Chapter 22
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 22
Ise tilted his head at her bizarre reaction, but he didn't bother asking twice.
Just as the artifact merchant had warned, he listened to the pitches for a few items, but most were far too expensive for his current stash of spirit stones.
"Could you recommend a consumable Dharma Artifact for under ten spirit stones? As for its use—"
* * *
Having accomplished his goal ahead of schedule, Ise met up with Seol Ryeong waiting outside.
"What did you buy?"
"Just a single-use protective Dharma Artifact. By the way, Seol Ryeong."
"Yeah?"
"What is a Dual Cultivation Art?"
"Dual Cultivation? ...It's a method of immortal cultivation where a man and a woman work together to achieve the union of Yin and Yang."
"Why would a man and a woman need to be together to cultivate?"
"Who knows? Playing around or something. To be honest... I don't really know either."
"You sound like you know."
"I said I don't know! Why are you asking about stuff like that anyway?"
Ise shrugged at her scolding.
"I heard it was a cultivation method, so I was just asking to see if we should try it together."
At his words, Seol Ryeong jumped back in sheer horror.
He wondered why suggesting they cultivate together warranted such a shocked reaction.
The two quickly descended Cheongsan and headed toward Namsan Valley.
The distance wasn't particularly far. Now that they had entered the Qi Refining Stage, both their speed and stamina were vastly superior to ordinary mortals.
Namsan Valley was one of the larger towns near the Training Center. Since today happened to be the Samjitnal festival, the open market made the town extraordinarily bustling.
The food stalls right outside the tavern street were especially packed with women preparing for flower cake picnics.
They strolled past the most prosperous market street in Namsan Valley.
In the center of the market, cloth merchants had set up shop, surrounded by grain and fish peddlers shouting at the top of their lungs. A short distance away, the blacksmiths were hard at work.
Whenever a savory aroma wafted by, Ise looked mesmerized and tried to follow it, forcing Seol Ryeong to drag him along by the arm.
"Aren't you hungry? It's past mealtime."
"...? We ate before we left."
"It's best to eat three square meals a day and at least two snacks. Keep that in mind. A healthy body is a solid foundation, and true power is built upon it."
Why is he being so dramatically serious about this...?
"I understand your logic, but realistically speaking, you eat way too much..."
"Those dumplings look delicious. Let me check it out."
"Can you even hear me?"
Ise stubbornly marched into the tavern and devoured four trays of dumplings before finally patting his belly.
As he reached to pay the innkeeper, Seol Ryeong stopped him.
"Auntie, this is a Misfortune-Warding Talisman. How about we pay for the dumplings with this?"
"Hey. What are you doing in a sacred establishment of food?"
"Just stay quiet."
The innkeeper looked at Seol Ryeong skeptically at first, but after scrutinizing their attire from head to toe, her face lit up.
"Oh, you are Daoists from the Great Martial Dao! My goodness, of course! What kind of effect does this talisman have?"
"If you carry this with you, it will ward off bad luck once. When its effect is used up, it will turn to ash and disappear."
"Bad luck...?"
"Well, it might prevent someone from dying or getting hurt, or wipe away a fate of falling ill."
"Thank you so much!"
The innkeeper bowed deeply and tucked the talisman into her robes.
Not stopping there, she packed a large bundle stuffed with snacks and shoved it into Seol Ryeong's arms.
Watching this quietly, Ise asked, "It's not like we're out of money. Is there really a need to waste precious resources like that?"
"It's not really a waste. That was just a talisman I made for practice."
"A Daoist scamming a mortal."
"Scam? It actually works! It might be useless for cultivators, but it definitely works for mortals. We get a free meal and do a good deed, while she gets a valuable talisman. It's a win-win."
"A good deed, huh."
"When you wander through the mortal world, you should accumulate good karma whenever you can, too. That way you'll have good luck."
If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to just hand them out for free?
Ise was curious, but he didn't ask further, roughly understanding her intention.
It wasn't about simple charity. It was about naturally building good deeds within the bounds of cause and effect.
The moment the talisman—obtained through fair exchange—warded off the woman's ill fortune, good karma would accrue to the one who provided it.
Certainly, Seol Ryeong seemed less like a charlatan than the other cultivators he had met so far.
"What? Why are you staring?"
"What?"
"Your eyes look like you're about to say, 'How insolent!'"
"It's nothing. More importantly, that bundle—if it's heavy, should I carry it for you?"
"No thanks. This is my dinner."
Seol Ryeong pulled the bundle tight against her chest, as if terrified he might snatch it away.
* * *
The Great Martial Dao Outpost, tucked away in a quiet corner of Namsan Valley, looked on the surface like an ordinary nobleman's estate.
"No need to knock, we can just walk in."
"Yeah. I feel presences inside."
Although it was quiet, his Dokkaebi Sense picked up quite a few presences inside.
When they opened the door and stepped into the inner courtyard, a man smoking a long pipe noticed them and approached.
