Book 21 Chapter 18

Ride in peace

-Voice in the Dark

"Wake up, boy!"

Far away, somewhere, you hear a voice. A familiar voice. But not a voice you want to hear often.

"Oh, it's noisy, let's at least go to the other side.

Again, a voice came from beyond the darkness. It was a desperate voice.

"You can't die! You can't die! Don't die!"

"Uh-oh, are you sad, then be nice to me while you can.

The desperation in his voice quickly turned harsh.

"You spoiled brat, you're going to die without permission!"

"Well, I guess I'm free to die, even if I didn't feel like it this time.

In hindsight, it was self-inflicted. I prayed for Rin's safety, but the screams I heard at the end haunted me. But now that I was on the other side, it was better to let go of my regrets.

'They say that if you have too many regrets, you become a demon. Hmm. Then you should stick to your master.'

"Won't you wake up, you grumpy little bastard? You still have a lot of work to do!"

The darkness cries out again.

'Work? Well, yeah, you're a sad dog, horns, and you're an old man, so don't get all excited. I don't want to see you again as soon as I get to the other side.'

"Hey, are you a slacker who doesn't want to work? If you die first like this, I'll chase you down later and make you regret it a million times over, hehe, let me pamper you for a hundred thousand years, eh?"

From the other side of the darkness comes desperate sincerity.

"Ugh, no way, please forget about me!

We've had enough of this bad blood.

"Without you, who's going to feed me? Get your head out of your ass and go earn some money! If you don't get your head out of your ass, I'm going to give you thirty thousand years of work at half-price, double what you're getting now!"

Flash!

At that moment, my eyes reflexively opened and a bright light washed over me.

Familiar ceiling, familiar air……. But my body felt heavy and numb. I could only move my eyes this way and that.

"Are you awake?"

You turn and look to the side. You see the same old beard you've always seen. Next to it, I see an out-of-place pot of medicine. I wonder what he's brewing, but I can't tell right now.

"Cheap… wealth……."

"Why?"

Bluntly, the old man asks.

"I guess our bad blood… went all the way to the other side."

Voila!

The stars are twinkling in front of you as usual. Somehow, I'm glad to see them.

"Violence from the beyond……."

"Shut up! If you're going to bullshit like a poet, why don't I hit you some more?"

How pale does an angry face look? Are you surprised? Oh, no.

"Am I… alive?"

Apparently, it wasn't the other side.

"Of course not. You think you can kill him without my permission? Hmph, not a chance, not a chance."

It was the same old Sensei, but something was different. He looked like he was in a bad mood.

"Wake up!"

Master said bluntly.

"Ugh, I'm critically ill, Master, you could use a little compassion once in a while."

"Do you want to get hit more?"

The master slowly raised his fist. The power of the human mind-nay, the power of fear-was great.

This is the power of repetition!

Little by little, the sensations I had lost were returning. Along with the tearing pain.

"Boom!"

"Drink!"

When I finally sat up, he bluntly held out a bowl. It was steaming with a black, thick liquid that smelled dangerous.

"It looks like… poison."

"No poison, it's medicine, it's medicine, drink it cold, it's cooling."

"If it's a medicine, it's a death drug ……?"

This had never happened before, so it wasn't unreasonable to be suspicious.

"You want to be right after all."

I'll hit you as many times as you want, the clenched fist said.

"No, it's not. That's a misunderstanding."

I politely declined and accepted the medicine. The white bowl and black liquid stood out in stark black-and-white contrast. I stared at the ugly black wave for a moment, then closed my eyes tightly and gulped it down.

"Ugh, write it. Huh?"

As I set the empty bowl down, something caught in my mouth, and I pushed it out with my tongue, revealing white scales that looked vaguely familiar.

"What the hell is this stuff?"

This suspicious fishy flavor, no matter how sweet and concentrated, hiding in the bitterness. Even if it had turned into a bland broth, I could still guess what it was originally.

"Oh. That's right, now that I think about it……."

Puck!

Already, a powerful blow to the head has been delivered that can hardly be called honeycomb.

"Ouch!"

"You fool, you're lucky Bai Xiaochun was right next to you! I warned you beforehand that Bai Xiaochun's poison doesn't take any medicine, so did you doze off then, eh?"

"So the antidote is……."

"The poison and the antidote are close. The poison of the Bai Sect must be removed on the spot by drinking the Bai Sect's blood to calm it down, then by chopping off a handful of scales and the heart for three days and three nights. If you're late, it's the Nether Path!"

I didn't like hearing his criticism, but I didn't have much to say in response. Given the speed at which the poison spreads, the master's words were not untrue: if I hadn't treated him in time, he would never have returned.

Just as I was rejoicing in my life's work, something started to bother me.

"By the way, what happened to the girl next to me?"

"I don't know, I'm sure the scavengers took them away."

It's a way of saying you're not interested at all.

"What do you mean, shivering? Are you hurt?"

The Master's eyes narrowed and the corners of his mouth turned upward.

