Heavenly Demon of Mount Hua

Chapter 7

—–CROW—– 

A little while before Hyeon-ryeo arrived.

Flip— Flip—

Cheon-hwi was following the verses written in the martial arts manual with his right hand, while flipping the pages with his left.

He shook his head as he came across a blank page.

‘Now there are missing verses.’

He stared at it with a dumbfounded look, then, figuring he had nothing to lose, he read the remaining verses.

The core of the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand was twofold.

Orchid and Acupoint.

‘Is this how it’s supposed to be done?’

Sweep—

He raised his right hand and swung it.

From top to bottom, from bottom to top.

His right hand, fingers undulating like waves, moved through the air like a gentle breeze, deflecting the empty air several times.

The two seemingly unrelated words combined into a single martial art, bearing fruit.

‘So this was it.’

Like handling an orchid, his smooth and graceful hand movements flowed naturally.

Slide—

He pointed along the pathways where the acupoints were located.

Flowing, there is guidance.

This phrase, emphasized in the last verse of the manual, was the key to understanding the core of the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand.

Thud.

After a moment, he withdrew the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand.

‘Important verses are missing.’

He realized which verses were missing.

He had seen the old woman use this technique several times, so he knew its flow.

He recalled the old woman, frantically unleashing the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand while executing the Jade Ring Mystic Steps.

A truly vicious and ruthless technique.

‘Then…’

He drew a human figure in the empty air and took a deep breath.

Then he withdrew his right hand, which had been moving softly, and straightened his fingers.

The air suddenly shifted.

For a brief moment, his right hand, imbued with a sharp energy, took the shape of a sword and slashed diagonally.

Whoosh—

It pulled and bound the human figure.

The gentle hand movements weren’t meant to deflect the opponent’s attack like a capturing technique, but to rotate the surrounding air and draw the opponent towards him.

And then, against the defenseless opponent.

Pierce.

Penetrate.

Clang!

The pierced figure shattered.

‘Yes, this is it.’

This was the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand the old woman had used, a ruthless technique that struck vital points without hesitation.

‘This is the Orchid Blade Blood Hand.’

He recalled the nickname the cult members had given the old woman’s technique.

Hand movements as gentle as an orchid, but as sharp and deadly as a blood-drawing blade the moment it approached.

‘Of course, it’s probably forgotten now.’

He shrugged.

Three hundred years had passed.

It was natural for martial arts to change.

Sometimes the verses changed, and sometimes, like this, they were lost.

The Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand, in particular, had suffered greatly.

He could guess the reason.

This was Mount Hua Sect.

A Taoist sect.

‘Would a Taoist sect with a long history like Mount Hua keep such a vicious martial art? No one learned it, so they wouldn’t have noticed the missing verses.’

He glanced at the library.

The Demon Extermination Sword Technique was also an excellent sword technique, but it was far from being a Taoist sword technique and was left to gather dust.

‘Well, that’s that.’

He stopped his train of thought.

Now that he had accepted the current situation, three hundred years in the future, this wasn’t a big deal.

‘That’s enough of the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand.’

Thud.

After memorizing the restored verses of the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand, he closed the manual with a satisfied expression.  Just then.

“Hwi-ya!”

He turned his head at the resounding voice that shook the silent Ten Thousand Classics Pavilion.

‘Hyeon-ryeo?’

He stopped practicing the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand at her unexpected appearance.

As he looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Grip!

Hyeon-ryeo, having approached him, grabbed his shoulder tightly.  She widened her eyes and shouted,

“W-When did you learn martial arts?”

“Huh?”

He let out a dumbfounded sound.

Cheon-hwi was confident that no one in the world had learned more martial arts than him.

And yet, she was asking him when he learned martial arts?

He was so bewildered that he was speechless.

“I’ve known martial arts since…”

He stopped mid-sentence.

He met Hyeon-ryeo’s disbelieving gaze.

In her deep, clear, black eyes, the face of the young Taoist, wearing a dumbfounded expression, wavered.

Oops!

Engrossed in martial arts, he had been slow to realize.

That he wasn’t Dokgo Guyeon now, but Cheon-hwi of Mount Hua Sect.

Panicking, he shifted his gaze and, spotting the martial arts manual in his left hand, quickly held it up and forced a smile.

“Haha, I was just following the instructions in this manual.”

“…!”

Grip!

His shoulder throbbed.

She was incredibly strong.

As he was trying to suppress the grimace forming on his face from the pain, Hyeon-ryeo’s hand trembled.

“You’re saying you learned the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand just by following the manual?”

Muttering softly, she dropped her hand with a stunned expression.

Then she leaned closer.

“Then what was that Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand you just used? Some of the verses in the manual are missing, making it impossible to learn, so how…!”

Cheon-hwi was at a loss for words at her barrage of questions.

How should he answer this?

Should he say he had seen it before?  As if she would believe that.

Then should he say he restored it by recalling the martial arts he used to practice?

That would sound even crazier.

As he was agonizing over it, Hyeon-ryeo, seemingly misunderstanding his silence as fear, started to come to her senses.

