Chapter – 46
“Hmm.”
Kang Yu carefully examined his face reflected in the mirror.
No matter how many times he looked, it was a flawless face.
A completely different person was captured in the mirror.
The more he looked, the more fascinating and amazing this technique was, but there was one problem.
To perform this reverse appearance technique, he had to sit still for two shichen (four hours) every day.
Just then, slender, delicate fingers detached from Kang Yu’s face.
“There, done for today. Good work.”
Hyehwa, the reverse appearance technique expert, said as she packed her tool case.
“Any precautions?”
It was a question repeated for days now.
Kang Yu’s eyes rolled playfully.
“The duration of the face-altering 축골공 (Bone Shrinking Art) is six shichen. So, since it’s 묘시 (Mao hour, 5-7 AM) now… The effect lasts until 유시 (You hour, 5-7 PM)!”
“And what happens if those six shichen pass or I move excessively?”
“Your face returns to its original state.”
Hyehwa smiled softly at Kang Yu’s words.
Despite being asked the same question for days, she answered diligently and kindly each time without showing any annoyance.
Frankly, there was no need to repeat it.
Hyehwa couldn’t resist anything cute, and she simply wanted to see Kang Yu’s childlike appearance again.
“Thank you again today. It must be really tiring for you every day.”
Yoyo.
She really wanted to bite him anywhere.
Hyehwa felt a mischievous urge.
“Well, if you’re that worried, there is one method.”
“Huh?”
“A good method where you don’t have to practice the 축공술 (Shrinking Art) for two shichen daily like now, don’t have to apply powder, don’t have to draw eyebrows. Moreover, the effect is semi-permanent.”
“Wow. There’s such a method?”
Hyehwa answered nonchalantly while packing her makeup case.
“A human skin mask.”
“Human skin mask?”
“Peel the skin from a human face and wear it over your own.”
“Goodness gracious!”
Startled, Kang Yu slipped from his chair.
Hyehwa chuckled seeing Kang Yu like that.
What’s with ‘goodness gracious’?
Who uses such old-fashioned words these days?
Danju-in Wi Yeon said this kind and gentle innocent was the rumored 창천신룡 (Soaring Heaven Divine Dragon).
Even after seeing him repeatedly, it was a story that was hard to believe.
Just then, he cautiously asked a question.
“Uhm… That… This human skin mask, is it just shaped like a human face?”
“No. Of course, it’s made from actual peeled human face skin that you wear.”
“Gasp…!”
“Of course, sometimes they are made from 돈피 (pig skin), but those tend to show. Although, unless you have eyes as sharp as mine, you wouldn’t know even if you looked closely.”
Hyehwa, having finished packing her case, looked back at Kang Yu with a meaningful expression.
“So? Shall we switch to a convenient human skin mask starting tomorrow?”
“…….”
Kang Yu gulped hard.
To wear peeled human face skin just for temporary convenience?
It was a horrifying thought just to imagine.
Kang Yu subtly avoided Hyehwa’s eyes.
“Th-that’s okay… Let’s just endure a bit more hardship together…”
Hyehwa chuckled again.
“It’s a joke, a joke.”
“Huh?”
“Even though we’re 금종 (of the dark path), even demon cultists don’t do such things. And if we were going to do that, wouldn’t Danju-nim have participated from the start?”
Finally realizing Hyehwa had been teasing him, Kang Yu laughed sheepishly.
Kang Yu followed Hyehwa as she was about to leave the room.
“Let me escort you.”
“Oh no.”
Hyehwa firmly declined.
“A young man frequenting a pleasure house so early doesn’t look good. It wouldn’t be good to attract attention immediately. Ah, and…”
Hyehwa handed various items to Kang Yu.
“This is 공단 (public plaque). This is a forged identification tag under the name 강구. And this is a pouch of pig’s blood.”
“Pig’s blood?”
“It might come in handy.”
“Hmm.”
Just as Hyehwa was about to leave, she swiftly turned back.
“From when until when!?”
“M-Mao hour until You hour…”
“The condition for the reverse appearance technique to break?”
“It breaks earlier if I move excessively.”
“Don’t lose the prepared items!”
With a bright smile, Hyehwa left the room and leaned her back against the guest room door.
‘Thank you again today. It must be really tiring for you every day.’
A tear fell onto the makeup case.
Her steps were weak as she left the inn behind.
* * *
Yeo Dong-wan’s eyes snapped open.
His hand frantically felt his left cheek.
“Hah…”
It was there.
