Chapter 52: The Plum Blossom Dragon (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 52: The Plum Blossom Dragon (2)
“Young Master?”
Yung Pung’s voice called out to me again.
But I was in no state to answer.
What in the world was that just now…?
Did I hear that correctly? I must be hallucinating. That had to be it. If not, I’d rather bite off my own tongue and die right here, right now.
It hasn’t been long since I woke up. Yes, that’s it. I must still be half-dreaming.
After hastily organizing my thoughts, I remembered I needed to respond to Yung Pung.
“…It’s nothi—”
[Whoa, hey! You can hear me, kid?]
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”
I shouted, startled by the sudden voice echoing in my head for a second time.
Yung Pung, standing right in front of me, flinched in surprise, confusion clear in his eyes. I didn’t even bother to look at his reaction; I just scrambled to hide behind him.
“Y-Young Master! What are you doing!?” Yung Pung exclaimed, astonished.
“D-D-Did you not hear that!?”
“Hear what…? You mean you cursing out loud just now?”
“No, not that! The voice of an old man who sounds incredibly annoying!”
“What are you talking about…?”
[You little brat! Who are you calling annoying!?]
“See…!! You really can’t hear anything!?” I demanded, but Yung Pung just stared at me like I was a lunatic.
I couldn’t blame him. I’d suddenly hidden behind him while he was just trying to ask a question. But for fuck’s sake, how could he not hear such a loud voice? Was it telepathy? No, it felt different. It was like the voice was echoing directly inside my skull…
[You little brat, how dare you insult me? When I was alive, a kid like you would piss his pants if I just stared at him for a moment.]
When I was alive? So it really is a ghost…!?
[Shut it, kid! What kind of man gets scared of something so trivial!?]
…When did this thing latch onto me? I never went through any graveyards or haunted places. Why is this happening all of a sudden…!
[‘Latch on,’ my ass! You are the one responsible for this.]
Upon hearing the evil spirit’s words—
[Evil spirit!? Evil Spiiiriiiiit!?]
—Upon hearing the ghost’s words, I stopped my train of thought.
What do you mean, I’m responsible?
[You were the one who secretly devoured that thing, and now you’re acting innocent! Don’t you have a shred of shame!?]
“Huh!? What do you mean, I ate something!?”
“Y-Young Master?”
I ignored Yung Pung, who was now looking at me with fear. Compared to my predicament, I was in a much bigger hurry and couldn’t afford to care about my appearance.
The ghost retorted, as if my question was absurd.
[You little brat, you really didn’t know? After sucking it all up until you were completely full?]
What was he talking about? What did I eat?
[You can’t even remember? How absurd. You really don’t know the reason you were able to break through that wall?]
Wall?
The ghost’s words reminded me of something that had happened recently. The day my Gu Flame Wheel Art reached the Fourth Star. The thick scent of plum blossoms I smelled the night before. And the fact that the light emanating from the treasure had dimmed the next morning.
A chilling thought ran down my spine.
It can’t be… right?
[Hahaha! Thank God you’re not a complete idiot.]
…Oh, Lord, save me.
[How dare you treat me as an evil spirit when you only broke through that wall thanks to me… You really are a spoiled little brat.]*
I never knew the treasure of Mount Hua was capable of something like this. Who in their right mind considers an object possessed by a ghost a treasure? What kind of treasure is this? It’s just a haunted object…!
[You’re still running your mouth even after all that… You impress me in the worst ways.]
Who are you? Is a ghost really possessing this treasure…?
[Ghost? Don’t compare someone like me to a lowly ghost.]*
As the ghost spoke, a strange tingling sensation spread through my chest. Was it heat? No, it felt too cool and calm. My Qi was moving on its own, without my control. It was a disgusting feeling, like hundreds of insects crawling under my skin.
I feel like I’m going to vomit…!
The sensation was calm, yet it covered my entire body with a painful intensity. I clenched my teeth, trying to endure it, but it wasn’t easy. And through it all, the ghost kept talking.
[I am the 8th Generation Lord of Mount Hua.]
The tingling in my chest intensified. The disgusting feeling began to seep into my dantian as well…
Yung Pung, confused, tried to help me, but my consciousness was fading fast, with no intention of returning. My vision slowly turned white.
