The Road to Wuhan (1)
"Hehe..."
"Haha..."
"Hehe..."
What's with you guys?
I glanced around at my companions staring at me with those strange looks and popped a dumpling into my mouth.
Mmm. Not bad at all.
"It seems like every time you go out somewhere, you come back having caused some massive incident, mister..."
Can't deny that.
"That's just how life goes. Trouble refuses to leave me alone." "Hehe, Sir William. At least it didn't spiral out of control. That's fortunate."
...Yeah, that's true.
With Jang So-in dead, we'd coordinated our stories around the grudge relationship and I'd simply slipped away with the manual. The escort warriors knew they'd failed to protect their charge, so they were all reading the room and matching their accounts. Unless they did something exceptionally stupid, they wouldn't breathe a word of it.
All that remained was making sure the powerful figures swallowed the matter quietly.
"Sir William. Still, if something like this happens again, please ask us for help as well."
"The incidents I get dragged into are never ordinary. Are you sure that's wise? It might be better if I just handle things quietly and return alone."
"How could we stand by while our benefactor suffers?"
I was grateful, but it still felt off. Honestly, this had been shady business again, and there was no guarantee the future would be any cleaner.
"That's right. So mister, please tell us when something comes up. This time you just glossed over everything, so we had no idea what was really going on!"
"Fine, fine. Just eat your food."
And stop leaning forward like that. Your chest is about to spill out.
I pretended to stay calm, turned my gaze away, and chewed the dumpling. It was about time to leave Chibi and head for Wuhan.
Wuhan.
The city where the Wulin Alliance headquarters stood. It was supposedly the most prosperous city in Hubei Province.
At any rate, I'd heard commerce flourished there because of the Wulin Alliance. The martial artists who worked for them were excellent customers for merchants. If nothing else, the proximity of the Wulin Alliance kept the ratio of troublemakers low.
If you caused an accident near the Wulin Alliance, there was no way to avoid their notice. That was why Hyeryeong had told me it was relatively quiet compared to other places.
Not that she'd experienced it herself.
...Despite that, the original story had all sorts of characters causing incidents there.
I'd have to set that aside for now.
What mattered right now wasn't worrying about the future, but figuring out what to do with the Shadowless Divine Thief's manual.
I'd opened it and read through the contents, but I couldn't understand a single thing, so learning it was impossible. Selling it for a high price might be the smart move, but that came with its own set of problems.
...Maybe it would be better to hand it over to the Hainan Sword Sect in exchange for their assistance?
It would strengthen our ties with them, and I'd be able to learn a movement technique that suited me. A win for both sides. The Shadowless Divine Thief's art was supposed to be first-rate, so it wouldn't be a bad trade for the Hainan Sword Sect either.
Still, not a conversation to have in a crowded place.
"Mister, what are you thinking about so deeply?"
"...Just wondering what kind of events will happen next."
"Being around you feels like I'll rack up ten years of experience in a single year..."
It wasn't exactly wrong, which made it oddly depressing. I sighed and sipped the lukewarm tea.
Alcohol was good, but tea wasn't bad either. I didn't know the proper etiquette for drinking it, so I was treating it like coffee... but since it counted as manners here, I should probably learn from Hyeryeong later. Despite her energetic personality, she drank tea with surprising elegance.
"Hehe, Hyeryeong. Isn't that a good thing? A martial artist's life is like a fisherman enduring storms to catch his prize."
"Indeed. How could a martial artist's life ever be peaceful?"
He wasn't wrong.
Those who lived by the sword were the most likely to die by it, after all. As long as I stayed active in the martial world, facing constant crises was inevitable. If I wanted to avoid that, the only options were hiding away in some remote mountain valley or joining a Taoist sect or Shaolin and never leaving the grounds again.
"I have something to tell you all... but there are too many eyes here. I'll speak later."
I tapped my chest a couple of times and returned my focus to the meal. For a while I'd be surviving on portable rations or foul-smelling meat, so it was best to eat well while I could.
"Mister, want me to order more?"
I shook my head.
"I'm good."
I might eat a lot, but not that much.
I set down my chopsticks.
"Let's get ready and prepare to depart."
"Understood, Sir William."
Time to head for Wuhan.
