Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Fairy
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Opening my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
Turning my head to look around, a frail old man turned to face me.
His hair, white as snow, was neatly tied back with a headscarf, and he sported a long beard like an immortal sage.
His deeply wrinkled forehead bore six distinctive moles, and his posture radiated the unmistakable aura of a martial arts master.
The old man glanced at me and muttered indifferently, as if talking to himself.
"What the hell. Already awake? I figured it'd be at least a month. Your body's tough as a damn monster."
"Where am I?"
A raspy voice escaped my parched throat.
My entire body felt as heavy as if it were bound in iron chains weighing a thousand pounds.
"What is this...?"
Upon closer inspection, it wasn't just a feeling—my body was actually chained to the bed with thick iron shackles.
My wrists and ankles were locked in manacles thick enough to restrain an elephant's legs.
A stern-faced old woman nearby clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
"You think we'd just leave a monster who can flip the earth bare-handed without any precautions? Peak masters like you are all the same. Tying you up doesn't cause problems, but leaving you untied always does."
Clank, clatter! I tugged at my limbs several times. The chains clashed with metallic rings, but showed no sign of breaking.
"No use. These were made to bind Half-Moon grade yokai. I left them on so your internal energy could circulate and speed recovery, but keep struggling and I'll jam needles into your pressure points."
Hearing that, I had no choice but to stop thrashing.
I might break free with full-force internal energy, but with my meridians in utter disarray, even attempting the Grand Heavenly Circulation brought waves of agony.
For now, cooperating with this old hag seemed wisest.
"Who might you be, elder?"
"Gongwon."
I wanted to snap back asking what the hell that meant, but with needles gripped between his fingers, I held my tongue.
More importantly, Gongwon... The name rang a bell, but I couldn't place it.
"Huh? You're awake?"
As I lay chained to the bed, pondering the name Gongwon, the door opened and a young woman entered.
The moment I saw her face, I murmured without thinking.
"......Fairy?"
Comparing a beautiful woman to a fairy is a classic, clichéd expression.
Especially for a Daoist like me—for whom "fairy" was the highest praise imaginable.
But I didn't say it just because she was pretty.
Her face was pale as porcelain, and her silken white hair—pure as Nuwa's own—cascaded with each step, evoking an otherworldly mystery beyond mortal realms.
She looked about sixteen.
Her face still held a touch of youthful plumpness, but once matured, the title of world's greatest beauty would surely go to her, not some street urchin.
"Wow! Hi! Nice to meet you!"
While I inwardly marveled, she rushed over, grabbed my shackled hand, and swung it enthusiastically.
Her smile, lashes and all as white as snow, filled my vision.
'Wait, more importantly, swinging my broken arm like that... Huh?'
My arm didn't hurt.
I'd realigned the fractures with Blood Boiling Fire Path to keep fighting, but they hadn't actually healed.
Yet now, my limbs were perfectly mended. Skill worthy of an immortal physician.
"Surprised?"
The old man, dusting off his silver needles, lifted the corner of his wrinkled mouth.
Only then did I recall the owner of that long-forgotten moniker buried in my memory.
"Divine Physician..."
"Hmph. Took you this long to figure it out. What'd you do, eat your wits for breakfast? Tch."
Despite his words, the Divine Physician stroked his beard with evident pride.
"You, out. Don't touch anything you shouldn't."
At the Divine Physician's bellow, the girl stuck out her tongue once and pattered out of the room.
I asked the Divine Physician.
"Elder, please explain. Where is this place? Why am I here? Why are you treating me?"
"One question at a time."
'This damn old bastard...'
In my past life, I could heal most wounds myself and never needed others' help.
Thus, I wasn't used to buttering up physicians who held the life and death of martial artists in their hands.
'Should I just wipe her out with Blood Boiling Fire Path?'
As the serious temptation wriggled in my mind,
A voice echoed through heaven and earth. The Six Harmonies Voice Transmission, a tool of supreme masters, vibrated the room's air from all directions.
"Tch."
Tongue-clicking, the Divine Physician rose with a hand on his knee.
"......Behave around him, even if you won't for me. I didn't save you just to see you chopped into ten thousand pieces."
