Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
41. Outside the borders (5)
My room, which I was currently occupying the hotel.
When I opened the item window to change my clothes and wore a crow mask, I heard the sound of knocking on the balcony window.
Knock-knock.
The 2nd year class 0 rented the 32nd floor.
It was an extremely unreasonable action to knock on the 32nd floor’s window to visit in the middle of the night, but it was something agreed upon in advance.
“It’s open. Come in.”
Crack.
After the balcony door to the room opened, Hwang Jiho entered.
No, it may be better to say it was someone called Hwang Jiho.
Because rather than the teen appearance, it was a version of Hwang-ho in his 30s, who I saw before at the Hoyeon Building during Kwon Jane’s performance.
“Excuse me.”
Hwang Jiho, in the suit from seersucker fabric, had his hair neatly brushed back.
If I didn’t know beforehand, it would be difficult to think it was the same person as Hwang Jiho.
“Preparations completed?”
“Yeah. Let’s go straight away.”
Hwang Jiho wanted to depart straight away, but he agreed to the words about finishing our disguising before getting out of the hotel.
It seemed that from the moment Hwang Jiho arrived in Chengdu City, he ordered his subordinates to rent a few hotels, so he probably thought of moving after changing in one of those places from the beginning.
‘There may be some kind of fool hanging down again, like in Icarus, so it’s better to be prepared beforehand, right?’
I knew that Hwang Jiho would deal with it if we were discovered, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared.
As I stood on the balcony and examined the surroundings, Hwang Jiho asked me.
“Why are you like that?”
“Last night I saw a silhouette hanging behind the window of Icarus.”
“On the highest floor of the East Wing, where we were staying? When did you see it?”
“After dinner, when I was heading to the lounge. It seemed to be senior Geun Chansol and senior Wang Chansol, but they may try to play a prank, even after coming here, you know? They can be making strange things like a surprise gift to give to teacher Jegal Jaegeol-nim or a firework show outside.”
After I spoke, listening to the cases of foolish actions the 2nd year class 0 could do, Hwang Jiho replied firmly:
“If it was those two outside at that time, there is no way I wouldn’t be able to notice them.”
Are you saying it wasn’t the 2nd class 0’s bastards?
But does it mean that Hwang Jiho couldn’t notice it?
I thought that Hwang Jiho naturally knew, but as it didn’t feel dangerous, he left it alone.
“I can guess the being that could hide from my senses at that time and place.”
Hwang Jiho made a face of undisguised annoyance.
“Who?”
“You should know the saying that the birds listen during the day, and rats listen during the night.”
I discovered that silhouette at night.
If so, the identity of this silhouette was a rat?
“Let’s go before that bastard follows.”
No way, would he follow us to China?
No, seeing Hwang Jiho reacting like this, there was a high chance of it.
Paaa…!
When Hwang Jiho finished drawing a hiding barrier on my clothes, I asked to confirm.
“How are we going to be moving?”
“I’ll be using the Leap skill. Should I carry you?”
“I’m okay.”
I ignored Hwang Jiho’s words, who regained his mischievousness in the meantime and spoke with a grin.
⟨Using Gwangrim ‘Player’s Trajectory’.⟩
A character card I used a few times since coming to this world flowed up.
As if he saw what was engraved on the card, I saw Hwang Jiho’s eyes sparkle.
“I also can use the Ho tribe’s Leap, you know?”
The Ho tribe members had some skills in common.
First, the Brilliant Gaze.
Second, the Roar.
Third, the Leap.
The card I was using was Baek Ho-gun under constraints, and naturally, I could use the Ho tribe’s Leap.
“Hahaha! Then follow me well.”
After Hwang Jiho, who laughed as if he liked something, stretched his hand into the air, the barriers the size of a palm in width and length, rose into the air with some distance between each other.
Stepping on that narrow-sized barrier, Hwang Jiho jumped into the nightscape.
Because the barrier light was dim, and the leaping distance was very wide, it looked like Hwang Jiho flew through the night sky.
I held a rod in preparation for accidents and activated the skill.
⟨Using the active character’s skill ‘Leap’.⟩
I started to swim through the night sky, following after Hwang Jiho.
The nightscape of Chengdu, which was worthy of a metropolis that boasted a population of over sixteen million people, was colorful.
As with each leap, I was amazed at the fresh view of skyscrapers captured in my vision, at a certain point we gradually jumped lower and lower.
It seemed that we arrived at our destination.
