Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Millennium Snow Ginseng
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"Aaaaaargh!!!"
A piercing scream tore from my throat as if ripping it apart. The cold edge of the iron sword slicing through my neck felt vividly real even now. The disgust and terror of my headless body floating in the air, weightless, crashed down on me.
How long had I been screaming like that?
I realized I was howling alone under the dark night sky.
"Th-this...?"
I cautiously felt my Adam's apple and the back of my neck. My head was still attached, and the serene smell of cow dung wafted around me. It was such a familiar scent that I blinked and carefully looked around.
The familiar chill. The familiar darkness. The familiar smell of cow dung.
That's right.
This was the cowshed.
It seemed to be the exact same place and time as when I had come back to life before.
"......?!"
I couldn't believe it, my mouth hanging wide open.
Could this be the third regression?!
I'd have to wait for daylight to confirm, but it felt just like before. With trembling hands, I touched my body all over. Sure enough, it was a child's body. Kneeling there, shuddering, I fell silent for a long while.
Right now, a boiling surge of emotions raged through me.
The intense joy of getting another chance to start over.
The misery of being made to live again after facing death twice.
And a fierce thirst for revenge and rage straightened my spine.
A voice laced with hatred spilled from my lips.
"Village Chief... you broke... your promise...!!"
It was the Village Chief who had hired the Black Night Sect assassin squad from the Eight Demonic Sects!
He had repaid my vengeance with vengeance of his own. Even after agreeing to let bygones be bygones!
In the end, I was the one who suffered, and I'd actually died, so a whirlwind of murderous intent now swirled inside me. But I forcibly calmed my emotions and let out ragged breaths. My mind spun dizzily.
"Hah... hah... hah...!!"
Sweat poured from me as the qi from my dantian surged up like it had been waiting.
'As expected... my internal energy carried over!'
Thunder Dragon One Qi Art!
It was the Azure Dragon Martial Hall's secret heart method, a first-class internal art proudly listed among the elite. I had once melted down my previous Three Talents Heart Method entirely into the Thunder Dragon One Qi Art and diligently cultivated it for three years.
My current internal energy was incomparable to that of my peers. Even late-teenage late-stage disciples would struggle to match its solidity, and now I was in an even younger body.
In martial arts, age was crucial. Especially for internal arts, it was absolute. The younger you were, the easier it was to open your meridians, allowing internal energy to grow quickly and physical abilities to improve just as fast. If I started cultivating the Thunder Dragon One Qi Art diligently from now, it wouldn't be impossible to reach the threshold of a First-Class Expert in ten years.
But right now, the Thunder Dragon One Qi Art was making me feel like death. My emotions had fluctuated too wildly, sending its qi rampaging through my meridians and stimulating them harshly. If this continued, I might fall into qi deviation. I desperately suppressed my feelings, biting down on my teeth until blood flowed.
"Hng... ugh... uaah...!!"
Letting out beast-like screams, I slammed my head into the straw pile in the cowshed and thrust my fist at the stone wall.
BOOM!!
Normally, a child's frail hand striking a stone wall would end up a bloody mess. Instead, the wall bore the scar of my fist's shape. It was proof of how profound my internal energy had become—I could shatter stone with bare knuckles.
A long silence followed.
Finally regaining control over my internal energy and emotions, I let out a deep sigh.
"Whew... I survived."
If I'd fallen into qi deviation here, it would've been worse than death. I'd live like a cripple, unable to cultivate internal energy ever again.
With my emotions settled, my mind cleared coldly. I wiped the blood dripping from my lips roughly with my arm and thought.
'Right. Let's calm down first. This is my third life. If I fail again, I'll never live a proper life. Let's calmly plan ahead.'
With my internal energy carried over, revenge could wait.
At the same time, I couldn't hide the question rising in my mind.
'Why? Why did I regress this time? Is there something in common with before?'
I needed to think carefully.
