NOVEL NEXT Chapter 861
Chapter 15: Vacuum Homecoming
I wasn’t in my right mind right after taking down Musashi, but I quickly calmed my excitement and assessed the situation. First things first, I decided to check on my condition.
‘Three fingers missing… large stab wound in my abdomen… I’m nearly out of physical strength and energy.’
If I had fought a little longer, I would surely be dead. But even in this depleted state, I could still quickly recover a minimum amount of internal energy as long as I could steady my breathing, so I was still okay for now.
I regulated my breath through Qi techniques and started to recover my internal power while simultaneously checking on Musashi’s condition.
‘His chest is pierced by my sword, but it’s not where his heart is. He’s worn out, but it’s not a fatal injury. So he’s currently just unconscious.’
It seemed that the final sword technique I unleashed dealt a direct blow to Musashi’s mental strength rather than causing physical harm. I don’t know how that was possible, but anyway, Musashi wasn’t fatally wounded, so it seemed I could save him.
I quickly took out a gold needle from my wooden armor, pressed it against Musashi’s acupoint, and used Hua Clan’s medical techniques to stop his bleeding.
Ugh…
My stomach hurt. It was only natural since it almost split open with my insides about to spill out. Even though I temporarily sealed the wound with internal energy healing, a serious injury is still a serious injury.
“Ugh!”
It was ridiculous that despite my much worse injuries, I had to heal Musashi first, but I had no choice.
After finishing the emergency treatment on Musashi, I put him back in my wooden armor and was about to activate my escape technique when—
Whoa…
‘Not good?!’
The escape technique isn’t working…!!
‘A barrier is up!’
There was definitely no barrier stopping my techniques just before we fought! This means someone is targeting me right now?
Tensing up, I quietly raised my sword and scanned the surroundings, and soon, a gloomy voice reached my ears.
“You’ve put on quite a show, Divine Thief.”
“Who are you…?”
“Is that your real appearance? Seeing you use transformation techniques so skillfully earlier makes me curious.”
“……”
I almost let his name slip out, but I barely held back.
‘Zhuge Yulong!’
Appearing with a dozen astrologers backing him was the refined scholar Zhuge Yulong, clan leader of the Zhuge family and the dark force behind the current imperial palace! He was not only one of the three great powers in the world but also a middle manager of the Demon Subduing Hall, secretly pulling the strings of the Great Ming Empire. With skill and mastery in both martial arts and magic at high levels, defeating Zhuge Yulong in my current state would not be easy.
Standing beside Zhuge Yulong were two others. As I recognized their faces, my expression hardened.
‘…Zhuge Bu. Yong Junil…!!’
This is the worst.
Without a doubt, Zhuge Yulong used some means to detect my one-on-one duel with Musashi, secretly trailed me, and brought all his forces to encircle us. Zhuge Bu is definitely Yulong’s closest aide, and it makes sense that Yong Junil would connect with the astrologers through the Wind Spirit Sect to act alongside them.
Especially since Yong Junil had previously put a watch on me with magical techniques? Moreover, the Shura Sect, which was active from the Dragon Cloud Palace, is a lower force of the Wind Spirit Sect.
That’s probably why Yong Junil smirked and spoke to me.
“Ha ha, Divine Thief. For someone who used to be a pickpocket, your skills are impressive. If your body was in perfect condition, I might not stand a chance in a one-on-one fight. You are indeed close to the pinnacle among all martial artists.”
He stroked his chin.
“I can’t quite wrap my head around it. With skills like that, why were you roaming around as a pickpocket?”
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about. Divine Thief? What is that supposed to mean?”
“No need to act unaware. The fact that we’ve come here means we’re already certain you are the Divine Thief, right?”
Swoosh…
Yong Junil slowly drew his sword, taking up a stance. It felt like a typical Wind Spirit Sect sword style, but I could also sense the murderous aura of the Four Divine Sword Form mixed in with his sword energy. As expected, Yong Junil had also somewhat perfected that sword style and was skilled, making him no easy opponent.
I glanced at Zhuge Bu and Zhuge Yulong. Then I asked Zhuge Yulong.
“Why didn’t you attack while Musashi and I were fighting? Surely that would’ve been easier for you.”
“To attack mid-fight, huh… With absolute experts like you two, you might pause your duel and join forces to come after us. Plus, as you push further into a life-and-death struggle, you’ll exhaust all your techniques, and we wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to observe that, would we?”
“Thanks to that, I’ve made a firm decision. I must capture you no matter what.”
As I listened to Zhuge Yulong’s words, I was deep in thought.
‘What to do? Should I die, or should I run?’
Suicide would certainly be the simplest option. After all, I’ve already obtained the fortuitous encounter as the Divine Thief, acquired the foundational techniques of All Things, and even defeated Musashi. It might be better to take the easy way out than to get caught by those guys and mess everything up. Trying to escape would be a whole different level of difficulty. Yet, I couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling. I questioned whether this situation was really a crisis. If there was another path, I wanted to explore it.
‘Okay… since it’s come to this, let’s just take a plunge.’
I fell silent for a moment, made my decision, and spoke.
“Do you know of the world’s end that is to come in 500 years?”
“…….”
“I am working to prevent that. Do not interfere with me.”
The astrologers behind me shot me looks as if I were crazy, and rightfully so—suddenly claiming the end of the world while dueling Musashi would seem really out of place.
However, in that moment, I could sense Zhuge Yulong’s and Yong Junil’s expressions subtly change. My words had shaken them. After all, both Zhuge Yulong and Yong Junil recognized the impending doom of the world as reborn beings.
To drive my point home, I decided to spit out more information.
“Do not attack me. If you do, I will kill myself. That way, you won’t know why Changhil suddenly vanished or why the Eight Parts of the Divine are roaming the world.”
