Chapter 32

Sixteen seconds with the plum blade, ten thousand plum blossoms.
This is the strongest final strike I have ever learned and know.
There was no time to breathe deeply and relax my muscles as usual, no time to think about something in my mind.
Before I can think, my body moves.
The sword splits.
Two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four…….
Two hundred and fifty-six plum blossoms filled the air.
Just as the petals fluttered in the wind, so did the petals of the plum blossoms forged from the sword.
In all directions, all eight directions.
The plum blossoms bloomed like a dense net, leaving no room for the aftermath of the explosion to penetrate.
He glanced to his right and saw Ma Jintian.
Taking a step forward, he twisted his sword and raised it.
A curtain of qi appeared in an instant.
A single ear armor blocked his path.
Another, another, another.
Three swings in total, and three earplates protected him.
It was a herbivore that specialized exclusively in defense.
It was a shield that could block any attack.
I don’t need to worry about him.
I am the problem.
I must not be distracted.
If I let my guard down even a little, my whole body will explode.
“Hot!”
The wall bomb exploded.
A resounding thunderclap and an intense flash.
The leaves of the plum blossoms were scorched by the force.
One by one, one by one…….
The plum blossoms disappeared in an instant.
Even the last plum blossom was burned, and a shockwave of wall force swept through his body.
My head turned white with a pain that felt like my body was being torn apart.
My mind bleached white.
It was only for a moment.
Everything faded to black, and I lost consciousness.
Tick, tick, tick, tick!
‘The car’s cooling……was…….’
Tick, tick, tick, tick!
‘I’m cold…….’
Tick, tick, tick, tick!
“Ugh…….”
It’s cold, I feel like I’m going to freeze.
My body is shivering uncontrollably.
A cold sensation starting at the top of my head.
A ringing in my head, as if someone was knocking on the door.
“Work…… glad…….”
“Stop…… not yet…….”
I heard something.
But I couldn’t quite make it out because of the ringing in my ears.
I lifted my eyelids.
It took a tremendous amount of strength to lift my eyelids, like lifting a thousand megaliths.
When I finally opened my eyes, I saw a blurry figure.
Blink! Blink!
After blinking a couple times, the shapes became clear.
One was Ma Jintian, and the other was an unknown person.
“You’re awake.”
A quiet, serious, mid-bass voice.
It was a soothing voice.
“Who…… Shinji…….”
“Say hello, this is your lifesaver.”
“Ah!”
I raised my upper body and took a stance.
“Thank you for saving my life.”
The middle-aged man nodded.
“Lie down, you shouldn’t move yet.”
I obeyed.
In fact, it took quite a bit of strength to take a hold.
My body was creaking, and I could feel only a faint tremor in my bottom.
When he lay back down, the middle-aged man walked away, and Ma Jintian opened his mouth.
“Do you know how many days have passed since you collapsed?”
Shaking his head, Ma Jintian smiled wryly.
“It’s been two days and two nights.”
“If it’s been two weeks and two nights, what happened to the…… training?”
“We proceeded without you. The elders talked loudly, but after a day, they shut up.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“I see……. What about him?”
“I don’t know either. He’s a councilor brought in by the Bamboo Forest Sage Mo Qingxu, and no one knows his history except for Mr. Mo.”
There was silence after that.
I was dizzy, trying to compose myself and assess the situation, while Ma Jintian stood still, as if he had nothing to say.
After a moment, the middle-aged man entered.
“Eat,” he said, ”and I’ll take my leave. Now that the patient has awakened, I must go to the others who have called for me. Give my regards to Qing Shui for me. Then…….”
The middle-aged man handed over a pill wrapped in oilcloth and left.
I remembered his face and voice.
He vowed that if he could be of any help, he would.
“I’ll get someone else.”
A moment after the middle-aged man left, Ma Jintian left as well.
A thud!
The door slammed shut, and silence fell.
Dazed, he reached out for the pill the middle-aged man had given him, peeled off the wrapper, took the pill in his hand, and popped it into his mouth.
I could taste the tangy, sour flavor.
I wanted to spit it out, but I swallowed hard.
Gulp!
“Hah!”
When I finally swallowed it, its medicinal properties were revealed.
The medicinal qi boiled up from the interruption in my body.
After swirling it around my body, my mind calmed down and my body relaxed.
It was said that bitter medicine is good for the body, and it was as good as bitter.
When I felt strong enough to move, I got up and tried it.
Thud, thud, thud!
The sound of my bones was foreign to me.
‘No wonder, I haven’t moved my body for two days and two nights…….’
After moving for about a day or so, I got used to it.
Now that I’ve checked my body and gotten used to it, I went inside.
I sat down in a recliner, closed my eyes, and pulled up my bet.
Yelp!
Luckily, the bottom was still intact.
But more than half of the bet was missing, and while it wasn’t destroyed, it looked like it had been impacted.
