Chapter 711
Sometimes, a certain kind of silence can replace countless emotions and words.
Just like now.
“S, should we talk after you let go of my hand?”
To cut to the chase, Jeok Cheon-Gang didn’t let go of my hand, and he didn’t answer either. He just stared blankly, slowly scanning my face and body as if he’d lost his mind.
‘What’s with this bastard? Is this all a dream?’
He had that kind of look, and I understood exactly how he felt.
‘He can’t help but react like this.’
The guy who’d been dying right in front of him had come back to life without a scratch.
Even the prophet from the neighborhood who was crucified and resurrected after three days still had wounds on his palms, but five level-ups had left my skin baby-smooth, without a single scar.
Even right in front of Jeok Cheon-Gang.
Slap!
A resounding smack echoed out of nowhere.
Jeok Cheon-Gang, who had just slapped himself across the face with all his might, blinked, looked at me, then opened his mouth with a grave expression.
“Just one question. Is this old man dreaming right now?”
I answered carefully.
“No.”
“No matter how much I think about it, it feels like a dream.”
“Then try slapping yourself again.”
Smack!
No hesitation, as expected.
He must’ve hit himself pretty hard.
Jeok Cheon-Gang spat out the thick blood that had pooled in his mouth and took a deep breath.
“…Damn it. It’s not a dream. Then is it an illusion caused by the Mystic Gate Formation?”
“Uh, I don’t think so. If I’m an illusion, whose hand are you holding right now?”
“It must be a Dark Heaven sorcerer who overlaid your illusion. Or maybe the Southern Demon Empress, who I thought was dead. She must be preparing a strike while this old man is caught in an illusion.”
“You have quite the imagination. Are you senile?”
“If I only looked at the way you talk, I’d have no doubt it’s you. Hmph. I’m really going crazy.”
“I’m going crazy too.”
I meant it.
I’d been hiding the system thoroughly until now, but I’d just gotten caught red-handed.
I sighed and looked at Jeok Cheon-Gang, who still wore a dazed expression.
His roughly shaved head and worn-out monk’s robe still took some getting used to.
“By the way. What on earth is that getup?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? It’s a disguise. Don’t I look like a decent monk in this getup?”
“You look like a renegade monk who set fire to a temple and ran away.”
“…Damn you. Do you think this old man wanted to imitate a corrupt monk? I had no choice if I wanted to avoid the eyes of Dark Heaven. Especially since my hair was so noticeable, I shaved it all off.”
Indeed, no matter how vast the world was, there weren’t many people with red hair. It was bound to stand out wherever you went, and rumors were sure to spread.
Of course, that still didn’t explain everything.
At least the Blood Monk I knew was a terrifying great demon who had stained Guangxi Province with blood all by himself.
“So, the one who disguised himself as a monk to avoid the eyes of Dark Heaven beat hundreds of innocent martial artists to death?”
(T/N : Ohhhhhhhhhhh! And I was worried because we still have an unknown enemy. Glad it was him who’s on a disguise. )
“That’s because those bastards were doing such terrible things… What?”
Jeok Cheon-Gang, who was about to continue, frowned.
“Innocent martial artists? What nonsense are you spouting?”
“It is true that this old man unintentionally attracted attention in Guangxi Province. I took care of some things because the heretical bastards were taking advantage of the chaos to do all sorts of crazy things.”
“Heretical? Did you just say heretical?”
“Yes. They were committing all sorts of atrocities while disguising it as the work of Dark Heaven. I went directly to them and crushed about six sects, and the remaining small fries fled in all directions.”
…
Only after listening to Jeok Cheon-Gang with my mouth hanging open did I piece it all together.
‘That martial artist who fled from Guangxi Province.’
The martial artist who died of an endemic disease the moment he entered the Southern Barbarian Region had been a small fry from a heretical sect—someone running from Jeok Cheon-Gang’s fiery fists.
Birds of a feather flock together, and people needed to be perceptive. In the Southern Barbarian Region, where outsiders were already ostracized, they couldn’t reveal they were criminals. In the end, the heretical martial artists who died at Jeok Cheon-Gang’s hands were dressed up as righteous heroes who loved justice and peace.
It happened because the Southern Barbarian Region was so closed off, with no contact with the outside world.
‘How did it turn out like this?’
As I stared at Jeok Cheon-Gang, another thought struck me, and I hurriedly opened my mouth.
“Then, by any chance, on the way here…”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about, but I met them all. From the river pirates scavenging along the Yangtze River, to the Southern Barbarian Region bastards who suddenly brandished spears and swords, and even your subordinates.”
“Ah.”
“Pyo Wang’s grandson told this old man as soon as he saw me. That you were in danger. Hyuk-Ga grabbed my pant leg and cried so much I almost broke his wrist.”
Just hearing it, the scene formed clearly in my mind—how desperate they must have been.
And Jeok Cheon-Gang, who came charging in the moment he heard I was in danger, without a single question or a hint of hesitation.
“But why did the story go this way!? This old man is the one who needs an explanation.”
Looking at Jeok Cheon-Gang frowning in displeasure, I suddenly burst out laughing.
“…Are you laughing?”
His bewilderment only made my laughter louder.
“Of course I should laugh. We met again like this, alive.”
“I’m sorry, and thank you. I know you have a lot of questions, but I’ll explain everything later. I definitely will.”
