Chapter 143 - The Reason You Appeared Before Me

“If I knew the answer, would I have ended up like this?” Chu Saeng shouted.

He certainly was hotheaded. Few people could shout like that at a demonic martial artist they knew was far stronger than they were.

“Forgive me. These days, my reservoir of patience is full to the brim. Even a tiny pebble makes it overflow.”

“I understand.”

“What do you understand?”

He snapped again, then promptly apologized.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't be taking my anger out on you.”

“It's all right. Wouldn't it be stranger to stay calm in a situation like this?”

In a slightly gentler tone, Chu Saeng asked me, “What should I do now?”

“Go about things as you normally would. Pretend I'm not here and proceed with whatever you were planning.”

“How can I pretend you're not here when you are?”

“Focus only on yourself. When your life is on the line, what can't you do?”

I took out the sheet containing his assessment and handed it to him outright.

“Keep that with you at all times, and read it whenever you're confused or losing confidence. In particular, don't forget the part about your sharp mind. You're an intelligent man. Use that clever head of yours to make sound decisions.”

Chu Saeng clenched the sheet he had been reading. Apparently, even that piece of paper made his reservoir of patience overflow. Unable to bring himself to tear it up, he tucked the crumpled sheet into his robe.

“What do you intend to do now? If I hadn't come, would you have sent word to the Orthodox Martial Alliance?”

He considered my question for a moment, then shook his head.

“I would sooner join hands with the Unorthodox Alliance than call on the Orthodox Martial Alliance.”

“Then will you join hands with the Unorthodox Alliance?”

“Not them, either.”

He was answering honestly. Before my regression, he hadn't joined forces with either alliance.

“Then how were you planning to resolve this?”

“I don't know, either.”

At that very moment, I saw the faint wavering in his eyes. To deceive me, he would have to be capable of deceiving himself, and he was still too young for that.

'You're hiding something from me.'

But I didn't press him. It was only natural that he wouldn't trust someone he had just met. When someone was trying to hide something, cornering them would only get you lies or excuses. Times like these called for an especially calm approach.

“Let's rest for today.”

* * *

Seok Hyeong showed me to a guest room.

Fine food and liquor were served. After checking each dish for poison with a silver needle, I ate my meal.

Then I practiced the Wind God's Four Steps in my room. Whether the space was small or large, I adapted to it. Training in the room was highly effective, as it was an extension of my earlier spar with Father at the tavern.

Now that I had set myself the goal of achieving complete mastery before learning the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, my training would not stop.

* * *

When the moon shone bright overhead, I went to see Chu Saeng.

Despite the late hour, he was still awake in his room, lost in worry.

“Did you rest well?”

“I did, but you look as though you haven't slept a wink, Sect Leader Chu.”

“I haven't been sleeping properly lately.”

Indeed, both his eyes were bloodshot.

“You can't make sound judgments without sleep.”

“What can I do when sleep won't come, however much I want it?”

“Try getting one good night's sleep, at least. Shall I help?”

“How? Will you press my sleep point?”

“I learned a secret method for falling asleep from the Cult's Demon Physician.”

The mention of the Demon Physician seemed to pique his interest.

“Come, you've nothing to lose. Lie down on the bed.”

“How embarrassing for a grown man.”

Despite his words, the torment of sleeplessness must have been too much for him, for he obediently lay down like a new bride.

“Do as I say. First, relax the muscles in your face. Next, release the tension in your shoulders and arms. Relax a little more. Now, release the tension in your thighs and the rest of your legs. Imagine you're lying on a sandy beach in the warm sunshine. Then draw a strand of qi from your dantian and slowly move it as I instruct. From the Water Separation point to the Central Stomach point, then from the Central Court point to the Jade Hall point. Move it slowly. And again...”

* * *

When Chu Saeng opened his eyes, it was morning.

Waking in his bed, he felt bewildered. He hadn't slept properly in days, yet his throbbing headache was gone, and his body felt light enough to fly. He had slept astonishingly well.

“Ah! That secret method!”

Apparently, he had drifted off without realizing it while following the instructions of that Demonic Cult man whose name he didn't even know.

Chu Saeng climbed out of bed and hurried from his room.

Geom Mugeuk was in the main hall where they had first met yesterday, examining the marks in the wall.

