novelraw Chapter 8 : The Mastermind
Chapter 8 : The Mastermind
Chapter 8: The Mastermind
I stared at the Trackless Divine Beggar, who was exuding fury while clutching my collar.
The Hungry God. What on earth did that mean?
Hungry God was my title before my regression. That meant the Trackless Divine Beggar was aware of the regression. Was he a regressor as well, just like Baek Cheon?
‘Surely not.’
As I cleared my intoxication with inner Qi and regained my senses, the stuffiness in my chest eased, and the Inner Demon that had felt like my heart was bursting calmed down. Truly, alcohol was the enemy of mankind.
A high pitched ringing sound continuously filled my ears. My body whispered that I was not yet completely liberated from the Inner Demon.
In my previous life, I only returned to the past after dying at the hands of the Lord. But the Trackless Divine Beggar was different. I had definitely killed him.
If he were a regressor, wouldn't time have turned back the moment he died?
Actually, since regression itself was something close to impossible in the first place, I didn't know the specifics either.
Such a thing would be impossible without the Martial Way that wove together the long life of a peerless expert.
‘A power that causes an unbelievable miracle alongside the Upper Dantian.’
The most likely cause of regression was a Martial Way unleashed by someone. If so, who was it?
I did not know. I was not a shaman, so how could I know that?
Through the gaps of the Trackless Divine Beggar, who glared at me while his lips twitched, the moonlight met my eyes.
It was also one of the causes of the Qi deviation. The Sun-Drenched Moonlight became stronger when receiving the light of the moon and stars.
As such, an Inner Demon occurred due to complex reasons rather than a single factor. That was why solving it was also difficult.
“…The Qi deviation is severe. Was it like this in your previous life? It shouldn't have been. Ah, the person changed while regressing. Oh. So regression really does exist.”
As soon as the ringing stopped, the aging voice of the Trackless Divine Beggar reached me, uttering bone chilling words.
The reason he mentioned regression directly was likely because he was certain that I was a regressor. It was not particularly surprising.
There were all sorts of crazy people in the world, and if one's life itself was possessed by the illusion of the past, a Martial Way called regression could appear. That was a fact both I and the Trackless Divine Beggar knew.
Thud!
It was the sound of the Trackless Divine Beggar releasing my collar, which he had been holding all this time.
I coughed pathetically and looked at him. Due to the Rebirth of the Bone and Marrow, his face was clean, but the image of his face from my previous life, covered in sword scars I had carved, kept overlapping.
“Ah, you're damn ugly. You're still ugly, whether before the regression or now. Trackless Divine Beggar, you lowlife bastard who is worse than a dog. Why did you kill Baek Hae? He was your favorite child.”
Was it right to ask this of the current Trackless Divine Beggar? The man I knew was like a plum blossom petal already scattered in the wind. A faded memory that would never return.
The Grand Elder of the Beggar Sect merely tilted his head despicably and spoke.
“Beggar, have you noticed nothing? You are truly the number one in the world when it comes to being dull. Are you intentionally avoiding deep thought?”
For a moment, I felt a sensation that was both familiar and awkward. Because Baek Cheon was the only one who called me ‘Beggar.’
Having scoffed while staring at my shadow like Elder Un did, the Trackless Divine Beggar toyed with his hair, which had lost its color and turned a murky gray due to the Mixed Heaven Descending Dragon Divine Art, and spoke.
“Sumeru Celestial Palace, Peach Blossom Land, Undersea Dragon Palace. Do you have no inkling what these are?”
“Aren't those all just old rumors in the Jianghu? Stories created by busybodies who like to talk about long standing legends and masterminds.”
The Trackless Divine Beggar began to laugh like a madman at my words. Had he eaten something wrong? The sight of him getting angry and then laughing was quite ridiculous.
“Ah, Hungry God. Phew. Whether young or old, that goddamn head of yours just doesn't work. I'll pray for the repose of your pitiful Upper Dantian.”
