Dropped into Murim with an Instant-Kill Skill - Chapter 162

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 162: If I Hear the Dao in the Morning, I Can Die by Evening (2)

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The wealthy person's house was exceptionally comfortable.

A subtle fragrance lingered throughout, easing his tension without causing the slightest discomfort. Deep shade fell beneath its broad roof, and even at midday, a cool breeze drifted through.

The seasoned servants anticipated what he needed before he could ask. Food, drinks, medicine, bathwater, even a change of clothes. Whenever he thought he might need something, it was already waiting.

All Yeon Sowol had to do was rest.

He replenished his body's essence qi by eating and sleeping well, then soothed his ragged meridians and shaken qi-blood through meditation and qi circulation.

Eat, rest, eat, train, eat again, sleep.

At the moment, he was soaking up to his neck in a wide wooden tub brimming with hot water.

White steam brushed over his hair, while clear warmth seeped into his muscles and bones, leaving him pleasantly limp. His eyes drifted shut on their own.

"...This is nice."

The words slipped from his lips on their own.

Come to think of it, this was the first time.

Since arriving in this world.

A time when he had no worries, no one interfering with him, nothing he had to do, and only himself to care for.

"No, isn't this the first time in my whole life?"

Thinking about it, it really was.

He had always been busy in twenty-first-century Korea.

Going to cram school, doing homework, studying on his own...

Had he ever had this much leisure?

He couldn't remember.

And this wasn't just leisure. He was living in a luxurious room, attended by servants.

"Even a five-star hotel probably couldn't compare."

Now that he thought about it, wasn't this the life he had dreamed of ever since being dropped into this world? It felt like he had learned martial arts so he could live like this.

"This is good. Really good."

Yeon Sowol stretched, and the hot water sloshed as clouds of white steam billowed up.

Accepting the wealthy person's hospitality had been the right choice.

He had accepted because he was truly exhausted, and because his friends were badly worn out too...

Still, this was far better than he had vaguely expected.

"I've received a kindness. I'll repay it someday."

Gratitude and grudges.

They were a kind of compass for navigating the tangled, chaotic Jianghu.

"To do that, I need to get stronger. I can only repay kindness if I'm strong."

As he repeated that he needed to become stronger, stronger still, Yeon Sowol suddenly found himself strange.

Since when had he liked fighting so much?

"..."

His gaze drifted toward the closed sliding door across the bathhouse.

If he opened it, would the Jianghu he knew stretch beyond it?

Was there no other possibility?

Maybe a Chinese-style five-star hotel was on the other side. Maybe he had already done well on the college entrance exam, gone on vacation with his parents to a five-star hotel, and simply fallen asleep for a moment.

He knew that couldn't be true, yet he couldn't stop feeling that way.

After all...

"...This is ridiculous."

A Flood Dragon.

Martial artists had been ridiculous enough. Ghosts had been ridiculous enough.

Now there were dragons too?

Could this really be reality?

Was something like this even allowed to be real?

He was sick of it.

All at once, he desperately missed them.

His mother.

His father.

That world where the only horrible things were humans.

Splash.

"..."

Yeon Sowol looked at his hand. An ordinary hand dripping with water.

Yet it was a hand that could kill anything.

A hand that could surely have killed even that terrifying Flood Dragon if his hand had only touched it.

"...If things that absurd exist, and I have a power this absurd..."

Then perhaps.

Someday.

If he became very, very strong.

He might find a way to return there.

If he had crossed over once, there was no reason he couldn't cross over a second time.

With this hand,

'If I tear the world apart once more...'

Yeon Sowol idly waved his hand through the water.

Even if everything in the world looked flat to him, he still couldn't see the threads that made up the world itself. To tear something, he needed to perceive it first. Since he couldn't perceive it, there was no way to tear it.

Even if he did tear it, there was no guarantee it would lead to Earth.

"..."

His idly waving hand gradually slowed.

Blink. Bliiink.

His eyes closed more and more slowly.

The bathwater rippled with warmth.

"If I become stronger..."

Neither asleep nor awake, Yeon Sowol sat there blankly.

Until the bathwater went cold.

