AR Chapter 143

“If I knew the answer, would I be in this state!”

Chu Saeng burst out.

His choleric temperament was certainly confirmed. Not many people would dare shout like this at a demonic path cultivator, especially knowing they were far stronger in martial arts.

“I’m sorry, my patience tank is full and overflowing these days. The smallest pebble could make it spill over.”

“I understand.”

“What do you understand!”

He exploded again but quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t take my anger out on you.”

“It’s fine. Wouldn’t it be stranger to maintain composure in this situation?”

Chu Saeng spoke to me in a slightly calmer tone.

“What should we do now?”

“Carry on as usual. Proceed with whatever you were planning to do as if I weren’t here.”

“How can I pretend you’re not here when you are?”

“Focus on yourself. In this life-or-death situation, what can’t you do?”

I took out the paper with information about him and handed it to him outright.

“Keep this with you and look at it whenever you feel confused or lose confidence. Especially don’t forget the part about being sharp-minded. You are sharp-minded. So use that clever head of yours to make good judgments.”

Chu Saeng crumpled the paper he was reading. Even that paper seemed to make his patience overflow. Unable to bring himself to tear it up, he put the crumpled paper in his chest.

“What were you planning to do next? Would you have contacted the Righteous Alliance if I hadn’t come?”

After brief consideration, Chu Saeng shook his head at my question.

“I would have joined hands with the Unorthodox Alliance before calling the Righteous Alliance.”

“Then will you join with the Unorthodox Alliance?”

“Not that either.”

He was answering honestly. Before my regression too, he hadn’t joined with either the Righteous or Unorthodox Alliance.

“Then how were you planning to resolve this?”

“I don’t know.”

At that moment, I saw it. The slight trembling in his pupils. To deceive others, one must deceive oneself to that extent, but he was still too young.

He’s hiding something from me.

But I didn’t pressure him. It’s natural not to trust someone you’ve just met. When someone tries to hide something, pushing them only results in lies and excuses. Times like these require calm handling.

“Let’s rest for today.”

***

Seok Hyung guided me to the guest room.

Good food and wine were served. I checked each dish for poison with silver needles before eating.

Then I practiced the Wind God’s Four Strides in the room. Whether narrow or wide, practicing in rooms was highly effective as it was an extension of the martial arts match I had with Father at the inn.

Now that I had the goal of mastering it before receiving the Nine Calamities Demonic Arts, my training would not stop.

***

When the bright moon rose, I went to see Chu Saeng.

Despite the late hour, he couldn’t sleep and was lost in thought in his room.

“Did you rest well?”

“I rested well, but it seems Master Chu hasn’t slept at all.”

“I haven’t been sleeping properly lately.”

Indeed, Chu Saeng’s eyes were bloodshot.

“You can’t make proper judgments without sleep.”

“What can I do when sleep won’t come even though I want it?”

“Get one proper night’s sleep. Shall I help?”

“How? Will you press my acupoints?”

“I know a secret technique for falling asleep that I learned from our cult’s Demonic Physician.”

Chu Saeng seemed intrigued at the mention of learning from a Demonic Physician.

“Come, you have nothing to lose. Lie down here on the bed.”

“How embarrassing for a great man.”

Despite his words, Chu Saeng must have been suffering too much from sleeplessness, as he obediently lay down like a new bride.

“Follow my instructions. First, relax your facial muscles. Next, release the tension in your shoulders and arms. More relaxed. Now, release the tension in your thighs and entire legs. Then imagine lying on a beach with warm sunlight. Now, raise a strand of qi from your danjeon and move it slowly as I direct. From the Soobon point to the Jungwan point, from Jungjung to the Okdang point, slowly move it. And then…”

***

When Chu Saeng opened his eyes, it was morning.

He was bewildered upon waking. He hadn’t slept properly lately, but his throbbing headache was gone and his body felt light as air. He had slept surprisingly well.

“Ah! That technique!”

He must have fallen asleep while following the technique taught by that unnamed Demonic Cult man.

Chu Saeng hurriedly left his room.

Geom Mugeuk was looking at the marks on the wall in the main hall where they first met yesterday.