Then, he pointed toward the western sky with a finger covered in dirt.
“The Peach Blossom Land in Mount Yujing of the Great Radiant Heaven, within the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi.”
“Wait.”
And then he pointed to the ground beneath where he was currently standing.
“The Dragon Palace sleeping in the depths of the Yangtze River that traverses the Central Plains, even the Celestial Palace floating above the drifting clouds of Land of the West. Wang Cho, do you truly know the Jianghu?”
He said.
Do those things truly exist? No way. I had never been to the Land of the West, but I had stepped on the land of Shaanxi and the Yangtze River countless times.
Even though I had dug up every bit of land in the Qinling Mountains, I had never been to a mountain called Mount Yujing. Was this a trick to make me go mad?
Suddenly, the light in the Trackless Divine Beggar’s eyes flickered with a blue glow.
‘The insight of the Upper Dantian.’
He must have read my thoughts. I had not yet learned the technique to defend my Upper Dantian.
The Trackless Divine Beggar gave a smirk as if he had never been angry with me. Fitting for his name, the One Who Laughs.
“Naturally, what kind of land did you think it was to assume it would be without any defenses? There are barriers erected at a level that puts the formations of the Zhuge Clan to shame.”
“I honestly don’t believe you.”
“Then I suppose that is simply the limit of your vessel.”
I looked around for a moment. The world had regained its proper color. Red and white no longer dizzied me.
The disciples of Elder Hwa, who had committed all sorts of dirty deeds, were dead for their respective reasons. In Buddhism, it is said that Acala has an unshakable heart, but since I am human, my heart wavered slightly at the sight of the dead beggars.
Even though I was the one who killed them.
Looking at me, who was covered in blood, the Trackless Divine Beggar clicked his tongue and sat on the stump of a tree cut by my Star Moon Sword Qi. He took a bottle of liquor from his waist, drank, and spoke.
“Do you intend to kill Elder Hwa?”
“Naturally. Elder Hwa seemed to know nothing about the regression, so why is that?”
“Even within this Society, there are not many who know about regression. Well, a greedy old man like Elder Hwa wouldn't know. It's difficult to notice as well.”
If so, who was causing the regression? I wondered if it was Baek Cheon, but I shook my head.
In the first place, I had checked Baek Cheon’s secret techniques several times. His techniques were not related to regression.
I let out a deep sigh and looked at the Trackless Divine Beggar. I prided myself on knowing the world inside and out, but to think I was a frog in a well?
To think I was a more pathetic bastard than this beggar. Thinking about it, I was also a beggar, so there was nothing particularly shameful about it.
I wiped my face with the sleeve of the bastard among the dead beggars who was wearing relatively clean clothes.
As the sticky blood was washed away, I felt slightly more comfortable. Aside from my eyelids, which kept trying to close.
‘I haven't had sufficient rest.’
The energy of the snow ginseng was truly great. I had definitely slept, but drowsiness was already washing over me again.
Why was my body so unruly? A warrior who reached the Transcendent Peak Realm, that is, the realm of producing Sword Qi, should be able to control even their bodily functions, yet I couldn't manage a single sleepy body.
‘Right. Even peerless masters sleep.’
It was simply a natural providence. As such, when a person becomes sleepy, it is difficult to distinguish right from wrong.
As I was thinking various thoughts, I suddenly became curious and asked the Trackless Divine Beggar.
“The Celestial Palace, the Peach Blossom Land, the Dragon Palace. To which of the three does Baek Cheon belong? In the first place, wasn't the Dark Heaven Society also one of the masterminds? Why is the Lord, the regressor, destroying the world?”
The Trackless Divine Beggar gave a smirk at my words. Then, the murky aura unique to the Mixed Heaven Descending Dragon Divine Art flowed from his body.
While sitting on the tree stump, he slapped his palm toward the empty air.
He struck the air, yet a thunderous sonic boom exploded. Simultaneously, a golden current flashed briefly before disappearing.
