Chapter 90
Indeed, learning the ‘Hoemuseonggwanggyeong’ was no easy task.
They said it was an unparalleled supreme divine technique, and unlike ordinary internal cultivation methods, the way to learn it completely defied common sense.
Other cultivation methods emphasized ‘harmony,’ but the ‘Hoemuseonggwanggyeong’ destroyed all harmony. It cultivated the energies of extreme yin and extreme yang to their respective limits, deliberately causing an imbalance within the body.
Then, when the opposition between the two energies reached its extreme, one was supposed to combine them according to the formula, thereby obtaining an enormous amount of internal energy.
I was now at the final stage. In other words, ‘the moment when the opposition between the two energies is reaching its extreme.’
Judging by the fact that I could still endure it, I didn’t seem to have reached the absolute limit yet. But if I stayed like this a little longer, my limit would come. At that point, I had to combine the energies using the formula.
But I didn’t have that ‘formula.’
“In this subordinate’s opinion, I suspect the previous Cult Leader deliberately left out the formula when passing it down. The Cult Leader always wanted multiple people, rather than just one person, to observe and make a judgment whenever deciding something.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“It means he entrusted the judgment to Young Master Lee and one other trustworthy person.”
“Then who could that person be?”
“If there are any people who come to mind, perhaps… the Cult Leader’s closest aides, the Gwangjin Left and Right Envoys, and the Blackwater Sword King, who belonged to no sect. Those three, I suppose.”
“Is there anyone among them whom we can contact? Or anyone whose whereabouts you know even a little?”
At my desperate question, Eom Papa’s expression darkened slightly. She hesitated before shaking her head and answering in a dejected voice.
“…We don’t know the whereabouts of any of them. All three of them became impossible to trace after the internal war.”
I suppose that was when she gave up.
Of course, if I were lucky, I might be able to find one of the three. But there was no guarantee that person had the formula, and if the person who possessed it had died…
“Urgh!”
I suddenly widened my eyes at the pain that felt as though my abdomen were being torn apart. The two energies had begun colliding in my dantian.
The pain that began in my dantian soon spread throughout my entire body. It felt as though my whole body were being sliced into pieces by blades. It hurt so badly that I couldn’t even make a proper sound.
‘No, hurry, hurry…’
With trembling hands, I hurriedly rummaged through my clothes.
Soon, my hand found a familiar medicine bottle. I didn’t even have time to calmly take out the medicine. I frantically dumped the pills onto the table, then grabbed them however I could and shoved them into my mouth.
Chewing the medicine without water, I immediately sat cross-legged. Guiding the medicinal energy, I slowly began circulating my qi.
The pain kept making my consciousness falter, but I endured somehow. Before long, as the medicine took effect, I separated the two energies, which had calmed down, and began circulating them individually along my meridians.
When I safely returned even the final strand of energy to my dantian, I opened my eyes. My entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
“Haa…”
Only then did I let out a long sigh.
The pain that felt like it was tearing my body apart had finally subsided, but only temporarily. I would have to endure this same pain several more times in the future, and I would have to withstand it through the long night.
‘How long can I keep enduring this?’
Sahyeon said he would somehow find a way.
He said that even if he had to scour the martial arts of every sect in the world, even if he had to investigate every internal cultivation method, he would find a way to combine the two energies.
But I knew… That was impossible.
Perhaps that had been the previous Cult Leader’s intention as well. If someone he did not acknowledge forcibly learned the martial arts, perhaps he intended for them to struggle in pain for the rest of their life until they died.
‘Am I going to die?’
Before I knew it, death had approached right beneath my feet. I had once thought I wasn’t afraid of death… But now, I wasn’t sure.
Eventually, I reached for the liquor bottle. Rather than even bothering to fill a cup, I put the mouth of the bottle to my lips and poured the liquor straight into my mouth. As the strong liquor flowed down my throat, the sensations in my body dulled, and the fear also subsided.
I looked ahead through blurred eyes. The mother and daughter I had seen a little while ago appeared in my vision.
The two of them had been facing each other and smiling happily. Their appearances changed. Before I knew it, the woman had become my mother, and the child had become me.
Seeing that scene, I couldn’t help but smile.
‘That’s right. I was like that once too…’
Suddenly, my surroundings became noisy. Before I knew it, I was no longer in an inn but inside a manor. A familiar scene unfolded before my eyes, and beloved faces were happily talking in the distance.