* * *

Rippling waves.

Sometimes they looked cold, sometimes hot.

After that day, the people of Yuezhou occasionally found themselves looking upon Dongting Lake with emotions they could not name.

How could someone born in Yuezhou not love Dongting Lake?

Even people from all over the land who had not been born in Yuezhou loved the lake enough to flock there.

But now, everyone knew.

At the bottom of Dongting Lake slept a monster beyond the measure of human understanding.

That was why they could no longer look upon its waves with the same feelings as before.

Even while living ordinary lives, they would flinch and scan the water, afraid that something like an enormous head might be poking out among the waves.

The martial artists of Yuezhou were no different.

No, they were worse.

Unlike ordinary people, they could read qi, so the terror of that day had been carved into them all the more deeply. Some had even witnessed it from up close on Wuling Island.

"...You're here again today?"

"Yeah. I just couldn't stay home."

The martial artists muttered as they glanced at Dongting Lake.

They gathered every day. Young talents and famous senior masters alike.

No one had to call the others. They simply gathered in little groups around Yueyang Tower, and their topic of conversation was always the same.

"That Flood Dragon could appear again at any time."

"Mm..."

"Mmm..."

Anxiety.

Worry.

"Someone said it won't appear again during our lifetimes."

"That's foolish talk. The Demonic Path was involved. Who knows what will happen if those bastards provoke that snake again?"

"That's right."

"Exactly."

"If we sit around with our heads in the clouds, those Demonic Path spawn will catch us off guard again. Honestly, if it hadn't been for the leader of the White-Robed League this time, wouldn't we have been helpless? That wicked snake would have obtained the wish-granting pearl and flown into the sky. It would have become a disaster for Hunan, no... for the entire world."

"Mm..."

"Mmm..."

After experiencing such a thing, they could no longer live as they had before.

Nothing will happen.

It'll be fine even if I don't step forward.

They could no longer think that way.

Something could happen.

And if they weren't careful, they could all die.

Everyone understood that now.

"What about the White-Robed League? Shouldn't we keep it going? No, couldn't we make it even bigger? The major sects and clans of Yuezhou, no, all of Hunan's martial world could join and form some kind of alliance..."

When someone voiced that fanciful idea, no one stepped up to criticize it.

Before, they would have laughed.

Why would they need an alliance like that? How would they handle the tensions between its member sects? Who could possibly lead it?

They would have told the speaker not to say such nonsense.

Now, everyone nodded seriously.

"If that were possible... it would be wonderful."

"No. It wouldn't simply be wonderful. It would be necessary. We need a force to watch the Demonic Path's followers. We must make sure the Flood Dragon never has a chance to leave the lake in the first place."

"Well said!"

"That is certainly true!"

No matter how many dreamlike plans were raised, there was no opposition, only agreement. Their opinions steadily came together.

"But there's a problem. Money. Starting something like this will take a great deal of money... How would we manage it?"

"Hm. The White-Robed League could more or less handle the money problem..."

"The White-Robed League? What money does the White-Robed League have...?"

"There are the spoils from subjugating the water raiders."

"Ah? You haven't distributed those yet?"

"How could we distribute them without an order from our leader? Besides, the greater part should rightfully go to our leader."

"Good heavens... No one touched it?"

"Of course not."

"That much discipline...? Wasn't it just an organization of Yuezhou's young talents?"

"At first, perhaps. But not after we subjugated the water raiders. We are all bound by blood, and we follow our leader wholeheartedly."

"Good heavens."

"Then the money problem is solved too? Good heavens. It really seems like this could become something. What should we call it, then?"

"Wouldn't it be the White-Robed League?"

"That name is too small in scale. This would be an alliance encompassing all of Hunan's martial world."

"Then... the Hunan White-Robed Alliance?"

"Oh?"

After several days, people were discussing the founding of the White-Robed League, or rather the Hunan White-Robed Alliance, as though it were nearly a certainty.

There was only one thing that worried them.

"But none of this means anything unless Leader Yeon approves it."

"More than approval... doesn't Leader Yeon have to remain in Yuezhou for this to make sense?"

"Mm... Didn't he come from Guangdong?"

