EP.14 Nightmare (1)
Nightmare (1)
The surroundings are dark and gloomy.
It is alien to be called night, and contradictory to say it isn't. I checked if the moon was up, but.
Nothing could be seen.
Not the clouds, nor the sky—things that should clearly be there.
Not a single one existed.
Where is this.
Every tree in the vicinity was burning, and where pavilions once stood, only ashes remained, completely burnt down.
My body moves slowly. It wasn't my will. I tried somehow to reclaim ownership of my body, but it wouldn't listen.
As I tried to take a step, I felt someone grab my ankle. Turning around, I saw a blood-soaked man.
White clothes with a plum blossom pattern. The uniform of a sect well-known throughout the Central Plains.
Huashan Sect.
Right, this place is Huashan.
The flowers that would have bloomed brilliantly had all burned, losing their original form, but it was a prestigious clan that had stood guard over Shaanxi for many centuries.
All that history was now gone.
Only then could I realize.
This is a dream.
And a vicious nightmare at that.
[How could you do this…!]
The man spoke to me. The injustice and resentment contained in his face felt vividly real.
Leaving his severed arm behind, he was desperately gripping my ankle with his remaining left arm.
His bloodshot eyes, red from burst blood vessels, looked as if he were crying tears of blood.
[What did we do wrong…!! How could you do this to us!!]
A voice shouting until his veins burst. Around lay the corpses of people wearing the same uniform as the man.
From children to the elderly, they were all dead without distinction.
And in a horrific state, as if mauled by beasts.
[Are you really human…? How can you wear the skin of a human and do such things!]
My silent body opened its mouth. This, too, was not something I could stop with my own will.
[The endless noise you kept hearing has stopped.]
[What…?]
[It means the Meihua Xian you all respected with all your might has been killed by the Cult Leader.]
[Bullshit! The Sect Leader, to a mere evil spirit like that…!]
[The Huashan you so cherished has turned to ashes, yet do you still not realize?]
Shut up, please…. I said shut up.
[You couldn't do anything. You're so pathetic it's sickening to call you a prestigious sect.]
Slowly bending my knees, I brought my gaze closer to the man. I felt another emotion contained in the man's eyes.
Clearly, it was fear.
[Look. The junior disciples you so cherished died by my hand, and the senior brothers who so cherished you also died by my hand.]
I stroked the man's cheek with a hand full of blood. A hand stained with the blood of his sworn brothers.
Crrrack.
A sound of something breaking came from the man's mouth. He was clenching his teeth so hard they seemed to be breaking.
[The burning of Huashan, you ending up like this, it's all because you were weak and incompetent. Huashan, you, and even Meihua Xian.]
[Shut up, you demon…! The name that belongs in the mouth of a bastard who betrayed the righteous faction and stabbed them in the back…!]
As if saying there was no more time for chatter, I grabbed the man's neck and snapped it.
The last remaining disciple of Huashan ended his life just like that.
Splash.
A presence was felt amidst the widely spread pool of blood. I knelt and paid my respects toward the presence.
I dared not meet his gaze.
His presence was so overwhelming that it gave the illusion of the space distorting.
Huashan, which was like Mount Tai of Shaanxi, hid its presence just by him standing there.
Just facing him up close made all my senses send danger signals.
Tianma.
He called himself that.
[Not bad.]
Even though I heard the voice, I couldn't properly perceive it.
Is it a male's voice? Or a female's voice?
It sounded thick, yet also thin like a woman's tone.
Tianma casually tossed something in front of me.
An old man's neck, as if it had been ripped off.
This was none other than the neck of Meihua Xian, who was called the absolute master of Huashan.
[It was far from enough to please me, but I was able to gain some shallow amusement.]
Even if he wasn't one of the Three Venerables of the Central Plains, a master considered equal to them was killed so easily.
Tianma, looking as peaceful as if the very idea of a battle occurring was a lie, looked around and then approached me.
[It seems like a beast ran wild.]
He came right up to my face.
I felt like I was suffocating. I couldn't move at all.
[In this situation, I won't need to worry about the name to give you.]
I want to wake up. I wanted to escape from this dream even a little faster. Why are you showing me this?
[You are….]
I heard Tianma saying something. But I couldn't hear the end of it.
"Young Master…!"
[...From now on.]
"Young Master!"
My eyes opened at Wi Seol-ah's voice.
******************
I was on my way back to the Gu Manor after finishing the Guryonghoe.
"Uweeeek!"
As soon as I woke up from the dream, I urgently stopped the carriage and ran out.
I couldn't hold back the churning. I collapsed to the ground and vomited.
I hadn't even eaten anything today, but it endlessly poured out from my stomach.
'Fuck…. Fuck!'
My body was trembling violently. Why did I suddenly have such a dream?
It was something I had tried hard to pretend to forget. So much that I would tear the memories out if I could.
I felt a touch on my back. I spun around and grabbed it.