Ah, it’s been a long time. How long had I been waiting for this…
At that moment, I sensed a presence beside me. At the same time, someone dear to me sat down beside me. I felt as though I could tell who it was just from the sound. Without turning to look at that person, I spoke.
“You’re here, Young Lady? Why did you take so long? I was waiting for you. It’s okay, no matter how late you are, I can wait… Oh, right, do you know what happened today? I have so much to tell you, so don’t go anywhere…”
The night was growing deeper.
***
“Ugh, my head…”
I woke up clutching my head, which felt as though it were about to split apart from the hangover.
Just how much had I drunk while out of my mind yesterday? Several bottles of liquor were scattered across the table.
I hadn’t even spilled any of it on the floor, which meant I’d apparently finished all of those bottles without leaving a drop behind. I cleared the bottles from the table with a disgusted look and muttered,
“Sigh, I really need to stop drinking now. At this rate, my liver’s going to rot and kill me before I go insane.”
Honestly, I could have quickly expelled the alcohol by circulating my internal energy, but I deliberately didn’t because I thought that perhaps I could quit drinking if I suffered through the hangover like this.
Really, I wanted to quit drinking. It wasn’t only because alcohol was bad for the body. More importantly, whenever I sobered up, I experienced a ‘sage time’.
‘What kind of nonsense did I spout yesterday again?’
Ten years had already passed. I should have become calm about it by now, but seeing myself still clinging to the past by relying on alcohol made me feel stifled.
‘What would a stranger think if they saw me?’
Seeing me drunk and talking to empty air, they’d definitely think I was some lunatic. At least it was fortunate that I’d always been drinking alone until now.
‘I should keep drinking alone from now on…’
‘Ah, no! I shouldn’t drink at all. I’m seriously quitting. If I ever drink again, I’m a dog. A dog. …Didn’t I say this last time too?’
Wondering if I had somehow become a dog in the distant past, I got to my feet.
I gathered up the medicine scattered across the table and put it away, then picked up the human-skin mask. I applied paste to the mask and put it back on my face, and before I knew it, I had returned to the ugly Flower-Glutton.
I left the room and staggered down the stairs. The first floor was bustling. There were quite a lot of people, perhaps because it was morning. I found a suitable place and sat down.
“Waiter! One bowl of noodles here…”
“Yes, sir! Just a moment!”
I poured tea into my cup and moistened my lips when I heard some people talking beside me.
“Did you hear? Flower-Glutton completely wiped out those Green Snake Sect bastards.”
“Who doesn’t know that these days? Ah, it feels so refreshing! Do you know how much of a mess those Green Snake Sect bastards have been making?”
An angry voice came from beside me.
“Whenever they felt like it, they’d demand a seat fee, a business tax, protection money. And if you said you didn’t have the money, they’d turn the entire shop upside down and beat people as if they were going to kill them…”
“Was that all? Their First Leader was obsessed with women, so if a woman was even remotely attractive, he’d drag her away. Didn’t matter whether she was a virgin or a married woman…”
“Though that’s what brought Flower-Glutton into action.”
Suddenly, a series of snickering laughter followed.
“It is funny. The ones who dealt with those bastards weren’t righteous heroes of the orthodox faction, but Flower-Glutton, who is just as obsessed with women. In the end, it’s like those evil sect members fought among themselves over women and destroyed themselves.”
“Would you call that ‘using poison to counter poison’…? But isn’t it bad for the women? They ended up in Flower-Glutton’s hands, after all.”
“Apparently, he surprisingly let them go without doing anything. There was a rumor that he’s impotent. Is it true?”
‘I am impotent, though.’
“Surely not. Maybe there just weren’t any beauties who matched his tastes. I heard he’s obsessed with women’s faces.”
‘I am obsessed with faces too, though.’
I covered my face with one hand. Most of what they were saying was true, but hearing it directly was quite a blow.
“Anyway, because of Flower-Glutton, I hear the evil sect bastards have been reluctant to lay a hand on women lately. It’d be a headache if Flower-Glutton got involved.”
“That’s true. Whenever there’s a pretty woman, he appears like a ghost… Then wouldn’t that place be dangerous too?”
“That place? Where?”
Suddenly, one of the men spoke.
“Yongcheok Stronghold.”
‘Yongcheok Stronghold?’
Without realizing it, I perked up my ears. Then the man’s voice struck my ears like a bolt of lightning.
“The stronghold master brought back a woman he’s going to marry this time, and apparently she’s an absolutely stunning beauty!”
Comments (0)