Chapter 31

I raised my head. At the same time, a voice ringing in my ear was cut off. Was it an auditory hallucination?

Jegal Hyun asked with her eyes slightly open.

“Young Miss? What’s wrong?”

“I-I heard my father’s voice all of a sudden, so I guess I heard it wrong.”

“You said that before… did you hear a secret transmission?”

“Secret transmission?”

This is it! Martial arts that lets you communicate with distant people.

If so, it was clear that Jeonghyun also used secret transmission to talk to me earlier.

‘That’s why I was the only one who heard something that no one else could hear!’

I focused all my attention on my ears in case I missed Cheonma’s voice.

-Lihua, are you hurt?

“Dad!”

Tears welled up when I thought there was Cheonma outside the cave.

Oh, if only I learned how to use secret transmission!

“No, no, no! I’m not hurt at all!”

I loudly answered even though he would not even hear. Jegal Hyun paid attention to me, while breathing heavily.

-After 15 minutes, I’m going to melt the entrance.

“Dad says he’s going to melt the entrance after 15 minutes!”

“How can you melt… oh! It could be possible with Blaze Arts. But… if he does that, won’t we also melt…?”

Jegal Hyun mumbled with a white face. Maybe because he was scared, he backed away with a limp.

You think he said he’d melt the entrance without knowing that? I put my finger on my lips.

“Shh! Be quiet!

– But you can get caught up in the explosion.

See?

– If you keep turning right at the first crossroads, you will find a large space. Stay there. If you go beyond that, you may not be able to hear the secret transmission. So you can’t leave ever. Can you do it?

Then we’re gonna have to go into the labyrinth.

In the original work, Aku Ruun escaped from the sect through this place.

Inside the cave is a huge maze. He decided to use this place because he knew that tracking someone was impossible.

This was another reason he insisted on closed-door training. To develop strength and learn the maze from time to time. However, it took more than a month for Aku Ryun to get out of here. Even with a map that he had made for 20 years.

‘I don’t even have a map. If I get lost here…’

At that time, Cheonma sent me a secret transmission as if he had foreseen my thoughts.

– I will definitely find you. Trust your father.

I can’t help but believe it. I clenched my fist and nodded.

I’ll trust you, Dad! I made up my mind and nodded to Jegal Hyun.

“Come on, we have to go inside.”

“……didn’t you say it was a maze in here?”

“It’s okay. My dad’s going to come find me.”

“Hey, don’t be ridiculous! How can he find us in a maze that he’s never been to? If we go down the cave could collapse!”

“Whoo.”

I could see why Jegal Hyun stepped down from being the head of the household after five years.

Why is this guy so weak? Shouldn’t we at least do something?

I replied coldly.

“Well, sit there and die. I’m going to do what my dad says.”

I turned around without hearing his answer. The remaining time was only 15 minutes, and there was no reason to delay.

“Yo-young Miss! Let’s go together!”

Jegal Hyun, who was left alone, rushed after me, dragging his injured leg.

Beyond the open area, it quickly darkened.

The number of forks in the road increased at every corner.I turned right as Cheonma told me, but somehow I felt like I was going around in circles.Moreover, it was dark, so I couldn’t even tell if it was the way I came from. When I arrived at a place with five branches in the road, I decided to close my eyes.

My dad told me to turn right no matter what. Let’s just do that. It seemed more confusing to check with my eyes.

Let’s close our eyes.

I walked with my eyes closed, sweeping the right wall with my hands. How long did we walk like that?

“Gasp! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Suddenly, Jegal Hyun’s breathing sounds from behind became unusual.

At first, he only breathed loudly, but now I heard him hyperventilating and struggling to catch his breath.

Don’t tell me you have claustrophobia? It’s a big problem if you have a seizure in the dark…

“What’s wrong? Are you stuffy?”

“……No.”

I reached back with anxiety. I felt Jegal Hyun with my fingertips.

I felt a wetness in my hands. The smell of blood followed. His clothes were soaked in blood.

“Since when have you been like this?

“It’s all right……just,let’s go.”

“What do you mean it’s okay!?”

Come to think of it, it was natural that he was more injured than I was. He was closer to the explosion than I was. I couldn’t check his body, but I think he was seriously hurt. It wasn’t claustrophobia, he was injured to the point that my medicine wasn’t enough!

“I’ll give you my qi. Hang in there with that.”

“……can’t be a burden to Young Miss.”

“Your current condition is more of a burden. If you are sorry, you need to recover a little bit.”

I forced my qi into his wrist. It hurt as if my dantian was twisted, but I held it in.

Jegal Hyun’s breathing sound calmed down a little. He spoke in a ghostly faint voice.

“……I’m sorry about earlier. I was so flustered that I couldn’t mind my words.”

“It’s fine if you are flustered. No one is calm in the face of death.”

Jegal Hyun laughed like a sigh.

“……Young Miss is very mature. I can’t think of anything because I’m scared.”

“…….”

I’m scared, too. I’m scared to death, but I’m just holding it in.

I chose silence.

