Absolute Regression

“If I knew the answer, would I be in this state?!”

Chuseong shouted angrily.

His hot-tempered nature was clear. There weren’t many who could shout like this against a martial artist, especially one far stronger in martial arts than themselves.

“Sorry, my patience has been running thin lately. Just one more tiny pebble and it will overflow.”

“I understand.”

“What do you understand?!”

He shouted again but soon apologized.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t be angry at you.”

“It’s alright. Wouldn’t it be stranger to stay calm in a situation like this?” 1

“What should we do now?”

“Proceed as usual. Just act like I’m not here and continue with what you were planning.”

“How can I pretend you’re not here when you are?”

“Focus only on yourself. In a life-or-death situation like this, there’s no such thing as impossible.”

I took out a piece of paper containing information about him and handed it to him.

“Keep this with you. When you feel confused or lose confidence, take it out and read it. Especially don’t forget the part where it says you’re intelligent. You are a smart person. Use that clever mind of yours to make good decisions.”

Chuseong clenched the paper he was reading. It seemed even that paper tested his patience. He couldn’t bring himself to tear it apart, so he crumpled it and put it in his pocket.

“What are you planning to do now? If I hadn’t come, would you have contacted the Martial Alliance?”

At my question, Chuseong thought for a moment and then shook his head.

“I’d rather join forces with the Unorthodox Alliance than call the Martial Alliance.”

“So, will you join forces with the Unorthodox Alliance?”

“Not them either.”

He answered honestly. Even before the regression, he hadn’t allied with either the Martial Alliance or the Unorthodox Alliance.

“Then how were you planning to resolve this?”

“I don’t know either.”

At that moment, I saw it. His pupils slightly trembled. To deceive me, he would need to deceive himself first, but he was still too young.

‘He’s hiding something from me.’

However, I didn’t press him. It was natural not to trust someone you just met. When someone tries to hide something, forcing the issue will only get you lies or excuses. In times like these, it’s best to handle things calmly.

“Let’s call it a day.”

* * *

Seok-hyung led me to the guest room.

Good food and wine were served. I checked each dish for poison using a silver needle before finishing my meal.

Then, I practiced the Wind God’s Four Steps in the room. Whether the space was narrow or wide, the training I did in the room was an extension of the sparring I had with my father at the inn, so it was highly effective.

Since I had set the goal of achieving great mastery before receiving the Nine Calamities Demon Art, my training would not stop.

* * *

When the moon shone brightly, I went to see Chuseong.

Despite the late hour, he couldn’t sleep and was lost in thought in his room.

“Did you rest well?”

“I rested well, but it seems Master Chu didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

“I haven’t been sleeping well these days.”

Indeed, Chuseong’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Without proper sleep, one cannot make sound judgments.”

“What can I do if I can’t fall asleep?”

“Try to sleep properly for just one day. Shall I help you?”

“How? By performing acupuncture?”

“There’s a technique I learned from my Cult’s doctor for falling asleep when you can’t.”

Hearing that I had learned it from the Demon Doctor piqued Chuseong’s interest.

“Come on, there’s nothing to lose, so lie down on the bed.”

“This is quite embarrassing for a grown man.”

Despite his words, Chuseong, who was evidently suffering from sleeplessness, obediently lay down on the bed like a new bride.

“Follow my instructions. First, relax the muscles in your face. Next, relax your shoulders and arms. More relaxed. Now, release the tension in your thighs and legs. Then imagine lying on a warm, sunny beach. Now, raise a stream of energy from your dantian and move it slowly as I direct. From the Shui Fen point to the Zhong Wan point, from Zhong Zheng to the Yu Tang point, move it slowly. And then again…”

* * *

When Chuseong opened his eyes, it was morning.

He woke up in bed, feeling bewildered. He hadn’t had a proper sleep recently, but the throbbing headache was gone and his body felt light as if it could fly. He had slept astonishingly well.

“Ah! That technique!”

He had fallen asleep without realizing it while following the instructions of the mysterious Cult man whose name he didn’t know.

Getting out of bed, Chuseong hurriedly left the room.

Geom Mugeuk, whom he had met for the first time yesterday, was staring at the marks on the wall in the main hall.

“You’re here?”

“Thanks to you, I slept well. I can’t remember the last time I slept so soundly.”

“Master Chu seems like someone who belongs to the righteous faction.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I thought the reason Master Chu couldn’t sleep was because of the guilt of not being able to protect your subordinates.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? I was just angry at that guy. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t control my rage.”

Chuseong hated being considered part of the righteous faction. This was largely due to his father’s influence. From a young age, his father taught him that being kind would only get you taken advantage of. 2

“Do you think I could have survived in this martial world until now with such a naive mindset? Don’t say things that will upset people for no reason.”

