Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 193

Nangseon Gi Hwan Dam – 192

In the dimly lit cave, San-gun and Yoho stared at each other for a long time.

Yoho’s eyes were filled with affection, yet tinged with occasional anger, while San-gun’s gaze was noticeably anxious.

As if aware of the reason, Yoho asked with a bitter tone,

“You must be worried about your wife.”

Feeling embarrassed at being found out, he chuckled awkwardly.

“That too, but I was wondering how you ended up at their auction. And what’s with that appearance…”

Her whole body was covered in blood, with no part unscathed. It was a sight that naturally made him frown. How could he ask about Cho-ah’s well-being first?

“A lot has happened.”

Thud.

Droplets of blood fell and trickled across the ground.

Her condition was truly dire.

“Haa… Let’s treat your body first. You’ll pass out before I finish hearing the story.”

He sighed and immediately took out several talismans from his pouch, attaching them to Yoho’s body. He quickly formed a hand seal and chanted an incantation, causing the talismans to glow, stopping the bleeding and mending her flesh.

“Ugh….”

Yoho groaned.

He examined every part of her body with his divine eye, ensuring there were no other abnormalities, before releasing the hand seal.

‘These aren’t wounds from just a day or two.’

The scars all over her body were marks etched over decades, even centuries.

There were many stories to tell.

“I’ve treated the urgent wounds, so rest easy and comfortably. I’ll be here to protect you…”

As a gentle blue wave emanated from his touch, Yoho’s eyes slowly closed.

San-gun looked at her with a heavy heart before leaving the cave.

After standing there like a stone statue for a moment, he seemed to have an idea. He opened his palm and gathered blue spirit energy.

The spirit energy soon transformed into a small bird, which flapped its wings and flew away.

Following that, he sat in the lotus position in front of the cave and began to rest quietly as well.

A few days later.

San-gun, who had been sitting all along, opened his eyes and stood up from his meditation.

After waiting for a moment, two women in fluttering warrior robes descended gracefully from the sky.

“Lord Yuk-gwi! You were here!”

Her voice was filled with both joy and resentment.

“You’ve found me.”

“’You’ve found me?’ You say that after all we’ve been through? Does that carefree attitude even make sense to you, seeing the state we’re in?”

They were So So-jeo and Hori.

Hori somehow couldn’t meet San-gun’s eyes, and So So-jeo raised her voice, clearly very angry.

“We need to hear what happened! Suddenly appearing and participating in the auction, then causing such chaos with the Lightning God Technique! And that’s not all! I almost died because of Lord Yuk-gwi’s Bucheonbulbyeok [a powerful defensive technique], and we went through all sorts of hardships bringing Lady Ho here all the way to Banrong!”

“Calm down for now. I’ll tell you everything.”

At his response, So So-jeo crossed her arms as if to say, ‘Let’s hear it then.’

It seemed she had gone through her own hardships while taking Hori around.

San-gun pondered where to begin, then slowly started to tell the story, starting with his connection to Yoho.

Initially skeptical, So So-jeo’s eyes widened in surprise as she listened to the story of San-gun and Yoho’s relationship.

“I had a feeling… Ever since I heard she was the last Gungbiho [a mythical winged tiger], I felt there might be some connection with Lord Yuk-gwi….”

A winged tiger.

Since So So-jeo knew San-gun, it was not unreasonable for her to think of him.

Only then did So-jeo realize why San-gun, who disliked being the center of attention, had caused such a commotion, and she soon nodded in agreement.

“Is she alright? If she’s been carrying such old wounds, she must have both external and internal injuries.”

“Probably.”

Whatever happened, the pain she had endured must not have been short-lived.

She had appeared at the auction of the Gwigang Chongma [a powerful demonic artifact], so she must have been captured by someone. It seemed likely that she had been sold to them.

‘I’ll have to hear the details.’

A sigh escaped him.

Whatever story she had to tell, it wouldn’t be good.