“There you are.”

“I slept well, thanks to you. I can't remember the last time I slept so soundly.”

“You seem well suited to the orthodox factions, Sect Leader Chu.”

“What brought that on?”

“It occurred to me that you couldn't sleep because you felt guilty about failing to protect your subordinates.”

“What are you talking about? I was merely angry at that man. I couldn't sleep because I was so furious I couldn't control my temper.”

Chu Saeng disliked being treated as one of the orthodox factions. His father had been a major influence in that regard. Ever since he was young, his father had taught him that kindness only got you exploited.

“Do you think I could have survived in the martial world this long with such a naive heart? Not a chance. Don't anger me with pointless remarks.”

“Understood.”

That all-too-ready agreement irritated Chu Saeng in its own way. He had come to thank the man for helping him sleep, yet here he was raising his voice for no reason.

Just then, Geom Mugeuk turned and pointed at the wall.

“This hole here.”

“Ah, I made a few holes in a fit of anger. I'm on the verge of making another one right now.”

“Not those. This one.”

There was a small hole where Geom Mugeuk pointed.

“Was this made by the finger force that man fired?”

Chu Saeng's expression hardened.

“Yes. It pierced my subordinate, then went through the wall as well. I specifically ordered that it not be filled in, so I could keep looking at it and remember that day.”

Geom Mugeuk's expression was grave as he studied the hole.

“What's wrong?”

“It looks exactly like the genuine Blood Calamity Finger.”

“Do you mean the Wicked Laughing Demon's martial art?”

“Yes. I've seen his martial arts before.”

Chu Saeng grew excited.

“There, you see? Wasn't I right? It was the real Wicked Laughing Demon!”

“It wasn't the Wicked Laughing Demon.”

“What are you saying? Didn't you just say it was the genuine Blood Calamity Finger?”

“I meant that the technique was that refined. This wasn't the Wicked Laughing Demon's doing.”

“You seem to trust the Wicked Laughing Demon too much.”

“I do trust him.”

“That's why I find it even harder to trust you. How can I trust someone who has such faith in the Wicked Laughing Demon?”

“Whether you trust me is your choice, but trust me on this one thing.”

Chu Saeng silently studied Geom Mugeuk. What a strange man. He claimed to come from the Demonic Cult, yet he didn't feel like a demonic martial artist. He lacked their characteristic harshness, cruelty, and sinister air. Instead, though they had known each other for barely a few days, he possessed a peculiar power that kept drawing Chu Saeng into trusting him.

'If this man is evil, he'll be a truly great villain.'

Concealing that thought, Chu Saeng asked, “Then why tell me, knowing it would make me suspicious?”

“Of course I should tell you. Nothing is more foolish than agreeing to work together, then acting while concealing your thoughts. If that's what you're going to do, you shouldn't have joined hands in the first place.”

Those words pricked Chu Saeng's conscience, for he was hiding something himself.

“If you can't sleep tonight, use the method I taught you. You look much better.”

* * *

The next morning, Chu Saeng came to see me again.

“I slept well last night, too. Perhaps you were right. The better I sleep, the guiltier I feel toward the dead.”

“Think of the other disciples you must protect. What else can you do? The living must live on and move forward.”

It was a trite consolation, but it seemed to comfort him nonetheless. He rose with a slightly more relaxed expression.

“Let me know if anything makes you uncomfortable.”

“I will.”

Chu Saeng looked around the room as though he had something else to say.

“How long will you stay here? I don't see how remaining here like this will change anything.”

“Until you tell me the truth.”

“!”

Chu Saeng flinched and turned toward me.

“Now that I'm sleeping well and my head is clear, my thoughts about you have changed, too. There must be a reason you're staying beside me. Someone as extraordinary as you wouldn't simply stay here for nothing.”

I answered calmly.

“That's right. I noticed you were hiding something from me.”

When we first met, he would have flatly denied it. But the Chu Saeng before me now did not.

“Then why don't you force me? With your martial prowess, you could torture it out of me.”

“This may sound strange to you, but I'll say it. My Demonic Path is one that eradicates absolute evil from the world. My Demonic Path does not break tables, and my Demonic Path does not torture people who aren't evil.”

“What a strange thing to say.”

But his expression belied his words. He was beginning to understand what sort of person I was.

