Chapter 79
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Hua Ran (5) ༻
The day broke.
As if to make up for all the rain last night, the forest was full of sunlight.
“...Hot.”
It wasn’t even summer anymore but heat from the dazzling sun on a wet forest after the rain increased the humidity to an incredible level.
“Can you get up?”
“...”
Hua Ran tried to push herself up from the ground by herself without giving me a response, but soon fell down on the ground like a calf that was just starting to learn how to walk.
“Grab my hand. Looks like your muscles still aren’t working properly.”
She tried to slap my hand away but I quickly grabbed onto her hand and pulled her up, as she then began looking at me with a discontent look on her face.
It might have been a different story before but the current Hua Ran wasn’t very scary. Holding onto the hand of the grumpy Hua Ran, I headed deeper into the forest.
“...Where are we going?”
“Since we’re in this forest anyway… I thought we might as well drop by.”
We continued walking with no destination in sight but Hua Ran quietly followed after me without raising any complaints.
“Hua. You’re a jiangshi, right?”
“...Yes.”
“Jiangshis have several weaknesses; just like how silver is detrimental for werewolves and how you can’t do anything after swallowing a piece of wood from a peach tree.”
Of course, this also depended on the individual. The peach tree was one of the very big weaknesses of jiangshis. Getting cut by one of those swords would immediately slice their skin apart, but it wasn’t that powerful against someone at Hua Ran’s level.
She could protect her skin by using her incredible amount of aura and the innate toughness of her body would far outshine the strength of the peach tree sword. Therefore, even peach trees wouldn’t work on Hua Ran unless it was through special means like making her consume it through her mouth.
“So?”
“Jiangshis are full of the overwhelming aura of Yin. The reason why Kang Yu the Sage decided to make Ran into a jiangshi was because he couldn’t find ways to add enough Yang energy to offset the abundance of Yin.”
That was why he made her into a jiangshi that could make use of that Yin energy instead; into a demonic organism that could release the infinite amount of Yin built up by Ran’s Ice Yin Constitution with a single attack.
How desperate must have Kang Yu been, to the point that he thought of making a living human into a jiangshi?
“Now. Since you’re a complete organism of Yin, what are other items that might be critical against you?”
Hua Ran thought about several items; glutinous rice flour, black blood of a beast, peach tree, and a sword made of coins backed up by inner qi.
She had stood off against all of them and none of them worked against her ‘Unbreakable Vajra Body’. Only something as deadly as swallowing a portion of the peach tree was able to neutralize her for a small period of time, which she was going through right now.
“Yes. Most of your weaknesses are offset because of your body. So swallowing things directly into your body is the only way for them to be somewhat effective.”
I stopped my feet. We were finally at our destination.
“Counterbalancing Yin. If you just focus on that part, you’ll actually find several candidates.”
“This…”
Hua Ran and I looked at the tree in front of us; at the dark and charred jujube tree that seemed to have been struck by lightning. It had been struck by lightning just last night; the part at the top of the tree was as dark as charcoal and the lower half, that was at least a bit better, was giving off a strange scent after being burned.
“We can only grab a handful, I guess.”
Taking a few pieces off, I stacked them in my hand. This was the rare item you could find in this forest; the lightning-struck wood.
A jujube tree struck by lightning.
I said while eradicating the leftover tree after carving a rune.
“The lightning-struck wood contains a large amount of Yang energy. Normally, they use it to chase out demonic spirits but… what do you think will happen if you swallow this?”
“...”
Hua Ran couldn’t reply to my question with ease, but I knew the answer to that question.
“If you eat this, the balance of Yin and Yang in your body will momentarily return to being stable. Your characteristics as a jiangshi will be neutralized for a short instant.”
“What do you… mean by that?”
After seemingly inferring something from my sentence, she asked with a trembling voice.
I replied.
“If you eat this, you will lose control of your body.”
3rd Arc; the turning point of the Heavenly Yaksha. The lightning-struck wood was a momentary buff item of Ran which you had to obtain if you were to choose to save Ran out of the two.
I handed that over to Hua Ran.
“Why are you…”
“I’m supposed to give you the opposite version of this as well but… I’m sure you already know what the opposite version of this is.”
Her eyes heavily trembled. Dropping the lightning-struck wood, she took several steps back in fright.
“I, I… I’m not eating this. I am not going to eat this…”
She stepped back from the piece of wood like it was a bomb but after picking it up, I once again placed it in her hands.
“One day, you’ll be forced to make a choice.”
“Why… Why are you telling me this? It would have been… better if I didn’t know about this.”
It would have been easier for her if she wasn’t aware of how to return the body in the first place.
“Well, now you do. It’s time to think for yourself between the two options.”
