Chapter 443
Chapter 443
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 115
>Chapter Title: Wicked Heart Granny (1)
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“Release me. If you’re planning to leave this place soon, there’s no need to keep holding onto me, is there?”
Cheongryeong, gradually weakening due to the talismans forming the silverwood and true seal, spoke in a strained voice to the woman with 청흑-colored hair who had revealed herself as the legendary archvillain from the ancient martial world, the Wicked Heart Granny.
Of course, her plea fell on deaf ears.
Instead, a completely irrelevant response came.
“It’s been a long time. No matter how sweetly I accepted my karma or how faithfully I followed his arrangements, spending these long years alone wasn’t easy.”
“......”
“Kekekeke. Of course, idiots like you who barge in here hoping to gain something helped me endure it.”
Cheongryeong inwardly seethed at the woman’s attitude of just spouting whatever she wanted.
She was running critically short on time.
With that bastard also aiming for the soul-fusion alchemy, staying trapped here like this would lead not to mutual destruction but to her pointless annihilation.
If that happened, the rampaging monster might unleash all its rage and madness upon the world—and him.
‘...Jong-saeng.’
Before her enemy, she had tried to reap everything she had sown for his sake.
That was the right thing, and Jong-saeng would be able to live his own life.
But nothing was going as planned.
Why was the heavens so indifferent?
Why did it block even this one wish she was trying to fulfill while forsaking a new bond after losing everything?
Was all this truly an unchangeable fate?
Clenching her teeth, Cheongryeong endured the pain of her spirit body burning away and forced herself upright.
‘No. No. I can’t... submit here.’
She had endured for a full century.
She had lost the bloodline of the Moon Pulse Clan, everyone precious to her, and even the lover she adored.
Was her will for vengeance this frail?
If she vanished like this, who would avenge the lingering resentment of those wandering the Nine Heavens?
Rather than sitting idly awaiting oblivion, it was better to try everything she could.
With that, Cheongryeong shouted at the Wicked Heart Granny.
“I’ve heard that the one who ordered you to guard this place told you not to kill anyone. So is tormenting even a vengeful spirit like this acceptable?”
The Wicked Heart Granny scoffed at her cry.
“A vengeful spirit is already dead—what’s there to torment or not?”
“Isn’t trapping me like this torment? Do you think that ‘him’ would approve of accepting a wretch like you?”
Rooooar!
No sooner had the words left her mouth than it happened.
The Wicked Heart Granny’s face twisted ferociously, and an immense killing intent poured from her.
Something had struck a nerve.
Of course, since this was exactly what Cheongryeong had aimed for, it was what she wanted.
“Did I hit the mark?”
“The mark? You, a resentful ghost steeped in grudges after death, dare speak of him like that when you know nothing?”
‘So that’s it?’
The part that irked this old monster called the Wicked Heart Granny seemed to be mentioning “him.”
She appeared far more offended by that than the personal insult.
To confirm, Cheongryeong said,
“Isn’t that right? He couldn’t trust an old monster like you, so he shut you away here and left you to rot...”
Swish!
Before she could finish,
The Wicked Heart Granny flicked her index finger,
And with a thud,
Cheongryeong’s spirit body, trapped within the silverwood, floated up involuntarily and slammed forcibly into the silverwood.
Siiiizzzle!
She had already been suffering the burning pain without direct contact with the bars.
But touching her spirit body directly? The agony was beyond words.
Her spirit body even began decomposing as it burned.
“Guhhh...”
She could have screamed in pain, but Cheongryeong glared at the Wicked Heart Granny with eyes full of fury despite the torment.
At this sight, a glint appeared in the Wicked Heart Granny’s eyes.
She had meant to teach this foolish vengeful spirit a lesson for her loose tongue, but even as her spirit burned against the silverwood, she displayed astonishing endurance.
As a master of all manner of barriers, alchemy, and spells who had lived for ages, she had seen countless souls, spirits, and vengeful ghosts, but this was a first.
‘Well, now.’
At a glance, the confining spell seemed simple, but it was her creation born of vast experience—something no grudge-bound魄 could endure, regardless of its level.
The Wicked Heart Granny flicked her finger downward.
Then, Cheongryeong’s spirit body clinging to the silverwood bars fell away.
“Haa... haa...”
Cheongryeong staggered but straightened herself.
Her spirit had burned, causing massive loss of spiritual power—she should have collapsed—yet she gritted her teeth and held.
To her, the Wicked Heart Granny clicked her tongue in admiration.
“For a vengeful spirit, you’ve got some real venom.”
“Haa... haa...”
“Provoking me to find an opening? It’s pointless. No matter what you do, there’s no escaping this place. Give up.”
“Haa... haa...”
With her spiritual power so depleted, Cheongryeong couldn’t yet reply.
Watching her, the Wicked Heart Granny smirked and continued.
“Well, provoking me through him isn’t entirely wrong. He’s the benefactor who gave new life to me, blinded and cursed barren of children, and a hero without equal in this world.”
‘A hero?’
For this archvillain infamous in the ancient martial world to speak of someone in such exalted terms—who could it be?
Cheongryeong hadn’t heard of many figures connected to the ancient martial world.
This raised a sudden question in her mind.
This old monster’s martial prowess aside, her spell mastery was monstrous.
