Chapter 108
Chapter 108
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Triumphant Return
-----------------------------------------------------------------
*Whooosh.*
A biting north wind whipped against my face.
A phenomenon I had experienced once before.
*'This place again?'*
At least the situation was much better than the first time I was here.
*Kwoooar!*
*Crunch!*
The black dragon flying above my head was devouring the source of the cold, causing the chill to rapidly dissipate.
The problem was…
*'Isn't that thing getting a little too big?'*
The more cold it consumed, the larger the dragon grew with each passing moment.
As if it would fill the entire world.
Sure enough.
After some time, having devoured the entire source, the dragon let out a massive roar.
*Kwoooar!*
Overwhelmed by its mythical majesty, my mouth fell open unconsciously.
And then.
*Shiver.*
Even knowing the dragon's true identity was the War King's energy contained within me, my body trembled.
*'I've been harboring something like this inside me?'*
As I trembled at its world-devouring ferocity, our eyes met.
*Kwooa!*
The black dragon roared again and flew towards me.
*Shaaa.*
It entered my body.
***
"Hah!"
"You're awake."
Startled for a moment by the unfamiliar ceiling, I relaxed upon hearing Bukgung Baek's familiar voice.
"Where am I?"
"Your house."
"What?"
I finally looked around and realized I was in the place that was formerly the Jo Family Merchant Guild, now my residence.
"You've been asleep for three days."
"Only three days?"
The place I lost consciousness was Mount Emei.
But I woke up in Nine Dragons Fortress.
To travel over two thousand *li* in just three days…
However, my question was quickly answered.
"I carried you on my back."
"Ah..."
If a master of the Transcendent Realm personally used their lightness skill, covering two thousand *li* in three days was entirely possible.
"Thanks to that, my legs are a bit sore."
"I didn't know you could make jokes."
"Hmm... Was it not funny?"
"Not at all. I will never forget this kindness and will surely repay you."
"Just buy me a few jars of bamboo leaf liquor."
Bukgung Baek stood up from his seat.
"Are you leaving?"
"Now that I've seen you're awake, I should go."
As he was about to open the door and leave, he stopped and turned his head.
"Ah, I almost forgot to mention this."
"…?"
"Paid leave, was it? I'll process it as you suggested, so get plenty of rest. There will be good news once you've recovered."
"This kindness! I shall be eternally grateful!"
The more I saw of him, the more I liked this man.
After Bukgung Baek left, the person who came in was my personal physician and tenant, Cheong So-so.
"Really, every time you go somewhere, you come back seriously injured."
"I wasn't injured in a fight this time."
"Then what?"
"It's because I took the Frost Yin Fluid you gave me."
"Whaaat?!"
"Perhaps you gave me a defective product?"
"Th-that can't be! I checked the secret manual several times while making it! W-wait, did you perhaps take it improperly like last time? Or maybe you took both bottles at once?"
Both were correct.
The situation had been so urgent, I hadn't had the luxury of thinking about side effects.
However, if I were to consider such trivial reasons, she would never grow as a physician.
"Or maybe the formula itself is wrong."
I decided to hold her thoroughly accountable.
"That's impossible. For the secret formula of the Cheong family to be wrong..."
"Hah! Are you going to ignore the victim standing right here?"
"Ugh..."
I delivered the finishing blow to the flustered woman.
"Anyway, you need to take responsibility."
"R-responsibility?!"
"Hey, why are you suddenly blushing? I'm saying you need to take responsibility for fixing me up after the elixir you made went wrong. For free, of course."
"Ah..."
"And I have one more condition."
"W-what is it?"
"From now on, I'm dropping the formalities."
"What?"
"Why are you so surprised? I believe I'm a year older than you."
"W-well, that doesn't matter, but..."
To be honest, it was a bit awkward living in the same house, speaking informally to Myo Hyang but formally to Cheong So-so.
I couldn't count how many times I almost mixed them up and made a mistake, especially when we were eating at the same table.
So I'd been thinking I needed to sort it out someday, and since I was now the victim of a medical accident, I decided to handle it as part of my compensation.
"Then how should I address you..."
"Address me? Well..."
Right.
She might not look it, but she was the daughter of a general hospital director. Given her status, it would be ridiculous for her to call me "Young Master." On the other hand, the thought of her calling me "older brother" was utterly revolting.
"Just keep calling me Squad Leader Jin like you have been."
In the end, I chose to maintain the status quo.
"But..."
However, despite my considerate decision, she just hesitated.
It seemed she wanted something else.
I'm sharp enough to guess a criminal's crime just by looking into their eyes.
It was all too easy to deduce why she was acting this way.
*'Women these days...'*
Speaking informally inevitably creates a sense of psychological closeness.
Cheong So-so was clearly trying to take advantage of that to gain something for herself.
*'Oppa, business has been slow lately, can't you give me a little discount on the rent?'*
The mere thought of it was horrifying.
Since I absolutely could not let that happen, I decided to teach her about the harsh realities of society.
"Ahem! What are you doing? Hurry up and prepare the treatment! Do you want to watch your patient die?!"
"This crazy bastard?"
***
The day after Cheong So-so, having been utterly defeated in our power struggle, assaulted me with the bag of medicinal herbs she was holding.
When morning came, Myo Hyang brought in a tray laden with food.
It was a nutritious meal of slow-boiled chicken served with various pickled vegetables and rice.
Having not had a proper meal since arriving at Mount Emei, I couldn't help but gulp at the sight of the feast.
Hearing the sound, Myo Hyang's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.
"You need to eat well to recover quickly, right?"
"Th-thank you, sister."
*Rip.*
I quickly reached out and tore off a chicken leg.
"Oh my? It's so hot, and yet you..."
