I’ve always been the kind of person who thinks the process matters just as much as the result.
But sometimes, I deliberately look away from the process.
Not every process has to be perfect and beautiful, after all.
What matters is the result. The result.
Yeah, that’s all I’m saying.
And behind the process that everyone—including me—had chosen to ignore, an excellent result finally revealed itself.
Cough! Splash!
Water spilled between the Dongting Fisherman’s cracked lips as he coughed.
Cheongpung, who had shown a moving spirit of self-sacrifice against the Dongting Fisherman, opened his mouth with a strange expression.
“It feels weird.”
I exchanged glances with Hyuk Mujin, Gung Gibang, and the old boatman, then answered solemnly.
“It’s always like that the first time.”
“Did you feel the same way, Benefactor?”
“……Of course.”
I’d never done it before, but even if I did, I wouldn’t feel the way Cheongpung did. No, I shouldn’t.
I subtly averted my eyes as I answered. Cheongpung nodded, then took a deep breath.
“But I really don’t understand this.”
“You’re excited. That’s all.”
“It smelled strange, too. Like fish.”
What a nose.
I remembered the Dongting Fisherman tearing into a raw fish before our fight and answered.
“You’re imagining it.”
“My stomach feels sick.”
“That’s because your body is releasing hormones. Kissing is good for your immune system and helps relieve stress too…”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“My stomach just feels really nauseous. I want some sweets.”
Hyuk Mujin patted Cheongpung’s shoulder guiltily.
“I’ll buy you some later, Young Hero Cheong.”
“You will, Hyuk Mujin?”
“Yes. I’ll find some way to feed you until your stomach bursts.”
“But you’re poor too, Hyuk Mujin. Last time, I saw you picking up silver nyang1 at the ferry landing……”
“My father is rich.”
Hyuk Mujin only seemed poor because following me around had put him through all sorts of hardship. His family business was thriving more by the day, so he was still the son of a wealthy household.
At the proud declaration of a second-generation rich kid planning to bleed his father dry, the other two men, who had been watching Cheongpung with sad eyes, joined in.
“Cheongpung, I’ll contribute too, even if I have to beg for the money.”
“This old man is willing to lower your fare a little as well.”
“Wow! Really?”
“……”
A pang of guilt stabbed at my heart.
But it couldn’t be helped. It had definitely been his choice.
After doing my best to justify myself, I checked the Dongting Fisherman’s condition.
“How is he?”
At Hyuk Mujin’s question from over my shoulder, I nodded.
“He’s fine.”
“Uh… He doesn’t look particularly fine.”
I was momentarily speechless as I looked down at the Dongting Fisherman.
Both arms were twisted at bizarre angles, and countless wounds showed through his clothes, which had been torn to shreds.
Those were merely the injuries visible to the naked eye. The severe internal injuries were a bonus.
“What on earth happened?”
I gave them a brief summary of what had happened inside the underwater cave.
“I was on guard in case anything happened, but he was weaker than I expected, so I beat the shit out of him and dragged him back.”
“……”
After a brief silence, Hyuk Mujin spoke.
“But the Dongting Fisherman is a master of incredible water arts.”
“That’s why I beat him on land. Turns out there was a cave in there.”
“You have an incredible talent for making extremely difficult things sound easy.”
“It wasn’t extremely easy, but it wasn’t extremely difficult either.”
“……”
“The important thing is that he’s still breathing.”
“The fact that he’s still breathing looks like a miracle.”
“Considering what that old man has done, he deserves to die right now.”
“That’s true. Either way, it’s fortunate. I was worried about the Dongting Fisherman, of course, but I was also worried that Dark Heaven’s other bastards might be there with him.”
That was something I had considered as well.
According to Honglan’s testimony, the Dongting Fisherman had been the sole culprit behind the tragedy on Dongting Lake.
But slaughtering Yangtze One Saber and so many others at Donghu Stronghold would have required at least two Supreme Peak masters, if not more.
Mungyeong said the same thing.
No matter how rapidly I had grown, taking on two or more Supreme Peak masters at once was… hard to say.
Even among people who had reached the same realm, ability varied wildly.
The Dongting Fisherman was a step below me.
I’d been lucky. If the Dongting Fisherman had been working with another of Dark Heaven’s powerhouses, I might have been the one to go down instead.
Of course, I wouldn’t have started a fight with such slim odds in the first place.
“But shouldn’t this old man be waking up by now? Why isn’t he moving at all? Did he swallow too much water?”
At Gung Gibang’s question, Cheongpung, who was rinsing his mouth with lake water, answered.
“He’s been hit with Pressure-Point Strikes. Right, Benefactor?”
“Yeah. Exactly.”
At present, the Dongting Fisherman’s Paralysis, Mute, and Sleep Acupoints had all been struck.
Even if the seal on his Sleep Acupoint wore off and he woke from his forced sleep, his body would remain paralyzed, and he wouldn’t be able to move his lips. Forget resisting—he couldn’t even squirm like a grub.
“What do you intend to do now?”
“We’ve accomplished our objective, so we’re going back.”
We were not the only ones who knew the location of this place. If Dark Heaven had caught wind of it and sent reinforcements, we could easily have ended up trapped instead.
If a monster like the Western Heaven Demon Lord showed up, we might have to prepare ourselves to die.
There were clear limits to what Cheongpung and I could do alone.
Dark Heaven was unquestionably involved in the string of incidents across Hubei Province. The biggest problem was that we knew neither where they were nor who their members were.
But if we could force the Dongting Fisherman to talk, we could uncover every last detail about them and launch a counterattack.
The Fire King and the Slaughter Saint—two peerless Supreme Peak masters—would commit their full strength, as would Wudang and the Zhuge Clan, the undisputed rulers of Hubei Province.
