Chapter 218: East, Hwaseong (6)
“Hmph, but it’s good to see your face after all these years.”
“How about we… put this murderous sword away for a while and have a conversation…?”
The woman holding the sword to my throat and smiling broadly was a figure from my past named Dao Hua.
“Dao Hua wants you dead.”
I barely managed to keep her sword from reaching my neck by pressing the back of my sword against her elbow.
She lunged for the sword, thinking I’d been completely seduced, but I hadn’t been seduced by a mere woodsman’s blunt armor, or by her seduction.
I panicked because my mind was flooded with her name as I touched her energy field.
Disciple, kill her.]
Sierra, watching me, made a gesture of slitting her throat with her thumb.
-Really.
It just happened to coincide with the scent of Dao Hua’s bandaged chest hitting my nose.
“I’m not your husband in the first place, much less your lover.”
My guess is, she’s related to my past life but I couldn’t figure out why she recognized me as my past life self.
The explanation is complicated, but it’s that Hanzo’s tomb, or this dungeon, recognizes me as one of three things: a saint, a king, or a demon.
I don’t even know how that’s possible.
If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because Hanzo knew me in my previous life but what I do know is that once I’ve crossed all the gateways, I’ll have a chance to get an explanation from Hanzo himself.
That gives me one more reason to clear this dungeon.
For the record, Hanzo is dead.
What I’ll encounter is a ghostly version of him.
“Have you forgotten about me already…?”
“I don’t know who Dao Hua is.”
“……”
Suddenly, Dao Hua’s arms go limp, and she drops her sword to the floor.
In the original game, this gateway was not difficult at all.
No matter who the woodcutter was disguised as, it wouldn’t hit the player.
However, when I experienced it firsthand, it was a difficult gateway in more ways than one.
Even though I didn’t know Dao Hua, it was quite annoying to see her look exactly like Kaen and have such a realistic expression on her face.
“If it’s Kaen’s neck… I’ve cut it off before…’
I had dueled with her once and cut her throat in an illusionary spell.
It had been a long time ago, and the Kaen of that time had been a bit of a coward, so it was less objectionable.
Yes, a resemblance.
She is not Kaen but she could be Kaen’s ancestor.
‘Wait… does that mean I’m going to cut down the ancestor of the woman I love…?’
That was a problem as it was.
What mattered now was how strong the woman in front of me, Dao Hua, was.
Hanzo’s techniques were never simple.
Copying a person’s appearance is copying, but it also brings a certain amount of power.
I know it’s implemented using the memories of those who enter the gate as a database, but since I don’t remember Dao Hua, I couldn’t predict what to expect.
She was carrying a sword, but at the moment I was hoping that she might not be someone skilled in combat.
[Now that I think about it, her outfit looks quite familiar…]
Sierra’s eyes widened, and she glanced at the painting, which was slightly over her lowered clothes.
[Could it be…?]
“Master, if you have any information, please let me know as soon as possible, preferably something that will give us an idea of her strength.”
“Master, who are you talking to right now?! Are you bandaging the corners of your eyes because you’re seeing things in vain?”
“Pfft…”
Dao Hua grabbed my cheek and made a pouty face. Her personality was slightly different from Kaen’s, so this was a different flavor.
[Dao Hua… Dao Hua… Hmph… ]
Sierra rubbed her chin while repeating Dao Hua’s name over and over again.
[Ah…!]
Then, with an exclamation, she slams her fist into her palm.
[ …but I don’t know if I’m right. ]
“Who are you…?”
[…Sword Demon, Dao Hua…When I took up the sword, my grandfather once told me that there was once a female swordswoman like me in the Warring States. He said it was an old story that was passed down through the generations, so even if she existed, it must have been quite a long time ago.]
“Sword Demon…?”
“…I told you, Mr. West, I’m not a big fan of that name.”
“……I apologize.”
What’s clear is that it’s the tinnitus of someone who is very good with a sword.
“Then you shall pay for it with death.”
She drops the sword to the ground and Dao Hua disappears from view for a moment.
I quickly scatter my ki, but…
‘…Gone?’
Aside from Sierra, nothing touched my ki. I caught a glimpse of something in the distance, probably the grave robbers trapped in the trap field but it was no time to worry about them.
‘Where…’
Where is Dao Hua?
I raised my sword and scanned my surroundings.
[Behind you!]
Sierra’s voice rang in my head, but it was too late.
-POOF.
Dao Hua appeared from behind me and hugged me tightly.
“Did you look for me? By the way, since you’re using a reverse sword, have you learned another sword technique in the time since I last saw you?”
“…Why didn’t you stab me?”
“I am the shadow of the moon… Your shadow, so how could I aim for your throat?”
Dao Hua was nothing more than a spirit after all, but the demeanor she was displaying now felt different from the ordinary spirits I knew.
“And haven’t you had enough of death already?”
“How can you…”
Dao Hua’s meaningful words were whispered in my ear, and at that moment, the status window blared loudly, making my head spin.
[Contacted a key figure from the past!]
[Greatly increased progress!]
[As a reward for reaching a certain level of progress…]
I tried to check the rewards but I couldn’t read the words anymore.
