Chapter 87: Winter Stranding (1)
Chapter 87: Winter Stranding (1)
The Grand Canal was a massive, long-term construction project spanning from the Sui Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. At this point in time, it had been completed for less than a century, making it a brand-new structure by the standards of the era.
Consequently, it shared the same flaws as most newly built apartments: the facility management was a mess in various places, and given the era and the local tendencies, shoddy construction was incredibly frequent.
It was a pity that while modern new apartments have pre-occupancy inspection agencies, a newly built canal had no such thing.
Thus, except for Northern Zhili, where the Imperial Court kept its closest watch, and Southern Zhili, where construction was most concentrated, the remaining sections—namely the Shandong region—were a horrific mess.
That "mess" didn't necessarily mean pirates appearing or embankments collapsing; it was more that the currents were excessively strong, there were too many sections connected to the Yellow Sea, and interference from surrounding lakes was common.
In modern terms, it would be like a stretch of highway plagued by frequent traffic bottlenecks.
Furthermore, there were many deserted stretches without any "CCTV" (local government offices).
In other words, crime was frequent.
The lower reaches of the Yellow River were firmly held by the Dragon Slaying Alliance, and the Yangtze River was the domain of the Yangtze River Waterborne Clan.
However, Shandong Province, situated between the Black Path-dominated North and the Orthodox-dominated Jiangnan, was essentially a border dispute zone of the martial world. It lacked any private security or surveillance services.
Normally, no one would be bold enough to touch a ship flying the flag of the Dragon Slaying Alliance, and with the Murong Family present, even an Orthodox sect would likely try to talk first. It should have been safe, but...
『Heavenly Strike』
"That... isn't that the Heavenly Roar Fist?"
"Yeah. It... it is..."
『Collapse Heaven』
"You said there was no way they'd come here!! You said they wouldn't care about us!!"
"I did! I mean, there was no way for them to even know we were here in the first place!"
『Great Luo Sky-Annihilating Strike』
"Just—just run!! Cheong! You too!!"
"What about you, Uncle?!"
"I'll see you in Wuchang! Hurry!"
...And that is how I became the Bear Grylls of the martial world.
Murong Cheong and I dived straight into the lake. After barely managing to scramble onto the shore, we stood there dazed for a moment, watching a far too familiar sight: the ship we had been on until moments ago being pulverized into dust.
"It seems bad luck follows you. It's been like this since Shanxi all the way to Qinghe County. I feel wronged."
"Hey, you too?"
I feel wronged too, you know...
"A-choo! Sniff!"
Seeing Murong Cheong's nose turn bright red after her sneeze, a sigh escaped me involuntarily.
I was stranded with this girl again.
*
Brother Murong Jeon's judgment had been lightning-fast.
The moment the Heavenly Roar Fist prepared its offensive toward us, in that split second, he snatched Murong Cheong and me up and hurled us toward the lake.
Immediately after, he dashed off in another direction, but honestly, it was unclear if he had made it in time.
The window to escape completely had been far too short.
"We need to start moving soon."
"Wait, just a... just a little longer. Let's wait a bit more."
When we finally crawled out of the water, Murong Cheong was shivering, her face pale from the cold, yet her eyes remained fixed on the canal.
Despite the overwhelming presence felt in the distance—the presence of one of the Fifteen Lords of the World—she refused to budge.
"If we stay here like this, we'll definitely die. We have to move."
"..."
Murong Cheong squeezed her eyes shut and regulated her breathing.
This was a woman who had traveled all the way to Quanzhen Sect just to find an uncle she wasn't even related to by blood.
Now, she had essentially lost a 'real' relative right before her eyes.
I pressed down on her shoulder as gently as possible and whispered.
"Brother Murong Jeon is alive."
"How... how can you be so sure?"
"Because if he weren't, Eon Do-cheon wouldn't have left us alive."
Given the circumstances, Eon Do-cheon must have seen through the Murong Family's deception in advance.
If so, let's think from his perspective.
The best outcome for Eon Do-cheon would be for the Murong Family members not to attend the Martial Alliance Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
If he could just bury them cleanly, he could buy himself some time.
The day Murong Cheong or Murong Jeon safely reached the gathering, the Jinzhou Eon Family would become public enemies of the martial world.
I didn't know what he intended to do with the time he bought, but that was the logical conclusion based on the information available.
