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A+ A- Chapter 24

0024 ———————————————-
Embroidered Uniform Guard (錦衣衛) (1)

 

A terrible pain!
Breathing disconnected!
My tongue was crooked.

Screaming…!

The sound of moaning.

I found myself making the sound of a pig.

“…Huck!”

I quickly quietened my voice as much as possible and forced down my Neigong which was running like an active volcano all over my body. Looking at the scene around me, I settled down and pinched my cheeks, nose, and neck once because I wanted to feel some pain, and then I relaxed my whole body and lay down on the barn again.

“… ”

Once again, I was lying in the barn at night, in the middle of teenage. A chill was coming from the pile of straw to prevent early morning dew. I missed the cold, and I crouched my legs quietly, leaning against the straw wall.

“… Hah …”

‘I’m lucky. I am so lucky.’

A tear of joy ran down my cheek. This time I sensed death and decided to avoid the possibility of being caught and tortured. In that situation, if I refused the mandatory duty of the sect leader and ran away, he would torture me as much as possible and kill me. And if I had been tortured, I would have talked about the Heavenly Dark Secret Book. Therefore, I deliberately accepted the martial-arts contest and died fighting to the best of my ability. I thought that if I died fighting, he wouldn’t humiliate me.

After dying a few times, I could prepare myself for death. But it was all about luck. I reversed two times in total with the Heavenly Dark Secret Book, still there was no guarantee that it would be the third because I did not know the contents of the book. Thus, I half-gambled and jumped into the death, believing I could do the reverse again.

In addition, in order to kill the pain of dying, I intentionally pulled up my Neigong by cultivation method (心法) to induce lower pain. The person who cut my neck was an Extreme (絕頂) martial artist; his sword was clean and quick, and the pain was less.

This time, I could tolerate screaming without being insane because of pain. To the extent that it hurt, it was equivalent to getting the Adam’s apple with a whip. As a result, I was lucky. I’ve come back like this, and my Neigong was still there.

Moreover, it was much better since I have learned from Wangliang, thirty thousand Chinese characters, the Four Books and Three Classics (四書三經), Taiji Extraordinary Book (太極奇書), Brain Essence Sutra (雷精經), Formations (陣法), and the Extraordinary Gate disguise (奇門遁甲).

“… ”

Even so, on one hand, I couldn’t speak. To be exact, I was so depressed that I couldn’t say anything.

“Damn it. Consequently,

I couldn’t knock down even one of the Two Sects Four Clans.”

I realized how difficult it would be to get inside the Imperial Palace and bring out the Anonymous Ceremonial Book (無名祭事書). Wangliang made a plan under the assumption that I was a master, yet I could not beat the Extreme martial artist who performed Sword inflammation (劍炎).

Nevertheless, the elder, who killed me in three hundred and fifty moves, would die against ten guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard (錦衣衛: the imperial secret police that served the Emperors of the Ming dynasty in China.). The fact that only ten guards could kill the Extreme martial artist like a monster means that the average power of Embroidered Uniform Guard would be frighteningly high.

Within the palace, there are more than thirty guards, and not only are they capable of locking up intruders in the Extraordinary Gate disguise, but also the expert guards of Eastern Depot (東廠: Dong Chang, was a Ming dynasty spy and secret police agency run by eunuchs) keep watching.

What a crazy idea I had!

No, no, no. It is not possible at present to bring out the Anonymous Ceremonial Book! Much less, the greatest thief (大盜) with uniqueness in the world should risk his life to break into the palace.

Can I try it after I become an absolute master (絶對高手), who has no rival in the world and can look down on other Super Extreme (超絕頂) martial artists? Is it impossible?

After a moment, I could smile faintly, clearing up what I had gained from the past life.

First, I obtained the Neigong of Millennium Snow Ginseng.
Second, I gained the knowledge of the scholar class and of the Extraordinary Gate disguise.
Third, I kept the maps of the Imperial Palace in mind.
Fourth, I had the martial-arts contest with an Extreme martial artist.
Fifth, I found out that the prestigious faction of Murim are a bunch of bastards.

Especially, the fifth one got stuck in my mind, and I blamed myself.

“Damn it. I’m still a fool.”

How naive I was!
How foolish I was!
No matter how hard I had tried, though I had visited one of the Two Sects Four Clans, the result would have been the same.

There is a difference between whether it is fast or late, and they never forgive those who have defiled their honor. At the moment the argument or the battle happens, the challengers are destined to be deformed or killed. As the world says, it is a dream-like story that a ronin (浪人) can raise his ability through a journey. If I want to have a real experience, I have to go through a real battle. If I have a situation in which

which I can kill the opponent, I should kill the enemy clearly for no backlash.

I kept my thought rolling, crouched, holding my leg.

I was able to see the difference between the ability of the Extreme martial artist and the one of mine. I heard from the elder that if I wanted to narrow it down, I would need at least ten years of performance.

This time, if I perform martial arts for ten years, I will reach the Extreme class.

Nonetheless, how?

To improve my ability, only digesting the forms and brandishing the sword in the air are not helpful. It is necessary to have a person who can advise me to improve my deficiency. If not, I should make improvements by fighting with other martial artists on the similar level every time. Certainly, this is a dangerous, insufficient act, though there are a few chances to live again.

