Reincarnated Sword Ghost-Chapter 47 : Huayeon Gate

Huayeon Gate
The cave was collapsing.
The moment the wooden box was opened, a violent tremor echoed through the space, and the tall ceiling cracked and caved in.
That wasn't all.
The walls on all sides, connected to the ceiling, crumbled as well, and through the resulting gaps, an enormous amount of water began pouring in.
Even Jeong-un's body, collapsed and unconscious, floated lightly in the flood.
Ming Sect's Cult Leader Lee Shin(Otherworldly God/異神) stood in silence.
He merely gazed down at the boy in front of him.
"......"
The wooden box was empty.
No, the cultivation pill had been there, but the instant the box was opened, it dispersed into the air.
It had been crafted to do just that from the very beginning.
It was a pitiful, petty trick left by the eccentric old man known as the Divine Physician.
The former World's Greatest apparently had no intention of leaving any opportunity to the greedy martial artists who would come seeking his tomb, not even to the very end.
'... I never imagined it, misled by the lingering resonance of such deep internal energy.'
His talent for manipulating energy reached the heavens.
That level of sensitive perception for ki bordered on supernatural.
It was that very sense which clearly detected the presence of the Immortal Spirit Pill within the wooden box.
He had never once expected such a ruse.
But then, something even more astonishing happened.
A being that had been left behind, without roots, merely for amusement, managed to absorb all the true ki that should have dissolved into the air due to the Divine Physician's trick.
'This as well...'
There is a flow in the world.
Just as the Yangtze River swells in the same direction for hundreds of years, there are great flows one cannot resist.
His Baihui, which had developed peculiarly in the Ming Sect's Cult Leader, made him realize he was one who followed that grand flow.
And at times, he understood that he could slightly twist that flow as well.
Having been born with overwhelming innate talent, it was only natural for him to think so.
So, he never doubted the Immortal Spirit Pill would end up in his hands.
He was so certain it would be his that he had the audacity to use it as a toy.
But for the first time, something diverged from his design.
'What on earth is this brat?'
From the start, the boy had been odd.
The cultivated power within his body was meager, yet he emitted a strangely clear flow of ki.
Among hundreds of martial artists who had rushed in, he stood out as if he were alone, his presence distinct.
It felt like watching the cub of a rare spirit beast, not yet matured.
And he stored his energy with unusual purity, drawing attention.
He had just naturally become the perfect subject for an entertaining game.
"That trivial choice led to this upheaval?"
No, that wasn't it. The Ming Sect's Cult Leader shook his head.
Not at all.
The Immortal Spirit Pill had never truly possessed physical form.
A vast amount of true ki had been caught in an exquisite formation and temporarily gathered into the form of a pill.
When the wooden box was opened and the array was undone, naturally, the vessel collapsed.
The Immortal Spirit Pill should have disappeared completely.
The Cult Leader looked down at the boy.
'Yes, only the vessel has changed.'
That was enough.
This, too, must simply be the flow of the world.
At that moment—
Splash.
From beneath the pouring water, something rose to the surface, taking on a human shape.
Then, it bowed its head toward the Cult Leader.
"Cult Leader, they are on their way here."
"I see."
"What should be done about him?"
"Leave him."
Let's meet again when he's grown into a fully-matured spirit beast.
Muttering thus, he twisted his lips into a crooked grin.
* * *
Every tall mountain harbors at least one waterfall in its depths.
If the slope is gentle, people visit often, but in the deep mountain forests, where few tread, even the crashing water feels tranquil.
Perhaps that is why. Waterfalls deep within the mountains are especially beautiful.
Hmm—
A faint humming slips between the sounds of water as it cascades down in ripples.
It's a strangely fitting melody.
A young girl sat on a rock.
'She's beautiful.'
Sunlight filtered through the green leaves and fell onto the stream, giving rise to a slender rainbow.
At a glance, it resembled the gentle arc of a smiling mouth.
Jin Seoyeon saw this and smiled in return.
A precious daughter of Huayeon Gate in Dangyang County. That was her status.
"Young lady, it's time to go back. If the sun sets in these mountains, it gets dangerous on the way down."
"Just a little longer."
Jin Seoyeon showed no sign of leaving her usual seat.
The maid beside her grew restless and anxious for no reason.
'It's a sight you can only see now.'
This was the time of day when the sunlight hit the waterfall the most.
The rainbow only appeared at this precise hour.
Even the slightest cloud cover, and it would not be seen.
Only under these quite complicated conditions could one witness this rare and mysterious sight.
There was a reason why Jin Seoyeon cherished this sight.
Ever since she saw a rainbow by chance as a child, strange luck always seemed to follow.
Those small coincidences were enough to become her own private superstition.
Even now, she didn't need tangible results to be pleased.
Just the vague belief that things would turn out well.
That was enough.
"Ah, young lady!"
"Just a little longer."
"No, not that—wait, isn't that a person over there?"
"...?"
Jin Seoyeon followed the maid's pointing finger with her gaze.
Sure enough, a figure was floating on the current.
"A—A corpse!"
Her maid shrieked in alarm.
But Jin Seoyeon, who had watched the water more closely, remained calm.
With her trained martial arts eyes, she could detect the faint trace of breathing.
"Soran."
"Y-yes?"
"Go fetch Uncle Gong."
