The first place I stopped by was an inn in the village below Hongsan.
The inn was bustling with people, and the workers were frantic with work.
I stood at the entrance for quite some time, but no one came over to me.
Then I spotted a little boy going back and forth between the kitchen and the guests, carrying dishes. The moment I saw him, a smile rose to my lips.
In my life before regression, when I came here to retrieve the Yin Thunder Bell, that little boy had grown into a full-fledged adult and welcomed me. His face was just as it had been when he was young.
Belatedly noticing me, the child trotted over and attended to me.
“Hello, warrior. As you can see, there are no seats right now.”
“Do you have any rooms?”
“No, no rooms either. Guests have been pouring in because of the Blood God Rite (血神祭).”
“When is the Blood God Rite held?”
“Exactly ten days from now. There’s another inn at the end of that road, but I doubt things are any different there.”
The boy, busy beyond belief, left those words behind and ran off when another guest called for him.
Ten days before the Blood God Rite. I had arrived at just the right time.
The Blood God Rite was the grandest ceremony held once a year by the Pungcheon Cult to venerate the Blood God.
This was also why I had needed two months for the third method of blocking the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable’s sorcery.
The Blood God Rite.
Only on the day this Blood God Rite was held could I obtain the means to subdue the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable. Thankfully, the day of the rite was two months away; if the timing had been wrong, killing the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable might have had to wait another year.
In the past, it had taken me years to infiltrate the throne of the Pungcheon Cult Leader, where the Yin Thunder Bell was kept.
That was how long it had taken to discover the secret passage the Pungcheon Cult Leader used to escape in times of crisis.
Actually sneaking in and taking the sacred artifact had not taken even half a quarter-hour, but finding that passage had taken that long.
Though I had painstakingly discovered the secret passage, stealing the Yin Thunder Bell was still far from easy.
The problem was the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
He spent most of his time in the place where his throne was.
He ate there, and even slept there. I could not even make use of the brief moments when he relieved himself.
That was because an iron grate made of ten-thousand-year cold iron was lowered over the place where the sacred artifacts, including the Yin Thunder Bell, were stored.
Moreover, the Pungcheon Cult Leader was not the only one there. There was another person guarding the sacred artifacts.
He wore shackles made of ten-thousand-year cold iron and lived near the Yin Thunder Bell like an earthbound spirit (地縛靈). Not only was his martial prowess exceptional, he had also been born with an extraordinary sense of smell. If anyone approached, he noticed at once and warned the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
Thus, it was impossible to steal the sacred artifact while avoiding the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s eyes.
In such a situation, how had I managed to bring out the Yin Thunder Bell?
There was one moment, exactly once a year, when the iron grate was raised and the Pungcheon Cult Leader briefly left his post.
It was the day of the Blood God Rite.
On that day, according to the prescribed ritual, the Pungcheon Cult Leader left the throne and performed the rites at the great training ground.
At that time, the shackled master guarding the Yin Thunder Bell would, according to custom, strike the bell thirty-six times. What I targeted was precisely the moment he struck the final, thirty-sixth toll.
After the last toll, the time it took for the Pungcheon Cult Leader to return from the great training ground to the throne was one tea’s span (一茶頃).
In that brief interval, barely long enough to drink a cup of tea, I accomplished a miracle.
Because I had even practiced my escape dozens of times, I was able to flee while evading the pursuit of the Pungcheon cultists.
Investigating, infiltrating, winning people over, fighting, practicing… Countless things from that time flashed past like a revolving lantern.
What I was aiming for this time was kept in the same place as the Yin Thunder Bell. Since it would be simpler than stealing and carrying away the bulky Yin Thunder Bell, this trip to the Pungcheon Cult could be seen as a gift from my past life of hardship.
I stood for a while in front of the inn, watching the crowds come and go.
When the Blood God Rite was held, countless sects that had dealings with the Pungcheon Cult sent congratulatory envoys, so not only the inns but even the streets were packed with people.
That was exactly what I wanted. With this many people, no one would remember my existence. Of course, even in such a situation, I had pulled my bamboo hat low and thoroughly concealed my identity. I would come quietly and vanish without a sound.
At several shops in the marketplace, I bought a few items needed for camping, basic provisions, and a decoction pot for brewing medicine.
And the last place I arrived at was an apothecary (藥房).
“You want Gihwacho?”
The old man at the apothecary looked at me in surprise.
“Gihwacho is expensive.”
Gihwacho was a medicinal herb that grew only here beyond the frontier, and could not be obtained in the Central Plains.
“How much is it per geun?”
“How much do you need?”
“I need two geun.”
“You’ll have to pay eighty taels per geun. I don’t know if you’re aware, but it’s a very rare herb.”
“Understood. I’ll buy two geun at that price.”
“But what are you planning to use Gihwacho for?”
Since Gihwacho was not an herb commonly used, the old man looked at me once again.
However, I had been wearing my bamboo hat pulled low from the moment I entered, so he could not see my face. My voice, too, was different from my own.
“I don’t know either. I’m only buying it because my superiors ordered me to.”
The old man asked no more and brought out the Gihwacho. After letting me inspect the herb, he wrapped it carefully and handed it over. I paid the old man and left.
After leaving the apothecary, I went to another one far away from that place. This time, what I sought was Gwiryong wood and Gyuhwa.
After obtaining those two medicinal ingredients there, I then went to an apothecary in another distant village and purchased thorn apple and white sandalwood.
There was only one reason I was obtaining the herbs from several different places like this: to ensure no one else would know what could be made by gathering these herbs together. Buying them all in one place would not necessarily cause a problem, but this was preparation for the one-in-ten-thousand chance.
