Returning to the Dark Moon

Chapter 4 : The Sect Leader and the Elixir (1)

Chapter 4: The Sect Leader and the Elixir (1)

Following the confrontation with Elder Hwa.

Eungsam and I woke up from sleeping sprawled out in the training ground and headed toward the Sect Leader’s office. Even if we had gone there to train, lingering around lazily wielding a sword after causing such a commotion was not the proper way of a beggar.

‘The area around the headquarters is likely buzzing right now with the news of the clash between Elder Hwa and me.’

I could tell just by how the other beggars were subtly avoiding me as they went about their business.

It was a familiar gaze, so it didn't particularly bother me. They would likely just think, "That guy caused trouble again," and leave it at that.

“By the way, where are we going now?”

It was Eungsam’s voice. To ask when he already knew I’d usually be hanging around a gambling den.

It seemed Eungsam had also noticed that I had changed a little.

“First, we must go to the Sect Leader. Elder Hwa said he had cut off the Sect Leader’s eyes and ears, but that isn't true at all. If that were possible, he would be the Sect Leader himself.”

“Does that mean the Sect Leader already knows everything?”

Along with Eungsam’s words, there were the sounds of the wind and the rustling of footsteps on fallen leaves from here and there. It was the sound of beggars running about using Qinggong.

There is no place in the world without a beggar. And the vast headquarters of the Beggar Sect was the place where the most beggars resided.

“Yes. Even Elder Hwa’s corruption. He’s likely just leaving him be because Elder Hwa hasn't crossed the line yet.”

And that was why this mess had erupted.

I respect the Sect Leader as my benefactor.

But as the head of the Beggar Sect… well, I don't think he's a particularly good person. Ultimately, the Beggar Sect ended up in this state because he neglected Elder Hwa and that damned Grand Elder.

A person cannot be perfect alone. I, too, tried to shoulder everything by myself and ended up being beaten by the Lord like a dog on a midsummer day.

At any rate, I plan to save this pitiful Sect Leader, who tries to handle everything alone, in this life. And while I'm at it, I'll get some elixirs to consume as well.

— Aigo, right. What did you say your name was? You don't even have a name? Hmm, I suppose I'm better off than you. At least I remember my name. Sorry. Don't cry. That wasn't funny, was it?

The snowy fields on a winter day when white snow bloomed in abundance.

Within the dizzily fluttering snowflakes, the image of the young Sect Leader reaching out his hand to me flickered before my old eyes.

* * *

The door to the shabby Sect Leader’s office opened with a creak. I stopped Eungsam, who was trying to follow me in, and spoke.

“Just go back and get some rest. There's no need for you to follow me in, is there?”

“Well, if you say so… then I suppose I should go.”

After confirming that Eungsam, who was glancing at me tentatively, had left, I took a step into the office.

Entering with an uncharacteristic nervousness, I found a space so large it was hard to believe it was a single room. The first thing that caught my eye was the sight of white stacks of documents scattered here and there.

Next, I saw dozens of beggars sitting and moving their lips slightly. Voices immediately echoed directly within my head.

— According to a Two-Knot Beggar, Elder Hwa’s primary disciple, Seon Chil, was spotted at the entrance of the Thousand Fragrance Pavilion.

— It appears he intends to move Elder Hwa’s private funds. We anticipate a change in his state of mind following the conversation with the Successor. The Sect Leader must make a decision.

It was the technique of Voice Transmission, conveying a voice secretly to another. However, the Beggar Sect's transmission was different in that it created a shared transmission space where multiple people could participate to convey information.

In the distance, I saw the bed where the Sect Leader was lying. As soon as I took a step forward, those who had been moving their lips busily suddenly stopped as if frozen.

Helped up by a man wearing white robes so clean it was hard to believe he was a beggar, the Sect Leader saw me and waved his hand affectionately.

“Ah, you’ve come? What did Chosam say? Did he say he’d give you the Beggar Sect? Baek Hae, look at this bastard’s fierce eyes. Do you think he came to take our heads?”

The Sect Leader of the Beggar Sect, Baek Yeonshin, then let out a series of harsh coughs.

“Good grief, what kind of Formless Poison is this? It just won't heal.”

I stared at the Sect Leader’s collar, which was stained with blood.

“I’ll perform a bow for you even if you die, so don't you worry.”

