Chapter 38: It Is Okay. Everything Will Be Fine

Having captured all those who attacked Hwaseong Village, we had a session of deep interviews with the ruffians.

More than ninety percent of that process consisted of screams and pleas to be killed.

For example, crushing their dantians in fear that they might use internal energy to commit suicide, or pulling out all their teeth because they tried to use a futile suicide method of biting their tongues.

Somehow, looking back, it felt like we had committed a brutally horrific act.

Still, it could not be helped. While they tried to commit suicide after causing trouble as they pleased, we had to prevent that and extract information.

Anyway, organizing the stories extracted after blocking them from doing anything useless and seeking their “cooperation” (?) left me feeling extremely empty. It had to be said that they lacked any substance.

“Someone poisoned them and threatened not to give the antidote unless they went around destroying the villages near the Mount Hua Sect. They don’t seem like they would lie after coming this far, so it must be true, right?”

“That must be it. Though I have no idea what kind of bastards that ‘someone’ is.”

“That is the problem.”

In the end, it meant these guys were nothing but disposable items used by someone.

Even among such guys, there was one who had a name.

Was it the Red Blood Wolf?

It was the moniker of the guy I had smashed. Jeong Man-jok seemed quite surprised that I had beaten such a fellow down so casually.

Obtaining a moniker in the Martial World meant they possessed a certain level of skill. He said it was because, at least at the level of an ordinary rising star, it would have been difficult to deal with him.

From my perspective, however, it was rather more amusing that he was so surprised.

The ones teaching me martial arts were Master Zhang Sanfeng, Master Bodhidharma, and Master Heavenly Demon. If someone like me struggled against someone of that caliber, I should have drowned myself in a dish of water immediately.

“Anyway, catching the tails of those who are stirring up the surroundings of Mount Hua has become a distant prospect.”

“Useless bastards. Where is the guarantee that they would give the antidote just because they cooperated quietly? Still, there must have been someone they contacted, so shouldn’t we at least search for his traces and track him down?”

“It is an evil thought typical of you, but it is not wrong. Then, is it indeed the work of the Unorthodox Faction or the Demonic Cult?”

Since there was no accurate information, only vague speculations remained.

“The remaining problem is this, though.”

In the place where we clashed with the Red Blood Wolf, there was a large warehouse that the entire village would likely use in common.

All the surviving villagers of Hwaseong Village were there.

Apparently, rather than being caught from behind by the Mount Hua Sect’s pursuit party and killed while running away, they had planned to take the villagers hostage to negotiate.

“Do you know anything about acupoint sealing?”

The problem was that the Red Blood Wolf—this bastard who wouldn’t be enough even if rolled up and ground to dust—had subdued the villagers with an acupoint sealing technique.

This was the reason why, even amidst the horrific sounds of bodies breaking and screams prevailing, there were no voices asking for help.

“I don’t know about that, but if it is cutting the throats of those useless things over there, I can do it for you?”

“Even if you do not step in, they all seem like they will kick the bucket in a little while anyway.”

“Tch.”

Even without Baek Mu-ho having to cut their throats himself, looking at their conditions, it seemed they would say farewell to this world before long.

In fact, some had already kicked the bucket.

Since we had dragged them all here keeping them ‘only’ alive, and there had been some rough business during the interview process.

“Strictly speaking, you are the worst. You should have kept that bastard called Red Blood Wolf alive with his limbs intact.”

“…….”

Of all people, the one who had died was that son of a bitch called Red Blood Wolf.

After hearing our questions, he had screamed curses at the top of his lungs against the bastards of the Unorthodox Faction and the Demonic Cult, and then keeled over.

Thanks to that, we were unable to find out the acupoint sealing technique he had used on the villagers.

Acupoint sealing was, literally, a technique of occupying and locking the acupoints. To put it simply, it could be seen as placing a lock on the energy pathways.

Naturally, a matching key was needed to open the lock.

Or, if there was no key, one needed the skill to pick the lock.

