The Pursuer
The trees blurred past in a green streak. Two days had passed since our escape from the Repentance Cave. Old Man Cheondok and I had been pushing through the mountain trails of Mount Song without rest, stealing only snatches of sleep whenever we could.
Maybe it was because we were only catching catnaps, but thankfully the featureless black figure from that white space hadn’t appeared in my dreams. The moment my body touched the ground I would black out. My muscles screamed with exhaustion. At least the absence of those nightmare deaths was a small mercy amid the misery.
Old Man Cheondok, true to his reputation as a veteran of the gangho, had his own philosophy about fleeing. It probably came from years spent as a public enemy of the Murim. …But you still ended up captured and thrown into Shaolin’s Repentance Cave. For a second I wondered if I should keep trusting this old man.
We avoided official roads like the plague. If Shaolin had realized we’d escaped and cast their heavenly net, the main highways and nearby counties would be crawling with search parties. My thoughts aligned with his on that point. The problem was that traversing the brutal terrain of Mount Song and its ridges felt like penance.
If I hadn’t reached Great Success in the Phantom Butterfly Soul-Bewildering Steps, I never would have kept up with Old Man Cheondok’s lightness technique. As expected of a great demonic expert, his footwork was formidable. Yet even he had been stunned watching me use the Phantom Butterfly Soul-Bewildering Steps. He said he never imagined anyone could master it to this degree in just five days.
Hmph. The Phantom Butterfly Soul-Bewildering Steps was on another level compared to his technique. To match his pace I didn’t even need to push it to the limit; I simply maintained a moderate flow. Thanks to that, I’d managed to conserve both my internal energy and stamina.
Still, Mount Song’s terrain was merciless. During one of our brief recovery stops, Old Man Cheondok had explained that it was known as the Central Peak among the Five Great Mountains, famed for its savage landscape. It was a colossal range made up of seventy-two peaks, including Taeshil and Soshil, part of the same spine that, like the Jinling mountains, formed the roof of the Central Plains.
His plan was to stick exclusively to the mountain paths, avoiding major cities like Luoyang or Yingzhou while heading south. From there we could reach the border of Hubei Province and eventually the Yangtze River—the massive waterway that divided the Central Plains from Jiangnan—without ever touching civilized roads. So our first objective was set: the Yangtze.
The Yangtze… In my original world it had been called the Yangtze River.
Ah… There was that incredible lamb-skewer place near the Yangtze. The flavor was out of this world.
“Slurp.”
When you’re starving, every thought circles back to food. I was ravenous. The distance from Mount Song to the Yangtze was probably greater than crossing the entire Korean peninsula, and we were covering it all on foot through brutal mountain trails.
Just one day into our escape the skin on the bottoms of my feet had peeled away completely.
Imagine a special-forces 100-kilometer march at full sprint. In modern Korea I would have been wearing sturdy combat boots. Even for hiking I would have had proper boots with synthetic rubber soles and leather uppers. But this was a pseudo-martial-arts world barely removed from the primitive era. Such conveniences simply didn’t exist.
The shoes I wore were cloth shoes—literally just fabric stitched together. Calling them shoes felt generous. They were closer to thick socks. Not only were my feet raw, but the soles of these pathetic excuses for footwear were almost worn through. How could I not feel pathetic?
My feet hurt. My stamina was draining by the minute. In two days I doubt I’d slept more than four hours total. The only sustenance I’d had was water scooped from passing streams. At least Mount Song had no shortage of clean water; that was something to be grateful for.
The people of this vast, primitive Central Plains apparently thought nothing of trekking mountain paths for days in conditions like these. They were hardy primitives who made even modern South Korea’s special forces look soft. But I wasn’t a primitive! …Still, humans adapt. Somehow I was enduring.
Complaining after only two days of running felt ridiculous given how bad my situation actually was.
That said, Old Man Cheondok was impressively tough. At his age he kept running without complaint. …Could I still run like that when I reach his age? No. I refused to entertain the thought. I would make sure I never had to.
I would return to my world, annihilate every last monster, and save humanity. Then I’d spend my twilight years living in comfort and luxury.
Sigh… Poor Mr. Cheon. You should have lived more righteously when you were young. Look at you now.
I was trailing behind him, lost in random thoughts, when he gradually slowed to a stop.
“There must be a stream ahead. I can hear water flowing. Let’s rest a moment.”
