Chapter 94
Chapter 94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Secret of the Thousand Illusions Wanderer
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I left Jin Dong waiting at the Ziyun Pavilion and returned to the Dong-ro Branch.
The Alliance entrance examinations would continue until the Hour of the Rooster (around 6 PM) and were still in progress. Yeon-cheong spotted me and rushed over.
“Grand Branch Master! You must go to the annex at once!”
“What’s wrong?”
Yeon-cheong was no longer the pretty boy he had been half a year ago. His feminine features had all but vanished. Thanks to his relentless training, while still just a warrior, he had become a first-rate one. With a bit more effort, he would soon enter the ranks of the masters.
It wasn't just Yeon-cheong. Dam Geum-hu and Deung Bo, and even Yang Rim, who had been doing chores as a butler at the Dong-ro Branch, had all cut back on sleep and food to train with everything they had. They had now reached the level of first-rate warriors, on par with the members of the third team.
“The Thousand Illusions Wanderer is dying!”
“What?”
“A branch member went to call a physician, but I think the Thousand Illusions Wanderer will die before they get back!”
I rushed into the annex room where the Wanderer was, alone.
The moment I opened the door, a wave of intense heat washed over me.
*Ah!*
In that instant, I realized what had happened.
If the fire on the Thousand Illusions Wanderer's chest earlier had been that intense, a bit of Yang Essence must have been injected into his body. That was what was killing him.
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer was just as I had left him on the bed, but the clothes covering his face had been moved aside. This meant he hadn't been able to move since then.
I learned later that some time after I left the room, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo's handmaiden, Hye-so, had entered, seen the Wanderer's condition, and immediately alerted everyone. It was Hye-so who had removed the clothes from his face.
As I approached, I saw that the Wanderer's face was flushed red, and intense heat radiated from his entire body. The heat had dried his clothes until they were as crisp as paper.
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer's eyes were wide open, his mouth agape as he gasped for breath.
“Haaah! Hah! What... in the world... did you... do to me...?”
“It seems a bit of extreme yang energy was injected into you.”
He wouldn't know the term 'Yang Essence', so I said 'extreme yang energy'. If it had been just a little extreme yang energy, he could have circulated his own energy to expel it. But from my experience, Yang Essence could never be expelled.
“I... I think I'm going to die...”
“You won't die. I'll treat you.”
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer was barely holding on, but he had a premonition that he would soon die.
Of course, if I didn't treat him, his internal organs would burn up, and he would die.
“Haaah... How can you...”
I grasped the Wanderer's wrist and absorbed the Yang Essence from his body.
*Is that it?*
The amount of Yang Essence injected into his body was so small that I couldn't tell if I had absorbed it or not.
Still holding his wrist, I watched his condition for a moment.
“Haaah...”
Suddenly, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer shuddered and let out a long sigh.
His breath no longer carried the intense heat from before. The Yang Essence was gone.
It felt strange to so easily save someone who was on the verge of crossing into the afterlife. I suppose this is what they mean when they say the difference between life and death is as thin as a sheet of paper.
The color began to return to the Wanderer's face.
“It's done. Circulate your energy when you feel better.”
As I walked toward the door, the Wanderer spoke.
“I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
When I turned back, the Wanderer looked at me, his condition much improved.
“Did you know I was a woman?”
“You were a woman?”
“You...”
The Wanderer glared at me with bloodshot eyes, then spoke.
“Keep my secret.”
“What secret is that?”
I wanted to make her admit with her own mouth that she was a woman. It was a way of breaking her spirit. It would make things easier for me later.
Also, I seemed to be holding a grudge about her calling me talkative. Looking at myself, I guess I'm not that magnanimous.
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer closed her eyes.
“Get some rest.”
As I walked to the door, she spoke again.
“Don't tell anyone I'm a woman.”
“I asked if you were a woman.”
Silence fell again. She bit her lip and stared daggers at me, her gaze sharp enough to tear me to pieces.
I just stared back at her. If she was smart, she would realize what I wanted.
In any case, it seemed that having her identity as a woman revealed would be a great inconvenience for her.
After a moment, she spoke calmly.
“I am a woman.”
Her voice was low and feminine. I could tell she had been intentionally deepening it all this time.
I nodded.
“Hm! So you were a woman!”
I thought I would feel triumphant after getting the answer I wanted, but it just felt bitter. As if I had twisted a woman's arm to force a confession.
With some difficulty, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer sat up.
“Please. Don't tell anyone I'm a woman.”
“I understand.”
As I was about to leave, she picked up a fresh set of clothes from the bed.
“I'm going to change.”
Seeing me just standing there, her voice grew a little colder.
“Aren't you leaving?”
“Do I have to?”
After saying that, I remembered she was a woman.
“Ah! My apologies. I'm not used to it yet.”
“To what?”
“To the fact that you're a woman.”
“Hmph!”
She sat rigidly on the edge of the bed and said,
“Forget that I'm a woman.”
“I will.”
Seeing me standing there with my arms crossed, staring at her, she narrowed her eyes.
“Aren't you leaving?”
“Why should I?”
“Didn't I say I was going to change?”
“So?”
“There's a distinction between men and women. To watch someone change...”