Regrettably, neither I nor Baek Mu-ho possessed any knowledge in that regard.

It was also hard to expect anything from Jeong Man-jok.

“If it were the acupoint sealing technique taught by the Mount Hua Sect, I have learned it, but I cannot touch something like this.”

Acupoints were mostly crucial spots in the body.

In other words, vital points.

What would happen if one handled those places roughly?

It would turn them into a cripple.

It would be strange to expect them to be fine when driving nails into dangerous vital points haphazardly.

If my masters were around, I might be able to ask them something, but they all seemed to be busy with something.

My masters had also said that, as immortals, they only held low-ranking offices. Since I had personally witnessed minor clerks being ground down when my grandfather worked as an official, it was not something I could not understand.

Ultimately, we were in a position where we had to receive help from elsewhere to release the villagers’ acupoint sealing.

Jeong Man-jok seemed to have the same thought.

“Rather than touching them recklessly and creating a dangerous situation, it is better to bring the elders.”

“Then you will have to run to the Mount Hua Sect quickly.”

“That is true.”

However, as Jeong Man-jok nodded, his expression turned sour.

I could understand why he wore such an expression after hearing Baek Mu-ho’s next words.

“Wow! It would take half a day even if you ran to death to the point of exhaustion to reach the Mount Hua Sect, so you are going to have a hard time.”

Although Hwaseong Village was close to the Mount Hua Sect, it was located on the outskirts.

Considering the time to sprint up to the peak of Mount Hua, known as the most rugged mountain under heaven, and come back down, half a day was a generous estimate.

Naturally, that half-day benchmark was a duration that would only be possible if Jeong Man-jok ran with all his might.

Yet, Baek Mu-ho was still making sure to assert that Jeong Man-jok would return within half a day.

“Sounds like a real pain in the ‘Jok’?”

“……I hate you.”

Jeong Man-jok furrowed his brow deeply at Baek Mu-ho’s words, which slyly played on the end of his name.

Honestly, that bastard Baek Mu-ho’s personality was something else.

Really, what a thing to do to someone who had to suffer from now on.

“Should we help you?”

“Forget it. Cut the crap about going in my stead. I would rather suffer myself than let that bastard set foot in the Mount Hua Sect. You guys just guard the villagers well.”

Jeong Man-jok spoke like the very epitome of self-sacrifice.

As expected, he was indeed a good person, even if his mouth was a bit rough.

However, my offer to help did not mean that.

“I just wanted to give you some motivation.”

“Motivation?”

“Among the miscellaneous skills I have learned, there is a method to measure time by the position of the sun.”

“…….”

“Half a day. I will measure it precisely for you.”

Where else could there be such a clear motivation?

At my words, Jeong Man-jok’s gaze changed strangely.

“I correct myself. I hate both of you, you damn bastards.”

Glancing up to check the position of the sun once, Jeong Man-jok bounded off into the distance like a released spring along with a string of curses.

“Whew! Fast.”

He was indeed fast.

That seemed to be the Dark Fragrance Float, the lightfoot technique that the main disciples of Mount Hua were said to learn. At that rate, he might arrive even faster than half a day.

At any rate, I had equipped him with clear motivation.

***

Not long after Jeong Man-jok departed for the Mount Hua Sect, the thugs we had subdued began to register their names in the Underworld one by one.

Thinking of what they had done, they were not worth a shred of sympathy, but considering their plight of being poisoned and exploited, there was some room for understanding.

I was gathering the corpses when my eyes met with one of the villagers lying there under acupoint sealing.

“Ah……”

Confusion and anger filled the blinking eyes of the villagers.

Their peaceful lives had been ruthlessly trampled upon. That anger would ultimately have no choice but to be directed at the martial artists, the source of it all.

Martial artists.

Although it was not my doing, I was now included in the term ‘martial artists’ toward whom they spewed their resentment.

Considering my relationship with my masters and the goals I had set, I would have to live in the Martial World for the rest of my life anyway.

