Chapter 52: Plum Blossom Sword Dragon (2)

Yeongpung called me again.

However, I wasn’t really in a situation where I could answer Yeongpung’s question.

‘What was that just now…? ‘

I must have misheard.

It must have been auditory hallucination.

It had to be.

Otherwise, I might want to bite my tongue and die right here.

‘I must have misheard it. I haven’t been awake for long, right?’

Yeah, maybe because I woke up suddenly, I hadn’t properly woken up from the dream.

After forcing my thoughts into order, I first needed to quickly answer Yeongpung.

“…It’s nothing.”

[Oh, what is it! Brat, can you hear me?]

“Woah, fuck!”

Startled by the second voice that reached me, I shouted.

Because of that, Yeongpung, who was in front of me, seemed the most surprised, his eyes widening.

Without even looking at Yeongpung’s reaction, I suddenly hid behind him.

Yeongpung exclaimed in fright.

“Y-Young Hero! Why are you acting like this!”

“D-D-Didn’t you just hear something!?”

“What sound… Are you talking about the curse Young Hero just uttered?”

“No… not that! I mean a grandfatherly voice that sounds quite strict and old-fashioned.”

“What on earth are you talking about…”

[This tiny little guy! Who are you calling strict and old-fashioned!]

“Look at this!! Can’t you really hear it!?”

I pressed Yeongpung, but Yeongpung instead wore a look like he was seeing a strange person.

It made sense, considering I came to question him, only to suddenly turn around and hide behind him, clutching his clothes.

No, fuck, you can’t hear this? How can you not hear such a loud voice?

Inner voice transmission? No, it was definitely different from inner voice transmission.

It felt like it directly struck my brain…

[This young punk! To think I’m hearing this from someone who would have pissed themselves just by making eye contact when I was alive. You should just die when you get old!]

‘When I was alive? So it really is a ghost…?!’

[Shut up, you punk! What are you doing getting scared over such a trivial thing, you guy with a dick!]

…Where did I get possessed from?

I haven’t even passed by any graves or abandoned houses, so what is this, lightning from a clear sky…!

[Possessed by what? You put it on yourself willingly, you punk.]

At the evil spirit’s words.

[Evil spirit!? Aaaah, evil spirit!?]

…..At the ghost’s words, I flinched.

What do you mean I put it on myself?

[When you were shamelessly stealing and eating, and now you’re playing dumb, you punk! Aren’t you ashamed!?]

“No! What are you talking about, what did I eat!?”

“Y-Young Hero…?”

I ignored Yeongpung, who now looked at me fearfully.

I was in more urgent need right now; it wasn’t a situation to worry about appearances.

At my words, the ghost spoke incredulously.

[Look at this guy? Did you really not know? Even after sucking it down until you were stuffed.]

What could this possibly mean?

What did I eat?

[To not even remember properly, how absurd. Don’t you truly know who helped you break through the wall.]

Wall?

At the ghost’s words, a thought flashed through my mind.

The day my Nine Flame Wheel Technique rose to Level 4.

The thick plum blossom fragrance I felt the night before.

And the strangely diminished glow of the treasure the next day.

It was a chilling thought.

It couldn’t be that, surely.

[Kekeke! Fortunately, you’re not entirely stupid.]

…Oh, spirits of heaven and earth.

[Thanks to me, you easily overcame a wall that would have taken ages, yet you dare treat me like a mere evil spirit… You’ve got some serious guts, brat.]

What is this? Did the treasure possessed by Mount Hua originally have such an effect?

No, what kind of treasure is treated like a precious item when it’s possessed by a ghost? What kind of precious item (貴物) is this? It’s a ghost item (鬼物)!

[To maintain that insolent mouth even now… you’re amazing in a different sense.]

‘Who are you?’

Is the treasure really possessed by a ghost…?

[Ghost? Don’t compare me to such trivial things.]

Along with the ghost’s words, my chest tingled.

Is it heat? It doesn’t feel like that; it feels refreshing and calm.

My internal energy moves on its own.

Internal energy moving without my will was a truly unpleasant sensation.

It felt disgusting, like hundreds of insects crawling up my skin.

‘I feel like I’m going to vomit…!’

Although it felt calm, it wasn’t painless as it churned my entire body.

I tried to endure it by gritting my teeth, but that wasn’t easy either.

Even amidst that, the ghost’s words didn’t stop.

[I am the 8th Sect Leader of the Great Mount Hua Sect.]

Following the ghost’s words, my chest undulated uncontrollably.

The heavy energy that settled on my shoulders constricted my entire body, eventually penetrating down to my dantian.

Yeongpung seemed flustered and tried to support me, but my fading consciousness drifted further away, showing no signs of returning.

My vision seemed to be turning white.

