Reincarnation Sword God

---

I blankly stared at Zhuge Sa and instinctively shouted,

“Help me!”

Yeah, what does it matter now why Zhuge Sa is on Golden Crow Island? The important thing is to overcome this godawful situation where I can’t see an inch ahead. Zhuge Sa, being the leader of heretics and a master of sorcery, would definitely provide me with valuable assistance.

With a sly grin, Zhuge Sa replied,

“Prostrate yourself.”

“Huh?”

“Beseech me by lying flat on your belly.”

“……”

Is this guy insane?!

Anger flared up inside me for a moment, but I had no intention of following his ridiculous requests. If it came to that, I’d rather just end my life than listen to such a madman. I clenched my teeth and said,

“No way!”

Zhuge Sa’s eyes sparkled with interest as he said,

“Pass!”

“Eh?!”

Whoosh

In the next moment, Zhuge Sa pulled out a scroll and unfurled it, the scroll expanding like a storm, filling the space around us. When I found myself trapped and unable to see an inch ahead, I could hear Son Cheon-gun’s mournful wail.

[Human!! Where are you!!]

Shhhhshhh—

Shhhh

The sound resembled the tearing of wind, with a red aura sweeping outside the scroll. Son Cheon-gun riding the tsunami was enough to induce sheer terror. After a while, the noise subsided, and Zhuge Sa’s voice rang out.

“Release.”

With that single word, the scroll binding me vanished as if washed away. As Zhuge Sa rolled it up and tucked it away, he chuckled.

“That guy is such a fool. He never even thought to hide.”

“……”

“I just saved your life, and you don’t even want to share your name?”

Reflecting on Zhuge Sa’s words, I hesitated for a moment before replying,

“… So-woong.”

“What a simple name. Hehehe… You’re definitely human.”

“What was that ‘pass’ thing a second ago?”

In response to my question, Zhuge Sa shrugged.

“It’s no fun helping someone who asks nicely. It’s amusing when they start blowing hot air.”

I was struck dumb.

“Normally, who would kneel in that situation?! What were you thinking?”

“Oh well~ That could happen~”

Zhuge Sa opened his eyes lazily.

“You fled without a fight after severing Son Cheon-gun’s tsunami with your technique, didn’t you? That indicates you know the gap between your abilities and his. You’re aware that you’d be dead without my help. Yet you still didn’t kneel and ask for help… Quite entertaining!”

I realized Zhuge Sa wasn’t just a complete lunatic. Although it sounded absurd, he had accurately grasped my earlier predicament. If he knew that I had used the Illusion Technique to break through, that meant he had already read my martial arts level.

As I glared at Zhuge Sa with vigilance, he grinned.

“It seems there’s a renowned spirit beast hiding around you. What kind of creature travels with an elite like you?”

“No need to know.”

“Of course it matters. I might save you after all.”

I shot back sharply.

“If it’s not possible, I’d rather die than have a suspicious character like you around!”

“……!!”

Upon meeting my eyes, Zhuge Sa flinched in surprise. He wore an expression of genuine astonishment. The icy beauty standing beside him, Taoist Master Byeokji, spoke up.

“Let’s go.”

Zhuge Sa replied,

“… No, I’m going to help this guy. You can go ahead.”

Taoist Master Byeokji directed her gaze towards Zhuge Sa.

“What’s this whim?”

“Hehe… We’ll meet again later.”

“Do as you please.”

Whoosh!

In the next moment, Taoist Master Byeokji jumped into the void, vanishing completely. That was a skill that seemed to involve spatial movement or a similar special technique, leaving me in doubt of my own eyes. Did a notorious gambling master like Taoist Master Byeokji really possess such skills in Sichuan Jianghu?

‘What’s their relationship? I’m completely lost.’

Zhuge Sa and Byeokji had no issues freely conversing and acting together. However, Byeokji didn’t seem obligated to help Zhuge Sa, leaving without hesitation. Yet it felt like they had an unspoken agreement to meet again; their relationship was hard to define as either romantic or simply comrades.

I looked at Zhuge Sa and said,

“As I said, you don’t have to help me if you don’t want to.”

“Hohoho. You…”

Zhuge Sa observed me with an almost crazed glint in his eyes.

“How can you have such eyes?”

“What do you mean?”

“When our eyes met earlier… You have no fear of death. Unlike a martial arts master, you’re not forgetting or hiding it, nor are you transcending like a high monk. You simply know the essence of death.”

“……”

“What are you? It’s the first time I’ve seen a being of flesh with eyes like that.”

I fell silent.

‘Knowing the essence of death?’

My lack of fear toward dying stemmed from reincarnation. And the real fear lay in the possibility of “never-ending.” Sometimes I found death bothersome and irritating. I’d never deeply considered this, but Zhuge Sa seemed to perceive it as an understanding of death’s essence.

After a brief moment of contemplation, I said,

“If you intend to help me, then help me to the end. Otherwise, I cannot trust someone so suspicious as you.”

“Very good attitude. Great, indeed.”

Zhuge Sa smiled hazily.

“I’ll help you. The deadline is until you return to the mortal realm.”

“Thank you.”

“Kehe…”

With a grin, Zhuge Sa said,

“First, I want to know how you ended up in a place like this.”

“It’s not the time for leisurely chit-chat. Son Cheon-gun will soon return to search for me.”

“Aah, I see. He’s a nuisance, so let’s set up a place first.”

Zhuge Sa pulled out two sealed small bottles from his robe. Then, he tossed one towards me and said,

“Drink it.”

“What is this?”

“Honey wine.”

