Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 312

Tales of the Divine Swordsman – Part 2, Episode 21

“So that’s what happened.”

“It was nothing. A big tiger like me can handle things like that in a snap.”

Saha had paused her seclusion to meet with Cheonbeom, who said he had something to discuss.

“Hwangon, do you know him?”

“I do. I’ve heard that Minister Hwang and Yongma Valley were always neck and neck, and that Hwangon and I were often compared.”

This was because they were both talented and had achieved great martial prowess at a young age.

“That was a long time ago, though.”

“There’s no need to worry about him. Cheonmujang said he would personally send him into exile, so we won’t be seeing him again.”

Even if they were to meet again in a thousand years, that would be then.

‘It’ll be cleaner that way.’

It’s good to keep things clean when it comes to settling grudges.

“Seonsaeng [Teacher/Master].”

“I’m listening.”

“You wouldn’t have interrupted my seclusion just to tell me about that, would you?”

“You’re right.”

Saha’s cheek twitched at his brazen reply.

“Just kidding. Can’t even joke around.”

“You’re being mischievous.”

“It’s not that, I also wanted to ask you a few things about the Minister, so you don’t have to be so tense.”

“If you’re going to ask…”

“Is there such a rush?”

The Tiger looked at the moon through the window.

The same full moon he had seen with her before.

“The mother moon and the child moon are together, so please spend time with me today.”

“…I see. Understood.”

Saha looked at the moon in the Upper Realm with a complicated expression before nodding.

As she answered, Cheonbeom took out two jars of infused liquor from his chest.

One had a purplish-red hue, and the other was bright red.

He carefully opened the lids of the infused liquors and smelled them with a hand fan.

The fragrance spread instantly, tickling the tip of his nose.

It must have been a fine liquor aged for quite some time, as his mouth was already watering at the sweet scent.

“One is made with jujube berries and various other ingredients, and the other is made with Chinese bayberries.”

Both are my prized possessions.

He said, smiling bitterly.

“But why…”

“Why what?”

She stopped herself from asking why he looked so sad.

She felt like she knew what these were for some reason.

“Let’s have a drink first.”

“Yes.”

First, the jujube liquor infused with jujube berries.

With its purplish-red color and various medicinal herbs, it seemed more like medicinal wine than infused liquor.

“It has a clean aftertaste.”

“It does, doesn’t it? Does it suit your palate?”

“Yes, at least to my taste.”

“I see.”

Cheonbeom smiled pleasantly.

“A long time ago… I ran into her in a place, and she was picking jujube berries there. She said she was going to make infused liquor.”

Saha listened quietly.

She knew who he was talking about.

‘They fought after that.’

“Afterward, for some reason, we bared our teeth and had a fistfight.”

His chuckling and relaxed expression made Saha feel like he was drunk, which she found fascinating.

Without needing to reply, he sipped his liquor and spoke.

Most of it was about her.

“She said she was going to make infused liquor, but in the end, she died without even getting to drink it.”

‘So that’s why.’

Saha thought.

She was a little surprised when he suddenly said he liked the moon and asked her to keep him company.

It was like he was setting up a drinking table with a woman in the middle of the night.

‘Is it a memory?’

Or is it regret?

She couldn’t tell.

She just listened to him silently.

“Ah, right. This is Chinese bayberry liquor.”

Chinese bayberry liquor infused with Chinese bayberries.

The unusually red color made it look like blood.

The sweet scent was even stronger, as if nothing else had been added.

“Would you like to try it?”

Saha emptied the Chinese bayberry liquor in one gulp.

“You drink well.”

“I can hold my liquor a bit.”

The Chinese bayberry liquor was sour yet sweet, a flavor that women would like.

It was so sweet that it didn’t taste like alcohol at all.

“I don’t really like this one. It’s too sweet.”

“Is that so? I like it.”

Saha looked at the Chinese bayberry liquor in her glass for a moment, then looked at the Tiger.

He was hesitating slightly.

No, he was hesitating.

She pondered for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Does this liquor have a story too?”

