Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 135

Nangseon Gi Hwan Dam – 134

It was truly a state of complete oblivion.

The bodies of the four Black Mountain Monarchs, transformed by the Senior Brothers, were being infiltrated.

The years they had spent training, the mysteries of swordsmanship, and the memories of their lives.

Everything was mixed up in his head, a tangled mess.

-He was born with brilliance in his village but was ousted in the Kunlun Sect’s power struggles. He even had the woman he promised a hundred years of marriage to stolen by a fellow disciple. The Water Moon Clan seemed to hide secrets I didn’t know. But that too is the will of the sect.

“Keeeuuuuuuuuurrrgh.”

A bizarre sensation, like stirring up a well-made spiderweb with a stick, causing it to clump together. The Mountain Monarch’s eyes rolled back, and blood trickled from his mouth.

His whole body trembled like an aspen, but ridiculously, he couldn’t fall.

It was as if an intangible force held him tightly, preventing him from moving.

-I will hone my training and contribute to the sect that raised me. So I will not give up. I will enter the Sword Spirit Island and surely master swordsmanship to return to Kunlun. I will reclaim what I have lost.

-Being part of Water Moon, that is only natural. The path of the Great Dao [the fundamental nature of the universe in Taoism] is long and arduous, but being empty is worse than being rotten.

Master has passed away. But can I call him my master?

“Aaaaaargh!!”

His head felt like it was about to explode.

-The forces of the Ten Seas Myriad Feet Demons have grown stronger. We managed to fend them off this time by joining forces with the Allied Sect, but I worry about what will happen next time. The world ultimately belonged to the powerful. I still don’t know what the Dao is, or what chivalry is.

Cultivating the Dao is like defying the heavens, but misfortune is piled upon misfortune. So I must do it.

In his head, their yearnings overlapped in layers, whispering.

Blood streamed from his nose, and his teeth chattered.

There was no stopping it.

It only intensified.

Their yearnings.

Their wishes.

Their ideals.

The vital energy went berserk.

Beating like a drum, it surged uncontrollably, or gently.

The bones twisted.

Creaking eerily, they shrank and grew, repeating expansion and contraction.

The skin tore.

Healing and tearing in an instant.

From this person to that person, from that person to this person.

It was impossible to keep track as he shifted spirits dozens of times.

-1000 years have passed. Now there seems to be no hope. The master of the Myriad Extremes One Sword does not appear.

-I wonder if she in Kunlun is doing well. Has she forgotten me? Is Master doing well? No, already….

-It pleases me that she calls me Senior Sister without fail, but being a Yuksa [a type of immortal being] bothers me.

He felt dizzy.

Tears welled up.

Their memories.

Emotions swirled.

It felt like his own.

He seemed to be watching from afar, but when he came to his senses, he was them.

The body expanded and contracted dozens of times, threatening to explode, yet it inflicted tremendous pain as if it would shrivel up.

He felt sad and angry.

Fearful and pitiful.

Their voices.

Their memories echoed.

He didn’t know how many years had passed.

Hundreds of years might have passed.

He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know anything.

It was then.

The scenery changed, and the sky and earth flipped, revealing a longed-for sight.

“What are you thinking about today? Or did you come because you missed me?”

A woman smiling brightly.

Her elegantly braided hair was adorned with plum blossom ornaments, and she wore a light pink palace dress.

A beautiful woman.

He couldn’t help but think so.

Her name was Hwaran.

Yes. It was Hwaran.

* * *

At the same time.

Jangcheon was struggling to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, the Sword Array went berserk, and the Taeseon [Great Immortal] of the Geongono Peak turned into swords and disappeared.

After that, it was obscured by a thick fog, and he couldn’t tell what had happened.

He tried to examine it with divine sight, but the Sword Array was still emitting a powerful seal, making it impossible to see.

“There’s no way….”

There wasn’t.

There was nothing he could do.

