C 421
Do Yeonsan had been in tears all night to the point of exhaustion.
It was just as the ghost king had said.
Do Yeonsan's consciousness was awake.
He couldn't express it while his body was possessed by the Ghost King. But he could know everything the Ghost King saw and heard.
Do Yeonsan thought that he was being punished.
To avenge his younger sister and his family, he had killed many people.
There must have been innocent people among them. He thought it was divine punishment and tried to bear it. But in the prison without bars, his patience began to wear thin.
Finally, when he couldn't stand it any longer and was about to go mad, he got rescued.
Ghost King, who had possessed his body, disappeared.
When Do Yeonsan saw his body moving freely, he had a look of disbelief on his face.
He didn't know how many times he woke up while sleeping, he was relieved and went back to sleep only to wake up again.
It wasn't until three days after his recovery that Do Yeonsan was fully at peace with his situation.
"Brother, thank you. Can I call you brother?"
"Do what you want."
"Thank you very much. Really..."
"What are your plans from now on?"
"I don't know."
"Don't you want to go back to Taeho?"
"Not at all."
Do Yeonsan shook his head.
He had already taken his revenge.
Returning to Taeho, where only painful memories remained, was not necessary.
Do Yeonsan spoke carefully.
"Can I follow you for a while?"
"Me?"
"Yes! I want to follow you and sort out my thoughts."
"Go ahead."
"Really? Thank you."
Do Yeonsan breathed a sigh of relief. If Pyo Wol had refused, he would have had nowhere to go and no one to rely on.
With Pyo Wol's permission, Do Yeonsan felt reassured and fell asleep.
Pyo Wol left Do Yeonsan in the cave and went outside. Yong Seol-ran was busy smoking the boar meat outside the cave.
She was removing all of the fatty parts and leaving only the lean meat to be made into jerky.
Her clothes were dirty from handling the boar. They were covered in blood and grease. But she didn't care.
It was something she couldn't even imagine when she was in the Emei Sect.
Back then, she wasn't even allowed to catch her own food. Let alone slaughter or smoke it.
Pyo Wol thought that Yong Seol-ran's current appearance suited her quite well.
"Ah, you came out?"
Yong Seol-ran belatedly sensed Pyo Wol's presence and turned around.
"Are you making jerky?"
"You'll be leaving soon. I made it for your journey."
"What about you?"
"I have to go back to the village."
"You're going back?"
"I've formed a bond."
"You're not going back to Kangho?"
"I might go one day. But at the moment I don't have the heart. I'm very happy with my life in the village. I don't want to disturb the peace of mind that I feel at the moment.
Yong Seol-ran's voice was very soft. But there was a strong sense of conviction in it.
Pyo Wol respected her decision and didn't ask any further questions.
Yong Seol-ran stared at Pyo Wol's face for a moment.
It was dirty because it had not been washed properly, but it was still beautiful.
Yong Seol-ran unconsciously reached out and touched Pyo Wol's face. He Wol didn't avoid her touch.
There was a complex mixture of emotions in Yong Seol-ran's eyes as she looked at Pyo Wol. So many emotions were intertwined. Even she couldn't untangle them.
Yong Seol-ran withdrew her hand and said,
"I'm sorry."
"......"
"Thinking that we'll part tomorrow, I got emotional without realising it. I'll leave now."
"You're not leaving together tomorrow?"
"If we spend another day together, it will be harder to say goodbye. I'll just go now. Take all the jerky with you."
"What about you?"
"I don't need it. I'll be in the village in a couple of days."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. If you accidentally pass through this area, stop by the village. I'll treat you to a hot meal."
"Alright!"
Pyo Wol didn't stop her.
Interfering more in Yong Seol-ran's life wouldn't be good for him either.
"Please say hello to Yeonsan for me."
"Mmm!"
"I'll go now."
Yong Seol-ran looked at Pyo Wol's face for a moment.
As she took in Pyo Wol's features, she bit her lip slightly. A lingering regret held her back.
In an instant, Yong Seol-ran flew away.
It was as if she had cut off her last bit of regret.
Pyo Wol watched silently as Yong Seol-ran's figure disappeared into the forest.
"Whew!"
Pyo Wol sighed and went to the entrance of the cave. Then he sat down at the entrance and waited for Do Yeonsan to wake up.
Do Yeonsan slept as if he had fainted.
It was a whole day later when he opened his eyes.
"Brother, where is Yong Seol-ran?"
Do Yeonsan asked Pyo Wol when he realised that he couldn't see Yong Seol-ran.
"She left earlier."
"Really?"
"Yes! She said goodbye to you and left first."
"That's too bad. I wanted to say goodbye to her in person."
"Do you remember anything from when the Ghost King possessed you?"
"Something."
"Then you should be able to find the village where she was. Go and visit her later."
"I will."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine now. I've adapted completely."
Even though it was his own body, it felt like it wasn't.
That's how Do Yeonsan had been for the last few days.
Because of this, he had to struggle to adapt to his own body.
