Chapter 403

The Ghost King’s eyes were somehow empty. Looking into them, one felt as if they too were becoming empty.

It was the same for Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol thought that a part of him was broken.

Having endured countless harsh trials that were difficult for a human to bear, a part of his human sensibility had been worn away.

The Ghost King, on the other hand, seemed to have been lacking a certain part from the very beginning.

The difference between the two was great.

Pyo Wol could at least somewhat recognize what he had lost, but the Ghost King didn’t even know what was missing from himself.

Perhaps that was why the Ghost King’s words did not sound like nonsense.

“What do you need help with?”

“Be my guide.”

“A guide?”

“I’m not good with directions. There’s a place I need to go…”

“Are you saying you’ll fix this woman if I find the way for you? How?”

“There is a land that saves people.”

“Land?”

Pyo Wol furrowed his brow.

He had never heard of land saving a person before.

But these were the words of the Ghost King, of all people.

He seemed to be lacking something, but he wasn’t the type to speak nonsense.

Pyo Wol nodded his head.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Good.”

The Ghost King nodded as if he had expected it.

With that, their conversation ended.

His purpose achieved, the Ghost King leaned his back against a rock and closed his eyes.

Pyo Wol silently watched the Ghost King.

His breathing was barely perceptible, and there were almost no signs of life. He looked like a wooden puppet whose strings had been cut. Yet, the Ghost King was clearly alive.

He was an enigmatic being, just like his Alias, Ghost King.

Hong Ye-seol whispered in Pyo Wol’s ear.

“Did you accept his offer because of me?”

“Yes!”

“Oh! I’m so happy. But there’s another reason, isn’t there?”

“That’s right too!”

“I knew it. Still, I’m happy. To receive such consideration from a man like you.”

“What about me?”

“You’re the Reaper. I can smell the scent of death on you. That’s why I’m afraid. What’s more frightening is that you’re still charming despite it.”

This was the reason Hong Ye-seol tried to keep a certain distance from Pyo Wol.

A fear existed within her that if she got any closer to Pyo Wol, she would lose herself. So she always struggled to maintain a psychological distance from him.

Even now, she felt that if she stayed by Pyo Wol’s side for too long, she would never be able to escape. So she spoke harshly.

“As soon as my body recovers, I’m leaving for the Hundred Wraith Union.”

“Is it because of the Seven Sages Scholar?”

“I need to find out who commissioned his death.”

“The Hundred Wraith Union Lord won’t tell you willingly.”

“Then I’ll have to make him talk.”

“Is that possible?”

“It is.”

“You’ll have to risk your life again.”

“That’s our job.”

“I’ll pray for your success.”

“Thank you.”

Hong Ye-seol smiled and gazed at the bonfire.

Her pale face was tinged with red.

＊＊＊

At the crack of dawn, the Ghost King opened his eyes.

When an ordinary person woke up this early, they would usually do various things to wake themselves up, but the Ghost King stood up immediately without any such actions.

The Ghost King’s movements were reminiscent of the bronze men said to be in the Shaolin Temple.

It seemed that if a bronze man were to come alive and move, it would be just like the Ghost King.

Pyo Wol’s movements were no less than the Ghost King’s.

The moment the Ghost King opened his eyes, Pyo Wol opened his as well.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Pyo Wol checked on Hong Ye-seol’s condition.

Hong Ye-seol’s condition was not good. It had worsened overnight.

It was dangerous to put her on a horse in this state.

After a moment of thought, Pyo Wol untied the saddle and other tack from the horse tied up nearby.

Pyo Wol whispered to the horse.

“You’ve worked hard. Now, live freely as you please.”

Ph-rrr!

Pyo Wol slapped the whinnying horse’s rump hard. The startled horse bolted.

Pyo Wol silently watched the back of the horse as it quickly disappeared into the distance.

It was a creature he had been with for quite a long time. So he had grown fond of it.

