WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 23: Act 4: Bamboo-Tube Beauty (4)

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Ise and Seolryeong headed for the bamboo grove the broker had told them about.

It was a small mountain trail at the end of a long hill stretching from Namsangol toward Gwangjingol.

Just as the demonic qi became faintly perceptible, the external affiliate, Hong Sadeuk, stopped walking.

“My role ends here. If you need any further assistance while carrying out the mission, please visit the outpost at any time. I will be waiting.”

“Please interview the people who encountered the demon in Namsangol one more time. There may be information we missed.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Thank you.”

Hong Sadeuk gave a deep bow and left. The two turned their eyes ahead.

The forest was thick with unmistakable demonic qi. Though the weather was clearly dry, damp mist rose through the silent grove like a sigh.

Ise looked around the edge of the forest.

This bamboo grove looked distinctly different from the other bamboo forests he had seen as a child.

The farther they pushed through the bamboo, the denser the irritating demonic qi became.

There was no sound of a woman crying, unlike what the man had claimed, but a chilling presence still raised goosebumps along his skin.

“The cold is getting stronger. I think we're getting close, Ise. Be careful.”

“Yeah. Demonic qi is rising around the center. Let's stop and watch first.”

“You can sense demonic qi that precisely?”

“Yeah. It's because of my physique.”

“Can you tell how much there is, too?”

“It's faint. It feels about the same as a Grade Nine demon, so the measuring device mentioned in the report must have been working properly.”

“Wow... We had a walking demon-power meter right here......”

What a truly bizarre physique.

Seolryeong swallowed the rest of that thought and could only marvel.

Once they had settled at a safe distance, Ise asked her, “How do you hunt an evil spirit?”

“First, perform an exorcism ritual to keep it from scattering, then cut it down with a specialized weapon. Here, this is a Silver-Iron Blade. To eliminate an evil spirit, you need a weapon with at least seventy percent silver content.”

Ise gripped the small silver-iron blade.

“If the evil spirit lashes out while I'm performing the ritual, protect me. Usually, it would run away... but this one may be an earthbound spirit. If it is, it'll attack.”

“Got it. Let's approach when you're ready.”

After taking several deep breaths, Seolryeong swallowed hard.

Their prey was only a Grade Nine demon.

Still, this was their first real hunt.

The sixth principle of Demon Hunting. No matter how weak the demon, hunt it with everything you have.

Whenever an enemy's demonic qi seemed insignificant, Ise recalled the Ten Precepts of Demon Hunting, along with the terrible one-year survival rate of Great Exorcist Order entry disciples.

The closer they came to the source of the demonic qi, the fiercer the cold wind became.

The direction of the wind was strange.

It felt as though it was spiraling out from within the forest.

Then Ise's eyes widened.

What he had thought was wind had a form, oddly enough.

No, more precisely, it had color.

Before he knew it, black-tinged wind lingered around him, darting past his body.

“It's coming. Start.”

At Ise's words, Seolryeong immediately drove a pole-like weapon into the ground and began reciting an incantation.

Whoooosh!

Auspicious energy pressed back the sinister force, and the wind slowly retreated.

Yet the black wind that had seemed to withdraw briefly soon rushed over him like a storm.

It was clearly the form of an evil spirit. A demon nearly without substance.

It was not very different from what the witnesses had described.

But...

‘Something's strange.’

Most of the demonic qi in the bamboo grove was gathered in the black mist, but a faint thread extended from it toward the center of the forest.

A thin yet dense strand of demonic qi.

Ise leaped over the mist rushing toward him.

Then he immediately swung the Silver-Iron Blade.

He felt nothing.

It was like swinging a sword through empty air.

Contrary to what Seolryeong had said, silver-iron had no effect on the evil spirit.

He quickly pulled back and glanced at Seolryeong, but she was focused on chanting her spell.

This time, he filled his hand with spiritual energy and struck the mist. It still only cut through empty air. Nothing touched his hand.

The scattered mist immediately gathered itself and floated in the air again.

“At last, a human with strong qi has appeared.”

A voice that sounded almost human leaked from the formless demon.

“A low-level demon can talk?”

The moment Ise asked in surprise, Seolryeong's sharp voice rang out behind him.

“Ise! The binding isn't working!”

At that moment, the black wind took the shape of a tiger.

“Give me your body!”

