Chapter 89

‘What the hell is going on?’

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Why was Kang Myeong, who had gone down to retrieve the Bronze Seated Statue, riding on the back of a giant eel? And where had that eel even come from?

“Uwoaaagh!”

The eel thrashed and twisted wildly.

Kang Myeong’s body flapped around like a scrap of paper.

With that slick skin, it looked hard enough just to keep a grip.

But Kang Myeong was one of the Sixteen Eccentrics of the North and South.

There was no way she would just take a beating.

Using the rebound from being flung away, she sprang up into the air, flipped her body, and brought her heel down on its head.

Paaak!

With that powerful blow, the eel writhed like mad.

She didn’t stop there and instead rained down strike after strike.

Pung!

But the giant eel only faltered for a moment before swinging its massive tail and smacking her away.

She flew more than thirty meters and crashed into the water, and the beast charged after her in a frenzy.

The two beings clashed violently as they tore through the Dragon Pool.

After a long while of that, Kang Myeong shouted urgently.

“Young Hero Baek! Throw me my fishing rod!”

Her main weapon was her fishing rod.

No matter how strong you were, you couldn’t fight at full strength without your proper weapon.

I looked up. I could see the Heaven Silkworm line I had tied off earlier when I rescued Kang Cheong-woo.

To free that, Kang Cheong-woo had to move.

“Uuugh…”

But he was still in no shape to do anything.

Expecting anything of him right now was impossible.

“Hero Kang, it’s no good! I can’t throw it right now!”

“What? Oh, come on! Fuck!”

Kang Myeong clashed with the eel again.

The situation kept getting worse. The number of times she was sent flying or took hits from the eel grew and grew.

‘This is weird. Why is she getting pushed back so hard?’

By my estimation, Kang Myeong’s level was early to mid Transcendent.

No matter how great a spiritual beast it was, there was no way it should be one-sided like this.

They were fighting underwater, sure, but she herself had said the water was as comfortable as land for her.

‘It’s like… the eel knows exactly where she is.’

She clearly aimed for its blind spots, but none of her attacks worked.

Even when she slipped away with her footwork, the eel sent its tail whipping right to where she moved.

‘No way…’

The Heavenly Demon’s advice flashed through my mind.

-She habitually uses echo-positioning.

-Tell her not to put blind faith in her senses.

Those two lines fit this situation perfectly.

I didn’t know the exact details, but echo-positioning had to be a technique that used sound or internal-energy ripples to map the surroundings and turn them into sensory information.

But for some reason, that technique was not working on this giant eel.

On the contrary, the eel was using echo-positioning against her.

The eel’s instincts reacted faster than Kang Myeong’s brain could process the flood of information.

In the end, the senses she prided herself on were what was dragging her down.

‘This won’t do.’

I had to let her know that her compatibility with this eel was the worst possible.

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Hero Kang, abandon your senses!”

Barely dodging a body slam, she snapped back.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Your echo-positioning! It’s telling that spiritual beast exactly where you are!”

“…!”

Her face showed clear surprise.

“How do you know about echo-positioning?”

“That’s not what matters right now!”

“I can’t!”

“What?”

“I said I can’t! It’s one with my inner cultivation method. If I don’t use it, I can’t use my internal energy either!”

“Ah.”

I was at a loss for words for a moment.

If she stopped using her internal energy, she would just get beaten even worse.

If she took a beating, I, hanging off this cliff, would be in danger too.

‘I need a way around this.’

Countless thoughts flickered in and out of my head in an instant.

Then a good idea came to me.

If she couldn’t abandon her senses, then we just had to make her act like she had.

“From now on, move exactly according to my directions!”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it!”

I focused on every change in the battlefield.

The shadows in the water, the direction of the current, the spots where bubbles rose.

All of it was a clue to the eel’s movements.

“Three meters to the right, now!”

At my shout, she moved on reflex.

Kwaaang!

Its tail smashed through the spot she had just been in, sending up a huge pillar of water.

“Dive! It just leaped!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, she threw herself underwater.

The giant eel’s jaws swept right over the spot where her head had been.

‘It’s working.’

Once my vision started standing in for her senses, the tide finally began to turn.

But just dodging would not accomplish anything.

We needed one decisive blow to kill it.

After several more exchanges, I came up with a way.

Lure the eel into a space where its movements were limited, then finish it with my cold-iron dagger.

It wasn’t her main weapon, but with that she could make do.

“Hero Kang, jump as high as you can!”

Just as I said, she stepped on the eel and vaulted into the air.

I seized that moment and hurled my cold-iron dagger toward her.

“Use that to smash its head in!”

