Imagining the Strongest Sea Dragon
Meanwhile, not long after Hae Suah and Namgung Lin's party had left, over at the Wudang Sect—
"This is good for the body. Don't gulp it down. Sip it slowly."
"Yes? Wait, Elder? Why won't you even tell us what it is…?"
"Hmph. When an elder says it's good for you, then it's good for you. Why are you talking back?"
For some reason, Elder Mihyeon had turned into a health evangelist, going around handing out "medicinal water" to the third-generation disciples.
Not a single impurity, not the faintest cloudiness—on the contrary, something like a rainbow shimmered within it, and a sacred aura even seemed to linger. The true identity of this "medicinal water"?
No need to ask. It was the bathwater Hae Suah had climbed out of after washing.
I've heard the old saying that even a river where a phoenix briefly alights can become a fated opportunity.
If that was true, then bathwater a sea dragon had casually washed in had to be far more potent than the cheap herb scraps you could pick up at some neighborhood apothecary.
"Come on, you too. Drink up. This elder went to great lengths to secure a whole batch of fine medicinal water."
"Yes, I'll gratefully drink it."
And so it went.
Among those who drank the bathwater Hae Suah had left behind—mistaking it for some miraculous spring without the faintest idea what it really was—was none other than Sugang, the third-generation Wudang disciple who had kept her existence secret out of consideration for her.
Life could be cruel that way… or delightful, depending on how you looked at it.
What he'd drunk without knowing was the bathwater of Murim Gallery's resident sea dragon, and that bathwater just so happened to carry the potential of a genuine spiritual elixir.
The phrase "a blessing in disguise" was made for moments exactly like this.
The modest amount of internal energy Namgung Lin had transferred to me.
I still didn't know exactly what I could do with it, but after messing around for a while I'd somehow mastered the parlor trick of making my horns and chest glow.
Especially underwater—if I lit up my chest, it looked like moonlight reflected on the surface, and there was something weirdly hypnotic about staring at it while spacing out.
Which is why Namgung Lin smacked me on the back and snapped that assassins might still be on our trail, so how the hell was I washing so leisurely, and to hurry up and get out already.
Even after that, the rest of the road toward Muchang stayed quiet. At this pace we'd arrive within a day or two, and along the way I'd managed to get pretty friendly with the pair of Wudang martial brothers escorting us.
"Miss Hae. When you read martial arts formulas, you must always imagine yourself at your strongest."
"That's right. That's right."
"Myself at my strongest?"
"Exactly. Your strongest self."
These two opened up a completely different angle on martial arts for me than Namgung Lin had.
"Martial arts give us great power and let us protect our bodies, but if we never think in advance about how to use them, they're useless, aren't they?"
"And even if you do think about it, if you've got the talent of a tiger and train in a tiger's arts yet still act like a wildcat, then a wildcat's life is all you'll ever have."
Of the two Wudang brothers, the senior one in particular never skimped on earnest advice, his expression completely serious.
In any field, the way people look at a beginner is usually warm.
"I heard you're a dragon—a sea dragon."
"That's right?"
"Then your potential holds everything a dragon can do. Don't go setting limits on what you're capable of."
"Umm…?"
"No need to overthink it. For example—right now the most you can manage is making those horns of yours sparkle a little. But once your realm rises and you can truly wield martial arts, you might gather internal energy between those horns and fire off energy bullets for all we know."
"Oh."
Being able to launch something like a Sea Dragon Particle Cannon… yeah, that actually sounded pretty fun.
Sweeping away a bunch of assassins with it would look cool as hell.
Especially at night.
In a pitch-black Murim night with zero artificial light.
Deep in a forest where you couldn't even tell what was three meters away, me dominating the battlefield while blasting Sea Dragon Particle Cannons… yeah. That would look incredible.
It'd be cool when I was protecting myself, but wouldn't it be even cooler if I looked like that while fighting to protect other people?
Everyone would look up to me in awe.
"Heh heh heh."
"Hoh, looking at that grin of yours, it seems you've finally gotten the idea."
"Thank you, Daoist. I think I understand a little better what I need to do now."
"Haha, I've only been escorting the young lady for a few days and already I'm receiving formal speech?"
"Shouldn't formal speech be reserved for people who truly deserve respect?"
And the senior Daoist who had gifted me the brilliant idea of a Sea Dragon Particle Cannon absolutely deserved that respect.
"This young friend is gilding my face with gold! My mood has improved tremendously!"
Haha.
Ahahaha!
The senior Daoist and I shared a hearty laugh and a moment of genuine connection. The atmosphere grew even more natural as we continued toward Murim Alliance Headquarters… and after some more time had passed—
"Halt!"
Right as Muchang lay just ahead.
What was bound to come had finally arrived.
"At the end of this waterway lies Muchang. We're truly almost there."
The junior of the two Wudang brothers said so as he continued following the stream.
But it wasn't hard to notice that his face had gone pale.
Come to think of it, the visibility around here was terrible.
Having a waterway made it easy to keep our bearings, which was nice, but unlike the Janggang this stream was ridiculously narrow—more like a neighborhood creek you could hop across without much effort. And worst of all, trees crowded densely along both banks of that narrow stream.
"You noticed, Miss?"
"The field of view… looks way too tight."
"Exactly right. That's why my junior is so tense."
The senior Daoist spoke with forced calm, yet I couldn't remember the last time his hand had left the hilt of his sword. He hadn't released the tension in his grip for a long while.
Outwardly composed, but he was maintaining a state of combat readiness too.
