novelraw Chapter 66
Chapter 66
Chapter 66
“It's not as if you can become like this just by entering the Martial Arts Academy. But if you train hard from now on, you might be able to become a greater martial artist than me. Of course, I'm the person who was called the legend of the Martial Arts Academy after passing through it at the age of thirteen, so surpassing me will be very difficult. So don't set me as your goal; just aim for someone you think you can easily surpass and work hard.”
The people were dazed, listening to the conversation flow in a strange direction. Cheon Ha-seong had said it out of pity, worried the young boy might get frustrated after setting too high a goal, but it didn't seem to have been conveyed very well.
“Head Instructor, would it be alright for us to have these swords? If the bastards from the Azure Sea Sect come again, we want to help you too.”
The person who spoke was a man who had collapsed after being attacked by the Azure Sea Sect's martial artists and had only just been able to get up with Cheon Ha-seong's help.
Cheon Ha-seong knew what he meant by those words and nodded his head. He was doing it because he truly thought he could protect them from the Azure Sea Sect's martial artists with that sword. It seemed that having such a goal now would also help his body recover.
Cheon Ha-seong gave a sword to each of the injured people.
“This is a good harvest. I heard the bastards from the Azure Sea Sect are numerous; it would be nice if more of them came.”
Listening to Cheon Ha-seong's words, the people were surprised that there was someone in the world who could say such a thing. But it seemed this person was more than qualified to say it.
“Is it alright to leave those people as they are, Head Instructor? Even if we go to the inn, the bastards from the Azure Sea Sect will see the bodies and chase us there.”
When a woman asked, the others also nodded as if worried.
“If we bury them under the burned-down building, people won't be able to find them.”
At Cheon Ha-seong's single phrase, the people who could use their strength moved in unison and began to dig the ground. Some dragged the bodies and threw them into the pit.
They did it themselves, not letting Cheon Ha-seong help, as it was a task they could handle on their own. As they did such things themselves, it seemed they were gradually gaining confidence, and Cheon Ha-seong quietly encouraged them.
It was after about an hour had passed that Danmok Yeon returned.
He had carried out every single task Cheon Ha-seong had given him without missing a thing. The verbal orders had been simple, but carrying out each one was so bothersome that he had held back the urge to quit several times and had done it.
And yet, Cheon Ha-seong shook his head as if he were not pleased with the clothes and medicine Danmok Yeon had bought.
“The journey to the Divine Cult will be rough from now on, so why did you buy such bright colors? There could be an accident on the way and we could shed blood; if we walk around wearing bloodstained clothes, won't it draw people's attention? And it seems the owner of the apothecary saw you as a pushover. There are many alternative medicinal herbs with the same efficacy as this one, yet you paid a needlessly high price for it. I was going to tell you in advance, but I didn't, thinking you would know at least that much…”
Danmok Yeon was dumbfounded and glared at Cheon Ha-seong.
As for Cheon Ha-seong, it was a form of petty revenge. Seeing as he had secretly followed him, he thought the reason couldn't have been a good one, and that he had to address it once before moving on. However, because of the Divine Cult followers, he couldn't make a big scene, so he had just provoked him in a small way.
“You have a lot of demands for someone who was just asking for a favor! If you didn't like it so much, why didn't you go yourself, you bastard?”
“Still, I thought you'd do a better job than this. You did get the rooms at the inn, right? You got adjacent rooms, correct?”
“Do you take me for a fool? I did. And I told them to prepare the food in advance as well.”
“Aren't you even going to say thank you? When I did something I didn't even have to do.”
However, he regretted it as soon as he said it. Was Cheon Ha-seong someone who absolutely had to do this? Cheon Ha-seong was also just doing this for the simple reason that they were fellow Divine Cult followers.
Besides, Cheon Ha-seong had paid the money, so no matter how shameless he was, he shouldn't have said such a thing.
Cheon Ha-seong was not a person who would say something two or three times when the other party had already realized their mistake.
The probing battle between the two of them grew more intense as time passed. For now, the urgent matter was to move the Divine Cult followers to the inn and treat them, but in the spare moments while doing so, they did not stop observing each other.
The Divine Cult followers who had gone to the inn went to their rooms and were able to rest comfortably and safely from then on.
“I will be in the room by the stairs, so you can all rest assured and sleep. If anyone else comes in, I will block them, so you do not have to worry about anything.”
It was the day they had met Cheon Ha-seong, and though the time they had known him was not long, the people were able to believe his words.
When Cheon Ha-seong entered his room, Danmok Yeon followed him in as if it were a matter of course. That was what Cheon Ha-seong had been hoping for.
“Who are you, Senior?”
“I'll ask first. Who are you?”
Cheon Ha-seong thought that it wouldn't be difficult to find out who he was anyway. And he felt that to find out about his opponent, he would have to first reveal something from his side.
“I am called Cheon Ha-seong, the Young Supreme One's personal bodyguard.”
“What is your relationship with the Cult Leader?”
“I will become the Cult Leader's son-in-law in the future.”
“As far as I know, there are no famous people with the surname Cheon in the Divine Cult.”
“It would be good for you to know from now on.”
Danmok Yeon thought the young bastard's nerve was amazing.
