Chapter 521
The journey to Xinjiang did not stop.
At night, we repeated training. By day, we repeated travel. It was a mountain journey with nothing particularly different about it.
Then we arrived at a village.
The reason was simple.
“We have to take a boat?”
We were told we needed to travel by boat from here.
[We must cross the river.]
Mi Yeonhwa spoke with a mask on and a cloak pulled over herself as well. Guiding us was her role. We had to cross a river here?
I heard there was a river, but—
It was clearly drawn on the map. It had not existed in the past, but apparently it had been created by a battle between two martial artists long ago.
That was closer to folklore. How would a river that wide be born just because martial artists fought each other? A river like that simply had a fairy tale or legend attached to it.
It was like that everywhere. Stories embedded in nature and all that.
But we have to cross that river.
It seemed to be a rather famous area. I had wondered if it was right to head here before going to Xinjiang.
[This is the fastest way. Every other route requires a long detour.]
Mi Yeonhwa spoke with certainty. I acknowledged this part. Looking at the map, crossing the river was overwhelmingly faster.
I was just a little flustered that we had to ride a boat.
“We’ll need to find passage.”
Considering the number of people we had, and the carriages too, it was time to find a boat and make preparations quickly.
Then I had to order someone.
“What are you doing?”
“...Pardon?”
Poison Dragon, who had been managing the carriage, froze. What was that bastard doing?
“Go look into it.”
“Me?”
“Then who’s going?”
“...There are a lot of people here, though?”
His expression said, Why am I the one going when there are so many people? He even glanced toward Sword Emperor, who was tending another horse.
He must have been insane. Was he seriously suggesting Sword Emperor go do it right now?
“...Hurry up and go. Don’t talk nonsense.”
“...Urgh.”
Poison Dragon groaned and moved. For now, I let him head into the village.
About one double-hour later, Poison Dragon, who had gone out, appeared again.
“How did it go?”
“...They say the boat leaves in two days.”
“If it’s two days, we’ll need lodging.”
“I looked into that on the way back.”
“Oh.”
He was quite good at his job. If he had not looked into it, I had been planning to send him back, but he had done it on his own.
He gave me several options. It seemed I just had to choose from among them.
Considering the price and location, one place was just right.
We headed straight there.
We left the carriages at the stable and secured rooms. Since we had a decent number of people, the innkeeper naturally welcomed us.
After getting several rooms, I came back outside.
“I’ll go out for a bit.”
I left with my sword. I wanted to take a look around the village with the river. There was one reason.
[There are many strange things here.]
It seemed the Heavenly Demon understood my intent too.
Exactly. Filthy many.
There were ghosts everywhere.
Villages attached to rivers were usually like this.
It was natural for rivers to have more ghosts than mountains.
But there are strangely many.
The number was abnormal. No matter how I looked at it, it felt like we had chosen the wrong village. Otherwise—
There shouldn’t be this many.
Even if it was a river, having that many ghosts was abnormal. As if to identify the unpleasant feeling I had sensed the moment we arrived, I caught an old man nearby and asked him.
“Excuse me, elder.”
“Hm?”
The old man, who had been drinking in broad daylight, looked at me. His nose was bright red.
“Has there been a [N O V E L I G H T] tidal wave or a storm in the village lately?”
“What storm? It’s been calm here for years.”
“...Really?”
No tidal wave, and no storm? Then how could it be like this?
It was strange.
“Are you an outsider?”
The old man looked at me with curiosity as he asked.
“Ah, yes. I’m traveling.”
“Oho. Where did you come from?”
“Henan.”
“Whoa, Henan?”
At my words, the people around us turned their gazes over.
“Henan?”
“What’s someone from a city like that doing in a backwater like this?”
Adults and children alike showed interest. It certainly was remote. Even if someone said they were taking a boat from here, there did not seem to be much around.
“How fascinating.”
“What do you do, young man? You’re awfully, awfully pretty.”
“I’ve never seen such a pretty young man in all my life.”
The grandmothers’ attention gathered on me. I had to smile awkwardly.
“Tsk-tsk. He looks like a pretty-boy. What’s so good about that?”
“That’s right. A man ought to have bones to him.”
“Old man, can’t you tell by looking? His bones are big too.”
Because of my rebirth, my muscles and bones were indeed large. Hmph! Tch! Those sounds came from all over.
“Anyway, thank you for telling me.”
I hurriedly escaped. It felt like I should not stay any longer. Whew, even the attention was a little overwhelming.
Besides.
Within all that attention shooting toward me, there was something.
A cold, chilly sensation.
Well, even without that.
I could tell just by looking at the state of the ghosts. They were not merely lingering because they had regrets.
Tch.
A pack of evil ghosts.
This village was full of evil ghosts.
Abnormally so.
*****
Two more days passed. At last, it was time for us to board the boat.
As if proving that fact, a large vessel had arrived at the harbor.
“Hurry and load the cargo!”
At the words of the man who seemed to be in charge, people began loading cargo onto the boat. Our side did not have that much, but since there were not many passengers, most of the cargo belonged to us.
