Chronicles of the Reincarnated Demon God - Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Tang Gyu-jin

When Tang Gyu-jin left the pavilion, Tang Yu-chan was waiting outside with a ferocious scowl.

He was in an unpleasant mood after being mocked by Woon-hwi all day.

“Big Sister, did you know that too much kindness is a type of illness? I hope you will reconsider Mother’s words.”

“What?”

“That is all I have to say.”

Watching Tang Yu-chang heartlessly walk away, Tang Gyu-jin became certain.

‘Something is going on, something I’m not aware of!’

She made haste to the White Pavilion, where Woon-hwi resided.

As she entered the pavilion gardens…

Fwoosh!

“!!”

A sudden chill ran down her spine.

It was as if she had been tossed into a tiger’s den without anything to defend herself with.

An intense heat and a lull of madness filled the area.

‘What in the world is going on?’

Gyu-jin quickly looked over at Hyeong-sam, who had guided her there.

“Is this really Woon-hwi’s residence?” she asked him.

“Y-yes, Miss. Wh-why would a mere lowly s-servant l-like me lie?”

Though the steward was trembling, he was clearly speaking the truth.

‘Wait, why is he trembling?’

Gyu-jin finally managed to put a finger to the oddness she’d sensed upon stepping into the White Pavilion: The servants of the White Pavillion, who used to treat Woon-hwi like garbage, were all treading very carefully.

It was as if a beast that should not be disturbed resided here.

Noticing that fact gave her a new perspective on the marks around the training ground and the presence that filled the air.

There were various footprints in the ground as well as traces of sparring.

‘He must have been training…’

In the Qingcheng Sect, she knew of martial artists who were madly obsessed with their art.

She was certain that Woon-hwi trained with focus, just like those people.

The fresher marks were more precise and clean.

‘Woon-hwi must have changed!’

Jolt.

Her fingers twitched and her heart throbbed.

Ba-thump ba-thump!

It was her fighting spirit.

To stimulate her, someone who had few rivals even among the best protégés of the Qingcheng sect…

The Woon-hwi she remembered was a kind, tender child who feared hurting others.

People often changed. It wouldn’t be that strange if he had become venomous in the five years they had been apart.

‘Is this what prompted Mother…?!’

It finally made sense why her mother seemed to have suddenly become wearier of Woon-hwi.

‘But Mother is still wrong. Even if Woon-hwi has changed, she should have tried to sway him by embracing him further!’

But on the other hand, she was starting to become highly suspicious of Woon-hwi.

She was a Taoist, a student and practitioner of the Tao.

She also possessed a unique illness, which was why she had joined the Qingcheng Sect to manage her condition.

This gave her sharp senses… and her senses were being set off by the presence of something foreign.

Ghost ki and death ki.

If Woon-hwi had entangled himself with anti-Tao, a taboo that one should never associate with, to enact revenge…

Shing!

Tang Gyu-jin quickly spun around as she drew her sword.

The metal rang with clarity.

Gyu-jin had thought she was being ambushed, so her eyes widened in shock as she exclaimed, “Woon-hwi?”

There, grabbing her sword with his bare hand, Woon-hwi looked back with a sharp glare. “What are you doing here, Big Sister?”

I had come outside after sensing an unusual presence only to find a surprisingly troublesome visitor.

As explained previously, Tang Gyu-jin had regularly sent letters while I was locked up for the past two months.

However, I had not once sent a reply.

Why? Because I was suspicious of Tang Gyu-jin’s intentions.

But it seems that I could set aside that concern.

The look in her eyes… It was far too familiar.

It was the same way my master used to look at me.

However, I now had a different problem. She had found the marks I had yet to clean up.

“I should be the one asking that. What were you doing here?” Gyu-jin asked me.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t play oblivious. The ‘Teachings of One Energy of Heaven and Earth’ I studied at the Qingcheng Sect are especially adept at expelling evil and drawing forth righteousness. You cannot trick my eyes.”

I’d had a bad feeling when I heard that she was training at Mount Qingcheng, but to think that she possessed a spiritual root!

