Absolute Regression Chapter 52

Episode 52: If I Hate You Like You.

The first place I stopped by was the guest house in the lower village of Hongsan.

The inn was bustling with people and the workers were busy.

I stood at the entrance for a long time, but no one came to me.

At that moment, I saw a little boy running between the kitchen and the guests, carrying food. The moment I saw that boy, a smile appeared on my face.

When I came here to save the thunderbolt from my previous life, that little boy greeted me as a grown man. His face was the same as when he was young.

The child who discovered me late ran over to greet me.

“Hello, Musa, as you can see there are no seats available right now.”

“Do you have a room?”

“No, there are no rooms available. We are overflowing with guests because of the Blood God Festival.”

“When will the blood festival be held?”

“Exactly ten days later. There’s another inn at the end of that road, and I’m sure things will be no different there.”

The busy child left those words behind and ran off to receive another guest’s call.

Arrived at a good time, ten days before the blood sacrifice.

The Blood God Ceremony is the biggest ceremony held once a year at Pungcheon Church to worship the Blood God.

This is precisely why the third method to block the evil spells of the Demon Lord took two months.

Blood transfusion.

Only on the day of the Blood God Festival can you obtain a way to subdue the Soul Demon Lord. Fortunately, the Blood God Festival was two months later, so if the timing wasn’t right, it could have been a year before you could kill the Soul Demon Lord.

In the past, it took years to infiltrate the seat of the Fengchun sect where the thunder bell was kept.

It was the time it took for the leader of the Fengchun sect to find a secret escape route in case of emergency.

It didn’t even take half an hour to actually infiltrate and extract the water, but it took that long to figure out the passage.

Even though they had managed to find the secret passage, stealing the thunderbolt was still not easy.

The problem was the leader of the Pungcheon cult.

He spent most of his time there, where his throne was.

He ate there, and even slept there. He couldn’t even take advantage of the short time it took to resolve his physiological issues.

This is because there is an iron bar made of perpetual iron hanging down in the place where sacred objects, including the thunder bell, are stored.

Moreover, there was not only the leader of the Pungcheon Church, but also someone guarding the sacred water.

He wore chains made of iron and lived like a bound spirit around the Yin-Rao-Jong. He was not only a great martial artist, but he was also born with a great sense of smell. When someone approached, he would immediately sense it and warn the leader of the Feng-Cheon sect.

Therefore, it was impossible to steal the divine water without being noticed by the leader of the Pungcheon sect.

How could I have brought the thunderbolt under these circumstances?

Once a year, the iron bars go up and the leader of the Pungcheon sect leaves for a moment.

It’s the day the blood festival is held.

On this day, according to the established ritual, the leader of the Pungcheon sect leaves the throne and performs rites at the Daeyeonmujang.

At that time, the guard of the lightning bell would ring the bell thirty-six times according to the rules, and what I was aiming for was the moment when the bell was rung thirty-sixth and final.

After the final bell rings, it takes only a moment for the leader of the Wind God Cult to return from the Great Demonic Cult to the throne.

In the short time it took me to have a cup of tea, I accomplished a miracle.

I was able to escape from the pursuit of the Fengchun cult members because I practiced running away dozens of times.

Investigating, infiltrating, recruiting, fighting, practicing… … The countless things that happened then flashed before my eyes.

This time, my target was stored in the same place as the lightning bell. It was a simpler task than stealing the bulky lightning bell, so I could say that this trip to Pungcheon was a gift from my hard life.

I stood in front of the guest house for a while and watched the people passing by.

When the Blood God Festival was held, many sects that interacted with the Pungcheon Church sent congratulatory envoys, so not only the guest houses but also the streets were filled with people.

That was what I wanted. With so many people, no one would remember my existence. Of course, even in this situation, I wore a hat and completely hid my identity. I came quietly and will disappear without a sound.

I bought some camping supplies, basic food, and a herbal medicine boiler from several shops on the street.

And the last place we arrived at was a pharmacy.

“You want some vaporizer?”

The old man at the pharmacy looked at me with a surprised face.

“The vaporizer is expensive.”

The herb, Gihwacho, is a medicinal herb that grows only in Saewae and cannot be found in the Central Plains.

“How much is one pound?”

“How much do you need?”

“I need two roots.”

“You have to pay eighty nyang per pound. I don’t know if you know, but it’s a very precious herb.”

“Okay, I’ll buy two for that price.”

“But what are you going to use the vaporizer for?”

The old man looked at me again, as the ginseng was not a commonly used herb.

But since I had pressed my mouth down hard when I came in here, I couldn’t see my face. My voice was also different from mine.

“I don’t know either. I live on orders from above.”

The old man brought the herb without asking any more questions. After checking the herb for me, the old man wrapped the herb well and gave it to me. I paid the old man and left the place.

After leaving the pharmacy, I went to another pharmacy far away. This time, I found a dragon tree and a quartz flower.

After obtaining the two herbs there, I went to a pharmacy in another village far away and purchased some dogwood and sandalwood.

There was only one reason for gathering herbs from so many places. It was to keep the herbs from being made and made by gathering them from one place. There wouldn’t be any problems if they were all bought from one place, but it was a precaution.

It doesn’t hurt to be careful. In life, annoyances come back as financial losses, but in the world of martial arts, annoyances cost lives.