"This is a problem. Leader Yeon Sowol is the center holding everyone together. If he leaves Yuezhou..."

"There's no one besides him who can serve as alliance leader..."

That was why, when Yeon Sowol finally finished resting and left the wealthy person's house, everyone in Yuezhou's Jianghu rushed toward him at once.

"Leader!"

"Leader! Please hear us out!"

"Leader! We have a request!"

For Yeon Sowol, who had emptied his mind and rested deeply, it came out of nowhere.

"Pardon? You want me to become the alliance leader?"

The Hunan White-Robed Alliance?

But he belonged to the Guangdong Martial Alliance.

* * *

A storm-like period passed.

Yeon Sowol had done far too much in Yuezhou, and sorting through all the tangled relationships and circumstances before tying them off was no small task.

In the end, he untangled it all and tied the knot in his own way.

"I'll send my father a letter. Hunan and Guangdong may be divided by the Nanling Mountains, but they are still neighboring lands. My father has already formed an alliance once, so if he helps Hero Jin, the Hunan White-Robed Alliance will surely establish a firm foundation."

"Mm..."

Black Spear Jin Hyeogo wore an uneasy expression.

Yeon Sowol had declined the position of alliance leader, then recommended him as the person fit for it.

"...I was just about to retire from the front lines and train disciples."

Jin Hyeogo had been left deeply conflicted by this incident.

All of this felt like a burden to him.

"Then retire."

"What? No, you're the one who pressured me to do this..."

"Retire, and the Hunan White-Robed Alliance will fizzle out before it even begins. Then the Demonic Path's people will sneak into Yuezhou again, and one day the Flood Dragon will rise into the sky."

"..."

"Then I suppose that would be fine, wouldn't it? If Hero Jin, who was born in Yuezhou, doesn't want to do it, there's nothing to be done. I'm from Guangdong, and I have my own path to follow, so it's only a little regrettable. Even though I was generous enough to donate all those tremendous spoils."

"You little..."

Jin Hyeogo's fist trembled. Then he let his strength drain away and sighed.

"Fine. Yes. This is a good chance to meet your father. I've been curious what kind of man raised someone like you."

"My father will like you too, Hero Jin."

Yeon Sowol smiled faintly.

He was reminded of Yi Yubaek, who had always enjoyed making friends.

"But the first alliance leader of the Hunan White-Robed Alliance will be you, Sowol."

"Pardon?"

"That much is decided. Even if you leave without doing a single thing as alliance leader, I will be the second leader. That's how people feel. Even I can't do anything about that."

"No..."

They argued back and forth for a while, but Jin Hyeogo was right. No matter how burdensome Yeon Sowol found it, they would not yield on that point.

"No... If a kid like me becomes the founding alliance leader, people will look down on the alliance itself..."

"Is that a joke? It wasn't very funny."

Yeon Sowol's face reddened for no reason.

"Anyway. I'll be leaving now."

Whoooosh.

The wind blew.

Sails fluttered on the ships moored at Dongting Lake.

Today was the day Yeon Sowol departed.

He had dumped all the complicated work related to founding the Hunan White-Robed Alliance on Jin Hyeogo and Yi Yubaek. Now, it was truly time to leave.

"Remember this. They are letting you go despite their regret because you say you are headed for Wudang Mountain."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes. We do not know why you are going, but a hero of the world is heading to Wudang. Something important must be waiting there. Even if you simply take a meaningless stroll through Wudang Mountain, countless ties and lessons will find their way to you. That is the sort of fate you have, from what I've seen. So I hope you will see and learn much there."

"...I hope so too."

In truth, hadn't everything that had happened in Yuezhou and Hunan been groundwork for learning properly at Wudang?

But now that he thought about it, Yeon Sowol felt both anticipation and concern.

'What will I be able to learn?'

He had learned far too much in Yuezhou.

It would be hard enough to digest all that. Could he truly learn something new at Wudang as well?

Still, it was too late to turn back now.

"...Then I'll see you again."

"Yes. Go."

Yeon Sowol stepped onto the ship.

"Hey. I had a good time thanks to you."

"Next time, come visit the main family."