"Don't worry, Miss Hae. We'll protect you. You may be a divine beast, but the real masters of combat are still us martial artists, aren't they? No matter how much assassins fly and crawl, at the end of the day they're still just assassins."
Namgung Lin clenched her fist tightly as she tried to boost my courage.
But even she—who looked like she was simply cheering me on—had been gripping her sword for some time now, even if she didn't show it openly.
The only one who'd been casually sightseeing without maintaining any tension was me.
"Sorry."
"Huh?"
For all my earlier lecturing and showing off to Namgung Lin, I was the one who hadn't been taking things seriously.
Probably because I still lacked experience wandering Murim.
Slap!
Slap!
"W-what? Why are you suddenly doing that?!"
I slapped my own cheeks hard enough to leave them faintly red. Namgung Lin jumped and grabbed both my hand and my face at the same time.
"No, it's fine. I'm awake now. I'll take fighting seriously too from here on."
The Wudang brothers had come to protect us, sure, but Namgung Lin and I weren't in some hierarchical relationship like that.
I shot her a look that said I'd get more serious, so stop worrying.
"Yeah. Good. Let's fight together. Neither of us wants to die a dog's death out here, right?"
I nodded vigorously in agreement with Namgung Lin's words.
Horns in good condition. Outfit's fine even if my chest is showing a bit. And ever since that one swim, my tail's been moving pretty much the way I want it to.
We started running toward the Murim Alliance again… and after a while—
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
Suddenly a strange sensation washed over me.
Warm…?
No—something closer to hot, closing in fast…
This feeling.
"There!"
"Me? Why so suddenly—"
By the time certainty hit me, my body was already moving.
I kicked the junior Daoist in the back, forcing him down and shoving him aside, then stepped into the spot where he'd been standing a moment before.
Thwack!
I snatched the scorching projectile that came flying from somewhere out of the air with my bare hand.
"H-hot hot hot!"
Blocking the attack was fine, but the searing sensation of being burned stabbed into my palm.
I needed something to cool it—anything.
"Ah, right."
In a panic I jammed my hand into my mouth. Icy cold qi swirled inside, rapidly soothing the burned area.
"Miss Hae, are you okay?"
"I'm fiiine…"
"Investigator, this hardly seems the time for leisurely small talk."
"Y-you're right. That just now—wasn't that Fox Fire? Fox Fire!"
"Fox Fire… the kind fox divine beasts use…!"
While I still had my hand stuffed in my mouth and couldn't say a word, even the junior Daoist—who'd been kicked flat onto the ground in an undignified sprawl—scrambled back to his feet.
Now every one of us clearly recognized the presence of an enemy.
"Halt!"
"Tsk, tsk. I was hoping to take care of at least one of you quickly and be on our way."
Right after that lazy voice, a group of black-clad figures with faces hidden behind masks and hoods began to gather.
Just from what I could see, there were easily seven of them.
"What now? Are we running?"
I pulled my drool-slick hand out of my mouth, casually stepped behind Namgung Lin, covered my mouth, and whispered.
"We have to fight. If they've closed this much distance already, putting more space between us for an escape is impossible."
"So that's how it is."
"They don't want a pursuit either—no guarantee they can eliminate every witness that way. They'll want a short decisive battle. Our interests align, in a way."
"Alright then."
Crack.
Pop. Crack.
I deliberately exaggerated the sound of my joints cracking as I stepped out to the front of the group.
My offensive power still left a lot to be desired, sure, but when it came to tanking assassins like these, I was easily the best out of our four-person party.
"You lot—you really think you can catch me? I took down a second-rate assassin, you know. You know that?"
I barked at them, trying to intimidate…
"Pwahahahaha!"
"Khh—khhff."
"Keh…"
"Wh-what? Why?"
As if mocking me outright, the assassins burst into open, hearty laughter.
"Fine, divine beast. I'll grant that you're impressive. That scene you all left behind that day—looking at the site alone was enough to tell."
"All those empty dishes on the table. The teapot drained dry."
"The fact that you weren't subdued even after eating that much means that appetite and digestion of yours cleanly processed even our poison."
"W-well…"
I just ate because I was hungry, and it was only that one teapot's worth of poison that didn't work on me, but…
"In that case, to capture you we must focus not on poison but on superior personal martial prowess."
"However—we specialize in hunting humans, not divine beasts."
"Keh-heh-heh."
With a laugh that could have come straight out of a third-rate villain, the man who seemed to be the leader of the assassins pointed behind them.
And then—
"Fight fire with fire. Just as you use a barbarian to deal with a barbarian, you use a divine beast to deal with a divine beast. We've brought the most notorious killer from south of the river. Even if you are a divine beast, you won't be able to withstand her. Think of it as our sincere desire to bury you right here for good."
The owner of the Fox Fire that had flown at me earlier!
A golden-haired, golden-eyed six-tailed fox…
"Huh?"
"Ah."
Our eyes met.
And we both instinctively knew.
You could run into another "person" who used Murim Gallery by pure coincidence and never realize it.
But when a divine beast looked at another divine beast—
"Haah, seriously. Of all the rotten luck… it just never ends, does it."
"One, two, three, four, fi… si…"
There was no way we wouldn't recognize each other.
After living as ordinary humans and suddenly becoming divine beasts, of course your attention would naturally drift more toward other divine beasts in the same situation.
Especially if that someone was a popular high-tier gallery regular who drew aggro in every direction—there was simply no way you could fail to recognize them.