Chapter 914: So in the end.

As the saying goes, if you can’t reach an agreement, the next step is threats.

And if threats don’t work, throwing a tantrum like that is the best option.

In that regard, that old geezer had something far more overwhelming than I did.

What this means is.

‘He’s really immature.’

It also meant that, despite his age, he was still immature-.

WHAM-!

“Gack!”

I grabbed the back of my head.

“Why’d you hit me all of a sudden?!”

“You had the look of someone cursing me in your eyes.”

“When did I ever?”

Damn it.

Should I wear a mask or something? How did he possibly know?

“Hmph.”

Shin Noy-nim brushed off his hand, the one that hit me, and spoke to Turtle again.

“So, hurry up and do it.”

“He’s truly the epitome of shamelessness….”

Turtle sighed once more, then aimed his staff towards me.

“The duration is three days, based on the Man-gye standard.”

“Huh?”

“Also, be careful, as it might wear off if you move too violently.”

“What are you talking about right now….”

What was he suddenly saying? The moment I tried to ask with a questioning tone.

Fwaaaah—-!!

Light burst from the tip of the staff, just like before.

The difference was that last time it was aimed at empty air,

and this time, it was directed at me.

“Oof!?”

My eyes automatically shut against the bright light.

Was it an attack? While I briefly considered counterattacking.

The light gradually faded.

When it no longer felt bright, I slowly opened my eyes.

“Done.”

Turtle nodded, looking at me. Shin Noy-nim, standing beside me, was covering his mouth and shaking his shoulders for some reason.

It looked like he was trying to hold back laughter.

What the? Why is that old geezer acting like that?

I was dumbfounded, unable to understand, when Turtle pointed behind me with his staff.

“That thing doesn’t work well over there, so this was the best I could do.”

Seeing that, my gaze naturally shifted.

The location was where Cheonma was.

“Huh?”

After checking Cheonma behind me, my eyes widened.

“What the.”

Something was strange about Cheonma.

Her appearance was the same overall…. but something was visible below her legs.

What is that?

Could that possibly be…

‘A tail…?’

Something fluffy, made of fur, was attached to Cheonma.

It was definitely a tail.

Cheonma seemed to have noticed the strangeness on her body too, as she turned her gaze back and looked at her tail.

Moreover, it wasn’t just attached.

Cheonma tentatively wiggled her tail, as if testing if she could move it at will.

“…Hey, you.”

Why did I suddenly get a tail….

“Huh?”

Stopping my thought, I urgently looked towards my own rear.

It wasn’t just Cheonma.

“Crazy.”

Something similar to Cheonma’s was attached to my rear as well.

A tail with dark blue fur, to be precise.

I tried moving it with effort, and the tail swayed according to my will.

…What is this?

I couldn’t speak in the face of this absurd situation.

“Kkeuh… keu….”

Shin Noy-nim’s laughter could be heard.

“A tail and ears on that face….”

Noy-nim, finding it incredibly funny, was barely holding back his laughter, his face turning red.

“…Noy-nim. What is this…”

As I was about to question him accusingly, seeing that.

“Wait…”

What did he just say about ears along with the tail?

“Ears?”

Cold sweat trickled down.

I touched my head with trembling hands. At that moment.

Squish.

“…”

I felt a texture on my head that shouldn’t be there.

Squish. Squish.

“…”

Squish, squish, squish, squish.

“Wha… Oh, shit?”

Why am I feeling this?

I looked back at Cheonma, but there was nothing on her head.

“Noy-nim…?”

After confirming that, I urgently looked back at Shin Noy-nim.

Noy-nim was still busy suppressing his laughter, but perhaps calming down slightly, he looked at me and said.

“Keu…. Hoo… To Turtle… Hic… You probably heard him say… Keu…”

“…Either laugh or talk, pick one.”

“He said the duration is three days, so just come back within that time. He also said it’ll wear off if you move violently, so don’t cause any trouble.”

