Absolute Regression - Chapter 397



Only Noblemtl

Episode 397: They said you have a pretty heart.

The horse’s lightness was fast.

The speed he first saw was only a fraction of his original ability. The more he ran, the faster he became.

‘How many accidents did you have to have while drinking to get this fast?’

It was so fast that I wanted to flirt like this. This is how the Amazons are. We drank together, flirted like crazy, and even jumped into the lake together to swim, but I have never once said that my speed was this fast.

The same goes for other demons. They never brag about their martial arts, let alone mention them. This is the scary thing about real masters.

So? Did an unexpected twist happen?

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. No matter how fast the horse was, this was a speedboat that went beyond the ten stars and reached the eleven stars.

“I’m going first!”

Similarly, when they ran and reached the destination, Geommu-geuk increased his speed. He didn’t look at them or let his guard down. It was a bet with Hwa-ryong-ju at stake, so he couldn’t do that.

The sword dance team used extreme speed to arrive at the promised location first.

After a while, the horse arrived, gasping for breath.

“What are you? Why are you so fast?”

“I saved my strength for the last moment.”

Chuma knew that it wasn’t because of that. He was panting, and Geommugeuk was breathing calmly as usual. It meant that he was no match for him in the first place.

Although I don’t know, I even thought that if Geommu-geuk had displayed all of his skills from the beginning, he would have bought some side dishes from a nearby village, spread them out, and waited.

“I’ve never lost to light fighters before.”

“I am the leader of the Cheonma Singyo cult.”

The swordsman looked around, showing off his skills.

“Now, where would be a good place for our Hwa-ryong to drink?”

I was wondering if you would give me the Hwa-ryong-ju.

“Follow me.”

The horse flew into the sky and went somewhere.

The sword dance followed. This time, he followed with the flying technique of the Heavenly Horse that he had been practicing from time to time. He flew with his back straight and his arms crossed, as if he was proud.

This is a really good lightness that suits my father. He flies in such a proud posture and slowly walks down in the air! Ah, this is it!

This is why I can’t give up the Sky Horse Flight Technique no matter how fast the speedboat is.

The place where Chwima took Geommugeuk was on a small rock jutting out from a cliff overlooking the surrounding scenery.

“I sometimes have a drink here on my way back to school.”

In the distance, Mt. Daecheon was visible, and the river flowing in front of it was sparkling in the sunlight. There was a forest of reeds around the river, and it was truly beautiful, like a scene from a painting.

“If you want to drink Hwalongju, you have to drink it in a place like this.”

Chwima took out the Hwa-ryong-ju from his bosom and handed it to Geommu-geuk.

“Are you really going to give it to me?”

“Then you’re not going to give it to me? I made a bet.”

“Is it Hwa-ryong-ju?”

“I have to give it to you anyway.”

“You held hands with your brother, right? That’s why you rode the invisible pole here.”

“I guess you don’t want to drink. Then don’t drink.”

“No way!”

Geommugeuk quickly snatched the Hwalongju away from Chwima, who was trying to put it back in his arms.

Chwima took a glass out of his sleeve.

“This glass will make exactly three glasses. It is more effective to drink it in three portions than all at once, so drink it in three portions.”

It was a really tenacious drunkard, but seeing that he even brought a glass with him, I thought that he might have brought this liquor as a gift.

Chwima took out another cup and poured some wine from the gourd-shaped cup hanging from his waist. When he went outside, he was someone who drank any kind of alcohol, but he tried to drink as much as possible from his own cup.

“Okay, I admit defeat.”

Geommu-geuk vigorously toasted the glass that Chwi-ma offered him and then drank the Hwa-ryong-ju. The hot air that seemed to burn his insides went down his throat. He thought he knew why he had been told to drink it in three portions.

The sword dance began to melt the hot energy as soon as it started to move. Although it was an extreme energy among extreme yang, the sword dance began to absorb it into the blood vessels of the entire body without any particular difficulty.

When he melted all his energy with one single sip of the Iljucheon, Chwima was surprised. He knew that the martial arts of the Geommu Geuk were powerful, but he didn’t know that he could melt a cup of Hwalongju with one sip of the Iljucheon.

We also drank the second glass in a toast.

“Eww, good!”

