Chapter 115. Are We Cursed or Something (1)

It felt as if I had fallen into a deep sleep.

I seemed to hear the thanks of those I had turned my back on like a coward.

– Thank you, Great Hero.

Poison Immortal seemed to shake his head.

– After causing such a ruckus, you finally did it.

I also thought I saw the face of Brother Sama, smiling gently.

– You’ve worked hard, Brother Jin.

How long had I been drifting in the memories of my past life?

A muffled sound came from beyond the surface of sleep.

My consciousness, which had been deeply submerged, shot up to the surface.

As I pushed open my heavy eyelids, I felt a faint pain from all over my body.

Soon after, a familiar voice was heard.

“You’re awake?”

Poison Immortal.

No, it was the voice of the kid from the Tang Clan.

“Where is this?”

“Yichang. We couldn’t just wait around in a place littered with corpses, so we came back to the inn for now.”

Listening to his answer, I raised my upper body.

The pain in other places was less, but a headache suddenly surged.

As I covered my face with my right hand, the voices of Nam Geon and my junior sister were heard.

“A-Are you okay, Hyung-ah?”

“Senior Brother, you should lie down and rest a little more.”

“I’m fine.”

At my answer, the kid from the Tang Clan snorted.

“Hmph. Well, you’re in better shape than last time. The wounds on your body weren’t serious. I don’t know what kind of crazy stunt you pulled, but your head was in a bit of a dangerous state.”

Speaking of my head, I remembered. The life-and-death battle with Hyeok Ilso.

The memory of suffering from a headache after trying to forcefully unleash the enlightenment of the Moonlight Coiling Sword.

As the headache surged again, a laugh escaped me.

It seemed to be sinking in a little now.

I had finally succeeded in killing him with my own hands.

I had caught up to that gap that I could never reach in my past life.

“Madman.”

Leaving the Tang Clan kid’s nagging behind, I asked my junior sister and Nam Geon.

“How many days has it been?”

“It hasn’t been that long.”

“I-It’s only been two days. H-Hyung-ah, you should rest more.”

To clear my hazy head, I calmly organized my thoughts.

I killed the Golden Demon, Hyeok Ilso.

But I couldn’t just be happy about it.

I turned my head and looked at my junior sister, Baek Hyang.

The Lust Disaster was gone now.

Five remained.

The Blood Disaster, the Thunder Disaster, the Killing Demon, the Fighting Demon, and the Teaching Demon.

I had to find and kill them before they could build up their strength.

It wasn’t just them.

The time when they would start their rampage was more than a decade away.

There were also plenty of demonic leaders who were already active during this period. Bastards like the Unwol Sect Leader who raised Hyeok Ilso.

It might even be a more difficult task.

If the future Seven Evils were just rising prodigies now, those bastards were already experts who had reached a certain level of mastery.

This was one of the reasons why I had targeted the future Seven Evils.

It was partly because of the evil deeds they would commit in the future, but in the midst of that, I was considering the possibilities.

It seemed easier to target the ones who hadn’t fully grown yet than the experts who had already reached a high level of mastery.

But now, I had gained a little confidence.

Perhaps because I had succeeded in killing Hyeok Ilso, I felt that I could also catch up to the great evils of this era.

So then, where should I aim to move now?

Should I find the remaining five of the Seven Evils first? Or should I go after the Unwol Sect Leader, with whom I already have a bad connection?

While I was lost in such thoughts, my junior sister carefully approached and handed me a booklet.

There were bloodstains on the cover, and parts of it were torn.

I looked at it with curiosity, and the words [Heavenly Wind Sword Art] were written on the booklet.

“I found it while cleaning up the battlefield, Senior Brother. It was hidden in Hyeok Ilso’s clothes.”

I nodded my head.

“Indeed, a bastard like him wouldn’t entrust a secret manual like this to someone else.”

“H-Hyung-ah. T-Then do I have to learn that s-sword art now? I-I can’t even do the Dynamic Cultivation yet.”

Nam Geon asked, trembling.

I imagined Nam Geon performing the Heavenly Wind Sword Art.

Hyeok Ilso had utilized a wondrous movement technique to bring out the strengths of the Heavenly Wind Sword Art.

He had continued the hegemonic flow through a posture that did not break in any situation.

But Nam Geon couldn’t do that.

No. He didn’t need to.

Because that kid had a Diamond Indestructible Body.

Whether the opponent counterattacks or dodges.

