Chapter 53: Water Too Clear Has No Fish (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 53: Water Too Clear Has No Fish (1)
On a remote ridge of Mount Cheonro.
There was a place where darkness had fallen, despite the brilliance of the midday sun. It was a patch of land where the sunlight fractured and faded, as if choked by a shroud of black smoke.
"What is all this?"
In the very center of the gloom, a man with a deathly pale face sat in a low squat, his chin resting on his hand. He was clad in a brilliant, pale-yellow dopo, heavily adorned with various trinkets and ornaments that dangled from his waist. He appeared to be in his early thirties.
When he exhaled, the surrounding darkness swelled. When he inhaled, it receded.
His gaze was fixed on a bleached white skeleton.
"I caught the scent of that nasty Ten-Thousand-Mile Tracking Incense and thought, 'Ah, it must be the Elder Demon Slayer.' I figured he’d throw a fit if I didn't stop by to say hello, so here I am."
Tap. Tap.
He idly slapped the top of the skull with his palm.
"How did you end up as nothing but a pile of bones, huh? The great Elder Sa of our Heavenly Demon Cult—the Demon Slayer Gu Ma-un himself. Hmm?"
He snapped his head to the side.
A second skeleton lay tumbled nearby, its neck snapped. It was still draped in the tattered robes of a monk.
"If this is the Elder Demon Slayer, then that one must be Zen Master Beopyeon, the youngest of the Three Divine Monks. Looks like they tore each other apart trying to steal the Great Restoration Pill… But still. It wasn't the first or second of the Three Divine Monks. There's no way the world-renowned Demon Slayer would fall to the youngest of that lot."
The man remained in his squat, looking up at the sky.
Not that he could actually see it; the sky was nothing more than a murky haze, obscured by the smoke-like darkness he exhaled.
Sniff, sniff—
His nose twitched.
"A scent. I smell it. The Elder Demon Slayer's tracking incense is drifting from down below. It's incredibly faint, but it's definitely there. This means someone made direct contact with him, at the very least."
The man placed his hands on his knees and stood up.
"I'll have to find him and ask what happened here. Let's see…"
Sniff, sniff—
As his nose twitched again, the man's brow suddenly furrowed in distaste.
"But why is the tracking incense so muddled? It's all mixed up and smeared with a dozen other scents… What kind of person lives their life pickled in perfume?"
He let out a long, weary sigh.
"This is going to make tracking him a bit of a chore… What a pain. But if I don't check this out, the Heavenly Demon will…"
Swoosh—
The darkness that had blanketed the area was rapidly sucked back into the man's lungs, vanishing without a trace.
"Just imagining it is terrifying."
The man shuddered once, then began to walk with slow, heavy steps, sighing as he headed toward Xinxing County.
* * *
"That Young Hero, Yeon So-wol. Don't you think he's already reached the first-rate realm?"
"First-rate? But he can't even be twenty yet, can he?"
"The rumors say he performed incredible feats during the battle. I heard it from the survivors myself."
"That's true. I heard those stories as well."
"I just figured that to play any kind of role in a clash of that scale, you'd have to be first-rate at the very least."
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense."
"Besides, everyone saw him, right? That towering frame, that restrained qi. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Young Hero was already a first-rate master."
"I see your point."
"If that's really true… then he's a monster. A true genius has appeared in the Guangdong Murim."
Martial artists had converged from every corner of Guangdong Province.
Every one of them held a favorable impression of Yeon So-wol, and as a result, the rumors surrounding him began to spiral into exaggeration.
The initial rumor that had circulated among the commoners of Xinxing County—that people died with a single touch of his hand—was met with a backlash of disbelief and washed away. In its place, the claim that Yeon So-wol had reached the first-rate realm began to spread as if it were established fact.
Yeon So-wol found himself in a precarious position.
It was a relief that the power of the Heavenly Killing Star hadn't drawn any unwanted attention.
But… first-rate?
'What happens when they find out I'm not? How will the rumors turn then? I can't even imagine. Will they start claiming I use some strange dark arts? That would be…'
Yeon So-wol shook his head, forcing away the thoughts that threatened to spiral.
'Get a grip. Focus. There's something more important right now…'
Yeon So-wol reached into his robes and felt the smooth surface of a wooden box.
"…No matter how many times I think about it, this is the right thing to do."
Hoo.
He took a deep breath to steady his resolve one last time and called out.
"Father. It's Yeon So-wol."
"Oh, you're here. Come in."
Slide.
As he opened the door and entered Lee Yu-baek's room, a familiar, pleasant fragrance greeted him. It was the crisp scent of sun-dried linen, carrying a sweet undertone and a refreshing hint of lemon on the finish.
Feeling his heart settle, Yeon So-wol gave a long, deep bow and sat down across from Lee Yu-baek.
Lee Yu-baek chuckled.
"Feeling the pressure these days? Like you have to become a first-rate master overnight?"