“It’s as it was before, eh?”
Hwang Jiho, who landed on the ground, looked at the enormous circular wooden building and muttered to himself.
The wooden building, with thousands of red lamps, had four entrances, which seemed to be at least 5m wide.
But even though it was an eye-opening building, the pedestrians didn’t give it a glance.
“This building can’t be seen without superpowers. It’s not exactly to limit the entrance, but it should be good to deal with ordinary people, who would enter out of curiosity and get hurt.”
Hwang Jiho pointed at the painted black door, as he spoke.
“This the northern ‘Night Market’, Hyeonmu’s gate opens to the connected space. Let’s go.”
“Night Market? The market held during the night?” [1]
“Yeah.”
After Hwang Jiho stood in front of the black door, the pattern of Hyeonmu appeared, and then the door softly opened.
Not even a bit of what was inside was seen from the outside, but Hwang Jiho stepped inside without hesitation.
After I took a few steps following after him, I heard a voice reciting the poem, with the sound of plucked pipa in the background.
[天子呼來不上船(He didn’t board the boat, even at the call of Son of Heaven), 自稱臣是酒中仙(By himself he referred to oneself as liquor’s hermit.)] [2]
It was a poem by Du Fu, one of the greatest Chinese poets, who famously stayed for some time in Chengdu.
As I leaned my ears to listen, it was a phrase from the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup, written by Du Fu, referring to Li Bai.
About the time when the next phrase, about Zhang Xu was recited, the scenery before my eyes completely changed.
Dozens of shadows moved behind the curtains scattered everywhere, and the lanterns, shaped like ink pots in the color of the sky, floated in the air.
“If you like something, I’ll buy it.”
“I’m fine.”
Everywhere, I saw merchants spreading their stalls and touting customers, with the song of the bard[3].
All people were wearing masks, but there were many people with animal body parts.
There were people, who disguised themselves in the spirit of the night market, but it seemed there were also Jin people mixed among them.
“Did you decided to meet here?”
“Yeah. He said he doesn’t think of meeting anywhere else. We decided to meet in the central pavilion.”
Hwang Jiho pointed towards the pavilion located in the center of the lake.
Inside the opened four-directional pavilion, I saw the singing bard and a musician playing pipa.
When we crossed the bridge made out of bamboo and arrived in the pavilion, the bard stopped his song for a moment and politely bowed towards Hwang Jiho.
The singer hand pointed at the door leading to the basement.
“Keep playing.”
As Hwang Jiho said that, the bard straightened up and started singing.
The song stopped in the middle, but because the musician didn’t halt the performance, it didn’t felt particularly awkward.
While listening to the song that continued once again, we descended into the pavilion’s basement, a long corridor unfolded inside.
“Hyeonmu used quite a lot of power, eh? In the past, it was nothing but a stone corridor.”
Hwang Jiho admired, as he looked at the Hyeonmu’s patterns placed on the black silk walls.
The central piece of the embroidery on the wall was close to a tortoise, but the shape of a snake around the neck and tail, meticulously depicted Hyeonmu.
“This is Hyeonmu’s base?”
“To be precise the ones reverend as Four Divine Beast, Baek-ho, Cheongryong, Jujak and Hyeonmu[4]. This place was built by the people, who served the four. Jujak and Hyeonmu should be staying here often, and hold night markets each time they feel like it.”
I knew that even in this world there is concept of four directions spirits, but because Jujak and Hyeonmu didn’t appear, I thought they didn’t exist as Jin people.
I guess, different from my thoughts, Jujak and Hyeonmu were active in their base in China.
“Other two?”
“Cheongryong was absent ever since the descendant was born, and Baek-ho, well… because of his situation of not being able to leave the Korean Peninsula.”
From what he said, it wasn’t that there were no exchanges between the Four Divine Beast before, huh?
It seemed that Hyeonmu had a connection with the Player of Flame Emperor Shennong, so perhaps we would be able to make an exchange through Baek-ho.
At that moment.
⟨Skill ‘Power of Fate’ activated.⟩
I heard the system message that I didn’t hear in a very long time.
At the same time, Hwang Jiho, who was walking beside me, halted.
“Jo Uisin, this power…”
Thinking about it, Hwang Jiho made a comment as if he detected Power of Fate during the chess tournament before.
‘Of all the things, why did it have to activate when there are only the two of us?’
Rather than thinking about how to gloss over it, the priority was dealing with the Power of Fate.
Paat!
