Chapter 118. After Paying the Price Called Time
Seeing the Sword Demon bring out a longsword he had not even drawn when he fought the Alliance Leader, I asked.
“Senior, what sword is that?”
The Sword Demon replied.
“It is my predecessor’s sword. I do not use it often, but at times like this, I ought to bring it.”
“Its name?”
“The Radiant Sword.”
It was a sword name that did not suit the epithet Sword Demon.
Was there some story behind it?
Though I thought there was a nine-in-ten chance he would refuse, I suddenly made an unreasonable request of the Sword Demon.
“Senior, may I have a look at the sword?”
Somewhat surprised, Jwasa looked at his master.
The Sword Demon looked at me, then answered with a broad grin.
“Would you like to examine it?”
I received the Radiant Sword that the Sword Demon held out.
Its appearance was not unusual.
Should I say it felt ordinary, yet neat? There was no tassel, and there was nothing unusual about the scabbard or hilt. Overall, the mixture of black and indigo gave it a slightly strange feeling, but the most impressive part was its weight.
“Why is it so heavy?”
“It is on the heavy side.”
I held the scabbard with my left hand, then drew the Radiant Sword. The outside was dull, but the blade itself was so smooth it could be called dazzling.
‘A famed sword.’
Suddenly feeling something odd, I drew it as slowly as I could. In that instant, goosebumps rose all over my body.
“Mm……”
I looked at the Sword Demon.
“……Senior, is this an auditory hallucination?”
Without thinking, I looked around at the sky and my surroundings.
At my ears, I could hear the screams and sobs of many people. It did not feel as though they were coming from nearby; rather, they sounded as if they were echoing from another space. They were ghostly wails that seemed likely to draw one quite naturally into a heart demon if listened to for long.
I slid the sword back into the scabbard, stilling the ghostly wails.
The Sword Demon spoke calmly.
“They are not hallucinations. You endured them rather well. Ordinarily, there are many who faint the moment they draw it. If you keep touching it for too long, your dreams will be savage, so give it here.”
As I returned the Radiant Sword to the Sword Demon, I said.
“I had a good look. Or should I say, a good listen? In any case, it is an excellent sword.”
At my words, the ever-composed Sword Demon accepted the Radiant Sword with a flustered expression.
“Excellent, you say?”
I looked at the Sword Demon with my arms crossed.
“Exceptionally excellent.”
“In what way?”
“It seems like a rare demonic sword. Whether it is a demonic sword or a bewitched sword, the fact that you crossed wooden swords with the Alliance Leader without carrying this means you are a strong man, Senior. Impressive.”
That was what I thought.
If the Sword Demon had fought while holding this, it would not have been strange for him to clash with the Alliance Leader for three days and nights.
The Sword Demon nodded, then answered with a faint smile.
“I am grateful you understand.”
The Sword Demon suddenly looked at his disciple and murmured.
“The Hao Sect Leader understands my heart.”
Jwasa lowered his head slightly and answered.
“I understand as well, Master.”
The Sword Demon replied with a broad grin.
“Let us depart.”
There was surely a story behind the Radiant Sword, but I did not go out of my way to ask.
Everyone has stories difficult to speak of.
If the Sword Demon had refrained from bringing his own weapon even when he fought the Alliance Leader, it meant the Radiant Sword carried a deep story of its own.
It would be proper to hear that story only after paying the price called time. After we retrieved Jwasa’s sword as well, the three of us set out for Mount Daejeok to obtain the Woldanhwa.
***
“The Woldanhwa was on Mount Daejeok?”
“To be precise, it is beyond Mount Daejeok.”
The Sword Demon looked at me in surprise.
“Could it be on the rising peak of Jeogya?”
“You knew of Jeogya?”
Jwasa, who did not know what we meant, asked.
“Master, what kind of place is it?”
“It was a place where masters would occasionally go to fight. A peculiar site for decisive battles, you could say. There is a story passed down that, because of such martial artists, a rugged land became a plain. In truth, even when seen with one’s own eyes, it is a place difficult to understand. The ground is mostly covered with red sand that seems to have turned to dust, and peaks that one cannot tell how they rose remain here and there.”
Jwasa looked at his master.
“Did the Samjae perhaps clash there?”
The Sword Demon replied with a calm expression.
“Who can say? There are so many rumors about the Samjae that it is difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood. However, if the landscape changed in such a way, then in any case, masters close to being the greatest under heaven must have fought there often.”
Jwasa gave a dry laugh as he spoke.
“If that Woldanhwa did not bloom naturally, and is instead being personally cultivated by one of the Samjae, should we not reconsider visiting?”
