Visiting the Heavenly Demon's Master (2)
I unfurled the scroll I had prepared long ago to grant a wish. The image I held in my mind was still that of the benefactor etched into my memories. A face so fierce that simply meeting his gaze could make children cry. A build so massive that when he stood like a bear, it was hard to tell who was human. Yet for all that, his words and actions had a clumsy side to them, making the term old coot fit him perfectly. As I wished in my heart to locate where that person was, letters floated up on the map.
This was a place I knew well. Wasn’t it the name of a small mountain tucked away in a corner of the martial world? It was the very spot where I had once lived in seclusion, and also where my long, bitter grudge with the Blood Sect had begun. Was my benefactor living there? It certainly was a suitable place for seclusion. Far beyond the reach of the righteous sects’ influence, a barren and remote mountain that even the unorthodox factions rarely bothered to visit. Unless the occasional criminal or recluse with similar thoughts hid there, it was a place where one seldom encountered others. That also meant there was little to do, allowing one to devote themselves fully to martial training and research. It was the same reason I had once caused such a ruckus trying to touch the heavens while staying there. Personally, I thought it hadn’t been a bad life. If only the Blood Sect hadn’t meddled with that mountain, I probably would have stayed there longer.
I opened the in-game map, located Mt. Seoryeong, and checked the nearest accessible region. The closest was a small village near the mountain. I extended my hand to Baru, who was waiting in human form. She grabbed it. In a flash of light, we arrived at a desolate village landscape.
The sight of thatched-roof houses standing in eerie silence, so quiet it made one doubt whether anyone lived there at all, felt profoundly strange. It wasn’t even that late, yet how could a village be this silent?
“Has this village been abandoned for a long time?”
Baru also looked around, noticed the oddity, and tilted her head before tapping her staff against the ground. A wind stirred around her. She narrowed one eye slightly.
“...I sense blood qi.”
Was the Blood Sect already scheming here? Hadn’t Baek Hwaryeong not even escaped the Demonic Cult yet? It seemed too early for the Blood Sect to be doing anything here. That was what I thought, but a divine spirit like Baru wouldn’t make a mistake in sensing energy. I followed after Baru as she walked ahead and soon came upon a building that looked like it was used as a warehouse. Even with the door closed, the thick stench of blood wafting from inside was strong enough to smell. I stepped in front of Baru, opened the warehouse door, and saw a formation drawn in blood within. Its shape was remarkably similar to the one I had seen on Mount Hua before. A blood technique that drained the life from the mountain. It had been installed here.
Why was that damned thing so diligent in this world? Was it because of the influence of various outsiders cooperating with him? Did my benefactor know about this? If that old man had chosen this mountain as his seclusion spot and was living here, there was no way he wouldn’t know the Blood Sect was up to something. Considering his personality, the possibility that he knew and simply let it be was high. After all, he was an old man who had decided not to interfere with worldly affairs unless absolutely necessary. The only time he had intervened when I was in danger of dying was because I was someone who practiced the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. I remembered him saying directly that if that hadn’t been the case, he would have let me die. He must be even older in this world than in the time I knew him, yet nothing about him had changed. The silver lining, I suppose, was that I had arrived at this mountain before the Blood Sect could complete their scheme. For now, I should go see what that old coot was up to. I wasn’t worried. There weren’t many in this martial world stronger than my benefactor. Even if the current Blood Sect Leader came here personally, could he pose a threat to that old man? It would probably be difficult. The last time I met the Blood Sect Leader on Mount Hua, he didn’t seem to have reached that level yet.
When I meet that old man holed up alone training his martial arts, I’ll have to give him an earful. Tell him to take some interest in worldly matters. If bugs crawl into where you live, you should think about killing them. What are you supposed to do if you just leave them alone because it’s annoying?
“What are you doing over there?”