“I understand.”

Chuseong was irritated by how readily I agreed. He had come to thank me for helping him sleep well but ended up raising his voice unnecessarily.

At that moment, Geom Mugeuk turned and pointed to the wall, asking,

“This hole here.”

“Oh, I made several holes in my rage. I’m about to make another one right now.”

“Not that one, this one.”

Geom Mugeuk pointed to a small hole in the wall.

“Is this the hole made by the wind attack that guy unleashed?”

Chuseong’s expression hardened.

“Yes. It pierced through my subordinate and then through this wall. I told them not to cover it up on purpose. I wanted to keep looking at it to remind myself of that day.”

Geom Mugeuk’s expression was serious as he looked at the hole.

“What’s wrong?”

“It looks just like the real Blood Disaster Finger.”

“Are you talking about the martial art of the Evil Smiling Demon?”

“Yes. I’ve seen his martial arts in action.”

Chuseong got excited.

“See? Didn’t I tell you? It’s really the Evil Smiling Demon!”

“It’s not the Evil Smiling Demon.”

“What are you saying now? Didn’t you just say it looked like the real Blood Disaster Finger?”

“I meant that the technique was of such high quality. It’s not Soma’s doing.”

“You trust the Evil Smiling Demon too much.”

“I do.”

“That’s why I can’t trust you. How can I trust someone who believes in the Evil Smiling Demon this much?”

“Whether you trust me or not is up to you, but this time, you should trust me.”

Chuseong looked at Geom Mugeuk silently. He was indeed a strange person. Despite claiming to come from the demonic cult, he didn’t feel like a demonic practitioner. He lacked the typical rough, cruel, and sinister aura. Instead, despite only having met a few days ago, he had a peculiar power that made one want to trust him. 3

‘If this man is a villain, he will surely become a great villain.’

Concealing such thoughts, Chuseong asked Geom Mugeuk,

“But knowing I would doubt you like this, why did you tell me?”

“I had to tell you. There’s nothing more foolish than hiding your true intentions while claiming to work together. If that’s the case, we shouldn’t have joined forces in the first place.”

His words pierced the part of Chuseong’s heart that was hiding something.

“If you can’t sleep tonight either, use the method I taught you. Your face looks much better.”

* * *

The next morning, Chuseong came to see me again.

“I slept well again last night. Maybe you’re right. The better I sleep, the guiltier I feel towards the dead.”

“Think about the other disciples you need to protect, Master Chu. What can you do? The living must go on living.”

Though it was a clichéd comfort, it seemed to soothe him as he rose with a slightly more relaxed expression.

“If you feel any discomfort, let me know.”

“I will.”

Chuseong looked around the room, as if he had something to say.

“How long do you plan to stay here? It doesn’t seem like anything will change by just staying.”

“I’ll stay until you tell me the truth.”

“!”

Chuseong flinched and turned to me.

“After sleeping well and clearing my head, my thoughts about you have changed. There must be a reason for someone as extraordinary as you to be here with me.”

I spoke to him calmly.

“That’s right. I noticed you were hiding something from me.”

When we first met, he would have flatly denied my words. But the current Chuseong didn’t.

“Then why don’t you force it out of me? With your martial arts, you could torture me to get the truth.”

“It may sound strange to you, but I will tell you. My Demonic Path aims to eliminate absolute evil from the world. My path doesn’t destroy tables, and it doesn’t torture those who aren’t villains.” 4

“That’s really strange.”

But his expression didn’t match his words. He was beginning to understand me a little.

“I believe the reason they chose you is because of whatever it is you’re hiding. If I’m right, you’ll eventually be killed by them because of it. You might not believe it, but I want to save you.”

“It may be hard to believe, but… I’m starting to believe you. Even though I have no reason to trust you, I keep wanting to. I hesitate because I wonder if I’m being deceived by you. My father always said never to trust others. That was his final advice to me.”

Chuseong looked up at the sky. What answer would his father be giving him now?

Although he had done well so far, this ordeal, which had come before he even reached thirty, was too difficult for him to overcome on his own.

Please tell him to open his heart a little for your son’s sake. I will definitely save him and your sect.

Did my sentiment reach him? 5

After contemplating for a long time, Chuseong finally opened up his heart.

“After the incident, I kept thinking about one method. I kept debating whether to tell you or not. My mind said to never reveal the secret, but my intuition told me to reveal it. It told me to trust you.”

“I will contact the Ho Nam branch of the Heavenly Communication Pavilion and have them alter your record. Good intuition, but not very smart. Like this.”

Chuseong smiled. It was the smile of someone who had made up his mind.

“I was planning to ask someone for help.”

