Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Pitiful Ghost Dragon!
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Finally, they reached a height of five hundred feet, soaring leisurely on a gust of wind.
Go Un-hyo was dumbfounded as he looked down at the vast Qiantang River spread out far below.
“Ah! What technique is this?”
“It is the Heavenly God Flight from Shaolin's Celestial Pillar Arts.”
“Is it like riding the wind to fly?”
“Yes.”
“Incredible! This is the first time I've ever flown so high!”
Go Un-hyo looked at me with an expression of utmost respect.
“Hahahaha! Why are you so surprised by something like this?”
I burst into a triumphant, booming laugh.
But this was my first time flying like this, too. Still, I wasn't surprised; I felt on top of the world.
***
Five days had passed since we entered Mount Kuocang.
We needed to find two spiritual herbs and one spiritual creature. We had already obtained the two herbs.
*Crack-crack-crack!*
In the middle of the night, a campfire blazed vigorously. Above it, a few fish and a rabbit were roasting nicely, dripping with fat.
*Rip!*
I tore off a rabbit leg and gave it to Go Un-hyo.
“Here, eat.”
Since we were deep in Mount Kuocang with no one else around, Go Un-hyo wasn't wearing his veil.
This was our fifth night in the mountains. Every night, we would build a campfire and eat our one meal of the day, roasting the fish and wild animals we had caught.
Go Un-hyo knew nothing about the mountains, so I was the one who caught all the fish and game, built the fires, and cooked the food.
Because of this, Go Un-hyo didn't know what to do with himself, feeling deeply apologetic.
“Um…”
Go Un-hyo spoke cautiously after taking a bite of the rabbit meat.
“May I ask what you are trying to do right now?”
“Didn't I tell you?”
“You haven't said anything.”
Go Un-hyo's voice was still raspy like metal scraping, but it was polite and gentle, completely devoid of the venom and coldness it held before.
“I'm going to fix your face.”
Go Un-hyo was startled.
“What? My face…”
“Have you ever heard of the Medical Scripture of the Central Heaven?”
“I have not.”
“You don't need to. According to the scripture, two spiritual herbs—the Celestial Horn Yang Grass and the Earth Spirit Yin Root—along with a spiritual creature, the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent, can induce a complete metamorphosis of the body.”
“I don't quite understand what you mean.”
I chewed on the rabbit meat.
“To put it simply, I'm going to make your body undergo a complete rebirth, turning you into a new person. Then, naturally, you'll regain your original face.”
“Ah!”
Go Un-hyo was so shocked that he trembled violently and dropped the rabbit meat he was holding.
“What's wrong?”
“Are you going through all this trouble just to heal me…?”
“What's wrong with that?”
“For someone like me…”
“Someone like you? What about you?”
Go Un-hyo fell to his knees, pressed his forehead to the ground, and began to sob.
“Don't cry. Why does a grown man cry at the drop of a hat?”
Go Un-hyo lifted his head, his face streaked with tears, and choked out his words.
“You don't have to go through all this trouble…! As long as you're fine with it, I can continue living like this…!”
“I'm not fine with it.”
“…”
“Someone who might become my right-hand man is harboring such a deep grudge in his heart. If I can't even resolve that, at the very least I should fix his disfigured face. How else could I be called his master?”
“But…”
I patted my chest. Inside my robes were the two spiritual herbs.
“Look! We've already found two of the three ingredients. The Celestial Horn Yang Grass and the Earth Spirit Yin Root are things most people couldn't even dream of seeing in three lifetimes, yet we found them within three days of entering Mount Kuocang. Isn't that incredible? Huh?”
Go Un-hyo couldn't say a word and just lay prostrate, weeping.
I helped the prostrate Go Un-hyo up, placed the rabbit leg back in his hand, and comforted him.
“So don't worry, just eat.”
“Yes.”
Having spent five days in Mount Kuocang, I'd come to feel that Go Un-hyo was like a younger brother to me. Not that I ever had one.
***
I sat cross-legged by the campfire and activated the Skynet's Divine Hearing, a technique of the Skynet's Ultimate Reach that could detect any sound.
Whether due to anger or sheer willpower, my internal energy had not vanished since I left the Dong-ro Grand Branch holding Go Un-hyo's hand.
According to the Medical Scripture of the Central Heaven, the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent makes a unique cry, and I was trying to find it.
Fortunately, the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent was not a creature that lived just anywhere.
As the 'Yin-Yang' in its name suggested, it inhabited mountains where the balance of yin and yang was most harmonious in the world, and Mount Kuocang was a prime example.
I maintained the Skynet's Divine Hearing for an hour, but I couldn't detect the unique cry of the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent.
I opened my eyes and looked around, finding Go Un-hyo staring intently at me from beside the campfire.
“You haven't slept?”
“You weren't sleeping, my lord.”
“I was using my internal energy to search for any sign of the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent.”
“I thought as much.”
Go Un-hyo's features were too grotesque to read his expression, but his eyes, fixed on me, were filled with a deep profundity.
***
*'Ah! I found it!'*
With the Skynet's Divine Hearing, I had finally found the cry of the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent.
Calming my excitement, I focused more of my internal energy into listening.
*Kekekek… kekekek…*
It sounded like a wicked villain's suppressed, low laugh, as if scraping the lungs. It was definitely the cry of the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent.
