I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 77

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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77.
The spirit crane burst into my room without warning, and chaos erupted in an instant.
“What… what is this…?”
The emerald-hued spirit crane circled above my head before landing on my palm.
“It looks like a Chui Ok Gok Mun spirit crane.”
“Why would a Chui Ok Gok Mun crane…?”
The Chui Ok Gok Mun spirit crane was used by the monks of Chui Ok Gok Mun.
Just as the Cheong Woo Seon Mun had their own spirit cranes, any practitioner of Chui Ok Gok Mun could summon one. The creature remained perched on my hand, showing no signs of departure.
“Are you thirsty?”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“But there’s nothing here.”
Typically, spirit cranes carried letters or communication talismans attached to their feet.
Yet this Chui Ok Gok Mun crane bore nothing.
“It must be hidden.”
Eun Hui-gyeom lifted the crane with both hands and examined it carefully from every angle.
Beneath its wings, he discovered a small glass vial suspended by a delicate cord.
“See?”
“Why would they do that?”
The glass vial Eun Hui-gyeom offered bore a faint seal.
I infused it with spiritual power, and the seal dissolved as the stopper opened.
[Practitioner Yoo,
I apologize for sending this letter so abruptly. Ordinarily, I would submit such a request through official channels, but this matter is personal—something I wish to ask of you privately.
For the past month, strange occurrences have been happening in Unbyek Rim, which our sect manages. The council of elders wishes to classify it as desertion during training, but I know my peers—they would never do such a thing.
I have been investigating alone, but since the third day, I myself have become lost. Unbyek Rim is a forest I have walked through dozens of times since childhood. It is impossible for me to lose my way within it.
Practitioner Yoo, if time permits, could you investigate this matter with me? There is also one more thing I have not mentioned, and I believe it would be better to convey it in person.
– Ha Gyeong-un, with respect]
Postscript: I request that this letter remain confidential. In particular, I would be grateful if you did not mention this to the senior practitioners of our sect.]
“Who is it from?”
“Ha Gyeong-un.”
“The one from Heugam Jae?”
“Yes.”
Though he sustained grave injuries partway through, he had proven invaluable in many ways—a practitioner whose memory lingered with me.
Still, we had not maintained particularly close contact.
Eun Hui-gyeom tilted his head as he finished reading the letter.
“But Sister.”
“Hmm?”
“Practitioners from Chui Ok Gok Mun have gone missing. The council claims they deserted, but why would they ask us for help?”
“That’s what I’m wondering too.”
“Besides, even setting aside the council, I doubt Im So-ha would have turned a blind eye to this.”
Eun Hui-gyeom owed a debt of gratitude to Im So-ha from Heugam Jae.
Though their lineages differed, they often exchanged knowledge with Im So-ha since they both cultivated the same nourishing arts.
According to Eun Hui-gyeom, Im So-ha had ascended to the threshold of Gyeoldan-gi within four years and become the director of Yeong Hyeon Gak, which managed junior practitioners within Chui Ok Gok Mun.
“There’s something that doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Hmm, I’m not entirely sure.”
“I should go see my master about this.”
I took the letter and sought out Baek Un-jin.
Baek Un-jin held the letter and read through it line by line.
His expression remained unchanged as he read, though I noticed him pause briefly at one particular point.
He set the letter down on his desk.
“This child, Ha Gyeong-un—what are your impressions of him?”
“We’re not particularly close, but he didn’t strike me as someone with a bad disposition.”
“I’m asking whether he’s the type to play pranks on you, or if that’s not in his nature.”
“That’s not his character at all.”
Besides, we weren’t close enough for him to joke with me in the first place.
On one hand, it was strange; on the other, that very strangeness made the letter’s contents more credible.
“I was thinking of going to Unbyek Rim with Hui-gyeom.”
I carefully gauged Baek Un-jin’s reaction.
In Man-nyeon-su-yeom-dong, Baek Un-jin had said he suppressed the energy of my spiritual root.
I still didn’t know exactly what that meant or how he’d done it.
But ever since then, I’d noticed that Baek Un-jin was reluctant about my external activities.
Even when I became a Chukgi Sect practitioner and long-term missions came in, or when assignments arrived from other sects, most were resolved on Baek Un-jin’s end.
It was the complete opposite of Eun Hui-gyeom, who had spent four years traveling across the continent on various assignments.
