The Dwarf Fortress Is Finished – Time to Deal with the Jiangshi
Dragons were constructing the main hall at an incredible speed.
Only two days had passed.
The main hall built on this floor was so magnificent it left one speechless.
It was no wonder they were called the master race.
Just as Jin Chen was about to smile in satisfaction,
a long sigh suddenly sounded from the side.
“Haaaaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaa.”
The owner of the sigh, drawn out as if the world was ending,
was Jeombaki.
His shoulders slumped completely,
his expression screaming “I don’t give a damn about anything in the world.”
And on top of that, an aura of utter exhaustion seeped from every inch of his body.
Anyone who saw it would feel their own energy drain away.
“Why are you so down in the dumps! It’s just one failed attempt.”
“One attempt?! How can you say that! You’re the one who knows exactly how much I was counting on it!”
“You’re saying a mage like me lacks talent?”
“Sybel said he’d look for another method, so just wait a bit longer.”
“Even you, Lord Sybel! After raising my hopes like that, you just abandon me the second it fails. That’s not fair!”
Jeombaki wailed with an expression full of pure injustice.
He had been living as if the entire world had already ended for about three days,
yet he finally exploded now.
It was better this way.
Jin Chen thought that as he patted Jeombaki’s shoulder.
“So I stepped in. He even apologized to you.”
“Apologize?! He just tossed out a half-hearted ‘sorry’ and that was it.”
“A being who has lived eight thousand years did that much. That’s a lot.”
“If I hadn’t stepped in, you would have been stomped to death the moment you met me.”
“Ugh, that’s right! I wouldn’t even have been able to open my mouth because I couldn’t learn martial arts and would have died right then! Are you finally satisfied now?!”
Jeombaki refused to calm down his frustration easily.
Jin Chen stared at him quietly and slowly nodded.
“If you’re suffering that much, I have no choice but to use my last resort.”
“Last resort? What’s that?”
“What else. The problem is that it’s hardened like a stone,
so I have to break it forcibly.”
“Forcibly… that sounds like it’ll hurt a lot.”
Jin Chen shook his head,
and Jeombaki brightened up and asked.
“Won’t it hurt?”
“No, that’s not the issue. It’s not about pain.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The possibility of dying.”
“Uwaaaap!”
Jeombaki clamped a hand over his mouth as Jin Chen continued.
“The thousand-year-old spiritual fruit’s aura will heal your meridians,
and the reason it hardened is simple.
It can’t handle the aura because your frail, weak body can’t contain it.”
“C-could a fruit even think that?”
“It’s a fruit that forms only once in a thousand years.
It must have known it couldn’t hold the aura.
Of course, I also lent a hand.
I forcefully suppressed the restless aura and sent it down to your lower dantian.”
Jeombaki understood.
Only a handful of people in the Central Plains could control the aura of a thousand-year-old spiritual fruit.
And among them, only Jin Chen could control it alone without any other herbs.
That was why he had always carved it into his heart.
The enormous kindness Jin Chen had shown him.
The grace he had received that he could never repay even with his life.
If he had never met Jin Chen…
There was no need to think deeply.
He would have died an isolated, lonely death in excruciating pain before turning thirty.
At that thought, Jin Chen’s voice rang out.
“So I’ll break it forcibly.
The hardened aura will go into overdrive,
and those auras will spread through your body,
turning everything to dust.
Ah! Don’t worry.
Thanks to good fortune, if you achieve enlightenment,
you’ll undergo a complete body and soul transformation.
Looking at the amount of aura, you’ll shed about nine layers of impurities.”
“W-what if I don’t achieve enlightenment?”
“I already told you.
You’ll turn to dust.”
“Ha, ha, ha.
Just like when I first ate the thousand-year-old spiritual fruit,
Master Jeombaki will guide the auras, right?”
“It won’t be easy?
Back then the state was stable, so it was easy to guide.
Now I have to break it forcibly,
so the auras will be extremely violent.”
Jeombaki swallowed dryly and asked.
“S-so, what’s the probability of survival?”
“Hmm… about eight out of ten?”
“Sigh… if it’s eight, it’s worth trying.”
“What nonsense.
That’s the opposite of what I said.”
Jeombaki’s mouth fell open wide.
“Don’t worry.
I’ve done it so many times that I gave up after counting ten complete body and soul transformations.
Except for the pain that would kill you,
it’s totally doable.”
“B-but if there’s no enlightenment, you said I’d turn to dust, right?”
“That’s something you have to figure out yourself.
How am I supposed to feed you that too?”
They’re talking about that now of all times!
Jeombaki looked bewildered when Jin Chen approached and said,
“Come over here.
The kids seem to have gathered almost all of them.
Let’s finish this quickly.
Today I’ll smash that grudge of yours completely.”
