldn’t have had such crazy thoughts as conquering the Central Plains.
So, I calmly face only the facts. ‘We have run our hardest.’ And then I take a step forward.
As always, looking forward.
Walking
– Walking
– Unleash the energy of the Danjeon to sweep across the area in front.
No matter who is there, just do as you did when you passed through Mukrim.
Their operation has already failed.
Now that things have come this far, their true identity will be revealed to the Central Plains.
At that moment.
Standing tall.
An unsettling sensation gets caught at the end of the energy sensation.
As I walked up the small hill, a wide open space came into view below. ‘Fuck…’ My prediction was only about half right.
As expected, they failed to set up a siege because they were busy returning from the Demon Realm.
Thump.
It wasn’t that everyone couldn’t overtake us.
When I stopped on the hill and looked down, three people with their own unique personalities were sitting there.
“I can’t believe you actually made it through there…….”
I examined the three people.
The guy standing in the middle was someone I had seen recently. ‘That crazy bastard who tried to kill the North Star Swordsman while looking for some ring.’ I don’t know the woman on the left, but the man on the right… … .
“It is unbearably hideous. Is it a Jiangshi?”
The skin on the face, hands, and feet is different from each other, as if ill-fitting fabric had been patched onto torn clothes.
Moreover, it looks even more hideous because of the stitching marks.
“Hehehe, do you really not know? Or are you pretending not to know?”
The woman and the man standing in the middle giggled as if something was very funny, while the zombie-like man trembled uncontrollably.
Come to think of it, it looks familiar. ‘Face… … familiar?’ One of the senses I lack, or rather, couldn’t possibly have.
Because I possessed absolute memory, uncertain memories did not exist in the first place.
Except for special cases like Murong Shangyuan.
But to say ‘it looks familiar’.
at that time.
Enormous killing intent exploded from the rag man’s body.
He continued.
“jin
– Soun –”
He called my name with a terrible metallic voice.