“…”

The moment I told him to pick one, he stopped laughing as if possessed.

Judging by his demeanor, he was probably just pretending to laugh to tease me.

…Is he really a crazy human?

“What is this?”

What’s with the squishy feeling, and what’s with the tail?

“It’s dangerous to just wander around, so I put a measure in place. You should be grateful that it’s necessary to prevent trouble.”

“What… Wander around suddenly? Where am I supposed to wander?”

“Didn’t you say it yourself?”

“Huh?”

“That you wanted to know how to return.”

“…!”

At those words, I fell silent for a moment.

A way to return to the Central Plains. I had been wanting to find that anyway.

“Also. There’s much I need to tell you, brat, but I’m a bit busy right now. I have things to do, and it seems faster for you to go see and hear it yourself…. So just go take a look.”

“What kind of….”

“I’ve already prepared someone to guide you. Have a good trip. Turtle.”

“Sigh. Such is my fate.”

At Noy-nim’s words, Turtle raised his staff again.

Seeing that, I felt a chill and urgently shouted.

“No, wait. Give me a proper explanation first-!”

However.

Hwaaaah—-!!

Before I could even finish speaking, I vanished in a flash of light.

When I finally regained my vision,

“…What do you want me to do? You damn old geezer.”

I had been kicked out to the world I first arrived in days ago.

---

After Gu Yangcheon and the woman disappeared.

When only Shin Cheol and Turtle remained.

Turtle looked at Shin Cheol, his staff slung over his shoulder.

“I did as you wished, but are you truly alright?”

An unreadable unease was etched on Turtle’s face.

Hearing that, Shin Cheol chuckled and looked at Turtle.

“What wouldn’t be alright about it?”

“I did grant the transformation, but it’s not truly foolproof. Especially.”

Turtle quietly whispered to Shin Cheol.

“If it’s the eyes of a master one might encounter outside, there’s no need to even mention it.”

At Turtle’s words, Shin Cheol burst into laughter.

“For someone who claimed to have touched the heavens regarding sorcery, you sound rather weak. Wasn’t it you who said three days would be fine?”

“I say it every time. Sect Leader.”

Turtle said in a low voice.

“Touching the heavens and what is truly called heaven are different categories. Especially in this place.”

Touching something is different from being that thing in the first place.

Turtle’s voice held concern, and Shin Cheol couldn’t possibly not know that.

That’s why Shin Cheol found Turtle even more amusing.

“You were showing all sorts of displeasure until just now, but now that I’m sending him out, you’re worried?”

He was treating Gu Yangcheon like a monster just moments ago. Yet, after sending him off, Turtle’s attitude seemed strange.

“Worry? Of course, I have to worry.”

To Shin Cheol’s words, Turtle admitted it calmly.

Shin Cheol reacted with surprise to that.

He hadn’t expected him to admit it so easily.

“Sect Leader. You say that because you don’t know what is bound to that child you brought.”

“Hm?”

At Turtle’s words, Shin Cheol tilted his head.

“It’s simply called a curse, but the framework is too narrow and weak to contain what that word implies.”

“There you go again, speaking cryptically. Will you only speak plainly when your shop collapses?”

“It’s a fine line. Just a fine line.”

A fine line. Turtle emphasized the words.

“If that fine line, which is barely holding on, collapses.”

It couldn’t be helped.

Turtle could see the unseen. And in his eyes.

“A catastrophe will be born.”

Because Gu Yangcheon truly looked like a monster.

As if to prove this statement.

What he worried about wasn’t Gu Yangcheon, but rather Man-gye itself.

---

“Fuck.”

I covered my forehead and spat out a curse.

Ever since coming here, there hasn’t been a day without curses.

“Agh, fuck….”

I spat it out once more.

Otherwise, I couldn’t vent my frustration.

Of course, spitting it out didn’t actually help vent my frustration either.

It was just a lament born out of sheer stuffiness.

“…Ah, shit…”

Just as I was about to curse again, pouring my emotions into it.

