Chapter 403: Hide and Seek

A man looked up at the dark sky. It looked like an ordinary night sky, but it was still daytime, which showed how abnormal this was.

As the man continued to calmly look up…

Slam-! Slam-!

Loud noises started to come from somewhere. Right as the man started to wonder what this sound was, he was able to feel something.

He felt someone coming for him from far away. The man turned towards where the sound came from as he felt a dense presence.

In that spot…

Scrrrrk-!

Someone was approaching, dragging a Demon the size of a small hill with one hand.

The Demon was already dead.

Its body had stab marks and its bones were sticking out, which showed how violently it was killed.

The man didn’t even have to think who was responsible for that Demon’s death. He gazed towards the person that dragged the Demon towards him.

The person had dark green hair and a small smile.

He had a giant physique, and the blood dripping down from his chin weirdly suited him.

This man was known as the Green King in the Central Plains.

The man staring asked the Green King a question.

[Captain Tang, what do you think you are doing?]

[Oh, Captain, it’s been a while.]

The man frowned after seeing the Green King smile as he responded.

[This is a gift. I hunted it after I heard that this one was going wild. You should try it on your way back.]

[…]

The man waved his hand after hearing the Green King. Then, Blaze-! The Demon hunted down by the Green King instantly became engulfed in black flames.

[Tsk.]

After seeing the flames, the Green King clicked his tongue shortly and struck his fist towards where the Demon was.

Pow-! Crack-! Swoosh-!

Because of the wind wave that exploded from his fist, the Demon engulfed in flames was erased without leaving a trace. All that was left was ash, but the fist wave did its job.

[I brought it here for you, yet you are disrespecting my goodwill.]

[Tell me why you are here.]

[Hehe… You really are no fun.]

The man didn’t show any reaction to the Green King’s words. Instead, he calmly continued to stare at the Green King with his violet eyes. After a while, the Green King finally let out a breath and started to talk.

[Did you hear about the complete annihilation of the Heavenly Black Army?]

The man started to show a tiny reaction after the Green King spoke. He already knew this information. The Heavenly Black Army was one of the armies belonging to the Heavenly Demon.

It was one of the bigger forces that the Heavenly Demon had, but it was said to be annihilated in an instant.

[And it was also done by one bastard.]

There was a master that was known as the monster of the Peng Clan. It was the Dao Emperor, Peng Woojin’s doing.

[Isn’t it surprising? I couldn’t have even imagined that old man losing to someone like him.]

[What is it you want to say to me, Captain.]

[I simply wanted to say that it was surprising, you know.]

The Green King continued to speak as he chuckled, but the man seemed to be bothered by it.

[I just don’t think such a thing is possible without someone’s help.]

[…]

The man tilted his head and stood up after hearing the Green King. Then…

Rumble-!

The black sky started to echo loudly. Black heat started to storm as if the whole sky became enraged.

[What is it you want to say?]

[I wonder.]

[Are you trying to say that I’m involved with the Unyielding Demon’s death, Green King?]

The Green King was hinting that this man was involved with how Peng Woojin was able to kill the Captain of the Heavenly Black Army, the Unyielding Demon.

[Well, not necessarily… why, do you know anything?]

[…How pointless.]

Crack-!

A rough sound came from the man’s body.

After seeing the man’s movement, the Green King’s eyes started to be filled with madness.

[Green King.]

[You may speak.]

[I heard that you’ve been wanting my position. Is that right?]

The Green King’s smile became bigger after he heard the man.

[What bastard had a cheap mouth to tell you that?]

It wasn’t false information. The Green King indeed wanted the man’s position. After hearing the Green King, the man let out a light sigh.

[…I’ve been letting you off the hook despite your greed as the Leader told me not to do any unnecessary things.]

The Heavenly Demon had four armies directly under her demand.

The Green King was the captain of one of the armies.

This meant that he had a very high position as a Demonic Human in the Demonic Cult, but he wasn’t satisfied.

