Now, You Are Its Master

The white-haired man approached Gyo-ha and prodded him several times with his foot.
Gyo-ha’s toes twitched.
The man smiled in amusement and prodded him several more times before apparently growing bored and squatting in front of him.
His behavior made him look like a curious child.

“I wondered when I saw that you had inherited my art, but to think someone other than my younger brother could use it.”

The man examined Gyo-ha from every angle before clicking his tongue.

“It would have been even better if you were one of our kind. What a shame.”

They were incomprehensible words.
The Third Elder, who stood behind them, frowned when he heard the man say he had passed down his art.
More precisely, the man had said that Gyo-ha had inherited it, but the Third Elder hadn’t heard him properly.

‘Then that man must be…’

The Kunlun Sect Leader.
The Kunlun Sword Freak.
The man who had once contended with the Sword Immortal for the title of the greatest swordsman under Heaven.

‘He looks different from what I heard.’

According to the rumors, the Sword Freak didn’t have white hair.
However, he was said to have maintained a youthful appearance as though he had reversed his aging and returned to youth.
That made it highly likely that the man before him was the Sword Freak.
Even so, the Third Elder could not be certain.

“…May I ask where you come from, Senior?”

Only then did the white-haired man turn at the Third Elder’s question.

“Ah, you were still here.”

His expression showed that he had forgotten all about him.
That was how little the Third Elder mattered to the man.
It was humiliating, but the Third Elder did not show it.
He had not obtained his position as an elder merely because he was a direct descendant of the Jeokyang Clan.
Reaching that position meant he had survived the treacherous Kangho.
Perhaps Third Elder’s restraint had an effect, for the man answered him.

“What a foolish question. Wherever the wind blows under Heaven is this one’s domain.”

It was an arrogant declaration.
But the Third Elder interpreted it differently.
He believed the man sought to conquer the realm. Of course, the man didn’t care how the Third Elder interpreted his words.
Thanks to that, however, the Third Elder realized the man was not Yun Heo.
Yun Heo’s actions were far removed from any ambition to conquer the realm.
The man soon began sniffing the air.
As though reminded of something unpleasant, he clicked his tongue while looking at Third Elder and the fallen humans.

“I thought that scent was familiar. It belongs to that fake lion bastard. So he has been hiding and plotting something like this.”

Third Elder gasped.
The air around them seemed to distort in response to the man’s mood.
The man spoke to the Third Elder, who could barely breathe.

“My nose will rot if I stay here. I will take this child.”

He had said he would take Gyo-ha as an object, not escort him as a person. A strange light appeared in the Third Elder’s eyes before vanishing.

“May I ask your honored name?”
“Hmm.”

The man blinked.

“The humans of this era are peculiar. Why place such importance on something as trivial as a name?”

After saying that, the man hoisted Gyo-ha over his shoulder.

“Did I not tell you? There is only one being who roams freely upon every wind under Heaven.”

A name held no meaning.
He was the master of the wind. That alone was enough to describe him.
The man launched himself away and disappeared in an instant.
Only afterward did his voice resound.

[All yokai.]
[And all people.]
[Called this one the Great Sage Who Travels with the Wind.]

The man’s voice came from every direction.

‘Six-Direction Voice Transmission?!’

Third Elder’s eyes trembled.
He could not begin to estimate the depth of the man’s cultivation.
However, the Third Elder was mistaken.
The Great Sage Who Travels with the Wind, the Hundred Ghost King, had merely carried his voice upon the wind.
Even so, it was an art that only he could perform under Heaven.
By the time the Third Elder regained his composure and looked around, nothing remained.
He hurried toward the First Elder.
Perhaps because so much time had been wasted, the First Elder’s breathing had become dangerously weak.

‘Damn it.’

The Third Elder looked troubled as he hurriedly lifted the First Elder onto his back.
He saw the others lying on the ground but turned away.
He had no time to worry about them.
The Third Elder launched himself toward the Jeokyang Clan.

Gyo-ha opened his eyes in a vast field.

‘…Am I dead?’

