Chapter 97 – Heavenly Demon’s Disciple (19)
[Volume 5 – Verse 7] The Protagonist Won’t Save Anyone!
At the Mount Hua Sect, one of the most prestigious schools in the murim, I finally got a lead on Mao Zhai from the Heavenly Demon himself.
The protagonist definitely has talent, but he failed the entrance test because of all the wrong knowledge he brought from the modern world and his lack of mental discipline.
‘Shock and horror…’
Just thinking about having to scour the entire Central Plains to find Mao Zhai made my head spin.
Here’s the problem:
In Ranuvel’s case, the patient wakes up the moment they strongly reject this dream world.
But Mao Zhai, who failed to become the Heavenly Demon’s disciple, is still trapped inside the dream.
“In other words, he still hasn’t given up on his dreams and hopes…”
“Lady Mi-bong~!”
A young man’s voice—one that the Mount Hua Sect Leader had unilaterally dumped on us—shattered my train of thought.
“Fire Dragon, Young Hero. Take one more step and I’ll cut you down.”
Fire Dragon.
Ever since I told Beauty Phoenix I was heading to Mount Hua to meet the Heavenly Demon, she had been on maximum alert around this guy—one of the Nine Dragons and Five Phoenixes.
Fire Dragon was the kind of pretty boy who could make any girl swoon if he just kept his mouth shut.
“You’re still so shy.”
“…If you think you can dodge like you used to, you’re going to die.”
“Haha! The martial arts of Mount Hua are acknowledged by the entire world— whoa!”
Whoosh!
The moment he ignored her warning, Beauty Phoenix swung her sword in a vicious arc aimed straight at his waist. Fire Dragon barely dodged, his pure-white robes embroidered with plum blossoms fluttering as he leaped back.
“That was a warning.”
She smiled brightly while holding her sword—her shameless attitude was just as dangerous.
“Haha! Lady Mi-bong! Your skills have improved so much I almost didn’t recognize you!”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“Haha! Then I’ll train even harder so you can’t catch me!”
“Just die already.”
“Haha!”
If he kept laughing like that, Beauty Phoenix was going to go bald from stress.
I almost wanted to teach her the modern solution—ignore him or call the cops—but I held my tongue.
“Young Master Kang, why are you heading back to Sichuan?”
The little Fist King asked while jogging beside us.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
He was swinging a pair of ridiculously heavy iron weights—one in each hand—like they were dumbbells.
Why Sichuan?
Simple.
“The boy I’m looking for is in Sichuan.”
“The Heaven-and-Earth Yin-Yang Physique?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Ma-ryong, disciple of the Heavenly Demon, is in Sichuan.”
“Hm?”
“Mao— the Heaven-and-Earth Yin-Yang Physique—hasn’t given up on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. He’s planning to take it by force.”
But challenging the Heavenly Demon directly would be suicide, so he’ll target the relatively easier prey: Ma-ryong.
‘Now everything lines up perfectly.’
The very first place I woke up in this world—the world of the martial arts novel <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?>—was in the middle of a road leading to a city in Sichuan.
Patients always start near the person they care about most.
That’s why I figured Mao Zhai, the martial arts otaku, would either participate in or at least watch the Sichuan Number-One Martial Arts Tournament.
“So he’s targeting Ma-ryong?”
“Exactly.”
“Going after the Heavenly Demon Divine Art just because he couldn’t become the disciple… that feels like a stretch.”
“Right? It does sound far-fetched.”
“Yeah. The Heavenly Demon Divine Art is incredible, no doubt, but there are plenty of other arts in the world that rival it.”
“Well…”
Most martial artists are proud of their own school’s techniques, so they don’t consider the Heavenly Demon Divine Art the absolute best. In the original novel, plenty of people said the same thing the little Fist King just did.
But here’s the thing:
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art is objectively the strongest martial art because the author decided it was.
That’s a truth only someone who has read <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?> could know.
Think of it this way: if you asked people in the Central Plains who the most beautiful woman is, everyone would have a different answer.
The Number-One Beauty Under Heaven, Beauty Phoenix, the Blue-Eyed Princess…
But if you actually lined them all up and compared them side by side, the official ranking would be: Number-One Beauty Under Heaven in first, Beauty Phoenix in second, Blue-Eyed Princess in third.
Why?
Because the author of this world said so.
“The Heaven-and-Earth Yin-Yang Physique probably believes the only way to get revenge on the Heavenly Demon is to master the Heavenly Demon Divine Art himself. After all, it’s a technique passed down to only one successor.”
“Ah! That actually makes sense!”
“Young Master Kang! Include this girl in the conversation too!”
Was Beauty Phoenix jealous that I was having a serious discussion with the little Fist King?
She trotted over and tugged at my sleeve.