He couldn’t dare to even think about overtaking his ruler and heaven’s position, but he wanted to be at the second-highest rank at the very least.

However, the man in front of the Green King was an obstacle that stood in front of his path.

Each of the four armies of the Heavenly Demon was filled with terrifying masters and the Green King was a Demonic Human in charge of the Green Aerial Army.

The Heavenly Black Army

The Ghostly Sword Army.

The Green Aerial Army.

Lastly, there was one man who was in charge of all three of these armies. It was the man who currently stood in front of the Green King. He ranked the second highest after the Heavenly Demon.

The man slowly started walking towards the Green King. As he went closer, heat gradually rose from his body.

[So you want my position…]

What was the emotion held in his dark violet eyes?

The Green King believed that it was great anger. With that gaze, the man spoke to the Green King.

[A bastard like you dare to?]

Combat Qi started to rise from the Green King’s body after he heard the man’s voice.

The Green King was almost two heads taller, but the man’s presence was in no way getting pushed back by the Green King’s.

When the man finally got right up close, he spoke to the Green King with a glare.

[Kneel. You should not look down on me.]

That was the start of it.

The Green King expanded his muscles and swung his fist at the man, but the man’s body turned into black flames and scattered everywhere in an instant.

In the outcome of this fight, the Green King lost one of his eyes from it being gouged out, and the south mountain, with its few trees, was transformed into a wasteland with half of it blown away.

I was able to regain consciousness after I was reminded of that memory.

…Dream huh.

Was it because I thought of that bastard right before I slept?

I unnecessarily ended up being reminded of such a memory through my dream. It wasn’t a very good memory, so I woke up to a bad mood.

It may not have been a nightmare, but it wasn’t a good dream either.

Right as I was about to get up, thinking I couldn’t afford to continue lying down like this, I started to hear a whisper in my ear.

“…Cheek…”

“Or…”

It sounded very faint. It seemed like someone was speaking to me, but I wasn’t able to hear it clearly, as I was still half-asleep.

After forcibly waking myself up using my Qi,

“Ugh…”

I got up while rubbing my tired eyes. I noticed something flinching around me, seemingly shocked because of my sudden movement.

I finally opened my eyes, and the first thing I learned was the fact that I was now lying down on someone else’s knees.

I could’ve sworn I was sleeping on Namgung Bi-ah’s knees, but Wi Seol-Ah was in that spot now for some reason. Does that mean I slept using her knees as a pillow?

She…

Wait.

Now that I think about it, did Wi Seol-Ah ever tell me she was coming, too?

Considering I had no memory of it, it didn’t seem like she told me anything…

To make things worse, I still wasn’t able to fully wake myself up from sleep, which was strange. I was using my Qi, so what was going on?

“Master Gu…?”

Wi Seol-Ah called my name as soon as she saw me move slightly. My sight was still blurry, but I was able to clearly see Wi Seol-Ah’s golden eyes.

“…Whew.”

“Are you feeling okay…?”

“You…”

I first asked her a question as I looked into Wi Seol-Ah’s eyes, filled with worry.

“…Is it okay for you?”

“Huh?”

“…That you are coming with us.”

“Oh.”

Wi Seol-Ah’s pupils shook after she heard my question. The question was rather out of the blue, to be fair, since I asked her right after waking up.

“Um…”

Wi Seol-Ah hesitated for a moment while staring into my eyes, then she responded with a light smile.

“It’s alright.”

Did her smile seem to shine brighter than usual because I was still feeling sleepy? Probably not.

“I… decided not to worry about that anymore.”

That’s what Wi Seol-Ah said with a smile. Right as I was about to respond back to her,

-Come out if you are awake. How long do you plan to rest?

I frowned my eyebrows after hearing a voice in my ears. I didn’t know how he knew, but the Dishonored Venerable called me.

That creepy old man. Was he watching me all along?

-Tsk, tsk. You should get ready immediately after waking up. How could you be so lazy at your age?

-…I was just about to move.