At the very end, I heard:
[I am the Divine Sword of Mount Hua, Shincheol.]*
And with those final words, I lost consciousness.
* * *
The Great War of the Blood Demon.
This was a cataclysm brought upon the world by the Blood Demon centuries ago. Before the appearance of the Heavenly Demon, it was considered the greatest disaster in history.
Yet, surprisingly few tales survived about the Great War of the Blood Demon. Most simply said it was a violent, cruel event, that the Blood Demon nearly turned the world into a sea of blood, and that he was stopped by the heroes of the age. That was all.
I didn’t know if it was because I never cared much for history, because records were scarce to begin with, or because the tale was intentionally suppressed. But I knew that very little concrete information existed about the Blood Demon.
The Iron Fist, Yeon Il-Cheon.
The Light of Might, Cheolyoung.
The Divine Sword of Mount Hua, Shincheol.
The Thunderous Sword, Namgung Myung.
The Heavenly Poison, Tang Jaemoon.
No matter how much time passed, the names of these five masters, who stopped the Blood Demon’s disaster, would be remembered throughout history.
During that conflict, Yeon Il-Cheon perished, and the greatest clan of that era, the Golden Nature Clan, vanished without a trace. Tang Jaemoon of the Tang Clan also died, greatly shaking his clan to its core.
But in the end, the heroes succeeded in killing the Blood Demon and averting the blood-soaked catastrophe. Thanks to them, the world we live in continued to exist—a story I’d heard so many times it made my ears bleed.
I assumed it was similar to how Wi Seol-Ah and the other heroes later stopped the Heavenly Demon.
That was what made this all the harder to believe.
Clutching my throbbing head, I asked, “…Who are you again?”
[I told you, I’m Shincheol, you little brat.]*
“…So you’re claiming to be the Divine Sword of Mount Hua…”
[Do you know how many times you’ve asked the same question now?]*
“Yeah, probably more than ten times.”
When I came to, I was back inside the carriage. I’d hoped the voice was just a bad dream, but the annoying tone started up again the moment I woke up, crushing that hope.
[Annoying? You little brat! You’re as rude as ever!]*
An annoying, harsh old man’s voice. And this is supposed to be the Divine Sword of Mount Hua…?
Anyone from a martial arts family knew the title ‘Divine Sword of Mount Hua.’ If you were to name the most respected figure from Mount Hua, aside from the current sect leader, the first name mentioned would be the Divine Sword.
It was said his kindness and dignity extended not just throughout Mount Hua, but across the entire world.
[Kids these days… Tsk tsk. Back in my day, if a senior said something, the juniors would believe it without a word of doubt.]*
They said the man who earned the title Divine Sword could make a withered, dead tree blossom with plum blossoms just by passing by.
[Furthermore, I’m an elder. Shouldn’t you show some respect instead of being scared…?]*
“…”
…And I’m supposed to believe this is the Divine Sword of Mount Hua?
Kindness, my ass. I can feel the nastiness in his heart. And dignity? I’d sooner believe he was an evil spirit.
That’s certainly what he felt like. Yeah, it’s definitely an evil spirit. I must have let my guard down and gotten possessed.
…Shit, do I need an exorcism?
[You little shit…! How dare you treat me this way!]*
I clutched my head again as a fresh wave of pain shot through it.
How can I find any trace of Mount Hua’s virtue in that foul mouth of his?
There was no way I could believe his claim. Why would a hero of Mount Hua become an evil spirit? It made no sense.
[You devoured all of that with gusto, and now you’re contradicting yourself?]*
“What do you mean, I ‘devoured’ something?”
[You keep playing dumb, but I’m the one who’s curious, child. How were you able to absorb the Qi of Mount Hua when you’re not even from the sect?]*
I fell silent at the evil spirit’s question. It would be strange if I couldn’t remember what happened. The voice I heard and the scent of plum blossoms that night weren’t a dream; they were real.
That meant my breakthrough to the Fourth Star of the Gu Flame Wheel Art was due to my ability, Demonic Absorption, activating to draw energy from the treasure.
What have I done…?
This made me wonder even more. If this was all caused by my Demonic Absorption, then I absorbed the Qi involuntarily. I didn’t even touch the treasure; it was just in my pocket.