My vision darkened, and my body’s senses were being cut off one by one.
-Thud.
My mind was fading away.
***
“Dao Hua, where are you?”
I entered Dao Hua’s room and looked for her, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Dao Hua? …Are you going to make fun of this king again?”
I stifled a sigh and sat down on the floor.
“I’ll wait for you for days and days.”
Soon enough, Dao Hua appears and hugs me from behind.
“You were looking for me?”
“Haha, I don’t think you’re going to have any fun, so let’s see you get back out…”
“Hmph…You’ve been busy for a while, so you didn’t even look for me, right? It would have been nice to hang out with me for a bit.”
“I’ve been busy as well, and I heard that you’ve been visiting Ishay this time.”
“Hah… I hear the two tribes have been fighting again.”
“That’s their business, let them be. Forcing a mold doesn’t produce a beautiful shape…One day the strife will end, and the unification won’t last long anyway.”
When I say something serious that doesn’t fit the mood, she ruffles my hair as if she doesn’t like it, and then jumps right onto my body.
“You’re getting heavy.”
I stood up, still carrying her.
“…You’ve gained muscle.”
“Haha.”
Dao Hua angrily slaps me on the back.
Gone was the completely emotionless Sword Demon I had met before. There was only the lovely Dao Hua, my wife.
“More importantly, why are you spending all your resources to destroy the ghosts? It won’t be too late to start exterminating them once the Great Yue Kingdom is more stable, and the land of demons is…”
“It’s far from the East, so why do you care?”
“…I know you don’t like it, but I still don’t understand.”
Dao Hua said cautiously.
“Dao Hua, how many humans in the West do you think are dying fighting demons right now?”
“…I don’t know.”
“I heard there were five thousand casualties in the last battle, and if the goblins devour the West, where will they head?”
“To the East.”
“They feed on corpses to grow stronger. As the days go by, they grow stronger and stronger, and more and more humans die. The enemy of man is not man, but demons. My question is, why don’t humans join forces against demons?”
“Is that what you said when you went to the Celestial Academy this time?”
“I did, though I don’t think anyone was listening…These days, young people want to…”
“Oh, my Lord, you’re still in your prime, aren’t you?”
As I set the painting down on the bed, she unnecessarily added more meaning to my actions.
“It doesn’t mean anything, I just put it on the floor…”
“That’s strange…? Wasn’t it you who said you wanted to have children?”
Dao Hua, who interrupted me, lifted her leg slightly as if in provocation.
“Well… I mean… yes, and I have to help train the soldiers…”
“Speaking of soldiers, I gave them a special lesson this morning.”
The soldiers’ bones and muscles must have been harpooned.
As soon as my ‘duty’ is done, I’ll have to call a counselor.
One for me.
Five for the soldiers.
I quickly finished my calculations, looked at the painting, and smiled.
The cold woman who was once called the Sword Demon was now begging for a hug.
Life is something to be lived and seen many times.
***
It was a very sweet dream.
I opened my eyes and saw Dao Hua and Sierra.
The two women were staring down at me.
“Ugh…”
My headache hasn’t fully set in yet.
“Did you sleep well, my lord?”
“…I apologize. I was in the middle of crossing swords…”
The fluffiness on my head must be Dao Hua’s knee, judging by Sierra’s narrowed eyes.
What I just saw was a memory of my past life, a memory of what happened with Dao Hua to be exact.
It was a very foreign sensation.
I thought it would feel like someone else, but of course it was me there, and it felt as vivid as if I had actually had that conversation.
“Ugh…”
I felt a little nauseous, probably a side effect of what had just happened but I pushed myself to my feet and watched as Dao Hua stood up.
I still couldn’t believe she was my past life wife, and I wondered about that, as well as the connection between her and Kaen.
“I guess it’s time to get things organized.”
Dao Hua sheathed her sword again and turned to me.
“…I suppose.”
“If I don’t die, you won’t be able to cross this passage, will you?”
“That would seem to be the case.”
“Then you may pass through.”
“But…”
If she doesn’t die, the next gateway won’t open.
“Pass through. Even if you’re a mean old man who doesn’t remember his one and only wife… I don’t want to show you again.”
Dao Hua grinned.
“……”
I knew what she didn’t want to show me, maybe that’s why the way she smiled and said, “I don’t want to show it again,” really bothered me but for now, I decided to respect her choice, because there was nothing to be gained by lamenting and swarming in hindsight.
I gave her a curt nod and pushed past her to walk ahead.
With each step, I felt a surge of fear and just when I thought I was a good distance away from her.
-Poof.
A sound I didn’t want to hear came from the other side.
I resented my superior hearing, at least for now.
“…”
I clenched my teeth.
I should have covered my ears.
For a brief moment, I may have been dazzled by her. In that sense, my former wife had cheated.
She was a thief, but not just any thief.
The woman I had just met was the real deal so I’ll have to ask her how that was possible.
‘Hanzo…’
It was a very unpleasant slap.
Only a good slap across the face of the culprit would make me feel better.
‘Don’t think you can get away with this just because you’re a ghost…’
I had a teacher who could deliver a spicy punch on my behalf.