SERIES: Unrivaled Spear Demon
CHAPTER: 19
19 A Blood Debt (1)
Chui washed his face with rainwater.
The scent of blood was mostly washed away, but his body was still in a wretched state.
Having climbed over the wall, Chui suppressed the pain in his leg and made his way toward the stables.
Creaak…
As the stable door opened, an unexpected face appeared.
“Chuiiiii—!”
Woo Dong-won.
He was shouting as he ran toward Chui.
Chui furrowed his brow.
…Should I just kill him?
His condition was so poor right now that he couldn't afford to hold back.
If the man started another fight, he would have no choice but to use lethal force.
However,
“Hey, hey, hey! Where have you been! The rice cakes and meat I saved for you are all cold… Huh? Y-you, what happened to you!?”
Woo Dong-won grabbed Chui’s staggering body and made a fuss.
Then, he shouted at the stable boys behind him.
“Hey! Go boil some tea! Bring a cold, wet towel too! The kid’s burning up! Does anyone have any medicine!?”
Seeing Woo Dong-won’s suddenly and strangely kind demeanor, Chui tilted his head.
Then, Woo Dong-won threw an arm around Chui’s shoulders and said,
“You got into a fight while wandering around outside and came back beaten, didn’t you? Yeah. I know how that feels. The world’s a scary place, right? The Hojeong Gate’s the best, isn’t it? It’s good you’re back. I’m sorry for bullying you all this time. If you ran away because of that, it’ll never happen again. You saved my life, didn’t you? I’m a guy who knows how to repay a debt. From now on, your life in the stables is going to be a breeze!”
Chui couldn’t understand a single word Woo Dong-won was saying.
But he quite liked that Woo Dong-won and the stable boys brought him warm tea, placed a cold, wet towel on his forehead, and even gave up a soft bed for him.
Flump—
Chui lay down on the dry bed.
Lying on the soft blanket spread over a bed woven from dry straw, he felt as if he were sinking into the depths of a river.
Beside him, Woo Dong-won exploded in anger as he examined Chui’s condition.
“Aigoo, you really took a beating! Every bone in your body is broken! Who did this? Was it Sam-gu’s gang from the lower village? Or Chil-deuk’s crew from the upper town? Which bastards did this to our youngest!? This means war!”
“Be quiet. And bring me that boiled water.”
“Oh! I’ll do that! But this bastard… he’s still a bit informal, isn’t he? Ah, whatever! A man’s got to be consistent! I like it!”
Woo Dong-won gave Chui a thumbs-up.
Then he went outside to fetch the boiling water Chui had asked for.
“……”
Meanwhile, Chui closed his eyes and assessed his condition.
The tenth stage of Gulgak.
Before him now lay the gate to the next realm, Iol.
To open this gate, one had to unblock the Conception and Governor Meridians and drain more than half of the body’s blood through several special acupoints.
The fight with the Staff Fiend opened the acupoints sufficiently. As for the blood, I think I’ve lost a bit too much.
Chui had used the Staff Fiend thoroughly.
He used the Staff Fiend’s attacks to open acupoints his own internal energy couldn’t reach, and the old, stagnant blood was naturally drained during the battle.
Of course, it was a perilous method no sane person would ever attempt, but Chui had broken through with his monstrous demonic arts and formidable mental strength.
I’ll substitute some of the essential elixirs with the Staff Fiend’s Changwi.
Chui looked inside the mental world within his dantian.
A pool of blood gathered in the depths of a pitch-black abyss.
In the middle of the red swamp, created from the bloody tears of countless Changwi, sat a new one.
A new Changwi that had pushed aside Jo Yang-ja, who until recently had been the master of the blood pond’s center.
The Staff Fiend, Gu Gang-ryong. He stood still like a ghost, looking up at Chui.
…Twitch!
Chui’s brow furrowed.
At that, the specter of the Staff Fiend lurking in the center of the blood pond began to crumple.
[Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!]
It let out a terrifying death scream, writhing in agony.
Then, from all seven of the Staff Fiend’s wide-open orifices—his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—an enormous amount of blood gushed out.
That blood immediately became internal energy flowing through Chui’s veins, healing his bones and flesh.
Just as Chui was meticulously reconnecting each and every severed blood vessel, Woo Dong-won returned.
“Chui. Here’s the hot water. Let’s wash you up with this. You must still be in pain, so I’ll wash you.”
He was a surprisingly caring fellow.
When he considered someone an outsider, he was incredibly annoying, but once he accepted them as one of his own, his treatment was like night and day.
Chui waved his hand dismissively, as if bothered.
He felt that this man, out of everyone since his regression, was the one who made him speak the most.
“Forget it. Go to Head Escort Ju and get me the medicinal herbs I’m about to list.”
“Uh, yeah. What else do you need?”
“Bokryeong, hyeolgal, siche, horopa, amain, piljingga, yonganyuk……”
From the trivial to the precious.
Chui was slowly retracing his memories.
These were all things Hong Gong had ordered him to fetch.
Herbs that he and Ho Yeyang had searched for until the skin on their feet peeled off and bled.
“Okjuk, hakseul, cheonnyeongeon, okchokseorye, gokgisaeng, pogongyeong, nambangtosaja, ilcheongung, tocheongung, nabokja……”
A list of medicinal herbs, each with properties that would help the power of the Changwi-ching better permeate his body, was recited one after another.
In a manner of speaking, they were supplementary ingredients, like those used to tenderize meat when marinating it.
Just then, Woo Dong-won shouted in bewilderment.
“W-wait, that’s too many! Where am I supposed to get all of those right now!?”
“I told you. Go to Head Escort Ju and get them.”
“Who’s Head Escort Ju?”
Woo Dong-won tilted his head.
He couldn’t even imagine that Chui was referring to Head Escort Ju Yehwa.
Chui opened his mouth.
“I’m talking about Head Escort Ju Yehwa of the Hojil Escort Service.”
“Ah. Head Escort Ju Yehwa. Of the Hojil Escort Service. Ahhh. Ahh. Ah?”
Finally, Woo Dong-won jumped.
“Are you crazy! H-h-how can you refer to Head Escort Ju-nim so casually! She’s someone we stable hands don’t even dare to make eye contact with! How could I possibly go to her and ask for medicinal herbs!”
“Tell her it’s my request. She’ll give them to you.”
“Does that make any sense, you punk! Ugh, this kid. I can’t even hit him.”
Woo Dong-won raised his hand, then stopped and groaned.
But Chui consistently stuck to his claim.
“If you say I sent you, she will give them. Now hurry up and get them.”
“Ugh, seriously…”
Woo Dong-won sighed heavily.
After memorizing the herbs Chui listed, he got up from his seat.
“Alright. It’s a request from the benefactor who saved my life. What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll just go and get called a madman once.”
Woo Dong-won headed out through the back door of the stable, which was connected to the sleeping quarters.
He turned his head and said to Chui.
“What should I say when I get there?”
Chui replied.
“Tell her a porter sent you. She’ll understand.”
“…I’d be better off just saying a stable hand sent me.”
A porter going to a Head Escort and asking for this and that.
For Woo Dong-won, the whole situation was beyond absurd.
* * *
Not even a quarter of an hour had passed before all the herbs Chui had mentioned were brought to him.
Head Escort Ju Yehwa had dragged Woo Dong-won to the medicine room and scraped together every last herb they had in stock, placing them in his arms.
To the wide-eyed Woo Dong-won, Head Escort Ju Yehwa had questioned him relentlessly.
‘Who is he?’
Woo Dong-won had asked back with a bewildered expression.
‘He’s a lackey I’m fond of. Why do you ask?’
Hearing this, Head Escort Ju Yehwa could only sigh deeply.