I thought this ability only worked on demonic stones, but now it works on treasures too? And it activated on its own?
…I’m in deep trouble.
I hadn’t been sure before, since the treasure’s appearance hadn’t changed much. But now, realizing the truth, I felt like there was no escape.
[I swear, your body is already saturated with another type of Qi, so how is this possible…]*
“…Before that,” I interrupted, “if you really are the Divine Sword of Mount Hua, why are you talking to me right now?”
[Like I said, it’s because you, little shit, absorbed the stone’s Qi.]*
“So you’ve been trapped inside that treasure all this time?”
They say this stone has existed for hundreds of years. Has he been stuck in there that long? Is that even possible…?
[Not exactly. It hasn’t been long since I awoke.]*
“It hasn’t been long…?” What does that mean?
[Yes. It was the moment you, brat, first picked up the treasure that I regained consciousness.]*
When the Second Elder gave me the treasure? That makes no sense. If that’s true, then how…?
Maybe this was all a hallucination, a side effect of absorbing too much Qi from the treasure… I even started having thoughts like that.
Whether this was truly the Divine Sword of Mount Hua or just a lowly ghost trying to trick me, one thing was certain: this was a huge hassle.
[How funny. I helped you so you wouldn’t lose your life from overexertion while trying to break through that wall, and this is the thanks I get? Treated like an evil spirit!]*
The ghost—no, the ‘Divine Sword’—was probably right. My body couldn’t handle the harsh Qi needed to break through the wall, but thanks to absorbing the treasure’s Qi, I managed it smoothly.
The problem was, I’d been avoiding the issue. But after hearing his words, I became certain of something. The foreign Qi now meshed with my own. The scent of plum blossoms that lingered around me no matter how I tried to hide it. The fact that I’d reached a level in Mount Hua’s martial arts that took their disciples endless training to achieve.
“…What do I do now?”
Something like, ‘Hehe! Sorry, I accidentally absorbed your treasure’s Qi,’ wasn’t going to cut it.
It was already a huge problem that I possessed Mount Hua’s Qi without being a disciple. But it was an even bigger problem that I had no way to explain how I’d obtained it.
The ghost laughed as I wrestled with my thoughts.
[Your fault for devouring it all.]*
“You think I wanted to!?”
[You gulped it down that night like a ravenous wild beast, and now you’re trying to deny your own actions?]*
He was right… Just how much did I consume for it to be this obvious? It was all the more annoying because it wasn’t intentional. This shitty demonic ability… It’s ruining this life, too, when I’m just trying to live normally.
Suppressing my irritation, I asked, “…Let me ask you something. Why were you even in there in the first place?”
If he really was the Divine Sword of Mount Hua, I needed to know why he was in the treasure. And if he wasn’t, I needed to know who he really was.
Upon hearing my question, the ghost fell silent for a moment.
[…Hmm.]*
Was it a difficult question, or was he being cautious because it was important?
After a pause, he began to speak, his voice quieter than before.
[…I don’t know myself. Why was I even there?]*
Hearing his answer, I let out a deep sigh and pushed open the carriage door.
So he didn’t know either. Or perhaps he knew but was pretending not to. Either way, it meant he wasn’t going to tell me. In other words, it was completely unhelpful.
Divine Sword of Mount Hua, my ass. This is definitely just an evil spirit.
I’d rather go outside than continue this pointless conversation. I needed to see what was happening, since I’d missed everything while I was unconscious.
[You little brat…! I told you it’s not—!]*
“Not wha—”
“Oh! Young Master!”
An enthusiastic voice cut through the air, making both me and the ghost fall silent. It was Yung Pung calling for me.
But something was off.
Yung Pung’s appearance was much worse than before. He was firmly tied up with ropes, kneeling on the ground, with Muyeon’s sword pointed at him. And behind him…
“Mount Hua…?”
Martial artists wearing the same white uniforms as Yung Pung were standing off against the people from my crew. It was clearly a hostile confrontation.
I looked at Yung Pung. Despite his predicament, he smiled brightly at me.
“Haha! Young Master! Anyway, now you can lend me a helping hand!”
“…What?”
His voice was far too enthusiastic for someone tied up on his knees, leaving me utterly confused.
[…Why is this guy acting like that?]*
It seemed something else had happened while I was out.