What was the principle behind the regression?
Pondering the mystery deeply, I formed one hypothesis.
"Heavenly Dark Secret Book."
That's right.
The common thread in both regressions was dying while possessing the Heavenly Dark Secret Book. Thinking back to my first death, it seemed its effect activated just from holding it. In the second, I had kept it in my bosom. That was the only commonality I could think of.
If that was the case, my path forward was simple.
Set everything else aside and head straight to the cave to acquire the Heavenly Dark Secret Book first, then carry it on me.
No matter how great any other fortuitous encounter, this was the essential priority.
But one thing nagged at me.
Unsolved, I furrowed my brow.
"...Why did the regression start here, of all places? Why today?"
It made no sense. Even if the Heavenly Dark Secret Book enabled regression, why back to the days when I was called "Cow Dung" and cleaned manure at the Village Chief's house? If only it had been my twenties or thirties as an escort warrior, I could handle things much more smoothly. Enduring years in this undeveloped child's body, with no muscle or stamina, was pure torment.
And I realized that to solve this mystery, I had to decipher the strange script in the Heavenly Dark Secret Book somehow. It contained "content" I couldn't read, but if I could interpret it, I'd understand the book fully.
Sorting through these thoughts cleared my head. At the same time, I realized what I needed to do first.
"Alright. I'm leaving the village."
No need to grovel to the Village Chief for travel money to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall. With a first-class internal art already mastered, I could easily endure cold, heat, and hunger, and I had plenty of self-defense ability. What I needed now was to rush to the cave as fast as possible.
Step.
As I grabbed a usable rope and hammer from the cowshed to leave, someone blocked my path from the darkness with a pissy expression.
"Damn it... what the hell are you screaming about in the middle of the night, Cow Dung?"
"Geum Manjae."
"You little shit... call me Young Master!"
The one barking was Geum Manjae, the Village Chief's son. A total human scum, not even worth killing. But right now, he was an obstacle to escaping the village, so I said calmly.
"I'm in a really bad mood right now. So you'd better move aside quick."
"What? You punk!"
Geum Manjae lashed out with a front kick without warning. It was a great move for gaining the upper hand in street fights among boys his age, showing he had some brawling experience. But I smirked coldly and deflected it easily.
"Uh... whoa..."
As Geum Manjae lost his balance and staggered, I steadied his body.
"Whoops."
He flailed to move, but my grip on his arm held him fast. It must have felt like being chained in iron.
I whispered in his ear from behind.
"Stay still, you idiot."
"......"
Overwhelmed by my murderous intent and pressure, Geum Manjae could only tremble silently, not even breathing loudly. As expected, my internal energy had carried over my killing aura too. I shoved him aside and left the village.
This time, no ridiculous pursuit from the Village Chief. Last time, I'd nearly massacred his family and stolen all the secrets, so he'd resorted to hiring assassins. But for a mere "Cow Dung" scaring his son and running off, he wouldn't hire martial artists. Knowing the Village Chief, he'd just laugh inside, thinking I'd starve somewhere.
'Even if he does chase, it's fine. Once I get the Heavenly Dark Secret Book, I can start over.'
At this point, no matter what happened, I could get the book first. From the ridgeline, I glared down at the darkened village with hateful eyes. I'd thought one revenge was enough, but my fury hadn't subsided.
Gazing at the Village Chief's house from afar, I muttered.
"I went too easy. I admit it."
I clenched my fist tight.
My eyes gleamed with killing intent.
Blood trickled from my fist.
"This time, I'll do it right."
This time, it took three days to get the Heavenly Dark Secret Book. No money meant sneaking into the smithy for a copper shield, and my child's body made trekking to the cave's location grueling.
But I succeeded in acquiring it and collapsed in the cave to rest.
"Haa... so tiring. What now?"
Back to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall?
If they accepted me, this time I could aim for Peak Expert within ten years. With a solid internal energy foundation, I'd start from an overwhelming advantage, surpassing most geniuses.
