Chapter 46
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Qinghai Dragon King
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“Step back, all three Sacred Wood Emissaries. Now it’s my turn to receive instruction from the elder.”
The three emissaries, apparently nursing serious internal injuries, retreated without a word. Eodeukgo stepped forward before the old man.
“Thank you for looking after my disciples.”
Eodeukgo first clasped his hands together and bowed deeply to the old man.
Sure enough, the men who had collapsed on the ground were beginning to stir one by one.
They groaned in pain, but none were bleeding from the seven apertures, so no fatal wounds.
“How could I take the lives of your disciples? All these are gifts from the Ming Lord.”
“This Eodeukgo asks once more. Please come to the main altar as you are and bestow your guidance on the great and small affairs of the faith.”
“I meet you after thirty years and can’t even share a drink—such is fate. Who knows when we’ll meet again, but then I’ll drain three cups for you. For today, let’s end it here and part.”
“Please accept those three cups today instead. If we part like this, when will the chance come again?”
“Heh heh. True enough. Then today, let’s exchange hands three times in place of those drinks and promise for the future. Your Qinghai Water-Splitting Daggers were formidable even back then—I’m curious how much sharper they’ve become.”
“My humble skills shame me, but recent enlightenment has me grateful to the Ming Lord.”
Eodeukgo pulled the hood of his shadow-diving suit back over his head and held his water-splitting daggers out front.
When he’d removed the hood earlier, a full head of white hair had been revealed—Eodeukgo was now over seventy.
Yet not a trace of flab on him. The shadow-diving suit, crafted from蛟龙 hide and renowned for its unmatched toughness underwater, gleamed black even in the darkness, covered in fine scales like a flood dragon’s.
“To properly admire your daggers, I suppose I’ll have to join you in the water. I’ll go first.”
Incredibly, the old man launched himself into the air, flying five張 before plunging into the lake’s black waves.
Splash.
Eodeukgo followed without hesitation, leaping onto the lake surface.
Immediately, blue and white flashes flickered repeatedly in the dark depths.
Boom. Thud...
Low vibrational rumbles spread from underwater, arriving belatedly.
Moments later, a few dead fish floated to the surface.
It didn’t take long.
The water rippled sharply, and a black shadow shot into the air, spinning twice before landing on the lakeshore.
It was Eodeukgo.
Defeat was plain on his face.
His shadow-diving suit, known for its unparalleled durability in water, was shredded to rags.
Thin trails of blood seeped through the gaps like threads.
The old man, meanwhile, emerged from the dark surface, parting the water and swimming leisurely ashore.
Drenched from head to toe, his appearance bedraggled—that was the extent of it.
Once on shore, he circulated his energy briefly, and steam rose thickly, drying his body in an instant.
“To see you still so vigorous fills this junior with joy.”
Eodeukgo removed his hood again and bowed politely.
“Excellent. Your daggers were quite chilling.”
But Eodeukgo’s water-splitting daggers were nowhere in his hands.
“What can be done? Even if I return like this, that friend won’t press charges. Who in this world could drag me away? Unless he comes himself.”
“Indeed. When you sent my disciples back, you cautioned them not to be rude and said you’d come personally later, so prepare some fine jars of liquor.”
“That figures. There are scarcely a handful of true heroes in this world...”
“Then we’ll withdraw for today. Endless fortune to you.”
Gu Daejong and the other two Sacred Wood Emissaries bowed respectfully, mounted their horses, and vanished.
Qinghai Dragon King Eodeukgo in his shadow-diving suit and his subordinates also bowed deeply before slipping back into the lake.
The old man stood watching the lake’s gentle ripples in the deep darkness for a long while before letting out a deep sigh.
‘Ha... where to next?’
Soon after, flames rose from the old man’s thatched hut.
He had changed clothes and packed lightly, standing to watch the blaze.
With the Sacred Wood Emissaries on alert, staying here was like dancing in their palm.
Crack...
The beams and pillars collapsed, sparks flying in a burst that lit the surroundings brilliantly for a moment.
“Where to now?”
“Hmm. Just thinking of wandering the world for a bit.”
Unexpectedly, Eodeukgo stood beside the old man.