With those ominous words, the Divine Physician departed.
"Pleased to meet you."
In the blink of an eye, a young man stood before me.
Clad head to toe in pitch-black garb and accessories.
His ink-silk robe's sleeves were embroidered with golden threads in lavish patterns.
His powdered-pale face and courtesan-like features bore a faint smile.
His long hair, half-bound with an ornate hairpin fit for a courtesan, made me question his tastes.
"......Who are you?"
"Hm?"
The man tilted his head, his trailing locks swaying. It felt oddly off-putting.
"Who I am?"
Stroking his eunuch-smooth chin, he countered.
"Didn't Mugwang tell you who clawed up your martial uncle's face?"
Clawed up his face—must mean the massive scar on Martial Uncle Mugwang's visage.
I'd never heard that story.
Besides, could this man, barely past thirty, have scarred Mugwang—the top of the Nine Great Clans—and lived?
Yet from the Divine Physician's parting words and this man's attitude toward him, I inferred the fellow held high status here.
"No idea. What should I call you?"
"Many names for me. But the most famous one..."
Gazing down with hawk-like golden eyes, he said.
"Black Mysterious Sword Emperor, Dugu Yujin."
"Don't lie."
I scowled.
It was long ago.
One year after Emperor Xuanyuan's descent.
After the first six months of countless deaths by starvation, even those surviving on stockpiles began dying off.
At that time, an unprecedented Full Moon of colossal scale appeared over the vast North China Plains.
Six Full Moon-grade great yokai, over a hundred Half-Moon, and thousands of New Moon-grade yokai filled the horizon and sky, charging forth.
With the city—packed with every nearby soul—behind us, all Three Heavens Seven Absolutes gathered on the plain for fierce battle.
The Crimson Flower Divine Sword stood in the sky via Skywalking, unleashing tens of thousands of plum blossom petals wrought from Purple霞 Gang Qi.
Lacking her elegant talent for floating and firing Gang Qi, I wielded my axe directly, hacking off yokai limbs.
The dozens-strong Fiery Beggar Hero crew deployed massive Striking Staff Formations, smashing yokai skulls, but we were nearing our limit.
'Heavenly Demon! Heavenly Demooon!!! Where the hell is that crazy bitch?!'
'Gathering her insights from the rear! Thunderbolt Spear and Demon Buddha are guarding her!'
'Fuck! In this godforsaken hellscape, losing three means the rest die?!'
At the Fiery Beggar Hero's explanation, I exploded in rage.
Partly because I was drenched in the most blood, feeling foul, and partly because death seemed imminent.
I kicked a cowering nearby figure.
'You sick old hag. They say you were Sword Emperor back in the day, but now you're dead weight. Holding here won't last even an incense stick. Tell Crimson Flower Divine Sword: we're falling back to the Heavenly Demon's rear position.'
'But Hyeonseong, what about the people behind us if we retreat?'
'Why bring up those idiots now...'
'The stars—'
As my voice rose, the cowering old man muttered softly.
Truth be told, I didn't know if that Black Mysterious Sword Emperor was young or old then. His wild beard and hair hid his face.
I just assumed he was elderly, as a previous generation World's Best Swordsman alongside Sky Cleaving Sword Lord.
'—aren't visible.'
'Hey, Sword Emperor geezer. No stars in the sky for ages. If you're up, quit cluttering and move.'
'The sky, blocked...'
The Black Mysterious Sword Emperor's finger pointed to the sky-blackening flock of bird-like yokai.
He murmured in his slow drawl.
'Come down.'
As his hand twitched once, thousands of slashes followed its path, shredding the sky.
Yokai torsos, limbs torn asunder, rained down like bloodied petals,
And the blood-reddened sky under the massive Demon Moon deepened further with yokai gore.
In an era where an unparalleled genius sat unassailably as the world's greatest.
Black Mysterious Sword Emperor Dugu Yujin reigned as the era's number two, absolute Sword Master supreme.
Yet he was also the most unhinged of the Three Heavens Seven Absolutes.
Not twisted like me from mental trauma, but living all twelve double-hours in a daze.
'That demented old hag... is this pretty boy now?'
It defied my common sense.