Invincible with Twin Swords

Chapter 31 : Desperation Breeds Contradiction

Before leaving for the Black Market, we decided to stay in the Forest of Swords for a few more days.

Personally, I needed to organize what I had felt in the duel with Jin Myeong of Wudang, and I also needed time to make future plans.

Parip hyungnim had not fully recovered from the wounds he had sustained in the confrontation with the Hidden Killing Curtain master. It would be a long journey, so he needed time to fully recover. Fortunately, this place was a very suitable place to recover.

The impatient Deoksam, who had jumped up from his seat, saying let's go and smash the Heavenly Demon's head, had a disappointed expression at the words that we would stay in the Forest of Swords for about a week more.

But I saw it.

The corners of his mouth that were slightly raised amidst his disappointed expression.

"By the way, what is the Black Market?"

Parip hyungnim explained in my place.

"It's a kind of black market. It's a place where goods that can't be traded openly are exchanged, and it's mainly used by guys from the unorthodox faction. You can think of it as having everything that exists in the Central Plains."

"I'm also from the unorthodox faction, but I didn't know."

That's because you were cooped up on Dubang Mountain.

And you were a mountain bandit.

When mountain bandits need something, they don't trade, they just take it.

"By the way, where in the Black Market are we going?"

Parip hyungnim asked.

"We're going to the First Market."

"The First Market? That Golden-Armored Divine Turtle or whatever must be an amazing item."

Deoksam, who couldn't join the conversation at all, asked again.

"What is the First Market?"

"There are a total of ten black markets in the Central Plains, and from the First Market to the Third Market are auction houses. Among them, the First Market is where reverse auctions are held."

"What is a reverse auction? Are you guys deliberately using words I don't know right now?"

Deoksam has a high desire for learning.

Since he can't just let go of what he's curious about, if he had been born into a scholar's family, he would have become the strongest scholar in the Central Plains.

"If a normal auction starts from a low price and goes up, in a reverse auction, the seller first calls out the high price they want to receive. If there is no one to buy, the price drops by one bid, but if it seems to drop too much, they withdraw the item."

"Only rare items are reverse auctioned. If you try to buy it too cheaply, you might not be able to buy it."

Parip hyungnim added.

As expected, Parip hyungnim knows everything.

"It's complicated. You guys take care of the headache-inducing stuff."

Why did you ask so persistently when you were just going to back out like that?

I know that the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle will be coming out at the First Market soon.

And that item will be sold at the first bid without dropping a single bid.

"By the way, do you guys have a lot of money? If it's such an amazing item, the winning bid must be considerable."

I don't have that much money.

But I have a plan.

I went to see Na Yeryeong.

As the Soul-Taking Divine Woman said, if she is on my path, I need to know what role she will play.

"The weather is nice!"

"The weather is always nice here in the Forest of Swords. Because it's inside a formation."

Ah! I see.

What a detailed explanation for a simple greeting.

"By the way, miss, how old are you?"

It's rude to ask a woman's age, but Na Yeryeong is now someone who will accompany us on our journey. I should at least sort out the titles.

"I am twenty-three this year."

"Then I can call you 'orabeoni' from now on."

For a moment, Na Yeryeong's eyes sparkled.

This is experience.

I am different from Deoksam, who can't even say a word to Dam Sook.

This is how you approach women first, without any barriers.

As expected, when I approached her first, her heart, which was like ice...

"Are you crazy?"

Ah! It's frozen solid.

"No. I was just suggesting. A suggestion! If you don't like it, then never mind."

What's the difference between me and Deoksam?

"I am not going on a trip. I am accompanying you because I have a role on that path."

I know that too. So what is that role?

"I couldn't read Great Hero Jin's path because my ability is insufficient. But I have read my future."

Her face changed to a serious expression.

"As a sorceress, I believe what I have seen. It will be a very difficult journey. I am prepared for everything!"

She is making a great resolution in her own way.

It is not easy to accept one's own destiny at a young age.

Moreover, if that destiny is a difficult path.

I could feel the determination in Na Yeryeong's expression.

"Please promise me one thing!"

"What is it?"

"When a time comes when it is difficult to judge between two things, you must choose the direction I point to. Even if it means giving up my own life!"

I did not answer. No, I could not answer.

Could I do that?

No matter how important it is to find and kill the Heavenly Demon and save the Central Plains, could I choose to do so by sacrificing this woman's life?

To be born as a sorceress who can read her own future is perhaps a cruel thing.

Because they believe that their future is fixed.

Because they believe that no matter how much they struggle, they cannot escape the fixed path.

But I am not a sorceress.

I just have to change the future.

"Ah! And one more person will be accompanying us. My grandmother sent her."

One more person? Who?

* * *

Deoksam's mouth was hanging open all day.

"Isn't it good to have even one more person? Moreover, I'm relieved that she will be exclusively escorting Miss Na."

"Yeah, yeah. Who's saying anything?"

"Moreover, I heard that her martial prowess is considerable. A female swordsman. Isn't that cool?"

"I said I get it. Stop talking about Miss Dam."

Dam Sook was, as I had expected, a martial artist with great lightness skill.

Her experience may be lacking, but her martial arts are also at a considerable level.

It is an ability we need.

The person who was more excited than Deoksam was Dam Sook herself.

She said she was born here and had never left the Forest of Swords.

She was already excited with curiosity about the new world.