“If you become the Cult Leader's son-in-law, then you could become the Cult Leader in the future. In that case, will a Cheon Demonic Clan be formed? Since the So Demonic Clan has been all but annihilated, it seems the Cheon Demonic Clan will be newly filling that spot.”
“Now, may I hear? Who are you, Senior?”
Danmok Yeon just stared intently at Cheon Ha-seong and did not speak. Then, as if his business were finished, he left the room.
His behavior was detestable, but Cheon Ha-seong felt that he was no ordinary person.
After Danmok Yeon left, Cheon Ha-seong suddenly felt extremely tired.
Although he had used a lot of strength in a short amount of time, it wasn't particularly more than at other times. Before, he hadn't felt this way even after consuming far more internal energy.
‘Why am I like this?’
Then he thought of Paeng Ga-jong.
‘Will he agree to go to the Divine Cult with me even if I go find him later? What if he changes his mind, thinking I'm too dangerous a person?’
However, he did not regret it even if that were to happen. Seo Hyo-eun would surely understand.
In the meantime, Cheon Ha-seong's eyelids grew too heavy, and his mind became hazy, and he slowly closed his eyes.
‘I must have been very tired all this time. It's understandable.’
Cheon Ha-seong finally succumbed to the demon of sleep and closed his eyes.
In truth, he had not fallen asleep. It was an illusion created by Danmok Yeon.
However, the scene that unfolded before his eyes was so strange and unrealistic that Cheon Ha-seong thought he was dreaming.
He was in a dense forest.
The sound of birds chirping in the forest could be heard, and for the first time in a long while, he felt a sense of peace.
Cheon Ha-seong looked at the tall trees stretching upwards.
‘This isn't the Divine Cult. These aren't trees that grow in the Divine Cult. Where could this be?’
Cheon Ha-seong had that thought and took a deep breath to smell the trees and the earth.
‘…?’
Then, instead of the smell of the forest, he felt a strange scent deeply permeate his nose.
He was clearly in the middle of a forest, but the smell coming from that place was artificial.
‘Medicinal herbs?’
At first, he didn't know what the smell was, but it suddenly came to him.
‘Aren't these the medicinal herbs that the old senior bought at my request?’
The thought came to him even more clearly because he had even nagged the old senior for buying needlessly expensive herbs when there were others with the same efficacy.
‘I am in a forest, but the smell of the medicinal herbs that the old senior brought is coming from the forest? To be steeped in this scent, he must have been holding them for quite a while, right? Did the old senior's scent linger because he happened to bring herbs with a strong smell?’
Cheon Ha-seong looked around the forest and smiled.
‘This isn't a dream. To be able to create an illusion of this level, just how amazing is this person? Illusion arts…’
Various thoughts flowed freely through Cheon Ha-seong's mind.
‘Could it be that the old senior…?’
It was a strange coincidence that the person from the Danmok Demonic Clan that Seo Hyo-eun had spoken of suddenly came to mind. However, the more he thought about it, the more it had to be inevitable.
Until now, Cheon Ha-seong had discussed the person who had hidden the Pattra Leaves with the commentary on the Heaven-Shattering Will Art several times with Seo Hyo-eun. And Seo Hyo-eun, while researching the genealogies of each of the clans, had also told him a plausible hypothesis.
Cheon Ha-seong also believed what Seo Hyo-eun had said quite a bit.
‘Danmok Yeon. That was his name. Could the old senior be Danmok Yeon? How much does he know about me, to have followed me? Did he come knowing that I have the commentary? No. It didn't seem like it. If he had known that, he wouldn't have just observed from afar but would have attacked at once to take the commentary.’
Certainly, even while following him, Danmok Yeon had a feeling like he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing.
‘Head Instructor Seo's thoughts are right. He found the commentary, but he couldn't understand it. He might have lacked internal energy, or he must have been struggling with something. That's why he had no choice but to extend his own lifespan, and must have learned the Divine Cult's wicked arts.’
Thinking of it that way, everything fell into place one by one.
For a person like that, it didn't seem like it would be difficult to perform such an illusion art.
‘This is interesting. To meet Danmok Yeon here.’
Cheon Ha-seong thought it wasn't a matter of calling him 'old senior' and talking. When the thought occurred to him that he could have killed all the candidates at the Martial Arts Academy at once, his anger boiled even more.
Once a person trapped in a world of illusion recognized that fact, the illusion could no longer exert its effect.
Cheon Ha-seong realized that the world spread out before him had many flaws. In reality, it was just a few scenes similar to a forest pieced together, and it seemed the remaining parts were filled in by Cheon Ha-seong's own imagination.
‘Is this how illusion arts originally work? I've never learned it, so I wouldn't know.’
Cheon Ha-seong thought it was interesting and looked around the forest.
‘Now I just have to get out, right?’
The way out of the forest didn't feel so vague.
Cheon Ha-seong immediately drew his sword on the spot and infused it with internal energy. When he had injected a certain amount of internal energy, the forest suddenly disappeared.
It was because Danmok Yeon, who had realized what Cheon Ha-seong was trying to do, was startled and had released the illusion art without realizing it.
Because of that, Cheon Ha-seong suddenly returned to reality, as if he had been thrown out of a dream.
In fact, he had been in the inn room the whole time. Even when he had fallen into the illusion, he had only been in a dazed state in that place.