-I’m sure.

-…

I let out a sigh after the Dishonored Venerable mocked me, and left the carriage after lightly patting Wi Seol-Ah’s head.

It had already become nighttime.

I only planned on sleeping a tiny bit. How did I sleep for that long? I would’ve told the girls to wake me up if I knew I would be out for this long.

…This place.

I looked around with my exhausted eyes.

The first thing I saw was a valley and a gravel path.

Judging by how most carriages were stopped, it seemed like we were going to spend the night here.

I tried sharpening my senses a little bit, as looking around with my eyes wasn’t enough, but it felt slower than usual.

Huh? What’s with this now?

As I became confused, I started to hear the Dishonored Venerable’s voice telepathically.

-Don’t be shocked. It’s obvious in a way.

-It’s obvious, you say?

-Indeed. That’s the result of you forcefully getting into a state of selflessness.

-Oh.

He was referring to when I let go of my consciousness and let my body move freely without my will.

The Dishonored Venerable said that this was the Heaven Destruction Art forcibly putting me into a state of selflessness, and this was the recoil that came from it?

-I told you this already. It’s because you reached a state that you shouldn’t have been able to reach yet.

It meant that I, somehow, was able to experience the state of selflessness before even reaching that level.

Is that why I’m feeling so tired and my senses are all over the place right now?

It seemed like there was a reason why I couldn’t forcibly wake myself up using Qi.

I wrapped my aching head using both my hands and looked around.

It was to find the Dishonored Venerable, but it was too difficult for me as I wasn’t able to properly sharpen my senses.

In the end, I had to ask him.

-…Where are you?

-Come to the forest left in your direction.

I started moving right after hearing him. There was a large forest behind a stream. It seemed like he was talking about that forest.

I used my fire as a light source as the forest was dark. Despite this, the surroundings were still dark.

I wondered if this was also one of the side effects. Did my vision get darker, too?

I walked further in with that thought, and I started to see the Dishonored Venerable standing in the center of a decently sized plain.

“You came.”

“Yes.”

“Hehe… What a state you seem to be in.”

“…It’s bearable.”

I honestly found it exhausting, but it wasn’t enough to prevent me from training. Right as I was about to stabilize my breathing,

“You seem to be ready physically, so I shall teach you the next step now.”

I had to open my eyes widely after hearing the Dishonored Venerable. He was referring to the Single Strike.

“I plan to teach you the Single Strike of the Heaven Destruction Art as I believe you are ready. Do you have any objections?”

“I do not.”

I rolled around in dirt to learn that one thing, so I better learn it, alright. I had no time for rest. I even had to make use of the little time I had on my way to Sichuan.

“Good. Now then…”

The Dishonored Venerable moved his shoulders. Does he perhaps plan on teaching me without even an explanation?

“Before that. I must first do something.”

“And that is…?”

What does he have to do? Right as I was about to question the Dishonored Venerable,

Slash-

I felt a sensation along with a chilling sound. Right as I started to wonder what was happening, my vision was being flipped.

My perfectly fine vision suddenly started facing downwards, and I saw the ground because of it.

Then, it got closer to the ground at fast speed. Did my head get cut off?

Along with a sensation that shook my body, my head was about to fall, impacting on the ground.

“…Huff…!”

Then, I suddenly regained my consciousness. I breathed heavily and used my hand to wrap my neck. Thankfully, my head was still intact.

…Then what was that sensation I felt just now?

As cold sweat ran down my face, I started hearing the Dishonored Venerable’s voice.

“I told you last time. The biggest problem you have.”

Was it the fact that I don’t feel fear?

He commented on how I had no fear of getting hurt. He said that while this can be good, it was a bit too much in my case.

“I would’ve originally taken my time to slowly fix that for you, but there’s a perfect teacher for that right now.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“You died once just now. Do you know that?”

“…!”

“Your head was cut off, so of course you know.”

Does this mean that the sensation I just felt was intended by the Dishonored Venerable?

