Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
64. Faith and test (13)
Qítiān Dàshèng and twenty years old looking Hwang Jiho wordlessly stared at each other.
Because we were looking out from a hiding spot, it was difficult to get a look.
I didn’t know what kind of expressions they were making, but with the heavy aura, the atmosphere wasn’t friendly.
‘Hwang Jiho knows about Tao Sihu’s skills, so he would guess what kind of connection he has with Wúzhīqí.’
And from Qítiān Dàshèng being here, it was clear that he too knew what was the connection between Wúzhīqí and Tao Sihu.
It was a short time, but I tried to make several simulations of the situation in my head.
It was difficult to think positively.
‘In the worst case, we will end up battling against Qítiān Dàshèng.’
I don’t know about the situation where I made countermeasures beforehand and prepared traps and strategies, but it would be hard to fight Qítiān Dàshèng head on here.
But it was a different story in case Hwang Jiho resolved to become enemies with the Won tribe for Tao Sihu and fight Qítiān Dàshèng.
However, that seemed difficult.
‘The 12 Zodiac Alliance has non-aggression promise. And right now Tao Sihu is in Qítiān Dàshèng’s hands, so if Hwang Jiho tried to forcibly get back Tao Sihu, the Ho tribe would be hitting the Won tribe first.’
Qítiān Dàshèng gave Tight-Fillet Spell as a collateral to prove his innocence to Hwang Jiho.
Supposing that Qítiān Dàshèng or the Won tribe broke the non-aggression promise and betrayed the 12 Zodiac Alliance, Hwang Jiho would obtain the Tight-Fillet Spell.
But neither Qítiān Dàshèng nor Won tribe did anything to go against the 12 Zodiac Alliance’s non-aggression act.
‘… If I end up fighting over Tao Sihu, Jang Namuk and Yu Sang-hun will try to join the fight too, what should I do?’
Should I ask Hwang Jiho to take Jang Namuk and Yu Sang-hun and run?
When I was thinking of the way that would first ensure the two people’s safety.
“Uh? Jiho came too? Long time no see!”
A disaster occurred.
Jang Namuk greeted with a bright voice, breaking the tension.
He just expressed a pure happiness, but those words had an absurdly great effect.
‘Jang Namuk sees this 20 years old looking Hwang Jiho as Hwang Jiho? No, he is right, but…’
Jang Namuk had a derivative skill of ‘Thousand Li Eyes[1]’, ‘Eyes of Star Maiden’.
I didn’t know how much manifested with the current skill level, but it was clearly high enough for him to be certain that the high school Hwang Jiho he saw in the past and the current Hwang Jiho in front of his eyes were the same existence.
“Did you get taller? The atmosphere is also much more mature.”
“Long time no see, it looks like you got a bit taller too.”
Why was that geezer not turning the words around and just accepting it?
But though Jang Namuk was tall even when the practice entrance exam was held, I guess he did grow taller in the meantime.
With them congratulating on each other’s growth, a problem occurred because of Jang Namuk’s greetings.
“…?”
Seeing Jang Namuk happily greeting the 20 years old Hwang Jiho and the geezer replying to it like it wasn’t a big deal, Yu Sang-hun’s expression became subtle.
Jang Namuk, who didn’t often see him, as he was in a different school, could just let it slip.
But Yu Sang-hun, who belonged to the class next to the 1st year class 0, class 1, often met with Hwang Jiho.
He would feel that something was not right.
Even though that geezer absolutely knew that Yu Sang-hun was looking, he didn’t seem to plan to hide his identity.
The biggest problem right now was naturally Qítiān Dàshèng, but shouldn’t he hide his identity a bit?
“Why did you bring that guy with you?”
“Uh? Ah, we meet by chance when I was coming out of the Military School. He said He was Sihu’s acquaintance.”
Qítiān Dàshèng was Tao Sihu’s acquaintance?
What nonsense was that?
Then Qítiān Dàshèng opened his mouth for the first time.
“I didn’t say I was an acquaintance. I just said that I know the person you’re carrying on your back.”
“Yes? If you know him, doesn’t that mean you’re an acquaintance? Anyhow, this Person said He would help me with moving him, so I accepted.”
Hwang Jiho, who heard Jang Namuk’s words, was dumbfounded.
Hwang Jiho quickly scolded Jang Namuk with a sharp tone.
“You left your friend in the hands of a being that you met for the first time in the middle of the night, and who is a suspicious person[2] with his eyes covered? Are you sane?”
“Uh… That’s true, but…”
“… What harsh words.”
Jang Namuk agreed with Hwang Jiho’s words, and Qítiān Dàshèng muttered with a bit sullen voice.
But no one bothered with it.