The Sword Demon shook his head.
“We cannot do that.”
For the moment, I wanted to speak my opinion, but I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut. If that place was truly managed by one of the Samjae, then it would have been only right for me in my previous life to have died there.
The three of us used our lightness skill to cross Mount Daejeok, then looked down from the hill at the vast dark-red plain spread below. Peaks of various shapes rose here and there, as though lightning bolts had been driven into the ground.
It truly was a bizarre-looking place.
I erased my stray thoughts and launched myself down the hill.
“Let’s go.”
A short while later, three trails of dusty wind rose over Jeogya. I headed straight for the tallest peak I had noted from the hill.
As we ran, Jwasa discovered our destination and shouted.
“No, how are we supposed to get up there!”
When seen from the hill, it had looked like a moderately high peak. But as we ran across the sunken plain and looked up at it, it was an astounding height. Nor was it shaped kindly enough to permit human footsteps.
For the tallest peak was, in the truest sense, no different from a pillar rising straight up.
The Sword Demon, running on my right, asked.
“So it was the tallest peak. Does it have a name?”
“I know it as Jeogya Lone Peak.”
At first, I had not known what the lonely peak written on the treasure map referred to. But after climbing the tallest peak, I felt I understood that sentiment. It was a place where one could keenly feel the unfathomable loneliness of greeting the world from the highest point, exactly as the name implied.
The Sword Demon let out a sigh.
“Ah, if it bears such a name, then it is certainly a place where the footsteps of people long past have reached.”
I increased my speed and spoke to the Sword Demon.
“Senior, this place is easier if you go up in one go. At full speed. Shitpants, you do your best too. Though I don’t know whether you’ll be able to make it with your skill.”
The Left Envoy snorted.
“Shut up.”
I charged out in front to show them the easiest way to climb. I leaped as high as I could, tapped the wall with the tips of my toes, and shot upward again. I felt my thighs swell with power. Keeping my balance, I kicked off the wall and ascended, repeating the motion a dozen or so times before reaching the summit.
When I looked down, the Sword Demon was rising with light movements and arrived at the top not long after me.
The two of us watched Shitpants climbing up from below for a while.
“……”
He must have misplaced his footing midway, because he was coming up noisily with both hands and feet stuck to the wall, even using ice arts.
Pabababababak!
I clicked my tongue.
I wondered if he really had to make such a fuss just to come eat a spirit herb.
A short while later, the Left Envoy reached the summit with trembling limbs and caught his breath.
As if displeased, the Sword Demon berated his disciple.
“You have ample inner power, so what disgrace was that? It was like watching a Shilongzi (石龍子, lizard). I know you’re busy drinking, but from now on, set aside time to train your lightness skill as well. To make me ashamed after coming all this way.”
The Left Envoy replied with a flustered expression.
“Master, this is my first time climbing a peak like this too.”
I snorted at the Left Envoy’s pathetic excuse.
“Go shit yourself.”
Before the Left Envoy could open his mouth, I turned and looked toward the center of the fairly wide peak. The Sword Demon beside me let out a sigh.
“Ah, there they are.”
Woldanhwa were blooming here and there on a small mound.
The three of us walked slowly toward the Woldanhwa. As though by agreement, our steps were cautious. It was because these flowers had a tendency to wither on their own. In fact, some were already sprawled about with their blossoms gone, while intact Woldanhwa between them moved their heads this way and that whenever the wind blew.
The Left Envoy lowered his voice too.
“They really are here.”
I repeated the precautions to the Left Envoy.
“Cut it with your sword, keep the flower on the blade, then drop it into your mouth and take it. You know what I mean, right? If you touch it with your hand, its medicinal effect drops drastically.”
The Left Envoy asked the Sword Demon.
“Master, aren’t you going to take one?”
“It is foolish to covet a spirit herb that does not suit you. You two, quickly take the Woldanhwa and begin your qi circulation meditation. From now on, refrain from speaking as well. The Woldanhwa likely already know we have come.”
I exchanged glances with the Left Envoy.
We had to take them at the same time, so we needed to match our timing.
‘Surely this shitpants bastard won’t make a mistake.’
But mistakes, too, were fate.
The Left Envoy and I nodded at the same time to match the instant. Then I drew Black Cat Fang, cut down a Woldanhwa, and the moment it slid down along the flat of the blade, I swallowed it in a flash.
As I chewed the Woldanhwa, I looked at the Left Envoy.
The Left Envoy was also chewing a Woldanhwa with an insolent smile.
The Sword Demon said in a calm tone.
“Begin.”
