Chapter 30
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Die and Live Again (5)
The words "Dragon Boat Festival" felt foreign to Four Thousand Four.
Not only did he lack the leisure to celebrate it, but he also placed no special significance on its meaning.
Yet the villagers had begun to enjoy the festival.
They gathered mugwort from the mountains to make rice cakes. Some wrote talismans and pasted them up. Young and old alike headed to the fields to dig up artemisia and dry it.
Four Thousand Four, Wild Boar, and the Fox of Bireung Mountain had no intention of celebrating. But the villagers brought rice cakes and side dishes, insisting they share the meal.
"Isn't today the day of the year when yang energy peaks? You must control the fire element for a smooth year ahead. It's common as dirt, but you have to eat it."
That was what one old woman said as she handed over mugwort rice cakes.
The villagers showed no wariness toward the three who had dropped from the sky out of nowhere. They treated them naturally, as if they already knew exactly who they were.
Especially toward the old woman—they showed outright respect.
No one passed her without bowing. Children, adults, elders—everyone bent at the waist the moment they spotted her and didn't straighten up until she had passed.
The old woman and the villagers seemed almost like lord and vassals.
Yet these villagers weren't martial artists. Four Thousand Four would stake his life on the fact that not a single one practiced martial arts.
They knew nothing of martial arts, but they were connected to the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
"Skip the rice cakes. Try some of this."
A village woman brought steamed glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves and some kind of seed dish.
That's when the three truly realized, Today really is the Dragon Boat Festival. They had no plans to celebrate, but they couldn't refuse the villagers' sincere offerings. Especially...
"Haha! Come Dragon Boat Festival, nothing beats realgar wine. You can't say you've celebrated without it. Here, I brought three jars—one for each of you."
A sturdy young villager set down three small jars and left.
With things like this, how could they not join in? It had been ages since they'd last had a drink.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
Wild Boar and Four Thousand Four downed half a jar each, as if it were water.
"Kaa! That's the stuff!"
Wild Boar grinned in satisfaction.
"Hmmm!"
Four Thousand Four even cracked a rare smile.
Realgar wine was potent stuff. High-proof, yes, but the realgar itself was toxic—best not to overdo it. Still, they drank.
"Why aren't you drinking?"
Wild Boar asked the Fox of Bireung Mountain.
"Liquor doesn't agree with me."
"What?"
"I always stir up trouble when I drink. I can just taste it, so if you're short, have mine too."
The Fox of Bireung Mountain offered his jar of realgar wine.
"Hahaha! Now that's music to my ears!"
Wild Boar snatched it up and, as if afraid someone might steal it, began chugging.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
The liquor vanished down his throat.
Two jars were laughably insufficient for someone like Wild Boar. Once he got serious, they'd need to bring out the big ones.
Even calling it "poison liquor" was no deterrent to him—his liver wouldn't even notice.
"They'll come today or tomorrow."
"What will?"
The Fox of Bireung Mountain's eyes sparkled as he asked.
"Vanguard. Said we have to leave soon."
"Oh, that. Already prepped."
"I've seen you training, so you're good... but what about you? Can you make it?"
Wild Boar eyed Four Thousand Four.
Four Thousand Four took a swig from his realgar jar instead of answering.
"Haha! Don't worry about him. We'd die before he does. If I had to bet on you two right now, it'd be him. Weird, huh? Your martial arts are clearly superior, but I just feel like he'd be the survivor."
The Fox of Bireung Mountain eyed Four Thousand Four with curiosity.
"Heh heh heh! Couldn't agree more."
Wild Boar readily concurred.
"You're right—my martial arts are higher. No doubt. But if you told me to fight him, I'd hesitate. Feels like I'd lose."
Wild Boar glared at Four Thousand Four.
Four Thousand Four just smirked and kept drinking.
Having emptied his jar, Four Thousand Four wandered off unsteadily, as if out for a stroll to take in the fields and paddies.
Wild Boar and the Fox of Bireung Mountain, however, couldn't move a muscle. They just watched his receding figure.
"My martial arts really are higher..."
Wild Boar muttered.
"In a fight, you'd stick to martial arts. He'd use everything at his disposal."
The Fox of Bireung Mountain muttered.
But there was a slight flaw in what the Fox of Bireung Mountain said.
Martial artists didn't rely solely on martial arts. Before a fight, their first consideration was location. They chose the battlefield with utmost care.
Weather too.
They assessed celestial and terrestrial energies to pick terrain even slightly favorable to themselves.
Thus, martial artists preferred to fight in places they "knew well."
It wasn't just martial arts—they used the terrain and features too.
Even so, the Fox of Bireung Mountain's point held water.
People die.
From the moment of birth, they race toward death. Some early, some late, but death is inevitable.
Apply that to a killer...
Anyone can be killed.
Stab them with a blade, or starve them by withholding food. Throw them in fire to burn, or drown them in deep water.