Perhaps it was because he had slept well, but now the feeling of alienation had completely disappeared.
He felt like he had really regained his own body.
"Let's go then."
"Right now?"
"I'm tired of this forest."
"Me too."
Do Yeonsan agreed with Pyo Wol's words.
It had been twelve days since they entered the dense forest.
During that time, they had slept on the ground and eaten poorly cooked meat to stave off hunger.
They longed for proper shelter and food, even though they were used to being homeless and not picky about what they ate.
Do Yeonsan asked,
"Where are we going?"
"North!"
"Huh? If we go north of Yunnan..."
"Yes! Sichuan is right there."
"Is there any special reason to go to Sichuan?"
"It's like my hometown."
It was in the city that he had his home. And Tang Sochu and Eun-Yo were in his home.
Since he had left home a long time ago, he had missed them.
"I'm curious. What sort of place is it?"
"I wonder what happened to them too."
"Let's go."
"Alright!"
The two of them left the cave they had been staying in, shoulder to shoulder.
***
Getting out of Yunnan's dense forest without a guide was not an easy task.
If an ordinary person fell into the middle of the forest without any preparation, he would have lost his way, starved to death, or died of poison.
The forest was a haven for beasts and poison.
However, Pyo Wol and Do Yeonsan didn't suffer much.
Pyo Wol was originally unaffected by poison, and Do Yeonsan strangely avoided it as well.
But that wasn't all.
Do Yeonsan had never studied martial arts.
He would not have taken such a difficult way to avenge his younger sister and his family if he had learned martial arts. But now he was moving with a speed that was not inferior to Pyo Wol's.
He was using a Qigong.
It wasn't something he knew and practised.
His body remembered.
The spirit of the Ghost King had disappeared. However, the martial arts he had practised were engraved in Do Yeonsan's body.
Although he couldn't wield the same power as the Ghost King, he was far more skilled than the average martial artist in Kangho.
Do Yeonsan found his newfound abilities fascinating and kept looking at his hands.
As a test, he swung his hand and a massive rock shattered into pieces. Although he knew it was his own doing, he couldn't believe it.
A beautiful tree had been split in half by a single blow.
"Wow! This is crazy."
As he shook his head, disbelieving, Pyo Wol said,
"Practice controlling your inner energy before we leave the forest. If you make a mistake, innocent people could lose their lives at your hands."
"Okay!"
As Do Yeonsan nodded, he suddenly looked at Pyo Wol.
"Why?"
"How do I control the internal energy?"
Do Yeonsan didn't know how to use internal energy at all.
It was because he had never formally learned martial arts.
It was still the same now.
He didn't consciously use martial arts. It was just that his movements naturally infused his actions with internal energy, and he exerted power through them.
Under the circumstances, he had no idea how to control it.
Since this was the first time Pyo Wol had seen it, he was unsure of what to do. But after a moment, he came up with a solution.
"First, divide your power into ten equal parts."
"Huh?"
"Let's start by dividing your power into ten levels and control it that way."
"Ah, I got it."
Do Yeonsan nodded, understanding Pyo Wol's intention.
"First, we need to know exactly how much power you can use at maximum."
"Yes!"
Do Yeonsan swung his fist with all his might.
Kwaang!
With a loud explosion, a boulder as big as a house shattered into pieces.
Do Yeonsan muttered as he looked at his fist.
"This is the power I can use now."
He fiddled with his fingers for a moment, then reduced his power slightly and struck another boulder.
Kwaang!
Another explosion and another rock was destroyed. However, the shattered fragments were much larger than those of the previous boulder, which had been reduced to dust.
"This time..."
Do Yeonsan jumped towards another boulder.
Pyo Wol watched Do Yeonsan's actions in silence.
From Pyo Wol's perspective, Do Yeonsan's movements had too many unnecessary moves, and his use of energy was inefficient. But he couldn't be perfect from the beginning.
As someone who possessed martial arts unlike others. He had to learn to control his power in his own way.
Bang!
Another rock was destroyed.
The nearby animals and birds scattered in all directions at the loud noise.
An untimely disaster had struck the creatures of the forest. An unexpected thunderstorm wreaked havoc on their homes.
Pyo Wol didn't stop Do Yeonsan.
There was no better place to train than here.
There was no need to worry about people's eyes, and no one would complain about the destruction of rocks and trees.
All Pyo Wol had to do was make sure that Do Yeonsan didn't go in the wrong direction.
So the two continued through the forest.
Do Yeonsan became more and more aware of his power.
He learned the extent of his maximum power and how much he could reduce it.
The more certain he became about his power, the more he could control it.
He couldn't divide it into ten parts as Pyo Wol had suggested. But he was able to control his power in at least five stages.
That alone was a significant improvement.
Crack!
A huge tree split vertically in two and fell.
The two appeared from behind the broken tree.
They were Pyo Wol and Do Yeonsan.
Do Yeonsan exclaimed excitedly.
"Wow!"
A different landscape unfolded before his eyes.
The tiresome forest had come to an end and a large lake appeared. Beyond the lake was a huge city.