Chapter 311

“Well...”

For some reason, Jin Cheongha hesitated at Kwak Yeon’s question, so Hu Gae answered in her place.

“Brother Kwak, those corpses were not moving. You were.”

“...?”

Kwak Yeon stared at him in disbelief, and Hu Gae continued.

“When we looked down while descending the cavern wall, you were repeatedly hurling yourself toward the blades held by those fixed corpses. Each time, you barely managed to twist aside and knock the weapon away.”

Hu Gae shuddered at the memory.

“You have no idea how alarming it looked. Had someone who did not know you seen it, they would have thought... you had gone mad and were trying to kill yourself.”

At those words, Kwak Yeon finally understood why Taoist Cheongmu had seized him without warning and suddenly started talking about suicide.

To Cheongmu, who understood neither formations nor sorcery, that must have been exactly how it appeared.

“In any case, Sister Jin immediately recognized that some sinister sorcery had been deployed in this cavern, so we understood what was happening—that you had been deceived by its effects.”

Kwak Yeon recalled the moment when the sinister energy had begun to revolve and his mind had grown faint.

Come to think of it, that was when the Ghost Generals had appeared, radiating blue light.

That was the moment the sorcery caught me.

Hu Gae’s voice continued through the cavern.

“It was the first time any of us had encountered such a thing, so we were at a loss. Then Taoist Cheongmu suddenly leaped down, and the two of us followed him. You already know what happened after that.”

When Hu Gae finished, Kwak Yeon thought for a moment before asking,

“Brother, when you reached the cavern floor, were you unaffected by the sorcery?”

Kwak Yeon had been worried about his companions descending into the cavern. He asked because he feared they might have suffered under the sorcery’s effects as well.

“To be honest, we jumped down knowing the risk. Sure enough, the moment we landed, the Ghost Generals began appearing and moving toward us. We understood in our heads that we were the ones moving toward them, but seeing it with our own eyes was deeply disorienting. Worse, the entire cavern was engulfed in undulating sinister energy, making it impossible to tell what lay ahead. I thought we were in serious trouble.”

Hu Gae shuddered again.

“Then I saw Taoist Cheongmu moving ahead. Sister Jin and I were worried about him, so we followed. Strangely enough, the Ghost Generals attacking us receded into the distance, and no others approached. We kept following Taoist Cheongmu until we found you.”

“...?”

“What was even stranger was that the moment Taoist Cheongmu grabbed you and stopped, the Ghost Generals began charging us again. Of course, by then you had already destroyed nearly all of them, so there were not many left for the two of us to handle. In any case, I could not understand what had happened, so I asked Taoist Cheongmu afterward. But he simply said he did not know, which left us with no answer.”

Having compressed the lengthy account into a few moments, Hu Gae tilted his head.

“Could Taoist Cheongmu possess some Divine Eye in addition to Heavenly Ear...?”

Remembering that Cheongmu had once seen the Infant, Unseon Taoist’s primordial spirit, Kwak Yeon unconsciously nodded.

“It would seem so.”

“Hm...?”

Hu Gae’s eyes widened, and he asked again,

“Brother Kwak, are you truly saying Taoist Cheongmu possesses a Divine Eye?”

“What other explanation is there for why he was not deceived by the sorcery?”

“Well... that is true.”

Hu Gae nodded weakly at Kwak Yeon’s counterquestion, then tilted his head again.

“Then are you saying the side effects of deviation granted Taoist Cheongmu both the supernatural faculty of Heavenly Ear and a Divine Eye?”

“...”

“That makes no sense.”

Hu Gae shook his head vigorously at his own question, then turned to Jin Cheongha.

“Sister Jin, have you ever heard of such a case?”

“I have never heard of anyone gaining special abilities through deviation.”

Jin Cheongha shook her head and continued.

“And I do not believe Taoist Cheongmu possesses a Divine Eye.”

“Hm...?”

“Lady Jin, what do you mean?”

When Hu Gae and Kwak Yeon both looked at her, Jin Cheongha continued carefully.