*'Alright! Now, let's find out where it is!'*
I focused my mind to the utmost.
*'So that's where you are.'*
I opened my eyes and looked at Go Un-hyo.
“Un-hyo, let's go.”
“Did you find it?”
“Yes. Let's go catch it before it gets away!”
I grabbed Go Un-hyo's hand and shot off in the direction indicated by the Skynet's Divine Hearing.
*Shwoooosh!*
Today marked the thirteenth day since we left the Dong-ro Grand Branch. My efforts had not been in vain; I had finally found the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent.
I was so happy that I could now fix Go Un-hyo's hideous appearance that I felt like bursting into song, but I didn't know any.
A few miles southeast of our original location, there was a cave in a cliff, and the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent was inside.
The cave entrance was large enough to walk into standing upright.
I let go of Go Un-hyo's hand and strode into the cave.
The deeper I went, the larger and more winding the cave became, with hundreds of stalactites hanging from the ceiling like icicles.
The farther I got from the entrance, the darker it grew, until it became so pitch-black I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face.
Not only that, but the floor was uneven, dotted with bizarre rock formations, steep slopes, and precipices. The cave also split into multiple paths, making it very complex.
The eerie silence, broken only by the sound of flowing water and drips from the stalactites, sent a chill down the spine.
Ah, I don't mean my spine. Go Un-hyo was so frightened that as he followed behind me, he quietly gripped the hem of my shirt.
I was born with eyes that could see as clearly in pitch-black darkness as in broad daylight.
*'It's hidden deep inside.'*
Only after about a quarter of an hour did I reach the spot where the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent was.
It was a dead end in one of the branching paths, a small space no more than a dozen square yards.
[Un-hyo, stay here.]
I hid Go Un-hyo behind a rock and approached the serpent's location alone.
*Kekekeke…*
I took one step at a time toward the low cry, but the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent was nowhere to be seen.
*'Where is it?'*
I could hear the low cry, but it echoed and reverberated throughout the cave, making it impossible to pinpoint its location.
Even with the Skynet's Divine Hearing active, I could sense it from afar, but up close, I was getting confused.
Just then, I detected a faint vibration. It was the slight stir of air as something lunged at me without a sound.
The Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent was about to attack an intruder—me.
*'Where the hell is it?'*
Still, I couldn't get a sense of which direction it was coming from.
“!”
Suddenly, I felt a chilling sensation on the back of my neck.
*'Huh?'*
I instantly used Flash Step to move two steps back and looked into the empty space.
*'Gah!'*
I was horrified to see a child's face at head-height, glaring at me with wide-open eyes spewing fiery light.
I have nerves of steel and am not easily startled, but in that moment, I was truly shocked.
The child's face was the size of a fist, with a single bright red horn curving forward from its head. Its wide-open mouth was filled with blade-like teeth, and a bright red, whip-like tongue extended a full foot.
Moreover, with red light pouring from its blazing eyes, there was no way I could avoid being startled, no matter how strong my nerves were.
That monstrous Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent had been clinging to the ceiling before it attacked me.
It must have been on the floor originally but sensed an intruder and stuck itself to the ceiling.
But shock was one thing; my body reacted on its own, my right hand shooting out like lightning.
*Whoosh!*
The monstrous Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent didn't dodge or retreat. It lunged forward with its mouth wide open, spitting a crimson liquid like an arrow. It was venom.
*Screech!*
The moment I was hit by the venom or bitten by its fangs, it would be over.
Instantly, I summoned my protective aura and simultaneously grabbed the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent by the neck.
*CRUNCH!*
*SCREEEEEECH!*
The venom spat by the serpent bounced off my protective aura and scattered into the air. The creature opened its mouth wide, thrashing about as its thick body coiled tightly around my arm and torso.
“Aah! My lord!”
Seeing this, Go Un-hyo screamed from a distance.
*'Whoa! How is it this thick?'*
The Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent, as thick as my thigh and fifteen feet long, had wrapped itself around my body several times. To Go Un-hyo, it must have looked like I was being devoured.
*'Hey! Don't mess with me, you bastard!'*
I squeezed the hand gripping its neck with all my strength.
*SCREEEEEEEEECH!*
The Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent let out a thunderous scream and convulsed madly.
I refrained from using techniques like the Ultimate Yang Energy or the Azure-White Ice Flame, fearing I might damage the serpent and render it useless. I held on using only my physical strength.
It took a full quarter of an hour for the Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent to finally stop breathing. What a tough bastard. Truly a spiritual creature.
Only in death did the serpent uncoil from my body and go limp.
Go Un-hyo ran over as if flying.
“My lord! Are you unharmed?”
“Hahaha! Can't you tell by looking?”
“Thank goodness!”
Tears streamed from Go Un-hyo's eyes as he smiled brightly.
For some reason, this kid really felt like a younger brother.
We descended from Mount Kuocang to a nearby village, bought a few tools needed for preparing the medicine, and rented a private annex at the village's only inn.
I took the dead Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent out of the sack, spread the sack on the floor, and placed the creature on top of it.
I placed a large basin on the floor, lifted the serpent, and slit its neck with my finger.
*Gurgle! Drip, drip!*
Its neck was half-severed, and crimson blood gushed out. I took my time, collecting every last drop in the basin.
Go Un-hyo knelt properly and watched me without blinking.
The collected blood filled the basin to the brim, and a nauseating smell filled the air.