Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Narrow Escape from Death
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-Scratch, scratch.
"..."
I lowered the hand I'd raised to my hat.
I just couldn't shake the unease.
"...Sorry. I really can't do it right now."
I couldn't pinpoint the exact reason, but a strong hunch told me that revealing my face here would spell disaster.
I wasn't even divining anything, and I had no insight into my own future, but in this moment, it felt like I had to trust that instinct.
"...You're joking, right?"
Dang Ayoung's expression soured in an instant.
I got it.
She'd come this far on my promise to show her, only for me to back out now.
Anyone would be pissed in her shoes.
I had no idea why she was so fixated on my face, though.
"You got me all riled up and now you're bailing?"
Dang Ayoung strode toward me.
Even without knowing her well, her fury was crystal clear.
-Tremble, tremble.
Her radiating energy made my legs shake a little.
How could I calm her down? I racked my brain.
-Rustle.
What happened next wasn't something I'd planned or intended.
My hands seized Dang Ayoung's cheeks,
-Smack.
and my lips met hers.
Not a full kiss—just a brief press of lip to lip.
"You know all I've got left is my chastity, right?"
"Wha-wha-wha-what.."
Her cheeks burned red under my palms.
She looked utterly flustered.
"Still don't believe me?"
-Smack.
Our lips met again.
This time, the tip of my tongue grazed her teeth before pulling back.
"...Want more?"
I wiped the corner of my mouth with my sleeve.
Only then did Dang Ayoung snap out of her daze and start rambling incoherently.
"N-no, that's not it... It's not that I don't trust you... But we've come this far... And now you're off on your trip... It's just disappointing... So..."
Her flustered words and actions were plain as day.
I went up on my tiptoes, rested my chin on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear.
"I'm not quite ready yet either... I'll definitely show you later."
-Thump! Thump!
Pressed so close, I could hear her heartbeat loud and clear.
"You trust this young master... but he doesn't trust you?"
That clinched it.
"I-I do trust you! Of course I do! Who said I didn't?!"
Dang Ayoung backed away, her face beet red.
That was how my meeting with her wrapped up that day.
"...Hmm."
Once outside Dang Ayoung's place,
I replayed what had just gone down.
That weird(?) move on her definitely hadn't come from my own thoughts.
What was it like... my body just moved on autopilot?
'What the hell was that.'
It had somehow salvaged the situation, but the off-kilter feeling lingered.
For some reason, a strange qi was circulating through my body.
'Heavenly powers?'
As a fortune teller, the first thing to suspect with a weird vibe like this was always the heavens.
Our skies were endlessly playful and fickle—mere mortals could rarely grasp their whims.
'Eh, whatever.'
I decided not to overthink it.
Head home, grab a drink, finish prepping for the trip—that was it.
Something told me I didn't want to dig any deeper.
Every martial artist carries at least one heart demon.
Heart demons take countless forms—some can be shaken off easily, but for most warriors, they're a fatal affliction.
Low realms might shrug them off, but the higher your cultivation, the greater the peril, so one must always stay vigilant.
They block breakthroughs past walls, and in the worst cases, devour you whole, triggering qi deviation.
"..."
It happened again.
True to form, today too.
"Haa..."
'Back in the day, I thought heart demons were beneath notice at this realm.'
If conquering one once meant freedom forever, it wouldn't be called a heart demon.
The moment a clue glimmered, that scene flooded my mind.
[Master, have you come?]
My one-time cherished disciple, the only one.
Like my own child—she'd even inherited my nickname in her later discipleship.
Her hand rested on a young boy's chest.
The boy, not yet even a scholar, had his clothes savagely torn, tears streaming from eyes like polished obsidian.
[But it seems you're a little late.]
Her hand slid down to his navel.
Mad laughter twisted her face.
-Crunch!!
The boy screamed.
A wail laden with agony, rage, futility, betrayal—but it never escaped his lips, stifled and snuffed by her hand.
-Throb, throb.
I'd witnessed this scene hundreds of times by now.
Never in reality, yet it replayed with vivid clarity in my consciousness.
'All my karma...'
If only I'd trained her better.
If only I'd spotted her unnatural obsession with that boy, Dan Yuseong, sooner.
One boy's life might not have been ruined.
I'd just found it endearing—her first spark of interest in someone else—and turned a blind eye.
I could've noticed. She was my disciple, after all.
"Hoo..."
It was over ten years ago now.
If that boy survived, he'd be a sturdy adult by now.
But if not...?
With that frail body, stripped of every martial art he'd scraped together, broken and alone— the Central Plains aren't kind to such souls.
In the worst case...
[Ahh... Now that child will scrape by in the outside world. Seducing women just like he tempted me, fleecing their hearts and fortunes.]
"Urk..."
No way that bright, innocent boy would stoop to that.
If he did, it'd only be under duress, forced upon him.
And even if—purely hypothetically—he clawed his way past the trauma,
[Still, no woman he meets from here on will ever make him forget me.]
He could never live a normal life.
Not with wounds that deep.
So I couldn't blame anyone else for haunting me like this.
It was all my failing—my burden to carry forever.
But I couldn't let this heart demon bar my path indefinitely.
[That person will steal something precious from our guest.]
I couldn't blindly trust the fortune teller's words, but dismissing them outright wasn't wise either.
Rumors held that he had real talent for reading the heavens.
"What should I do..."
With the Heavenly Demon potentially invading someday, I needed to break through this wall now.
But the heart demon blocked every path.
Even if it meant courting danger...
'No rushing.'
Forcing an answer too soon could doom everything.
Sometimes, you need to ease up, take in the surroundings, rest—and that's when answers come.
-Rustle.
Right on cue, footsteps approached from outside.
"Come in."
"Pardon the intrusion."
-Creak.
The woman who entered held what looked like a letter.
"What's that?"
"A report: we've found a lead on the boy you've been seeking."
"...What impeccable timing."
Ten years back, I'd nearly lost my mind, demanding they track him down at any cost.
Mount Hua itself bent to the Sword Empress's will—they grumbled a bit, but searched diligently.
Oddly, it was like he'd shot into the heavens mid-trail; traces lingered, but the boy himself? Vanished.
Years dragged on. Sporadic sightings of a "Dan Yuseong" cropped up, but every check led to imposters.
Still, a lead like this demanded action.
"Guess it's time for a bit of world-wandering."
He was the boy whose life I'd shattered with my own negligence.
Any apology had to come from me personally.
Truth be told, I'd half-given up.
This wasn't the first false alarm.
"Anhui, huh..."
Not a total waste, though. I was hunting a way past my heart demon, and a long-overdue jaunt might shake loose the key.
'Takes me back to my youth.'
Back when they called me Sword Flower, I'd roam incognito, aiding the needy, purging bandits, spreading virtue.
These days, the weight on my shoulders was too heavy for such whims.
Still, maybe a taste of old times wouldn't hurt.
"I'll ready a carriage, then—"
"No need. Just the Bloodstained Cloak for cover and a solid disguise. I'll handle the rest."
"...Understood."
My intent was obvious, but she showed no concern.
Of course not.
No one imagined the Sword Empress stumbling into trouble—or causing it.
"Young master, did you barely sleep last night? Those dark circles—you look like you didn't catch a wink."
"...Couldn't settle down... The more I pushed, the more it heated up, so I pulled an all-nighter to finally..."
Looked like Dang Ayoung had trained through the night.
"Know any good bedding merchants nearby? I need something to crash on tonight..."
She must've worked up a serious sweat. Sweat poured off her.