Chapter 378: Crossroads (3)

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I could not give an answer. Myeong-gyeong understood such a me. Saying it was a question difficult to answer immediately, he even went so far as to apologize. Though I barely managed to tell him that he had done nothing wrong as Senior Brother, Myeong-gyeong persistently insisted that he was the one at fault.

In the end, I replied that I would return and give him an answer. Myeong-gyeong smiled as if satisfied with just that.

Not giving an answer was not evasion. In truth, it was because I had not yet decided upon an answer. And right now, I had a premonition that the answer to Myeong-gyeong’s question was also staked on the end of this war.

One more reason to end this war swiftly had been added.

Before departing from Wuhan, I conducted a final check in the Association Master’s office for the last time. It was around then that an unexpected visitor arrived.

Hearing someone knocking on the door, I asked who it was. I had broadly anticipated: since the footsteps belonged to someone who had not learned martial arts, I had thought it was Zhuge Yan. However, the one who entered was truly someone I had not even thought of.

“……Uh.”

“Why are you acting as if you saw someone you shouldn’t have seen?”

The person who entered was my father. Come to think of it, among the people to greet, there was my father too. Honestly, I hadn’t thought of him.

“Seeing you like this, were you planning to leave without even greeting me?”

“Not at all.”

“Hmph. You are my child; would I not know?”

My father grumbled and sat down on the chair across from the Association Master’s desk.

“Why did you come? I was about to visit you.”

“I came because I knew you wouldn’t visit.”

Since some point, it felt as though my lies didn’t work very well. Was it because the number of people who knew me well had increased?

“……I am sorry. I should have paid my respects.”

“Only now do you confess the truth.”

My father chuckled.

“Enough. Well, you are a grown child anyway, so departing is not such a strange thing.”

“You take it quite lightly.”

“Did you not originally stay away from me? If you wish to go, sending you off is a father’s role. Keeping you locked up is not a father’s role.”

“That is very desirable of you.”

“However, I say this as a father: do not leave behind the people who will share your life with you.”

I flinched. Was I appearing so precarious that even my father, with whom I had little interaction, could tell I might fly away at any moment?

“Is that so?”

“I don’t even know what it is you are looking at. Unlike me, you are learned, so you must be looking at things I cannot see. However, there are many people who follow and cherish you as a human being. Wouldn’t it be pitiful to leave them all behind and depart?”

“……I shall keep it in mind.”

“Hearing my son is embarking on a long journey, I merely thought I should play a father’s role for once, so I came by.”

“I haven’t played the role of a son either.”

“For the child of a mad farmer’s household to achieve this much success, you have fulfilled all the roles of a son.”

Having finished speaking, my father stood up. Feeling as though I had practically issued an expulsion order, I felt sorry.

“I was about to brew some tea for you at least.”

“Don’t say words that aren’t in your heart.”

“How did you know?”

My father laughed at my words. It was truly an astonishing thing. In my previous life, it was something unimaginable: to exchange jokes with my father like this.

My father left. A hollow feeling lingered. Suddenly, I thought: was transcending an endeavor worthy enough to discard this many people?

I looked at the Grade 1 talents that were now unlocked. Absurd talents were waiting for me.

[ Martial God ― Grade 1 ]

[ Price: Free ]

[ Greater Self ― Grade 1 ]

[ Price: 100,000 Spirits of the Imperial Army ]

This was the end of the Grade 1 talents. Considering how overwhelmingly miscellaneous talents were back in Grade 9, it was a staggering simplification.

It could be deduced that perhaps all talents of every grade were branched out from these two Grade 1 talents. These two talents were the mother and root of all talents.

Setting aside Martial God, worry also arose over whether I should buy Great Self. Because it clearly seemed to belong to a lineage similar to Transcendence.

This too would likely be decided during the course of the war. I decided not to dwell on thoughts that yielded no answers. For in any case, the task I had to do right now was clear.

When I finished preparations and stepped out into the courtyard, many people were lined up in formation.

People I had not paid attention to until now. Yet they were ones who had been doing much work beneath the surface.

Descendants of orthodox sects including Thousand-Poison Scholar Dang Se-ui, as well as Iron-Bold Flying Fork Jeon Rip-saeng, Cold-Blooded Exalt Dam Dae-gwang, Namgung Hwi, Zhuge Yan……. Perhaps they were the fruits of how I had lived until now.

Of course, there were many others besides them. Especially at Wudang. However, there were no Wudang people here. They were left behind because it was unknown what kind of battle might break out in this Hubei right now.

“Are all preparations complete?”

Zhuge Yan asked. I nodded. To them, there was no need for grand speeches about marching out.

Our objective was simple: to strike Beijing along the swiftest straight-line distance.

The evening night sky was cool. It would soon turn pitch-black, making it an unsuitable time for movement, but since they were all experts anyway, it did not matter.

“Let us all meet alive.”

I spoke, looking at them for the last time. We were not moving together. We were heading to Beijing individually, dispersing along different routes. Moving in a group would certainly catch the eye of enemy soldiers, including government troops, and was bound to become troublesome, so we were departing dispersed and gathering in Beijing.

After all, it was a strategy born from the concept that we only needed to bring down the imperial palace. For me, it was convenient. Because I did not need to protect anyone.

