Chapter 33
Translator: uly
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Black-Haired Storyteller's Crisis - 2
The Heavenly Killing Star.
In the martial world, people are occasionally born carrying the energy of a star. Children born cradling a star. Since humans are born carrying the energy of the heavens, each of these individuals was a prodigy. As they grew, these people either became famous figures who left their names behind or left great achievements in history.
A child born carrying the energy of a star becomes a prodigy. This is why martial artists sought out numerous astrologers. Countless sects in the martial world also wanted to accept children born with star energy as disciples.
Even if it's a second-rate martial art, when children who carry a star learn it, they advance the art itself and brighten the future of their sect. They are talents anyone would covet.
Of course, being born with star energy wasn't always a blessing. While their talent was exceptional, there were also children born with abilities no one wanted.
The Heavenly Killing Star was one such case.
A child born with an innate talent for killing. The very birth of a Heavenly Killing Star was a great misfortune for the martial world.
"Is it that you cannot properly contain your killing intent? Or are you in a state of being consumed by bloodlust?"
The Heavenly Secrets Master spoke to the Heavenly Killing Star before him.
"I just left a small clue so you wouldn't fail to recognize me."
The Heavenly Killing Star withdrew the killing intent she had been radiating. The Heavenly Secrets Master felt an illusion as if the surroundings had briefly paused and then started moving again.
To go this far just for a small clue. The Heavenly Killing Star of this generation will surely become a great calamity for the world. The Heavenly Secrets Master was already worried for the people who would be swept up by her.
"It seems you are not yet in a state of being consumed by bloodlust. Have a seat."
"Alright."
The Heavenly Killing Star sat on the stool in front of The Heavenly Secrets Master.
"For what reason has the Heavenly Killing Star come to see me?"
"Read my fate."
"I do not read the fate of those lacking courtesy."
The Heavenly Secrets Master refused bluntly.
"Lacking courtesy?"
The end of the Heavenly Killing Star's right eyebrow twitched slightly. The killing intent she had withdrawn began to creep out again, seeping forth.
"A person who comes asking to have their fate read, yet conceals their true appearance. That is discourteous."
The Heavenly Secrets Master stared intently at the Heavenly Killing Star's face.
Perhaps understanding what he meant, the Heavenly Killing Star swallowed the anger that was about to surface and closed her eyes.
Before The Heavenly Secrets Master's eyes, the Heavenly Killing Star's face began to change.
"Done?"
The Heavenly Secrets Master quietly observed the Heavenly Killing Star's face. Short hair. Sharp eyes and an aloof expression. Yet, she was a stunning beauty, the kind anyone passing by on the street would turn to look at twice.
The problem was, if she were holding a sword, that face would be the last thing a passerby saw in this life.
"Yes. It seems we can talk now."
"Now read my fate."
"A Heavenly Killing Star who wants to know her own fate. And to come to me, of all people. Unexpected."
"Is it strange to be curious about the future?"
Though her expression didn't change, a slight hint of doubt was felt in her words.
"Those drifting like duckweed on the river of fate have reason to be curious. But a Heavenly Killing Star is different. Your fate is already set, so why be curious?"
A ship moving on the river of fate toward a single goal. That is the Heavenly Killing Star.
"It's set?"
"To kill or be killed. That has been the fate of every Heavenly Killing Star."
The Heavenly Killing Star is an ominous star born to kill all that she sees. A ship that advances for murder. That ship advances forward until someone shatters it.
"I know that too. I want to know more. Do you need my birth date?"
"No need. I already know when the Heavenly Killing Star was born. I just didn't know who it was. It hasn't been twenty years since the Heavenly Killing Star was born, has it? You're eighteen this year?"
"Correct."
The Heavenly Killing Star nodded readily.
"There's still some time left before the star's energy fully rises. You seem to have learned martial arts; may I ask which ones?"
She skillfully withdrew her killing intent. If she can control the innate killing intent of a Heavenly Killing Star, she must have learned martial arts. The Heavenly Secrets Master asked based on his conjecture.
"I learned the martial arts of assassins."
The Heavenly Killing Star didn't reveal the specific name of the martial art, but she did inform him that she had learned martial arts.
"A Heavenly Killing Star with a talent for killing has learned the martial arts of assassins. I don't know who arranged it, but it's an excellent choice!"
The Heavenly Secrets Master spoke in an admiring tone.
"Wouldn't most people think the opposite?"
A Heavenly Killing Star learning assassin martial arts. She would kill more people. That's what one should think. Yet, The Heavenly Secrets Master wore an expression that seemed rather relieved.
"Ordinary people would think so. A hundred years ago, the Heavenly Killing Star was a child raised by Buddhist disciples. They devoted immense effort to prevent the child from inciting a killing calamity. Do you know what the result was?"
"I don't."
"That temple no longer exists. The child killed everyone in that temple. Until the martial monks opened the killing cycle and slew the child, that child did not stop killing. That's why I say the martial arts of assassins are better than those of Buddhism or Taoism."
"Why?"
"Because no one can handle a killing heart as skillfully as an assassin. And to control that killing heart, you must periodically carry out killings, correct?"
In response to The Heavenly Secrets Master's question, the Heavenly Killing Star gave a small nod.