Her voice trailed off. She had just told me to forget she was a woman.
She bit her lip and glared at me.
But I didn't feel the slightest bit of satisfaction.
She irritably threw the clothes at me.
*Whoosh!*
“Fire Dragon Sword! You're truly something else!”
After roughly wrapping things up at the Dong-ro Branch, I headed out to the street to go to the Ziyun Pavilion, where Jin Dong was waiting.
I noticed Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo had been watching me and smiling for a while now.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I heard your conversation with the Thousand Illusions Wanderer.”
“You did?”
“It was hard not to.”
I felt a bit awkward.
“I never knew you could be so mischievous, Oppa.”
“Hmph!”
“Oppa, look over there.”
As we were passing through the market, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo pointed to a tavern by the road, her voice as bright as starlight.
A few dishes were written on the tavern's sign, and one of them caught my eye.
-Dried Vegetable Porridge-
“What do you think?”
“Let's go in.”
It was dried vegetable porridge. There was no need to even think about it.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo and I buried our faces in our bowls, lost in the act of devouring the porridge.
Thirteen years ago, I had carried a ten-year-old Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo on my back, walking the long fifteen-hundred-li road from Mount Heng to Luoyang. We didn't have a single coin, begging for food and sleeping in the open.
Hundreds of masters from the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path, who had attacked her, were frantically searching for us, so we couldn't openly seek help from any Martial Alliance branch.
We had made that mistake once before. Unaware of the danger, we entered a Martial Alliance branch, but the information leaked, and we were nearly killed in an attack by the Ten Heavens.
Anyway, to get anything to eat, I had to do odd jobs in the dead of winter just to earn a few coins for food.
Back then, the most luxurious and delicious food we could afford was this very dried vegetable porridge.
Dried vegetable porridge was made by gathering and drying the leftover scraps of various vegetables from the market floor, then boiling them with a bit of rice, barley, or millet and some simple seasoning.
The miscellaneous dried vegetables made up seventy or eighty percent of it, with the rest being grains. The grains were so scarce you'd be lucky to find one caught between your teeth.
Even so, back then, we couldn't get enough of it. Just one bowl was enough to sustain us for days on the blissful memory alone.
Coming to Dong-ro and tasting the dishes at the Ziyun Pavilion was like discovering a new world of culinary delights, but even now, this dried vegetable porridge tastes far better.
Sitting next to me, slurping her porridge, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo didn't say a word.
It wasn't the exact same taste we remembered from thirteen years ago, but it was close enough to numb our senses.
I felt the same way. We weren't just eating porridge; we were consuming memories.
As we left the tavern with full stomachs, we unexpectedly ran into the Thousand Illusions Wanderer.
She had changed into fresh clothes and was walking with a master from the Hangzhou Branch.
Both she and the Hangzhou master recognized me at the same time, stopped, and approached.
“Where are you going?”
“I am guiding her to her lodgings.”
The Hangzhou master replied respectfully.
“Who is staying there?”
“The people who were defeated by you, Grand Branch Master.”
“Who ordered that?”
“The Regional Master gave the order, but I believe it was the Commander who instructed him to do so.”
I nodded.
“Carry on.”
The Hangzhou master bowed and was about to leave when the Thousand Illusions Wanderer suddenly spoke.
“Where are you going?”
“To drink.”
Whether Jin Dong, the Vice Lord of the Four Seas Way, was waiting or not, going to the Ziyun Pavilion naturally meant we would be drinking.
“May I join you for a drink?”
“You like to drink?”
“Is there anyone who doesn't?”
Strange. It seems I have a thing for contrary personalities.
***
When we arrived at the Ziyun Pavilion, Jang Ung called me into another room.
“The Demonic Emperor's Grand Union has placed a bounty of one hundred thousand gold taels on your head, my lord.”
One gold tael is worth twenty silver taels, so one hundred thousand gold taels is two million silver taels. An enormous sum.
“The flies will start swarming.”
Unless they are in dire need of money, peak masters are not moved by coin. Therefore, a hundred thousand gold taels would only attract riffraff to Dong-ro.
“How bothersome.”
“We will closely monitor the masters entering Dong-ro and report any suspicious individuals to you, my lord.”
This meant I would have to deal with the flies myself.
“My subordinates from the main sect, including myself and Un-hyo, will handle the lesser ones.”
That should take care of at least half the rabble.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
“Oppa, why don't you use the masters among the new applicants who were assigned to the Dong-ro Branch?”
Honestly, I had considered it, but in the grand scheme of things, they belonged to the Martial Alliance, so I felt hesitant to use them as I pleased.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo calmly continued.
“I know what you're thinking, Oppa. But your position is Grand Branch Master of the Dong-ro Branch, and they are members of the Dong-ro Branch. That means they are your direct subordinates.”
“My lord, the young lady is right.”
Jang Ung's face lit up as he agreed.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo looked at me and said quietly,
“You were thinking the same thing, weren't you, Oppa?”
“I was, but...”
“You're worried that using them as you please will give others a reason to criticize you later.”
“If the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union's target wasn't you, Oppa, but just a single member of the Dong-ro Branch, I would consolidate the power of every Martial Alliance master here to deal with the enemy.”