Grabbing it with a trembling hand, I saw it was Wi Seol-ah's hand.
Wi Seol-ah was looking at me with startled eyes. Her two pupils shaking violently overlapped with the fear the man in my dream had shown me.
What does my expression look like right now?
I felt like I would know even without seeing it. It must be a mess.
I couldn't easily manage my expression.
First, I slowly released the grip on the hand I was holding. Wi Seol-ah hid her frightened expression and instead calmly patted my back again.
Mu-yeon, who was guarding the carriage, also ran over urgently.
"Young Master! Are you alright…? We need a physician right now…!"
"I'm fine, so calm down…. How are we going to find a physician here."
It was still a mountain road on the way back to the manor. There was no way to find a physician nearby.
I breathed roughly, but I couldn't easily calm down.
The memory of the day the Huashan Sect was annihilated at the hands of the Demonic Cult.
The day the sword sect of the Nine Sects and One Faction collapsed in just a single day.
It was something I wanted to forget, but to end up like this just from facing it in a dream.
'...It never happened, and it will never happen again.'
I repeated these words hundreds of times a day. When I walked, when I ate, and even when I breathed, it was a thought I repeated.
"....Fuck."
They say humans are creatures of forgetfulness.
Why is it that sins cannot be forgotten even after dying once.
When I couldn't easily calm down even as time passed, I eventually circulated my qi through my body to force myself to calm down.
It was an inefficient action, but I had no choice if I wanted to depart quickly.
When I circulated the Nine Flames Flower Wheel Art, the inside of my body warmed up.
It was already a pitiful amount of qi, and I was using it to calm my trembling body from a nightmare.
It was an indescribable feeling.
"This really feels like shit.."
Feeling a little calmer, I stood up. Wi Seol-ah tried to support me, but I pushed her away slightly, insisting I was fine.
Why did I have such a dream?
Is it because of the anxiety that things will end up like that even though I've returned to the past?
'Don't think about it, it's just a nightmare.'
After throwing up a handful, I felt like my mind had cleared a bit.
The churning in my stomach could be resolved by using my mental cultivation method while on the move, or by resting a bit more.
At that moment, I felt something through my five senses, which had developed due to my internal qi. At the unpleasant sensation that felt like it was pricking my spine, I smiled in despair.
'What terrible luck.'
My dreams were already rough, so what kind of disaster is coming that I'm warding off bad luck like this.
I turned my body, which was about to get on the carriage, and approached Mu-yeon.
I spoke to the frantically pacing Mu-yeon.
"Mu-yeon."
"Yes, Young Master…! Should we look for a physician after all?"
"Stop talking nonsense and quickly check the condition of the Demon Thread Talisman (Maseonbu)."
Feeling a chill from my words, Mu-yeon quickly took out a talisman from his bosom.
The Demon Thread Talisman was a talisman developed by Wudang in the past, and if qi was infused into it, it would send a signal when a Demon Realm Gate appeared nearby.
The talisman he took from his bosom showed no signal and was in perfect condition.
Mu-yeon swept his chest in relief as he looked at the uneventful talisman.
"Phew…. Young Master, you startled me by saying that so suddenly. Thankfully, nothing is…."
As Mu-yeon was continuing his words, the talisman glowed red and instantly burned to ashes.
There was no hesitation. Mu-yeon immediately shouted to the martial artists guarding the surroundings.
"A Demon Realm Gate has appeared! Everyone, prepare for battle!"
As soon as Mu-yeon shouted, the surrounding guards immediately drew their swords. A sense of tension overlapped the chaotic atmosphere.
Of all times, an incident had to break out on the way back. The fact that the Demon Thread Talisman burned so quickly meant the Demon Realm Gate was very close.
If it had been a little farther, we could have fled.
It was my fault for stopping the carriage in the middle of the road.
Mu-yeon urgently grabbed my shoulder.
"Young Master, it's dangerous, so you must get inside the carriage first."
At Mu-yeon's words, I immediately pushed Wi Seol-ah and the other servants into the carriage.
Then I closed the door and stood beside Mu-yeon.
"Young Master, you must get inside quickly too. This is a really dangerous situation right now…."
Normally, I would have just holed up inside the carriage and waited for it to pass, but since this happened because of me, I couldn't do that.
Putting aside if I hadn't caused any trouble, I had decided to live this life cleaning up my own mess.
Only then would the same things as before not happen.
"Young Mast…!"
"Mu-yeon, I'll listen to your nagging later, so look ahead first. It's coming."
At my warning, Mu-yeon fixed his gaze forward, and as if it had been waiting, the air distorted.
The distorted air spewing a green light soon cracked open, creating a space.
"Green…."
Mu-yeon whispered softly.
Green, Blue, Red, White. It was the sequence of colors indicating the level of the Demon Realm Gate. Fortunately, green meant it was a Demon Realm Gate with the lowest danger level.