My master had once explained spiritual roots to me.

“What is a spiritual root, you ask?”

“Yes, Master. You told me before that it’s one of the biggest changes to Jianghu since the appearance of supernatural abilities and the ‘Tower’. Yet—”

“Ahahaha! I bet you couldn’t find anything about it in any ordinary books.”

“Yes. Why is that?”

“That’s because spiritual roots are one of the biggest secrets in all of Jianghu.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“The seed to becoming a husk-shedder. That is the spiritual root.”

A spiritual root is the foundation of a spirit’s potential. It can grow into a spiritual tree, a spiritual flower, even all the way into a spiritual fruit.

People who possess a spiritual root have sharper minds or keener senses compared to ordinary people. Simultaneously, they also possess talent that lets them reach higher stages more easily.

But because of that, they must walk a different path than ordinary people, as their spiritual talent can also consume them.

“You need to hone and train your spiritual root for the right to climb that ‘Tower’…”

That was surely why, despite being a prodigy of the Tang Clan, Gyu-jin had been entrusted to the Qingcheng Sect for her training, since the Qingcheng Sect was a sect of Taoists seeking higher realms or worlds, such as ascension or nirvana.

No wonder Gyu-jin was sensitive to the ghost ki and death ki lingering in the gardens.

It was my mistake for thinking that there would be no possessors of spiritual roots simply because this was a branch family.

Of course, that didn’t mean I had no way out of this.

“What were you doing here? If you have tainted yourself with anti-Tao for revenge—”

“What if I have? What will you do then?”

“…What?”

“I asked, what will you do?” I said with a smile.

Grin!

Then…

Fwooo.

I unleashed a powerful aura.

A gust of wind swirled around the room, scratching the walls and floor. It even scraped against the window, sounding like a sharp shriek.

“You—” Gyu-jin was about to shout, but she couldn’t continue.

Every member of the Tang Clan was familiar with the sticky sensation that lingered underneath this aura.

It was poison ki.

“There is truly a wide variety of poisons. We can broadly categorize them into bio-poisons and mineral-poisons. Bio-poisons can then be subcategorized into hemo-poisons, nerve-poisons, and so on. In all, our clan has more than 30 categories of poisons,” I explained.

I had planned to hide it as much as possible, but now that my hand had been forced, I had to boldly show it.

As long as I had the Tang last name, I wouldn’t be able to completely hide my inner energy, not in front of the Dark Sovereign.

I especially wouldn’t be able to hide my dark arts, which were a good majority of my current skills.

Therefore, I needed a veil to conceal the truth.

The most important secrets should be hidden underneath a blanket of mostly truths.

And so I pretended as if I had trained in a new form of poison.

A poison ki that contained ghost ki and death ki… or at least had properties very similar to them.

“Did you attain cursed poison…?!”

Cursed poison was a type of poison that few even within the Tang Clan had managed to learn because it was only attainable by learning sorcery.

Poison ki was created by repeatedly casting curses on oneself and refining the poison ki that accumulated in this process.

As it did not require collecting poisonous herbs, it had once been called the ideal poison of every poison user.

However, this reputation had not lasted long.

Not only was there a limit to how poisonous one could make it, but it was also troublesome to wield due to its uneven yield.

The most crucial flaw, though, was that it continuously weakened the user’s body, shortening their lifespan.

It was no wonder she was surprised that I’d learned such an art.

“Because the clan provides me with no support, I needed to at least learn this to survive.”

As I shrugged, I saw Tang Gyu-jin’s face redden.

She was likely ashamed that she had doubted something I had worked so hard to attain while I was being denied any proper guidance.

“Of course, to a student of the Qingcheng Sect like you, this might seem like an improper art. However, the Tang Clan reached its dominant status of today by always valuing efficiency above all else.”

I then took a stance: The starting stance of the Wild Wind Dance I had learned from Tang Gon.

“If you want to tell me that the path I seek is wrong, then I challenge you, Big Sister.”

Rumble, rumble…!

