EP.73 Scratched a Little (2)
Scratched a Little (2)
Gu Linghua's day begins early in the morning.
Like most disciples of the Huashan Sect, rather than waking up at sunrise.
She tended to wake up even earlier to wait for the sunrise.
Gu Linghua changed into neat clothes and stepped out carefully, lest her presence wake her master.
Usually, she would go to the nearby forest to train for a bit, or do chores like fetching water and cleaning.
But today, she had an errand that required going into town.
It was a task personally assigned by the Divine Doctor.
With the silver coins the Divine Doctor had pressed into her hands, telling her to buy a few ingredients for medicine, Gu Linghua set out on the road.
Usually, when trading medicinal herbs, if the buyer looks naive or young, merchants tend to pull nasty tricks like giving low-quality herbs or overcharging.
But wearing the plum blossom uniform of Huashan changes things.
They would sooner give extra herbs than dare to pull any stunts on a disciple bearing the plum blossom crest in Huayin County, which sat beneath the Huashan Sect.
The Divine Doctor probably aimed for exactly that.
Holding the paper with the list of necessary herbs written by the Divine Doctor, Gu Linghua found an herb merchant and made her purchases.
'...It smells too bitter.'
Hugging a box filled with plants she had never heard of or seen before, she stepped outside.
As soon as she stepped back onto the street, foods that stimulated her nose were being sold everywhere.
The sun was just beginning to rise, so they must be preparing for business.
The fragrant smells and appetizing foods slowed her steps, but she didn't stop.
Because her master was more important than that.
"I need to hurry...!"
Has Master woken up?
Since his body had weakened significantly, he slept much more often, and she worried he might be stirring awake by now.
Probably, by the time she arrived, meal preparations would be finished as well.
The boy claiming to be the Divine Doctor's grandson, who lived half-alongside them, was a rather uncomfortable presence for Gu Linghua.
Apart from that, the boy was incredibly good at cooking.
He was someone whose thoughts were completely unreadable, but it was impressive how quick-witted he was and how efficiently he handled household chores.
'...I should be able to do that too.'
She needed to be capable of doing more things to be helpful by his side until her master fully recovered.
As that thought crossed her mind, her diligent footsteps came to a halt on their own.
-He won't make it past this year.
The Divine Doctor's resolute voice kept echoing in Gu Linghua's ears.
Drip.
Gu Linghua hastily wiped away the tears suddenly streaming down her cheeks with her sleeve.
Even if she cried secretly behind his back and composed herself before appearing, her master would notice like a ghost, so she didn't want to cause him worry.
Even so, the tears didn't stop easily.
Once tears started, they were hard to stop.
That was why Gu Linghua hated crying.
She wiped the steadily flowing tears as hard as she could and thought.
'...When Master passes away...'
What will be left for me, left alone after my master departs?
Nothing will be left.
Gu Linghua was certain of that.
Family?
'No...'
At the suddenly emerging, chilling word, Gu Linghua instinctively shrank back.
Gu Linghua still remembered that dark night.
The blurry yet vivid memory still bound Gu Linghua.
The day the light crumbled.
Her crying mother, and her father looking down with a cold expression.
And Gu Yangqian, who had collapsed on the ground.
Gu Linghua could never bring herself to forget it.
That was her mother's last moment, and the day everything was ruined.
Then what about the Huashan Sect?
Not even knowing that, Gu Linghua could only shake her head.
Whenever she tried to reach out to someone, she would often end up snarling.
Moreover, since Gu Linghua was a second-generation disciple who entered late, she couldn't fit in with the third-generation disciples.
After her master left, would Huashan embrace her?
Even if they did, would she be able to endure it?
Gu Linghua continuously wiped away the dripping tears.
Walking like that, she arrived at a spot where the cottage came into view.
She had to hurry and pull herself together, to show a fine appearance.
Because she thought that was the bare minimum duty as a disciple.
As the steadied Gu Linghua took a step toward the cottage, the figure of Gu Linghua, seen from the outside, vanished in an instant.
In a single moment, like smoke.
Was it because of that?
The men who had been quietly watching Gu Linghua continued speaking with bizarre expressions.
"...Where did she go?"
"Did she notice us?"
"Caught by a girl who barely looks second-rate? It would be more realistic to say the Plum Blossom Immortal disguised himself as that girl."
"Shut up and inspect it, she seems to have found something."
The small man wearing a black headscarf began to inspect the area where Gu Linghua had disappeared.
Nothing particularly unusual was visible, but he felt a chilling sensation.
'A formation?'
If so, he wondered why a formation would be set up in such a deep mountain valley, and inadvertently reached out his hand.
Thwack-!
"…!"
His hand snapped back with a dull sensation against thin air.
It was a rather fierce repulsion.
Rubbing his numb hand, the man corrected himself inwardly.
'It wasn't a formation.'
A formation that blurred sight seemed to definitely be in play, but looking at its essence, this was a simple qi barrier.
And a solid qi barrier at that, packed tightly as if inner qi had been poured into it.
"…Is this the Plum Blossom Immortal's doing?"
It might not be, but in Shaanxi right now, no martial artist capable of deploying such a qi barrier came to mind other than the Plum Blossom Immortal.
Even the Branch Leader, who looked like a monster no matter how you looked at him, making one wonder if he was even human, wouldn't be able to deploy a qi barrier of this level.
"She seemed to find something..."
Could the person they were looking for really be inside?
'For now, I need to return to the branch.'
Not only could he not handle the qi barrier right now, but if he acted carelessly, he would draw the Huashan Sect's attention.
"We're going back."
Behind the man's words, a giant with a thick build let out a disappointed sound.
"We're just going back…?"
Gnash! The man ground his teeth at the giant's disappointed sound.