Was it a hallucination of some sort? Or maybe a Formation?

I struggled to understand this situation, then someone started to appear behind the Dishonored Venerable. I had to hide my gasp after seeing who it was.

It was the Dark King.

Right as I started to wonder why that man came here all of a sudden, the Dishonored Venerable spoke after seeing my reaction.

“I wasn’t going to use this method, but I got greedy because you were better than I expected.”

“…Huh?”

“My disciple has to be perfect. After all, you are the disciple of none other than the Dishonored Venerable.”

“And what does that have to do with the Dark King being here…?”

“Everything, of course. This friend here will help you train.”

The Dark King is going to help me in my training? I wondered what this nonsense was.

I demanded an explanation from the Dishonored Venerable with a frown, but he only said this with a bright smile.

“You only have to do one thing. Starting from the moonrise until sunrise, you just have to catch this friend.”

I felt speechless after hearing the Dishonored Venerable.

“The Dark King…?”

“Yes. You will do this every day until you succeed.”

I have to catch the Dark King? During a night time like this at that?

“It’ll be hard normally… so this friend will endlessly approach you.”

So he’s at least giving me a chance. Even so, this felt absurd.

I was hoping to learn the next step of the Heaven Destruction Art; instead, I had to do some hide-and-seek all of a sudden. Not only that, but the Dark King agreed on this whole thing?

…Well, obviously.

It must be why he was here right now. It meant that I had to play hide-and-seek at my age. With the king of assassins, at that.

But then what was the welcome that I got earlier?

The welcome ceremony of my head falling to the ground. For it to be a simple welcome, it felt way too real.

I believe that this was intended by the Dishonored Venerable.

Was there something more to it?

I continued to think, and the Dishonored Venerable spoke as he started to walk away.

“Work hard now. I hope you finish as fast as possible. I still have a ton of things to teach you after all.”

“Where are you going?”

“I told you everything I needed to. All you have to do now is to finish your task.”

He’s really leaving like this?

When I, dumbfoundedly, stared at the Dishonored Venerable walking away, he turned his head around and looked back at me.

“Oh, I actually have one very important request to make. I forgot.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t break.”

“What do you me—“

I tried stopping the Dishonored Venerable, demanding an answer as he kept saying strange things, but I wasn’t able to finish my sentence.

Stab-

It was because something stabbed my heart.

“…!”

There was no pain. Instead, blood rushed to my face, and I almost lost consciousness. Despite this horrifying situation, I checked the person responsible for putting a dagger in my heart.

The Dark King was standing, staring at me with a cold gaze.

Neigh-!

During a crescent moon night, a horse was running endlessly along a path. It ran so fast that the carriage behind the horse was shaking crazily.

“Blegh…”

However, the beautiful lady inside the carriage wasn’t able to deal with it very well, as she was busy covering her mouth while holding onto the window.

It was so bad to the point that her skin was fully pale.

Was it because this was the first time she rode a carriage shaking this much? Moyong Hi-ah couldn’t get rid of the sickness.

“S-Slow… do- ugh…”

Moyong Hi-ah begged in a pitiful voice, but the horse only ran faster.

I feel like I’m going to die…!

Moyong Hi-ah wondered if life was flashing before her eyes, as she believed that it wasn’t strange at all for her to die like this here.

It was also funnier how she was mostly reminded of one man’s face. Moyong Hi-ah shut her eyes and left her last message to the man in her mind.

…Master Gu… I think this is it for me.

Moyong Hi-ah was slowly breaking down. Then, the person on the horse started talking to her in a cheerful voice.

“Niece! Look outside! The moon is so pretty tonight!”

“A-Aunt… Can you please… slow do—“

“Hmm? What did you say? You want me to go faster? You know how to enjoy yourself huh!”

“Ah…”

Because of her niece’s request, the lady on the horse increased the pace with a bright smile.

Moyong Hi-ah lost consciousness as she wasn’t able to endure anymore, but the lady continued increasing her speed without realizing.