Then, without hesitation, she jumped into the water.
* * *
It felt familiar.
Even with his eyes closed, the sun pouring down on his face was dazzling.
He felt every strand of his hair warmed by the gentle light.
'Ah.'
Jeong-un murmured unconsciously.
His instincts told him not to waste this time.
Since the day he awakened from the dream of being the man who died clutching a sword, he rose at dawn every morning.
Regardless of the season, he always got up before sunrise and headed to the training hall.
So this languid sensation was both familiar and strange.
And it frightened him.
Because he feared he might sink once again into this comfort.
With effort, he lifted his heavy eyelids.
"......"
Just as he expected, it was broad daylight.
But the scenery around him was entirely unfamiliar.
However, what Jeong-un first checked was not his location.
He closed his eyes again and inspected his body.
He had awakened in an unknown place, but the memories before he lost consciousness were clear.
The man who had been called the Cult Leader.
And the heavy striking technique, laced with the secrets of the fist-and-palm art, that had pierced his side.
With a shock that shook his whole body, the circulation of his true ki had stopped.
In all his years of martial training, he had never experienced anything like it.
'Ah...'
He sighed again.
His flow of true ki hadn't ceased completely.
His meridians were still elastic, with no blockages anywhere.
But the circulating true ki was astonishingly weak.
He didn't know exactly what had happened, but it must have been at least several days since he had fallen to the Cult Leader's technique.
Yet he had never experienced such slow recovery before.
'Why?'
Then, he realized an unfamiliar fullness in his lower dantian.
He wondered why he hadn't noticed it the moment he awoke.
'What...?'
Foreign true ki had settled in his lower dantian.
There was such a strange abundance of it that it had tangled with his original reserves, impeding their proper circulation.
That was why so little ki was flowing through his meridians.
Rustle.
Jeong-un pulled down the silk blanket that had covered his upper body and sat up.
He thoroughly checked his body's condition, confirming with his own eyes.
He found no serious injuries.
Not a single cut.
"... How?"
He could not help but feel bewildered.
His curiosity about his surroundings was secondary for now.
How on earth was he still alive?
He had lost consciousness with his enemy right in front of him.
'I remember the wooden box being opened...'
Anything after that was a blur.
He vaguely recalled a hazy sensation, but the fragments of memory ended there.
Did that man spare his life?
If so, why?
As his mind filled with unanswerable questions—
Creak—
The door opened and a young woman entered.
And she was a very pleasant sight.
"You're awake!"
"......"
She fit perfectly with the luxurious room.
Pale white skin over a slender jaw, a sharp, graceful nose, and strikingly deep eyes completed her features.
Looking closer, she was somewhere between a young woman and a girl.
She gazed at Jeong-un with wide eyes, while he looked back at her with a slightly curious expression.
Her smile was so clear and transparent.
Jeong-un couldn't help but be wary.
He had just regained consciousness in a completely unfamiliar place.
Someone he thought good had turned out to be the leader of a sinister cult.
He had paid dearly for that misjudgment.
'... Not this person.'
Though faint, he could clearly sense the pure flow of ki only someone with martial training could possess.
While one could still be evil regardless of their internal energy, it wasn't something he could judge so quickly.
Besides, in the current circumstances, suspecting someone who seemingly saved him was not right.
'And besides...'
If even someone with such a transparent face was rotten inside, he might as well go around with a sword unsheathed at all times.
She was that transparent.
So he set aside his wariness for the moment.
"The physician said there was nothing serious, and it seems he was correct."
"......"
Nothing serious?
He inwardly refuted it.
Impossible—there was a tremendous problem with him right now.
As Jeong-un lowered his eyes, lost in thought, the woman asked again.
"Do you have any discomfort?"
"N-no. Just..."
He politely cupped his fist in gratitude toward the woman who looked at him with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
"Thank you."
"... Wow."
She smiled with ease at his gesture.
* * *
It was his first time being treated as a guest.
After leaving the Yu household, he had headed straight to the Heavenly Martial Hall, so it was only natural.
This place was a small village within Dangyang County.
And Jeong-un had ended up at a small military hall called Huayeon Gate.
He spent several days here, hiding his identity as a martial artist from the Heavenly Martial Hall.
On the pretext of recuperation.
'Until I recover at least the minimum of my internal energy, I have to stay hidden.'
By now, Jeong-un had learned how things worked in the martial world.
A reputation only shines when there is skill to back it up.
If word got out that a Heavenly Martial Hall warrior was here, members of the Evil Faction trying to prove themselves might show up.
If so, it would only burden those who had shown him kindness.
All the more so in his current state.
― Sir, please stay as long as you need.
Fortunately, Huayeon Gate's leader was as kind as her daughter.
She looked after him, concerned he might need something.
As fitting for the training hall of a small village, guests were rare.
The spacious guest quarters were entirely at Jeong-un's disposal.
'I have to recover soon.'
And he needed to deal with this strange foreign energy flooding his lower dantian.
So, he spent several days sitting cross-legged, regardless of day or night.
Except for brief mealtimes with a servant, and the occasional short chats with Jin Seoyeon who stopped by to check on him, he devoted all his time.
During this period, he even ceased his daily sword technique practice.
He focused on slowly untangling the knot of internal energy within him.
"Such insolence!"
A strange voice interrupted his meditation.