“M-my very existence feels like it’s going to be smashed…”
“Life is a one-time thing.
Isn’t it cooler to live short, thick, and intensely,
manly and bang! without dragging out a life in grudges and frustration?”
“Master Jeombaki, I’m disappointed.
You don’t seem to realize that I’m nowhere near manly.
Given my personality, Lord Sybel’s newly discovered method sounds much better.
You don’t have to worry about me anymore.
So I’ll take my leave first!”
Jeombaki ran toward the center of the fortress without looking back.
Jin Chen smiled faintly as he watched him vanish into the distance.
“Kid, he really doesn’t want to die.
Of course, that’s why he endured all that suffering to survive.”
Just that alone showed Jeombaki had plenty of qualifications to live.
That was why, even knowing he would earn a martial arts reputation,
he had still consumed the thousand-year-old spiritual fruit.
Well, even if Jin Chen hadn’t taken him in,
he would have done it anyway.
Jin Chen deepened his smile and stretched his arms wide.
“Whoaaahaaaaa! Looks like everyone’s gathered.
Should I go too? Baek-i, let’s go!”
Before the words had even finished, Baek-i burst out from somewhere.
Jin Chen climbed onto its back,
and Baek-i strode forward with powerful steps.
***
All the followers of the fortress had gathered at the center.
“What sudden trouble is this?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Are you planning to go somewhere again?”
“When did you ever say we should all gather before you left somewhere?”
“He just said ‘I’ll come back’ and vanished in a flash.”
That made everyone even more curious.
Why had he suddenly called them all together?
As the followers began to gather in small groups and voice their doubts,
whoosh—whoosh!
Thunder!
A massive figure landed in front of them.
It was Baek-i, the size of a house,
with Jin Chen riding on its back.
“Welcome, Master.”
The followers bowed their heads and shouted.
Jin Chen gave a slight nod and looked back at the followers.
Then he noticed Sybel standing beside him.
Complaining all the way and acting like he’d never come back again,
he must have been really frustrated.
Jeombaki had to swallow every insult and apologize because the Dragon race’s pride and dignity had suffered due to his lack of talent.
Jin Chen smirked and opened his mouth.
“Let’s get straight to the point.
Bbakbbaki, bring that guy here.”
“Yes, Master.”
With that reply, Bbakbbaki dragged a slouched figure out from behind him.
It was the boss who had been captured by Jin Chen.
Jin Chen looked down at the boss, who was in a disheveled state and unconscious.
“Everyone, do you know roughly what happened?”
“Yes.”
“This is really annoying.
We were just trying to live peacefully while doing banditry,
but the world around us won’t let us be.”
All of them nodded vigorously.
“Even this time.
I went to Cologne quietly to trade for the sake of the fortress,
but a dragon brat attacked us.”
“Heh heh heh heh!”
Sybel cleared his throat.
Jin Chen ignored it completely.
“Because I persuaded him so much to stay and rest,
he came to Cologne to spend a short time there,
but suddenly we ran into jiangshi.
It turned out the withered old man who invaded our fortress was…
“The current leader of the Ghost Emperor, Gu Domyeong.”
“Exactly.
That bastard also came to this world and teamed up with black mages and dark elves to create jiangshi.
It’s become impossible to live peacefully while doing banditry like this.”
Everyone’s expressions turned grim.
“That’s why I called you all here.
I want to find out who those annoying bastards are,
what kind of guys they are,
whether they have money,
whether they have anything worth stealing,
through this guy.
How about it? Are you all ready to listen?”
“We were curious about who they were anyway!”
“If they’re the ones allied with the Ghost Emperor, they’re definitely rotten guys!”
“We’re not just ready to listen!
We’re ready to smash them to pieces!”
In the Central Plains, jiangshi were feared as public enemies.
It was because they always caused massive casualties whenever they appeared.
If this place had been the Central Plains and the True Dragon Fortress not Jinryong Chae but another sect,
they would never have dared to say such things about bandits.
Because of the deep fear hidden in their hearts.
But the True Dragon Fortress had no such fear.
Even jiangshi didn’t make them feel any unease.
They had seen with their own eyes the boss who was smashed to dust by Jin Chen’s hand.
Before and after crossing over to this world,
We have the Master!
As long as Jin Chen, the symbol and pride of Jinryong Chae and everything else, was there,
nothing could scare them.
Jin Chen smiled satisfiedly at the determined look of his subordinates.
And looking at the boss lying sprawled in front of him, he said,
“Wake him up.”
“Yes.”
Bbakbbaki grabbed the boss by the hair,
then slapped his cheek hard.
Crack!
A crisp, meaty sound echoed through the courtyard.
“Uwaaaah!”
The boss snapped awake, eyes wide.
Jin Chen knelt on one knee and met his gaze.
“Got a nice life, huh?”