When I looked around, wary of the surroundings, I saw something twinkling.
One of the numerous Hyeonmu embroidery on the black silk adoring the stone walls of the long corridor was shinning.
I asked Hwang Jiho, while pointing at the embroidery.
“Do you feel anything here?”
Hwang Jiho gathered shining gold mana in his eyes and looked where my finger pointed, but didn’t say anything.
‘Does Hwang Jiho can only sense the moment of the Power of Fate’s activation?’
If so, I could do nothing but step forward here.
When I touched the shining Hyeonmu pattern with the fingertip wrapped in the superpower wave.
Kukuku….!
The stone wall covered by silk moved.
As I blinked, Hwang Jiho blocked my vision.
It seemed that as soon as the stone wall opened, he moved in front of me and spread the barrier.
I heard the voice coming over Hwang Jiho’s shoulder.
“I planned to leave it be, if this door doesn’t open. But it opened like a lie, huh?”
I heard fluent Korean.
As I took a step to Hwang Jiho’s side, I saw someone in black clothes and blindfolded.
“Hyeonmu, what are you doing here?”
“You came a long way, but I was testing you, so I’m sorry, eh? But that is because I was worried if I could have a conversation with the guest you brought.”
“Because your divinity rose?”
“Yeah. Baek-ho and Cheongryong decided to remain in the mortal world as Jin people, but I and Jujak are different. We’re still contemplating. But because even when we’re contemplating, the divinity raises, we can’t easily have conversations with humans.”
The higher beings of this world had a limited range of how much they could interfere in the mortal world, but they had several ways to interfere with it.
But as humans go mad, if they are just directly exposed to the divinity of the higher beings, it was an unwritten law that they cover their eyes when facing humans.
The higher being wearing white bear skin and standing on the weight, and Taishang Laojun and Acea all covered their eyes.
“So I read the fortune, before you came. If your guest discovered this place, I planned to meet you, if he didn’t, I would leave you to only meet with the Flame Emperor’s superpower user.”
“Such hassle, eh? Are you still worrying about which side to choose?”
“Life as a higher being is interesting. However, there are turtles, who follow me and there are still people who need my wisdom, so I’m worrying.”
After Hyeonmu spoke gently, he looked at me.
“Do you know what will happen if you keep wearing that crow mask?”
I nodded.
Because from the moment I saw the pure silver coin engraved with the crow in the Fantasy Auction’s venue, I made the decision that I’ll use the crow mask.
“… Okay. It seems that you already have the crow’s attention, so be careful.”
I felt a scorching gaze from Hwang Jiho at my side, but I firmly pretended not to know.
“There is a child I wanted to introduce to you.”
After Hyeonmu flapped his long sleeve, something rose into the air.
It had the shape of someone skinny, wrapped in silk.
“I whisked that child away. I discovered him by chance and protected him.”
Did you say that you whisked that child away?
What kind of sound is that all of a sudden?
When I was at a loss about how I should react, Hwang Jiho replied first.
“How is this punk here?”
“You know this kid?”
“Yeah, you also know this kid.”
He is a stranger.
As if guessing what I was thinking, Hwang Jiho simply introduced him.
“This punk belongs to the Eungwang School’s 1st year class 0, he is Mok Uram.”
*~*~*
[1] “Night Market? The market held during the night?” — It’s not that Jo Uisin doesn’t know what night market is, but Hwang Jiho uses a bit shorter, based on hanja term, so he is clarifying it.
[2] [天子呼來不上船(He didn’t board the boat, even at the call of Heaven and Earth), 自稱臣是酒中仙(By himself he referred to oneself as liquor’s hermit.)] — I’m providing translation based on what Korean translation author-nim gave. Please forgive me for chopping the poem.
[3] bard — referring to a person who sings and writes songs well, not the bard bards.
[4] Baek-ho, Cheongryong, Jujak and Hyeonmu — those are all Korean names. Jujak would be Zhuque (Vermilion Bird) and Hyeonmu is Xuanwu (Black Tortoise). I planned to use Chinese names at first for those two, who are staying in China, but to make things consistent and differentiate some naming, I’ll be using Korean ones.
Translator’s note: The entire Power of Fate thing is suspicious as hell in this chapter! Does Hwang-ho really doesn’t see the light? Or is he just not saying anything? Was Hyeonmu testing if the Power of Fate would activate? Does he know about it?! What the hell the two of you’re talking about?! Someone give at least one answer!
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