“Lady Mi-bong, just speak up whenever you want. No need to hold back.”
*If only you could, that is.*
“Haha! Lady Mi-bong! Look at those two bluebirds perched on that branch. Don’t they look exactly like our future together?”
“Aww, they really do…!”
Even when she flat-out told him she hated him, Fire Dragon refused to give up. The man was persistent.
Beauty Phoenix sighed in annoyance but still humored him.
“…They do look peaceful.”
It hadn’t been a long journey, but we had already crossed mountains, forests, plains, rivers, and even a desert.
Yet, for some reason, we hadn’t run into a single group of the mountain bandits or river pirates that appear in every single martial arts novel.
“That’s obvious,” the little Fist King declared proudly.
“Why?”
“Because this old man is the Fist King who single-handedly pacified the entire Green Forest with nothing but his fists!”
“How would bandits know you’re the Fist King right now? You’re literally a kid.”
“I have proof.”
“Proof?”
“That Half-Moon Blade you borrowed and never returned.”
“Oh, this thing.”
Still hanging from my waist was the very same Half-Moon Blade I had borrowed from the Fist King.
The Eighteen Strongholds of the Green Forest.
I had always wondered why a bare-handed fighter like the Fist King carried a sword, but it turned out to be his ID card.
“When are you giving it back?”
“Here you go.”
“…Huh? Just like that?”
“You never asked for it back, so I kept it.”
Clack.
I unfastened the Half-Moon Blade of the Green Forest and handed it over.
“…You keep it.”
“Why?”
“Because I got shorter, the blade drags on the ground now.”
“……”
I quietly reattached the blade to my waist. Watching him felt like seeing a kid who’s too short to ride the roller-coaster.
“There isn’t a single bandit in the entire Central Plains who wouldn’t recognize the Half-Moon Blade of the Green Forest.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
“Any bandit who sees me carrying it and still attacks either has a death wish or is confident he can beat me.”
“Has that ever happened?”
The original novel <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?> was written entirely from the protagonist’s first-person point of view.
And since the protagonist only cared about “beautiful women,” information about every other character was extremely sparse.
Even his own master, the Heavenly Demon, was no exception.
‘I had no idea.’
The novel never once mentioned that the Heavenly Demon had a wife or a daughter.
I gently brushed the red bookmark tucked between the pages of the book I had received back from the Heavenly Demon.
「Crimson clouds gather, and the violet shrimp weeps.」
An item that never existed in the original story.
What if the protagonist had given this book to the Heavenly Demon instead of his wife back in that cave?
Pointless speculation.
“…Hm?”
Something pricked my senses—senses sharp enough to dodge a sniper’s bullet.
“Young Master Kang.”
“Yeah. Looks like these guys aren’t scared of the Fist King.”
“They’re not bandits, so of course they don’t know who I am.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely! I swear!”
“Fine, stop whining.”
We were completely surrounded.
***
“Hand over Mi-bong. Do it, and we promise you a painless death.”
A group of suspicious masked men who skipped introductions and went straight to stating their demand.
We had never met them before, and they hadn’t said a word, but I already knew exactly who they were.
“What the hell? It’s the Blood Demon Guard, the ones running around trying to retrieve the Blood Demon’s bride.”
“…You saw wrong.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“……”
“……”
“…The Number-One Evil of Sichuan. Looks like you didn’t win the Sichuan Greatest Martial Tournament just by luck. Fine. We are indeed the Blood Demon Guard, rulers of death. We have been waiting for you because we need Lady Mi-bong—the one destined to bear the seed of our great Cult Leader.”
The man who seemed to be their leader finally admitted it.
The Blood Demon Guard.
In the original novel <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?>, they were the fanatical cult squad whose entire existence revolved around kidnapping every beautiful woman the protagonist had ever shown interest in.
They never gave up, and no matter how many times they were wiped out, fresh replacements appeared almost instantly.
“The Blood Demon Guard?!”
“Gasp! You said the Blood Demon Guard?!”
“The Blood Demon Guard…”
They also had a special passive skill: they were only strong when the protagonist wasn’t around.
Sword King, Beggar Queen, Hidden Dragon, Martial Dragon…
Because of that, countless male characters in the original story got wrecked by them, and their infamy pierced the heavens.
Thanks to me blurting it out, the Fist King, Fire Dragon, and Beauty Phoenix now knew exactly who we were facing. Their faces instantly turned stiff with tension.
“Hand over Mi-bong.”
“Nah.”
“Then die.”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The masked men tightened the encirclement, twin poisoned daggers gleaming in each hand.
And our side’s response was…
“I’ll show you the power of the Fist King who conquered the entire Green Forest with a single pair of fists!”
Whoosh!
The little Fist King clenched his tiny fists and charged straight in like a missile.
