Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 231

“Is that even possible?”

Where is this place?

A place saturated with celestial energy, yet thick with ominous power like a dense fog.

Even immortals tread carefully here, for it’s notorious for causing one to become lost and succumb to inner demons. This is the Land of Nothingness.

For a mere Taoist, not even an immortal, to be residing here….

“Well, to confirm the truth, we need to hear their story first, but….”

It’s absurd.

Due to the Land of Nothingness, old memories and suppressed wounds resurface.

Taoists, who often live beyond ordinary lifespans, are susceptible to being consumed by such emotions and turning into demons.

‘But a Taoist is here?’

I couldn’t help but be skeptical.

If it’s another being merely disguised as a Taoist, we could lose our lives.

The Land of Nothingness is a place where anything can exist or not exist.

‘It could be a Taoist who just entered the Golden Ring Barrier, but….’

With San-gun and Cho-ah dispersing the ominous energy beside me, we are relatively fine; otherwise, our inner demons would have emerged, turning us into madmen.

That’s how dangerous the Land of Nothingness is, so how can a Taoist wander around unscathed?

“Then let’s do this.”

After pondering, I summoned the Bongak Blue Flower and created a five-petaled flower with it, saying,

“Let’s use this flower to make a decision.”

“…Pardon?”

“Meet them. Ignore them.”

I suddenly started plucking the petals, muttering to myself.

San-gun looked at me with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

The very act of creating a five-petaled flower meant the outcome was already determined.

Meet them.

Ignore them.

Meet them.

Ignore them.

“Meet them. I should meet them.”

“…”

San-gun crossed his arms.

‘He’s doing strange things.’

Even jade has its flaws.

San-gun smiled wryly at my uncharacteristic behavior.

“You shouldn’t disregard flower divination.”

“Is that even flower divination?”

“There are no coincidences in the world; everything is inevitable. This is also fate.”

“…Yes.”

He had much to say but refrained from doing so. He, too, was unsure how to handle the situation, so it was best to observe.

I strode forward and flicked my finger, shooting out blue energy.

Then, as if a curtain was being drawn, the ominous energy parted with a gentle breeze.

“It really is a Taoist.”

I exclaimed in surprise.

From a slightly different perspective, San-gun was equally astonished.

Standing between the parted ominous energy was a woman who introduced herself as a Taoist.

She held a staff in one hand, with a green lantern and bells attached to the end.

Her distinctive features were her blue hair and a bob that reached her neck.

Her features were elegant, but instead of one eye, she had a bizarre horn, making her appearance somewhat grotesque.

“But that appearance….”

She didn’t look like an ordinary Taoist to anyone.

Her level seemed to be that of an Earth Immortal [a high-level Taoist practitioner], but she looked more like a Yooksa [a type of mythical creature] than a human.

‘No… closer to a spirit-monster.’

Blue hair and a bob rarely seen here, and a bizarre horn on one side of her face.

Her extraordinary appearance and high level made it impossible not to be wary.

“Who are you?”

When I asked, she slowly lowered her staff and knelt on one knee.

“I am a wandering ascetic who has been aimlessly wandering in the Land of Nothingness due to unavoidable circumstances.”

At her words, I looked at her, then at San-gun, and nodded.

“She’s not my guest, so why don’t you offer her some tea?”

“Me?”

“She didn’t come looking for me.”

Then did she come looking for him? It was an incomprehensible statement.

“I’m also seeing her for the first time….”

“She won’t harm you.”

With those words, I turned away abruptly.

“Wait a moment…!”

He tried to stop me, but I vanished in an instant.

San-gun was left dumbfounded.

‘He opened the barrier as he pleased, so why is he dumping her on me?’

His face contorted, but the unknown woman was still kneeling. He couldn’t leave her like that forever, so he had to treat her with hospitality.

“Please get up. Since we’ve met like this, I’ll offer you a cup of tea.”

