The Road To Hell. (3)

Yu Jinsan stood on the sandy beach, staring blankly at the sea.

The dark waves shimmered under the moonlight.

It wasn’t that he was lost in romance. His interest in the sea had long since vanished.

“Child!!!”

The granddaughter who had vanished beyond the horizon still hadn’t returned by the next night.

What on earth had happened?

No matter how loudly he shouted, only echoes answered.

Yu Jinsan plopped down, propping his chin on his hand. His worry was far from small.

‘Why isn’t she coming back?’

A warrior of the Profound Realm wouldn’t drown, no matter what. Could she have lost her direction at sea? That seemed unlikely—if his granddaughter truly had superhuman senses, her lightness skill wouldn’t make her lose her way. Besides, hadn’t he taught her how to navigate by the sun and moon? If she were within fifty kilometers, she should be able to hear him.

“Sigh.”

As he sighed, a crab scuttled between his legs.

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. He had no appetite, but he had to eat something. Yu Jinsan snatched the crab and began chewing absently. The shell cracked crisply, but worried for his granddaughter he couldn’t taste a thing.

Crunch! Crunch!

When half of it had gone down, the part he couldn’t swallow shot back up.

“Gah! Why is this so salty?”

After sulking for a moment, he suddenly sprang to his feet—because a rough spray rose in the distance.

“Seol!!!”

Without a doubt, Yu Seol—the granddaughter who had disappeared—was returning.

Yu Jinsan threw his hands up and waved. He had never been so glad to see her.

Whoooosh—

He watched her racing across the sea’s surface.

“Grandpa!”

Her light footwork sent house-sized waves spraying on either side.

“Why are you so late? Do you know how worried your grandfather was?!”

Yu Seol reached the beach and sprawled flat before him.

She panted—this was almost the first time he’d seen her so breathless. He wondered how far she’d gone.

“What happened? There was nothing there, right?”

“No. If you keep going, you reach land.”

“Land? You found an island?”

“Yes. A place full of tall trees. The people painted themselves red and wore leaves around their waists.”

As far as Yu Jinsan knew, there were no islands nearby. She must have traveled to a very distant, unknown land.

“You’ve discovered quite a place. So what did you do with the people there?”

“When I greeted them, they tried to stab me with wooden sticks.”

He didn’t need to hear more to imagine the rest. Checking her for injuries, he tilted his head and asked, “By the way, what did you bring back?”

Unfamiliar objects were tucked at her left waist: a long yellow thing and a round object wrapped in a shell.

After lying down a moment, Yu Seol sat up as if she’d recovered her qi.

“I brought them for you, Grandpa.”

“Are they something to eat?”

Yu Seol nodded and peeled the skin off the yellow fruit, then brought a bite of flesh to his mouth.

“Go on, eat. It’s really tasty.”

Yu Jinsan bit into it absently and chewed. Then he opened his eyes.

“How can this be so sweet? I’ve never tasted anything like it.”

A look of amazement spread over his face.

“Hehe. Tasty, right?”

He had already devoured the fruit, coughing as he swallowed since he hadn’t had a drop of water since yesterday.

“Cough!”

“Choking? Wait a moment.” Yu Seol grabbed the round fruit with her left hand, then sliced the top with energy using her middle and index fingers.

Ssss—

“What’s that?”

“Drink quickly. That’s how the people on the island eat it.”

The fruit was about the size of a human head and pulsed with moisture inside. Parched, Yu Jinsan tilted his head back and gulped it down. Sweet nectar poured out and he swallowed greedily.

Glug! Glug!

The sweet, nutty flavor washed his thirst away and the pleasure was indescribable.

‘I don’t know what it is, but it’s really delicious.’

As he drank, a sudden stinging hit his face. He glanced aside and flinched—his granddaughter was staring at him with a satisfied expression.

“Is it good? Sweet?”

A rare fruit freshly picked from a distant island—how could it not taste good? It smoothed away the anxiety he’d been nursing.

“It was the best. Thanks to our Seol, Grandpa gets to try things like this.”

“Hehe. Shall we go pick them together next time?”

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

He answered reluctantly, with no intention of actually going. It would take running at full speed across the sea all day to reach that place. With his light footwork slower than his granddaughter’s, it might take him days. And if he got lost, there would be no help—the thought alone terrified him.

“Promise?” Yu Jinsan cleared his throat and looked into the distance. “Ahem! We have a long way to go; we’ll talk about the details on the way.”

Their destination was South Sea Port in Guangdong Province. From there they needed passage to Sea Dragon Island.

They could reach it quickly using lightness skill, but Yu Jinsan wasn’t in a hurry. He intended to master the Buddha’s One Light Line Technique from the Emei sect before crossing to Sea Dragon Island.