“We’re leaving. Right now.”
But an obstacle I hadn’t considered stood in our way.
“Um, Great Hero.”
The old boatman had suddenly spoken. After hesitating for a moment, he continued, his face stiff.
“I beg your pardon, but in this old man’s humble opinion, it simply can’t be done.”
“What?”
“As you know, Great Hero, Dongting Lake right now…”
Rumble-rumble-rumble! Crash!
Thunder booming from all directions swallowed the rest of the boatman’s words.
He hunched his shoulders as though frightened, then pointed around us with anxious eyes.
“Look. How can we possibly launch a boat in conditions like these?”
“……!”
He had good reason to be trembling.
The sky had turned pitch-black, and lightning struck at irregular intervals. Heavy rain had begun pouring down at some point, noticeably swelling the waters of Dongting Lake. Violent whirlpools battered the cliffs and rocks.
Of all times for this to happen.
It hadn’t been this bad when we entered the Dongting Fisherman’s secret refuge. Yet in less than a single shichen,2 the situation around us had rapidly deteriorated toward the worst possible outcome.
But…
“We have to go.”
“G-Great Hero.”
“I understand that you’re afraid, but it’s possible. You saw with your own eyes how we got here.”
I had suffered a minor internal injury, but I was still in good shape.
On top of that, we had Cheongpung, a Supreme Peak master, and Gung Gibang, who possessed exceptional martial arts. Hyuk Mujin could also lend a hand in an emergency.
No matter how bad the weather or how violent the current, it wasn’t enough to declare the journey impossible.
The old boatman thought differently.
“I’ve held an oar on Dongting Lake for more than forty years. Today was the first time I’ve ever ferried great masters like you, but it was also the first time I’ve ever launched a boat in weather this vicious.”
The old boatman struggled to get the words out, his voice trembling.
“All I know how to do is read the water and row a boat. I’m an unremarkable old man, but I’ve spent more than half my life on Dongting Lake. If it can’t be done, it can’t be done.”
“Boatman.”
Gung Gibang stepped forward, but before he could say anything, the boatman shook his head repeatedly.
“I know what you’re going to say. But no matter how skilled you are, it’s clear you won’t make it very far.”
“Why do you think that?”
“The boat won’t hold up.”
“……!”
At the boatman’s firm declaration, everyone—including me—stared with wide eyes.
He was right. No matter how sturdy it was, a ferryboat was still a ferryboat.
To find the Dongting Fisherman’s secret refuge, the boat had needed to be light and small. It had been perfect for that purpose, but those same advantages were now its greatest weaknesses.
Even by the shortest route, it’ll take at least two shichen2 to reach land… What if the boat sinks before then?
The answer to my own question came back immediately.
No.
Even if I used my internal energy to perform Rising on Duckweed, Crossing Water,3 the distance left is too great. And that was before the weather became like this. The boatman is right. The boat won’t hold.
Even at a glance, I could see patches where wood had been torn from the surface of the ferryboat pulled up onshore.
Like its white-haired owner, the ferryboat was showing its age, and today’s currents and voyage had been especially rough.
Damn it.
This wasn’t something I could solve by persuading the boatman.
I could use the Water Rescue Worker Title’s effect, which still had plenty of time remaining, or try the same method of using the Inventory that I had used at Dongting Lake before.
But no matter how I considered the situation, the risk was too great.
“Captain.”
At Hyuk Mujin’s voice, I raised my head and saw everyone looking at me.
Under their gazes, I thought for a moment, then bit my lip.
“What about the route leading in?”
“Pardon?”
I spoke clearly to the old boatman, who had hunched his shoulders at another peal of thunder.
“If it’s difficult to get out, wouldn’t it also be difficult to get in? Especially in conditions like these.”
“Ah, of course it would. The passage is so narrow that nothing but a ferryboat like mine could enter, and with these insane currents, getting in would be several times harder than getting out. Launching a boat on Dongting Lake in weather like this is madness to begin with.”
Then that was even better.
It meant the weather would naturally prevent any possible incursion by Dark Heaven as well.
We should wait here until the weather settles down.
I had just finished that thought and was about to give the order when—
Jerk. Jerk-jerk-jerk!
Someone nearby suddenly began to move.
I and the others turned our heads toward its source and opened our eyes wide at the same time.
What the hell?
The small old man who had been lying motionless as though dead—the Dongting Fisherman—was twitching.
Even as we watched, the trembling running through his body grew faster and stronger.
“He was definitely under Pressure-Point Strikes… How?”
Cheongpung muttered the words like a groan.
As the person who had struck the Dongting Fisherman’s pressure points, I could not easily accept what was happening either.
But my surprise lasted only a moment.
Before my mind could fully process the situation, my body was already moving.
Swish!
I shot forward like a gust of wind and thrust out my hand at top speed.
First, the Sleep Acupoint.
Next, the Paralysis Acupoint.
Finally, the Mute Acupoint.
The instant I finished striking his pressure points again, I realized something I hadn’t expected.
His acupoint seals had never come undone in the first place. This was simply…… the Dongting Fisherman’s body reacting independently of his will.
I faltered in confusion.
Grab!
A hand seized my wrist, which had been left hanging in midair.
The Dongting Fisherman was staring at me, his eyes wide open.
Unlike in the cave, his pupils looked like those of an ordinary person.
They were filled with fear.
And then a hollow voice, empty as though his soul had left his body, pierced my ears.
“Run.”
What?
I had no time to form a question.
I wasn’t given a chance to react.
The moment every sense in my body went taut, an enormous roar erupted behind me.
Kaboom—!
Comments
Comments need a network connection.