The three of us sat cross-legged in a triangular formation. The Sword Demon observed the two of us with his arms folded.
With my eyes open, I felt Cheonok absorb the energy of the Woldanhwa, and then I felt a chill wrap around my entire body.
In truth, because of Cheonok, I did not need to perform qi circulation meditation here.
Once again, I looked at the Sword Demon sitting cross-legged.
He was the Sword Demon who had even brought the Radiant Sword with him.
Because of the ominous wailing I had heard when he drew the Radiant Sword, I knew that sword was a demonic-path artifact similar to Cheonok.
The Sword Demon, when he did not have a demonic-path artifact on him, was a man I could trust.
But I could not let my guard down regarding the danger of the demonic-path artifact itself, so I put off my qi circulation meditation and met the Sword Demon’s eyes from time to time.
The Sword Demon was not surprised that I did not meditate.
He would look at me and his disciple now and then, then close his eyes as though sinking into meditation.
In the end, the Sword Demon and I stood guard together while waiting for the Left Envoy’s qi circulation meditation.
Since I could not predict when the Left Envoy’s meditation would end, I folded my arms and closed my eyes for a while as well.
Not nearly enough time had passed for the Left Envoy to complete even one full heavenly circuit.
Suddenly, the Sword Demon and I opened our eyes at the same time.
“……!”
The Sword Demon extended a hand toward me as if telling me not to get excited.
The Left Envoy, who was in the midst of qi circulation meditation, seemed to have sensed the disturbance as well, and his brow was furrowed.
The Sword Demon said to the Left Envoy.
“Mongrang, stay calm and do what you must.”
The Sword Demon quietly rose, clasped his hands behind his back, and turned to stare ahead. A steady, dull sound came from below the peak, and then a woman in red lightly soared up.
I stood beside the Sword Demon and looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared. She looked to be over thirty, but in truth, with someone like her, one should not easily guess her age. Her mouth was a little on the large side, and there were small dimples in her cheeks.
I knew at once that she was not one of the Three Calamities, but I could not tell who she was either.
The red-clad woman said to the Sword Demon.
“The Woldanhwa have withered?”
The Sword Demon replied.
“If Senior was cultivating them, then I apologize. Why not put up a sign or two?”
I looked at the two of them with a bewildered expression.
“……”
To be honest, I was curious about the woman’s identity as well, but I was even more curious why that woman had not been here when I ate the Woldanhwa in my previous life.
The woman said,
“I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even speak. Left Envoy, is it all right to steal so noisily? I heard a strange sound and came just in case.”
The Sword Demon replied.
“My disciple’s lightness skill is so dreadful that it seems to have reached Senior’s ears. And I have left the Cult, so there is no need to call me Left Envoy.”
“You became an apostate?”
“Please understand it as simply having quarreled with the Cult Leader and left.”
The red-clad woman replied with a surprised expression.
“You quarreled with the Cult Leader? That is surprising. Will you tell me the reason?”
The Sword Demon replied in a dry tone.
“The Cult Leader said he would create Cheonok. I opposed him, and we ended up crossing hands.”
The moment the word Cheonok suddenly came out, I started in shock. To exaggerate a little, I even felt Cheonok inside me stir.
The red-clad woman laughed with her large mouth and replied.
“Cheonok? Eldest Senior Brother has finally gone mad. Then again, that is exactly the sort of choice Eldest Senior Brother would make.”
I stared blankly at the red-clad woman.
How many times would I have to be startled today? I had already been greatly shocked once by Cheonok, and I had no choice but to be shocked again by a woman who called the Cult Leader her Eldest Senior Brother.
The woman in red looked the Sword Demon up and down.
“To think you survived after fighting Eldest Senior Brother—your progress truly is unusually swift. Or perhaps Eldest Senior Brother was especially fond of you and could not bring himself to kill you.”
The Sword Demon said,
“What sentimental side would the Cult Leader have? You should be careful as well, Senior. Even the bonds between fellow disciples will be meaningless before the Heavenly Prison.”
The woman in red nodded.
“Do you think the Heavenly Prison is so easily made? Who did they say is the succeeding Left Envoy?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t interested.”
The woman in red spoke to the Sword Demon with a calm expression.
“In any case, all the Moon Cinnabar Flowers have withered. Let us hear how you intend to compensate me.”
The Sword Demon replied,
“Were you truly the one managing them yourself, Senior?”
The woman in red smiled once, then threw a piece of parchment she had taken from her bosom at the Sword Demon. The moment I saw the parchment flying through the air, a hollow laugh escaped me.
Because that was the very treasure map I had possessed in the past.