The Spirit Fire Trial (2)
“Hah…!”
Paeng Soso swallowed hard, stroking her neck.
“Wh-what? I was definitely just…”
Still not fully grasping the situation, Paeng Soso looked around in bewilderment.
Hong Yeonhwa rushed over and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Soso!”
“H-Hong sis?!”
Due to their height difference, it looked more like Hong Yeonhwa was the one being hugged.
Paeng Soso panicked at the sudden hug but instinctively patted Hong Yeonhwa's back.
As the strength in Hong Yeonhwa's arms gradually loosened, she cautiously asked,
“Hong sis? What happened? I was definitely just a moment ago…”
“Your neck!”
“Huh?”
“Is your neck alright?!”
In the latter half of the trial, even in their happy married life, Paeng Soso couldn't bear a child.
In this era, failing to produce an heir was a grave shortcoming.
At first, Jin Sochan and Hong Yeonhwa treated Paeng Soso kindly as always, but after a year, then two years passed, their attitudes grew colder.
In the end, Paeng Soso was abandoned in a remote annex without proper heating, and in her despair, she plunged a dagger into her own neck.
And then she awoke from the trial.
“Does it hurt? Can you breathe properly?!”
“……”
Seeing Hong Yeonhwa fret anxiously, Paeng Soso recalled all those memories.
As she unconsciously stroked the neck she had stabbed herself, Hong Yeonhwa's voice began to choke with sobs.
“This lady… this lady would never do such a cruel thing to you! You! Didn't you say it would be fine once the trial ended! To lie to this lady just to escape the moment?!”
“What are you…?! Absolutely not! Look at the young lady right now. Does she look like someone who just experienced death? She's more like someone who just woke up groggy.”
The sect leader, suddenly catching the heat, pointed at Paeng Soso in alarm.
Hong Yeonhwa looked up in that direction, where Paeng Soso was giving an awkward smile.
“Um… he's right, so don't get too mad, Hong sis. I know in my head that I died once, but it doesn't feel real at all. It doesn't hurt either.”
“…Is that true?”
“It's true. How should I put it… It's my memory, but it doesn't connect to me personally? Like watching a painting… no, like looking at a painting inside a painting.”
Only then did Hong Yeonhwa sigh in relief and pull away from Paeng Soso.
“Then that's fortunate. …Sorry for earlier, you know.”
Confirming Paeng Soso's safety, Hong Yeonhwa apologized to the sect leader with a much softer demeanor.
She assumed Jin Sochan was safe too, just not awake yet.
“No worries. By the way, do you feel anything different? Even passing the early part of the Spirit Fire trial grants something… But it's the first time a martial artist rather than a Daoist has undergone it, so I'm curious how it'll turn out.”
“Huh? The trial?”
“Ah, I suppose I need to explain from there.”
The sect leader explained everything that had happened so far to Paeng Soso, who had just awakened.
“I get the situation now. As for changes… Huh, the flow of my qi feels strangely smoother. My meridians… whoa! These are definitely tougher now!”
“Oh… Since you've cultivated martial arts, you must have gained something fitting. Well, martial arts and Daoist techniques originally stem from the same source, even if they diverged midway, so it's plausible.”
Thinking the immediate crisis averted, the sect leader subtly satisfied his curiosity.
Hong Yeonhwa's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight, but she didn't speak up.
It was only natural… Safe, and with rewards too—this was practically a stroke of fortune.
The fact that it happened without her consent was still irritating, but at least she no longer needed to resort to smashing everything if things went south.
Letting out a deep sigh, Hong Yeonhwa turned to Jin Sochan's trial scene.
Being a sand image, no sounds came through, so the exact situation was unclear.
But she could tell his weakened group was tangled in battle with countless enemies.
Watching Jin Sochan's trial alongside the now-approached Paeng Soso, the group eventually reached their limit and began collapsing one by one.
When the lone Jin Sochan crawled toward her only to have his throat slit, Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso clutched their chests without realizing it.
They knew it was fake.
Even knowing that, the death of their beloved and Jin Sochan's tender final moments tugged at their hearts.
Still, it's almost over now.
Hong Yeonhwa waited for Jin Sochan to jolt awake, just like Paeng Soso had moments ago.
But…
“Why hasn't my husband awakened?!”
Boom!
Hong Yeonhwa stomped, shaking the ground like an earthquake and cracking the earth.
Paeng Soso jumped in surprise at the blatant show of force, but the sect leader, having seen it once before, quickly alternated glances between Jin Sochan and the trial as he replied.
“Ah, probably because he hasn't given up yet.”
“What?”
“To repeat, the latter trial tests one's resolve. In this young lady's case, she took her own life. Meaning her mind broke under the strain. But here…”
“…He only met death at another's hands, so my husband's will hasn't broken yet?”
“Exactly. Most would surrender everything upon death… but his mental fortitude is far from ordinary.”
“……”
Jin Sochan's Martial Spirit Divine Art was a technique of the mind.
Hong Yeonhwa, who hadn't anticipated her tempered husband's will producing this result, clamped her mouth shut and stared at the floor.
In the sand image, Jin Sochan swallowed hard and stroked his neck.
“The Heavenly Demon! The Heavenly Demon has returned! Kill her before she regains her power! No, seal the gates so she can't escape!”
“Huff…!”
What the fuck.
I had my throat slit and died.
I definitely died…
“I'm… alive?”
Looking around in shock, I saw Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso right beside me, assuming bewildered stances.
“Yeonhwa! Soso!”
Their final moments I'd witnessed overlapped in my mind, and I impulsively pulled them into a hug.
