Chapter 38: Death Plum Blossom (3)

Namgung Yul.

She stopped her steps at the point where the silver grass field ended.

The lowest reaches where the river was ending.

There, high rocks stood forming a valley, and gravel was spread in between them.

The hunting dogs of the Purple Moon Special Task Force discovered a boat stuck between the reefs.

“We found it!”

The report also went to Bi Mu-geuk, who was standing beside Namgung Yul.

“Let’s see.”

Bi Mu-geuk approached the shipwrecked boat.

The boat, which had crashed into the reefs and turned into a rag, was barely maintaining its shape.

Splash-

The warriors of the Martial Alliance salvaged two corpses from the water currents flowing over the gravel bed.

“It is the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs and the Death Plum Blossom.”

The corpses were laid on the gravel field.

Coroners began to closely examine the two drowned bodies.

Namgung Yul turned her eyes away from the bloated corpses.

Barely holding back her urge to vomit, she asked.

“Is it certain?”

The warrior of the Purple Moon Special Task Force slowly nodded his head.

“The shorter man had his neck cut by a blade, and the taller man’s skull was shattered by a blunt instrument. Considering that both were sunken at similar positions beneath the water, they seem to have fought on one boat and met mutual destruction.”

“……”

Namgung Yul, upon hearing those words, checked the corpses once again.

Two corpses bloated white.

They were in a truly wretched state, having crashed and scraped against rocks and gravel in the water, and perhaps eaten by large fish inhabiting the lower reaches.

It was a tragedy too terrible to behold, with not a single thing—bones, flesh, organs, skin, or hair—remaining intact.

Namgung Yul thought.

‘Since the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs uses a staff and the Death Plum Blossom uses a sword, considering the cause of death of the corpses, it seems circumstantially likely to be these two. The weapons, being heavy, would have sunk to the bottom of the water. But what is it…… this lingering uneasiness.’

But.

“These are a deception.”

Bi Mu-geuk examined the corpses with a cold gaze.

He swept down the foul-smelling corpses as if licking them with his eyes.

Flesh bloated white, muscles unraveled like threads, mushy organs spilled out, fragmented bones……

Bi Mu-geuk continued to speak in a cold, stiff voice.

“First, the thickness of the arm bones is different. The leg bones are also bent due to malnutrition. Also, the shape of the muscles contracting as they healed after being wounded shows a clear difference. I do not know about the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs, but at least this corpse is not the Death Plum Blossom. It is probably one of the water bandits of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union who died during the chaotic battle.”

“You know this well.”

“Of course. Because the Death Plum Blossom was once a sect brother who shared hardships with me.”

At Namgung Yul’s admiration, Bi Mu-geuk raised his head as if it were no big deal.

“There are two situations we can assume. First is that the Death Plum Blossom killed the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs, then paired him with a water bandit’s corpse to make it look like they met mutual destruction. What do you think?”

“……”

At Bi Mu-geuk’s words, Namgung Yul fell deep in thought for a while.

‘I will strike your pressure points now. If you struggle, I will cut off your ears.’

‘If anyone tries to interrupt my words in the future, I will first slit this girl’s throat before anything else.’

The arm that had tightly wrapped around and choked her neck.

That terrifying wildness, akin to a wild wolf.

It did not seem likely that such a man would lie dead and fallen so easily.

Even if his opponent were a terrifying public enemy of the martial world.

“I also do not believe this corpse belongs to the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs.”

“Is that so?”

Hearing Namgung Yul’s answer, Bi Mu-geuk nodded his head.

“You were always an outstanding student at the academy. I will respect your judgment.”

“Thank you.”

“In that case, the second situation we can assume becomes even worse.”

Bi Mu-geuk let out a groan as he stroked his beard.

And then he continued in a heavy tone.

“Second is that both the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs and the Death Plum Blossom are still alive and…… have joined hands. What do you think of this?”

There was no need to think about it.

It was an assumption that made the expressions of the warriors of the Martial Alliance and the Namgung Clan even darker.

* * *

The river completely ended.

At the same time, the place where the dense forest began.

Chui was preparing to camp there, having lit a campfire.

Although he had disguised the corpses of two water bandits as those of himself and the Death Plum Blossom, it was merely a shallow trap meant to waste the pursuit team’s time.

In less than half a day, they would pursue all the way to this place.

If there was someone competent in the pursuit team, it might take less than half a day.

Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble……

Water boiled in a vessel made by carving bamboo joints.