"Miss Dam! The Central Plains is a wonderful place. There are many delicious foods and many wonderful places to see before you die. Leave everything to me, Han Deoksam. There are few who know the nooks and crannies of the Central Plains as well as I do."

It's not what Deoksam is saying to Dam Sook.

Right now, Deoksam was practicing to himself how to explain the Central Plains to Dam Sook. Though it seems he won't be able to say a single word when he's in front of her.

Deoksam! Until just a little while ago, Dubang Mountain was all the world you knew.

Deoksam's initial symptoms of qi deviation seemed to be all cured now.

Though Parip hyungnim was still demanding the hidden secret manual of the unorthodox faction.

"I want to see Jin Myeong."

I went to Dam Sook and asked.

I wanted to see him before I left.

As a martial artist, he is ahead of me.

But the reason I respect him is not because of his martial prowess.

He dedicated his life to overcome a single wall.

"He has been in closed-door training since that day."

He has realized something.

I hope he overcomes his wall. And that he can return to Wudang, which he so desperately wants to return to, with a smile.

"He asked me to convey a message."

"To me?"

"He said it won't be long, so he wishes to cross swords once again. And that at that time, he will be able to tell you what you need, Great Hero."

He is talking about a way to unfold two different energies together. Jin Myeong said it is not possible with Wudang's Two Forms Divine Art.

It is not an easy thing to pass on what one has realized on their own to someone else without any compensation.

It is proper not to receive it, but I desperately need that power.

When that day comes, I will gratefully receive it.

"Have you tried to pull out the Cold Wood Divine Sword?"

Of course I did.

I tried it secretly at dawn when everyone was asleep.

Because I am the one destined for the Sword's Extreme, Transcending the Boundary, as foreseen by the Soul-Taking Divine Woman.

I didn't think it would be pulled out easily, but it really didn't move a single fingernail's worth.

I gave enough force to pull out the entire ground of a zhang around where the divine sword was stuck, but I couldn't overcome its energy.

It is not yet time.

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman said that I would know when that time is myself.

The last night in the Forest of Swords!

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman came to our quarters herself.

With Na Yeryeong and Dam Sook.

She looked at our faces for a long time without saying anything.

"I am a sorceress who tells fortunes. I can see the future a little. It's the only thing I can do at this age."

If the Soul-Taking Divine Woman can only see a little, all the fortune-telling houses in the Central Plains should close their doors.

She looked at Deoksam's face for a long time.

The awkward Deoksam was stroking his non-existent beard, no, the place where his beard used to be.

"You... your destiny has changed recently. You have chosen well!"

I changed his destiny of being cooped up on Dubang Mountain and at best ruling over some mountain bandits.

Be grateful for the rest of your life.

"I also think I have chosen well. I am just following my heart."

He's from a mountain bandit background, so his speech is a bit... I'll apologize on his behalf.

"Soon, there will be one more choice. At that time, also follow your heart!"

"Don't you see the future of love or marriage?"

Look at this guy.

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman answered with a smile.

"That too, follow your heart. Who can stop that heart?"

Deoksam's expression was as if he had made a decision.

I don't know what that bear-like fellow has decided.

And this time, she turned to Parip hyungnim's side.

"You..."

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman opened her mouth as if whispering, looking at Parip hyungnim.

Her face was full of pity.

"What you are curious about is not your future."

For a moment, Parip hyungnim's face stiffened.

He knows who she is trying to talk about.

It looked as if tears would pour out from his two eyes at any moment.

"I don't know if you believe in the afterlife, but..."

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman continued with a warm smile.

"That child is doing well. She wants you to let go now and live your life. It is that child's request."

Tears poured down from Parip hyungnim's two eyes.

They were not sad tears, nor sorrowful tears.

He did not try to stop the tears, nor did he wipe the flowing tears with his two hands.

As if he wanted to pour out all the tears he would shed in the future in this moment.

Tears also flowed from my and Deoksam's eyes.

Because we know what these words mean to him.

Na Yeryeong and Dam Sook, who did not know the situation, were also shedding tears together.

Sadness is contagious.

Parip hyungnim, who had shed tears until his two eyes were red, said.

"I understand! If it is what that child wants, I will follow."

Parip hyungnim had said that he had never refused his sister's request even once.

He will do his best to grant this request as well.

Today will be the last day he sheds tears thinking of his sister.

"And lastly, you."

It's my turn.

"We have talked a lot, but thinking about it, I don't think I've told you about yourself."

It's true.

We only talked about the Demonic Cult, the revelation, and the Heavenly Demon. And what I wanted to know the most was that.

My destiny is something I can decide myself.

"You don't believe in fate."

I don't believe the story that the future is fixed.

But I had hoped that the Soul-Taking Divine Woman would glimpse the future for me.

I know it's a contradiction.

Desperation breeds contradiction.

"Perhaps that's why you were chosen. Only those who don't believe in fate can change the future."

She must have seen the future.

That gruesome and dark future I had experienced.

But she also hopes that that future will change.

She, who believes that fate is fixed, is hoping that I will change the future.

This is also a contradiction.

Desperation breeds contradiction.

"What meaning is there in telling the future to someone who doesn't believe in fate?"

I looked at her without saying anything.

"So I will tell you about the present, not the future."

She came closer and warmly wrapped my hand with her two wrinkled hands.

"You..."

An endless warmth was gathered in her two eyes.

"You are doing so well right now!"

It wasn't that I expected anyone to recognize it.

But I was choked up.

Tears welled up in my two eyes.

(End of Chapter)