WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 78: The Scent of Snow (1)
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1.
……Baraya, Baraya, Agabaraya……
……The mind is a candle; burn it here……
An ancient prayer passed down through the ages.
Just as monks chant Amitabha, the people of the Demonic Cult recited Baraya.
……Baraya, Baraya, Agabaraya……
……The mind is a candle; burn it here……
No one knew what ‘Baraya’ meant. Not So BaekHyang. Not even the elder who had brought her into the Demonic Cult. They recited it without understanding.
To So BaekHyang, Baraya was the song of the common people. It was a scream. Screams inherently lack meaning. Isn't it natural that the song of the common folk lacks meaning too?
The ability to recite without understanding.
The fact that one doesn't need to know much to scream in agony.
Thus, while people need to learn rituals to behave respectfully, and ethics to act justly, screams are the exception. Even the uneducated and untrained common folk can scream.
......Baraya……
......Baraya……
......Agabaraya......
Screams were a universal essence.
The world seen by So BaekHyang was screaming.
-There is nothing more for me to teach you.
The elder said.
-Go forth into the world.
-Where shall I go?
So BaekHyang asked. Her voice was soft. She had grown up now.
The 11-year-old child was no longer here. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark robes. The woman was as dark as a midnight well.
She wished to become hell.
To be the hell of people, the woman deepened herself that much.
-Where do you want to go?
-To where the hungry are. To where the thirsty are, where people are suffocating, where they are cold, addicted to drugs, ill, whipped in government offices, burnt to death.
So BaekHyang looked at the void.
-That's where I want to go.
-......
Far away, far away.
The sound of prayers from outside the main hall reached them. The cultists were praying and bowing. Their voices. Their tremors. Baraya, Baraya, Agabaraya……. These vibrations traveled along the wooden floors.
-Then BaekHyang.
The elder spoke.
-This entire world is your destination.
So BaekHyang, 21 years old.
Made her appearance in the martial realm.
That winter, 31 martial artists, 47 government officials, and 55 local nobles lost their heads.
2.
“Our cult's rituals are special.”
Heavenly Demon quietly dismissed everyone. She sent the Head of the Martial Alliance and Viper away. She and I headed somewhere alone.
"Do you know how to perform the Nine Bows?"
"No, I don't."
"In our cult, a disciple bows nine times to greet their master."
We were headed towards a cave. A cave with hot springs. It was a familiar place to me, like home, but where Heavenly Demon took me was unfamiliar.
A place never allowed for our group.
Deep within the cave, Heavenly Demon walked.
"Hmm."
Heavenly Demon waved her hand. Her wide sleeve fluttered once, and candles lit up in the darkness. Countless candles illuminated the cave's stalactites and stalagmites.
"But the ritual doesn't end with bowing. Whether to accept each of the nine bows is entirely up to the master. A master can demand the Nine Bows as many times as they wish until they are satisfied.”
Heavenly Demon smiled faintly.
“It all depends on my heart.”
“Is there a specific criterion?”
“There is.”
At the end of the passage.
“Originally, etiquette is more about the heart than appearance. Child, the reason we choose times and places in etiquette is merely because human hearts are fickle and light.”
There was a huge library.
As Heavenly Demon took each step, candles lit up beside her footsteps. With each candle, the true face of the library became clearer. The high cave ceiling, filled with books and bamboo slips piled up to the top.
“It is not easy to rein in a light heart.”
Heavenly Demon walked.
Her ankle was illuminated by a candle.
“That's why people rely on sacred times and holy places. They rely on time and place. Leaning on heaven and earth to capture their light hearts.”
“Heavenly Demon. What is this place?”
“This is the secret martial arts library of our cult.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke.
“And also of the Ten Sect Alliance and the Five Noble Clans. I call it the Heavenly Martial Library.”
The Guardian Spirit spoke.
-Wow, this is epic. A treasure trove! Zombie, I’ll check out the martial arts manuals! Don’t worry about me, do your thing. Drag it out if you can until I read them all!
The martial arts-obsessed Guardian Spirit dashed off.
-Woohoo! Now the martial techniques of this world are all mine! I’ll sweep them all up! Hahaha!
Unaware or indifferent to the ghost rampaging in her library, Heavenly Demon remained calm.
