Chapter 77

The 77th episode

Kwangseung-ja.
Or a mad winner.
A person who lives his life with the intention of the Tao.
Or…… one who has gone mad with the world of competition that everyone recognizes.
I realized it was the man in front of me. A single smile changed the air.
I realized that my aunt hadn’t called him a crazy inspiration for nothing.
The faint madness in his eyes began to look more and more like the madness of a madman.
Because.
“You rotten bastard. By the look in your eyes, you’re going to ask me to stick my head in.”
His tone had become so harsh that even a Taoist, let alone an elder of the Qing Sheng Sect, felt helpless.
“Apples, apples are good.”
The man swept over, his gaze shifting to Ye Gong, who stood between the closely spaced bars.
“I hear he’s done some pretty nasty things.”
I turned around to see myself and Elder Namgung Yeol standing there. I wondered what he was going to do, but he stuck his nose in and took a few sniffs.
“Choi Shimjang.”
He sighed heavily and lifted his hand, reaching toward the caged Inyoung. What was he going to do.
As I stood there wondering, I saw a sight that made my mouth drop open.
Then, his body slowly rose, and the nape of his neck was sucked into Kwangseung’s outstretched hand.
“Kuk, kuk, kuk, kuk!”
“You still haven’t apologized, you Taoist follower!”
I felt a chill run down my spine as he unleashed his cipher-like rage. Never before had I been so chilled to the core by the power of a single person.
A madness that threatened to devour my flesh and tear my soul to shreds at any moment.
The power of a force that left me crippled and lifted this man named Yeogon into the void.
For a moment, my enlightenment seemed insignificant. But that didn’t make it seem so distant.
A small fortress faced an impregnable citadel.
The only way to go is forward.
So there is nothing to fall,
nothing to break,
I felt the weight of this weight desperately.
And then.
“……Ohora.”
The winner, seeing my emptiness turn to competitiveness, bared his teeth, tugged at his wild beard, and gave me a look of interest, as if he’d found something interesting.
At that moment, shadows fall in front of me. The steps they take in unison are.
“Enough.”
“Enough with the jokes.”
It was Master Namgung Yeoul and his uncle An Baek. At the sight of them, Kwangseung clicked his tongue.
“Even if you guys don’t say so, he’s been looking at this realm. I tried to give him a gift, but they stopped me.”
The two men looked at me at the frivolous words of a Taoist, and I shrugged. As he spoke, I glimpsed into the realm of the great. It was a distant and distant realm, a realm that I, a mere footnote in comparison, would one day reach.
“You seem to be gaining favor.”
He was a ghostly Taoist. I decided to be honest.
“That’s right, senior.”
At that, the heads of everyone in the room, including my teacher and my uncle, turned.
What.
I was wrong.
What can I say, even the head of the Namgung Mu Baek, who couldn’t even feel the change in his expression, turned slightly.
The thing that crossed my mind among all the people looking at me like I was crazy was.
“……puchhahahahahaha!”
He rolled on the ground, unable to hold back his laughter. As if my size and dignity didn’t matter.
“You’re crazy, you’re crazy, you’re crazy!”
“No, you’re not either.”
“Fuhahahahahahaha!”
Every time I replied, he laughed out loud, asking me what was so great about it, why I was laughing so hard.
Feeling the ground vibrate with each laugh, I covered my ears with both hands in a jingling expression.
“Onya, a madman is best dealt with by a madman. You’re the perfect one to face me.”
“I sensed it early on, we’re on the same page.”
“You don’t sound like a child, Nenoom……!”
The smile on his face slowly faded as his glowing, maddening eyes met mine, and I felt my blood instantly run dry as they swept across my body. Nevertheless, I had no intention of giving in.
I drew up the Thunderbolt Qi in my dantian and steadied myself. The smile on the face of the great man’s face flashed across my face once more. I wondered if I was mistaken in thinking that he had already figured me out but didn’t want to say it out loud.
“That’s it. What are you doing with your eyes? You’re staring.”
The words that Kwangseung uttered after scanning the crowd of people surrounding me were abhorrent.
* * *
He looked at the young man in front of him as if he liked him.
Extraordinary talent.
A compliant mouth.
A good sense of humor and distribution.
A sense of honor that could lift him up even in the face of dominance.
He liked everything about him.
Aside from his resemblance to the miserable Namgung Mu Baek, I sensed an aura of holiness.
In addition to that.
