Side Story 66. Yi-gang, Cheongho, Ahim (5)

Ahim heard the Demon King’s voice during the most wretched period of his life.
Though to someone else, perhaps it might not have seemed wretched at all.
After all, Ahim Mirza was royalty, and he had never once gone hungry.

However, if one looked closely, no one would envy Ahim’s life.
His father, Kamran Mirza, was a man who looked more at what he didn’t have than what he possessed.
His brother was the Emperor, so what could he possibly lack? And yet, perhaps he was determined to seize the throne.
He coveted the imperial throne that should have gone to his nephew.

Ahim tried to stop that father of his.
He asked why he harbored such greed. Whether he knew nothing of satisfaction or shame.

Naturally, his father flew into a rage.
Ahim’s tone also grew heated.
He shouted that he had violated heavenly bonds and would be punished, that even in death, he would not be able to close his eyes in peace.
His enraged father ordered soldiers to seize Ahim.
Saying that such an arrogant tongue was unnecessary, he cut out his tongue and threw him into the marketplace.
Along with the warning that he must never call himself royalty or reveal that his father was Kamran Mirza.
And that if he ever wished to beg forgiveness, he could come at any time and kiss his feet.

Thus, Ahim was abandoned in the poorest city.
Astonishingly, that was not the moment when Ahim was at his most wretched.

Inwardly, Ahim had felt relieved.
What was royalty, and what were riches and glory?
He even felt free.
He could no longer speak, but he could still plow fields and make bread.
He intended to live among ordinary people and lead a life of inner cultivation.

Such thoughts collapsed in only a week.
The world was hell.
There was no one anywhere who would hire Ahim, weak and unable to speak.
On the day he barely managed to get work carrying goods and received his daily wage, Ahim was beaten and robbed of his money.

He reported it to the authorities, but instead, he was only mocked.
With his ribs broken, he starved for three full days more, and Ahim finally gave up everything.

He went straight to his father.
Looking like a beggar, he knocked on the mansion gate, approached his father, knelt, and kissed the top of his foot.

At that moment, Kamran Mirza was extremely satisfied.

“Pathetic fool. You did not understand even after your tongue was cut out, but you realize it after starving for only a few days.”

His father’s ridicule hurt more than his broken ribs.
After that, Ahim lived as if possessed.

Then one day, he discovered a piece of Guihon Jade in Kamran Mirza’s secret warehouse.
Ahim immediately swallowed that rare and mysterious secret stone that had been gathered through Kamran’s power.

And many things changed.
When he opened his eyes after enduring hellish pain.
The tongue that had been cut out had grown back.

-You are an interesting one.

It was from then on that he began to hear a voice that seemed to echo from beneath the earth.

-Do you wish to abandon humanity and become a better being?

The Ahim of the past would have thought it was some sort of devil or demon.

-If you desire it, I shall give it to you. Whether it be a new body or boundless knowledge.

But Ahim, already disillusioned with everything, answered.

“I desire it.”

From that moment, Ahim’s journey began.

He had thought he could obtain everything.
No, he had indeed obtained everything.
How had that sense of omnipotence felt when he was reborn as Guihon?
He felt as if he could crush even those called Absolute masters in an instant, and that even the mighty sorcery of that great sorcerer could not harm Ahim’s body.
And yet, something unbelievable occurred.

Seogeok!
“Kkeuaaaak!”

The left arm he had been swinging was cut off from the shoulder and flew away.
He could not understand what kind of trick this was.
How could a single sword cut through Ahim’s shoulder, which was as thick as a building?
The severed left arm crashed into the mountainside and caused a landslide.

“D-do not act so superiorrr!”

Ahim was on the verge of madness from rage and fear.
The one who had done all of this was a single human.
A mere human, no different from a monkey, was slicing Ahim apart.

Light began to gather in Ahim’s open mouth.
It was the attack that had half-destroyed a city near Hangzhou several years ago.

“It’s a beam! Be careful!”

Dam Hyun warned them.
Since Yi-gang was so fast that he wasn’t confident he could hit him, Ahim intended to fire the beam at the place where Dam Hyun and the others were gathered.

Kiiiiiing!