There was a pretext that it was for my sake, but I couldn’t say I harbored no resentment about it.
Though I tried not to let it accumulate.
“Go.”
“Really?”
“But it would be good if Junior Kang went with you as well.”
“Kang Jin-heon? Isn’t he at Hyeongang Mun right now?”
Whether because Jin Seok-jun was on his mind, Kang Jin-heon had been visiting Hyeongang Mun frequently of late.
Having grown close to the practitioners there, Hyeongang Mun had recently sent an official request to take Kang Jin-heon along on a mission.
“I’ve heard it won’t take long. Taking him along will be helpful.”
“Understood.”
There had to be a reason why Baek Un-jin would say such a thing.
***
Kang Jin-heon arrived the following morning.
Kang Jin-heon was also frequently away on assignments.
It had been two years since we last saw each other face-to-face.
He had now reached the same realm as me—a Chukgi-gi 4-star practitioner.
Kang Jin-heon gradually descended from the sky, his form materializing.
“It’s been a while.”
“It really has.”
Kang Jin-heon offered a brief greeting.
He remained a man of few words.
I showed him the letter and explained its contents.
“It certainly is strange.”
“Right? Isn’t it?”
“Ha Gyeong-un—I’ve seen him several times during my own assignments. He’s not the type to play pranks.”
Kang Jin-heon felt the same unease from the letter that we did.
The moment our preparations were complete, we set off directly toward our destination: Unbyek Rim.
Unbyek Rim, one of Chui Ok Gok Mun’s territories, lay in the northeast of Baekryeon Kingdom.
As we flew on our flying swords, Kang Jin-heon unexpectedly spoke up.
“Yoo Yeon-seo.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you noticed any regions where the wind has grown unnaturally still recently?”
“The wind? I haven’t traveled far, so I’m not sure….”
I glanced toward Eun Hui-gyeom.
Eun Hui-gyeom steered his flying sword toward us, drawing closer.
“There was one place that caught my attention. In my case, there was a spiritual vein nearby.”
“I see.”
“Did something happen?”
When Eun Hui-gyeom asked, Kang Jin-heon shook his head, saying it was nothing of importance.
As our conversation wound down, a vista of deep emerald forest stretched endlessly before us in the distance.
Unbyek Rim.
The eastern edge of Baekryeon Kingdom, managed by Chui Ok Gok Mun.
The three of us brought our flying swords to a halt at the forest’s boundary.
The meeting place mentioned in the letter was an ancient Stone Pavilion on the western side of the forest.
“Let’s go in.”
Another letter contained directions to the Stone Pavilion.
We walked into the forest.
Unbyek Rim was eerily silent.
There were no bird calls, no insect sounds.
Only the crunch of dry leaves beneath our feet broke the silence.
“Something feels off, doesn’t it?”
“Is it normally like this? I’m not sure.”
Given how many deformed terrains dotted this place, I couldn’t quite grasp what felt amiss.
Eun Hui-gyeom seemed to sense something wrong as well, but he couldn’t articulate it precisely.
Kang Jin-heon, who had ventured deeper into the forest, unfurled a steel wire and swung it gently.
“There’s no wind.”
“Huh? You’re right.”
In any forest, wind should naturally flow.
Yet Unbyek Rim remained utterly still.
“This couldn’t possibly be how it normally is, could it?”
The windless place Kang Jin-heon had mentioned before we arrived at Unbyek Rim seemed to overlap strangely with this observation.
“I’ve never been to Unbyek Rim before either, but I doubt it was always like this.”
“So this could be connected to the strange phenomena occurring in Unbyek Rim.”
Kang Jin-heon nodded, acknowledging the possibility.
“Let’s venture deeper into the forest for now.”
We pressed into the depths of Unbyek Rim to meet Ha Gyeong-un.
“This is…”
I hadn’t noticed it at the forest’s edge, but as we penetrated deeper, the problem became evident.
“The trees are dead.”
Not all of them, but a considerable number of trees had withered to a deep brown, twisted and gnarled.
Some had bark so cracked that their exposed wood showed through.
When Eun Hui-gyeom peeled away a section of bark, it crumbled to dust with a brittle crackling sound.
“No matter how I look at it, this is definitely wrong.”
Chui Ok Gok Mun was a seonmun family that centered its cultivation methods on Wood attribute techniques.
It was unthinkable that the forest of Unbyek Rim, managed by such a sect, would fall into this state.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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