He would just stubbornly push forward and perform the Heavenly Wind Sword Art. A sword art where the power accumulates and the speed increases with each swing.

Considering Nam Geon’s monstrous strength, the moment the power of that sword art reached its peak, it seemed no one would be able to block Nam Geon’s sword strike.

But there was something that needed to be done before that.

“Don’t worry. I’ll learn it first and then teach it to you. In the meantime, get used to the Dynamic Cultivation first.”

The Heavenly Wind Sword Art was a high-level martial art, so it would probably be impossible for Nam Geon to learn this secret manual on his own.

First, I would have to learn it myself and then explain it as slowly and broken down as possible so that he could understand.

Naturally, when I performed the Heavenly Wind Sword Art, it would have to be in a completely different way from Nam Geon.

If I had to say, it would likely be performed in a similar way to Hyeok Ilso.

It seemed quite possible.

If he had brought out the strengths of the Heavenly Wind Sword Art through his outstanding insight and the Life and Death Blood Steps, I had my special eyes.

I could see one move ahead.

In addition to that.

“Come to think of it, the things I need to train have increased.”

I hadn’t obtained the secret manual for the Life and Death Blood Steps, but I had figured out its secret.

Using qi to grip or push off the ground.

If I could incorporate this technique into the movement techniques I had learned so far, it seemed worth a try.

I couldn’t even dare to imitate it during a life-and-death battle, but if I trained little by little, I would get used to it.

And there was one more thing I had to get used to.

The fourth form of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword, the Moonlight Coiling Sword.

It seemed like my homework had increased, but I felt good.

If I learned these things, I could become even stronger.

As soon as I mentioned training, my companions had a fit.

“H-Hyung-ah, you’re training again?”

“Haa. I told you, there’s a problem with your head right now. No. You always have a problem, but you could really fall into qi deviation and die.”

“Senior Brother, let’s rest for a few more days.”

Looking at that scene, for some reason, it felt like my complicated thoughts were being sorted out.

Right. I could get stronger in the future anyway.

So, for now, I’ll find the future Seven Evils first.

The great evils of this era were already somewhat complete beings.

Even if I went to find them a few years later, their skills wouldn’t have changed much.

On the other hand, the Seven Evils were guys who would grow stronger at a rapid pace over the next few years.

I would find and deal with the Seven Evils and build up my skills.

And after that, I would deal with the great evils of this era.

After roughly organizing my thoughts, one problem remained.

So, who among the Seven Evils should I find first?

I had no idea where the Thunder Disaster, the Killing Demon, and the Teaching Demon were at this time.

What remained were the Blood Disaster and the Fighting Demon.

My thoughts naturally leaned towards the Fighting Demon.

It wasn’t because the Blood Disaster was more dangerous.

Right now, it was before the Blood Disaster had gone mad.

It would be more than ten years later when he would go on a rampage.

Just as it was when I met Nam Geon or my junior sister, I couldn’t kill a guy who hadn’t committed a crime yet.

On the other hand, what about the Fighting Demon?

As far as I knew, he was a mountain bandit even at this time.

The destination was roughly decided.

“Let’s head to Zhejiang first.”

Nine Dragons Mountain in southern Zhejiang.

The Fighting Demon, who would be called the Green Forest Fighting King in the future, was there.

“Why are we suddenly going to Zhejiang?”

Before I could answer the Tang Clan kid’s question, my junior sister spoke first.

“Is it perhaps because of the Restoring Name Sword?”

Come to think of it, there was one more thing to do in Zhejiang.

The master of the Confucian Manor who had gifted me the Restoring Name Sword.

His enemy, the Sura Blood Blade, had his base in Zhejiang.

There was no reason to explain about the future, so I nodded my head.

“Yes. I received the sword as a gift, so I should repay the favor, shouldn’t I?”

When the Tang Clan kid made a puzzled face, my junior sister briefly explained the story.

“So that’s what happened.”

As the Tang Clan kid nodded his head as if he understood, my junior sister smiled faintly and looked at me.

“Senior Brother, if we’re heading to Zhejiang from here, how about we take a boat instead?”

“A boat?”

“It doesn’t go all the way to Zhejiang, but I heard the Yangtze River connects to Poyang Lake in Jiangxi. So we could take a boat there, and then travel overland from there to Zhejiang. I thought that would be good.”

Why did she suddenly want to take a boat?

And even the junior sister who said that sneakily glanced at the Tang Clan kid and Nam Geon.

