Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 324

Looking down at his tattered and blood-soaked clothes, Han Li asked, surprised,

“Is this really your brother’s?”

As soon as they entered the storage area, Maeung found her brother’s belongings in a corner, and the color drained from her face. Her eyes, already red, welled up as she mumbled, on the verge of tears.

“How could I not recognize it? I made this outfit myself, and the mark engraved on this bracelet is unique to us siblings.”

Not knowing how to comfort her, he simply patted the woman’s shoulder lightly before quietly pushing open the stone door and stepping out. He decided it was better to leave her alone in this situation.

As expected, not long after he came out, the woman’s sobbing could be heard. Han Li sighed softly and looked up at the still unfamiliar sky in silence.

About an hour later, Maeung walked out of the building, her eyes bloodshot. She had regained her composure and spoke calmly.

“Let’s go now. If my brother is no longer of this world, there’s no need to search other villages. We can go straight to Storm Mountain.”

“We do need to go to Storm Mountain, but there’s something we need to do first. That is to collect some Yin-Essence crystals.”

“What are you going to use the crystals for? And the Yin-Essence isn’t going to be easy to deal with.”

“When I want to collect something, I always have a use for it, don’t I? Perhaps there’s no other place in the world to find them, so we should take enough when the opportunity arises. Also, this little guy will take care of the Yin-Essence, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Han Li flicked his sleeve, and a green light fell out. Maeung was truly bewildered by the sudden appearance of the little monkey.

“This little guy?”

“That’s right.”

Until now, finding people had been the priority, so they had deliberately chosen only safe paths. Therefore, even when they occasionally encountered low-level beasts, they had never obtained any crystals by killing them with the small sword. Han Li, who had an idea of the usefulness of Yin-Essence, though not certain, found it regrettable.

He turned around with Maeung and Jaehwon.

They planned to rest for a night in Hongto Village and then, early the next morning, find a place where strong Yin-Essence creatures gathered to test Jaehwon’s power.

* * *

A beast, six ‘jang’ [about 18 meters] tall, was leisurely moving within the basin terrain.

“……?”

Suddenly, a small sound reached its ears.

The beast turned its ferocious face, and there, only about a ‘ja’ [about 30 centimeters] tall, was a little monkey.

The little monkey’s eyes sparkled with excitement as it looked at the giant beast.

“Kuh-heung?”

The giant beast, instead of rushing at the monkey, let out a bizarre groan and began to retreat with a fearful look. However, before the beast could move, a yellow light flashed and enveloped it.

“Kuhahaha!”

The beast’s earth-shattering scream echoed, and the black energy sucked out by the yellow light disappeared into Jaehwon’s large nostrils.

The little monkey smacked its lips and patted its bulging belly with satisfaction, as if it had just finished a delicious meal.

At that moment, Han Li and the woman walked out from afar with calm faces. Maeung couldn’t understand what had just happened.

As the withered corpse of the beast came into her sparkling eyes, she realized that the small monkey was some kind of ferocious spirit beast she had only heard about. Han Li approached the beast and took out a silver, gleaming dagger from his sleeve.

Under the blade of the dagger, which moved without a sound, the beast’s head was split in half like a watermelon, and a thumb-sized green crystal rolled out.

Only then did Han Li bend down with a faint smile.

“If we go a little further west, there are a few more, so let’s take care of them all at once.”

Storm Mountain was a giant mountain that soared as if piercing the sky in the northeast of the Yin-Essence land. The middle of the mountain was covered in mist, making it impossible to see anything.

The mountain was made of shiny black rock, where not a single blade of grass grew. As soon as they entered, the icy wind that blew immediately threatened to turn them into black icicles.

Perhaps because this extreme environment further attracted the Yin energy around the mountain, the lightning above the sky flashed incessantly, and the biting cold wind created a bizarre atmosphere by stirring up dust storms.

This land, full of Yin energy, was the habitat of powerful demonic beasts. Therefore, extremely ferocious Yin-Essence beasts often appeared.

A large beast lay on the ground, rapidly withering away in the silver light. And the black energy that was taken away was once again enveloped in silver light and flew somewhere.

Then, a giant silver monkey, about ten ‘jang’ [about 30 meters] tall, revealed its ferocious face, with Han Li and Maeung sitting on its shoulders.

Han Li, looking down at the corpse of the Yin-Essence beast, jumped down lightly. Then, a cold light flashed, and once again, the beast’s head was cut off.

However, there was no gain. A hint of disappointment crossed his face, but it quickly disappeared. He had already collected over a hundred Yin-Essence stones.

He knew that there would be crystals among the low-level Yin-Essence beast groups, but he didn’t have time to deal with them one by one. He had to climb Storm Mountain before the next rift began.

Maeung also jumped off the monkey’s shoulder, and the spirit beast emitted light from its body, returning to a small, cute form about a ‘ja’ [about 30 centimeters] in size. The color of its fur had changed to silver-white, but it looked exactly the same as the previous Jaehwon.

Han Li smiled as he turned to look at the changes in Jaehwon.

In a short period, it had devoured the souls of numerous Yin-Essence beasts and had suddenly gained the ability to grow in size, and the color of its fur had also changed.

According to the book that Won-yo had given him, a true Jaehwon beast should not have such transformation abilities, and its fur should turn pitch black as its rank increased.

However, since Jaehwon was not a finished product from the start, it could not be completely refined, and the souls of the Yin-Essence beasts that grew in the Yin-Essence land were also unique, which seemed to have led to this strange result.

