The moment I woke from my long sleep, one thought flashed through my mind.
Don’t tell me the poison still hasn’t worn off.
Everything was black.
My flicker of unease faded as soon as I spotted the moon shining faintly in the ink-dark sky. I muttered, my voice hoarse, “Shit. You could’ve woken me before you left.”
I’d thought the Blindness Powder was still working. It was just night.
A good deal of time must have passed while I was unconscious. I lay sprawled on my back, staring blankly at the sky, then slowly sat up.
What the hell happened?
I had moved almost entirely unconsciously, and since I’d passed out while poisoned by the Blindness Powder, I hadn’t seen what happened at the time. I felt my dirt-covered body all over.
Nothing else seems to be hurt. I must have stopped it somehow.
I could guess the result, but I couldn’t picture how I’d done it. How had I moved? No matter how hard I tried to recall the sensation, the memory stayed hazy.
There was one thing I did know.
Beep.
System
Mission: Earn Mungyeong’s Recognition (Complete)
The Sudden Quest, Fake Murim Martial Artist, has been successfully completed!
The Quest completion Reward has been issued!
You have gained a considerable amount of EXP!
You have gained 10 points!
You have achieved the Outstanding Achievement, Deadly Poison Sommelier!
You have tasted and detoxified more than ten types of specially manufactured deadly poison. We salute your sturdy body and Detoxification ability!
Poison Resistance increases significantly!
You have achieved the Amazing Achievement, Wow, You Survived That!
At the crossroads between life and death, you grasped a clue to a new enlightenment!
Qi Sense becomes sharper. Train to advance to an even higher realm!
The Follow-up Quest, Fake Murim Martial Artist—Stage 2, has been created!
The objective of the Follow-up Quest will be determined by Mungyeong’s future plans!
Agh!
“Agh,” my ass. As someone who had nearly crossed the Jordan River1 instead of Dongting Lake, I was furious.
A Follow-up Quest.
I’d expected something like this, but that didn’t make it any less worrying. Stage 1 had me dodge the Slaughter Saint’s sword stroke with my eyes closed. What kind of fucked-up stunt did they have planned for Stage 2?
At least the rewards were generous.
I guess putting my body through hell paid off.
I hadn’t leveled up, but I’d gained a considerable amount of EXP and recovered the points I’d lost after being poisoned by Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Powder.
And…
Which asshole came up with those titles?
Deadly Poison Sommelier and Wow, You Survived That. The names pissed me off, but both Achievements were worth having.
The Poison Resistance from the first one was obviously welcome. The second might seem a little vague right now, but it was a huge gift.
A clue to enlightenment.
I’d been feeling as though I’d hit a wall lately. Nothing could have been better news. Of course, if I said that out loud after racing through the realms on the Fire Gate Clan’s Supreme Peak martial arts and quarterly helpings of elixirs, Murim would probably declare me a public enemy.
Still, a wall’s a wall.
Ask a martial artist stuck at Second Rate or Third Rate what they need, and nine out of ten will say martial arts manuals and elixirs. Ask a master who’s reached Peak or higher, and the answer changes.
Enlightenment.
Ten years, twenty years—even longer could pass without it coming. No matter how extraordinary the martial arts you learned or how many elixirs you took, there was a limit to how far they could carry you.
If stuffing yourself with elixirs could make you a Supreme Peak master and return you to youth, who would train until they bled and sweated? People devoted their lives to training because they couldn’t get past that wall any other way.
Gung Gibang had once told me that quite a few martial artists even took opium, hoping to expand the realm of their minds and attain enlightenment.
When I asked why they’d do something so stupid, his answer was simple.
“They know they’ll get addicted to opium if they keep it up.”
“Then why do it?”
“Because they’re martial artists.”
A short answer, but it explained everything.
Martial artists were creatures like that. They were the sort of people who would do anything if it meant becoming stronger. They were more intoxicated by martial arts than by opium, and they had become addicted to power.
And I wasn’t so different.
I want to be stronger. Stronger still.
I had more now than I could ever have imagined in the past, and I still wanted more strength. There was one crucial difference between me and other martial artists, though. I didn’t want it so I could gain something. I wanted it so I could protect what I had.
If I’d been satisfied with where I was, I never would’ve accepted Mungyeong’s training.
That made the clue to enlightenment an enormous gain.
There was just one tiny problem.
Doctor, I don’t remember a thing.
I didn’t even know what I’d done. Fuck.
Seriously, how had I pulled it off? I thought I’d dodged the sword by a hair, but I couldn’t remember what happened after that.
Maybe I’ll figure it out if I keep training.
I tried to recapture the sensation, but for now I was groping through fog. I sighed, got to my feet, and began brushing the dirt off my clothes.
That was when it happened.
Ssshhk—boom!
Far away, a streak of blue fire shot into the dark sky and burst in a brilliant flash.
A signal firework?
I hurried out of the training area to see what was going on and found the martial artists standing guard.
“What happened?”
“Oh, Great Hero Jin. You’re finally out.”
The Beggars’ Sect disciple shrugged. His patched clothes and the two knots hanging from his waist marked him as a member of the Hubei branch.