It was hardly surprising that he would think so.
The temperature and air against his skin were unlike anything he had felt before. The snowcapped mountain in the distance was beautiful enough that he could believe it didn’t belong to the human world.
It was not only the mountain. Mist rose with every breath he exhaled.
Gyo-ha looked around before examining his arms.

‘There’s feeling in them.’

His eyes lit up. The sensation was faint, but he could feel his hands.
His fingers naturally curled into fists.
Then.

“They will not hold if you put any strength into them.”

Gyo-ha turned toward the unfamiliar voice.
Atop a massive boulder.
A man sat with his legs dangling over the edge.

“I poured an entire jar of rare Ambrosial Wine from the Peach Garden over them, but it has only delayed the damage for a while.”

The man placed particular emphasis on the word rare.
Realizing what the man had done, Gyo-ha sprang to his feet.

“Thank you for helping me.”

The man stared at Gyo-ha before bursting into laughter.

“There is no need. Thanks to you, I was able to remember old times as well.”

A trace of wistfulness entered the man’s voice. After speaking, he raised the gourd to his lips and took a sip.
The gentle fragrance of wine spread through the air.
The sight reminded Gyo-ha of his master, Yun Heo.
However, the man before him was different from Yun Heo.
Yun Heo’s presence resembled a silent mountain. The man before him felt like the sea.
He carried the sense that he might surge into a storm at any moment.

“H-how long was I unconscious?”
“How long?”

The man frowned as though he had been asked a difficult question.

“Judging by the place where I found you, the sun should have risen seven times.”

That meant a week had passed. Even the way he measured time was unusual.
Meanwhile, the man was examining Gyo-ha from head to toe.
Strangely, Gyo-ha didn’t find it unpleasant.
Instead, the man felt vaguely familiar.
The man soon smacked his lips.

“What a shame. Such a shame. It would have been better if you were a monkey.”

The sight sparked something in Gyo-ha’s mind.

“The murals!”

“Ho.” The corners of the man’s mouth rose at Gyo-ha’s shout.
Seeing that reaction, Gyo-ha became certain.

“…You’re the master of the murals.”
“You have good eyes. Sister Peng would have liked you.”

His admiration carried a trace of regret.
That meant Gyo-ha was correct. The man before him was the creator of the Mara Twenty-Four Forms.
The man dropped down and sat on the ground.
His carefree movement showed no concern for dignity.

‘He’s different from humans too.’

He possessed a human form, yet Gyo-ha could sense that he wasn’t human.

“But calling me their master is wrong. You are their master now.”

When Gyo-ha looked at him in confusion, the man continued.

“I made them to give to someone else. It was half a joke. I wanted to see whether anyone besides this one and my youngest brother could learn them.”

The man spoke wistfully.

“Of course, this one has already erased what was drawn upon the wall.”

The man laughed heartily after saying that.
He had just declared that Gyo-ha was now their master, yet he had erased them without permission. The man was truly impossible to understand.

“They had served their purpose once their master appeared.”

He quietly closed his eyes. The wind circled around him as though he were listening to its voice. A moment later, he nodded and looked at Gyo-ha.

“You are searching for a yokai. I see.”

Gyo-ha wasn’t even surprised that he knew. Everything about the man was utterly unfathomable.

“The yokai you seek is in a lake. You have already come into contact with it, even though you have never met it.”

He had come into contact with something he had never met?
The statement made no sense. However, the mention of a lake made Gyo-ha realize something.
The fishy stench he had smelled at the Tang Clan.
The yokai that had killed members of the Tang Clan through a curse.
Gyo-ha unconsciously exclaimed, and the man smiled.

“That creature should be compatible with you. Of course, whether you can acquire its Power will be up to Heaven.”

The man chuckled to himself, apparently amused by his own words.
Gyo-ha realized something from what he had said.

“…Elder, do you happen to know what I am?”
“Elder, is it?”

The man repeated the word as though savoring it.

“Since I inherited your martial art, I should call you Master. But I already belong to a sect, so I can’t acknowledge you as my master without permission.”
“Call me whatever you please. Elder is not bad. My youngest brother liked that word as well. As for what you are, even this one cannot say with certainty. I can only make a guess.”
“Then?”