There were plenty of unfortunate events in the world, and Hua opting for something that benefited her the most wasn’t even among the worst things out there. In fact, since it concerned the very existence of herself… no one had the right to condemn her even if she was to make a selfish choice.
It was normal for anyone to choose themselves over other people.
However, she still had to be responsible for her actions. Whatever it was that she decided to go with, she had to make a choice and had to shoulder the responsibility that came with it.
People weren’t supposed to live an easy life by monopolizing everything, by only making profits without taking any responsibilities.
Because I already knew of a person who had been the extreme example of that, I wanted Hua Ran to be different from such selfish people.
“I…”
Tightly clasping on the lightning-struck wood in her hands, Hua Ran turned silent. That was when someone else’s voice echoed across the forest and stopped her from saying anything else.
“You were here the whole time, huh.”
Around 15 meters behind us, there was a guy staring our way.
****
Sa Jinhyuk.
The unfortunate victim of the Moonlight Castle incident from a year ago; a fiendish avenger who had been training himself the whole time for nothing but revenge. His lips were crooked in an upward slant and his eyes were giving off a violent and beastly scent.
“Aiya~. Look at you, Miss Monster! Somehow you have a boyfriend helping you.”
“I’m still single.”
“...Hmph.”
Unlike Hua Ran who shrank from the condemnation, Korin rebutted with a nonchalant face. Jinhyuk’s eyes were fierce and ferocious but Korin’s were very relaxed.
Even though it was clear that this would lead to an inevitable battle, he was looking at Jinhyuk like a man who was meeting his friend for the first time in 10 years.
“Korin Lork, huh.”
“I am not Korin Lork. My name is Immortan Lork.”
“Yes yes. Let’s just say that.”
“It is very important, you see.”
“So, that bitch is mine if I beat you. Right?”
He said with a light tone that was still overflowing with killing intent.
The weight of his revenge, hatred, and killing intent was very dense and heavy. Facing that explicitly dense hostility, Korin Lork took out his spear after sensing that he couldn’t avoid the inevitable.
Holding onto his 2-meter-long silver spear, he jumped forward without any hesitation.
- Kwaang!
A gust raged down as the spearhead destroyed the place where Jinhyuk used to be standing.
“Nice footwork there.”
Jinhyuk avoided it with ease while showing off his weapon at the same time. His boots resembled simple leather shoes at a glance and what stood off more was his leg that was wearing them.
The small gap between his leather boots and his trousers revealed a cold prosthetic leg. It was made using the best of materials but it was far from being enough to be an adequate substitute for the limb he used to have.
“Amazing right? That bitch is the one who did this as well.”
“I like it, buddy. Can I have one too? Or maybe… I should just steal it from you.”
Korin replied while acting like he was greedy for his prosthetic leg. Jinhyuk seemed to find that shameless and nonchalant attitude quite laughable.
❰Acceleration❱, ❰Unlimiting Power❱, ❰Storming Wheel❱.
He activated the spells cast on his leg. Using those, he was the type to fight using precast buffs that best suited the situation. That was what supported him through battles instead of the usual flesh and muscles.
“Blame yourself for making a bad girlfriend.”
“Kidnapping is a crime, you’re right.”
Unlike their casual words, their voices were very serious and grave. As if they had promised on it beforehand, the two knights glared at each other… and their fight soon began.
****
The spearman called Korin Lork was like a leopard - a fast carnivorous beast that skilfully played with its prey in the jungle that was always ready to throw out a sharp and unexpected attack.
His storm-like stabs had the profound truths of Zha that boasted of being incredibly efficient.
“Hmm…!”
Jinhyuk had to retreat with a gasp. His opponent was like an unstoppable torrent. The gap between his stabs due to the rapid retrievals of his spear was too short. The spear constantly tried to stab through his forehead, shoulders, throat, and heart, and knew not how to stop like a blazing flame.
‘Damn it. He’s like Big Sister, if not stronger…!’
He had the experience of a veteran, and his competence as a master of spears, which repeated his moves countless times, made each of his basic attacks into killer moves.
This man - Korin Lork - was truly strong enough to earn the title of a master.
‘A swing when I try to get close and a stab when I try to get far. And unconventional tricks don’t work on him either.’
Seeing how he was regularly dropping rune-engraved stones onto the ground implied that he had many hidden tricks up his sleeve. It was only thanks to a preemptive notice from Yuhua that Jinhyuk was able to notice it.
He was skilled at tricks, and yet was also simply powerful. Jinhyuk couldn’t come up with any negatives from his short evaluation of Korin Lork.
Strong.
How much work would he have had to put in to push his spearmanship to this level? How many battles did he go through to build such an incredible fighting sense?
