Chapter 44: Snow Plum Sword (2)

To avoid the sword of the elderly Taoist named Jabu, I had to concentrate all my senses and mind on that single sword.

Only then could I barely avoid it by a paper’s margin.

‘Thank you, you friend of mine!’

Ironical-ly, the experience I gained from sparring with Baek Mu-ho was also of quite some help.

Having experienced the disposition of the Mount Hua Sect sword technique in Baek Mu-ho’s sword had granted me a sense of familiarity.

The elderly Taoist’s sword strikes were not at a speed where I could watch, judge, and react. My instinct itself simply had to react and avoid. In such a situation, the familiarity of having experienced it before became no small advantage.

[You are growing rapidly. It seems your achievement has already risen by several levels?]

[Haha. A fortuitous encounter is not something far off.]

My masters were fully enjoying themselves.

Though it was a very impious thing to do to my masters.

‘I almost swore! Seriously!!’

No, every time the tip of the sword passed by a paper’s margin, it felt like being sliced alive, yet they were clapping while watching it. Isn’t it only natural that I might swear a bit…!

“Hup!”

“Look at this fellow?”

I barely avoided the tip of the sword that stretched out once again, while my feet, moving as they pleased, trod on whatever could be stepped on in the surroundings.

From a third party’s perspective, it might have looked quite cool. After taking my feet off the ground, I had twisted and shifted my direction five times mid-leap with just a few simple foot movements.

The eyes of Adept Jabu, who was brandishing his sword relentlessly, flashed.

“Cloud Ladder Stride? No, is it the Vajra Immovable Body Method?”

He recognized it?

Since the Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step was a body-lightening method Master Zhang Sanfeng and Master Bodhidharma made based on the Cloud Ladder Stride and the Vajra Immovable Body Method, he might recognize the resembling disposition, but.

“Is it not? It is strangely similar yet seems different too…”

But was it okay to agree to this?

If I said yes, he would ask where I learned it.

“Aha! I guess when a ghost performs Shaolin or Wudang Sect martial arts, it is performed with that kind of feeling.”

“…….”

It seemed to have been a useless worry.

As long as he thought I was a ghost.

……But that’s the biggest problem!

“Anyway, if you are a ghost with a connection to the Nine Sects, you cannot be unrelated to this old Taoist, an elder of the Mount Hua Sect. I shall deliver your soul to rest in peace with all my heart!”

To my ears, those words sounded like a serious declaration to slit my throat.

I was really going to die.

‘This is the Mount Hua Sect! Is nobody here?!’

Perhaps because the bottom of the mountain was chaotic lately, all the experts of the Mount Hua Sect were wandering outside!

Words that couldn’t leak out of my mouth swirled and seethed inside.

I wanted to scream, but I didn’t even have the luxury to open my mouth and scream. Because just opening my mouth to scream would disperse my attention, and I wouldn’t be able to avoid that old man’s sword.

Even conjuring up these thoughts was…

‘Too late…!’

In the briefest moment my thoughts were divided, the sword found its direction through the scattered opening.

Before the sword could reach, the sword force that had not yet stretched out touched my body first.

An intense sensation of my body splitting. For a moment, as if I had seen the future, an illusion of my body being cut in two appeared.

The moment when life and death were divided.

‘Dammit!’

It was the moment my instinct moved at maximum speed.

The moment when a martial artist finally breaks through their limits and takes a step forward.

[Hahaha! You have finally awakened!]

[Good.]

My masters seemed to be saying something, but frankly, I couldn’t hear them.

Because I didn’t have the luxury to listen to and perceive such things right now.

It was just that my instinct, running wild to survive, had unlocked something.

Tak!

For an instant, I stepped on the empty void where there was nothing.

I stepped on the flow of the world.

[Oops! It’s a pity that fellow Heavenly Demon isn’t here. He should have seen that himself! Instinctively borrowing a portion of the spatial force of the Heavenly Demon Boundless Hand just enough to make a foothold without issues? The moment a martial art of sole dominance changes into a struggle for survival. Hahaha!]

Again, Master Zhang Sanfeng seemed to be saying something, but this time too, I couldn’t hear.

Anyway, as a result of twisting my body’s direction in midair.

Swish!

I was able to avoid it by having it merely graze my shoulder.

“What?!”

I could see Adept Jabu, whose eyes grew round as if he thought it was a decisive strike.

Indeed, would he have even thought that I could step on empty space?

Thanks to that, a gap appeared in Adept Jabu’s sword stance.

In a normal situation, I would never have been able to penetrate it, but the gap created when his decisive strike missed, and the opening scattered in his surprise, were wide enough for me to enter.

No matter how thorough my respect for the elderly was, having suffered this much, a punch to the face should be fine, right?!

Bawk!

A very satisfying texture enveloped the tip of my foot. And the result rolled on the ground once and fell flat.

Perhaps it was quite stinging, as Adept Jabu, who got up while massaging his hit jaw here and there, opened his mouth in an absurd tone.

“Ha! A ghost hitting a person in broad daylight?”

“I said I’m human.”

“What kind of human moves like that… Why do you have a shadow?”

“You really don’t listen to a human’s words.”

Only now did he hear my words and see my form.

“You’re bleeding too?”

“Haa……”

The blood from the sword strike that cut the skin of my shoulder soaked my clothes. Since it was just a grazing cut, there wasn’t much blood, but it was enough to leave a trace.

Having a shadow, and bleeding.

Thus, the overall conclusion Adept Jabu reached was:

“You should have told me.”