Jang Namuk answered as if making excuses.
“In my eyes, this Person’s energy felt very nice, so I didn’t think He was suspicious.”
Was it because of the energy of Sūn Wùkōng, who was called Victorious Fighting Buddha (鬥戰勝佛)?
Jang Namuk’s excuses continued.
“Just before I met this Person, Sihu’s condition became very bad. I thought I would have to go back to Gyuyeon-i again, but after He instilled the superpower wave, Sihu’s condition got better again. So I asked to come all the way here together.”
Jang Namuk concluded the long speech without any breaks.
From just what Jang Namuk said, it sounded like Qítiān Dàshèng was protecting Tao Sihu.
As if Hwang Jiho also thought so, he asked with a softer voice than at first.
“How did you come here? You must be busy with your dongsaeng’s matters.”
“You didn’t forget about this Qítiān Dàshèng’s abilities, right? I — Qítiān Dàshèng — can use cloud nimbus to cross one million and eight thousand li at once and can call on eighty-eight thousand alter-egos[3]. I have several alter-egos at my dongsaeng’s side, so that’s no problem.”
“Qítiān Dàshèng? Uh? Uh….! The Jin from Journey to the West?”
Jang Namuk shouted with a shocked voice and stiffened, as if he only now learned that the Jin standing beside him was Qítiān Dàshèng.
I guess in this frantic situation he only thought about him as Tao Sihu’s acquaintance, with a nice energy, who helped.
“When the number of alter-egos increases, the precision and the taoist moves you can use decrease, so mentioning the number doesn’t mean anything to me. But it seems that the main body came here, so nitpicking on that is meaningless.”
“Hahaha, don’t be so wary. I didn’t follow this child with any bad intentions.”
“Didn’t you run here thinking about Tao Sihu as the source of power that sealed your dongsaeng until now? How can we believe you don’t have bad intentions?”
With the end to Hwang Jiho’s words, the room fell into silence.
The two people, Jang Namuk and Yu Sang-hun, didn’t have as much information as I and Hwang Jiho, so they were late to figure out the situation, but with Hwang Jiho’s words, it seemed they would completely understand what has happened.
I felt clear wariness from Jang Namuk and Yu Sang-hun’s eyes.
“Yeah. It’s natural to think that and be wary.”
Qítiān Dàshèng seemed to laugh, while saying those words.
Unable to understand why he was laughing, I felt confused.
“After finishing Wúzhīqí’s treatment, I went where the chains that restrained my dongsaeng led.”
Creeak.
Qítiān Dàshèng, who was walking slowly, holding Tao Sihu, put him on a long sofa.
When Tao Sihu completely left Qítiān Dàshèng’s hands, the atmosphere in the suite became much better.
“Wúzhīqí’s grudges remembered this child, Tao Sihu. It seemed she was obsessed with this child even since her power was sealed.”
“Grudges you say? I didn’t sense them when I saw Tao Sihu before.”
“Those grudges were buried in the Gwangrim’s chains. If not for a moment of Gwangrim activation, it would have probably been hard for me to recognize it too.”
Saying that, Qítiān Dàshèng looked in this direction.
The direction of the place where I and Yu Sang-hun were hiding.
“Young humans over there, are those children your friends? You can come out. This Qítiān Dàshèng doesn’t thoughtlessly harm young, weak and innocent beings.”
It was meaningless to hide anymore if Qítiān Dàshèng already found our hiding spot.
There was no reason to hide, so I thought it would be naturally better to come out than cause doubts and confuse the mood.
As if Yu Sang-hun thought the same as I, he nodded towards me.
“Hello.”
When I came out and greeted him, Yu Sang-hun followed after me and nodded his head.
The corners of Qítiān Dàshèng’s lips, who accepted the greeting, drew into a smile.
“A bright polite greeting, huh? I like well-mannered children.”
I felt it since I heard that he held irregular luncheon that gathered children, but it seemed he really cherished children.
Was it because they had no descendants, or because his dongsaeng was missing for a while?
I also liked to pack one more snack for if I see children, thinking of my dongsaengs, so I understood it.
However, something bothered me.
‘… I don’t know about me, but it seems like he recognized Yu Sang-hun.’
I changed my physique and hid my voice, but Yu Sang-hun was different.
If a person with sharp eyesight like Qítiān Dàshèng looked at him, he would recognize him right away.
“I owe a debt of gratitude to your noona.”
“Ah… yes.”
As expected, Qítiān Dàshèng recognized Yu Sang-hun right away and spoke up.
As if he predicted that his identity would be revealed right away, Yu Sang-hun wasn’t particularly flustered.
Yu Sang-hun, that bastard, had truly no ordinary guts.
