Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 114 - Sleeping Dragon of Hainan

Chapter 114 – Sleeping Dragon of Hainan

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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After Red Beggar sent his men to investigate, the man named Cho Yu-gyeong was apparently from a small martial hall in the Guangdong region.

“A small martial hall?”

Ju-seong smirked and shook his head.

“A mere neighborhood martial hall kid is that strong? Give me a break.”

Of course, Ju-seong hadn’t fully seen through Cho Yu-gyeong’s level. Like his own martial arts, many of the jianghu’s arts included techniques to conceal one’s presence.

But he was certain the man was no weakling inferior to himself.

“I suppose… even if demonic sects planted him, who would know.”

The far southern edge of the vast Central Plains might as well be a foreign country to the people of Southern Zhili.

To expect the Martial Alliance to have detailed records on someone from there was absurd.

“We’ve got someone to watch out for now. If what you said is right, elder brother, he’s quite dangerous.”

Ju-seong curled his lip crookedly.

“We’re the most dangerous bastards here.”

“True. Anyway, there are a lot of people around.”

“Once the Ascending Dragon Assembly really kicks off, there’ll be even more.”

Wealthy patrons and influential figures from all over the Central Plains were gathering for the Assembly.

Some hoped to recruit promising rising stars not affiliated with the Seven Sects and Three Families as guest warriors or hire them outright.

Some came to entertain their reckless offspring who dreamed of jianghu.

Among them were undoubtedly imperial agents who had infiltrated to poach promising rising stars for the military.

Ju-seong leaned against the inn window, watching the crowd flowing in, each carrying their own desires like clouds.

Jikkeun.

“Mmm…”

Ju-seong grimaced and pressed his brow.

“Something wrong? Did you push too hard last night?”

Ju-seong waved dismissively at Red Beggar.

“It’s nothing.”

In his mind, the killing intent squirmed, thrashing to pull out the sword embedded in it.

‘Damn… Should I be glad or not?’

There was no longer any fear of Ju-seong losing control to a rampaging killing intent.

But every time the intent stirred, his upper dantian itself suffered.

It wasn’t just a moment of pain and then over.

Pain accompanies injury.

Though Ju-seong treated that horrific killing intent as something entirely ‘other,’ strictly speaking, that terrible murderous nature was also part of him.

That is to say, the dreadful thought of wanting to dismember everyone whenever he tasted blood was also part of Ju-seong’s personality.

Therefore, the sword energy piercing that killing intent was effectively torturing Ju-seong’s soul.

Ju-seong sent Red Beggar out of the room, then sat cross-legged on the bed.

He slowly sank into his inner self.

What was sword energy?

Essentially the same as Ju-seong projecting palm force or fist energy.

The difference was that it carried the sharpness inherent to a sword as a weapon.

Then what was the intangible sword energy lodged in his upper dantian?

What kind of sword energy could exist as a mental image embedded in one’s upper dantian?

‘Heart-Sword…’

Swordsmen placed the realm of Heart-Sword at the very top.

Of course, the prevailing view was that it was merely a legendary fiction.

Yet some insisted that masters who had achieved Heart-Sword truly existed in the past.

Of course, even if such a person existed, they wouldn’t go around advertising it… so who could know.

‘Loading the sharpness itself onto intention…’

Once, Ju-seong had entertained an outlandish thought.

If Heart-Sword was possible, couldn’t Heart-Poison be created too?

If Heart-Sword was the realm of contemplating swords and forging one’s will into a blade…

Then to achieve Heart-Poison, one would have to deeply contemplate poison.

So what exactly was poison? Just a tool to harm enemies?

Ju-seong often used poison in battle, but in truth, martial arts were far more effective for destroying enemies.

Countless poisons flickered through Ju-seong’s mind.

In the shade of tree trunks, antler-shaped mushrooms grew.

Some plants had deadly poison in their leaves; some fruits, when their seeds were pressed for oil, yielded extreme toxins.

Through rock crevices, through the veins of the sleeping earth, flowed realgar and cinnabar… kings among poisons yet also medicinal ingredients.

Ju-seong pondered deeply on the themes of Heart-Sword and Heart-Poison, until he noticed a yellowish light seeping through his eyelids and opened his eyes.

Thanks to the deep meditation, his headache had vanished.

“Elder Brother.”

“Ah, Red Beggar. I’m hungry.”

“Eat up and let’s hurry out. Today’s the day of the team battle.”

“…What?”

Red Beggar and Chun-mong stood in the doorway, looking subtly fatigued.

“Brother, you meditated for a full six days. Do geniuses just randomly achieve enlightenment?”

Chun-mong also chuckled and chimed in.

“I’m not sure what changed, but anyway, congratulations on your breakthrough, Eldest Brother.”

Ju-seong stroked his chin and tilted his head.

“Hmm… I really don’t feel any different. I was just throwing questions into the distant darkness the whole time I was dreaming.”

“Whoa… suddenly reciting poetry. Have you become a refined scholar? Unbelievable. Chun-mong said you dug up Li Bai’s tomb… did you get a good whiff of ink from a Tang dynasty coffin?”

“You lunatic, you’re the only one in the world who’d talk about the greatest poet of all time like that. And it wasn’t a human grave… it was a Sword Mound.”

As they talked, Ju-seong noticed the scent of fresh blood… less than a day old… mixed into his breath.

He wrinkled his nose and looked at his brothers.

“What’s this? Did you get into a fight?”

“…That Cho guy sent assassins. Some snuck in wearing masks, some barged in smashing the inn door with iron maces… and some pretended to be thieves begging for their lives before launching surprise attacks.”