Finally.

[I am Mount Hua Sword Saint (華山仙劒) Sincheol (神徹).]

With the ghost’s final words, I lost consciousness.

******************

The Blood Demon War (血魔大戰).

This refers to the war waged by the Blood Demon centuries ago.

Despite being called the greatest disaster in Murim history before the appearance of the Heavenly Demon.

Strangely, not much about the Blood Demon was passed down.

It was merely said to be a brutal and cruel event, where the heroes of the time stood against the Blood Demon to prevent the Central Plains from becoming a sea of blood, and that was practically the end of the history.

Why was that? Perhaps because I have no interest in history.

Or perhaps there were no records to begin with, or someone deliberately didn’t pass it down, I couldn’t know.

Regardless, it was true that the part concerning the Blood Demon was particularly lacking.

Iron Fist King (拳鐵金王) Yeon Ilcheon.

Radiant Buddha Iron Shadow (煌阿佛尊) Cheolyeong.

Mount Hua Sword Saint (華山仙劍) Sincheol.

Lightning Sky Sword (雷天一劍) Namgung Myung.

Poison Absolute (毒絶天) Tang Jemun.

These five absolute masters who blocked the blood tribulation would surely have their names etched in the history of the Central Plains Murim, no matter how many centuries passed.

In the process, Yeon Ilcheon died, and the Geumcheon Yeon family, which reigned as the foremost aristocratic family, disappeared without a trace.

Tang Jemun of the Tang family also died, causing the Tang family to shake significantly at one point.

Looking at the result, they were able to finally block the blood tribulation and succeeded in killing the Blood Demon, which was fortunate.

I heard it until my ears bled that the Central Plains exist today because of them.

When the Heavenly Demon later reached out to the Central Plains, heroes like Wi Seora fought alongside others to repel him, so perhaps it was in the same vein.

That’s why it was even more unbelievable.

Clutching my throbbing head, I asked.

“…Who did you say you were?”

[I am Sincheol, brat.]

“…So, you’re saying you’re the Mount Hua Sword Saint….”

[Do you know how many times you’ve asked already?]

“Yes, I think I’ve asked more than ten times.”

After losing consciousness for a moment, when I opened my eyes again, I was inside a carriage, not outside.

I had hoped the voice I heard might have been a dream, but my hopes were in vain; as soon as I opened my eyes, the abrasive voice was still audible.

[You cheeky brat? This punk! Your insolent mouth is still the same!]

It’s a tone filled with prickly hostility, delivered in an old-fashioned manner. But Mount Hua Sword Saint…?

If you grew up as a member of a Murim aristocratic family, you couldn’t possibly not know the moniker Mount Hua Sword Saint.

If you asked the warriors of the Mount Hua Sect to pick the most respected person, excluding the Sect Leader of the time, the very first name that would come up was Mount Hua Sword Saint.

His kind disposition and reputation were said to have spread beyond Mount Hua throughout the Central Plains.

[Anyway, kids these days… Tsk tsk. Back in my day, when a senior spoke, you just believed them.]

It was said that the sublime state Mount Hua Sword Saint reached caused plum blossoms to bloom on dead trees whenever he walked.

[At the very least, you should show respect when an elder speaks, instead of being all scared like a coward…]

“….”

…But you want me to believe this?

Kindness, my ass. I feel a twisted nature, like he weathered the storms of time completely wrong. Reputation?

Plum blossoms blooming on dead trees? Even the trees that were alive would probably wither away, what nonsense…!

‘I’d find it more believable if he just called himself an evil spirit.’

He actually seemed closer to that.

Yes, he’s definitely an evil spirit.

It must be that I was possessed by an evil spirit without even noticing.

‘…Fuck, should I really perform an exorcism?’

[You damn punk…! Exorcism in front of a Taoist master? Exorcism indeed!]

Clutching my forehead again, my head throbbing.

How am I supposed to find Mount Hua’s Taoist energy (道氣) in that wretched way of speaking?

No matter how I looked at it, it was simply unbelievable.

No, why would Mount Hua’s hero become an evil spirit out of desperation? It’s not something I can just believe.

[When you were happily devouring it, and now you’re spouting nonsense.]

“Why do you keep saying I ate something?”

[Playing innocent, are we? I have more questions, brat. How could you, who aren’t even a child of Mount Hua, take the energy so casually?]

At the evil spirit’s words, I couldn’t say anything.

Considering how far this had gone, it would be strange if I didn’t recall it now.

The deep plum blossom fragrance and the voice I felt in the middle of the night were clearly reality, not a dream.

So, my sudden rise to Level 4 that morning was ultimately due to the influence of the Demonic Heaven Absorption Technique, wasn’t it?