“Hoh. That sounds good. We’re on a tour of the jianghu, so we should at least go on a boat trip on the Yangtze River once, shouldn’t we?”

“T-That’s right, Hyung-ah. I-I want to ride a boat.”

Soon after, my junior sister added with a pleading expression.

“Can’t we, Senior Brother…?”

Only then did I realize what her ploy was.

Although my junior sister was still young, she wasn’t a child who would whine about wanting to go on a boat trip.

It seemed she meant that I should just take a rest while we were traveling by boat.

Because if we traveled by land, I would probably cause a commotion by training my movement techniques or sword arts again.

I could see through her intentions, but I decided to let it slide this time.

Before I encountered Hyeok Ilso in Yichang in the past.

I had thought about going to see Dongting Lake together after cleaning up the Black Market.

It wasn’t Dongting Lake, but it seemed like a good idea to see the Yangtze River together on a boat.

In addition to that, there was one place to stop by.

If we moved along the route my junior sister mentioned, we would naturally stop by that place anyway.

The hometown of the Scholar Chivalrous Hero, Brother Sama, was nearby.

Now that Hyeok Ilso was gone, it seemed I could visit him with a much more at ease mind.

What was Brother Sama doing around this time?

Around this time, would he have put down his study brush and thrown himself into the jianghu?

Or was he still engrossed in his studies?

I had heard the general story, but I hadn’t heard the exact date.

Why was it? Just thinking about going there made me feel happy for some reason.

Even though I hadn’t even met him yet.

“I wonder if he’s doing well.”

The Tang Clan kid, who had been quietly observing me, frowned.

“Haa. He’s a madman even on a normal day, so I can’t tell if he’s talking to himself because he’s crazy or if he’s sane.”

***

The next morning.

We boarded a boat that my junior sister had found.

It was a boat with a flag that said Azure Stream Escort Agency, and it was originally used to transport escort goods.

It seemed they also gave rides to people who wanted to travel along the Yangtze River and received fares.

My junior sister and Nam Geon looked at the flowing river and the surrounding scenery with bright faces.

“Waaaaah.”

“Hehehe.”

The Tang Clan kid also had a satisfied expression with his arms crossed.

“Of course. If you’re on a tour of the jianghu, you have to see sights like this.”

I had already seen this scenery in my past life, so I wasn’t particularly impressed.

Instead, I just watched my happy companions.

For a few days, we traveled by boat along the Yangtze River.

After my headache had more or less subsided and all the cuts on my body had healed, I began to train lightly.

I read the Heavenly Wind Sword Art manual that my junior sister had kept, and I also trained my external energy.

Unfortunately, the space on the boat was narrow, so it was not suitable for training movement techniques or sword arts.

Instead, I trained my divine art or fell into meditation.

Operating a divine art on a boat that was swaying back and forth with the river required a high level of concentration.

In other words, it was a great help for concentration training.

“Enjoying the river view is good, but you guys should also train your divine arts and external energy.”

At my nagging, Nam Geon answered with a pale face.

“I-I can barely just sit still. B-Boats are so hard.”

The enjoyable boat trip was short-lived, and Nam Geon was suffering from severe seasickness.

The kid, who usually ate a lot, couldn’t even eat properly, and his cheeks had become hollow.

“I-I’m sorry, Brother Nam Geon.”

“I-It’s not Hyang-i’s fault. I-I said I wanted to ride it.”

The moment my junior sister was about to say something more.

“But…”

Nam Geon hastily ran to a corner.

“Ugh.”

Was it because of his size and weight? As he ran hastily, it felt like the boat was swaying back and forth.

“Is there no medicine?”

When I asked the Tang Clan kid, he smiled bitterly.

“I already gave it to him. But he cried that the medicine was too bitter and then threw it up.”

Somehow, my journey for recovery had turned into a life-and-death journey for Nam Geon.

After watching Nam Geon with a pitiful expression for a moment.

I saw a few boats approaching from the front, going against the flow of the river.

As those boats gradually approached, the expressions of the Azure Stream Escort Agency’s escorts became quite serious.

Soon after, from the boat that had gotten closer, a rough shout filled with inner energy was heard.

“No one shall pass here without the permission of our Dragon King Fortress!!”

At the appearance of the Yangtze River water fortress, the Tang Clan kid sighed.

“Haa. Are we cursed or something?”

I didn’t know why this madman was sighing while looking at me and not the water fortress guys.

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