Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Leaving and Staying
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hyeon-gak and Bing-seol widened their eyes in shock.
Dang Yak-ran had already revealed everything earlier, so the two now knew Heuk Do-san's true identity.
He wasn't a Demonic Cultist. Even if he'd joined for pay, he was a righteous warrior who had fought on the Righteous Alliance's side against the Demonic Cult.
So why was he trying to leave?
"Brother Heuk, what's this about?"
"I prefer being alone."
"You say you like being alone, but then why...?"
What Hyeon-gak really wanted to say was, 'If you like being alone, why take Bing-seol? What's your angle?'
"You forgot she spotted the deer meat on the ship? Her divine powers might save my life one more time. Otherwise, it's a total loss..."
Heuk Do-san turned back to Bing-seol and pressed her again.
"Coming or not?"
"I'll say it once more: I'm not leaving without the Seventh Star Lord."
"You foolish woman."
Heuk Do-san turned away without hesitation.
Hyeon-gak urgently grabbed his shoulder. Then he looked at Bing-seol with an unprecedented seriousness.
"Do you remember the first night fighting the Blood Wolf Corps, when Gong Cheon-ak and I stood watch together?"
"...?"
"At the time, Gong Cheon-ak told me this: It seems like everyone who's passed through here from the Northern Martial Realm acts like righteous folk. During the Righteous-Demonic Great War, righteous warriors outnumbered us overwhelmingly, and there were hardly any Demonic Cultists where the Nine Heavens Illusion Grand Ancestral Formation activated strongest. So statistically, they're probably righteous folk."
"What are you getting at?"
"Gong Cheon-ak asked me a favor. If they're righteous folk, he'll fight his best. But just in case there's a master among them he can't handle and he loses, he wants me to help you escape with your life."
Heuk Do-san stared at Hyeon-gak.
It was a blatant lie.
For someone as arrogant as Gong Cheon-ak, the idea that a master stronger than him might be here was absurd.
"Don't lie."
"It's the truth."
"Did you forget I'm the Divine Maiden?"
"......!"
Hyeon-gak's face flushed red.
Bing-seol, the Demonic Cult's Divine Maiden with divine insight, could easily tell when someone was lying.
"He didn't say it outright, but that's what he meant deep down. If he's come to his senses now, he'd order you to follow Brother Heuk. That's certain."
"How can you be so sure when you're not the Seventh Star Lord?"
"Because that's what I would've done."
"......!"
"I'll say it again: Gong Cheon-ak has no hope left. But if by some miracle he shows signs of recovery, Dang Yak-ran and I will do everything to save him."
"You said the Ten Soul-Chasing Ghosts would kill him."
"We'll stop that too. I'll buy a day or two, and once he's recovered his strength, I'll help him escape. But that requires you to be gone."
"Why is that?"
"Gong Cheon-ak is too well-known. Seop Dae-gang recognized him from the start. Luckily, he didn't know your identity at first, but that bastard Yeom Jin-sang blabbed everything over meat..."
"......"
"Seop Dae-gang's no fool. He's hailed as a genius who'll lead the Northern Martial Realm someday. By now, he's probably guessed they fell here because of the massive Qimen formation the Demonic Cult spread off Shandong's coast."
"So?"
"It's no secret the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Divine Maiden is deeply involved in their formations. At dawn, the Ten Soul-Chasing Ghosts will kill the Seventh Star Lord and grill you on how they ended up here."
"Just tell them. I've already explained everything to you all."
"Not a chance—that'd get you both killed. We can save him by claiming he knows not just how we got here, but the way back too."
"Ah..."
"Of course, assuming he miraculously revives. Anyway, you need to be gone for that. Get my meaning now?"
"What if I stay to save the Seventh Star Lord in exchange for guiding them?"
"Negotiate with the Ten Soul-Chasing Ghosts? How many times do I have to say it? That won't work with them. They hate Demonic Cultists to their bones. And Dang Yak-ran and I can't openly help..."
To Heuk Do-san, Hyeon-gak was pulling out all stops to save Bing-seol.
People really were unpredictable. Just six days ago, he'd been shaking with rage at Demonic Cultists. Now he was risking everything to save one.
'The monk's heart is aflame again.'
"One thing's sure: Seop Dae-gang is terrifying. Not evil, but colder than any villain."
Unable to stand it, Heuk Do-san chimed in.
"You know him well?"
Hyeon-gak asked.
"Well enough."
Hyeon-gak turned back to Bing-seol.
"I've said all I wanted. Now you decide. What'll it be? Die like dogs? Or take the slim chance to save Gong Cheon-ak and yourself?"
"Can I trust you'll help the Seventh Star Lord?"
"Amitabha. I swear on Buddha—I've never lied in my life."
"You ate the meat but denied it. That messed everything up."
'What the hell?'
Heuk Do-san looked at Hyeon-gak in disbelief. Bing-seol's words were true—Hyeon-gak's face turned beet red.
Then Bing-seol suddenly stood and politely clasped her hands toward Hyeon-gak.
Heuk Do-san and Hyeon-gak were baffled. The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Divine Maiden clasping hands like a Buddhist disciple?