"Yes. You can control the killing heart while preventing the increase of bloodlust through killing. I don't know if you were raised to be used as a Heavenly Killing Star or to be controlled, but it's a very good method."
"But this isn't enough."
"Have you ever experienced losing your reason to the killing heart?"
A situation where everything is consumed by bloodlust. If such a rampage occurs, the Heavenly Killing Star loses even the slightest rationality and does nothing but kill.
"A few times."
"A few times, you say. That's not a good situation. Recently, does bloodlust periodically rise even after you kill?"
"Yes. Compared to before, the intervals are getting shorter."
"I see. Even if it's a martial art that can control the killing heart, it's ultimately just a martial art. A martial art created by humans to reach the heavens cannot overcome the will of the heavens themselves."
Martial arts built up by humans. A Heavenly Killing Star who carries a star of the heavens. Which side holds superiority was as clear as day.
"The bloodlust grows stronger with each passing year."
"It would. You awakened as a Heavenly Killing Star at a considerably young age, yet your current state seems more like a miracle."
Upon awakening as a Heavenly Killing Star, one becomes not a person but a tool of the star for slaughter. Yet, the woman before him, though expressionless, appeared human.
The martial arts had not turned her into a monster. But even that would reach its limit someday.
"Is there no way?"
"Naturally, before long, the killing heart will consume your body. Bloodlust will dominate your thoughts. Not a state of being consumed by bloodlust, but the person herself will change. You will begin to think of everything for the sake of killing."
"That... I dislike."
The Heavenly Secrets Master read fear and disgust in the Heavenly Killing Star's voice.
She was not yet consumed by the killing heart. Her emotions were not arid either. Perhaps the future killing calamity could be prevented. The Heavenly Secrets Master glimpsed a small hope in the Heavenly Killing Star.
"It is indeed a precarious situation. If I say nothing now, a tremendous killing calamity will unfold. Good. Let me glimpse the heavenly signs for a moment."
The Heavenly Secrets Master began to observe the heavenly signs using his tools.
The Heavenly Secrets Master busily handled his tools. The Heavenly Killing Star watched him indifferently. Dusk had already fallen, and darkness had settled over the shantytown.
The Heavenly Secrets Master's busy hands paused for a moment.
"Hah. So that's how it flows. What in heaven's will brings such another trial..."
The Heavenly Secrets Master lamented over what he had seen, not even paying attention to the Heavenly Killing Star before him.
"What is it?"
The Heavenly Killing Star expressed doubt at The Heavenly Secrets Master's flustered voice.
"No, while peeking at the heavens, I ended up seeing other matters as well. It's not about you, so don't worry. Looking at the heavens, I see two paths."
"Two paths?"
"A certain path and an uncertain path. There are two. Which would you like to hear first?"
"The certain one."
"Train your martial arts to their utmost limit. It's true that martial arts created to reach the heavens cannot defy the will of the heavens, but there are also those who reached the heavens through martial arts. If you can control the Heavenly Killing Star's killing heart, it will surely become one path."
A Heavenly Killing Star, who should already be a monster, maintains the guise of a person. Surely the martial arts she is learning must suppress her heavenly nature.
Though the possibility is low, if her martial arts reach their ultimate pinnacle, she might be able to restrain the Heavenly Killing Star's true nature.
"And the uncertain one?"
"Someday, you will meet a noble person."
"A noble person?"
"One who defies the fate of the heavens. One who returned from death after fulfilling his destiny. One who can even change the fate of others. A day will come when you meet such a person."
"Where is that person?"
"He is a person who has escaped the heavenly path. I must not intervene further. Only, a day will surely come when you meet. You may not realize he is the noble person. But if you do come to realize it, then stay by his side. Surely, something even the heavens did not foresee will occur."
"I don't understand what you're saying."
"I don't either. How could a The Heavenly Secrets Master know the affairs of one who has escaped the heavenly signs? I can only infer from the flow around him."
"Train my martial arts and wait for the noble person. Is that all?"
Dissatisfaction seeped into the expressionless Heavenly Killing Star's words. To have come all this way with difficulty, only to hear things she already knew and vague statements. It was enough to dissatisfy the Heavenly Killing Star.
"If the fate of one who carries a star could be easily changed, a killing calamity wouldn't occur every hundred years."
"I understand. I'll keep it in mind."
The Heavenly Killing Star rose from her seat.
The Heavenly Secrets Master briefly tidied his scattered tools, then looked up to gaze at the Heavenly Killing Star.
"Hah."
But the Heavenly Killing Star was already gone. Only the hollow silence of the alley remained.
"To have received two guests for free. Even the world-renowned The Heavenly Secrets Master has grown old."
The Heavenly Secrets Master smiled bitterly. He brushed off his seat and stood, organized his tools and banner, then looked up at the sky.
In The Heavenly Secrets Master's eyes, two stars were visible. A red star and a faint star. The star that had forged its own destiny was once again being pulled by the gravitational force of the ominous star.
"The two stars are too close. They will surely meet. Is it to eliminate one who rejected the fate of death, or is there another arrangement of the heavens?"
For some reason, the two stars were gradually drawing closer to each other.
"It's too early for them to meet now. With such a faint light..."
She would not be able to overcome the fate of the ominous star.