It was a little sad to let the horse go, but there was no other choice for now.

He didn’t know how treacherous the place he had to go with the Ghost King was, and he couldn’t put Hong Ye-seol on the horse either.

It would be better for the horse to give it freedom like this.

Pyo Wol tore the thick cloth that had been placed between the horse and the saddle and made a rope.

He carried Hong Ye-seol on his back and tightly bound her and himself together with the rope.

After confirming that he could move his hands and feet without issue, he said to the Ghost King.

“Let’s go!”

“Mm!”

The Ghost King nodded and took the lead.

Pyo Wol followed the Ghost King, placing one hand behind him on Hong Ye-seol’s Life Gate Point. Then he carefully infused his Internal Energy.

Whether he knew this or not, the Ghost King unleashed his Lightness Art and shot forward. Pyo Wol also used his Lightness Art to follow him.

If any other Martial Artist had seen what Pyo Wol was doing now, they would have all called it a suicidal act.

Infusing Internal Energy into another’s body required a high level of Internal Energy control and concentration.

Pyo Wol was performing this delicate task, which would be difficult even when concentrating in a quiet place without any disturbance, while using his Lightness Art.

One wrong move could endanger not only Hong Ye-seol’s life but Pyo Wol’s as well. Yet, Pyo Wol acted without any hesitation.

The Ghost King glanced back, observing Pyo Wol’s actions.

A typical Martial Artist would have surely offered some advice to Pyo Wol, but the Ghost King was no ordinary person. He paid no mind to Pyo Wol’s actions and focused on performing his Lightness Art.

Pyo Wol’s decision to release the horse was, in retrospect, a good one.

The Ghost King moved along a path that a horse could never travel. He passed through dense forests where one couldn’t see an inch ahead, and broke through high, rocky mountains.

He chose a route that not only horses but even most Martial Artists would not dare to approach.

If the one following him had not been Pyo Wol, they would have fallen behind long ago.

Pyo Wol ran, sticking close to the Ghost King, with Hong Ye-seol on his back.

At first, Pyo Wol also felt the difficulty. But as time passed, he learned how to control his Internal Energy with more precision.

Hong Ye-seol’s breathing was faint.

If Pyo Wol hadn’t continuously infused his Internal Energy, her life would have ended long ago.

There was a major crisis along the way.

“Haah! Haah!”

Suddenly, Hong Ye-seol began to gasp for breath and had a major seizure.

Pyo Wol administered the last remaining Black Bloom Spider poison to her.

Thump!

Her Innate Vitality was stimulated and fluctuated greatly.

After a short while, color returned to Hong Ye-seol’s face. She clearly looked stable. Her breathing also seemed much more comfortable. But the expression on Pyo Wol’s face as he looked at Hong Ye-seol was dark.

He knew that her current state was a temporary recovery of energy, like Terminal lucidity.

Her Innate Vitality had been stimulated to temporarily boost her vigor, but no one knew how long this phenomenon would last.

One thing was certain: when this current state ended, there would be no way to save her life.

Pyo Wol put Hong Ye-seol back on his back and asked the Ghost King.

“Are we still far?”

“We’re almost there.”

The Ghost King’s answer was the same one he had given half a day ago.

Even then, he had said it wasn’t far.

Pyo Wol, re-tying the rope around himself and Hong Ye-seol, said.

“You’d better be right.”

“I do not lie.”

The Ghost King turned away.

Pyo Wol stared at the Ghost King’s back for a moment, but he couldn’t question him any further.

Having come this far, it was too late to turn back.

Whatever the outcome, he had to follow the Ghost King to the end.

Pyo Wol launched himself after the Ghost King.

After following the Ghost King for days on end, he couldn’t even guess where they were now.

The Ghost King’s Lightness Art was truly tremendous, and if he paid attention to anything else for even a moment, the distance between them would quickly widen. Because of that, Pyo Wol had to focus solely on following the Ghost King.