Jinhyuk would have respected his skills and shown his admiration if they had met under normal circumstances, but in a situation as abnormal as this, Korin was nothing but an enemy that he had to overcome.
“Mhmm…?!”
Suddenly Jinhyuk started marching forward like a fool. Korin retaliated immediately by swinging his silver spear with a gust. It was the art of a Tiger’s Gust that threatened to slice Jinhyuk’s body into pieces.
- Pabak!
Kicking off the ground, Jinhyuk rotated in the air. Using the force of his waist, he spun 540 degrees as his foot then collided with the shaft of the spear.
In the end, it was still just a foot against a whole spear. It seemed obvious that the spear would be the one coming out on top but—
- Pang!
“Uht…!”
A storm erupted out as the shaft of the spear got flung back from the crash. It was by sheer luck that Korin managed to stop the spear from flying out of his grip.
“Storming Wheel…!”
“Surprised you know it!”
That was the skill learned by the monks of the east that allowed its user to control the wind in the atmosphere to form it into a storm. Wind rotating around the leg in a wheel-shape was like them wearing a semi-tornado around their legs.
Jinhyuk closed the distance in a flash. Before Korin could swing the spear, he struck down at his collarbone with a sharp knife-hand strike.
❰Old Ax❱
- Kahk!
The bone cracked out loud - Jinhyuk was certain that it was a meaningful hit. Right as he was about to follow through with another attack, Korin released his spear.
“What?”
A spearman giving up on his spear - before Jinhyuk could even think about what that meant, the thick arms of Korin reached out to his clothes and his left wrist respectively as Korin then pulled him towards himself.
In the blink of an eye, Jinhyuk was almost about to fall face-flat on the ground. He tried to add weight to his legs to stop himself from falling but his body was already right next to Korin’s waist.
There was only enough gap for a single finger between the two of them. At such a close distance, Jinhyuk couldn't use his kicks nor his powerful punches.
But somehow, Korin’s left palm was already next to Jinhyuk’s chest with a powerful force despite the close gap.
Eight Trigrams, Three Heavenly Palm Strikes: First Palm.
❰Venerating Palm❱
“Kuhk…!?”
Jinhyuk was pushed back after being struck on his chest. Following that were consecutive palm strikes aiming at his eyes and his nose.
“Kuhuk…!”
A spearman wielding a spear. He had been deceived by that preconception.
Jinhyuk being pushed back created a distance between them again as the fallen spear immediately returned to Korin’s grip as if it had a will of its own. He then carried out a fierce stab at the stumbling Jinhyuk before he could re-stabilize his body.
But it was then.
“Huhaha…!”
Korin was charging forward for the stab. After calculating that he would take one more step forward, Jinhyuk bent himself back and readied himself for a back flip.
Matching himself with the opponent’s charge, he did a somersault kick along with the back flip. He was intending on crushing Korin’s chin with that attack but Korin dodged it by twisting his head.
- Paak!
The storm around his leg barely grazed past Korin’s cheeks. Jinhyuk landed back down on the ground.
“Tch…!”
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue. It was one of the hidden cards up his sleeve but Korin dodged it with relative ease.
From that short bout, Jinhyuk realized wholeheartedly that the opponent was either at the same level or stronger than himself.
“But your punches are ticklish.”
Despite the ferocity of his spears, his physical capabilities were subpar. It ached a little bit after receiving the Three Heavenly Palms from the front but it was still quite bearable.
If that was one of his trump cards, then it meant that the outcome of this battle would probably be a 50:50.
His pride made Jinhyuk want to continue this battle till the end but…
“That is enough playing around.”
Echoing from behind was the voice of Kang Ryun the Taoist Sage. At the same time, talismans floating in the air flew forward and sealed the place Korin was standing in.
“Uhp…!”
Being suppressed by that shapeless force, his knees were forced to the ground. Korin tried to escape from the seal with his strength but for some reason, that made him feel more and more lethargic.
“Do not even bother. That is the sealing talisman with fundamentals of the Eight Formations. Your thoughts; signals to use power; circulation of qi - nothing will go the way you want them to.”
After easily suppressing Korin, he walked to Hua Ran who was on her knees due to being unable to even stand.
“N, n…”
Kang Ryun took out a talisman despite her resistance and placed it on her forehead.
“No…”
In an instant, her pupils lost light as her head fell straight down. Like a jiangshi obeying the words of the spiritualist, her body became rigid.
“Master. So this talisman…”
“Yes. This is the talisman sealing Hua’s consciousness. If we carry out the Evil Extermination Formation with her in this state, the soul will be banished and forever exterminated.”
