Chapter 176: Fragment. (2)

Fragment. (2)

‘What is this talk now.’

It was an unknowable situation.

To think the Blood Demon was dreaming of resurrection.

‘…Is the Blood Demon alive or not.’

I don’t know what level the Blood Demon had reached.

Even if they reached a certain level, humans living for hundreds of years was nonsensical.

Even if one underwent Rejuvenation (返老還童) several times, there was a clear limit.

You could tell by the fact that the current masters who reached the level of the Three Venerables, like the Sword Venerable and Heaven Venerable, deliberately maintained their aged bodies.

It was probably because they believed that what they gained from youth was less than what they lost.

Especially considering that Rejuvenation doesn’t guarantee the continuation of life.

‘And above all else.’

I don’t know anything about the Blood Demon.

This was the part I considered the biggest problem.

In my previous life, I had never heard any mention of the Blood Demon anywhere.

The fact that they used the word ‘resurrection’ implies they are not alive now.

Even if I had to half-heartedly study the major event known as the Blood Demon War due to the era, I had never heard that the Blood Demon had resurrected in the future.

‘Even if they’re dreaming of resurrection, does that mean it’s something for the much more distant future?’

Then is it something I don’t need to worry about?

[…Resurrection….]

Shin Noyya’s voice trembled, seemingly shocked.

[How…? They said he perished, so how on earth could he be thinking of resurrection?]

Everything said was contradictory.

Hwangabulyoung had clearly stated that the Blood Demon perished in the final battle, yet he also said the Blood Demon was dreaming of resurrection.

[Shincheol.]

Hwangabulyoung, Cheolyeong, speaks.

[The Blood Demon is not a being that can be killed.]

[What…?]

[You wouldn’t know, having lost your memories.]

[Cheolyeong, are you going to keep saying things I can’t understand?]

My dantian stirred, feeling like something with a massive body was moving.

This was Shin Noyya’s presence.

From the presence that moved according to his emotions, I could tell how formidable Shin Noyya was.

‘…So please move a little gentler.’

Though thanks to that, I felt like I was dying just holding on.

I was glad to see Shin Noyya after so long, but this was a bit difficult.

Putting Shin Noyya’s indignation aside, Cheolyeong’s words remained the same.

[The only thing I can tell you is the same, Shincheol.]

[Cheolyeong!]

[There’s much I want to say, but nothing I can say.]

[….]

Kkudeuk.

The dragon coiled within my dantian exhaled.

Was it saying it was on the verge of exploding?

As I tried my best to calm it down by wrapping myself around it, I suddenly recalled that Shin Noyya had always been calming my demonic energy and aura.

‘…I might even feel a little grateful.’

I had thought of it as him paying rent just for living inside my body freely.

At this point, it was enough to be grateful.

[You have nothing to say? Is that even a proper statement?]

The carp’s splashing movements subsided.

From its drooping whiskers and scales that seemed to have lost some color, the nobility I felt when I first saw it was gone.

[Shincheol.]

[…Speak.]

[This is something we decided.]

[We? Did you just say ‘we’?]

[Yes, we.]

Thinking about Cheolyeong’s words, the meaning of ‘we’ must refer to those ‘five’ individuals.

The five masters who supposedly stopped the Blood Demon and protected the current Central Plains.

[It’s something you agreed to as well.]

Shin Noyya flinched at Cheolyeong’s words.

[I agreed?]

[You did, in fact, you were the one who wanted this more than anyone.]

After a moment of silence following Cheolyeong’s words, Shin Noyya uttered in a faint voice.

[…I don’t remember anything.]

[Yes, which is precisely why you can do nothing.]

Cheolyeong added, his voice filled with lament.

[Heaven has abandoned us, Shincheol. Your current state is proof of that.]

The tone was too indifferent and nonchalant to be coming from Cheolyeong, a Buddhist.

‘Is that fellow truly Hwangabulyoung?’

It was enough to raise such doubts. He looked like a carp, and the only support for his claims was Shin Noyya’s word.

Shin Noyya seemed to feel the same strangeness.

[That doesn’t sound like something a damned monk would say.]

[Time obscures many things.]

[Even you, who were called the greatest rock of Shaolin?]

[Easily several hundred years.]

Cheolyeong’s voice sounded quite weary.

[I remained here alone, enduring the years like that. Do you know why I did that?]

The white carp swam leisurely in the lake.

Spinning around in small circles, as if making a pattern.

[It was because of hope.]

An unspoken earnestness could be felt.

‘Hope.’

Hope for what?

It was something I couldn’t possibly know.

However, perhaps Shin Noyya knew something about it.

He waited quietly for Cheolyeong’s words.

Even though he could feel such boiling emotions within his body.

[Like an ember that could die out at any moment, but could blaze up again if there was fuel.]

[That kind of hope. You were that hope for us.]

Shin Noyya replied, seemingly dumbfounded by Cheolyeong’s words.

[Not Ilcheon?]

[You said the same thing at the last moment too. That it should be Ilcheon, not yourself.]

Noyya still seemed clueless about that part.

Lost memories. What on earth was inside them that kept Cheolyeong and Noyya in the modern era?

The person they were talking about, Ilcheon, was someone even I, who had no interest in history, knew.

Kwon Cheol-geum-wang Yeon Ilcheon.

