Book 22 Chapter 8

Second time's the charm.

-Tiger (虎患) vs. Dragon (龍患)

Zhang Wuyang stood at the front of the boat and glanced at Nosabu's sideways face.

Always thinking, but a strange old man. He can't tell what's what. It's so deep, you can never reach it. The old man exists where his eyes do not reach. He must have seen things differently than you do now.

"But it got me here without incident.

I couldn't have done it without him. Somehow, I felt that way. After taking down the Black Dragon Ship's flag, they were not restrained by anyone.

"What kind of madman would try to capture a black dragon ship and run it over while it's being dragged along like a dog!

Fortunately, there was no such madman. Zhang Wuyang was inwardly relieved to see that common sense still existed in Jianghu. He'd been seeing so much unorthodoxy lately that he missed common sense and normalcy.

'But I can't go back there now either…….'

I've been looking too far away. I've seen the pinnacle. Perhaps the old man is what is meant by "pole," and when you see something like that, it burns into your retina like a flame. It's like looking directly at the sun. The retina, scorched by the intense flood of light, reflects the afterimage for a while. You will never be the same person again.

"So this is what it's all about.

Even if you don't fall off a cliff, even if you don't learn martial arts, you're still a kite. Now that he's able to rise above his past self, he's definitely Qi Yan. He even gained a guardian deity and signed a contract with the Qinglong Silver Pavilion to further expand his base. It was that mysterious old man who made the connection.

'Is it a coincidence that I met that old man… or…….'

Well, meeting the old man was good luck, meeting the man was bad luck. I thought it would be a good idea to keep it that way.

'There's no turning back now. So the only thing left is to go forward.

Zhang Wuyang looked ahead, his eyes filled with determination. The vast horizon of Dongzheng Lake greeted him.

It's like it's asking you if you can make it this far. Those who have seen the ocean cannot be satisfied with a lake. It's like that.

"Now all you have to do is hand me a token……."

I was finally relieved.

But that was a big mistake: what you know is not necessarily what others know. Besides, it's a big world, and there are a lot of crazy people out there.

* * *

"That ship, right?"

A rugged-faced man stood at the bow of a black ship that melted into the darkness.

"That's right, Fan Master, that ship is definitely the Black Dragon Sun, and it's being dragged along by that ship."

"Kick, I thought it was your idea, but I can't believe it's true… That square captain, I didn't like him, but he turned out badly."

He seemed rather pleased that his coworker had gotten away with it.

"After all, the only master of the Sun Tzu is this body monster, Seahorse Maniac."

At the Jianggang Surochai, he and the Black Sword had always competed in skill and ball. How could he not be pleased that one of his rivals had been eliminated?

"Okay, let's go eat them!"

By this time, Nosabu was humming these words.

"It's always a good thing to be multi-faceted."

He was so pleased, he even added a word.

"Hmmm, not one, but two, that's a lot of money, and they've probably got a propaganda piece written… I'm not bothering you this time, so let's keep it simple."

Bam!

Nosabu snapped his fingers cheerfully.

"Sir, I… I… I……."

The fingertips of the usually bloodthirsty subordinate were trembling almost as badly as his raspy voice.

"What, did you suddenly become deaf or something? Why are you stuttering and bullshitting?"

The monster seafood maniac spoke up nervously. Right now, Zhong Pil was mentally unable to take in the events before him.

"He… I mean I… I… I… I……."

Jong-pil's finger, which had been pointing to a spot, was now trembling like an aspen tree.

"What the hell do you have, it's either that or die!"

With that, I released my grip and followed his fingertips up the mast.

"Suck!"

At that moment, Harewang stopped breathing.

"Why is that thing here……?

When did it appear, and where did it come from? Up on the mast, a giant shadow stared down at them, its eyes like a golden sun, yo-yoing and flashing.

"Come on, no way……."

This was not deep in the mountains, but in the middle of the Yangtze River. There was no place for such a thing.

"Haha, guys, that's a hallucination, right?"

"……."

All that came back was a heavy silence.

Unlike land dwellers, there are certain things that water dwellers do not worry about, and one of them is the tiger. They do not fear the dragon god, who is a water god, but they do not fear the tiger, who is under the authority of the mountain goddess. Even if they were afraid of the tiger, it was an otherworldly creature that didn't exist in their world, and one that they would have no ties to in this life unless they left the water. That's right. It was enough that a creature like Mama only existed in stories.

So what the hell is that? That thing crouched on the mast, looking down on them arrogantly?

On the mast, something that could not and should not be there stood alone, radiating pure white majesty.

Kahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

When that roar first rang out, everyone on the Black Dragon Ship cowered and shuddered. It was a soul-shaking sound, like the fury of a dragon god.

Next moment,

A white lightning bolt struck the black ship.

Kahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Quadadruple!

It roared once more, shattering the trees on the deck.

The dragon and the tiger (龍虎相搏). It depicts a dragon and a tiger battling fiercely, with the dragon's whistle blowing. In reality, however, the black dragon was no match for the white tiger. How dare these fake imitations of the Black Dragon defeat the true master of the Divine Mountain!

