The Snake That Picked the Wrong Man
Unambong, Imaje’s dwelling.
“A little more! Just a little more! Almost there!”
“Ughhh!”
I gritted my teeth and shoved the heavy post all the way into place.
Thud!
With the dull clang of the iron weight hooking into its stand, I let out a ragged breath.
Gang Hyeon clapped and burst out laughing.
“There we go, young master! New record! New record!”
“Hah! As if I’d lose to a lump of iron like this!”
“Going straight to the next one?”
“Of course. We rest for half a moment, then move on.”
“Then I’ll give it a try in the meantime.”
“Do that.”
By now, I had lost track of how many days it had been. In Imaje’s quarters, Gang Hyeon and I had been training external power together, matching each other’s rhythm.
Ordinarily, training was a battle against oneself, so there shouldn’t have been any need to coordinate with another person. But...
“Ughh! Ngh!! Young master! S-save me—!”
“You can do it! Bite down and lift!”
“I c-can’t. I’m going to die—urk!”
After getting pinned beneath ever-larger boulders a few times while raising the weights, I finally changed my mind.
“You pathetic fool. Losing to a piece of iron of all things. You’ll go hungry today. Even one bowl of rice is too good for you.”
“Cough... I thought I was dying. And I’m the one making the rice.”
“Shut it and get ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
Of course, under normal circumstances I could have lifted this much with one hand.
But Gang Hyeon and I had agreed to forbid the use of inner power while training in the practice yard.
It was, in a sense, about drawing out the body’s natural strength—focusing entirely on building muscle.
That had led to me getting flattened and flailing helplessly more than once, but when I squeezed power out of myself in extremity, struggling for survival, my growth came fast.
Thanks to that, I’ve gotten pretty decent.
After nearly a month of training, my muscles had knitted themselves tightly together and my body had grown far sturdier. It would have been an overstatement to call it imposing, but compared to before, the change was dramatic enough to be startling.
“Hoo. If you’ve rested enough, let’s begin.”
“Right.”
Gang Hyeon picked up a shield-like object and held it straight out in front of him.
It was the scale of the One-Horned Snake.
When Gang Hyeon had gone to gather Imaje and Godokcho, he’d ripped one off so he could judge whether he could face the beast alone. Now I was the one using it.
I still hadn’t managed to break it, or even bend it, but that didn’t matter.
I was ready, more or less.
“You said today we’d try a different method. What exactly are you planning?”
“Let me see... this should do.”
I lifted the staff stripped of any stone weight.
Whooom. Whooom!!
Then I spun it like a windmill and slashed at the air.
For a heartbeat my center of gravity lurched forward, but the lower body I’d honed over all this time remained rooted to the earth, steadfast as if planted there.
“Oh? You’ve learned staff techniques too?”
“I have.”
The heart of Shaolin shines brightest in fist and palm techniques, but that certainly wasn’t all there was to it. The Shaolin Scripture Hall was where all the secret manuals of the Eighteen Arms of the World were kept.
In my previous life, I’d been so deeply absorbed in fist-and-palm arts that I hadn’t learned much else, but with staff techniques I had enough skill to offer advice to junior monks.
- Ah, come on, give it back already! Why do you keep stealing mine just to bully me...?
- Bully you? Want me to show you what real bullying looks like?
Tch. For someone who called himself a Buddhist monk.
There was no such thing as a true “I” in the first place, so where exactly was “my” thing supposed to be?
I erased the image of that reckless junior monk spitting all over the place and concentrated on the movements of my whole body.
Taking a step forward, I thrust the staff out, leaned back, then used the recoil to continue the form. It was a Shaolin staff technique: Subduing-Demon Staff.
“Let’s test it. Hold it steady.”
“Yes, sir! Bring it on!”
Gang Hyeon gripped the scale and thrust it out. I steadied my breathing and drove the iron staff forward with force.
Kwaaang!
The instant it collided with the scale, a heavy shock surged through both hands. My palms began to tremble, then my forearms, and then my shoulders.
Thud.
My strength gave out and my grip loosened, so I dropped the staff—but...
“Oh! It worked, young master!”
A large hole had been punched straight through the scale, which had seemed as solid as a fortress wall.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Imaje rose at dawn as he always did and came out to the practice yard.
After calmly regulating his breathing and finishing his meditation, he picked up the heavy staff and resumed his training.
Then, all at once, he realized something was strange. There was only one presence lingering in the quarters.
So it was only talk after all.