"Ho, ho, you're revealing it already, I thought you were getting a little excited lately."

"Profit! Billion!"

When I got angry, my breath caught in my throat and I broke out in a cold sweat. It was the after-effects of the poison still lingering. Or the after-effects of opening the power.

"Calm down. Foam at the mouth. I want to know what you're talking about, anyway."

He shakes his head in annoyance. I didn't think I could ask him any more questions, but by the tone of his voice, it was clear that what he was worried about hadn't happened.

"Was that scream I heard at the end an illusion?

With all the other things on my mind, I had only one question to ask my teacher.

"The back bridge… is the rest of it still there?"

"Are you crazy? We should dismantle them and sell them here and there. They're rare and labor intensive, so we should get a pretty penny for them. Hmmm. The heart must have been worth a lot, but I can't even sell it and have to use it. What a waste……."

My face crumpled at the absurdity of it all.

"But I got all of them……."

He argued that he had some right to the disposal. The price he paid for his assertion was his master's snort.

"Hmph. What nonsense, it's the one who kills for sure, and the one who comes back from the dead should be grateful for this master's Hahai-like virtue. You don't realize how much you owe him for your life, do you?"

"Ugh!"

As it turns out, Sensei wasn't so easy.

'It's a miracle we even got him to take his meds.'

The defeat was quick and simple. I had a strange feeling that I should be thanking my Sensei a little bit for this.

"Oh, and that life debt."

His voice softened slightly, as if he was feeling a little more refreshed. Somehow, I had a feeling that my gratitude would soon fade away.

"Work for it!"

Again, it's gone.

* * *

"I really thought Yeonbi was going to die back then."

Na Yerin said, as if the memory was still fresh in her mind.

"So did I. I ended up in debt, but I survived."

"Debt? I don't think you mean the medical bills……."

When she was younger, she hadn't thought of such things, but in retrospect, she was already selling music and dances. Nayarin's heart was heavy when she thought about how much trouble Yeonbi must have been in, as she was poor and suddenly unable to pay for her treatment.

"Hoo hoo hoo, don't worry, it's just a mental debt that Sensei forced on me."

"Really, Yeonbi?"

"Sure."

Yeonbi smirked.

"Ah. How's the old man? Come to think of it, he's a dear friend of mine, too, and I'm sorry."

The Yeonbi left me scratching my head.

"Precious benefactor? What's more sorry than that?

"You saved not only my Yeonbi, but my life, and I don't appreciate the rudeness… Oh, come to think of it, the next time I saw you, you were just happy and couldn't tell me the details."

Yeonbi nodded. Or, more accurately, she couldn't speak properly because she kept crying with joy.

"That's when my Yeonbi ran out and you stopped Baekyo from jumping on me, just like that."

Na Yerin laughed lightly and lifted one hand up, absentmindedly swatting at a fly.

"With that one gesture, Bai Kyo was instantly dead, and even though he was already dying, he was really amazing, so I guess that's why he was so strong from then on."

The Yeonbi was ridiculous and my face stiffened. Someone who had to fight for his life was a monster master who could swat away a fly with a single blow.

"But instead of thanking me, the people who came running at the right time saw me crying and misunderstood……."

The back story is self-explanatory.

"I'm sure they thought I was a villain, which I am.

"Are they unharmed?"

"…It was almost okay, considering it was blown away."

"Does it fly?"

At Yanbi's retort, Na Yerin looked a little perplexed and did that polite fly swatter thing again. Yunfei sighed.

"And then he immediately put Bai Qiao's blood on Yan Bi's lips, and I tried to apologize when I realized that people misunderstood, but the old man just walked away, dragging Yan Bi with him."

Suddenly, Yunbi understood why her master was so worried when he asked how Lin was doing.

"I'm sure you're well now, and you've been a benefactor to me, so if you don't mind my asking, may I know your name and where you are?"

"That's because… I'm not authorized to reveal it. If it's healthy, I'll probably correct it so it won't kill you."

It was an odd answer, but Na Yerin was easily convinced. It was not uncommon for hermits to instruct their disciples not to reveal private matters, and in such cases, it was polite not to inquire unless they were willing to do so themselves.

"I see. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say hello back then, and I'd love to see you again, but somehow I have a feeling we'll get together again at least once."

For a moment, his heart turned to stone. It was a moment later that he felt the blood return to his body.

"I'll be sure to thank you politely the next time I see you."

Yunbi clasped her hands around Na Yerin's shoulders in horror.

"No, Rin, get rid of those thoughts right now! It's enough misery to have such a dreadful past once in your life, and if you meet him again, you'll make Rin unhappy, too! Don't ever let those dreadful words come out of your mouth again! Understood?"

I don't know why, but he wasn't in the mood to take no for an answer, he was determined to make it happen. I've never seen Yeonbi freak out like that before.

"Oh, okay."

Na Yerin nodded hesitantly. As if relieved, Yunbi straightened up again and smiled brightly.

"Ha, that's it, Rin!"