Selfish Yulong

The area had become completely dark. Ryuuho was injured as well, so descending the mountain now would probably be impossible. We discussed it and decided to spend the night in this hut.

“Senior Brother Ryuuho, had you forgotten that Dumin was good at Dragon Qi Throwing Art?”

“No. What Dumin was good at was Dragon Qi Sword Art. Not Dragon Qi Throwing Art.”

When I heard that, I grinned.

“In the end, it seems he was only trying to confuse us.”

“What a fool. Did he think such petty tricks would work?”

Ryuuho said that. I turned my gaze toward Ryuuho’s injured leg. Was this a joke? As I was wondering whether to make a retort, Kanru cut in.

“Stop saying foolish things and show me the wound.”

Ryuuho let out a sigh. It seemed he really had been waiting for a retort. Kanru untied the cloth being used in place of a bandage and checked the wound.

“The wound has closed.”

There was something that bothered me a little. Yulong was strangely quiet.

“What’s wrong with Yulong?”

I asked the two in a low voice. Then Kanru shrugged.

“He was exposed to killing intent from another person for the first time. He’s probably thinking about all sorts of things because of that. It happens often.”

I did not think that had happened to me, but since I had been exposed to killing intent from other people in my previous life, maybe that meant I had already experienced it.

The next day, we put Ryuuho on an improvised stretcher and descended the mountain. After that, we bought a donkey in a village, put Ryuuho on the donkey, and returned to the town of Toban.

“I will rest at the inn, so could the three of you go to County Magistrate Han and report?”

“Understood.”

Kanru took an inn room and let Ryuuho rest, then took Yulong and me to County Magistrate Han. Then, when we met County Magistrate Han, we told him that the bandit subjugation was over.

“You mean you annihilated the bandits?”

“Unfortunately, no. We slew Dumin, the ringleader, and killed more than twenty bandits, but I believe a few still remain.”

County Magistrate Han looked as though he wanted us to help until the end, but Kanru flatly refused. This time, we had helped specially because Dumin, a former Taoist practitioner of Gyorei Cave, had joined the bandits.

We decided to return to Gyorei Cave. However, the injured Ryuuho was scheduled to return after recuperating in the town of Toban. The money obtained from the bandits would be used for the cost of his recuperation. Since each of us received about seventy gold coins, it was enough. Incidentally, there had been a large amount of silver and copper coins included, but we exchanged them for gold coins in the town of Toban.

On this journey, I obtained about seventy gold coins and Dumin’s treasured sword. That treasured sword was made of Supreme Silver and had a blade length of about eighty centimeters. If I were to use it, it might be better to reforge it into a broadsword.

After spending several days returning to Gyorei Cave, Kanru, Yulong, and I went to report to Elder Shanshi.

“Elder Shanshi, we have returned.”

The elder, who had been reading something in his room, noticed that Ryuuho was not there and took on a stern expression.

“What happened to Ryuuho?”

“Senior Brother Ryuuho was injured by Dumin’s Dragon Qi Throwing Art, so he is recuperating in the town of Toban.”

When Elder Shanshi heard that, his face showed relief.

“When Dumin left Gyorei Cave, he should not have been good at Dragon Qi Throwing Art, but he must have trained.”

As expected, it seemed Dumin had not been good at Dragon Qi Throwing Art.

“We defeated around twenty bandits and Dumin, so we left the remaining bandits to the county magistrate and returned.”

“You have done well. Tell me in detail what the battle with Dumin was like.”

Kanru described the battle. Regarding the secret technique Wind Cutter that I had used, he only said that I cut Dumin’s stomach with a swift step-in. It seemed Kanru had not seen Wind Cutter.

“I see. So Kou’s qi bullet gun saved you. That means it can be used in actual combat as well.”

After saying that, Elder Shanshi turned his eyes toward Yulong.

“How was it, experiencing actual combat?”

“It seems I have no talent for martial arts.”

“That is not it. Your skills did not improve because you had not trained seriously until now.”

“No. It seems it does not suit me. From now on, I will look for something else.”

Was Yulong afraid? He was probably thinking that if he remained Elder Shanshi’s direct disciple, he would have to participate in subjugation work again.

Elder Shanshi tilted his head.

“Something else? What will you do?”

“I am thinking of learning alchemy.”

Elder Shanshi looked surprised. For Yulong, who was his direct disciple, to say he wanted to learn alchemy meant he wanted to change masters. The elder let out a sigh.

“Understood. I will speak to Sect Leader Wei.”

Elder Shanshi said that as if he had given up. Yulong’s father was a famous wealthy merchant and donated a large sum to Gyorei Cave. He was someone whose selfishness was permitted to a certain degree. If he had been an ordinary disciple, he would have been scolded.

Scolding someone was an act that required energy. I thought that perhaps Elder Shanshi simply had not wanted to use that energy for Yulong’s sake. Yulong bowed his head and left the room. Seeing that, Kanru’s face twisted with anger.

“He is far too selfish. Is it all right to allow this?”

“Leave him be. Because he had not trained seriously, I thought experiencing actual combat would make him reconsider… but it seems his character is rotten.”

Apparently, Taoist practitioners like that would never become full-fledged even after years or decades, and in the end, they would leave Gyorei Cave. I decided not to get involved with Yulong anymore.

After leaving Elder Shanshi’s room, I went to see Haoxuen and Seiran. The two were training in the Old Immortal Cave, and they were happy about my return.

At the Wallside Hall for outer disciples, Yingjie and Xiaotan, who were Kou’s seniors, were talking.

“I am thinking of taking the inner disciple examination soon. What will you do, Xiaotan?”

When Yingjie asked, Xiaotan began thinking.

“All right, I’ll take it with you.”

The conditions for becoming an inner disciple from an outer disciple were having a qi level of the Eighth Tier or above, being able to read and write Immortal Secret Script, and being able to defeat a Sword-Leg Spider. Previously, it had been a Thunder Bear instead of a Sword-Leg Spider, but because it was too difficult, it had been changed to a Sword-Leg Spider.

The two had cleared the Eighth Tier and reading and writing Immortal Secret Script, so the only problem was the Sword-Leg Spider. A Sword-Leg Spider’s outer shell was so sturdy that ordinary swords and spears could not work on it.

“Let’s consult Senior Brother Bowen.”

When Xiaotan said that, Yingjie agreed as well.