So, why wasn't he pursuing us immediately?
"We felt it when we were hit by that old monster's attack. We're currently within that old man's range."
"I... I know..."
"Then why isn't he rushing in to silence the witnesses even though he can sense us?"
There was no martial artist on the ship we took who was stronger than Murong Jeon.
The rest were just mediocre martial artists and commoners.
A few might have survived the moment the ship sank.
However, the reason Eon Do-cheon wasn't hunting down every single survivor to silence them was obvious.
Murong Jeon was alive, and he had hidden his presence and fled somewhere.
From Eon Do-cheon's perspective, the only one confirmed to be a member of the Murong Family was Murong Jeon.
By his standards, Murong Cheong was barely different from a commoner.
In other words, even if Eon Do-cheon ignored the other survivors, he would definitely try to find and kill Murong Jeon.
The fact that he wasn't moving meant, conversely, that Murong Jeon was still alive.
"Then... then we should go help my uncle and join forces..."
"Don't be stupid. Is he someone our level can handle even if we join forces? If that were possible, Brother Murong Jeon would have initiated a pincer attack himself."
I gripped her arm firmly and pulled her up.
She was trembling slightly, but she didn't resist much.
"Brother Murong Jeon is leading Eon Do-cheon away instead of just fleeing. The more time we waste here, the more danger he's in. How long do you think he can stay hidden from a Harmony Realm master?"
Grit...
At my words, Murong Cheong bit her lip and gave a short nod.
The two of us left the scene, suppressing our presence as much as possible.
There was no sign of immediate pursuit, but we couldn't let our guard down.
If Eon Do-cheon had set his mind to it, catching up to us would have been child's play.
'I am definitely going to kill you.'
This was the second time my life had been threatened.
By the standards of the Peng Family, this was an insult deep enough to say the grudge had seeped into my very marrow.
Rather than fearing those illustrious titles—Head of the Jinzhou Eon Family, Heavenly Void Fist Eon Do-cheon, one of the Fifteen Lords of the World, one of the Four Great Orthodox Masters, the Fist King—I was so angry my stomach churned.
"You're dead meat."
If you fail to secure the kill after two clear opportunities, you're going to have to pay the price.
I wrapped my arm around the shivering Murong Cheong's shoulders and left the lakeside.
The snowfall was growing heavier.
Unlike me, whose body was incredibly sturdy, Murong Cheong—who looked like she had never even touched external arts—was rapidly deteriorating.
"Hey, hey, you okay?"
"Ugh... d-d-d... huh?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake."
Murong Cheong was currently bundled up in my long robe and cloak.
Even so, it probably wasn't much warmer.
Both she and I had been dunked in the lake, and thin ice was already forming on us even as we stood still.
Murong Cheong's lips were turning blue, and her focus was beginning to drift.
"Hey, snap out of it. Hey! If you sleep, you'll really die!"
"I-it's... s-so... c-cold."
"Yeah, yeah, it's damn cold."
This was bad.
The area I had memorized the map for was limited to Northern Zhili. Even if I stretched it, the vicinity of Shandong was my limit.
Even that was larger than the entire Korean Peninsula; no matter how smart I was, I couldn't know the geography of the entire region perfectly.
To make matters worse, this was the southern tip of Shandong, practically bordering Southern Zhili.
In other words, this place was like a foreign country to me.
I had no GPS, no map, and the snow was falling so thick I couldn't see an inch in front of me, making it impossible to find a proper shelter.
If Murong Cheong remained exposed to the wind like this much longer, she might just succumb to hypothermia.
She began to lose her balance and stagger dangerously.
"Dammit."
As Murong Cheong stumbled and tried to collapse, I quickly caught her and pulled her up.
I wrapped our clothes around both of us to keep us as close as possible and grit my teeth.
I was starting to lose sensation in my fingers as well.
The only fortunate thing was that I wasn't just some First-Rate martial artist like this girl.
"You better bow to me once a day after this."
I concentrated internal energy into my legs.
I stopped all the energy that had been circulating through my acupoints to maintain body temperature and directed it through my Middle Dantian toward the Spleen Meridian of Foot-Taiyin.
When I knocked on my Middle Dantian, I heard a familiar sound.
Crackle. The sound of lightning sparking. The nature of my internal energy began to transform.