Saying that, he popped open the bottle cap and took a swig, instantly glowing with a golden light.

Braaah—

The softly glowing golden Zhuge Sa lunged forward and, at that moment, some bizarre creature flew in and snagged his shoulder with its foreleg. In an instant, that creature whisked Zhuge Sa away.

“……?!”

W-what was that?

But I couldn’t stay there, frozen. I stood dumbly for a moment before uncapping the bottle labeled as honey wine. Peering inside, I saw something suspiciously sloshing around.

‘Hey, it’s supposedly deadly poison, but surely I won’t die!’

I swallowed hard and knocked back the honey wine. It tasted just like honey, sweet as could be. I soon felt my body suffused with a soft golden glow like Zhuge Sa’s, and I leaped forward.

Thwack

Simultaneously, I felt something snagging my shoulder. I could sense the creature twisting space around me as it took off.

Whoosh!

“Urgh!”

When I regained my senses, I found myself thrown into a dusty building, piled high with various materials and supplies. Just as I registered that I had arrived at some sort of warehouse, I heard Zhuge Sa’s voice.

“Where is this?”

I looked up and saw Zhuge Sa grinning atop a mountain of stacked supplies. Glancing around, I said,

“I’m not quite sure…”

“This is my secret location set up in the Illusory Realm. It’s a dimension not far from the Golden Crow Island we were just at.”

“The Illusory Realm?”

“Don’t you know it?”

“I do know, but…”

The Illusory Realm.

According to the knowledge of celestial beings, it was a world where materials and spirits were highly unstable, causing everything to change at every moment. The Illusory Realm was closely related to the dreams of sentient beings, and it was said that one could not ordinarily enter it. I also knew that many illusionary beasts inhabited this realm.

Zhuge Sa patted the head of a bizarre creature snuggling beside him as he spoke.

“By consuming honey wine, you can withstand this creature’s hyper-speed traversing of dimensions. You’ve consumed a precious treasure of heretics, So-woong.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Dumbass. Are you pretending not to understand? This cute little creature is the one who helped us escape from Golden Crow Island.”

Gorogorong

The bizarre creature made a sound with no eyes, bat-like wings, and a body resembling a mix of a bee and a reptile. It didn’t resist Zhuge Sa’s touch, in fact, it seemed to enjoy it.

‘This creature can traverse dimensions at hyper-speed?’

I was beginning to grasp the situation. That creature’s ability was to travel across dimensions at hyper-speed, and the honey wine I just drunk protected the life of the being traversing at that speed. As I stared at Zhuge Sa in silence, he said,

“Kid, how will you repay me for the honey wine?”

I countered as best as I could,

“According to you, we are in the Illusory Realm. Until I return to the mortal realm, I owe you nothing.”

“Oh? Just because it’s the Illusory Realm doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous! The illusionary beasts living here also have their own temper.”

As Zhuge Sa grumbled, I said,

“No, I mean if it has the ability to traverse dimensions, why not just go to the mortal realm instead of coming here?”

Zhuge Sa blinked innocently.

“Why would I?”

“Eh?”

“The mortal realm is completely boring. It’s full of worthless human beings, and the world is cramped, trapped in the middle of China. I don’t want to go back there.”

In that instant, I felt Zhuge Sa’s sincerity. I realized I understood why he was here at that moment.

[Though the afterlife exists, I wasn’t there. Because I created another passage to spy and reside. My soul has remained silent all this time, preserved.]

[There exist worlds different from this one—Blood Realm, Illusory Realm, and countless others… I found them far more interesting than the human world.]

The absurd ramblings I had exchanged with Zhuge Sa in the past.

I had thought those were just the ramblings of a madman or a delusion.

But that wasn’t the case.

Zhuge Sa had refused the fixed lifespan of humans, learned the magic of heresy, honed the ability to cross dimensions, and now he was merrily hopping around places like the Illusory Realm, Blood Realm, and Golden Crow Island.

That meant Zhuge Sa standing before me was likely not in a physical body but rather a spiritual one, and this location was a channel he created for spying. I finally started to engage with the understanding of how Zhuge Sa had lived.

Thinking deeply, I finally said,

“If you take me back to the mortal realm, my comrade, Mang-ryang, will repay you.”

“Mang-ryang? What?”

Zhuge Sa suddenly contorted his face in a twisted manner. He glared at me with his narrowed eyes.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to say that’s my nephew’s friend?”

Feigning ignorance, I said,

“Your nephew? Why is Mang-ryang your nephew?”

“The only one who carries the title Mang-ryang is my nephew Hyun.”

With those words, Zhuge Sa’s eyes sparkled.

“Quickly tell me the truth. If not, I’ll throw you into a distant other realm for a hundred years.”

“Urgh…”

Reluctantly, I told Zhuge Sa about Mang-ryang. I briefly explained that Mang-ryang and I were comrades and how I ended up here. Upon hearing the story, Zhuge Sa said,

“How interesting. I haven’t seen Hyun in ages.”

“Wait a minute…”

“What?”

I looked directly at Zhuge Sa and said,

“I want to know why you were on Golden Crow Island with that woman. Who is she?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

“Is it that you can’t?”

Zhuge Sa scoffed.

“There’s no reason for me to tell you anything. If you want to know, you must pay the cost.”

“Will you tell me if I pay?”

At that, Zhuge Sa looked at me in disbelief.

“Your curiosity is astonishing for someone who looks so dull.”

“……”

He tossed me another bottle of honey wine and said,

“Ugh… For now, just shut up and follow me. I need to verify if you’re really one of Hyun’s comrades!”