There was no harm in being cautious. In ordinary life, inconvenience returned as financial loss, but in the martial world, inconvenience demanded one’s life.
After obtaining all the herbs I needed, I went straight up the mountain.
Deep in the sparsely traveled mountains, the cave where I had stayed in the past remained unchanged. I cleaned it thoroughly, then began brewing the medicine.
Depending on the ingredients, some had to be decocted separately, while others had to be brewed together. It would take at least several days.
This medicine was a secret drug capable of numbing the sense of smell of the master who wore shackles. They had said he had been held captive his entire life since youth, so he was surely still there even now. Back then, the time and cost it took to uncover this secret method had been no small matter.
While brewing the medicine, I sat cross-legged and cultivated the Heavenly Demon Protective Art.
I had nearly died when I first learned it, but now the Heavenly Demon Protective Art had become an old friend I could no longer do without. The more I cultivated it, the more I felt the uniqueness of the Heavenly Demon Protective Art.
Was it because of the characteristics of the Heavenly Demon Protective Art? When danger came, it awakened me and activated on its own, so at times the Heavenly Demon Protective Art often felt like a living martial art. I knew it would become even more powerful when combined with the Nine-Flame Demonic Art, so I could only hope that day would come soon.
After training until late into the night, I left the cave and looked up at the stars in the night sky.
Before my regression, I had stood here and looked up at the night sky as well, but there was one feeling now that was decisively different from then.
Back then, I had only the single-minded determination to return. Now, in the place of that determination to return, there was longing for the people I wanted to see. In particular, I wondered whether Seo Daeryong was learning martial arts well from the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
Though both of them would deny it, they were subtly alike.
‘He must be doing well, right?’
* * *
On the first day of training, Seo Daeryong was waiting for the Blood Heaven Saber Demon in the yard.
He had arrived on time, but the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had yet to come out.
To think he would be learning martial arts from the Blood Heaven Saber Demon—his heart truly felt as if it might burst.
He swung the saber by himself.
Without using internal energy, it was still far too heavy.
Thinking there was no need to waste his strength for nothing, he waited for the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
When the man still did not come out after a long while, Seo Daeryong cautiously approached the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s quarters.
He was peering inside through a crack in the closed window when he felt a chill beside him.
Startled, he turned and saw that the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had appeared at some point and was peering through the window alongside him.
“What are you snooping at?”
“Euaak!”
Seo Daeryong screamed in shock.
“I-I’m sorry! I was waiting, and wondered if you might be inside.”
“I hear the Second Young Master has left the cult?”
“Yes.”
“They say it will take about two months?”
“You heard.”
“That’s plenty of time for someone to go missing, or perhaps to die in an accident.”
Seo Daeryong quickly said,
“The Pavilion Master is such an intelligent person that I doubt he would believe such a tragic incident could occur in a mere two months.”
“Because he is intelligent, he would quickly forget even a tragedy that had already happened.”
With his long, slender fingers, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon made a gesture as if gouging out eyes.
“I will never snoop again!”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“Ah, yes. I’m going!”
Seo Daeryong hurriedly ran to the center of the yard.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon taught Seo Daeryong how to grip the saber and how to swing it.
Then, as he went back inside, he said,
“A thousand times!”
Seo Daeryong was swinging the saber, his entire body soaked in sweat.
“Eight hundred fifty-three, eight hundred fifty-four…”
The saber was so heavy it felt like his arms would fall off.
‘Ugh, I can’t do any more!’
Seo Daeryong flopped onto the ground. Even if the Blood Heaven Saber Demon was watching, there was nothing he could do. He did not have the strength to move a single finger.
Normally, this would be the time he would be lying on his bed at home, eating snacks and reading a book.
‘Did I do something pointless?’
Once his body actually began to suffer, regret came flooding in.
‘No, no. I’ve already made up my mind!’
If he failed to complete his training and got driven out on the very first day, he would have no face to show Geom Mugeuk.
Seo Daeryong sprang to his feet and swung the saber. In that way, he barely managed to complete a thousand swings.
“I did it!”
Sitting down on the ground, Seo Daeryong looked down at the saber in his hand.
This cold, weighty feeling of the saber! Yes, if he followed this feeling, it would surely guide him to a better life than one spent rolling around lazily.
Just then, the window opened and the Blood Heaven Saber Demon appeared.
“If it’s too hard, quit. I won’t stop you.”
Seo Daeryong shot to his feet. His arms felt as if they would fall off, but he spoke firmly.
“I won’t quit.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ll never get a chance like this again in my life.”
“I will never pass down my unique martial arts to you.”
“I don’t even hope for that. The chance I spoke of is the chance to learn martial arts from you, Demon Venerable. Later, when I have children, I’ll tell them. Your father, you see, learned martial arts from the Blood Heaven Saber Demon in his youth. That alone is enough. As a martial artist, having that much of a memory is enough.”
“So you do intend to marry.”
“Yes, I want to.”
“Why?”
“I want to raise a child. And so I want to give them the fatherly love my own father never gave me, not even once.”
There was a story and sorrow in his words that could be felt.
“What if your child hates you the way you hate yourself?”
“Then… would you train my child like this too?”
At Seo Daeryong’s words, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon gave a faint laugh.
Thinking he had made the Blood Heaven Saber Demon laugh, Seo Daeryong’s mood brightened for no reason, and he smiled widely.
As the Blood Heaven Saber Demon closed the window, he said,
“A thousand more!”