Chapter 75. Song of Light and Shadow (1)
Chapter 75. Song of Light and Shadow (1)
1.
"The Demonic Heavenly God Art originally has nine sword forms."
After watching my spar, the Heavenly Demon commented.
"The Sword of Starvation you demonstrated is the first form. You knew that, I take it."
"Yes."
"The form after the Starvation form is the Thirst form."
Thirst-death (渴死).
"Thirst, then."
"Indeed, child from beyond the frontier. You performed the Sword of Starvation quite decently. So if you devote yourself to training, you will become a fine demonic practitioner......"
"Hold on."
Swish.
I raised my hand.
"Please wait."
Sorry, but I couldn't help raising my hand. The person sitting cross-legged before me was trying to glide past the issue like a snake slipping over a wall, and from where I stood, that wall looked pretty high.
"...What."
"What did you just say? [Quite decently]?"
The Heavenly Demon pressed her lips shut.
"Huh, how strange. I thought I did pretty well. So to the Heavenly Demon, it was merely quite decent... Ah! My apologies. My pride suddenly vanished and my confidence is about to follow. My energy just up and died, you know."
"You little......"
The Heavenly Demon's lips twitched.
"...Fine, I'll admit it. You demonstrated the Sword of Starvation skillfully. Just don't go around boasting that you've mastered the Demonic Heavenly God Art."
"Huh? What was that? [Skillfully]?"
"Do you intend to toy with me through wordplay!"
The Heavenly Demon said.
"Would you be satisfied only if I lowered my head and performed the Nine-Bow Rite to you? You truly are a child who knows no moderation! Why don't you be the master! I'll be the disciple."
Okay. I got a bite.
I acted nonchalant, like a fisherman.
"Ah, so you're saying I've been acknowledged as the Heavenly Demon's disciple? Right? Not some outer disciple but an actual disciple. A genuine, direct, personal disciple."
"......."
The Heavenly Demon couldn't answer right away this time either.
One second. Two seconds.
Only after a brief pause did her mouth slowly open.
"Refrain from idle talk, child. I shall now bestow instruction, so focus."
Hm.
'So that's how it is.'
The Heavenly Demon had just forcibly ignored my words. Force comes from stubbornness, and stubbornness comes from sincerity. I could tell which part of her sincerity was hesitating.
'She absolutely refuses to say she'll take me as her disciple.'
The bond of master and disciple.
The Heavenly Demon had already marked me as her disciple in her heart. And yet, she stubbornly, absolutely refused to say aloud, [I accept you as my disciple].
It was easy to miss, since I was often busy bickering with the Sword Emperor.
But for the Heavenly Demon—for people of the jianghu—the bond between master and disciple must be that heavy.
'A heavy bond... sometimes turns into a frightening bond.'
That was why the woman of the Demonic Cult would not declare a master-disciple relationship.
She hesitated.
Me. A child she had not only met for the first time in her life, but who wasn't even from the Central Plains martial world. Whether she should truly allow such a child—allow me—into her heart.
Whether she could afford to hold a little more hope for life.
The Demonic Cult Leader, Heavenly Demon So Baek-hyang, was hesitating, unable to find her footing.
"Listen well. If you have unfolded the Sword of Starvation to that level, then at the very least, you are qualified to eavesdrop on and steal this cult's teachings. However......"
Though her outward appearance was the picture of composure.
'Character window.'
The inner heart reflected in my eyes was the complete opposite.
+
Name: So Baek-hyang (蕭白香)
Favorability: 51
Preferred genres: [Wuxia]
Disliked genres: [Classics], [Mythology], [History], [Fairy Tale]
Preferred characters: [Salt of the Earth], [Rival]
Disliked characters: [Oppressor], [Deceiver], [Idler]
Preferred plots: [All-out contests]
Disliked plots: [Escape], [Oblivion], [Meaningless death]
Mental state: 'A disciple, is it. Perhaps the time has come for me to make a decision as well....... Ah, no. What a wicked thought! I should be content with facing that wretch Namgung Un. A disciple, at this late stage of my life? That is greed! It is ugly, aged greed.'
+
Good.
I smiled inwardly.
'Please agonize over it.'
The Heavenly Demon's agony.
It was a green light for me.
'Please be shaken even deeper.'
Because I was the one who had presented her with this fork in the road.
Would she continue the Orthodox-Demonic War against the Murim Alliance Leader without hope? Or would she take a disciple and ensure the Demonic Cult's teachings carried on to the next generation?
Which path was the escape route from [meaningless death]?
