Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Heavenly Realm

I stared blankly at Zhuge Sa before reflexively shouting.

"Help me!"

Yeah. Who cares why this Zhuge Sa was on Golden Jade Island right now? What mattered was overcoming this hellish situation where I couldn't see an inch ahead. Zhuge Sa was the leader of the Demonic Cult and a master of sorcery, so he had to be able to offer some real help.

Zhuge Sa grinned and said.

"Beg for it."

"Huh?"

"Get on your knees and plead for my help."

"......"

Rage boiled up inside me for a moment, but I had no intention of doing as he said. If worst came to worst, I'd just end it myself rather than listen to some lunatic. I gritted my teeth and said.

"No!"

Zhuge Sa's eyes lit up as he said.

"Pass!"

"Huh?!"

Whoosh.

In the next instant, Zhuge Sa unfurled a scroll, which expanded like a storm, filling the entire space. When it had trapped me so thoroughly that I couldn't see a thing ahead, Hand Heavenly Army's bellow echoed.

[You human scum!! Where are you!!]

Swoosh swoosh swoosh.

Swoosh.

A blood-red energy streaked past outside the scroll amid sounds like tearing wind. Hand Heavenly Army riding the waves was utterly terrifying. After a long while, the noises died down, and Zhuge Sa's voice rang out.

"Dismiss."

The scroll encircling me vanished clean away with that single word. Zhuge Sa rolled it up and tucked it into his robes, grinning.

"That guy's an idiot. Never even thought I might hide you."

"......"

"After I saved your life, don't you owe me your name at least?"

After hesitating a moment at his words, I said.

"... Little Bear."

"What a bumpkin name. Heh heh... You're human, alright."

"What was that 'pass' business just now?"

Zhuge Sa shrugged at my question.

"Guys who beg right away are no fun. The ones who talk crap are entertaining."

I was dumbfounded.

"Normally, no one would kneel in a spot like that! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"Well, sure- maybe-"

Zhuge Sa narrowed his eyes.

"But you sliced through Hand Heavenly Army's waves with that Intent Severing Technique and still chose to run instead of fighting on? That means you know the gap in your skills well and realize you'd die without my help. And yet you won't kneel and beg... That's fun!"

I realized anew that Zhuge Sa wasn't just some madman. What sounded like bullshit was actually a sharp analysis of my situation moments ago. And if he knew I'd broken the Blood Fire Formation with Intent Severing Technique, he'd already gauged my martial prowess.

As I eyed him warily, Zhuge Sa grinned.

"That hidden spirit beast around you is top-notch. What are you, carrying a spirit beast around?"

"None of your business."

"It is my business. I might save your life, after all."

I snapped sharply.

"If not, I'll just die. So get lost!"

"......!"

Zhuge Sa flinched as our eyes met. He looked genuinely shocked. The ice beauty standing beside him- Dao King Bi Ji-sang- spoke up.

"Let's go."

Zhuge Sa replied.

"... Nah, I'm gonna help this guy. You go ahead."

Dao King Bi Ji-sang turned her gaze to him.

"What whim is this?"

"Heh heh... See you later."

"Do what you want."

Whoosh!

Dao King Bi Ji-sang leaped into the air and vanished. But no matter how I looked at it, that was spatial translocation or some equivalent technique, leaving me doubting my own eyes. The infamous gambling freak of Sichuan's martial world, Dao King Bi Ji-sang, had a skill like that?

'More importantly, are they partners or what? I can't figure out their relationship.'

Zhuge Sa and Bi Ji-sang used casual speech with each other and were traveling together. But she'd left without any loyalty to help him. Still, they seemed to have plans to meet up somewhere, making their bond impossible to pin down. Too ambiguous for lovers or colleagues.

I looked at Zhuge Sa and said.

"As I said, you don't need to help me."

"Heh heh heh. You..."

Zhuge Sa eyed me with a mad gleam.

"How can you have eyes like that?"

"Like what?"

"When our eyes met... You have no fear of death. It's not like a martial master's forgotten it or hidden it away, nor a high monk's transcendence. You just 'know' the essence of death."

"......"

"What are you? I've never seen or heard of any living being with eyes like that, not in all my time as Zhuge Sa of Guangxi."

I shut my mouth.

'Know the essence of death?'

I didn't fear dying because of my reincarnation. And the real terror was the opposite- never ending. That's why death sometimes felt like an annoying hassle. I'd never thought deeply about it, but to Zhuge Sa, it looked like I grasped death's essence.

After pondering, I said.

"If you're going to help, see it through. Otherwise, I can't trust a shady guy like you."

"Great attitude. You got it."

Zhuge Sa smiled faintly.

"I'll help. Until you return to the mortal world."

"Thanks."

"Heh heh..."

With a mad chuckle, Zhuge Sa said.

"First, tell me how you ended up here."

"This isn't the time for chit-chat. Hand Heavenly Army will come searching again soon."

"Ah, right. That guy's a pain, so let's find a spot first."