After I got all the herbs I needed, I went straight up the mountain.

Deep in the mountains, where people rarely lived, there was a cave where they had lived before. They cleaned it up and made medicine.

Depending on the ingredients, some herbs had to be boiled separately, while others had to be boiled together. They had to be boiled for at least several days.

This medicine was a potion that could paralyze the sense of smell of a chained master. He was said to have been held captive since his youth, so he must still be there now. The time and money it took to find out this secret method at the time were not insignificant.

While the medicine was being prepared, I sat cross-legged and practiced the Cheonmahosingong.

When I first learned it, I almost died, but now it has become my indispensable best friend. The more I practice it, the more I feel the specialness of the Cheonmahosingong.

Is it because of the characteristics of the Cheonmahoshinkong? When a crisis comes, it wakes me up and activates on its own, so there are times when the Cheonmahoshinkong feels like a living martial art. I know that it becomes even more powerful when combined with the Guhwamagong, so I just hope that day comes soon.

After practicing late into the night, I left the cave and looked up at the stars in the night sky.

I stood here and looked at the night sky before returning, but there was one thing that was decidedly different about my feelings then.

At that time, I only had one thought in mind: to go back, but now, instead of going back, I am longing for the people I want to see. In particular, I wondered if Seodaeryong was learning martial arts well from Hyeolcheon Doma.

They both deny it, but they secretly resemble each other.

‘I hope you’re doing well?’

* * *

On the first day of training, Seo Dae-ryong was waiting for the Bloody Heavenly Horse in the yard.

I arrived on time, but the blood clot machine wasn’t out yet.

Learning martial arts from Blood Heavenly Demon, he really felt like his heart was going to burst.

I tried swinging the sword by myself.

If you don’t use your internal energy, it’s still too heavy.

He waited for the blood chopping board, thinking that he shouldn’t waste his energy.

After waiting for a long time but no one came out, Seo Dae-ryong cautiously approached the Hyeoncheon Doma’s residence.

As I was looking inside through the closed window, I felt a cold breeze coming from beside me.

When I turned around with a start, the Bloodthirsty Demon appeared and was looking into the window with me.

“What are you looking at?”

“Ugh!”

Seo Dae-ryong screamed in surprise.

“Sorry, sorry! I was waiting to see if you were inside.”

“I heard that the scholar was expelled from the school?”

“yes.”

“It takes about two months, right?”

“You heard.”

“That’s plenty of time for someone to go missing, or for someone to have an accident and die.”

Seo Dae-ryong spoke quickly.

“Your Majesty is so intelligent that you would not believe that such a tragedy could occur in just two months.”

“He is a smart person, so he will soon forget the tragedy that has already occurred.”

Bloodthirsty Doma pretended to gouge out his eyes with his long, thin fingers.

“I will never steal from now on!”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Oh, yes. I’ll go!”

Seo Dae-ryong ran to the middle of the yard.

Blood Heavenly Sword Demon taught Seodaeryong how to hold and swing the sword.

Then he went inside and said.

“A thousand times!”

Seo Dae-ryong was swinging his sword with his whole body drenched in sweat.

“Eight hundred and fifty-three, eight hundred and fifty-four… … .”

The weight of the spinning wheel was so heavy that I felt like my arms would fall off.

‘Oh my god, I can’t do this anymore!’

Seodaeryong collapsed on the floor. Even if Hyeolcheondoma was watching, he couldn’t do anything. He didn’t have the strength to move even a single finger.

Normally, this would be the time when I would be lying in bed at home eating a snack and reading a book.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

When my body was tired, regret began to creep in.

‘No, no. I’ve already made up my mind!’

If I don’t complete my training from the first day and get kicked out, I won’t have the face to see the sword dance.

Seodaeryong suddenly stood up and swung his sword. He barely managed to collect a thousand swords.

“I did it!”

Seo Dae-ryong sat down on the floor and looked down at the sword in his hand.

This cold and heavy feeling of morality! Yes, if you follow this feeling, it will definitely lead you to a better life than a life of rolling around.

Then the window opened and the Bloodthirsty Horse appeared.

“If it’s hard, just stop. I won’t stop you.”

Seo Dae-ryong jumped up. His arms felt like they were going to fall off, but he spoke firmly.

“I won’t stop.”

“why?”

“You won’t get another opportunity like this in your lifetime.”

“I will never pass on my martial arts skills?”

“I don’t even wish for that. The opportunity I’m talking about is the opportunity to learn martial arts from the Demon Lord. I’ll tell you later when I have a child. This father, he learned martial arts from the Blood Heavenly Lord when he was young. That’s enough. Living as a warrior, it’s enough to have those kinds of memories.”

“You are thinking of getting married.”

“Yes, I would like to.”

“why?”

“I want to raise a child. So I want to give him the paternal love that my father never gave him.”

There was a sense of story and sorrow in his words.

“What if your child hates you as much as you do?”

“Then… … Could you please do this training for my child as well?”

At Seo Dae-ryong’s words, Hyeolcheon Doma snickered.

Seo Dae-ryong also laughed heartily at the thought that he had made Hyeolcheon Doma laugh.

“Hyeolcheondoma said as he closed the window.

“A thousand more times!”