“You’re here?”

“Thanks to you, I slept well. I don’t remember the last time I slept so soundly.”

“Master Chu seems better suited to the righteous path.”

“What do you mean suddenly?”

“I think the reason you couldn’t sleep was guilt over not being able to protect your subordinates.”

“What are you talking about? I was just angry at him. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t control my temper from frustration.”

Chu Saeng disliked being considered righteous. His father’s influence was strong in this. From childhood, his father had taught him that being good meant getting taken advantage of.

“Could I have survived in this martial world until now with such naive feelings? Nonsense. Don’t make me angry with pointless words.”

“Understood.”

His too-ready agreement angered Chu Saeng in its own way. He had come to thank me for helping him sleep but ended up just raising his voice.

Just then, Geom Mugeuk turned and pointed at the wall.

“This hole here.”

“Ah, I made several holes when I was angry. I’m about to make another one.”

“Not that one, this one.”

Geom Mugeuk pointed to a small hole.

“Is that the hole made by his finger wind?”

Chu Saeng’s expression hardened.

“Yes. It went through my subordinate and pierced the wall. I ordered them not to fix it. To remember that day every time I see it.”

Geom Mugeuk’s expression was serious as he looked at the hole.

“What is it?”

“It’s exactly like the real Blood Calamity Finger.”

“You mean Extremely Evil Laughing Demon’s technique?”

“Yes. I’ve seen his technique before.”

Chu Saeng became excited.

“See? Isn’t that what I said? It was the real Extremely Evil Laughing Demon!”

“It wasn’t Extremely Evil Laughing Demon.”

“What are you saying? Didn’t you just say it was the real Blood Calamity Finger?”

“I meant the technique was that refined. It wasn’t Extremely Evil Laughing Demon’s doing.”

“You seem to trust Extremely Evil Laughing Demon too much.”

“I do.”

“This is why I can’t trust you more. How can I trust someone who trusts Extremely Evil Laughing Demon this much?”

“Whether you trust me or not is your choice, but trust me on this one.”

Chu Saeng silently stared at Geom Mugeuk. The man before him was a strange person. Though he claimed to be from the Demonic Cult, he didn’t feel like a demonic path cultivator. He lacked that rough, cruel, and selfish feeling characteristic of demon practitioners. Rather, though they’d met only days ago, he had a mysterious power that made people want to trust him.

If this person is evil, he would be truly great evil.

Hiding such thoughts, Chu Saeng asked:

“Why did you tell me this when you knew I would be suspicious?”

“I had to tell you. Nothing is more foolish than hiding things while agreeing to work together. If that was the plan, we shouldn’t have joined hands in the first place.”

These words struck at Chu Saeng’s heart, which was hiding something.

“Use the method I taught you if you can’t sleep tonight. Your face looks much better.”

***

The next morning, Chu Saeng came to find me again.

“I slept well again yesterday. Maybe you’re right. The better I sleep, the more I feel sorry for those who died.”

“Think of the disciples you still need to protect. What can you do? The living must move forward.”

Though it was obvious comfort, it seemed to help as he rose with a slightly more relaxed expression.

“Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

Like someone with something to say, Chu Saeng looked around the room.

“How long will you stay here? It doesn’t seem like anything will change by staying.”

“I’ll stay until you tell me the truth.”

“!”

Chu Saeng flinched and turned toward me.

“Now that I can think clearly after sleeping well, my thoughts about you have changed too. There must be a reason such an extraordinary person is by my side; someone like that wouldn’t just be here for no reason.”

I spoke to him calmly:

“Right. I noticed you were hiding something from me.”

When we first met, he would have flatly denied my words. But the current Chu Saeng didn’t.

“Then why don’t you force it out of me? With your martial arts, you could torture the information out of me.”

“This might sound strange to you, but listen. My demonic path is one that eliminates absolute evil in the world. My demonic path doesn’t break tables, and my demonic path doesn’t torture those who aren’t evil.”

“What strange words.”

But his expression differed from his words. He understood somewhat what kind of person I was.

“I think the reason they chose you has to do with whatever you’re hiding now. If my guess is right, you’ll eventually die because of it. Though you might not believe it, I want to save you.”

