I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 17
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
17.
Eun Hui-gyeom reacted before I did.
“The Mudan Sect?”
I nodded.
“How so?”
“He was originally a martial artist.”
“Cough! No wonder his skills were absurdly exceptional!”
I’d known that Kang Jin-heon came from a martial artist background, but I had no idea he had ties to the Mudan Sect.
“What kind of connection does he have with the Mudan Sect?”
“I’d prefer to discuss this somewhere quieter.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
There must be a story behind this.
Realizing how thoughtless I’d been, I apologized hastily.
The three of us first left the Mission Hall and entered a teahouse on Cheongseong Street.
As soon as we sat down and ordered tea, Kang Jin-heon unfurled a barrier talisman to block our conversation from prying ears.
Eun Hui-gyeom took a sip of tea and leaned back in his seat, pressing Kang Jin-heon for answers.
“So what’s your connection to the Mudan Sect?”
“I was originally a disciple of the Seochen Sect, one of the lay branch sects under the Mudan Sect.”
….
….
“And then what!”
When no answer came even after a long pause, Eun Hui-gyeom cried out in frustration.
“How does being a disciple of a lay branch sect connect you to the Mudan Sect?!”
“C-calm down. Calm down.”
“Sister, let’s just go without him. I can’t stand this frustration.”
“I became a member of the Seonmun, but I heard that one of my fellow disciples became a disciple of the Mudan Sect.”
“That’s it?”
Kang Jin-heon nodded in response to Eun Hui-gyeom’s objection.
Eun Hui-gyeom slapped the request form onto the table with a sharp sound.
“See this? Even if he’s a disciple of the Mudan Sect, we don’t know who issued the request or whether he’s truly a Mudan disciple. So we can’t even be sure if we’ll meet your fellow disciple.”
Eun Hui-gyeom muttered that it was strange such a request had even reached the Chingwoo Immortal Sect.
“I only need to find out about my fellow disciple.”
“Fine! We’ll go and come back, so you stay here.”
“I’m going too.”
“Who gave you permission? The contribution is only worth 500 points—split three ways, it’s barely anything!”
Despite Eun Hui-gyeom’s refusal, Kang Jin-heon remained stubborn.
Faced with Kang Jin-heon’s insistence, Eun Hui-gyeom looked helplessly at me.
“Wouldn’t three be better than two?”
“That’s not the issue… At this rate, when will we ever accumulate 30,000 points?”
“I’m fine with the points.”
“Is that so?”
“Damn it, so I’m the villain again.”
“Don’t be like that. Here, eat this and calm down.”
I placed a candy into Eun Hui-gyeom’s mouth, his face flushed crimson.
Eun Hui-gyeom, who had been grumbling that he didn’t need it, popped the candy into his mouth and pressed his lips together.
“But how did you end up becoming a disciple of the sect?”
The original work never revealed how Kang Jin-heon transitioned from being a martial artist to joining the monastery.
Kang Jin-heon took a sip of tea.
“I happened to encounter a malevolent spirit, and my master helped me. He said I had talent.”
“I see.”
Kang Jin-heon was a dual-gifted cultivator.
While not quite as rare as a true dual-gifted prodigy, dual-gifted cultivators were certainly uncommon.
After finishing his tea, Kang Jin-heon bowed respectfully to Eun Hui-gyeom and me.
“Thank you for accepting such an unreasonable request.”
“…Well, you said we wouldn’t get points anyway.”
Eun Hui-gyeom scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed.
Upon returning to the Mission Hall, we declared our intention to accept the commission.
The next day, we set out toward Muyang County to meet the client.
Whoooosh.
“Sister, you still really can’t ride the flying sword well, can you?”
“Shut up! Don’t—don’t make me talk about it!”
I wish I could fly on a flying treasure like my master does, but such treasures are astronomically expensive.
So we had no choice but to ride flying swords, the most basic method of travel.
The problem was that I was quite poor at riding them.
It wasn’t that Baek Un-jin hadn’t taught me, nor that I hadn’t practiced.
‘What can I do when things don’t go as I wish!’
According to Baek Un-jin, this was also influenced by the vast spiritual power I possessed.
Flying swords required delicate control of spiritual energy, but in my case, my instantaneous output was so powerful that the sword couldn’t keep up.
“Why are you so good at it!”
I shouted indignantly at Eun Hui-gyeom, who was flying above me.
