Chapter 237

Jeok Cheongang shouted at the top of his lungs.

“You’re a disgrace to our sect!”

“No, I’m not.”

“What do you mean, you’re not? In all the hundreds of years of the Fire Gate Clan’s history, there has never been a bastard who wanted to grill meat over the sacred flame!”

“I wasn’t talking about that.”

“What?”

“I’m not a formal Disciple yet. So I’m not a disgrace to the Fire Gate Clan, either.”

“……”

His face turned bright red, as though it might burst at any moment.

Before he could shout even louder, I quickly slung my pack over my shoulder.

“If there’s nothing else to pack, let’s get out of here.”

“Y-you little…”

Jeok Cheongang’s fist trembled, but soon he let out a deep sigh.

This wasn’t the first or second time something like this had happened over the past year. Even the famously short-tempered Fire King had reached the point where he simply took it in stride.

Ah, I’m so proud.

I had actually managed to beat the Fire King at something. Somehow, it felt like I had accomplished something incredible.

After glaring at me as I grinned foolishly, he turned toward the seventeen ancestral urns and performed a deep bow.

“Your unworthy Disciple, Jeok Cheongang, will take his leave. Until then, please remain in good health.”

“Shouldn’t it be ‘attain Buddhahood’?”

“……And here, before the seventeen Sect Leaders who came before us, I swear that I will turn that bastard into a proper human being.”

After firmly renewing his resolve in front of the seventeen former Sect Leaders, Jeok Cheongang rose to his feet.

“Come, let’s go, you beast.”

“Wait a moment.”

I slowly looked around the enormous cavern.

This was the place where I had spent a year. There had been times when the pain was enough to make me think I would die, and there had been joyful moments, too. There were even times when I had been so sick of it that I wanted to smash through the stone gate and run outside immediately.

But when had it happened?

Everything had gradually become familiar, and the happy days had begun to outnumber the painful ones.

The tremendous heat pouring from the blue-white flame now felt warm and cozy, like home.

“What are you thinking about so intently?”

“Just…”

What was I supposed to call it?

After a moment’s thought, one sentence slipped out.

“I was thinking that meat would taste really good if you grilled it over that.”

“You insolent little—!”

Avoiding Jeok Cheongang as he went berserk, I placed my hand against the stone gate. At the same time, I released the internal energy in my dantian, and the tightly sealed door slowly opened.

System

• Scorching Sun Divine Arts internal energy detected.

• You may freely enter and exit Fire Gate Cavern!

Yes. Take care.

Thanks for everything over the past year.

And…

Your unworthy Disciple, Jin Taekyung, will take his leave.

I ran like the wind toward the wide-open cavern entrance. The iron balls dangling from all four of my limbs whipped around like pinwheels.

Mount Jiuhua had been famous since ancient times for its spiritual energy.

With good energy filling the entire mountain, it was only natural for spiritual herbs such as ginseng and He Shou Wu to grow there. To herbalists, the mountain was no different from a gold mine.

“You just wait. Today, I’ll find at least one for sure.”

At the foot of Mount Jiuhua, a middle-aged herbalist with the surname Hong pulled the strings of his straw sandals tight.

He had traveled a long way from Sichuan in pursuit of a big haul, but he had spent more than fifteen days finding nothing but disappointment.

“Damn it. What happened to all the spiritual herbs? It’s like every last one of them has vanished…”

The herbalists who had come with him had already given up and gone home. They had searched everywhere from the foot of Mount Jiuhua to halfway up the mountain without finding a single ginseng root.

There might have been a chance higher up, but something more terrifying than any wild beast lived there.

The Fire King.

Even martial artists who killed people as casually as eating trembled at the mere mention of his name.

Hong had once heard that the Fire King had single-handedly torn apart and killed a thousand vicious fiends of the terrifying Demonic Cult.

When he had asked how such a thing could be possible, he had been told that the Fire King was a three-headed, six-armed monster.