The Wulin Alliance would be the final stop on this journey. Once I arrived... things would be different from now. I recalled how the Wulin Alliance had been described in the original story and felt a spark of anticipation.
"The road to a major city is so wide and clean!"
"...They probably made it this way because otherwise no one could pass through at all."
I used to think Korea had an absurd number of mountains, but this place took it further. Rugged peaks that could rival Seoraksan stretched endlessly. It was a blessing the landmass was so vast. If it had been as small as the Korean peninsula, it might have been uninhabitable.
Without movement techniques, crossing a single mountain could easily devour an entire day.
I really wanted to learn light footwork soon.
Once we reached the Wulin Alliance, that would be the priority.
"Mister, here's some firewood!"
"Thanks. Just set it there."
Hyeryeong placed the branches she'd gathered nearby beside the fire. The chest that had been resting atop them naturally lost its support, jiggling as it settled back into its original shape.
"Mister?"
"...Sorry."
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
...Well, how many men could actually look away from a chest like that?
I sighed, picked a few branches from the pile Hyeryeong had set down, and tossed them into the flames.
"Mister, are you planning to join the Wulin Alliance?"
"Depends on how things look."
"Huh..."
Stare at me all you want. A postponement is still a postponement.
If I joined outright, there was no chance I'd get a decent position no matter what excuses were made. It was far better to grease the right palms and operate like a guest or retainer than to become an official member. I'd already done military life before possession and another year and a half after it. I had zero desire to enter another military-like environment.
I'd move freely, quietly sabotage the Demonic Cult's plans, seek out opportunities, and focus on raising my cultivation first.
Sword Master.
For now, that realm had to be my goal. With this body's talent and the help of spiritual medicines, I could shorten the time as much as possible. Even if my talent was excellent, it didn't reach the protagonist's level, so I had to compress the timeline somehow.
That meant I needed enlightenment.
What had the captain said again?
I think he'd told me that enlightenment was finding a path no one else had walked. That was why telling someone about it was meaningless.
What kind of enlightenment did I need?
I'd prefer something easy, if possible.
"Mister?"
"Ah, sorry. What were we talking about?"
"What are you thinking about so hard?"
"I was thinking about enlightenment."
"Oh. It is necessary to break through to a higher realm... but you're already thinking about it at your current stage?"
Hyeryeong stared at me with wide, surprised eyes. Her reaction wasn't strange. Most people praised as high-level experts never even surpassed the Peak realm, yet here I was already contemplating the enlightenment required to advance from Peak to Super Peak.
The White Elder leading our group was a Peak expert himself. It showed how difficult reaching Super Peak was, even for masters from prestigious orthodox sects.
Of course the Hainan Sword Sect was considerably weaker than the old Nine Great Schools—or rather the current Eight—but even so, Super Peak remained a wall that was nearly impossible to overcome in a lifetime of training for most martial artists.
Unless you were a genius from a massive sect that could receive guidance from predecessors, stepping into the Super Peak realm on your own was almost impossible.
"I'm just thinking ahead."
"Wow... I suppose my time to worry about enlightenment will come someday too?"
"It will."
In the original story she'd reached Super Peak at a young age, so she'd probably be pondering it within a few years.
"But first I need to become a Peak expert..."
Hyeryeong suddenly drew her sword, held the blade upright, and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, a blue haze covered the sword. It looked precarious, like it might scatter at any moment.
Watching the sight, I spoke.
"Looks like sea fog."
"Doesn't it?"
Hyeryeong withdrew her Sword Qi, sheathed the blade, and sat beside me, gazing into the flames.
"I wonder when the senior brothers will get here..."
"Hard to say."
It was about time for them to return, so they should be back soon.
I looked down at Hyeryeong. After walking all day her face looked tired, yet it sparkled in the firelight. To the blinking girl I said, "If you're sleepy, rest for a while. I'll wake you later."
"I'll borrow your shoulder then. Yawn..."
Hyeryeong leaned against my arm like it was a wall. The scent of the sea filled my nose—a strangely addictive fragrance.
As I breathed it in, I looked up at the sky. The sunset was fading into a beautiful crimson that painted the heavens. Staring blankly at it, I muttered without thinking.
"I hope no accidents happen on the way."