Chapter 5
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Death (2)
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That youthful young man quickly mastered every martial art of the One Immortal Sect, just as Master had hoped.
The reason I disliked him had nothing to do with his handsome face or his martial skill.
He had entered the sect later than Gwang-u, so he should have been the youngest junior brother.
But because he was a year older than me, he suddenly became my senior brother.
If there ever was a man who had it all, it would be him.
To make matters worse, he even had a good personality.
Whenever he had a free moment, he always tried to help me out and make friends, putting in tremendous effort.
But the more he did that, the more I disliked him.
No, dislike wasn't quite the right word. Repulsed was more accurate.
"Ugh... ptui!"
Recalling that memory, I spat once and gave Gwang-u his orders.
"Go make some food. I'll help you for the next couple of months, but after that, you're on your own."
"Thanks, senior brother."
Gwang-u and I walked side by side toward the house.
"Master's been really unwell. He couldn't sleep a wink last night either, just coughing nonstop."
"Take good care of him."
"But senior brother... what'll you do if Master passes away? Are you really going to leave this place?"
"I have to."
Gwang-u arrived in the kitchen and started washing the rice as he asked,
"Didn't Master tell us to guard Heavenly Mountain and prevent the Great Heavenly Demon's resurrection?"
The Great Heavenly Demon, my ass.
That guy was dead and living on in my dreams as a ghost.
"You guard it. I'm leaving."
"Where are you planning to go?"
"I'll find a quiet spot somewhere and live out the rest of my days in peace."
"Then stay here. Nowhere's quieter than this place."
Tsk, tsk...
I clicked my tongue and glared at Gwang-u.
"Is this what you call quiet? It's dead silent."
"What's the difference?"
"There's a big one."
The moment I entered the dream, the Great Heavenly Demon grabbed me by the collar.
"What do you mean by wanting to live quietly?"
"Gack! Hack!"
"Let... let go of me first..."
The Great Heavenly Demon slammed my body to the ground.
Thud!
Ughhh...
He loomed over me as I groaned on the floor, demanding an answer.
"I asked what you meant by wanting to live quietly."
"Just what I said. I want to live quietly, far away from the martial world."
The Great Heavenly Demon's thick, tiger-like eyebrows twitched, and his lion-mane hair bristled straight up toward the sky.
"You... fucking idiot!"
This was the first time I'd seen the Great Heavenly Demon this furious.
Whoosh...
As I lifted my head from the prone position, his foot flew toward my face.
I twisted my head to dodge the kick and spun my body while still on the ground.
Crack! Bam! Bam-bam...!
The Great Heavenly Demon blocked my flurry of upward kicks, then grabbed my ankle and hurled me away.
I flew into the corner and crashed, but I sprang back up and charged at him.
Whoosh! Thwack!
He dodged every punch and kick ripping through the air, then his form vanished from my sight.
Wham!
Argh!
It felt like a massive hammer had smashed into my chest. I flew backward and crashed.
Clack.
The Great Heavenly Demon planted his foot on my chest just as I tried to rise again.
Blue light gleamed fiercely in his eyes.
"Pathetic fool. Why have you been training in martial arts all this time?"
It was all because of Master.
I'd only trained because of my promise to him.
I didn't answer.
"A martial artist trains to venture into the world, trample those weaker than himself, rise above them! To become the supreme under heaven and command the martial world! Don't you have any of that warrior's ambition?"
"No."
The instant the word left my mouth, he pressed down harder with his foot on my chest.
Thud!
Arrrgh!
"This is driving me insane."
Gwang-u, mimicking his senior brother's movements, threw himself into the corner on his own.
Senior brother sprang up and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at empty air.
His fists and feet, wrapped in pale white energy, tore the empty space apart.
That was Fist Force and Leg Force.
Gwang-u, quite impressed, tried imitating the fist and leg techniques exactly as senior brother did.
'That's weird.'
Gwang-u tilted his head as he followed along.
Senior brother's technique clearly looked like the Super Hegemonic Fist, but the forms were a bit different.
The Super Hegemonic Fist was about bending strength with flexibility, yet senior brother's version crushed that flexibility with overwhelming hegemonic might.
The dozens of fists pouring out, enveloped in pale energy, were almost majestic.
That was what true Super Hegemony deserved to be called.
"Senior brother must know some other technique I don't."
Gwang-u was overjoyed.
Mimicking senior brother rolling on the ground, Gwang-u screamed just like him.
Arrrgh...!
As he was screaming, senior brother, who had been lying on the floor, suddenly sprang up.
Senior brother walked over and looked down at Gwang-u on the ground with an incredulous voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"Uh... uh... nothing, senior brother."
It had been over two years since I first met the Great Heavenly Demon.
Master, who had been ailing steadily, could no longer even move, let alone eat properly.
I figured he wouldn't last another year.
The Great Heavenly Demon, holding a sword swirling with pale energy, clicked his tongue and sheathed it.
In reality, his sword was probably buried in the firewood pile right now, but in the dream, it hung at his waist.
He could summon any weapon he wanted into the dream.
