Chapter 1491
There’s no need for that. (1)
‘What……?’
Did he hear that wrong?
That could be the case. No, it’s impossible to know.
It was impossible to discern any true intention from the old man’s murky, clouded eyes.
“……What did you say?”
Chung Myung’s eyes glinted with frustration, as if his chest was about to burst. He half-shouted, urging the old man with a clouded consciousness.
But the old man’s murky eyes remained blankly fixed on the ceiling. He showed no reaction to Chung Myung at all.
“I asked what you just said……!”
“Chung Myung?”
Baek Cheon hesitated and opened his mouth. He was taken aback by Chung Myung’s intense reaction.
Chung Myung, who was biting his lips and glaring at the old man, took a deep, long breath. After a moment, the agitation on his face slowly receded. The old man still looked like a mummy.
‘This person has been controlling the Beggars Sect from the shadows?’
The old man, barely conscious, looked more like an old wooden log than a person. What could such a man possibly do?
His confusion quickly turned to anger. At that moment, he heard the voice of Luju behind him.
“Step back.”
Luju, who had followed them upstairs, strode over to the bed where the old man was lying.
“…Is this the person you wanted to show me?”
“Yes.”
Chung Myung’s eyes twisted fiercely.
“What is this nonsense?”
“Arrogance will eventually destroy you.”
“What?”
“You are remarkable, but you do not know everything in the world. Be it history or knowledge.”
Just as Chung Myung’s eyes were filled with confusion, a dark light began to glow at the fingertips of the Beggars Sect’s Sect Leader. It was an ominous energy that did not seem like proper internal energy. It was not the kind of energy that the Sect Leader of the Just Sect should be using.
“You?”
Swoosh!
Luju’s hand moved like a beam of light, repeatedly stabbing the old man’s body. In the blink of an eye, he had struck dozens of acupoints. To the elderly man, who was already barely breathing, this seemed excessively harsh.
“What the…!”
“What are you doing!”
“So-Soso! Quickly!”
Five Swords tried to intervene in panic, but Luju cut them off with a chilling voice.
“Taoists seek to extend their lives through cultivation.”
“…What?”
“Of course, their ultimate goal is to ascend through enlightenment, but extending the duration of their practice through cultivation and refinement is also part of their aim.”
Luju slowly shook his head.
“But extending life doesn’t necessarily have to be achieved through cultivation alone. If you are willing to make a few sacrifices, there are plenty of ways to extend your lifespan.”
Among those present, only Chung Myung understood what Luju meant.
“…Turtle Breathing [귀식(龜息) – gwisik]?”
“You know of it.”
Chung Myung’s gaze returned to the old man. The face, which had been bluish and deathly pale as if he could die any moment, was starting to regain some vitality.
“Ha, what an insane trick.”
A hollow laugh escaped Chung Myung’s lips. Unable to hold back his frustration, Jo Geol asked,
“Chung Myung. What does that mean? Turtle Breathing?”
“It’s the Great Art of Turtle Breathing [귀식대법(龜息大法) – gwisik-daebeop].”
“Great Art of Turtle Breathing? Isn’t that a technique used to hold one’s breath while hiding?”
“That’s right.”
“Why bring that up suddenly? Does it have something to do with this?”
“…The Great Art of Turtle Breathing doesn’t just eliminate sound – it reduces the body’s activity. It slows the heart, causing the blood to circulate more slowly. It’s used to endure long periods without food when trapped in places like caves.”
Tang Soso, who quickly understood, nodded swiftly.
“Th-that’s right. Reducing vitality decreases the energy expenditure.”
“…This person is constantly using the Turtle Breathing. To the extent that he’s even eliminating his own consciousness.”
“What?”
Tang Soso looked at the old man with disbelief.
“Wh-what? How could that be…?”
“No wonder. I thought it was strange not to sense the presence of someone right above my head.”
Chung Myung’s eyes were sharp as he watched the old man.
“It’s not even an ordinary Turtle Breathing. It’s combined with Skeletal Arts [고루공(骷髏功) – goru-gong] and Soft Demonic Arts [유마공(柔魔功) – yu-magong]? To think that a Beggars Sect’s beggar would learn martial arts of West and East. It’s a deed worthy of being torn apart and killed immediately.”
In that instant, Luju’s eyes shone with admiration. Just from observing briefly, Chung Myung had discerned the source of the old man’s energy.
“…As they say, you are truly an inscrutable person.”
Chung Myung did not respond to Luju’s comment. His gaze remained fixed on the old man.
The old man’s body, which had been like a dried-up piece of wood, gradually began to swell. Although the change was not drastic, it was clear that vitality, which had not been there before, was now filling the old man’s body.
“Cough!”
Finally, a dry cough erupted from the old man’s mouth, and at the same time, a light returned to his previously unfocused eyes. The eyes that were now wide open looked unmistakably more alive than before.
Luju shouted.
“Master!”
‘Master?’
The disciples of Hwasan were startled and looked at the old man again.
If he was the master of the Beggars Sect’s Sect Leader, did that mean this dried-up old man was the retired Sect Leader of the Beggars Sect?
“……Water……”
“Yes, Master!”
Luju handed the old man a flask he had prepared in advance. The old man took it with a faintly trembling hand and brought it to his lips. He moved with the ease of someone who had done this many times before. Without hurrying, he let the water flow into his mouth in several sips and then took a long breath.