But I heard there’s no problem going as far as halfway up the mountain. Don’t be scared, Hong. There are eight mouths you have to feed.

To cover the cost of coming this far, his wife had even been forced to sell the silver ring she had received as a wedding gift. How could he face her if he went home empty-handed now?

Smack! Smack!

The herbalist slapped his cheeks to steel his resolve, then began climbing the mountain.

And before even two shichen had passed,¹ he encountered the strangest sight he had ever seen.

“So what is samgyeopsal?”²

“You don’t know what pork belly is? Is it called something else here?”

“No, you impudent brat. Just where are you from that you keep going on about names?”

“I’m from Korea! Do you know kimchi?”

“…You’re becoming more insane by the day. Is there something wrong with your Fire Gate Divine Technique?”

A wild-haired freak and a tiny old man were walking down the mountain path while having an incomprehensible conversation.

The combination itself was strange enough, but as they drew closer, a series of thunderous noises reached the herbalist’s ears, and his eyes widened.

Clank. Rattle. Boom! Rattle-rattle. Boom!

W-what in the world is that?

The source of the heavy noises was the iron balls connected by chains to the freak’s limbs.

The smaller ones were as large as a child’s head, while the larger ones were big enough to fit inside a basket.

With dozens of such vicious objects dangling from his body, the herbalist had no choice but to be shocked.

What am I looking at?

The herbalist stared blankly at the sight, then suddenly jolted.

Two pairs of eyes had drawn close enough to stare directly into his face.

Up close, the freak had a thick beard, while the old man’s face was covered in patches and too many wrinkles to count.

“Gyaaaah!”

As the herbalist nearly suffered a fit, the tiny old man spoke to him.

“Hey.”

“Y-yes?”

“Where are you headed?”

“I-I’m on my way to dig up medicinal herbs.”

The herbalist barely managed to squeeze out his voice.

He didn’t know why, but he had a strong feeling that something terrible would happen if he failed to answer.

The old man looked him up and down, then clicked his tongue.

“You’ve wasted your time. Don’t suffer for nothing. Go home.”

“W-wasted my time?”

Even though he was terrified, the herbalist instantly snapped to attention.

Go home? If he returned empty-handed, he would be wasting nearly two months of his life.

With the heavy load on his shoulders, that was absolutely unacceptable.

This old man is no ordinary person.

Not only was his appearance unusual, but his manner of speaking made it sound as though he could see through everything in the world.

As the thought flashed through his mind like lightning, the herbalist collapsed to his knees.

“Please help me just this once!”

“Good heavens, what’s gotten into you? What could this old man possibly help with?”

“No! You’re the Mountain Spirit! You know everything, don’t you?”

Bafflement spread across the old man’s face.

“……What spirit?”

“Mountain Spiriiit!”

The freak beside him grabbed his stomach and burst out laughing.

“Puhahaha! He thinks you’re a Mountain Spirit. Old Master, wasn’t it three months ago that you forgot your formula while circulating your qi and almost became a ghost?”

Wham! Craaack!

The freak had been laughing until his voice nearly burst, but one punch from the old man sent him flying dozens of jang away, where he crashed into the ground.

The herbalist’s faith only grew stronger.

The Mountain Spirit has subdued an evil spirit!

It was true that the white-haired old man inspired far more confidence than the freak dressed in rags. The herbalist begged again.

“Mountain Spirit! Please help me just once!”

“Mountain Spirit, my ass. And this old man can’t do anything for you, either. I’ve already pulled them all up, so what do you expect me to do?”

“P-pulled them up? Who pulled up all the spiritual herbs on Mount Jiuhua?”

“Now you’re finally making sense.”

“W-who would do such a thing…?”

The old man clasped his hands behind his back and gazed toward the distant mountain.

“My, what fine weather.”

“……”

“What are you staring at? Whoever pulls them up first gets to keep them.”