“Who is that person?”

“I don’t know.”

Chuseong took out something he had been keeping on a string around his neck. It was a coin, split in half.

“It’s an Silver Won Coin.”

An Silver Won Coin is a token of gratitude and debt, where a coin is split in half and given to a benefactor. Later, even future generations could bring the coin to the benefactor to repay the favor.

“The owner of this coin was saved by my father when he was on the brink of death. My father handed this down to me with strict instructions to use it only when the lives of me and my family depended on it.”

“Do you know who the owner of this coin is?”

Chuseong shook his head.

“He didn’t tell me. I don’t even know if that person is still alive.”

“How do you use this Silver Won Coin?”

“My father said to go to any Yellow River Inn in the Central Plains and show the coin to the innkeeper. Someone will come looking for me.”

Using inns as a means of contact was a method used by both my Cult and the Martial Alliance. It made me think that the owner of the coin must have been part of a large organization at one point.

“Can just anyone take it and use it?”

“No. Only our immediate family can use it. I’m not saying this because I’m worried you’ll take it from me. My father really emphasized that.”

“I believe you. If it weren’t true, those people would have already killed you and taken the Silver Won Coin.”

“Do you really think this is the reason those people did such things?”

“I can’t be sure, but that’s my hunch.”

If, as I suspected, this was what they were after, then they must be searching for the owner of this coin. But who could this person be?

“Why didn’t you use it immediately when the incident occurred?”

Chuseong looked conflicted and replied, “I couldn’t be sure it was the right time. If the person my father saved turned out to be untrustworthy or incapable, using the coin would have been a waste. And there’s no guarantee they would help us at all. My father’s instructions were to use it only when our survival depended on it. I had to consider whether this was that moment.”

I nodded, understanding his hesitation. “We need to find out who the owner of this coin is. If they’re as important as we think, they could be our key to overcoming this crisis.”

Chuseong agreed. “Alright, I’ll do it. We’ll go to the Yellow River Inn and find this person.”

“Good. But remember, keep this a secret. The less they know about our intentions, the better our chances.”

Chuseong nodded firmly. “Understood. Let’s get ready.”

With that, we began our preparations to find the mysterious benefactor who could potentially save us from this dire situation.

Chuseong let out a long sigh.

“I agonized over it. My head felt like it was going to explode from all the thinking. I was scared. I feared that using this would entangle us with that man again. I was terrified that if we failed to take revenge, he would find us and annihilate our clan. I wished that everything would just pass quietly as it was.”

He lifted his head and looked at me.

“I think that you appearing before me is like my father sending someone to reprimand my cowardice. I will entrust my fate and the fate of my family to you.”

* * *

Four days later.

We were sitting in a Yellow River Inn in Ho Nam. After showing the coin to the innkeeper, he merely told us to wait there.

So, we waited aimlessly.

Chuseong, afraid that someone might come and leave without us noticing, stayed in the inn all day long.

I stayed in the room practicing the Wind God’s Four Steps, and during meal times, I joined Chuseong to eat and drink tea, sharing stories with him.

I told him about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. I shared tales about famous martial artists, sects, wanderers, and the breathtaking sceneries and delicious foods throughout the Central Plains. I even talked about hunting and camping.

He was amazed at my extensive knowledge. No matter what he asked, I had an answer.

At one point, Chuseong said this.

“How can such a young person know so much? Are you… perhaps someone who has reversed aging?”

“Even if I had the chance, I wouldn’t do that. I plan to grow old and die alongside my people.”

“I’m curious about what kind of people are around someone like you. I’d like to meet them.”

“You’d regret it if you did.”

“Why is that?”

I replied with a smile. Only someone who had been poked and prodded by the Blood Heaven Blade Demon to the point of bruising would understand why.

On the tenth day of our wait, someone finally came to see us.

The moment Chuseong saw him, he jumped up in shock.

Not only Chuseong, but I was also surprised.

A man wearing a white mask was walking toward us. 6

1 : It’s those who can stay calm in such situations who are the most terrifying.

2 : There is great strength in kindness, but it shows itself more overtime than an instant power up (except Friendship Power). More lasting relationships were made with kindness than with strength. With that said, having more personal power is a good thing to have in Murim, as long as you can handle the consequences.

3 : He might be able to unify the martial world in a better way than Hwa Moogi or his father ever dreamed of. Then again, diversity brings prosperity, a world too strictly controlled will only become barren of life, ideas, hope.

4 : Of course, the most important is that it doesn’t destroy tables. Remember !!! Don’t destroy the tables !!!

5 : Could be, after all, old man Heavens is a thing.

6 : Aaaah, they had planned to drive a wedge between them maybe ?

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