Just then, Gang Hyeon emerged from the quarters and bowed deeply from the waist.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Mm.”
“Master.”
Imaje answered while idly swinging the staff.
“What is it?”
“About an hour ago, Third Young Master left.”
“I know.”
“Well... what you’re guessing and what I know seem to be a little different.”
When Imaje lowered the staff and looked at him, Gang Hyeon added,
“Third Young Master has gone to gather Godokcho.”
“...He’s already left?”
“Yes. He said he could finally get a feel for it and took off at dawn.”
Imaje’s brows rose slightly.
He knew that the Third Young Master had pierced the scale with a staff technique.
But that was all it was. Piercing a single scale meant nothing. There was no way he could challenge the beast with that alone.
The One-Horned Snake was a spirit beast whose body, from head to tail, was covered in scales as hard as iron.
Did he simply fail to control his impatience and act recklessly?
Just as Imaje was inwardly suppressing a sigh, Gang Hyeon took out a wooden box and held it out to him.
“And he left this with me.”
“What is it?”
Click.
Gang Hyeon opened the box, and a medicinal herb radiating a pure white glow was revealed. For once, Imaje looked genuinely surprised.
“As you can see, it’s Godokcho. And it looks like a superior specimen at that, so I don’t know why he still went off...”
His expression hardened as he asked again.
“Where is the One-Horned Snake’s scale?”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Boom!
Staff in one hand, I raced across the ridge. As my body’s level rose, Muryeonggi circulated more swiftly through every channel and vein.
“Heh heh heh. Good!”
At last, my inner and outer cultivation had reached something like balance. Each stride as I kicked off the ground carried explosive force. My body, tempered through external training, was finally receiving and bearing that power properly.
Boom, boom!
I drove my light-footwork forward, racing along the mountain path, and after a long run I reached a place where pale mist hung thick in the air.
Is it here?
The rocks stained green told me I’d come to the right place.
“Hoo... where are you?”
Wiping the sweat from my face, I scanned my surroundings.
I searched between large trees and rocks for any trace of the One-Horned Snake, but nowhere in sight was it to be found.
If the mist hasn’t cleared, then it must be somewhere around here...
In any case, inner power would be useless once I stepped inside. I unhesitatingly poured Muryeonggi into my palm, scorching the iron staff into a blaze of White Flame, and then stepped into the mist.
That was when it happened.
“...W-what is this?!”
It felt as if I’d inhaled poison. Pain spread from the tip of my nose through my entire body.
The white flame wrapped around the iron staff died out in an instant.
I reflexively tried to gather my qi, but all I got was a suffocating blockage, as though my blood vessels had been sealed shut, and nothing flowed as it should.
Something was interfering with the circulation of inner power.
It’s this fast?
Alarmed by the strange phenomenon, I hurried back out of the mist—and there, Muryeonggi surged as swiftly as ever.
So it doesn’t work outside.
It seemed like a beast defending its own territory, so I decided I’d be safe once I was outside of it.
In any case, I need to find the Godokcho first.
Reaffirming my goal, I set off once more.
“Let’s go.”
Parting the mist, I stared wide-eyed through the thick grass, searching for the pure white glow of Godokcho.
I lifted rocks and inspected trees. In case I missed it, I advanced slowly, sweeping every corner and crevice.
After walking for quite some time with no real success, I reached the center of the area.
Whooooosh—
“...!”
From somewhere came a sound like a ghost crying. It was a bizarre cry that sent shivers across my whole body and made all five senses sharpen at once.
Swallowing hard, I realized it at once.
It’s the One-Horned Snake.
But no matter how I looked around, there was no sign of it. When the strange cry came from behind me, I spun around in alarm, only to find more pale mist.
Whooooosh—
The sound mocked its prey, as though toying with me.
This bastard...
The irritation of being treated like a toy ignited my temper.
“If you’re going to interfere, then get the hell out here, you snake bastard! I’ll tear you apart from head to tail and make snake soup out of you—!”
Shhhhrkkk!
Before I could even finish, that eerie cry rang out again.
This time it was louder, and much closer.
“Where are you?!”
Drip.
As I looked around wildly, something wet fell onto my head, and I froze. Slowly, I lifted my gaze.
No way.
That wasn’t what I thought it was, was it?
Between the thick leaves above me, something was gleaming with silver light.
For an instant I thought it was floating in the air, but on closer look, that wasn’t it at all. The part wrapped around the tree trunk was brown, while the scales above it shimmered silver.
Was it using camouflage to guard the Godokcho?
