Chapter 26
Food that people eat, not the raw flesh of dirty beasts or worms that burrow through the ground.
Although his blood and qi were twisted and his senses were not what they used to be, it was the smell of food that people eat, which he had smelled for the first time in five years.
At the smell of the food in Agong's basket, the wrinkled skin under the man's eyes trembled slightly with excitement.
"Is there food in that basket?"
"Food?"
As Agong rummaged through his basket, a snack, messy with dirt, revealed itself.
"Give it to me!"
Agong, startled by the man's action of suddenly extending his blood-stained hand with long fingernails, took a step back.
"H-hurry!"
As Agong moved away from him with the food, the man urgently raised his hoarse voice.
Agong, seeing the man stuck in a large rock, struggling and extending his hand, felt pity.
Although he was an unknown man, he took out the food that was less dirty from his basket and carefully handed it to the man's hand.
Swoosh!
A chilling cold was felt in the spot where the man's hand, which had snatched the food at a tremendous speed, had passed.
Agong, feeling as if his entire hand had been cut off along with the disappeared food, touched his wrist without realizing it.
"Chomp... chomp, chomp, ugh."
The man, who had pushed the food in his hand into his mouth at once without chewing, frowned as if he were suffocating.
Since he had pushed the food in at once without even drinking water, it was natural that he would choke.
"Gurgle!"
At that moment, with a sound of air escaping from the man's mouth, his ribs and neck, which had been lying flat, swelled up to twice their size.
"Ugh..."
Agong frowned at the man's hideous appearance.
He was even worried that he might burst like that.
He struggled for a moment like a frog crushed by a rock, and then, with a metallic sound, he gradually returned to his original form.
"Are you okay?"
"Is there more?"
To the man who had been eating the raw flesh of unknown beasts for five years, the rice ball with vegetables, which had a stone-like texture, was a delicacy among delicacies.
He was once again targeting Agong's basket with a greedy gaze.
"I only have my own left."
Agong had only packed enough snacks for Tongtian and himself.
Of course, seeing the man's unwell appearance, he had a mind to give him the rest.
But since he didn't know what would happen after he fell here, he had to leave at least a minimum amount of food.
"A young brat who has tasted the evil path doesn't know how to yield!"
"I gave you some."
Agong retorted bluntly at the man's unreasonable accusation.
"And I gave you the one that was in better condition..."
Agong, as if to show him, took out the dirt-covered rice ball from his basket and showed it to the man's eyes.
"Give it to me!"
The man's eyes gleamed. Once again, his hand flew like lightning to snatch Agong's dirt rice ball.
Agong, who was on guard this time, quickly bounced his feet and created a distance of about a zhang in one go.
Swoosh!
"Ah!"
Even though he had retreated to a range that was impossible for his hand to reach, Agong was once again helpless and had his rice ball snatched.
"How..."
Crunch, crunch!
Seeing the man who was swallowing a mouthful of rice as if he were even chewing the dirt, Agong looked at his empty hand as if he couldn't believe it.
The rice ball had been in his hand until he had created a distance.
If so, it meant that the man's hand had stretched this far, or the rice ball had entered the man's mouth on its own.
"Disgusting!"
As the man spat out a thick saliva, the saliva mixed with dirt flew between the man and Agong.
"Is there more?"
Agong felt anger at the man's excessive behavior.
"I don't have anything to eat either!"
The man, as if he didn't easily believe Agong's words, glanced at Agong's basket with a lingering gaze, but he did not ask for more food.
"Since you were going to be trapped anyway, you should have packed a little more before you fell."
"Who on earth are you to be so shameless?"
The man smacked his lips and then looked closely at Agong's angry face.
"In the martial world, they called me the Butterfly Scholar. Have you heard of me?"
"No."
The corner of the man's mouth twitched at Agong, who denied it at once.
"I am the Butterfly Scholar."