“Though it might be hard to believe… I do believe your words. I keep wanting to believe even though there’s no reason to, which makes me hesitate more. Whether I’m being deceived by you. Father said never to believe others’ words. That was his dying wish.”

Chu Saeng looked up at the sky. What answer would his father be giving him now?

Though he had done well until now, this trial that came before he reached thirty was too difficult a situation for him to overcome alone.

For your son’s sake, tell him to open his heart a little. I will definitely save your son.

Perhaps my feelings reached through?

After long contemplation, Chu Saeng revealed his inner thoughts.

“After this happened, I kept thinking of one solution. I’ve been debating whether to tell you about it or not. My head says I absolutely must not reveal the secret, but my instinct tells me to reveal it. It tells me to trust you.”

“I’ll contact the Honam branch of the Heavenly Communication Pavilion to change your record. Good instincts but not sharp-minded. Like that.”

Chu Saeng laughed. It was the laugh of someone who had finally made up his mind.

“I was planning to ask someone for help.”

“Who?”

“Even I don’t know who.”

Chu Saeng took out something he had been keeping on a necklace and showed it to me.

It was a coin cut in half.

“It’s a Debt Coin^[1].”

A Debt Coin was a kind of token where a coin was cut in half and given to a benefactor, and if someone brought that coin later, even generations later, the debt would be repaid.

“My father saved the owner of this Debt Coin when they were critically injured. When he passed this to me, Father strongly insisted. He said to use it only when my life and our family’s fate hung in the balance.”

“Do you know who owns this coin?”

Chu Saeng shook his head.

“He didn’t tell me. I don’t even know if that person is still alive.”

“How do you use this coin?”

“Go to any Yellow River Inn^[2] in the Central Plains and show the coin to the innkeeper, and someone will come looking.”

Using inns to make contact was a method used by our cult and the Righteous Alliance. I thought the coin’s owner must have been part of a major organization at some point.

“Can anyone take it?”

“No. He said only our direct family members could use it. I’m not saying this because I’m worried you’ll steal mine. That’s really what he told me.”

“I believe you. If that weren’t true, they would have already killed you and taken the Debt Coin.”

“Do you really think he did this because of this coin?”

“I can’t be certain, but that’s my feeling.”

If my guess was right and this was what they were after, they must be looking for this coin’s owner. Who could it be?

“Why didn’t you use it right when the incident happened?”

Chu Saeng let out a long sigh.

“I agonized over it. Really thought until my head felt like it would burst. I was afraid. Afraid that using this would entangle me with that person again. Afraid that if revenge failed, he would come find us and annihilate our sect. I wished it would all just pass by like this.”

Chu Saeng raised his head and looked at me.

“I think your appearance before me is my Father sending someone to rebuke my cowardice. I’ll bet my fate and my cult’s fate on you.”

***

Four days later.

We sat in a Yellow River Inn in Honam. When we showed the coin to the innkeeper, he just told us to wait here.

We waited without direction.

Afraid someone might come and leave, Chu Saeng sat in the inn all day.

I stayed in my room practicing the Wind God’s Four Strides, coming out at mealtimes to eat and drink tea with Chu Saeng while talking.

I told him about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. I also told stories about famous warriors from various regions, sects, and wandering warriors, and about scenic spots throughout the Central Plains and delicious cuisine. I also taught him about hunting and camping.

He was impressed by my extensive knowledge. I was someone who could answer whatever he asked.

So much so that Chu Saeng said:

“How can someone so young…? Could you be… someone who reversed aging to youth?”

“Even if I had the chance, I wouldn’t do that. I want to grow old and die together with my people.”

“I’m curious what kind of person you are. I want to meet the people around someone like you.”

“You’ll regret it if you do.”

“Why is that?”

I answered with a smile. You wouldn’t say such things if you’d been jabbed in the ribs by Blood Heavens Saber Demon until bruised.

On the tenth day of waiting there, finally someone came looking for us.

Chu Saeng jumped up from his seat in shock at the sight of him.

Not just Chu Saeng, but I was surprised too.

A man wearing a white mask was walking steadily toward us.