The soft sensation, their warm body heat.
And the mingled scents teasing my nose slowly calmed my anxious heart.
“Wh-what's this all of a sudden?!”
“Jin hubby! Get a grip!”
But their reactions were off.
Smack! Smack!
Instead of hugging back like usual, Paeng Soso pounded my back fiercely.
“Later! Later! We have enemies right in front of us—what are you doing?!”
“Enemies?”
“Raise your head and see. We're already surrounded, so you'll spot them anywhere, you know.”
As Hong Yeonhwa said, lifting my head revealed the Murim Alliance remnants charging at us like madmen.
“Ah…”
Seeing them, one word flashed in my mind.
Regression.
Of course, it could be an illusion.
Formations, poison, Daoist spells, shamanism… I could've fallen for any number of tricks without knowing.
But the chilling sensation of the blade lingered on my neck, and the afterimage of my decapitated body clung to the corner of my vision.
Memories that vivid—really just a mistake?
Even if so, our evaporated inner energy and being surrounded by Murim Alliance remnants hadn't changed.
We had to escape.
Now, before the dimensional gate fully closed!
I grabbed Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso's arms and spun around.
“Fuck.”
“Darling?”
“Jin hubby?”
Confused voices at my rare curse in front of them, but I had no time to care.
The gate, barely wide enough for one person, had already shrunk by nearly half.
Not fully closed like before, sure—but still too narrow for anyone to pass properly.
…Maybe if I shoved the smaller Hong Yeonhwa through?
But her escaping alone… No, if I could save even one!
As I gripped Hong Yeonhwa's hand tighter with that thought—
“Hmph.”
Hong Yeonhwa deftly twisted her wrist free, tripped Paeng Soso's foot, and shoved her from behind.
Paeng Soso naturally tumbled forward and flailed in surprise.
“Kyaa! Hong sis! What the—!”
“…Hya!”
Before Paeng Soso could finish, Hong Yeonhwa used her falling momentum to hurl her toward the closing gate.
Half-closed, but enough for Paeng Soso diving headfirst to squeeze through.
As Paeng Soso turned back with a frantic expression on the other side, the gate snapped shut completely.
I stared blankly at the spot where it had been, and Hong Yeonhwa chuckled.
“Your shoulders are too broad anyway—you couldn't have fit, you know.”
“…I was gonna throw you.”
Hong Yeonhwa put on a stern face and pinched my lips.
“Tch. This lady's homeland is here, while Soso's is there—with her family too. If only one could go back, it had to be her, you know.”
“Mmph mmph mmmph.”
Then I'll draw their attention—you escape, Yeonhwa.
With my lips caught, it came out as baby talk, but she somehow understood and shook her head.
“Remember what they shouted at first? Their target is this lady. Probably the Murim Alliance remnants—high chance. So I'll be the bait. You escape.”
“No way in hell. Even if you shake me off, I'll chase after you.”
“…Well, yeah. This lady would've done the same in your shoes, you know.”
I knew her well, and she knew me just as well.
So instead of pointless persuasion, she gave a bitter smile and glared at the closing encirclement.
Her small fist fidgeting, Hong Yeonhwa's gaze stopped to the left.
“That side looks the weakest. We break through there first and get out of—”
“No.”
“Hm?”
“They've distributed forces evenly everywhere else, but left that obvious gap? It's definitely a trap.”
Hong Yeonhwa looked like she wanted to ask what made me so sure, but figuring there was no time, she sighed and nodded.
“No!”
A massive saber slashed diagonally from Hong Yeonhwa's chest to her abdomen.
A fatal wound, obvious at a glance.
She'd fought well, but with Paeng Soso gone and heading into the thickest encirclement, breakthrough took longer than expected.
Even without inner energy, Hong Yeonhwa was still strong—but stamina depletion was unavoidable.
In the end, exhausted, she couldn't move in time and exposed an opening.
Sensing death, Hong Yeonhwa turned to me with a faint smile.
And then.
Slash!
Her small head flew off.
Seeing the pink hair scatter into the sky, something snapped inside me.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!!!”
Distorted vision, heart pounding madly, inner energy flow unlike before.
The faint sword qi surged thicker.
But not its original white—pitch black-red.
Maybe this was qi deviation.
Didn't matter.
If it gave me power now, if I could cut down even one more bastard—what did qi deviation matter?
Squeezing out my last strength, I rampaged like a beast.
Slash, thrust, slash again…
But I couldn't withstand the New Murim Alliance Leader and the surrounding joint assault.
Snikt.
“Kuh…!”
My sword arm was cleanly severed from the shoulder.
With my remaining hand, I desperately tried to snatch a weapon nearby—but a spear pierced my ankle first.
“Aaaargh!”
In that moment of pain-induced hesitation.
They didn't miss the gap—swords and spears rained down.
Shoulder, wrist, side, left eye, ankle, thigh, and dantian.
Pain I could endure.
But the blades stabbed like hunting prey pinned down physically halted my movements.
No matter how much strength I mustered, all I could do was glare at the New Murim Alliance Leader with my one good eye.
The bastard strolled up leisurely, smirking as he raised his sword.
“Impressive. But this is the end. Any last words?”
“…Fuck off, you piece of shit.”
“Ha! That's why you demonic scum are…”
The flashing sword light pierced my forehead.
.
.
.
.
.
“The Heavenly Demon! The Heavenly Demon has returned! Kill her before she regains her power! No, seal the gates so she can't escape!”
This time, without hesitation, I hurled Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso toward the back first.