At the voice calling me, I turned around to see a familiar face standing there. The idiot who had once tried to drag me into his sect, and when words failed, attempted to threaten me with force. I didn’t remember his name. He wasn’t worth remembering. But there was one thing I did recall about this guy. That he was an outsider and connected to the Blood Sect. Had he come to check on the sudden intruders?
“It’s been a while.”
“...Why are you here?”
“I hope you don’t run away this time. There are more than one or two things I want to ask you.”
As I spoke and approached the man, he hurriedly pulled out something like a bead and threw it on the ground. The thick blood qi clumped inside the bead spread out in all directions, and multiple presences appeared in the previously silent village. Sensing the disgusting stench of jiangshi, I drew the sword from my waist.
“Do you really think mere jiangshi can stop me?”
“Of course not!”
The man shouted and turned to flee, but his movements were far too clumsy. Showing your back so recklessly just because you want to run? Even when escaping, you need to read the room. I swung my sword once, severing the man’s ankle and making him lose his balance. I swung it a second time, and one of his arms flew off. On the third swing, the man was completely crippled.
There. With your feet gone you can’t run, and with your hands gone you can’t operate the system window. Now you have no means left to escape. The wounds are severe, so you’ll die soon, but there’s still enough time to extract information. Just as I thought that and moved to approach the man, his body vanished. He had logged out.
Huh. How did he operate the system window without hands? Was there a method I didn’t know about? I wasn’t sure, but the logout function was incredibly underhanded. Having lost my prey right before my eyes, I felt the energy of the jiangshi rushing toward this place and spoke to Baru.
“Baru. I’m sorry, but let’s talk about me after this is over.”
“Do as you wish. As I said, we have plenty of time.”
With those words, Baru transformed back into a fox and climbed onto my shoulder. I swung my sword and blew away the limbs of the jiangshi that came leaping from afar. The jiangshi here seemed to have been made from the villagers; their quality wasn’t very high. At this level, dealing with them would be nothing more than simple labor.
“Hold on tight. I’m going to pick up the pace a bit.”
Do-yun, who had desperately logged out to escape from Hwaryeong, ripped off the VR device he was wearing and hurled it aside carelessly.
“Fuck. She’s seriously disgustingly strong.”
His internal energy was definitely higher than hers, so why was the gap so overwhelming? What was so important about enlightenment or principles anyway? If it was an RPG, shouldn’t the one with higher specs win? Grumbling like that while rubbing his face, Do-yun opened his smartphone and sent a message to the sect’s group chat.
No one believed what Do-yun was saying. They thought there was no reason for Hwaryeong to come to such a barren place. Seeing the others scolding him and telling him to stop joking around made Do-yun angry. He furiously tapped out a reply on his smartphone.
Exactly. The work on this mountain would be finished in just a few more days. Why had Hwaryeong suddenly appeared? Was there any reason for her to come to this mountain?
The members of the Blood Death Sect chatted among themselves, then began lamenting as they brought up stories of their past hardships. Was this really the time for that?! Shouldn’t they be thinking about how to drive Hwaryeong out?!
That… was true. Hwaryeong was a calamity that the entire Blood Death Sect couldn’t defeat even if they all charged at her together. No matter what countermeasure they came up with, it wouldn’t solve the problem. Do-yun, who had once tried to face Hwaryeong alone and gotten thoroughly beaten without being able to do anything, couldn’t refute their words.
Heavenly Demon? Why would the Heavenly Demon suddenly pop up here? Do-yun tilted his head as he watched the sect members chatter, but he couldn’t ask. The most needed person in this situation had just appeared.
At the question from one of the sect members, Do-yun also nodded. Could they communicate with the Blood Sect Leader right now? Wasn’t the Blood Sect Leader busy handling work somewhere else?
Even Do-yun, one of the Blood Death Sect’s executives, was hearing the Sect Leader’s words for the first time. No, why hadn’t he told them something so important? While Do-yun blinked in bewilderment, the chat continued.