They strolled slowly, taking in the scenery by day and camping at night to practice their martial arts. Three days passed like that.

That night the grandfather and granddaughter trained under the moon in a quiet forest.

Po-ong—the sound of the qi he’d gathered at his fingertips dispersing.

“Arrgh.”

He had failed again to condense his qi. In a way it was expected—if martial arts mastery came in a few days, every martial artist would be a peerless master. Besides, earth techniques weren’t even his specialty, so progress would be slow.

Berating himself, he glanced to his right. A few paces away, Yu Seol sat cross-legged in meditation.

“How far have you learned it, Seol?” He’d handed the martial arts book to her just three days ago. She’d barely glanced at it the first day, then tucked it away in her pack. He couldn’t tell whether it was her terrifying memory that never forgot anything she saw, or if she’d given up training.

“Buddha’s One Light Line?”

“Yes. It’s not easy. Earth techniques are especially difficult.”

As one of the hardest earth techniques, it was especially demanding. The power of Buddha’s One Light Line was far greater than the Hundred Step Divine Fist and struck at much longer range. Though difficult, once mastered it would be a tremendous asset.

Yu Seol closed her eyes and lightly raised her right hand.

“Yeah, it’s nothing special. Want to see?”

Qi gathered at the tip of her index finger.

Woooooom—

A tremendous force whirled and compressed.

Buddha’s One Light Line consumed as much as ten days’ worth of internal qi at once; using it normally caused strain. Even so, Yu Seol extended her finger without changing expression. A streak of light shot from her fingertip like lightning.

Kraaaang—

Yu Jinsan opened his eyes and inspected where the flash had passed. A hole the size of a finger had been cleanly pierced through a massive old tree.

His astonishment didn’t end there. The next tree, and the one after that—she’d pierced three trees in a row. Truly, her power was incomparable.

“How is it? Am I cool?” she asked, smug.

He couldn’t argue. Yu Jinsan nodded solemnly. “Indeed, you take after your grandfather—overflowing with talent. This is enough.”

His granddaughter would face the warrior dragon of Sea Dragon Island; he could take his time mastering the technique. Their preparations were essentially complete. They planned to move to South Sea Port at first light.

At the dock they hurried to find passage to Sea Dragon Island. There was no reason to delay.

Dozens of fishing boats, large and small, were docked, and boatmen rested on their decks. They approached the boatman steering a small ferry.

“Let’s ask him,” Yu Jinsan said.

The boatman gestured and appraised Yu Jinsan from head to toe, sizing him up. Receiving a look from his grandfather, Yu Seol produced a handful of silver coins. For the boatman it was a fortune he couldn’t earn in a year. Yu Jinsan read greed in his eyes.

“Believe it or not, we’re martial artists. Take us to Sea Dragon Island and I’ll give you this money.”

The gleam of greed vanished from the boatman’s pupils and was replaced by fear.

“S-Sea Dragon Island!?”

“That’s right. If you don’t know the route, just take us nearby. We’ll disembark at sea.”

Before Yu Jinsan finished, the boatman covered his ears.

“Eek! I would never go to Hell Island!”

He was visibly shaken and in no state to continue the conversation.

Yu Jinsan sighed and turned away. “Huh. Another failure.”

The boatman had been the sixth—each had reacted the same way. They compared Sea Dragon Island to Hell Island. What kind of place could terrify boatmen so deeply?

Lost in thought, Yu Seol grabbed his lapel. “Grandpa, let’s just go out to sea and look for it ourselves. She said it’s not far.”

“How can we possibly find it on the vast ocean? Even if we find an island, how can we be sure it’s Sea Dragon Island?”

“Then what should we do?”

“I’m worried too. We have to find someone who knows the route, but no one here will help.”

Yu Seol pointed with her index finger. “Then why don’t we ask those men over there?”

Yu Jinsan looked where she pointed and his dark expression brightened—over a dozen martial artists were walking toward the pier. The figure at the front was someone he knew well: Im Pyeong-su of the Humble One Sword, whom they’d rescued a few days earlier.

Perfect timing. He hoped they could help.

A moment later, the martial artists rushed forward and saluted.

“It’s an honor to see the Yin Yang Twin Monster warriors here again.”

“You haven’t left yet?” Yu Jinsan sensed their curiosity—they wanted to know how the match between the Yin Yang Twin Monster and the warrior dragon had ended. It was the hot topic in the southern martial world.

“We have a problem. We can’t find passage to Sea Dragon Island.”

The martial artists reacted knowingly. Then one of them smiled meaningfully and said, “Don’t worry. We have a way.”