It roared before his face, but Ise passed straight through the mist and thrust the Silver-Iron Blade toward the bamboo tube at the center of the forest, where the thread of demonic qi was connected.

“What!”

A hurried cry came from behind him.

Just as he thought, the mist was only a trick. The real thing was here.

As the Silver-Iron Blade was about to smash the bamboo tube, a shriek like a cry rang out.

“Wait! I'm sorry! Please don't break it!”

It was the voice of a little girl.

Rather than destroy the bamboo tube with the Silver-Iron Blade, Ise struck it with the flat of the blade.

Thwack!

The bamboo tube rolled away.

A moment later, a tiny woman, barely two finger joints tall, crawled out from inside.

The woman knelt demurely and clasped her hands as though begging.

Seolryeong, who had approached at some point, rubbed her eyes and let out a breath that was almost a sigh.

“...What is this?”

“She wasn't an evil spirit. The mist was an illusion created by this demon. This seems to be her true body. She can communicate, so let's capture her alive and hand her over to headquarters.”

“What do you mean, she can communicate...?”

Once Seolryeong saw the demon's true form, her eyes widened.

She looked as mysterious as a celestial maiden.

Her delicate features sat perfectly on her small face, while translucent silk shimmered over her tiny body.

Ise picked up the demon between two fingers. She twisted about in his grip and smiled foolishly.

“Hehe, I was too mischievous, wasn't I...? Please forgive me just once, and I'll live as quietly as the dead.”

She might have looked cute in her own way, but Ise ignored her completely.

Seolryeong stared wide-eyed.

“This is impossible. A Grade Nine demon, a low-level demon at the Qi Condensation Realm, can really speak?”

“Is this your first time seeing one too?”

“Of course. I heard demons need to reach at least the Foundation Establishment Realm before they gain language ability......”

This was likely a discovery close to a fortunate encounter. If the senior cultivators of Great Exorcist Order saw it, they would cause an uproar, wanting to chew it, tear it apart, study it, and dissect it.

At the very least, their mission reward would surely change.

“You, what are you?”

“I am Bamboo-Tube Beauty, a spiritual material from an Immortal Mountain and the guardian spirit of this bamboo grove.”

Dangling in the air, the demon held the hem of her skirt in both hands and shyly greeted them like a young girl.

At her harmless appearance, Seolryeong let out an involuntary snort of laughter.

Then she startled and asked again, “A spiritual material? You're not a demon?”

“Yeees......”

“W-wait! She says she's a spiritual material. Don't hold her like she's an insect!”

Great Exorcist Order revered and protected spiritual materials.

If she really was a spiritual material, they absolutely could not treat her carelessly.

Seolryeong hurriedly received Bamboo-Tube Beauty in both hands. Then she examined her from every angle.

“She really is. The spiritual energy is faint, but I can feel it. Then it's possible for her to gain language ability at the Qi Condensation Realm... but if most of her power has become demonic qi...”

Corruption.

It meant this demon had lost its proper path and fallen, though some spirituality remained. It was a spiritual material still in the process of corruption.

Seolryeong sighed sadly.

Whether Ise understood that background or not, he only asked questions to satisfy his own curiosity.

“Where is this Immortal Mountain?”

“Um, it's a mountain near the southern coast....”

If it was on the southern coast, it had to be at least a thousand li away, in the Gamori region.

How had a spiritual material from the Southern Sea been brought all the way here, fallen into corruption, and ended up troubling ordinary people?

“The Southern Sea is a thousand li from here. Why did you come all this way?”

“There were circumstances......”

“And after coming all this way, why not keep quiet? Your spiritual power seems badly weakened too, so why bother innocent people? Didn't the senior bamboo spiritual materials teach you to beware of corruption?”

“There were circumstances for that too......”

“What kind of demon has so many circumstances?”

“Ise, she came from a spiritual material. Shouldn't you show her some respect...?”

He knew he ought to show respect, but what could he do when she was such a dim-witted creature that inspired no respect at all?

Ise shook his head and stopped questioning her.

There were many suspicious details, but their first priority was completing the mission.

Ise asked Bamboo-Tube Beauty, “We're taking you to Great Exorcist Order now. Can you travel? I'd prefer to keep you alive if possible.”

“Um... I can't leave this place. I probably wouldn't even make it ten li before I grew sick and disappeared.”

Ise and Seolryeong exchanged glances.

“What should we do in this case? Wait until it becomes a demon, then perform the spirit-sending rite?”

Footnotes:

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