A single lunge, and that was enough. Apparently, this white tiger was not afraid of the water at all; she seemed to be proclaiming with her whole body that she was invincible, that she was only a step away. And with that confidence, her movements were swift and her leaps were powerful. From deck to deck, bow to stern, and stern to mast, her movements were so overwhelmingly fast that they resembled a white flash of lightning, and the men of the Middle Kingdom could only stare in awe at the spectacle. Realizing that they had not the slightest chance of escape, all that would be left in the wake of this flash of light would be mangled shells and corpses.

"Well, it pays for food and drinks."

Only Nosabu watched the spectacle silently and commented on it.

* * *

Kahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The roar of a fierce beast echoed from the other side of Dongzheng Lake, where night had fallen.

"What is it?"

"What is it?"

"Bam! No!"

"A tiger?"

The bewildered envoys of the Academy of Heaven and Earth, who were arguing about disinfection, had one question.

"What's that tiger roaring in the middle of Dongjing Lake?

I've never heard of a tiger that likes to swim with the fishes in Dongjing Lake, but the complexion of all of them, especially Yunbi, is very pale, as if they've been beaten to death.

"Is that a sound?

My heart sank the moment I heard it. I'd heard it in the mountains since I was a kid, and I couldn't forget it.

"What's wrong, Yeonbi, you're not looking your best?"

Na Yerin's complexion had changed enough to worry her.

"No way……."

"What? What's wrong with you all of a sudden, Yeonbi. What's going on?"

His amber eyes, always so proud and fearless, were wavering slightly. Never before had Na Yerin seen Yunbi, who had laughed so heartily at the pomp and circumstance of her welcome, so visibly flustered.

"What the heck is going on?

"Are you okay, Yeonbi?"

Yeonbi did not answer. His eyes were closed in thought.

"Did you hear that… did Yerin hear that?"

I check it out, just in case. It might be a last ditch effort, but you can't be too sure. It would be nice if it was a hallucination, but you have the confidence to know that it's not. You resent your personality for not being able to turn away from reality even when you want to.

"Yeah, I definitely heard that, and I'm surprised to hear it again in the middle of a lake like this."

"'Again'?"

That word sticks with me. When did I hear it? This is where timing becomes very important. Was it a decade ago? It could have been.

"Was that ten years ago?"

"No."

Na Yerin shook her head.

"It's been less than a month."

"Excuse me?"

"Liu… well, it was when someone close to me was in prison."

Only one person has been sent to jail in the last month, so that means he's been to Nam Chang. …….

'No way…….'

Maybe I didn't hear it because I was underground?

'If all else fails…….'

The options were very limited.

'Your life may be in danger if you don't have this favorable bargain…….'

Even if the disaster is outside of your control, if you don't prepare for it, you'll just get swept up in it and die.

"We have to do something!

Natural disasters, no matter how uncontrollable, were likely to kill you if you stood idly by when they struck. Something had to be done, against this harsh fate. That was a fact that the heavens and earth would not change.

I'm shaking!

It's like your heart is being squeezed by an invisible hand.

"Calm down, calm down!

This is a trial. A trial that was supposed to be over sometime. It's just that it happened to be a darned bad day.

"That's why you need to calm down. Calm down!

Forcibly calming a pounding heart that feels like it's about to explode. How many times have you fantasized about the worst case scenario? It's a warm-up exercise to avoid panic when it happens, so you've already done it hundreds of times in your fantasies. It's just that the gap between fantasy and reality is huge. I almost lost all the practice I'd put in beforehand.

Quietly, you tell yourself again to calm down. As if you're making a strong suggestion to yourself, so that the experience you've been building up can be awakened.

"I am in control of this situation.

Give yourself some stronger words.

"All variables have already been rethought(重考).

All that's left is to bring the conclusions out of your mind and make them a fact.

I want to run away, I want to run away, I want to run away.

It's natural. Humans are naturally afraid of things they can't handle. We would do so without hesitation if it weren't for the fact that it's the easiest and most foolish thing to do, but running away doesn't tie any knots. Once you decide to run away from something, you run away from it over and over again. It's called inertia. Once a horse starts running, it's hard to turn it around, much less stop it. So even if you're afraid, even if you can't predict the future, you have to have the courage to throw yourself into that unknown darkness. That's the theory, and it couldn't be more true.

But moving the body in accordance with the theory is another matter. The body refuses. The body always wants the easy way out. It seems that humans cannot move according to reason alone. You know what you want to do, but your body keeps avoiding it. It's a vicious cycle. That's why I've been practicing so many times to build up a little more courage.

I must have gained something! Now was the time to pull it out and use it, but I couldn't hide my embarrassment.

"Is it because we have a new variable called Hayang's roar?

Once again, there's more going on in the world than I could have imagined. Next time, I'll include that in the expectation variable.

One thing's for sure… it is. You don't want to admit it, but you have to. You have to accept the reality that you don't want to accept.

He realized that his master had finally appeared before him!

Now you're forced to choose between several options that you've considered hundreds of times. It was time to choose.