Direct harm to the body, or trapping them in an inescapable death trap.
The first is certain; the second, convenient.
Anyone caught in either is doomed.
Naturally, Four Thousand Four didn't cling to the first method alone. If he could create a death trap, he'd consider that too.
Debating methods in killing was a luxury.
That was the Fox of Bireung Mountain's point.
"Doesn't mean he's a schemer or sly fox, though."
"Nah. That's what makes him scarier. Can't read him."
"If it came down to me versus him..."
"You'd lose."
"Damn it!"
Wild Boar chugged another full jar.
Heh heh. Murderer. So I've become a murderer.
He gave a bitter smile.
Neither Wild Boar nor the Fox of Bireung Mountain had seen him kill. They'd only heard tales. Yet they branded him a murderer and watched him with those eyes.
And it wasn't just them. Everyone who knew him thought the same.
Call him whatever.
Murderer or good guy—what difference did it make? Did labels change anything? Become a murderer because they said so, or saint because they praised you?
That was others' words.
But who was he, really? Murderer or good guy?
The verse said it:
- Killing is not the act of a murderer.
Not everyone who kills is a murderer.
He'd never once seen himself as one.
That's why he could stand tall.
He had killed. He hated killing. So he hid it. But he was no murderer.
Wild Boar saw him as one.
Four Thousand Four had killed many in the past, so he must still be one now.
That hesitation stemmed from such views.
If they'd seen him just as a companion, not a murderer, Wild Boar wouldn't have said what he did earlier. He'd have boasted, "I'd win!" when the Fox of Bireung Mountain joked.
Preconceptions were lodged deep in their minds, unlikely to fade.
It didn't matter.
Let them see him however they wanted...
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the last day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Vanguard returned.
Vanguard, Hanbi, and Jaja looked utterly exhausted. They hid it well... but Hanbi even had a faint sword scar on his neck.
The old woman greeted them with a smile.
"Heh heh! Had some fun, eh?"
"Haha! More than our share."
"Told you to butter them up."
"I groveled till I was blue in the face—they wouldn't even glance my way. Haha!"
"Let it go. What else can you do but die?"
Jaja said with a smile.
It was the first time Four Thousand Four had seen her smile. She never smiled at others—only the old woman.
"How about these three?"
Vanguard finally turned his attention to them.
"Like I said: one top-tier, one upper, and one bottom of the barrel."
The old woman glanced at Four Thousand Four as she said "bottom."
No explanation needed—who the dud was stood out crystal clear.
"Ha! So you're the top-tier."
The Fox of Bireung Mountain looked enviously at Wild Boar.
Wild Boar just furrowed his brow slightly, saying nothing.
It was obvious beyond debate. If not Wild Boar, then who?
No one knew the old woman's private aside to Vanguard: among the three, the Fox of Bireung Mountain was the best. Not even he suspected.
Vanguard spoke.
"Anything I should know?"
The old woman nodded.
"That one's seal isn't fully broken."
She said, looking at Four Thousand Four.
Everyone turned to stare. Hanbi and Jaja, Wild Boar and the Fox of Bireung Mountain—all eyes on him.
"Yours still sealed?"
"Gods, he looks fine."
Wild Boar and the Fox of Bireung Mountain gaped at Four Thousand Four. They'd assumed the seal was lifted—he'd acted normal, and the old woman hadn't said otherwise.
Vanguard frowned at her.
"Care to elaborate?"
"He's caught in a prohibition net."
"Prohibition net... Hmph."
Vanguard grunted.
Someone had gone all out. A vicious seal no one could break.
Forcing it open led to two outcomes.
One: death. The sealed points burst.
Two: prohibition net. Some points open, some still sealed. Qi could flow through the open meridians, but touching a sealed one meant instant death.
In short, no free use of qi.
"Best I could do."
"I know. You did great."
"Use him or not—your call. But remember, he's a bomb that could go off anytime."
Silence fell.
No one could speak. They just stared at Four Thousand Four.
It was their last night in the mountain village.
Hanbi and Jaja bathed as if by prior agreement, ate their fill, and hit the hay early evening.
"Asleep?"
"No."
"Then I'm coming in."
The old woman visited Four Thousand Four.
"Vanguard plans to use you. I wouldn't."
"What if he doesn't?"
"Have to kill you. No escape from Nineteen Hells but death. But if it'd harm others... maybe dying's better. Scared?"
Four Thousand Four just gave a faint smile, no reply.
"Knew it. Don't take death lightly, boy. Life's equal for all."
As she spoke, she pulled out a small wooden box.
"Poison pill."
Four Thousand Four glanced indifferently.
"Prohibition net's a ticking bomb. If you think you'll hurt others... Sigh. Do what you must."
She stood.
Four Thousand Four spoke at once.
"Thank you. I'll treasure the gift."