The second one was also a fire that burned my whole body. The more I drank, the more I burned like fire, but it wasn’t so much that my body couldn’t handle it.

In this way, Geommugeuk drank all of the Hwalongju three times and dissolved all of the energy contained in the liquor.

The pure and majestic energy that circulated through the blood vessels of my entire body became my internal energy and gathered in my danjeon.

It was a lot more than I thought.

Even before, I had more internal energy than anyone else, but swordsmanship required even more internal energy. This was because I was currently learning space-time teleportation, time-heavenly secret techniques, and even the nine-flower magic technique.

The more internal energy you have, the shorter the training time becomes, so even a handful of internal energy is unconditionally welcome.

In the eyes of the sword master who had been casting his true energy around, a clearer and deeper light than before disappeared.

Watching the scene, Chwima shook his head and said.

“I guess I’ll have to rewrite the Hwa-ryong-ju part.”

“what do you mean?”

“It says in the secret book that has been passed down through generations that it takes three days to absorb all of the Hwa-ryong-ju.”

It was expected that Chwima would stay here for at least a day, if not three. However, Geommugeuk absorbed all of Hwalongju’s energy before it had even been an hour.

“What are you? What on earth are you doing to scare people like this?”

“I’m half joking, half serious,” Geommugeuk said in a commanding voice.

“I am the leader of the Cheonmasin Church. Who are you?”

The horse accepted the sword dance.

“You are a drunkard who lost a bet and got your Hwa-ryong-ju stolen. Dear descendants! Never bet on Cheon-ma-jeon and Kyung-gong!”

The two people looked at each other and laughed.

“Thanks, bro.”

“Thank you. I won the bet and got it.”

“What do you want?”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Even if it’s not a bet, I have to do you a favor. Tell me! I’ll do anything you ask.”

“Anything?”

“Even if you tell me to pour my brother’s alcohol on Father’s bed, I will listen.”

“Isn’t that not granting a favor, it’s assassination?”

Even though he made a fuss like that, Chwima didn’t say anything in the end.

“Okay. I’ll tell you later when I get the chance.”

It seemed like he didn’t really want to talk right now, so Geommugeuk didn’t press him any further.

“Let’s do the light air bet again next time.”

“Then please give me Jangsaengju (longevity wine).”

Jangseongju was also a rare liquor that could provide internal energy no less than that of Hwalongju.

“Should we go to the ice palace first?”

The sword dance was considerate of the horse, but it was not accepted.

“If it weren’t for you, it was a place I wouldn’t have thought of going. I’ll meet your heart first. Do you know where that heart is right now?”

“If you know where it is, you won’t go. If you don’t know where it is and what it is doing, you’ll be worried and go.”

“How are you going to find it?”

The sword dance looked at the river in the distance, shining like a jewel in the sunlight.

“Don’t worry. That guy… … It’ll be harder to not find him.”

* * *

The two ran and ran toward the North Sea.

If there was an inn along the way, we stayed there, and if there wasn’t, we camped.

The swordsman displayed his skilled camping skills. When he prepared the game he had hunted and served it with a secret seasoning, Chwima was greatly impressed.

Seeing him happily saying that it was a perfect snack for drinking, Geommu-geuk felt sorry. It was a dish he had made many times for other demons. He had even taught camping and cooking to his escorts.

They ran north, continuing their unfinished story.

Running and camping, running and drinking. After running without rest, the two finally arrived at the North Sea.

“It’s snow.”

Spring has come to the Central Plains, but snow is piled up in the North Sea.

“I was disappointed that there wasn’t much snow this year, so let’s go and enjoy it to our heart’s content.”

While watching the exciting sword dance, Chwima thought to himself.

‘Will I be able to go back after having fun?’

Strangely, I felt an instinctive sense of crisis that something was going to happen when I was with the sword dance. Is it because of my mood?

The two arrived at the village where Ian had last been heard from. It was located a little way from the center of the North Sea, so there weren’t many outsiders there.

The villagers wore fur hats and clothes made of animal skins. Trees and grasses that could not be seen in the Central Plains were growing everywhere. There was definitely a unique mystique that the North Sea gave.

‘Why did Ian come all this way?’

There must have been a reason why you came.