“……?”
“You’d better join forces with me before the Earth Star Eight Trigrams Diagram falls into the wrong hands… Changhil’s Eight Parts of the Divine can no longer be controlled by her.”
Zhuge Bu seemed flustered and began issuing commands to the astrologers behind him.
“What nonsense is this? This guy is crazy! Everyone, set up the Five Elements Barrier and capture him!”
Stop…
“Hold on.”
At that moment, Zhuge Yulong stretched out his arm to silence Zhuge Bu. Suddenly, it seemed like the magic was sealed, and Zhuge Bu was left stammering, unable to say a word. It appeared that Zhuge Yulong had instantly sealed his mouth with a silencing spell.
Zhuge Yulong looked at me with a serious gaze and said.
“That bravery of yours doesn’t seem like a lie. Why don’t we have a more serious discussion?”
“Uh… cough! Cough!!”
I tried to speak, but blood and chunks of my insides spilled out, causing me to grimace.
“Damn… first, release the encirclement and barrier.”
“Can’t do that. You possess a demon artifact that moves through time and space, making it difficult to track you. But I can offer you some healing potion instead.”
Whoosh.
Zhuge Yulong tossed me a pill, which I caught in mid-air. Upon closer inspection, it was a high-grade spiritual pill, known as Bae Hwan Dan. However, since I didn’t know what tricks Zhuge Yulong might have played with it, I just smiled slyly instead of swallowing it.
“Heh… Seems like you’re pretty desperate. With your bond to Changhil severed secretly, do you think you’ll be reduced to a mere fool under the Demon Subduing Hall, searching for another route?”
“Who are you? How much do you know?”
“As I said, I’m one worried about the world’s end. Like you, I don’t want to face that doom…”
“…….”
“I have a proposal for you. What I want is to defeat the king of ‘Life Sea’ and enter it. If you cooperate with that endeavor, I will provide you with all the information I have. Of course, that includes the whereabouts of Changhil and the full details of her disappearance.”
Choosing between dying or running away doesn’t suit my temperament.
After having lived 27 lives, I wouldn’t settle for such cowardly choices. If I could, I’d make use of Zhuge Yulong himself for my goal. If I had Zhuge Yulong’s help, perhaps it could be easier to take down the king of ‘Life Sea.’
“Hmmm… ‘Life Sea’… are you talking about Aokigahara Life Sea?”
“Yes.”
Zhuge Yulong seemed to ponder for a moment before responding.
“Alright.”
Whoosh!
In that instant, the barriers were lifted. I tentatively raised my hand over my escape technique, and this time, it responded, so it seemed the movement-blocking barrier had indeed been removed. I could have escaped like this, but instead, while steadying my energy, I insisted.
“I’ll see you in ten days. Let’s meet at the peak of Mount Huang’s Twenty-Four Peaks.”
“Understood.”
“Let me make it clear, but I absolutely detest human sacrifice and demon magic. Don’t go against my heart.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Pa-at!!
As soon as I finished speaking, I used my escape technique to head to an uninhabited area, checking to see if any tracking techniques or suspicious revelations were following me with my Fire Eye Golden Spirit. After confirming that nothing was there, I finally made my way to the Guangming Divine Doctor, Hwa Seong-myeong, in Goryeo.
‘Damn… I was going to head straight to Zhuge Sa, but I can’t do that in this state. I can’t hold on any longer.’
My injuries were too severe.
If I continued like this, no matter how skilled I am in Qi techniques, I would die.
Even if I go to Zhuge Sa, there’s a chance it might involve some bizarre methods like implanting a body with demon magic or transforming with the Soul Exchange Technique, so it would be better to go to Hwa Seong-myeong instead.
I offered Hwa Seong-myeong a great treasure and requested that he heal both myself and Musashi. He accepted the proposal, saying,
“Sounds good.”
“And please investigate the ingredients in this Bae Hwan Dan. Make sure there’s nothing dubious…”
“Sure.”
“And if possible, please reattach my fingers as well.”
“They’re cut cleanly, so it should be feasible.”
Eventually, I consumed the Demon Waste Potion and fell into a trance. At least I could trust Hwa Seong-myeong, who wouldn’t act foolishly while putting someone to sleep, being a true physician.
After some time in that state, when I awoke, it was a chilly morning with fog rolling in, and I found myself lying in a cot.
My body was densely covered with gold needles, and the stab wound on my abdomen had been entirely healed. Hwa Seong-myeong likely used a technique from his medical practices to extract my physical strength to enhance my natural recovery. Following the sequence of Hua Clan’s needle technique I remembered, I carefully pulled out the needles one by one before getting up.
As I stepped outside, I found Miyamoto Musashi standing by the pond, with his back turned toward me.
“You’re awake after three days.”
“Musashi.”
“Hwa Seong-myeong went out to attend to other matters. He’ll be back in two moments.”
“I see.”
Musashi seemed to have recovered much faster because he had fewer injuries than I did. He glanced my way and said,
“A promise is a promise. I’ll tell you about the Lunar Kill Technique and the king of ‘Life Sea.’”
“…You don’t want to ask what kind of person I am?”
“I’m not concerned with that. I’m simply keeping the promise of a warrior.”
“……”
It was a simple statement, yet I felt a sense of trust building from those words. I thought that kind of character was indeed worthy of a warrior. Finally, Musashi spoke up.
“To explain the Lunar Kill Technique, it can’t be done in just a few words.”
“Hmm?”
“It has been my entire life. I can briefly tell you about the king of ‘Life Sea,’ but I cannot do the same for the Lunar Kill Technique.”
“…….”
Miyamoto Musashi shifted his gaze to the sky.
“First, you must hear about my past…”