He thought his face might have disappeared.
Hei Long Jiang (Black Dragon River) District 3 Qualifier: Kang Gu.
He had seen nothing.
Not even a shape.
Only the impact with the wall had been felt.
When he opened his eyes, it was now.
“Kgh.”
Suppressing the intense pain, Yeo Dong-wan rose from the sickbed.
Medicine cabinets densely lining the walls were the first things to enter his vision.
The scent of medicinal herbs also wafted to his nose.
Just then, the door opened and someone entered the room.
“Oh? Have you come to your senses?”
“Who are you…?”
“The 용봉지회 (Dragon-Phoenix Tournament) designated physician assigned by the Meng. You probably saw me on the podium during the opening ceremony.”
Had he?
“Do you have a spare set of clothes?”
Only then did Yeo Dong-wan examine his attire.
Clothes torn, frayed, and turned into rags all over.
“How many days was I lying down?”
“Three days.”
“…….”
If he had won his first match, his next match would have been three days later.
Yeo Dong-wan hurriedly got up.
He placed a silver tael on the table.
“Thank you.”
The physician picked up the silver tael from the table.
“During the tournament, it’s free…”
But the back figure was already far away.
The physician flicked the silver tael with his finger.
“Well, if given, I’ll take it.”
* * *
Yeo Dong-wan limped towards Huaqing Palace, where the matches were being held.
Being the famous detached palace of Consort Yang, it was usually crowded, but now with the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament overlapped, the crowds were literally boiling over.
Yeo Dong-wan pushed through the spectators.
The Dragon-Phoenix Tournament selected about a thousand martial artists from regional qualifiers across the Central Plains.
The selected participants were gathered at the venue for a month-long tournament.
For the first nine days, to sort out participants, four matches were held every two shichen, totaling sixteen matches per day.
The main arena at the center of Huaqing Palace and the auxiliary arenas to the east, south, and north.
Weaving through the crowds and circling the arenas around Huaqing Palace, Yeo Dong-wan soon stopped in front of the South Gate.
“…!”
Hei Long Jiang (Black Dragon River) District 3 Qualifier: Kang Gu.
His match was proceeding on the South Gate arena.
Holding his side, Yeo Dong-wan moved to a spot with a better view of the arena.
He had to confirm.
What had he been defeated by?
To what level had the martial prowess of the man who felled him reached?
“Haam…”
Just then, a yawn was heard from a spectator standing nearby.
“…….”
Turning his head, he saw it wasn’t just one or two.
Many were already leaving their seats.
Contrary to Yeo Dong-wan’s expectations, the match on the arena was unbearably dull.
Neither participant was particularly fast or strong, nor were their techniques flashy.
It was a continuous series of boring exchanges.
Not a trace of the transcendent feeling from a few days ago could be found in Kang Gu on the arena.
As the match proceeded, deeper doubt gradually settled on Yeo Dong-wan’s face.
“Could it be…?”
Perhaps he was truly a frog in a well, as people said.
Maybe the martial artists he faced in the Henan qualifiers were, as he initially thought, extremely nervous or in very poor physical condition.
Otherwise, the situation on the arena simply didn’t add up.
The board posted prominently at the South Gate arena entrance, listing the participants’ information.
《Hei Long Jiang, Jin Hua Sect: Kang Gu》
Vs.
《Shan Dong, Tian Ling Society: Xun Huiqian》
The Jin Hua Sect was unfamiliar, and the Shan Dong Tian Ling Society was also an unfamiliar name.
Typically, it meant Kang Gu’s opponent was also a martial artist of little note.
But look at the situation on the arena, locked in a stalemate.
Perhaps Xun Huiqian was also an incredibly skilled master like Kang Gu?
But even trying to think that, the movements of the two were too clearly visible.
Then what in the world was the match three days ago?
While Yeo Dong-wan was feeling confused looking at Kang Gu’s stumbling figure…
‘I’m dying…’
Kang Gu on the arena was truly having a hard time.
Fighting against super masters was tough, but this was difficult in its own way.
Martial artists, even if weak, were too weak; slow, too slow, making it very hard to match their rhythm.
“Fire Bird Rising Kick!”
Just then, the opponent who had leaped up aimed a kick at Kang Gu’s shoulder with his toes.
*Thud*
The thought that came immediately upon impact was one.
‘D-did that hit?’
Unsure, he checked the opponent’s reaction. This time, the opponent clenched his fist as if it had truly landed properly.
Then what was needed at this moment was acting with all his might.