By the time it had filled about a quarter of the space, the loading was finished, and then we boarded the boat.
“It’s big.”
It was quite large. The boat was, and so was the river. Could this even be called a river? From some angles, it looked more like a sea.
This is my first time seeing a river like this since my past life.
It was practically my first time riding a boat too. There had always been ways to get where I needed without bothering to ride one.
“The luggage is all loaded.”
“How long did they say it would take from here?”
“They said roughly a day and a half.”
“Mm...”
It was a length of time that felt long and short at once. Since everyone on board was a martial artist anyway, it seemed unlikely anyone would get seasick.
Would there be no need for night watch either? It felt like this might become something of a rest period.
“We’re departing!”
As soon as the passengers were confirmed, the boat began to move. We were setting sail. The huge vessel slowly moved along the river.
Let’s see.
I sat on the railing and checked the riverside.
Nothing yet.
I identified the water ghosts. I was looking at the ghosts that would be in the water, but near the starting point of the river, there were not many water ghosts.
Just about the ordinary amount one would find anywhere. They did not even show interest in humans.
Seeing that, I tilted my head. It seemed it was not yet time.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you eating?”
“Ah, I’m coming.”
Peng Dojun spoke as he went inside the boat. I moved from there and entered the boat as well.
That was when it happened.
...
Without turning my head, I spread my energy sense. A gaze was shooting toward me.
“What are you going to do?”
Peng Dojun asked. Quietly, after coming close.
It seemed he had noticed something too. Seriously, maybe because he had the Heavenly Martial Body, his senses really were something else.
“I’m thinking.”
“I just wanted to rest comfortably for once. This has gotten annoying.”
Hearing that, I laughed.
“Rest comfortably? Would someone like that train so violently every night?”
“Training is supposed to be violent. You know that, so why say it?”
“What do I know? I don’t do it that violently.”
Did he think everyone trained as ignorantly as he did? When I spoke because I found it absurd, Peng Dojun’s expression changed.
“...Do you really think that?”
“Pardon?”
What was with that expression? He looked at me as if I was strange. What?
“What is that look?”
“It’s just absurd that anyone can tell by watching you train for even a moment, but the person himself doesn’t know.”
“What exactly did I do?”
“Does moving with those heavy iron weights strapped all over your body look normal to you?”
“Those aren’t that heavy.”
Wearing things like that made it efficient. Otherwise, it took too long for my body to get tired.
I was not being ignorant. I had only found efficiency. I said as much, but—
“...Ah, is that so?”
As if he had no intention of believing me, Peng Dojun made a strange face and slipped inside.
What was that reaction?
That really pisses me off.
Did it look that strange just because I trained a little?
[Heh-heh.]
I heard the Heavenly Demon laugh. Hearing that, I asked him,
“Why are you laughing? Do I really train that strangely?”
[It is not strange. If you ask whether it is extreme, then yes, it is.]
“...Me?”
[That is only natural. Have you forgotten who taught you that training?]
“...”
Hearing that, I unknowingly accepted it a little. Yoo Cheongil. It was training taught by that monstrous old man.
Right.
Then it was ignorant.
I had forgotten that for a moment.
“...I’m insane too.”
Even though I was doing something outside common sense, I had not recognized it.
Thinking that, I laughed.
“...Let’s rest a little.”
I needed time to rest. Until night came, that would be necessary.
*****
A pure-white background came into view. An alien and somehow empty place.
As soon as I opened my eyes there, I realized it.
“This is a dream.”
It was a dream. And a space I had reached for the first time in quite a while.
I had not come here for so long that I had briefly forgotten about it. But I had suddenly arrived here.
What is this?
A dream-vision?
I looked around. A white space no different from usual. Nothing seemed to have changed.
What is this?
I stayed still and inspected the surroundings. If there was no change, should I try to wake up? Around the time that thought occurred to me—
Whoosh.
“Hm?”
Far in the distance. Roughly ten-something steps away, I saw something.
A spark was burning in the air.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE! TAK!
A blue flame. It formed in midair and slowly began to burn.
What was that? I narrowed my eyes.
A ghost? Was it Yoo Cheongil, by any chance? No. It was neither a ghost nor Yoo Cheongil.
Only energy. Only a spark.
Simple words that could not be expressed as anything else.
That was exactly it. There was no further description. That was all I sensed.
As I watched the flame, it slowly changed shape.
The shape of a human.
FWOOOSH—!!!
Before long, the flame formed a human shape.
Then it plopped down where it was and abruptly pointed a finger at me.
It aimed at me with its index finger.
“What the hell?”
What was that thing doing? As I stared at it strangely—
[Hurry.]
The flame suddenly spoke to me.
[Break it.]
“...!”
FWOOSH—!
The moment I heard those words, my vision went distant. My mind fell into chaos.
My mind was waking from the dream on its own.
I tried to hold on so I would not wake, but it was meaningless. Awakening happened against my will.
“...”
I opened my eyes.
Soon after, a pitch-black ceiling came into view.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
And Peng Dojun’s rough face appeared.
It was an extremely unpleasant way to wake up.