Having properly disposed of the corpses I was moving, I sat down in this place where the villagers were gathered and opened my mouth.

“I previously heard about a way to cast off suffering and find peace of mind; would it be alright if I spoke of it?”

There was no answer.

Of course. Had they been in a state where even conversation was possible, they would have found it less difficult than now.

However, I did not know if this would work well.

The Heart Sutra.

In the past, I had obtained a small comfort in my heart upon hearing the contents of this scripture.

“They say you just need to relax a bit more and ease your mind. Because both pain and suffering are merely things that will eventually pass. It is no big deal, right?”

They were angry.

Upon hearing my words, the villagers suddenly began to blink their eyes rapidly.

At this rate, it felt as though at least one of them would leap up and slap my cheek.

Understandably so. Under the current circumstances, if I only heard up to this point, I would have been angry too.

“They say the world changes endlessly. Even when you are suffering, joyful things can happen, and even when you are sad, happy things can occur. There will also be times when you suffer bad things like this.”

They were still angry.

Though I wondered if I had started this in vain, I had already begun.

If so, I had to see it through to the end.

“You are right. The world is truly goddamn awful.”

Oh! Even so, some people seemed to agree with these words this time.

“The world is so goddamn awful that we cannot just be happy. Various things happen. It would be wonderful if there were only happy things, but regrettably, as we live, painful events like the current one also occur.”

Like the current one.

With those words, I empathized with them.

Bit by bit, little by little.

The number of people blinking their eyes grew smaller.

So, I hoped these words would reach them.

“It is okay. Everything will be fine.”

Words so hopeful they almost felt irresponsible.

My voice echoed gently inside.

Drip. Drip.

And someone wept.

Although they could not even make a sound due to their sealed acupoints, they wept using only the eyes they could blink.

My words had reached them.

“It is okay. Everything will be fine.”

Perhaps these people had been wishing for someone to tell them just that.

“It is okay. Everything will be fine.”

I delivered those words to the villagers.

***

“What was with those uncharacteristic words?”

As I emerged from the warehouse where the villagers lay, Baek Mu-ho, who had been waiting outside the door, quietly approached.

“I adapted the contents of the Heart Sutra a bit; was it strange?”

“It was quite good. Good enough that, just for a moment, I thought it might be fine to shave my head clean.”

What a comparison.

Anyway, since the villagers had calmed down a bit with this, now we just had to leisurely wait for the Mount Hua Sect experts who would release the acupoint sealing…

“……Hm?”

Just as I had said, while thinking everything would be fine, a suspicious vibration climbed up through the soles of my feet.

A heavy and massive multitude was approaching this way.

I immediately threw myself up onto the large warehouse behind my back.

Ascending swiftly toward the roof of the large warehouse, my eyes caught a cloud of dust rising in the distance.

An unfriendly approach was felt.

“Nothing ever goes easily.”

That was the enemy.

***

The smoke rising from Hwaseong Village spread further than expected.

Since it was smoke of a scale to burn down an entire house, anyone possessing a wide field of vision from a high place would have been able to discover its faint trace even from afar.

There was someone who watched that smoke with displeasure.

“Absurd. I did not expect much since they were meant to be used and discarded as consumables from the beginning, but were they bastards who could not even properly subdue a single village?”

A voice that sounded as though he knew what was happening in Hwaseong Village.

The individual, whose expression was deeply contorted to the point of looking fierce, waved his hand irritably.

Thud!

A pretty scholar’s stone, which showed traces of human care, was reduced to powder and vanished.

Smashed an object across the empty air.

It was the Air-Striking Palm, classified as a high-level martial art among palm techniques.

A figure who could display such a feat as naturally as breathing.

“I feel as if things have been going awry one by one ever since the business at Mount Song.”

Unlike his outer appearance, harboring a fierce fireball within his eyes, he glared ahead.

“Who is it!”

At the summit of Mount Hua, in a corner of the Mount Hua Sect, a beast that had swallowed fire let out a hot breath.