He had traded the torn shadow-diving suit for a blue robe, his hair tightly bound in a hero’s topknot.
The old man treated Eodeukgo’s presence as entirely natural.
“Did you see to your men?”
“Nothing much to pack. This is Qinghai Lake, after all.”
“True. Your home ground. Right here. Anyway, did you bring it?”
“Yes, here it is. Nothing fancy, packed in haste.”
Eodeukgo held out the bundle of clothes in his hand.
The old man looked at it, then leaped straight into the flames.
Eodeukgo watched without surprise.
The old man emerged slowly from the fire moments later.
Stark naked, not a thread on him.
The clothes he’d worn and his pack had burned away.
Instead, a white glow of protective aura blazed around his body.
The nude form of the aged elder appeared profoundly majestic and sacred.
The Ming Cult was a faith that revered fire.
Fire marked the world’s beginning and end, the sole means to purify falsehood and injustice.
As Supreme Elder of the Great Cloud Bright Religion, the old man had served that fire for a century.
Stepping from the flames, he slowly donned the clothes Eodeukgo offered.
“Without you, I couldn’t have escaped their palm. My thanks.”
“No need. I wanted to keep you here at Qinghai Lake forever, but I’ve forced you to leave—I’m truly sorry.”
“How is it your fault? It was bound to be found out eventually. I lingered too long. Old age makes the hips heavy.”
“At least you’ve burned away all traces of the Thousand-Li Pursuit Powder. They won’t track you for a while.”
“Even scorched my body in fire—should hold. What a mess this all is...”
“Come aboard. I’ll see you off.”
The two boarded a skiff tied at the shore.
Eodeukgo took the oars, and the boat crossed the vast lake at startling speed.
Some time later, it reached a spot where a horse waited.
“Where to now?”
“Hmm. Kunlun’s sealed their gates, I hear? I should seek that friend first.”
“The Kunlun Sword Immortal?”
“Yes. Meet the Six Gates Immortal first, and him too.”
The two sighed in unison.
“Where in the world is he, and what’s he doing? With the world darkening again, does he even know...”
“He’s no fool. If he’s somewhere.”
“Only way out is for him to emerge, reclaim the Sacred Wood Command, and take control of the faithful.”
“It’s been sixty years since he entrusted me the Sacred Wood Command and vanished. The martial world knew peace, the people prosperity. The faithful grumbled, but how can disciples of Great Cloud Brightness not know the Ming Lord’s true teachings?”
“Be that as it may, with his whereabouts unknown, you’re the faithful’s sole hope.”
“Sole? With so many true and loyal believers—like you, included.”
“I can’t bear that. I’m just one whose marrow is steeped in his teachings.”
“That’s enough.”
The old man mounted the horse.
Eodeukgo gave a final salute, the old man nodded, and rode off into the dark path.
Long after the old man vanished, Eodeukgo lingered, gazing after him, before returning to the skiff.
And vanished once more over the dark lake.
Some time later, three mounted warriors arrived.
They were the three Sacred Wood Emissaries who had retreated before the old man.
“Elder Brother Gu’s divine hound is truly exquisite.”
The tallest emissary dismounted and scanned the surroundings.
A white ferret in his bosom sniffed sharply.
“Third Brother. Eodeukgo seemed suspicious.”
Gu Daejong also dismounted and took the white ferret from Nahap, the third Sacred Wood Emissary.
“Come on, little one. Good luck. You’re all we’ve got now.”
Gu Daejong set the ferret down; it sniffed the nearby ground, then pointed north, chittering sharply.
The man still seated on his horse spoke to them.
Geumsong, the second Sacred Wood Emissary.
“Let’s hurry. It’s been decades since we lost the Sacred Wood Command. How long must we Sacred Wood Emissaries...”
“Quite right. Let’s go. Even that elder won’t expect such thoroughness.”
“I hope so. But he’s Guanghua Shi Jeon Sogi. Short of the two Cult Leaders, who in today’s martial world can match him?”
“We do our best. Now that he’s moving, we tail him. We’ll reach the Sacred Wood Command eventually. Once confirmed, the Cult Leader will step in himself. Not something to entrust.”
Soon the ferret scampered off into the night, followed by the three horses.