Fortunately for Ahim, Yi-gang didn’t dodge.
Instead, he stood firm and adjusted his stance as if to protect those behind him.

‘You fool!’

Ahim inwardly shouted in triumph.
Did he think he could block a beam fired with Guihon’s power with his bare body?
It was an endlessly arrogant delusion.
As the price for that delusion, Yi-gang would burn and evaporate without even leaving blood behind.
The beam was fired.

Kwakwakwakwa-

Wherever the beam’s trajectory touched, the ground melted bright red.
And the moment the beam was about to sweep over Yi-gang and the people.
Yi-gang held out the vajra that had appeared in his hand at some point.
It seemed more fitting that he should swing his sword instead, but something astonishing happened.

The fired beam reversed.

Tseutseutseutseu-

Then the melted ground returned to its original form, and the scattered dust settled.
The beam returned to Ahim’s stomach as if none of it had happened.
Ahim opened his mouth blankly and tried to understand what had just happened.

“N-no way, you…”

This had not been “blocking” the beam.
It had been sent back.

“T-time…?”

Back beyond the time that had already passed.
Was the object in Yi-gang’s hand truly such an exalted great dharma artifact?
Ahim was not given time to judge that.

Pagak-

Yi-gang rushed in and slashed his sword horizontally.
With that, Ahim lost both eyes.
A stinging pain struck Ahim’s right shoulder.
Even his right arm was cut away.
Guihon’s body continued regenerating without end, but the speed of destruction was faster than the speed of regeneration.
Having lost both eyes and both arms, Ahim had no choice but to smash his face straight into the ground.

At last, he felt a hot pain at the nape of his neck.

Thud.

It was the impact of his head falling from his shoulders.
Ahim had been beheaded.
He had been defeated to an absurdly easy degree.
As he understood it, the previous Guihon had not been neutralized this quickly.

“W-was I, was I lacking?”
“No, I must have gotten stronger.”

Yi-gang answered that question.

“H-how can a mere human be this strong…?”
“The fact that you say ‘a mere human’ already explains how narrow your perspective is.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There are several people who could handle you alone. The Heavenly Demon, for one. Sanfeng Jin-in, for another.”
“I cannot believe it…”
“You are like a frog in a well.”
“……”

Was that so? Was it truly so?
His regeneration speed slowed. His eyes barely grew anew, but below his neck, he could not regenerate at all.
Yi-gang came into his newly restored vision.

“This is not the end…”

It was trite, but the dying Ahim spat out words of curse.

“Even before, you could not do anything about Guihon’s remnants. I will die and scatter, but Guihon will revive once again. That is what the Demon King of the Yokai Realm wants…”
“Thank you for worrying about it, but.”

Yi-gang denied it firmly.

“Now, I should be able to completely incinerate it.”

Yi-gang swung his sword from above to below.

Jjeogeok!

Ahim’s head split into two pieces.
He died for good.

“It’s Guihon Jade!”

Someone shouted.
Inside Ahim’s skull was not a brain, but a mass of Guihon Jade.

“We have to deal with it quickly!”

Previously, the Guihon Jade that remained in Guihon’s body had shattered and scattered across the world.
They had to deal with it before that happened.
Yi-gang asked Dam Hyun as if confirming.

“The offering that summoned me?”
“It’s in front of you.”
“It is fitting as spoils of war.”

Yi-gang placed his hand on the blood-soaked Guihon Jade.
Then the Guihon Jade began to emit light and melt away.
That mass of light began to be drawn into Yi-gang’s fingertips.
The Guihon Jade, larger than a person, vanished in an instant, and before they knew it, only the gray corpse remained.

“Huu…”

As Yi-gang exhaled, a five-colored mass of light flowed from his mouth.

“It will take quite a while to digest it.”
“Are you full?”
“Yeah, I’m full.”
“It was an old plan, but we finally pulled it off.”
“We had to deal with it somehow.”

Yi-gang and Dam Hyun’s secret plan was revealed.
If Guihon’s remnants scattered across the world, it was certain that the yokai would someday revive.
Therefore, the Guihon Jade had to either be sealed or incinerated.
One of those methods was for Yi-gang to absorb the Guihon Jade.
Since there were limits to devouring a large amount of Guihon Jade with a human body, he would accept the Guihon Jade in the form of an offering.
So that it could be freed from the control of the Demon King in the Yokai Realm.