"Welcome, Cultivator Lee, Cultivator Seol. I received word of your arrival."
A faint spiritual energy radiated from the bowing man.
However, since it was far too faint for someone in the Qi Refining Stage, he had likely given up the path of immortal cultivation due to a lack of talent and lived as an Outer Gate Affiliate instead.
"I am Hong Sa-deuk, the Outer Gate Affiliate managing this outpost. You may simply call me Hong."
"Ah, I see. Could we hear about the situation right away?"
"Of course. Everyone, you may leave."
At Hong Sa-deuk's command, the women sweeping the courtyard and cleaning the veranda quietly withdrew.
It seemed Hong Sa-deuk was the only Outer Gate Affiliate residing at the outpost; the rest were maidservants.
People always said Outer Gate Affiliates lived luxurious lives... and that statement certainly didn't seem wrong.
"Think of Hajin Inn as an organization headquartered in Namsan Valley that manages several nearby taverns. The brokers of Hajin Inn primarily travel along the mountain pass up ahead. Lately, however, whenever brokers take that path, they return sick. It is likely the work of an Evil Spirit."
"Sick? What are the exact symptoms?" Seol Ryeong asked, her eyes glittering.
"Expecting your arrival, I brought one of the afflicted brokers here. Would you like to see him for yourselves?"
"Please lead the way."
Following the Outer Gate Affiliate into a small annex, they found an old man wearing the inn's uniform lying on a mat.
As they entered, the man pushed himself up. His complexion was deathly pale with a sickly, dark undertone.
Dark circles carved deep hollows under his eyes, and dried foam stained the corners of his mouth.
The old man looked so frail he seemed ready to cross over to the underworld at any second.
It was a classic sign of being afflicted by Demonic Energy, but...
"Doesn't seem like there are any particular symptoms?"
Ise agreed with Seol Ryeong's remark and spoke to the old man. "It looks like you were naturally lacking in vitality to begin with. Once you return home, get a pack of herbal medicine to boost your energy. At this rate, you'll pass away soon."
"Ah... yes, Daoist."
"Please explain in detail what happened."
The old man took a few deep breaths to steady his chest before speaking slowly.
"Well, you see... as I was passing through the Namsan Valley pass, I entered a forest. It was a bamboo forest of some kind, and suddenly I heard a woman weeping. Wondering what was going on, I approached."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"But no matter how much I searched inside the forest, there was nothing to be seen. Just as I turned to leave... a monstrously black ghost lunged at me! After that, I remember nothing."
The old man shuddered, as if merely remembering it was terrifying.
"A ghost... do you mean an Evil Spirit? What did it look like exactly?"
"Well, as for that..."
The old man clutched his throbbing head as he tried to recall the identity of the Demon Ghost that had attacked him, but his memory was hazy.
"It was like a dark cloud, or maybe fog... I don't think it had a distinct shape, sir."
Ise and Seol Ryeong asked various questions to glean any further details from the old man, but the back-and-forth yielded little of value.
They thoroughly combed through the information Hong Sa-deuk had gathered in advance—the interrogation records of those who had encountered the Demon Ghost—but those reports were equally vague.
"This is a bit strange."
"What is?"
When Seol Ryeong asked, Ise explained, "Tabaro has cold winters to begin with, and Namsan Valley is at a high altitude, making it difficult for bamboo forests to grow naturally. Unless someone artificially transplanted them, that is."
"Hmm... true? Honestly, I've never even seen a bamboo forest. My hometown is much farther north."
"The bamboo forest itself might be a phenomenon related to the Demon Ghost."
Ise quickly retrieved the information about bamboo-related Demon Ghosts stored in his mind.
"Ten-Thousand-Year Bamboo, Three Women of Hongnan."
Seol Ryeong tried to follow Ise's train of thought by rummaging through her own memories, but these were unfamiliar Demon Ghosts to her.
"Are those... mid-grade Demon Ghosts...?"
"Ten-Thousand-Year Bamboo is low-grade. But it's a monster, not an Evil Spirit. The Three Women of Hongnan are Evil Spirits, but high-grade. None of the details match."
Ise turned to the old broker and asked, "When did that bamboo forest appear?"
"Come to think of it, when I was young it was just an open field. The bamboo started growing at some point... In my memory, maybe fifty years ago?"
"What is the size of the forest?"
"About three or four times the size of this estate."
"What was it like fifty years ago?"
"That... well... was it roughly the same as now, I wonder?"
Ise was certain now.
"This is definitely an anomaly caused by a Demon Ghost. Given the nature of bamboo, it's impossible for a grove of that size to occur naturally in this climate. Let's proceed under the assumption that it's an undiscovered Demon Ghost."
"Got it."
Ise let out a pleased grin.
According to the Basic Manual of the Great Martial Dao, capturing an undiscovered Demon Ghost for the first time guaranteed an extra reward.
Of course, that meant they would have to handle it with even greater caution.