Along with that, the Trackless Divine Beggar let out a sickening laugh and spoke.
“Just stay still. Have you gone senile in your old age? Ah, you were an apostate monk. You can't even kill me because of the Lord of the Celestial Palace anyway. Just stay there and watch.”
He uttered incomprehensible words and then smiled brightly at me again. Crazy bastards.
“For now, since there is no time, I will speak briefly. The Lord belongs to nowhere. Why did he burn the world you ask? That is very deeply related to you. That is all I can say. If I speak more, my head really will fly off.”
In the end, nothing was clearly resolved. Since he was Baek Cheon’s confidant, I thought he would know a lot, but he was close to a mute who knew a lot but couldn't speak. Incompetent bastard.
I barely moved my stiff arm and took the iron sword instead of the White Sword. My physical condition was not great because the energy that flowed from the Trackless Divine Beggar when he grabbed my collar had shaken my internals.
I raised my middle finger at him as he waved goodbye and left the forest stumbling.
It seemed that dealing with Elder Hwa would happen sooner than expected.
* * *
The night sky after the Hungry God departed.
Suddenly, a scenery of a sea of clouds unfolded, and a monk roughly draped in a yellow kashaya landed in front of the Trackless Divine Beggar.
An old monk with disheveled hair grown long and wearing a bamboo hat. He laughed while pulling the hat down firmly as if he were embarrassed by the Trackless Divine Beggar’s gaze.
Teacher of Heaven and Men of the Celestial Palace. An old monster who had lived for a very long time.
“What nonsense. I didn't think you would actually come. As far as I remember, this is the first time I've met you in person. To you, which number Trackless Divine Beggar am I?”
Those were the words of the Trackless Divine Beggar. The reason he didn't think the man would actually come to kill him.
However, the Teacher of Heaven and Men merely took a bundle from his robe and did not take any particular action. Why was that?
He took out a steaming dumpling, put it in his mouth, and chewed, looking happy.
‘Oh my, look at the juice coming out. Is it a meat dumpling? He eats heartily. This crazy apostate monk bastard.’
The figure of Teacher of Heaven and Men, who was devouring the dumpling greedily, blurred for a moment and then reached the front of the Trackless Divine Beggar, extending his right hand.
The Trackless Divine Beggar, who was prepared, responded with the Lotus Palm of the Beggar Sect.
The shockwave created by the collision of the two peerless experts' auras devastated the forest they were in.
The black figure and the golden figure exchanged blows countless times before the Teacher of Heaven and Men suddenly stopped.
The Teacher of Heaven and Men stood without a single wound, while the Trackless Divine Beggar was covered in blood. From the start, the difference in level was extreme.
So why did the Teacher of Heaven and Men stop? The answer could be found in the night sky.
The night sky where the stars and moon had fallen. Within the world where even the moonlight had vanished stood the Emperor of the Dark Heaven, Baek Cheon, holding the Heaven’s Reliance Sword and the Blade of Eternal Memory.
“Huh, this is… It seems I have come to the wrong place?”
Teacher of Heaven and Men, having lifted the brim of his bamboo hat, frowned.
“Darkness of Heaven and Earth.”
Along with Baek Cheon’s murmur, the darkness of the world poured down upon the Teacher of Heaven and Men.
* * *
I barely managed to lift my stiff body at the Beggar Sect headquarters. It was because Eungsam kept waking me up beside me.
Looking at me with my sleepy eyes, he struck his chest as if frustrated and spoke.
“Senior, you know the back mountain we always go to? Why, you know! The place right outside Cloud Blossom Pavilion.”
“What about it?”
I guess the bodies of Elder Hwa’s disciples I killed have already been discovered.
But the words he babbled were entirely different from my expectations.
“They say that mountain has disappeared? No, they say it has become completely flat land!”
Oh, what a novel bit of bullshit.
I ignored his nonsense and went back to sleep.