-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Ambush at the Temple Gates
-----------------------------------------------------------------
'This is the map used by the informants. It should show you the mountain paths.'
I clutched it tightly and ran like a madman.
The last conversation I'd had with Gam Seoin right before setting off for Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple flashed through my mind.
'Do I really have to take this winding route? It's three times longer than going straight.'
Even a quick glance showed it was at least three times the straight-line distance.
'You have no choice. You must absolutely avoid the main roads where people pass frequently.'
'Why?'
'Considering the Moyong Family's wealth, they've likely paid off not just the Beggars' Sect, but also peddlers, porters, and water carriers.'
The situation was more serious than I'd thought.
Gam Seoin added,
'And there are no escorts from our side along the route to Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple.'
'Any special reason?'
'Our Eighth Elder's faction is a drop in the bucket compared to the other three brothers' forces. It's safer for you to travel alone and stay hidden than to attach a half-baked escort that leaves a huge trail.'
I had no idea how many ridges I'd crossed.
It had been like this for a week now.
With ragged breaths, I spat out a curse.
"What the hell did I do to deserve this shit just for some glory..."
The mountain path was slick with morning dew.
The mud was soggy, and the grass slipped like it was oiled.
"Ugh."
My legs gave way.
My face scraped through thorny bushes as I tumbled three and a half rolls before slamming my head into a tree stump and stopping.
The moment I stopped rolling, I hurriedly checked my belongings.
"Phew, didn't lose it."
I sighed in relief only after confirming the silver tiger token Gam Seoin had given me to show at Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple.
Losing it in these mountains would mean it was gone forever.
"I guarantee you, if this were my old body, it would've snapped a hundred times over."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Of course. Though it's reconstructed based on your previous weak host body full of impurities, it's undeniably rebuilt to the Heavenly Demon's prime physique...]
As if waiting for his cue, Nameless's voice echoed in my head.
"Shut up. You whisper about your grievances in my ear all day, thinking I'll like hearing that crap."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [I thought you would.]
"...Just shut up."
I descended and climbed ridges for a while longer.
Panting heavily, I pulled the map from my mud-soaked clothes.
I'd run day and night with barely any sleep.
At my current level, getting surrounded by organized assassins meant certain death.
I kept moving toward Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple without rest.
Gam Seoin had said he'd finally relax once I reached there, the neutral ground beyond any faction's influence.
I'd run for days on end.
"This is it?"
To be safe, I hid in the bushes and checked multiple times.
Lifting my head from the map, I saw a faintly visible plaque in the distance reading "Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple."
"I made it...!"
Stumbling through the underbrush, I crawled out. A passing peddler who'd been walking the road freaked out when I burst from the remote bushes.
-Clatter.
The bundle on his back scattered across the ground.
"At least I arrived without dying."
Even hustling at the bottom of the capital, I'd heard about Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple.
It was an academy established mainly by the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, pursuing the pinnacle of martial arts, for the harmony of the Martial World and the advancement of rivers-and-lakes martial prowess.
Thus, rather than belonging to any specific sect, it operated like a neutral zone free from any influence, governed by its own rules—a separate world within the Martial World.
In short, for me in my precarious position, it was the perfect sanctuary.
And the first place where I could receive proper martial arts instruction.
'Finally, for me!'
I'd trembled in fear of death every day, running ceaselessly day and night.
Seeing the temple's sign at the end filled me with overwhelming relief that I'd survived.
My body felt like it was melting from exhaustion.
I wanted to flash the silver tiger token ASAP, complete admission procedures, and rest.
"Let's hurry."
With a light heart, I quickened my steps—and.
-Stab.
A kitchen knife pierced through my gut.
"...?"
I looked down.
The blade tip protruding from my stomach felt utterly alien.
"Gah... damn it."
I vomited a gush of blood.
I turned my head to look behind.
"Moyong Family bastard, Moyong Bi, right?"
It was the very peddler who'd dropped his bundle when I jumped out earlier.
