Chapter 140: The Path Ahead
“Oh! My…”
Hearing my voice, Gwan Jung-yeon looked at me and smirked.
“I see someone who shouldn’t be here. If this is a revolving lantern of my memories, it’s the worst.”
“What nonsense are you talking?”
“I know, right. What kind of nonsense this is.”
He felt like he was rambling somewhat.
Although he spoke with a smile, the bandana wrapped around his forehead was soaking wet.
Unless it was because water splashed on it, that meant it was all cold sweat.
“Did you perhaps die a sudden death somewhere? Seeing you running around playing active pranks, I did think you wouldn’t live long. If both you, Young Hero, and I died and came to heaven, it seems to make sense. Come to think of it, the background is also Suzhou, which is said to be heaven on earth.”
“Look here, did you really live virtuously enough to go to heaven?”
“You’re gouging out the blind spot. Leaving me speechless. Certainly, that point seems to resemble that person somewhat.”
[He must be in a lot of pain. Kakakaka.]
Perhaps because I had encountered that black energy before, I could roughly understand Gwan Jung-yeon’s rambling.
The black energy is like an unquenchable flame.
It clings to a person and burns raw flesh.
That meant right now, Gwan Jung-yeon would be feeling a pain akin to placing his arm on a blazing hot grill.
‘This fellow is also quite tough.’
Just being able to smile while having his arm grilled alive was impressive.
Normally, it would be natural to lose one’s sanity on the spot or run amok while screaming loudly in pain.
I managed it because I had divine power to neutralize such energy, but any ordinary martial artist would find it hard to find another way.
“…Anyway, if this is reality, there is only one thing for me to do.”
Gwan Jung-yeon brought the sword in his hand to his arm. To be precise, he aimed the blade near the black energy that was eating away at his arm.
Cut it off before it spreads further.
It was certainly one of the valid countermeasures.
“Will this be processed as veterans’ compensation, I wonder…”
Since the gentleman who had suddenly appeared and swung a sword at people was worrying about overly bureaucratic compensation while speaking of reality, it felt like my common sense had gone on vacation.
Should I call it a sense of incongruity? It was bizarre in no small way.
“Black energy, is it…”
I approached Gwan Jung-yeon, who was preparing himself.
‘I’m couldn’t even touch Sister Seol-ah, but if it’s this much…’
Because the level of my Three Talents Unified Qi Art was low, I couldn’t even attempt it for Sister Seol-ah.
But what if it were at this level?
Approaching Gwan Jung-yeon, I reached out my hand while raising my divine power.
“W-Wait!”
Gwan Jung-yeon tried to stop me in a hurry, but he had no means.
The dangerous black energy was rolling on one hand, and a sword was held in the other hand.
Because I could get hurt whichever way he blocked, his reaction was a beat late.
“Stay still.”
Furthermore, I had also grown compared to that time.
Ssssssss!!
When I grabbed Gwan Jung-yeon’s arm without difficulty and pushed in the raised divine power, the sound of heated iron entering water was made.
“Khup!?”
A death cry escaped from Gwan Jung-yeon’s mouth, who hadn’t lost his wit even in the pain of his raw flesh burning away.
It would be a good example to show how much the backlash and pain were when suppressing and extinguishing conflicting energy with force.
[Do you understand now? What you tried to do to that child named Seol-ah?]
‘I would have truly been screwed.’
Just handling this level of energy caused this much backlash.
‘If it were Sister Seol-ah’s energy…’
It was horrifying just to imagine.
“…Hmm? Uh?”
Fortunately, the black energy that was raging fiercely on Gwan Jung-yeon’s arm had subsided a lot.
Although residual energy still remained, it seemed that if we took about half a shichen leisurely, it could all be washed away.
“…How did you do this?”
The trace of a smile vanished from Gwan Jung-yeon’s face.
“Is that what’s important right now?”
“Of course…!”
Pang!!
Gwan Jung-yeon, who was about to press me, hastily tilted his body backward.
The water surface near the edge beyond Gwan Jung-yeon splashed up due to something.
The black energy creeping up on the moonlit water shimmered like the tail end of morning mist, wagging its tail.
“Kukuku. Is this the only place you fled to.”
There was an enemy.
“Didn’t you kill them all before coming?”
“My arm is in this shape, how could I kill them all?”
Gwan Jung-yeon protested fiercely at my criticism.
When fighting me, he was full of a human butcher vibe, yet is he powerless against these guys?
‘Well, they are guys whose very attribute is lethally dangerous anyway.’
First, I should capture the bastards who attacked.
“Two guys…”
Perhaps because they judged that Gwan Jung-yeon couldn’t use his strength properly, it was visible on the outside that they were careless.
‘It’s a situation where it must be ended as quickly as possible, so for my part, I’m grateful.’
Suzhou is a city with good public security. There are many patrols of constables, and the ratio of martial artists roaming around the vicinity is also high.
It meant that if we caused a commotion, there was a high possibility the surroundings would notice.
Whoosh!
“……Kehk?! Kehek!”
Just as they tried to launch a surprise attack by exploiting a gap, one enemy coughed and spat fire.
Yi Hwa moved first.
“……Kehek!!”
Regurgitating a blood-boiling sound from his throat, his stomach must have collapsed inside.
“What?!”
Although Yi Hwa did not reveal her true skill when she was next to Young Lady Jang So-wol, it is different next to me.
It is a power capable of burning a person in an instant.
Yi Hwa is the source of the divine power of fire that I wield.
Considering the depth of that power, I cannot ignore the strength of Yi Hwa when she properly wields her divine power.
At the sight of his colleague suddenly spitting flames and collapsing, I immediately rushed toward the bewildered enemy.