Thinking of Master Gongsun, the only scholar Agong knew, he was a person who was as different as heaven and earth, both internally and externally.
"My name is Agong."
Although they had exchanged names, the hostility that had arisen from the worst first impression did not subside.
"If a brand-new junior just reveals his name, how would I know you? A young brat wouldn't have entered the Sea Isle Sect by achieving his studies... Who is your master?"
"Why are you curious about that?"
"Since we'll be living together from now on, wouldn't it be good to know about each other?"
"Why would I live with you? We just met, but I've already come to dislike you, Butterfly Scholar, immensely."
"That's a pity. I'm starting to like you."
"That's a pity."
Agong retorted bluntly and opened his basket, looking sadly at the dead Three-Eyed Fish.
He was getting hungry, but he might have to eat the disgusting fish with three eyes raw.
"Since you took my food, at least tell me the way out of here."
"You want to get out of here?"
"Yes."
At Agong's words, who retorted as if it were natural, the Butterfly Scholar's upper body, which was crushed by the rock, shook lightly as if he had burst into laughter.
"Haha! Even if you had achieved great martial arts in the past, if you go out without martial arts, you will soon become food for the beasts."
"What about the person who is crushed under a rock? I don't think you're in a position to worry about me."
"Hehe... you can believe what I say, as I have endured this hellish life for five years."
Agong, hearing the Butterfly Scholar's dejected words in a self-deprecating voice, felt that his situation was truly miserable.
Before pushing Agong, Tongtian had told him that this place was a prison that confined the criminals who had committed crimes of the Sea Isle Sect.
Chewing on the words of the Butterfly Scholar, who had been talking nonsense as soon as he saw Agong, it seemed that the Butterfly Scholar was a prisoner confined in the prison.
"How did you get crushed by a rock?"
"Hmm... I was dealing with the beasts that were trying to eat me, and I couldn't avoid the rock that fell from the ceiling. If only my martial arts were intact..."
Coming to his senses and looking around, he saw that the surroundings were littered with human bones as well as the bones of large beasts.
"How for five years... alone?"
"I haven't seen a person other than you. It's all because of those bastards."
"Those bastards?"
"The Sea Isle Sect! To think they would turn me into a cripple and try to kill me for such a trivial matter..."
The Butterfly Scholar's eyes, who was gritting his teeth and cursing the Sea Isle Sect, gleamed red with excitement and anger.
"But who am I? They thought I had lost all my martial arts because they had broken my dantian and cut my blood and qi, but I am alive with my profound divine art!"
The Butterfly Scholar, perhaps because of his loneliness, was fluently telling stories that Agong hadn't even asked about.
Although a metallic sound was mixed with his saliva because he had been talking for a long time, his excitement did not seem to subside easily.
"Hehe, it must be the first time you've seen such a divine art since you started practicing martial arts. If you become a little more gentle, I am willing to help you, who has lost your martial arts."
"I'm fine."
The Butterfly Scholar's face twitched again at Agong, who refused in one go.
He, who knew the despair of a martial artist who had lost his martial arts better than anyone else, also knew how desperate they would become if there was even a little hope of recovering their martial arts.
But it was a strange thing that Agong did not even show any interest in his words.
'Come to think of it...'
He, who had lost his martial arts, had had a hard time guaranteeing his life to come this far with the beasts called 'dog monsters', but Agong had subdued the dog monsters too easily and had come to his side.
Moreover, a child who was not even of age in the Hermit's Valley, the prison of the Sea Isle Sect...
At first, he had thought that someone had come with a disciple, but there had been no precedent for that.
He hadn't been able to think clearly because of the person and food he had met after a long time, but chewing on it, there were many things that didn't add up.
"You brat, could it be..."
Grrr!
The Butterfly Scholar's question was buried in the thick killing intent and the cries of the beasts that filled the clearing.
Grrr! Grrr! Grrr!
"Wh-what is this?"