“I entered the martial world at twenty-one. Can you guess what my very first thought was when I did?”
“Uh... maybe something like, 'I'll smash all those annoying Orthodox martial artists' heads!'”
“That was my third thought.”
“To prove the superiority of the Demonic Cult...?”
“That was my second thought.”
Heavenly Demon winked with her left eye.
“You see, I have hated the term ‘Martial Realm’ since childhood.”
“Pardon?”
“It names a world that reveres martial arts. But how could that world contain only martial artists? There are boatmen and farmers, merchants and prostitutes. Countless trees make up a forest, each with its own name and grain. Yet the Ten Sect Alliance and the Five Noble Clans chose to call it a ‘martial forest.’”
“I did not like that.”
Heavenly Demon murmured quietly.
“So I decided to take away their 'martial arts.'”
“Taking away martial arts means...?”
“They worshipped their martial arts manuals like holy relics, so I plundered them all!”
Heavenly Demon laughed mischievously.
Her smile was full of playfulness.
“Hehe. I still remember the faces those Kunlun Taoists made. They begged me to spare the books containing the mysteries of the Cloud Dragon even if I twisted their necks until they snapped! And what sort of person am I? I graciously buried the Taoists in the ground with only their heads sticking out. Then, as they watched, I bundled up all the martial arts manuals and ran off with them!”
Wow.
Our master really has character.
“For decades, it was like that. Now this place is Kunlun, Wudang, Sichuan School, Jegal Clan, Maoshan School. All martial arts of the world form a forest here. It's fitting to call it 'Martial Forest.' I…”
Heavenly Demon slowly sat down.
“I want to accept your bows here.”
“……”
“Will you offer them?”
“Yes.”
“I will not judge the outward form. Child of the outer lands, bow as your body leads you.”
So I did.
I took off my shoes and placed them politely. I knelt down. As I was about to touch my forehead to the ground, Heavenly Demon's voice flowed.
“Perform all nine bows, but fill each bow with a different heart.”
Each different heart.
“The first bow shall contain the heart of starvation.”
“……”
“Do you understand?”
I see.
“Yes, I understand.”
The bond between master and disciple was indeed profound.
In the Demonic Cult, this ritual wasn’t just about bowing nine times.
The Nine Bows.
It was itself no different from the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.
“Hoo…”
Slowly, I took a deep breath.
I drew a picture in the center of my heart.
A farmer swinging a pickaxe. The riverbank. The mud.
「Hunger is children waiting for the sun.」
I bowed.
“Mm.”
The Heavenly Demon nodded. She had accepted my first bow. There was no falsehood in my hunger, so it lacked nothing needed to become an act of reverence.
“The stages of the Demonic Cult are divided into four.”
Heavenly Demon imparted an old teaching to me, soon to be a disciple.
“The first stage is Novice Demon. A Novice Demon is one who can speak of their own pain. Cultists in our cult speak with swords, not words. Thus, the stage of Novice Demon refers to those who can express their pain with a sword.”
I performed the bow again.
Following hunger, it was time for thirst, so I drew seawater in my mind.
“The second stage is Extreme Demon. An Extreme Demon is one who can speak of another's pain. Thus, it means one who can give cathartic release to another's pain with a sword.”
Heavenly Demon quietly acknowledged my second bow.
I pictured a drowned father in my mind and bowed again.
“The third stage is Transcendent Demon.”
Heavenly Demon nodded again.
She willingly accepted my third bow.
“A Transcendent Demon understands everyone's pain. As they meet people while walking, they can feel what causes each person pain.”
I performed the fourth bow.
“Reaching this stage is extremely rare! In the history of our cult, there have been fewer than five Transcendent Demons. I am one of them.”
Heavenly Demon received my bow once more.
“The final stage is God Demon. A God Demon not only understands the pain of all humans but also of all beings. They can speak of the sufferings of the entire world. However, this stage is unproven! It's merely speculated that such a stage exists. No one has actually reached it."
I was about to perform the fifth bow when she stopped me.
“Stop.”
“Do it again.”
"......."
The fifth sword path of the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven was the form of death by poison, the gestures of those dying from poisoning. I had not yet learned that fifth sword path. The Heavenly Demon said quietly,
“Bow again.”
I bowed.
“Bow again.”
I bowed.
“Bow again.”
Again. And again. And again. And again.