And inevitably, Cho-ah’s situation would not be good either.

He was filled with worry.

“But why are you so gloomy, Blackie?”

He was the one feeling down, but he didn’t know why Hori looked so tearful.

He looked at So So-jeo, who shrugged as if she didn’t know either.

“You must be tired, so rest around here. It’s not a place where spirit veins flow, but it’s not like we can afford to be picky. Besides, we have a few stashed Boyeongseok stones [stones that enhance spiritual energy].”

At that, So So-jeo flinched and waved her hands awkwardly.

“That’s not true.”

San-gun smiled knowingly.

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

“Ahem, I’ll go rest first!”

So So-jeo disappeared as if running away, and Hori cautiously watched him.

San-gun wondered why she was acting like that and stared at her before speaking.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“W-what are you talking about!”

“You keep looking at me. You’re not usually one to be so cautious. Why are you suddenly acting like that when you never used to, even when I told you to? Did you steal something delicious to eat?”

He teased her about why she was acting like that, and she shook her head as if that wasn’t the case.

“Then what is it? Are you still angry that I covered your mouth last time? That was because you were too loud….”

As he glanced down, Hori glared at San-gun with blazing eyes.

“Shut your mouth! I still get angry just thinking about that time!”

“What, was that it?”

“No! That’s not it! I’m not stupid either!”

“Then what is it?”

Hori clenched her fists tightly.

She hesitated for a moment, then shouted.

“I-I’m scared of you!”

San-gun tilted his head.

“Scared? What’s there to be scared of….”

San-gun’s eyes narrowed.

Hori’s condition was indeed strange.

She shouted with a loud voice, making it seem like she was back to her usual self, but her hands were subtly trembling.

“Why wouldn’t I be scared! Even though you and I were close friends before, your realm is Yeonggeop [a high spiritual realm], and I’m Yeonggyeol [a lower spiritual realm]!

Of course, it’s natural for me to fear you! And I hate you!”

He was taken aback.

It wasn’t something he hadn’t considered.

Hori didn’t have her memories, but others remembered her, so they treated her the same.

Her realm was Yeonggyeol, but her position was Gwiwang [a ghost king].

She was one of the Nine Ghosts.

He thought he was being considerate, but it seemed confusing for her.

“Even the Gwiwangs and Gwisus [high-ranking ghosts] treat me respectfully. But what they revere is the former me, not the current Yeonggyeol Yuksa that I am!”

Whatever the former self had been, the current Hori was just an ordinary Yeonggyeol.

Why wouldn’t she feel that way when it was a past she couldn’t even remember?

“Whatever the former me was, the current me is Yeonggyeol. How could I not be afraid of you….”

Hori spoke without taking a breath, as if venting her pent-up feelings.

She was trembling all over, perhaps because she was agitated.

San-gun blankly listened to her.

She was expressing her confusion, but San-gun felt the same.

He was confused.

“Lord Gu-gwi. Please come with me for a moment.”

“Wah! Wh-what is it! Who are you!”

Hwaran appeared from the void, embraced Hori, and took her away.

San-gun smiled bitterly and leaned against a nearby tree, slumping down.

“This is a mess….”

She was clearly alive, but in some ways, it was as if she were dead. She was definitely Hori, but she wasn’t Blackie.

That made him feel inexplicably sad, and a corner of his heart felt heavy and sore.

“Even though I knew about Hwabong’s memories, I didn’t consider Blackie… I knew she would be more confused than anyone else, but I just vaguely hoped to be rewarded.”

His martial sister, Hwabong, had ultimately failed to recover her memories. Even though he knew how confused and lost Hwabong had been, he had ignored it and only wanted her to remember him, only fueling Hori’s confusion.

San-gun blamed himself.

“Even a god isn’t omniscient, so why am I so arrogant…”

He sighed deeply, looking at the ring on his finger.

The sky was clear and cloudless, but its blueness seemed particularly bleak today.