-Thud. His hand gripped my shoulder with a smack.
Everything after that happened in an instant.
-Stab, stab, stab, stab.
The knife plunged through my belly.
Only after three stabs did I fully grasp the situation.
Desperately, I shielded my gut with both arms.
Even then, two more slashes grazed my forearms before embedding in my belly.
-Thwack, thud.
The kitchen knife that missed my gut stabbed into both arms.
Blood splattered the ground.
I flailed several times, trying to block with my palms.
My palms tore and split open.
On the seventh try, I grabbed the incoming blade with my bare hand.
"Urgh... uuurgh!"
My pant legs were instantly soaked with blood from my gut and clenched fist. Drip, drip.
The ground pooled like a bucket of blood had been dumped.
With one hand, I shoved the peddler's face.
I saw my blood-soaked fingers.
Blood oozed between fingers, and his blood-smeared eyes darted at me as his cheek compressed.
"Grk!"
The blade dug into my palm.
Still, I couldn't let go.
The moment I did, the stabbing would resume.
"Heh heh, how's it taste? Nice and tangy, right?"
The peddler trembled, spitting saliva, his face a mess of excitement, joy, and fear.
"Ha, haha! They said you'd come to Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple! The reward's all mine!"
The peddler struggled to yank the knife from my grip.
His frenzied state showed no sign of a trained assassin's skill.
He was chillingly ordinary.
Just a plain peddler, greedy for cash.
The only difference was his greed-blinded eyes.
So close our noses nearly touched, I felt his raw emotions through his eyes.
"Grrk."
Burning pain seared from my stabbed arms and gut.
His burly frame dwarfed mine overwhelmingly.
There was only one way for me to overpower this giant instantly.
No choice but to use a cleaver for a worm.
"Hey."
"Die already, brat. Booze and girls at the brothel are waiting for me."
"Hey, look at me."
Blood filled my mouth as I gasped.
It might be overkill.
But no other option.
Besides, sparks flew in my eyes.
Anyone daring to kill me—man, woman, old, young—wouldn't live.
Whoever tried to kill me once, I'd tear apart.
Whoever harmed me, I'd repay tenfold.
Gender, age—irrelevant.
This was my goal, my life's compass from now on.
No more just taking it.
"For feeding me steel, I'll show you something special in return."
"What?"
-Kiiing!
As my words ended, my eyes turned crimson.
The sliver of internal energy from the Soul-Saving Golden Pill writhed as fuel. Small amount, but enough for one technique.
"Keep your eyes wide open."
Red serpents coiled around my fists.
That was when.
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ [No.]
"What?"
The red serpents gathering in my hands scattered abruptly.
My crimson eyes reverted to black.
The condensing energy dispersed like flour in water, soaking back into my body.
My fevered head cooled rapidly.
Blood-drenched face muttering,
"What the hell is this bullshit?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [The internal energy hastily gained from the inner pill is unstable. Using it could lead to qi deviation.]
"You mad bastard, in this situation...!"
I was too stunned for words.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [I'll handle the injuries somehow...]
"You son of a bitch, quit your nonsense!"
-Thwack.
The man's pot-lid fist smashed into my face.
I tumbled.
-Ptui.
A blood-soaked glob of spit and a tooth rolled into the dirt.
My arms were rags.
My gut had dodged vitals but bore clear stab wounds twice over.
My pants soaked through with blood.
Clutching my belly, I desperately stanched the bleeding.
To maximize distance, I crawled, leaving a bloody trail.
This is weird.
Broad daylight.
Why's the road so deserted?
Damn it.
Head spinning.
"Heh heh, looking around? Sorry, no one's helping you."
"What?"
The peddler gripped his knife tighter and strode forward.
"Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple's infamous for its iron rules—even for a finger crossing the boundary. Who'd risk passing by and getting caught?"
I'd thought his boldness in daylight odd, but that explained it.