“I believe they chose you because of whatever you're hiding now. If I'm right, that secret will eventually get you killed by them. You may not believe it, but I want to save your life.”

“You may not believe this... but I do believe you. I have no reason to, yet I keep wanting to trust you, and that makes me hesitate all the more. I wonder whether you're deceiving me. My father told me never to believe what others say. Those were his dying words.”

Chu Saeng looked up at the sky. What answer was his father giving him now?

He had done well so far, but this ordeal, coming before he had even turned thirty, was too much for him to overcome alone.

For your son's sake, tell him to open his heart a little. I promise I'll save him.

Had that wish reached him?

After a long struggle, Chu Saeng shared what was on his mind.

“Ever since the incident, I've kept thinking of one possible solution. I've been agonizing over whether to tell you about it. My head said I must never reveal the secret, but my instincts told me to reveal it. They told me to trust you.”

“I'll contact the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion's Hunan branch and have them amend your assessment: ‘Good instincts, but not very bright.’”

Chu Saeng laughed. It was the laugh of a man who had finally made up his mind.

“I was planning to ask someone for help.”

“Who?”

“I don't know who it is, either.”

Chu Saeng drew out something he had treasured on a cord around his neck and showed it to me.

It was a coin cut in half.

“A Coin of Gratitude and Grudges.”

A Coin of Gratitude and Grudges was a token made by cutting a coin in half and giving it to one's benefactor. If that coin was presented later, even by a descendant, its giver would repay the kindness.

“My father said he saved the owner of this coin when the man was injured and hovering between life and death. When he passed it down to me, he insisted that I use it only when my life and the lives of my family were at stake.”

“Do you know who owns this coin?”

Chu Saeng shook his head.

“He never told me. I don't even know whether the man is still alive.”

“How do you use it?”

“He said that if I went to any Yellow River Inn in the Central Plains and showed the coin to the proprietor, someone would come for me.”

Communicating through inns was a method used by the Cult and the Orthodox Martial Alliance. I suspected that the coin's owner had once belonged to a large organization.

“Can anyone present it?”

“No. He said only members of our immediate family could use it. I'm not saying that because I'm afraid you'll take it from me. That's truly what he told me.”

“I believe you. Otherwise, they would already have killed you and taken the coin.”

“Do you really think that man did all this because of the coin?”

“I can't be certain, but that's my hunch.”

If this was indeed what they were after, as I suspected, then they must be searching for the coin's owner. Who on earth could he be?

“Why didn't you use it immediately after the incident?”

Chu Saeng let out a long sigh.

“I considered it. I agonized over it until my head felt ready to burst. I was afraid. Afraid that using it would entangle me with that man again. Afraid that our revenge would fail and he would come back and wipe out our sect. I wished it would all simply pass.”

Chu Saeng raised his head and looked at me.

“I believe you appeared before me because my father sent you to rebuke me for that cowardice. I'll entrust my fate and my sect's to you.”

* * *

Four days later.

We were sitting in a Yellow River Inn in Hunan. When we showed the coin to the proprietor, he merely told us to wait there.

So we waited, with no idea how long it would take.

Chu Saeng sat in the inn all day, seemingly afraid that someone might come and leave without finding him.

I stayed in my room practicing the Wind God's Four Steps, then joined Chu Saeng at mealtimes to eat, drink tea, and talk.

I told him about the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon. I also told him about famous martial artists, sects, and wandering martial artists from various regions, as well as beautiful sights and delicious dishes throughout the Central Plains. I taught him about hunting and camping, too.

He marveled at the breadth of my knowledge. Whatever he asked, I had an answer.

It reached the point that Chu Saeng said, “How can someone so young know so much? Have you perhaps... reverted to youth?”

“Even if I had the chance, I wouldn't do it. I'll grow old with my people, then die.”

“I'm curious about them. Who surrounds someone like you? I'd like to meet those people.”

“You'll regret it if you do.”

“Why?”

I answered with a smile. He wouldn't say that once he'd been jabbed in the ribs by the Blood Heaven Saber Demon until he was black and blue.

On the tenth day of our wait there, someone finally came to see us.

The moment Chu Saeng saw him, he sprang to his feet in shock.

He wasn't the only one startled. I was, too.

A man in a white mask was striding toward us.