Gyo-ha’s eyes shone with expectation. Was he finally going to learn his true identity?
The man stared at him before answering.

“But I cannot tell you.”
“What?”

When Gyo-ha blinked, the man laughed heartily.

“It is partly for your sake. The moment you learn what you are, you will become bound by it. Words possess that much power, especially when spoken by a great yokai like this one.”

The man patted his knee.

“Because you do not know, you doubt and ponder. That will allow you to grow. And most importantly…”
“Most importantly?”

Gyo-ha leaned forward.

“It would be no fun if you learned the answer already!”

The man burst into laughter. Perhaps that final reason mattered most of all.
Gyo-ha did not press him further.
He knew the man would not tell him no matter how much he insisted.
The man glanced at Gyo-ha and nodded.

“You should at least obtain a clue once you meet the creature in the lake.”

The man then spoke in a quietly tempting tone.

“If you wish, I can send you to where it is.”

He was offering to send Gyo-ha all the way to Qinghai Province. Gyo-ha had no idea how long it would take to reach Qinghai on foot.
It was an excellent opportunity.
Gyo-ha was tempted by the offer but shook his head.

“…No. Could you send me somewhere else instead?”
“Somewhere else?”
“Back to where I was before.”

There was still unfinished business.
The man nodded with a satisfied expression.

“A wise decision. In your current state, you would merely become that creature’s prey.”

Gyo-ha stared at the man in surprise.
He had been willing to send Gyo-ha despite knowing he would die. The man merely smiled at Gyo-ha’s stare.

“Even so, at your current level, you’ll probably die before then, even if that creature isn’t what kills you.”

The man gulped down his wine before springing to his feet.

“What you learned was originally created for yokai. It is not a power that someone who cannot even control yokai power can handle. You are trying to fly before learning how to run. That is difficult unless you happen to be a bird.”

The man laughed heartily after saying that.
However, he soon clicked his tongue when Gyo-ha merely stared blankly at him.
Gyo-ha belatedly realized the man had made a joke, but it was too late to laugh.
The man’s expression soon turned serious.

“The same is true of your body. It is sturdy for a human, but it cannot contain that power yet.”

Gyo-ha nodded.
He had already experienced that. Was that not how both his arms had been ruined?
Even so, there was hope.
The man had said yet. That meant things might change in the future.
The man scratched his head and began swaying his body.
It was a strange movement that was not quite a dance.
However, Gyo-ha recognized something familiar within it.
The man’s movements soon changed.

“Yes. Was it something like this?”

The man bounced lightly. His movements resembled the motions Gyo-ha had created.
He repeated them several more times.
Gyo-ha’s mouth fell open without him realizing it.
The man’s movements had already advanced beyond merely imitating Gyo-ha.
It was not a simple alteration. It was closer to evolution.
Eventually, Gyo-ha could no longer tell whether it was even the same martial skill.
The man moved as though dancing.

“That should be enough for the movements.”

The man abruptly stopped. His eyes shone intensely as he looked back at Gyo-ha.
They were eyes in which wildness and intelligence intertwined.

“I will show you only once, so watch carefully.”

The man began dancing again.
It was the martial skill Gyo-ha had created.
However, it was different now. Something else had been incorporated into each step.
Yokai Qi.
The man was teaching Gyo-ha how to control Yokai Qi.

The man danced alone across the vast field.
Even after the dance ended, Gyo-ha couldn’t tear his gaze away.
His eyes continued moving without pause, tracing the path the man had taken.
The man’s movements replayed again and again within Gyo-ha’s mind.
The man smiled in satisfaction when he saw Gyo-ha fall into a trance.
Gyo-ha could not compare to the man or his younger brother, but his martial talent was still astonishing.
When the man gestured, the wind gently wrapped around Gyo-ha’s body.
As the man moved his hand, Gyo-ha’s wind-wrapped body disappeared.

“If he survives that creature, I should find him a fine monkey.”

Only the man’s laughter remained where Gyo-ha had disappeared.