“...We can finally see Ran again.”
“Kang Ryun! You bastard…!”
Korin shouted with a desperate and ghastly voice but after being neutralized, he couldn’t even garner a bit of Kang Ryun’s attention.
“You will pay the price for bearing a foolish dream. Stay here and become feed for the demonic beasts.”
“KANG RYUUUUUUNNN…!”
The three of them turned their backs. Following from behind was Hua Ran walking with a lifeless set of steps.
“HUA RAN! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!!”
The desperate scream of the boy did naught but echo through the dense forest.
………
……
…
After a while, demonic beasts gathered at the place that was sealed by the talismans.
There were already a bunch of them there.
Dozens of low-grade demonic beasts were already surrounding Korin, drooling without being able to hide their desire to dive in.
However, the reason they didn’t dare dive in first was that there was a being of higher status near them - the king of beasts.
They had vibrant golden fur. They were such beautiful beasts of gold.
Ones that shouldn’t exist in this era - they were beings that somehow reappeared through a miraculous process of atavism even though it had been ages since they had gone extinct.
Golden wolves.
The presence of those absolute existences forced the demonic beasts to step back in quiet resignation.
The wolves rushed in. Although they were small, their sharp fangs were more than enough to easily pierce through the defenseless Korin in the blink of an eye.
- Rip!
However, what the wolves bit on wasn’t his appealing neck but the yellow talismans stuck on the ground.
The talismans broke as the formation was then dispelled. Even after being freed, Korin remained standing on the spot while cracking his bones without even bothering to escape from the beasts in front of him.
“Ahh, my muscles feel stiff already! So, are they gone? That was decent, right?”
『Big Brother. Your acting was great!』
『It felt a bit exaggerated.』
The ferocious wolves spoke with the voices of kids but Korin glossed over the seemingly incredible phenomenon.
“Well, it’s all part of the skill, I guess. Ren. Ron. Have you finished everything I told you to do?”
『Yes bro! I mean, Big Brother!』
『Sister Renya said she will take care of the rest.』
“Huhuhu… It’s up to Brother Bae now!”
『By the way, Big Brother. What did you tell him to do?』
“Nothing much. You can call it a defense contractor fraud. Maybe it’s a bit different.”
The voice of the boy echoed across the forest. Unlike the scream of agony and rage that had been echoing until just then, it contained a relatively calm and serious tone.
****
Renault Lusignan was the typical image of a prideful religious person. As the elder of a religion that was in a gradual decline, he tended to be overly obsessed with pride and dignity.
That was why he tended to be shameless and brazen even if he were to make an evident mistake, without acknowledging his mistake.
Before, there was a time when he declared to a dying patient that he should get ready to head to paradise, and when the doctor cured the patient, he burned down the entire village for a group responsibility of blasphemy.
Renault himself did admit inwardly that it was an era of madness, but he still couldn’t help but reminisce about his powerful days.
The fall of the nobility and his religious group brought about many things.
“So… you mean you still haven’t found the bandits, nor the items that can act as substitutes?”
The insolent pagan of the east who was daring to glare at him from the front was one of the reasons behind his sudden reminiscence about the past.
If this was in the past, there was no way that such a pagan could have dared to be this impertinent in front of him, the bishop.
“Haha. Just wait a little bit more. Unlike you, Student Yuhua and your group, we have limited reach in this land.”
“But you have a few following behind your tail already, do you not?”
This insolent pagan!
Despite thinking that, Renault didn’t show his thoughts on his face. It was because the official and physical powerhouses of the Old Faith, the Templar Knights, didn't follow them to this secret meeting place. He did have the Chargers of the Cross but…
“They are a shadow. We cannot reveal them with ease.”
“Looks like you do not understand just how important this is. We need fitting articles to add the profound meaning of Evil Extermination to the Eight Formations.”
Rather than understanding the importance of that thing or whatever, Renault focused on trying to please Yuhua as much as possible, because he knew that this girl could twist his neck with a few fingers despite being half his size.
He was a reminiscer of the past, but wasn’t delusional.
“We are in touch with a merchant corporation that can supply the substitutes. They are a group of merchants that have been trading with the eastern continent for a very long time.”
“...”
Yuhua’s frown eased a little after hearing that and Renault did not miss that opportunity.
“Now now. Actually, that merchant was supposed to come today to bring all those items.”
“...I will check them as well.”
Yuhua was quite displeased by their slow work speed despite being the ones who got the items robbed, but didn’t push them any further because she and her group still needed their assistance.
“By the way, what is the name of their corporation?”
“It is called the ‘Brite Corporation’. He was a man who was also very knowledgeable about ‘Guanxi’, which I heard was a culture of the east.”