“If Taoist Cheongmu possessed a Divine Eye, the Wind-and-Sand Formation should not have obstructed him either.”

Kwak Yeon recalled how Cheongmu had struggled most against the Wind-and-Sand Formation and fallen farthest behind.

“Lady Jin, do you have another theory as to why Taoist Cheongmu was not deceived by the sorcery here?”

“My best guess is that spiritual energy simply has no hold over him.”

Sorcery produced its effects through spiritual energy. Against someone unaffected by spiritual energy, it would be useless.

To Taoist Cheongmu, the Ghost Generals must have appeared as nothing more than scarecrows erected upon piles of stone.

“I have no idea why spiritual energy does not affect him. Perhaps he was born with some divine faculty, or perhaps he acquired it through an extraordinary opportunity.”

At Jin Cheongha’s mention of an extraordinary opportunity, Kwak Yeon flinched.

“...!”

He remembered listening to Seokjangsan recount Cheongmu’s past at the guesthouse tavern in Aju County and suspecting that Cheongmu had not lost his wisdom through simple deviation.

Did whatever happened to him back then grant him Heavenly Ear and the divine faculty that makes him immune to spiritual energy? If that is truly the case...

Then it became even clearer that what had happened to Cheongmu was connected to the sinister force hanging over the realm.

After all, the Supreme Patriarch had hurried down the mountain because of Cheongmu.

There is no doubt.

Convinced, Kwak Yeon turned toward Cheongmu, who was squatting beside the campfire.

“...!”

The man once known as the New Dragon of Wudang, the future of the Wudang Sect, was sweating profusely as he prepared a meal for his much younger martial uncle.

Taoist Cheongmu, what in the world happened to you?

There was no point asking him directly. The only answer he would receive was a single word—I don’t know.

“Hup!”

Cheongmu sprang upright with a vigorous shout.

His broad frame blocked most of the firelight.

Kwak Yeon resolved that, no matter what it took, he would restore Cheongmu to his rightful place as the New Dragon of Wudang.

Taoist Cheongmu must have ended up this way because of something connected to the sinister force hanging over the realm. Then as I uncover that force, I will surely find a way to cure him as well.

Crackle!

Cheongmu lifted the blackened iron pot, steam billowing from it, and rushed straight over to Kwak Yeon.

“Little Martial Uncle! Eat this! I put in all the wild ginseng we had left, so it’ll fill up that itchy thing in your lower belly in no time.”

Something even blacker than the soot-blackened iron pot bubbled inside it.

Blup! Blup! Blup!

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Bubbles swelled and burst across the thick surface. Apart from its color, it looked exactly like molten lava.

“Little Martial Uncle, hurry and eat before it gets cold.”

Hu Gae had been staring in horror at the black lava porridge. At Cheongmu’s words, he quickly rose from his seat.

He did not want anyone to misunderstand and think he coveted that poisonous-looking concoction, which he would not eat even under threat of death.

Even if he put ten-thousand-year wild ginseng in there, I still couldn’t eat it.

But then—

“Big Beggar, sit down and eat. I made plenty so we could all have some.”

Gah!

Hu Gae stared at him in horror.

Cheongmu wiped his sweat-soaked brow with his sleeve and smiled brightly.

“You used a lot of strength earlier too, Big Beggar.”

Hu Gae hurriedly shook his head.

“Taoist Cheongmu, I am quite all right. I already filled my stomach with dried rations earlier.”

“You still don’t want any?”

“Why would I...? That precious wild ginseng should be saved for Brother Kwak alone.”

“Well... I’m sorry I shouted at you earlier.”

“...!”

Cheongmu’s abrupt change in attitude left Hu Gae speechless.

Then Kwak Yeon said,

“Brother, you should join us. Brother Cheongmu does not invite just anyone to share his food.”

Hu Gae understood perfectly well what Kwak Yeon meant by “just anyone.”

Even so, that thing is...

Hu Gae had lived his entire life as a beggar and had never once been picky about food.

Yet even he wanted nothing to do with that black lava porridge.