'Please don't let go of life like this.'
Words are light.
They are empty.
Light words can only take responsibility for light people.
No, that is no different from taking no responsibility at all.
'Please live.'
What hollow words.
'Even if the world is destroyed and you are left alone in the murim, I still wish for you to live. I hope you stay alive.'
No matter how many words I stacked up, would that give the statement any weight?
'I hope I can become a reason for you to live a little longer.'
Empty, empty words.
I did not say these words aloud.
The reason the Heavenly Demon had not declared a master-disciple bond was probably the same as mine.
The lightness of words can only be pressed down by the heaviness of action. Only then will they not fly away.
Neither the Heavenly Demon nor I had yet put in enough effort to speak the words we wanted to say.
「It is not yet time to decide.」
The Heavenly Demon thought inwardly.
'I haven't drawn out her decision yet.'
I thought inwardly.
"......."
"......."
The Heavenly Demon and I looked at each other.
"Child from beyond the frontier, your eyes are not focused. Are you listening to me?"
"Yes."
I was watching closely.
"Of course I'm focused. What do you mean?"
"I mean it in earnest, not in jest."
"Of course. I'll swear it to anyone—the Jade Emperor or King Yama."
We exchanged gazes. Unlike touches, gazes overlap and yet cross. That is why gazes resemble the human heart, just a little.
After crossing several times, the Heavenly Demon spoke.
"Good. Seeing your overflowing confidence, you may proceed straight to the next test."
The Heavenly Demon brushed off her clothes and rose.
She departed in a flash.
"Do not follow. My feet are busy."
She said only that and left. The Heavenly Demon walked across the snowfield, leaving no footprints in the snow. Only her slender shadow glided across the ice. Treading Snow Without a Trace (踏雪無痕). The woman was demonstrating the words I had heard on my first day after falling into this world.
That was when.
-I want to fight.
The guardian spirit suddenly spoke.
-Even just one bout, I want to settle it. For real.
I glanced to the side without thinking.
'Huh?'
-You got wax in your ears? I said I want to wreck a sparring match.
And then, for the first time, I witnessed the guardian spirit making that kind of expression.
-Damn. Goddamn it, damn!
The Sword Emperor (劍帝) was genuinely furious.
-Do you know, zombie? In the murim where I was born, the Demonic Cult was weak as hell! The only fun I had was beating the crap out of those Demonic Cult grunts! There was some bastard pretending to be the Heavenly Demon, but from the moment I shoved his asshole into a hole in the ground, he changed his nameplate to Earth Demon! Fuck! I made hundreds of those so-called great heroes of the jianghu change their family names! Ah, seriously!
It was different.
This wasn't the face he'd made when he lost our bet.
He'd thrashed around calling it unfair then too... but the expression the guardian spirit wore now.
-I'm so goddamn jealous of that Murim Alliance Leader bastard born here!
It was far more intense.
-If it were me, huh? I’d settle it with a life-or-death duel! Ah, is this death yours, or is it mine—let’s split it and see! And then, next, I’d crawl up some snowy peak, down a bowl of takju, and munch on a piece of grilled skewer—ahh! That’s the true taste of looking down on the jianghu!
Competitive Spirit. Fighting spirit. Will to battle.
His face was vivid as raw meat.
-If only I weren't a ghost!
"......."
I quietly closed my mouth.
Before I knew it, I had fallen into thought. I lowered my head and propped my chin on my hand. My head was so full of thoughts that I needed the support.
-Huh? Zombie. Why are you making a zombie face again, like you're afraid someone won't call you a zombie? Look at this guy, he's sulking again because I've been calling him a crow-tit instead of a zombie lately. Hey, want me to just call you a zombie-tit?
"...That's it."
-Huh?
"That's it."
I snapped my head up.
"The boss makes the plague cure. I get acknowledged as the Heavenly Demon's official disciple. All good. It's all good, but... I felt like something was missing. A finale, maybe? But you just delivered the final one-shot."
-Uh.......
"Nice play. Well done, Sword Emperor, old pal."
I grinned.
For some reason, the Sword Emperor backed away when he saw me.
"What's wrong?"
-No... it's just... every time you make that kind of face, a gruesome death comes crashing down on me. My luck turns bad, I guess? Something happens that smears my reputation and standing.
"Do you know how much I respect you in my heart, Sword Emperor? You know how I feel, right?"
-Thanks. So now I'm in position to puke at your face?
"Hm."
I clasped my hands behind my back and looked at the distant sky.
"There was one debt between us that never got paid."