The moment I met the young man’s gaze as he spoke, I felt a shadow of the young man of the contract. I thought it was very mysterious because it was as dark as the abyss and yet contained a brilliant blue cloud. I assure you, man can never be split in two.
This was the reality he faced, and he realized that his own essence could not be changed.
But the young man in front of him is not like that. Something is different.
One.
He looked around and realized that no one else seemed to recognize the specialness of this young man.
“That’s it. Everyone’s eyes are glued to their heads. You’re all looking at each other.”
After I said what came to mind, I felt unnecessarily burdened by the gazes gathered on Kwangseung. This is why I didn’t want to become a writer, but I thought that I would have to keep embarrassing myself.
So I thought to myself.
“Do you want an apology?”
You know, have a real conversation with him. What’s on the tip of his sword.
“Apparently, your family has offended us.”
“My family.”
If only he knew how to back off in moderation. I’m about to say something to this impatient, whining creature,
“The Dao of the Southern Palace tends to bind the family, so you must understand.”
“Well, well. You dare to discuss the Tao in front of me.”
“The Tao is not fixed, it is free, and it is a process.”
The monk was struck by the absurdity of his words.
“Why do you say that?”
“I came to think so because I saw you.”
“Seeing me?”
“Because of your behavior today. As a follower of the Tao, you are unconventional in your behavior, and your actions are uncompromising, so I believe that the Tao is everywhere.”
Kwang-Seung’s face shook with embarrassment.
“No.”
He didn’t know what to say to the man’s question. He didn’t know what to say, because his idea of the Tao was no different from what he said.
“Who the hell are you…….”
“Then apologize.”
So he did.
He clicked his tongue, and the man glared at him.
“At least I didn’t go berserk as soon as I walked in here. Look at that. You’ve caused all of the South Palace’s main power to go haywire.”
He pointed to a few of the men he’d sent flying with a flick of his sleeve in a bad mood upon arrival.
“We can’t afford to let the Black Swords come in like this, and we’ve spent years trying to capture Qing Shui, but you’ve been so kind to capture your disciple.”
There was a lot of talk. Even Guangxiang’s aura was rising at this point.
“O-nya, let’s discuss your apology and my dao.”
“Not an apology.”
“If you win, I’ll grant you anything you want.”
“I’ll give you everything you want if you win.”
“But I won’t move an inch. Also.”
The winner grinned.
“Ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times. Any number of times is fine. If you touch me with even a hair, your dao has won.”
“…….”
“By the way.”
“What else.”
“In my way, there must be a wager.”
After saying this, he looked at the winner as if he were a fool, but he would not back down.
“If you are the first to exhaust yourself and fall down, then you are my disciple.”
The words had a profound effect.
* * *
It would make him regret it. Even if you’re the most powerful man in the world, it’s not as if you can’t take a punch to the lapels.
The first ten times, he unleashed a thunderbolt that drove the Thunder King God to the peak of his powers. He had thought that a blue thunderbolt would be able to burn the fluttering sleeves in the air, but he soon realized that was arrogance.
Before the bolt of lightning could strike, a single sleeve, fluttering like a fly darting about, vanished without a trace.
And for the next fifty times, to conserve his strength, he responded with the Iron Sword, the Thunder Sword, and the Gohon Sword. He had been a sword demon for many years.
Whenever he tried to use his sword-based enlightenment to move closer and deal damage, his body was relentlessly pushed back. It was as if an invisible wall was blocking me.
For the hundredth time, he unleashed the Thunderbolt Power Qi that had filled his dantian. The Thunder Dragon’s dragon’s dragon’s dragon’s dragon stirred the courtyard. Ye Gong shuddered involuntarily at the sight, and his eyes narrowed. Perhaps the memory of this trick had been triggered. In any case, the wall shattered, and dozens of blows rained down on Kwangseung in quick succession.
“This is enough, even for a master!”
The moment he said those words, he realized that even his one-in-a-million chance had disappeared, and he was facing the cackling Winner.
A feeling of exhaustion washed over me.
The race in the North Sea.
Against Huang Bo.
Not against Huang Bao.
None of them had made me feel so futile.
Even when I was pouring out all my enlightenment.
I felt like I was slammed into an all-absorbing pit of sand, and I could feel the gaze looking at me from there.
“Will you be my disciple?”
First the mad master. I wondered if I could feel the same power if I became his disciple and learned from him. I wondered if I could break down this wall that I would never feel again.
When I reached that point, I thought.
“Brother! Brother! Cheer up!”
I heard a voice, and it was the catalyst that turned my despair into exhilaration.