“Hoh, if you don't do it over a hundred times, I’ll become a ghost and follow you around.”

I’d rather you did. Unable to either laugh or cry, I turned my gaze to the side.

The man in white robes. Specifically, the one who looked like a gigolo, the Five-Knot Beggar named Baek Hae, smiled awkwardly at me as he wiped away the blood the Sect Leader had spat out. The series of movements was so natural it seemed it wasn't his first or second time doing it.

“The man called the Sect Leader shows no dignity… are you not embarrassed to face the Senior?”

“Why the nagging again? I’m going to say it again, but you know I’m the Sect Leader right?”

I looked at the old Sect Leader’s face with a bitter smile. Two eyes that held a slightly reddish glow from practicing the secret art of the Great Martial Purple Flame Divine Art, and black hair that had not yet lost its color.

And, as if proving he had lived a rough life, knife scars were carved into various places on his face, starting from his eyes.

He looked exactly as I remembered him. A different feeling than when I faced Eungsam. Perhaps it was because he was the starting point of the Grandmaster known as the Beggar God.

Tap.

It was the sound of the Sect Leader touching my head with the old jade-colored staff that had been at the head of his bed. The Dog-Beating Staff, the divine object symbolizing the Sect Leader of the Beggar Sect.

Bowing my head, I locked eyes with the Sect Leader, who was sitting on the bed with his head slightly tilted as he looked into me.

‘What did he see I wonder.’

Those who had reached the realm of the Profound Mirror could distinguish lies or even see a glimpse of the future through the Upper Dantian at the crown of the head. Those usually called peerless masters are the ones who have reached the Profound Mirror.

This was different from the Lower Dantian, where Inner Qi accumulated through breathing exercises is stored, or the Middle Dantian near the heart.

This was because the power of the Upper Dantian was ultimately related to the battle of wits and perception.

Is a peerless master still a peerless master even when poisoned? The Sect Leader’s eyes, as they looked at me, seemed to pierce through everything.

‘…Is there even a poison in the world that could reduce a master of the Sect Leader’s caliber to this?’

Poison is lethal to anyone. However, to masters who have reached a certain realm, poison was nothing more than a bothersome juice.

Furthermore, what would it be like for those standing at the peak of those masters?

I did not know who had poisoned the Sect Leader. The same was true for Baek Hae, who was always by his side. Because the Sect Leader never said who did it until the moment he died.

Seeing Elder Hwa sell out the Sect Leader, I had assumed it was the work of the Dark Heaven Society. However, having crossed swords with Baek Cheon for a countless amount of time, I knew.

‘Baek Cheon, no. The Dark Heaven Society does not use poison.’

To think that a band of traitors who burned the world would go about doing things that even a prestigious Orthodox Faction might do. But this wasn't because they were virtuous; it stemmed from the disposition of Baek Cheon, who possessed the temperament of a pure martial artist.

Do I hate Baek Cheon? I don't really know anymore. Fifteen years was that kind of time. A time that transforms even an irreconcilable enemy into a bitter friend.

“You have many thoughts. What could a beggar possibly have so much to worry about? You should just live being pushed along by life as it flows.”

It was the Sect Leader’s voice. Anew, this man talked quite a lot. Realizing it after my regression, it seemed my talkativeness was influenced by the Sect Leader.

‘Did you not leave my side first because you lived your life being pushed along like that?’

In that case, I shall naturally endeavor to change that flow.

They say people become sentimental as they age, and it seems I am no different. I was repeatedly having thoughts I wouldn't have normally had.

Seeing the Sect Leader smiling broadly as if nothing were wrong, I felt a surge of frustration and asked him.

“Who was it that did this to you? Even the Tang Clan of Sichuan or the Heart Poison Sky, who vie for the best in the world when it comes to poison, could not inflict such a fatal injury upon you.”

Along with that, the beggars who had been relaying the situation of the world to the Sect Leader subtly exited the office. It was because they realized it was a conversation they should not overhear.

A beggar who begs for food was world-class when it came to reading the room.

The Sect Leader, who briefly gazed at the departing beggars, then met my eyes and gave a short laugh.

“Why do you ask that all of a sudden? Haven't we agreed not to discuss such heartbreaking stories between us?”

“Stop with the jokes. I am serious right now. Only then can I decide what to do next.”

The Sect Leader looked at the ceiling as if contemplating for a moment, and then suddenly spat out a single word.