He didn’t know how this evolution had occurred or whether it was stronger or weaker than a normal Jaehwon beast, but he was simply enjoying the fact.

The baby monkey, having shrunk back down, flashed silver light and returned to Han Li’s sleeve, falling fast asleep. Han Li, smiling at the sight, looked at Storm Mountain in the distance, revealing a cautious expression.

He had dealt with all the powerful Yin-Essence beasts near Storm Mountain, and the one that had just withered away was the last. Now, all that was left was to climb the mountain.

“If we miss this rift, we’ll have to wait a few more months, so let’s depart now.”

“Okay. I don’t know how long it will last, but according to the rules the locals have figured out, if we miss the rift after half a month, we’ll waste another half a year, so let’s go quickly.”

Han Li, seeing Maeung quickly agree, headed towards the giant mountain with large strides. About an hour later, the two were able to reach the foot of the mountain.

It was extraordinary even from afar, but it was truly mysterious up close. The black mountain rose darkly without even a small hill.

Han Li did not rush and slowly explored a relatively easy place to climb, moving his feet. After a while, the two turned into small dots and disappeared higher and higher.

The first thousand ‘jang’ [about 3 kilometers] or so, at a relatively low altitude, was not difficult to climb, only consuming some stamina, but after that, the bone-chilling icy wind became so strong that it was difficult to take a single step.

They had already layered several pieces of fire-attribute beast hide clothing, but there was still no way to prevent their skin from stinging and their faces from turning pale.

If they were ordinary people, they would have already frozen to death. Han Li, walking through the icy wind with Maeung, narrowed his brow and stopped.

He pondered for a moment with a cautious face, then took out a fist-sized white bead from his chest. Then, a faint light spread out, enveloping the two, and the wind that was blowing madly greatly reduced its power when it touched the light.

Thanks to the Wind-Avoiding Bead, which had a rare wind-blocking function, it was still cold, but they could barely endure it.

The two slowly moved forward again. After walking for a long time, everything was now frozen, and the ground was slippery, making movement even more cautious.

Each time the two exhaled, white breaths escaped, and even breathing became increasingly difficult.

After taking one difficult step after another without rest, they arrived at a river that was completely frozen like crystal. The mountain terrain became even more treacherous, and it seemed that if they missed a step, they would fall off the cliff.

Han Li sighed and suggested a rest to Maeung, whose face was already pale.

“Let’s rest for a while under that rock. After recovering some energy, let’s move again.”

Maeung nodded with a faint smile at his words. The place he pointed to had a large rock that blocked the wind, making it seem suitable for resting.

* * *

Two days later, Han Li and Maeung were entering the thick fog in the middle of Storm Mountain.

The two had tense faces and were wearing small blue beads on their wrists. The blue light enveloped the two, and whenever the fog surged and tried to engulf them, it emitted light to block it.

Maeung relaxed a little at the sight of the gray fog unable to exert its power.

“If it weren’t for Brother Han’s Paraju [a magical artifact], we would have had to retreat from this fog even after passing through the icy wind.”

Han Li, who was about to answer with a smile, suddenly stopped walking and listened. Maeung, startled by his actions, immediately shut her mouth.

“Be careful. Someone is approaching from within the fog.”

At the same time, a blue light spread out, and he firmly gripped the small sword that appeared from his sleeve. As Han Li silently stared in one direction, Maeung had no choice but to step back a couple of steps and be wary in the same direction.

Now Maeung could also hear the footsteps. As the beautiful woman looked at Han Li with anxious eyes, Han Li, with a calm face, smiled at her.

“……!”

Embarrassed, Maeung first lowered her reddened head and avoided his gaze, unable to stop her heart from pounding.

Now, along with the footsteps, even the sound of heavy breathing could be heard in their ears.

What was a bit unexpected was that, judging by the presence, it seemed that not one but two people were walking one behind the other. Han Li’s brow furrowed slightly, and a fierce look began to form.

The young man who emerged from the dense fog was wearing a crown on his head, and a faint light was emanating from his belt.

He saw Han Li and his face changed as he shouted.

“You!”

It was Oncheonin, the successor of Yukdo, looking at Han Li with a shocked face.

“Yes, it’s me. If you know, then leave now!”

Swaek.

At the same time, a blue light flashed from Han Li’s expressionless hand, and a small sword shot out.

Thang!

The sword made a sound as if it had hit an iron plate and bounced off lightly, and a faint green light was twinkling inside the torn clothing.

‘Inner armor?’

However, not caring that the attack had failed, Han Li emitted a blue light from his other hand. This time, he aimed directly at the opponent’s neck.

“……Ugh!”

But there was no way Oncheonin would just stand there and take it. His figure flashed, and he dodged the blue light, putting strength into his legs and fleeing into the fog behind him.

It was quite a powerful movement.

Even though the attack had failed again, Han Li’s face, looking coldly at Oncheonin, did not look so dark.

Oncheonin, while hastily retreating, was watching Han Li’s expression and sensed something strange when he saw the corner of his opponent’s mouth slightly raised. He desperately twisted his body, but something sharp had already pierced through the back of his neck.

On the handle of the small sword, a translucent spirit beast tendon was stretched taut. In the end, Oncheonin, who had become a corpse, fell face down on the puddle.

His eyes were still wide open, as if he couldn’t believe he was dying in such a place. With an expressionless face, Han Li flicked his wrist, and the sword tied to the tendon obediently disappeared into his sleeve.

# 326