“…It does. Do you want to know?”

“Yes, the liquor is so sweet and delicious.”

The Tiger’s expression brightened.

Saha found his appearance a little endearing.

“The Sawolrang clan, who called me Eunja, planted Korean stewartia trees and buried bones beneath them for funerals.”

The Korean stewartia tree would absorb the nutrients from the bones and bear fruit.

And they would brew liquor with that fruit, and when the anniversary came, everyone would gather to drink and reminisce.

“That fruit is…”

“Called Chinese bayberry.”

Saha looked at her glass.

She saw her face reflected in the glass.

In the swaying glass, something else was briefly reflected before Saha was reflected again.

“This Chinese bayberry liquor…”

“Is brewed with her Chinese bayberries. Maybe that’s why it’s so sweet.”

She was never sweet at all.

Cheonbeom let out a hollow laugh as if he found it funny.

“I see.”

“Sorry. Did I make you feel bad?”

She didn’t feel bad.

“Why would I feel bad?”

It was just a fresh impression.

Seeing him laugh like that while telling a story by himself was new and refreshing.

A little bit.

She was also a little envious.

“I keep trying to reminisce about her through you. I thought you might feel bad. She’s her, and you’re you.”

“It’s okay. Please don’t mind it.”

“Still… I wanted to let you taste this liquor no matter what. I just, I don’t know why, I just wanted to.”

He said with a relieved expression.

Saha looked like she was finally putting down something heavy she had been carrying on her shoulders.

“Seonsaeng.”

“I’m listening.”

“If I complete my ascension safely, will you grant me one request?”

“A request?”

“Yes. It’s an important request.”

Normally, he would have listened to the story.

Shouldn’t he know what the request is before promising to grant it?

“Is it something I can grant?”

“It’s a very simple matter.”

“Then I will.”

It was an unlike-Tiger promise.

But he felt good today, and his heart was light.

So he promised.

“Can I know what the request is?”

He asked belatedly.

“Please leave it as a pleasure for after I become a Seonsaeng.”

Cheonbeom scoffed at the cheeky reply and dismissed it.

“Alright, I will.”

Cheonbeom raised his glass.

Today was a day he wanted to get drunk.

“The moon is good, and the liquor is good, so…”

There’s no reason not to drink.

As he kept drinking, the Tiger became completely drunk and fell asleep in his chair.

Saha approached him.

After staring at him for a long time, she stroked his cheek.

“Thank you.”

For everything.

* * *

When the Tiger opened his eyes, the sun was already high in the sky.

And.

“Water, please.”

Hwaran was also there.

“Water.”

The drunkenness hadn’t worn off yet.

His head was spinning.

He struggled to get up and looked around, seeing himself sprawled out in his bedchamber.

“Here’s your water.”

Splash! Hwaran scooped up water in a bucket and splashed it in his face.

The dripping water flowed down his entire body.

He didn’t know what her intention was, but it woke him up instantly.

And his patience was about to break.

“What are you doing?”

“Making you wake up.”

Hwaran looked down at him with a stern expression.

Cheonbeom recalled the events of last night.

He wondered if he had made any mistakes.

But there was nothing in particular.

“I don’t remember.”

He didn’t remember anything in particular.

“Of course you wouldn’t. How could you remember after drinking so much?”

Seeing her sarcastic attitude, he thought it was best not to upset her.

He quietly swept back his hair and threw off his clothes.

He might as well soak in the nearby valley while he was wet.

“You really don’t remember?”

“I don’t. What did I do?”

“….”

Hwaran, who had been looking at him with flounder-like eyes, hugged herself.

“Last night, you were like a beast…”

“Don’t joke around.”

He glared sharply at Hwaran, who pouted her lips.

“Saha Seonseon [a respectful title, like ‘Esteemed Master’] carried you here. She said you were very drunk.”

“I showed her an unsightly sight.”

“You don’t die even if you eat deadly poison, but you’re susceptible to alcohol? Ah~ Is it because it was liquor poured by a young and pretty woman that you got so drunk?”

