Book 11 Chapter 5

The idea of a fatality

'Beware of …!

In his office, Qi Sahan is lost in thought as he recalls one indelible image from the past.

'But who was he referring to? '

He still remembered that day, not long after the death of Gal Hyo Feng, the grandson of the Demon God Swordsman Gal Zhonghyeok, had shaken the Black Dao to its core. After the Black Heaven Alliance Lord Gal Zhongchuan had vowed bloody retribution, one of the Black Heaven Alliance's most powerful armies, the Iron Kite Squadron, had left Meng and returned with the unbelievable news that they had been defeated without even knocking on the front door of the Heavenly Martial Academy.

In response to the defeat of the Iron Scourge, the master of the Iron Scourge, Gu Tianhak, made no excuses and admitted his disastrous defeat. Strangely enough, he remained silent, keeping his mouth shut about who, how, and why he had lost. Not only that, but none of the members of the Iron Carving Beasts made any promises about the matter. Gal Zhongchuan was so convinced that he wanted to deprive him of his position as a master, but after much urging, he softened his punishment to three months of solitary confinement.

When Qi Sahan heard the news, he couldn't help but wonder. Who could so effortlessly penetrate the Qi Shock of the Iron Scaffold and reduce the mighty Gu Tianhua to a mere mush? He couldn't help but wonder, so he decided to meet Gu Tianhua himself.

Gu Qianhak, who could have been called the former Iron Sculpture Master if he'd made a mistake, was being held in solitary confinement in a dank underground punishment chamber where the smell of mold stung his nostrils.

"I'll open it! "

He had already been through the process and had been granted permission. Not only that, but the people who had met him before hadn't heard a peep from him. With a harsh friction, the iron gate swung open, revealing the darkness.

Gu Tianhak sat reclining on his hard stone bed, his eyes closed in silence. His hair was unkempt, his beard unruly, and he hadn't trimmed it properly in months. But despite his solitary confinement for more than two months, he hadn't lost his ability to pray. If anything, it seemed to have been sharpened in this darkness. Qi Shihan shuddered, feeling as if he were looking at a single sharp spear.

Gu Tianhak quietly opened his closed eyes and looked at Qi Sahan. Qi Sahan instantly shuddered at the beastly gaze. It was such a powerful gaze that it could not be considered the gaze of a defeated man. Instead, he was trembling with a terrible warlike intent. It was the prayer of a man on the brink of death. Judging by the recent markings on the walls all around him, he hadn't neglected his training in this darkness.

The cell was quite large. It didn't prevent me from practicing, and no one interrupted me. On the contrary, it was encouraged. What was there to do in the dreary darkness, where even the light was denied a visit, but to train one's mind and body.

Unfortunately, as a master of the art of spearmanship, he was a prisoner of color and could not possess a weapon.

"What brings you to this ramshackle place, soldier of the ten thousand palaces?"

They were in a situation where they knew each other.

"It's been a while since I've seen you. Old master!"

The two men were in the wrong place, and it was hard to tell who was higher or lower in the hierarchy, so now they were respecting each other.

"High Priestess……. That's a title I haven't heard in a long time. I'm just a sinner now."

"You're not a criminal, you're just on probation, soon to be released."

Chisahan offered ritualized words of comfort.

"But it doesn't change the fact that I'm a sinner."

There was a hint of self-help in his words. It would be futile to argue the subject now. Qi Sahan wanted to change the subject, if only for the sake of what he had come here for.

"What is that in your hand?"

It looked like chopsticks, but it wasn't mealtime, and it was lonely, like a mismatched geese. Gu Tianhak picked up the other chopstick.

"You mean this?"

Qi Sahan nodded. It made him wonder what she was doing with a pair of chopsticks, so pampered.

"This is my window (槍)."

Gu Tianhak replied calmly.

"A window? "

Gu Tianhak nodded, but Qi Sahan couldn't understand his words.

"Isn't a spear a weapon with a hilt more than nine characters long, and a sharp, pointed point at the end?"

Qi Sahan stared in bewilderment, alternately at Gu Tianhua's face and at the chopsticks in question in his hand, the very thing he had named a spear.

"This is also a window."

Gu Tianhak spoke forcefully and didn't back down from his point. Qi Sahan felt like he'd been played for a fool.

"But why is that…, stir…, no, window?"

He had to struggle to get the word "spear" out.

"Since I've learned to spear, shouldn't I pick up a spear? But I don't have my own spear here, so I'll have to make do with this."