But I smiled bitterly and rejected the idea.
"No. Impossible. This time, I'll just self-cultivate my martial arts again."
If I went to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall, unimaginable hardships awaited.
Having mastered their secret martial arts and heart method, yet their Triple Excellence Lee Gwang and Chief Instructor Jin So-cheong had no memory of teaching me—it'd be like a feral cat stealing techniques. They'd see me as a thief, and in the worst case, cripple my dantian or kill me.
Sure, they might take interest and teach me to exploit me. But I didn't want to risk death again. Each death chipped away at my sanity in a way no one who hasn't experienced it could understand.
I didn't want to die if I could help it.
Even if I could come back, I didn't want to die.
Fortunately, with internal energy preserved in this child's body and all techniques remembered intact, three years of the same cultivation would yield even better results than before. That comforted me as I thought.
'I need a place to cultivate while making a living... somewhere that also saves time...'
There was one answer.
I reached a single conclusion and grinned.
"Become an Escort Warrior, that's all."
Even in this child's body, I was far stronger than my first life's self at this age. At least three times stronger. If I kept cultivating, in three years I could surpass an Escort Captain. An Escort Agency was perfect—earn money legally while training.
Of course, not nearby ones like Three Pines Escort Agency or Plum Blossom Escort Agency. The Village Chief's influence reached there; I'd be exposed fast. They'd dig into my martial arts origins endlessly, complicating everything.
After much deliberation, I decided.
"I'll join an Escort Agency near Yellow Mountain as an Escort Warrior. Then, at the right time, scout and eat the Millennium Snow Ginseng from Yellow Mountain! Perfect—even I think it's genius!"
No better plan. It saved time and distanced me from the Village Chief's reach. Awkward mixing with strangers, but I'd manage. With a plan set, I moved to act.
Grumble...
"......"
I'm hungry.
I realized the plan's biggest flaw.
No home, no food, no money—I'd have to hunt animals or beg to reach Yellow Mountain. This would surely be the first ordeal.
"Animals... maybe try eating one..."
Hunting began. I broke off a nearby branch as a knife substitute and set a resolute expression.
That day, luck favored me—I caught and roasted a mountain rabbit and squirrel. The next, stream water and tree bark. Small game was scarce, so bark and grass days outnumbered catches.
Feeling my body grow gaunt, I pressed on. Anyone seeing a mid-early teen boy marching through mountains, eating animals, would call him mad. I deliberately crossed peaks and rivers to avoid word reaching the Village Chief, but it was brutal.
For about eight days, I dug roots, mushrooms, and caught cave bats to eat. Huddled in a corner, feeling the dank dampness, tears welled up slightly.
What was life, that I had to abandon everything to cling to it?
I still had no answer.
Finally reaching Yellow Mountain took a full month. I was the picture of a beggar, weakened by a cold.
"Cough, cough..."
My head throbbed and spun, but I shook it off.
I couldn't collapse yet.
Become an Escort Warrior first, then collapse.
Strangely, Yellow Mountain had villages and a sizable town, but no Escort Agency in sight. As I wondered, the fabric shop owner pitied my state and brought a plate of food.
"Oh dear, you're skin and bones... No parents or siblings?"
"None..."
"Eat slowly. Get your strength back and live on."
"Thank you..."
Being pitied didn't feel bad. More like, joy at real food after so long drowned it out. Just rice mixed with greens, but I wolfed it down madly.
After finishing, I cautiously asked the owner.
"I want to join an Escort Agency on Yellow Mountain—where is it?"
His expression turned odd. He shrugged.
"Kid, there are no Escort Agencies on Yellow Mountain~"
"......!!"
Fuck...!!
"Ugh, ugh, urgh...!!"
My nape... my nape's cramping...
"Huh! Kid! You okay?!"
"......"
Furious, I blacked out.