Chapter: 562
Just before things started to happen.
I was yawning in the prison cell where I had been captured.
Perhaps it was because I hadn’t slept well, but I felt a bit drowsy.
Seeing me in that state, Gu Ryeong-hwa, who was next to me, spoke up, as if hinting at something.
“In this situation, oppa, are you yawning…?”
“It’s a physiological phenomenon; it can’t be helped.”
There was really no one to pay attention to me, so a little yawn wouldn’t hurt.
Honestly, I wished I could just fall asleep, but the fact that I couldn’t was rather disappointing.
On the other hand, Gu Ryeong-hwa looked overwhelmed by the situation, her expression tense and intimidated.
Noticing this, I asked her, “Why do you look so miserable? Relax a bit.”
“Do I look like a corpse?”
“I don’t think it’s a situation where you shouldn’t be able to smile.”
I mean, it’s just a little visit to prison; is that really such an annoying issue?
‘That might be how she feels.’
From Gu Ryeong-hwa’s perspective, I could see why she would feel that way.
I, on the other hand, have a history of going in and out of prison like it was a second home.
Gu Ryeong-hwa had probably seen a more dignified life as a member of the Hwasan Sect.
She probably wasn’t used to this kind of situation at all.
‘It’s strange that I’m the one who’s used to this.’
As I chuckled at the ridiculous thought, Gu Ryeong-hwa’s expression grew even more bizarre.
“Oppa… Just like last time, I really think something’s wrong with you.”
“I’ve always been a little odd.”
“That’s true, but…”
“What are you saying, kid?”
She seemed about to explode at my joking words, as if she couldn’t take it anymore.
“What’s normal for you, anyway?”
“What? I’m perfectly normal!”
“You’re hilarious, kid! Isn’t it so?”
“…What do you mean…?”
“I mean, there’s not a single person with the surname Gu who’s in their right mind.”
“…”
Even Gu Ryeong-hwa seemed unable to refute my words, biting her lips in silence.
Seeing her like that, I added, “Except for me.”
“Geez…!”
When I let that slip with a grin, Gu Ryeong-hwa seemed ready to blow up at me.
“Haha.”
Someone quietly listening from the side burst into laughter.
It was, of course, Youngpung, who was also dragged here.
Suddenly, as the laughter drew attention, Youngpung looked bewildered.
“Ah… I’m sorry. You both looked so close; I just—”
“Does this look like we’re close? Where do you see that?”
“Are your eyes bad, Youngpung?”
Despite the unpleasant tone, Youngpung simply smiled.
At least it’s fortunate that, unlike Gu Ryeong-hwa, he didn’t seem to have much on his mind.
“Unlike this fool, does the dojo have a bit more composure?”
Gu Ryeong-hwa shouted, “What do you mean, fool!?” but I decided to brush it off.
Youngpung blinked his large eyes and calmly replied to my question, “It may seem that way, but I have my worries too.”
He didn’t look particularly concerned, but if he insists, it must be true.
I nodded slightly and asked something else.
“How’s your chin feeling? Is it okay?”
“Ah.”
The chin that I struck the last time we met.
It was my way of checking if he was all right. Youngpung awkwardly smiled in response.
“It’s nothing. You didn’t make it too inconvenient for me.”
I did hit him lightly.
Just enough to knock him out, I had to be careful; if I hit him too hard, his bones could crack.
“More important than that…”
Youngpung’s gaze shifted toward me.
“Shouldn’t I be the one to apologize?”
He was likely referring to the incident when he came and demanded the return of a treasure without notice.
“Yes, well. I’m fine.”
I wasn’t really concerned about that at all.
Or rather, to be precise, I don’t consider it to be Youngpung’s fault.
‘Something felt off.’
The jealousy and fervor I saw in Youngpung’s eyes during that incident didn’t solely belong to him.
The energy in his gaze was too charged to merely describe it as a passionate emotion.
“Dojang, I’m just asking, but…”
“Yes?”
“Do you hear an old man’s voice in your head…?”
“…Pardon?”
Youngpung made a strange face at the question, as if wondering what kind of bizarre thing that was.
“No, I don’t.”
Seeing that, I took back my question.
It seemed Youngpung couldn’t hear anything.
If I asked any more questions, I’d surely be called crazy, so I decided to keep quiet for now.
Clank.
When I moved my hand, I felt something rubbing uncomfortably against my wrist.
I looked down and saw metal restraints binding my arms.
I had to click my tongue inwardly upon seeing that.
‘They really used something expensive.’
Restraints meant to prevent actions of any practitioners beyond their peak.