* * *

Hengshan, one of the Five Great Mountains.

Originally a sacred mountain occupied by the Seondo Sect, it had long been transformed into a mountain controlled by the Demonic forces.

However, for some reason, black smoke was rising from Hengshan, and most of the sacred mountain was half-destroyed, with landslides flowing down. On the collapsed summit of Hengshan, a man sat precariously, indifferently looking down at the mountain below.

“I was going to enjoy it slowly, but he’s no ordinary guy. To think he’d break the master’s seal. The ones who became vessels of Gyuncheonogwang [a powerful celestial energy] couldn’t do it, but he did, so he deserves praise, but…”

The indifferent man’s eyes wavered, and jealousy and envy flared up.

“I can’t let only you escape from this endless hell… How can a cultivator from the Lower Realm defy a god from the Upper Realm.”

Suddenly, five-colored energy surged from the man’s entire body, and the powerful spiritual pressure swept away the clouds and mist.

“It’s unfair, isn’t it? Of course, it’s unfair. If only you escape like that, the sacrifices of those like me, as well as the sacrifices of my comrades who have become one with me, would be too pitiful.”

The man muttered to himself, then vanished in an instant.

* * *

A few days later.

Yoho, who had risen from her sickbed, disguised herself as a human and greeted San-gun.

Due to the decline in her realm from the Yeongmyeong [a high spiritual realm], she couldn’t fully transform, but she could still disguise herself to some extent.

“I know you have many questions.”

“Take your time. Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

He sat close to Yoho’s bedside and stroked the back of her hand.

“Why are you doing this? You’re acting out of character. Are you really the person I knew?”

Yoho blushed as if he were being shameless and pulled her hand away.

“You used to like this, didn’t you?”

“I never did. Which woman have you been fooling around with? Your wife would be delighted to hear that.”

He was trying to be nice because he felt sorry for her, but she was acting so picky that his desire to be kind disappeared.

“Tsk, then tell me. How did you end up in that state?”

“…”

He asked gruffly, feeling awkward, and Yoho’s face was filled with worry.

He waited patiently, and her lips parted slightly.

“After my lord left, the lady and I went on a journey for cultivation. Because of a request that a certain heartless person left me, I had no choice but to head to the North Sea, which was not in my destiny.”

She was referring to San-gun’s request to watch over Cho-ah’s training.

San-gun awkwardly avoided Yoho’s gaze and nodded.

“The first 200 years or so were good.”

Cho-ah had successfully secluded herself and raised her realm, and she was even on the verge of becoming a Hwanseon [a celestial being], let alone a Taeseon [a high-level immortal], she said.

As they spent time together, they opened up to each other, and although they weren’t quite sisters, they still relied on each other a lot, she said.

“Then, suddenly, an old woman appeared and took the lady away.”

“An old woman?”

The old woman who suddenly appeared saw Cho-ah and said she wanted to take her as a disciple.

Yoho protested, saying it was nonsense, but she couldn’t even resist.

“That old hag was a Jiseon [an earth immortal]. No matter how skilled my divine powers were, I couldn’t beat a Jiseon, so I was helpless.”

When she came to her senses, she was in the hands of the Jiseon, enduring a harsh life of confinement, and her realm had declined due to untreated internal injuries, and she was on the verge of death, she said.

“If the lady hadn’t secretly given me a pill, I would have already died.”

The Jiseon hag was furious because the pill was quite valuable, she said.

It was truly absurd.

“After that, there wasn’t much else.”

The angry Jiseon sold Yoho off, and San-gun rescued her afterward.

She was speaking relatively calmly, but Yoho’s hands were trembling slightly when she spoke about the Jiseon.

After hearing the whole story, San-gun clenched his teeth and suppressed his anger.

“What is the name of that Jiseon?”

“They called her Choumseonnyeo of the Ice Palace.”

“Choumseonnyeo(草陰仙女)!!”

“Have you heard of her?”

San-gun’s lips twisted bitterly.