“Thank you.”

The woman followed San-gun inside without hesitation.

“We’ve just settled here, so we don’t have much. Please forgive us if our hospitality is lacking.”

“Not at all. What kind of treatment would I expect in the Land of Nothingness? I am grateful just for this.”

San-gun took out a table and chairs from the Gongjeonggang [a magical artifact, likely a storage space] and prepared some refreshments and tea.

Cho-ah helped with the preparations, glancing furtively at the horn on the woman’s face.

“Here, please enjoy.”

“Thank you.”

The blue-haired woman took a sip of the tea, closed her eyes at the rich flavor, and her eyelashes fluttered.

“…I apologize. It’s been a long time since I’ve tasted tea, so I showed an unsightly 모습 [Korean word for ‘appearance’ or ‘figure’, implying she showed a poor or undignified appearance].”

“No, how could it be unsightly when you are so pleased with the tea we offered? Please don’t mind it and enjoy it slowly.”

“Then….”

The woman slowly savored the tea and refreshments, smiling deeply.

She probably hadn’t had such food for quite some time.

San-gun waited until she had enjoyed it enough and then asked her various questions.

Where was her hometown, how did she end up in the Land of Nothingness, and how was she still alive?

He asked about her identity.

Then she uttered surprising words, which were quite an interesting story.

“You’re… Elder Cha of Kunlun [a legendary Taoist mountain and sect]?”

“Yes. I was a clumsy elder of Kunlun, but now I’m not even that.”

She was reluctant to speak about the flaws of her sect but, with a little prompting, she poured out her story like a dam had burst.

“The inside of Kunlun was sick. There was an informant in the sect. I knew this fact but pretended not to, focusing only on my cultivation.”

She said she always felt lacking in strength and had lived a life of injustice.

“That’s why I even went through with a flawed marriage. At first, I tried to live thinking it was just my fate, but the image of my original lover kept haunting me.”

And that was the root of the problem.

“Inner demons gradually spread.”

Clunk.

The woman’s face, as she set down her teacup, still held unresolved resentment.

“The situation worsened. Kunlun split into two factions, fighting to gain their own advantages, and I didn’t take sides with anyone in the center of it. Perhaps they wanted that 모습 [Korean word for ‘appearance’ or ‘figure’, implying she showed a poor or undignified appearance]. Perhaps I wanted the downfall of those who drove out my lover.”

The more he heard the story, the more San-gun’s brow furrowed.

“And eventually, it collapsed, and Kunlun was destroyed.

I covered up the flaws of the sect by disguising it as if it was done by another force. I was also caught up in that battle and suffered deep internal injuries, and my inner demons deepened.

I thought I had to find my lover to get rid of these inner demons and set out on a journey.”

But that journey didn’t last long.

The internal injuries didn’t heal and became more severe, and the inner demons also grew in size.

“While looking for a place to take refuge, I found the Gokgongjigan [likely a specific location or landmark], whether it was misfortune or luck.”

But it was ambiguous.

“That Gokgongjigan is….”

“Yes, foolishly, I didn’t know this place was the Land of Nothingness and entered. I was foolish, wasn’t I?”

“Ah….”

As San-gun and Cho-ah sighed, the blue woman covered her mouth and chuckled.

“You are a well-matched couple.”

“H, how embarrassing.”

Cho-ah blushed.

San-gun scratched his cheek and asked again.

“But how….”

“You mean how am I still alive?”

That’s right.

The Land of Nothingness is a difficult place even for San-gun, who is perfectly healthy.

It was only bearable because of my power, and it was fortunate that he could enter the Gongjeonggang to clear his mind and body; otherwise, it would have been overwhelming.

“Whether it was bad luck or good luck… I was wandering around here. The inner demons grew uncontrollably, and even my body was 변형 [Korean word for ‘transformation’ or ‘mutation’].

This blue hair and horn are also the end result of my foolishness in being captured by inner demons. But in the meantime….”