Just from the feel of it, I could tell this was no ordinary iron. Was it mixed with some ancient metal?
Not only had they put a blood test on me, but they had me restrained like this too.
“It’s excessively thorough.”
It’s a pretty effective method for dealing with criminals, but.
‘They really are treating me like a criminal.’
Nothing has even been confirmed yet, and yet I’m being treated this way?
Of course…
‘It’s true that I did commit an offense.’
What happened earlier was indeed my fault.
I just wasn’t caught.
Then again…
‘And I have no intention of getting caught in the future either.’
I thought, carefully leaning my back against the wall.
How far should I take this?
How far should I blow up the situation here?
What is the acceptable line?
I pondered endlessly.
Just enough to carry it.
That ambiguous line had to be clearly delineated.
Just then…
“Master, I hope you’re doing well…?”
Gu Ryeong-hwa worriedly spoke of Geom Hu.
That snapped me out of my contemplative thoughts for a moment.
Geom Hu.
There was a reason she wasn’t in the prison along with us right now.
‘I suppose Woo Baek wanted to see me separately.’
Most likely, the elder, Woo Baek, wanted to talk with Geom Hu, who is in charge.
Woo Baek probably realized his actions weren’t good.
He probably wanted to reach an agreement through discussions with Geom Hu.
‘They’ll think someone did something to me.’
Someone acted without my knowledge.
They would think to pin the blame on me.
Even if I wanted to hope otherwise, they would certainly have come to that conclusion if they could see.
However…
‘They’re likely intent on sharing the guilt.’
Even if someone aimed to pin a crime on me.
The current Wudang doesn’t seem to, or rather, Woo Baek will try to demonstrate that this side has some guilt too.
It was our fault that things were taken, true.
Aren’t you also guilty?
It’s not solely our fault.
Or perhaps…
What I thought was lost turned up in this idiot’s room.
What if this idiot is linked to the criminal?
They should prove that our side had its issues as well. Only then…
Because it would make it easier for their side to maintain their standing.
‘Ugh.’
Just thinking about this made me frustrated.
Seeing this unfold firsthand made me understand the reactions Woohyuk displayed in his past life.
Each time the topic of Wudang came up, he had shown clear reluctance.
The way he wore the Wudang uniform yet didn’t want to live that way.
‘No wonder he kept eating only meat.
Perhaps that wasn’t just deviation from the norm.
That thought crossed my mind.
And…
‘This is enough now…’
Watching things unfold like this was enough.
Two days. It had been two days since I arrived at the Wudang sect, and I had verified various things during that time.
There was nothing particularly special about it. Just confirming the state of Wudang itself.
I had looked into whether it differed from the Wudang I knew in my past life, and I concluded one thing.
I was wrong.
Wudang was more rotten than what I had known in my past life.
Of course, that might not be entirely true, but that’s how it appeared to me.
It was ample enough for me to reach my own conclusion.
That’s sufficient.
With that thought, I gradually rose to my feet.
Swish-
As soon as I stood up, Youngpung and Gu Ryeong-hwa looked at me with puzzled expressions.
I regarded them and said, “Geom Hu will be fine.”
There shouldn’t be any problems.
“There won’t be any issues.”
I would make sure of that.
“Oppa…?”
“Old Sohyeop, what are you suddenly talking about…”
Leaving the two confused souls behind, I approached the iron bars.
Then, the Wudang guard standing by shot me a sharp glare.
“What’s going on…?”
“Did you bring the clothes?”
“Hmm?”
I suddenly blurted out something bizarre, prompting the guard to make a strange face.
“Why are you talking about clothes all of a sudden?”
“Tell Dangdeok to prepare too; we’re about to start.”
“No, what…!”
Thud.
“Ugh…!?”
The guard in front suddenly collapsed as if struck.
That wasn’t all.
One by one, they all started to fall.
Before long, all the guards in the prison were unconscious.
Even Gu Ryeong-hwa and Youngpung, behind them, had already lost consciousness.
Watching it unfold, I reached out my hand.
“It’s quicker than before?”
Saying this as if it was a novel experience, a white hand suddenly emerged in front of me.
It probably hadn’t just appeared.
It was probably always there, its presence simply fading until now.
The woman who appeared unlatched the restraints on my wrists with a key she held.
Clang-!
The restraints struck the floor with a loud noise, but no one came running to investigate.
They had probably taken care of that well before.
“Did you eliminate them all?”
Remembering that, I asked.
“I followed your order: not a single person has been killed.”
The woman who emerged replied. Thank goodness. There was only one person here destined to die. Any further bloodshed would be pointless.
As she spoke, she knelt down.