With my shout, she caught the dagger and drew it from its sheath in one smooth motion.

A Sword Qi three feet long gathered around the chilling cold-iron blade.

Right then, the eel also leaped up to swallow her whole.

“Now!”

At my signal, she flipped her body in midair.

Letting gravity pull her down, she drove the dagger deep into its crown.

Jijijijik—!

With the sharpness of the cold-iron dagger and sword energy added on, its thick hide was useless.

She tore through the eel’s brain and slashed all the way down its spine.

Geeee-eeek—!

The giant eel’s horrible scream rang through Hidden Dragon Cliff.

Its massive body thrashed madly, staining the surface of the water red.

Kang Myeong struck its head over and over.

Before long, the eel’s movements began to slow.

At last, the massive eel went limp.

Over the now-calm surface, only her rough breathing lingered.

After a moment, she roared up at the sky.

“Graaaah! That’s me! I’m the Yangtze Crocodile, you eel bastard!”

I let out a long breath.

We had survived yet again.

As the tension drained out of me, my right arm throbbed. It was because of the Heaven Silkworm line wrapped around my forearm.

I was hanging off the cliff relying on this one line.

“Um, Hero Kang.”

It felt like I was throwing cold water on her right at her peak excitement, but I couldn’t just leave things like that.

So I had no choice but to cut her celebration short.

Only then did she look our way, her gaze sweeping up and down the cliff.

“…What are you two doing?”

I answered on behalf of Kang Cheong-woo, who was panting above.

“Uh, you know, we just had a bit of a swim.”

“Eh? What swim?”

“It’s a long story. What about the Bronze Seated Statue?”

“Bronze Seated Statue? Ah, damn.”

Kang Myeong dove back into the water.

It wasn’t long before she came back up, her face beaming.

“Found it! I thought I’d lost it because of that eel.”

Caked in mud and weeds, it looked a mess, but it was definitely the Bronze Seated Statue.

‘Thank goodness.’

My mood lifted.

We had just secured a haul worth two hundred and fifty taels of silver, maybe even more.

Grinning, I said,

“Hero Kang, I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Could you rescue us, please?”

---

Once we were back on top of the cliff, the first thing Kang Myeong did was grab Kang Cheong-woo by the ear.

“Kang Cheong-woo! Who told you to pull a stunt that reckless? Do you not trust me?”

“Ow ow ow! I-it’s not that, I was just worried…”

“What would you have done if Young Hero Baek hadn’t been here?”

“Ow, ow ow…”

She finally let go of his ear. With her lower lip firmly caught between her teeth, she looked truly furious.

Reading the mood, Kang Cheong-woo glanced up at her carefully.

“Aunt…?”

Kang Myeong crouched down.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

He was clearly bracing himself for a serious scolding.

I was wondering if I should step in to stop her when she suddenly pulled him into a tight hug.

“…Huh?”

His eyes went wide.

“I’m so glad. Even if I die, you absolutely must not. How would I ever face your father later otherwise?”

“…I’ll act more carefully from now on.”

“Good. If you ever pull this again, I’ll make you drink the whole Yangtze dry.”

“Gulp, understood.”

After discreetly wiping the corners of her eyes, she bowed her head to me.

“Thank you, Young Hero Baek. You saved my nephew’s life.”

“Think nothing of it.”

She was a wreck.

Wet hair clung to her cheeks, and her whole body was smeared with her own and the eel’s blood.

Even so, the image of the Yangtze Monster Flood Dragon roaring with ferocity was nowhere to be seen.

Standing before me was just Kang Cheong-woo’s only blood relative, grateful that her nephew was still alive.

“Haaaah.”

Kang Myeong let out a long sigh.

“I was too arrogant. I must have relied too much on my echo-positioning. Who’d have thought it would wake up some crazed eel spirit beast.”

“Wake it up?”

“Yeah.”

She went on in a bitter tone.

“When you probe your surroundings with waves, the things you probe can sense you too. I forgot that simple fact.”

In other words, her echo-positioning had called the beast to her.

After a brief silence, she looked at me and asked,

“Hey, did your master know everything?”

“Know what?”

“Just… all of it. That the spirit beast was here, that I’d struggle against it, everything.”

“Come on, no way.”

Even for the Heavenly Demon, there was no way he would know a spirit beast was hiding underwater so far away.

He had simply seen through her weakness and warned her, and it happened to line up with the current situation.

If anything was surprising, it was that the Heavenly Demon, cold as ice from the North Sea Ice Palace, had taken an interest in someone and given advice.

‘He flatly refused when I first asked for help, but I guess it still bothered him.’