‘What have I done…’

She released his shoulder.

And with a clearer mind, she thought.

‘I’m crazy. I’m crazy. To pressure a child who can’t even use martial arts like this.’

Hyeon-ryeo shook her head, berating herself.

‘He probably just mimicked the movements clumsily without any internal energy, and it must have looked slightly similar to the oral description.’

Thinking this, she felt relieved.

She met Cheon-hwi’s eyes and said,

“I’m sorry. You can’t properly execute the Orchid Acupoint Striking Hand without internal energy, but I must have been mistaken and pressured you like this…”

Cheon-hwi remained silent, hearing Hyeon-ryeo’s words while he was still lost in thought.

It was a good thing he didn’t answer.

He was relieved that he had avoided a potentially troublesome situation. Just then, Hyeon-ryeo suddenly hugged him tightly.

Sigh, again?

He inwardly shook his head.

She hugged him every time they met. At first, he tried to resist, but now he was too tired and simply submitted.

After a few seconds.

Hyeon-ryeo released him and met his eyes.

“Hwi-ya.”

She called his name, a complicated look in her eyes, and then cautiously asked,

“Do you want to learn martial arts?”

“Huh? Yes.”

He was momentarily stunned by the sudden question and blurted out an answer.

Hyeon-ryeo nodded.

With a determined look, she clenched her fists and said,

“Alright.”

Speaking with a sense of resolve, she turned and went back down the stairs.

Step— Step—

As Hyeon-ryeo disappeared down the stairs, Cheon-hwi, still stunned, muttered with a dumbfounded expression,

“She came all the way here just to ask that?”

***

Two days later, Sul-shi (7-9 p.m.).

The weather had become much warmer.

Plum blossoms were in full bloom, gently enveloping Mount Hua.

It was now truly spring.

Under the blue sky, Cheon-hwi left the Ten Thousand Classics Pavilion at the usual time and walked along the mountain path towards his hut.

‘Righteous techniques are quite different from demonic techniques.’

He had already skimmed through a hundred martial arts manuals.

He had learned a lot during that time.

Demonic techniques didn’t discriminate in their pursuit of power.

But righteous techniques were different.

An extension of cultivation.

Most righteous techniques were like that.

Accumulating virtue, attaining enlightenment, ascending to immortality.

Most of them pursued non-violence.

If that was the case, they might as well just practice cultivation methods and not bother with martial arts.

What were martial arts?

Weapons for killing opponents.

But only incapacitating them?

The demons of the Heavenly Demon Cult, who followed the law of the jungle, would have scoffed and ridiculed this notion.

But Cheon-hwi was intrigued.

‘It’s interesting because it’s different from what I know.’

Lost in thought, he walked for a while and finally arrived at his hut.

His eyes suddenly narrowed.

Unfamiliar shoes were neatly placed at the doorstep.

It had been ten days since he started staying here.

The only person who had visited the hut was Hyeon-ryeo, and even she hadn’t entered.

He slowly opened the door and went inside.

As he opened the door to the dark room.

Flash!

Two gleaming eyes flashed in the darkness.

“You’re here.”

He turned his head at the deep voice.

A large, middle-aged man was sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, arms crossed.

‘Who is this?’

He scrutinized the man shrouded in darkness.

Disheveled hair and a faint scar across his cheek.

He flinched for a moment.

Oh, it’s nothing. I thought it was that Ghost-Faced Demon Blade.

The man, with his sharp, upturned eyes and thick eyebrows, was no less intimidating than the Ghost-Faced Demon Blade, one of the most fearsome-looking figures in the Heavenly Demon Cult.

If it weren’t for the Mount Hua robe he was wearing, Cheon-hwi would have thought they were brothers, given his rugged appearance.

Cheon-hwi’s eyes shone as he observed him.

His appearance wasn’t the only intense thing about him.

The man possessed the strongest energy he had encountered among the Mount Hua disciples.

‘He’s stronger than the Sect Leader?’

A figure suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Senior Uncle… Hyeon-do?”

Thud.

Hyeon-do pushed himself off the floor and stood up.

His head, which had been at chest level, gradually rose until it almost touched the ceiling.

He was well over six feet tall.

With his large build, he strode towards Cheon-hwi.

“Hmm…”

He looked down at Cheon-hwi, touching his patchy beard, and nodded.

Then his tightly closed mouth, which seemed to embody his stubbornness, slowly opened.

“I heard you want to learn martial arts.”

Learn martial arts… Ah!

He suddenly recalled his inadvertent answer during his conversation with Hyeon-ryeo two days ago and reluctantly nodded.

“Yes.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

Hyeon-do said, lifting his chin.

He looked down at Cheon-hwi with a proud expression and straightened his back.

“To teach you.”

“Huh?”

Cheon-hwi’s eyes widened.

‘He must be touched that I’m going to teach him.’

Satisfied with Cheon-hwi’s surprised expression, Hyeon-do smiled and nodded vigorously.

But did he know?

That Cheon-hwi wasn’t touched at all.

He was dumbfounded.

‘I have to learn martial arts from this weakling?’

—–CROW—–