A strong medicinal aroma spread in all directions.
Tang Soso murmured with a pale face,
“He’s insane… Using Turtle Breathing, a technique from which he cannot awaken by himself. That’s essentially hibernation…”
If something had happened to Luju, the old man would have withered away, unable to ever awaken in this dark, secluded chamber. Who in the world would willingly take such a risk? It was truly a bizarre situation.
Tang Soso’s question was answered by the old man himself, with a response she could not have anticipated.
“Help me…”
“Yes.”
Before the words to help him up had fully left his mouth, Luju supported the old man to sit up. Leaning against the wall, the old man coughed a few times and muttered weakly.
“……I’ve awakened again, have I?”
“I’m sorry, Master. I had no other choice.”
“……It’s fine.”
The old man slowly shook his head. His gaze, now much clearer, focused on Chung Myung.
“Just by seeing the people from Hwasan standing before me, I understand the situation. So, it has come to this in the end…”
Chung Myung’s lips twisted.
“Quite perceptive for someone who was supposed to be unconscious. We’re even wearing the uniforms of Jongnam, you know.”
At his words, the old man’s lips faintly twitched. Though not certain, it seemed he was trying to smile.
“I’ve heard countless times.”
“…”
“I’ve heard numerous vivid stories about you, Hwasan Geomhyeop, and Hwasan itself.”
Chung Myung let out a chuckle.
“I’m not sure if I should feel flattered or annoyed. It means the surveillance was that thorough.”
“Perhaps so…… Cough! Cough!”
Even this brief conversation seemed to strain the old man, as he coughed several times in between.
“Master!”
“Step aside.”
Luju tried to support him to lie down again, but the old man firmly pushed him away. His posture, as he adjusted himself, was remarkably composed for someone who had been lying down moments before.
From this scene alone, it was clear that the old man was far from ordinary.
Speaking as if nothing had happened, the old man calmly said,
“The fact that you have come this far… I see. You have come to kill me.”
Chung Myung frowned. The old man’s tone, as if he had anticipated this situation all along, was grating on his nerves.
“If necessary, I was prepared to do so.”
“…”
“But it doesn’t seem particularly necessary, does it? Even without my intervention, you appear to be at your limit already. Isn’t that right?”
The old man didn’t bother to respond. There was no need to go to great lengths to deny it.
“What lingering attachment does an old man who should have died long ago have, to go to such lengths? Breathing doesn’t equate to living, does it? Haven’t you ever thought you were disgusting?”
“Chung Myung!”
“You crazy brat! He’s the retired Sect Leader of the Beggars Sect!”
“Watch your mouth!”
The shocked Five Swords tried to intervene, but the old man laboriously raised a hand to stop them. Baek Cheon, with a look of remorse, spoke with difficulty.
“Retired Sect Leader, I apologize. That idiot…”
“……Don’t.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t…… interfere needlessly.”
Baek Cheon clamped his mouth shut. The old man’s gaze and aura carried a weight that was entirely different from when he addressed Chung Myung. Even though he still appeared as a frail old man who seemed incapable of catching a fly, the dignity emanating from him was so profound that it startled even Baek Cheon, who had encountered countless masters.
Perhaps it was the weight of a life lived rather than mere martial prowess. It was the depth of the world this old man had traversed that gave him such gravity.
“Disgusting, you say……”
The old man nodded calmly.
“Indeed. When one’s time is up, returning to the heavens is the natural order. To refuse this is undoubtedly an unforgivable sin. I apologize for showing such a disgraceful appearance to a person of the Tao.”
“Don’t change the subject. I didn’t come all this way to hear cliched lectures. Answer me. What exactly have you been doing? What kind of scheme have you been concocting, holed up in this dark, lightless chamber?”
“……Hwasan Geomhyeop.”
Suddenly, a deep, hollow voice escaped the old man’s lips.
“What is it that you are curious about…… why I have brought the Beggars Sect to this state? Or is it why am I still clinging to life?”
“It will probably be the same answer either way, won’t it? Am I wrong?”
Chung Myung bared his teeth fiercely.
“Answer me. What does the Beggars Sect stand to gain from all this?”
Without replying, the old man slowly turned his gaze to Luju. Only when impatience and frustration were about to erupt did the old man speak, without even turning his head.
“That boy called me Master, but…… to be precise, I am not his master.”
“…Not his master?”
What was he suddenly saying? And was that even important now? The important thing was…
“Hwasan Geomhyeop.”
The old man turned his trembling head with great difficulty to face Chung Myung. Regret spread around the old man’s eyes, clouded with moisture.
“I am well over a hundred years old. Do you understand what that means?”
“…What?”
“I am……”
For a moment, a storm of emotions raged in the old man’s eyes: despair, regret, sorrow, and pain.
“I am…… a survivor of the terrible Demonic Cult invasion of the past.”
Chung Myung’s face froze.
“I am a remnant of the past that could not die, an ancient sinner who should not be alive.”
The old man’s head drooped. Tremors spread through his body, as bony and brittle as a withered old tree.
Regret and fear, accumulated like layers of sediment, filled the room. The suffocating weight of his past started to choke everyone present, making the air unbearably heavy.
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