‘What happened…’

That’s why it was even more puzzling.

If this happened because of the Demonic Heaven Absorption Technique.

It meant that a demonic technique, which should require physical contact to use, had arbitrarily absorbed energy because the treasure was placed within my possession.

I thought it was a demonic technique that only absorbed the energy of magic stones, but now even treasures…? And arbitrarily, without even touching it?

‘….This has become troublesome.’

I hadn’t been sure because the treasure didn’t seem significantly different, but…

Looking at it now, it felt like the escape routes were disappearing.

[Clearly, there seems to be other internal energy residing in your body, but how could this happen…]

“…Before that, if you really are the Mount Hua Sword Saint, why are you speaking to me in this form?”

[As I said before, brat, it’s because you arbitrarily absorbed the stone’s energy.]

“So, you mean you were inside the treasure all along?”

Since the treasure appeared hundreds of years ago, does that mean you were inside the stone for all that time?

Is that even possible…?

[That’s not it. I only opened my eyes not too long ago.]

“Not too long ago…?”

What does this mean now?

[Yes, it was around the time you first picked up the Plum Blossom Stone. That’s when I regained consciousness.]

When Elder Yi handed me the treasure? Then it really hasn’t been long.

If what he said is true, then how…?

Could this perhaps be a hallucination caused by side effects from absorbing the treasure’s energy….

I was thinking to such an extent.

Whether he truly was the Mount Hua Sword Saint, or just a common ghost deceiving me about his identity.

Whatever the case, it meant troublesome matters had arisen for me.

[How amusing. You tried to cross the wall without knowing your place, so I helped you, fearing you might lose your life, only to be treated like an evil spirit again!]

The ghost spoke.

As he said, this was surely a fortunate encounter.

My meridians couldn’t handle the rough internal energy, preventing me from progressing, but thanks to absorbing the treasure’s energy, I could overcome it smoothly.

The problem was that, although I tried to ignore it, the Sword Dragon’s words gave me certainty.

The energy that mixed into my body.

No matter how much I tried to hide it, a faint plum blossom fragrance seeped out.

I, who had no connection whatsoever, was stepping into the Plum Blossom Stance, which the disciples of Mount Hua could only attain after arduous training.

“…What should I do?”

It wasn’t something that would end with a simple ‘Heh heh! I absorbed the treasure’s energy. Sorry.’

It was a problem that someone unrecognized by Mount Hua possessed Mount Hua Sect’s internal energy, but…

The biggest problem was that I couldn’t properly explain how I possessed the internal energy.

The ghost chuckled at my worries.

[See? Who told you to just gobble it up recklessly?]

“Do you think I wanted to eat it…?”

[You sure talk a lot, devouring energy like a thirsty beast at night.]

Exactly… How hard did I devour it for it to show this much?

It was even more unfair and irritating because it wasn’t voluntary.

Damn demonic technique… trying to ruin even this life I’m trying so hard to live.

Suppressing the rising irritation, I asked.

“…Let me ask you something. Why were you there in the first place?”

If you truly are the Mount Hua Sword Saint, the reason you were attached to the treasure like this.

If not, I needed to know your true identity.

The ghost paused for a moment at my question.

[…Hmm.]

Was it something difficult to say, or were they choosing their words carefully for something important?

The moment passed, and the ghost’s voice was heard.

It was a much quieter voice than before.

[…I don’t really know either. Why was I here?]

At the ghost’s words, I sighed deeply and opened the carriage door.

The answer was that they knew nothing, after all.

Maybe they were pretending not to remember.

If so, it meant they didn’t want to tell me, so either way, it was unhelpful information.

Mount Hua Sword Saint my ass, he really was just an evil spirit.

I had to stop this unhelpful conversation and get outside quickly.

Because of what happened before I passed out, I needed to check the situation outside immediately.

[You punk…! I told you it’s not like that!]

“No, not like what…”

“Oh! Young Hero!”

At the lively voice, the ghost and I stopped talking simultaneously.

It was because Yeongpung’s voice could be heard from a distance.

However, the situation was a bit strange.

Yeongpung’s appearance, unlike his neat look from before, was quite disheveled.

With his arms and legs tied tightly with ropes, he was kneeling on both knees, his neck threatened by Mu Yeon’s sword.

And behind him….

“Mount Hua Sect…?”

Warriors dressed in the same white clothes as Yeongpung were confronting our people.

No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t a friendly atmosphere, so I glared at Yeongpung.

Yeongpung looked at me and grinned broadly.

“Haha! Young Hero! Could you possibly help me with this!”

“….What?”

The voice was so lively, contrary to the situation, that an absent-minded reply slipped out before I knew it.

[…Why is that guy acting like that again?]

It seemed like another strange situation had unfolded.