“Is this child… Tao Sihu, your friend?”
“… Something like that.”
Yu Sang-hun thought for a moment and then nodded.
Tao Sihu’s jokes were unfunny, and he played some kind of basketball, but they often bumped into each other and conversed, so he had something like a sorry affection for him.
So you could call them friends.
At least, because he had enough sorry affection to worry whether Qítiān Dàshèng would hurt Tao Sihu.
When I too nodded, Qítiān Dàshèng smiled slightly.
“Punishing the being, who shackled my dongsaeng, would be as easy as turning my palm. However, I know this child, Tao Sihu, and I changed my mind. I also saw this child’s friends, so I had to.”
Tao Sihu’s friends?
It could be me, Yu Sang-hun and Jang Namuk, but somehow it felt like Qítiān Dàshèng was talking of different people.
“Numerous children came to the irregular luncheon held by this one. Lacking talent children, smart children, kind children, children of poor conduct and righteous children… Among them, there was a child who especially caught my eye.”
“Who are you speaking of?”
“Ju Su-hyeok. It seems you know him too, eh?”
The name I didn’t expect came out.
The name of the title hero of PMH came out here?!
All the people here knew Ju Su-hyeok’s name, but we made surprised expressions, like we couldn’t imagine Qítiān Dàshèng to mention that name right now.
“That child has an outstanding talent and personality. A being that will become a great hero. I always listened to that child’s stories with interest. That child counted Tao Sihu among his close friends and was always telling stories about that child.”
Qítiān Dàshèng continued to speak.
“It wasn’t just Ju Su-hyeok. Tao Wonu, Namkung Gyu-yeon, Oh Hyeji… There were many children, who told stories about Tao Sihu. All of them were kind and exceptional children. I heard that this child doesn’t often attend social meetings, but his topic would always come up. So I wanted to someday see his face.”
I guess the reason why Qítiān Dàshèng didn’t use his hand right away, when he discovered Tao Sihu, was because of the children’s stories he heard until now.
In PMH, Tao Sihu’s name didn’t even appear, but his existence was clearly revealed.
In the Four Groups Secret War, the friend from the Military Academy, who crossed a dangerous bridge to save Ju Su-hyeok, and in the end lost his life.
Tao Sihu saved Ju Su-hyeok in unseen place, and it seemed that Ju Su-hyeok too saved Tao Sihu.
“So I want to hear his story. If he is those children’s friend, I believe there were some kind of circumstances.”
At that moment, Hwang Jiho, who stood between Qítiān Dàshèng and Tao Sihu, opened his mouth.
“It seems Tao Sihu is going to open his eyes, eh?”
Just when Hwang Jiho finished speaking, Tao Sihu’s eyelids started to slightly tremble.
*~*~*
[1] Thousand Li Eyes — pretty sure it should be Hundred Li… So author-nim, here is a typo.
[2] is a suspicious person — he literally says ‘something suspicious with his eyes covered’ … I think, the comma in this sentence is throwing me off.
[3] alter-egos — while I have a strong urge to call them clones, because in Qítiān Dàshèng’s case that actually makes sense to say (Hwang-ho’s powers are still fishy), but it will be alter-egos for consistency’s sake.
Translator’s note: *raises a hand* Jo Uisin, just one question. You didn’t catch up with Hwang Jiho on what happened underground did you? Because if you didn’t, that’s some hellish amount of deductions Hwang Jiho made in this chapter.
Patron thank you note:
Thank you patron, Nobody, please accept this Vahlia capensis’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Al, please accept this Paederia scandens’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Dust, please accept this Serissa japonica ‘s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Maru, please accept this Pseudopyxis depressa’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, kamisonk, please accept this Paederia foetida’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Kasimir Ilmonen, please accept this Spermadictyon suaveolens’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Tara Hess, please accept this Dirichletia pubescens’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Ice, please accept this Pentanisia angustifolia’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Hematite, please accept this Pentas lanceolata’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Deflubs, please accept this Asperula arvensis’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, TheFloorGuy, please accept this Asperula conferta’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Akemidy, please accept this Asperula involucrata’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, vicky moch, please accept this Asperula orientalis’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Diana-Maria, please accept this Asperula tinctoria’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Reichie, please accept this Kelloggia galioides’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Ch W, please accept this Phuopsis stylosa’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, aila ilzyana, please accept this Rubia peregrina’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, MeltedMochi, please accept this Otiophora calycophylla’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Links to support this translation and access to 8 advanced chapter (Patreon & Kofi)
> Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LibraryKeyTranslations
> Kofi-Euro: https://ko-fi.com/wanthetranslator
> Kofi-USD: https://ko-fi.com/wanthetranslatorusd
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
Leave a Reply