“Ugh! You bastard!”
Despite being flustered, the enemy resisted by using a palm method that fully raised black energy.
I also countered with a palm method.
Perhaps quite confident in his own martial arts, he curled up the corners of his mouth at the sight of me rushing head-on.
Kwang!
The moment we collided, the eyes of the enemy dilated as he felt through the returning recoil that something was wrong.
Although he looked relieved to see the black energy spreading to my hand and arm, just like at the Jungshin Merchant Group, the black energy could not invade my body.
‘As expected, it is incompatible.’
Master Zhang Sanfeng evaluated that this black energy was Yin energy maliciously transformed.
Perhaps because of that, it felt uniquely vulnerable to the divine power of earth or the divine power of fire.
“Then this time, it’s my turn.”
Returning what you received immediately is etiquette and manners.
Wudang Cotton Palm.
Internal family heavy hand techniques are martial arts that shake the opponent’s interior with internal energy, turning it into mush.
The Wudang Cotton Palm is one of the martial arts called the best among those internal family heavy hand techniques.
In the past, a certain expert had evaluated the Wudang Cotton Palm, saying, ‘It is the first time I have seen a martial art that is so cruel, noble, and gentle.’
It meant that although it is a cruel martial art that tears the opponent’s internal organs merely by touching them, it is noble because the outside looks without a single wound, and gentle because they die without even having time to feel pain.
While black energy slowly eats away at a person, this turns a person into mush in an instant.
Of course, it has the disadvantage of not working well against those with strong internal energy, but the power I wield is divine power that is incompatible with the opponent’s energy.
The Wudang Cotton Palm displayed with divine power.
A palm strike, terrifying just to imagine, collided head-on with the opponent once again.
Pang!
A sound different from the previous collision was made.
It was a sound like a pig’s bladder filled with water bursting.
“Puuuup!!”
Whether something indeed burst, he glared with wide eyes along with intense vomiting of blood, then collapsed listlessly.
“Krrk! Krrrrk!”
Blood poured out relentlessly along with a rattling sound.
“Ugh.”
There was no need even for the Flawless Heavenly Net. He appeared to be of a lower level than the fellow I clashed with at the Jungshin Merchant Group.
Even so, I knew well enough how dangerous the martial art I just displayed was.
But that is not what is important right now.
“Yi Hwa.”
“Yes.”
“Burn the corpses. Cleanly, so that not a single trace can be discovered.”
“By your command.”
They say the dead have no words, but a corpse tells much more than thought.
I do not intend to allow even a single trace remaining on the corpses.
As soon as my instruction fell, the corpses burned along with fierce flames.
It was natural, but flames burning in the dark were bound to draw surrounding attention.
Along with the signs of murmuring, sparse gazes heading toward this side began to be felt.
“Let’s flee for now.”
Snatching Gwan Jung-yeon, I carried him on my back and ran rapidly to escape the place.
We must move away from here as quickly as possible.
For what reason Gwan Jung-yeon was here and clashed with those who used black energy was unknown, but this wouldn’t be the end.
“Let’s moderately call you Brother Gwan.”
“Yes, well… if it’s you, Young Hero, you may call me whatever you like.”
Gwan Jung-yeon obediently agreed to my proposal.
Whether he was very flustered by the sight of the enemies collapsing so simply and vainly in my hands, a faint surprise and stiffness were felt in his answer.
“Since this is my first time in Suzhou, I don’t know it well, but is there a place to hide from people’s eyes? It seems I’ll need about half a shichen to treat my body.”
“At this hour, it would be two places.”
“Where?”
“Brothels and gambling dens.”
“Honestly, the way wealthy fellows think.”
I was convinced in an instant. Indeed, they were places where it would be strange if they didn’t exist in a place like Suzhou.
“Let’s go to the gambling den.”
“Uh?”
Behind the surprised voice, it felt like hearing the words, ‘Is he really a guy?’
As if it were not a mere feeling, Gwan Jung-yeon, who was carried on my back, lightly tapped the vicinity of my chest.
“Are they not there, or were they never there?”
This fellow, really.
“If you keep talking nonsense, I might pull out your jawbone by tomorrow.”
“Usually in such times, don’t they say they seal the mute acupoint?”
“Perhaps because it hasn’t been long since I learned acupoint sealing, there was someone who died after I sealed their acupoint.”
“…….”
He seemed to be imagining the enemy who just died after being turned into mush by the Wudang Cotton Palm I displayed.
“…If you do take action, I request the jawbone.”
“Just shut your mouth.”
Fortunately, my threat worked well.
“Where is the gambling den?”
The problem was that I didn’t know the geography here.
Naturally, I didn’t know places like secretly operated gambling dens.
“Mmm-mmm-mmm!”
When I asked the way, he sat there making muffled sounds because I told him to shut his mouth.
‘Why does that fellow Baek Mu-ho suddenly come to mind?’
“Should I just dump you in some reservoir and go on my way…”
“To the left!”
When I showed my sincere feelings that sounded like a threat, he opened his mouth right away.
Fortunately, he was a gentleman with quick wits, so he was extremely cooperative from then on.
‘I hope he will be cooperative after this as well.’
There are many things I need to hear, after all.
Since I’ve already gotten embroiled anyway, I also need to know what must be known.
For instance,
‘The identity of those bastards who use that black energy, for example.’
They were the bastards I had also clashed with at the Jungshin Merchant Group.
They are a group that appears to be connected with the Defeng Yin Clan, and the relationship between them and the Dragon Scale Squad also seems to be one where they are anxious to kill each other.
If he is an enemy fighting against them, he will have sufficient information.
Exactly what kind of connections exist between them, I must surely find out.