The number one expert of the era, and the master of the clan from whom I obtained a fortuitous encounter in Sichuan.

He was a martial artist of the ‘Beyond Heaven’ sect whose name still remained on this land even after the long passage of time.

[But did it not turn out that way?]

[….]

Cheolyeong did not answer.

No, it felt like he couldn’t.

Unable to bear the silence, Shin Noyya brought up another topic.

[Is it all our fault that I ended up like this, and you ended up like that?]

[….]

[….You can’t even tell me the reason why we ended up like this….]

[Shincheol.]

[Please tell me, Cheolyeong… why I remained on this land.]

Shin Noyya’s earnestness could be felt, but Cheolyeong’s reaction remained unchanged.

He just swam leisurely in the lake.

Seeing that, Shin Noyya sighed.

‘Is it because he’s under a seal that he can’t speak?’

Even though Cheolyeong was in the form of a carp, or perhaps possessing a carp, it meant the seal placed upon him was still active.

That is, if Cheolyeong wasn’t lying.

I wondered how that could be possible.

But having experienced so many things beyond common sense, I thought it might be possible.

Cheolyeong asked Shin Noyya, who looked troubled, while swimming calmly.

[I think it’s my turn to ask now, but why are you with that brat?]

I flinched at Cheolyeong’s question.

[The energy contained within the child’s body certainly seems like yours.]

[Yes, it is my energy.]

I was surprised by that statement.

I had thought the demonic energy swirling within my body was definitely the energy of Mount Hua.

But this was Noyya’s energy?

[He doesn’t seem like a child of Mount Hua. How did he end up attached to that kid?]

Noyya couldn’t say anything in response to Cheolyeong’s words.

Too many things had happened.

How could he possibly explain?

Putting aside the fact that he was sealed within a demonic artifact of Mount Hua, he would have to explain how the later Sect Leader lost the artifact in a bet involving alcohol.

Shin Noyya couldn’t answer.

It seemed he didn’t want to tell his close friend such an embarrassing story.

[…Something like that just happened.]

Cheolyeong didn’t ask any further questions upon hearing Shin Noyya’s words.

However, he asked something else.

This time, the question was directed at me.

[Aha-ya.]

“Y-yes?”

I was startled when he suddenly called me.

[My apologies, I mistook you for that snouted fellow based on mere fragments.]

Although the apology seemed a bit late, I nodded.

“…It’s alright. I think the situation warranted it.”

I had spoken informally to Cheolyeong earlier, but I had to show respect now.

[I appreciate you saying that, Aha-ya, but if I’m not mistaken, you seem familiar with this situation.]

The situation where everything around had stopped, and a carp speaking.

And the fact that the carp was the former hero, Hwangabulyoung of Shaolin.

[Aha-ya, are you Shincheol’s disciple?]

I couldn’t easily answer Cheolyeong’s question.

Because it was difficult to say ‘no’.

I had certainly gained much from Noyya.

It was enlightenment that couldn’t be easily obtained.

However, defining it as a master-disciple relationship felt somewhat insufficient.

[You’re spouting nonsense, Cheolyeong.]

Shin Noyya answered in my stead.

[I don’t take disciples. Wasn’t that our agreement?]

[It seems your stubbornness persists even after death.]

[Stubbornness… Do you think you’re any different?]

[Under the name of Shaolin, countless individuals are all my children.]

[Do you think I’ve turned my back on the Hua Mountain Sect?]

Why are these old geezers suddenly fighting like this?

They were having a serious conversation until just now, so why are they fighting like kids?

[Anyway.]

[What do you mean ‘anyway’, you bald old man.]

[…It seems the child’s talent reaches the heavens. He doesn’t seem to have undergone Rejuvenation, yet he’s at a level to break through the wall at that age. This is like….]

Cheolyeong spoke carefully, trailing off.

I was just starting to wonder what he meant.

[Are you trying to say he’s like Ilcheon?]

Shin Noyya chuckled and finished Cheolyeong’s sentence.

Cheolyeong let out a hollow laugh at that.

[You insist on inserting words I was trying to gloss over.]

[It’s only natural when he’s the only one comparable.]

Did Kwon Cheol-geum-wang possess such outstanding talent?

It’s not like I’m bragging about myself; I’m in a special situation, so it’s different.

Reaching this level at such a young age without experiencing the nonsensical situation of regression was unbelievable.

‘Perhaps if it were someone like Two Dragons.’

He too was a special case, different from me.

Just as I was lost in random thoughts.

-There’s nothing strange about it. It’s natural for him to mistake it like that.

Noyya’s voice reached me.

However, it felt subtly different.

Should I say the tone is different?

-He won’t be able to hear me now, that damned monk.

I was already finding it strange, and Noyya provided an explanation.

‘You know how to do this too…?’

-It’s not particularly difficult.

It seems difficult though.

‘What do you mean it’s natural for him to mistake it?’

-The situation is identical, so how could he not mistake it?

‘Huh?’

My eyes widened at Shin Noyya’s words inside my head.

“What did you just say?”

I asked Noyya again.

Because it was such an unbelievable statement.

It was something I couldn’t possibly believe.

Shin Noyya simply gave me the same answer.

-That bastard Ilcheon, just like you brat, traveled back through time.