“I’ve never met anyone like Great Heavenly Dragon Hero before…”

Kang Myeong murmured softly.

Her voice held unmistakable fear and awe.

I felt the same.

There was no one else in this world like the Heavenly Demon.

“By the way, you did pretty well yourself, Young Hero Baek. Those last calls you made. You’ve got the makings of a fine master someday.”

“You flatter me.”

“Not on the level of Great Heavenly Dragon Hero, of course.”

“…Yeah, I know.”

That was exactly why I was going crazy.

Because I had to stop him.

“Shall I head back down now?”

Kang Myeong headed toward the cliff.

“Where?”

“Down there. I need to grab the core.”

Ah, I had totally forgotten.

It was common sense to take the inner core after killing a spirit beast.

She came back up after about half an hour.

Her expression looked less than pleased, so I wondered if she had failed, but then she held out her palm.

On it lay a small, round object, ugly in color for something that was supposed to be a core.

“Looks like it was only half-transformed into a spirit beast.”

She spoke as if it were a pity.

“It’s a shame it turned out like this, but a core is still a core. Want it, Young Hero Baek?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You saved Cheong-woo.”

“It’s nothing that grand. You should keep it, Hero Kang. You did all the hard work.”

“I’m fine.”

“If you take this properly it should be really good for your internal energy. You should give it to Cheong-woo instead.”

“No. Cheong-woo’s going to do this and that for me later.”

Kang Myeong forcibly closed my fingers around the core.

I was moved.

So this was why people did good deeds.

Do good, and it comes back to you like this.

“Then I’ll gratefully accept.”

“When are you going to the Myriad Gold Money House?”

“About seven or eight months from now seems best.”

I had already thought it through beforehand, so I answered right away.

“Isn’t that a bit too far off?”

“It’s a long way to the Myriad Gold Money House. I have no business heading there right now. What about you, Hero Kang?”

The Myriad Gold Money House’s main branch was in Sichuan.

That was in the opposite direction from Mount Song, where the Heavenly Demon and I had to go.

Folding her arms, Kang Myeong fell into thought.

“I’ll have to head for Sichuan eventually following the Yellow River, but it’ll still be a long while before I reach that far.”

“Perfect, then. Since we’re in similar positions, let’s say eight months from now and meet at the inn closest to the Myriad Gold Money House’s main branch.”

“Sounds good. So who’s holding on to the bronze pig?”

“I will.”

I needed to minimize variables in my plan.

I had no idea what might happen to Kang Myeong or if she might miss the appointed time, so I could not entrust it to her.

She gave me a doubtful look.

“Can’t I keep it?”

“You don’t trust me?”

“I do, but not to the tune of two hundred and fifty taels.”

Big talk from someone who had just handed me a core worth that much.

She smiled playfully.

“Don’t you trust me, Young Hero Baek? If you want, I can leave Cheong-woo as collateral.”

“A-Aunt?”

Kang Cheong-woo’s eyes shook.

I laughed along and replied,

“I don’t take people as collateral.”

“Oh, darn it. What do I do then? Cheong-woo, why don’t you plead with him?”

Kang Cheong-woo pulled a miserable face.

Seeing that, Kang Myeong burst out laughing.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

“You’re too much, Aunt.”

Watching the two of them, I found myself laughing too.

Part of me wondered if it was really okay for someone from the Demon Cult to be joking around with orthodox people like this, but I decided not to dwell on it.

They thought I was orthodox anyway.

“I’m heading back now. Want to come with me?”

“Let’s.”

As on the way here, I let Kang Cheong-woo ride behind me and we returned to the inn.

“In my panic I caused you trouble, Brother. I will never forget the grace you showed in saving me.”

With those mature words from Kang Cheong-woo, we said our farewells.

“Master, I’m back.”

I called out as I entered the annex, but there was no response.

“Master?”

I quietly slid open the Heavenly Demon’s door.

No one was inside.

‘Where did he go?’

Tilting my head, I turned to go back to my room, but something suddenly caught my eye.

On the annex table sat the gourd the innkeeper had given us.

‘Why is this here?’

I had clearly seen it fly into the Heavenly Demon’s hand.

He was not the type to politely set it back out after finishing it.

‘I wanted to try it too.’

I had been curious what it tasted like.

Feeling regretful, I grabbed the gourd, thinking I might at least taste a few drops.

But the weight in my hand felt strange.

It was heavy.

When I shook it, I heard liquid sloshing inside.

There was still wine left.

About half.

‘No way… did he leave my share?’

‘That man who loves alcohol so much?’

“…”

Gulp. I raised the gourd and took a sip.

It tasted pretty good.

The next day, we left Xi’an.