“The Invincible One.”

“Pardon?”

“They say that is the bastard's title. An invincible man. What an arrogant name, isn't it? But he was also a monk strong enough to match that name.”

I briefly thought about a martial artist with the title of The Invincible One. No particular name came to mind. The most likely suspect would have been Baek Cheon, but he wasn't a monk, and his title was the Emperor of the Dimming Heaven.

Then who?

The famous Buddhist sects in the Jianghu were naturally the Shaolin Sect and the Emei Sect among the Nine Sect Alliance. But throughout the history of those two sects, no martial artist by the name of The Invincible One existed.

“This is why you didn't want to tell me huh.”

Because no one would have believed it. He would have been lucky not to be dismissed as an old man suffering from senility.

‘Can a peerless master become senile?’

This was a separate issue from an Inner Demon, so I was briefly troubled, but soon realized it was a useless thought and erased it from my mind.

Something was constantly changing from before the regression. The change was far too fast. Only a single day had passed.

‘Or perhaps I am only now starting to witness a side of the Jianghu I didn't know about.’

The conversation between the Sect Leader and me was cut short. For a while, a desolate silence enveloped the three of us. Thinking about it, I wasn't a good successor. I was lucky if I didn't cause trouble.

Hearing the sound of a deep sigh, I turned my head to find Baek Hae. He was looking at me and clicking his tongue disrespectfully.

“Honestly, neither the Sect Leader nor the Senior are being honest. Senior, didn't you come here because you needed an elixir before fighting Elder Hwa?”

I quietly nodded. Even if I could say that with my current martial standing, it was worth a fight with Elder Hwa, truthfully, it was close to a gamble. Elder Hwa was also a martial artist at his core, so he must have been accumulating Inner Qi continuously; enduring that length of time was not as easy as one might think.

Usually, what prestigious sects tell their disciples is that Inner Qi is not everything, but I think that's all bullshit. Ultimately, even if someone is the best in the world, they could lose to the current me if they don't have a shred of Inner Qi.

Meanwhile, those old fogies of the Nine Sects who say such things are probably consuming all sorts of elixirs and spirit pills. The foundation of a prestigious sect's power was naturally derived from vast amounts of money and elixirs.

The gazes of the Sect Leader and Baek Hae met briefly, and they nodded simultaneously. At the same time, Baek Hae rummaged through the scattered documents, found an old wooden box, and handed it to me.

Did they seriously just leave an elixir lying around so carelessly? These crazy beggar bastards… even a low-grade elixir would be quite expensive, do they have money to burn? No, if they did, they wouldn't be beggars.

With various thoughts, I carefully opened the old wooden box. A spine-chilling cold air flowed through my hand and into my Lower Dantian. It was damnably cold.

A pure white Snow Ginseng with a yellow tint was reflected in my pupils. Judging by the brilliant hue, it was a Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, hailed as a peerless elixir. It's a legendary elixir that cannot be bought with money, so how on earth did these beggars get this?

I stared blankly back and forth between the Sect Leader and Baek Hae. Did these guys have the money to buy a Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng?

“Did you crazy bastards resort to stealing?”

“No, what do you mean stealing? Save that kind of talk for the Wise Thieves’ Den who call themselves 'righteous thieves'. It was a gift, but since it's an elixir that doesn't suit the Sect Leader’s body, we just stashed it away.”

Certainly, for an elixir like the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, one had to be able to accept that cold energy into their body, but there was a problem with someone poisoned like the Sect Leader consuming it. One's constitution had to match it in the first place.

“Senior, you have a Celestial Martial Body, so it doesn't matter, does it? Since you're a mutt who accepts any kind of energy well. A person with a body like that is likely the only one in the world, Senior.”

“Look at the way you talk?”

Was Baek Hae’s personality always like this? I thought he followed my words well. Did the Sect Leader ruin him?

At any rate, I immediately sat down in a cross-legged position and shoved the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng into my mouth. A bitter taste lingered sharply in my mouth. Just as "seeing Diamond Mountain should come after a meal," beating Elder Hwa began with crunching down on the Snow Ginseng.

By nature, it was said that bitter medicine is good for the body. Why do I have to live doing things like this? While expressing my anger toward Baek Cheon in my heart, I chewed the Snow Ginseng with a glad heart.

‘Baek Cheon, you son of a bitch.’