Furthermore, it is not possible to improve the capacity by beating the low class martial artists to pursue the safe bread. If I fight as such, I will just believe in myself and beat the First-class or the below class martial artists. However, it is no use in front of a true Extreme expert, though I polish this fighting method. It only works for a certain martial artist like Gyojun, despite that, there is no way in front of the Extreme expert, the first elder of Iron Blood Sect.

I am not a genius, and I have to digest all the lessons under the instruction of a good teacher and then I can train my own. This way is very natural and logical, in spite of that, I must have forgotten it because I was so happy after eating Millennium Snow Ginseng.

It was only three years that I have learned to work properly. I had learned the martial arts hard; however, since then I have just picked up the martial arts roughly in accordance with the instantaneous situations, and my martial arts was not improved at all . Only, there was a huge increase in my Neigong.

Hence, I should go to the Blue Dragon Martial Hall. There is my teacher who can give me the best advice for the martial arts I’ve learned.

I sighed, making a conclusion. .

“What should I do? How?”

If I entered Blue Dragon Martial Hall, it would be a most egregious act and cause a terrible sense of disgrace. If Three Absolute, Lee Kwang, knew that I had learned both the secret martial arts and Cultivation Method of Blue Dragon Martial Hall, he would certainly kill me.

I shook my head as if to shake off my feeling, and then I got up.

“Well, I don’t know. I’ll do what I have to

have to do first.”

Things to do.
There are two things to do.

First, I’ll go to the cave and get the Heavenly Dark Secret Book.
Second, I’ll go to Huangshan and get the Millennium Snow Ginseng.

‘Will it take about a month to finish both jobs? Whatever…’

Whizz.

I did not hesitate to turn my back on the house of the village chief and started to cast the Haste Skill to the cave. With my current power, it was easy to kill the whole family of the village chief, but I did not need to do it right away.

‘Well, I forgot something important…’

I cocked my head for a moment, yet at this point I couldn’t figure out what I was forgetting, because I was too much absorbed in other things.

It took much shorter to get to the cave than my second life. It was no surprise since I was running at least three times faster and never tired of my physical strength. By the time the morning sun rose after dawn, I came into the cave.

This time I didn’t bother buying a copper shield to save time. Instead, I brought some big stones from the roadside. I then decided to pass through the arrow engine that protected the Heavenly Dark Secret Book.

“I don’t have to be hard to stop. I know where the arrows come from.”

I muttered, blowing my Neigong into the stone. Then I threw the stone to the engine system far away. The stone with the powerful Neigong had enough force to penetrate the engine system by itself.

Bang!

I could see the wall being broken and the arrow launcher being crushed. It was a convenient way to get out of the trap. But at that time, the ground of the cave roared and the soles of my feet shook.

Kaboom.

“… Oh my god!”

It was a sign of collapse, I rushed in and ran out of the cave with the box in my arms, and I made a good jump to the opposite cliff. I saw, a moment later, the cave’s entrance and a pile of stones fell down the cliff. I took a sigh of relief, after I checked the Heavenly Dark Secret Book in the box.

“Oh, thank God! I almost got a problem.”

I should not use this method in the future. I would rather use a stone or a copper shield to block the arrows though it is annoying. I should not try any method recklessly, as the cave collapsed and I could die.

Getting the Heavenly Dark Secret Book, I buried the box in the ground and packed the book into the inside pocket of my clothes. Then, I started my journey straight to Huangshan again. Of course, I could go to could go to the Blue Dragon Martial Hall, yet I should eat Millennium Snow Ginseng first.

“Come on, let’s go!”

The fun trip to Huangshan was now the third.

Tramping.

I began walking and running as fast as I could. As it was a very long and tedious journey to Huangshan, I wanted to save even a little time. Without fail, I still had to eat animals in the mountain, wash my body in the valley, and eat grass roots.

Fortunately, I was very accustomed to this work thanks to my mountain life in Huangshan, and I perceived far much better at hunting because I became more absorbed in it. Although I hunted wild animals without tools, I succeeded eight out of ten tries. For this reason, I would not wander around the mountains just before starvation.

A sparking, cracking fire.

I was eating a frog in a mountain about a day’s walk from Huangshan. If I commenced to run in a hurry, I would probably arrive within four hours. In fact, tomorrow, I would eat the Millennium Snow Ginseng again.

I was already losing my clothes, but I didn’t care about that. I didn’t know if this frog was a poisonous frog or not. Anyway, I had to eat it, and I was trying to heat it with fire.

I swallowed hard.
I was so hungry.
I wanted to eat this…

If I ate the poisonous frog wrong, the nerves of the whole body would be paralyzed and my face would become purple and I might die. In the past, when I lived in Huangshan, I almost died because I ate poisonous frogs. And the village man was a pharmacist, and he taught me the essential knowledge of a frog.

‘He said, “if you heat poison frogs with fire, their bellies dilate.”’

I watched the frog calmly. Then, no doubt, its belly popped out with a slender figure. It was a poisonous frog that if I ate, I could die. I threw the frog-skewer anywhere, then I was disappointed.

“Fuck…”

I had to starve again. When I tried to sleep at night, after applying asbestos I found nearby to keep the snake from approaching, I fell into some sentimental mood. The tip of my nose was slightly touched.

If someone does the retrograde, will he live with all kinds of bad things the same as me?
Is it only me doing something stupid?
Is what I am doing to make my life easier?

Even if I think about it seriously, it is not something I can ask others.
Though I think about it, I don’t get the answer.

The sound of grass worms was loud. In my third life, the night before the second eating of the Millennium Snow Ginseng was drawing to a close.

 


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