Damn it... is that a snake or a dragon?
Kyaaaaak!
The One-Horned Snake, tongue flicking, let out a piercing cry and lunged.
Crash!
I leapt back in a hurry. The ground where it struck shook as though an earthquake had hit.
“All right, then! I was just waiting for you!”
I steadied my footing and thrust the staff fiercely. The strike, released with the form of Subduing-Demon Staff, slammed into the densely packed scales.
But—
Thunk.
The impact was light.
It might as well have been a scratch on its back.
Still, it didn’t matter. I’d prepared for exactly this.
“You picked the wrong man, you snake bastard!!”
Boom!
I tightened my grip on the iron staff and planted a firm stance. As the staff, heated to a fierce blaze with Muryeonggi, bored into the scales, white smoke shot upward.
Kyaaaaak!
The One-Horned Snake writhed in agony. Having confirmed that its scales were vulnerable to heat, I shoved the staff in deeper for control.
Then—
Kwa-gagagagagak!
W-what is that...!
A massive tail smashed through a tree and came hurtling toward my face in an instant. If it hit me straight on, I’d be dead on the spot, so I hurriedly raised the staff to block.
Bang! Screeeech!
The dreadful recoil surged along the iron staff colliding with the tail. The staff, bent like a drawn bowstring, could not withstand the impact and flew far away.
I, still clutching the staff, was thrown backward by the force. My vision turned upside down, and with the impact against my back I heard the sound of trees exploding apart.
“Kuh... khh!”
I finally managed to stop after smashing through several trees. My breath was nearly knocked out of me by the impact, but I forced myself to stand.
Kyaaaaak!
And the One-Horned Snake, even fiercer now, began charging again.
No, this won’t do.
I kicked off the ground and leapt.
The snake’s head slammed through the earth and passed under my feet, and I twisted midair to land atop it.
“You really picked the wrong person to mess with, you bastard!”
Thang! Thang! Thang! Thang!!
I locked my thighs around its massive body and brought the staff down again and again.
The creature twisted and thrashed in a frenzy, but I clung to it tenaciously, beating at its scales without mercy. After several savage blows, the scales finally crumbled, and silver fragments drifted up into the air.
There!
I drove the red-hot iron staff into the flesh exposed beneath the broken armor. As the flesh seared and the staff forced its way deeper—
Kwaaaaaaak!
The One-Horned Snake let out a deafening scream and reared up.
“...Hm?”
I wasn’t even sure if a snake without limbs could “rear up,” but somehow its head was soaring into the air as if ascending to heaven.
“Grrrrrrrr...”
I felt my chest pounding against a gale of wind. Barely managing to seize a passing branch, I hauled myself free and raised my head.
“...!”
Kyaaaaak!
Before I knew it, the beast had surged to a terrifying height and swollen itself full, pouring out killing intent. It was far more enraged now, and far more murderous.
Damn it, now you want me to catch that thing...?
As the One-Horned Snake’s body came crashing down toward the ground, I kicked off the branch and shot up into the air.
Kwoooooooang!
The earth trembled as though a meteor had fallen, and I was struck by the tail that came whipping in from the blind side, sent flying yet again.
“Cough!”
I spat out a mouthful of blood and forced myself back up.
Kyaaaaak!
Determined to see it through, the One-Horned Snake came barreling at me with its maw wide open.
My staff had already snapped in two. In an instant, I was left bare-handed.
“Heh.”
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.
Of course, I wasn’t giving up in despair, and I certainly wasn’t seeing my life flash before my eyes.
Boom!
“This is outside the mist, you stupid snake bastard!!”
I dragged Muryeonggi up to its limit. Twisting my ankle, knee, hip, and shoulder in sequence, I drove a single fist straight into the snake’s head.
Bang!
The huge body jolted under the force of Arhat Fist, and when I twisted my wrist, there was a burst of impact that sent it flying and slamming into the ground.
“Hoo.”
As the dust cloud settled, I saw the One-Horned Snake lying on its back, gurgling weakly.
“You’re not even worth one fist.”
For a moment I was drunk on the satisfaction of having brought down the spirit beast after such a brutal struggle, but then I remembered my forgotten purpose and turned my head.
Right. The Godokcho!
But the earth had been split and torn apart, the entire area mashed into a miserable ruin. Only traces of the dreadful battle remained; there wasn’t a weed, let alone Godokcho, to be found.
“Heh heh... what am I supposed to do now?”
Should I tell Imaje that this harvest had been a complete disaster?