Ju-seong let out a small sigh.

“That’s what assassins do… How’d you know Cho sent them?”

“Their accents were thick Jiangnan. Had to be his killers who followed him all the way from Guangdong.”

“So it’s confirmed he’s from a pretty powerful sect in Guangdong? And a powerful Guangdong sect would definitely be demonic.”

“The most prominent demonic factions in Guangdong would be Shou’an Gate and the South Sea Wanderers’ Society Association.”

“Oh… nice intel.”

At Ju-seong’s admiration, Red Beggar’s shoulders rose with pride.

“Ahem, ahem. Of those, Shou’an Gate… as its name suggests… started as a vigilante group defending the coast from pirates and degenerated into a demonic sect. They’re known primarily for saber techniques and water combat.”

“Cho Yu-gyeong wore a sword.”

“Right, so it probably isn’t Shou’an Gate. They’re an elite force that leaps onto pirate ships and slaughters everyone aboard… brutal, ferocious saber techniques are their hallmark.”

“Then, the South Sea Wanderers’ Society Association?”

“That seems more likely, but there’s almost no information on them. There are rumors it was founded by military officials who fled purges after the dynasty’s founding.”

“They escaped the Taizu’s purges? Is that even possible…”

“Well, if it were possible, it wouldn’t be jianghu, would it?”

“Fair point.”

“Anyway, stay sharp. If you get matched with that guy in the bracket…”

Ju-seong curled his lip and cut him off.

“Then it gets fun.”

At his words, Red Beggar also grinned and patted his waist.

“Might get to tie another knot around my belly.”

* * *

At dawn.

The day of the team battle was brightening.

Cho Yu-gyeong sat in the middle of his guest room in a peculiar cross-legged posture.

One hand was held before his dantian as if cradling an egg; the other rested on his knee.

Such eccentric postures during circulation meditation were common in martial arts that developed independently in remote corners of the Central Plains.

His body was covered in horrific scars.

Not battle wounds from weapons.

These were scars inflicted by humans to cause other humans pain.

And throughout that torture, two phrases were always repeated, etched into his brain.

‘We must have revenge on the imperial house. We must end the Zhu bloodline.’

Cho Yu-gyeong’s brow creased sharply at the voice rising unbidden in his mind.

-Eudeuk.

He bit the tip of his tongue until it bled. The intense blood scent rolled down his throat and swirled through his nasal cavity, and only then did the voice fade.

“Foolish old men… Do you really think I’ve been brainwashed by your words?”

Cho Yu-gyeong smiled bitterly and spat out the blood-tinged saliva.

Hainan Island.

On that island, far removed from the Central Plains’ attention, a small hell unfolded.

Centenarian monsters kidnapped children and raised them into monsters like themselves.

Cho Yu-gyeong had been the most capable seed there, sent on a special mission all the way here.

But the loyalty he’d shown to Hainan’s elders was all a lie.

Why should a street orphan like Cho Yu-gyeong care if they harbored gut-wrenching hatred for the imperial house and swore revenge?

Torture and brainwashing couldn’t plant artificial hatred in him; his mind simply cleared again and again.

He donned his martial robes and draped a blue silk robe over them.

-Kwang!

He flung open the guest room door and stepped out, then raised his voice with internal energy.

“Jiangnan Coalition, attention!”

Cho Yu-gyeong’s room was on the top floor’s corridor, so guest room doors on every level flew open as the Jiangnan Coalition warriors appeared.

A smile formed on Cho Yu-gyeong’s lips.

Formidable martial arts and youth. Though stained by torture and abuse, he still had youth enough to soar.

‘I’ll make a name, seize the prize the Martial Alliance offers, and build my power…’

Of course, there was something more important to do first.

‘Return to Hainan Island and put those decrepit old fools out of their misery.’

Or perhaps, after raising his fame, he could formally report them to the authorities and storm the island with a punitive force.

Cho Yu-gyeong gripped the railing and shouted.

“Comrades of Jiangnan! Though we may fall short of the illustrious sects north of the Yangtze, could any man born under heaven return home without showing his face to the masses!”

“Hear, hear!”

“I won’t spout delusions about crushing them! How can we… who’ve barely clung to existence while demonic sects ran rampant in Jiangnan… defeat those who grew fat patting their bellies in orthodox territory!”

Cho Yu-gyeong spoke realistically while stoking his audience’s anger.

He kindled their pride in having maintained their identity despite the demonic sects’ dominance, while also fanning their resentment of Jiangbei’s rising stars.

“I won’t ask for much! In this team battle, let’s at least join forces to send as many of us as possible to the main competition! Let the gossips and storytellers talk about how Jiangnan has talent too!”

“Waaaah… !”

The response was fervent. In past Ascending Dragon Assemblies, Jiangnan candidates were typically laughed off and eliminated in the preliminaries.

Cho Yu-gyeong gazed down at them with gleaming eyes.

‘That Ju-seong fellow is a thorn, though.’

He needed to advance as many Jiangnan fighters to the main competition as possible.

His plan was to throw matches against them so they could conserve stamina and rise more easily.

But any Jiangnan fighters placed in the same bracket as that Ju-seong were highly likely to be eliminated.

‘Damn, should I have sent assassins? No… if my involvement comes to light later, I’m in trouble. Can’t be helped. I’ll just pray we meet as late as possible in the main competition.’

Cho Yu-gyeong bit his lip in secret.

On the second floor, hidden among the crowd, a pair of eyes was quietly watching him.