Then, she pulled something from her robe and handed it to me.
A black uniform and a white mask.
I accepted them and immediately changed my clothes.
Once I had them on, they were slightly larger than my frame.
That, however, was not a problem.
Crack-!
As my bones twisted, my body gradually grew larger.
It didn’t take long for me to fit the uniform perfectly.
As I calmly adjusted my clothes, the woman spoke.
“Master, we have received a call from the Hwangbo clan.”
“What did they say?”
“They claim to have contacted Shaolin and are waiting for your direction on how to proceed.”
“Ha. Already?”
That was quicker than expected.
As always, the bald ones acted promptly.
“Send Jisun. He’ll take care of it.”
“I will convey that message.”
After hearing the woman’s response, I donned the mask.
Immediately afterward, I turned to look back.
“….”
There I saw Seongyul, wide-eyed, pressed against the wall.
He looked fairly shocked.
“You said you were curious about what I was planning to do with you.”
“…”
He asked why I was dragging him around.
“What’s the purpose of this, for crying out loud?”
“Then wait. This will be my answer.”
Squeak-!
I stepped through the iron gate which swung open.
Naturally, my hands fell behind my back.
My chest was puffed up, and I stood as upright as possible.
Noticing this, the woman asked, “Is it okay if I don’t dissolve the blood marking?”
“No need. It was never needed in the first place.”
“Understood.”
With every step I took, I diminished in presence.
By the third step, there was no one nearby who could recognize me.
At that point, I leaped lightly.
Very high, that is.
Once I reached a suitable height, I spoke to the woman, “Let go now.”
“Yes.”
Snap-!
At the command, the woman lightly snapped her fingers.
Whoosh-!
The veil obscuring me in the air vanished, revealing a massive form.
The smart fellow expanded to his maximum size and hovered in the air.
Above him stood a giant wielding a spear.
Geohan, Dangdeok gauged the situation below and dove.
This was the plan we had discussed.
Not long afterward.
Boom-!!!
An overwhelming sound erupted from below.
I took a quick glance downward.
Right then, I pulled the magic energy into my body.
Whoosh-!
The magic filled me up, starting from my heart through the blood vessels, saturating every part of my body.
The magic even affected my eyes.
My body was heating up naturally.
Feeling it, I spoke, “Black Sky.”
Simultaneously—
Whoosh-!!!!
A tremendous amount of magic exploded from my body.
Not ‘widely’ dispersing, but straight into the void.
The rising magic consumed the sky.
The residual magic fell, creating a small domain below.
In this space, day turned into night.
No moon, no stars, just an expanse of empty darkness.
After confirming the space I had created, I slowly began to lower my body.
Exhaling a gentle heat, I tempered my descent. I had to differ from Dangdeok, who fell like a stone.
I could sense all gazes on me.
I could vividly feel the fear of seeing an unknown entity.
It didn’t matter.
On the contrary, I welcomed it.
I intended to evoke that kind of gaze, so I needed to relish it.
I raised my hand.
Fuhhhh…
My energy gathered into a clump and consolidated at my fingertips.
The dreadful energy was rough, akin to its master.
I enjoyed this sharpened essence.
By pursuing compression upon compression, it could only grow more intense.
I twisted the flow tightly to form a sphere.
The spinning speed felt daunting, as if it might burst if I let my guard down.
I held out.
I had to. This was the most pivotal moment.
Whoosh-!!!
The nimble sphere glimmered with light.
A unique hue of blue and purple intertwined.
This wasn’t the original flame gem.
Had I only aimed to use something so primitive, I wouldn’t have employed this.
‘Fire Star.’
A realm that couldn’t be realized with a mere spark.
A secret technique I could barely manage to wield.
I gently lifted the orb I had formed and let it soar into the air.
And then—
Boom!
The ascending orb detonated spectacularly, illuminating the surroundings.
I created space by drenching the sky in darkness,
Right above, I placed the sun.
Though my gamble burst out more than halfway, that was inconsequential.
Thud.
The tips of my toes grazed the ground.
Amidst the multitude of gazes, I directly faced forward.
There, Woo Baek, the elder of the Wudang, stared at me with distorted eyes.
That was a sight I found pleasing.
It signified that my plans were unfolding smoothly.
I was grateful for the mask. This way, my smile wouldn’t be revealed.
I looked into Woo Baek’s eyes and prepared to say what I had rehearsed.
“Nice to meet you.”
Those were words I deeply loathed to hear or even contemplate.
“I am…”
Now it was time for me to spill it out.
Indeed.
“Every thousand.”
Thus began what would be an unpredictable performance.
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