-.......
The guardian spirit flinched.
-...Debt? What debt? I'm a man who's never lived owing anyone anything. Heh, this Gong-ja bastard is trying to cast spells with his mouth again. Don't do that. Uh-uh! You'll get hurt doing that!
"[Let's bet on how many times I'll die pushing to the 19th floor]."
-.......
"Our Sword Emperor bet that I'd die 100 times or fewer. I bet on 99 or fewer."
-No, wait.......
"Right?"
My smile grew a little gentler.
-No, I mean, that was ages ago.......
"Unless my memory has gone to hell, that bet definitely ended with the answer being 97 times."
-.......
"Unless my arithmetic has gone to the dogs, 97 is less than or equal to 99. Right?"
-.......
"Sword Emperor."
-Why do you keep doing this to me.......
"Grant me one favor."
The guardian spirit made a tearful face.
-Fine, you bastard. Wreck me or kill me, do whatever you want.......
It was total surrender.
2
The Heavenly Demon returned.
She had crossed the snowfield alone, but she did not cross back alone. She came carrying a zombie on her back. Like the palm-blast zombie, this zombie also wore black martial robes.
"This cult has a unit called the Blood Ghosts, comprised solely of elites. It is the finest combat unit, made up exclusively of assassins. They exist only to carry out my orders."
In other words, this was my second sparring partner.
I raised the Holy Sword and took my stance.
"Last time it was a promising rising star, and this time it's an assassin from a combat unit? The difficulty's shooting up."
"Worry not. I have brought a child suited to your level."
The Heavenly Demon had probably truly searched for [an opponent perfectly matched to me]. Scouring the snowfield. Examining hundreds of zombies one by one.
It was thoughtful consideration.
It was care that had taken real effort.
I gratefully accepted it as a kind of praise.
"What you must demonstrate is no different from this morning. Fight the jiangshi soldier, but......"
"In my heart, only thirst. Only the agony of thirst must reside."
"Hm."
The Heavenly Demon smiled.
"Correct. I forbid any emotion or thought other than thirst from residing in your mind!"
"Understood!"
I charged in boldly.
"Let me show you something again this time......"
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
"...That thing's fucking strong! Damn it!"
I did show something.
The fastest death scene in the universe, that is.
Ugh.
"Pharmacist, Medicine King. Please proceed with the zombie virus cure research like this......"
"Good heavens! It's as if it were research I'd done myself! No, it's as if my own research had been dressed up and given a noble title. It feels like it's been put in full formal attire, as if it'd received a countship or something!"
"What's this? You, Death King or whatever you call yourself, are you from Silicon Valley too? This is exactly the way I'd organize things......"
First, as I had done every time, I updated the cure research results.
"Hundred Ghost Reincarnation (百鬼還生)!"
This time too, I decided to hole up in the snowy mountain for closed-door training.
Summoning Agwi and the skeletons and ordering them to collect deaths was the same. Though the order differed slightly—to find thirsty corpses rather than starving ones—the command itself wasn't much different.
"Scatter. Scatter and gather the thirsty corpses."
"Yes, my lord. We shall carry out your command."
However.
"There is one more task for you."
From here, things differed from last time.
Agwi tilted her head.
"If there is a task you would command......"
"There should be jiangshi using martial arts scattered around the vicinity without any order."
I wasn't talking about the 'forest of corpses' I had witnessed the moment I fell into this world. The past three years. The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance Leader had waged the Orthodox-Demonic War in solitude, and in the chaos of war, they had lost corpses one by one.
When blizzards raged without pause for days. When the nights grew long and day did not come. At those times, the Demonic Cult and the orthodox faction gradually lost fighters until they vanished.
The jiangshi I was talking about now were these 'missing persons.'
"Find them."
I said.
"Find the demonic practitioners in black robes. Find the martial heroes in white robes. Whether they are a hundred li away or three hundred, release the skeletons and find them without fail....... No, make a map and mark every location where jiangshi are positioned."
Agwi wore a puzzled expression.
"What do you intend to use those lives for, my lord......?"
"The world has been destroyed, but there are two people still waging war. They want a proper settlement, a proper ending. Unfortunately, from where I stand, it's nothing but a pitiful game of toy soldiers."
I looked up at the night sky.
The moon was out.
"If they're going to settle it anyway, I should prepare a real war for them."
"A real war, you say?"
"Yes."
A smile came unbidden.
I felt like Santa preparing Christmas presents.
"I'm going to prepare a proper Orthodox-Demonic War (正魔大戰)."