The woman smiled as she stroked her lantern-lit staff.

“I obtained this treasure. Perhaps… it’s the relic of a Taoist or immortal who 영면 [Korean word for ‘eternal rest’, implying death] here. As soon as I touched this staff, the ominous energy no longer had any effect on me. Furthermore, the madness of the inner demons also subsided.”

The woman looked at the staff with a proud look and put it down.

“It can be said to be a serendipitous encounter. But unfortunately, I couldn’t escape the Land of Nothingness. I’ve been wandering around here for over a thousand years, but I haven’t found an exit.”

“Over a thousand years?”

Cho-ah gasped and covered her mouth in surprise.

Having wandered the Land of Nothingness for over a thousand years, it was no wonder she looked so happy with a cup of tea.

Now, her actions began to make sense.

“To have wandered here for that long… you must have suffered a lot.”

“Still, I have gained many things here and take comfort in them.

There have been more than a few times when my life was in danger due to the fierce beasts, but I have gained no small amount of serendipitous encounters.

That’s how I was able to reach the level of an Earth Immortal with my humble talents.”

With those words, the woman began to boast about the things she had obtained in the Land of Nothingness, taking them out one by one.

Cho-ah and San-gun were inwardly embarrassed.

It was unheard of in the world of cultivation to show off one’s serendipitous encounters and treasures without any wariness.

But the woman didn’t seem to care and was busy explaining her treasures.

San-gun and Cho-ah looked at each one with bewildered faces and praised them.

All of them were treasures surpassing even the most precious, and most of them were things that couldn’t be obtained even if one searched for them in the Lower World.

Among them, the most prominent was a giant cauldron with three legs.

“I don’t know exactly what it is either. I found a bamboo tube while wandering the Land of Nothingness, and most of these things were inside. Perhaps an immortal came here and dropped it, or it might be his relic.”

Even if he didn’t know about the others, San-gun looked closely at this cauldron, and the blue-haired woman nodded her head in satisfaction.

“Even if I don’t know about the others, I seem to know how that cauldron is used. It seemed to be a cauldron used for alchemy. When you open it, there’s a thick medicinal fragrance inside.”

“May I open it?”

“Of course.”

Creak.

As soon as he opened the lid, a thick herbal scent spread in all directions.

He instinctively grabbed his nose and frowned, but on the contrary, his heart was pounding.

‘Is this the cauldron I was talking about?’

It wasn’t certain yet, but if it was true, this was an unparalleled serendipitous encounter.

If he could borrow this cauldron, wouldn’t he be able to refine the Ten-Life Golden Fish Grass and glimpse the opportunity for True Life Transformation!

San-gun took a closer look at the treasures she had taken out and sat back down.

“Cha Seonja [a respectful title for a Taoist], may I ask you something?”

“Since we met like this, what could be 거리낄 [Korean word for ‘awkward’ or ‘uncomfortable’, implying what could be held back]? Don’t hesitate and ask me anything.”

San-gun emptied his teacup and began to speak in a somewhat serious tone.

“I can’t claim to have been involved in the world of cultivation for a long time, but judging from Seonja’s attitude, I know one thing. Do you perhaps have something you want to ask of us?”

Otherwise, there was no way she would proudly take out her treasures like this.

She must be acting like that because she wanted something.

Cha Seonja sat in her chair with a faint smile and nodded.

“I must have been a little excited to meet cultivators after so long.”

She bowed her head and apologized before speaking directly.

“I’m sorry to say this on our first meeting, but… there is something I would like to ask of you.”

As expected.

“Of course, I’m not saying this empty-handed. If you wish, I can give you all of these things here as a reward. I swear on the name of Cha Ryuk!”

“……!”

Cha Ryuk?

“I shamelessly ask you to rebuild Kunlun in my stead!”

Her request was a request, but San-gun was even more shocked by something else, and that was her name.