The entire White Pavilion started to shake from my aura.

This should be enough to shut up Tang Gyu-jin.

But to my surprise…

Grin!

Huh? She’s… smiling?

“My dear Woon-hwi… you’ve grown, haven’t you? You even know how to provoke someone’s fighting spirit.”

This was completely different from the Tang Gyu-jin who had been acting proper and reserved just moments ago. Her face was filled with ecstasy.

Wearing a sharp grin, she looked akin to an evil ghost that wanted to go on a bloody rampage.

“Ehehehehe!” she laughed.

…What the? I’d not heard anything about her having a split personality!

“But since this is all my fault… it would be wrong of me to draw my sword, right? I’ll apologize,” Gyu-jin said as she sheathed her sword and bowed.

As she apologized, her fighting spirit disappeared like I had merely imagined it.

However, the prickling on my skin caused by her killing intent still faintly lingered.

* * *

「Junior lord, give me the order and I will gladly show this Qingcheng hypocrite the great teachings of the Heavenly Demon—」

「No, leave it to me, sir! I, who was known as the greatest instructor within the Heavenly Demon Cult, will teach her a lesson—」

‘Quiet, all of you. Disperse and don’t even come close until this woman leaves.’

「Y-yes, sir!」

After chasing away the annoying ghosts, I poured Gyu-jin a cup of tea.

I wondered where the sword demon with the freaky smile from earlier had gone. In her place now was an elegant young lady enjoying the scent of tea leaves.

Of all spiritual roots, why did it have to be the Blue Ghost Face Root?

I didn’t know that many spiritual roots, but I was well familiar with the Blue Ghost Face Root.

My master had warned me:

“If possible, avoid association with the Blue Ghost Face Root. Among spiritual roots, they are closest to blood-thirsty killers.”

It was a spiritual root said to enjoy fighting, one that felt happiness from death.

By experiencing rougher battles, they became stronger at a rapid pace until their consciousness was consumed by their instincts and they became battle-lusting demons.

In a way, such people were closest to the unorthodox. That she could maintain an upright personality showed she had incredible mental fortitude.

…How in the world had Namgung San-yeong and Tang Ho-san borne such a daughter?

But at the same time, I was a little curious. Between her, with the talents of the Blue Ghost Face Root, and my current self… Who would win?

Smirk!

I managed to barely conceal my grin with my teacup.

Seeing how I was curious about such matters, it seemed I had become a full-fledged martial artist myself.

“This tea smells delightful. In the Qingcheng Sect, I often shared tea with my master, but this is the first time I’ve had tea like this.”

“It’s a special tea sourced from Tianmu Mountain.”

“I didn’t know you were so knowledgeable about tea.”

“It’s a recent hobby.”

Though it was recent for Tang Woon-hwi, it had been an interest of “Yeon Woon-hwi” for over a decade now.

“Since you’ve shared something so nice, it’s only fair that I give you this.”

After rummaging through her pockets, Tang Gyu-jin pulled something out.

It was neatly packaged candy.

“It’s fruit candy from Mishan. I remembered you liked them.”

Whenever Tang Gyu-jin went out, she always returned with a piece of candy that she snuck to Tang Woon-hwi.

To Tang Woon-hwi, who constantly faced abuse and neglect, these candies were a saving grace that helped him survive.

For the original Tang Woon-hwi’s sake, I unwrapped the candy and took a bite.

Nom, nom.

“They’re delicious.”

“Aren’t they? I thought you would like them.”

Ironically, the real “Tang Woon-hwi” had never particularly been a fan of sweet stuff.

Yet seeing Gyu-jin’s smile made my desire to fight melt away like snow.

“You’re the same as always, Sis.”

“Really? I think I’ve changed a lot.”

“Everyone changes over time. But there are also elements that always stay the same.” I put down my teacup and brought the discussion back to its original topic. “Anyway, what business brings you here? If you’re here to stop the duel between me and Yu-chang—”

“That’s not it.” Gyu-jin lowered her head. “I simply wanted to apologize.”