Sweat formed on my forehead. My back was drenched.
Heavenly Demon's expression remained calm.
“Bow again.”
It took 336 times to crudely contain the heart of those poisoned to death.
To conjure the heart of those who died from disease in my mind, 189 bows.
To express the heart of those beaten to death, 510 bows.
I was drenched in sweat.
Silently, I knelt and bowed.
“…A truly upright child.”
Heavenly Demon smiled.
“There are children who are naturally upright from birth and those who become upright through their will. Child from the outer land, you surely belong to the latter. What life have you led to become so pure?”
Her smile carried a tinge of sadness.
“What sort of life are you trying to live, that you strive so hard to become this good...?”
The candlelight flickered.
The flickering light made our shadows tremble.
As they trembled, Heavenly Demon's shadow overlapped with mine.
“If the sun represents life, then the shadow is pain.”
The lean shadow spoke.
“While each human's outline in life is separate, pain overlaps and multiplies. Thus, humans are not one through living but one through suffering.”
It was the doctrine of the shadow.
“If you say you wish to share pain with someone, it means you’re willing to spend a lifetime with that person. Thus, those who get hurt by everyone only wish to be with everyone. Child.”
A doctrine to be passed on by the only remaining mouth in this world.
“Gong-Ja.”
The mouth spoke to me.
“People do not merely decide whom they will hurt. They can also decide whom they will allow to hurt them. The commoners you seek to save will never be wholly good. The people you save will never be noble. The one you love will never be perfect.”
The shadow whispered.
The whisper of the shadow carried the warmth of the candle.
“Yet, if you willingly accept pain from everyone, if you bear your bare skin to them, when they scratch you, it’s just them holding you too tightly, remember that.”
“Life is pain. Yet it is only human pain. Baraya, Baraya, Agabaraya. Your heart is a candle. Burn it, and look upon the shadows of others.”
The wax dripped.
“The eighth form of Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven is the Sword of Burning Death.”
It flowed.
“Gong-Ja. Perform your bow with the heart of one burnt to death.”
I did.
「But you know I'm the Flame Emperor.」
「Then you ought to die for me.」
「Farewell.」
I bowed.
"......."
Quietly.
The shadow closed its mouth.
336 times for poisoned death. 189 for disease. 510 for beating.
For 1,035 bows, the words ‘Bow again’ had echoed through the cave. This time, they did not come. It seemed a single bow was enough for my death by burning.
“……So it is.”
The trail of wax.
A voice seeped into where the mark lay.
"The last sword of Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven is not set. It's a void form. Each leader of the cult engraves their own death into this final form. Thus, the ninth form of Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven varies greatly depending on the practitioner."
The place for one's own death.
"Bow the Ninth Bow with your own death."
"......."
I…
During 4090 instances of suicide, I…
Felt pain in my neck.
My throat ached from stabbing it with a dagger. My hands trembled. My arms shook. I was afraid the trembling would send the blade awry, that a bad stab would make the pain last longer. So I wrapped blue tape around the dagger's hilt.
I wrapped the same blue tape around my right and left hands. Secured it. It seemed like it would stop the trembling. There were 4,050 days I needed to regress through. But I died 4090 times. I had to die. Because I almost gave up halfway. It was an escape for a few days.
But there was a person I couldn't forgive.
I couldn't live on forgiving that person.
So, I wrapped the tape again. The slower the death, the more my resolve faded, and my decision slowed down. The more it prolonged, the more days I had to die. I cut off any stray thoughts. Ignored any hesitations.
Desperately wanting to live, I desperately died.
Suicide.
I drew that as my final image and bowed to Heavenly Demon.
"......."
The shadow trembled. I realized a bit late that Heavenly Demon had stood up. By the time I realized, she was already embracing my shoulders.
“Gong-Ja,”
In the cave, our two shadows overlapped.
“My disciple.”
“……Yes.”
“You are my disciple.”
“Yes."
“Where you came from does not matter to me. Wherever you go, wherever you are, you are the disciple of Heavenly Demon So BaekHyang. Our doctrine is in your heart. Even if the martial world perishes and all under heaven grows dark, as long as your heart does not stop, the Demonic Heaven will endure.”
I spoke.
“---Yes, Master.”
My throat hurt.
They were painful days.
Now, I knew.
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