“…….”

He was shameless.

Right now, I felt like I could get a verdict of not guilty even if I killed a man.

***

In conclusion, to talk about what happened afterward, fortunately, it was all resolved without any major issues.

Because it wasn’t that I had no guilty parts at all.

Since it was undeniable that I climbed up an strange place instead of the proper entrance, if the Mount Hua Sect took issue with that part, I would also have nothing to say.

The reason a gate is made is to enter and exit through it.

As it turned out, the direction I entered was a back path said to have been used by a few experts in the past when going out for strolls. Of course, it was not in use now.

Since I popped up from such a place, from the Mount Hua Sect’s perspective, they could treat me as an illegal trespasser who approached with impure intentions.

“Fortunately, the Mount Hua Sect is a reasonable place.”

“Haha. Well…… hearing what you went through, it is understandable that you would say that.”

Adept Zihe let out a hollow laugh at my words.

At the story of how he thought I was a ghost and tried to cut me down out of nowhere, all the Mount Hua Sect disciples let out a sigh that seemed like the ground would cave in. It was so perfectly synchronized that it felt like it came from a single mouth.

I could newly feel their hardships.

“So we shall give you a choice.”

“A choice?”

“What kind of punishment would be good to give to Jabu?”

“Uh…”

Is this a newly created joke these days?

Clearly, Adept Zihe just called him his junior brother. Seeing that he belonged to the ‘Zi’ generation as shown by his Taoist name Jabu, he was definitely an elder-class figure.

Entrusting the punishment of a Nine Sects elder-class figure to an outsider?

I wondered if I could dare to speak because of fear, but.

“Do you not wish to give an opinion?”

“No, I do. Just now, how should I say it, my body suddenly ached.”

To avoid Adept Jabu’s sword, I had to move my body to the absolute limit. The aftermath came late, making my entire body sore.

I couldn’t just pass up this opportunity.

Then what would be good?

‘Since it’s obvious we can’t do something like flogging him anyway.’

Even if I gave an opinion, not all of it would be accepted. For example, physical methods.

In that case, it was best to make him do something he would dislike.

“Does he usually talk quite a bit?”

“Indeed he does.”

A talkative person.

If he was of that disposition, the thought that facing a wall in silent meditation would be best crossed my mind, but I soon dismissed it. Considering the current situation of the Mount Hua Sect, it was not good to shove a martial artist of that caliber into a corner.

“Then it would be good for him to take this opportunity to perform a vow of silence.”

“Oh?!”

Hearing my reply, Adept Zihe put on a full smile. He smiled so brightly that I wondered if this noble-looking person could laugh like that.

“Wait a moment.”

Adept Zihe suddenly approached the gathered Mount Hua Sect people and said something.

Suddenly, the atmosphere became harmonious.

[It’s a flower garden.]

Master Zhang Sanfeng chuckled.

Indeed, flowers of laughter bloomed brightly on the faces of the gathered people.

Among them, a few approached me.

Zing!

‘Hmm?’

However, as they were approaching, when my eyes met someone’s, a strange sensation ran down my spine.

It felt like a flavor I had tasted before, but I didn’t know where I had tasted it.

It was a feeling that brought about uneasiness.

However, since I couldn’t argue about something even I didn’t know, I kept my mouth shut.

In the meantime, I received very favorable gratitude from the Mount Hua Sect people surrounding me.

To sum it up roughly, it was this:

“Thank you. You will be blessed.”

Let’s just think of it as karma regarding Adept Jabu.

***

“With his personality, a vow of silence…… Whoa! He’s going to suffer quite a bit.”

As if he had seen something interesting, Baek Mu-ho chuckled.

Ah, come to think of it, there was something to be resolved on this side too.

I spoke with a smile as bright as the one Adept Zihe had put on earlier.

“You do it too, the vow of silence.”

“What? Hey! Why should I…”

“The bet. Doing one thing the opponent wants.”

“Huh? Uh…”

“The duration is until we stay at the Mount Hua Sect. However, every time you speak a word, it will increase by one day even after we leave, okay?”

“…….”

Baek Mu-ho put on a soul-less face.

However, there was no protest.

“I’m glad you understood well.”

Ah, the sweet taste of authority.

***

The next day.

Having spent a peaceful day at the Mount Hua Sect, I was able to enjoy a deep sleep after a long time.

Well, the Mount Hua Sect seemed busy holding various discussions, but as an outsider, there was no business for me to intervene.

Since the journey had been quite tiring, and Baek Mu-ho was also quiet due to his vow of silence, I could rest comfortably.

[You sleep long.]

Until my master’s voice echoed in my head.

Huh?

‘This voice?’

“Could it be…”

[It is indeed me.]

“Ah, yes!”

It was Master Heavenly Demon.

Come to think of it, they said my masters would take turns being with me in the future.

Thinking of my masters’ schedules, busy with official duties in heaven, tears blocked my view, but.

[The Mount Hua Sect, you say?]

“Yes.”

[A nostalgic place. Come to think of it, I visited here a few times in the past too.]

“Is that so?”

Somehow, it was a story I didn’t want to hear in detail.

By the way, is this okay?

Strictly speaking, Master Heavenly Demon was currently at the Mount Hua Sect.

Is this legal?

No, more than that.

“But the one with you today…… is?”

[It is I.]

It was Master Bodhidharma.

A combination of Master Bodhidharma and Master Heavenly Demon.

‘I have a bad feeling.’

Something felt off.