‘…Never mind. He must have his reasons. I’m sure he’ll tell me when the time is right. You may go. If you need anything else later, come to me.’
Woo Dong-won couldn’t comprehend the situation at all.
He repeatedly tilted his head in confusion as he brought the herbs and handed them to Chui.
Surprisingly, by that time, Chui had already gotten up and was walking around perfectly fine.
Without even looking at Woo Dong-won, Chui said.
“Don’t let anyone enter this room until I come out. If anything happens, tell Head Escort Ju.”
“Ch-Chui, you… What in the world are you?”
Woo Dong-won asked in a trembling voice, but Chui effortlessly brushed off the question.
And then.
Chui closed the door and sat cross-legged on the bed.
Tssssssssssss…
A dark red demonic energy began to boil up from his entire body.
This energy was of a different nature from any other demonic arts existing in this world.
Moreover, once he surpassed the stage of Gulgak and ascended to the realm of Iol, the energy of the Changwi-ching would transform into something completely alien, even compared to its previous form.
By then, no one but Chui would be able to recognize it as demonic arts.
No. Hong Gong, he would recognize the true nature of my martial art. For he is the creator of the Changwi-ching.
Suddenly, Chui’s thoughts turned to his master, Hong Gong.
Where was he now, and what was he doing?
Was he perhaps being chased by the Murim Alliance and the Unorthodox Faction?
Or was he still reigning as the great Right Divine General of the Heavenly Demon Cult?
The memories in Chui’s mind swirled in disarray.
…A battlefield on a rainy night.
…A trench war where blood and flesh flew about.
…Hong Gong, half-paralyzed and dying.
…Ho Yeyang, searing her face and chest with charcoal and swallowing it to change even her voice.
With every step he took up the blood-stained stairs, the scenes that appeared before his eyes changed.
At last, Chui stood before a colossal gate.
A massive gate made of blood and sinew, bone and viscera.
Beyond this gate existed stairs leading to an even higher place.
Stairs so vast and high that they couldn’t even be compared to the ones he had climbed so far.
But Chui, who had already climbed all those stairs once, knew.
That this was only the beginning.
Creeeeeeeak...
Chui opened the door.
And he took his first step toward the massive staircase he saw beyond it.
Just then.
‘…Are you going?’
A grating voice, like something sharp scratching against a steel plate, came from behind him.
Chui turned his head.
There stood the Ho Yeyang of the past, of his memories.
With a distorted face and a burnt-out voice, she spoke.
‘So, you’re going.’
Chui remained silent.
Then, he quietly nodded his head.
At that, Ho Yeyang smiled.
It was hard to tell with her distorted face, but Chui, who had spent so long with her, could recognize it.
‘Go well.’
Ho Yeyang said.
Chui spoke as well.
‘Be well.’
His lips moved, but no sound came out.
And then, the moment Chui crossed the threshold of Iol and set foot on the first step.
…Flash!
His eyes opened.
Chui sat up.
Black sweat had completely soaked the bedding.
The sweat reeked of foul waste, mixed with the scent of various medicinal herbs decocted together.
“……”
Chui examined his own body.
He had grown taller, his bones thicker.
His already fair skin had become even paler, and his body was now packed with lean muscle.
The first step of Iol.
By setting foot here, Chui’s state, which had been somewhere between First-Rate and Peak, had reached the stage of a perfected Peak master.
And as soon as he judged that everything was perfectly prepared.
…Bang!
Chui shot up from the bed.
“Is it time for the next one?”
His body was recovered, and his martial prowess had deepened.
It was time to go to work again.
“Only the real ones are left.”
The third target of his revenge, after the Black Way Guild and the Jo family.
Chui kicked open the stable door, the faces of his next victims surfacing in his mind.
The hegemon of Anhui.
The pinnacle of the Five Great Families.
One of the Fifteen Pillars of the Righteous Way.
It was the direction of the Namgung Family.
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