Because the dream was mine, but he was another being living within it.
Ughhh...
With all my limbs severed, I couldn't bear the pain any longer and looked up at the Great Heavenly Demon, pleading.
"Please... just kill me already."
By now, I should have been used to this pain, but today it surpassed even that familiarity.
Yet the Great Heavenly Demon had no intention of letting me die early and end the suffering.
He plopped down in front of my agonized eyes and chuckled as he spoke.
"Do you know that the kid named Gwang-u is approaching the Indestructible Diamond Divine Body?"
"Y... yes, I know. Please... just kill me."
I only wanted to die quickly.
"See? He's better than you after all."
"Even so... I keep winning our sparring matches, don't I?"
Heh heh heh...
"That's only natural since I'm teaching you directly."
Teaching me?
I was just thrashing about desperately to ease the pain even a little.
"Quit talking nonsense and kill me already!"
I couldn't hold back anymore and yelled.
But the Great Heavenly Demon just sneered, refusing to budge.
'Damn it.'
If it came to this, there was only one option left.
"You... stupid son of a bitch!"
The moment the curse burst from my mouth, murderous intent flared in the Great Heavenly Demon's eyes, and his hair stood on end.
"I'll rip that filthy mouth of yours apart!"
The Great Heavenly Demon grabbed my jaw, pried it open, and tore my mouth wide.
Aaarrgh!
"Senior brother, you're awake?"
The moment I opened my eyes, Gwang-u's huge face loomed right in front of my nose.
Thwack!
Almost on instinct, my fist flew out, hitting Gwang-u in the jaw and sending him tumbling away.
"Why'd you hit me, senior brother? What did I do wrong?"
Gwang-u rubbed his jaw as he got up and protested.
The instant I woke up, an irrational surge of annoyance made me swing, but Gwang-u had only been worried about me.
"S... sorry. Your big face popped up out of nowhere and startled me."
It was a lame excuse, but Gwang-u couldn't argue further.
"Be a little more careful from now on, senior brother."
It was midsummer now, and even at dawn, the air was already thick and humid.
"Got it. Now go make some food."
It had been a year and a half since Gwang-u started cooking, but his skills hadn't improved a bit.
Well, they had improved some.
At least it was edible now, and on days he didn't mess up, it was actually pretty good.
"Senior brother, we're almost out of meat. Should I go hunting today?"
"No, I'll go."
I could never let Gwang-u handle the hunting.
There was no thrill quite like chasing wild beasts through the mountains without restraint.
Gwang-u stood up reluctantly, looking disappointed.
"Bring back a tiger or a bear, senior brother. With tiger bone or bear bile, Master's illness might improve a bit."
"If there are any, I will."
Truth be told, Heavenly Mountain used to have quite a few tigers long ago.
Then, about a hundred years back, warriors from the Zhuge Family and Tang Family started passing through often, scaring them off. They only returned after those folks disappeared.
But even those tigers had been wiped out by Gwang-u and me.
The silver lining was that wild boars and wolves had increased in their place.
After finishing the breakfast Gwang-u prepared, I strapped an old Azure Steel Sword to my waist, grabbed my bow and quiver of arrows, and set out.
There were no beasts near the house, so hunting meant heading far into the mountains.
As I roamed the woods searching for prey, I finally spotted a massive wild boar.
The boar must have caught my scent, because it turned its head before I could get close.
Now it would run.
But contrary to my expectation, the boar charged straight at me.
Tsk...
I'd wanted to chase game through the mountains today, but it looked like I'd have to end it here.
The boar barreled toward me.
Swoosh...
I sidestepped slightly, my right hand gripping the hilt of the Azure Steel Sword.
Slash.
With a short slicing sound, the boar's head came clean off.
Its body slammed into the ground.
Gush, gush, gush...
Blood spurted from the boar's neck like a fountain.
Once I'd drained all the blood, I hoisted the boar over my shoulder and started down the mountain.
How long had I walked?
Voices murmuring came from below.
Running into people in these deep mountains was like seeing stars in broad daylight.
Only the occasional herb gatherer ever came here.
But a whole group? My curiosity piqued.
As I drew closer, they sensed my presence and halted.
"Who's there?"
They drew their weapons without hesitation.
Ferocious blades that matched their savage faces.
"Just a hunter."
They eyed me and the boar on my shoulder, then burst into laughter.
Hahaha...!
"We were just getting hungry. Perfect timing. Drop it and get lost!"
Their absurd demand left me speechless.
"I hunted this myself."
Heh heh heh...
One bandit waved a massive cleaver in front of me with a sinister chuckle.
"Are you blind? Can't you tell we're bandits?"
Only then did I realize what they were.
Mountain bandits.
"What brings greenwood heroes here?"
Huh...
"Who asked you? Drop it and scram."
"No."
Killing intent flashed in the bandits' eyes at my response.
"You're courting death."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a gleaming cleaver swung for my neck.
My body dodged the blade and plunged into their midst in an instant.
Thud! Thwack! Thud! ...!
Gurk! Urk! ...!
With short impact sounds, all seven bandits tumbled to the ground.