A look of despair crossed the herbalist’s face. Only then did he realize that the old man in front of him was no immortal.

“Then are you an herbalist too, Elder?”

“Hm? Well, I was for a few days. Digging up medicinal herbs is rather difficult.”

“You pull people’s heads off easily enough.”

The evil spirit—or rather, the freak—had returned and casually joined the conversation while dusting off his clothes.

His manner and tone were so nonchalant that the massive trees that had been snapped apart behind him might as well not have been there.

“My ancestors always said that feeding spiritual herbs to a Disciple was pointless. They were absolutely right.”

“Buurp.”

“You fucking—!”

A dreadful pressure flowed from the old man’s clenched fist. At last, the herbalist understood the identities of the two men.

“M-m-martial artists!”

“If you understand that much, give up and go home. And be careful not to spread unnecessary rumors.”

The freak also offered his advice with a serious expression.

“Especially don’t go any higher. They say a monster named Fire King Jeok Cheongang lives up there. If he catches you, he’ll chew you up, tear you apart, savor you, and enjoy you alive before killing you.”

“……”

“……”

It was horrifying even to imagine. The herbalist shuddered as he pictured his own gruesome death.

Seeing that the old man reacted similarly, he decided that this Fire King Jeok Cheongang had to be the three-headed, six-armed monster he had heard about.

“Understood? Be sure to remember what I told you.”

“Y-yes, I understand.”

That was the only answer the herbalist could give.

He had already been beaten to the herbs, and the people in front of him were martial artists. If he annoyed them for no reason, his head might be sent flying.

It was at that moment, when he lowered his shoulders and stepped aside to let the two men pass, that the freak spoke.

“Oh, wait a moment. Sir, would you like to take this, if you don’t mind?”

The freak rummaged through his pack and suddenly held out a ginseng root about three finger joints long.

The unexpected kindness left the herbalist trembling as he asked,

“W-why are you giving this to me?”

“If you go home like this, you won’t have anything to show for it. Judging by your age, you probably have a family to support, too. Where are you from?”

“I-I’m from Sichuan Province.”

“Sichuan Province is fun, isn’t it? I used to play it all the time during evening self-study.³”

“Pardon?”

“No, never mind. Anyway, you came a long way, so use this to help cover your travel expenses.”

The old man, who had been silently watching the scene, clicked his tongue.

“You little fool. You give him something worth only a few coins, then act like you’ve made some grand gesture. If a man is going to be generous, he should give generously.”

“Come on, this is all I have left. What else could I do?”

“You call that ginseng? At least exchange it for silver.”

“How?”

“The value of an object is determined by people.”

“Oh. So that’s one way to do it.”

What a bizarre conversation.

As the herbalist looked back and forth between the two men, feeling as though he had been bewitched, the freak suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Anyone want to buy some ginseng?”

It was still early dawn. As the cold wind blew, the trees shuddered.

Then, from below on the mountain path, several dozen men appeared in orderly ranks.

Blue martial uniforms and sword sheaths hung from their waists. At a glance, it was obvious that every one of them was a highly trained martial artist.

“Guh!”

Unlike the herbalist, whose mouth fell open, the two men remained calm. The freak gently waved the ginseng root worth three silver nyang and said,

“I’ll sell it for a hundred silver nyang.”

What a highway robber.

The herbalist swallowed the words rising to his throat. At that moment, the middle-aged man at the head of the group spoke.

“I’ll buy it.”

“……”

The shock did not end there. A second later, the old man let out a long yawn and casually added,

“Three hundred silver nyang. You’re the richest man in Anhui, so you can pay that much.”

The middle-aged man bowed deeply.

“That’s a bargain for the price of offending the Fire King. I’ll buy it.”

The freak grinned and asked,

“Then, sir, may I ask your name?”

“Namgung Ryong.”

The middle-aged man raised his head. Authority that could belong only to a leader flashed in his deep-set eyes.

“I’m the Family Head of the Nangong Family.”