"Ah."
Yeon So-wol smiled sheepishly. He had been thinking exactly that just a moment ago.
"Yes, it's a bit troublesome, but it's not something I can control. I'm trying not to let it worry me."
"Is that so? Hmm."
Lee Yu-baek smiled, a meaningful glint in his eyes. When Yeon So-wol tilted his head in confusion, Lee Yu-baek gestured with his chin.
"You look like you have something to say. You go first."
'Me first?'
The tone implied that Lee Yu-baek also had something to share. He seemed somewhat excited, even a little mischievous.
Though puzzled, Yeon So-wol decided to get to the point. He took another deep breath to calm his nerves.
Thud—
He produced the wooden box he'd been carrying and pushed it toward Lee Yu-baek.
"What's this…?"
"It's the Great Restoration Pill, Father."
Click.
Yeon So-wol opened the box.
Inside lay a yellow pill, seemingly coated in fine gold dust. It possessed no overwhelming fragrance or strange coloration.
"…"
"I am certain it is genuine. I happened to find it in the robes of a deceased high monk, and the monk's presence felt anything but ordinary."
After speaking, Yeon So-wol squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then opened them.
To be honest, it would be a lie to say he felt no conflict. The Great Restoration Pill was the very reason he had decided to become a martial artist in the first place.
But to give it to Lee Yu-baek instead of taking it himself? It wasn't an easy decision.
There were other, smaller anxieties gnawing at him, too. What if Lee Yu-baek asked for every detail about where it came from? Would he have to explain about the old man called the Demon Slayer? And if so, would he have to reveal the power of the Heavenly Killing Star? Would he have to go all the way back and explain that he was from another world called Earth?
The more he thought, the tighter his throat became.
Still. He went for it.
When he imagined Lee Yu-baek and his brothers from the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall dying… all those daunting problems suddenly felt trivial.
The Demon Slayer? Fine, he'd talk. The Heavenly Killing Star? Earth? If he had to, he'd tell him everything.
Lee Yu-baek and the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall were his family now.
With that resolve, he just blurted it out.
"I'm sorry for hiding it for so long. Please use this to heal your internal injuries and raise your cultivation realm. Please. I'm begging you to live a long and healthy life."
Though his voice trembled, he tried to maintain a playful tone, bracing himself for the explosive reaction he expected from Lee Yu-baek.
"Hm. Good timing. I was about to bring this up myself, actually."
"…Pardon?"
Yeon So-wol's head snapped up, his face a mask of pure shock.
Lee Yu-baek, on the other hand, showed no sign of surprise. He just looked slightly energized.
"If you hadn't brought up the Great Restoration Pill, I was going to do it today."
"Pardooon?"
"Are you going to keep repeating yourself?"
"Ah, no. It's not that."
Yeon So-wol's mind was a complete mess. It felt like his vision was flashing.
"You knew about the Great Restoration Pill?"
"I did."
"H-how?"
"Back when you stormed the Golden Powder Gang's headquarters by yourself to save Young Miss Eun-yeong."
"Ah."
"You were bedridden for a day after that. You needed your clothes changed and to be washed, so I took care of you myself."
"You… you didn't have the servants do it?"
"Normally I would have, but my heart wasn't in the mood for that then. Anyway, I saw it while looking for a change of clothes for you."
"You knew what it was right away?"
"Of course not. But what you'd said about the Great Restoration Pill before suddenly came to mind. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have recognized it either."
"Ah."
"Its divine energy was so thoroughly concealed, I had to stare at it for a long time before I realized it was the real thing."
"…I see."
Lee Yu-baek smiled.
"Why do you look so guilty about hiding something you obviously should have kept secret?"
"…I call you Father, but I keep hiding things from you. It's embarrassing."
"Sons are supposed to have secrets from their fathers. Hide more. Don't feel like you have to tell me everything."
Click.
Lee Yu-baek closed the wooden box and slid it back across the table to Yeon So-wol.
"Father?"
"That's yours. Don't even dream of giving it to me."
"N-no, it's fine. I'm okay. First, you need to recover from your internal injuries and raise your realm so I can have some peace of mind…"
"No. You take it. I have another way to deal with my injuries."
Yeon So-wol leaned forward, his eyes wide.
"You have a way?"
"I do."
Click.
This time, it was Lee Yu-baek who opened a wooden box. It was a large one, the size of a man's torso.
Ssshaaa—
The moment the box opened, a refreshing forest scent wafted out, followed by the sharp, earthy smell of bellflower root. Finally, a milky fragrance, like that of a newborn, gently permeated the air.
"This is…"
Inside the box, a bed of dark green moss had been laid out. On top of it rested five roots of wild ginseng, each remarkably shaped like a human.
They had plump torsos and rosy complexions like an infant's, with what looked like arms and legs stretching out before splitting into a fluffy mass of fine rootlets. If one were to draw eyes, a nose, and a mouth on them, they would look exactly like babies.