“Cheongho…”

As soon as Yi-gang finished the urgent matter, he looked for Cheongho.
The injured Cheongho was panting with ragged breaths.
Tsering and Baek Sang-ye were nursing him at his side.

“Mister…”

Tsering’s eyes welled with tears as she looked at Yi-gang, whom she had met again after so long.
Yi-gang smiled bitterly and stroked Tsering’s head.
He also crouched on one knee beside Cheongho’s head.

“Cheongho. You went through a lot.”

Cheongho’s eyes turned toward Yi-gang.

“You sacrificed your dream. For your Junior Sister. For So-ryu.”

Self-sacrifice was something a yokai could never do, nor could a person who was not truly human.
Especially if it was a sacrifice made while abandoning one’s long-held dream.

“There are very few things in the world that can be undone. That is why what you did was great and wonderful.”

Yi-gang gently stroked the nape of Cheongho’s neck.
Cheongho’s eyes also grew wet.

“So this time, I will undo it for you.”

Cheongho had returned to the form of a fox.
Because of that, the endpoint of their bond had been restored, and Dam Hyun had used it to call Yi-gang.
And right now, Yi-gang had Indra’s vajra.
The dharma artifact for use against the Evil Cult, which the Heavenly Demon had created by imbuing it with karma.
Yi-gang still possessed it.
It had been said that it could be used three times, and one chance remained.

“Are you sure it’s all right to use it?”

Dam Hyun asked that.
Indra’s vajra was a great dharma artifact among great dharma artifacts.
It could bring about the miracle of turning back the wheel of time locally.
But Yi-gang answered decisively.

“When would I use it if not at a time like this? To begin with, it was an object that should no longer remain in the world.”

At that, Dam Hyun finally smiled brightly.

“Yes! If it is used like this, even the Heavenly Demon will be pleased.”
“…I don’t think that would be the case.”

Yi-gang smiled bitterly, then placed the vajra against Cheongho’s body.

“Aak!”

Tsering screamed in shock.
Cheongho’s massive body had floated up into the air.
Then, with violent vibrations, his fur fell out in clumps and his body began to shrink.

New flesh grew over the hideous wounds.
The clothes that had torn as his body transformed also repaired themselves in an instant.
And in that place appeared a single boy.
It was Cheongho, with dark-blue hair and blue eyes.

Cheongho raised his head first and looked at Yi-gang.

“…Yi-gang?”

Then, as if meeting him again for the first time, he sprang up and leapt into Yi-gang’s arms.
Yi-gang smiled and hugged Cheongho back.
Baek Sang-ye and Tsering were surprised.

“Since the wheel of time was turned back, only his memories from before he returned to being a fox should remain.”

Dam Hyun muttered that.

“Ahim is… heok!”

Only then did Cheongho discover Ahim’s dead corpse and become startled.
Cheongho was flustered, unable to understand what in the world had happened.
This time, Baek Sang-ye hugged him.

“Ah.”
“Senior Brother, thank you.”

As if her tears had not even dried, Baek Sang-ye sniffled as she expressed her thanks.
Cheongho tried to push her away, then gave up and stayed still.

“But I didn’t do anything…”
“No. It was all thanks to you, Senior Brother.”
“Uh… okay…”

Seeing Cheongho’s obviously bewildered expression, Dam Hyun and Yi-gang burst into laughter.
The people explained to Cheongho everything that had happened so far.
Cheongho’s mouth fell open in surprise.

Meanwhile, Dam Hyun quietly called Yi-gang.

“What will you do with this?”

What he held was the Guihon Jade Yi-gang had recovered in the west.
It was an amount no less than what Seok Sung had gathered.
Ominous yokai energy could still be felt from it.

“We cannot leave it alone. And you cannot repeat the offering ritual either.”
“Yes, we have to deal with it.”
“How?”

Yi-gang said something to Dam Hyun through voice transmission.
Dam Hyun’s eyes widened.

“Really? You’re really going to use it that way?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that…”

Dam Hyun grinned.

“That should be interesting.”