Chapter 17: Both Mind and Body
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: Both Mind and Body
Talismans flew from all directions, and rampaging Evil Spirits charged, spewing ghostly wails that gnawed at one's mind.
Screeeeeeeech—
Lost Souls, incapable of feeling pain, charged, disregarding their lives, while behind them, the Ghost Sound Hall Master aimed his gun and shrieked at his hall members.
“Kill them—!”
It was a scene that could only be described as utter chaos.
Dozens of Killing Intent converged, all aimed at taking my life.
My skin tingled.
Unlike what I’d expected when I first came to the Ghost Valley Fortress, this was undoubtedly a force too overwhelming to face alone.
But my eyes, scanning my surroundings, remained calm.
It was separate from the anger that had begun to heat my heart.
When did I ever fight only safe battles?
I dodged a talisman flying like a hidden weapon and parried the blade of a Lost Soul who lunged at me with a filleting knife.
Clang!
I immediately drew a straight sword path into the opening that appeared.
As one fell, spewing blood from its neck, two others were already upon me.
An axe and a hammer each swiftly approached, intent on striking and crushing my body.
The left one first.
I instinctively spun my body.
The axe blade grazed my back, but before I could even register the sting, I decapitated the one wielding the hammer.
Fwoosh!
Blood spurted into the air like a fountain.
I immediately twisted my body, plunging my knife into the side of the lumberjack who stumbled after failing his axe swing, then pulled it out. By then, even more enemies had swarmed me, brandishing metal weapons.
Left. Back, low. Right. Back again.
Clang-clang-clang!
The tingling pain in my spine awakened and expanded senses that had grown dull from my peaceful daily life.
An indescribable exhilaration.
My vision widened, and the scent of my enemies’ blood became vivid.
Through it, I could distinguish the smell of iron, and the sensation of cutting down an enemy was chillingly acute.
I see it.
The trajectories of the metal weapons approaching me appeared as dots and lines.
I instinctively felt how to weave in and out of them.
Bang!
Bang-bang-bang!
Even bullets couldn't escape this heightened sense.
Each time the Ghost Sound Hall Master fired his gun, only the Lost Souls’ bodies were riddled with holes.
However, as he furiously shook his bell-adorned staff, the stumbling Lost Souls rose again and charged.
Unless their necks were severed or their hearts pierced, Lost Souls rarely fell.
Then I’ll just keep cutting until they fall.
Looking back, I had always grown stronger whenever I took risks in a fight.
Bets where I wagered my life instead of chips had always yielded satisfying results.
“You all get in there too!”
Perhaps realizing that the Lost Souls alone wouldn’t be enough, the Ghost Sound Hall members, who had only been throwing talismans from behind, now charged forward, brandishing sharp Phoenix Peak Swords.
With their pale complexions and gaunt frames, I’d assumed they only practiced spells, but it seemed these were the properly trained Assassins.
Should I draw out my Internal Energy?
I stirred a faint Internal Energy from my Dantian.
The energy spread through all my meridians, further enhancing my physical abilities.
Thump!
I stomped my foot, shaking the ground, and the trajectories of the Phoenix Peak Swords aimed at me wavered.
I dodged by a hair’s breadth and plunged into the midst of my enemies.
Swoosh!
With a single strike, I severed three necks, causing the Ghost Sound Hall members to flinch and retreat.
They stared at me with terror-stricken eyes, but I was no less surprised.
Is this right?
Even without having practiced any specific Internal Energy Cultivation Method, the circulation of my Qi was twice as fast and intense as when I used the Artificial Dantian.
My first impression of drawing out my full power was… more bewilderment than感動.
How much stronger will I get if I properly learn an Internal Energy Cultivation Method?
Just how much of a sweet deal had those with proper Dantians been getting all this time?!
“Hahahaha…!”
When I suddenly burst into laughter like a madman, the Ghost Sound Hall members stumbled backward, their faces stark white.
Behind them, the Ghost Sound Hall Master furiously waved his pistol and bell-adorned staff, screaming at the top of his lungs.
“What are you doing?! If you can’t kill him here, you’ll all die anyway!”
But each time a gunshot rang out, it was the Lost Souls and Ghost Sound Hall members who fell.
Of course, I wasn’t unscathed either.
My skin was grazed by attacks I couldn’t completely avoid, and talismans clung to my body.
Kyaaaaaaaah—!
The Evil Spirits constantly obscured my vision and muddled my mind.
Each time, I bit my lip and swallowed the blood.
Then, at some point, I stopped feeling pain.
Just a little more.
Experiencing my first life-or-death battle since my regression, I repeatedly broke through the limits of my physical body.
My extremely heightened senses and greatly elevated mind led me to a new realm.
I fought like a man possessed, and then, at some point, there was nothing left to cut down.
Kiiiiiiaaaaaaak—
When the last Evil Spirit commanded by the Ghost Sound Hall Master let out a tearing scream and scattered into the air, I was the only one left standing on the ground.
“Tch.”
I spat out the blood pooled in my mouth and roughly tore off the talismans clinging to my body.
Though they were talismans imbued with curses and malevolent energy, for a trained Martial Artist, their effect was merely to slightly dull the body.
“Nothing left? I feel like I was just about to grasp something…”
I looked around with a deep sense of regret, only to see the Ghost Sound Hall Master, the sole survivor, backing away.
“P-please spare me, just my life, please…”
His disheveled hair had turned completely white.
It was a side effect of overexerting himself by summoning Ghosts and using spells.