“G, Graaah!”
Kang Gu kicked off the ground himself and jumped backwards.
Midway, a spectator’s voice pierced Kang Gu’s ears.
“But isn’t something off? It seems like the smaller one has been going easy on the opponent since a while ago…”
Kang Gu, mid-air, performed a somersault.
Then, he thrust his fist into the abdomen of the opponent who was charging.
‘Gently…’
“Kghhhaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!!”
Pain as if his abdomen was pierced.
Xun Huiqian, who saw his deceased grandmother, vomited yellow gastric juice while standing.
Then he fell forward just like that.
His eyes rolled back as he fainted.
“…….”
The arena, not very noisy to begin with, became completely silent.
The finishing move was incomparable to the dull exchanges so far.
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Kang Yu leaped up.
“W-wow! I, I won! I won!”
At the sight of the participant rejoicing like a child, the bewildered spectators began to applaud one by one.
“Hey! He’s more than he looks!”
“So he did have one good move!”
“Of course! That’s why he passed the regional qualifiers!”
“For the next match, do that from the start! I almost died of boredom!”
Whether from martial artists or super masters, praise poured in, making Kang Gu smile brightly.
Whether he faked a win or truly won, praise always felt good.
“Hehe. Thank you. Thank you.”
Just as Kang Gu was descending from the arena in high spirits…
“Hey, you.”
“?”
Someone with one side of his face badly swollen blocked Kang Gu’s path.
‘Gasp.’
Seeing the intact other side of the face, it was a familiar person.
The participant he had sent flying with one blow a few days ago due to failing to control his strength.
“Can I have a word for a…”
“Gasp! What’s that over there!”
“?”
Yeo Dong-wan’s eyes followed Kang Gu’s fingertip.
The dense crowd and a wall about ten zhang away.
A scene with nothing special.
Yeo Dong-wan turned his head back.
“What are you looking…”
Kang Gu, who was there, had disappeared.
Realizing he’d been tricked, Yeo Dong-wan quickly raised his gaze.
“…….”
Then, far away.
Beyond the spectators, he could see Kang Gu’s back figure running away.
* * *
Afterwards, Yeo Dong-wan sought out Kang Gu’s arena several times.
The match content was similar.
Kang Gu’s difficult victory after a tedious exchange.
Though he requested conversations several times, Kang Gu always made various excuses to slip away.
Today was the same.
“Ugh. Th-that, urgent nature’s call…!”
“…….”
Watching Kang Gu holding his backside exaggeratedly and disappearing, Yeo Dong-wan sighed.
He didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable.
He just wanted to ask.
What was your first day about?
Whether the achievement he derived from it was real or illusory.
But today, Yeo Dong-wan didn’t chase Kang Gu.
Because he had anticipated the situation repeating for days and had thought of a method in advance.
And not long after, Yeo Dong-wan appeared on a remote road in Chang’an.
“What? You’ll give money whether I win or lose in an unofficial duel?”
It was Xun Huiqian, who had been eliminated from the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament and was about to leave Chang’an.
He, Kang Gu’s second match opponent, laughed lightly.
“How could a martial artist of the righteous path be swayed by something like money? Find another opponent.”
As soon as the words ended, the other threw something.
Catching it, it was one gold tael.
It was money collected bit by bit by people from Yeo Dong-wan’s hometown, Huang Tian, for his travel expenses.
One gold tael was twenty silver taels, and twenty silver taels was half a year’s living expenses for an average family.
“If you win the duel, I’ll give you one more.”
Greed appeared in Xun Huiqian’s eyes, who had been declining.
In fact, one side was badly swollen, but it was a face he knew from before.
A weakling who had been instantly defeated in the first round by that Kang Gu who barely beat him after a hard fight.
Then, there was no need to refuse easy money.
“Then I’ll learn a move, no, receive one tael.”
A little while later.
“Well fought.”
Yeo Dong-wan’s sword was sheathed.
He left behind Xun Huiqian, who sat dumbfounded on his buttocks.
Thus, he used all three gold taels in the pouch.
All three people Kang Gu had struggled against couldn’t withstand a single exchange from him.
They were martial artists of a much lower level than even the Qingcheng secular disciple he faced in the regional finals.
Yeo Dong-wan’s gaze turned towards Huaqing Palace in the distance.
The four arenas prepared for the tournament were visible below.
“Why hide your strength even after participating in the tournament…?”
After silently gazing at Huaqing Palace, Yeo Dong-wan turned his steps back towards Chang’an.