"Damn, you handle the knife like a pro—not your first time, huh? You really a peddler?"
I babbled to cling to fading consciousness amid the blood stench.
"Plenty of rich folks hate getting hands dirty. Heh heh. This side gig pays nice."
Lost in memory, he muttered with a sleazy grin.
"Reminds me of last year around this time—a rich girl from some house. Money was good, but..."
"Shut up."
"What?"
The peddler's eyes chilled.
Propping with my palm, I barely raised my torso, leaning against Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple's gate.
"I thought maybe you were like old me—struggling to live. But now I'm sure. Sure, world's full of bad guys who deserve to die."
I spat each word through labored breaths.
"But you? You really need to die."
"Oh yeah? Then I'll rip that mouth first. No idea why you're so cocky at death's door!"
The peddler advanced, knife reversed in a back grip.
Gasping, I continued,
"In those iron rules you mentioned about not even a finger crossing— no punishment for murder like this?"
"So that's your last hope."
He scoffed in disbelief.
"That'd be summary execution. So what? You think you're inside?"
"Obviously outside, since I'm leaning on the gate."
"And?"
I laughed.
"I hope Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple's as sensitive about their turf as you say."
"...?"
The peddler stared blankly.
I nodded toward my hand.
His gaze followed down.
"..."
My bloodied arm had wedged through the gate's bottom gap, inside.
"You... you bastard!"
Screaming, he lunged knife-first.
But before two steps—
-Pfft.
Air hissed as the peddler's head flew.
A beat later, blood sprayed from the neck stump.
"Hoo, hoo..."
Lost too much blood.
Through blurry vision, a figure loomed over me.
Fresh blood dripped like dew from their right hand.
Now the real trouble.
"Just curious—strict rules or not, they wouldn't execute someone unilaterally attacked, right?"
-Whoosh, whoosh.
The figure swung their sword through the air, flicking blood.
"...Right?"
I corrected to polite speech.
Yet the blade tip hovered at my throat.
"The Eighth Elder's letter of recommendation should've arrived ahead."
Slowly, I reached into my robes for the silver tiger token.
"My name is Moyong Bi. From the Moyong Fami..."
Too much blood lost.
My grip failed.
-Clack.
The bloodied token hit the ground.
A pale hand picked it up.
Exceptionally white.
In hazy sight, a silver sword at their waist gleamed.
The scabbard bore an engraved plum blossom.
Blood speckled the plum.
Blood kept leaking from my gut.
Suddenly, it hit me.
How many times had I brushed death this past week?
Who knows now.
In detail, from within the torn clothes, wounds mended as if forcibly stitched.
But I barely noticed.
Exhausted.
In my dazed mind, my thoughts spilled out.
"This shit's truly exhausting."
"What?"
Silver eyes blinked.
Head dizzy.
"Can't live like this. I shouted about achieving glory, but honestly, don't want much. Just..."
Too much blood gone.
"Too young at Moyong Family to remember meals, so meaningless..."
Memories jumbled.
I rambled incoherently.
"Just wanted to stuff myself with meat once."
Memory from soon after settling in the countryside.
Neighbor kid bragged about eating beef.
Bragged forever, then asked if I got what flavor he meant.
I pretended to gag, saying that stuff's gross.
Then cried at home.
"Still pops up outta nowhere."
"..."
Silver eyes listened silently.
Head down, I muttered,
"So tired sometimes I wanna let go. But too many regrets... wanted meat."
-Clack.
Sword sheathed.
"Thousand Hands Hundred Lotuses Temple has meat aplenty. And."
Clear, resonant voice.
Sun too harsh under blue sky.
Couldn't see the face looking down.
Only silver eyes shone vividly in the shadow.
"Life ends someday. But not today."
"Heh, life's not that easy. Not a god to decide."
"I."
"What?"
-Clack. Plum-engraved sword placed on ground.
"Huashan Sect Guardian Divine Guard Eunseolryeong hereby decrees it."