Chapter 10
"B-but the promise..."
If the ability to kill a person with just a glance existed, it was clear that this man possessed it.
Agong, thoroughly intimidated, looked at Wenzhong, who was glaring at him coldly.
Impossible.
It was clearly he who had said that.
"I know that you helped the Slender Moon Squad and rendered meritorious service."
"Then... you should let me go back now."
"The promise between you and the leader of the Slender Moon Squad is a promise between two people, but the deal between the leader of the Slender Moon Squad and Old Ancestor Hongjun is a promise made in the name of the Black Contemplation Fortress."
In short, the deal with Old Ancestor Hongjun was more important than the promise with him.
"But you promised! He told me he would teach me martial arts and that I had now joined the Slender Moon Squad. So why do I have to stay here?"
"You brat! How dare you speak to the Old Master like that!"
Zhao Wei, startled by Agong's shrill voice, shouted, but at Wenzhong's light gesture, he soon shut his mouth and stepped back.
Zhao Wei had made the promise to Agong easily because he never thought he would return here.
In the end, it was a disaster caused by his own empty promise.
"That's right. You are a proud member of the Slender Moon Squad of the Black Contemplation Fortress."
"Yes!"
In the first place, Agong didn't even know the Slender Moon Squad properly, let alone the Black Contemplation Fortress.
Agong was just angry at those who were trying to leave him behind.
"If you are a member of the Slender Moon Squad, then pledge your loyalty to the Black Contemplation Fortress. Sacrifice yourself for the great cause of the Black Contemplation Fortress."
Agong was at a loss for words at Wenzhong's words, which were like a bolt from the blue, or rather, like dog crap.
What on earth had he done for them that was so great that they were demanding his sacrifice?
He was saying it as if it were something amazing, but in the end, it was no different from telling Agong to take the fall.
"That's ridiculous!"
"If you cannot abide by the rules as a member of the Black Contemplation Fortress..."
The golden whip in Wenzhong's grasp wriggled up his arm like a living snake.
Agong felt the fear of death as his throat tightened from the killing intent he felt in an instant.
Even the heat of anger that had been boiling in his head instantly cooled down like a winter lantern in front of Wenzhong's killing intent.
"Then I have no choice but to kill you here."
"..."
Tears flowed down Agong's cheeks.
He didn't know if these were tears of anger or tears of fear from the killing intent that Wenzhong was displaying.
"Hahaha. You're going to kill the kid."
At the sound of Hongjun's laughter, who had been watching the situation as if it were amusing, Wenzhong's killing intent disappeared in an instant.
"If you kill the kid now, who's going to do the chores at the tavern?"
"Then will you let him go?"
As the golden whip in his hand coiled around Wenzhong's waist as if it were a lie, Wenzhong glared at Hongjun and asked.
"This child? It's not you who will let the child go."
"I know."
"Of course, it's not me either."
"If neither of you can let me go, then who will let me go?"
Agong turned his head and asked at Hongjun's chuckling words.
Flick!
"Ack!"
Agong clutched his forehead and screamed at Hongjun's flick.
But strangely, at the same time as the pain, he felt his hazy mind become clear.
Of course, the flick was incredibly painful.
"Don't you have legs? Why are you trying to borrow someone else's strength when you can just walk out on your own two legs!"
"B-but..."
"B-but what? You stayed here as the price for the Slender Moon Squad, and those who leave the Hermit's Valley must pay the price to leave, so it is impossible to leave with their help."
"Then why did you make me work?"
"You're not the child of a high-ranking official, so did you expect three free meals a day and a comfortable place to sleep?"
There was nothing wrong with Hongjun's words. Agong was half-convinced by the words that he could leave whenever he wanted, but in this atmosphere, it didn't seem like Hongjun was joking.
"Then I'll just go...?"
"Wash up well before you go. That way, you can accumulate more virtue even if you offer yourself as a donation to the beasts."
At Hongjun's reply, Agong's expression hardened in an instant.
He was allowed to leave alone, but realistically, the probability of Agong being able to leave this Mountain Sea Tavern and go outside the Hermit's Valley was infinitely slim.
According to the warnings of Cook Li and Master Gongsun, he didn't know what would happen as soon as he left the fog around the tavern.
Even when he came to the tavern from the Hermit's Valley, he might have met with great disaster if not for the help of the mysterious object that the Slender Moon Squad possessed.
"Then..."
"Old Ancestor, we will be on our way now."
"The rain is heavy, so please be careful."
With Wenzhong in the lead, the Slender Moon Squad got up to leave, as if they had no more business.
"You can't just go like this!"
"If you come out of the Hermit's Valley, find the Black Qilin of the Black Contemplation Fortress with this."
As the anxious Agong tried to grab Wenzhong, Wenzhong took out a palm-sized token from his sleeve and handed it to Agong.
The token was a high-quality object made of fragrant sandalwood with a glossy finish, with the character for 'ink' carved on it, and a qilin and a dragon were engraved around the character.
"If you find me within ten years, you will have wealth and honor. If you find me within five years, you will have glory. If you find me within two years..."
Wenzhong left the tavern, leaving Agong alone.
Swoosh!
The rough rain still showed no sign of stopping.
"Zhao Wei of the Slender Moon Squad has committed a disloyalty worthy of death by causing concern to the Black Qilin."
"The Slender Moon Squad has committed a crime, so please punish us."
Zhao Wei, thinking that the commotion caused by Agong had been a nuisance to Wenzhong, knelt down to ask for forgiveness before setting off.
When Zhao Wei knelt, the remaining members of the Slender Moon Squad also prostrated themselves in the rain and asked for Wenzhong's forgiveness.
"That's enough. Didn't you do what was necessary, regardless of the process?"
"I am sorry. That child will never return to the Black Contemplation Fortress and cause trouble for the Old Master."