Excuse me?
“Lady Mi-bong, watch closely. This is the true martial art of Mount Hua!”
Swoosh~
Fire Dragon followed right behind, limbs flailing dramatically.
And Beauty Phoenix?
“I’d rather kill myself here than become the Blood Demon’s wife!”
Shiiing—
She pressed her own sword to her throat, fully prepared for seppuku.
“…Lady Mi-bong.”
“Don’t be too sad. Even in death, this girl’s body and heart will belong only to you, Young Master Kang.”
“I’ll take just the heart, thanks.”
“You’re horrible!”
“I have a very scary girlfriend waiting for me back home.”
Hummm—
The small but precious amount of internal energy I had received from Master Bone.
If I hadn’t handed over the protagonist’s treasures to the Fist King and Beauty Phoenix, I probably would have several times more right now—but I didn’t regret it one bit.
Because…
“Guh?! What the—?!”
“What the hell is happening…?!”
“A sudden gust of wind?!”
Just me sprinting was enough to whip up a small storm around me.
Slash!
When I swung my sword, they didn’t even realize they were dead until the moment their heads hit the ground.
“Mount Hua Sect— huuuh?!”
“Hey, you bastard! Know some limits!”
“Kyaa! Young Master Kang~!”
The moment I used even a tiny bit of internal energy, my own allies got caught in the blast radius or tripped over the aftermath.
So I never needed a huge reserve.
‘And it’s not like I’m taking any of this back to reality anyway.’
That was the biggest reason.
Money you can’t withdraw when you wake up from the dream is the same as money that doesn’t exist.
Thud.
Plop.
In the blink of an eye, every masked man was cleanly wiped out—except the ones still surrounding the recklessly charging Fist King and Fire Dragon.
“Retreat— kghk?!”
“Wait.”
Grab.
I snatched the neck of the one trying to flee.
“Gghk?!”
“You’re an officer too, right?”
Their original captain had already been shredded in my first attack, but there was still another masked man shouting the retreat order.
“……”
“Pretty impressive loyalty. Planning to take all your secrets to the grave?”
“G-gasp… I… can’t… breathe…!”
“Sorry about that.”
I loosened my grip the moment I said it.
The masked man immediately screamed at the top of his lungs.
“If you spare my life, I’ll tell you every secret I know!”
“…Henan Province, right?”
“Huh?”
“You don’t know?”
“N-no, sir! The Cult Leader has a secret hideout he treasures dearly!”
“Bingo.”
The Blood Demon Guard was a gentlemanly organization: after kidnapping a beauty, they locked her up in their Henan hideout and never laid a finger on her until the Blood Demon himself arrived.
Soft beds, gourmet meals, kind maids, spotless hygiene…
Honestly, with benefits like that, getting kidnapped once wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
“Great hero! Please spare me!”
“One last question. Where is the Blood Demon right now?”
Master Bone had given me some advice: if I wanted to develop my real-life career, I should meet the Blood Demon at least once.
“He’s currently heading toward the secret hideout in Henan!”
“Who’s being held there right now?”
“Yes, sir. Recently we raided the Emei Sect and kidnapped the Emei Fairy, the Emei Divine Sword, and Sword Phoenix. The Number-One Beauty of Sichuan surrendered herself to protect her disciples, so she’s there too.”
“Wait a second! Isn’t the Number-One Beauty of Sichuan a grandma?”
“She’s the same age as the Cult Leader.”
“Oh… fair enough.”
Same age = totally valid!
The Number-One Beauty of Sichuan.
In modern terms: a legendary teacher who graduated from Emei, the most famous all-girls martial sect in the murim world.
Thanks to Rejuvenation like the little Fist King, she looked like she was in her early twenties.
She was Sichuan’s representative beauty, but also one of the very few beauties the protagonist had ever given up on.
“Please spare me!”
“Sure.”
I let the masked man go.
“…Huh? Great hero, you’re really just letting me leave?”
“Want to die instead?”
“No, sir!”
The surviving members of the Blood Demon Guard ran for their lives without looking back.
“Young Master Kang! If what they said is true, this is a huge problem!”
“Despicable cowards, attacking while Emei Divine Sword and Emei Fairy were injured!”
Beauty Phoenix and the little Fist King, who had overheard everything, were visibly anxious.
And Fire Dragon?
“Heh… even I, the greatest genius of Mount Hua, let my guard down…”
Thud.
He dramatically swept his disheveled bangs back and collapsed.
“…What happened?”
“Poison. The idiot got careless and got poisoned.”
The little Fist King diagnosed instantly.
“Will he die?”
“Probably. That’s the infamous Blood Demon Guard’s poison.”
“For real…”
I’m never going anywhere near the Mount Hua Sect again until I wake up from this dream.
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