It’s better not to say anything that makes Jegal Hyun nervous.

“Sigh.”

Jegal Hyun sighed for a long time. A thin wisp of his breath brushed past the top of the head.

I pulled him toward me before he could think negatively.

“Stop taking a break and go. We’ve been so delayed.”

But Zhugel-hyun didn’t budge.

“Are you sick? But you still have to walk! Come on!”

He suddenly asked a strange question.

“……I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Are my eyes normal?”

My heart dropped suddenly. I held his finger tightly to the point of pain.

“What are you talking about when you could see things perfectly a while ago? You weren’t hurt at all.”

“But why… can’t I see anything?”

“It’s a cave. You just can’t see anything because it’s dark.”

“When I open my eyes, it’s just darkness. I can’t even see my hands.”

“Close your eyes. Close your eyes and think of only good things. I’ll show you the way.”

Jegal Hyun, who paused for a moment, replied vaguely.

“……it’s just a burden to Young Miss. I’m sorry.”

“If you have the power to say that, just walk.”

Silence ensued again.

How much farther do we have to go? I forgot the number that I had counted in my mind to measure the time that had passed while talking to Jegal Hyun.

I turned the corner about 10 times, but there was no vacant lot. Was it really 10 times? Not even that was certain.

At that time, I heard something collapse. Jegal Hyun had collapsed.

I squatted and pounded on the floor with my hands. Then, I grabbed onto Jegal Hyun’s clothes and pulled on them.

“Wake up! You can’t stop here!”

“Ugh…… Go ahead, Young Miss. I’ll take a break and catch up.”

You’re lying!

If we split up here, it’s over. I shook the hem of Jegal Hyun’s clothes.

“No! Get up! Get up! We’re almost there!”

“I don’t have any strength… even if I close my eyes I’m dizzy…”

“Cheer up a little more! 300, no, 200 more steps! Come on!”

“It’s too… too dark…”

At the end of the sentence, Jegal Hyun fell silent. I pulled on his collar hard, but he didn’t even move. He had already fainted.

I slumped down to the ground.

Do I have to leave it now? However, Jegal Hyun had to be kept alive for the future

.

‘What do I do……’

Then I started to feel heat from somewhere.

I thought it was an illusion, but it wasn’t. The heat was rising in the blink of an eye.

To the point where my face felt like it was burning

“Blaze Arts?”

Has it been 15 minutes already?

I shook Jegal Hyun like crazy.

“Wake up! Come on! If you don’t want to burn to death, you have to get up!”

No matter how hard I shook, Jegal Hyun didn’t answer.

In that short time, the heat became so strong that my hair started to singe.

We have to avoid it!

In a hurry, I stood up with Jegal Hyun, but I couldn’t move my feet.

“Oh! Such misfortune!”

I turned up my powers to the maximum while my whole body was wrapped around Jegal-hyun.

The warped power twisted fiercely, squeezing on my meridians. Blood burst out of my mouth.

At the same time, it began to freeze as frost fell all over me.

“Haaaa.”

His lips turned blue, but I couldn’t stop. If I stop using my powers, I’ll be caught in the backlash.

But at this rate, we will die. Even if I used all my qi, it was ridiculously small to withstand the fire.

‘Let’s take out the floor.’

But with the rest of my powers, can I break such a thick floor?

Tears dripped down.

“I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want to live!”

While I was wiping away tears with the back of my hand, a warm object dangled from my chest. Sniffling, I grabbed onto it.

The necklace Aku Ryun gave me.

‘It’s ugly, but it still holds the same warmth.’

Suddenly, I had an epiphany.

The reason I wasn’t able to complete the Hundred Blossom Blade.

I was too obsessed with my form. I was always busy calculating my movement and usage of energy.

Having the right form was just one of the many ways to reach your destination.

I was turning a blind eye to the nature of the power.

– Power has no form

It wasn’t form that mattered, as Cheonma taught. It is just important to know that the essence of power does not change no matter what path it takes.

Even if it’s put into an ugly bowl, the energy is still there unchanging…

‘Just like this necklace.’

I stood up slowly. No, I thought I got up. In fact, I was in a trance and couldn’t even realize whether I was standing or sitting. I also forgot the pain that was constantly bothering me.

As if possessed, I held Baekha with both hands and held it out like a sword.

I didn’t think about my form consciously

.

All that I thought about was what I wanted. Then, my body moved naturally and the right foot stepped forward.

First step, the flowers form a bud.

Second step, soft leaves spread out quietly.

Third step, the flower finally blooms and releases its scent.

Wooong wooong woong.

The air was vibrating. Sand and small debris fell from the ceiling. The flowers hanging at the end of Baekha bloomed.

At the same time, the white bark from Baekha fell from its body like dead skin and evaporated.

But I didn’t even realize that. I just pushed all my power into Baekha.

Pak!

Soon, hundreds of flowers scattered all over the place. The ice flowers, which had been flying silently, permeated the floor.

The stone floor froze in an instant. An ominous sound was heard here and there.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Just a breath later,

Boom! Clang!

The floor collapsed with a roar.