Searching desperately for an excuse, Hu Gae slowly lifted his gaze from the pot—only to meet Cheongmu’s eyes.

“...!”

“...?”

The moment he saw the expectation shining in Cheongmu’s eyes, Hu Gae’s head drooped helplessly.

“Taoist Cheongmu, then I shall have exactly one bite.”

*****

Creeeak!

Hocheon Unit Lord Myung Jincheon pulled open the black iron door and stepped aside.

“Please enter.”

Martial Supreme Venerable Cheol Gun-ak, Leader of the Martial Alliance, nodded faintly and was about to enter the training chamber when he stopped.

“For some reason, nothing about today has felt right.”

“...”

“It began this morning, and the feeling remains even now, at the end of the day.”

Cheol Gun-ak looked at Myung Jincheon and asked,

“Is something troubling you?”

Myung Jincheon gave a clasped-hands bow.

“Nothing is troubling me.”

Cheol Gun-ak had the faint impression that Myung Jincheon was avoiding his gaze, but he could not continue questioning him based on a feeling alone.

He nodded quietly.

“You must look so somber because you have been accompanying me day after day.”

“...”

“Do not overexert yourself. Rest from time to time.”

“I am most at ease when I am here.”

Cheol Gun-ak studied Myung Jincheon for a moment after that stubborn answer, then abruptly asked,

“Have you still not found the desire to inherit my true teachings?”

“My apologies.”

Myung Jincheon bowed at the waist and continued.

“The vessel of my heart remains far too inadequate to contain your true martial arts.”

Cheol Gun-ak frowned slightly.

“I have waited twenty years, yet you remain unmoved. The obstacle blocking your heart must indeed be enormous.”

Cheol Gun-ak knew that the obstacle in Myung Jincheon’s heart was the Wudang Sect.

The Myung Clan Manor had been destroyed by an unorthodox faction, but Wudang had not been entirely blameless for the decline that had left one of Hubei’s distinguished martial families vulnerable enough to fall to such a faction.

Thus, when Myung Jincheon said the vessel of his heart was inadequate, he meant that he was still not confident he could let go of his resentment toward Wudang.

He feared he might be unable to restrain the urge to turn the true martial arts taught by Martial Supreme Venerable Cheol Gun-ak against the Wudang Sect.

“I cannot understand it. You avenged your family long ago, and the Wudang Sect helped you at the time, did it not? Of course, the tragedy at Sword Demon Valley was deeply regrettable, but such losses are also an unfortunate reality of war.”

At Cheol Gun-ak’s words, Myung Jincheon tightly shut his eyes, his head still bowed.

“That is correct.”

According to what the world knows.

Myung Jincheon could not bring himself to speak those words aloud.

“It is difficult to understand. They say even Mount Tai is worn down by time. After twenty years, one would think your resentment toward Wudang would have dulled.”

Myung Jincheon squeezed his eyes shut even more tightly.

Alliance Leader, you only say that because you do not know the unorthodox faction that destroyed the Myung Clan Manor was acting under the orders of Wudang’s Grand Elder.

At the time, Wudang’s Grand Elder had not helped avenge the Myung Clan Manor.

He had murdered everyone involved to silence them.

“In any case, I do not have much time left to wait for you.”

Cheol Gun-ak exhaled softly and continued.

“Think carefully about whether you will follow me in pursuing the martial path or remain in the Martial Alliance as you are now and lead the orthodox martial world.”

Still bent at the waist with his eyes closed, Myung Jincheon desperately wished to ask the man who was as good as his master a question.

Were those truly the only two paths he could offer?

Boom!

In the end, Myung Jincheon could not ask.

The iron door of the training chamber closed.

“...”

He remained bowed for a long while even after the door shut.

At last, Myung Jincheon raised his head.

His eyes were cold and still as he stared at the firmly closed iron door.

Alliance Leader, in truth, I never had any reason to ask you which path I should take.

His path had been decided from the very beginning.

This moment had merely confirmed it.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Myung Jincheon’s footsteps grew louder as he walked away through the corridors of Righteous Heaven Hall.