"You're the only one I can trust right now, monk. Please take pity on the Seventh Star Lord and help him."
"I promise."
Hyeon-gak clasped back. He turned to Heuk Do-san.
"Wait here a moment. I'll seal the night watchmen's pressure points. Take Bing during that time and get out of the gorge."
"If they find out a Shaolin Arhat monk colluded with a Demonic Cultist, you'll face consequences. Can you handle that?"
"No choice."
"Grab some white wolf hide and ribs before you go. Obviously, don't let anyone wake."
"Why those?"
"Just do it."
Heuk Do-san finished and walked to the gorge's center, past the corner. Two Ten Soul-Chasing Ghosts tending the campfire by the watch widened their eyes.
"Where you headed?"
One asked provocatively.
Seeing the bow slung across his back, they figured he was off somewhere.
Heuk Do-san squatted between them by the fire. Casually, he tossed out:
"Home."
Plain rude talk.
Their faces twisted instantly. Seop Dae-gang had acknowledged him as a knight, so they couldn't manhandle him.
'Arrogant bastard.'
They wanted to teach him a martial artist's fear but held back.
"Home?"
Heuk Do-san silently gazed at the sky. They followed suit. Moonlight filtered softly through clouds—nice.
That instant.
Thwack!
Heuk Do-san struck the nape of their open necks—the Yefeng acupoint, half-inch below the earlobe.
The deadliest pressure point: limbs stiffen in agony, speech impossible, often unconsciousness.
Mouths agape, they gurgled twice and passed out. Too sudden a sneak attack.
Moments later, Hyeon-gak and Bing-seol approached quietly.
"Take care of Bing."
"...?"
"Once out, she'll only trust you. Please get her safely to the Central Plains. And you watch yourself, Brother Heuk. Thanks for everything."
"You too, monk."
"Anything for Dang Yak-ran? She'll be hurt if you just vanish..."
"Why would she?"
"You two got close."
"We did?"
"You gave her alone real weapons. Scale armor, , treated her wounds yourself. She made arrows for you all night, I hear..."
Heuk Do-san turned to another cliff.
The gorge narrowed at the mouth, widening inward.
The inner three-sided cliffs were uneven, curved like a coastline—why Hyeon-gak could hide and talk with Bing-seol.
Some spots dipped cave-like where floor met wall. After last night's chilling hilltop winds, people chose caves over campfires.
Dang Yak-ran was in one.
Across directly: Seop Dae-gang, her longtime crush, slept under the same cave with his fiancée, Mo Yong-ak.
Exhausted today more than ever, yet Dang Yak-ran didn't snore. Wrapped in Blood Wolf hide, face peeking out, she slept soundly like a flower.
"I must've been wrong."
"No fate means we won't meet even face to face."
"...?"
"Tell her that."
* * *
Out of the gorge, Heuk Do-san bolted west. The night-shrouded forest was pitch black, no moonlight penetrating.
But navigation was easy. White bark of birch trees gleamed in filtered moonlight, outlining the woods roughly.
The problem was Bing-seol. She couldn't keep pace. Breathing rougher than before. Seemed reluctant, glancing back often.
Heuk Do-san didn't rush. When she tired, he'd slow deliberately, wait; midway, he'd slash birch for water.
Dawn running through forest was novel. Pure qi everywhere, frost whitening grass.
Fog rose.
Pants wet, dawn broke. Soon woods ended; vast meadow appeared.
Enough grass for all last night's demon deer herd months. Stretching endlessly up-down. Ahead: clear river roared swiftly like a mirror.
Bing-seol brightened, rushed, dipped hands. Six days unwashed—a woman cherishing abundant water.
But she recoiled in horror.
"Ah! Cold!"
Bing-seol rubbed her hands frantically like they'd touched embers.
"What water..."
"Millennial snowmelt."
"What's that?"
"Water from snow piled millennia. Far colder than normal ice water, deep chill penetrates. Even beasts blow on it to drink. Fall in, no saving—you freeze solid."
"How's such cold water flowing unfrozen?"
"Current. Slower, it'd be iced solid."
"Ah..."
Bing-seol nodded unconsciously. River rushed so fiercely, worrisome.
Edges calm had thick ice chunks. Even then, sparse water plants—nature ever wondrous.
"What's that?"
Bing-seol spotted something, shouted. Nearby: campfire traces, likely Seop Dae-gang's group from yesterday.
"They camped here."
"Couldn't cross this river."
Amusing.
Seop Dae-gang's group stuck by river. Allowed Heuk Do-san signal fire contact. Now he was caught by it.
Actually, guessed two days ago from hilltop spyglass: endless leaf waves cut horizontally, valley toward snow mountains.
Usually mountain runoff river. Now snowmelt.
"They've noticed we're gone by now?"
"In battle, change watch from midnight to Tiger Hour when vigilance lowest. Dawn's well past—earliest one hour ago, latest half."
Heuk Do-san left post-midnight. Factored full watch cycle.
Every step calculated—impressive always.
"What now?"
"What else? Cross."