‘I wonder how long it will take to stack the bet as it was before it fell…….’
I sighed to myself.
But this would heal in time, and it was better than dying, I told myself, and moved the bet.
“Kudos!
“Kulk!”
Something boiled up and he spat it out.
It was black, dead blood.
Then my chest, which had felt foreign, felt cool as if it had been punctured.
But as soon as I moved my wager from the dice, the blood was twisted enough to make me cough up blood.
The pain was like a stabbing needle, and it felt like my whole body was twisting.
Unable to stand it, I moved the bet back to the bottom and opened my eyes.
“Hah…….”
The outside was fine, but the inside was the problem.
The blood was twisted so badly that I couldn’t pull the bet up, and more than half of the bet was gone.
“Maybe it’s better to try again…….”
I stopped crying because of the pain, but I thought it would be better to try again.
If I left it like this, the qi would be at risk of solidifying in a twisted state, so I decided that if I was going to do it, I might as well do it now.
“Hah!”
I steeled myself, braced myself for the pain, and raised my wager.
Pow!
A strange sound rang out from my body as it tried to correct the distorted qi, and I felt the pain.
I almost groaned, unable to bear the vicious pain I felt despite my preparations.
But making a sound while crying is a surefire way to die.
I stifled the scream that rose to the bottom of my throat and corrected my blood circulation.
Gulp! Gulp! Kwajik!
The sound of the needle was like a piece of iron being squeezed.
And so was the pain.
I’ve been cleaning the blood for half an hour, my face contorted in pain.
Finally, I’d gotten all the blood flow back to where it was before the break.
When the way to the breaking point was clear, I returned my qi to the lower level and opened my eyes.
“Kwah…… haah…… haah…….”
The pain was already over, but my stomach still ached like a psychological punch.
He exhaled violently and swallowed hard.
“Haah…… haah…… whoa…… whoa…… whoa…….”
As I corrected my breathing and told myself over and over again that it was over, the pain faded away.
Just as the pain had washed away and I was breathing normally, calmly, someone opened the door and walked in.
“…….”
A woman with her hands covering her face, her eyes wide with surprise.
It was Yanhua.
“Aw…… you’re awake…….”
Yeon-hwa stuttered and stood there for a moment.
“Hey!!”
A bang!
I tried to smile and talk to her, but she screamed and hit me on the head with a honey balm.
“Ugh…….”
A ringing pain in my head.
My ears were buzzing and ringing.
“Why…… you okay?”
Yonhwa asked worriedly, her expression changing in an instant, as if she hadn’t expected me to react this way.
“Give me a bottle, give me medicine, and let’s go…….”
I smiled sheepishly, and Yeonhwa said, “Thank God,” and sat down on the bed.
When I looked closely at her face, I saw that she had black circles under her eyes and looked like she had lost weight.
“I was worried about you…… Are you okay now?”
Yeonhwa said, squeezing my hand.
The emotions in her eyes are worry and joy.
“Looking at you like that, I feel like I should say I’m okay even if I’m not…….
Smiling bitterly, Yeonhwa stood up from the bed.
“If he…… still doesn’t feel well, I’ll leave. You need to rest…….”
The restlessness didn’t seem like the usual Yanhua.
It was the kind of restlessness that combines the boldness of a bookkeeper with the cleverness of a little girl.
But now she was cautious, as if she were handling a glass doll that might break.
“Yes…… come back in a minute. I’m still a little dizzy…….”
“It’s okay, just let me know when you feel better. We’ll talk then.”
As she closed the door and left, I let out a long breath and thought to myself.
‘That’s all it took to make my head ring…….’
I knew it was coming, but it was a bit serious.
The good news is that it didn’t take long for me to feel better.
The doctor who treated me was very skilled, and apart from the distorted blood, I was in very good condition.
But you can’t push yourself too hard.
It’s getting better, and there are details that can make it better.
If you push yourself too hard and get hurt, it’s a big problem.
But is it an illusion to feel like you can’t do it?
“Haa…….”
This feeling is not an illusion.
Something is going to happen.
“Then there’s only one thing left.”
Nothing is going to change if you stay still.
Sleep wasn’t going to come, so I had to do something.
To treat the internal injuries as quickly as possible.
It’s something you don’t want to do in terrible pain, but it’s something you have to do, so you might as well do it quickly.
‘It’s nice to be quiet and…… unnoticed.’
I settled into my most comfortable position, a recliner, and started crying again.
It’s a great way to get the most out of your life, but it’s also a great way to get the most out of your money.
Riding the momentum, I swung through the middle section and climbed to the top section.
“…….”
Hot blood trickled from between his lips.
The pain felt like my intestines were twisting and turning.
I swallowed hard and reached the top.
“……!!”
I felt a wall.
But it wasn’t that it was bad.
It had evolved, changed.