"Five roots of Human-shaped Ginseng. This is what turned up after we cleaned up the battlefield. Hang In-woo must have truly used up a lifetime of luck to find these. To think there were five of them, not just one."
Yeon So-wol stared blankly at the ginseng before asking, "C-can you recover from your internal injuries with this?"
"Just recover? This will be enough to heal me and even grant me a glimpse of the next realm."
"Ah."
Only then did Yeon So-wol feel a wave of relief. After all, Lee Yu-baek's internal injury had been sustained while acting as a Daoist protector for him. He had been worried sick that something might happen to Lee Yu-baek because of it.
"You and I will each consume one. The other three will go to the Three Severing Swords."
"The Three Severing Swords…"
"Yes. They lost their master and their youngest while helping us, so they deserve the larger share. Mu-hyeok, Je-hun, and Mo Cheong all agreed. We've already decided to merge the Severing Sword Sect and our Pungryu Martial Arts Hall anyway."
Yeon So-wol nodded. Both the Severing Sword Sect and the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall had lost too much of their strength. Standing together under one roof was the natural conclusion, both in terms of loyalty and practicality.
"Anyway, that leaves two for us. To be honest, I thought about giving mine to Mo Cheong, but the boy adamantly refused, so it ended up being you and me."
Yeon So-wol quickly waved his hands in refusal.
"I'm fine, too. It's better to give it to Mo Cheong or one of the other brothers… I have the Great Restoration Pill, after all."
Lee Yu-baek shook his head firmly.
"No. You eat it. That's my opinion, and the other disciples feel the same. You will consume the Human-shaped Ginseng and become a first-rate master. Immediately after, you will take the Great Restoration Pill. Then, the path to the Peak Realm will be smoothly paved for you. Perhaps… even beyond."
"…"
Yeon So-wol swallowed hard.
'If I eat the Human-shaped Ginseng, I'll become first-rate. And if I take the Great Restoration Pill on top of that…'
A thrill shot through his stomach. The goal he had set for himself since falling into this world was right before his eyes. His goal of becoming as strong as Lee Yu-baek and living life on his own terms was now within arm's reach.
However, Yeon So-wol swallowed again and shook his head.
"I can reach the first-rate realm on my own someday…"
"But it would be better if it were right now, wouldn't it? At this very moment, when everyone expects you to be a first-rate master."
"…"
Yeon So-wol swallowed once more, but the words to accept it wouldn't leave his mouth.
He thought of Kang Mu-hyeok, who had nearly died. He thought of how Seon Je-hun or Mo Cheong could face the same fate at any moment… the desire to yield the treasure to them kept welling up inside him.
Lee Yu-baek, guessing his thoughts, spoke in a calm, soothing voice.
"So-wol."
"Yes."
"Just take it. It's better for the world, too. Because you will surely change it."
At those words, Yeon So-wol stared intently at Lee Yu-baek.
"…Do I have to change the world?"
Frankly, that wasn't something that resonated with him. He was the kind of person who would be content just building his own estate, like Lee Yu-baek, and living life his own way. A life that could be considered decent and prosperous even by modern standards—he was confident he could be happy for the rest of his life with just that.
The world? Changing it? He had little interest in such grand designs.
But Lee Yu-baek spoke with absolute conviction.
"You already have. You changed Xinxing County."
"That's…"
Killing Hang In-woo, saving Lee Yu-baek. That certainly counted as changing the world. At least, for Xinxing County. But had Yeon So-wol wanted that? Was it because he had intended to change the world? No, it wasn't.
'It was just that my adoptive father and the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall are now…'
Before the thought could finish, Lee Yu-baek cut in sharply.
"And So-wol, make no mistake. Changing the world is not your choice."
"…It's not my choice?"
"No. If you do not change the world, the world will change you."
"…!"
The moment he heard those words, faces flashed before Yeon So-wol's eyes.
Hang In-woo. Eun-yeong. Jeon Tae-gwang. Cho-ran.
If he hadn't had power… and if he had…
A shiver ran down his spine.
Sometimes, a person has to change the world. Because if they don't, the vast and cruel world might one day suddenly turn their entire life upside down.
All the fine hairs on his body stood on end. And in the midst of that chilling realization, Yeon So-wol felt a craving for the first time. A craving to become stronger. To become much, much stronger.
"Yes. That look in your eyes. I like it."
Lee Yu-baek reached out and pressed the wooden box firmly into Yeon So-wol's hand.
"If you're going to do it, you be the one to change the world."
Yeon So-wol couldn't lift his hand, as if that small wooden box were impossibly heavy.
To him, Lee Yu-baek said in a gentle voice, "Now, then… are you ready to enter closed-door training?"
Closed-door training.
At those three words, Yeon So-wol's hand, clutching the wooden box, began to shake faintly.