Chui threw the feathers of the hunted pheasant into the fire and tore the organs and meat into the vessel.

In no time, a meat soup with floating oil was boiled.

“……”

Chui looked at the Death Plum Blossom lying beside the campfire.

He was groaning while breaking out in a cold sweat.

‘Was it a bit too hard?’

Chui stared blankly at his staff.

It seemed he might have failed to control his strength slightly when striking the back of the Death Plum Blossom’s head at the end.

Death Plum Blossom, Oh Ja-woon.

He groaned, continuously breaking into beads of sweat.

Though the pain of being hit by Chui’s staff was part of it, it seemed the fatigue accumulated while breaking through the Martial Alliance’s inescapable net until now was rushing in all at once.

Chui recalled the seven plum blossoms that the Death Plum Blossom had bloomed in the final moment.

‘To fight like that in this kind of physical state? A monster is indeed a monster.’

Chui quietly looked into the Death Plum Blossom’s face.

A tall height, a sturdy build, glaring eyes like a tiger’s, thick and dark eyebrows, a straight bridge of the nose like the Five Great Mountains, and firmly closed lips.

It was certainly the exact same face in Chui’s memory.

‘He does look a bit younger, though. Is it because he has suffered less so far?’

Chui recalled the events of a long time ago.

Death Plum Blossom, Oh Ja-woon.

He was a person who would have lived as a chivalrous hero in his youth and as an immortal in his old age.

If only he hadn’t been framed for raping and murdering his junior sister and joining the Demonic Cult.

Having been falsely and unfairly accused due to a certain incident, Oh Ja-woon fell overnight from the greatest genius of the Mount Hua Sect to a public enemy of the martial world.

The point when Chui of his past life first met him was after Oh Ja-woon had already joined the Demonic Cult.

‘Are you the disciple of the Right Emissary?’

Behind the corpse of the deceased Hong Gong, the Oh Ja-woon Chui faced for the first time was not a Plum Blossom Swordsman of the Mount Hua Sect, but the ‘Left Divine General Emissary’ of the Demonic Cult.

Hong Gong, who was originally the ‘Right Divine General Emissary’ of the Demonic Cult, betrayed the Demonic Cult, fled, and newly founded the Blood Cult.

Accordingly, Oh Ja-woon, who held the position of Left Emissary, had pursued all the way to the battlefield where Chui was to execute Hong Gong, the former Right Emissary.

Left Emissary, Oh Ja-woon.

Seeing that Hong Gong, whom he had intended to kill with his own hands, was already dead, he felt intrigued by the situation.

A rainy night.

Chui and Ho Ye-yang, talking with the severed neck of the deceased Hong Gong between them.

Ho Ye-yang died without enduring for long, and it was around the time when Chui, also unable to overcome the wounds suffered while breaking through the death zone, was gradually closing his eyes.

Oh Ja-woon spared Chui that day.

‘How novel. For the Right Emissary to take a disciple. He did not seem like the type.’

He took Chui, who would have normally died following Ho Ye-yang, treated his wounds, and reconnected his severed meridians.

‘Since you did what I should have originally done, it is only proper to consider that I owe you a debt.’

Oh Ja-woon, who collected Hong Gong’s head, also held the funeral for the deceased Ho Ye-yang on their behalf.

Thereafter, Chui followed behind the Left Emissary, Oh Ja-woon.

Unlike a person who had joined the demonic path, he had a fairly stubborn and upright side.

Chui learned many things over his shoulder while following Oh Ja-woon.

On a large scale, starting from the method of controlling demonic energy, to a small scale, such as how to obtain food or a place to sleep.

Chui learned the basic knowledge to survive in the martial world as a thirsty deer gulps down water.

But.

Although Oh Ja-woon taught Chui this and that, he did not particularly regard Chui as a disciple.

Chui also learned various things from Oh Ja-woon, but he did not particularly regard Oh Ja-woon as a master.

In this world, there are relationships that cannot be cut-and-dry defined.

‘If you cannot follow, from that point on, just go your own way.’

Oh Ja-woon was too irresponsible to be called a master, and

‘Once I think I have learned everything, I will leave.’

Chui was too cold to be called a disciple.

Whenever Oh Ja-woon found an inn, he took a room and stayed by himself.

Chui had to sleep in the stable or fitfully curl up under the eaves of the inn while exposed to the night dew.

Chui ran away by himself whenever Oh Ja-woon fought someone.

Only when Oh Ja-woon sheathed his sword covered in blood did Chui return to follow behind him.

Such a time lasted for quite a while.