“Fuck?”

“…”

I froze at the voice I heard.

It wasn’t me who said it.

It was Cheonma.

“What’s ‘fuck’?”

She asked me, her expression as stoic as usual.

I never imagined she’d ask about this.

“Fuck?”

Cheonma repeated the word, tilting her head.

Seeing her mimic it without knowing what it meant, I said.

“…Don’t copy me.”

“Why?”

“Just don’t copy me if I tell you not to.”

“Okay.”

Cheonma nodded.

“Haaah…. Sh….”

I stopped myself from cursing again with a sigh.

I glanced at Cheonma.

She just looked at me quietly; thankfully, she didn’t copy me.

Honestly, I didn’t care if she copied or not, but I just stopped.

It wasn’t because I particularly disliked seeing someone curse.

Never.

Then, I reconfirmed the changed scenery and frowned.

“That dog-like old man.”

He should have at least given some explanation before kicking me out.

What kind of bullshit is this, suddenly kicking me out?

Moreover.

“What the hell is this now?”

Feeling the ears and tail, I had to barely suppress the curses threatening to burst out.

Everything else was fine, but this was the problem.

Squish-.

I touched the newly sprouted ears.

The damn thing was that the texture felt surprisingly good.

“Crazy.”

Suddenly, ears and a tail appeared out of nowhere.

This felt worse than being kicked out.

“Hey.”

Cheonma, who had been watching me quietly, spoke.

What is it?

“Can I touch it?”

“Get lost.”

I answered immediately.

“No?”

“Do you think so?”

“…Okay.”

Cheonma stepped back, looking disappointed.

Her eyes showed considerable regret.

This is ridiculous.

Grind.

I kept grinding my teeth.

Why did I suddenly end up in this situation?

“What am I supposed to do?”

With what intention did he suddenly send me out?

‘What did he say again? That he was busy and didn’t have time to explain, so I should go see for myself?’

Noy-nim definitely said that.

I thought, ‘What kind of excuse is that,’ but since that’s what happened, I tried to understand it.

So, what exactly am I supposed to go see?

A question arose.

“Can’t I go back in?”

I looked into the empty air.

Couldn’t I just find something unusual like last time and break through?

I focused on that thought and stared, but.

‘…I can’t see anything?’

I feel nothing.

Even when I activated my spiritual sight, it was the same.

I could see it last time, but not this time.

What is it?

‘Did Turtle do something?’

The crimson light that had emanated from the tip of his staff.

Did he do something with that?

If not, there weren’t many other possibilities.

‘What on earth is that old man?’

Is it okay to call him an old man?

The being Noy-nim called Turtle.

What could he possibly be?

Just what is he…

‘Could he be using sorcery like that?’

It was a wondrous power.

So much so that just recalling it made me want to see it again.

‘Can I do it?’

The feast of countless branches and patterns that had unfolded then.

It was so complex it felt like my head would split just looking at it, but the vast amount of information embedded within strangely stimulated my curiosity.

‘How was it formed again.

I recall the sequence and arrangement.

The ones those Zhuge bastards used looked simple, despite having many branches. This was different.

‘There were too many rules.’

Numerous and complex.

It wasn’t made of just one thing.

Is that why so many colors were visible?

Recalling this, I fiddled with my fingers.

As if replaying the unfolding process, I recalled it step by step.

Woong-!

The ring in my heart moved slightly.

Energy sprouted like thread from my fingertips.

I stack it.

Slowly, I began shaping it into threads.

I think I did it something like this?

The moment I thought that and tried to solidify the shape.

“…Excuse me.”

“…!”

The energy dissipated at the voice from behind.

I quickly looked back.

So I missed it.

The moment the dissipating energy briefly shone with rainbow colors.

“Whoa…. What are you.”

I frowned, looking at the person who suddenly spoke to me.

“Why are you here?”

“…”

The person who spoke to me was Gu Bong, with a black eye blooming on his face.