If he had knowledge about Sword Arrays, it might have been different, but Jangcheon didn’t have any.

Born and raised as a Taoist of Escape, he had rarely committed acts of killing.

It was the same now.

Swordsmanship is powerful, but it is meant to hurt and kill someone.

That’s why Jangcheon didn’t learn swordsmanship even after coming to the Sword Spirit Island.

He simply practiced what he believed in and continued his cultivation.

But that belief was slightly cracked.

There is a big difference between not knowing something at all and knowing it but not doing it.

Jangcheon denied that difference, and the result of that denial was his current helplessness.

“Miss Gwiyul.”

Gwiyul glared at Jangcheon with sharp eyes. She was emitting such murderous intent that it felt like she would start a sword fight if he said another word.

Jangcheon closed his mouth.

Gwiyul only growled at the Great Tiger Yuksa, but she would try to kill others immediately.

Jangcheon smiled wryly and stared at the Sword Array. Small and large oracle bone characters seemed to be alive, circling and moving around.

They were called oracle bone characters, but they were things he had never seen before. Even Jangcheon, who had acquired all sorts of scriptures, was seeing these characters for the first time.

He even doubted whether they were really characters. It was like earthworms crawling, but the characters were constantly changing.

It was as if they were compressing layers of characters into one.

Uaaaaaaaagh!

Suddenly, screams erupted from the Sword Array.

Again.

Another scream.

Screams erupted at regular intervals, as if they couldn’t bear it.

Jangcheon swallowed hard.

It was then.

The forest swayed in unison.

They were Gubu [a type of forest spirit]. With such a commotion, it was only natural that they would gather.

Not only that, but other sword practitioners were also gathering out of curiosity about what was happening.

That wasn’t necessarily bad.

But misfortunes never come singly.

A huge energy was slowly approaching among them.

As if this situation was satisfactory.

Very slowly.

Jangcheon’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

He raised his staff without a word.

Then, the sword practitioners began to back away.

The Gubu too.

They disappeared as if they had never been there in the blink of an eye.

And then he appeared.

“Heaven must be helping me. Seeing the Taeseon disappear one after another.”

The only Eternal Yuksa of the Sword Spirit Island.

Jichung revealed himself.

* * *

His head was dizzy, but his heart began to feel a little more at ease.

He didn’t know why.

I am a wounded tiger.

And Hwaran is my benefactor.

A woman who takes care of me.

At first, I was wary, but she is the woman who supports me in this strange place.

It became comfortable to rely on her.

“Your wounds are healing quickly.”

Hwaran said, looking at my wounds.

They were wounds from being hit by a dozen shots from a hunter. I felt death, but I am alive.

It wouldn’t have been strange if I had died soon, but her pills were miraculous.

When I ate one, strength surged, new blood was created, and new flesh grew.

“It’s so strange. When I look into your eyes, it’s like you’re answering me.”

Hwaran stroked my head.

Her gentle voice.

And with her warm touch, I gradually fell asleep.

It was a cozy and comfortable feeling.

“Jangmun [Sect Leader]. The Jangmun of the Jongnam Sect….”

“Again? That damn old geezer is here to sexually harass me again.”

A sharp voice.

“We have no choice. The Ten Seas Myriad Feet Demons are increasingly expanding their power.”

“Who doesn’t know that? It’s because that old geezer keeps spouting nonsense about a hundred years of marriage with me. He’s lived for over a thousand years, what’s with the hundred years of marriage? It’s really bullshit.”

“We can’t help it…. The Great Elder, who was a Taeseon, has been missing for 40 years, so the Jongnam Sect guys are showing off.”

“Enemies on this side and enemies on that side.”

Listening to the incomprehensible conversation, his eyes slowly closed.

And several days passed.

My wounds were completely healed.

There was no pain anywhere.

It was still difficult to tell if this was a dream or reality.

It was hard to understand how I had fallen into a book and become a tiger.