"Why do you think so?"
"That's..."
Zhao Wei couldn't easily bring himself to say that Agong was learning the self-destructive True Heart Auxiliary Method at his own recommendation.
If he hadn't practiced it, it would be one thing, but since he had started practicing it, Agong's death was as good as decided.
"If the child leaves this place and finds me with the token, I will keep my promise."
Zhao Wei swallowed his next words.
At least in Zhao Wei's opinion, there was no possibility of Agong disrespectfully bothering Wenzhong.
"We are returning to the Black Contemplation Fortress."
"As you command."
—If you find me within two years, I will take you as my disciple.
Chewing on Wenzhong's last words, Agong suppressed his festering anger.
How could he believe the words of the world's biggest liars?
He had suspected it inwardly, but since they had used him so shamelessly, he had developed a distrust of the kind of people called martial artists.
"So are you going to go back?"
At Hongjun's question, Agong shook his head.
No matter how much he thought about it, it was impossible to leave the Hermit's Valley without help.
"You're very angry."
"Yes. It may seem insignificant to you, Old Ancestor, but my life is more precious to me than anything else."
It is a very angry and unpleasant thing for one's life and destiny to be decided by the will of others.
Even if it was the powerless and young Agong.
"They are all people who will pay a great price. Just forget about it."
"A price?"
"The Black Qilin has met his master and his time, but he has no heavenly mandate. The will of heaven will be so, and he will never achieve his goal."
Agong couldn't understand Hongjun's words, but he could at least tell that the Black Qilin was a fearsome master who had made an empty promise to him.
Whatever it was, it seemed to be a bad story for them, so Agong's heart seemed to be a little relieved.
"Find Cook Li from tomorrow."
"Ah..."
Whether he left this place or stayed, Agong still couldn't erase the thought that his life was in danger.
* * *
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Hunting."
"Who?"
"Me."
The next day, at the words of Agong, who had come to find Cook Li with a haggard face, Cook Li, who was lying on a pillar in the kitchen, looked down at Agong as if he were dumbfounded.
Contrary to his appearance, seeing him immediately follow the chores of the tavern, it seemed he had either a natural strength or had learned some basic martial arts, but hunting in the Hermit's Valley was a completely different matter.
"Do you have no attachment to life at your young age?"
"The Old Ancestor told me to learn how to hunt from you, Cook Master..."
"That old man now told me to teach a brat how to hunt?"
Cook Li's face turned red with anger. His already wrinkled and fierce impression changed as if he were a demon.
"Hehehe... I was once called the Divine Thief, but my life got messed up with one mistake."
"If you just give me the hunting tools, I'll try to catch something on my own."
When Cook Li got very angry, Agong found it difficult to keep asking him to teach him how to hunt.
Still, he had occasionally caught small mountain animals to fill his hungry stomach since he was young, so if he hated it so much, he thought he would have to try it on his own.
"You'll catch it?"
Cook Li, who was still breathing hot air from his mouth as if his anger had not yet subsided, took a deep breath as if he had regained his senses.
"Yes. I'm not good with a bow, but I've handled it a little."
"A bow? There's no such thing as a bow here."
"Then what do you use to catch animals?"
Cook Li answered with a glance instead of a reply.
"An axe?"
"With the fog so thick, are you confident you can hit the prey with a bow even if you find it?"
Considering the fog of the Hermit's Valley, trying to hit a prey with a bow was the same as closing your eyes and hoping for a persimmon to fall from the sky.
"Even so, how do you hunt a running mountain animal with an axe?"
"Don't worry about that. Far from running away, they'll try to chew you up."
Agong flinched at Cook Li's assertion.
It was a place where deer hunted in packs to taste human blood.
In the first place, it was obvious that the moment Agong entered the fog, he would become the prey, not the hunter.
"If I make you a child ghost, my sleep will be disturbed."
Cook Li got up, as if he had given up.
And he immediately picked up a wooden branch about a foot long.
"Tsk, tsk... You must have picked up something somewhere. But you're just an empty vessel with only a mouse-sized amount of internal energy."
Thwack!
"Ouch!"
Agong, startled by Cook Li's action of suddenly hitting his knee, staggered.
But faster than that, Cook Li's leg supported Agong's body, and he gently stepped on his back foot with his own foot.
"What are you doing!"
"Remember this posture. This is the basic posture of the Nine Palaces Divine Steps."
"What's that?"
At Agong's question, Cook Li looked at him as if it were absurd for a moment, then contorted his face and corrected his posture again.
"Forget what I just said. I'm only teaching you just enough not to die, so don't even say I taught you."
"What? That Nine Palaces Divine Steps thing?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"If a guy who uses the Nine Palaces Divine Steps dies away from home, it'll be like smearing shit on my face!"
Agong couldn't understand, but he had no choice but to shut his mouth at Cook Li's frighteningly urgent words.
First of all, he was teaching him something, and although he didn't know why, every posture that Cook Li taught him was difficult.
"Again!"
With Cook Li's sharp voice, Agong, sweating profusely, returned to the first posture again.
He was out of breath, but he was told that if he didn't learn this, he would become food for the beasts, so he had no choice but to learn.
'Is this also a martial art?'
Tongtian's method of catching fish in the water, Cook Li's method of chasing and escaping from prey.
He had never even imagined that martial arts would have so many uses.
Perhaps Cook Li even used martial arts when cooking?
"Can't you concentrate!"
"Gasp... Gasp... Yes."
Agong, staggering, tried hard to erase the distracting thoughts in his head.
He couldn't understand why the people living here lived so hard, even for every little thing.
In the first place, since they were people who had walked into this place of certain death on their own, from Agong's perspective, they were people who were seriously wrong, even if something was wrong.
(End of Chapter)