For someone thought long dead, whom even she revered this much—who could it be?
“...This ‘him’ you speak of... as if you’ll meet him soon... What is he? Is he still alive like you?”
“Alive? Hmm. That’s an ambiguous question.”
The Wicked Heart Granny stroked her chin and muttered.
Cheongryeong found her reaction odd.
Dead is dead, alive is alive—why the vagueness?
Then, resting her chin on her interlaced hands atop the table, the Wicked Heart Granny gazed nostalgically and said,
“He was a hero overflowing with affection, for all his heroism.”
What?
Another non sequitur?
“He attained enlightenment in immortal arts and the immortal path, so he could have forcibly remained in the world, suppressing the natural order. But he couldn’t.”
“The natural order... you don’t mean...”
“What? Vengeful ghost, you know of the natural order too? That’s unexpected.”
The natural order.
It was the flow that constituted the world.
Being with Mok Kyung-un had taught her far more truths than being alone.
Thus, she knew ascension wasn’t merely reaching the realm of immortals through enlightenment.
She had heard that those transcending the natural order of this world crossed to the other side of the boundary.
Was this “him” the Wicked Heart Granny spoke of such a being?
But she said,
“Good. Better than reciting scripture to a cow’s ear. Truth is, no one knows the pain he endured better than I.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think? Do you imagine it’s easy watching everyone but me age and die?”
“......”
Death by old age of loved ones.
It was the greatest misfortune for those who lived long.
“Even if some attained longevity through enlightenment, not all did. He, with his deep affections, couldn’t bear it. So in the end, he took only those who had stayed by his side for long with him.”
“To the other side of the boundary?”
Was leaving the natural order enough for that?
Could others besides herself be led beyond the boundary?
Shaking her head at Cheongryeong’s puzzlement, the Wicked Heart Granny replied,
“No, of course not. I thought you knew properly, but no. Tsk tsk. That place is only for those who transcend the natural order. You think such beings come easily? Even I, after centuries of cultivation, haven’t yet.”
“Then what...”
“I don’t know. According to him, there’s a hidden paradise like Peach Blossom Land between the natural order and the other side. When the time comes, I too will...”
“...So you don’t know properly either.”
Boom!
At Cheongryeong’s mocking words, the Wicked Heart Granny slammed the table with a dissatisfied scowl.
“Shut!”
“......”
“I’ll go soon. It’s not far off. Though I’ve accumulated karma over the years, all I’ve done is guard this place in his stead out of concern. Hmph... I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with a wretch of a vengeful ghost...”
KABOOM!
‘!?’
Rumble rumble rumble!
In that instant, a massive explosion rocked the thatched hut, shaking the central pillar violently.
At the sudden event, the Wicked Heart Granny whipped her head around.
“Hah?”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
More explosions followed in succession, and cracks began forming in part of the pillar’s center.
Watching this, the Wicked Heart Granny’s face twisted savagely.
From her reaction, Cheongryeong could tell something had definitely blown.
With a flicker of hope, she shouted,
“I warned you. From the moment you trapped me here, troublesome things would keep happening.”
“...You’re saying this is because of you?”
“What else?”
“Is that so? Because of you, then. Let’s check and see. Who’s behind this annoying mess.”
Thud!
Grabbing her ringed staff, the Wicked Heart Granny stomped out.
Watching her go, Cheongryeong’s gaze turned to the pillar in the center of the hut.
It was confirmed now.
That pillar was undoubtedly the core of the true seal maintaining this space.
* * *
Emerging outside, the Wicked Heart Granny slammed her ringed staff into the ground.
The space in the middle of the meadow warped, revealing a single silhouette.
With countless energies floating around the figure, it was clear this was the culprit.
Thus,
“You’re quite the pest.”
Muttering that toward the warped space, she then,
Reached in and seized the silhouette’s head.
The resistance was considerable, but nothing compared to her.
Gripping the head, she yanked it out.
Schluck!
“Hngh!”
With it emerged a man in white scale armor, his head gripped.
‘Hm?’
A glint flashed in the Wicked Heart Granny’s eyes.
She had assumed a human, but the mixed aura from the man furrowed her brow.
This was no ordinary human.
With yokai power and pure energy intertwined, calling it half-beast spirit wasn’t an exaggeration.
Puzzled, she tried to close the open true seal.
But then,
Stab!
Something pierced through the space she was trying to seal.
“What?”
It was none other than,
‘Formless Sword?’
Transparent in form, gathered pure energy sharpening its edge—this was unmistakably a formless sword.
Then, the formless sword began spinning in a spiral.
Whirrr!
Cracks formed in the closing warped space, forcing it to tear open even wider.
Boom!
The Wicked Heart Granny slammed her ringed staff down again, trying to forcibly seal it.
But in that moment,
Something slipped through the rift inside.
Seeing the being, an involuntary gasp escaped the Wicked Heart Granny’s lips.
‘Ah!’
In her centuries of life, she had never seen such a beautiful young man.
But the surprise didn’t end there.
His face looked like a youth not yet thirty, yet his aura nearly matched her own.
Intuitively, she knew.
This was the one.
Undoubtedly,
‘The pinnacle of the current martial world.’
Her lips twitched upward with fighting spirit, her earlier irritation from the intruder’s antics forgotten.
[End of Chapter 115: Wicked Heart Granny (1)]