The senses I felt were telling me that it wasn’t a dream, but the time I spent with her was telling me that it might be a dream.

“What are you licking so much? My hand is not for eating.”

Hwaran pulled her hand away and poked my cheek with her finger.

The days I spent with her were enjoyable.

I was able to realize once again what it meant to have peace of mind.

And as time passed, I realized that I was in the Hwasan Sect.

I also did not know the catastrophe that would befall the Hwasan Sect. I was just a tiger who couldn’t speak. Also, the Hwasan Sect Jangmun’s pet tiger.

No, I might have been pretending not to know.

Where this place is.

Whether it was the world I knew.

I was turning a blind eye.

I denied it, saying it couldn’t be.

Because it was so comfortable to be with her.

Spring came, summer came, autumn went, winter came, and spring came again.

It was repeated dozens of times.

Enjoyable days of bathing and hunting with her.

I was always by her side.

Every time, she was delighted.

I liked that.

I always knew about the shadow cast on her face, even though she was always smiling.

That’s why I always tried to be with her.

Pretending not to know her circumstances.

“Jangmun….”

“I know, so leave.”

Hwaran’s tone was not good.

She was holding her forehead with her hand, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The situation seemed bad.

I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I had heard stories through eavesdropping.

The Jangmun of the Jongnam Sect wanted Hwaran.

Even though the Ten Seas Myriad Feet Demons were approaching, he wanted to marry Hwaran.

“Isn’t it absurd?”

Suddenly, she said to herself.

No, she was talking to me.

Occasionally, she would talk to me, complaining.

I listened silently.

Right now, all I could do was listen.

I thought that’s how it would be.

I believed without a doubt that it was the best I could do.

“If only Hwabong Unni was here, our sect wouldn’t have suffered such humiliation.”

Today, I silently listened to her monologue and licked her hand.

Because I am a tiger.

Because I am a speechless beast.

And then more time passed.

She agonized every night, stroking my head.

Then one day.

She called the elders, who were only elders in name, and said with a bleak heart.

“I will marry.”

Many people rejoiced.

The old men rejoiced, but the young maids and disciples were sad.

The Jangmun of the Jongnam Sect was an old monster with four wives.

He was a Taoist who practiced the Dual Cultivation Method to enhance his cultivation through the affection between men and women.

I didn’t know what it was, but later I heard that it was based on the art of the bedroom.

I was sad too.

But she looked relieved.

She muttered to herself that if she could protect the sect with that, she would have to endure it.

She wasn’t talking to me.

It was a repetition.

I was sad.

And the day of the wedding came.

She was dressed more beautifully than anyone else in the world.

Dressed in red cloth, she was truly a beauty that could overthrow a kingdom.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her either.

“Daeho.”

She called me.

“What do you think?”

She was beautiful.

I unknowingly opened my mouth to answer.

But only animal sounds lingered.

But she smiled brightly.

As if she understood.

“Thank you.”

After that, the wedding was held immediately.

Many people came and went.

I was dizzy from the crowd.

But I chased after her.

Just.

It was just that.

There was no reason.

I just felt like I had to.

Even when she shared the wedding cup.

Even when she stood side by side with the old monster.

I was by her side.

And after the wedding.

The day of the consummation.

The first night.

I was there too.

“Daeho. Now go away.”

Hwaran was stroking me, trying to send me away with sad eyes.

But the old monster twisted his lips.

“Just leave him be. It wouldn’t be bad to have a spectator!”

The old monster said, looking at me.

His wrinkled face looked even more hideous when he raised the corners of his mouth.

It was a beautifully decorated bridal chamber, but it didn’t suit him.

Only that guy seemed to be from another world.

Hwaran trembled and closed her eyes.

The monster grabbed Hwaran’s shoulder.

It was a lecherous look and smile.

But I stood by.

Even though I knew what was about to happen, I stood by.

And it happened.

Thud!