Eun Hui-gyeom manipulated his sword to spin his body around, then began flying backward.
The way he flew with his hands clasped behind his back even exuded an air of ease.
“It just works for me?”
“Lucky bastard.”
“Sister, you shouldn’t say things like that!”
The flying sword was currently the only thing Eun Hui-gyeom could use to show off against me.
I bickered with Eun Hui-gyeom while still struggling to maintain my balance, swaying unsteadily.
Then Kang Jin-heon, who had been flying between us, slowed his pace and turned his direction, approaching from behind me.
“Whoa, it’s dangerous if you get too close!”
“It’s not dangerous.”
“You’re going to fall!”
As my body tilted to the side, Kang Jin-heon’s hand steadied my waist, helping me regain my balance.
“Your feet first.”
“Like… like this?”
A nod.
“Imagine you’re standing on the blade itself.”
“But I am standing on it.”
“Think of yourself as one with it.”
“I can control the blade just fine though…”
“The wind.”
As I stumbled about uncertainly, Kang Jin-heon offered advice I’d never expected to hear.
The wind?
“Just feel it slowly.”
I’d never heard anyone speak of feeling the wind before.
Rather than looking down at my feet, I slowly lifted my gaze and looked ahead.
As we passed through, the mountain’s leaves fluttered and the valley’s waters rippled.
The wind brushed against my hair and caressed my cheeks.
Kang Jin-heon, who had been supporting my waist, slowly released his hand.
“Huh?”
Since rising into the sky, I’d never stood without wavering—but now, for the first time, I stood steady without trembling.
Sensing the flow of wind as I would sense the flow of heavenly energy, letting my body ride upon it, the sensation of standing on the blade itself mysteriously vanished.
It felt as though I had become one with the wind.
Then the flying blade ceased to feel like a tool beneath my feet and instead became an extension of my very body.
It was a wondrous sensation.
“I’ve got it! I’ve got… oh.”
Slip.
Bouncing about without a care, I mistepped.
My body hung suspended in the air before plunging with a splash into the valley stream below.
“Hahahaha! I knew that would happen!”
I surfaced with my face barely above the water, drifting downstream, and lifted my head.
“Hey! You should’ve helped instead of laughing!”
“You won’t die from falling anyway.”
Eun Hui-gyeom, lowering himself to where I was, extended his hand.
I grasped Eun Hui-gyeom’s hand, retrieved the blade, and climbed back onto it.
Thanks to Kang Jin-heon’s instruction, I found it considerably easier to navigate the sky than before.
The journey to Muyang County was supposed to take four days by flying blade, but it took an additional day due to my slower pace.
The three of us used our spiritual power to transform our winged robes into ordinary clothes, then blended naturally among the crowds.
“It should be there.”
We entered the Seoho Inn, located in the heart of the bustling commercial district where we’d arranged to meet.
The inn was larger than I’d expected, and the first floor was filled with people gathered in small groups, dining together.
“Sister, don’t act like a country bumpkin. Come over here.”
“What does it matter? I’ve spent almost my entire life within Chingwoo Immortal Sect anyway.”
Unlike the other two, who had extensive experience in the outside world, I had barely left the confines of Chingwoo Immortal Sect, so every trivial detail felt utterly foreign to me.
Eun Hui-gyeom led me, mesmerized by the sights, toward a corner of the inn.
There sat a man in a bamboo hat, eating mapo tofu alone.
When he lifted his head without a word, Eun Hui-gyeom sat down as if nothing were amiss.
“Would you mind if we shared your table?”
“I’m afraid I’m already with a party.”
“We seem to be that party.”
The man lifted his bamboo hat slightly and looked between me and Eun Hui-gyeom alternately.
“Ah, I hope you won’t misunderstand—there are reasons why our numbers have grown….”
Before I could finish speaking, the man shot to his feet.
He rose with such urgency that the bowl of mapo tofu on the table trembled violently, scattering sauce across the surface.
“Jin-heon? Could you possibly be Jin-heon?!”
“Huh?”
“…It’s been a long time.”
“Good heavens. So it really is Jin-heon! I thought I’d never see you again!”
He collapsed back into his seat, removing his bamboo hat while muttering in disbelief.
At the sight of the two of them, Eun Hui-gyeom glanced at Kang Jin-heon with a dawning realization.
“Could the client possibly be….”
“It appears he was my classmate who supposedly entered the Mudan Sect.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————