Since it was such a simple strategy, there was no need to accompany the strategist Zhuge Yan either. Moving dispersed, meeting in Beijing, invading the imperial palace, and taking the Emperor’s head. The crux of the strategy was so concise it was practically at the level of non-existence.

Of course, some moved in pairs or groups of three, but I decided to move alone. Zhuge Yan was the only one who expressed concern, but the martial artists who knew my realm all understood.

Around the time the sunset also sank beneath the earth and dusk settled in. That was precisely our time to depart.

“Let us go.”

I said. Everyone vanished in their respective directions without a word.

Watching everyone vanish into the darkness, I looked at Zhuge Yan.

“Please return safely.”

“Yeah.”

I too dashed swiftly into the darkness. While all the other people chose slightly roundabout routes, I would truly go the fastest along a straight line.

The moment I stepped out of Wuhan, it immediately became palpable that the Central Plains was at war. A small village that appeared as soon as I crossed a few mountains was burning, spewing smoke into the sky.

In truth, Wuhan had not yet been engulfed by the flames of war, perhaps because enemies hesitated to invade due to the presence of the Wudang Sect’s forces and the New Justice Association headquarters. Instead, I knew other places were already at war, but seeing it in person made it truly hit home.

I swiftly moved my footsteps toward the burning village.

“Aaargh!”

“Spare us, we know nothing!”

As I drew closer to the village entrance, despairing screams echoed. My heart dropped at that moment. This was not the wailing of martial artists. It was the sound of commoners.

To speak honestly, I had thought that since this war was between the martial world and the imperial palace, there would not be great damage to the common people. Of course, people unintentionally caught up in it would exist, but I thought they would not be the direct targets.

However, what was visible at the village entrance was astonishingly the sight of commoners being persecuted. Before martial artists draped in red cloaks, trembling commoners were visible.

Behind the commoners, the stench of festering corpses was already rising thickly. Many people seemed to have died already.

‘Why?’

That was the first thought that arose. There was no reason for commoners to be swept up in this fight. Or so I had thought.

“Living in Hubei, you bastards would take the side of the Wudang Sect and the New Justice Association. That is the reason you die.”

I was shocked by the words of the man draped in a red cloak.

This was different from me perceiving humans as separate beings from myself. It was astonishment at a living creature slaughtering its own kind while deploying such flimsy logic.

“We are the Emperor’s swords. Dying by our hands is the same as dying by the Emperor, so consider it an honor.”

The man draped in a red cloak spoke arrogantly. Judging from the qi they reeked of, they were scoundrels of the Blood Cult.

The imperial palace had finally brought even the Blood Cult into full-scale participation in this war.

The Blood Cult’s blades showed even less mercy toward commoners. Then again, whether orthodox or unorthodox, harming commoners was a taboo for martial artists with roots in the Central Plains, but the Blood Cult was different.

“I have.”

There was no way the Blood Cultist’s blade would strike down upon the commoner’s neck. Because I stepped in.

“Something to ask.”

“……What the hell are you.”

From their perspective, it was only natural to be startled since I had appeared without a trace of presence. My current movement technique was not at a realm where mere Blood Cultists could catch my tail.

“Do you bastards go around doing this in other places too?”

“Strike!”

The weapons of the Blood Cultists right beside me flew toward me. Blood Cult people used whatever weapons they pleased. There were iron flails, scythes, swords, and sabers.

If facing them for the first time, one might be confused because all their trajectories differed, but they and I were already in different worlds.

“Come to think of it, one person is enough to ask.”

My blade began to draw lines. The trajectories of their weapons and the trajectory of my blade overlapped, but I held the upper hand. The reason I was not confused was that no matter how they swung their weapons, the martial route I would use was already determined.

Slash!

With a single stroke of the sword, five heads flew. Even while severing five heads, the sword remained unbroken.

“……Insane.”

The last one remaining was the demon who had held a blade and directly persecuted the commoners.

He was spared because, judging from his felt demonic qi, he was at least the highest-ranking person among them.

“Now, let’s ask.”

“Hehe.”

The Blood Cultist lowered his voice and chuckled. I felt a sense of foreboding from that.

“Do not think we are the same as you.”

In an instant, the Blood Cultist’s body swelled, turned purple, and exploded with a pop. He had detonated his innate true qi, using his body like a piece of explosive.

Internal organs, bones, and skin fragments shot toward me like hidden weapons. Of course, it was difficult for them to become a threat to me.

While deflecting them with protective aura, I also blocked everything from splashing toward the commoners.

“……Uh, uh.”

The commoners who had been kneeling seemed utterly bewildered by the sudden change in situation, but upon realizing I had saved them, they began knocking their heads against the ground toward me.

“Th-thank you, thank you! Great Hero!”

“……It was nothing.”

Hearing that heartfelt gratitude, I suffered slightly from guilt.

Though it was said not to be my sole responsibility, I too bore massive responsibility for this war breaking out. That was a separate matter from me perceiving the existence of humans differently. In any case, the death of a living creature meant the disappearance of an entire world.

Suddenly, a doubt arose regarding the path I was currently walking. Was it truly a necessary path? To the extent of staking the lives of this many people.

I shook my head to cast away the thought.

This too would be confirmed at the end of the crossroads.