The place they arrived at was a nameless, dense mountain.

The towering trees were so packed together that it was impossible to get one’s bearings.

People entering this place for the first time were likely to get lost and starve to death.

But that was irrelevant to the Ghost King and Pyo Wol.

They were not moving between the trees, but were performing their Lightness Art by stepping on the branches at the treetops.

Pyo Wol wrinkled his nose.

Suddenly, a pungent smell wafted thickly.

The intense smell that stimulated his sense of smell made his head spin.

Pyo Wol’s sense of smell, honed in the underground, was more sensitive than a beast’s. That sensitivity made Pyo Wol even more uncomfortable.

Pyo Wol blocked his sense of smell with his Internal Energy. Only then did his dizzy head clear.

It was a terribly damp and unpleasant smell.

Pyo Wol had never smelled such a stench before. That made him even more bewildered.

The Ghost King had called it a land that saves people, but if one kept smelling this, any living creature would not be able to endure it and would die.

The dense thicket ended, and as if by a lie, a black land with not a single blade of grass appeared.

On the pitch-black earth, which looked as if it were covered in black sand, there was no trace of any life.

The stench was emanating from the black earth.

The Ghost King said.

“We’ve arrived.”

“This doesn’t look like a land that saves people.”

“We have to go a little further in. The land that saves people is there.”

“Really?”

“It’s true.”

The Ghost King strode into the black land.

Pyo Wol followed behind him.

The stench grew worse the deeper they went.

Even though he had blocked his sense of smell with his Internal Energy, his head began to throb.

It was a moment where he worried whether it was truly possible to save someone in a place like this.

Suddenly, a red land appeared before his eyes.

A conspicuously red land, existing like an island in the middle of the black earth.

The Ghost King looked at it and said.

“That’s the place. That red land has sucked up all the surrounding Earth Qi, turning it into a dead land.”

“It sucks up Earth Qi?”

“I don’t know the reason, but it’s true. I also healed a great wound here.”

The Ghost King’s discovery of this place was a coincidence.

At the time, he had been very seriously injured. Although he had a regenerative ability close to immortality, the wound was so large that he was in critical condition.

At that time, he found this place as if by instinct.

He knew nothing about its location or information, but he found this place with only his tenacity to live and his instinct.

The reason the surrounding land was stained black, unable to support life, was because of the red land. The red land sucked up all the life force and stored it.

“What should I do?”

“Bury her in there. The red land will take care of the rest.”

“Is that so?”

Pyo Wol held Hong Ye-seol and entered the red land.

The Qi of the red land was so unusual that even he could feel it at once.

Pyo Wol laid Hong Ye-seol down on one side and dug into the red land with his bare hands. The red soil was as soft as tofu, so it was easy to dig without using Internal Energy.

Pyo Wol dug deep enough for one person to lie down, then carefully laid Hong Ye-seol inside.

Pyo Wol covered her entire body with the red soil, leaving only her face exposed.

Even then, Hong Ye-seol did not regain consciousness.

Pyo Wol looked at Hong Ye-seol’s face for a moment, then went to where the Ghost King was.

The Ghost King said to Pyo Wol.

“We must stay away from here.”

“Why?”

“If we stay close to the red land, our Qi will be taken away too.”

Without waiting for Pyo Wol’s reply, the Ghost King launched himself and sat on a high tree outside the black earth.

Pyo Wol also launched himself and landed beside the Ghost King.

“Our work is done now. The rest will be taken care of by that land.”

“Do you know the identity of that red land?”

“I don’t. But this is not the only place in the world where such land exists.”

“There are more?”

“I have confirmed more than three with my own eyes.”

“And yet people don’t know about them?”

“Because no one has buried their body in that land like I did.”

Above all, the lands he had discovered were all in places that were not easily accessible to other people.

The Ghost King muttered.

“Perhaps one day, that land will cover the entire world.”