“It’s not like that.”

“What do you mean it’s not? It’s obvious. You got drunk on the liquor and intoxicated by her beauty, and you were thinking of snuggling into Saha Seonseon’s arms!”

“Don’t shout, it’s giving me a headache…”

Why is her voice so loud?

Cheonbeom quickly circulated his energy to dispel the drunkenness.

“I feel a little better now.”

“I cried sadly by the side of the drunk Mountain Lord last night. I thought, ‘So this is the heart of a rejected woman,’ and I cried so much that the cuckoos went away.”

“Rejected? Absolutely not.”

“I know.”

“…Then why are you doing this?”

“Because it’s fun.”

Hmph!

She made a nasal sound and disappeared like a ghost.

“What is she…”

You can never understand a woman’s heart.

Even after living for two thousand years, he couldn’t figure it out, so it seemed more difficult than the Great Dao [the fundamental nature of the universe].

Cheonbeom shook his head and headed to the nearby valley.

Splash.

It felt cool and nice to soak in the water.

The valley was quite deep, so his body slowly sank, and it was quiet and nice.

‘The Seonsaeng Martial Competition…’

His body sank, but his worries floated to the surface.

‘What should I do?’

Cheonmujang’s letter contained many benefits of becoming a Cheonmuseon [Celestial Military Immortal].

First, more Seonqi [spiritual energy].

He said that they would spare no support to allow him to cultivate quietly in a place with abundant Seonqi.

If you only look at that, you might say, ‘What’s the difference between joining another family?’ but he said that a much larger number of treasures and precious objects would be provided, which could not be compared to that.

And the second is the Geopjeong [Tribulation Resistance Pavilion].

When he asked Tangomal, he said that the Geopjeong was a secret treasure of the Water Realm that was created a long time ago, and that those who had to undergo the Heavenly Tribulation could greatly reduce its power by entering the pavilion called Geopjeong.

The exact principle is that the Heavenly Tribulation that must be received at once is divided and received over a long period of time, so usually, if you undergo the Heavenly Tribulation with Geopjeong, you have to undergo the Heavenly Tribulation for dozens of times longer than usual.

‘But if I can safely undergo the Heavenly Tribulation, that’s a benefit.’

The Heavenly Tribulation of the Upper Realm is powerful.

The Heavenly Tribulation of the Upper Realm is dozens of times more powerful than the Heavenly Tribulation he received in the Lower Realm.

Moreover, the types of Heavenly Tribulation are also diverse, making it even more dangerous.

[Don’t you know that? Besides the Five Elements Tribulation, there are many strange tribulations such as the Love Tribulation, the Killing Tribulation, and the Karma Tribulation. That’s why cultivators fear the Heavenly Tribulation.]

That’s what the Tangomal Seonseon, who he had become a little closer to, had said.

Unlike in the Lower Realm, the Heavenly Tribulation is powerful and diverse.

If he becomes a Cheonmuseon, it will be much easier to withstand that Heavenly Tribulation, so most Seonsaengs, even if they are not Cheonmuseon, want to become immortals of the Tongcheon Water Palace.

‘And the Law.’

If he becomes a Cheonmuseon, he can progress a little more gradually in his cultivation of the Law.

The Cheonmuseon is a group of strong Seonsaengs who are called the core of the Tongcheon Water Palace.

Therefore, they can examine all kinds of powerful Gongbeops [cultivation techniques] and books on the Law in the Water Realm.

‘Besides, I can legally go out to other realms.’

He is currently in the Water Realm, but in time, Cheonbeom is also thinking about heading to the Immortal Realm.

He is worried about his disciple who ascended to the Upper Realm before him, and he cannot leave his wife who will come up later.

‘It’s still a long way off, though.’

Whoosh.

Cheonbeom, who had come up to the surface of the water, instantly created flames to evaporate the water.

“I heard that there is about 30 years until the Seonsaeng Martial Competition.”

It seemed like 30 years in the Upper Realm was treated like about three months.