It was steaming hot, but that didn't matter.
"I'm a master, so it's fine."
Thanks to the passive skill of being impervious to heat and cold that I gained upon reaching the pinnacle of mastery, this level of heat wouldn't even cause a blister, let alone a burn.
*Munch, munch. Gulp.*
"Wow! This is insane."
It was so tenderly boiled that it fell apart along the grain the moment I bit into it and slid down my throat.
The rest was a blur.
I devoured the entire chicken, stuffing rice and pickled vegetables into my mouth.
A moment later, after I had polished off all the food Myo Hyang had brought, she asked with a smile.
"I boiled another one. Should I bring it for you?"
"Yes, please."
Only after eating another whole chicken did I finally feel like I was alive again.
"Ugh, that was a good meal."
"Seeing you eat so well makes all the hard work worthwhile."
"You're the best, sister."
"Hehe, if there's anything else you'd like to eat, just let me know anytime."
"More than that, I'd like to know what's happening outside."
"Should I ask the Two Immortals Gang to send someone over?"
I shook my head at Myo Hyang's words.
"No. Instead of them, could you call Hwa-ran for me?"
Revealing my address to that stalker felt unsettling, but since the Two Immortals Gang recently switched to a paid service, I had no choice if I wanted to get information for free.
As expected, a hasty monetization only accelerates customer churn.
However, as if she had anticipated my actions, Jeok Hwa-ran appeared from a completely unexpected place.
"Were you looking for me?"
"Ugh!"
She appeared holding a teapot the moment the words left my mouth.
"You, how did you get here?! I moved without telling anyone on purpose!"
Unlike me, who was so shocked I thought my heart would stop, Jeok Hwa-ran responded calmly.
"I heard you were back, Senior, so I rushed right over. And even if you don't tell me, I can always find out where you've moved. Hohoho."
With a smile-filled expression, she filled a cup with tea.
"Here, have some tea first."
Jeok Hwa-ran perched on the edge of the bed and offered me the teacup.
As a Confucian boy, this was an act my values could not tolerate.
I kicked her.
*Thud.*
"There must be a distinction between men and women! How dare you place your bottom on a man's bed?!"
However, the fallen Jeok Hwa-ran simply caressed her bony behind with a flushed face.
"Oh my... So forceful."
"I'm going crazy..."
How am I supposed to land a hit if no damage registers?
I glanced at Myo Hyang to see what was going on, but she just shook her head with a troubled smile.
Nine times out of ten, she must have just forced her way in.
It couldn't be helped.
Since it had already happened, I might as well get what I needed before kicking her out.
"Just sit down somewhere."
"Yes."
"Where do you think you're going?! Not the bed, bring a chair over and sit there!"
"Yeees..."
"Sister, you can leave us for a moment."
"Oh my?"
"Stop your nonsense and go get a chair."
And so, Myo Hyang left, leaving the two of us alone in the room.
I asked the strangely blushing Jeok Hwa-ran for news from the outside.
"For free?"
I was met with an unexpected partial paywall.
"Sigh... How much?"
"I have more money than you."
"Then what do you want?"
"Let's go out together."
"Where?"
"Hmm... How about nearby Chengdu...?"
"Forget it. I'd rather not know."
Chengdu was a three-day, two-night trip from here.
I could clearly see she was scheming to cause some ridiculous trouble.
"Th-then, how about Nine Dragons Mountain..."
"Only to the entrance."
"Okay."
After narrowly settling on a day trip, I was finally able to hear about the current situation.
"First, regarding the situation at Mount Emei... The Ten Demon Alliance's expeditionary force has completely withdrawn. However, we've only confirmed they retreated to Xizang; it's uncertain if they've returned to Qinghai, so the defense force's return will be slightly delayed."
"Do you know how many casualties there were?"
"It's not certain, but the estimate is around twenty people."
"If it's 'around'?"
"There are so many seriously injured that the death toll keeps rising. They've gathered all the physicians from nearby villages and government offices to treat them, but the battle was so fierce that it seems some are beyond recovery."
I knew it couldn't be helped, but the primitive level of medicine in this world felt frustrating.
*'And it's not like I can take the Cheong family physicians with me everywhere.'*
With a heavy heart, I continued with my next question.
"What's happening in Hanzhong?"
"They're still in a standoff. Three thousand demons from the Ten Demon Alliance are surrounding the entire Hanzhong Fortress, and two thousand warriors from Nine Dragons Fortress are defending it. As you know, Hanzhong is..."
"I know. It's not easy to defend."
Unlike the Mount Emei Branch, which used the Emei Sect's former mountain gate at the peak of Mount Emei, the Hanzhong Branch was located in the middle of a city built on flat land.
Against an army, it might be different, but against top-tier masters who could fly and leap, city walls were meaningless.
It was a place with no defensive advantages.
"The silver lining is that the Grand Chancellor and the other inner fortress Hall Masters are there. The Righteous Path Alliance has also dispatched its own warriors."
"How long will it take for them to get there?"
"Geographically, it should take twenty days, but given the urgency of the matter, I expect them to arrive within seven days."
"That's a relief."
To be honest, this was what I was most worried about.
I was afraid it might escalate into an all-out war.
After listening to her talk about world affairs for over an hour, all my questions were answered.
"It's getting late, shouldn't you be going?"
"I was just about to. And..."
"Don't worry. I, Jin Mujeon, am a man who has lived his life without knowing falsehood. I'll see you soon."
"Hohoho, then I'll see you 'soon'."
As soon as the stalker—I mean, Jeok Hwa-ran—left, I called for Myo Hyang.
"Write 'Jeok Hwa-ran Not Allowed' and post it on the main gate right now."
How dare she trespass like that?