Zhuge Sa pulled two sealed vials from his robes. He tossed one to me and said.

"Drink."

"What's this?"

"Honey wine."

With that, he uncorked his and gulped it down. His body suddenly glowed golden.

Pwaaa-

The faintly shining golden Zhuge Sa leaped forward out of nowhere. At the same moment, some bizarre demon beast flew in and grabbed his shoulder with its forepaw. Then it vanished in an instant with him.

"......?!"

What the-?

But I couldn't just stand there. After a stunned pause, I uncorked the so-called honey wine. Peering inside, I saw a suspicious liquid swirling.

'Eh, I'm immune to all poisons. Not like it'll kill me.'

I swallowed dryly and downed the honey wine. It tasted sweet, just like honey. Soon, I felt a faint golden glow envelop my body like his, and I leaped forward.

Scree.

Something grabbed my shoulder just like before. I felt the beast warp space with a whoosh.

Whoosh!

"Urk!"

When I came to, I'd been tossed somewhere. Dusty buildings loomed, piled high with materials and supplies. As I thought it was some warehouse, Zhuge Sa's voice came from above.

"Where's this?"

I looked up. He was grinning atop a mound of supplies. Glancing around, I said.

"Not sure..."

"It's my secret hideout in the Illusion Realm. Not far dimensionally from Golden Jade Island."

"Illusion Realm?"

"You don't know Illusion Realm?"

"I know of it, but..."

Illusion Realm.

According to Earth Immortal Mang-ryang's knowledge, it was a world where matter and spirits were so unstable everything changed moment to moment. Tied closely to intelligent beings' dreams, unreachable by normal means. And full of illusion beasts.

Zhuge Sa stroked the bizarre snoring beast beside him and said.

"You need the honey wine to survive this guy's superluminal dimension jumps. You just scarfed down a Demonic Cult treasure, Little Bear."

"No idea what you're talking about."

"Rice bucket. Playing dumb? This cutie got us out of Golden Jade Island."

Gororong.

The beast had no eyes, bat-like wings, and a bee-reptile hybrid look. It seemed to follow Zhuge Sa, accepting his touch and even enjoying it.

'This thing moves at superluminal speeds?'

I got the gist. The beast's power was superluminal dimension-hopping, and the honey wine protected life from the speed. As I stared silently at Zhuge Sa, he said.

"Kid. How're you paying for the honey wine?"

I countered as best I could.

"Like you said, this is the Illusion Realm. Until we return to the real world, I owe you nothing- no debt, no payback."

"Huh? Think Illusion Realm's safe just 'cause it's not real? The illusion beasts here have tempers."

As Zhuge Sa grumbled, I said.

"That's why- if you can cross dimensions, why not go straight to the real world? Why here?"

Zhuge Sa blinked.

"Why would I?"

"Huh?"

"Real world's boring as hell. Full of trash humans, stuck in that cramped Middle Kingdom. No thanks."

In that moment, I felt his sincerity. I suddenly understood why Zhuge Sa was here and what he was thinking.

[The afterlife exists, but I wasn't there. I made my own path for [peeping]. My soul's been preserved in silence till now.]

[There are worlds unlike this one. Blood Realm, Illusion Realm, Asura Realm, all sorts... Far more interesting than the human world.]

Our past baffling chats with Zhuge Sa.

I'd dismissed them as nonsense or delusions.

But no.

Zhuge Sa had rejected a human lifespan, mastered Demonic Cult magic for dimension-crossing, and was joyriding through Illusion Realm, Blood Realm, Golden Jade Island- worlds galore.

So this Zhuge Sa was likely a spirit body, not flesh, and this base a passage he'd made for peeping. Only now did I grasp how he'd lived.

After mulling it over, I said.

"Take me back to the human realm, and my ally Earth Immortal Mang-ryang will reward you."

"Mang-ryang? What?"

Zhuge Sa grimaced like his guts twisted. Glaring, he said.

"You're not about to claim you're my nephew's friend, are you?"

I played dumb.

"Nephew? Why's Mang-ryang your nephew?"

"The only one using that weird title is my nephew Hyeon-i."

His eyes gleamed as he said it.

"Spit it out. Or I dump you in some backwater realm for a century."

"Urk..."

Feigning reluctance, I told Zhuge Sa about Mang-ryang. That we were allies, and how I'd ended up here- with some omissions. Listening, he said.

"Fun. Been a while- time to see Hyeon-i."

"Wait..."

"What?"

Staring straight at him, I said.

"I want to know why you were on Golden Jade Island with that woman. Who is she?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Can't say?"

Zhuge Sa snorted.

"No reason to tell, so why would I? That's pervert shit. Want it? Pay up."

"You'll tell if I pay?"

He eyed me oddly.

"Ugly dimwit with killer curiosity."

"......"

He tossed me more honey wine and said.

"Hmph... Shut up and follow for now. Gotta confirm if you're really Hyeon-i's ally first."

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