“If you spare me, I’ll give you proof! Proof that the person who contacted me was from the Great Heaven Sect! I’ll give you that, so please…”
I strode forward and plunged my knife into the chest of the trembling Ghost Sound Hall Master.
Thud.
“It’s fine. It’s not that urgent. Knowing who it is is enough.”
“You…!”
The Ghost Sound Hall Master tried to curse me but instead coughed up blood and collapsed.
I put his bell-adorned staff into my bag, along with his smartphone, which I found by rummaging through his pockets, and a few talismans.
I planned to drop off the staff and talismans at Bok-ja’s workshop later.
“The basement must be that way.”
After a quick glance at the exterminated pests, I put on my goggles and mask again and headed for the basement.
*
Inside the cold basement.
Children, appearing to be around ten years old, sat huddled in a corner, their arms and legs bound with cable ties.
“Help me…”
“I’m hungry…”
“Mommy…”
There were three children in total, barely able to speak.
They hadn’t been properly washed or fed; their clothes were dirty, and dried tear streaks marred their gaunt cheeks.
As I descended into the basement, I gently tapped the floor with my foot so as not to startle them.
Thump-thump.
“W-who are you?”
The frightened children looked up at me.
Since I appeared as a monstrous figure in red goggles and a mask, I tried to speak as gently as possible.
“Shhh. I’ve come to get you, so cooperate quietly.”
“Save, save us!”
“I’m scared…”
“Mommy, Mommyyy…”
Contrary to my expectations, the children were terrified, shedding big, round tears. I was momentarily flustered but tried to persuade them in the calmest tone possible.
“If you keep crying, I can’t take you out. Don’t you want to see your parents?”
At that, the clever little ones bit their lips and stopped crying.
“A-are you really here to rescue us?”
“Yes. Tell me your name and age, one by one.”
“K-Kim Su-a… Ten years old.”
“Park Ji-hoon! Eleven years old!”
“Choi Jin-woo, nine years old…”
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like the Ghost Sound Hall bastards had drugged the children or possessed them with Evil Spirits.
I cut the cable ties binding their hands and feet and checked if they were hurt.
They were gaunt from not eating and resting properly, but none of them were injured enough to require immediate treatment.
“Who can walk on their own?”
All the children had been confined in the cold, so their bodies were stiff, and they stumbled, unable to move properly.
“No choice, then. Come here.”
“Kyaaah…!”
“Let go! Let go of me!”
In the end, I carried one on my back and tucked the other two under my arms.
As I ascended the stairs to the ground level, I warned the frightened children.
“Close your eyes for a moment. Don’t open them until I tell you it’s okay.”
“Yes…”
“Please save us…”
“If you cooperate, I’ll safely return you home.”
I led the children, their eyes tightly shut, out of the Ghost Valley Fortress.
Carefully, so as not to step on any corpses.
“You can open your eyes now.”
“W-we’re outside!”
“Hee-hee-hee…”
Once we were on the street, I had them call home using the Ghost Sound Hall Master’s smartphone, which I had taken earlier.
“Who knows their parents’ phone number?”
“I do!”
Only one of the three raised a hand.
I handed the smartphone to the smart little one and stroked the heads of the two who looked glum.
“If you call the police, they’ll take you to your parents right away.”
“Mommy! Mommy! It’s Su-a! I’m here…”
“Let me talk to the mister for a moment.”
I modulated my voice and spoke to Ji-woo’s mother, giving her a nearby address, then called the police.
The children, their expressions much brighter, bowed their heads to me.
“Thank you, mister…”
“I thought you were a bad guy earlier.”
“I thought you were going to sell us…”
…Is it really because of the goggles and mask?
I waited beside the children until the police arrived, chatting with them.
Not that I had much to say to kids, so I just spouted the usual nagging.
“From now on, listen to your parents, don’t follow strangers, don’t eat anything anyone gives you carelessly, and what else… Be filial before it’s too late. Got it?”
“Yes!”
I found the little ones endearing, nodding diligently despite my old-man nagging.
After stroking their heads a few times, I stood up.
In the distance, a police car approached, blaring its siren and flashing its lights.
“I’m leaving now. Just stay here quietly and follow the police officers.”
Whoosh!
I leaped with all my might, scaled the wall of a nearby building, and reached the roof.
My plan was to hide before the police car arrived.
Then, I heard the children’s voices from behind me.
“Thank you, Dark Hero mister!”
“We’ll definitely repay your kindness later!”
“Thank youuu!”
Pfft.
“I just did it to make myself feel better. What ‘Dark Hero’?”
The little ones were still waving enthusiastically, even though I was out of sight.
Seeing their brightened expressions, my heart felt at ease, and the tension finally released.
“Ugh. My whole body aches.”
I sat casually on the rooftop of a building with a good view of the children.
Slathering the Golden Wound Ointment, a gift from the Competition judges, all over my body, I watched the children get into the police car and drive away.
“Be careful, everyone. Don’t worry your parents anymore…”
Then, catching a glimpse of myself in the glass of the adjacent building, I realized I was a sight to behold.
My clothes were torn in so many places it was hard to find an intact spot, and they were soaked with blood.
“…What do I do?”
If I went home looking like this, my father would surely faint, and my mother would probably call the police first.
Now, I had to worry about myself, not those kids.
“Oh, whatever.”
Waiting for my wounds to heal a little before returning home, I lay flat on my back and gazed at the city night sky, where only the moon hung solitary.
As I lay there quietly, a chuckle involuntarily escaped me.
“I’m tired, but… I guess this is the life of an Orthodox Faction Member.”
Though my body was a wreck, I had gained far more than I had lost. It was a day that satisfied both my mind and body.