Jeok Cheon-Gang looked like he had a lot to say, but he answered in a subdued voice.
“You damn bastard.”
It was a word filled with too many emotions to name.
It sounded like he was thanking me for being alive, and that was enough between us.
“Don’t keep laughing. I’ll get attached.”
“You were crying pretty sadly for someone who wasn’t attached. Ah, of course, I’m not talking about you, old man.”
“…Can’t you shut that mouth of yours?”
Now that he remembered how he’d looked earlier, Jeok Cheon-Gang grumbled as he kept hold of my hand and helped me up.
Thud.
The dust and gravel covering my whole body poured down. The pain had long since disappeared, but for a moment my vision blurred.
‘Ugh…’
I swallowed a groan.
My body—completely restored by five level-ups—moved as I willed it to, but my mind, worn down by nonstop battles, was exhausted.
‘Ah, I want to sleep.’
I wanted to collapse right there.
I wanted to sleep soundly, wake up refreshed, look at a clear sky, and slowly shake off the drowsiness.
But… not yet.
The sky above was still choked with dark clouds, and those who’d suffered injuries—both small and severe—were collapsed everywhere, groaning.
If I left them like this, they would fall into a sleep they’d never wake from.
Jeok Cheon-Gang, who finally looked around, also darkened.
“…I should have hurried more.”
It was futile regret and unnecessary self-reproach. If Jeok Cheon-Gang hadn’t come, everyone here—including me—might have been buried in this place.
“Let’s hurry. Before it’s too late.”
I nodded at his words and chose the fastest, most reliable method.
‘Skill, [Energy Sense] activated.’
Tring.
Along with the clear chime that signaled the system’s activation, a blue circle spread out from me and enveloped the surrounding area. At the same time, my heart sank as level display windows popped up everywhere.
‘Too few.’
The number of level windows I could see was only about thirty.
That meant the Southern Barbarian Region warriors—who’d numbered in the thousands—and the three hundred members of the Hundred Heavens Corps had been buried here.
Even so, the one fortunate thing was that the condition of those still alive didn’t look too critical.
‘In the end, the Southern Demon Empress must have conserved as much strength as possible.’
Muttering with a heavy heart, I rushed to the nearest person who had collapsed.
Hundred Heavens Corps Lord Wang Ho.
I grabbed the pulse that had been severed when he charged the Southern Demon Empress to the very end, and with my other hand, I sent Internal Energy through his back.
Swoosh.
“Cough, cough.”
Wang Ho’s pale face, after he spat out a mouthful of dead blood, began to regain color.
He’d taken a brutal beating while fighting the fiercest among the Hundred Heavens Corps, but this would at least buy him a moment to breathe.
However, unlike Wang Ho, there were those whose injuries were severe at a glance.
Breath barely flowed from his nostrils. Jeok Cheon-Gang recognized the identity of the giant collapsed on his knees and let out a groan.
“…He got hit hard. This guy has never been this injured, not even during the Great War of Justice and Evil.”
The Southern Demon Empress’s final strike—made at the cost of her life—had been that terrifying.
Countless fragments and remnants of swords were embedded deep across his entire body.
And the condition of Beast Miao King—who had lost consciousness from the massive internal injuries he sustained while protecting me—was miserable.
“Old man. By any chance…”
Before I could finish, Jeok Cheon-Gang, already sensing the concern in my voice, shook his head.
“Beast Miao King is as tough as iron, so don’t worry. If this old man does his best, he will surely survive. But…”
His sentence trailed off. Unlike his first words, filled with conviction, his hesitant gaze turned to the giant White Tiger lying only a few steps away.
“I don’t know about that beast. From what I can see, it seems extraordinary for a beast, but is it a creature that must be saved?”
‘I have to save him. No matter what it takes.’
But before the thought could leave my lips, quiet Telepathy echoed.
-If that is to be, then that too is my destiny.
…
-You have lived quite a long time, old human. Although it is different from the face I saw in the Imoogi’s memories, the essence has not changed.
The Guardian Spirit turned his head away from Jeok Cheon-Gang, whose eyes had gone wide, then shifted his gaze to me.
-Come closer.
I bit my lip and approached the Guardian Spirit.
When I sat by his head and stroked his blood-soaked neck, a low growl escaped him.
-You are presumptuous. How dare you touch this body.
‘What should I say?’
As I kept stroking his neck in silence, the Guardian Spirit sent Telepathy again.
-Actually, I don’t feel too bad. A long time ago, there was a human as impudent as you.
I knew who he meant.
The first Palace Lord of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace—the only human the Guardian Spirit, who had lived for countless years, had ever opened his heart to.
-It is truly a strange thing. Everything is different, but when I look at you, I am reminded of him, who has already turned to dust hundreds of years ago. Perhaps that is why. Instinctively saving you and entrusting the Divine Stone to you, who is only a human.
The White Tiger’s massive body, close enough to touch, heaved heavily.
Breathing roughly, the Guardian Spirit raised his blue-white eyes to meet mine.
In that moment, I understood.
Why the Guardian Spirit needed the Divine Stone. What he intended to do with it.
‘Gate.’
The Guardian Spirit was trying to close that deep darkness—the Gate—by himself.
Just like a certain Imoogi had done a few months ago.