Apparently those dwarf wooden chopsticks are his spear substitute.

"You mean that's possible?"

"Sure."

Gu Tianhua's finger pointed to a wall, and Qi Sahan followed his fingertip, pressing his face so close to the wall that his nose was crushed, and squinting so hard that his eyeballs were torn out, he could see it.

The walls were pockmarked with tiny holes, like anthills, and it was impossible to count them. Qi Shahan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He suddenly felt afraid of the man sitting on the stool in front of him.

"Despite being confined to such inhospitable conditions, this man's martial prowess has grown stronger, not weaker. He should never be taken lightly. It is inevitable (不問可知: one can know without asking) that such a person will become an obstacle in the future, making things very difficult for him.

In Qi Sahan's mind, a sense of caution about kun chen grew.

"Why are you so desperate to build your practice?"

There was no way he could cultivate to this level by doing odd jobs. Qi Shihan could sense that Gu Tianhua was very desperate.

"There is one whom I must bring down with my own hand, and he will not yield to anyone."

Suddenly, Gu Tianhua's eyes flashed, and a tremendous intent exploded from his body, causing Qi Shihan to cringe at its fierceness.

'Who, then, is the man who defeated that mighty ironclad army led by such a terrifying man? He must be the one who says that Gu Tianhua must win. Then he must be a monster. We must find out his identity somehow.

Qi Sahan's mind spun rapidly and furiously. It was just as he was about to open his mouth once more.

"Well, you can go home now."

Qi Sahan was taken aback by the sudden celebration.

"Mu…, what do you mean, I haven't asked you anything yet, Old Master."

The celebration was unexpected.

"You're not here to ask about your day, are you?"

There was bitterness in his tone.

"That's right!"

Why else would he come to this musty, grassy place?" Qi Sahan nodded obediently.

"Then I have nothing to say, my answer is the same as it has always been."

It was a steadfast act of silence. At first glance, he didn't seem like a man who could break his will. It was clear that this man was stubborn as hell. Taking a hard line was not a good idea. This was the type of man who would rather break than bend.

Chisahan decided to take a workaround.

"Old Overlord, do you know that the Volcano Covenant Chapter is just around the corner?"

"Sure."

"And you know how important that is to our Black Heavenly Blind, and to the Magisterium, and to the whole of Blackness."

Gu Tianhak nodded once more in affirmation. He was extremely normal, and anyone who didn't recognize the importance of that would be a nonentity in the current powerhouse.

"Eek!"

There was a man sneezing on the shore of Lake Payang in the distance, his too-long black bangs bristling and tickling his nose.

Qi Sahan smirked and spoke again.

"So, if something so momentous is coming up, and there's a change, shouldn't we know about it? How panicked people would be if they were caught off guard and had nothing to do with it, and that panic would never work in our favor. If it caused our black swords to lose to those white swords……. Of course, that shouldn't happen, but just in case it does, it's a horrible nightmare to even think about."

It was a euphemistic way of saying that your unresponsive silence right now is a transfer that could seriously damage our entire Black Island, and it would be a betrayal of the organization, so deal with it. Qi Sahan looked into Gu Tianhua's face once more, but it was impossible to tell if he recognized the meaning behind his words.

"If what I was going through wasn't a dream, then maybe none of the measures I took were worth it."

His answer was emphatic. What on earth could a man of his stature want to dismiss as a fantasy? Qi Sahan couldn't even begin to guess, which was all the more unsettling because it meant that the variable was so influential. It meant that the influence of the variable was great.

"There's only one thing I can say to you."

"What is it?"

Qi Sahan's ears perked up. He was determined not to miss a word.

"Beware of the boy with bangs long enough to cover his eyes. Send him to……."

Food Gain!

'What on earth does a boy with long bangs have to do with risk?'

As he pondered the last words of the enigmatic Gu Tianhua, Qi Sahan's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wings announcing the arrival of Jeon Seo-ng. She had arrived directly in front of him, bypassing the Tongzhen Hall in charge of the non-combatants. Taking the book from the barrel hanging from the hawk's leg, Qi Sahan opened it and immediately jumped to his feet.

"Have you been contacted?"

A cold, hard gaze met Qi Sahan's.

"Yes, a telegram has just arrived from the Red Bloods."

"What's in it?"

"They say they've finally made contact with the deer, and they're going to start tracking it covertly."

The Archduke nodded in silence.

"And they asked for further instructions."

"Go ahead and execute phase two of the operation. Let's see how you do."

"Fuck!"