By the time Chui’s height became similar to Oh Ja-woon’s.

Oh Ja-woon came to face his lifelong enemies.

The hunting dogs sent by the Martial Alliance.

They wove an inescapable net and trapped Oh Ja-woon inside.

Oh Ja-woon fought day and night to return to the Demonic Cult.

There was not a single day when blood dried on his sword.

Chui always remained hidden.

He wanted to grab a spear and run to the battlefield, but Oh Ja-woon absolutely did not permit it.

‘My business is my business. Your business is your business. I took you in on a whim, but if I no longer feel like it, I can abandon you at any time.’

All enemies who faced Oh Ja-woon died.

Not a single person who crossed blades with him returned alive; they all became guests of no return.

Oh Ja-woon pursued and killed those who saw his face, and those who saw Chui’s face, stubbornly and relentlessly.

At that time, Chui did not understand why he was so desperately wiping out the survivors.

Yet Oh Ja-woon always treated Chui with the exact same expressionless face.

As if he had no intention of revealing even a fraction of his inner thoughts.

……However.

There was a time when Oh Ja-woon’s expression changed slightly.

It was in front of a grave encountered in a silver grass field while fleeing westward to avoid the Martial Alliance’s inescapable net.

-Tomb of Wu She (伍奢之墓)-

That was the first time Oh Ja-woon spoke of personal matters.

‘My father is buried here.’

Even as the blade tips of the Martial Alliance approached moment by moment, Oh Ja-woon pulled the weeds from the grave and bowed before it.

‘My father liked Bamboo Leaf Green liquor and monkfish jerky during his lifetime. It would have been nice to bring some of that.’

Oh Ja-woon stared at the empty front of the grave with a look of regret.

For Chui, it was the first time seeing Oh Ja-woon’s human side.

Thereafter, Oh Ja-woon made a request to Chui.

‘In the future, if I die to the dogs of the Martial Alliance, could you retrieve my corpse and bury it beside this grave?’

At that time, Chui had agreed without much thought.

Thinking about it now, it was a promise that could absolutely never be kept.

A few months after that.

With the secret path of the Tianshan Mountains leading to the headquarters of the Demonic Cult right before his eyes, Oh Ja-woon faced the pursuit team of the Martial Alliance.

The most elite of the pursuit team who survived until then surrounded Oh Ja-woon and waged a wheel war day and night.

The members on the Martial Alliance’s side totaled ninety-one, thirty-two of whom were Plum Blossom Swordsmen of the Mount Hua Sect.

‘Come.’

Oh Ja-woon was alone.

Even in the fight of that day, Oh Ja-woon fought while keeping Chui separated by a mountain peak.

As always, Chui went to find Oh Ja-woon after the fight ended.

In the place where blood formed a sea, Oh Ja-woon always stood tall alone, waiting for Chui.

It had always been that way until then.

……But this time was different.

Although blood formed a sea as usual, Oh Ja-woon was not in that place.

Chui did not think for a second that Oh Ja-woon might have been defeated.

Because he was a strong person.

Chui merely recalled the words Oh Ja-woon had always said.

‘If you cannot follow, from that point on, just go your own way.’

‘My business is my business. Your business is your business. I took you in on a whim, but if I no longer feel like it, I can abandon you at any time.’

Chui acted according to Oh Ja-woon’s teachings.

He did not doubt in the slightest that he had successfully repelled the pursuit team and returned to the Demonic Cult.

……Since that day, the two men never met again.

Only a very long time afterward did Chui hear of Oh Ja-woon’s whereabouts solely through rumors.

Oh Ja-woon did not return to the Demonic Cult that day.

He died after receiving thirty-two stab wounds.

Standing upright in place, with his eyes wide open, his breath ceased.

Thereafter, both of his eyeballs were gouged out and hung at the East Gate of the Mount Hua Sect, his neck was beheaded and put on display atop a catalpa pole, and his body was placed in a horse-hide sack and discarded in Zhejiang.

‘…….’

Upon learning that, Chui grabbed his spear.

He visited the East Gate of the Mount Hua Sect, but the eyeballs had already been pecked clean by crows, and the neck hung on the pole had rotted away long ago, fluttering like red dust.

Chui visited Zhejiang.

And he spent some time staring at the red plum blossoms blooming on Mount Xu of Zhejiang.

……After that, Chui visited the Mount Hua Sect once again.

It was from that point on that his alias changed from the Spear King to the Spear Ghost.

Unrivaled Spear Ghost