“Blue means visitors. We knew they were coming, but they’re later than expected.”
“Visitors?”
What is this place, a tourist attraction?
Since the place was being treated as highly classified, I couldn’t immediately think of anyone who might come here. At most, there were the three sects gathered here and the authorities. And if they were sending reinforcements, the guards wouldn’t call them visitors.
“Where from? The Zhuge Clan? Wudang? Oh, did Wudang’s Sect Leader finally arrive?”
“Sorry?”
The Beggars’ Sect disciple and the other martial artists stared at me as if they had never seen such a strange person before.
“Uh… you haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“Who’s coming.”
“What are you talking about…? Is it someone I know?”
The disciple nodded.
“Yes. They’re from the Jin Family of Taiyuan.”
“……Huh?”
From where?
Splash! Splish, splash!
Disciplined footsteps crossed the moonlit river and left fresh tracks in the sand.
Around fifty martial artists moved as one, forming lines on either side. A man walked slowly between them, spotted me, and stopped.
“It’s been a long time.”
His eyes were as sharp as ever, and he had more scars than I remembered. I gave a short laugh at the familiar face I hadn’t seen in a year.
“Your face looks even fiercer. Maybe we should call you Ghost Face instead of Ghost Sword.”
“There were plenty of bastards who needed dealing with. As our family’s reach has grown, all sorts have come crawling out of the woodwork.”
“Just tell me who. I’ll deal with them.”
“There’s no need. They’ve already left for a place beyond anyone’s reach. And…”
His narrowed eyes held a smile, and his voice carried both fondness and joy.
“There’s no need for the Divine Dragon to bother with mere cows and pigs.”
Ghost Sword Wipeng—Jin Wikyung’s right-hand man and the person once charged with knocking some sense into me—gave me a deep martial salute.
“Wipeng, Commander of the Jin Dragon Squad of the great Jin Family of Taiyuan, greets the Third Young Master.”
“Greetings, Third Young Master!”
The shout rang out through the stillness of the deep night. Powerful energy radiated from the bodies of the martial artists standing in lines like iron towers on either side. They were just like the two characters embroidered across every one of their chests: Jin Dragon.
Wow. When did the Jin Family of Taiyuan get this big?
It felt like yesterday that we’d sat with our heads together, muttering that we were fucked because we had nowhere near enough First Rate masters for the war against the Mount Heng Sword Sect. Yet the weakest member of the Jin Dragon Squad standing before me was at least First Rate.
Just looking at them gets me fired up.
The Jin Family of Taiyuan had been slowly declining: the Family Head had been absent for years, we were desperately short on people, and the Third Young Master liked pleasure houses more than his own home. And that was only part of it.
Seeing how far the family had risen made my chest swell with pride.
Is this why people build families?
I was gazing at Wipeng and the Jin Dragon Squad when a voice behind him spoiled the moment.
“Hey, damn it! You startled me. Why are you all shouting in the middle of the night? What if an old man with a weak heart like mine drops dead from the shock?”
That seemed unlikely.
I studied the man’s muscles—hard to believe they belonged to an old man—and finally dredged up the memory.
“Always do Taebo?”2
Jang Taebo, former Guild Leader of the Ironcraft Guild, scowled.
“Listen to the mouth on this brat. Am I your friend?”
I’d built up quite a reputation over the past year, but Jang Taebo, a master craftsman who never held back, didn’t seem to care. If anything, that made me even happier to see him. Besides, White Flame, the spear he’d put his heart into forging, had saved my life more than once.
“Seriously, Elder. What brings you here?”
The answer came from someone other than Jang Taebo.
“I asked him to come.”
The people who had hurried over after hearing that the Jin Family of Taiyuan had arrived murmured among themselves and parted to either side. Jin Wikyung came through the crowd, and a shout even louder than before rang out.
“Wipeng, Commander of the Jin Dragon Squad of the great Jin Family of Taiyuan, pays his respects to his lord.”
“Loyalty!”
“That’s enough.”
Under different circumstances, Jin Wikyung would have grabbed Wipeng’s hand and danced a waltz with him, but countless eyes were watching us. Wearing a solemn, dignified expression, he waved a hand and continued in his deep voice.
“Commander of the Jin Dragon Squad. And Old Master Jang. You’ve both had a difficult journey.”
“Not at all, my lord.”
“Don’t concern yourself with this old man, Lesser Family Head.”
Wipeng was obviously a trusted retainer, but even Jang Taebo, who called me this brat and that bastard, was unfailingly respectful toward Jin Wikyung. I’d heard he had retired ages ago. Had he started taking work from the Jin Family of Taiyuan while I was away?
Leaving my question unanswered, Jin Wikyung spoke again.
“The journey must have been tiring. Let’s all move somewhere else first.”
I could tell I was included in that “all.” I could also tell the man running toward us, panting hard, wasn’t.
“Hyuk Mujin, Vice Commander of the Jin Dragon Squad! I’ve just finished my guard duty and returned!”
“……”
Some guard duty.
If you’re going to lie, wipe the sleep from your eyes first, you bastard.
Comments
Comments need a network connection.