-Grrr….
A low growl of a beast.
What appeared riding on the Demon Realm Gate was a giant hound. To be precise, a demonic beast in the shape of a hound.
It was a bizarre-looking demonic beast with the appearance of a hound but with a horn on the center of its forehead.
"Why did it have to be a slightly troublesome one."
Green Horn Hound (Nokgakgeon).
A demonic beast with swift movements and fangs that could crush rocks, it was also the one the Murim Alliance had once tried to tame.
Of course, the result was a failure.
'The number is a little over ten.'
Judging by the number of demonic beasts coming out of the Demon Realm Gate, it was neither more nor less than average.
Demonic beasts possessed no intelligence. That meant there was no such thing as hesitation.
The Green Horn Hounds discovered us and immediately charged.
Mu-yeon similarly leaped at them. Mu-yeon's sword, having dodged their claws, cut off a beast's horn.
A single strike of the sword.
The sword qi flickering on Mu-yeon's sword proved that he was a first-rate martial artist.
The Green Horn Hound with its horn cut off collapsed on the spot. The horn was their weak point.
The other guards were the same. They began their confrontation with the demonic beasts.
Amidst those hunting the demonic beasts centered around the carriage, I awkwardly scooped up dirt from the ground.
-Grrrr….
A beast targeting me approached, taking advantage of the gap while Mu-yeon dealt with another one.
It was drooling, as if it had found its prey. I looked younger and weaker than the others.
Meaning I was in the perfect state for them to target.
-Graah!
The Green Horn Hound howled and charged. I spun the Nine Flames Flower Wheel Art, which had been faintly circulating around my body, even faster.
I felt a hot sensation rise in my body.
Thanks to that, I twisted my faster-than-usual body and dodged its claws by a hair's breadth.
Then I threw the dirt I was holding at the beast as it turned back around.
-Graah!
I could see the beast, its vision blocked, threatening the air left and right.
Even so, since it was a large beast, it was not without threat even if it couldn't see.
I picked up a rock rolling on the ground and threw it near the beast. It reacted to the thud!
I gathered the Nine Flames Flower Wheel Art, which had been circulating throughout my body, into my arm.
'If I hesitate, I die.'
Taking advantage of the gap when its attention was focused on the rock, I took a short leap and shoved my arm into its side.
-Squelch!
The Green Horn Hound's weakness was its horn, but there was one more common weakness that demonic beasts possessed.
The Demon Stone held within their bodies.
For beasts without a heart, the Demon Stone was the heart.
Since I wasn't a swordsman and couldn't destroy its horn with my current body, I thrust my reinforced arm into its body and pulled out the Demon Stone.
There was some resistance, but my arm, fully coated in qi, pierced through the flesh and had no problem finding and gripping the Demon Stone.
-Splat!
As my hand was pulled out, blue blood, proving it was a demonic beast, spurted out.
-Grrrk…!
The Green Horn Hound collapsed, just like when its horn was cut off earlier.
Holding the Demon Stone in my hand, I turned around and saw another Green Horn Hound charging at me.
-Graaah!
"Ah, this is a bit…!"
I urgently tried to circulate the Nine Flames Flower Wheel Art, which had been gathered in my arm, back throughout my entire body, but there wasn't enough time.
The moment its sharp fangs were about to sink into me, a flash of light grazed the beast's horn. It was Mu-yeon's sword.
"Young Master! Are you alri…."
Mu-yeon saw the Green Horn Hound collapsed in front of me with its side pierced, and closed his mouth.
"Thanks. I almost died showing off."
"Yes…. Thank goodness."
I could feel him looking at me with a strange gaze. It was the same look I felt on the first day I returned.
What kind of gaze is it, really….
The time it took to hunt the demonic beasts was surprisingly fast.
Since they were the ones guarding the direct descendant of the family, they weren't the type to struggle with the lowest level Demon Realm Gate.
Even in escort agencies, Demon Realm Gates were something often encountered while conducting escort missions.
In a world where the existence of Demon Realm Gates had become familiar, an incident of this level was nothing more than an unlucky accident.
When all the appeared demonic beasts were killed, the Demon Realm Gate disappeared into the air, but the corpses of the demonic beasts remained.
"Then the rest is to send a message to the Gu Family…."
I started talking to Mu-yeon but closed my mouth.
My palm felt a tingling sensation.
It was a familiar qi I had felt exhaustingly in my past life. There was no way I was mistaken.
"Young Master, what's wrong?"
I looked down at the hand holding the Demon Stone.
The color of the Demon Stone, which had been glowing green, gradually faded and became transparent.
At the same time, I could feel qi stacking up in my body little by little.
My lips trembled. I had experienced this phenomenon to the point of nausea in my past life.
A martial art that draws the power from the Demon Stone and absorbs it into the body.
"Fuck, what kind of bullshit is this…!"
This was clearly Tianma's martial art.