That pig bastard was definitely acting like that because of the girl who disappeared into the qi barrier just now.
"What's the problem now, Du Xian?"
"…I mean the girl just now. She was quite pretty, can't we just have a taste before we go, Captain?"
At Du Xian's words, the man's brow furrowed deeply.
"For fuck's sake, I told you not to cause unnecessary trouble. Is that even something you should be saying?"
Despite the man's yelling, Du Xian just clicked his tongue as if disappointed.
"…No, but it's been so long since I've had a taste… You'd enjoy it too, Captain."
"Stop spouting disgusting shit. What pleasure could you possibly feel from tasting a brat whose body hasn't even properly grown? Get a grip, you bastard."
"Coincidentally, the girl was wearing Huashan Sect clothes. If we catch her and bring her back, wouldn't the Branch Leader be pleased as well?"
"She's just a brat, where is there any energy to extract…! Fuck, please just don't touch kids!"
"Right, we shouldn't touch kids."
"Yeah, now let's just go back…."
The man started to speak, then closed his mouth.
At the same time, the actions of the men pacing in front of the qi barrier stopped all at once.
Because they heard a voice they hadn't heard before amidst their conversation.
The hesitation was brief.
The man immediately drew his sword and swung it toward the direction of the voice.
Swish!
Even though he swung it with all his might imbued with sword qi, the sword merely sliced through thin air.
The presence was definitely from here…?
Crunch-!
"Gurgle…!"
Along with the sound of bones snapping, Du Xian's wet gurgling sound was heard.
When the man turned his gaze, Du Xian's massive body was slowly collapsing.
Though not as huge as the Branch Leader, he was a guy with a build almost as large.
Thud!
The giant fell with a heavy sound so easily.
With his neck twisted grotesquely, it was clear he was dead.
"You… who the hell are you."
The man asked.
A boy standing proudly behind where Du Xian had fallen came into view.
Black hair tinged with a very faint red, and red eyes that seemed filled with blood.
From the red martial uniform he wore and his neat posture, one could feel that the boy was no ordinary martial artist.
The boy's gaze turned toward the man.
With smirking lips, the boy answered the man's question.
"Why the fuck do you need to know, you pieces of shit."
Sparks flew along with the coarse profanity.
******************
The quiet forest instantly became a mess.
Kwarrr-!
The fiercely surging flames engulfed the surroundings.
The man, Pei Cong, couldn't understand this absurd situation.
What the hell was that crazy monster bastard?
He had only stepped out to survey the vicinity; it was an unexpected situation.
He thought they had moved safely while avoiding the Huashan Sect's patrol routes, but to run into such a guy.
He glanced toward Du Xian's corpse.
Aside from his neck being twisted to death, no other external wounds were visible.
It was only natural since it happened in a flash.
'There is no hesitation in killing.'
It was a disposition a boy of his age shouldn't possess.
Especially for a bare-handed fighter who primarily uses his hands, it would be an even harder trait to possess.
How could a boy not even of age be like this?
'Furthermore.'
Fwoooosh!
"Fuck…!"
He barely blocked the flames crashing in from all directions with his sword and dodged.
What the hell were these maddeningly swirling flames?
'Fire arts…? There shouldn't be any sect in Shaanxi that uses fire arts…!'
The flames that appeared merely hot and chaotic still held clear rules within them.
Pei Cong could tell that all these flames were moving according to the caster's intent.
Seeing that alone, he knew the boy had reached a realm he couldn't dare touch.
It meant that he, who had surpassed the first-rate, couldn't do anything against that young boy.
'A monster wearing human skin?'
Right when Pei Cong clenched his teeth to the fullest.
"Aaaargh!"
One of the subordinates who came with them had his head grabbed by the boy's hand.
The boy enveloped his hand in fire and burned him alive.
"…Heugh… Hraaah!"
The screams of the one burning to death echoed throughout the forest, but the boy's sharp eyes were as emotionless as the beginning.
"I made a slight mistake."
The boy's words.
Pei Cong felt goosebumps all over his body at that voice.
A bottomless pit where nothing was felt.
He felt as if he had stepped into its depths right now.
"I should have burned that pig bastard from the inside out, but it's been a while since I killed anyone, so I made a mistake."
How could the sight of him dusting off his hands look so familiar?
Furthermore, it even suited him.
Pei Cong, hiding his cold sweat, asked.
"…You bastard, what exactly are you."
"Didn't you hear me earlier? I said what's it to you."
"Do you know who we are…"
"Who else but the Palace Lord's lowly lackeys."
"…!"
At the boy's answer, Pei Cong froze instantly.
"How do you know that…"
The boy took a step toward Pei Cong, holding a smile.
The blazing flames were still hot, and on his way over, the boy grabbed and killed another subordinate who charged at him.
"Kyaargh!"
The screams rang out again.
"Let me ask you one thing too."
A lump of fire.
To Pei Cong, the boy slowly approaching looked more and more like a single flame rather than a human.
The flame approached slowly and asked.
"I don't know much about your side, but I saw some interesting facts."
In Pei Cong's eyes, it felt as if the world was melting away.
How could a person take such a form?
It was different from the terror he felt when looking at the Branch Leader.
The nature of the fear was the same, but the level was entirely different.
What exactly am I facing…?
Eventually, the condensed flames clung to one of Pei Cong's arms.
"…Keugh…!"
Crushed by fear, looking at his arm burning away, he couldn't even let out a single scream.
He could only retreat backward with faltering steps.
The flame looked at Pei Cong and continued speaking.
"Why you guys."
Within his sharply slit eyes, the red pupils were already shining.
"Harbor demonic qi?"
At the boy's question and the thick smell of burning.
Pei Cong could say nothing.