The townspeople’s attention was focused on the appearance of two people in thin military uniforms. People passing by, shop assistants, and people peeking out of windows all silently watched the two strangers.

“Let’s go there.”

It was a place that, unusually, had turned a cave into a tavern.

As the two entered the tavern, several customers drinking inside looked at them all at once. They all had wary eyes.

Of course, Geommu-geuk and Chwima didn’t pay any attention to them.

As they sat down, Jeomsoi came and greeted them.

“Welcome!”

“Bring out some drinks and something light to eat.”

“Please wait a moment!”

Chwima, who was looking around the interior, looked up at the ceiling and said.

“I won’t even get drunk. You never know when those things might fall on your head.”

At Chwima’s words, Geommu-geuk raised his head. Here and there on the cave’s ceiling, long icicles stretched out like spears.

“It would be refreshing if you crushed that and put it in alcohol and drink it.”

At Geommugeuk’s words, Chwima laughed as he said, “Let’s try that.”

After a while, Jeomsoi brought drinks and food. There was no need to break the ice. The glasses were completely frozen.

“If you drink it here, the alcohol will be refreshing.”

Even though it was cold outside, everyone was drinking cold drinks rather than warm ones.

“Look here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let me ask you something. Has there ever been a woman here wearing cotton and carrying a sword?”

“No. No one like that has ever come.”

But Geommugeuk saw it. For a split second, Jeomsoi flinched. No matter how experienced Jeomsoi was, he couldn’t avoid Geommugeuk’s keen eye.

“We are friends of that yeohaep. We are not bad people, so tell me.”

Chwima intervened and said something.

“Look at our faces. What makes us look like evil people?”

“In my experience, whether someone is a bad person or not has nothing to do with their appearance. Anyway, I’ve never met anyone like that.”

As Jeomsoi retreated, Chwima said.

“Why did you say you didn’t know when you knew?”

Chwima also realized that Jeomsoi was lying.

“They wanted to hide us so we would look like bad guys.”

At the end of Geommugeuk, Chwima touched his face.

“This face? This handsome face? Where are you looking at it!”

He was also handsome. He had a face that would make people call him middle-aged wherever he went.

The Poison King, the masked evil Soma, the drunken horse, and I. If the four of us wander around together like this, I’m sure we’ll be called the Four Heavenly Kings or the Four Handsome Men.

“Either that or you are associated with dangerous people who should not be mentioned in public.”

Probably. Otherwise, there would be no need to hide the fact that Ian was seen.

After the two of them had a few drinks, Jeomso-i brought out a dish. It was a dish from the Bukhae region that you can’t find in the Central Plains.

As Jeomsoi put down the food, Geommu-geuk sneakily placed a silver coin on the table. Jeomsoi was startled. It was too much money for the guests to give for their hard work. It was money that could be earned in at least ten days of work.

The quick-witted Jeomsoi could tell. She had to tell him about the female companion and take it.

“Is this your first time here?”

“That’s right.”

“Let me tell you about some interesting places to see nearby.”

Jeomsoi told me about some places worth visiting nearby.

“If you go east, you will find a place where snow flowers are in bloom. It is a spectacular sight that cannot be seen in the central plains. The temple called Suinsa (修仁寺) in the south is also worth a visit. Be careful not to slip when you go up the stairs.”

I added a few more things at the end as I was talking.

“Oh, and never go towards the manor to the west. It’s a dangerous place.”

That was enough. It was to let them know that Ian had been here and gone to the manor.

Jeom So-i took the money and went to the kitchen. It was a witty answer. Even if there was a problem later, he didn’t say a word about Ian.

After leaving the tavern, Geommugeuk and Chwima walked towards the west.

When I went as Jeomsoi told me, there really was a garden there.

The horse that entered through the main gate looked around the inside and spoke.

“Didn’t you say that the person you’re looking for is a pretty heart?”

A single line that catches the eyes of two people.

The stone lantern standing in the yard with the tree, and even the wall behind it. It was cut in a straight line. It was as if it had been cut precisely with a ruler, showing that a neat trick had been used.

And on the floor, there were bloodstains that had not been cleaned up yet. As expected, those who had been caught in that line had also been cut down like that.

The horse said, buttoning up his coat collar as if he was cold.

“It’s not a pretty heart, it’s a scary heart?”