At the sound of the beasts coming from all directions, the Butterfly Scholar lightly twitched his lips with tension.
It was clear that Agong's new scent and his excited, raised voice had stimulated the beasts staying here.
In the dark cave square, eyes overflowing with ghostly energy were shining, and at the same time, the beasts began to reveal themselves one by one, and soon their number increased to dozens.
Agong, with a stiff expression, took a step back towards the Butterfly Scholar without realizing it.
Although the murderous beasts were not recklessly attacking Agong, they were drooling and gradually closing in on Agong and the Butterfly Scholar in a group.
"Hmm..."
It was the first time the Butterfly Scholar had seen so many dog monsters since he had fallen into the prison and been crushed by a rock.
For the first year, he had fought a life-and-death struggle against these beasts.
In return, the starving dog monsters seemed to have recognized the Butterfly Scholar, whom they had considered their prey, as a predator of equal standing.
After a certain point, no more dog monsters appeared in this clearing, centered on the rock he was crushed under.
However, since there were occasionally dog monsters that could not overcome their hunger and attacked him, the Butterfly Scholar was able to endure by filling his hungry stomach.
Looking at the pack of dog monsters, the one that was the largest and most imposing among them immediately caught his eye.
"Not good. Has a leader appeared?"
It was clear that the reason the dog monsters, which fought and ate each other, could form a pack like this was because of that leader dog monster.
In the past, he wouldn't have batted an eye even if dozens or hundreds of such beasts had gathered, but now, he was at a level of one-tenth of his past martial prowess.
Moreover, since he was in a dangerous situation where he couldn't even move, if more than two or three dog monsters attacked, he would be helpless.
Since the greedy creatures would not be satisfied with just eating Agong in front of them, it was no different from his day being properly set.
"To think that the first meal in a while would be my last meal."
Fortunately, the number did not increase any further, but the number of dog monsters already gathered in the clearing seemed to be at least thirty.
"Wh-what should we do?"
Agong had come close to the Butterfly Scholar.
Fortunately, perhaps thanks to the Butterfly Scholar's past record, the dog monsters were only growling and closing the distance, and they were not rushing at them all at once.
"What sharp plan would I have? Just prepare your heart."
Agong quickly held Tonglin in one hand and took a ready stance.
He resented Tongtian, who had dropped him into this hell, and at the same time, he regretted his carelessness in not heeding the warning of Cook Li.
'I could die here!'
If he ran away to save himself, the Butterfly Scholar left here would be as good as dead, and from experience, there was no answer even if he ran away from these beasts.
Grrr!
With the leader's loud roar, the thirty or so dog monsters rushed at Agong and the Butterfly Scholar at a tremendous speed.
Swoosh!
Crunch! Crack!
With a chilling sound of bones and flesh being crushed, a heavy sensation was felt at the fingertips holding Tonglin.
As he rotated Tonglin greatly and displayed the first move of the Heavenly Demon Hand, blood and flesh scattered in the air.
Although it was a terrible scene that would have made the usual Agong pale, he, in his excitement for battle and his desire for survival, was busy taking the Nine Palaces Divine Steps against the other dog monsters rushing at him.
Thwack! Crack!
As the pure internal energy of the Nine Gates True Scripture rotated and flowed through his eight extraordinary meridians, Agong's Heavenly Demon Hand moved naturally like flowing water, leaving afterimages in the air.
Although the dog monsters boasted thick hides that were hard for swords and spears to penetrate, agility, and strong stamina, they were helpless against the strike of Tonglin, which approached without them even noticing. In one go, their hides were torn, and blood spurted as pieces of flesh flew into the air.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The Butterfly Scholar, whose whole body was greatly swollen like a toad threatening an enemy, opened his eyes wide at Agong, who was brandishing the blue-glowing Tonglin and striking down the dog monsters in front of him.
"As expected! You brat, you haven't lost your martial arts!"
(End of Chapter)