The Astral Energy Skill, which I was not permitted to use, began to ravage my acupoints.
I grit my teeth and endured.
If I lost focus for even a second, it would be a one-way ticket to Qi Deviation.
And it wasn't like the Hao Clan Leader was here to help me this time.
Starting from the Heavenly Gate of the Middle Dantian, passing through Shidou, Fuai, Chongmen, and Qimen, down to the Sea of Blood—shards of Astral Energy began to embed themselves, violently shattering, between the acupoints inside my thick calves.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
The sensation was as if hundreds, thousands of needles were being driven in a row along the long meridian of the Spleen Meridian of Foot-Taiyin.
The pain was intense enough to make my nose suddenly bleed.
But if anything, it was a relief.
"I'm... definitely awake now...!!"
Lougu, Sanyinjiao, Taibai, Dadao, and finally the Yongquan acupoint.
Boom—!!
The Seven Shadow Immortal Step, performed for the first time near the Peak Realm. The snow accumulating around me scattered as if a bomb had gone off, and my body began to fly forward.
The wind was like a blade, threatening to tear my cheeks. I kept my stride, taking the falling snow head-on.
Thump, thump, thump. My heart pounded frantically, screaming in agony.
Thanks to that, my body warmed up a bit. Fortunately.
I could feel Murong Cheong, who was clutched tightly in my arms, also warming up slightly in the process.
"Using a person's body... as a hand warmer...!"
I grit my teeth and sprinted.
Even if I had managed to delay the golden hour for hypothermia, the fact that we needed to find shelter immediately hadn't changed.
*
Crackle, crackle.
Murong Cheong slowly exhaled as she heard the sound of a campfire burning.
She felt as though she were wrapped tightly in something strangely hot, cozy, and—it was hard to describe—solid.
Not yet fully awake from a sleep that was closer to exhaustion, she mumbled and tossed slightly.
Her hand brushed against something like a warm wall.
"Mmm...?"
As she touched the wall, she heard a slap, slap sound.
She was wrapped so tightly she couldn't move an inch, almost like... how should she put it...?
'A swaddle...?'
It felt like a swaddle wrapping a baby.
But why a swaddle... no, why was she like this?
The Heavenly Void Fist had appeared, her uncle had thrown her, she fell into the water, they ran, it was so cold—
"...!!!"
As the memories connected, Murong Cheong jerked as if struck by lightning, then squeezed her eyes shut.
Fortunately, since she hadn't opened her eyes or done anything yet, he would probably think she was still asleep.
Yes, I am currently asleep.
I am sleepy.
I am very sleepy.
Murong Cheong kept her eyes closed and regulated her body, breathing as rhythmically as possible.
Meanwhile, she didn't know where to put the hand she had placed on that 'solid and warm wall,' so she just left it there.
I mean, it's sleep-talking. Right, it's just something done in sleep.
She even gave it a little squeeze...
"Hey."
Flinch.
Her body reacted to the voice above her head, but she kept her eyes squeezed shut.
Please, I'm sleeping.
I'm really sound asleep right now.
"I know you're awake."
"...Ahem."
"Seriously."
Underneath her closed eyelids, Murong Cheong's eyes darted around.
Now that her reason had fully returned and her senses were restored, it was all too obvious what kind of position they were in.
She was being held like a child, her hand resting on—and clearly having just squeezed—a 'warm wall' that was unmistakably a bare chest.
And she was just lying there with her eyes closed.
"No, really, you're getting heavy now. You definitely weren't this heavy when I carried you a few months ago. Just how much did you eat in Liaoning during the winter? Were you preparing for hibernation?"
"What an insult! I always maintain my weight perfectly!"
"Oh."
When Murong Cheong accidentally blurted that out and opened her eyes, the eyes of Peng Hyeon-hwi, who was looking down at her, crinkled in a smirk.
"You're fine now."
"Ah, wait."
With those words, he set her down almost as if he were dropping her.
Seeing him massage his own arms with a groan made her feel like she was about to burst with indignation.
"H-how long could you have possibly been doing that? A martial artist making such a fuss!"
"At least two days. Kid."
Deep fatigue was etched all over Peng Hyeon-hwi's face.
"It's definitely been over two days, but I stopped counting after that, so I don't know."
Peng Hyeon-hwi clenched his fists a few times and gave a short laugh.