He turned around and flinched visibly.
“Seriously. Can you please stop jumping every time you look at me?”
“…My apologies. Your face has changed so much that I still can’t get used to it.”
Wearing an awkward expression, Old Man Cheondok walked slowly toward the stream.
It had already been two days since my face changed, yet every time he glanced at me he still reacted with shock. Did it really change that much?
From everyone’s reactions I could tell the difference was dramatic, but without a mirror I had no way of knowing exactly how different I looked. At first I’d wondered if the change was temporary, or if it only happened under moonlight like some kind of werewolf. But seeing Old Man Cheondok’s reaction even in broad daylight, that clearly wasn’t the case.
What exactly did this woman do to her body?
I knew nothing. Then again, even if I did, what could I do about it? I planned to return to my own world as quickly as possible.
…Or would I be stuck living as this woman forever?
I shook my head vigorously, banishing the dark thought.
A few more steps brought us to a clear stream fed by valley water. The water was pristine, untouched by pollution. I plunged my face into the current, scrubbing my skin, then washed my hair while I was at it. After that I drank greedily.
“Puha! So refreshing.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… How can a girl behave with so little modesty?”
I heard Old Man Cheondok’s voice but didn’t immediately realize he was talking about me. After all, I was clearly a man among men.
…Oh. Right. I’m a woman now.
I still couldn’t get used to it. My body refused to adapt. The way others saw me refused to adapt. I didn’t feel like arguing with the old man, so I swallowed another mouthful of water and dropped down beside him with a heavy thud.
“What do you think? Any sign of pursuers catching up… anything like that?”
Old Man Cheondok scanned our surroundings before answering.
“It’s quiet… Perhaps it has something to do with that explosion we witnessed.”
“You think the explosion… happened near the Repentance Cave?”
“It must have. An blast powerful enough to obliterate an entire mountain peak… The Repentance Cave couldn’t possibly have survived. The Shaolin monks probably believe we were all caught in it.”
“….”
My mood sank again. Guyu Majon’s final moments were still burned vividly into my mind.
We sat in silence for a while. Eventually Old Man Cheondok broke it carefully.
“…So it’s possible they aren’t pursuing us at all. But we must not lower our guard.”
“Yeah. No letting our guard down.”
We had considered from the start that no pursuit team might be following, but we refused to grow complacent. That was why we had run at full strength for two days without proper sleep or food.
For the time being we wouldn’t hunt or light fires. Smoke could be seen from ten li away.
To lighten the mood, I asked Old Man Cheondok about the new properties of the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art.
“What do you think of the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art now that you’ve used it?”
“…It’s astonishing. A martial art that lets you accumulate more internal energy the harder you move your body… I’ve never heard of anything like it.”
Exactly. Shockingly, the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art built up energy the more brutally you moved. In the Repentance Cave there had been no room to move, so I had practiced it through seated meditation like ordinary internal cultivation methods. But during this desperate escape I had finally realized the truth: there was no waste.
Rather than consuming internal energy, every movement actually accumulated it. That was why we had been able to endure two days of grueling travel with almost no food or rest.
Of course, there was still a limit. No matter how much energy you stored, the human body needed food, sleep, and recovery. I had learned the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art back in my original world, but my overwhelming stats meant I had never paid much attention to its finer points.
I remembered what Geomjeong-i had told me in the dream a few days earlier.
“Your current internal energy level is mid-to-late Peak here. But outside… maybe First-class?”
In the dream I had moved like a madman just to avoid dying to him. In reality I had been sitting motionless in the Repentance Cave operating the technique.
So… the high activity in the dream pushed me to Peak, while the lack of movement in reality kept me at First-class?
It made sense. I would have to test the theory.
If it doesn’t work, I can always ask Geomjeong-i next time.
But… after that I feel like we had a really important conversation…
I couldn’t remember what it was. Something about my memory being hazy… It feels like he asked for my name…
My name is obviously Bae Taeseong. Why ask that?
As I finished the thought and started to stand—
Shh—
Old Man Cheondok stopped me, pressing a finger to his lips.
A clear signal for silence.
I instantly went on high alert. My gaze followed his toward the distance.
Rustle…
From far off, something was pushing through the underbrush, heading straight toward us.
…Pursuers?!
The warning siren screaming through my nerves snapped me into combat stance instantly.